Rewritten as of 5/1/2023.

It was morning.

I woke up energetic, but I also woke up not-so-energetic. Either way, I woke up as Emi first and sprung into action seconds before one of my alarms sounded. That alarm was Paz's; her body didn't budge. Okay, I went up to that other body of mine, grabbed it, and shook.

Not even a stir. Time for plan B.

First, I took a few deep breaths. Then I activated my Aura, wrapped my arms around her waist—oof—and picked her up. Gah, almost forgot how heavy people can be! Hmm, is anyone watching? I looked around and saw that only a few people were awake, none of whom were focused on me. Good; no scene, no drama. Simple, right?

I took a deep breath. This Atlesian suplex is gonna hurt.

I jumped and threw myself back, holding Paz further back—GAH! Agh, fuck, that hurts! But hey, it worked: she's awake!

With a splitting headache. Ow. Never doing that again.

"Morning, Paz." Emi smiled through my pain.

Paz was unamused. She scratched the back of her aching head (damn me), standing up before looking her in the eye. "Did you really have to do that to y—me?" She clenched her teeth a bit.

"Uhh," Emi's smile grew bigger and awkward-er. "No?!"

"Well, I'll tell you one thing:" Paz began as she walked over to her luggage and looked through it for her clothes, "that was a bold wake-up move."

"Thank you—"

"But a dangerous one."

Emi chuckled. "Fine, sorry." She sat down on a fancy swivel stool that Paz had brought, hands behind her back. "I won't do that again, I promise."

I'm not lying. I'm not doing that again, even if it makes for a good story to tell years down the line. Besides, today's the initiation. I can't just waste all my energy waking people up with an Atlesian suplex or talking to myself.

I've gotta focus.

. . .

Mmmmm! That's some great food! In fact, I don't think I've had quite a concentration of good food in a while.

Now that I think about it, I forgot how convenient it is to eat four of my favorite breakfasts at once. On Paz's side, she had bell peppers, spinach, avocado, tofu, and kale, all scrambled up into one delicious little bowl! Livio's was eggs, toast, and bacon; can't go wrong with that. Emi devoured waffles that were drenched in butter and maple syrup with sausages and tempura on the side. Admittedly, that's more of a guilty pleasure, but after all, it's a favorite guilty pleasure for a reason. And then Talan's is a grilled tomato with egg, bread, orange slices, and beans.

Can't go wrong with all those.

Alright, I'm all filled up, so I can finally get going and prepare. I got up and put my dishes and utensils where they should be before walking out of the cafeteria. Nice architecture, by the way. How long ago was this built? 79 years ago, if I remember correctly. Not bad.

So I exited through the front door and took a deep breath before beginning my way dow—

"Why, what a grand morning, Beacon Academyyyyy!" A high, dare I say ear-piercing voice reached my ears as—oh, what now... what the hell is she wearing?!

Um, she's got a tiara (well, a cheap one), a light pink, long-tailed coatee that looked approximately 3-4 centuries old... pretty sure actual historical coatees weren't pink? What else? She has a tutu dress underneath that, pink leggings with rainbow socks, and alright, those can't be safe.

Pointe shoes. With knives. And chains with discs at the backs of their heels.

First of all, I know people have made it as Hunters with just good ol' non-transforming weapons without guns or Dust in them before, which is fine. Hell, people make it with either a knife to their name or nothing but Aura. That's pretty kickass. What I want to know is: will her shoes work?! Sure, I can imagine kicking people or Grimm with those blades, not to mention those discs those chains attach to, which I just found out about, but what else?

"My name, you hear, is... is Princess Sparkly Swan Charming III of the High Order!" Oh, I remember: her name's Calfuray! She and Livio met at Signal, didn't they? I mean, she's got that face, and Calfuray displayed a few sick breakdance moves that she managed to weave into attacks in their own right.

If that's her, why is she like this now? I'm just curious.

Calfuray then did perhaps the best military salute coming from a non-soldier. I'm not kidding. "In short, I am royalty! I am next in line to become queen!" No, she isn't. "And I am one of the most beautiful and graceful people to ever bless Remnant with my presence!"

If I recall correctly, there probably hasn't been a royal family that's ever had significant power. Maybe some odd 80 years ago, after the war? King Oz was the last King of Remnant before the royalty was abolished for the Valean council... isn't that right?

"And right here is the enemy." Ms. Princess Sparkly Swan III of the High... er, Calfuray, placed a mannequin on a stick on the floor, not knowing that the eyes were drifting away from her to, guess who, the one and only Pyrrha Nikos herself. Yeah, sticking to Calfuray from that point on. "And I am going to use my ballet shoes—err, Swan Lake to take the tyrannical, ne'er-do-well enemy down!"

"Wait, is that Pyrrha?" A student stood up in awe as he looked at her.

"Oh my Gods, it is her!" Another one went up to her, waving hello as a couple more joined in her mobbing.

"W—W–W-Wait!" Calfuray panicked, watching as people went up to the champion from Mistral. "You haven't even seen Swan Lake in action ye—woah!" I watched her trip over her own feet. Yeah, if she were standing on blade tips with shaky ankles—which she was, by the way—I'm surprised she balanced herself for that long. But of course, not everything lasts.

So she got back up and, well... "Uhhhh! Here's... here's a... f-f-fighting demonstration!" She shouted, with me, as the sole... er, four? Well, as the only one still watching, I saw Calfuray jump and try for a flying spin-kick—"WAH!" she yelped—only to fall without having scratched the mannequin.

"Guuuuuys, what about me?" She cried out to the people surrounding Pyrrha before panicking to pack the mannequin up and scurry away.

Gotta say, though, that I kinda feel bad for her. I'm sure she had big plans for Beacon if she tried to go for a princess theme, and I'm sure she's practiced quite a bit with those shoes. It's just that I'm not sure how to even approach her, given my current situation, but I want to at least try to support her.

I sighed.

Okay, there's about a dozen people surrounding Pyrrha, and look, more are gathering around her... hey, one of them is... that's Morley! The other one to his right is probably his brother. Hmmm! Morley told Emi about him back at Sanctum, I think, and said his name was Zack? What was his name again? Zand-er–Zeffrey? Zaffree.

"Hello!" Pyrrha waved towards Morley and Zaffree as they made their way through the crowds. "Come to see me again, Morley?"

"After that finalists round back there?" Morley began with a smile. "Yes."

Pyrrha chuckled, but I could tell she's kinda embarrassed about it. "Well, you did admirably, to say the least."

"Yes, I did." Morley nodded. "Just a couple more weeks' practice and I'd have..." He then sighed. "Eh. There's always a second time for things."

"Indeed, there is." Pyrrha ran her fingers through her ponytail. "Now, if you don't mind, I am about to eat, so I may catch up with you later."

Morley watched with an affirmative thumbs up as Pyrrha continued her way inside the cafeteria.

"See you 'round!"

"Same to you!"

Oh yeah, I really gotta get going. Thus, I started making my way to the locker rooms. So, passcodes. Paz's is 521, Liv's is 648, Talan's is 123 (hey, poor guy's finally caught a break!), but Emi...

. . .

Right... what was Emi's code again?

I reached towards the keypad for her locke—Nope! Don't remember!

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" The intercom mocked me. "Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

No, this is hopeless! Paz, Livio, and Talan started heading there, but oh, poor Emi. Calm down, Strings. I'm sure you can remember what it was. If you can remember Livio's code, then you can remember Emi's, somehow.

Riddle me this: was it 6, was it 2... 206? I entered 602 and pressed enter—nope, not the right one. Grrrr, stupid brains, you always make me forget! What else, what else, what else. Hold on... hold on. What if it was 902? I entered that in the code and pressed enter-wait, that worked!

Ahahaha, at last, there we go! Never forgetting that again! I grabbed the stupid brass knuckles and got the hell outta there. Let's hope I'm not too late!

. . .

"G'afternoon, fine ladies, gents, and everyone else!" Professor Oobleck took a quick swig from his cof-"Today, you will be launched straight into the Emerald Forest!"

WHAT?!

"Ah, but you heard that right!"

Uhmmm, don't freak out! "So! You'll be paired with the first person you gaze your eyes upon after landing for your four potential years here!"

I-um—wha? Too fast; what is he saying?! "And then—"

"Allow me to take over from here." Someone, whom I assume is Professor Port, had stepped up, taking over for Professor Oobleck. (Thank God!) "Just to reiterate: yes, you will be launched."

Yep, as I'd feared. In fact, when I got launched and had to land safely somehow, it was done with only Paz to worry about. Of course, given that it happened during her last big magic show, it was understandable. Here? I have to watch all four.

"Whether he's your average Hunter-in-Training or she's the future champion among champions, you and your partner will go ahead and slice your way through the forces of Grimm."

"Afterwards, you'll pick up a relic from an abandoned temple at your destination!"

First order of business: make contact! In this case, uh, with myself! No, seriously, I can actually look at myself, and I don't even need a mirror for that. Yeah, suck on that, single-bodied people. Team PLSE for pulse, PETL for petal... PPTS for puppets? Uh, team "me" for the win!

"From that point on, make the dastardly escapade of people's dreams back to the top of the cliff with that relic—just like the one and only Ifa James does it—after which you will be assigned teams!"

Ifa James is a movie character, though. In fact, I'm not even sure if the events of Marauders of the Lost Temple are possible. Alright, if there's nothing else, I should be ready to go!

"So," Oobleck finally spoke a little slower this time, "are there any questions? Or do you dare launch straight away?"

Time to ask him a question. Paz is confident, so she doesn't need to ask questions. No go. How about Emi? Nah, I'm pretty sure that, as someone like her, she's been in the air at high velocity before. Talan's got serious real-world fighting experience, so he knows a thing or two about being sent flying and landing on two feet or hands, for better or worse. Maybe both, but preferably not the face. How about Livio? Guy's lived a pretty boring life with a grounded fighting style.

Okay. Livio raised his hand.

"Yes, what is it?" Even through his glasses, I, or rather, he, saw that Oobleck's eyes lit up as fast as he spoke.

"What if I land too far away?"
"Then you'd still do the best you've got and make it to the temple in no time."
"Good to know."
"Whatever's on your mind, I'm very sure you'll make it through, and then some!"

Well then. My hearts are beating fast, and I can already hear the launches of a dozen students before me, one by one. I took a deep breath, then another, then another, then another—RAAAGH! Okay, one of me's going–WAH! And another-and ANOTHER!

NOW ALL OF ME'S GOING!

Alright, as I said, don't panic! I can see all of me from Emi's perspective—well, I could, but now that she's spinning in the air, not anymore! Must! Remember! Landing strategies! Don't panic; I can do this!

Paz... pulled out her wand from her tailcoat! Yeah! And she made herself have less gravity! Then L-Li—Livio took out his battleaxe, pointed towards a tree that he was headed towards, and prepared to swing! T–Talan, um... I—I guess he'll surf on some tree branch onto the ground!

That's good! Actually, that's great that I managed that, but goddammit, Emi's spinning midair! Shiiiiit..!

And so, Paz landed slowly (good!), and Talan landed on a tree branch that broke off and went through those two Beowolves (uh-huh!)—OW–ow-ow! Emi tumbled, then faceplanted, and then Livio... made a safe landing by spinning around the tree with his battleaxe stabbed through it. Yes!

God... I... I took a moment to breathe... What can I say... I didn't think it'd work out how it did. Damn me, that was exhilarating, but also kiiinda scary, don't you think?! Sure, I just survived getting launched four times at once despite the world deciding I'd have four bodies instead of just one, but that was... really terrifying, actually!

Actually, now I'm scared! I mean, I'm all alone in this forest and I'm supposed to make my way to that abandoned temple. Worse, for all I know, team "me" might not happen, whether I get paired with other people or, heavens forbid, die. Oh, and now there's all those Grimm coming after me, just fantastic!

Wait, where's my hat?!

Hey, there it is! Too bad it's stuck up high on a tree branch, and God knows how many Grimm are after me!

Fuuuuun!

With little time to spare, Emi got up and started grappling with two Boarbatusks trying to bounce her from tree to tree! Paz waved her wand and ran it through the pockets on her sleeves, coat, and pants!

The Grimm are ready to strike, but how will they like what I have up my sleeve? Paz swung her wand, pointed it right towards her right hand, and watched as a stack of cards magically flew free from her pockets. After that, those cards formed a single-file line that cleanly slotted right into her hand. And with that, Paz lashed against an Ursa that was about to strike, sending it stumbling back!

Behold, a whip!

Thus, she ran forward, leapt while spinning, and, before those pitiful Ursas knew it, delivered a flurry of blows at them! Lucky her, two of them fell down with a painful roar, another now disintegrating into the air. For Livio, he went right in with a stab through that surviving Ursa before it could recover, looking into Paz's eyes.

"Why, thank you." Paz let out a sigh of relief as she pulled her wand out again, this time to put those cards back where they were.

Livio shrugged. "It's the least I could do." He slung his battleaxe over his shoulder—tipped backwards, like seriously, those weapons can get heavy.

Paz then looked at the hat that was hanging from that branch. It was a silk top hat with a ribbon in deep blue, the same color as her hair. She tried to use her wand to get it down from there, but nothing happened. Damn, how tall can these trees get?

"Think you could make the throw?" Paz turned back towards Livio, who nodded and pushed a button close to the battleaxe head that split it into two separate axes.

Paz made the axes have little gravity, after which Livio threw one of his two axes. He watched as the axe practically flew spinning, slicing clean through the branch, allowing me—I mean, Paz—to finally catch that damn hat. (Hurry up, Emi and Talan are waiting!)

Elsewhere, Talan, who had long since hopped off the branch and started venturing towards those ruins, found a certain red-haired Faunus fighting two Boarbatusks. Wait, where's Livio's axe going? Anyways...

"Eat this!" Emi finally punched a fist-shaped hole through a Boarbatusk's torso, killing it off in the process, before moving onto the remaining one.

'Thank the Gods, she's alive.' Talan let out a sigh of relief and whistled at her.

"Huh?" Emi turned around, accidentally kicking that Grimm to the side. (Y'know, accidentally!)

And the two locked eyes, just like Paz and Liv did. Yes, team "me" is happening! All the team attacks that I wanna do? Now I can safely hone them once and for all. And then once I master 'em, I'm gonna be unstoppable! Boo-yah!

Suddenly, the bushes to his right rustled.

Talan got ready to pummel whatever threat it was with that metallic staff of his. 'This could be anything.' Talan's grip further tightened on the staff. 'It might be a Boarbatusk Major, or worse.'

"Wah!" Oh, it's Calfuray again! She just came out of the bushworks and fell flat on her face! Well, kinda like me, but nevermind that.

"...Hey." Talan shook his head while he returned the staff to his back.

"Uh..." Calfuray blinked rapidly, hurriedly getting back up on the tips of her toes, err blade tips. She stepped forward, hands at her sides, while lifting one foot behind the other. "Yah!"

Predictably, she tipped backward.

Talan grabbed her wrist, stopping her fall before she could freak out. Unbeknownst to him, however, Emi had climbed up a tree and sat atop a tree branch, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. With nobody watching, boy did she find that perfect moment. She pulled out her Scroll and started recording, leaning back and then forward. She let go of the branch and flipped upright, landing right in front of them with a hand on her hips and a stupid, wide smile on her face.

"Peek-a-boo!"

Talan and Calfuray screamed, the latter flailing her arms as she stumbled back and fell onto the bushes that she had emerged from. "By the Brothers! Might this be how you salute your future companions?!" Calfuray heavily breathed, pointing right at Emi, who burst into laughter.

"Welcome to Beacon!" Emi laughed again when suddenly an axe—excuse me, Livio's axe—OWWWWWW—h-hit me on Emi's head!

Th-Thus, Calfuray let out her own, perhaps annoying noblewoman's laugh... ow, oh God, why did I do that... All I wanted was my top hat back, so why didn't I just have Paz come closer and use the wand to retrieve it? Whatever, what's done is done anyway...

"Beowolf!" Calfuray suddenly pushed me to the sides as a Beowolf started approaching us three. I... tried to push my pain aside—ouch—but as it stands, Talan's staggering in pain and Emi's still laid out on the grassy ground, Scroll dropped. Thanks, me. That's another regret so far, but hey, it could be worse...

"Don't worry, I'm right with you." Talan held up his metallic staff as the two started attacking the Beowolf. At last, I got to witness how Calfuray fights, but oooh, she's not doing well at all. She's either missing, falling down and getting up, or, if she ever stabs it with her shoes, barely making dents. Eventually, after getting hit to the side by the Beowolf, she swung a metal disc from her shoe into the Beowolf with a kick, carving her first big hole in it.

This isn't good. She couldn't destroy a training dummy, so why is she trying to take down a Beowolf? Something has to be done, I'm sure of it!

"Nah, screw this!" Wait, what? She stepped back—"Gimme some space!"—and told me to back off, which... I did. What's she planning? Usually if someone were to tell me something similar, wouldn't that mean that they're about to do something very impressive and also possibly very dangerous?

She got on the ground, kicked to her left, and started doing a windmill, sending those discs-on-a-chain flying in a circle, taking off a Grimm arm and a shoulder in the process. Daaamn! That's her Semblance?! I knew she could power up her moves with speed and momentum according to her, but I almost forgot how powerful that is!

And just like that, the Beowolf was as good as dead. All that's left now was me, a winded-out person, with a Signal student who still seemed waaay in over her head standing proud in front of me.

"How's that for a fighting demonstration?" She asked me.

I, with little to say about it, gave her the nod.

Original AN (1/26/2023): Apparently, FFN decided that sorting stories by title rather than date was a good idea. As a result, I ended up publishing the second chapter on the original oneshot instead of here as was planned.

Oops.