Chapter 2

Adachi was out looking for Faunus. If he was going to use them, he would have to get in their good graces. He was aware of a terrorist group, the White Fang, which was apparently large and powerful. They may hate humans but they would need human allies to succeed. He planned to place himself in that role. They would use him, but he would use them too. He was happy Sho did not want to join him. He would have just caused trouble anyway. This was going to require tact and charm, and Sho was too much the blunt instrument.

The ground shook and the silence was broken by the sound of a distant explosion. Alarms started going off all around. Adachi had no idea what it all meant, but it could be an opportunity. He heard screams, familiar ones. He headed toward them and found a group of Faunus, including the one he had encountered earlier, huddled in terror as a gigantic black monster approached them. It looked a bit like a bear. If he was going to get the Faunus to take notice of him as a potential savior, this was his chance.

Adachi drew his revolver and aimed at the back of the monster's head. He fired and watched as the bullet smacked into its target only to ricochet off harmlessly. The creature growled and turned around to face him. Well, that had not gone well. He emptied his gun into the beast, hoping the dust rounds he had purchased would do some damage, but they may as well have been BBs against something this size. The monster charged. Now the he was in real trouble. He needed his Persona and he needed it now. Would it even work here? He focused, extended his hand at the oncoming beast and went for it.

"Was than an explosion?!" Yosuke exclaimed. A pillar of smoke rose into the sky, its source not far from the group. Alarms sounded all around them.

"Whatever that is, it's trouble." Yu said. "We should go help." Without waiting for input from the others, he ran off in the general direction of the commotion. The others followed close behind.

Yu rounded a corner at full sprint and ran face first into someone running in the other direction. Both tumbled to the ground as more people ran past. The man he had run into sprang to his feet and raced off as Yu sat up. Yu turned to look at what they were running from. It looked like a pack of werewolves. Yu drew his weapon in rifle form and took aim. He fired into the onrushing crowd of monsters, tearing black and red chunks out of some of them as they fell. A larger specimen seemed undeterred by his attack and charged straight into Yu. He flew backward and slammed into a wall. It hurt, but he was happy to just be alive. The impact should have killed him.

He got back to his feet in time to see the werewolf running at him again. It was clear that his weapon was useless. He would need his Persona. He stretched out his arm and concentrated, hoping to summon Izanagi to deliver a blast of electricity. To his surprise, the electricity flowed from his own arm, arcing through the air before coursing through the monster. It writhed for a moment before falling over and evaporating. There was no time to admire his handiwork; there were more approaching.

Having seen what Yu did, Yosuke was ready to take action. He unleashed a blast of wind that slammed one of the monsters into a building. It was crushed against the wall in a spray of red and black before it fell to the ground and evaporated. "Head's up Yosuke!" Rise warned as another monster approached him from the side. He turned to face it but was too late. It swung its claws into him, sending him tumbling to the ground. He was amazed to be alive.

"I've got you." Naoto said. A blast of fire emanated from her outstretched arm, incinerating a group of the werewolf monsters. As the flames died away, the rest of the creatures were running away.

"They're all retreating." Rise reported, her eyes closed in deep concentration. "There's still fighting going on elsewhere but…" Just then an aircraft appeared overhead. It looked a bit like a V-22 Osprey. A gun under its nose unleashed a stream of bullets into the fleeing creatures, tearing them to pieces. "Looks like the army's here, with more on the way too."

"I guess this means we can wield our Personas' powers now." Naoto observed. "This could get interesting."

Adachi was shocked as a blast of wind shot out from his hand and knocked the monster off its feet. It was unexpected but certainly welcome. "I like where this is going." He said with a wide grin. He unleashed a bolt of electricity into the monster as it struggled to stand. It writhed and fell back to the ground. "I really like this!" With a wave of his hand, several spectral swords appeared, slicing through the downed creature. As chunks of red and black were torn from the beast it evaporated. He laughed maniacally before remembering the reason he was here.

Not far away, the group of Faunus still huddled together. "Thank you for saving me, again." The one from earlier said.

"So he's the guy huh?" One of the others said. This one was bigger and had what looked like cat ears. "You're a hero pal. The Faunus don't have many friends like you."

His plan was working perfectly. He also loved being called a hero. "Anything to help the Faunus." He said.

"Anything?" The large Faunus asked, seeming to imply deeper meaning.

"Anything." Adachi replied confidently. Perfect.

Sho watched from a rooftop as monsters terrorized the town. He would have joined in the fun but it was too good a show. Watching people and then the monsters get torn apart was thrilling. A train wreck and a massacre? What a day he was having. Then something odd caught his eye. A group of three dragged a man out of the train. He looked happy to see them. They definitely knew each other. As they talked his expression darkened, fading to one of solemn resolve. One of the three left as the other two pushed the man along. Sho followed. They turned him in to the authorities! Something was definitely up. This could be his chance for some real fun.

That had taken a turn. Yu, Yosuke, Rise and Naoto had helped save the city. Then they were arrested. Well, not arrested exactly. Naoto tried to explain but it felt like an arrest, doubly so after they were taken to a police station and herded into an interrogation room. The soldiers that had taken them there would not answer their questions. The dark windowless room was lit by a single light overhead. They waited alone, sitting behind a table, for someone to come and tell them what was going on.

Finally, the door swung open slowly and an older man walked in. He sat across the table from the group and took a sip of his coffee. For a moment he just looked at them over the top of his glasses, a pleasant smile on his face. "I've got to thank you for your help today." He said. "People were in danger and you didn't hesitate to help. I admire that." He pulled a device out of his pocket. It looked a bit like a transparent iPad. Various video clips of their fight played on the screen. "You have some impressive skills. You're a little clumsy with your weapons, but you would be with ones you only purchased earlier today."

"How do you know that?" Yosuke asked.

"It's my job to protect this city." The older man said. "As part of that, I like to keep an eye on things, particularly when a group of unknown outsiders show up suddenly." He paused. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Ozpin, protector of Vale and headmaster of Beacon Academy. The fact that you don't know who I am tells me a lot. You're certainly not from around here. You're not familiar with the politics of this place and you're not professionally trained fighters. Not professionally trained anywhere around here that is." Naoto was impressed with his detective work. "I'm not going to ask where you're from. That's irrelevant. What I want to know is why you're here."

"We're looking for someone." Yu replied. "Two men actually. Like us, they're far from home. We also believe they pose a danger to this place."

"They're wanted criminals." Naoto explained. "It's our responsibility to capture them."

"That's quite a responsibility for such young individuals." Ozpin said.

"We've stopped them before." Rise said.

"One of them is Sho Minazuki." Yu said. "He's about our age, has a prominent X-shaped scar on his face, and bright red hair. The other is Tohru Adachi. He's older, tall and thin with black hair."

"If I hear anything I'll keep you informed." Ozpin said. "In the meantime, I have a proposal for you. You're welcome to stay in this city as my guests until you complete your mission, but there is an alternative. Come to Beacon Academy for combat training. I'm sure it would be valuable for capturing these men."

"It would also make it easier for you to keep an eye on us." Naoto observed.

"That it would." Ozpin admitted with a smile. "Fighters of your age from all over the world strive to attend Beacon. The opportunity is not extended to many, let alone novices such as yourselves."

"We'll do it." Yu volunteered. "It benefits all of us."

"Very good." Ozpin said. "Glynda, please come in here." He called back through the open door.

A blonde woman carrying a riding crop entered. "Sir?" Glynda asked.

"I'd like to introduce you to our new students." Ozpin said. Glynda rolled her eyes. "Go ahead and introduce yourselves." He said to the group.

"I'm Yu Narukami; it's nice to meet you." Yu said politely.

"Yosuke Hanamura." Yosuke said.

"I'm Rise Kujikawa." Rise said cheerfully.

"My name is Naoto Shirogane." Naoto said.

"Yu, I take it you're the leader of the group?" Ozpin inquired. Yu nodded. "Good. See that team YYRN [iron] is enrolled and that we're prepared for their arrival tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Glynda sighed. "A room will be ready, along with uniforms. I'll schedule them for classes as well. What year?"

"Group them in with this year's new students." Ozpin said.

"They're in their second semester already." Glynda protested. "Are you sure this group is ready?"

"They'll be fine." Ozpin said. He took a sip of his coffee and stood up. "You're free to go. The airship to Beacon will pick you up at the station downtown tomorrow morning. I look forward to seeing you again."

Adachi could not help but feel like he had walked into a scene straight out of The Godfather. Cal, the burly Faunus man he had helped, had brought him here. He looked very nervous. They waited in a rather fancily decorated room as Cal appeared to get increasingly worried. Finally, a door swung open and a Faunus woman walked in. "He'll see you now." She said. Cal nodded nervously and motioned for Adachi to follow him.

They entered a room that looked like an executive's office. Another Faunus man, this one with what looked like ram horns, sat behind an elegant wooden desk. He wore a mask, a clear sign of the White Fang as Adachi understood it. "Why have you brought a human here?" The Faunus asked after examining the pair for a moment.

"Sir, this man is a hero and a friend of the Faunus." Cal explained. His nervousness was obvious. He was sweating profusely and looked as if he was on the edge of having a heart attack. Apparently this ram Faunus was a big deal. "First he saved my daughter from some human thugs, and then he saved my whole family during the Grimm attack. He says he'd do anything to help the Faunus. I've seen him fight: he's powerful. I thought he could…"

The ram Faunus waved his hand and Cal stopped short. "Alright, I get it." The Faunus said. "Please wait outside." He said to Cal. Cal sighed in relief and nodded before slipping out. "So, you would do anything to help the Faunus?"

"I would." Adachi said with a confident smile.

"Would you kill?" The Faunus asked. "Would you kill a human?"

"I already put a bullet in one of those thugs." Adachi said. "He'll live, but I have no qualms about putting down punks like that." His smile grew as he leaned toward the Faunus. "I've killed before." He said in a somewhat threatening tone.

"Have you?" The Faunus said. He was hard to read but Adachi was confident that he was getting somewhere. "As much as it pains me to work with a human, the Faunus are in need of allies from your species." The Faunus finally said. "Just be prepared to be treated badly. There are those among the Faunus that will never accept you, they'll always hate you, they'll spit on you, talk behind your back. We will never really trust you."

"I honestly don't care." Adachi said. "I've dealt with shit like that before. Humans suck too as I'm sure you know. Besides, I'm sure they'll come around once I show them what I'm capable of."

"Very well." The Faunus said. "Take this." He slid what looked like a smartphone across the table. "I will call you when you are needed."

"I'll be ready." Adachi said. He walked out with a big smile on his face. Things were going exactly as he had hoped.

The view from the airship was breathtaking and Beacon Academy was no less impressive. It looked like a fairytale castle. YYRN disembarked carrying their weapons and what luggage they had. Beacon was huge and they had no idea where to go. They had the address of their dorm room, but they did not even know where the dorms were. Without warning a redheaded girl in a school uniform rushed over and began shouting at them.

"I haven't seen you before!" She said far too loudly. "Did you just get off the airship? You must be new! I love meeting new people! It's so fun! Those weapons look pretty cool, did you make them? Your clothes are interesting too, are you from Vacuo? Mistral maybe? Are you here for the festival? Will you be in the tournament?" None of them could get a word in edgewise as the girl kept on talking with horrifying cheerfulness.

A boy, his hair black with pink highlights, walked over with a sigh. "Nora, calm down." He said. The redhead stopped mid-sentence. "I'm sorry, was she bothering you?"

"No, it's alright." Yu said.

"You always ask that when we meet new people." The girl complained.

"You should at least introduce yourself." The boy admonished. "Let them talk too."

The girl sighed. "I'm Nora!" She said, her exuberance suddenly back. "This is my friend Ren!" Ren rolled his eyes and gave a small wave.

"Yu, nice to meet you." Yu said, holding out his hand for Ren to shake. Nora cut in and shook his hand violently. Ren covered his face with his hand in a mix of embarrassment and disappointment.

"I'm Yosuke." Yosuke said. Nora grabbed his hand and went to work. It felt like she was going to dislocate his shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Rise." Rise said with a small wave. She had learned her lesson from watching Yu and Yosuke and was not about to offer her hand to the terrifying Nora. She should have.

"Nice to meet you." Nora was upon her in an instant, hugging her far too tightly. Nora finally released her vice-grip. "You smell nice."

"Thank you?" Rise said.

At this point, Naoto was afraid to introduce herself, lest she too be set upon by the insane Nora. "I-I'm Naoto." She said, bracing herself. Seeing her discomfort, Ren deftly cut between her and Nora and shook Naoto's hand. Naoto could not have been more relieved.

"Nice to meet you all." Ren said in a soft and monotone voice. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, we just enrolled." Yu replied. "Can you point us toward the dorms?"

"Which one?" Ren asked. Yu handed him the paper with the address on it. "That's down the hall from ours." He said. Nora looked like she would burst from joy. "It's right over there." Ren said as he pointed. "I hope you enjoy your time here."

"See you later!" Nora shouted. Of all the weird things YYRN had run into in their brief time on Remnant, Nora was somehow the strangest.

YYRN headed for their dorm to get settled in. They found the door unlocked, which was good given that they did not have keys. It was a fairly small room with four beds, a stack of clothes, books and papers on each. Some chairs and small desks completed the décor.

"We're all sharing the same room?" Naoto asked with a sense of dread.

"It certainly looks that way." Yu confirmed.

"It won't be so bad." Rise tried to encourage Naoto. "Then again, I'm not exactly thrilled about sharing a room with him. She said as she pointed at Yosuke.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yosuke asked. "What's wrong with me?"

"I haven't forgotten the hot springs." Rise answered.

"Yosuke, you'd better behave." Yu warned. "I won't protect you from their wrath." Yosuke got the point.

Yu went to work unpacking the bundle that had been left on his bed. It contained a few uniforms, some books, a class schedule, locker assignments and a Scroll that looked like a smartphone. "Looks like we've got everything we need here." Yosuke said. "I'd rather not wear the uniform though. I guess we don't have a choice."

"I think the uniform's kind of cute." Rise said, holding one up in front of her. Naoto groaned. "What's wrong?" Rise asked.

"I-I don't think I'm comfortable with…this." Naoto said as she looked at the uniform. "I don't like skirts."

"I'm sure you'll look cute in it." Yosuke said.

Naoto's face turned bright red. "Shut up." Naoto said. "You're only making it worse."