King: Oh... my... God! I got fan art! My work here actually inspired someone to make an animation~! Big thanks to Trihexia on DeviantArt! It's a neat little animation of the Ace Attorney version of Jaune shouting Objection! That makes me seriously happy~ But enough of my gushing. You're here for a chapter. Well, for good old 25, we've got a fun one. You knew it was coming eventually! Hit it!

Inspiration: n/a

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The only indication they had that King was still around was the occasional magical spark off in the distance of the theater. But, since he wasn't stopping the screen, it started to play the next round.

The screen sparked a moment, showing a title, [Possibility 63].

"Possibility 63?" Ruby blinked in confusion. "What's that about?"

King suddenly reappeared, "63? Where did…?" He looked over toward the screen. "Oh. Oh! Oh dear."

"Is that bad?"

"Not bad. Just… Okay! 63 is a code used by beings like me. It's for rather… specific changes to the Possible versions."

Yang's eyes narrowed, "What kind of specific changes are we talking about?"

"I can't say, that would ruin the point of all this. The hint I can offer is a lot of outcomes are flipped to the opposite." King disappeared and fixed the screen to play normally without the title or code hanging around.

This was it! Beacon Academy!

"Another first day story?" Emerald sighed, "Aren't there better times for that?"

Weiss thought for a moment, "Perhaps… Perhaps not. Think about the sheer possibilities inherent in those events. Even if everything was the same, there are possibilities of the teams changing, partners never meeting, and so on. By sheer numbers, it makes sense that its more likely for this to be shown."

Nora popped up next to the heiress, "Plus it was so awesome! Our initiation was so crazy~!"

Ren sighed at his partner's antics, "Quite… Not to mention that, from a story telling perspective, it makes sense to show the most important moments in a story."

The students arriving at Beacon simply couldn't wait to step off the ship and start their training. Two such students were looking out over Vale. One was a taller blonde man with his hair tied back. He dressed in a brown leather coat with jeans and black boots. His purple eyes watching out over the city below them. "I have to admit, it's quite the sight huh?"

This got a few blinks from the audience.

Ruby pointed toward the screen, her mind trying to make sense of things, "Is… is that who I think it's supposed to be?"

Yang was chuckling, "No way! No fucking way!"

Standing next to him was a shorter young man, likely younger as well, with black and red gradient hair. His wardrobe looked like a gothic version of the style worn by Qrow Branwen. "Yeah… It really is…" He looked away, unsure of his situation.

The blonde wrapped an arm around his shorter compatriot, "Come on bro! It's Beacon! It's your dream, remember? Get excited!"

The younger brother wrestled his way out of his brother's halfhearted head-lock, "Yang! Stop it!"

Ruby ripped into a fit of laughter, "Oh my gosh! It was! That means the other one is me!"

Qrow started to chuckle. This version of Yang reminded him so much of Tai back in the day, all he needed was a bit of stubble. Of course, that led to what Ruby's name would be… He knew Tai and Summer had options picked out for either a boy or girl…

Yang chuckled at his brother's reaction, "Come on, Ross…"

Yang started to laugh, "Ross! Really?!"

Qrow thought for a moment, "Rosso."

This got Yang to stop and look toward her uncle, "Pardon?"

"The full name would be either Rosso Rose or Rosso Xiao Long. I'm guessing Ross is just an easier way to say it in the day to day."

Rosso groaned, "You know I hate that. Makes me sound like a dork…"

"You are a dork." Yang started to count out on his fingers as he spoke, "And a weapon nut. And a…"

Rosso placed a hand over his brother's mouth. "Okay… I get it."

Yang was trying to hold back her laughter, "It really is the guy version of Ruby!"

Ruby was starting to notice the exact moment of the scene. "Isn't this when Jaune, or whatever the female version would be named, comes along to puke on Yang's shoes?"

Yang's laughing stopped, remembering that day. "Lovely…"

Rosso sighed and released his brother's jawline, "Just… Don't make a habit of calling me that. It's bad enough I skipped two years to go to Beacon and left all of my friends behind, I just want to get through this without looking like an idiot." He turned and immediately bumped into someone, knocking them both to the ground.

Qrow smirked, "Lasted all of two seconds."

Ruby jumped to the defense of her alternate version, "Hey! It happens!"

Rosso shook his head before realizing he had just run into something. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you! I just…"

The girl opposite him was beating her chest, her cheeks starting to pale.

Yang recognized the sighs and helped her up, placing his arms around at her stomach to issue a Heimlich maneuver. The girl coughed up a wad of gum and leaned forward to take some much needed breathes.

"What's with the gum?" Yang asked to the crowd.

Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought, "I know some people use gum on flights for air pressure… and there's forms for motion… sickness…" Her eyes suddenly shot up toward the screen again.

Velvet blinked, "You don't think…"

The young woman on screen was a taller blonde, taller than the male version of Yang by a full foot! Unlike her male counterpart, this version of the loveable knight got to inherit her father's height, making her a solid 7 foot 3 inches. That, coupled with a body gifted by her mother, made this girl stand out in a crowd, putting it very mildly. She wore a simple black hoodie with the Pumpkin Pete mascot on the front, a pair of jeans, and a pair of boots. Her golden blonde hair was cut short, almost resembling a halo in the right light.

"Damn that girl's tall." It was the only thing Nora could come up with to say. This amazon of a woman was supposed to be her fearless leader?

Coco went so far as to remove her sunglasses completely, in shock that this was supposed to be Jaune in an alternate world. She expected the female version of Arc to be just as much of a non-presence early on. She expected the kind of person that would be written off. Not this.

The 5'8 Rosso helped her up and had to crane her neck a bit to look her in the eye. This got the girl to chuckle nervously. "Sorry… I wasn't watching where I was going…" She scratched the back of her head as she spoke.

Nora started to chuckle, "It is Jaune! Just… girl-Jaune. What's her name?"

She cleared her throat and held out a hand, "I guess this is the part where we introduce ourselves. My name is Jeanne Arc. Nice to meet you~"

Before his brother could get a word in, Yang placed an arm over Rosso's shoulders and grinned, "I'm Yang Xiao Long! And this is my brother Ross~"

Rosso delivered a backhanded punch into Yang's nose. "Ignore him. My name is Rosso Rose."

Ruby started to chuckle a little seeing her deck Yang like that.

Jeanne smiled nervously as a sweat drop fell. "Nice to meet you both…"

Rosso sighed, "He just likes to mess with me. But, yeah. It was nice to meet you too." They all felt the ship lurch a little. Rosso glanced to the window, "Looks like we're landing. Come on, Yang! Let's get moving."

Yang nursed his nose a moment but smiled, "Told you, you are excited."

Jeanne watched them leave, a slight twitch on her face. She took a deep breath to ease her nerves and stomach until they landed. "This is going to be a long day… I can feel it."

Ruby frowned, "Oh come on! We weren't that bad."

This got a few in the audience to chuckle to themselves.

The next day, the students were starting to arm themselves in the locker room. The camera showed a young man with fire-red hair arming himself with bronze armor. He picked up a familiar looking red sword and bronze shield.

Nora shook the counterpart of the person of screen, "Pyrrha! It's you!"

His emerald green eyes held the experience of a champion. His smile one of a competitive spirit. This was Patroclus Nikos, Mistral's best, come to Vale to attend Beacon.

Pyrrha thought for a moment, "Patroclus?" She blinked for a moment but smiled.

He finished his task by lacing up his boots and kicking his locker closed. He smiled and turned to make his way to the exit. But he was interrupted by a shorter boy with snow-white hair, "Excuse me. If I'm not mistaken, you're Patroclus, correct?"

The young man was dressed in something that looked more akin to a military uniform than combat gear, all in white. A shallow scar was etched into his face over his left eye.

Ruby laughed a little, "There's Weiss!"

Weiss smiled, At least he seems normal enough.

The white-haired boy held out a hand, "I'm Walter Schnee. I pleasure."

Patroclus took his hand and shook, having long gotten used to the needs of PR. "Nice to meet you." His smile was plastic. Patroclus wanted nothing more than a real friend, but when their first words are a recognition of your fame, it was hard to be hopeful.

Pyrrha sighed. She knew his pain well. It was part of what drew her to Jaune to begin with.

Walter smiled, "I heard they were going to set up teams today. I was wondering if you had any plans for this."

Patroclus shook his head, "I can't say I do." A half lie. His plan was to find someone who didn't know him. But that seemed very unlikely. Failing that, he'd just let the chips fall as they will.

Walter's smile grew a little, "Then perhaps we could form a team."

"I don't think we get to choose our partners…"

Walter's smile hitched a little, "Of course! Right… Why would they do that…" He chuckled nervously. Walter was a sheltered child, his father's pride. But that kept his social skills… lacking.

Weiss was incredulous to hear that, but also understood the situation. Her own father had tried to keep her under his thumb, but she was adamant to go to Beacon and become a huntress. It's likely, in this reality, her father kept her counterpart under more scrutiny, no doubt with an iron grip.

This got Patroclus to narrow his eyes, as if to will himself to understand why Walter would act like that. Unfortunately, they were forced to cut their conversation there when the clock blared an alarm. They were to get to the cliffs at least 30 minutes early to mingle and prepare themselves. Both young men moved quickly to make it on time.

Ruby huffed a little in annoyance. "Why couldn't we get an extra half hour to talk to everyone…"

Yang grinned, "Would it have mattered to you?"

Ruby was about to be indignant, but remembered how she was before her team, "I… guess not…"

When they reached the cliffs, Patroclus wanted nothing more than to find someone he could call a friend. Unfortunately, most of the students had already separated themselves into their own groups based on people they knew before. He sighed, resigning himself to fate. Something caught his eye, though. A girl off to the side, a woman that towered over all others. She wore a flowing black dress and tall boots, covered by a shining white chest plate and gauntlets. Her golden hair almost glowing in the light. He took a breath and smiled. Looks like fate can shove it!

This got a good laugh out of the crowd.

Patroclus made his way toward the girl, "Hey! I'm Patroclus." He held out his hand toward her.

She looked toward him with an eyebrow raised, she took his hand and shook. "Jeanne. It's nice to meet you."

Nora smiled and smacked Pyrrha's back, "A chance meeting~! Right Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha was blushing a bit but nodded.

Patroclus smiled. No mention of his titles… A good start.

Jeanne, however, crossed her arms. "So, what brings a Mistral Champ my way?"

If he were made of glass, he'd have shattered the moment those words left her lips.

Pyrrha winced at that. "That's not a good start…"

"I…" He took a breath and tried to see if he could still salvage this. He did approach her after all… It would be beyond rude to just walk away now. "You were here by yourself and I figured… Why not walk over and try to strike up a conversation?"

Jeanne smiled and sighed. "Well, I'd say mission accomplished."

Pyrrha sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness."

This got a chuckle out of Nora.

Patroclus's smile softened. Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as I thought it would.

A loud clap got their attention and pulled it off to the cliff face. A woman in a green suit stood by the cliff, her grey hair and glasses made her seem wise and experienced.

Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood all started to chuckle seeing the alternate version of Ozpin. Ozpin just sighed, waiting to see how things go from here.

The woman cleared her throat. "Now, introductions were yesterday, but I feel it best to speak again. I am your Headmistress Dorothy Ozpin."

Qrow raised a finger, about to say something, but paused. He turned toward the Headmaster, "Oz is your last name?"

Ozpin just drank from his coffee, not giving an answer.

The Headmistress continued, "First off, I want to offer a welcome to Beacon Academy. I'd also like to offer my condolences. Half of you are likely going home by the end of today."

Qrow groaned, "Damn… Doing things the old way…"

This got his nieces to turn toward their uncle, "Old way?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering their own initiation. "The original initiation ceremony of Beacon Academy. It was… notorious for its difficulty."

Oz adjusted her glasses. "You have until sundown to find artifacts hidden in the forest below. There's enough for half of you all here. Lucky for you, each artifact is for a pair of teammates, which you will be making in the forest below. The first person you make eye contact with in the forest will be your partner for the next four years at Beacon." She paused, allowing the murmuring students to calm.

"That doesn't seem all that different…" Ruby pointed out.

Qrow shook his head. "Didn't you notice something missing from that?"

"What?"

Weiss suddenly went wide eyed. "The northern ruins… She didn't mention the ruins."

Qrow snapped his fingers and pointed toward Weiss, "Bingo. Back when, the whole forest was fair game to find an artifact. It would take a day just to search the whole thing. You have to get lucky in that test…"

"Now, line up by the cliff and prepare yourselves. Initiation begins now."

The students lined up on the platforms as Oz smiled. She raised an arm as a signal. When her hand fell, the students were sent flying into the forest.

The camera flew off to follow Patroclus as he used his shield to barrel through the tree line and land on a large branch. He jumped from branch to branch to reach the ground. He readied his sword, shifting it into rifle form, and got ready to move. Only to jump a little when something came flying into the ground in front of him. A large, muscular, orange haired student, a few inches shorter than himself, was standing in a small crater. His white shirt was outfitted with a pink bandolier of grenades and a launcher on his back.

Nora cheered, "It's me! Did you see that landing?! I'm so awesome!"

The young man stood tall as he let out a boisterous laugh. "See Li, easy as pie!"

The man was carrying a young woman with black hair, complete with a pink streak. "I think that might be considered cheating." She jumped out of the man's arms and took a breath. She brushed off her green qipao "Catching me midair to ensure our partnership seems a little overboard, don't you think?"

"It worked!"

Li sighed, "Yes… yes it did."

Ren sighed, knowing well the level of patience it took to deal with Nora in any form.

The camera pulled away to show Headmistress Ozpin standing next to a rather stern looking man. This man had a glare that could freeze water and a subterranean bar of tolerance for rule breakers. Even his attire spoke of authority. "The first partnership has been made: Thor Nordson and Li Ren."

Glynda was surprised to see herself as a male. It was… jarring to say the least. That line about the glaring did sound about right though.

Nora was starry eyed. "Thor Nordson! That's an awesome name!" She stood up and placed a foot on the back of the chair in front of her, which Ruby vacated to avoid such a thing. "I am Thor! Son of the North! Lord of Lightning!" He placed her fists at her side started to laugh like her male counterpart.

Oz took a breath and then a sip of the tea in her mug. "We just had to run out of coffee today…"

The man rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'll order more when we get back."

Oz smiled, "Thank you, Galahad~"

Galahad sighed again with a small smile, "Of course."

Qrow chucked again. "Some things never change."

The camera panned over the forest and zoomed in to show Walter slicing his way through the forest with an ornamental saber, mumbling to himself. "Good going Walter… Try to make a friend for the first time in your life and you fuck it up…"

Ruby let out a little cry and hugged Weiss, as if to comfort her. Weiss, in turn, pushed her off and just kept watching.

A large Ursa started to stalk over, attracted to his self-pity. Walter sighed and readied his saber for a fight. The Ursa roared, suddenly silenced with a scythe blade sticking out from its open mouth. Rosso was standing on the creature's back and ripped its head off using his mechanized scythe.

Walter blinked in surprise. "Thank you… I suppose." He held out his free hand, mustering his best smile. "I'm Walter Schnee."

Rosso placed his scythe over his shoulder, taking Walter's hand. "Rosso Rose. Nice to meet you, partner."

Weiss smiled, "Certainly a better first meeting than ours…"

Ruby chuckled nervously. "Yeah…"

A camera run later, and they saw Yang ducking under a Beowolf swing while adopting a boxer's pose. His style was less brawler and more of a swarmer. He dodged through attacks and delivered weaker punches in rapid succession. Yang was light on his feet, thanks to years of training and his semblance. Rosso had his speed, but Yang had the control. No movement was ever a waste, no action was without reason.

Qrow smiled. "Tai would be proud."

Ruby giggled and poked her sister's cheek, "How completely unlike you~"

Yang brushed her sister off and groaned.

A large Alpha Beowolf started to approach. Yang was a good fighter, but an Alpha was more challenging then the usual Grimm. The Alpha's range and size kept him on his toes. As the Alpha started to charge it froze. A young man in a black coat suddenly appeared between the two kneeling, his katana sword being returned to its scabbard. When the blade was returned to its home, it was companied with a metallic click and a bisected Beowolf.

Blake was surprised but could figure out this was her counterpart. The coat was the spitting image of her father's, just in black.

The new face stood up and looked toward Yang. He had a face that was difficult to read. His style was very reminiscent of his home on Menagerie, a clear influence from his family.

Yang smirked and crossed his arms, "I could've taken him."

"Clearly." And like that, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long were the next pair to be formed.

Yang grinned. "Hey~ Some things don't change after all."

Blake sighed and smiled, reminiscing a little.

Nora frowned, though. "But where's Jeanne? She needs to pair up with Patroclus!"

Pyrrha agreed but made no motions to show it.

Patroclus was walking along; Thor and Li having run off to find an artifact, despite his attempts to suggest a team up. He sighed and walked on, pointing his rifle forward in one hand. He fired a shot and a medium sized Nevermore fell out of a tree. Patroclus was always alone, left to himself for one reason or another. "Why did I think Beacon would be different."

"Perhaps because this is supposed to be filled with people that can keep up." Jeanne was standing behind a tree and smirked as Patroclus passed. As he took a breath, Jeanne stood straight up again, now able to really see the giant sword on her back. "I suppose we're partners now, huh?"

Nora had a small pennant with [Team JNPR] written on it. "Yeah! Go Team JNPR!"

Patroclus smiled, "So it seems. But… we might want to find an…" He caught something tossed toward him, a white king piece, "artifact… What?"

Jeanne tapped the tree with her knuckle, showing a small hole in the wood. "These things are hidden around and hard to find on a first look. I got lucky and landed right on top of the thing."

"Um… How?"

"Got pushed into it by an Ursa, but that's neither here nor there."

"She seems so nonchalant about it all." Weiss tapped her finger on her chair.

"How strong is she in this?" Yang was curious about what Jeanne can do.

Jeanne took a deep breath and smiled. "Guess our job is done."

Patroclus thought for a moment. "I suppose. Guess we got lucky."

A massive Taijitu head ripped through the tree behind Jeanne and roared toward them.

Patroclus's eye twitched. "Bad luck…"

Jeanne smiled. "Nah~!" She jumped forward and twisted around. She drew her sword and set herself up for an attack. The sword was a massive two-hand sword, easily six and half feet in length and half a foot wide. She swung the sword like it was nothing and slashed into the Taijitu, making a nasty cut into the snake's head.

Ruby was starry eyed seeing the sword. "Oh my gosh! Look at that thing!"

Yang laughed a little, "Little overboard don't you think? It's just a sword."

Ruby, however, saw something different. "No way! That's not just a sword! That's a beast! It's a Type 0! It'll never need to be sharpened and it'll never rust! The amount of time and money to make something like that is bad enough, but to wield like it's nothing?!"

"Ruby…" Pyrrha tapped the younger student's shoulder. "The rest of us around as versed in weaponry as you are…"

"Oh! Right. Um… Type 0 is a special alloy that is super expensive and super strong. A short dagger would likely cost a thousand lien to gather the ore."

Everyone went pale. The sheer value of the sword was insane!

But Ruby continued to make it worse, "The problem with making it a sword is that it's super dense and difficult to wield. A sword that size would likely weigh 187 pounds, give or take depending on any internal effects or etchings."

Pyrrha was shocked to hear that figure, "187 pounds! For a sword?!"

"Yep. It's been thought to be too unwieldy to make a full blade out of the material, so it's usually just an accenting on the blade. It's so cool to see a full blade though!"

Patroclus blinked in shock. "That's… How are you…"

Jeanne smiled, "Fight now, talk later!"

"Right!" Patroclus fired a few heavy shots into the wounded Grimm.

The two worked rather well together. Jeanne specialized at close quarters assault with her heavy weapon, while Patroclus's range allowed to break the Taijitu's concentration, allowing Jeanne to swing again. After a while, Jeanne buried her blade into the side of the Grimm, making it cry out in pain. Patroclus rushed next to Jeanne and kicked the blade further in, the impact allowing Jeanne to slice the creature's head clean off.

Basking in their victory, Patroclus turned to his new partner, "Okay. Explanation time. That sword has to weigh a ton! How can you swing it like it's nothing?!"

Jeanne just chuckled. "Lot's of training. A fortification semblance helps~" She swung the sword onto her back. "Shall we?"

The two started moving back toward the cliff. Later that day, by collecting the White King piece, they were paired with Thor and Li, who found the White Queen.

Nora clapped her hands together, "I was going to ask about that! Awesome!"

Together, they became Team JNPR, led by Jeanne. Meanwhile, the Black King and Queen were collected by Rosso, Walter, Blake, and Yang; forming Team RWBY. That night, Jeanne was sitting on the school's open balcony, "Beacon Academy~! I actually made it in." She took a deep breath and smiled, a small glow adorning her eyes. "Now, let's see how long I can keep that secret…" She thought back to what her father told her when her grandmother passed away. The question he asked…

Ozpin felt a chill go up his spine. He shook a little after, clenching his chair, but few among the audience noticed. Was it saying what he thought it was?

What's your favorite fairy tale?