Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH KOKUSEN KOKUSEN KOKUSEN KOKUSEN KOKUSEN
-Story Start-
The auditorium of one of Beacon's many classes was filled to the brim as usual, with a few notable absences among the first years, involved in a recent incident.
The sun barely peeked beyond the horizon, as its rays pierced the few windows the classroom had held, and collective tired sighs cut through the relative silence.
Despite his students' early morning exhaustion, Professor Peter Port's haughty tone reverberated rather passionately and energetically in the spacious room:
"The creatures of Grimm have been theorized to be physical manifestations of all that is wrong with this world - humanity's negativity and darkness given shape."
"These vile, wretched creatures seek out and harness the intangible negativity emitted by Humans and Faunus alike."
"I agree with the presented theory wholeheartedly."
"But it is in turbulent times like these, my dear Students, that I ask you, what of its polar opposite?"
"Of goodness, happiness, love, and hope?"
"Undoubtedly, it cannot be Human and Faunus kind - they represent the perfect equilibrium, the mixture of light and dark."
"So I pose for you the question once more..."
"What of the Grimm's Polar Opposite?"
"Of goodness, happiness, love, and hope?"
"Who harnesses it?"
"Who seeks it out?"
"What is it?"
"What shape does it take?"
"And what is its Name?"
...
He was met with silence.
"I can't be the only one who wonders where this manifestation has been all this time, if it exists at all?"
"Well, if it doesn't, it's not outside the scope of possibility given the cruel, careless nature of our beloved Remnant!"
"However!"
"Is it wrong for me to believe it still exists out there, somewhere?"
"Good and Bad!"
"Right and Wrong!"
"If one exists, the other must exist as well! Of that, I believe wholeheartedly!"
"Isn't it in the very nature of Hope to seek out its very manifestation?!"
"Well, I do pray it comes quickly because I'm not feeling very hopeful with my current back problems, haha!"
"But until it manifests, whatever it is, we are only left to ponder its existence."
"Perhaps, it had manifested a long time ago, only to have been disappointed with what it had seen, HAHA!"
"That would be pretty tragic indeed."
-----------------------------
A trio of students belonging to a certain infamous team strolled through Beacon's cluttered halls following Professor Port's class.
Ruby groaned in frustration, "Our first lecture after returning, and it was... really out of place, can't he read the mood?!" She huffed with dismay.
"He's blatantly flirting with students whenever given the chance, I don't think the Professor is capable of reading any mood." Pyrrha gave an awkward smile.
Alex gave his two cents as they strolled, "I think he was trying to brighten up the mood?"
At that Ruby pointed at Alex with a nod, "You'd think that was what he meant, he started all hopeful and then he went all... cynical! I don't get it!"
"To each their own, I guess... wasn't he supposed to lecture us on Geists and their variants anyway?" He hazarded a guess.
As they strolled and chattered about, there were a multitude of interruptions, stemming from students who passed by and were rather nosy from various years:
"Yo Andrite! Nice job beating those terrorists!"
"Thanks."
"Sorry for your loss... I will attend Belladonna's funeral as well."
"Thanks, but tell that to her Team, not me."
"Why are you holding Stick, you going to spar someone percha-"
Alex interrupted, "It's not called Stick."
"But you-"
"Doesn't matter, it's called Excalibur."
"O-Okay."
"How's your ear, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha blinked in surprise at her receiving attention, which is paradoxical in and of itself, "I'm fine, thank you."
"Can't believe someone other than Andrite got the best of you, did you at least beat his ass?" A uniformed boy from the 2nd year turned to Alex.
"Yeah."
"Nice!"
"Doesn't this annoy you? We'll be late for class if we let everyone bother us!" Ruby's leader mode had activated as she paused in front of Alex and Pyrrha, who were quite literally on the edge of being swarmed, particularly Alex.
Alex waved her off, "As long as I keep responding in one sentence or less, they'll eventually stop." His words held no doubt.
Pyrrha chuckled lightly, "You're going to be a reporter's nightmare."
He shrugged, then proceeded to lightly push Ruby aside to clear the path, much to her pout, "If I'm a reporter's nightmare, then they shouldn't report on me in the first place."
-----------------------------
Ruby's lips lowered to form a deep frown, as her saddened silver eyes noticed another absence in forging class, "She missed this class as well..."
A reassuring hand settled on her shoulder, "We should give her time to recuperate, she and her team had it... the worst." Pyrrha mentioned with a reassuring smile.
Ruby shook her head, "I know, I wish I could give her the same advice as Master Coco gave me... but I'm struggling myself with keeping my chin up after my mess-up." She smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Cheer up, at least you made a nice sword-strap." Alex patted the sword strap on his person as he gave a thumbs-up - a strap that let Excalibur hang loose on his left hip.
She huffed in denial, "As if something as mediocre as a sword-strap could cheer me up! It's a waste of my skills!"
Pyrrha gave an idea, "Nora's weapon broke back in Mountain Glenn, so maybe-"
Ruby immediately brightened up, "Fantastic suggestion, Pyrrha! I'll be right on it."
Alex bluntly reminded, "You won't finish in time until next class... or the one after that, or lunch for that matter."
"Since when do you worry about being on time for class?"
"I don't, but you do."
"Bah! This is more important! Now shoo!" She waved her hands wildly to get rid of her two teammates to leave her alone in her... forging frenzy.
-----------------------------
The Dining Hall.
As always, delightfully smelling and packed to the brim with students of various years, though a clear lack of 3rd and 4th year students was noticeable.
Alex and Pyrrha would readily admit that their lunchtime was never this... desolate yet simultaneously overwhelming, at least in their proximity.
On the one hand, it was just the two of them, leisurely dining on today's exquisite lunch with Alex finishing off his third plate of pasta.
On the other hand, some of their fellow students lacked an understanding of personal space, some of which were more surprising than others:
"Well, well, Alex. Consider me a big fan of your work." Cardin's pleased tone cut through the noise surrounding both the dining Alex and Pyrrha.
Whilst the latter appeared rather uncomfortable dining, the former was dining without a care in the world, as if ignoring the world around him in his food-induced trance.
Pyrrha's frown had settled into a cold, thin line at Cardin's appearance.
Blinking, Cardin noticed Alex ignoring his words, and not just him, but those around him.
Waving a hand in front of Alex's empty amber eyes that indicated there was no intelligent life behind his gaze, Cardin decided to pull a more audacious move to grasp the blonde's attention.
Cardin's hand extended towards Alex, to which Pyrrha warned, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
He shook his head, meeting her warning with a snicker, "It's just for a moment, I really want hear his answer to a question of mine..."
His hand clutched onto Alex's fourth plate, pulling it towards him only for him to immediately pause, as a sharp pain reverberated in his wrist, his aura trembling as a hand latched onto it, gripping with disturbing strength.
A gasp escaped Cardin's lips as the hand relaxed and let go, the plate dropping on the table with a metallic clang as a few strands of pasta escaped and dirtied the cloth beneath it.
Alex, it seemed, was brought back to reality as he regarded Cardin with a calm yet perplexed look, "Hello, Cardin. Why'd you touch my food?" He genuinely asked.
Cardin's brow twitched as he complained, "You almost broke my wrist, you damn monster."
"My bad, that wasn't my intention. You didn't come here just to insult me, right? Also, don't touch my food." He warned.
Shaking his shivering hand for a moment to dull the pain, Cardin smirked, "No, you probably hadn't heard what I said earlier, but I'm a big fan of your work."
"Thanks." Alex had no clue what he was talking about, but free praise was free praise, so he'll take it.
Cardin's smirk widened as he inquired, "I really wanted to ask... how did it feel beating up those disgusting animals? Did it feel good? I wish I could have seen it." He genuinely lamented.
Alex blinked, and turned to look at the cringing and disturbed Pyrrha, to whom he blinked again and turned to look at Cardin's smirking expression.
"What kind of question is that? Are you ill?"
Cardin ignored Alex's inquiry and pressed forward, "This isn't about me. So? Did it feel good?"
"It didn't." Alex curtly replied as he quickly dismissed Cardin to continue stuffing his face with pasta.
Before Cardin could respond, Pyrrha's scary close-eyed smile lowered the temperature around them, "Get out of our sight, okay~?"
Cardin only gave one last look at the two seated powerhouses and clicked his tongue before turning away with a rather unsatisfied stride back to his team's table.
At that, Pyrrha could only sigh, "I can't believe someone as racist as him is a student in Beacon of all places." She shook her head.
"He's a competent fighter, maybe?"
"He isn't. I just wonder how someone could turn out that way..." She admitted mid-bite, her appetite ruined.
"Bullied by Faunus as a child, his parents' business was ruined due to extremist White Fang activities. There are a lot of options."
Alex shrugged as he inhaled the pasta, "Or he could just be a born hater."
Pyrrha shook her head, "Regardless of how he turned out the way he is, he can't continue like this, especially if he graduates and becomes a licensed huntsman."
Alex picked his teeth with one of the spare toothpicks set on the table, "Well, he's got four years to get corrected, I'd think Ozpin has a good idea what to do with that guy by then-" He paused as his eyes noticed something odd occurring in front of him.
Not even a moment later, following his rather disturbing statement, Cardin passed by a rabbit Faunus girl, bumping into her and causing her to drop her plate and food on the cold floor.
The metal hitting the floor resonated with a noticeable clang, as Cardin wasn't done with just that.
He spat at her food as he relished in the wide-eyed and sad look of the Faunus, roaring with laughter at her distress.
In truth, Alex had no clue what took over him in that moment at seeing the rabbit Faunus being bullied, but he suddenly rose up from his seat, much to Pyrrha's audible surprise:
"Alex?"
Ignoring her voice, he approached Cardin, his heavy steps resonating in the cluttered and loud food court, as the noise barely muffled the sound resonating in his psyche:
[PING!]
[Sub Quest - "Fight Fire With Fire!" has been issued!]
-Sub Quests-
↓
[NEW!] Fight Fire With Fire!↓
Requirements - Cardin Winchester has proved to be a cold, sadistic bully. Words and lectures have no effect! Make him feel like the animal he oh, so despises!
Static Rewards - 1,000 Lien
Performance-Based Rewards - None.
Time Limit - 5 Minutes.
Punishment For Failure - Bladder malfunction for 4 hours.
Difficulty - D
Ignoring the notification, Alex stood in front of the much taller Cardin, who had suddenly begun to sweat at Alex's calm expression.
Lowering himself to grab a large carrot that had dropped from the Faunus girl's plate, he rose back up and looked Cardin dead in the eye.
"Eat it."
"Like hell I wi-" He couldn't finish his sentence before Alex's left hand grabbed his jaw with a tight, monstrous grip.
"Woah, there's a fight!"
"It's Alex and Cardin!"
"O-Oh shit!"
A crowd began to form quickly, as the rabbit faunus looked incredibly sheepish and confused at the sight.
Cardin's hands shot forward to claw at Alex's hand, yet his efforts proved fruitless in the face of his gigantic aura.
Alex's right hand shoved the carrot in Cardin's mouth, as Alex repeated with a disturbing calmness, "Chew."
Cardin's expression paled, and his eyes widened in fear, as he obeyed the comment, taking a bite of the carrot, gnawing at the vegetable.
After a few more wet chewing sounds muffled by the commotion of the spectators followed, he swallowed, and Alex released his tight hold, dropping him on the floor with a loud thud.
Cardin's fearful yet relieved gaze lifted to look at Alex towering over him, the latter warning him:
"Do me a favor? The next time you decide to act like a cliche high school bully, do it out of my sight."
Without anything left to say, Alex turned around, leaving the defeated and thoroughly embarrassed Cardin alone on the floor, surrounded by a circle of shocked and intrigued students.
[PING!]
[Sub Quest - "Fight Fire With Fire!" Complete!]
[Issuing Rewards...]
[1,000 Untraceable Lien sent to Alex Andrite's Bank.]
Cardin, caught in a whirlwind of emotion, his face turned red as he slammed his fist onto the ground, his first thought - retaliation, easily dismissed in the face of the might he was faced with.
He could only lie there, defeated, angry, ashamed - feeling like the very animals he so hated.
His embarrassment only seemed to grow as his eyes lingered on the brilliant radiance of the blade strapped to Alex's side.
A wet sensation crossed his cheek as he turned to meet its source, a girl with sunglasses whose piercing glare could be felt even beyond the shades, who had apparently spat on him, "You're lucky he got his hands on you first. I wouldn't have been so merciful letting you chew on something healthy, brat."
With that, she turned away, approaching her teammate, the rabbit faunus whose gaze darted between the figure of Alex, who was walking away with Pyrrha, and the downed figure of Cardin - her expression a mixture of confusion and gratitude.
Only a weak whisper escaped her lips. "Thank you."
"He can't hear you, dimwit." Coco teased lightly.
Before Cardin could process the entire debacle, Glynda's voice boomed, "WHAT IS WITH THE COMMOTION?!"
-----------------------------
"Do you know why both of you are here?" Glynda's voice boomed in the lone classroom, her glare sharply directed at the two boys in front of her.
Cardin reluctantly answered in affirmation, "Yes."
Alex shook his head, perplexed, bluntly answering, "No."
Glynda's glare narrowed down at Alex, to which he shrugged, "I might have overdone it, but I don't think what I did was wrong."
"Violence is never the answer, Mister Andrite."
Alex made a so-so gesture, "Some people can be reasoned with words, whilst others need to be reasoned with actions." He gave his honest, simple life philosophy.
He pointed a thumb at Cardin, a clear deadpan on his face, "You think he's the kind of guy you can just tell him 'Don't bully, it's bad!' and he'll listen?"
"And how would you know that? That was your assumption. Did you try to reason with him beforehand, and if that didn't work, speak with a faculty member, Mister Andrite?"
Alex nodded in agreement, "Usually I prefer not to resort to the violent answer, I'm surprised by how quickly I resorted to that solution. In retrospect, I was kind of... heated?" Alex contemplated in slight self-reflection and genuine confusion.
[Much to my surprise, I think you might have a type.]
Ignoring the parasitic voice in his head, Alex awaited Glynda's verdict.
She sighed, shaking her head in exhaustion as the bags under her eyes were still visible, "This is your first warning, Mister Andrite. Don't waste my time dealing with children's squabbles."
"Yes, Ma'am."
She then turned to Cardin, "As for you, could you spell out where you went wrong?"
He hissed, gesturing at Alex beside him, "Being born in the same world as this Monster."
"You're being overdramatic," Alex deadpanned.
"We won't be leaving until you answer correctly, Mister Winchester. That includes Mister Andrite, he's staying until you voice the answer."
It took a good half an hour before the bruised pride was softened enough for Cardin to voice his mishaps satisfyingly for Glynda before she shooed him off to apologize to Velvet.
On the plus side, Alex did learn the name of the bunny girl whom he helped.
Though he couldn't help but wonder why that was a positive.
-----------------------------
As the sun had set beyond the horizon, night greeted the relatively isolated and peaceful Beacon Academy.
The door to the warm abode of Team RAWP opened with an audible creak, Alex's stoic expression being greeted with the rather expected nagging and haughty tone:
Weiss, lying on her bed, paused the show on the TV and called out, "I missed a day, and you've already gotten into a fight? How?"
"How's your leg?"
"Don't dodge the question!"
"Cardin was being an asshole, so I dealt with it."
She blinked, "...You did?"
He nodded in agreement, his confusion persisting even now as he folded his arms, "I know, right? I'd usually wait for someone else to do it, and I did it without an order as well."
"Hell of a time for an identity crisis." Weiss scoffed sardonically.
"Did you get any punishment for it?"
"I got a warning, I didn't cause any bodily harm, I just fed him a carrot."
"...You did what?" Weiss blinked as she turned to her partner to confirm.
Pyrrha nodded as she sat on her bed, "He's not lying, it took me a while to wear off the shock."
Ruby burst out of the restroom, clothed in her pyjamas, her short hair wet from the shower, "I approve!"
She used her semblance to appear before Alex with a proud look on her face and an approving thumbs-up, "As your Leader, I'm proud of you! You even managed to save Cardin from facing Master Coco's wrath!"
Alex's nose twitched as he nodded, "Thanks, but go take another shower, you smell like engine fuel."
Blinking, she lifted her hand to take a whiff of smell, to which she groaned, "Aww shucks! I thought I used the right engineer's best friend shampoo!"
Alex offered his opinion, "You probably used mine, the cheapest on the market." He expressed a subtle, strange pride at using a cheap shampoo.
Weiss made no effort to mask her envy: "And yet you've got flawless skin."
He confessed the blunt truth, "It's thanks to my sheath."
"Of course it is."
Silence reigned once more in the room, as the banter slowly died down, to which Pyrrha addressed the elephant in the room, "Did any of you... Check up on Team JRNY?"
"Ren and Nora did reply to my text messages," Weiss mentioned as she tapped on her scroll.
"To mine as well." Alex nodded.
[A single message of 'You good?' isn't an adequate gesture of care, Alexander.]
Ruby scratched the back of her head sheepishly and rather ashamedly, "I was too busy forging that I forgot the world around me... So, umm, I'll be heading out to check up on Yang, like, right now."
With that said, Ruby burst out the door in a swirl of rose petals, heading for her sister.
"She still smells like engine fuel," Alex mentioned nonchalantly.
Pyrrha smiled sadly, "I doubt Yang would care in her state... I think Ruby and a little time alone are what she needs."
"Any news about Jaune? I feel bad for him..." Pyrrha turned to Alex with an inquiry.
"Why would I know where that guy is?"
"This talk is depressing me, I'm turning on the TV." Weiss dismissed the conversation and quickly turned on the television.
-----------------------------
Taking a sip of his expensive coffee as he sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes directed at the TV, an expression and sigh of bliss escaped Alex's lips, "Good stuff..."
Though the news present on television was quite counter-productive to both Alex's momentary bliss and Weiss's escapism:
A reporter explained, sitting comfortably in the studio, "Vale's Huntsmen are being worn thin. Just yesterday, the coal mining village of Antare, beside a main trade route, was overwhelmed by the Grimm! Rescue Teams have been sent, so far, no good news."
As he said so, an image of a burnt-down and ruined village appeared on screen.
Building torn apart and collapsed, trees sliced by claws, and even censored corpses.
Cyril answered with a grave expression, "Ozpin has deployed Beacon's Third and Fourth Year Students to support the effort, but it seems that even with these considerable forces, it will be a turbulent few weeks."
The reporter pointed a question at Cyril, "What of the Huntsmen specializing in Law Enforcement, have they also been deployed?"
"Not yet, Azur. Given the removal of the White Fang and the recent incident in Mountain Glenn, efforts are expended on stabilizing the city before deploying them out in the field to support outside efforts against the Grimm."
He added, "Viridian had declared the first critical effort is to get Vale's stunted economy moving rapidly once more with the reactivation of the naval trade port, Torchwick and his White Fang supporters are no more. Preparations for the Vytal Festival would do wonders for the City's morale." He asserted the focus on the upcoming festival.
"Speaking of the White Fang, any word from the High Leader?"
Azur nodded, "Lisa had recently relayed the report to me - Sienna Khan had declared through Mistral's CCT that she had no involvement and expressed utter disgust as well as condemned Adam Taurus's actions. Announcing he was acting against her orders, as a rogue element and leader of a branch of the White Fang that had gone heavily astray."
Shrugging, Azur expressed his skepticism, "How much of this is avoidance, or truth is up for interpretation, but excuse me for my obvious suspicion."
Cyril affirmed with a nod, "She has to be held accountable even so, as the head of the organization, Adam's terrorism is her responsibility."
"What would you suggest?" Asked Azur.
Cyril nodded as he looked firmly into the camera, uncaring of how scandalous he might sound to those who would disagree, "The dismantling of the White Fang movement - or at least, its complete and careful reorganization."
Azur warned, "I'm sure many Faunus would disagree."
Cyril countered, "As I am sure many would agree as well."
As Excalibur lay on Alex's bed, its brilliance overshadowing the light from the television, he wouldn't lie that the news gave his bitter coffee a slightly more bitter edge as he gave a short searching glance at the sword that had chosen him.
"I'm turning it off now," Weiss announced, much to all of their veiled relief.
-----------------------------
Sleep hadn't come easily for Alex, yet it had arrived all the same.
And with it, he found himself...
In a field of flowers once more.
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
Did you expect this one so soon?
I know I didn't!
But I did hit a black flash, so let's hope this keeps on going.
In any case!
Alex has a type, not that he knew of, you can pretty much figure it out in this chapter.
Also, hope you've enjoyed it thus far and it was up to snuff in quality n stuff.
Yangy yangy skipping classes while on probation!
She better not fail those midterms wazzahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Is Cardin going to develop?
Well, feeding him a single carrot isn't quite enough, tho it is a step in the right direction.
Maybe get a Faunus to seduce him, maybe then he'll rethink his standing lmao.
Jauney boy will be arriving pretty soon - poor sod.
Anyway! Love ya Bu bye!