Promised (Reluctant) Victory In Remnant

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

-Story Start-

-Third Person POV-

Following her defeat and the treatment of her injuries, Pyrrha returned to the dorm room of Team RAWP with gusto.

She called out to the gremlin huddled in his sheets on his top bunk, "Alex! I know you are unlikely to accept, but would you like to join me in training this eveni-"

"No. But knock yourself out." He bluntly rejected the spartan redhead.

He couldn't help but note internally, 'She's certainly impressive training after regular curriculum.'

[That's what most Beacon Students do to be somewhat competent. You should be thankful the System doesn't come equipped with mandatory training!]

'It does come equipped with a job to do.' He rolled his eyes.

Smiling regretfully, Pyrrha mumbled, "I should have squeezed more out of you for destroying my shield." She shook her head.

"Too bad." Alex shrugged.

Weiss retorted as she did her homework on the only desk in the room, "To give credit where it's due, I don't think he's that gullible." She stated without letting her eyes wander off the textbook.

Ruby's bubbly enthusiasm reverberated as she teleported in front of Pyrrha with her semblance, sending petals flying, "Pyrrha! I've sketched some designs during the Weapon Forging Class you missed for a new shield!" She shoved the sketched design in Pyrrha's face.

Taking a step back due to the sudden invasion of her personal space, Pyrrha smiled as she took the paper and gave it a look-over.

Her eyes narrowed with skepticism, and she hummed, "I like that you kept the compact mecha-shifting mechanism but..."

She smiled awkwardly, "Are all those spikes, and turning into a heavy-duty rifle with four insertable dust sockets really necessary?"

Ruby nodded matter-of-factly, "They never expect the shield-sniper!"

'I watched that movie, it was pretty neat for a Remnantwood Production.' Alex thought absentmindedly.

Weiss's eyes twitched at the slowly falling petals covering the floor and one of them landing on her notes.

Alex mentioned, "I'm not cleaning those up."

Weiss huffed with a tilted head, "Obviously, our dear Leader will clean up her own mess." Her tone grew stern.

"Oh! I'll pick those right up, my bad! I got a little excited, hehe~" The perpetrator of the small mess rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

Pyrrha chuckled as she turned around and unlocked the door with her scroll, "It's alright. Thank you for the effort, Ruby. Do you mind if you just... keep it as a normal shield?"

"A pistol at the very least. Your Semblance has something to do with magnetism, right? I'll make sure it'll work with your semblance." Ruby shook her head sternly, stating her demands with rather keen observation.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she nodded in gratitude, "That's fine, thank you, Leader."

"Hehe, no problem!" Ruby grew sheepish once more as the redhead left for her workout.

Weiss couldn't help but turn to look at Ruby with a curious look, "So what she used against Alex was Magnetism? How are you so certain, did Pyrrha tell you?"

Ruby shrugged, "There aren't many options but from judging her weapons it's all out of metal, furthermore if it was simple telekinesis she would have used it against Alex in a different more efficient way than what we saw."

...

Weiss blinked as she shook her head, "Sometimes I forget that you're a Genius scouted by Ozpin."

Blinking, Ruby's cheeks grew rosy, "Aw shucks! I'm not that great!" She waved her hand to dismiss the compliment but it was all too clear to everyone present that she enjoyed it.

"I'm heading out." Alex's call-out grabbed Weiss's and Ruby's attention.

Weiss arched an eyebrow, "Are we that noisy for you? You've been doing those a lot lately, and I'm not talking about the private talks you have with Ozpin."

Alex appeared out of his cocoon of sheets and hopped down, shrugging, "Yes. But I just like to chill outside when there's nothing better to do. The weather's nice." He mentioned sagely.

Ruby snorted, "You're odd! Do you want me to join you? I'm only planning on calling Dad and going to sleep so I don't mind." She offered with a friendly smile.

Weiss shook her head, "You have homework to do, Ruby. You still haven't caught up completely so finish that call and we're doing overtime."

Ruby clicked her tongue, and groaned loudly, "Aww..."

Directing a look at Alex who leisurely strolled to the door, Weiss mentioned, "I would be worried about your own homework, but I think given your status it would be in Beacon's interests to let you do as you please."

With a thin line on his face, Alex nodded, "If only you were right."

His brilliant plan was to do everything at the last minute.

If he's lucky, Professor Oobleck won't ask for it to be submitted.

He contemplated it for a moment, turning to Weiss, "Say, can I pay you to do my homewo-"

"Do you realize who you're talking to? Whatever measly fortune you likely don't possess equates to a hair of my family's net worth."

"Fair enough." He gave up quickly and continued on his path.

Then, he paused in front of the door, at the rhythmic sound of someone knocking.

Unbothered, Alex opened the door with his scroll, revealing a familiar blonde feminine figure.

Alex greeted her with his usual dead tone, "Hello, Yang."

The violet-eyed girl blinked in surprise at who opened the door, "Wow. I can't believe you of all people bothered with opening the door, Mighty Mooch! Nice to see you!" She greeted Alex with an amused smile.

"That's a new one." Alex calmly mentioned.

Placing her hands on her hips, Yang nodded proudly, "It's fitting, isn't it? But given what you did to poor Pyr... How about 'Mightiest Mooch', that sounds better doesn't it?"

"Sure." Alex adhered to his usual code and agreed with whatever nonsense she blabbered so she would leave him alone.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!" Ruby waved with giddy enthusiasm at her dear sister.

"Hey Rubes!" Yang waved at Ruby as she looked through the blocking figure of Alex.

'Didn't they see each other like two hours ago?' Alex couldn't make sense of it.

Coughing into her fist, Yang cut to the chase, "Anyway, have you seen Blake?" She looked at Alex as she inquired.

Blinking, Alex noticed that she was asking him specifically.

And the more pressing issue was...

"Who?"

...

A sudden awkward and uncomfortable silence enveloped all those present.

Only disturbed by the swift understanding of Alex's teammates keenly familiar with his nature.

Weiss's facepalm was particularly audible.

"That's not nice, Alex..." Ruby frowned disapprovingly.

He gave her a look from over his shoulder, unapologetic whatsoever, "What? I genuinely have no idea who that is."

Yang sighed in pure agony, a slightly threatening and angry glare settling on Alex, "Wavy black hair, about this tall, amber eyes like yours-"

"Not a clue." He replied instantly.

Yang added, "A black bow on her head."

"Oh. So that's the name of your teammate." He nodded.

"Ah... who do you think I was looking for?" Yang grumbled with frustration.

Shaking her head, she focused on the task at hand, "No, okay, have you seen her?"

"Nope."

...

Yang turned to look at the uneasy and disappointed teammates of Alex with a genuinely sympathetic look, "How do you not strangle him?"

Weiss nodded in understanding, "I fight the urge by reminding myself that going to prison for homicide would stain my name."

"Alright, I'm out of here," Alex stated tiredly.

Yang took a step to the side to let him pass and only looked in slight irritation at his distancing back.

Ruby mumbled in worry, "You think we hurt his feelings?"

Weiss sighed, "Obviously not. He has the memory of a goldfish, he'll forget we badmouthed him in 8 seconds."

-----------------------------

The setting sun was always a beautiful sight to see.

Those present on Beacon's Campus during this cyclical time of the day have a variety of places to view or partake in its beauty intertwined with the natural geography in which Beacon was built.

A gentle breeze of fresh air passed through the campus given Vale's comfortable climate.

During this time of the day, whilst the campus wasn't as abuzz with activity with most students being in their dorms to fall asleep like logs after a tough day of learning and training - the campus was still filled with students simply enjoying the sunset or relaxing outside.

[It is the ideal time of day for dates between students - inter-team romance is greatly encouraged~!] System cheerily mentioned.

Alex's steps resounded gently as he strolled towards one of the many parks in the Campus; his favorite one due to closeness and relative emptiness.

'I am not opening that Relationship feature.' Alex saw through the System's weak ploy as he made his way.

Arriving at the park, Alex couldn't help but absentmindedly follow the path that led to his favored bench, looking up at the beautiful night sky.

A stunning sheet of dark sprinkled with brilliant stars.

But, the most glaring, foreign feature he still had to get used to even with the memories of the previous owner of his current body was...

The Shattered Moon.

A large portion of the moon was shattered, in some times of the year depending on the lunar cycle, you could glimpse the undamaged part or only the shattered remains.

'I wonder what crashed into that thing.' An absentminded curiosity passed through Alex's mind.

[You could do that as well if you wished for it!] The System gloated.

Alex winced internally, 'For real?'

The sheer scale of his own gifted power sometimes unsettled him.

But Excalibur's capabilities were no mystery to him.

If the situation ever demanded it, shattering or even evaporating the moon itself wasn't beyond its reach.

"Hmm?" He hummed as he noticed someone sitting on his favored bench.

A lone fountain and a single bench overlooking nothing in particular - it was not a famed spot for relaxation.

But it did provide a good view of the distant forest and much-needed quietude.

With a single glance, Alex managed to figure out that this person was...

The bow on the girl's head strangely twitched at Alex's approach and she turned to be met with his soulless expression.

"Yang is looking for you," Alex relayed bluntly.

Noticing his expression and words, the similarly stoic Blake's brows twitched in thinly veiled annoyance, "Did she tell you why she's looking for me?"

"No." He replied as he sat down at the other corner of the bench, given it was quite spacious.

...

Just like that the conversation ended and silence enveloped them.

Alex didn't seem to mind it one bit, as he leaned into the bench and gazed at the sky with a thin line on his face, but one could easily tell his features had softened.

Though, a thought he couldn't control crossed his mind, 'I feel like there's something going on with her... maybe I should leave before-'

[PING!]

[Main Chain Quest - "The Deserter - 1" has been issued!]

-Main Quests-

↓

[NEW!] The Deserter - 1↓

Requirements - Something has greatly disturbed the stoic Blake Belladonna. Discover what it is and encourage her!

Static Rewards - 1 Gacha Coupon & 3,000 Lien & Validity for [The Deserter - 2]

Performance-Based Rewards - Significantly raised Relationship Progress with Blake Belladonna (#N/A) & Faster unlocking of [The Deserter - 2]

Time Limit - 1 Week.

Punishment For Failure - A month in purgatory. Significantly lowered Relationship Progress with members of Team RWP. Significantly lowered Relationship Progress with members of Team YRN. Significantly lowered Relationship Progress with Beacon Staff. Extremely lowered Relationship Progress with Blake Belladonna.

Difficulty - C-

'Great, now it's my problem.' Alex exclaimed with the enthusiasm of a dead goat.

[Teehee~!]

To Be Continued!