A gunshot snapped me awake. In an instant, I spun my body from lying on my back to a low crouch with my left hand down to stabilize me. My right arm was pulled back, Magic lighting up my forearms as my eyes opened to find the source of the shot. I was in an alleyway, brick walls and a fire escape on either side. Nothing was in it outside of me, not even a garbage can. Blur of black and red shot my attention to the mouth of the alley, and I wasted no time in rushing over to a better view. There was a group of…stupidly stereotypically dressed mafia guys? There was half a dozen men in black pin-stripe suits with matching fedoras and bright red sunglasses getting their asses beat by some girl with a giant mechanical scythe. There were hinges along the blade, like it folded in on itself, and I could see all the seams where the shaft could collapse in. There was a gun clip attached close to the bladed end, and the girl always had one of her hands on a clear trigger as she spun it around. The girl herself was dressed in red and black, with a bright red hooded cloak on her back. She wore black knee-high boots with crimson laces and heels, as well as a black long-sleeved dress with a short skirt. A maroon corset was worn around her abdomen, and a lopsided belt was around her waist, with a silver cross and pouch on the right side. A row of bullets took up the left side of her belt, weird enough that I nearly missed the fact that the girl had bright silver eyes. It was hard to spot past her black hair that blended to red at the edges.

She was flying around the street, darting from Mafia Dude to Mafia Dude as she beat them all, somehow not drawing blood despite clearly hitting them with the sharp side of her scythe. Most of the gunshots were actually from her, as she was propelling herself around using the recoil from her gun, which I could now recognized as something with a helluva lotta kick behind it. For some reason she had a pair of headphones around her neck, blasting music loud enough that I could hear it from where I was. With some needlessly flashy movements, she knocked the last guy out as she flung her headphones from her neck into her left hand. Stabbing the end of her weapon into the concrete with her right hand, she held out her left hand and pressed a button to turn off the music. I couldn't help but stare in open-mouthed confusion at the dramatic flare. The fuck was she posing for? It was night out, and no one was in the street except for her and the guys she knocked out.

I caught movement to my right, and looked over to see someone stepping out from a store, its windows broken with the glass out in the street. It was a guy of slightly above average height, wearing a pretty cool-looking white coat and black pants. Black gloves were strapped onto his hands, and a grey ascot was around his neck. A black bowler hat with a red band was atop his head, pushing his orange hair down so that it was covering his right eye. His left was green, and carried the most irritatedly disappointed expression towards the guys on the ground. The hooked cane he held in his white hand clacked against the ground as he stepped.

"Truly," he drawled, "you were worth every cent." Ah, so the Mafia Crew were just hired thugs. Police sirens echoed from a couple blocks away, clearly coming closer. Bowler-Hat took a moment to draw in a breath at that before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Well, Red, you could say that's my cue to leave. I think we all can say it's been an eventful evening, but as much as I'd love to stick around…" He brought up his cane, pointing the end of it at Scythe-Girl. I saw a gun sight flip up from the bottom of the cane, and my eyes widened. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." Something shot from what was apparently a gun, and I darted out from the alley in front of the girl, who was pulling the tip of her weapon out of the street in a panic. My tattoos glowing, I just directly batted at the shot with my right arm, sending it flying out into a wall. Spinning on the ball of my foot, I saw Bowler-Hat had managed to run around the corner and just begin climbing up a fire escape next to the shop he walked out of. I had no idea what was going on, but I was pretty sure he was the bad guy, so I held out my right hand towards him.

"Summoner Magic: Peacekeepers!" I cast, a pair of white and gold revolvers appearing in my hands. An awed gasp sounded from behind me, but I paid it no mind as I shot at Bowler-Hat. He shrieked as he let himself slip down a rung so that the first shot wouldn't hit him, but then he began a mad scramble up as I continued to fire. He reached the top of the building faster than a human should, so I narrowed my eyes.

"Transport Magic: Step Stone." I muttered before taking a step forward, appearing at the top of the building. It served the additional purpose of scaring the shit out of the guy as I manifested only a few feet away from him.

"Hey, that's not allowed!" He yelled as he backpedaled, bringing up his cane again to fire some shots at me. I leaned to the right of the first, then I ducked under the second and stepped forward, appearing right in front of him. He yelped again and whipped his cane around at me, which I blocked with my left arm before flipping my right gun around and socking him in the jaw.

I hit something else. It wasn't skin, or bone, or even scales. Something invisible, right above his skin. It was warm like a snuffed-out match, solid and dense. But it flinched beneath my strike. Almost like I nearly punched through it, but it realized what was going on at the last second. He was lifted off the ground from my hit, flying a few meters back and stumbling as he landed on his feet. His left hand came up to cradle his jaw.

"Holy shit," he wheezed, "have you got an arm on you!" A gunshot echoed from the street behind us, and I spared a glance over my shoulder to see 'Red' landing on the roof with us, with her weapon behind her. She must've shot herself up. "I was gonna play around a little with Red, but I don't want any of what you're serving up, thank you very much!" I heard what was almost like a jet engine before some weird-looking jet rose up from behind Bowler-Hat. At the same time, he took a palm-sized red crystal from his pocket. "This is sayonara, may we never meet again!" He called before throwing the crystal at us. 'Red' made a startled noise and I heard her begin to retreat, only for me to instantly raise my left gun and shoot the crystal before it crossed half the distance to us. It exploded, thankfully far enough that it didn't do much to us past ruffle our clothes a little. "Are you seri-" My attention snapped to the blonde that flew up onto the roof, coming from behind 'Red' and landing between her and I. The blonde was clearly an adult, with serious green eyes behind a pair of glasses, and wearing a white blouse with a black ragged cape that was purple on the inside. She also wore a high-waisted black pencil skirt, stockings, and boots. With a wave of the riding crop that was in her right hand, a purple symbol flashed right in front of me, only for it to disappear once the blonde seemed to realize the explosion was already gone. Unfortunately, that moment of distraction proved to be enough for the orange haired guy to get into the jet.

"And now there's a Huntress!" Bowler-Hat screamed, waving his free arm at the newcomer. "Could my night get any worse?!" He grumbled before running towards what I figured was the cockpit. The vehicle flew upwards, until I wouldn't see inside clearly. The blonde and I appeared to have the same idea, as another purple symbol appeared in the air in front of her at the same time that I raised my Peacekeepers. Over half a dozen purple beams flew out from the blonde's symbol towards the plane at the same time that I began emptying round after round into what maybe looked like engines. The beams curved in the air and pelted the jet at all angles, which seemed to stall it enough for the blonde to aim a little higher and cast a symbol in the air above the plane. It summoned what looked like pretty nasty hail, that broke through the hull of the jet and through the glass of the cockpit.

But then something appeared in the opening of the jet. I could more or less decipher a pair of legs. There was an orange glow from inside, before a fireball flew out towards us. Blonde cartwheeled back (why was everyone so flashy here?) while I hopped away from it, grabbing Red's hood and throwing her behind me. The fireball slammed into the roof, exploding into cinders, before those embers erupted, blowing chunks out of the roof. Before the shrapnel could get far, it all glowed purple, in time with Blonde's riding crop doing the same. With a twist of her hand, the chunks all condensed into a giant rock spear, before it flew straight at the jet. Another fireball flew out, breaking the spear apart, but Blonde just got it to reform and had it scrape against the top of the jet. The plane shifted, and I recognized it was trying to fly away before it took more damage. My left hand snapped up, and I shot out one of the cockpit windows. With at least two of the panes broken now, I could clearly hear the startled scream of Bowler-Hat from here.

"CAN YOU PLEASE DO SOMETHING?!" He shrieked. Blonde's rock spear split into three, weaving around to once again hit the jet from multiple angles, only for a wave of fire to erupt from the opening in the plane. It burned all the pieces of stone to ashes, and I felt a not-quite-familiar pulse beneath my feet. A sharp glance down revealed there were glowing areas in the roof right under Blonde, Red, and I. Red was still picking herself up from when I threw her, so it was fastest to just shove her with my foot as I jumped in the opposite direction, trusting Blonde to get out of the way on her own. The glowing areas exploded, pelting at least me with pebbles an small stones. By the time everything settled, the jet had successfully flown a few blocks away. Blonde seemed to see the same thing, since she huffed angrily. I looked over to her, something she noticed.

"I can still shoot them down." I offered. The woman looked like she was thinking it over, before she shook her head.

"This much destruction was caused by them trying to get away, pushing for a fight will just put civilians in danger." She explained. I nodded in understanding. An excited squeal sounded from behind us, causing us to turn and face Red, who…held a notebook.

"You two are Huntsmen!" She awed. "Can I have your autographs?" What?

I hung my hands off the back of my neck as I slowly paced around the interrogation room. Red, or Ruby Rose, I had discovered, was muttering to herself in anxiety and panic in the silver chair. She was talking a lot about how she was going to be disowned by her family and forced to wander the roads, tying her stuff to her scythe using a tablecloth while she begged for food and shelter. I had tried to reason with her that none of that was going to happen, but she didn't listen, so I let it be. Initially, I wasn't going to be shoved in here with her, but then Blonde had all of a sudden come up to me, angry and yelling about how I wasn't a licensed Huntsman, whatever that was. Familiar with stuff like this, I didn't fight it. All that was left was to wait.

Thankfully, it didn't take long before Blonde walked into the room, some sort of tablet in her hand. I really ought to give her a better nickname. It'll come to me, I'm sure. Her eyes zeroed in on me, following as I continued to slowly step around. I kept to my side of the table, I figured she wouldn't really be comfortable if I kept wandering behind her. Her eyes narrowed as she kept staring at me.

"Sit down." She demanded. I halted in my tracks, letting out a sigh. She looked like she already wanted to slap me into a cell, it was best to not give her more reasons. Grabbing the back of the chair that was next to Ruby's, I pulled it out and dropped into it. The glare lightened up a slight bit. The woman took in a breath, and I could easily tell there was no real heat in her gaze. Mostly concern, a little bit of disappointment.

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, for either of you. You put yourself and others in great danger." She declared firmly. Out the corner of my eye, I spotted Ruby straighten in her seat and open her mouth, undoubtedly to say something that you should never say in a situation like this. So I helped her a little.

"They-" Oh yeah. My hand immediately slapped over her mouth, shutting it. You never say 'they started it' when you're in deep shit. There is no possible out. Blonde definitely knew why I cut Ruby off, and spared the quickest appreciative glance my way.

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…" I nodded in understanding of where this was going. Ruby clearly did not, as I could feel her lips curl up in joy. "And a slap on the wrist." Blonde punctuated this by actually slapping the table with her riding crop, startling the redhead.

"'If' it were up to you?" I prompted. There was something in Blonde's gaze as she looked over at me for a moment, I wasn't really able to figure out what. Anticipation?

"There is…someone here who would like to meet you." The door opened again, and someone stepped through it. A guy on the taller side, wearing a suit in various shades of dark green. A leaf-green scarf was around his neck, and a pair of dark colored spectacles sat low on his nose. He had grey hair, that seemed like it was from age, since he had black eyebrows. His eyes were brown, and they carried an aged experience to them I was familiar with, which set off warning bells in my head. A silver handle was strapped to his hip, as his right hand held a green mug and his left carried a plate of chocolate chip cookies. He unmistakably froze in place for a moment when he looked at me, but gathered himself before I could comment on it.

"…Ruby Rose." The man's voice was faint, almost dazed. Like he wasn't all mentally there right now. "…You have silver eyes." My own neon green narrowed. I didn't really think anything of Ruby's eyes, but they had to mean something serious if this guy was commenting on that above mine. I lowered my hand from the hooded girl's mouth. She fumbled over her words for a moment, not having any clue how to respond. My eyes narrowed further. She was acting like she didn't think anything special of her eyes either. That probably wasn't good. The grey-haired man shot a quick look to Blonde, who turned her tablet around to show some street footage of Ruby fighting the Mafia Crew. "So! Where did you learn to do this?" His voice had more weight to it. Something wasn't right here.

"S-Signal Academy." Ruby stuttered.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" That…was actually pretty helpful knowledge. That guy had too many years in his eyes to be ignorant, so unless he was blowing it out of proportion for her sake, her gun-scythe was something top-tier. That said a lot for weaponry here.

"Well, one teacher in particular." The girl shrugged.

"I see." Suspicion Incarnate sat down in the chair across the table from us, and he set the plate of cookies down in easy reach for Ruby and I. Almost immediately, the redhead tentatively reached out and took one in her hand. With neither adult getting mad at her for it, she began scarfing the plate down. "It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow…" The girl jumped in her seat in eagerness.

"Das ma U-hle!" Realizing her mistake, she took a moment to swallow the cookies and wipe her mouth. "That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like-" She began making karate noises as she chopped at the air. I smirked at the display.

"So I've noticed." The green-dressed guy hummed. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?" I let myself lean back and just absorb the information, figuring it was the best way to find out what was going on.

"Well…I want to be a Huntress." There was that word again.

"You want to slay monsters?" …Well, if the shoe fits, I guess someone that hunted monsters could be called a Huntsman.

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training at Signal, and then I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know?" My eyebrows furrowed as I looked between Ruby and the grey-haired man. Something seriously felt wrong right now, but I couldn't figure out what.

"…Do you know who I am?" At the man's question, the silver-eyed girl nodded.

"You're Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster at Beacon." Oh. I didn't like what was about to happen, but I had no idea exactly how bad it was.

"Hello." Ozpin smiled. Ruby smiled back.

"Nice to meet you."

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything." She announced too seriously.

"Well, okay." There was a glint in his eye that grated on my nerves. He had something planned for her, and she was not going to be ready for it. But I had no way to tell what it was, so trying to pull her away from it would only end in failure. "I'm sure you can't wait to tell your family of the good news, so you're free to go. I'll be waiting in eager anticipation for when you first step onto my campus." The girl beamed and got out of her seat, but stilled when she looked over and seemed to remember I was here.

"What's going to happen with him? He helped out with that Dust thief just like I did." The apparent Headmaster and I locked gazes, as he rested his chin on the knuckles of his left hand. I knew he could tell that I was seeing through his shit, and it wasn't making the tension in the room any lighter.

"We're going to figure that out once you're on your way. If you're concerned that he will get in trouble for this, just remember that you aren't." Ozpin's voice was definitely clipped there. And I'm sure that Ruby completely missed the fact that he hadn't actually specified I wasn't in trouble. That was obvious by the fact that she smiled once more and practically skipped out the room. He and I remained staring at each other while the door slowly groaned shut. He knew I could see that he was making some sort of plan in his head, but he also knew I had no idea what it could be. At the same time, he knew I've been ready for a fight since he walked into the room, and that he had no idea what I could do. It had definitely slipped Ruby's notice that Blonde had her riding crop in her hand since she entered the room, and had not let it go. But I could tell based on how she stood that she knew I had noticed. Both of them could tell that I wasn't just ready for a fight, but could dish one out. Just as both of them knew I was aware how seriously they were taking me.

The door slammed shut with a heavy clank. There was no immediate attempt to talk. Still leaning back, I glanced between ancient brown and tense emerald. I focused more on Ozpin's eyes. There was a degree of excited disbelief that he wasn't able to suppress, like he couldn't believe I existed. Was he able to tell I was a mage? Was that important for some reason? A near hunger was in his gaze, a desperation. He wanted something, bad, and he for some reason thought he could get it from me. Understanding, too. He knew I wasn't oblivious like Ruby was, that he couldn't get things past me nearly as easily.

Slowly, I leaned forward, bringing my elbows onto the table while letting my hands hang off the edge. Blonde tightened her grip on her riding crop, as Ozpin's left hand slid just the slightest towards the handle that I had seen at his waist.

"I'll give you guys an olive branch," I explained, "and make it clear that I've had the ability to leave this entire time." Both of them stared at me for a moment, before relaxing just the slightest amount. "Pitch what you're selling. And don't try to pull anything fast, or I'll be out this building before you can realize you've fucked up." The spectacled man shifted in his seat.

"You seem to be taking this far more gravely than Ms. Rose was." Blonde tried to sidestep.

"Don't play like I'm blind." My gaze never wavered from Ozpin's. I brought up my right hand to point at the man. "You started scheming some shit since you first saw Ruby and I. I'll be upfront and admit I've not no clue what's so special about having silver eyes, but I know you know what's up with mine." The man's eyes widened just the slightest with a controlled glee.

"So I'm not wrong." He declared. I lowered my hand back down.

"I'm not naïve enough to say shit on my own. You're the one trying to convince me to join your side, you tell me what you're right or wrong about." The woman sent a worried look down at her partner. He took a small sip from his mug, without interrupting our staring contest.

"You're a Magic-user." Blonde's eyes widened, and she clutched the tablet in her hands tighter.

"No point in denying it, but I feel there's a reason you're excited about it."

"…For a very long time, there have only been six magic users in the world, with no way for that number to increase." His mug was lowered onto the table. "You make seven."

"Neat." I grunted. "Now tell me why you care." I could tell both of them got tense again. "Right now, I'm a neutral party. Not on anyone's side. If you want me on yours, you're gonna need to spill why." Ozpin visibly tightened his grip on his mug.

"We are…at war, with one of the other magic users. The most powerful of them all, undoubtedly. She wants the end of the world, and she's unfortunately had us on the backfoot for a very long time. I'm hoping you would be enough to finally turn the tide." I continued to stare for a moment, before I leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest.

"…Where do you scale?" A bead of nervous sweat dripped down the Headmaster's face.

"Pardon?"

"You can tell I've got magic. I can tell you do, too. You said the one you're fighting is the strongest out of the six of you, where do you rank?" Earthen eyes widened for a moment before he composed himself.

"I have…lost a significant amount of my magical abilities," he explained, "but I would still say only She would be able to beat me in a fight." I nodded at the information.

"Alright." Ozpin leaned forward in his seat eyes bright with anticipation.

"…Alright?" He was practically drooling.

"I'll be your trump card." I announced. "But, I'm gonna need shit from you."

"What do you have in mind?" He took visible measure to stop himself from blindly screaming 'anything'.

"Biggest thing I want is information. I can tell you right now that I'm not from here, because where I come from, there's a helluva lot more than seven mages. So I'm gonna need to know how this place works."

"Easily achievable." He said instantly.

"Room and board would also be nice." I shrugged. "Not a necessity like know-how on this place, but it would help a lot."

"I think I can put something together for you."

"Finally, I'm gonna need to be kept in the loop. You want me to be your magic wand, you're gonna need to tell me more than just where to aim. Who I'm working with, what you're having them do, what you're planning with all of us. Leave me blind and I'll go rogue." That got him to stiffen with nervousness.

"…I understand. I can accommodate you on all that you've requested…and the easiest way to do that would be to enroll you at my school. You'd be provided historical lessons on this world, acquire an understanding of our society, be given free dorms and cafeteria, and you'll be close by whenever there is an update to our situation." I nodded in approval.

"Works for me. When does the term start?"

"The Initiation is in two days." I laughed.

"Damn, barely giving me time to get my feet under me, huh?"

"You should've gotten here sooner, then. You can join Glynda and I as we return to Beacon." Oh, was that Blonde's name?

"I've got nothing to pack up, ready whenever you are."

"Then we'll be on our way. And, if you don't mind, based on what little knowledge you have, where do you think you would 'scale'?"

"You told Ruby that her scythe was one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed. Were you playing that up to get her to like you?"

"No." He answered calmly. I shrugged.

"Then, I can't really be certain unless we spar, but based on that and what I'm able to pick up of your magic, I'd wipe the goddamn floor with you." He smiled wide. Anticipation, excitement, and hope filled that smile.

"Fantastic."

GUESS WHO WROTE A BOOK?! THAT'S RIGHT, IT WAS I! DIO- Sorry, couldn't resist the joke. But I actually did publish a book, and it's available on Amazon as an eBook and hardcover! It's a mystery/horror novel titled 'No Good Man', under my pen name of, you guessed it, Grimlock Bragi. It would be greatly appreciated if you went over and bought it, as I've been working on this for a while.

Additionally, I will finally be updating To Undo it All and Welcome to Wonderland within the next two weeks, with To Undo it All planned to be updated first. Be on the look-out for those!

Obligatory reminder that you can financially support me: pat_reon_dot_com/user_?u=_83835975 without underscores