(Beacon Academy, Night)
All of the first years had gathered in the Ballroom with their sleeping bags, and were getting ready to sleep through the night, some chose to simply read or write or do something else before doing so.
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed as she laid down next to her little sister Ruby.
"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby commented.
"I know I do!" Yang purred as she observed several muscular, shirtless guys before she quickly returned her attention to Ruby after seeing Jaune waving to her in his Pumpkin Pete pajamas. "What's that?" She asked her sister, seeing her writing something.
"Whatcha writing?" Yang asked.
"A letter to the gang back at Signal." Ruby replied. "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
"Aw that's so cute!" Yang gushed, causing Ruby to irritatingly throw her corgi pillow at her older sister's face, knocking her back slightly.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here." Ruby said dejectedly.
"What about Jaune? He's… nice." Yang told her. "There you go, plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!"
"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend." Ruby said as she laid back on her sleeping bag. "Back to zero."
"There's no such thing as negative friends. You just made one friend and one enemy." Yang stated, only for Ruby to throw her corgi pillow at her face again. "And what about that Red guy you keep talking about? Isn't he a friend?"
"I barely even know him." Ruby said. "I only saw him once, and I haven't caught a glimpse of him here at Beacon. Pretty sure I'm never gonna see him again." She didn't tell Yang about Chuck because like Red, only appeared once and she doesn't know his name.
Yang sighed before speaking a bit more seriously. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."
Ruby's attention was caught by a lit up candle, the owner of the lit candle was the same black-haired girl with a bowtie from before, sitting against a wall and reading a book. "That girl…"
"You know her?" Yang asked.
"Not really." Ruby answered. "She saw what happened this morning but left before I could say anything."
"Well, now's your chance." Yang said as she immediately got up and pulled Ruby up with her by the arm.
"Wait! What are you doing?!" Ruby questioned as she was dragged by her older sister who made their way towards the black-haired girl, turning her attention from her book to the two sisters.
"Hello." Yang greeted the black haired girl. "I believe you two may know each other." She reintroduced Ruby to her.
"Aren't you… the girl that exploded?"
"Uh, yeah. My name's Ruby." She offered her hand to shake, but the girl just seemed to be more interested in her book. "But… you can just call me Crater F… actually you can just call me Ruby." She said with a wince.
"Okay…"
"What are you doing?" Yang whispered to Ruby.
"I don't know, help me!" Ruby whispered back.
Attempting to communicate further with the girl, Yang asked, "So, what's your name?"
"Blake." The girl answered simply.
"Well Blake, I'm Yang. Ruby's older sister. I like your bow."
"Thanks." Blake said, sounding a little annoyed.
"It goes great with your… pajamas?" Yang tried.
"Right…"
Both sisters looked toward each other with winces, picking up on Blake's lack of interest in a conversation. "So… nice night, don't ya think?" Yang still tried to continue the conversation.
"Yes, it's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book. That I will continue to read. As soon as you leave." Blake said with finality.
"Yeah… this girl's a lost cause." Yang muttered to herself.
"What's it about?" Ruby asked Blake, getting her attention.
"Huh?"
"Your book. Does it have a name?" Ruby repeated.
"Well… it's about a man with two souls." Blake answered. "Each fighting for control over his body."
"Oh yeah, that's… real lovely." Yang wasn't much of a reader, but her sister is a completely different story, being a bookworm and all.
"I love books." Ruby stepped up, having found some common ground with Blake. "My mom used to read me stories every night when I was little. Stories of heroes, monsters, they're one of the reasons I wanted to become a Huntress."
"Oh, why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?" Blake asked.
"Well, I'm hoping we all will." Ruby answered. "As a kid, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books, someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people that couldn't protect themselves."
Blake smiled slightly. "That's very ambitious for a child." Her smile quickly faded, however. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."
Ruby's smile didn't fade. "Well, that's why we're here. To make it better."
"Oooh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang pulled Ruby into a hug, much to her annoyance.
"Gah, cut it out!" She struggled in Yang's grip, resulting in a big comical dust cloud of punches and kicks, causing Blake to chuckle slightly.
"Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to meet…"
"What is going on over here?!" Weiss marched over in irritation. "Don't you realize we're trying to sleep!?"
"Oh, not you again!" Weiss exclaimed to Ruby as Yang did the same to Weiss, while Ruby tried to shush both of them.
"Guys, she's right. People are trying to sleep." Ruby said with a wince as Blake simply rolled her eyes and put her book away.
"Oh, now you're on my side?" Weiss glared.
"I was always on your side!" Ruby argued.
"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?!" Yang exclaimed to Weiss. "She's only trying to be nice!"
"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss argued as Blake blew out the candles.
(City Of Vale)
Meanwhile, several black vans were lined parallel along a large dust store.
Even though the store is closed, it doesn't seem to bother the owners of the black vans. Several men in black suits and red ties suddenly burst out of the door of the store, carrying large bags of glowing dust of various colors.
"Come on, move it! We still have plenty of other dust stores to rob! Get into the vans before the cops arrive!" one of the men yelled out.
Nodding, the men unloaded their bags of dust into the vans before entering them and started the van's engines. "Hey! why aren't you guys moving?!" one of them yelled out from one of the vans after some moment of inactivity.
"The gas pedal's busted!" one of the goons from the unmoving van called out.
The goons inside the unmoving van suddenly heard a hissing noise below them, as if someone had placed a bomb there. They slowly turned their heads down to the source of the noise…
Why is there a cupcake near the gas pedal?
"Sorry Red, still no sign of them. This city is quite larger than Pig City back home." Chuck reported as he skidded back to Red, who was currently resting on a nearby bench.
"No dice for me either, but patience is a thorny berry to swallow." Red replied.
"But Red, we don't eat thorny berries, it would hurt our tongues." Chuck pointed out.
"Never mind that!" Red shot back. "The point is, I'm sure they are around here somewhere if we just keep on looking."
"Easy for you to say." Chuck said, pacing around frantically. "It's not like we were given something convenient like some sort of beacon to miraculously appear right in front of u-"
*BOOM!*
"I think it just did." Red said, quickly hopping out of his seat.
Back to the scene of the crime, the black vans were either heavily damaged or damaged beyond repair by the explosion, some of them were even flipped upside down, along with several goons littered around the pavement. Some of the men started recovering from the explosion, thanks to their aura protecting them.
"Hey, why are y'all sleeping? I don't think the road makes a good sleeping spot." The goons turned to see a young boy, wearing an ice blue long-sleeved shirt, navy blue shorts and a cyan belt, he also wore red sneakers and yellow goggles with round red-orange lenses on his head, smirking at the men, arms on his waist.
One of the goons walked up to him, fully recovered from the explosion and threatened, "Go home kid! "
"Oh, how scary, I'm just quaking in fear here! Especially when y'all just exploded due to a little cupcake!" The kid in blue retorted sarcastically.
"Wait, how did you know about that? did you…" the goon trailed off, realizing that a mere kid just sabotaged them, apparently alone.
"You've got quite the nerve, blue, I'll give you that." The man said in anger, drawing out his red sword.
"Get him!" the goon said to his recovering comrades.
"Can't catch me!" The kid in blue taunted the men before dashing off with the men in pursuit.
"Damn his speed semblance, I think we lost sight of him!" one of the goons yelled out as the thugs ended up chasing him into an alley. "He must be around here somewhere, he can't beat our sheer numbers of one against many, split up and find him!" another goon called out. Before they started to split up, a huge white bag dropped down from above, enveloping the goons with white powdery flour.
"What the!? It's an ambush!" said one of the goons as he drew out his gun.
"Wait! *cough* don't shoot! the *cough* *cough* flour will explode!" one of the goons cried out, coughing from the flour.
"Where are you, dammit?!" *cough* another goon yelled, trying to look for the kid in blue. He turned around to see suddenly, a pair of round red-orange eyes staring at him, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Think fast, chucklenuts!"
Among the flour chaos, flashes of blue blurs along with various grunts and pained screams filled the hazy flour environment.
Shocked to see many of his comrades on the floor, and being the last goon left, He whipped out his gun and sword around in fear. Before he even did anything else, he felt something blunt pressed on the back of his forehead.
"Turn around and you're dead."
The lone goon glanced to see a silhouette of three kids riding on each other's back, the kid on the top wielding a bow and aimed something on his head.
"You can't kill me." He said with a growl. As he was about to use his gun to shoot them due to the flour powder fading, but he was knocked out with a quick swing of a blue high tech bow through the head.
"We weren't planning to, but ok." Jay said before getting off his brother's shoulders. "Another robbery stopped successfully! You did a great job baiting those bad guys here!" Jay complimented Jake.
"Hey, doing dangerous stunts is what I do." Jake replied." but all of us did a great job too! You're the one who made this plan, Jim made and snuck in the bomb, and I did all the stunts."
"True, although it feels kinda wrong we had to steal ingredients to make a cupcake bomb, It was kinda worth it when it goes boom!" Jim admitted.
"And you'll be very glad it did." The blue triplets turned around to see a lanky man in yellow, although the Blues knew the only person/bird to have this kind of hairstyle.
"Chuck!" The Blues screamed in joy, giving Chuck a big group hug.
"Where were you man? We were having so much fun and you just missed it!" The brothers cried in unison.
"Don't worry boys, I've had my fair share of fun."
"But it's time to retreat to somewhere safe." Red chimed in, using his thumb to point to the sound of police sirens heading towards them.
"Come on then! Last one is a rotten egg!" Chuck challenged before dashing off, with The Blues running after him, followed by Red.
(Ozpin's Office, Beacon Academy)
"I take it you are Red's companions." Ozpin said.
"That's right! I'm Jim!"
"I'm Jake!"
And I'm Jay!"
"But you-" "Can call-" "Us by…"
"The Blues!" The brothers said in unison with a smile, putting their arms around each other, causing Ozpin to chuckle a little.
"And I trust Red has informed you of what I have told him so far?" Ozpin asked.
"Yeah, he told us about Remnant and those monsters you call Grimm." The Blues replied.
"And that's why your world has these Huntsmen children? To fight the Grimm?" Chuck asked.
"We don't just send children into battle." Glynda told him. "The purpose of the Academies is to train them so that as they grow older, they will be better prepared to face the Grimm. And all the students who attend the four major academies have previously enrolled and graduated from other combat schools, so they are not as helpless as you believe, nor are we as cruel as you might think."
"It makes sense. We are no exception either, we have kids to defend our young." Chuck said.
"We're-" "Not-" "Kids!" The Blues exclaimed in frustration, causing Chuck to raise his arms.
"But it is a necessary evil, It is why the people of Remnant are trained to be Huntsmen, or Huntresses." Ozpin continued, interrupting the blue triplets and yellow speedster as he pulled out his Scroll and pressed a few buttons to display a flat-holographic map of Remnant, showing the emblems of each of the Kingdoms at four specific locations, with The Blues staring in awe, Red noting to himself aloud that Remnant seems to be way smaller than their home planet called Earth.
"Humanity has lived among the Grimm for many eons and has attempted to fight them back. But it wasn't until after the end of our most recent war, that we established a system to keep them at bay. Remnant consists of four separate Kingdoms, each with its own governing system and ruled by the elected council. Each of the Kingdoms has many academies upon which children are not only taught basic schooling but are also trained to fight the Grimm so they are better prepared as adults. Upon graduating from these "minor" academies, they are enrolled into one of the four major Huntsmen Academies, each one located in a different Kingdom. As you know, we reside in the Kingdom of Vale, which houses Beacon Academy. The Kingdom of Mistral has Haven Academy, Shade Academy resides in the Kingdom of Vacuo, and finally the Kingdom of Atlas, formerly known as Mantle, has Atlas Academy. Atlas is widely considered the most advanced Kingdom in Remnant due to its scientific advances compared to the other Kingdoms. Once the students graduate as young adults from each of these Academies, they are certified as Huntsmen and Huntresses and are tasked with protecting the people of Remnant from the Creatures of Grimm as well as dangerous individuals."
"What about that smaller island down there?" Chuck asked as he pointed to one of the landmasses that didn't have a Kingdom's symbol on it.
"That is Menagerie." Glynda answered. "Though it is not an official Kingdom, it is where the majority of the Faunus population reside."
"Okay, what about that one up there?" Red pointed to the black continent that is shaped like a dragon. "I'm guessing it's Grimm related?"
"Unfortunately." Ozpin answered with a serious look in his eyes. "It has no official name, but it is believed to be the home territory of the Grimm. While the Creatures of Grimm reside through all of Remnant, this particular location is heavily saturated with them, numbering in the millions. Anyone who has ventured into that territory has never returned."
"There have been many foolish people who have tried to use the Grimm for their own purposes in the past…" Ozpin continued. "Each attempt has only led to catastrophe, claiming many lives."
"That's never stopping the pigs." Red replied. "It's what makes them dangerous. They are quite expandable from our experience and they come in a wide variety of forms that Remnant believed to be impossible, they appear in the land, the sea, in the air and even the world beyond.
"When you say "world beyond", am I correct to assume your world has the means for space-travel?" Ozpin asked.
"Yeah, don't you guys?" Chuck asked. "you guys have those cool airships that I rode on."
"Unfortunately, we do not have the means to travel to space." Ozpin responded. " Our reliance on Dust will not allow it."
"As in, the kind of dust that gathers on unattended things and gives you sneezing fits?" Red asked.
"No, not that type of dust." Glynda began to explain. "In our world, nearly every advancement in science we owe to the study of Dust, which is, to put simply, crystalized elemental power. Fire, ice, lightning, gravity, and many others. It is used to power our cities, our vehicles, and even serves as weapons to battle the Grimm."
"Unfortunately, once Dust leaves Remnant's atmosphere, it is rendered inert." Ozpin continued. "So, we have yet to travel beyond our world."
"Excuse us," The Blues got the attention of the professors. "On our way here, Red told us that he met a woman that can manipulate fire, does that mean the people in Remnant here have superpowers?"
"Those are called Semblances." Glynda corrected them. "But, based on your question, does this mean you do not possess a Semblance? Even though one of you is capable of knocking away targets by just screaming." She looked toward Red in particular.
"Well, we got our own special kind of powers and skills." Red explained. "I got my voice, Chuck can run fast and The Blues has good teamwork."
"I don't think-" "These are our-" "Powers for us." The blue trio said to Red.
"But teamwork is a valuable power too." Red retorted.
Ozpin got their attention with a slight cough. "To answer your question, Semblances are special abilities that one develops from their Aura."
"Aura?" They all asked, getting Matilda vibes from the word.
"Aura is the manifestation of one's soul, a life force that runs through every living being on Remnant; humans, animals, even plants." Ozpin explained.
"Those Grimm monsters have no Aura, right?" Chuck asked.
"Correct." Glynda nodded her head. "That is what separates the Creatures of Grimm from all other living beings on Remnant. They lack a soul."
"Hm, makes sense." Red said. "We've dealt with worse."
"Yeah, like Zombies, Werepigs, Ghosts, and even Aliens!" Jim chimed in.
"Interesting...anyways…" Ozpin said as he then stood up and walked toward the group. "Aura simply does more than just generate Semblances. It can also act as a shield to protect one from harm, heal as well as enhance their own physical capabilities. And even certain individuals are capable of unlocking the Aura of another if they have yet to do so." He offered his hand to Red. "May I?"
"It doesn't hurt to try." Red said with a simple shrug as he stepped forward.
Ozpin gently placed his hand on Red's forehead and closed his eyes, focusing his own Aura as a green energy field manifested over his body, causing Chuck and The Blues to look while saying "Oooo!".
However, Glynda looked in surprise to see that nothing was manifesting from Red, even as Ozpin let go of Red's forehead.
"How strange." Ozpin looked at his own hand in surprise. "I can definitely sense a soul, a rather strong and dutiful one at that, and yet I'm unable to manifest an Aura."
"You said Aura flows through every living being on Remnant, right?" Chuck recalled. "Well, we're not from Remnant. Maybe that's the reason?"
"Perhaps, this is the first time we've encountered life from beyond our world after all." Ozpin seemed to agree with Chuck's reason.
"Okay, getting back to the pigs." Red stated, getting their attention. "We don't know why exactly they came here, but it's never going to be good."
"That is true." Glynda seemed to accept as she turned to the Headmaster. "We'll need to get in contact with the others as soon as possible."
"I agree." Ozpin nodded. "But at the same time, we also need to know what you all are capable of." He looked towards the flock. "And perhaps I may have an idea on how we can learn about this."
"Which is...?" Red asked.
"We have a special test for our newly arrived first years when they enroll in Beacon, it's a way for us to test their abilities." Ozpin explained. "Their Semblances, their weapons, their strategies and fighting styles, but more importantly, their ability to cooperate and work as a team. If we are going to make a stand against someone as dangerous as these Bad Piggies, it is essential that we must establish cooperation between all parties involved. Perhaps if you were to participate in this test, we may be able to see what you're capable of in regard to your physical abilities as well as your cooperation skills. All we ask is that you provide us with all the information about your enemies, including your previous encounters with them, and we'll offer you a place to stay at Beacon to serve as a home base of sorts."
"Sure, that sounds fair enough." Chuck nodded his head in approval.
"Yay! New adventure!" Jake and Jay cheered.
"We're also open to meeting and working with new people too." Jim added. "We'll get you all the information on the pigs that we know. But we might also need all the info you got on the Grimm, because we need to know your enemies too. You scratch our backs, we scratch yours."
"Of course." Glynda nodded.
"Well Ozpin, it looks like we have a deal." Red offered his hand to shake with a determined look, which Ozpin accepted with a smile.
"Very well then. Red, Chuck, The Blues, welcome to Beacon Academy."
Done! =)
I'm quite happy with myself to write about the things The Blues can do, such as the itching powder, the cupcake bomb and the bows (All of them come from Angry Birds Epic), and maybe there's something that inspired the flour scene...(wink wink)
Stay safe and rest well.