CHAPTER 1: STRIKING A DEAL

Earth, Solar System

United States of America

Manhattan, New York City

February 10th, 1992

Anthony Edward Stark. That was his full name, but he never really cared much to use it or to hear it. Tony Stark was his preferred and go-to name; everyone called him that and it was such a regular thing now. His family, his friends, the press, the Stark Industries board members, even a normal person on the street. At this point, the world may as well have forgotten his actual birth name, but it wasn't like many people cared.

Such random thoughts with little importance always tended to be swirling within the prodigal genius. It was one of his many ways of coping with his parents' deaths. Even after nearly two months, he still avoided thinking about them any more than he needed to, but there were times that he slipped up.

Howard was always a pain in the ass, but the man was brilliant and good at what he did. Even if their relationship really did suck, Tony always wanted to believe that his father could be impressed. The fact that he cared so much about his father's opinion had to mean that at the very least he admired him. As for his mother, Maria Stark, she did what she could to keep it all together, somehow making it work. The young man didn't know how she did it, but it was impressive. In any event, he missed her so much. Without her, he probably would have long since stopped trying to talk to his father, and unlike his father, she was actually around and their relationship was decent.

To endure, he found himself working constantly. Either he was working on his tech or he was busy getting acquainted with the more intimate details of Stark Industries. He was going to become the new CEO of his father's company one way or another. It was expected of him and in a way, he found this to be just fine with him. He was now in control of his own destiny and he would continue the Stark legacy by making the company into the premiere weapons manufacturer in the United States and, if at all possible, the world. That wasn't simple wishful thinking. That was what he was going to do. That's what Howard had been planning. Tony would just make it into a reality. In that way, he would show his father just what he could do. He wasn't just a genius inventor, playboy, and soon-to-be-billionaire for nothing. He would become THE number one inventor, playboy, and billionaire.

And speaking of his future, there was also the matter of constructing a new home. There was no way that he was going to continue living in the house that he had spent most of his life in. As long as he stayed here, he would always think about them. He needed to keep himself from those memories. That time had passed now.

Tony turned his head to realize that Jarvis, the family butler, had left him with a cup of coffee as well as some oreos. The man looked at the two items and then found his stomach growling. He then glanced at the clock and realized that he had been working for the better part of six hours without doing anything else. Sighing to himself, he stood up and downed the coffee in one go and then began snacking on the cookies. He really needed to make sure that he got up and did something else. Sure, he needed to keep his mind occupied, but there wouldn't be a point to anything if he ended up dying too.

He eyed the device he was working on. The Arc Reactor was one of the more unusual and atypical projects to come out of Stark Industries. It was supposed to be a power plant with the capacity to generate nearly limitless energy. That was something that the world sorely needed at this time. With the mounting prices of oil and the realization that it would not last, Stark Industries had come up with the Arc Reactor as a solution to that problem, but considering that the company was a weapons manufacturer, the project was put on the back burner. Really, the only reason that it probably would even be a thing was so that the environmentalists and the hippies would shut their mouths. That would be one less badmouther that Stark Industries would have to listen to.

The reason Tony was tinkering with the Arc Reactor now was because there was something to it that seemed off about it. There was nothing wrong with any aspect of the renewable power plant. He had read and digested the theoretical literature and deduced that it would serve its intended purpose well. That being said, it felt incomplete somehow, like there was something that was intentionally left out, and that made even less sense in light of how well the Arc Reactor held up under scrutiny. To even a person with his level of intellect, it all made perfect sense, but if Tony knew his father well, then this couldn't possibly be the end game. It was just too easy.

Howard Stark was many things, but short-sighted was not one of them. While the Arc Reactor would be revolutionary to be sure to the general public, it was ultimately a short-term project, something that might last a few decades at most, but likely not be anything more that just a prototype. That begged the question: what was the true purpose of this thing? What was it meant to do?

It was a self-imposed mystery, and Tony Stark intended to solve it, but he wasn't going in blind. He had gone through some old files that Howard had kept hidden safe. Everything from tape recordings to journals and blueprints to even old films, and there was lots of info to sort through. So far, he had only gotten through some preliminary notes detailing the very first stages of development. The notes were somewhere jumbled but they were pointing to the Arc Reactor being the progeny of something much more grand. It was strange that he was just figuring this out now of all times.

Finishing up his break, he checked the time again. It was one in the morning. Although he didn't feel tired, he would probably not last that much longer on coffee and munchees alone. He had not gotten proper sleep for at least a week due to this recent obsession with this project. A few more minutes and it would be lights out for him.

The genius prodigy swiftly resumed his work. He had a real mess to clean up once he was done. Between the stacked notes, files, journals, and other odd objects belonging to his father and the parts and tools scattered as well as the completed Arc Reactor, this could take the better part of another hour to clean, much longer than his few minutes to wrap things up and go to bed. He sighed a bit; he could be really messy at times, but he wasn't going to think too hard about it. Right now, it was time to turn on the reactor and run it through a few cycles. He had done the work, calculated carefully, and now he was ready to figure out what exactly was behind this mystery.

Tony walked around one more time to double-check his work. Once he was satisfied, he flipped some safety switches on. After this, he moved to the wall, flipping on a power switch. At first, nothing happened, but considering the size of this thing, it would take a bit of time to get it up and running. A few seconds turned to half a minute, then a minute. The reactor began to glow a bright blue. The power surging through it began to whirl with noise. It was almost magic the way it worked, but for him, it was simply the sound of a job well done. It was working, and that's what mattered the most.

"And you conceived of this thing before I was even born." Tony spoke to his father. "Pretty good for an old man. It's almost like you were a genius."

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw the reactor begin to erupt with even more energy. The surge could almost be felt, like something shaking around about to burst. That was definitely not part of, well, anything. He watched carefully with trained eyes, searching for the problem. He thought back to all of his work. He couldn't recall a single instance where he had second thoughts about. Everything was perfectly fine. He measured the materials meticulously, he did everything right. He'd made sure that everything was nominal before activating it. Where did he go wrong? He hadn't done a single thing wrong, so what was going on?

He flipped the power switch off, but it was too late now. The reactor had been given enough juice for it to become self-sustaining, even in the short time that it had been receiving it. His thoughts becoming more desperate, he raced to the switches on the reactor. There was only one way that he knew to stop this thing that didn't involve physically damaging the reactor or himself.

"The core." He said. "If I can just-"

Yeah, easier said than done. He might as well be trying to stop a speeding train, but hell, if he didn't do something, things would get really messy. He wasn't going to take this lying down.

It was unfortunate that the choice to do anything was no longer in his hands. The Arc Reactor seemed to glow brighter than the sun itself before exploding into a fantastic energy blast.

Well… he was about to die. He wasn't ready for this.

Not at all.

Iron Man - - - RWBY

Remnant, System Unknown

Kingdom of Vale

Beacon Academy, City of Vale

February 10th, 56 AGW

Ozpin wasn't quite sure what to make of what was in front of him, and considering what he had seen in his lifetime, that was saying something. It wasn't that long ago that he was simply going through another day's work of paperwork and other legal stuff. As Headmaster of Beacon Academy, he had duties not only to the academy but also the Council of the Kingdom of Vale. He was one of the members of the council after all, and as such, his words carried significant influence in the kingdom.

Now, the only thing that occupied his mind was the clutter that suddenly came into his office. Books, journals, papers, tools, technology, things that would be found in a scientist's laboratory. At the heart of it all, there lied a man, who looked no older than the body he was in right now. Dark brown hair adorned his head, a slim but defined body, a shirt that had the words Stark Industries. A normal person would have screamed or fled, but Ozpin took this in stride, careful not to disturb anything that had come in.

His steps from his desk to the man lying on the ground were light but not in an attempt to be stealthy, merely to avoid touching anything. Once he reached the side of the man, he carefully touched a hand to him for a sign of life. He could feel a heartbeat, but this man didn't have aura on him at all.

Ozpin decided that the best way to get this man up and talking was to start his aura, so he concentrated hard, calling upon his powers to jumpstart this man's aura. It didn't take long and a golden-red aura surrounded them man. It was only a mere second later that the man woke up, breathing hard and groaning.

"Ahh!" Brown eyes awoke to him, taking ragged breaths. "What the hell?!"

"Are you okay?" Ozpin asked carefully.

"What just happened?" The man looked him in the eye. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

This man was strange. He was waking up in a situation was abnormal and his first reaction was this? That took an unusual kind of person. Shrugging off something like being in an alien place wasn't exactly easy. That would make this introduction all the more easier in any case.

"No, I've simply unlocked your aura." Ozpin replied back. "You should be fine."

"Aura? I don't know what that means." The man gazed at Ozpin as if he was insane. "The only aura I know about is the characteristic that surrounds a person. Your aura? I'm getting the 'wise old man' vibe. My aura? Genius, billionaire, playboy, and overall famous dude."

"Then why haven't I heard of you?" Ozpin carefully retorted back.

"Come on, everyone knows me." He began to get up. "I'm Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark, the guy who created… well… Stark Industries."

"None of those names ring a bell." Ozpin shook his head.

"Jesus Christ, man." The man called Tony Stark laid back down. "You'd have to be either living under a rock or be an alien to not know who I am."

He wasn't lying, or at the very least, he believed what he was saying. That indicated sanity. He said his name was Tony Stark, so he was just going to believe him until given a reason to not believe.

Wait… an alien…

"... does the word Remnant mean anything to you?" Ozpin inquired after a moment of thought.

"Remnant?." Tony frowned. "Other than how the word is defined in the dictionary, not really? Is it a drug?"

That instantly confirmed something within the old wizard's mind. If this world of Remnant didn't even register in this man's mind, then it entirely plausible that this man was not of this world. If that was the case, then this might be an opportunity of a lifetime.

"Can you stand?" Ozpin queried.

"Relax, buddy, even though you're not my buddy." Tony stood up and tested himself out. "But damn do I feel good. What is this anyway? What'd you do to me?"

"Like I said, it's called Aura. It's the physical manifestation of the soul, a power if you will." Ozpin explained concretely. "It gives us the ability to protect ourselves from harm as well as enhance combat skills."

"Yeah… do you think I was born yesterday?" Tony looked at him like he was stupid. "A soul is immaterial, spiritual, not physical. You can't generate anything from something that doesn't exist physically or otherwise."

Clearly a man of science and logic, this one. The finality, the tone of voice that indicated confidence in his ability, like his word was supposed to be heard and acknowledged without question. Logical types had a tendency to follow only what was logical, but the world was anything but always logical. In some cases, the only way to make the world make sense was to force it to make sense, and even then, it did not make it factual, merely truthful in the eyes of the beholder. Even logical people were fallible in that sense.

"Perhaps not, but the reality is that it works." Ozpin conveyed with his own finality. "If you need proof, just look at yourself."

The man looked at one of the windows around the tower. His aura was still glowing, likely still trying to fix some issues. The brown-haired man walked up to the glass and stared at himself for a while. Seconds ticked by while the headmaster remain where he was, letting his newest acquaintance figure things out. The silence came and went quickly, though.

"Nice colors, really gets the point across how golden I am, but there's something else. I don't recognize anything down there." Tony turned back. "Do you have a map?"

"Right here." Ozpin brought up the map of the Kingdom of Vale. "See anything interesting?"

The younger man took one look at the map. His mood shifted from surprise to confusion to analytical to grim all in the span of less than ten seconds. If that told anything, his mind moved really fast and that he processed information much faster than the average person did. Those eyes only darted around the map for another few seconds before coming to a halt, then turning back to the millennia-old man.

"I don't recognize anything." Tony shook his head. "I've studied the Earth before and I don't even see a continent that looks familiar."

"Earth?" Ozpin asked.

"Are you serious?" Tony rounded on him. "It's the world where us humans live on. You know, our home?"

"No, Mankind has only existed on Remnant." Ozpin disagreed immediately. "I don't know anything about an Earth, but this is Remnant."

"Look here, Wizard of Oz, this is Earth." Tony got right up in his face. "E. A. R. T. H. There is no such thing as planet Remnant. NASA hasn't even named a planet Remnant, so whatever you're smoking, take it somewhere else."

Ozpin frowned at this rather blatant and disrespectful tone that Tony had taken with him. It had been a while since someone had been so blunt with him, so rude. It was made all the more incomprehensive with a bunch of terms that he had never heard of before. He was certain that he had never met this man before, and yet the name Wizard of Oz was so close. It was an uncanny valley so to speak.

"My name is Ozpin."

"Brilliant. Now where's the scarecrow. Where's the tin man? Where's the good witch? Where's the lion? Where's Dorothy? Where's the evil witch? You can't have the Wizard of Oz without the rest of the cast."

Again, terms that meant nothing to immortal man by themselves, but there were people with names that reminded him of those terms.

Qrow Branwen. James Ironwood. Glynda Goodwitch. Leonardo Lionheart.

Salem.

"Okay, better question, Oz." Tony pointed into the night sky. "What's with the moon? The last I checked, the moon was whole."

"The moon has been in pieces for thousands of years." Ozpin stated. "That's a common fact on Remnant."

"Don't mess with me. If you throw another moon joke at me, I'm really going to lose my cool here." Tony growled. "Now are you gonna cut the act or am I gonna have to start crackin' skulls?"

"Clearly, you don't believe a word I've said." Ozpin sighed as he put his cane back on his desk. "I suppose the only thing that'll placate you is physical proof."

"That'd be a start." Tony gestured all around them. "Plus, you know maybe somewhere else to store my tech? This stuff isn't exactly cheap."

"One step at a time. First, you require proof, so I will give you proof."

"This'll be good."

That clear skepticism was a clear indication of just how tough this game was going to be. Frankly speaking, there was no reason to do this at all. As far as important things, this was minor, a distraction in the grand scheme of the world. That being said, helping others came with the territory of being a huntsman, and it would be hypocrisy to preach of being a good Samaritan to his students and not to practice those same preachings himself.

I may need more coffee.

RWBY - - - Iron Man

Remnant, System Unknown

Kingdom of Vale

Beacon Academy, City of Vale

February 10th, 56 AGW

Tony watched the footage on the holographic screen. He had done so about a dozen times now, trying desperately to find out where the truths ended and the lies began, but everything shown was the real deal. Edited footage in his time was still a new concept, but still a reality all the same. That was why he was searching for anything in this footage that pointed to all of this being a delusion or someone drugging him or just him being out of his mind. Perhaps he had been drinking too much lately.

The Creatures of Grimm, the bane of Mankind's existence in this world. They were black creatures of varying types that had one purpose: to annihilate the living. They couldn't possibly be mistaken and the footage had shown just how ruthless and savage the beasts could be. People were ripped apart, clawed, eaten whole, bloodied, crushed, and so much more. It was almost enough to make him turn away.

Then there was the Faunus, people that resembled humans but had one animal feature that made them stand out. Predictably, they were the subject of racism and prejudice by much of Mankind, and he wasn't exactly a stranger to racism. He had seen more than enough of it during his time at school. Hell, even Rhodey faced it one time or another, and the times the Stark heir had seen it was more than enough for him to hate it. There was also the advice that his father had told him: prejudice was the bane of business. It payed to be cooperative with other nations. Creating world peace involved knowing people, respecting people, even liking people when the time was right. So in conclusion, Faunus were just people with some extra parts and some cool sensory abilities.

The third was the way the world worked. There were only four real world powers in this world. Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale. Each kingdom had its strengths and weaknesses to be sure. Atlas was known for innovation and technology, which would have been awesome if it weren't for the fact that the kingdom resided on an iceberg of a continent. Mistral was the center of culture and high society with immense respect for nature; it sounded like a cool vacation spot. Vacuo was a pit of sand that represented hell basically, being little more than a place where the rough and tough lifestyle ruled all. The only good thing that came out of it was resources, lots of resources. Vale was a moderate society, being the most 'normal' out of all the others. It had a bit of everything and was generally a pleasant place with no real extremes to speak of.

The huntsman academies were training warriors to fight Grimm and defend mankind. It was like reading a comic book. In essence, huntsmen worked like special forces in the US Armed Forces. They were the exceptional warriors that could take on high-risk mission no other soldier was capable of doing. Their presence were numerous, yet still dwarfed by the numbers of conventional armies. There were four academies to train them: Atlas, Beacon, Haven, and Shade, one in each kingdom. That seemed way to convenient for some reason, but the genius couldn't put his finger on what bothered him. It just seemed like all of this was too carefully planned, like some larger goal in mind.

And probably the most interesting subject to him was dust. It was the main power source of Remnants' inhabitants. It powered all of their technology and there simply wasn't any other way that people knew of. Again, this seemed too good to be true. How could the world only know of one power source? There was thousands of years of history to be sure, and in all of that time, no one had given thought to an alternative? Not even a single alternative source of power? That just screamed dangerous and suspicious.

The other intriguing thing was the Cross Continental Transmit System. Essentially, it was a network comprised of four towers that linked the kingdoms together. It was like the world wide web of this world. These towers kept communication lines as well as provided access to digital information. It was amazing, yet also quite stupid. If one of the towers went down, the entire network would go down. That would leave the kingdoms vulnerable. What if someone wanted to make a war happen? All they had to do was take down one tower, cause a bit of chaos in one kingdom, and that was it.

All of this information was abundant, yet Tony carefully digested it. It was true, all of it. He really was in a different world. In a way, he felt amazed. He had accomplished what no other person on Earth had done. The people at NASA would literally wet themselves at the chance to do something like this. Simultaneously, he was irked. Nothing was familiar anymore, and while learning this world wasn't hard per say, it would still take at least some time, even for someone of his high IQ. There was no telling when he was going to be able to go back, or if he was even able to go back.

Would I even want to go back? Tony wondered to himself. I mean, yeah the company's waiting for me, but it's not like it won't survive without me. Obi's probably gonna have a PR nightmare on his hands, but he's good. Rhodey was already on his way to going far in the Air Force. And mom and dad are gone...

His own grief aside, maybe the idea of making a mark on this world without any previous street cred was something that appealed to him. It would be like starting with a clean slate. No expectations, no pressure, absolutely nothing holding him back. He could do whatever he wanted and there was not a damn thing anyone could do to stop him. That kind of made him very giddy, and he didn't do giddy.

But if he was going to stay here, he was going to have to justify his reason as well as prove his competence. That wasn't going to be a problem. Already, his mind were working the numerous ways that he could make a killing in this world. This world was in desperate need of assurance that it would live to see the next day. With his expertise in robotics and physics as well as his intimate knowledge of advanced weapons, he could practically reshape how this world fought in war.

Not only that, but considering the number of huntsmen in this world, he could also dominate the market there as well. The killers of Grimm really did demand some of the best gear in all of the world in order to fight at their best. Becoming the primary supplier of huntsmen around Remnant was more than just making profit. He would be gaining favor and loyalty with them. That may as well be a trump card.

As impossible as all of this sounded now, they were now goals in Tony's mind now. It would more challenging than simply taking up the mantle of CEO from an already-established company. He would be creating his own legacy without the past dictating how he did it. Granted, some of it involved emulating ideas that were already a reality, but he would bring innovation and introduce new ideas into the mix too.

"Now the question is how to secure the capital." Tony's mind began to work out the numbers. "I'll need at least a few million to really get things going, but getting it without an ID is gonna be tough. New tech will have to wait until I gain a thorough understanding of the laws of this world as well as dust."

Thankfully, the days and months were the same somehow, which baffled Tony to no end. How was that even a coincidence? It was like someone had made this world basing it off his own reality. Another strange thing. For now, he needed to gain some backers and convince them that his plan was going to work. No, not convince them it was going to work. He was going to tell them that it would work.

Let's see if old man Oz is willing to play ball. Tony thought to himself. Wait, is baseball a sport here? If it isn't I should introduce it. That ought to be fun.

Man, there was just so much that he could do here. It was enough to make him forget about everything that had happened and focus on doing what he did best. The worlds might be different, but ultimately, what happened mirrored Earth's own conflicts, and he understood his home world's problems just fine. He knew that Stark Industries dealt in the business of death and that didn't really bother him. Sure, war wasn't fun, but it was necessary, and it was better to be armed to the teeth and never have to use force rather than being unprepared and caught with no pants on.

Oh, but before he could do anything else, he watched the footage once more. He needed to be 1000% sure that he wasn't going nuts. All of those drinks he'd been having lately had him seeing things. Even in a sober state, the human mind was capable of seeing fantastic things when it wanted to see them.

"Take thirteen." Tony muttered.

Iron Man - - - RWBY

Remnant, System Unknown

Kingdom of Vale

Beacon Academy, City of Vale

February 10th, 56 AGW

"Excuse me?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"You heard me." Tony looked serious, yet also somehow excited at the same time. "I'm here to offer a business proposal."

"No, I heard you the first time, but… why are you offering me a business proposal when we barely know each other?"

"Well, based on the fact that I'm in a different world, I don't know how to get back yet. Astronomy's never been a study of mine, so if I'm going to stay in this world, I need to justify my place here, hence the business proposal. Besides, you don't strike me as someone who does things out of the kindness of his heart. This way, I pay you back and I can do my part."

"You have some fair points."

"Of course I do. I'm a genius."

Ozpin had already pegged Tony Stark as a man of action, but even this had him wondering. Of course he could see that the man a good head on his shoulders. While having all of the man's equipment and tech moved, he glanced over some of the notes. He was no scientist by any means, but he read enough to get an idea of what he was looking. A power source that did not use dust, and to top it off, it was supposed to give off near-limitless power, or so the theory said. For that reason alone, listening seemed okay.

Ozpin sat back in his chair. "I gathered that you were a scientist, but I figured you would offer me technology, not a business idea."

"Back in my world, I was going to take over the reigns of my father's company." Tony shot back with much confidence. "And we're not just talking about some shop in a little town. We're talking one of the main suppliers of weapons technology to my country's government, but why stop there? We could have also made a killing selling to other governments."

"I see." Ozpin put his hands together.

A weapons manufacturing company. That was actually more than he dared to hope for, but it wasn't enough to take this man at his word. Sure, he sounded like he was telling the truth, but proof was going to be the only thing that would settle anything in his mind.

Tony seemed to catch on quickly. "Give me a month and a loan and I'll build you a weapon to help annihilate Grimm."

"And how do I know that you can deliver?"

"Oh please, I was made to do this. Plus, you can't say that you're not in the market for people to fight your wars."

"No, I can't disagree with that, but the fact that you're so casual about all of this is a bit concerning."

"Look, Oz, at the end of the day, do you want the living to win or not? It's an imperfect world, but it's the only one we've got. I can make weapons that have the living dying less than the Grimm. Weapons keep the peace, whether we know it or not, and the day that weapons aren't needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."

Ozpin blinked. "You seem really sure about this."

Tony scoffed. "I've seen it play out many times. Peace means have a bigger stick than the other guy."

That was a fair point, but there was one other thing on Ozpin's mind. "Why are you offering me this?"

"Because I don't want to be in your debt forever. The way I see it, the faster I clear my debt, the more that I'm free to do what I want to do. I'm my own boss anyways, so if you're hoping for me to be your minion, well, you can forget it. I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider Secretary of Defense. We can amend the hours."

This man seemed to see through all of his tricks and traps. It looked like trying to convince him was out of the question because he had already volunteered himself and intended to play by his own rules. Controlling him was looking to be less and less of a possibility, not that Ozpin condoned restriction of freedom, but sometimes, it was necessary to keep a leash on certain individuals in the event that they became too much. A man's heart and mind could be easily swayed. Most men anyway.

Ultimately though, it was the casual and almost callous words that were thrown out the convinced the old wizard to take this risk on. He could call it a ruthless choice, even cruel to an extent, but in his quest to stop his enemy, there were just some things that couldn't be accomplished without sacrificing a little bit of heart here and there. He had seen men that were far more sadistic and evil in the past. In this case, the one standing before him couldn't be called evil per say. He was simply a man with a more pragmatic view on life, one that Ozpin could agree with in many respects.

"Give me a month to whip something up. Just bill me for whatever resources I need. I've got to do some more research before I can make do anything else. The only other thing I need is a lab, preferably where people won't get in the way."

"I can requisition whatever you need, but I expect there to be a massive payoff, and I don't usually go around giving chances to complete strangers."

"Of course you don't. Nobody does, but we're not complete strangers. We're complete acquaintances."

"Yes." Ozpin couldn't find a proper response.

"Oh, this'll be fun indeed." Tony patted him on the shoulder. "We'll be doing great things together, Oz. Oh, and you can thank me later when I'm the face of a new future for Remnant, just throwing that out there. No need to applaud me either. I'm a humble person like that."

I beg to differ. Clearly, an over inflated ego wasn't enough to describe this. How long has it been since I've met a person who thought so highly of themselves?

In any event, this little risky gamble required more than just the efforts of one person. He needed to chip in his part. For one thing, he now had to fabricate a new ID so that Tony Stark could be identified. There was also the matter of secrecy. The reality of discovering another person from another world wasn't just mind-boggling. It was game-changing on so many levels. Regardless of whether or not the circumstances could be replicated once more, it was now paramount to keep this little scenario under the wraps. Who knew what would happen if word of this got out. Not that anyone would believe it to be true, but just imagining the what-if scenarios was more than enough.

This little detour from the plan was going to cost him, though in the grand scene of things, losing a few lien and a bit of time was but a small price to pay in comparison to the war to come. There was going to be a war to be sure. Strangely enough, these times were fraught with more peace than he was comfortable with. No, he was not foolish enough to believe that his arch nemesis wasn't plotting something. There was no doubt in his mind that as time passed, peace would become a mere quiet.

The only thing he could do was amass pieces on the board and find as many as possible. Sure, most of them would amount to little more than specs of dust on this world, but in every generation, there were a handful of diamonds, beacons that shined brighter or burned hotter than anyone else. Not all of them were pure of heart, no person truly was fully good or fully evil, but nobody had to be pure in any respect in order to fight Salem. As long as they were capable of contributing to the fight, that was all that mattered. As detached and brutal that was, it was an equitable truth.

"Hey, old man, don't space out." Tony snapped his fingers in his face a couple of times. "Now's not the time to be casting spells here. I can't move all of this stuff myself. You've gotta show me to the place where I'm working."

"Right." Ozpin nodded his head. "There is a vault underneath Beacon Academy. Only I and a select few of the staff know of its existence. You will be able to work there and experience few distractions. I will have to give you credentials so that you can come and go at your own pace, but I would advise you not to leave school grounds until a later date."

"I probably won't be going many places once I get to work, but your advice is duly noted." Tony threw his hands up. "Still, on the off chance that I do go somewhere, I will entirely ignore your advice of staying in school. School sucks."

Ozpin blinked. "...what?"

"Aren't you supposed to be a smart guy?" Tony exasperated. "I mean, you're basically tricking kids into fighting a war that hasn't stopped for thousands of years. I applaud you, Geppetto, for the lovely puppets that you've made."

Ozpin would now add bizarre as another characteristic of Tony Star. It was like his mouth and mind both ran at a mile a minute and with much less restraint than the average person. Well, he could always appreciate someone who had much less of a filter on what they said. Honest people tended to live much more interesting and fulfilling lives than those who kept everything to themselves.

This idea has been in the making for about a month now and I've decided to give it a go. Rewatching the MCU has made me realize just how much time has gone by since Iron Man first was released. The character of Tony Stark is awesome and I feel that he's been with me for a very long time. I would like to think I know how to write the character well, but the fact is that I'm not sure, but I might as well give it a shot.

And for future reference, the term AGW means After the Great War. Right now as things stand, the story's taking place long before the events of RWBY Volume 1 have even started. That gives me a lot of leeway in making this story how I see fit because yes, I will be doing a lot of crazy stuff because I want to. However, I hope to keep that craziness within the realm of what makes sense for RWBY and Iron Man.

But don't just take my word for it. If anyone's got feedback, compliments, criticisms, or ideas, don't hesitate to review and let me know exactly what you think. I want to make this story as interesting as possible and that starts with getting as many ideas as possible.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter.

"We live in a diverse society - in fact, a diverse world - and we must learn to live in peace and with respect for each other."

Stan "The Man" Lee