Roman Torchwick was having such a pleasant dream. In the dream, he was in a hot tub, glass of champagne in one hand and a cigar in another. Servants, human and Faunus alike, were waiting at his beck and call when suddenly, a male servant made his way to him. Noticing this, Roman looked up to ask him what he wanted when he suddenly started to repeatedly poke him in the head.

"Stop that" Roman told the boy but the boy did not listen to him as he continued poking Roman in the head. After a few moments, Roman growled at the boy as he got annoyed and got up from the hot tub only to slam into a wall that came out of nowhere, causing Roman to jerk up from his sleeping bag. Dazed and confused over what just happened, it took a considerable amount of effort for Roman to finally notice the petite little girl standing over him.

The little girl had pink and brown hair with white streaks on the right side. She was wearing her usual clothing, which was a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, black gloves, and black and white boots with very high heels. The little girl was looking down at Roman, a smirk clearly plastered on her face.

In response, Roman glared daggers at her, as he turned to his right to continue his sleep. This was proven to be a mistake as one moment Roman was lying down on the ground, the next moment he was a few feet above the ground and fell down with a thud, head first. Thankfully, his Aura had done its job and prevented any real damage from occurring.

Begrudgingly accepting that he had lost this fine morning, Roman slowly got out of his sleeping bag to get ready for the initiation that day and he was wearing a white silk pajama that was designed to look like a suit.

"Stupid Neo… stupid semblance.. stupid.. Beacon" Roman muttered, half-asleep and half-glaring at the girl, Roman made his way to the shared shower room "Couldn't let me enjoy my sleep, could ya?"

Neo could only smile at the question, as she started packing her stuff to get ready for the day as she waited for Roman to finish showering.

[A few minutes later]

A few minutes later, Roman had finished showering and was making his way towards his sleeping spot when he spotted Neo. Roman was wearing his usual white suit with long black pants and black shoes, a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat.

"You know, you could have just did it nicely and not given me a concussion to wake me up. That's what normal people do, Neo" Roman told the girl as he glared at her while he was packing up his stuff, to which Neo could only shrug in a 'What can you do' sort of way before tapping the man in the shoulder. Turning around, he saw Neo rubbing her belly "Come on, lets go get something to eat" Roman sighed, as the two made their way to the cafeteria

[At the cafeteria]

Roman had gotten himself a plate of pancakes while Neo had chosen to have her favorite food this morning, which was a simple big bowl of neopolitan ice-cream. As she was eating her breakfast, she decided to make some small talk with her friend. Tapping him on the shoulder, she pointed at his head before making a quizzical expression on her face.

"What, the hat? Is it necessary" Roman asked, to which Neo nodded in response "Of course it's necessary, Neo. There's no rule that says a well-trained Huntsman can't also be well-dressed. I mean, look at me. And then look at the other students here in the cafeteria. I'll bet that I am the most dashing looking Huntsman-in-training in this school"

Neo responded with a roll of her eyes as she continued wolfing down her bowl of ice-cream

"Also, you're one to talk. Who uses an umbrella as a weapon? Granted, it has a blade in it but still, not the most conventional of weapons, don't you think?" Neo could only look at him with a deadpan expression

"What? My cane?" Roman asked, earning a nod from the girl "That's different. Lots of people use canes as a weapon. I can't name you any of them now, of course, because that would take up a lot of time. Time which we don't have" Roman continued, as the two of them finished up their breakfast and continued on to the locker room area. On the way there, Neo again tapped on Roman's shoulder. She then pointed at him, then at her before joining her two index fingers together.

"You want to be on the same team?" Roman asked, to which Neo nodded "Well, I don't see why not but it wouldn't hurt for you to be on other people's team. That way, you could make new friends" Roman answered, which earned a small glare and a shake of the head from the petite girl. Before long, the duo reached the locker room area. It was already filled with quite the number of students, each of them prepping their weapons and getting ready for the day ahead.

"Come on, Neo. I won't always be there to help you, you know that right?" Roman said to the girl, who refused to look him in the eye, a small pout on her face. Giving up, the man sighed "Fine, I guess I'll go looking for you" Roman said in defeat, cheering the small girl up "Now come on, we don't wanna be late or anything" He told her, as he finished up. The duo then made their way out of the locker room with his weapon, Melodic Cudgel, in hand. Neo, too, had her own weapon in hand. A simple, yet deadly, umbrella.

"Those two sure did sound excited" Mercury muttered to himself as Roman and Neo walked by him "Wonder why?"

"Oh, forget about that. Did you see what the guy was wearing? I mean, a bowler hat and a suit?" Emerald told the boy, snickering at the thought of Roman's outfit

"Oh, tell me about it. Did you see his weapon? Out of all the weapons the students have in Beacon, a cane is the last thing I'd expect for someone to fight with" continued Mercury, sharing a laugh with Emerald.

"For the life of me, I can't figure you two out" Cinder told her two friends as she finished preparing, her twin daggers ready and strapped to her back "I mean, one moment the two of you are fighting like an old married couple and the next, you guys are making jokes together. What is that, a new way of flirting?"

Almost instantly, Mercury and Emerald instinctively took a step back from each other, the both of them suddenly unable to look one another in the eye.

"Cinder! Don't say that! That's not funny!" Emerald protested, a slight tinge of red on her face "I mean, it's Mercury. I would not go out with him even if he were the last guy on the planet!"

"Screw you, too, Em" Mercury said to the side "I'll see you guys later. There's a pair of twins I wanna say hello to" the boy continued before making his way to two identical twins who were getting ready for the day ahead "Hey there, Melanie. So, this is the sister you told me about, huh? Nice to meet you, I'm Mercury" the boy said, introducing himself with a suave smile and a handshake.

The response the boy received was given in the form of a long, cold stare by the girl in red "Melanie, who is this loser?" the girl asked, looking at her sister while putting on her claws "Do you know him? He seems to know you"

"That's impossible, Miltia" replied the twin in white as she strapped on her heels "I've never seen him before in my life"

On that note, Mercury felt as his whole world was shattered "W-What? Don't you remember? It's me, Mercury. We talked for a while yesterday" the boy said, as Melanie hummed in response "And hey, I've heard some talk about team formations. Maybe if things go well, the three of us could be on the same team, huh?"

"Hmmm.. You're pretty funny, you know that?" Miltia said as she finished making her preparations. The twins then started making their way out of the locker room "But sorry, gray's not really my color"

"Or mine" Melanie added as they left the room, leaving Mercury in a state of shock

"That's rough, buddy" Emerald said, as she came from behind, a hand on the boy's shoulder "Better luck next time, huh?"

"Come on, Mercury" Cinder added, as she dragged him back up "I'd prefer it if we weren't late for initiation"

[A few minutes later, at the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest]

Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Neo, Adam, Melanie, Militia, Roman along with other students were lined up in front of the Headmistress with Professor Rainart standing beside her.

"Now then, students, before we begin this year's initiation, Professor Rainart and I would just like to say a few words" Professor Salem started, looking at each of the students in front of her intently "I trust that each and every one of you here have trained for years to become efficient and effective warriors. And today, your abilities, whether they be individual or the ability to work as a team, will be tested in the Emerald Forest you see before you"

"Now, I have no doubt that all of you here have heard rumors regarding the formation of teams" Professor Rainart added "Let me put an end to any confusion you may have. Each of you will be given teammates. Today" This earned groans from some of the students standing in front of him while a certain brown and pink haired girl looked at her companion in a white suit expectantly, who could only give a thumbs up and a smile in response.

"I want you to know that these teammates will remain with you for the rest of your time here in Beacon. Therefore, it is in your best interests that you find someone that you can work well with. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner" said the Headmistress

"Hmmm.." Cinder thought to herself as she took in what the woman just said, looking at her two friends who, as expected, were trading banter with one another "Who should I partner up with? I work better with Emerald than Mercury although he has his strengths. Should I just let destiny decide? That sounds like a good idea"

"After you've partnered up" Professor Salem continued "You are to make your way to the northern end of the forest. Do not let your guard down as you will meet enemies along the way. I advise you to not underestimate them as the chance of death during initiation is highly likely"

"Exaggeration much?" Roman whispered to Neo, earning a snicker from the girl.

"Additionally, all of you here will be graded for the duration of the initiation however, our instructors will not intervene. There will be an abandoned temple at the end of the path. There, you, as a pair, must choose one relic found in the temple and bring it to the top of the cliff. You will be graded appropriately in accordance to how you protect the relic that you chose. Now then, are there any questions?" the woman asked, only to be met with silence from the students in front of her "Excellent. Now then, before I forget, it would be wise for you to prepare a landing strategy"

"Wait, what?" Mercury asked, confusion on his face "Landing strategy? What do you mean landiiiiiing-" the boy shouted, as he was suddenly blasted into the air by the mechanism under his feet. This was followed by the other students being launched into the air shortly after, signifying the beginning of this year's Beacon initiation.

~Chapter 3 END~