Giant-Slayer: New World (Volume 2)

by NewMystery356

During the course of Beacon's first term, Team RWBY recruited a fifth, conquered homework, fought monsters, and even survived their final exams. With the second term upon them, follow the team of five as RWBBY grapples with new classes, new teachers, and new adventures as our young heroes gird themselves for the much-anticipated Vytal Festival Tournament! Cover by Kegi Springfield.

21. World of Remnant: Espers

GreyWing44: Intelligent cats? Looks like I've got some reading to do.
Also sky pirates! Borderlands! More! This thing keeps getting better and better. I hope we'll get to see Borderlands 3 characters real soon. Played it, loved it. Loved Zayne that Irish b***.
And the shipper within me is like...Yeahhhhh! And NOOOO! You have torn me between sunny badger and Bumblebee you critin!
...Kidding. totally saw it coming. Can't wait for next chapter! I wonder if it's ghost busters centric or some other ghost centric! Or maybe it's a new Grimm! Can't wait to find out.

NeoNazo356: "Intelligent cats" in the context of Cinder Spires aren't part of the Giant-Slayer Fanon; only the history of early Airship design. That isn't to say there aren't going to be other "intelligent" animals like Zwei, but it's all a spectrum.
As for the Sky Pirates, not inherently inspired by Borderlands. Closer to Battle Chasers: Nightwar. In face the Airship that attacked them is the one from the game's opening sequence; or at least the same type.
As for what the "Ghost Crackers" might have to be called in for… it is and isn't for what you think.

Blaze1992: That was fun though the sky-hook and blimp/sail versions of airships makes me wonder if the Bioshock city of Columbia is a possibility here?
So much funny scenes and gore filled action, this fic has returned back to it's prime material. Though this CH gave me flashbacks to a dead cartoon called Storm Hawks which had a bike I think Yang would love.
I am surprised Yang didn't yank him back down for a longer kiss.

NeoNazo356: Maybe something like Colombia (Bioshock Infinite) could exist; since I've brought up the Multiverse in a very roundabout way, Remnant's Colombia expy could very well be Native, or Foreign. Hadn't thought about it, but I'd love to discusss the idea more.
As for the fic returning to its "prime material", the whole of Volume 1 was packed into a single month of in-world occurrences. Since Volume 2 of Giant-Slayer will be spanning the 2 months leading up to the Vytal Festival (in RWBY's Volume 3), I have a bit more wiggle-room to work chapters into. The very reason I made the second semester for the HiT Freshman have an on-again-off-again class to mission schedule was so there could be periods of Action and Drama, sometimes with a mix of both. As much as I'd love to, it can't be "all action all the time" because without the context of the interpersonal character building, the missions would be meaningless eye candy. As much as I hate to say this, it won't be all-action-all-the-time, but I will work in action between and amidst the introspection.
As for Storm Hawks, god I haven't thought about that series in ages. My favorite episode, of the ones that I did see, was the one about the "Irreversible Gorge Madness" which I've actually referenced once or twice in Giant-Slayer Volume 1. Yang would definitely love the transformable bike, and because the weapons transform in RWBY, a Skimmer in the same mechanical context as Sky Hawks wouldn't be too far outside the realm of possibility. Hell, I might even be able to mix it into a potential Bioshock Infinite crossover.
The Sky Hooks in-context are pirate-borne so they can use ziplines both up and down, in the event they have to bail from a raid. And of course, since there were no magnetizable hooks on the Pelican Lena was flying, that's why there was only one survivor of the initial boarding.
As for Yang… She isn't like Batman who can get "combat ready" even after murdering gangsters with a bleach fire. She's able to recognize that there's a time and place for everything, and "diving back in" would've ruined the sentiment Jack was trying to convey. Plus, she recognizes that the both of them have their respective issues to work through, but as the previous RWBBY Chibi went on to point out, they aren't "together together", but it's a step forward. Of course, the road to that love story has twists, turns, obstacles, and other passengers if you catch my drift~

*NEW WORLD*

"This is nice, isn't it?"

"It sure is," Blake replied, enjoying the peace and quiet, book in hand.

Though it wasn't within her own room, Vincent's abode was a nice change of pace, the large couches allowing her to lounge in a way that her bed just couldn't provide; even with a fluffy pillow against the headboard.

And that wasn't to say that the company was by any means unpleasant either. If anything, the aloof teen reading across from her only made the ambiance and the tea he'd prepared for them all the better.

"I have to ask… What kind of books do you like to read?" Blake asked as she looked up from her camouflaged volume of NoL.

"Well… This is a little embarrassing to admit, but this 'Other World' genre just… speaks to me for some reason," he said peeking out from behind his own light novel with upturned eyes. "You must think I'm totally weird, don't you?" he asked meekly, Blake's face heating up from the combined gesture.

"N-Not at all. In fact, it kind of suits you," Blake replied kindly.

With how out-of-place Vincent was, it was almost like he was 'from another world'.

Of course, the very notion of such a thing was complete nonsense.

At least as far as she was aware.

" . . . Hey… That dream you had last night," she said after another few minutes of silence. "What happened in it?"

"Oh… All sorts of stuff," he replied setting his book down. "I jump-kicked a couple guys in the face… Jack took an axe to Team Juniper's door… Jaune ran off the side of a cliff… All sorts of weirdness. To be honest though, most of it kinda blurred together, and all I have left is the feeling that I relived the same Saturday for a month straight. Weird, right?"

"Well, it's your dream, so…"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" the odd-eyed teen pouted.

"N-Nothing! Don't worry about it!" Blake returned hastily.

" . . . Okay!" Vincent said with a bright smile, Blake sighing a sigh of relief.

The two returning to their reading, the silence was interrupted only by the sipping noises of tea, and the AC swirling around the various antiques decorating the room. The solitude growing a bit lonely, Blake found herself opening up to the RA once more.

"So… What do you think the deal was with all those 'trick spoons'?"

Before the odd-eyed teen could reply, there was a- *Knock*Knock*Knock* -at the door.

"Excuse me for a moment," Vincent said before turning toward the door. "Who is it?"

"Dr. Veronica. I'm a friend of Glynda's."

"Oh, okay then. Come on in," the odd-eyed teen replied as he tapped a button on his Scroll, the deadlatch snapping open with a click.

'Pulse Sake…! And I thought Yang was 'talented'…' Blake gawped as she beheld the buxom red-head that strode into the room, the woman's sweater melons undulating tantalizingly with each step.

"So, what can I do for you?" Vincent asked with a tilt of his head, his eyes never dipping away from the well-endowed doctor's own; much to Blake's amazement since he kept a completely straight face what doing so.

Speaking straight, despite the fact that Blake was straight, she couldn't help but be tantalized by the ta-tas presented before her.

'Then again…' Blake hummed to herself before shaking her head with a furious blush. 'Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts.'

"Would you mind coming with me for a while? We need to conduct an in-depth… physical."

*Sprt*

"Oh my god, Blake! You're bleeding!" Vincent gaped as blood dribbled out of Blake's nose.

"Don't worry about it…" Blake said plainly, even as blood dripped into her lap.

"But-"

"Shutupandletmehavethis!"

"Come again?" he asked with a confused head-tilt.

"Not until the third date, loverboy," Dr. Veronica said snagging the back of his shirt with her staff and lifting him off his feet, casually striding out of the room with the RA in tow.

"Um… Okay, I guess I'll SEE YOU LATER!" Vincent yelled once he was out of sight.

"Yeah… Sure…" Blake nodded dumbly.

A moment later her imagination got away from her.

'Dammit, brain! I said no sexy thoughts!'

"MAKE SURE YOU LOCK UP ON THE WAY OUT!"

' . . . Okay, that works,' Blake shrugged.

*NEW WORLD*

As soon as the two of them were out of the building, Dr. Veronica flipped atop her staff and flew off sitting side-saddle, Vincent still dangling from the back end like a hobo satchel.

Suffice it to say, this made for a very odd sight as they flew across campus.

Eventually the two of them arrived at a secluded building outside the wall surrounding Beacon. The left half was shaped like a large cube, made of solid concrete with a pull-down garage-like door made of dull gray steel with chrome edging and neon blue highlights; in essence it looked like a bunker of sorts. On the right side was an octagonal-shaped building made of gold framework and opaque windows with blue lanterns scattered about, a segmented dome formed at the top; in essence, it looked like a fancy greenhouse. The two halves were joined at the rear, but all the underbrush and overgrown trees surrounding it made the bulk of the facility hard to see unless you were standing right in front of it.

"Well, no time like the present. Come along, come along, we haven't got all day," Dr. Veronica said as she set the odd-eyed teen down, entering through the pull-down door.

The inside of the building, while cozy and homey at a glance, looked like a lived-in pig sty mixed with a science lab. Scientific equipment of all kinds occupied every flat surface, while sheets of paper with equations of all kinds occupied every vertical surface. Whiteboards and blackboards were scattered about the interior as well covering every known topic, and for some reason the place smelled of fried chicken. Those without an eye for oddities would think a trash bomb had gone off.

The doctor's office wasn't much better off. While similar to Oobleck's-

"Doctor!"

-, Dr. Veronica's lab seemed more geared toward science, a blend of Psychology, Plasmology, and even a little Human Augmentation dominating the theme of the room.

Of course, the doctor's tagalong hadn't been memory-retentive long enough to catch… most of this.

"Excuse me, Dr. Veronica?" Vincent asked after they'd entered.

"Yes?"

"I noticed the placard on this desk doesn't say 'Veronica'. Did we walk into the wrong cottage in the middle of the woods by mistake?"

"No no, this is still my office. I just go by 'Veronica' because no-one can say my surname correctly," the buxom woman sighed dejectedly.

"Why? What's so hard about 'Magdanus'?"

" . . . Say that again."

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to."

"I know. Which is why I said the word 'why'."

"Okay, say the next part."

"What's so hard about 'Magdanus'?"

"Say that last word."

"Magdanus."

"One more time for good measure."

"Magdanus?" he said confusedly.

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . ?"

"Oh happy day!" the fiery red-head erupted boisterously, scooping the odd-eyed teen into her arms as she danced about the room, his odd eyes going wide as she buried his face into her bosom. "I never thought anyone would ever articulate my name without utterly butchering it! Ah hahahahahahaha!" she cackled gleefully.

"Mmmm… Grrd u cn enjry ths…" Vincent murmured.

"Oh you don't know how vindicated I feel!" she replied exuberantly, holding him at arm's length by the armpits. "Why, I could just kiss you right now I'm so happy!"

"Yes, well… thank goodness doctors aren't allowed to date patients."

"Oh… I thank an exception can be made~" Dr. Veronica purred, flipping the Dr. Magdanus placard forward and obscuring some evidence of her doctorate.

"Eep!"

*NEW WORLD*

"Well… Now that that's out of the way," Dr. Magdanus replied with a satisfied smile as she sat at her desk, a furiously-blushing Vincent sitting across from her and slouching visibly in his seat. "About the reason I called you here."

"That would be prudent for me to know… yes," he returned, red as the crimson orb set into his skull.

"It's about your recent awakening."

"Well, I did sleep a little funny sooo…" he said rubbing at his neck.

"Not your physical awakening. Your psychokinetic awakening."

"My what-ening?" he asked confusedly.

"Didn't you find it a little weird that all your spoons this morning were bending at inopportune moment?"

"Yes, well, I just figured someone gave me a bunch of trick spoons, so…"

"I'm not sure whether your youthful innocence is adorable or pitiable…" the buxom woman sighed. " . . . No, there are no such things as 'trick spoons' that bend at the shoulder without having a blatantly-visible hinging mechanism to them."

"Well then, how were they bending like that?"

"I have reason to believe that a recent sensory experience caused your Aerokinesis to expand into the roots of its ancestral form."

"What-okinesis?"

"Your air bending. You know, that thing you do where your eyes glow silver and you make the wind move."

"Oh you mean that Aerokinesis… What was that other stuff you meant?"

"I thought you would've known about PK since you still don't have an activated Aura and your Aerokinesis couldn't be anything else."

"Hey, I've only been memory-retentive for a little over a month, so cut me a little slack, okay?" he asked tersely.

Of course, the slouch and the blush across his face ruined what he was trying to convey.

"Fine… Fine…" Dr. Magdanus sighed, much of the vigor from the first accurate phonetic representation of her surname in a long time having swiftly evaporated, pleasure giving way to business. "Tell me, what do you know of… Espers?"

"Gesundheit."

"No, I didn't sneeze. 'Esper' is its own word."

"You mean like 'Asperger'?"

"No, Esper and Asperger are completely unrelated," Dr. Veronica sighed tiredly. "Esper is an umbrella term for 'Ability User' or 'Psychic'; more-specifically, Extrasensory Perception where the word 'Esper' derives its first three letters, or Psychokinesis."

"So then… Extrasensory Perception is like… a sixth sense?"

"More like a seventh sense. Metaphysiologists commonly accept that Instinct, also known as Intuition, is the 'sixth sense' beyond sight, smell, taste, touch, or hearing. Anything outside these parameters falls under the realm of ESP. Intuition still possesses a physiological element that can be physically observed, while Psychic abilities are more… intangible."

"And what makes you think I have it?"

"I've been observing you for a while now, following up on the work of my colleague, Dr. Franken Stein, after your cursory examination. He says you have an incredibly-fascinating mind and soul, and what you discussed at breakfast this morning has only proven previous conceptions we've had of you."

"Like… what?"

"Like the ability to sense things most-others would miss or overlook; something he and now-I accredit to the 'clarity' of your unique mind, free of any and all distractions after whatever happened to you reset it to the 'factory default'," she answered. "Or more-prudently… the ability to manipulate objects with your thoughts, conscious or otherwise; in other words, mind over matter. Only without it being all that vague metaphorical hippie stuff," Dr. Veronica elaborated. "While any person or animal with a Soul can have an activated Aura, only a very select number of people are either born as Espers, or have the ability to become an Esper. In addition to this, not only are ESP and PK hereditary, but it can also manifest spontaneously, while at the same time, a parentage of two Espers isn't any actual guarantee of inheriting psychic powers. In some ways its manifestation in an individual can be predicted, possibly even manufactured while at others, it can be completely random."

"So then… what's all this root stuff you were going on about?"

"To put it simply, any supernatural power that isn't quantified by the metric of Aura or Semblance falls under the realm of Extrasensory Perception or Psychokinesis. ESP and PK are separate from Semblance in that an activated Aura isn't a prerequisite to its usage. As for this 'root' I'm referring… All Psychic abilities that fall under the realm of Psychokinesis, are all derived from the same root of PK. Elemental manipulation like your own is an 'over-specialized' form of PK curtailed toward ambient atmospheric gasses and only ambient atmospheric gasses. Normally when an Esper's ability becomes delineated from its core PK it can never-again attain its root form. However, similar to Aura being activated in response to an external stimulus, an Esper's psychic abilities can grow and expand tremendously when exposed to unique sensory phenomena outside the normal scope of what one experiences on a regular basis, be they naturally or artificially-induced."

"Like… having a month-straight of déjà vu while I sleep?"

"Yes… While you're sleeping," Dr. Veronica nodded conspiratorially.

" . . . Okay," Vincent shrugged. "So what do you want from me?"

"You… are… taking all this exceptionally well," Dr. Veronica stated a few moments later, surprised at how blasé he was being.

"Yeah, well… I can already make the air move about without any of that Aura stuff everyone keeps yammering on about," he said making the air twirl around his extended finger. "Next to the robot arm I don't remember getting and the scars on the rest of my body, what's one more magical ability under my belt?"

"Magic is completely separate from PK or ESP. But that… is a story for another day."

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . Was there supposed to be some kind of scene transition after that, oooor…?"

"Hmmm… Fascinating. Exposure to temporal phenomena seems to be granting the subject an expanded awareness of multi-dimensional physics," Dr. Veronica muttered to himself. "Oh, if only I were allowed to open you up and see what made you tick, ah, but then Glynda would turn me inside out like a T-shirt on laundry day."

"I did not understand… any of that."

*NEW WORLD*

Elsewhile…

"Weiss, don't let Nora wind you up. Even if Jack and Weiss had been… 'exploring their interconnectivity'… I was down the hall from our room and would've heard them," Blake stated tensely.

"That reminds me… Where were you during all this today?" Nora asked waggling her brow.

"W-What?!" Blake gawped, finding the tables turned as all eyes fell on her, narrowed in scrutiny.

"Yeah, Blake. Where were you while all of us were out joining clubs? Who was this 'friend's' place you were at, huh?" Nora asked. "Were you hanging out with that ramen chef? The one with the superpowers?"

"You mean the RA?" Ren asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, but I was trying to be a bit more subtle than that," Nora pouted, hands on her hips.

"W-What does it matter if I hung out with him? All we did was read books!"

"Oh yeah?" Ruby asked with a raised brow. "What's his favorite genre?" she asked in an accusing tone.

"Isekai light novels."

" . . . Oh. Well… I wasn't expecting such a succinct response," Ruby admitted awkwardly in the face of Blake's without-missing-a-beat answer.

"Like. I. Said," Blake bit out tensely. "All we were doing was reading."

"Really? But you had the whole floor to yourselves probably," Nora said with a confused tilt of her head.

"Well, I'm sure we can get his side of the story too," Jaune hummed.

"And why is that?" Blake asked.

"Because he just came into the room behind you," he said pointing over her shoulder.

"WHAT?!" Blake yelped with a flushed face.

"Hi, Blake!" the RA greeted cheerfully.

"Snrrkt! Dude. What're you wearing on your head?" Nora snickered as she pointed at his forehead.

"What, you mean this thing?" Vincent asked pointing to the silver circlet encircling his head, a bright emerald green gemstone in the shape of an ellipse encrusted in the middle. "Dr. Veronica asked me to wear it. Something about monitoring brainwaves."

"Yeah. That's why," Nora chuckled, seeing as how with that garish thing on Vincent looked like the stereotypical Isekai Yuusha.

Hell, all he was missing now was that goofy tunic, a sacred sword, and a harem of archetype-spanning ladies (traps applicable as-necessary) and he'd have the look down to a T.

"It is why she asked me to wear this, yes," he said adjusting it on his head. "Since she can't open me up like a grapefruit, non-invasive analysis was the next-best thing. Supposedly," he shrugged. "I dunno. Some hoopla about Espers or something."

"Well you do have superpowers…" Nora hummed aloud.

"That's… a very good point," Vincent admitted thoughtfully.

"And you're sure you don't have an Aura? And Semblance?" Jaune asked morosely.

"Why don't you wave that iPad over me and find out?"

"You mean my Scroll?" Jaune asked, opening it up and setting the odd-eyed teen in its sights, a big red N/A greeting him. "Mm… Nope. No Aura. No Semblance."

"That's what I keep telling everyone," Vincent sighed exasperatedly.

"So then you really do have superpowers! Oh! Did you lose your memories fighting a supervillain?" Nora asked excitedly.

"If he lost his memories fighting said villain, wouldn't he not remember how he lost the memories he lost?" Ren returned.

" . . . That is a fair point," Pyrrha admitted, Weiss stroking her chin thoughtfully off to the side.

'If the RA really doesn't have a Semblance, what is that power he wields? And I don't recognize that combat prosthesis he's equipped with either, even among all of the cutting-edge cybernetics that have been shown off to my family over the years,' Weiss thought to herself, thinking back to the domestic servants who've had limbs replaced after close calls with the White Fang where they'd put their lives on the line to ensure her safety.

The times the Schnee were directly targeted were rather rare once it was shown they would not go down quietly, but the indirect assaults on their personages were all the worse.

'It might be prudent to have company resources… inquire, about him,' Weiss added, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"So… Who's hungry? All that reading really works up an… appetite," Blake said aloud, feeling the tension thickening around them.

"Sure. I could eat," Vincent shrugged.

"Oh, I bet you could~" Nora said waggling a brow in Blake's direction, a blush rising on the girl's cheeks at the insinuation.

*NEW WORLD*

" . . . You don't have to keep looking at yourself like that. That circlet looks fine on you," Jaune sighed as he looked across the table at Vincent, who'd been staring at his reflection in his spoon for the last twelve minutes.

"Sorry. Sorry," Vincent apologized. "Dr. Magdanus asked me to do some mental exercises where I use 'mind over matter' to make a spoon bend, so I can see how this might look a little vain," he said scrunching his brow in concentration.

"Really? Spoon-bending? Like a psychic?" Weiss asked skeptically. "That sounds like the realm of fantasy."

"Says the girl whose Semblance lets her raise the dead."

"My Glyphs are not nearly for something so profane," Weiss said Ren's way.

"Wait, can Semblance really do that?" Vincent asked looking up.

"Only if whoever's Semblance it is has an obsession with the dead," Blake hummed, thinking back to Dr. Stein's lectures on Semblance.

Semblance as a literal expression of the soul, could be gleaned based on the personality type of the person in question. For Ruby, her speed let her run into danger, or circles around her enemies. Weiss' was hereditary but Schnee through the ages chose to specialize in different 'facets' of their familial ability. Yang's ability reflected her "let the fists do the talking" attitude, and her own Seblance… was the power to run away…

Thought the Faunus girl somberly.

"Hm… Well, apparently those weren't trick spoons at breakfast this morning, but it was actually me bending them, even if I didn't realize it at the time," Vincent clarified.

"So you just believe everything you're told, don't you?" Weiss huffed dryly.

"How would you explain all the spoons bending before he could put them in his mouth? Swamp gas?"

"That's for UFO sightings, you dolt," Weiss bit back Ruby's way.

*NEW WORLD*

"So…" Dr. Stein hummed as he sat behind Dr. Veronica in a darkened room, the busty woman sitting before a veritable wall of monitors keyed into every security camera at Ozpin's disposal in Beacon; and even some that weren't at "The Great & Powerful's" disposal. "The in-depth observation is set to begin I see?" he asked turning his attention to the largest monitor set in the center of all the others.

The subject of their current study: an amnesiac teen of unknown origin with profound psychokinetic abilities and a cybernetic limb of mind-numbingly vast potential.

"Yes. Provided the observation remains non-invasive," Dr. Veronica hummed as her eyes darted from monitor to monitor, her fingers dancing at beyond-Human speeds as come monitors displayed visual, others binary, and others still biological, biochemical, bioelectric, and so-on.

What would take an entire research team of scientists and specialists days to analyze, Dr. Veronica could do in mere moments.

Such was one of the perks of being nigh-immortal; a perk that very few could truly enjoy and capitalize on.

"Hm. A shame. I'd love to open up that head of his and see what makes him tick," Dr. Stein chuckled, an unlit cigarette clenched between his teeth.

"And if you tried, Glynda would turn us both inside out like-"

"Like a T-shirt on laundry day. I know. You've reminded me of this stipulation repeatedly," the mad doctor sighed. "Honestly, I'm surprised Glynda consented to any of this."

"Glynda's just-as-curious about him as we are," Dr. Veronica returned. "Of course, while her interests are purely for interpersonal reasons, ours are more scientific in nature."

"Glynda does seem to have become attached to the boy, which of course will go a long way in preventing him from meeting the business end of a Brain Circumcision," Dr. Stein returned. "A mother's profound love for offspring, even not of their own, should magnify Glynda's spiritual power quite a bit if anyone gets any ideas with the boy," he added as he watched the teen trying to bend the spoon on one screen, another showing the readout of his then-current brainwaves, while neurochemical changes were being displayed on another. "How did you even get the Nanotech for this sort of monitoring device anyway?"

"I may've pinched a unit or two out of Dr. Ziegler's belongings while we were tending to Jack Braxton's injuries. Even if she does notice they're gone, it's not like she can get them back or anything," Dr. Veronica replied, remembering how-easy it was to plant the Medical Nanotech on his cyberlimb.

It wasn't only because of the proper enunciation of her surname that she'd gotten so close to him.

"And you're sure no one besides you can trace the signal they're emitting?"

"Not unless they take him to a fully-stocked nano-tech med-lab, but by that point, if Atlas had gotten their hands on him they're more-likely to try milking him for every ounce of spinal fluid they can get out of him. And that's the best possible outcome."

"Atlas really has no sense for preserving their research specimens, do they?" Dr. Stein sighed tiredly, disappointed only in the fact that he wouldn't get a crack at such subjects as well.

"Well, when you can legally indoctrinate entire generations of aspiring Hunters in giving their bodies 'for the good of the kingdom', I can see how that kind of gross negligence would propagate," Dr. Veronica sighed tiredly as well. "It's fortunate I was able to take the bulk of my Human Augmentation research with me when I left, but Atlas was still able to put themselves decades ahead of everyone else with the scraps I wasn't able to completely destroy in time."

"You know…" Dr. Stein hummed as he changed the line of discussion. "Atlas might take offense to the two of us… monopolizing, such a valuable specimen," he said eyeing a readout of the teen's nano-tech limb. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that his limb was made of something more than just T-Cogs and Foldable Frame technology.

"Well it isn't like they don't monopolize resources of their own, so it's not like they can complain through official channels," Dr. Veronica shrugged. "Everyone hides whatever scraps of Eldecraft they're able to conceal from one another, and since everyone does do that, they know that everyone else does as well. In the end, it's no big secret."

"Yes, though we should remain vigilant. An openly-exposed Esper with Eldecraft grafted onto his arm… Once word gets around that he isn't just an urban legend, everyone will want a piece of him. Figuratively and literally."

"Well then, we'll just have to train him up so he can send any ass-pirates gunning for him packing."

"I hardly think its his ass they'll be after."

"I don't know… The boy does have nice muscle definition~"

"And you wonder why you're still single and I'm not."

"I don't care that I'm single. I'm still trying to get over the fact you were able to find a woman willing to let you use her uterus to gestate that clone army of yours."

"A single offspring an army does not make."

"Just one of you is worth as much as an army, so I'm inclined to disagree with that sentiment."

And the banter between the two mad scientists would continue like this.

*NEW WORLD*

Elsewhile, back at lunch with Vincent and company…

"Well, I mean, Aura gives you forcefields, so why can't psychics be real?" Jaune asked in the RA's defense.

"Quiet, you. The grownups are talking," Weiss spat.

"No, I actually do agree with him," Ren stated. "The world is full of strange and unusual things that can't be explained, so Psychics being real isn't outside the realm of possibility."

"Hell, Weiss' Semblance is basically magic, isn't it?" Nora asked plainly. "I mean, with all the stuff it can do, who's to say it isn't just Magic in disguise?" she asked as she counted off fingers.

"My Semblance can be numerically quantified."

"Which means your ruse is so convincing!" Nora insisted, causing Weiss to tiredly palm her face, dragging her hand down her visage.

"How on Remnant do you put up with her?"

"Years of practice, and patience," Ren answered sagely.

"My condolences."

"Hey uh… Ren. Thanks for sticking up for me."

"I was sticking up for the truth. Not for you."

"Oof! Still in the dog house, huh Jaune?" Nora winced.

"There there, Jaune. This can't last forever. You just need to give Ren a little time," Pyrrha said kindly, a hand on his shoulder.

"A little time to do what? Settle?" Weiss asked venomously. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're so nonchalant about this. Don't you realize Jaune is nothing but dead weight to you?"

"Wow, just lay on into me why don't ya?" Jaune whimpered pitiably.

"Yes, well, Jack isn't here and no-one else on my team has the stomach to say what needs to be said, so someone has to say it," Weiss huffed back. "And what did I say about not talking to me?"

At this, Jaune resembled the puppy that'd met the business end of someone's left shoe.

"Can you guys keep it down? I wanna see him bend the spoon with his mind~" Ruby awed as she stared intently at the spoon in Vincent's hand, completely disregarding everything going on around her.

"Well at least you're having a good time," Weiss sighed before turning her gaze to the implement in the RA's hand, his food largely undisturbed. "So… Where did you say you were from again?"

"Don't know."

"Tch."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Go back to your spoon-bending."

"Sure, sure," Vincent sighed, turning his attention back to his exercise.

His brainwaves undulating within the confines of the circlet around his head, the amnesiac teen's oddly-colored eyes narrowed at the utensil in his hand, his brow furrowing in concentration. Sweat beading on his brow, Vincent continued to elevate the concentration he put into the spoon before him, his desire to live up to other people's expectations of him after he'd been given so much spurring him onward. More and more focus honed on the object he was attempting to manipulate, not an ounce of shame in his countenance for what others might think of him based on appearances, he failed to notice his hair beginning to stand on end, coming alight across the platinum-colored strands.

"Um… Vincent…" Blake said nudging the teen's shoulder. "I think you need to see this," she said as she and the others gaped upward.

*NEW WORLD*

Elsewhile…

"Hmmm… Does this feed not have audio?" Dr. Stein hummed from behind his coffee.

"It does, but I don't need it at the moment," Dr. Veronica answered. "I'm definitely getting some good data out of this," she said turning her attention to another readout, this one featuring a brainwave analysis as a simulacrum of his neurotransmitter network was established.

"Even if he does look completely ridiculous."

"At least it doesn't look like anything Dr. Brown concocted in his garage."

"What was that?" Dr. Stein asked as a blur of movement rushed behind Vincent.

"I don't know… Let me zoom out a little."

"And put the audio back on."

" . . . ?"

"Just a gut feeling."

Dr. Veronica looking at her fellow mad scientist with a raised brow, eventually the woman acquiesced. The moment the feed zoomed out and the Audio was activated…

"Omigod! Everything's floating!"

"It's the Beacon Poltergeist!"

"Someone call the Ghost Crackers!"

"I DON'T WANNA DIIIIIE!"

The long and short of it was that everyone was losing their collective fecal excrement as silverware levitated in the air all around, bending, twisting, and warping into all sorts of shapes.

"He's so-focused on the spoon he's still skeptical about bending with his mind… that he's completely unaware his psychokinetic power is spilling out in all directions…" Dr. Veronica gaped, blinking owlishly at the sight beheld to her.

"Well… At least this won't be hard to cover up," Dr. Stein said gratefully. "Still, perhaps we were a bit… overzealous, in attempting to cultivate further psychokinetic development so-soon."

"You think?" Dr. Veronica asked as the occupants of the mess hall continued to panic. "Still, even if this is an easy cover-up for right-now, if this kind of occurrence repeats itself with him in the middle of it, whatever spies the other three Kingdoms have in Beacon will catch on, and he could become a target sooner rather than later."

"So you really suspect there are spies mixed in with the students?"

"Isn't that what it's like with every Hunter Academy, in every Kingdom?" Dr. Veronica asked sarcastically.

"That was a rhetorical question. Of course I know there're spies."

*NEW WORLD*

Elsewhile…

"HOLY CRAP IN A BASKET!" Nora gawped as she whirled around, staring gob-smacked at the floating utensils dangling in the air as though gravity had fucked off to go fishing.

"Oh my gosh! Ghosts are real too!?" Ruby gaped.

"There's no such thing as ghosts!" Weiss cried out.

"Says the ghost-summoner."

"That's enough out of you too!" Weiss snapped Blake's way.

"Um… guys…? Don't you think we should be… you know… RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES?!" Jaune shrieked as a spoon directly overhead twisted irreparably out of shape.

"That would be prudent, yes," Pyrrha nodded.

"Ladies first," Ren offered.

"Why thank you, kind sir. So chivalrous and gentlemanly and some third thing that ends with 'manly'~" Nora said in a posh voice before picking up Vincent by the seat of his pants and screaming- "WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!" -as she bolted out of the mess hall with cargo in tow, a veritable tidal wave of panicked students flooding out of the cafeteria doors, and a few windows.

*NEW WORLD*

Elsewhile…

"Well…" Dr. Stein hummed as the standing population of the mess hall steadily declined to zero. "Glynda certainly won't be happy about the mess."

"Which is why she won't find out we had a hand in any of this."

"Ahem!"

"Ohhhhh crap…" Dr. Veronica wilted as she mechanically turned her head around, viewing the silhouette of an irate Glynda framed against the doorframe, the lenses of her glasses glinting ominously as she beheld both them, and the surveillance network voyeuristically ogling her adopted son.

Even if Glynda herself didn't see it as such.

"Ummm… We can explain."

"For your sakes…" *THWACK!* "…it'd better be a good one," Glynda said snapping out her riding crop against the palm of her hand, the two grown scientists whimpering under the woman's intense gaze.

"We… uh…"

"We were overzealous in attempting to cultivate his latent psychokinetic power," Dr. Veronica said getting her wits about her first, gesturing to the monitor feed.

"Also, Ozpin did it," Dr. Stein said, self-preservation urging him to pass the book by any means possible.

"What… do you mean?" Glynda asked tersely.

"Ozpin's fast-and-loose attitude was the catalyst for Vincent's 'second awakening'," Dr. Veronica said adjusting her glasses. "Of course, you'd never get a confession out of him about it; he still outranks you and isn't obligated to tell you everything. Even with that little 'secret club of yours'."

At that last statement Glynda froze.

"Ozpin isn't as-subtle as he thinks, and my superior is aware of the very dangerous game he's playing," Dr. Stein saw fit to add. "Even if Dr. Veronica and I had done nothing, an incident such as this was bound to occur eventually."

"The only difference from doing nothing is that by getting ahead of it, we've been able to close the gaps in the data we need to explain Vincent's condition in a more satisfactory measure," Dr. Veronica said pulling a readout from the monitors.

"How does that, and this, relate?" Glynda demanded as she gestured to a video feed showing students pouring out of the mess hall through every exit; both established and improvised.

"The brainwaves he began putting out once his focus on his given exercise heightened allowed me to get the kind of in-depth scan of his brain that cursory, non-invasive examinations couldn't, and the acquisition of this much-needed data only occurred because of this 'outburst'," Dr. Veronica explained. "In fact, I think we can close the book on this issue for good; for better or worse."

" . . . You mean his amnesia," Glynda said connecting the dots.

"Yes. Whether or not you tell the boy… will be up to you."

"And why wouldn't I tell him?"

"Because the conclusion I've drawn from this data proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can't get his old memories back. Not beyond whatever dregs he's able to scrape together at-present."

"Explain," Glynda demanded.

"Of course," Dr. Veronica sighed, rising from her seat.

*NEW WORLD*

"Tea? Coffee?" Dr. Veronica offered, the three of them sitting in Dr. Veronica's greenhouse.

"The point?" Glynda offered with a glare.

"Yeesh. Touchy!" Dr. Veronica flinched back. "No wonder you're still single."

"Rrrrr."

"I mean, even Stein managed to tie the not, and he's a complete nutcase."

"I'm not a 'nutcase'. I'm a high-functioning 'nutcase'."

"RRRRRRRRR!"

"Okay, okay, don't get your stockings in a twist," Dr. Veronica said adjusting her glasses, before drawing out a Beacon yearbook onto the table. "For the sake of making everything crystal clear to you, these, are Vincent's memories; in a pre-amnesiac state. The memories within are clear and crisp," she said flipping through the pages, revealing countless captured moments of semester past. "As for what caused his current predicament…" she said leaving the book lying open, lighting a match before tossing the whole book into the centerfold, causing Glynda to flinch back as smoke and ash belched upward. "The forbidden technique known as [Soul Malice], which has the ability to completely and utterly destroy a soul to its core… Something similar was done to Vincent's soul in the past."

A moment later a carton of bleach was emptied over the burning pages, courtesy of Dr. Stein who did so without batting an eye.

"These… are his memories in a post-amnesiac state," she said as she waved her staff over the book, the end glowing as she drew away the moisture leaving only a charred wreck behind. "As you can clearly see, a great deal of the memories have been completely destroyed, whereas those that remain…" she said turning to an intact page; relatively speaking.

"The memories that haven't been destroyed have been bleached clean?" Glynda asked, following the metaphor.

"Correct," Dr. Veronica replied. "If we assume the damage was caused by a single individual, then this can only be considered an act of cruelty of the greatest magnitude. Not only were a great deal of his memories destroyed, but those that remained were heavily diluted, making recovery of these memories… impossible."

"On the other hand, if we treat this as the work of two individuals, the first may've tried to destroy his soul in its entirety, while the second may've been attempting to save it," Dr. Stein hummed.

"Regardless of whichever scenario is factual, the fact remains…" Dr. Veronica trailed off.

" . . . His memories can never return," Glynda said somberly.

"That is the conclusion we have drawn. While bits and pieces of his original memories, his original self, still exist within him, the damage done to them is irreparable. Permanent," Dr. Veronica said as slender fingers sifted through the ash. "While it is possible for him to regain some vestiges of his past memory… no matter how hard he tries, those memories will be incomplete," she said holding up a scrap of paper, charred at the edges and any color that remained bleached away.

"As a consequence of this, of his mind being emptied, without all of that 'excess' barring its path, his latent psychokinetic abilities at the core of his air bending prowess has been given free reign to come to the forefront," Dr. Stein added. "The boy can still make new memories, make a new sense of self… but the person he was before is lost to him," Dr. Stein said with finality, laying the following yearbook atop the ruins of the old. "I'm sorry, but even with my [Soul Surgery], even with all of my knowledge and expertise… this is the only possible outcome. Any further tinkering would only damage his spirit further; at the absolute best he'd be rendered into a vegetative state with no overall improvement to his condition."

"I see…" Glynda returned somberly. Dr. Veronica and Stein were the word's foremost experts on Plasmology, so even if she sought out a second opinion, all she'd get is further confirmation, or flawed information for what she knew to be true since, despite their eccentricities, they were truly the best-of-the-best in Remnant; even if they were considered 'complete nutballs'. " . . . How do I tell him?"

"You could just be upfront with him. The boy has already anticipated the possibility that his memory loss is permanent; the very reason he's trying to make a new life for himself at Beacon," Dr. Veronica explained.

"Or, you could be needlessly cruel to him, give him a false sense of hope that he could regain what he had lost," Dr. Stein added dryly. "Honestly, I think Marie would side with Veronica on this. The boy has the right to know, and dragging your heels on this decision will only stunt his growth ever further."

"But more-importantly, if you tell him that his memory loss is conclusively permanent, then you can get ahead of anyone that might want to take advantage of his amnesiac state," Dr. Veronica hummed.

"What do you mean?" Glynda asked.

"Let's say for example that someone comes up to him saying 'hey I know you', and tries to fill his head with ideas."

"And what if someone who is from his past comes forward?" Glynda postulated, countering Stein's hypothesis. "What if this someone is legitimate?"

Unlikely since Ozpin had turned over every stone he could in pursuit of the truth, but a possibility nonetheless.

"Well, even if a legitimate person from his past did try to jog his memory, even had some sort of proof that eluded us, all they'd be doing is telling stories about one stranger to another stranger," Dr. Stein answered.

"If you swap the yearbook in the visual metaphor for a photo album, the previous point still holds true. Even if someone else has identical photos, identical 'memories', there won't be any album slots for those memories to go," Dr. Veronica added. "Even if the 'photos' were the same, the 'camera' would be different, and the difference in perspective would make any stories about his past-self just that. Stories."

"It'd be great if someone from his past could come forward, clarify what-exactly happened to him and if we need to be on our guard for someone erasing souls at random or with intent, but the fact remains that there's no 'soft reboot' option for this. The slate has been wiped clean, and that's just something all of us will have to live with; not just him," Dr. Stein concluded.

"I see… I guess I have a lot to think about," Glynda said with a tired sigh, getting to her feet and leaving with a hurried step.

It was only after Glynda was out of sight and hearing range, that the two mad scientists let out the breath they'd been holding, Glynda's ire with them instead replaced by the motherly concern she held for her latest charge.

A new weakpoint to be sure… But also a wellspring of great and terrifying power…

*NEW WORLD*

It went without saying that lunch ended prematurely that day.

With the most-widely-confirmed sighting of "The Beacon Poltergeist" to occur in years, the various clubs that dealt with the supernatural and the occult had gathered together in the mess hall swiftly after it'd been vacated; some would even say "abandoned like a ghost town".

Some had a pure-hearted interest in communicating with the poltergeist that was said to watch over Beacon and those who dwelled within her. Others, a desire to elevate the prestige of their clubs by accrediting what had occurred to the poltergeist with some means of tangibility.

Of course, the raise to their yearly budget, was also of concern.

Glynda for her part earned her overtime pay that day, as not only did she have to scrape up whatever students had been trampled to near-death and repair the furniture and the windows, she also had to un-twist/bend/warp countless eating utensils.

Suffice it to say, no-one caused any trouble for her for the rest of the day.

And one of the most-interesting days Beacon had had for a good while.

*NEW WORLD*

Dinnertime that evening was a rather interestinig affair.

Because so-many students had been thrust into a paranoid frenzy by something that couldn't be brushed off as "group hysteria" or "a shared hallucination" given the event had occurred at peak lunchtime occupancy, most of Beacon avoided the mess hall like the plague, refusing to go anywhere near the place for fear of ghostly possession; or some such quote/unquote "nonsense" as detractors of the supernatural would call it.

The fact that a Haunting of Geist had been spotted in the Emerald Forest by the Survey Corps and stories of it had already begun to circulate, did more than its fair share to smother the mutterings of the skeptics.

For this reason, to ensure that no-one went to bed hungy that evening, the faculty had been forced to wheel out the evening meal to the surrounding couryard. Between setting up enough tables for the buffet, pulling out the kerosene heaters for the food, and wheeling out all the dishes and silverware needed, many hands were needed for this task.

Such was where Glynda found her latest charge, the weight of what she had to tell him weighing heavily on her shoulders.

"Vincent, could you come with me a moment?"

"Sure. Let me just set this… down," he said with a grunt as he set down a box of clean dishes down at the start of the buffet line. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Vincent. I have something…difficult, to tell you," Glynda said as she led him away from the potluck going on.

"What's wrong?" Vincent asked as he followed, an innocent tilt of his head causing Glynda's heart to lurch in her chest.

"I… I have your test results back."

"But I haven't taken my GEDs yet."

"Not… those test results…" Glynda bit out, finding it harder and harder each passing second to do what she was about to do. "Do you… remember what you've been told about your amnesia?"

"Yeah. That there's a chance I might get my memories back, or not at all," Vincent shrugged. "Apparently it could go one way or the other."

"It… can only go one way, unfortunately…"

"Well, don't leave me in suspense. What did the tests say?" he asked excitedly.

"Your… Your memories won't be coming back," Glynda said after a pause, the words like poison on her tongue.

" . . . Okay," Vincent returned after a moment.

"O-Wha-Okay?!" Glynda asked in shock at his straight answer.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I figured I'd either get them back eventually, or not at all. Glad to have a little closure on this," Vincent replied, a smile on his face.

Of course, even though she'd only known him a short time, Glynda could tell that this smile, unlike all the others, was false.

Was this the first time he'd made such a false smile?

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm needed elsewhere. These dirty dishes aren't going to bus themselves you know," Vincent returned with a smile, turning on his heel and jogging off before Glynda could stop him.

*NEW WORLD*

Nodoka Miyazaki wouldn't consider what she was doing "stalking". Stalking implied negative connotations such as observing a person without their consent in a very creepy fashion with ulterior motives in mind.

No, if any of her roommates asked her what she was doing, she'd say she was keeping an eye on him while-at-the-same-time giving him the space he so-clearly needed at aforementioned point in time.

When Glynda had guided him away from the busser line, her steps rigid, it didn't take a mind-reader to know she had bad news on her thoughts.

That the news she had to tell him was bad was clearly evident by the pained look on her face as she relayed it to him. For his part, Vincent seemed to take whatever he'd been told in stride, going back to the busser line to lend a helping hand.

Only… That wasn't what he did.

Instead of returning to the busser line he'd ran off as soon as he was out of Glynda's sight. His arm going up to his face, tears spilled out of his eyes as he ran into the night air, Nodoka nervously clutching her notebook as she ran after him.

It didn't take a mind-reader to know what he was feeling.

*NEW WORLD*

Velvet Scarlatina wouldn't consider what she was doing "stalking" either.

Sure, he'd jumped out a window to save her after she'd been shoved out by Jack's old teammates, taken the brunt of the fall for her, but Coco, ever the skeptical one, said Vincent could easily be faking it to get into her panties. "Bunny girls" were one of the leading "lewd guy fantasies" after all.

It was actually pretty easy to quote/unquote "stalk" someone as long as you had a camera in hand yet were being open about it, because it could just-as-easily be interpreted as "photography for photography's sake". That she took pictures of other things beyond her primary subject helped sell it all the more, something most stalkers who didn't want to be seen as stalkers neglected to contemplate.

For a Human, it'd be difficult at twilight to spot someone actively hiding themselves in the shadows. For a Faunus, to hide from them in the darkness was almost impossible.

It was one thing to hear about the boy you potentially fancied having an admirer, but to actually see it had Velvet feeling emotions she hadn't thought herself capable of feeling. She knew deep down that Vincent wasn't "hers"; with the Faunus' storied history with slavery, that kind of sentiment in relation to a spouse only manifested in the most toxic of Faunus relationships. However, to see that another girl was pining for him, it raised her hackles quite a bit.

She didn't even know she had hackles!

All that aside, with her enhanced senses she was able to hear the words Glynda had exchanged with him, and after hearing how his original memories weren't coming back, her heart went out to him.

Yatsuhashi's own Semblance, [Memory Wipe], dealt with memory loss too, but any memories he erased would come back on their own, and the only memories he could permanently erase were of the trivial nature. To know that Vincent's lost memories wouldn't come back, no matter what he did or how long he waited… She couldn't imagine the kind of hurt he must've been feeling right now, to have genuine confirmation of that fact.

Like the shy bookish girl trailing after him, Velvet followed as well, but from the high road since she had a greater amount of verticality. People rarely ever looked "up" so it was actually a very effective means of trailing someone, even if you weren't actively concealing yourself.

Her pursuit eventually took her to the edge of campus by the wall surrounding Beacon, the trickle of tears down his face devolving into full-blown waterfalls.

And those weren't the tears of an acting course student saying-"I don't wanna go… I don't wanna go…" -in their heads to make fake tears come out. These were real tears, of real anguish, as genuine sadness poured out of him like a burst dam. Most-everyone in the Hunter course was so sure of themselves, so self-confident that they'd never bring themselves to let such an outburst of emotion show, so to see someone with such a bright smile "ugly cry" like this… It shocked the Faunus girl to her core.

She kinda felt like she was intruding, seeing a side of himself he didn't want anyone to see.

"Why…?" she heard him mutter, hands pressed against the wall to support himself. "I knew things might've turned out this way… so why does it still hurt so much?" he asked as he clutched at his chest, a pained squeal leaving his lips as he fell to his knees, sobs wracking his body. "Whyyy… Whyyywhyyywhyyywhyyywhyyy…?"

The wail of anguish to follow hit them like a knife to the gut, and this-far out, only she and the bookworm trailing him as well were able to hear it.

Not unless someone was living in the abandoned dorm nearby, at least.

*CRACK*

'What?' Velvet thought as her ears twitched.

*CRACK*CRICK*CRACK*

'What was that?'

Activating the light on her Scroll, the Faunus girl's eyes went wide as splits began appearing in bark, masonry cracked, and rivets broke. With Vincent at the epicenter, his hair slightly alight in the darkness, an epiphany occurred to her.

'That wasn't the Beacon Poltergeist at all!' she gaped to herself. 'It was all him!'

And of course, it didn't take the two of them long to realize that his emotions spilling out was the cause of what was happening now.

That a Murder of Nevermore was beginning to gather in the distance only made matters worse.

Before either of the not-a-stalkers could go out to him, an unknown third party beat them to it; a long-tailed cat with large yellow eyes, bushy ear tips, purple fur, and a round silver bauble dangling from its neck.

The long-tailed cat mewling cutely, pawing at the sobbing teen's side, looked up at him with large innocent eyes. The odd-eyed teen sniffing loudly and running his sleeve across his nose, blinked the last of the tears from his eyes as the long-tailed cat continued to beg for attention, the aura around his hair dimming. With one last sniffle and one last blink, Vincent turned to the side just in time for the cat to jump into his lap, purring loudly as it rubbed its head against the underside of his jaw.

"Aw, hey there little guy-"

"HSSSS!"

"-I mean girl!"

"Nyaaa~"

"What're you doing out here all by yourself?" Vincent asked in an uplifted tone. To Velvet's surprise, the Nevermore began to break off, losing all interest.

"Nyanya~ Nyanyanyanya."

"Yeah, I can't understand a word of that," Vincent said bashfully, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Nya. Nya nya."

"I guess in the end I don't really need to," Vincent hummed, a shiver running up his and the cat's spines. "Come on. Let's get you inside."

"Nyaaaan~"

As Vincent walked off, his feline companion in tow, cradled in his arms, the two not-a-stalkers shared a similar thought.

'He's going to be okay.'

*NEW WORLD*

Much later that evening…

"I wonder…" Ozpin hummed atop his tower, the events that occurred hundreds of feet below a world away. "Did I do the right thing… Alkazar?" he asked aloud as he gently stroked an ancient leather-bound tome, runic symbols surrounding the silhouette of a half-empty hourglass embossed on the cover. The pages once a pristine white had become tremendously-yellowed with age, but even still thrummed with tremendous power; even as the case was replaced time and time again.

Alkazar's greatest wish, after he'd scattered his notes across the Crescent Isle, was for someone both worthy and appreciative to find his work. And while part of that dream was also that the culmination of his life's work be put to good use, the long-aged man couldn't help but wonder…

*Knock*Knock*Knock*

The silver-haired man's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of metal rapping against glass. Whirling around in his seat, Ozpin saw the 'talented' visage of Dr. Veronica standing across from him, feet planted atop her staff like a broomstick.

The woman looking at him with cool eyes that narrowed upon seeing the book over his shoulder, Ozpin had some idea of what the woman was there for, and so, with a tap of his cane onto the floor, a new set of clockwork whirred, the panoramic-view window sliding open just-enough for the expert on emotional energy, Qualia, and "Witches" to fly into the room. Circling around his desk before sitting across from him atop her levitating staff, the woman crossed one ankle over the other, her arms going under her bosom as she looked at him, then-again to the tome at his desk, before going back up to him once more.

"Ozpin. Dusting that old tome off once again I see."

"Dr. Veronica, what can I do for-"

"Are you out of your damn mind?" the red-head demanded. "Do you know what happened the last time you used that spell so frivolously?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me anyway-"

"War. War happened the last time you used that spell," she said jabbing a finger accusingly at the book. "Entire nations fought over that accursed tome, King Vaneer the first of many to lose everything in pursuit of it. You should've destroyed it after C'drall had been slain, but no… No, you took it with you from the Crescent Isle, passing it down to yourself over and over and over again like some sick joke."

"Is there a point, or should I just skip to the end?" Ozpin asked as his fingertips went to split the pages open, only for the doctor's staff to leave her grasp by its own power, twirling through the air before suddenly shooting downward, the pommel pinning his hand to his clockwork desk, barring the opening of the ancient tome.

"When all other motives cease to be relevant, the only thing worth fighting over… is time… And now that you've awakened Alkazar's final spell once-more, anyone and everyone who covets it will be coming for it. The Hypocritical Demon Hunter, the Forever-Scorned Maiden of Darkness, the Apostles in Heaven, the Gluttonous Sin… And that isn't even counting all the Espers you might've created if anyone were to actually notice, even if only subconsciously, what was going on around them. What on Earth could've possessed you to do something so foolish?"

" . . . I was righting a wrong."

"Yes, a wrong that your blatant favoritism created. I, and everyone else on the staff, have known for a long time that you like to play fast and loose with your position as Headmaster since you have tenure, but all this? For that boy?" she asked incredulously. "I get that he's an Arc, the pedigree of his bloodline speaks for itself; but why him instead of his only other sibling to show an interest in becoming a Hunter?"

"Aurelia Nike Arc was progressing well through her studies where she was. There was no need to uproot her from her place at West Academy."

"And yet… you did the exact same thing with that silver-eyed girl you'd taken such a fancy to; the daughter of that woman with the same eyes you let down."

At this, Ozpin flinched.

He'd walked right into that one.

"What? Did you think you could 'do better' the second time around?" Dr. Veronica asked incredulously. "Did it never occur to you that taking her out of Combat School two years early might do more harm to her in the long run than good? It's an absolute miracle that hers and Dr. Asimov's son's Qualia were still able to resonate with one another despite your… abduction of her future. There was really no reason to bring her to Beacon so-early other than pure self-indulgence. Of course, the Semblance is a reflection of your innermost self, so of course you'd be this selfish," she said looking down her nose at him with a knowing smirk on her face, Ozpin's knuckles whitening as he fought against the staff pinning his hand down and his eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly. "Let me make something clear. You can move your little toy soldiers around like pawns on a board all you want; it was their choice to sign their lives over to you. But if you think Glynda will let you 'use up' her surrogate offspring as you sit here in your tower, spinning your wheels as mankind remains Ignorant and Enslaved, well…" A dry chuckle passed her lips. "You've got another thing coming."

"I'll be sure to keep the safety of her son well in mind," Ozpin returned, letting a kinder chuckle of his own go free. "Is that all you had to say?"

"Hmph. I can see you'll have to be disciplined again," Dr. Veronica sighed as she recalled her staff to her hand, tiredly shaking her head. "The next time your time comes, you may not be as fortunate as you have been these past centuries."

"Well… As long as you can be born again, isn't it alright to die every once in a while?" he asked smugly.

"I can see why Glynda has so-much pent-up stress, dealing with someone like you. You're really no better than a spoiled child," Dr. Veronica sighed as she whirled on her heel and turned her back to him, one arm held palm-forward while her staff drew a circle in the air. "Just don't be surprised when someone comes for that book and they don't take 'no' for an answer," she said as a whirling trail of sparks gave way to a doorway, the woman stepping through before it snapped shut, leaving Ozpin to his own devices once more.

*NEW WORLD*

AN:
Originally when I introduced Dr. Veronica (Stella Glow) into Giant-Slayer I didn't know what her last name was since the game never really covered it, but after learning the eccentricity of her surname, I decided to have it be that the reason she goes by "Dr. Veronica" instead of "Dr. Magdanus" is because everyone pronounced her name "Mag-dan-us" instead of the way I envision it in my head as "Ma-donn-us".

All the talk about Espers was because between Aura representing the "Soul" and Appetite Energy/Doriki representing the "Body", to complete the trifecta of Mind/Body/Soul, I needed to put in an actual mind-based power, and introducing PK/PSI as a tangible "resource" in the Fanon only made the most sense.

As for Vincent… I figured now would be as-good a time as any to close the book on that part of his arc once and for all. His memories are gone, nothing can be done about it, so all that's left for him to do is "keep moving forward". There'll still be scraps in his "yearbook", but his nanotech arm has a longer memory than he does, and is set to become a plot point later on.

As for all that ominous stuff at the end… Foreshadowing~

And also hint of future crossover, but mostly foreshadowing~