2

You know, being reborn, inserted, or whatever you can call it, into another world wasn't such a strange nor bad thing, even if you know the world you were transported into from an anime show, and one that made you quit it when you saw one of your favorite characters so utterly and insignificantly die...

Being inspired by Achilles legend or not, Pyrrha's death was a thing that just made me stop watching the show, just following the trends, reading how other volumes gone, and reading fanfictions that ranged from most Mary Sue to darkest things you could find on the internet in the twenty-first century.

So, when I, that fateful day, looked into a mirror and saw a man who sported a military image quite nicely, rather than the man-boy I was, it was quite an eye-opening experience, especially when I knew for sure that I didn't drink or take any hallucinogen or drug, to have such hallucinations.

Looking into stern blue eyes that spoke of discipline I surely didn't previously possess, with short black hair, and being two matters tall, middle-aged man, with a body in excellent physical state, clothed in a white military uniform, I would have panicked, no.

Im sure I should be panicking, and yet, when I noticed how dim my or his eyes were, becoming dimmer with each second I thought I should panic, I realized the reason for my calmness...

The Mettle.

James Ironwood semblance, intelligence type semblance that worked just for Ironwood, with following functions, strengthening resolve, that helped even with the most brutal decisions that went against the user's morals, and making the user hyper-focused on the task he saw as most important.

In short, it was a tunnel-vision-inducing semblance, very useful for a leading role, but utterly dangerous when used wrongly, and from what I read on wiki and from fanfictions, it most often made Ironwood into a very goal-minded individual, no matter how flawed the goal was, nor how atrocious the steps to that goal were...

And yet, even if most said that such semblance was very underwhelming when you had semblances as super speed, strength, or give you magic abilities...

I couldn't help but be glad to possess such an underwhelming semblance just right now, for I'm sure that without it, I would now be a complete mess, panicking and life-risking mess.

Somehow, the Mettle made me calm, and from what I knew how it worked, I know it was because my goal right now is nothing more than to work with my situation in the calmest manner...

And so, with calmness and a goal in my mind, I went to work.

Thankfully, I or we seemed to merge, I didn't feel any lingering spirit of James Ironwood, nor I knew how exactly I became him, us.

But I inherited his memories, making both of our memories merge and reforging me into a new person, for what made a person an individual?

It was experiences and memories, and with me and his merging, I gained and lost some of my traits, what exactly I wasn't sure, nor I would find very soon, as my goal was straight, and I didn't plan on stopping the Mettle from working, at least not until I'm sure that I'm familiarized with my current status.

I sat behind Ironwood's desk. No...

My desk now.

And started tipping on the holographic keyboard, the lack of feeling of hitting the physical keys was very strange yet familiar at the same time, and when I looked at his/my hands, I noticed the glow on my/his right hand, as memories assaulted me.

I/he lost his/my right hand, half of the right part of the torso, and right leg when he/I protected his/my squad from a horde of Grimms on a failed mission that was later found as sabotage from at that time unknown source, now I/he knew who sent that information that cost him/my body parts, Salem, or at least one of her agents.

How I/he survived is still a miracle, as just the pure Will of mine/his managed us/him to hold a long enough for reinforces to arrive and transport him/me to the hospital where Pietro Polendina overseer me/his operation and body replacement from organic to the cybernetical prostheses.

Shooking myself from the thinking, I frowned, as how he/I thought of myself/themselves was becoming annoying.

Focusing again on the screen, I looked at the latest information, another White Fang protest that got out of control into a violent affair.

Vacuo defended itself from a horde of Grimm.

Vale's crime scene gained new celebrities, Roman Torchwick once again striking.

Mistral is ravaged by unfortunate huntsmen and huntresses' deaths...

Atlas's latest live concert by Weiss Schnee herself...

I frowned.

"Don't have much time, two years before canon start." I frowned. If I wanted to get chips on my side and change the fate of this world, I needed to start as soon as possible.

/Brrr/ /Brrrr/

"Why is Jacques calling me, oh... Winter Schnee graduated not even a month ago..."

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

After one nerve and quite annoying conservation later, I knew that I needed to do something about Jacques, better sooner or later...

I somehow knew that Winter had an understanding with her father, but if what I thought was right, then it just encompassed an Academy, not the military, so Jacques oh so cleverly going around Winter's dreams straight right to me to throw her out from military is, not so surprising, especially not when I knew of his character from both, show and my new memories...

Memories...

"Willow..." Frowning, as memories rekindled in my mind, there was a time her name made me/him feel all warm, but that was a long time ago before she chose Jacques's poisoned honeyed words from me/his blunt personality...

She wasn't the woman he/I remembered, not anymore. The woman I/he remembered wouldn't ever let her children become so...

Despondent, so sad, and truly flawed, how much time could change a person, but that was something he/I knew, for even Ironwood, I wasn't spared from being changed, and not just in the body...

What would Nicholas Schnee think now?

He was like a father, just like the previous general to the orphaned James Ironwood. Would he frown and look at me in disappointment at how he/I stood on the side, not doing something when he/I witnessed how Willow became a husk of herself, how his once famed and just company become infamous for its questionable practices...

Truly...

All for evil to win is for the good men to stand aside...

How rightly and hollowly this phrase just sounded in my ears was almost ironic.