Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Hahahaha oh man! You totally styled on her! HahahahaohheyNeoi'minincrediblepaincanyouhelpmeup"

Neo put up a finger to signal one second as she tried to catch her breath from where she was trying to pull Hazel's arm out of the rubble.

Or at least she really, reeeaaaally hoped it was Hazel's arm or this was gonna be a really, really bad scene when she pulled whoever this definitely dead person out

 

[MyrtenRose]

Neo put up a finger to signal one second as she tried to catch her breath from where she was trying to pull Hazel's arm out of the rubble.

Or at least she really, reeeaaaally hoped it was Hazel's arm or this was gonna be a really, really bad scene when she pulled whoever this definitely dead person out

It was him. And as soon as his unconscious self got pulled out, the effort and the lack of a Hazel sized dude in the mix further destabilized the debris, all of it falling further in a loud crash.

 

[MyrtenRose]

When the sun rose over the city of Vale and Beacon Academy, it revealed a triumphant kingdom still standing. Thanks to the efforts of so many, the number of Grimm had dropped enough that the threat had gone from catastrophic to being viewed as a standard clean-up operation. Teams were sweeping through the kingdom, picking off the remaining stragglers, most of the humans and faunus involved in the attack having long since fled or gone into hiding. It was unfortunate that so many would not be tried for their crimes until they were found and apprehended...but...

Beacon Academy remained standing.

The CCT tower remained standing.

And the Fall Maiden was still out of his reach, along with the relic hidden away. The fortunate outcomes far outweighed the bad. Cinder, the rest of Team WTCH, Team MTEN and everybody else that required it were given the appropriate medical aid. Salem saw to it personally.

They had even managed to apprehend and imprison a few of the attackers who hadn't either died in the effort or managed to evade capture in all the chaos. Chief among them was one of the higher-ups of the Shadow Fang, Blake Belladonna. An asset like that practically begged for interrogation.

Days passed by quickly. Many who had fought hard in the defense spent much of that time recuperating. Others still focused on addressing the damage and making plans to repair it all. The city was full of buildings that had been damaged in the assault and all the fighting that followed. Numerous fires had raged in the midst of it all. Bits and pieces of Atlesian military craft and their haywired robots lay scattered all over the place in great number. Even someone as naturally gifted as Glynda Goodwitch would take considerable time to fully restore it all.

Many...many had not lived through the invasion. To see the sun rise and know that they had won. Salem, along with key authorities in the Kingdom, saw to organizing funerals for the fallen. She personally wrote letters to the families of the students who had lost their lives in the defense, offering her condolences and sympathies. It was disheartening to realize how many the Academy had lost.

The fact that it could have been so much worse did little to make her feel any better.

And there were...other matters, as well. Almost a week after the attack on Beacon had been thwarted, Salem finally had the time and sent word for the ones involved in one of the more...unusual matters to reconvene in her office. Ruby Rose. Yang Xiao Long. Qrow Branwen. All 3 were a part of it and all 3 were invited to discuss this strange matter, see if they could collectively make sense of it. She, alongside Glynda and Raven and a handful of others waited for them to arrive.

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

Cinder was not having a good time. It had taken her days to even wake back up, after her injury and all the power she had spent fighting.

She was somewhere in the hospital, in one of its many many rooms and confined to strict bed rest on the orders of headmistress Salem for at least a few more hours. To properly recuperate, she had said. To not overtax your body blah blah blah. Cinder shook her head in annoyance just thinking about it. It had been days. She felt fine. As much as she could be anyway, all things considered. Okay...maybe the shorter hair wasn't exactly fine. That would take some getting used to. Alongside the obvious thing.

She wanted to get out of this room, to check on Tyrian...but the guard standing just outside the hospital room was operating under strict orders to not allow her to leave. And taking him out was not an option, because that would just be like knocking over a line of dominoes in that she would have to knock out a bunch of other people who'd come investigating the noise/disturbance.

At least the hospital had a TV in here and they let her keep her scroll, which she was quick to use to send a message off to her team leader asking(demanding) him to come to her room. Visitors were permitted, thank the gods.

Idly her eyes roved over to the tv screen, where again the news stations were broadcasting the estimated cost of repairs, showing various memorials both official and not so official, speculations on what could have prompted such an assault. Cinder stared in ever increasing disquiet as news anchors and guests and more chimed in on what they imagined the motives for the tragedy were. Nobody came close.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

~In the last moments before all that~

"NEO, LOOK!"

The sharp, cracked yell cutting over the momentary calm was one rife with urgency and desperation, but if anyone spun around towards the source the sight that awaited them was a completely unperturbed Mercury taking a knee next to the imposter Neo, actually not looking too worse for wear next to his peers.

"I didn't think it was possible, but you're an even bigger babe when you get older."

His tone was flippant and sardonic, delivered as if he regretted breaking the news to her. While the early stages of the battle had raged on, the conspicuous-in-his-absence leader of MTEN quickly deduced the throes of combat and all its associated emotions were bringing the grimm to their location in droves. He and Emerald had therefore thrown themselves into the tertiary task of grimm suppression while the fight ran its course, and while he debated getting involved in the later stages he decided he didn't like his chances in the mix of semblances on display; he might've been cocky, but one of his first lessons had taught him overextending yourself was one of the stupidest things any fighter could do. That Mistral transfer, Nikos... He'd tried her out in a little practice match for class a while back, just to test himself against the best, and tapped out pretty much as soon as he gauged her semblance. It didn't take him long to figure out why his legs, and only his legs, felt a little heavier on the swing, why his arcs were landing wide.

Polarity versus metal? That could've been bad.

So he kept to the sidelines, steel colliding with Grimm carapace again and again and again until reinforcements showed up to form a perimeter and the creatures' numbers started to dwindle. Yawn. While fully aware of what the position of huntsman entailed, he always got a little bored fighting the grimm; not because they weren't dangerous, but because they couldn't be read the way another human being could. That was what he lived for. How he could push and pull, the way his words could register on their face and creep all the way into their thoughts to affect their movements. The thrill of facing an uphill climb against an opponent who had gifts he didn't.

That, to him, was a fight.

What he'd been spending his time tonight doing was just busywork, so he was taking the opportunity to actually indulge his curiosity a little as he poked and prodded at the unconscious Neo's face, gripping her chin between thumb and forefinger and putting on an absurdly deep, gravelly voice as he pretended to make her talk.

"'I sounded like this the whole time.' You know..." He gave the chin, jaw, nose and ears a final, curious tweak before standing up, sweeping himself clear of dust and grime. The look on his face was still far more frivolous than the situation warranted, but it was at least tempered by a ponderous note now.

"...I've never seen a semblance that changed someone's bone structure before."

With a shrug, he dismissed it in a way that didn't quite dismiss it and went to help his team with the cleanup efforts.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

At least the hospital had a TV in here and they let her keep her scroll, which she was quick to use to send a message off to her team leader asking(demanding) him to come to her room. Visitors were permitted, thank the gods.

Watts was busy.

He'd wanted to busy from the moment he woke up in his own hospital bed, his injuries far less severe than his teammates but nonetheless in need of a once over. There were things he wanted to say to his team, but he wanted to be once they were all together, and with the state Cinder and Tyrian were in, that would... be some time. So he kept busy. Their enemies had gotten one over on Vale in this attack, and more importantly, they'd gotten one over on him.

He was inside his team's dorm, where an absolute monstrosity of a scroll setup had been cobbled together from bought and otherwise obtained parts that ate up the entirety of one side of the room, an eye sore pretty much the entire team had voted against, a rebuttal he had simply veto'd in his rights as team leader; that was where he sat now, his eyes flickering across a trio of screens as his rings flicked and twisted in his hands in leiu of any sort of keyboard or mouse. The music in the room was blaringly loud, perhaps surprising to anyone who only superficially knew Watts, but it served as an excellent deterrent in conversations interrupting his work, and so far it'd kept the healthy members of MTEN and Hazel out of his hair.

Now that he knew what he was looking for, it almost seemed obvious. Massive funds shifting around in the underworld, disguised as regular business but all connected to their favorite criminal red head. Chatter on the dark web about a rise in shadow fang recruitment, and an out of place radio silence on White Fang propoganda channels. Grimm numbers dwindling in areas despite an increase in stress and negative emotions in the areas surrounding beacon and vale. But the past wasn't what he was looking for; he was searching for how it tied to the present. What had brought these disparate groups together? Since when did the shadow fang work with grimm? How did it all connect to his partner?

*Ding*

Why would that partner not shut the hell up and let him work?

He sighed and rapidly typed a message back, along the lines of no amount of computer science could regrow an eyeball, before he returned to his work

*Ding*

Seriously, this was important work

*Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding*

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

The door to Cinder's room swung open a half hour later, revealing an Arthur that had somehow managed to keep the same dull, unamused look the entire way from the dorm room as he glanced to the guard and put his hands up in askance. The guard stepped up and shone a device in his eye, then the other, before he nodded. "Cleared"

"Shocking. No change from the other ten times" He said in a tone that made it clear that no, it actually wasn't shocking at all, before he strode to Cinder's bed side and plopped himself into the chair beside it with one foot across his knee and his fingers touching together. He gave a curt nod.

"Partner. You seem to be doing better. Your tenacity is only matched by your impatience."

 

[Gus Gungus]

Then.

"What's all the crying about? I thought you were big girls."

It wasn't an easy thing to spot in the aloof, always-elusive former bandit. But to say Qrow's delivery, smile, and entire bearing weren't at their most affectionate as he leaned against the ladder of the fire escape he dropped down frankly didn't do justice to how warm the look on his face was when he watched his two nieces embrace, and while his mysterious arrival usually precipitated Ruby drilling him in one of her puppy hugs he simply didn't give her a chance this time as he took deliberate, lengthy strides over and draped an arm around both of them, lightly tossing their hair.

"Okay, so... Let's figure this mess out."

He suddenly felt a lot more confident about their chances.

And Blake dangled from a street lamp.

And there were...other matters, as well. Almost a week after the attack on Beacon had been thwarted, Salem finally had the time and sent word for the ones involved in one of the more...unusual matters to reconvene in her office. Ruby Rose. Yang Xiao Long. Qrow Branwen. All 3 were a part of it and all 3 were invited to discuss this strange matter, see if they could collectively make sense of it. She, alongside Glynda and Raven and a handful of others waited for them to arrive.

Now.

One week.

One. Week.

"A WEEK?!" Qrow demanded as soon as the elevator doors slid open, actually prying them apart faster with a hand as he stepped forward into the room. It was an explosion both his nieces could feel coming the entire ride up to Salem's office, that dark, glowering look on their uncle's face as he stood with shoulders hunched and hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"Hey! Lady! Sorry if I didn't impress upon you the urgency of OUR situation last time we spoke, but you blowing us off with excuses every day since the attack makes me start to wonder if you're just hiding something!"

Accepting that this was real had been one thing. Surviving the Battle of Beacon (again) had been another.

What was something else entirely was spending five more nights in a world that wasn't their own and a time they didn't belong in, when so much was on the line back where they came from. The unfortunate inevitability was that Qrow had fallen back into some regrettable patterns of behavior, as the bitter-smelling flask he unscrewed to tip a third of the contents down his throat indicated.

"So what's, wha... How the hell do you justify that, 'Headmaster Salem'?!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

But when one side of a conflict emerged triumphant, inevitably that meant the other side had not.

With the Beacon CCT tower still operational, global communications remained undamaged. Word spread fast. Beacon remained standing as a bastion of unity, instead of the ruin it should have ended up as. A symbol of man's hubris, a monument to their failures. The attack had been repelled. Not without significant loss, but that hardly counted for anything in his eyes. All that meticulous planning, securing allies, orchestrating the pieces into position...

All for nothing.

He surmised the weight of that failure was why it had taken this long for several key pieces to return. They had entertained the idea of not returning at all. One could hardly blame them. The energy in the room, it was unnerving enough that even the bravest of men would have felt a chill in their bones. He sat at the head of the table, fingers interlaced and a face so unmoving it might have well been carved from stone. One of the chairs spread around the table had a white-haired young woman dressed to the nines. She was doing her best to hide it, but it was clear she feeling apprehensive. Another chair on the opposite side had a blonde woman leaning back into her chair in an almost comfortable slouch, arms crossed over her chest. It was unclear if she was feeling the same apprehension. The other seats were conspicuous in their emptiness.

At the edge of the room, the other four in the room stood there in fear and uncertainty. Nobody spoke up for the longest time, the eerie silence dragging on and on. It lasted so long that at least a couple of them almost dreaded the silence more than they feared anything that they had experienced at the battle of Beacon. Their imaginations ran wild on trying to guess on what he would do, or what he would say. None of them were pretty pictures.

When he finally spoke, the collective sense of relief between the four of them for the uncomfortable silence being broken, that feeling was almost palpable. It didn't last long.

"Do any of you have an explanation for this failure?"

"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."

"Do not keep me waiting."

Pyrrha cleared her throat before stepping forward. "There were...unexpected complications."

"Do tell."

"The...the u-um, Wyvern, for one." It took a lot to unbalance Pyrrha Nikos enough to stumble over her words, but this man could just sit there and stare, and that would be enough. "How fast it got taken out, it wasn't...that is, they shouldn't have had a plan that fast. Not to counter a Grimm that rare. Sir."

"Implying?"

"I...can't say for certain, sir. But I think, somehow, they had been expecting it."

He pulled his hands apart, one hand rubbing at his chin in thought. "Hmm. Anything else?"

"Yes sir. There were...doubles of people present. I saw one such pair myself, fought them. I didn't get the sense that they were just twins or anything like that. They seemed unfamiliar with each other, even initially at odds. What's more, on the way back? Thanks to the footage broadcasted across several news networks and onto our scrolls, we were able to determine that another...double, had been fighting against the Red Masque. It was she that kept the Masque from capturing the Maiden...and it was she that had so easily disposed of the Wyvern. Sir."

However he took that news went unseen, the man having spun around in his seat so that none of them could see his face. But after a few seconds, he spoke again. "Choose one of yourselves."

"Sir?"

"Choose."

"...Myself, sir."

He gave no response himself, but there was a loud *BANG* behind the quartet. The doors slammed open, an elongated arm grabbed hold of Jaune and tugged him into the pitch black darkness, with the doors slamming shut once more. It happened all so fast that the other 3 barely registered it before it was over. Pyrrha herself was one of the stronger assets he possessed, and had an great sense of honor to choose herself when put on the spot. The other two pawns had fought hard...but that one? He had done nothing but observe and even that much, he couldn't see through to the end.

He wasn't going to waste an asset, but neither would he let this slide without punishment. "When you see him again-" Ozpin nodded over to the shut doors.

"-Remember the price of failure."​

 

[MidwayLives]

Man, hospitals sucked. They were full of old people and smelled like death.

....Ugh, that reminded him. He never got to ask what the hell that 'Ruby' chick meant by that she'd seen him die. Could she see the future or something?? Did he defy fate? Really would have been cool to know. But instead he got slumped in some bed. He had maybe one or two broken ribs, a black eye, and his nose had to be corrected after Prryha's shield bash left it facing the wrong way. Truth be told, he felt the others like Tyrian and Cinder deserved more than him. Still, he supposed a little bit of fun was needed to lighten the mood.

Grabbing his scroll and a rose out of the flowerpot sitting on his nightstand, he turned on the camera.

"Neo should be walking in here any second. I'm about to pull a pro huntsman move."

Settng the scroll back down, Rose gripped onto the flower with both hands and closed his eyes. Oh yeah, Neo would come n and feel soooo bad for him. Hehehe.~

..He opened his left eye.

Nope, not yet.

....

...

He opened his eye again. Nope ,still not yet. Oh man when Neo walked in? It'll be greeeeat.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The door to Cinder's room swung open a half hour later, revealing an Arthur that had somehow managed to keep the same dull, unamused look the entire way from the dorm room as he glanced to the guard and put his hands up in askance. The guard stepped up and shone a device in his eye, then the other, before he nodded. "Cleared"

"Shocking. No change from the other ten times" He said in a tone that made it clear that no, it actually wasn't shocking at all, before he strode to Cinder's bed side and plopped himself into the chair beside it with one foot across his knee and his fingers touching together. He gave a curt nod.

"Partner. You seem to be doing better. Your tenacity is only matched by your impatience."

"And your grasp of the obvious is matched only by your snobbishness." Cinder fired back, though it was clearly evident her heart wasn't in it. As surprising as it may be, trading barbs with Watts was not high on her priority list. Her expression softened as she looked at Arthur. "How...how is Tyrian holding up?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Grabbing his scroll and a rose out of the flowerpot sitting on his nightstand, he turned on the camera.

"Neo should be walking in here any second. I'm about to pull a pro huntsman move."

Settng the scroll back down, Rose gripped onto the flower with both hands and closed his eyes. Oh yeah, Neo would come n and feel soooo bad for him. Hehehe.~

..He opened his left eye.

Nope, not yet.

....

...

He opened his eye again. Nope ,still not yet. Oh man when Neo walked in? It'll be greeeeat.

*SLAM*

"HEEEEY, there he is! The little engine that couldn't! Hope you like ice cr—Oh."

Mercury came to a screeching, awkward halt with one hand on the doorknob and the other holding a tub of Roman's favorite ice cream flavor. The look of solemn awkwardness on his face was so convincing it seemed sincere as he started to slowly back out.

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for my team member's room. Didn't realize this was the ward for Make-a-Wish kids."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"A WEEK?!" Qrow demanded as soon as the elevator doors slid open, actually prying them apart faster with a hand as he stepped forward into the room. It was an explosion both his nieces could feel coming the entire ride up to Salem's office, that dark, glowering look on their uncle's face as he stood with shoulders hunched and hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"Hey! Lady! Sorry if I didn't impress upon you the urgency of OUR situation last time we spoke, but you blowing us off with excuses every day since the attack makes me start to wonder if you're just hiding something!"

Accepting that this was real had been one thing. Surviving the Battle of Beacon (again) had been another.

What was something else entirely was spending five more nights in a world that wasn't their own and a time they didn't belong in, when so much was on the line back where they came from. The unfortunate inevitability was that Qrow had fallen back into some regrettable patterns of behavior, as the bitter-smelling flask he unscrewed to tip a third of the contents down his throat indicated.

"So what's, wha... How the hell do you justify that, 'Headmaster Salem'?!"

Off to the side, Raven's face almost instantaneously expressed her disapproval with Qrow when he immediately jumped into a tirade against Salem. That, and the long sip he took from that flask. Her faint shaking of her head was almost imperceptible to anyone who wasn't staring her down with hyperfocused concentration. So much for being different from the Qrow we know. But her attention didn't remain on him long, her eyes quickly shifting towards one of the others in the elevator, her expression unreadable.

Salem on the other hand, simply listened to him pop off with an air of cool politeness, waiting until he had finished before she stood up. "I am hiding nothing from you, Qrow. I recognize that you deem your situation urgent, but the importance of putting a kingdom back in order takes precedence over the mystery of why a handful of people are adrift in time. This academy, these students, the city we are supposed to protect, these are all my responsibility. Qrow Branwen and his two nieces from another time are not my responsibility. I do not need to justify that to you." She took a deep breath.

"That said, this is a matter that must be figured out. That is why I summoned you here, now, to see if we collectively could figure out how this situation came to be. Or, failing that, explore other options." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Off to the side, Raven's face almost instantaneously expressed her disapproval with Qrow when he immediately jumped into a tirade against Salem. That, and the long sip he took from that flask. Her faint shaking of her head was almost imperceptible to anyone who wasn't staring her down with hyperfocused concentration. So much for being different from the Qrow we know. But her attention didn't remain on him long, her eyes quickly shifting towards one of the others in the elevator, her expression unreadable.

"Don't start." Came his low, threatening warning growl towards the eyes his sister was giving out, moreso when she looked at Yang than at him.

Salem on the other hand, simply listened to him pop off with an air of cool politeness, waiting until he had finished before she stood up. "I am hiding nothing from you, Qrow. I recognize that you deem your situation urgent, but the importance of putting a kingdom back in order takes precedence over the mystery of why a handful of people are adrift in time. This academy, these students, the city we are supposed to protect, these are all my responsibility. Qrow Branwen and his two nieces from another time are not my responsibility. I do not need to justify that to you." She took a deep breath.

"That said, this is a matter that must be figured out. That is why I summoned you here, now, to see if we collectively could figure out how this situation came to be. Or, failing that, explore other options."

"Heeey, I never thought of it that way! We're not your responsibility!" He droned with intonations clearly less than sincere, even downright mocking as he flapped his arms in a sarcastic curtsey, starting to approach Salem's desk. "Maybe I'll think about that next time I'm about to give you information that saves your kingdom! Maybe we all will! Or maybe you stop treating us like a secondary concern while it's our time, our people, our responsibilities that could be on the line right now, pal!"

He let his palms slam down on her table with an incensed huff, holding them there as he made intense eye contact, air rife with the mingling scent of cologne and liquor.

"Now. You—you're an old woman. You been around... a really long time. Have you ever come across anything like this before?"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Man, hospitals sucked. They were full of old people and smelled like death.

....Ugh, that reminded him. He never got to ask what the hell that 'Ruby' chick meant by that she'd seen him die. Could she see the future or something?? Did he defy fate? Really would have been cool to know. But instead he got slumped in some bed. He had maybe one or two broken ribs, a black eye, and his nose had to be corrected after Prryha's shield bash left it facing the wrong way. Truth be told, he felt the others like Tyrian and Cinder deserved more than him. Still, he supposed a little bit of fun was needed to lighten the mood.

Grabbing his scroll and a rose out of the flowerpot sitting on his nightstand, he turned on the camera.

"Neo should be walking in here any second. I'm about to pull a pro huntsman move."

Settng the scroll back down, Rose gripped onto the flower with both hands and closed his eyes. Oh yeah, Neo would come n and feel soooo bad for him. Hehehe.~

..He opened his left eye.

Nope, not yet.

....

...

He opened his eye again. Nope ,still not yet. Oh man when Neo walked in? It'll be greeeeat.​

*SLAM*

"HEEEEY, there he is! The little engine that couldn't! Hope you like ice cr—Oh."

Mercury came to a screeching, awkward halt with one hand on the doorknob and the other holding a tub of Roman's favorite ice cream flavor. The look of solemn awkwardness on his face was so convincing it seemed sincere as he started to slowly back out.

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for my team member's room. Didn't realize this was the ward for Make-a-Wish kids."​

A silent explosion of confetti blasted out from behind Mercury, and Neo bounded in with a celebratory wave, eyes initially closed as she jazz hands'd. When her eyes opened, said hands forgot their musical dreams to snap to her mouth in seemingly genuine horror. She dashed to his bedside to collapse to her knees there, put one hand to her chest and the other arm across her eyes, and gave a silent scream of tragic dismay.

Then she started trying to go through his pockets for his wallet.

 

[MidwayLives]

What he'd been spending his time tonight doing was just busywork, so he was taking the opportunity to actually indulge his curiosity a little as he poked and prodded at the unconscious Neo's face, gripping her chin between thumb and forefinger and putting on an absurdly deep, gravelly voice as he pretended to make her talk.

"'I sounded like this the whole time.' You know..." He gave the chin, jaw, nose and ears a final, curious tweak before standing up, sweeping himself clear of dust and grime. The look on his face was still far more frivolous than the situation warranted, but it was at least tempered by a ponderous note now.

"...I've never seen a semblance that changed someone's bone structure before."

With a shrug, he dismissed it in a way that didn't quite dismiss it and went to help his team with the cleanup efforts.

Neo was knocked out, of that there was no doubt.

But...had her left hand always been balled up in a fist like that?

As the not dead humanoid combatants were rounded up, Neo was among them. Having been recognized by a couple of Atlas soldiers as the 'pink-brown haired woman who'd been reported to have attacked and killed Atlas troops. Taking her from normal police custody into the jurisdiction of one General Ironwood.

...

As she finally awoke, she rolled off the rather hard bench(?) she'd been lying on. Had something happened again? Was she hopefully in a world where SHE got those Maiden powers or whatever? Finally opening her eyes and dong her best to ignore the pounding headache, she noticed something was very off. Such as the cuffs around her wrists. She didn't remember putting those on...Taking a quick survey of the room around her, she felt her heart skip a beat. This was...

No! How could she have ended up here?! She was far more careful than that! Okay, ok! Taking a deep breath and trying to recall...She jumped in to reluctantly help after Roman had gotten hurt. The fight hadn't gone that great but it went smoothly for the other her....Other her...THAT WAS IT!!!

​

"..."

She very slowly raised her fist up towards her for a fist bump, a slightly shy smile on her face

​

*SLAM*

There she was, okay time to get into character.

Which meant doing his best to play dead.

"...Huh, that's funny, usually Neo tries to go through my pockets at this point..."

Peeking open an eye, Roman quickly coughed and dropped the rose to the side.

"Oh, uh, *ahem* hey Mercury."
​

"HEEEEY, there he is! The little engine that couldn't! Hope you like ice cr—Oh."

Mercury came to a screeching, awkward halt with one hand on the doorknob and the other holding a tub of Roman's favorite ice cream flavor. The look of solemn awkwardness on his face was so convincing it seemed sincere as he started to slowly back out.

"Oh, sorry. I was looking for my team member's room. Didn't realize this was the ward for Make-a-Wish kids."

Roman would have gone on at length about how Mercury had ruined his joke, but then he noticed the tub of ice cream in Mercury's other hand.

"Hey, uh, Mercury. Y"know, I don't like to brag or anything but it's kinda thanks to me that Beacon's still here." Roman started, clearly eyeing the prize. "Cinder was down, Tyrian was down, Hazel got punched through a building...It was all up to 'ol Roman and I mean, Neo ended up saving my ass but that's figured at this point. ANYWAY, my strategy to save the day worked out perfectly. I, uh,, tired her...fists....for um...Hey, you're not gonna eat that whole tub are you?"

At the make a wish kids crack, Roman rolled his eyes.

"Oh haha, look, if Neo had walked in before you, it would have been perfect. Now, here's a wish for you. Gimme some of that ice cream! I'm injured, here! I need all the nutrients that I can get!!"
​

A silent explosion of confetti blasted out from behind Mercury, and Neo bounded in with a celebratory wave, eyes initially closed as she jazz hands'd. When her eyes opened, said hands forgot their musical dreams to snap to her mouth in seemingly genuine horror. She dashed to his bedside to collapse to her knees there, put one hand to her chest and the other arm across her eyes, and gave a silent scream of tragic dismay.

As he saw the confetti, Roman quickly got back into character, rose and all.

"..."

As Neo started wiffling through his pockets, he opened an eye and placed his hat atop her head. "Hey you!" Glad to see her, Roman's eye quickkly wandered back over to the ice cream. "Aw, Neo you were supposed to grab the tub!"

​

 

[Gus Gungus]

A silent explosion of confetti blasted out from behind Mercury, and Neo bounded in with a celebratory wave, eyes initially closed as she jazz hands'd. When her eyes opened, said hands forgot their musical dreams to snap to her mouth in seemingly genuine horror. She dashed to his bedside to collapse to her knees there, put one hand to her chest and the other arm across her eyes, and gave a silent scream of tragic dismay.

Then she started trying to go through his pockets for his wallet.

"Gotcha! It's actually all of us. Come to shower our wounded warrior in praise and glory." Mercury dutifully informed as the leader with only faint notes of sarcasm, producing an Emerald who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else from around the doorframe like a rabbit from a hat. "Whatever."

He threw a fond arm around her as they looked on at the duo's reunion, appearing moved. "Ah. Remember when you used to try steal from me like that?"

"'Try?'"

"Try. As in, didn't succeed because I stopped you."

"You never stopped me. The only times you ever caught me were when I got caught on purpose, usually so I could steal something else you didn't know about."

"As if!"

She held up the ice cream. "I just stole this from you right now and you had no idea."

"How, it's so cold?! Whatever. I stole your heart."

"As if."

The nurse who came in to change Roman's IV drip shook her head to herself in silence. What a bunch of absolute delinquents.

"Hey, uh, Mercury. Y"know, I don't like to brag or anything but it's kinda thanks to me that Beacon's still here." Roman started, clearly eyeing the prize. "Cinder was down, Tyrian was down, Hazel got punched through a building...It was all up to 'ol Roman and I mean, Neo ended up saving my ass but that's figured at this point. ANYWAY, my strategy to save the day worked out perfectly. I, uh,, tired her...fists....for um...Hey, you're not gonna eat that whole tub are you?"

At the make a wish kids crack, Roman rolled his eyes.

"Oh haha, look, if Neo had walked in before you, it would have been perfect. Now, here's a wish for you. Gimme some of that ice cream! I'm injured, here! I need all the nutrients that I can get!!"

Mercury and Emerald paused their own bickering to look at him, then at each other, then sloooowly lean in to confer in hushed tones.

"Should we?"

"Nah, I don't think he deserves it."

"I was just thinking that. He got whooped worse than I've ever seen in my life."

"Ice cream is for winners."

They slowly leaned back out to a more normal conversational distance, Mercury clearing his throat before gesturing to the ice cream as Em held it up.

"Roman, what is this... worth to you?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

With one significant amendment.

As Ruby lay there, bleeding, in her final moments of waning consciousness she may or may not have spotted something. The sinister, red-eyed glare of a Grimm, peering out at her from the darkness of the alley across the street with a patience uncharacteristic of the malevolent creatures.

A mystery soon revealed, as a bloodied and tired Eve emerged from shadows like the specter of death, looking down at the Red Masque with distaste thinly veiled as she guided Ruby's chin up with her blade.

"I think it's time the two of us had a chat."

If the parallel Yang and Ruby did eventually catch up, it was to a trail that led only as far as the spot Ozpin's little killer had slumped in, where naught but a pool of blood and a cracked visor of the White Fang were left to meet them.

Stirred from the dream she'd been about to undergo, Ruby sighed. The response had come quicker than expected.

It was just as her uncle told her. She'd lost and so it was all over for her now.

But as blood continued to drip from her stump, she blinked upon seeing who had approached her..

"What did you have in mind...?"

Before i could get any answer, we were gone...Like shadows disappearing when the sun came out and banished the darkness...for now.

Nothing was left behind but blood and the broken mask of a woman doing what she believed was right​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

“WHAT?!”

It was day one of their wait, and Yang had some very important business to take care of. Unfortunately, it seemed like Atlas’ finest weren’t going to be very helpful business partners.

“Sorry miss, but you don’t have the proper clearance for an interrogation of this prisoner.” The guard said, stiff, polite, and very used to being yelled at it seemed.

“Uh, excuse me, but I’m a fully licensed huntress, with Ironwood’s personal seal! How much more clearance do you need?!” Yang fumed as she waved the scroll she'd just shown him in his face again, as if he'd missed it the first time.

“With all due respect, miss… that’s a very good fake, but it is still a fake license.”

“What.”

“Miss. Its dated for two years into the future.”

“That’s because-”

“And Ironwood claims he hasn’t met you.”

“If you’d let me-”

“Also, the name you put on it brought up tags to multiple blacklisted files tied to acts of extreme terrorism”

“Whoa, but-”

“IN FACT-” The guard started, beginning to lose his patience “-The only reason we’re not arresting you for crimes against Atlas’ sovereignty is that Lady Salem has directly asked us not to, as a favor to her. If you do NOT leave the premises, however, we will arrest you.” He clasped his hands behind his back and sneered down at her, clearly intending to intimidate the young woman. “Now shoo, little girl.”

“...”

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

Four days later, she was let out of confinement for this meeting, her weapons returned despite their assistance in her crime of assaulting an Atlas prison ship, but it didn't make her mood any better. Neither did seeing her uncle doing... that when they met up before the meeting.

Walking in the door and seeing Raven was the last straw, and it came out a bitter snort as she saw her subtly trying to eye her not-daughter.

Ruby was one of the biggest joys in Yang's life, and she wouldn't change anything about the parts of her life that brought her into it. ...but the fact that Ruby existed here meant there was apparently still one constant in this tipsy topsy world. Raven still left Tai. Still left her. Here she was, standing where her uncle had before, brave enough to stand up against the darkness this time, and Yang apparently still hadn't been worth staying around for.

Apparently there was nothing that would ever changed that.

She tore her eyes away with a huff and strode forward, hopping up to Salem's desk next to her uncle to take a seat on it and wave her hands between the two.

"So uh, that's also pretty high on my list of priorities, in fact the highest but just to get something else really important in here; I need to talk to Blake. Can you make that happen after we're done here?"

 

[Gus Gungus]

She tore her eyes away with a huff and strode forward, hopping up to Salem's desk next to her uncle and taking a seat on it and waving her hands between the two.

"So uh, that's also pretty high on my list of priorities, in fact the highest but just to get something else really important in here; I need to talk to Blake. Can you make that happen after we're done here?"

"Oh, man. We shoulda led with that before I got all mad." He whispered to her conspiratorially, as though Salem wasn't two feet away and couldn't hear everything.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Oh, man. We should've led with that before I got all mad." He whispered to her conspiratorially, as though Salem wasn't two feet away and couldn't hear everything.​

"No no, we've got the perfect good cop bad cop setup here, with hyper cop in the wings. Its the perfect crime. Cop crime."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"And your grasp of the obvious is matched only by your snobbishness." Cinder fired back, though it was clearly evident her heart wasn't in it. As surprising as it may be, trading barbs with Watts was not high on her priority list. Her expression softened as she looked at Arthur. "How...how is Tyrian holding up?"​

"Well he's not dead, so he has that going for him" Arthur drawled, before he sighed and glanced to to the side, rubbing at his cheek.

"Other than that though... it was rough. He'll make it though. Full recovery even." He said after a moment, before he glanced sidelong back to Cinder with a small frown. "Speaking of, how are you feeling, about... you know..."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

As he saw the confetti, Roman quickly got back into character, rose and all.

"..."

As Neo started wiffling through his pockets, he opened an eye and placed his hat atop her head. "Hey you!" Glad to see her, Roman's eye quickkly wandered back over to the ice cream. "Aw, Neo you were supposed to grab the tub!"

Mercury and Emerald paused their own bickering to look at him, then at each other, then sloooowly lean in to confer in hushed tones.

"Should we?"

"Nah, I don't think he deserves it."

"I was just thinking that. He got whooped worse than I've ever seen in my life."

"Ice cream is for winners."

They slowly leaned back out to a more normal conversational distance, Mercury clearing his throat before gesturing to the ice cream as Em held it up.

"Roman, what is this... worth to you?"

She stuck her tongue out at him as he went for the head pat, and bounded back, absolutely with wallet palmed behind her back and sliding into her jacket pocket. At least she thought it was his wallet, who's was who's tended to be a... fluid state on this team.

At the bargaining, she just arched and eyebrow and glanced between the three, clearly not yet intending to come to her partner's aid.

 

[MidwayLives]

Mercury and Emerald paused their own bickering to look at him, then at each other, then sloooowly lean in to confer in hushed tones.

"Should we?"

"Nah, I don't think he deserves it."

"I was just thinking that. He got whooped worse than I've ever seen in my life."

"Ice cream is for winners."

They slowly leaned back out to a more normal conversational distance, Mercury clearing his throat before gesturing to the ice cream as Em held it up.

"Roman, what is this... worth to you?"

"..."

Roman looked towards Neo and then back at the ice cream.

Then back at the ice cream and then his partner...

Ugh, if only that other Neo hadn't gotten arrested for, uh, murder was one of the charges that Roman heard-oof. Roman wondered if she'd have been willing to give her team's leader a kiss on the cheek or something if he was the one who asked her. Roman seemed to have a way with girls with multi-colored hair. Mercury's was grey which looked great on him but to be honest, he was a bit too intimidating for what Roman had in mind. Which would become clear in just a second.

Emerald's hair was green which meant Roman's chances were lower but...

"Well, I'd say it's worth just about everything...but tell you what." Roman looked over to Emerald and grinned. "Once I get outta here: you, me, dinner? Surely, the potential of a date with yours truly is worth taking that ice cream and handing over that delicious frozen treat..."

Of course, Roman was totally lyng and planned to have the ice cream all to himself. ...Okay, maybe he'd share with Neo. The two of them DID save his life. But he softened up Pyrrha'a fists for them! With his face, mind you...
​

She stuck her tongue out at him as he went for the head pat, and bounded back, absolutely with wallet palmed behind her back and sliding into her jacket pocket. At least she thought it was his wallet, who's was who's tended to be a... fluid state on this team.

At the bargaining, she just arched and eyebrow and glanced between the three, clearly not yet intending to come to her partner's aid.

Roman turned his attenton towards Neo. Adorable little wallet snatcher that she was.

"Nailed it."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

She stuck her tongue out at him as he went for the head pat, and bounded back, absolutely with wallet palmed behind her back and sliding into her jacket pocket. At least she thought it was his wallet, who's was who's tended to be a... fluid state on this team.

At the bargaining, she just arched and eyebrow and glanced between the three, clearly not yet intending to come to her partner's aid.

Emerald's hair was green which meant Roman's chances were lower but...

"Well, I'd say it's worth just about everything...but tell you what." Roman looked over to Emerald and grinned. "Once I get outta here: you, me, dinner? Surely, the potential of a date with yours truly is worth taking that ice cream and handing over that delicious frozen treat..."

Emerald's eyes widened a bit at the request, the habitual thief seeming to mull the offer over for a moment before she offered a meek shrug. "O-Okay. How'd you know the one thing I ever wanted was a date with you, Roman?"

"What?" Mercury's dismay sounded more confused than anything, like when you died in a video game in a stupid way.

"Sorry, Mercury. He's twice the man you are, also I think he should be team leader now. Also I like girls, too, and Neo told me she was down for it. C'mere, you-" She said as she bounded over to leave the ice cream on his desk and offer him the real prize, leaning in to plant one on his lips.

However long that lasted before Roman opened his eyes and realized he was macking on Professor Port was up to him. The tickle of the mustache was an early clue.

Back in reality, Mercury passed a hand back and forth over Roman's face to little response as he lived out the fantasy however he chose to. He tried to spoon some of the ice cream into his catatonic mouth, but unfortunately it mostly ended up slathered over the lower part of his face.

"Yup. He's dead."

"Not yet. Is he serious? What makes him think that's happening, ever?" She asked, shooting Neo a look of genuine disbelief.

"Eh, he's just trying to be me. I'd feel almost flattered if he was better at it." Merc answered in a pitying sort of way, flying another spoonful in like an airplane to see if this one made it past his lips. Nope.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Emerald's eyes widened a bit at the request, the habitual thief seeming to mull the offer over for a moment before she offered a meek shrug. "O-Okay. How'd you know the one thing I ever wanted was a date with you, Roman?"

"What?" Mercury's dismay sounded more confused than anything, like when you died in a video game in a stupid way.

"Sorry, Mercury. He's twice the man you are, also I think he should be team leader now. Also I like girls, too, and Neo told me she was down for it. C'mere, you-" She said as she bounded over to leave the ice cream on his desk and offer him the real prize, leaning in to plant one on his lips.

"Heh, well you know I met another Neo today. Still around the same height and not even close to being as great as ours..." Roman started. "But she was all over me and now you can be too.~" Roman held his arms out and prepped for that hug + kiss.

Mm...Well, he'd imagined Emerald would have been a better kisser than this-

The...The bushiness...The tickling feeling...

"aaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-"

~In reality~

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Don't start." Came his low, threatening warning growl towards the eyes his sister was giving out, moreso when she looked at Yang than at him.

Walking in the door and seeing Raven was the last straw, and it came out a bitter snort as she saw her subtly trying to eye her not-daughter.

Ruby was one of the biggest joys in Yang's life, and she wouldn't change anything about the parts of her life that brought her into it. ...but the fact that Ruby existed here meant there was apparently still one constant in this tipsy topsy world. Raven still left Tai. Still left her. Here she was, standing where her uncle had before, brave enough to stand up against the darkness this time, and Yang apparently still hadn't been worth staying around for.

Apparently there was nothing that would ever changed that.

She tore her eyes away with a huff and strode forward, hopping up to Salem's desk next to her uncle to take a seat on it and wave her hands between the two

Despite her kneejerk reaction to Qrow's blatant disrespect towards Salem, she didn't bite back at his threatening growl. This quite honestly was not the time or place for that sort of behavior. But her feelings on that paled in comparison to the complicated mess she felt seeing that Yang so clearly. The painfully bitter snort and the way she tore away from looking back...that was more than enough to make it clear that wherever this Yang was from...the relationship between mother and daughter was just as strained or even more so.

There was no denying that realization stung, Raven's eyes flitting downwards to stare at the ground, pain and sadness evident in those crimson eyes despite her trying her utmost not to show it. A significant part of her wished she had put on her helmet before the three of them had entered the room, to hide her eyes, but it was too late now. Putting it on would just probably attract more attention, so she just didn't move an inch or say a thing, hoping that with both of their attention on Salem, neither of them had seen her eyes in that moment of weakness.​

"Heeey, I never thought of it that way! We're not your responsibility!" He droned with intonations clearly less than sincere, even downright mocking as he flapped his arms in a sarcastic curtsey, starting to approach Salem's desk. "Maybe I'll think about that next time I'm about to give you information that saves your kingdom! Maybe we all will! Or maybe you stop treating us like a secondary concern while it's our time, our people, our responsibilities that could be on the line right now, pal!"

He let his palms slam down on her table with an incensed huff, holding them there as he made intense eye contact, air rife with the mingling scent of cologne and liquor.

"Now. You—you're an old woman. You been around... a really long time. Have you ever come across anything like this before?"

"Qrow...there is nothing that I could say that would properly express the gratitude I have for you. For all three of you. Truly. For what you told me-" Her eyes shifted from him to the Ruby behind him. "-for what you did to help us. In fact I do not think we would all be standing here if it had not been for your assistance. We should all be thankful that you popped up when you did, even if it was not intended on your parts. That is why I called you here as soon as I made sure everything down there was in a satisfactory state. To try and repay you for that kindness, as much as I can. Like I said, your predicament is not my responsibility."

Her eyes returned to Qrow. "I called you all here because I genuinely want to assist you in this matter despite that fact. What's more, I sincerely hope that the time where you are from is not suffering simply because the three of you are not there. That said..." She shook her head. "No, I can't say I've seen anything like this development before. Are you sure there's nothing more you could recall before you awoke here? Any of you?"
​

"So uh, that's also pretty high on my list of priorities, in fact the highest but just to get something else really important in here; I need to talk to Blake. Can you make that happen after we're done here?"

"I am confident we can make that happen."
​

"Oh, man. We shoulda led with that before I got all mad." He whispered to her conspiratorially, as though Salem wasn't two feet away and couldn't hear everything.

"No no, we've got the perfect good cop bad cop setup here, with hyper cop in the wings. Its the perfect crime. Cop crime."

That exchange simply had her raise her eyebrow in curious amusement.
​