Paragons of Virtue and Glory Season 1 - Welcome to Remnant

by TheGreyGeneral

After a training session at the USJ, Class 1-A, along with teachers Aizawa and All Might, find themselves unexpectedly warped to Remnant. Now, with the help of Beacon Academy's staff, plus Teams RWBY & JNPR, they seek to adapt to this new world of bloody evolution, while seeking a way back home. Canon typical violence, and mild language - because Bakugo.

3. E3 Aura for All

Welcome back to another Episode of Paragons!

The positive response I received for the first two Episodes has been better than I was expecting. I'm so glad so many of you have been enjoying the story.

Big thanks to ZeroTheOne, and The Mysterious Mr.E, for their consultations regarding this entry. The feedback was encouraging.

There have been a few questions about what happens next for Class 1-A, and RWBY. Well this Episode will answer some of them, and I'll address those and others in the notes afterwards. In the meantime, lets hit 'PLAY'...

---

Vale General Hospital

"MR AIZAWA!" Shota kept his face neutral. He had come to check up on some of the students who needed the most medical attention, and had finally come to his 'Problem Child'. Before he could really enquire further about how Midoriya was doing, he had been surrounded by the most of the class (Minus Koda, and Bakugo). From their expressions and the way they shouted his name, he could guess that they had finally caught on to what he'd already realised.

With a deep sigh, he held up a palm for quiet, and allowed the students to settle before speaking. "By your reaction, I guess you've mostly all seen it now; the broken moon. Correct?"

"What happened to the moon?!" Midoriya yelped, wincing as he shifted his weight, his right leg held by by a brace. The other students around him were equally surprised, possibly amongst the only ones in the class that hadn't seen the shattered celestial body.

"It looks like something clipped the moon, maybe a meteor or something," Sero responded, Sato beside him nodding, whilst wringing his hands, his mask was pulled back showing off his worried face.

"Yeah. Maybe not a meteor, but the lower right corner of the moon is broken, and like there's maybe four or five chunks just floating in space close to it."

"H-how's that even possible?!" Uraraka gasped, Asui next to her ribbiting nervously. Iida had his mouth open, his right arm chopping up and down as body unconsciously handled his confusion through the repeated movement.. Aizawa sighed deeply, getting everybody's attention again.

"Listen. I noticed the moon earlier when those... Bullheads arrived. As hard as it may be for any of us to believe, we have to face the facts; We are not in our own reality anymore." More than half the students gasped at that, and Yuga Aoyama (dressed in a hospital gown, Aizawa noticed) looked like he might faint.

"So... what? Are we in an Isekai right now or something?" Kaminari scratched his cheek. He jumped when Aizawa fixed him with a stare that clearly told him to not interrupt.

"I didn't say anything before, because it was more important to focus on getting all of us out of the Forest. After the battle with the Grimm, with some of us with bad injuries, and the rest of us largely exhausted, I didn't think this would be helpful to bring up, until we were safe." Aizawa, unconsciously rotated his right shoulder. Underneath his black outfit, he had massive bruising across his chest and his collarbone in that area, but fortunately nothing worse.

"I'm going to be blunt with you all. This world is like our own in a lot of ways, but as we've already seen there's plenty of differences. They don't have Quirks here, though they do have people with some mutation that gives them animal parts and traits."

"I can attest to that," Hagakure put in, wearing a hospital gown since her Hero costume was largely just a pair of boots and gloves. "They had a doctor with snake traits come take a look at me, because they weren't sure how else they were going to do a check up if they couldn't see anything at all with normal vision."

"I've been asked to briefly consult here and there with some of the doctors in that regard, explaining what Quirks are in general," Aizawa continued, giving a brief nod in Hagakure's direction. "I've been assured that they'll do everything to look after us whilst we are in their care, but we'll likely kept in for a while under some form of quarantine."

"Sir, what about Gale? And the people who came to our aid?" Midoriya asked, looking very much like he was an inch away from having a nervous breakdown. "And what about Kacchan and Koda? Is All Might all right?!"

"Deku! Try to calm down," Uraraka tried to settle him. Iida meanwhile pushed his glasses back up his face as he spoke up.

"I was going to ask about an update on our classmates, and All Might myself actually." Todoroki simply nodded in agreement as he looked at their teacher for answers.

"I'll start with All Might and work back." Aizawa pulled down the scarf he wore so that his face was fully visible. "Largely it's all good news for them all. All Might sustained a bite wound on his right arm, but luckily it's not too serious." He briefly cast his thoughts on the doctors examining the retired Pro, very concerned about the old wound on his left side. 'No need to tell them about that,' he thought privately.

"Bakugo and Koda both need stitches. They'll likely have some scars to speak of. Bakugo also has a number of fractured ribs. The doctors had him in surgery, last I heard, to remove some bone fragments. I suspect, after the blow he received, the stress he put his body through just to pull off that last joint attack would've exacerbated his injuries." Midoriya looked down guiltily at that, which Shota quietly took as a good sign. It was Midoriya who insisted that Bakugo be the one to throw him. Hopefully they won't try something like that again…

Aizawa mentally sighed. 'Given the extreme nature of the situation, and the fact that Goodwitch herself, reluctantly approved it, those were the only reasons I allowed the plan to happen. For all the fact they don't get along with each other that much, Bakugo and Midoriya are very similar; All too ready to ignore their injuries if it means they can save someone, or claim victory.'

"In time they'll make a full recovery." Aizawa tossed them a positive bone at the end there before moving on.

"As for the... teams, that helped us. They're staying the next few nights here as well, while the doctors give them a look over, but near as I can tell they're all unhurt. Just, very confused and tired, as we all are."

"Finally Gale, as I've been informed, is in a separate ward, though like us, she's being kept isolated from any other patient. She doesn't have any real injuries to speak of, besides numerous scratches. Mostly she's just exhausted and hungry, so they've given her something to eat and letting her sleep." There were a number of students who breathed a sigh of relief, and quietly whispered to each other at that.

"Ribbit. Mr Aizawa," Shota turned his gaze to Asui, who still looked a little concerned. "Do we have a way back home?" There it was. THE question. Aizawa slowly shook his head, angry that he couldn't deliver better news in this matter.

"I'm afraid not. However..." he raised his voice slightly so that he knew everyone was paying attention, "...I already discussed with All Might a possibility of how we came to be here. And if it's possible for us to be brought here, then logically, it'd make sense that we could be sent back in a similar way."

"We will continue to look for a way back to UA. Until then, there's no point in panicking. It solves nothing. We'll rest up, and heal. All Might and myself will try and get more answers about this world over the next few days. I expect you all to behave as model representatives of our school. Understood?"

"Yes Mr. Aizawa!" came the collective response. Shota took heart in hearing the students sounding, at least, a little more calm than how they were before.

[Cue Opening – Save the Day]

Episode 3: Aura for All

"I don't understand," Nora complained, her arms folded as she sat on the bed she had been given. "Why can't we go back to the school?"

"Nora, the doctor did explain it to us," Ren gently reminded her, coming over to sit next to his partner, and putting a hand on her shoulder. "For the next 72 hours, we are under watch to make sure that we haven't picked up anything from the 'Hero Students'. We wouldn't want to start an out break or anything."

"Cardin and the others were able to go back..." Nora grumpily sulked. She was especially annoyed on that front, as Cardin had quietly mocked them behind Port's back as she and the others could only watch impotently stewing. 'I should have broken his legs, if only for the stunt I heard he was trying to force Jaune to pull on Pyrrha. Good on Jauny Boy, for standing up to the creep.'

Ren sighed, understanding what his not-girlfriend was thinking about, even without asking. He was honestly just as annoyed, but he hid it better, through years of practice. "They never directly came into contact with the group, not like we did."

"I'm still wrapping my head around this," Weiss Schnee spoke up as she paced back and forth. The rest of her team was sitting, or in Yang's case, laying down on their hospital beds, all lined up along one side of the ward, while JNPR took up the other side. Jaune was by the nearest window next to Ruby, looking out in deep thought, while Pyrrha was pulling the curtains around her bed so that she could get changed in privacy. "People from another world... Powers that aren't Aura based…"

"As far fetched as it sounds," Blake put in, "it does make sense. I've never heard of anyone, having such extensive mutations of the body like some of them have."

"Yeah," Yang agreed her eyes on the ceiling as she, in one of her rare moments of serious introspection, relived the fight they went through in her head. "It all sounds a lot like a few of the comic books Ruby used to read. And without Aura, there should be no way they could pull off any of the moves we all saw. That kid... Izuku, I think? He said that his power was so strong that he could only handle 25% without breaking himself. And he still got a massive sprain across his right leg after that awesome 'Smash' of his."

"This puts almost everything we know into question," Weiss muttered, barely acknowledging the others remarks. "Have people from their world been here before? Have other worlds interacted with Remnant before? Could they have inspired our legends? Our fairy tales?"

"They can't go home." Weiss finally stopped pacing whilst going down the existential rabbit hole. She and the others turned in the direction of Ruby, who looked back at them sadly. "They didn't even know how they got here to begin with, let alone where they ended up. How are they supposed to get back? They're stuck here."

There was silence for a moment as they all digested that. Then they heard Pyrrha speak as she drew back the curtain, now dressed in night clothes supplied by the hospital. "If there's a way they able to get here, then logically, there should be a means to get back." She smiled kindly at the younger girl. "It's still too soon to be worrying about them not being able to go home. If we're going to help them, we should stay positive." Jaune nodded, a gentle smile as he regarded Pyrrha and what she said.

"Yeah. Pyrrha's right guys. We're all tired from today, we should focus on getting some rest. We can think up ways to try and help these people tomorrow."

Yang got up during Jaune's statement, and sat down nest to her younger sibling, pulling her into a one armed hug. "It'll be okay Rubes. You'll see. We can all go check on them tomorrow and ask how they're doing." Ruby gave a chuckle, her mood a little lighter.

"Yeah... they'd probably like that. Having somebody they kind of know, visiting." Yang ruffled her hair, and Ruby gave a mild squawk of indignation, before playfully batting her sister's hand away.

Jaune meanwhile, looked down a moment, his thoughts going back to the battle, and before that…

…

Cardin outlined his plan to humiliate and hurt Pyrrha to his team, and a shocked Jaune, watching the red headed champion from on top of a small hill. Cardin then took Jaune aside, then forced him to take hold of the jar of sap that would attract the wasps that he had been told to collect. Cardin commanded Jaune to throw the sap…

…

"I Lied! I lied my way into Beacon." He angrily confessed to Pyrrha on the roof near their dorm room. Unaware of Cardin listening in a floor below. He brought up how his father and grandfather before him had been Huntsmen, but his parents hadn't wanted him or his sisters to go through what they did. They had refused to train him.

He confessed that he had gotten desperate, and got his hands of some fake transcripts that over sold his combat abilities."THAT'S how I got into Beacon." Pyrrha reached out, sympathetic for the young blonde who she had come to care for, only for Jaune to brush her hand away.

"I don't want your pity! I don't want your help! I need to prove that I can do this alone!"…

…

The jar shattered against Cardin's armour, staining it with sap…

...Cardin's fist smacked into Jaune's face, the brunette sneering as his team-mates pulled Jaune back up to standing. Cardin mocked him for acting tough. Jaune, however, told him to leave his team alone…

…

"Ruby... I messed up." He confessed, tired and ashamed, as he sat outside his dorm room door, whilst Ruby stood opposite him, in her cute PJ's. He gave a brief explanation of how stupid he'd been, how Pyrrha wasn't even talking to him anymore, and that Cardin was blackmailing him to do errands and homework. He felt he was a failure.

Ruby simply went "Nope."

…

Cardin was crawling on his back away from the Ursa Major. The rest of the team had fled, whilst knocking over the box of wasps that angrily chased them. The beast was raising a paw to strike the very scared, and not so tough bully, before Jaune leapt in...

…

Ruby continued to 'nope' him, before pointing out, that while he may have been a failure in the past, he couldn't afford to be a failure now. Because…

"Because it's not just about you anymore." That made him look at her again. "You've got a team now. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." She stood up, and gave him one last pep talk.

She told him that they both needed to put themselves second to their team-mates, and that his team deserved a good leader "...and I think that can be you"…

…

...The fight wasn't going well, his Aura wasn't that high at that moment, but he still moved in to strike, and his sword arm swung for the Grimm's neck, his shield raised... Only it was slightly off... until it wasn't. Like his body was moving automatically, he adjusted the shield to block the Grimm's strike, as he swung his blade, and in one smooth movement, the Ursa's head went tumbling away…

…

Jaune, took a breath, and then caught Pyrrha's eye. "Pyrrha... could I have a word with you, in private."

"Um... sure." Pyrrha, wasn't quite sure what Jaune wanted to talk about, but given how things had been prior to that big fight against the Grimm, it felt good to be back to something akin to normal.

Jaune walked away from the others, Pyrrha at his side. They found a cleaning closet, though it was a little close for both to stand in. "Sorry..." rubbed the back of his head as he stepped in and closed the door. The light flickered as it was switched on before settling. "...I... just wanted a little bit of privacy... to talk."

"Jaune..." Pyrrha began, but Jaune took her hands gently in his as he looked her in the eyes.

"Pyrrha, I was a fool. A complete idiot. I had this whole macho idea in my head, and it led me to being blackmailed by Cardin. You tried to help me, and I was a complete jerk. I'm sorry." Pyrrha gave him a gentle smile, glad to see that this was what he wanted to talk about.

"It's fine. I'm really glad we got our leader back, especially when we had to deal with that big battle today…"

"I also... even though I don't really deserve it..." He looked off to the side a little, nervousness plain in his body language. "...Would you still be willing to teach me? After today, after pretty much everything, I want to be the best leader I can be. Those Hero students? They were incredible! Every one of them, along with everyone at Beacon is working so hard... I want to do my best too!" He looked up again into her green eyes. "Would you be willing to make me a better fighter?"

Pyrrha smiled, and gave Jaune's hands a small squeeze in affirmation. "Of course, I would."

The door was opened suddenly making the pair of them jump, noises of surprise escaping them, as they turned to look at the Janitor who had walked in on them. There was a few seconds of silence as each side regarded the other. Then, finally, with deadpan tone and expression, the Janitor spoke.

"I didn't see anything. I don't know anything. Just whatever you love birds do in here... be sure to clean up afterwards. Okay?" And with that he shut the door on a now heavily blushing pair of Huntsman trainees and walked away.

"...Maybe we should...?"

"...Head back to the others, and get some rest?"

"Yes, that! Sounds good!"

…

"Shota Aizawa?" The homeroom teacher made a grumpy noise of curious interest as he pushed aside the curtains to find All Might talking with Goodwitch and a gentleman in a dark green suit, white hair, and neat spectacles. The man bowed in greeting before speaking again. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon." He offered his hand, which Shota hesitated to take, before reaching out and giving a firm shake. "Apologies for the late hour." Aizawa waved that away.

"I wasn't aware that we could have visitors yet." Aizawa said, giving the group a quizzical look. All Might gave a tired smile at that.

"Prior to arrival, I had just asked the same thing." He nodded at the two Professors. "Apparently Ozpin was willing to join everyone in quarantine in order to meet us."

Shota frowned at what he could only see as a reckless and irrational behaviour, but Ozpin held a knowing smile, as he placed both hands on the top of his walking cane. "Believe it or not, this was certainly preferable to the alternative of sitting through tedious Council meetings. I can now just give a quick update through my scroll, and from a place where I can get information directly."

"This Council..." Shota began, still wary. "I take it, since this is a Kingdom, that includes royalty." Goodwitch shook her head at that.

"While the nations of Remnant are referred to as Kingdoms, there hasn't been any Royal family since the last Great War. That was over 80 years ago."

"The Council is essentially the ruling government body. Each Kingdom has their own Council, and as Headmaster of Beacon, I have a seat." Ozpin added. All Might and Shota shared a look as they processed this information. "However, while the Council has been informed to your... arrival... with so little information, I felt it was better addressed in person rather than have to sit in with the other Council members. This way I can give them all the information directly from here, rather than just rely solely on Glynda's reports, accurate as they are."

"And what has the Council said so far?" Shota, really wished he had grabbed a coffee before coming over. He could understand to some degree. Some staff meetings didn't really require his attendance after all. And his thoughts on having to deal with the press were well known back home.

"Mostly questions at this point. The same as I sure you've already had to answer, and some we have all asked ourselves, I'm certain." Ozpin then looked at All Might. "Amongst those questions though is what is to be done? While I'm confident that you won't be quarantined here in this hospital for more than the three days stated, it doesn't change the fact that currently we have no clue as to how you got here, or how to send you back, I'm afraid."

All Might scratched his chin in thought before looking at Shota. "Didn't you say you felt that Young Gale might have had a hand in us coming over?" Shota sighed.

"That was under the assumption she had a Quirk." Ozpin raised an eyebrow, and Goodwitch also looked quizzically at him at that.

"I beg you're pardon Aizawa, but what exactly do you mean by that?" Shota pulled the scarf wrapped around his neck and shoulders away enough so that they could see his face.

"For Ozpin's, and your sake Goodwitch, I'll quickly explain what Quirks are. Quirks are physical abilities, an extraordinary addition to a human being. Some Quirks cause mutations across the whole body, while others might only affect a part, such as the arms or legs. My Quirk, for example, is 'Erasure'." His eyes flashed red, and his black bangs started to float up, giving the others a clear view of his power activated. After a second or two he blinked, and his eyes changed back to normal, and his hair fell back.

"When activated, my power can cancel out the operation of somebody else's, though it can't remove some benefits of those with heteromorphic Quirks. I can prevent students like Bakugo or Todoroki from producing their explosions, and ice and fire, respectively. But if I used it on students like Asui or Hagakure, Asui would still retain her frog like features, though she wouldn't be able to stick to surfaces or use her tongue. And Hagakure would remain invisible, but wouldn't be able to concentrate to bend light for any of her special moves." Ozpin nodded along, politely fascinated.

"In regards to your question, Professor; when we arrived, I assumed that beside the mutation that gave Gale her dog ears and tail, she had a Quirk that could warp space. I based that off the statement she made, about 'wishing' for her imaginary Heroes to save her. Those Heroes she had drawn in crayon, many baring varying degrees of likeness to my students and myself." He briefly remembered how she had gotten all excited at him being 'Grumpy Cloud' before pushing that aside. "Then, immediately after making that wish, she felt tired, and then we appeared. It felt too much for a coincidence."

"Are Quirks that can warp space common then?" Goodwitch asked, only for All Might to answer.

"They're not common, but it's not unprecedented by any means. There's the Warp Villain, Kurogiri, who has been, up until his capture, a key member of the infamous League of Villains. His Quirk though, required that he had exact co-ordinates before he could open a warp gate there, or so our investigation has taught us.

"During the warp itself, I, and I'm sure everyone else, wondered if we were under attack." Shota continued. "Then after talking to Gale, I came to think that she simply discovered her Quirk by accident, which led to us being here."

"Hmm," Ozpin put a hand to his chin as he thought on all he had just heard. "That would make sense from your point of view at the time. And I would agree, that it feels too much to be coincidence; The proximity to the young girl, the fact she suddenly felt tired and her focus on 'wishing' her heroes to her. But a power like what you are describing is very much unprecedented here." He gave the pair of Pros a sympathetic look. "While there have been Semblances that can, so I've heard, form dimensional pockets for the user to store things in, the power to literally bend space and time itself..." He trailed off, his point made.

"What will happen to young Gale, most likely?" All Might asked concerned. Shota fixed his attention on Goodwitch who straightened before answering, keeping her emotions in check and remaining professional.

"There is an orphanage in Vale. With the loss of her family and village, if she has no other relatives…"

"We could bring her to Beacon." Ozpin interrupted, surprising everyone. Goodwitch recovered first.

"Sir? How would we...?"

"While I'm not sure if she truly has some power to have brought these people to us, Aizawa's reasoning still has merit. Besides," he added whilst giving her a look, "if it does turn out she possess such an ability, then it would be best for not only the people she brought here, to be close by, but also those of us who can help guide her in controlling said power." He smiled.

"Also, it coincides with a suggestion I have for our guests in regards as to where they can stay…"

…

Izuku couldn't recall when exactly he had fallen asleep, but he knew that the discomfort in his sprained and bruised leg had been partially responsible for waking him. He looked to his right, and found himself surprised.

Ochaco Uraraka was sleeping next to him in the nearby chair. A blanket had been draped over her, and she was wearing gloves provided from... somewhere…

'Is she wearing those so she doesn't accidentally float something? I wonder if Yaoyorozu made them, or if someone from the hospital staff did it...' He found his eyelids drooping, but a small smile was on his face.

'I... really am lucky... to have a friend like her…'

…

"You want us all to come to Beacon?" All Might asked, while Shota raised an eyebrow. "We're of course grateful for the offer, but we wouldn't want to cause you and your staff unnecessary problems just by looking after us."

'It would solve some issues,' Shota thought to himself 'it might not be all that dissimilar to the dorm system we have back at UA, and we could maybe make use of unused class rooms for lectures, keep their minds ready and occupied until we have a way back.'

"Each Academy has additional dorm rooms prepared in the event of visiting students, especially for our bi-annual event, the Vytal Festival. Vale is hosting this time around, but I imagine we should have plenty of room for you all, though students would have to share." Ozpin explained, pausing to push his glasses back up. "Each room is prepared for four people, as it's typical for teams to stay together."

Shota and All Might shared a look, thinking the same thing. 'That could be problematic... especially with some students in particular.'

"There are common areas, even a shared kitchen if you'd rather see to your own meals at times." Goodwitch continued the pitch.

"Hold up a minute." Shota asked, holding up a hand to get their attention. "Like All Might said, we appreciate the generosity, and I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't be somewhat ideal in many ways. However... that doesn't change the fact that we all barely know each other."

"Back home, I'm both a homeroom teacher at UA Academy, and I'm a Pro Hero who focuses on underground work. It's my job and my duty to protect my students. All Might may be retired as a Pro, but it's the same for him." All Might nodded, his eyes turning to the two Professors. "On top of that; our students have already been through more than any other first year should in just two semesters." Shota fixed his most serious look at Ozpin, the kind that made it clear he was not playing around.

"So, if we're going to take up this offer of yours Ozpin, we need to know everything about what you do as a school, what you teach... and how you intend to help us protect our students."

Ozpin shared a brief look with Goodwitch, and then turned back to Shota. "Where would you like to begin?"

…

Morning came, with bright sunshine and the morning calls of birds. Koda happily watched a pair of pigeons through the window near his bed before they flew off, leaving the boy alone, gingerly touching the spot on his chest where he had been slashed.

Across the way, a sleepy Shoji noticed the motion, even as he pulled up his face mask. "Koda... how are you doing?"

"...Better..." Koda looked at him and gave him an appreciative nod. He wasn't lying, but he knew that his friend would also be aware that while he was patched up, he was still shaken from the encounter.

All throughout the battle, he had heard the Grimm call out for their deaths. The memory echoes of that had made sleep difficult, despite how tired he was.

…

Izuku awoke, to find Uraraka gone, the blanket she had slept under bundled up on the chair. 'Probably went back to her own bed. I should thank her later for staying as long as she did.' He yawned, and then winced as his body's motions made his pained leg move.

'If we were back at UA, Recovery Girl would've probably healed me and the others already.' That brought a grimace, both the thought of the elderly heroine most likely scolding him and All Might (probably Bakugo, and Aizawa too) for the injuries happening, but also for the very sad reminder that we were further from her care and Quirk's healing power, than any of them thought it possible to be.

'I wonder how Kacchan is doing after surgery…'

…

Bakugo was annoyed. He ached from the surgery, his bruises, and from using his Quirk so much yesterday. Now, he was walking along, supported on a crutch, and hating every second of it.

At least the first person he saw from his class was 'Shitty Hair'. This early, and with him in the state he was regarding his injuries, Kirishima was one of the only people he could tolerate.

"Bakugo! Good to see ya man!" He raised a hand in greeting. Bakugo skipped past the pleasantries however.

"Kirishima, where's the damn bathroom?" he growled. If it had been anybody else, he probably would have yelled the question. The sharp toothed extra picked up on Bakugo's mood, and wasted no further time.

"It's just down this way, two doors down. Do you want any help with the door at all?"

"...I'll be fine."

"You sure man?"

"I just said I'll be fine Shitty Hair!" He didn't want to have anyone think he was incapable of opening a damn bathroom door. Even in his condition.

…

"Ribbit. Ochaco," Tsuyu looked over to her left hand neighbour as she heard the gravity girl give a massive yawn. The curtains were still closed around her bed, so she could only see her rough silhouette. "Did you sleep okay last night?"

"Hmm? Oh... yeah!. I slept okay. How about you?"

"Okay I guess. Yesterday was a lot." Tsuyu replied, unaware that on the other side of the curtain, her friend was doing what she could to hide a massive blush as she thought about waking up next to a sleeping Izuku. She had quietly moved back to her own bed, hoping that nobody else found out.

…

Breakfast was a quiet affair, as when staff brought the food, most of the students ate, but found no appetite for conversation beyond simple greetings.

That was until…

"GOOD MORNING, HEROES!" A loud cheery voice rang out through the ward, almost making both Kaminari and Mineta spill their food and drink down themselves. Heads turned and beheld, walking through the doors, the eight teens who had rescued them the previous day. At their head was the ginger girl who carried the massive war-hammer/grenade launcher. She was bouncing around full of energy, whilst greeting them all with a musical trill. "It's morning, it's morning, it's morning, it's morning!"

"Am I dreaming?" Mineta muttered, his minor annoyance at almost spilling his food gone as he stared at the colour coordinated group. "Are we being visited by a group of total hotties!"

"It's the teams who rescued us the other day..." Sato said, before flinching from a pair of voices.

"QUIET DOWN, CRAZY HAMMER! WE ALL KNOW IT'S MORNING!" Bakugo yelled.

"Bakugo! Lower your voice, we are in a hospital after all!" Iida remonstrated, before turning his gaze and chopping arms toward 1-A's visitors. "Same goes to you ma'am! Whilst we all most grateful for your timely rescue the other day, we must remember that we are not the only patients here!"

"Wow," The blonde girl whistled, "are you two like this every morning, or...?"

"Iida's very earnest," Izuku put in. "And Kacchan is... well... Kacchan." He smiled though as he locked eyes with Ruby. "It is good to see you guys again though."

"Good to see you as well," Ruby said to him, taking note of the leg brace, while trying to ignore Nora copying Iida's hand chopping. "We didn't get a chance to properly introduce ourselves to most of you last time, so we figured we'd do that and see how you are." With that, and seeing that Ren had reigned in Nora, she politely coughed into her fist.

"I'm Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY. And yes," she looked down and rubbed the back of head for a moment, "we're all aware how confusing that can get." She then straightened herself before wrapping her arms around the girl in white. "And this is my partner and B.F.F…"

"No." The white haired girl just gave Ruby a look, and the younger girl let go with a nervous laugh. Ruby's partner looked back at the rows of students all still in bed. "I'm Weiss Schnee, and it's nice to meet you."

"Blake Belladonna." A girl with the black bow tied on top of her hair gave them a short bow, as she introduced herself immediately after Weiss. And then the blonde spoke up again, with a big warm smile on her face.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long. Ruby's older sister, and Blake's partner." She noticed Yaoyorozu hold up a hand, as she leaned forward to catch her attention.

"Pardon me," Yaoyorozu spoke up, "but am I right in thinking that the team name you carry is made up of your names initials?" Yang put her fists on her hips, and nodded.

"Yeah, that's about right. It's kind of tradition for teams to be given a name based off their initials that is either, a colour, or is associated with one." She explained. Yaoyorozu nodded, her eyes briefly straying to the blonde boy who she remembered saving her yesterday. He caught her looking, and shyly waved. He sported a small blush.

"Hi there, I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc" He smiled as he introduced himself. "I'm leader of Team JNPR. This is my partner, Pyrrha Nikos" he gestured to a tall red haired girl beside him, who waved friendly at the students whilst giving a musical 'Hello'. "Also, my fellow team-mates; Lie Ren," the dark haired boy gave a bow when named, "and his partner…"

"I'm Nora!" Nora cut in happily, "Nora Valkyrie!"

"Pleased to meet you all!" Iida stood, as a number of students left their beds to gather close. As it happened that put them all near Izuku's bed, as they all bowed and echoed Iida's words.

Izuku caught Uraraka's eye, and gave a smile, which resulted in a small blush. She mouthed "Morning Deku." He nodded. Meanwhile Iida and Yaoyorozu were continuing introductions.

"I'm Tenya Iida, Representative of Class 1-A, and our Vice Rep…"

"Momo Yaoyorozu." the raven haired girl bowed, whilst Iida adjusted his glasses.

"On behalf of our fellow classmates, I'd like to thank you for your timely rescue yesterday." He bowed deeply once again. Ruby at this point was starting to feel like she was missing some cultural response to all the bowing, and chose to echo the bow, hands clapped in front of her as she did so.

"Um... you're welcome! Just doing our job, you know?"

"Wow, Green Bean wasn't kidding when he said you were earnest." Yang chuckled, her comment making Izuku blush at the nickname. Iida rose up and smiled, not offended.

"As first year prospective Heroes-in-training, I believe that we must all be striving to our best, in all that we do."

"That's something we were hoping to find a bit more about, actually," Weiss put in, "the 'Heroes-in-training', amongst other things. As far as any of us know, this is probably the first time people from another world have ever visited Remnant."

"I know what you mean," Yaoyorozu said, hand over her heart. Even without looking, she could tell that the reminder of their situation would have brought some of the happy mood of meeting the teams down. "Honestly, I can't say I ever heard of such a thing happening on our world either."

"Iida, Yaoyorozu." The two turned their heads to look at Ren who held his left elbow with his right hand, whilst his left cupped his chin. "I've noticed that there are some cultural similarities between yourselves, and my home Kingdom of Mistral. Would I be right in thinking you prefer to be addressed by your last names as well?"

"Correct," Iida replied chopping his arm (Nora copying him). Ruby meanwhile gasped.

"OH! Oh no!" She turned to Izuku, who blushed red at the attention. "I called you by your first name back then! I'm sorry!"

Izuku began waving his hands in front of him as he tried to reassure her. "I-it's fine! Really. After all, we kinda had more important things to worry about."

"Y-yeah!" Uraraka put in, working hard not to feel jealous at the idea of Ruby being able to use Izuku's first name, even if it was by accident. "Given the situation, Deku wouldn't mind that much."

Nora stopped chopping, and was suddenly leaning past the Class Reps to give Uraraka a hard, scrutinising look. Ren also frowned, and Blake and Yang looked uncomfortable and surprised.

"What did you call him just now?" Nora asked with a tone that was no longer the happy, cheery kind she had entered the room with. Blake folded her arms, as she tilted her head.

"Why would you call him 'Good for Nothing'?" She followed up. Ruby looked confused as she looked between everyone.

"Huh?"

"Deku." Yang began to clarify for the others who hadn't caught on. "I don't know if it's the same back where you're from, but here it means 'Good for Nothing' or 'useless'."

Bakugo, silently watching the whole gathering, chose to look away, pretending to be disinterested. Izuku however was waving his hands again to get people to calm down.

"It's fine! It's fine! Really!" He gave Uraraka a look as she took a step back from the somewhat hostile stare Nora was giving her. "I used to be called that when I was little. And yeah, it was to mock me, b-but...!" He smiled, as Uraraka looked his way. "Uraraka changed the meaning of it for me, on the very first day of school, so now I really like it. That's why I chose it as my hero name." That got all the Beacon group to relax a little, though Yang and Blake were still surprised.

"Y-yeah!" Uraraka breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't about to raked over hot coals. "In my home town, 'Deku' is how we tend to say 'Dekiru'…"

"One that can do anything." Ren nodded, now understanding. Nora relaxed as well, and also looked quite moved by what she was hearing. Ruby too, felt moved by the idea of owning a name meant to bring you down, and changing it's meaning to build you up instead. Blake and Yang smiled, approvingly, uncrossing their arms.

"Mm hm!" Uraraka nodded, whilst feeling a little embarrassed by all the scrutiny, "When I first heard Bakugo call him that, I thought it was actually his name, and that it sounded cute…"

"Oh, it sounded cute eh?" Nora slid up close to Uraraka, a sly smile on her face and hand on her chin. A look that was mirrored by Ashido who slid in next her.

"Do tell us more, Ochaco…"

"M-MINA!" At this rate both Uraraka and Izuku were going to end up with faces redder than Ruby's hood and cloak. Thankfully they were both saved from death by embarrassment, by the sound of Iida clapping his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Ahem!" He coughed into his fist, "I believe both our groups would like to learn more about each other, so I suggest we leave Midoriya and Uraraka alone, and take it in turns to ask a question of each other."

'Thank you Iida!' Thought Izuku and Uraraka.

"That seems fair," Weiss agreed, and both sides had brief mutterings of agreement. "So where do we start first?"

"ME, me, me, me, MEEEE!"

"What are the Grimm?!"

"Are you really allowed to wield firearms even as students?!"

"Are any of you girls single?"

SMACK!

"OW!"

"Stop being inappropriate. Ribbit."

Given the sudden storm of noise from the UA students, Ruby and the others took a step back, whilst Iida and Yaoyorozu did what they could to restore order.

"Woah, guys, woah!" Jaune held up both palms, and between that and the Rep's efforts, the room quieted. "How about this; Everyone with a question hold up a hand, and we'll take it in turns to pick someone and answer their question. Once we answer that question, the person we picked can choose someone on our side to ask. Sound good?" That got nods, and many hands were raised silently and respectfully.

"Not a bad idea Jaune." Weiss acknowledged, giving him an approving look. "How about you pick the first person, since you suggested it." Ruby nodded in agreement.

Jaune, suddenly feeling the spotlight on him, looked across the group in front nervously, before pointing at his pick. "Um... You there. With the muscle tail. What's your name, and your question?"

"Mashiro Ojiro. It's nice to meet you." The fellow blonde put his hand down, and was glad that Jaune asked for his name, rather than pulling a Bakugo and simply giving him a possibly derisive nickname. "I heard someone else shout this earlier, but could you guys explain what the Grimm are, and why they attacked us?" Again the excitement in the air dampened, as they recalled their harrowing battle the other day. Hagakure and Jiro both nodded along with his words.

"The Grimm attacked you, because it's simply in their nature to attack humans." Ren answered on Jaune's behalf, correctly assuming that it wasn't solely up to whoever picked the questioner, to give the answers. "They are particularly drawn to negative emotions such as fear, sadness and anger. Our whole society has been battling the Grimm for centuries, and there are still many unanswered questions about where they came from, and what drives them to attack."

"Grimm are soulless monsters," Pyrrha added, picking up where Ren left off. "They only attack and eat people, and only ever attack other animals if they themselves are attacked first, like as part of a territorial dispute."

"Which is why we are training to be Huntresses and Huntsmen. It's our duty to fight and slay Grimm in order to protect all the people of Remnant." Ruby concluded.

"Why not just use a satellite or something, to track down where they come from and nuke the bastards?" Bakugo not-shouted. Iida and Yang looked crossly at him, but the other Remnant residents, simply looked confused.

"What's a nuke?" Ruby asked, both her friends, and the UA students. Bakugo's eyes widened in surprise, and he wasn't the only one.

"Bakugo! You are interrupting the system we had all just agreed on!" Iida (and Nora, behind him before Ren dragged her away) chopped disapprovingly. The bleach blonde exploder simply made a 'tch!' noise and looked away.

"To be brief, since it would be unfair to not give Ojiro his chance to pick someone," Yaoyorozu stepped in. "A nuke is what we refer to as Nuclear, or Atomic, weapons; undoubtedly the most dangerous and destructive creations mankind has ever made. Typically they come as bombs or inter-continental missiles. I take it, Nuclear technology was never developed on Remnant." The last part was rhetorical, but the collective shaking of heads, and quiet uncomfortable atmosphere was confirmation enough.

"R-right! Well let's get things back on track, shall we?" Ojiro rubbed the back of his head as he awkwardly took the reins of the conversation. Everyone from the teams raised their hand, but Ojiro caught Blake giving him a look, he couldn't exactly identify, but it definitely made his choice for him. "Belladonna. What would you like to know?"

"I apologise if this come off rude, but I was wondering about your Faunus traits. Not just yours, but many of your classmates sport features that are far more extreme than any we have on Remnant. Is that simply normal where you are from?"

"Gale... the young girl we met and protected back in the forest mentioned Faunus too." Izuku thought out loud before fixing his attention on Blake. "Belladonna, to answer your question, could you please explain first, what you mean by Faunus, and Faunus traits?"

Blake looked a little uncomfortable, and brushed her hair past the bow she wore. "Well... Faunus here are people, but unlike humans, they have a gene that gives them animal like features, replacing a typical human part. Commonly this can simply give them improved night vision, or better hearing, but it can also grant them features like claws on their fingers, antlers, a tail (although Ojiro's is definitely the most muscular I've ever seen) and sometimes... they may have an extra set of working ears."

"I guess the doctor who examined me earlier was a Faunus with Snake traits then." Hagakure whispered to Ashido who nodded along. The acid Quirk girl was wondering if Blake presumed that she was a Faunus due to her pink skin and horns.

"Oh, I see. I can understand what you mean now." Izuku nodded, before awkwardly looking away. "Sorry, but technically... the Faunus don't exist back home." Blake's eyes widened, and a few of the others also looked surprised. Weiss raised a curious eyebrow.

"Ribbit. Allow us to explain." Asui gently got their attention. "I'm Tsuyu Asui, but you can all just call me Tsu. We're all human, but our Quirks have in many cases mutated our bodies to various degrees. There are plenty of people back home who have features much like what you described Belladonna. Ribbit." Blake listened intently, enthralled by what she was hearing. Then she heard a familiar voice, and turned to look at the bird headed boy who helped her yesterday, standing next to the other with the multiple arms.

"Fumikage Tokoyami. We fought side by side briefly yesterday. It is as Asui said, but we haven't properly explained what Quirks are, so we beg your forgiveness as we explain."

"Quirks manifested on our world over 200 years ago. The famous child who was born radiating light, being the first recorded instance of someone being born with a Quirk. Since then, the world has evolved, with now 80% of the entire populace possessing some form of ability."

"Mezo Shoji. Typically," Shoji jumped in, but to some of the Huntsmen and Huntresses' shock, did so manifesting a talking mouth from one of his many arms, "Quirks are all physical abilities, but many can change the body in ways we still don't quite understand. Though in general it does seem related to what power they posses, more or less."

"Yes," Tokoyami nodded at his friend, untroubled by the mouth at the end of his arm. "In my case, my Quirk is 'Dark Shadow', who at least two of you are somewhat familiar with at this point," He directed his gaze back at Blake, and her partner Yang, who nodded as she followed along. "My Quirk is a rare sentient type, as Dark Shadow is a symbiotic intelligence tied to my existence. In addition I also gained the head of a bird, as part of my mutation."

Yaoyorozu nodded, pleased to see that her classmates had not skimped on their studies of the subject in history. "It's as they said. We're all human, but our Quirks essentially have changed our bodies in one way or another to adjust to the power we were born with. Some people can have more noticeable mutations, such as Shoji and Tokoyami, but they are not counted as a separate species."

"I... I see. I apologise. I didn't mean to make any of you uncomfortable at all." Blake said, but was quickly reassured by Izuku, Asui, Tokoyami and the others that this was not the case.

"Honestly, that may have answered a whole bunch of other peoples questions whilst we were at it."

"Yeah, we're not offended. Ribbit."

"It would make sense that you would be curious. No harm was done."

"Thank you." She said, feeling already a little more at ease. She scanned the group as hands were raised again, and she quickly picked out a person. "You, with the blonde hair and the lightning stripe."

"Hey, I'm Denki Kaminari." Said blonde was feeling curious excitement again, and felt a little like showing off. "My Quirk is 'Electrification' and my hero name is…"

"BATTERY-BOY!" Kaminari spluttered, wrong footed as he suddenly found himself, once more, face to face with Nora. "Glad to see you doing better than how I left you last time. We should team up! Become my sidekick!"

Jiro had snorted when Kaminari was interrupted, but she couldn't help another, clamping a hand over her mouth as she watched her friend and classmate try to get a grip on the conversation.

"Battery...? No it's Chargebolt. My Hero name is Chargebolt!" Nora wasn't listening, lost in her own imagination.

"Yes, Grimm and Bandits beware! Pray for mercy from Thunder-Thighs and Battery-Boy! Ahahahaha!" She struck a pose, feet planted wide with a sumo stomp, before lifting her hammer above her head as she laughed maniacally. Until Ren came along and gently dragged her away.

"No, Nora."

"Thunder-Thighs!" She dramatically whispered, leaving a number of students giggling, Iida arm chopping, and poor Kaminari trying to get his head back on track after all of that. Only for Bakugo to then speak up.

"What was all of that noise about Aura we keep hearing about?"

"Bakugo! That was my question!" Kaminari was indignant, along with embarrassed.

"Shut it Sparky! You were taking too long!" Bakugo snapped back before looking back at the assembled teams, ignoring a crestfallen and depressed Kaminari. "Well? What is it? It has to be important for you lot, and the doctors to make a massive fuss about us not having it."

"Wait..." Ruby looked confused again, "did no one here explain what Aura was... to any of you?"

"As much as I disagree with Bakugo's interruptions and vulgar language, I admit, we have been kept somewhat in the dark, all throughout yesterday." Iida, put a hand to his chin as he pondered the issue.

A sudden booming laugh from behind Ruby and the others made everyone jump. Though the UA students recovered faster as they recognised it instantly. "I AM HERE! WITH PERFECT TIMING TO HELP EXPLAIN!" Ruby and the others spun around to see a massive muscular figure, a gleaming smile, and pulling a muscle pose, even whilst wearing a hospital gown.

"All Might!"

"All Might?" The Huntsman teams questioned as they beheld the giant blonde continue to laugh and pose... only for him to cough up some blood and suddenly deflate to a regular sized person. A regular person who was also practically skin and bones. "What?!"

"You really shouldn't push yourself All Might," came the tired voice of Aizawa as the students all realised he had been there too, along with the woman they knew as Goodwitch, and a stranger in a smart, dark green suit, and carrying a cane, and a mug of some kind of hot beverage. The stranger was looking over All Might as he self consciously acknowledged Aizawa's point, and insisted to the following doctors and nurses behind him that he was okay.

"Professor Ozpin?" Pyrrha began drawing the man's attention to her and the others. Ozpin smiled kindly.

"Good morning to you Miss Nikos, and to all of you, teams RWBY, JNPR and UA students." He gave a short bow. "I'm the Headmaster of Beacon. I believe you all already know my Deputy, Professor Goodwitch."

"And to those trainee Huntsmen and Huntresses I didn't get to properly speak to yesterday, I'm Class 1-A's homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa, also known as Erasure Head." Aizawa, had his own strong cup of coffee in his hand, and even to those used to seeing him look somewhat sleep deprived, it did look like he hadn't had that much rest.

A fact that Iida immediately inquired about. "Good morning, Mr Aizawa. Did you... sleep well... sir?"

"...What sleep I got was enough. Don't concern yourself with my well being."

"Ahem! Apologies for startling you all earlier," All Might cleared his throat. "My name... is Toshinori Yagi, but pretty much everyone calls me All Might, so feel free to do the same.

"How... how did you...?" Weiss felt like she was struggling to comprehend how the man had gone from massively buff to his current state. She wasn't the only one, and All Might automatically understood what she was asking.

"To keep a long story short; I used to look like my hero form all the time, but I got into a fight that was tough even for me, and now my strength is completely exhausted. I'm effectively retired as a Pro, but my body still has some muscle memory of how I used to be. So with some effort, I can look how I used to, though I lack any real power. Think of it as similar to those guys who want to show off at the pool by sucking in their gut. A muscle flex." Weiss and the others blinked at that.

'A muscle flex?! He goes from skeleton to body-builder, with just a muscle flex?!' Weiss's logical brain was trying to make sense of what she had just seen and heard, but making slow progress.

Meanwhile, Nora started holding her breath, and sucking in her own gut, her entire body tense. Ren turned his head to look at her. "Nora, I don't think it's quite that easy for anyone to do that…"

"You don't know that, Ren!" She took a breath and continued to try and bulk herself up, just by flexing her muscles. All Might watched with a sweat-drop, before taking control of the conversation once again.

"Anyway, we couldn't help overhearing young Bakugo bring up the matter of Aura. The doctors didn't tell any of us about it initially, as this...was a very unusual situation, and felt it'd be better to address as a group, rather than one to one."

"But Aura is a subject very relevant to something we want to discuss with you all," Aizawa picked up. "So it's important that you learn about it now, before we go any further."

"Mr Arc." Ozpin saying his name had Jaune jump a little before turning to the headmaster, pointing at himself as if to confirm that Ozpin was talking to him. "Would you be so kind as to give a brief explanation of what Aura is, and how we use it."

"M-me?! Um... Sure! No problem sir!" Jaune quickly tried to settle his nerves before looking at the waiting UA students. "Well, this is how it was explained to me. Aura is the manifestation of the power of our souls. Anyone can have Aura, even plants and animals. Except, of course, the Grimm."

"Because they're soulless, like you guys said before." Kirishima spoke up, glad that Jaune was speaking in a way that made it easy to understand. Meanwhile Izuku was taking 'invisible notes', doing everything he mentally could to ensure he could recall this later to actually put into a notebook later.

"Yeah, that's right." Jaune confirmed, before continuing. "Aura can protect us from harm when we take a hit, even heal injuries if we are hurt, enhance our strength and our speed. It can also help make you more aware of your environment, so it's harder to be surprised out of nowhere. Though that's also something of a skill, so if you're not training yourself in that area, or not focused, you can still get ambushed. Honestly, Ren is probably the most proficient in that area of Aura use." Ren gave a small smile and a nod at the acknowledgement from his team leader. Pyrrha wore a proud smile throughout.

"So... it's like a force-field with extra benefits?" Kaminari spoke up as he wrapped his head around the concept of the soul existing, and giving it's own (pretty cool in his opinion) powers. Jaune looked at him with a big grin, and gave him finger guns.

"I said almost the same thing!" He exclaimed excitedly, before remembering where he was, and who else was in the room. He lost the finger guns, and coughed into his fist as he straightened up. "Though, I should point out that if you're not focused, attacks can still go through. And it doesn't really do anything to stop you feeling pain when you take a hit."

"Yeah, we can all confirm that." Yang spoke up, her arms folded again, but she was a little more relaxed. "Being used as a basketball, and then a chew toy is no fun, I can tell you." That got a few winces from the others, as they remembered how the Elder Grimm had attacked her.

"Which brings me to probably the final point about Aura." Jaune got very serious, and the others drew their attention back to him. "Aura isn't limitless. We all have our own set amount of Aura, and while it can be recharged from taking sufficient rest (a good nights sleep, getting something to eat and drink, etc.) it can be depleted from use. Take too many hits, and your Aura will break and you lose all the benefits it gave you."

He turned his head back to his teachers. "How was that? Did I miss anything at all?" Goodwitch gave him a rare smile of approval in answer.

"You forgot to mention Semblances, but otherwise, a very quick and well explained summary." At the mention of Semblances, Jaune's head sank, but Pyrrha patted him on the shoulder. Glynda turned her attention to the students, as Sato raised a hand.

"So, if I'm understanding correctly, Aura gives general protection, and buffs aspects of a person's physical and sensory abilities, but Semblances... is that a power that's more unique to each person?"

"Correct." Glynda nodded, pleased to note how sharp the boy was. "Semblances are fuelled by Aura, and are indeed unique to each individual. While it is more than possible to have two people with Semblances that largely do the same thing, each will have unique traits that make it stand out from others."

"I probably forgot to bring that up because I haven't discovered my Semblance yet." Jaune admitted, which got a mixture of reactions.

"What?! How can you be at some academy to hunt Grimm, and not know what your freaking power is?" Bakugo snapped.

"Bakugo's rude, but he does have a point. That seems weird." Jiro commented with a frown, even as Iida told Bakugo off again.

"Is there some kind of trigger required to discover what your Semblance is?" Izuku asked, completely fascinated. At this point, Ozpin stepped in to halt any further questions.

"Semblances can take time to discover. As one of you just pointed out, they sometimes require a specific trigger, or an incident, in which that power can come into play. It is possible after having Aura unlocked, for years to pass before a person discovers their own innate ability."

"Yeah," Nora agreed, "I discovered my Semblance completely by accident. I got struck by lightning. Didn't die. Crazy Thursday."

'Somehow after only knowing her for less than a day, that makes total sense.' Thought the entirety of Class 1-A.

"Sigh... The reason, you need to understand this now is because, Ozpin and the staff here at Vale Hospital, would like permission to give all of us Aura to help us recover." Aizawa quickly brought the conversation around to the main point. His students gasped.

"Wait, is that even possible?" Sero asked, while Kirishima on his left was trying to keep pace with the entire conversation. "We're from two different dimensions...universes... worlds!"

"Yeah," Kirishima nodded, "and why would we need it? Not to downplay Aura or Semblances, because from what we've seen, they're already pretty awesome, but we have our Quirks to look after ourselves."

"Firstly, yes it is possible." All Might answered. "When this was suggested to us last night, I volunteered to have my own Aura unlocked to see if it was possible, but also to see if there would be any negative effects from accepting it."

"I was the one who unlocked Mr Yagi's Aura." Goodwitch continued, "While it took more effort on my part than what would be considered normal on Remnant, I was successful." All Might nodded and spoke again.

"So far, there haven't been any problems detected from having accepted Aura. If anything I actually feel somewhat better. While I doubt I'll be able to return to being a Pro, my injuries from yesterday at the very least are healing faster." He rubbed a bandaged right arm. "I was lucky not to have lost my arm in that fight, but now, I've been assured that by the end of today, or at most tomorrow morning, I should have these bandages off."

"Which brings us to the second point," Aizawa came in, and the seriousness he put into his expression and tone had everyone pay attention. "Given that three members of Class 1-A suffered serious injuries; Koda, Bakugo, and of course Midoriya. If you three accept Aura, it would most likely speed up your recovery."

"You all should realise our situation by now. We don't have UA's resources to call upon anymore. That includes our school nurse and her healing Quirk. Injuries we get here, are going to take longer to recover from." Aizawa gave a small turn of his head to glance at Ozpin who noticed but didn't react beyond an inclination of his head. "While there are things I would rather you wouldn't have to deal with, the discovery of Semblances in particular, just because of the potential trouble having to adapt to that would be... Ozpin and Goodwitch made a convincing argument for accepting this. Think of it as an insurance policy, or a soul powered support gear option. It's something intended to better protect you from harm, should we run into the Grimm again."

"However," All Might quickly added, "no one will force this on any of you. If anyone decides not to accept Aura, we will respect your choice."

"Mr Aizawa..." The insomniac teacher picked out Aoyama as he raised a hand, "... pardon moi, but have you, by any chance, unlocked your Aura?" Aizawa nodded once.

The class looked at one another, private thoughts running through their minds as they considered this. After a moment of consideration someone spoke up.

"I'll do it." Everyone turned to look at Izuku. He stared forward, resolute. "I'll accept Aura. Not just to accelerate my own recovery, but for what it could mean to help others."

'Young Midoriya..." All Might looked on with pride.

'As expected,' Aizawa thought, not surprised, 'the Problem Child is the first to accept.'

"I'll take it too." The class wheeled round to stare at Bakugo, who had folded his arms as he leaned against a bed. "I don't really care about Semblances or the other stuff, but if it can get me off this crutch and back on my feet faster, then I'll take it."

"Koda," Iida turned to face the quiet student, and the only other member of their group who had taken serious injury, "what are your thoughts?"

"...The Grimm scare me." Koda admitted. "They're not natural. My Quirk allowed me to understand them, but I couldn't control them like I could with other animals." His comment got a gasp of surprise from even the teachers from Beacon.

"You... you could understand them?" Pyrrha asked, gob-smacked. Koda looked up and nodded.

"My name is Koji Koda. And my Quirk is Anivoice. I can talk to and control pretty much any kind of animal, though it has no effect on Humans. And yeah, I could understand the Grimm. But don't ask what they were saying. It basically was all the same thing. 'Kill.'" The Huntsmen and Huntresses shared their own looks of surprise between each other.

"The Grimm scare me more than anything else. Even bugs, which most of you already know, is a phobia I've been working to overcome. But I want to be a hero. I don't want my fear to cause someone else to get hurt or die, just because I was too scared to act." Koda looked up at his homeroom teacher and nodded. "Mr Aizawa, I'll accept Aura."

'These kids...' Aizawa moved his scarf to hide his face enough, so that no one could see just how much pride he had towards all of his students.

"In that case..." Todoroki spoke up for the first time, "... it would make sense for us all to have it, as Mr Aizawa and the others said. We can worry about the other details later. I'll also accept it." He missed how, as he spoke up, he caught the attention of Weiss Schnee. She studied him with gentle scrutiny.

'I didn't really focus on it back then, but he is quite handsome.'

"All right then," Yaoyorozu spoke up, "let's make a decision now, as a class." Iida nodded.

"On three, anyone who wishes to have their Aura unlocked, raise their hand! 1... 2... 3!"

Not a single one of Class 1-A had their hands down. Ozpin and Goodwitch regarded the students and then turned to the doctors. "Well then," Ozpin said "shall we get started?"

…

The Beacon students stood off to the side as they watched the doctors and nurses, as well as their teachers begin to unlock the Aura's of Class 1-A.

"I can see why they asked for so many staff to help with this," Jaune said as he watched. "When I had my Aura unlocked, it didn't take this long, or require as much effort from the one who helped me with that." He briefly locked eye's with his partner, who gave a small smile in acknowledgement.

They both thought back to the Initiation, where after meeting up, she discovered he hadn't had his Aura unlocked. Didn't even know what it was until she explained it. And it had been Pyrrha who had helped him discover his own.

"Same here, Vomit Boy, same here." Yang commented, getting an annoyed look from Jaune as a reward, and a bit of a chuckle from her sister. Jiro looked up, as she was close by, and had just had her Aura unlocked, a brief flicker of violet energy passing over her body before vanishing.

"I'm sorry, couldn't help overhearing that but... 'Vomit Boy'?" Jaune groaned, while Ruby nervously chuckled again before answering.

"Both Jaune and me had... an interesting first day at Beacon. I accidentally knocked over Weiss's baggage, and caused an explosion. But Jaune…"

"I get air sick." He said plainly. "And we were brought to Beacon by Airship. I tried to hold it in till after we arrived but..." Jiro held up her hands to hold off further explanation.

"Okay, okay! I get it! Sorry, that does kinda suck." Jaune silently thanked her for her understanding.

Meanwhile, All Might stood close by to Izuku, as Ozpin walked over, after unlocking Iida's Aura. "Mr Midoriya?" Izuku gulped, but nodded, as ready as he would ever be. Ozpin smiled kindly, and sat down next to him, careful not to touch his hurt leg. One hand reached out to touch Midoriya's head, and the other rested on his chest. Izuku closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, as Ozpin began a ritual chant, that him and all the staff, were doing.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death..." Izuku thought the words that Ozpin were saying were becoming more distant, and he wondered why as he opened his eyes…

The Vestige World

…Izuku blinked. Then blinked again as he found himself somewhere else. He was standing in a place shrouded by a swirling dark mist. There was no visible light source, though he could still see.

He wasn't alone.

Before him stood a line of people he had never seen before, but based on their outfits, it wasn't hard to imagine them as Pro-Heroes. The one closest to him was a beautiful woman with dark hair, styled similar to his mother. She bore a fierce and yet stoic expression. She didn't look at him though. Her gaze, much like the others beside her looked forward, away to Izuku's left.

As Izuku tried to take in details of the others, he counted that there were seven people in total, though the two furthest from him weren't truly visible, more like smoky avatars of human forms, coloured red and violet respectively. There was also a figure in the middle that was wreathed in golden flames... wait…

'All Might?' Izuku realised as he regarded the figure further. It truly did look like the man in his shrunken state, but through the flame like aura surrounding him, it gave the impression of the strength and power he once wielded. 'If that's All Might, then maybe these others are the previous holders of our Quirk. I remember having a vision before, during the Sports Festival, but not this clear!'

"What... is this...?" Izuku was startled by the voice to his immediate left, and he turned to find none other than Professor Ozpin standing next to him. He was looking around in astonishment, before his eyes caught sight of Izuku.

"Midoriya? Is that... you?" Izuku wondered why Ozpin would ask such a question, but as he glanced at himself he understood the man's uncertainty. Apart from the top of his head, his eyes, and his scarred right hand, everything seemed to be as a dark green shadow, similar to the mist surrounding them.

Considering how odd the situation was, a small part of Izuku's mind reflected on how well both he and Ozpin were coping. Looking back up and meeting the Professor's eyes, he gave a nod (without a mouth, how could he speak?). As he nodded though he noticed movement behind the man, and turned to see what it was.

Someone else was here. A man wearing a suit of armour, whilst carrying either a staff, or maybe a sceptre. The man however was mirroring Ozpin's movements in perfect synchronous motion. Ozpin himself, having noticed Izuku's distraction turned to see, and gasped. Chancing a quick look at the man beside him, Izuku thought he saw melancholic recognition... and maybe a touch of fear…

Turning back, Izuku saw there were actually more people behind the knight. Lines and lines of them. Some were very old, with long beards that trailed on the ground, others looked fairly young, maybe in their twenties or early thirties. All of them mimicked Ozpin's movements, without even a second of difference between them.

The two shared a look. Both was feeling the others unease and uncertainty. Both felt that they had glimpsed something very private and secret, and felt very wrong footed by it all. "Midoriya..." Ozpin began at length, "are you able to speak at all?" Izuku shook his head. "I see." The Professor was adjusting as much as possible to the situation. He glanced at the former users of One for All.

"Can you at least, confirm if this relates to your Quirk at all?" Izuku hesitated, but figured that even if he could lie, the man would see through it. He and All Might would have to talk about this later. He locked eyes with Ozpin, and nodded once again.

"Dear little brother, why must you oppose me so?" A new voice caught their attention. Turning they found that the line of heroes had disappeared, and in their place, was two men, both with their eyes obscured by mist arguing with each other. Izuku's eyes went wide as he took in the voice of the one who had spoken, the one standing over the other man with quiet confidence and menace.

'All for One! And the other, he must be... the First! The First user of One for All!'

"Because what you're doing is wrong!" The younger of the two brothers replied, his body smaller and weaker than his elder sibling. "The world is tearing itself apart right now, and you're exploiting it! Meta-powers shouldn't be used for personal self-interest!"

The scene before them continued, the younger brother pointing out how anything All for One did, even if it could seem a kindness; Such as taking a power from a man who had been ostracised by his family for it, and giving a meta-ability to someone who had been born powerless and couldn't defend himself against those who did have power. All of it was simply to build up followers, and further his own cause of ruling over Japan.

Izuku chanced a look at Ozpin as this all played out before them. The Headmaster seemed enraptured, watching intently and in silence. The scene then changed, and Izuku turned back.

They were now in a cell, one where the younger brother was a prisoner. Where before he could stand somewhat against All for One for a bit. Now he seemed to have no strength to even stand up.

"You've stopped eating again. You're fading away into nothing." All for One looked down on his little brother. The frail man defiantly stated he wouldn't become what his brother wanted him to be.

'Wait! Is this the day... the day that One for All was created?' Izuku thought as AFO gloated about how those who had opposed him had been destroyed, and he hadn't even needed to do it himself. His own supporters had taken it upon themselves to do the deed. The villain then remarked on how he was enacting his dream, like that of the antagonist from a comic book the two brothers used to read.

The younger brother pointed out that All for One had stopped after Volume three, and hadn't seen the true ending. Of how a hero of justice, rose up, and ended the demon king's reign.

"Real life doesn't follow stock plots." AFO seized his brother's face with one hand, red light pouring off him as he used his Quirk. "I'll rewrite your story as well."

"Midoriya..." Izuku turned to look at Ozpin, even as the younger brother begged his sibling to stop. Even as he stated he'd found a meta-ability even his frail body could use. One that stockpiled power.

The Headmaster was giving him a gentle and empathetic look. "I can't say I understand everything that is happening right now, but I do understand that this is something not to be casually discussed." He put a hand to his heart and inclined his head. "If you ever feel the need to properly explain this to me, I'd be happy to make myself available to you. And if you wish to keep things private, I'll understand, and I swear not to mention it to anyone."

Izuku could feel the genuine intent as Ozpin spoke, that he meant every word. It made him feel relieved and settled his nerves.

"So... you're the Ninth." The First's voice brought both of them back, only to find that the dark mist that had them surrounded was gone. Instead they were now in a completely white space. And the First user of One for All was approaching them.

The First's white hair was masking his eyes somewhat, but Izuku realised that the man was looking right at him! 'This... this isn't a memory!' he thought. 'Somehow, the spirit of the First... maybe even all the past users... are living inside of One for All!'

"I'm sorry," First said as he got closer. "I wanted to show you more, but you're barely using twenty percent of the power right now." He turned his attention to Ozpin even as he came closer. "Things are likely to change beyond prediction with the introduction of Aura. We are already well past the Singularity point, so there's no telling what will happen when you combine the power of your soul with this Quirk."

"Ozpin," The headmaster tilted his head as the First spoke his name. "We'll be counting on you to keep this secret. I know you have questions. All Might can give you some answers, if not all." Ozpin nodded as he took this in, and the First, who was now only a few feet away, looked back to Izuku, and reached out. Izuku reached out as well, his right hand stretching to connect.

"Don't be afraid." First said as their fingers touched. "You, are not alone." And in that moment, Izuku saw it wasn't just the First connecting with him, but the hands of every other past user, all reaching to take his.

Then everything went white, and there was a tugging sensation, making him feel like he was being pulled away. And he could swear he could hear Uraraka's voice, calling him by his hero name…

Vale General Hospital

"DEKU! WAKE UP!" Izuku's eyes opened, and a surge of power burst from him. Ozpin was sent flying backwards, and his body ached as his movements caused him to move his injured leg.

"Midoriya!"

"Professor! Are you hurt?"

"What the heck was that?!"

"That was so scary Midoriya! You were like a freaking zombie...!"

"Are you alright?"

"Deku... "

Uraraka was at his side, on the other a very concerned All Might. The others from his class were looking between him, and Professor Ozpin, who was being helped off the floor. Aizawa had his Quirk in effect, his red eyes fixed on Izuku.

"Midoriya, are you okay?" He asked. Izuku found himself breathing hard, but he slowly got it under control.

"I...I think so sir... What happened?"

"Both you and Professor Ozpin fell into a deep trance. We've been trying to separate the two of you and wake you up for five minutes." Goodwitch's reply had Izuku gasp. He looked over at Ozpin, who was a little unsteady, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

"Professor... I'm so sorry! Are you hurt sir?" Ozpin raised a hand, and Izuku quieted.

"I'm all right. Shaken... and a little drained, but otherwise unhurt." He turned his attention to Goodwitch. "Glynda, could you check his Aura levels for us, please?" The Deputy Headmistress frowned a moment, before acquiescing. She walked over to Midoriya and pulled out her scroll. Accessing it's functions to scan for a person's Aura and track it's current levels, she analysed Izuku and…

"By the Brothers..." She gasped, her eyes wide as she looked at the data. All Might and Aizawa moved in, the latter now deactivated his Quirk now that Izuku was calmer and seemingly under control.

"What? What is it?" Aizawa asked. Goodwitch looked at him, and then showed what the scroll revealed.

"Midoriya has successfully had his Aura awakened... but the amount he has is well above anything I've ever seen or heard of for a single person before." Eye's widened across the board as people listened in. "I swear... it's as if he has nine people's worth of Aura!"

Bakugo and All Might both realised what that meant. It took all their self control, not to try and catch each others eye, or look too hard at Izuku.

'Nine people's worth... don't tell me Deku has that much…'

'Nine... does this mean... that somehow his Aura…'

'...Is this because of One for All?!' they thought together. Thankfully nobody paid them much attention. Except for Ozpin, who gave All Might a subtle look, before brushing himself off.

"I suppose that might be my fault." That got everyone to look at the Headmaster readjusting his spectacles. "As with the others, I found a measure of difficulty in awakening Midoriya's soul. I may have put too much into it, as way of overcompensation."

"However, it seems everyone now has their Aura activated now. And that it is the first step in ensuring your safety and well being whilst you are here." Glynda frowned a little, but said nothing. Aizawa also had a measure of scepticism, but chose to leave the matter for now.

"Sir..." Ozpin turned to see Ruby gingerly holding up a hand to get his attention. "What happens next?" He smiled.

"I'll be making arrangements for Class 1-A to come and stay at Beacon." The teens all started to feel some measure of excitement again, curious as to what kind of place Beacon would be. The Hunters were also curious as to how this would affect their daily lives. "I'll also be putting in a call to an old associate, in order to look after Miss Gale, so that she can stay at Beacon too. I imagine she'd want to thank and stay close to the heroes who kept her safe after all." That made a number of students happy to hear. Even Bakugo, though he'd never admit it.

"As for you eight," He said addressing his own first years, who all looked up in interest, "I'll likely be relying on you to act as ambassadors of a sort."

"Ambassadors?" Blake asked, like her friends, a little confused.

"Since Class 1-A and their teachers are most familiar with your teams at this point, we may ask you to help with guiding them around campus, and assisting in a number of other ways to help get them settled." Ozpin explained further. There were nods as the group accepted and understood, though some internally were wondering just how much responsibility would be placed on them.

"We can sort out and discuss those details later. For now, lets leave the doctors and nurses to do their checks on everyone, and give them some space for a bit."

…

"What really happened back there, Ozpin?" Glynda asked when they were alone, walking away down a corridor. She gave him a steely gaze he knew very well. Ozpin looked her in the eye in response.

"Glynda, there is more to Midoriya than we thought, but more than that I can't say." 'There are secrets I haven't told even you, my friend. This is just one more.' He looked away. "We may both get answers to our questions, in time, but for now, I think it best to leave the matter alone." She wasn't happy, but she sighed in acceptance.

With that they walked on in silence.

…

Izuku found he could walk by the afternoon. It was with a pained limp, and he needed a crutch for support, but he was already making swift progress. Ruby and the other Hunters had promised they'd come back tomorrow, and they could all continue asking questions of each other.

By the late evening, everyone was pretty much over the excitement of having Aura, especially since, without knowing how to properly use it beyond it's automatic functions, they couldn't really do anything with it. But people were feeling a little better, and would group around each others beds to play games with packs of cards that the doctors lent them. Surprisingly, despite some details being different, they were pretty much like the playing cards back home. Shoji was hosting a game of 'Go Fish' with Ashido, Hagakure, and Koda.

Yaoyorozu had asked for books or magazines, and the staff had made those available as well. She and Jiro, along with Todoroki, were going through the material in an effort to learn as much as they could about the world through it's literature.

Some of the others watched the Television in the nearby common room. Kaminari, Mineta and Sero were all doing their own research, but largely, they just wanted something vaguely familiar to take their minds off of things.

Bakugo went to bed early, and made it clear he didn't want to be disturbed. Aoyama had been enquiring about his costume. Like many of their outfits, it had been taken off and moved to Laundry, but apparently his required extra attention. Nobody asked why. He still had his belt though, which he was happy about.

Izuku was making his way back to bed after a trip to the bathroom, when he heard someone call to him. "Young Midoriya, do you have a minute?" He looked to see All Might gesturing to him to come over, the man now in some exercise clothes given to him. Izuku nodded.

All Might took him into an empty office and had him sit down, while he took a seat across from him. "I asked the staff if I could use this for private talks with students, since with the curtains it doesn't provide much privacy. Thankfully they were kind enough to agree."

"I see," Izuku said, watching as All Might picked up a notebook and a pen. 'I should ask to see if I can get one of those.'

"I told Aizawa I'd help check in with all of you" All Might continued, as he wrote something down in the notebook. "I've already spoken to Young Koda, and Young Bakugo. Since they and yourself were the most injured, I wanted to see how they were all doing after having Aura." He stopped writing and flipped the notebook around so that Izuku could see what he had written.

I don't know how private this conversation really is, so I'm using our 'talk' as a cover. What really happened today?

Izuku understood. He made a silent gesture to take the book and pen as he talked. "Well... what happened earlier was weird for sure. But as you can see, I'm walking better, and even if you take painkillers into account, it hurts a lot less. I probably won't need the brace tonight." All Might handed the writing implements over, and Izuku quickly started writing.

"I'm glad to see that. Aura really is amazing, isn't it."

"How's your arm? I noticed you don't have the bandages anymore." All Might smiled. Even with everything Izuku always looked out for the well being of others.

"Yeah, they took it off about an hour ago." He gingerly touched his arm. "There will be some faint scars, but considering how things could have gone, I'm lucky I have an arm at all." He frowned when Izuku flipped the book around for him to read, and then his eye's widened.

I shared a vision of the Vestiges with Ozpin.

Saw the memories of the First, how OFA was made.

The First SPOKE to ME and OZPIN.

All Might took a moment to collect himself, "W-well, how about your Quirk? Any...anything odd at all after the awakening?"

Izuku quickly went back to writing, whilst talking. "I haven't really tried to be honest, but nothing so far."

"That's a relief." All Might said, as Izuku finished writing and flipped the book again.

Ozpin doesn't know everything, but promised to keep secret.

First said we were past the SINGULARITY POINT and that they couldn't predict what would happen with Aura.

There's also something about Ozpin. There's more to him than he appears, but I think he's trustworthy.

All Might was still processing all of this, when Izuku quickly flipped the book for a moment to write something else, before showing it to his mentor.

Has ANYTHING like this happened before?

All Might sighed and shook his head. "All of this is brand new. As far as I know, nothing like this has ever happened to anyone before. And we are so far away from UA, we don't have the support structure we're used to. Hopefully Beacon will provide what we need, until we find a way back home." He gestured to Izuku to return the book and pen, which Izuku immediately did. All Might made a last note to show him.

We'll have a proper talk about this later, until then, if there's anything else that happens – visions or your Quirk acting up, come find me.

With that All Might stood up and opened the door for Izuku, who bowed and with a quiet "thanks All Might", the boy started making his way back to bed.

Izuku would struggle to sleep that night, his mind filled with questions he couldn't answer.

[Cue Outro]

---

1st Outro for Season 1 – Part 2: Jaune

[A Young Jaune plays with his older sister Saffron. Jaune has a cardboard shield and sword, and a saucepan lid on his head as he plays Huntsman.]

[Jaune is swamped by his 6 other sisters, annoyed as they mess with his hair.]

[Jaune asks his parents to train him, only for them to shake their heads. The Sword and Shield that hangs up in their home, is taken down by Jaune's hand.]

[We see the moment he pays for the fake transcripts, and briefly the Bullhead he boards to attend Beacon.]

[Jaune runs through darkness, till he trips. He lands on his face. As he lifts his head, he sees an open hand reaching down. It is Pyrrha, and behind her is Nora and Ren. Beside her is Ruby, and behind her is Izuku, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka and Iida. They all smile, forgiving, welcoming.]

[Jaune brushes his face, before smiling and accepting the hand up, the darkness vanishing and replaced by blue skies and green fields.]

---

Next Time on Paragons of Virtue and Glory:

[Iida: Attention! I'm Tenya Iida, and I'll be responsible for this preview!]

[Weiss: Ahem, and I'm Weiss Schnee. In the next episode we finally get Class 1-A out of the hospital and into Beacon, the greatest Huntsman Academy in the world.]

[Iida: Even though we are from different worlds, as Class Rep, I will ensure that all my classmates behave and compose themselves as UA students should. We will not shame our school!]

[Weiss: I'm glad to hear it. I'm sure you will all adapt just fine to becoming teams and sharing dorm rooms…]

[Iida: Hang on a moment... did you say 'sharing dorm rooms?']

[Weiss: Well... yes, I did…]

[Iida: Does that mean that some of us may have to share rooms with the girls! Outrageous! I must demand a change immediately!]

[Weiss: (Sighs) Next time; "Moving into Beacon Dorms."]

[Iida: I can't believe that Mr Aizawa and All Might would agree to such a thing!]

[Weiss: Oh... Just 'Go Beyond' already!]

[Ruby: PLUS ULTRA!]

---

NOTES:

So, lets go over some questions that people have been asking.

1) If 1-A are getting Aura, will they be getting Semblances?

I can understand where people are coming from when they say they don't want something like this to happen. But yes, now that everyone in Class 1-A has Aura, they now have the capacity to get a Semblance. I won't be making any of them OP, it'll be more like a new special move or technique for the most part. I hope you all enjoy what I've come up with for each person as we go through the story.

Besides, they don't know it yet, but there will be some drawbacks to non Remnations getting Aura and Semblance.

2) If they are going through the early RWBY plot, will that make the RWBY cast irrelevant?

It would kind of defeat the point of bringing the two casts together to make one irrelevant. The best crossovers in my opinion are those that showcase the strengths of all the worlds and characters involved. I've never been a fan of stories, where the narrative is just an excuse to rip on one franchise and it's canon, while praising the other.

So Ruby and friends are still very relevant. Aizawa has acquired more problem children to help teach. And these ones have guns!

3) Will other supporting characters get some attention?

I am planning for every character to have their moments to shine, and get some development. One of the ways I intend to do this... well, that would be spoiling the next Episode a little. But essentially yes, expect some characters who don't often get the spotlight, to get their fifteen minutes.

Progress proceeds apace with Episode 5. One I'm looking forward to seeing people react to, as it will have some students face off against each other, including a pair of blondes with passionate personalities. Episode 4 meanwhile, is not that far off release…

So please, as always, feel free to drop a review of what you thought about the chapter, your speculations as to what comes next, and your questions that I will try to answer now and then. Again, I would like to remind people that I will not be taking suggestions for pairings, and for what happens in the story.

Until next time, next time, next time…

EDIT: This chapter has been edited since release to correct mistakes missed previously, to better improve the story, and reading experience - (Last edit 30th July 2023)