AN: Before we get started, I recently learned that Reno actually has a last name in canon, and it's Sinclair. We're going deep into the lore for this story.

This is actually the longest "introduction" chapter so far, and I suspect it's going to stay that way.

In other news, I got Xenoblade 3, and it's so good so far.

And has anyone been watching Ice Queendom?

With that out of the way, onwards!

Introduction: Weiss Schnee and Reno Sinclair

Businessman Jacques Schnee sat impatiently at his desk, anxiously stroking his white moustache as he looked over the documents laid out before him, most of them containing nothing but bad news. Another factory bombed or executive killed by those animals in the White Fang. A business deal lost to those ingrates from the Shinra Electric Power Company.

Ever since leaving the confines of their home kingdom, Shinra and their infernal Mako energy had been a constant thorn in his side.

He may have been a businessman, and a successful one at that if he said so himself, but lately he felt more like a warrior fighting on two fronts.

He was mercifully distracted from his miserable paperwork when someone knocked on his door.

"Enter," he called out, and the door slowly opened. He had been expecting Whitley, Weiss, or even Klein, but instead he was met with a tall, thin man in finely-pressed black suit and tie. The man had long black hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, and a black dot in the middle of his forehead. The man had style, and Jacques liked to think he understood style. His own white suit was evident of that.

"Good evening, Mister Schnee," the man greeted with a polite bow before taking an uninvited seat in one of the chairs.

"Who are you?" Jacques demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Tseng," the man said. "I lead a mercenary outfit. It has recently been brought to our attention that you are going to be hosting a party, and I would like to extend our services as extra security."

Jacques scrutinized the man for several seconds, but his composure and friendly demeanor never once wavered.

"Clearly, your sources are worth whatever you're paying them for," Jacques said. "You are correct. I was looking to increase security. But why should I hire a bunch of thugs for the job instead of requesting a security detail from Atlas's military?"

"Oh, I assure you, we are nothing like the usual rowdy mercenaries that infest our profession," Tseng said, and there was a part of Jacques that understood what he meant. Jacques had never seen a mercenary as well-dressed or as well-spoken as Tseng. "My team are among the elites that the mercenary profession has to offer, and we would be willing to provide security for your party for a reasonable rate."

"But why pay when General Ironwood would be willing to provide security for free?"

"Because unlike those fools in the Atlas military, we'll actually get the job done," Tseng said with a sly smile.

Jacques leaned forward, and steepled his hands in front of his mouth. He stared Tseng down for several seconds. Once again, he had to admit that the man had a point. Jacques had regularly found himself extremely frustrated with the Atlas military's failures to root out the White Fang's leadership, and protect his assets and employees.

"…Very well," Jacques said. "You drive a hard bargain. I will hire your mercenaries to provide extra security for my party. But be warned. Should you fail to meet my lofty expectations, you won't see a single Lien from me."

"Thank you, Mister Schnee," Tseng said. "You won't regret this."

"I'd better not," Jacques said. "Oh, and this is a black tie affair. I expect your mercenaries to follow the dress code. We wouldn't want to scare our guests now, would we?"

"That won't be a problem," Tseng said, standing up, bowing, and taking his leave.

Jacques sat back in his chair.

He really hoped he wasn't going to regret this.

Tseng stepped outside Jacques Schnee's office and closed the door behind him. He smirked and walked several feet down the hall, making sure he was out of earshot before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out his Scroll. He quickly dialed a number, and placed the device to his ear.

"Sir," he greeted. "Yes. I'm in. Now we'll be able to infiltrate Schnee Manor with ease."

One week later…

Guests were still pouring in as a group of four approached the front entrance to Schnee Manor, all of them wearing black suits. At the head of their group stood their leader, Tseng, and on either of him stood a man and woman in identical suits. The man had a bald head and a goatee, and wore sunglasses despite it being night time. His name was Rude. The woman had blonde hair in a bob cut. Her name was Elena.

Bringing up the rear was the youngest member of their group, Reno Sinclair.

Well, technically he wasn't a member of the group yet, but he was working to rectify that. Unlike the other members of the group, he chose to forgo the tie, instead wearing his dress shirt and jacket untucked with most of the buttons undone, showing off his pecs. He had wild red hair and green eyes, with a long ponytail trailing down his back, and goggles worn on his forehead.

"Don't forget our true objective," Tseng said. "We're here here to find out anything that could be beneficial for the company."

"Yeah, yeah," Reno said, putting his hands behind his head nonchalantly. "This is gonna be a walk in the park."

"Don't get cocky," Rude said. "It might get us caught."

"Yo, Rude, why gotta be so rude?" Reno asked. Rude sent a glare his way, Elena giggled and Tseng smirked. Rude clenched his fist and took a step towards the young man, but Tseng stopped him with his arm.

"There are more important things to do right now than throttling Reno," Tseng said. Rude exhaled before backing off. Tseng then turned his attention to Reno. "And you need to act more professionally while on a job."

"…Right," Reno said with a sigh.

"Very good," Tseng said. "Now then, let us begin the mission." The others all nodded and the group entered the Schnee Manor through the front door.

Reno lingered around the perimeter of the ballroom, munching on some kind of little meatball on a stick that he had swiped from a server. He had heard that fancy-ass parties like these were supposed to be the talk of the town, but he really wasn't seeing the appeal. So far, all he saw was a bunch of stuffy middle-aged men parading around their trophy wives with their expensive boob jobs and eating mediocre food.

What a let-down.

Reno let out a sigh, wanting this boring assignment to just end already.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice suddenly announced, drawing Reno's attention to a short, chubby butler with blading hair standing at the top of the stairs. "May I present to you, your gracious host, President and CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, Mister Jacques Schnee!"

Polite applause filled the room, and Reno rolled his eyes at seeing the rich snob who hired them. He was a tall, lanky man in a white suit, with equally white hair and a bushy moustache. Even with a neutral expression on his face, Reno could just feel how much this man thought he was better than everyone else in the room. The man descended the stairs and waited at the bottom.

"Next, may I present Mister Schnee's only son: Whitley Schnee," the butler announced, and a white-haired kid that was clearly trying to be a carbon copy of his father stepped out and walked down the stairs. "And finally, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company: Miss Weiss Schnee!"

Reno looked up, and his jaw practically hit the floor when he saw the girl that appeared at the top of the stairs. She was wearing an elegant light blue ball gown, and her hair was white, just like her other family members. Her light blue eyes seemed to pierce the soul of all she looked across, and the scar running down her left eye did nothing to detract from one simple fact.

Weiss Schnee was quite possibly the most beautiful girl Reno had ever laid eyes on.

Said eyes stayed transfixed to her perfect form as she gracefully descended the staircase, stopping at the bottom to stand with her father and brother. Jacques said something to his guests, but Reno really couldn't care less. After a minute, the Schnees stepped away to mingle with the guests, and Reno finally snapped out of it. He shook his head quickly and turned to look at his reflection in the window. He ran his hand through his hair to try to make it look a little more presentable, and adjusted his coat to make sure the fit was perfect. He held his palm up to his mouth, blew into it, and sniffed. He cringed, so he pulled a packet of breath mints out of his pocket and popped some into his mouth. Reno took a step towards Weiss, but a hand grabbing his shoulder stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Rude asked. He followed the path Reno was about to take, and realized that he was walking towards Weiss. "Were you seriously about to go flirt with our client's daughter?"

"I was, uh, just going to gather some information," Reno said.

"Do you honestly expect me to buy that?" Rude asked. Reno brushed his hand aside.

"Yo, Rude, the heiress to the SDC could have some valuable info, and who better to get it than a handsome teen like me?" Reno asked, stepping away from Rude. "And, maybe get her Scroll number as a bonus." He turned around and walked away from his senior, hearing Rude sigh in irritation behind him. Reno walked up to Weiss with as much swagger as he could muster.

"Yo," he said, prompting the heiress to turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "You know, I've heard tales of the beauty to be found in Atlas, but I never would have guessed they were all talking about you."

Weiss said looked thoroughly unimpressed. She looked him up and down, in a way Reno hoped was admiration towards his physique. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"The name's Reno," he said, leaning against the wall in a way that was supposed to be suave. "I'm one of the mercs working security."

"Tell me, Reno, was it?" Weiss said. "Is it customary for you mercenaries to flirt with the people you're supposed to be protecting, or are you just particularly uncouth?"

"I don't know what that word means, so I'm just going to assume that it was a compliment," Reno said, giving her a winning smile.

"It wasn't."

What in the world was Reno doing?

Tseng watched from his position near Jacques Schnee as Reno confidently strode over to the heiress, struck up a conversation with her, and clearly made her mad. He shook his head in disappointment.

"So, how is that military project going, Jacques?" a voice asked, catching Tseng's attention. He careful leaned closer to Jacques, who had been conversing with the man that had spoken.

"Quite well, honestly," Jacques said. "Hopefully, the paladins will begin mass-production within the next two years."

Paladins? What were those? Tseng kept listening, hoping that Jacques would keep talking.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out, and Tseng saw a group of armed men firing their guns into the air. He quickly ducked out of sight as the men spread out to cover more of the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's entertainment is brought to you by random acts of violence!" the leader of the group said, before pointing his gun directly into the crowd. "Now everybody get on the ground!"

At the criminal's words, Weiss and Reno quickly got on the floor, along with the terrified guests.

"Now, don't worry your pretty little heads," the leader said. "We're not after your money. Well, not all of you. We just want the Schnee Family's money, considering the fact that it's their fault this little break-in is even happening."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Weiss's father asked, prompting the man to snicker and step towards him.

"I'm glad you asked," the leader said. "You see thanks to you, the Dust shop that my family owned for years was bought out by the SDC. You cost me my livelihood. So it's only fair that you cough up a couple million Gil as compensation, capiche?"

"You're delusional," Father said. "This is business. I outperformed you and had to money to buy you out, so I did. You're a fool for taking personal offense to a business transaction. Thus, you will get nothing from me."

The leader growled, and turned his head to look at Weiss. "That's fine," he said through grit teeth. "If you won't hand over the Gil willingly, then you leave us with little choice. We'll be taking that little heiress of yours. She'll be our guest until you can find it in yourself to give us the money you owe us." The leader started walking towards Weiss, who sent a glare his way.

The glare distracted him from looking at her hands, as she tried to silently create a small glyph on the floor directly in his path. The leader slowly approached, and if all went to plan, the glyph would launch him into the air, allowing Reno and his so-called mercenaries to possibly deal with these rapscallions. However, just as the man was going to step on the glyph, Reno suddenly stood up and walked in front of him, forcing Weiss to dispel the glyph to avoid hurting him, much to her frustration.

What in the world was he doing?

"Yo guy, why did you have to go and ruin the party for everyone?" Reno asked. "We were having a great time."

"And who are you, kid?" the leader asked.

"Just someone that doesn't appreciate the fun being interrupted," Reno said. "So what do you say you turn around, walk out that door, and we'll pretend this never happened?"

The leader let out a hard laugh, prompting the other criminals to laugh along with him. "Look here, boys. We got ourselves a hero. How about a counter-offer?" The man quickly stepped forward, grabbing Reno by the collar and pressing the barrel of his gun under the boy's chin. "I blow your brains out and we take what we came here for?"

Weiss's eyes widened as she saw some kind of spatial distortion appear behind the leader. Reno smirked.

"Before you do that, you might want to do something about that vortex behind you," he said.

"What?" the man asked, turning around, only to be met with a punch to the face by a man with long black hair and a suit that suddenly appeared behind him through the vortex.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose.

Two more people in suits appeared, guns drawn to fire on the criminals, and the guests all panicked and started running for the exits. Weiss quickly got up to do the same, only for someone to grab her arm and wrench it behind her back, wrapping his other arm around her neck to hold her still.

"You're not going anywhere!" the leader said, dragging her away from the chaos and towards one of the hallways.

"Hey!" Reno shouted, reaching into his coat pocket, and extending a metal baton. The kidnapper growled in frustration, and repositioned himself so his arms were wrapped around Weiss's torso, pinning her arms to her sides and allowing him to pick her up and start running.

"Unhand me!" Weiss shouted.

"Get back here!" Reno shouted, chasing the kidnapper through the halls of Schnee Manor, the walls decorated with all kinds of ornaments and monuments to the "greatness" of the family. "Stop!"

Thankfully for the redhead, the fact that the kidnapper had to run while carrying a teenager in his arms, while Reno had his arms free. It didn't take him long to catch up.

"There's nowhere to run!" Reno shouted. He heard the kidnapper growl, before turning around and pressing the barrel of his gun against Weiss's head, forcing Reno to stop dead in his tracks.

"Don't take another step, or the heiress dies!" the kidnapper shouted.

"Yo, just calm down," Reno said. "Just let her go. No one has to get hurt."

"Like hell!" the kidnapper said. "This girl is going to make me a rich man, but I'm not above hurting her!"

"Oh, please," Weiss said. "You can't possibly think you'd get away with harming me. If anything happens to me, you can rest assured that your days are numbered."

"Shut up, brat!" the kidnapper said, pressing the gun more firmly against her skull. Reno looked down, and saw Weiss forming a glyph at their feet. She shot Reno a look, which he interpreted to mean "keep him talking".

"She has a point, you know," Reno said. "Right now, if you get caught, you'll just go to prison. But if you kill her, then Atlas will hunt you down with everything they've got. Is this really worth dyin' for, yo?"

"If it means I get to take away Jacques's precious princess, then yes, it is!" the man yelled.

"Then you should have shote me five seconds ago!" Weiss shouted, activating the glyph and sending both herself and the kidnapper flying backwards down the hallway. The criminal landed hard on his back, but Weiss gracefully flipped and landed on her feet. She grabbed an old rapier that was hanging on the wall, and brandished it with no small amount of skill.

Reno smirked. Looked like the heiress was a trained warrior.

"I think I'm in love," he said to himself.

The kidnapper stood up, and growled at the two armed teenagers.

"I suggest you surrender," Weiss said.

"What she said," Reno said. "We wouldn't want to do this the hard way, now would we?"

"You're both dead!" the criminal yelled, drawing a second gun. With a flick of his wrists, they transformed into a pair of machetes.

Reno and Weiss charged at the man, attacking him from both sides. He managed to block both of their attacks, and in a feat of impressive agility, fended off both simultaneously.

After a flurry of attacks, Reno and Weiss found themselves pressing both their weapons against his, the man holding them off single-handedly. Suddenly, he kicked Reno in the knee, making the boy stumble back. The man quickly turned towards him, the lack of force making Weiss stumble, and swung both his swords at Reno. The redhead raised his baton to block the attack, but the force pushed him back. Weiss attempted to stab the man with her rapier, but he batted the weapon aside and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her onto her back. The man raised his machetes to stab her while she was down, but Reno quickly ran towards him and swung his baton, forcing the man to abandon his planned attack and block the boy with both machetes.

Reno pressed his weapon against the criminal's, and noticed a black glyph under the man's feet, holding him in place. Reno swung hard, and with the man unable to dodge, he could only block. But the force of Reno's attack knocked both machetes out of the man's hand. Reno swung his baton hard at the now-unarmed man, but the criminal caught it.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," the kidnapper snarled.

"Okay," Reno said nonchalantly, and activated his Semblance, sending an electric current surging through the man's body, making him scream in agony. Reno released his Semblance and delivered a spinning kick to the man's head just as Weiss released her glyph, sending the man flying back into the wall behind him. The impact jostled a shield loose from that wall, causing it to fall on his head.

The kidnapper slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Schnee," an Atlas soldier said, bowing politely to Weiss after collecting her statement about the attack on her manor. All around the courtyard in front the manor, soldiers were dragging handcuffed criminals into prison transports, with other soldiers questioning the other guests.

"Anything to help put these men away for a long time," Weiss said.

"Oh, they won't be going anywhere," the soldier said. "We'll guarantee that."

"Thank you," Weiss said. "Am I free to go now?"

"Of course," the soldier said. "Have a nice rest of your night, Miss Schnee." The solider bowed one more time, turned on his heel, and walked towards his transport.

"Yo," Reno said, and Weiss turned around to see the redheaded boy approaching her. "Are you okay? Things got a little hairy back there."

"I'm fine," Weiss said.

"That's good," Reno said. "You know, you're pretty good with a sword. And those glyphs of yours are pretty cool."

"Your skills were impressive as well," Weiss said, smiling at him. "Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"Ah, it was nothing, yo," Reno said, smiling widely. "I just did what anyone else would have done."

"Is there anything I can do for you as thanks?" Weiss asked. Reno put a hand to his chin in thought, before smiling mischievously a few seconds later.

"Well, there's one thing you can do for me," Reno said as he closed his eyes and leaned forward with puckered lips.

Weiss recoiled in disgust from Reno's advance, before a smirk appeared on her lips and she summoned a repulsion glyph under Reno's feet. "OK, my dashing hero, I'll reward you. But you might want to check your shoelaces first," she said. He did so, and his eyes widened at seeing the glyph.

"W-wait—" he uttered in a panic, before Weiss snapped her fingers and sent him flying into the nearby fountain, leaving a large splash in his wake. Weiss turned and marched back into the manor with a satisfied smile, leaving the redheaded boy to pick up what was left of his pride.

Reno stepped into the safehouse with the rest of his group, his suit still damp from the fountain Weiss had launched him into.

As annoying as that was, he was willing to accept that he may have come on a bit too strong.

"I'm gonna make a quick call to Chelsea," Rude said, heading towards his room.

"I think I'm gonna turn in early," Elena said.

"That sounds good," Reno said. "I'm ready for this day to be over, yo."

"A moment, everyone," Tseng said, stopping them from returning to their rooms. "There's something I'd like to discuss with Reno."

"Uh, if this is about trying to kiss Weiss, I—" Reno said, before Tseng held up his hand to silence him.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Tseng said. "Quite the opposite, in fact. I was impressed with your performance tonight and I believe it's time for your final test."

"You mean…?" Reno asked, surprised.

"Yes, I believe you're ready to fully join our little organization," Tseng said.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Elena said, giving Reno a celebratory hug.

"Are you sure about this, boss?" Rude asked. "Don't you think the kid should go on a few more assignments first?"

"I believe he's ready, Rude," Tseng said. "Now, Reno, are you prepared for what your final test entails?"

"Yes, sir!" Reno said enthusiastically.

"Your task is simple," Tseng said. "You must attend a Huntsman academy for a single year without dying or being expelled."

"That's it?" Reno asked. "Easy."

"That's not all," Tseng said. "While you're there, you must never let anyone know that you're associated with us. Even though we're not that well-known outside of Midgar, you can't let any of the students or staff learn about your connection to us, or it could attract unwanted attention. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Reno said. "I promise, no one will find out who I'm working for."

"Excellent," Tseng said, giving Reno a pleased smile. "Is there any Academy you'd prefer to attend?"

"…Beacon," Reno said after a few moments of thinking about it. "I heard my cousin was attending."

"Very well," Tseng said. "I'll pull some strings and make it happen. Congratulations, Reno."

"Thank you, sir!" Reno said, before heading off to his room. He laid down on his bed, still trying to process what had just happened.

He was finally going to become a Turk.

AN: Oh, Reno. You fool.

So, I'm sure you've seen it by now, but the biggest change we've made is that Reno is still a teenager, and hasn't officially joined the Turks yet. Other than that, I don't really think there's anything left to really talk about it or explain.

So, next up is another introduction chapter, and this time it'll be Blake Belladonna and Yuffie Kisaragi.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!