"Come on kid, let's go! She ain't gonna wake up anytime soon."

"But we can't just leave her here!"

"Why not? She'll be fine! Now come on, the Skullgirl ain't gonna fight herself."

"Let me at least try to wake her up first... Ruby? Are you okay? Wake up!"

Ruby began stirring. Her whole world was dark for her eyes were still closed, but she could hear two voices talking to each other, one male and the other female. She felt someone gently nudging her side and slowly began to open her eyes.

"Ugh... what happened?" Ruby groaned, her vision not fully restored to her just yet. Her eyes felt a little tingly, and so she rubbed her eyes in hopes of being able to see again faster. She didn't think the two voices she heard earlier were real, dismissing them as a dream since she thought she was back at the mercenaries' place now. "I dreamed I was in a crazy world where wolf people exist and girls had huge weird talking mouths on the back of their heads..."

"Well... I guess that really would be weird, huh?" The same female voice from earlier responded.

Instantly, Ruby's eyes were wide open. She didn't recognize the voice as anyone she knew, but it was a lot like that girl from her dream. Only to see it actually was the girl from her dream when she opened her eyes! It took a moment due to her eyes needing time to adjust, but eventually they focused on the exact same girl she last saw before fainting. The girl, who she remembered was named Filia, was crouched down beside her with a glad look across her face at seeing Ruby was okay.

"...yeah." Ruby blinked at seeing that she was real.

"You trying to say something about me, kid?" Filia's hair, Samson, spoke as if offended. Much to Ruby's confusion and horror, he was real too. "You know I got feelings too!"

"Don't worry Samson, she's just freaked out... like everyone else..." Filia said, muttering that last part out. "Here, let me help you up." She offered her hand to Ruby, who was hesitant to take it. The huntress almost shied away from her hand as if she were afraid Filia was going to hurt her, but she accepted the help anyway after Filia gave a reassuring smile.

"Thanks..." Ruby said once she was on her feet again. She took a moment to dust herself off, and check her surroundings. Again to her dismay, she was still in the same dark cityscape that she was in before passing out. This world was very real. "Um, sorry about fainting like that. I'm just uh... new here. That's all." She said as an actually perfect valid excuse.

"It's okay, Ruby. You're not wrong about the whole having a mouth attached to my head thing being weird anyway. Parasites like Samson aren't too common, or very popular..." Explained Filia, her eyes looking up though there's no way for her to see Samson without a mirror.

"Oh, well I'm sorry for calling you weird, Samson." Ruby apologized.

"Yeah, no problem." Said the parasite in a not very caring way at all. Now can we go now, kid? We ain't gonna find the Skullgirl talking to strangers like this."

"Alright Samson. Sorry Ruby, but we got to go now. It was nice meeting you though!" Filia then began walking down the street towards downtown where the super huge skyscraper was. Ruby couldn't help but watch her as she left. It wasn't only because Samson was staring right at her and waving a strand of hair as a not very caring gesture of farewell, but also because Filia is the only person Ruby knew here. Knew isn't exactly the correct word since she's only been with her for about ten minutes, but combined with how friendly she is and how she's the only person she talked to, Ruby thought it might be a good idea to stick with her.

"Hey wait!" Ruby yelled as she ran to catch up with her.

"Run kid! She's gonna keep wasting our time!" Samson yelled with little hair tentacles flapping about.

"Huh? What is it, Ruby?" Filia asked upon turning around, wondering what she wanted while also giving Samson a stern look that he can't even see. Ruby stopped just shy of her, hesitating again since she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Do... do you mind if I stick with you for a while? You know, because I'm new here?" She nervously said.

"Out of the question. Nope, sorry kid. Filia and I got some business to take care of, and we can't have you in the way." Samson the hair parasite answered rudely in an attempt to ward her off.

"Samson!" Filia yelled at her own hair. The parasite started grumbling to himself, but he at least decided to back down for now. His host was not pleased with his lack of manners, but that did not make him care about Ruby at all. "Sorry about Samson again, but you want to stay with us?" Noticeably, Filia didn't look too enthusiastic about the idea either.

"Y-yeah... I seriously have no idea where I am. Like, I am telling the truth right now." Ruby answered truthfully once again. Filia raised a brow at what Ruby just said. "I don't even know the name of the city we're in right now. I don't even know how I got here."

"Wait... did you lose your memories too?" Filia asked. "Because I don't remember how I got here either! I just woke up in an alley one day with Samson and I can barely remember anything else before that."

"Oh no, I didn't lose my memories. I remember everything except for how I got here. One moment I was relaxing with my friends, and next thing I knew I'm here." Ruby explained. It wasn't anything too complicated at all.

"Oh wow... you really are new here, aren't you?" Filia was actually quite surprised by this revelation.

She couldn't help but worry for Ruby since she was the only person they've met who was actually really nice, only to find out that she's totally lost as well. Filia didn't know her way around the city herself due to her memory loss, and though Samson has been a huge help, she felt that having another person with her couldn't possibly hurt.

"Sure! You can stay with me and Samson. I think we can use all the help we can get anyway." Filia gave a nice friendly smile, while Samson felt betrayed about Filia not listening to him.

"What!? B-but, Filia! She's-"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic Samson! How bad can it be to have her tag along?"

"But I- she, ugh! Fine, whatever. She can come with us..." The parasite sighed in defeat. "Can we go now? The Skullgirl is still out there and you're busy talking to strangers."

Filia agreed, and soon the trio began walking towards downtown. Ruby stuck quite close to Filia as they got deeper and deeper into the city, the unfamiliar sights and people of this world made her a little wary of what other weird things she'll find. So far the vast majority of the people Ruby has seen so far appear to be normal Humans with a few Faunus-looking people here and there, but every now and then she'd see someone weird like a literal fifteen foot tall giant, a red skinned woman with demon horns to match, and someone who looked straight up like a walking crocodile.

Ruby's jumpiness at the sights on the streets did not go unnoticed by Filia and her hair, and it made Filia wonder just how new this girl was.

"Sooo... where are you from?" Filia asked to start up some conversation while also getting some questions answered.

"Um, Remnant." Ruby answered, still looking around at the strangeness of the city.

"Remnant? Never heard of it before."

"Me neither, kid." Samson added. That already told Filia a lot. Admittedly, she didn't know too much about Samson, but she knew that Samson knows a lot of things. If he didn't know what this Remnant place was, then this girl must either be from some foreign country or some quiet backwater community.

"Well... I don't think anyone in this world does." Ruby answered a little shyly as Filia tilted her head at what she just said.

"Um, what do you mean by this world?" Filia asked.

"It's a long story..." The huntress sighed.


The Trinity's Residence

"Interesting... she has already met one of the other candidates." Aeon watched Filia and Ruby's interactions, closely monitoring them should anything interesting happen with their newest toy. "Did you hear me, sister? Ruby has met Filia."

"Yeah, cool..." Her sister muttered out. "When is something going to happen? I'm already bored..."

"You must be patient. It takes time for things to happen, and she has only been in this world for... less than thirty minutes." Aeon said. "Besides, character interactions are necessary to establish an interesting story for our timeline here."

"I prefer something more exciting..." Venus groaned. She definitely did not look very entertained right now. Both sister's were in front of the television they use to monitor the world, with Aeon properly sitting up with fresh popcorn in her lap and Venus lazily laid down on her chest. "Can we watch something else? Or we could go to that other world and establish our dominance..."

"Maybe later if Monty lets us, but I don't think it's very likely. Now please, I am trying to watch Filia and Ruby bond."

"Ugh... fine."


Downtown New Meridian

Well... Filia didn't quite know what to say about Ruby's story. If Ruby wasn't so nice and genuine sounding, she would've just dismissed Ruby as some crazy person living in a made up fantasy land. There was way too much detail and elaborateness in Ruby's story of what Remnant was like and how she was a student at some academy built for training students to fight against monsters. Despite all this, she couldn't quite believe that a person from another world was standing beside her right at this very moment. Maybe if Ruby had some solid proof that she was from another world then Filia could believe her, but for now Filia was happy to be helping a lost and friendly stranger.

Samson obviously did not believe a single word that Ruby was saying. He quietly dismissed Ruby as a lunatic who they should've left behind, but Filia was quick to shut him up.

"Wow, it must be really rough for you then..." Filia said solemnly, understanding of Ruby's plight since though she didn't quite believe Ruby was from another world, she did feel for her when she said that she has no friends here.

"Yeah... last thing I remember was going to my professor's house with my team, and then I wake up in some dark smelly alley here! I don't know how long I've been here, but I really miss home already..." The huntress said sadly, almost sniffling as if she was going to cry. If she had some of her friends here, then this whole experience wouldn't be that bad. If anything she would have seen travelling to this world as a cool adventure between dimensions, but this adventure is turning out to be pretty sucky since she was taken here completely without her consent and knowledge. This kinda thing makes people upset, obviously...

Ruby's depressed mood was starting to get to Filia. Even if Remnant wasn't a real place, it made Filia wonder just how much Ruby seriously believed it was real. Was Ruby just a delusional girl? Or is she telling the truth? The answer wasn't clear in Filia's mind yet, even if Samson who literally takes up most of her head space believed Ruby was just crazy. Whatever the truth was, Filia saw that Ruby was in distress, and so she couldn't help but give her a friendly pat on the back to make her feel better.

"Well, look on the bright side! At least you have us!" Filia beamed with a friendly smile. "I'm sure you'll find a way back home, Ruby. And you know what? Samson and I will help you!"

"Really?" Ruby said, no longer looking as sad as before.

"Yeah, really!?" Samson blurted out, obviously displeased with his host's decisions.

"Hush Samson, and yeah! After Samson and I beat the Skullgirl and wish my memories back, then maybe we can use it to help you find a way back home."

"Thanks Filia..." The huntress' sad face formed into a thankful one, happy that Filia who's by all means a total stranger is kind enough to help her.

Maybe being in this world wouldn't be so bad as long as she stuck by Filia, but Ruby did have a big question about this world that Filia hadn't answered yet. She already told Ruby that she was currently in a city called New Meridian, but there was something Filia and Samson constantly kept mentioning that bugged her mind.

"Um... hey Filia? If you don't mind me asking, but what's a Skullgirl?"

...

Out of nowhere, Filia had stopped right in her tracks, and slowly turned to Ruby with a questioning look. Neither her or Samson said anything, only staring at Ruby as if she were stupid. The glaring question in both of their minds right now, was how could this girl possibly not know what the Skullgirl is? Everybody and their mother knows what the Skullgirl is! Even Filia knew who the Skullgirl is, and that's without Samson telling her.

"You're joking right?" Samson asked plainly.

"Uh, no. Why? Did I say something bad?"

"Ruby, how could you not know what the Skullgirl is?" Filia asked, fully turning to face her caped companion here.

"Maybe because I'm not from this world..." Ruby muttered out nervously, digging the tip of her shoe into the sidewalk. If Samson wasn't attached to the back of Filia's head, the two of them would definitely be staring at each other in surprise. "I was serious about the whole being from a different world thing, you know..."

"Wait, so everything you said is true?" Ruby nodded her head for an answer, sending Filia's mind into a big ole loop.

Either Ruby was telling the 100% serious truth, or she actually does have her memories lost and replaced with this Remnant land she was talking about. The latter was very unlikely because that would be just dumb, and Filia was slowly beginning to realize that maybe Ruby really was a little more than just lost in a city.


The Mercs' House

The mercs had gathered in their garage/armory/lab/lounge, yelling over and arguing about what the actual fuck just happened earlier. They would have done this out in the living room, but Team RWBY was fast asleep on the couch and they didn't want to disturb them. Despite all their yelling and the usual way they spoke to each other, the one thing they could agree on was that some mysterious woman barely dressed in anything just kidnapped Ruby through some kind of eldritch portal.

Even weirder, the same woman came back and fixed their house, and then wiped the memories of Team RWBY clean! The house was exactly as it was before she ripped the roof open, but then the girls don't even remember what happened to Ruby at all and they think she's out on a student exchange program or some shit.

"Gentlemen, we have got to get her back." Spy announced over the chatter, getting silence in the room as everyone turned to look at him. "I do not know who that woman was, but the one sure thing we all know is that she has taken one of our students, one of our friends..."

"How are we gonna get her back? None of us ain't got a clue of where that babe went!" Scout said, sounding a little more worried that the sexy Venus was gone instead of Ruby.

"Well... considerin' how she used some kind of teeth portal, I'd say she might be in a different world, boys." The resident engineer amongst them suggested. "Call it a hunch, but if that lady can just fix our house up and wipe away memories and replace 'em with new ones is anything to go by, then I'd say we ain't dealing with no regular person here."

"That's bloody obvious mate..." Sniper scoffed. "But are you tryin' to say that Ruby's been taken by someone like that Gabe Newell character floating around in the Void?" Sniper asked. This did send a slight chill into each of their spines though. Gaben was powerful beyond comprehension, and the fat man himself has implied multiple times that he's the creator of the their homeworld. If Ruby's been taken by someone as powerful as him, then the chances of them getting her back weren't very high.

"I'm not saying she is, but it is likely..." The Texan said. There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone thought about it. Should they really let Ruby go? The woman did say that she was 'borrowing' Ruby, if what she said could be believed.

It was then decided that fuck no. They're getting Ruby back, insanely powerful goddess of evil or not.

"LET'S GET LITTLE GIRL BACK!" Heavy yelled with his fist pumped into the air.

""YEAH!" The other mercs screamed in agreement.

"Yes, gentlemen! Now, we need a plan..." Spy began. "I suggest we-"

"GO INTO THE VOID AND KILL ALL THE COMMUNISTS!" Soldier yelled while waving his fully loaded Rocket Launcher around like an overly excited idiot. Of course, everyone thought that was a terrible plan and Heavy and Demo restrained him back to his seat.

"Right... anyways, I suggest we send a small expedition out into The Void. Only one man should do, otherwise people will get suspicious of so many of us being gone..." He trailed, looking back at the corner of the garage where they have all the illegal stuff that they had taken from the bad guys and were keeping it hidden. Among the items were several bags of stolen money and dust, so as you can imagine it could get pretty bad if someone caught them with this stuff.

"Mphmm Hmmm mperh?" Pyro asked.

"Yeah, how come we can't just make up an excuse for why all of us are gone?" Scout asked, still sounding like he worried about not seeing that hottie again more than Ruby's disappearance.

"Well my dear Scout, it's because we have already used every trick in the book. Literally, I think we may have even more excuses than what is even in the book..." The Frenchman said, pulling up a short book about excuses. "The headmaster is not going to fall for our tricks forever, so with only one of us gone we can excuse it as a personal issue on Earth that must be dealt with."

"But we all want to go find this girl and bring her home." Heavy said, gaining the approval of the other mercs.

"I know my friends, but we simply cannot risk getting caught with some of our more... questionable activities. We may never be able to even show our faces in this world again should things come to that..."

Spy casted another glance towards all the illegal stuff they have yet to stache with this time all the mercenaries understanding. They liked working here at Beacon. Sure, this may be a world where evil monsters threaten civilization and people have superpowers, but their jobs here were so much easier and pay quite well, and dare they say even enjoyable with all these new friends they've made here. If the academy found out that they've been doing some less than legal things, they can expect to lose their jobs. That wouldn't be so bad if the mercs didn't genuinely care for the students under their care here at Beacon, which is precisely why they want to bring Ruby Rose back.

"Alrighty then... which of us is gonna hop into the interdimensional teleporter?" Engie asked. At once, everybody raised their hands. Admittedly it wasn't surprising, but that didn't stop the boys from arguing with each other over who's more qualified with travelling dimensions, which honestly none of them are.

"Listen fellas, I'm clearly the best choice for this job. All I got to do is find that babe, use my charm on her, and convince her to give Ruby back after I bang her." Scout said confidently, immediately getting a bitch slap from Heavy for being stupid.

"Listen up you piles of garbage, I am clearly the best choice for this mission! It is my God given duty to spread democracy and freedom to the poor unfree people of... EVERYWHERE!" Soldier claimed. He was then immediately assaulted by everyone throwing stuff at him for being even more stupid than Scout.

"Alright, alright, calm down fellas!" Engie called over the noises and arguing. "Listen boys, I know we all wanna find our girl, but arguing about it ain't gonna help us find her any faster. So allow me to suggest a little proposition, how bout we all draw sticks?"

All the mercenaries looked to each other, and for once, agreed to do it. Engineer opened up the garage door just enough for him to slip under it and went to get some twigs for them to use. Shortly after, he came back and placed the sticks into a cup, nine in all including himself.

"I'm sure y'all know how this goes, shortest stick gets sent through the teleporter. Everyone understand?" Engie asked, to which they all nodded in confirmation. "Alright boys... may the best man win..."


Oh damn, I wonder who the lucky mercenary's going to be. Until then, one wonders what kind of adventures will Filia, Samson, and Ruby have together as they travel deep into New Meridian. Who knows? Maybe they'll meet some new people, maybe they'll get into some fights. Well, if you understand the nature of Skullgirls, then I think you have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen next chapter.

Review Responses:

pre74: They'll all be coming up soon my man. Just wait for the foreseeable future, and they'll be here in no time...

JanSolo: The RWBY moon doesn't work like our moon. Our moon has one side always facing the planet because it's gravity or some shit is locked so that it doesn't rotate, but RWBY's moon does rotate which is why it looks like it's normal in some shots and shattered in others because it is rotating like a planet.

Doctor Homicide 157: Alternate my dude.