RWBY Loops: Chapter 4
4.1
Jaune was out shopping for food, having announced earlier that evening that he would take a break from Beacon to finish grad school. As he wandered between the aisles, he heard something. "Jaune... "
Jaune cocked an eyebrow and took a few steps back, glancing down the aisle he had just passed. Again, a voice spoke. "Jaune... help."
"Pyrrha?" Jaune glanced at the row of cereal boxes, to where Captain Pete's Pumpkin Flakes were proudly displayed... all of which were branded with Pyrrha's face. And they were all staring at him.
"Jaune help! We're stuck in these cereal boxes!"
4.2 masterOfGames
Weiss was rich. Very few would deny this.
Still, she was a firm believer that you could never have too much spare cash, and so the past few loops had been spent convincing her sister Winter to take up the sword in her place, leaving Weiss free to study the art of business.
It turned out, she was quite good at it. She could come up with ideas for new products that the executives on the company board would never think of. There wasn't much call for them for civilians, but the Hunters who bought from the company would camp out overnight three days in advance to reserve one. "It's almost like she knows how the dashed brutes think!" one executive with an oddly twirl-able mustache had remarked once, as they pondered how she did it during a small break in a financial quarter meeting.
"Gotta hand it to Weiss, she never does anything in small measures." Ruby remarked lightly as she tapped her new Schnee brand .44 magnum toothbrush against the side of the sink, shaking the excess water off before loading the toothpaste on.
Yang, one sink over, just yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before unholstering her own pump action toothbrush and loading a mouthwash shell. "I just want to know how Little Miss Traditional came up with this idea before me," she muttered. "I mean come on, you could totally see this being my idea, right?"
Ruby thought for a moment as she pulled her brush's trigger, letting the recoil move the brush vigorously across her teeth, then just shrugged, muttering her answer around her brush. "The toothbrushes maybe... Nora's garrote floss, not so much. Too subtle." she admitted.
4.3 Me & Wildrook
Ruby happily guided team JNPR through the maze of warehouses and piers that composed Vale's docklands. "I'm telling you, she's the sweetest thing since maple syrup and she's so innocent. You'll all love her."
"How can she be sweeter than maple syrup?" Nora asked.
"She's Penny," Ruby stated. "If anyone can be sweeter than maple syrup, it's her."
"I don't know Ruby..." Pyrrha said with some hesitation. "You make her sound great, but if what you say is true, she's hopelessly naive. We'll need to be on our guards so we don't hurt her-"
K-ziiiiiimmmp...CRASH!
Pyrrha was promptly launched backwards as a MABP (Magnetically Attracted Ballistic Penny) slammed into her. Her team and Ruby stared at the robot and the champion.
"Salutations!" Penny said. "I appear to be stuck to your chest!"
Pyrrha's magnetic powers, plus Penny's metallic body, equals a Penny lodged in Pyrrha's cleavage.
"I can't tell whether or not to be frightened or amused," Jaune said, "but I'm leaning towards frightened."
4.4 Harosata
Jaune Woke up in flight. Fortunately, he wasn't about to puke because he was not in a Dustplane. Unfortunately, he was sailing over the Emerald Forest, one of the few places massively populated by Grimm. Fortunately, all he had to do to ensure a safe landing was to activate his Aura.
...To activate his Aura.
...To activate his Aura which was locked at this point of time this time.
"This is going to suck." Jaune muttered.
Jaune Woke up in a Dustplane. Of course was going to puke, and as he rushed for the restroom, he had to wonder why he woke up on the way to Bea...not Beacon?
"Where are we headed anyway?" Jaune asked, unable to find any students here.
"Do you not remember, Squire Jauney?" The man in the knight-like suit asked. "You desired to be a badass hunter, so you came to me and trained under me. And as the last step of your training, you shall face the Dracule."
Jaune looked outside. "A Dracule? You mean...the big lizardy Grimm that just flew past that window?"
"Yes."
"The one that could have eaten our ship whole?"
"Yes. And you'll do it with a butter knife. It shall be badass."
Jaune actually thought about using the butter knife. "This is going to suck."
Lv 5 Jaune Arc
[The Gamer]
Jaune Woke up at Beacon. He blinked as he waved the numbers away. "Ruby, do you see anything strange?"
"Hm?" Ruby looked around. "I think Weiss rode in on a raptor, but no. Are you Awake?"
"Yeah, then I must be Loopy because I think my Semblance changed again." Jaune frowned as he observed Ruby. "I think it's pretending the world is a video game."
[A skill has been created through a special act.]
[Through continuous observation, a skill to find the target's info, Observe, has been created.]
Lv 98 Ruby Rose
[Anchor of Remnant]
Although Ruby couldn't see what Jaune saw, she nodded. "That sounds really cool."
"It's kinda redundant. Tutorials. System, Tutorials" Jaune scanned through the many windows. "Right, I see. Beacon's too low-level for the Experience to count as anything, don't see the need for an Inventory when we have Pockets, and while getting new skills by reading and loot from killing Grimm sounds nice, I'm not sure they'll be as impressive as your Speed Force or Blake's spinny eye thing."
"Sharingan." Ruby corrected. Then she caught onto something he said earlier. "Wait, what do you mean, your Semblance changed again?"
"I don't know why it changes." Jaune shrugged. "Heck, I don't even know what my baseline Semblance does, but I'm pretty certain half of the ones I go though aren't even related. It sure makes for some interesting stories, though."
[A skill has been created through a special action. After repeated use of your sixth sense, you have obtaine the ability Sense Danger to detect impending misfortune.]
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
Jaune stopped paying attention as he stepped away from Ruby. "R-Ruby, what did I say?"
"I want to know how many Semblances you had." Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose, daring him to run away. "All of them."
[Sense Danger's level has risen by 1.]
[Sense Danger's level has reached max level.]
[You received the title This Is Going To Suck.]
4.5 Harosata
"Hey, Weiss."
"Yes, Jaune?"
"Should we just take a break and have a game night?"
"Alright then." Weiss looked up as Jaune set up a wall Scroll and three game...consoles. Her eye twitched. "Jaune. Explain."
Jaune held up his hands. "Your Unawake versions sold them to me. On separate occasions!"
Weiss looked at the Schneestation 4, the Schneebox One and the Schnii U. "I know Schnee is a big company, but that doesn't mean everything we use has to bear the Schnee name. I'll just play an MMO until you get an actual console."
Weiss turned around and turned on her SchneeC...Then she banged her head on the keyboard.
4.6 ToaMataNui5000
"Begone!" Vergil and Adam announced simultaneously as they unleashed a fury of slashes. Blake sidestepped, only to nearly slide off the train. Thankfully, Dante managed to catch her with his Angel Hook, before going back to clashing swords with his brother and the bull Faunus.
"You have to put up with this how many times again!" Blake shouted over the rush of wind and steel clangs.
"Every single time! Whether he's awake or not! And considering he isn't awake now..." Dante was kicked by a Beowulf covered foot, causing him to slide over to the cat Faunus. "...He's much more vicious than usual."
"Foolishness, Dante! Why do you refuse to side with us against humanity and Schnee's racism!"
"Because unlike you, I know they weren't the one that put a bullet through Mom's head! It was Roman and his merry band of misfits!"
"You dare question the man who put those weapons in your hands!" Adam snarled. "He may be an idiotic dick, but at least he's supporting the side of justice!"
"Fighting extremist jerks with more extremism isn't gonna fix anything, Adam!" Blake yelled, almost pleadingly. "The real enemy is amassing his army of demons and Grimm while we continue this insanity!"
"Beside," Dante snarked, "Roman ain't my daddy, nor was he any of the higher demons I slayed to obtain these babies." He then slammed Cerberus against the train platform, causing ice spikes to instantly coat the floor.
"How much longer must we serve as a distraction?" Blake huffed.
"I'd say..." A massive explosion in the distance cut the half-demon off. The four turned to see the remains of the bridge that the train was speeding towards. "Huh, looks like Lady and Nora were early."
"Whatever, at least no one will be getting this Dust shipment except for the fishes." Adam leaped over to the caboose. Vergil followed suit, launching some Summon Swords to severe the back cart from the rest. The four just stared at each other until the caboose eventually slowed to a halt, and the distance grew wide enough.
"Talk about ironic deja-vu," Blake commented and turned to the approaching long, wet drop. "Hopefully Kat didn't forget about us while helping the passengers escape." As if on cue, a series of wicken runes appeared on the supply container near them. They radiated a bright light, and opened up into a portal leading to Limbo.
"And this is why I love that woman. Seriously, why couldn't she be part of both of my baselines?" The duo leaped in, appearing in the border dimension between the living world and Hell. Soon after they landed, creatures of various shapes and sizes surrounded them. Blake didn't recognize some of them. "Huh, we got Aragami too. Interesting..."
"What now..."
"They're apocalypse causing monsters from the God Eater's universe. I met the anchor and two of her friends during a massive fused loop." Dante chuckled, "Talk about a hell of a party. If they're here, Soma and Alisa are about to become really good buddies with Ren and Nora respectively."
Blake just stared at a pack of approaching Orgetails being lead by a Vajra, "I just hope Ruby isn't stupid enough to try taming one of those..."
4.6
Ozpin quietly sipped his coffee as he listened to the distant sounds of pandemonium breaking loose inside of the Emerald Forest from his and Glynda's safe vantage point atop a cliff. Half an Ursa went sailing by, soon followed by it's other half. Oh how he loved breaking in the new year.
Next to him, Glynda spluttered loudly, as if seeing something that stunned her in totality. "Is something wrong Glynda?" Ozpin asked, instantly worried for the potential students.
Glynda showed Ozpin her Scroll, the holographic computer tablet displaying something thoroughly bizarre and impossible. "Mister Arc's weapon isn't his sword and shield. It's a semi."
Down in the forest:
"BEEP BEEP MOTHERFUCKERS!" team JNPR roared in bloodlusty glee as Jaune's semi-truck plowed through the Grimm.
4.7 Harosata
Jaune Woke up on his back. "It feels like I was baking in a desert. Everyone Awake?"
It looks like Weiss, Blade and the rest of Team JNPR were here...wherever here was. Nora hopped onto some strange towers. "I smell pancakes!"
"Yes, that's going to help determine where we are." Weiss deadpanned as she sniffed the air. "Well, maybe we're near a diner-"
The whole world shook. "Was that an earthquake?"
Pyrrha gazed up. "Giant!"
Everyone quickly hid among the towers. Jaune peeked out, seeing that the giant was indeed very big and had a passing resemblance to a human. "Maybe it's a friendly giant..."
The giant looked closely at the spot they had lain before. Then it let out a blood-curdling roar.
"It's not friendly!" Jaune drew his head back. "I don't think we have the power to kill it, but we still have to bring it down. Okay, here's the plan..."
One second, Ruby was in the kitchen to check on her cookies, and suddenly she had to dodge waves of flying forks, exploding popcorn, and colored sugar. "Yang, the gingerbread men are attacking me!"
"Again?"
4.8
Ruby watched as Weiss casually vaporized an entire pack of Beowolves, loudly choking at the power her teammate wielded. She turned to her pink haired sister, who was watching the unfolding chaos with a little bit of glee. "Ha...how? We've spent centuries trying to figure out how to infuse Dust into a person. How did you do that?"
Sakura Xiao Long smiled at her little sister. "Oh, it wasn't too hard. I merely needed to isolate the specific strand of mitochondria that produced Aura and Aura related effects and infuse their genetic material with Dust, which allowed them to act as a microscopic, cellular filter for the Dust." Sakura sheepishly smiled. "That make any sense?"
Ruby watched Weiss fell a Nevermore with a near indescribably huge icicle. "No, it didn't. It's still awesome though."
Sakura nodded sagely. "I thought so."
Meanwhile, in a Bunker outside of Vale:
Blake gently lifted the covering to the bunker. She had sequestered herself in. Jaune and Ren followed suit, as did Pyrrha and Nora. "So... is it safe to go out now?"
"No." Blake slammed the door shut, and they all went back to cowering.
4.9
Agent Washington, who this loop seemed to be Headmaster Ozpin, stepped into the poorly lot interrogation room with a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies. "Thank you Tex. I don't think you're needed here anymore."
Glynda "Tex" Goodwitch shrugged and remained standing in the room. Wash decided that was the best he'd be getting and set the plate of cookies down on the table. He sat down and smiled at the red cloaked girl who was sitting opposite of him. "Hello, miss... Ruby Rose, is it?"
Ruby smiled back, stealing one of the cookies and chomping on it. "That's me. How'd you know it was me?"
Washington smiled fondly. "Oh, a memory. Something a dusty old crow told me."
"Thab's muy unle Qrow," Ruby said around a mouthful of sugar, flour, and chocolate. Swallowing, she reiterated. "That's my uncle Qrow. He's a Huntsmen."
Wash smiled and turned the holographic tablet computer, a Scroll, around to show Ruby. "That would certainly account for your skills miss Rose. I can't say I've ever seen someone so handy with a sniper-scythe before, other than Qrow himself. Are you training to become a Huntress?"
"Uh huh," Ruby answered simply, stuffing her face with three more cookies, the widest of grins present.
Wash's own smile weakened a little. 'So young. So naive. So much like me, before Epsilon.' Aloud; "You're training so you can fight monsters?"
Ruby shook her head. "I want to help people." Ruby paused, and then continued, elaborating. "I grew up reading stories about brave Huntsmen and Huntresses, fighting off the darkness and the villains. But they don't do it to fight. They do it to help people. I've always wanted to be like that."
Washington and Tex exchanged a silent, lasting look. Washington turned to Ruby. "Do you know who I am?"
Ruby nodded and answered flawlessly. "You're Professor David Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy."
Washington refused to flinch at the usage of his first name. He refused to. "That is true miss Rose, that is true. I am also Agent Washington, of Project Freelancer. This is one of my compatriots, Agent Texas. We're visiting this loop."
Ruby nodded, nodded again, and looked then straight in the eye. "What?"
Washington and Tex stared at Ruby. "You don't... know what I'm talking about, do you Ruby?"
Ruby shook her head. "Nope."
Tex slapped Wash on the back of his head. "Dumbass."
Both she and Washington missed the snickers of the stealthily Awake Ruby, too preoccupied in their own argument. Ruby knew that this loop would be the most fun ever. Of all time.
4.10
"Hey Nora, can I talk to you or a minute?" Jaune asked.
Nora pulled her headphones off and put them in her nightstand, curious. "What'dya need Jaune? Wait, don't tell me, you want to break Cardin's legs!"
Jaune frowned at Nora and crossed his arms. "Nora. What did I say about breaking Cardin's legs?"
"That it's always fun because Cardin is always a jackass?"
Jaune gave Nora a look*.
"That it's cruel that we use our foreknowledge to torment Cardin and only you get to do it because he bullied you," Nora recited tonelessly. She hopped onto her bed, patting a seat next to her. "So, if it isn't Cardin, what is it?"
Jaune sat next to Nora, looking, for whatever reason, rather downcast. "Nora... Have you ever caught me thinking of you romantically?"
"...Come again?"
Jaune didn't look Nora in the eyes. "Has an Unawake version of me ever tried to serenade you or... ask you to the dance. Or something?"
Nora didn't answer Jaune, seemingly shocked. The silence turned painfully awkward and began to mount. "Jaune... are, are you-"
"I don't love you Nora. I don't have a crush on you. In all honesty, I know that you and Ren would make a much better couple."
"We're not-"
"Nora, just be honest. Have I ever treated you like... like I treated Weiss?"
Several seconds passed as Nora tried to decide whether or not to lie to Jaune. Jaune's face fell though when she didn't answer immediately. Nora gulped and answered truthfully. "Yeah. When you're not Awake, you have."
Jaune looked up at the ceiling. As if overcome by terrible exhaustion, he collapsed into the bed. "Nora... what was it like? How... bad... was I?"
Nora sighed. "You were horrible. You didn't treat me like I was Nora. You treated me like I was just a pretty girl you wanted. You treated me like I was on this great pedestal and I was perfect. It was like... you didn't know when to stop."
Jaune stared at the ceiling, his silence painful. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry Jaune," Nora asserted. "It's not you who's doing that. It's you when you're not Awake. And it's hardly ever me, it's-"
"It's Weiss," Jaune answered. "It's Weiss, and the thing is, it was Weiss all the way back in the beginning. I acted like this to her in baseline. I didn't know how to stop. I just thought... if I did this enough, if I serenaded her and tried to get to know her and just kept at it, she'd see me for who I really was. And she did see me for who I was: a creep who wouldn't take No for an answer."
Nora laid back on the bed, on the same level as Jaune. "You're better now Jaune. You're smarter. You know when to stop."
Jaune looked at Nora. "Do I? I'm older than this entire school; is it even possible for me to change? And if it is, would I change back?"
Nora smiled. It was a small smile that was totally genuine. "You can change Jaune. And we'll keep you in line." Nora's smile widened a little. "But only if you keep us in line."
Jaune looked at Nora. "Nora, how could I change? How would it be... possible for me to change?"
"Well..." now Nora was back to her cheeky self. "Maybe you need a change of scenery in terms of girls."
"...What?"
"Someone to get your mind off Weiss. A girl to rebound with. Maybe... Pyrrha?"
"Nora, what are you talking about?"
"You should totally date Pyrrha."
"No," Jaune said in an ironclad tone.
Nora blinked in surprise. "Uh, what?"
Jaune sat up. "You just said that I shouldn't be objectifying girls, and now you're telling me to date Pyrrha. That would be a horrible idea, a complete violation of her trust for me. Pyrrha's nice and talented and polite and helpful but I'm her leader. I can't date Pyrrha."
Nora sat up next to Jaune. "Come on Jaune, have you seen the way she looks at you?"
"Yes I have," Jaune answered. "Pyrrha's lonely. She hasn't had friends for so long, just... admirers and people who've looked up to her. Pyrrha needs a friend, not a boyfriend, and it bears repeating that it can't be me."
Nora stared at Jaune. "Now you're just talking crazy Jaune. First you want me to help you try and treat Weiss better and change, but now... Oh." Comprehension dawned on Nora. "Jaune, Pyrrha is a totally different situation."
"I'm not risking it," Jaune said firmly. "Nora... thank you. For being by my side. For not hating me for what I've done." Jaune put his hands on Nora's shoulders. "I'm not going to ruin my friendship with Pyrrha by trying to force it into a romance. She doesn't think of me like that."
"But she does," Nora insisted as Jaune turned to leave. "Jaune, Pyrrha loves you, she really does!"
"Thanks Nora," Jaune said, as he left the room. Nora was abandoned there, wondering if what she had done was a good thing, or a bad thing.
4.11
Yang had been riding her bike when she stumbled upon the warehouse that Blake was hiding out at. More notably, Blake was playing tennis. Even more notably, she was playing tennis with Adam, and was being cheered on by the White Fang.
Naturally, there was an awkward silence as the terrorist cell and blonde huntress-in-training took note of the presence of each other. Blake casually wave off the handguns the Fang was brandishing. "Lay off. She's with me."
Yang pursed her lips. "I gotta admit... this is pretty impressive. What you do, broker a treaty or something?"
Blake shrugged. "More or less. Adam wasn't happy to see me back, but... well, he's never happy to see anyone. And the tennis game is a great way to relieve stress."
"You're playing tennis with Roman," Yang noted.
"I know."
"You're playing tennis with Roman... as the ball," Yang clarified.
Blake grinned evilly. "I know. That's how I got Adam to play."
"Hey Blake, we gonna finish this or what?" Adam called from his spot on the improvised tennis field.
Blake held up a hand. "Just a second Adam." Blake grabbed her tennis racket and picked up Roman, who had been bound and gagged, and hefted him into the air. She served Roman across the field, and Adam allowed him to bounce across the room without hitting him back.
"Oops."
Roman (fully protected by his Aura and unhurt) rolled his eyes and grumbled something that promised mass-slaughter when Neo returned from her grocery shopping.
Yang hopped onto a crate that the White Fang was using as a seat, a smile clicking into place when several of the burlier members started glaring at her. On the field, Blake and Adam continued their game of tennis, only stopping when Neopolitan returned from her grocery run. Despite the heavy glare from Roman, Neo happily set her grocery bags aside, pulled a few churros out, and stuffed one into Yang's mouth before sitting down and watching the match.
4.12
"You know Neo, you're being awfully quiet this loop," Roman said as he and Neo finished another plan for their eventual hostile takeover of Remnant. Roman pulled another sheet of paper out and started writing. "Well, more quiet than usual."
Neo shrugged and signed her response. "I quiet. It normal."
"But you've been really quiet this loop. I know you love being the Cute Mute everyone thinks you are, but seriously, you haven't even coughed this loop. At least, not in company." Roman tapped his chin with his pencil. "So what's the deal?"
Neo looked at Roman, and looked away. "I don't want to talk about it," she said, on what was the deepest, manliest, most testosterone laced voice Roman had ever heard. For a moment, the two bad guys stared at each other.
"You know what Neo? I'm going to be a moment." Roman quickly stood up, left the building, and burst out laughing.
Several seconds later:
Roman looked down (up) at the pool of laser sharks that Neo was dangling him upside down over. "Worth it," he said as Neo dropped him.
4.13
Professor Ozpin regarded Ruby carefully. "Hmm... Miss Rose, what have I said about time traveling?"
Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. I don't time travel. Isn't time travel impossible or something?"
Ozpin smiled at Ruby. "Miss Rose, I have a machine to tell me if time travel has occurred, and it's been going off like there's no tomorrow. There... is a tomorrow, right?"
Ruby stared at Ozpin, and then glanced at Goodwitch. "Do you really believe this guy?"
Glynda nodded. "I trust Ozpin. Even in situations such as this."
Ruby's gaze flickered between the two teachers for a few moments before she shrugged. "I can honestly say that I have no idea what's happening. Really."
Ozpin smiled slightly. "Miss Rose, we're going to have a nice, long discussion about why you needed to time travel, but I have a busy schedule, and a proposition. To Beacon Academy?"
Ruby faux-thought it over, and nodded. "Sure!"
4.14
"BOW BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE YANG HAMMER AND TREMBLE!" Nora rumbled, raw power coursing across her body.
In this particular loop, all Grimm had taken a single look at Nora and run for it. Ruby wasn't sure why, but she could guess. "Nora, why did you tie Yang to a stick?"
Yang and Nora smiled at Ruby. "Why, Ruby, isn't it obvious? You have your War Corgi, I have my Yang Hammer."
"You just tied Yang to a stick!"
"It's working," Yang clarified. "Watch. Nora?"
Nora charged an Ursa that had been stalking the group and started viciously beating it with Yang. This had two effects: the first was to slightly harm the Ursa. The second was to slightly hurt Yang. And since Yang got stronger the more you hurt her, she started dealing more damage to the Ursa.
In less than a few seconds, the Ursa was on fire, and then it was dead. Yang and Nora threw some thumbs up at Ruby. Ruby rolled her eyes. "Idea thieves..."
4.15
Ren stared at Ozpin's antics. "Ruby, you don't think Ozpin's looping, do you?"
Ruby watched as Ozpin managed to coerce the entire school into an impromptu dance party. "If he was, I doubt we'd ever know. And besides, it's Ozpin! If he is, we have a powerful ally. If he isn't, he's fun and unpredictable."
"EVERYBODY DO THE FLOP!" Ozpin shouted.
4.16
It was on rare occasion that Blake found herself in a loop where she wasn't in the White Fang. In even rarer cases, she was human, a situation she hated with a passion. And in a situation she had yet to experience, she was both wealthy, human, and Schnee.
Blake Schnee very carefully restrained the enraged scream that threatened to leave her. Being angry for no reason just wouldn't do. She was, after all, a Schnee.
...Which meant anything she did reflected on the Good Schnee name. Blake chuckled darkly and made her decision. "Vacation loop!"
Ruby and Yang watched as Vale slowly passed beneath the airship to Beacon. "You know Rubes, I think I'm starting to memorize what those people are doing down there."
Ruby's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really? Are you sure?"
Yang nodded. "Yup. See that guy down there, next to the box truck? In five seconds he's going to drop that crate. Five, four, three-"
At Yang's count of zero, the man far, far below them stumbled and dropped his crate. Yang nodded to herself. "Told you. But that's new," Yang said, pointing past Ruby and at an airship, flying towards then.
The airship's bay doors opened up and from them rained a rainbow spectrum of Dust Crystals down unto Vale. As the Dust-carrier blew over the School's ship, a voice boomed from it's speakers. "DUST! FOR EVERYBODY!"
Yang and Ruby watched the ship vanish into the distance. "Rubes."
"Yes Yang."
"Was that Blake?"
"Yes it was Yang. Yes it was."
Weiss stretched her shoulders, obviously unused to the weight of her concealed wings. The abjectly furious look on her face was not due to her change of species though. It was due to Blake's joyride. "Of all the stupid things you could have done-"
"Save it Weiss, I loved it and I'll be doing it again," Blake stated flatly. The Faunus-cum-human was nonchalantly examining her nails as an excuse to ignore Weiss. It was also an excuse to hide her massive smile.
Weiss fought down her angry growl and composed herself. "Blake, the business practices of Schnee Dust Corporation may vary from worker exploitation to condone slavery, but unless the latter case is true, there is no excuse for dumping several thousand tons of volatile and explosive material from an airship!"
Blake rolled her eyes. "Weiss, you and I both know that Dust can only be activated by Aura and no one besides Huntresses and Huntsmen have Auras. I could drop a Dust crystal from orbit and the other thing it would do is break when it hit the ground. We'll be fine."
"We are not fine Blake Belladonna, we are not! You've thrown mud all over the Schnee Corporation's name. While I wouldn't care how much bad press this is, my father will." After a second of thought, Weiss amended herself. "Your father will."
Blake pulled a sheet of paper from her knapsack and showed it to Weiss. Weiss read it over and stared at Blake. "You got yourself..."
"Emancipated," Blake declared happily. "I'm beholden to no one anymore. Least of all the Schnees."
Weiss still didn't look convinced. "How are you going to pay for your tuition."
Blake then did her personal rendition of 'Kitty-cat eyes'. Weiss forked over the Lien.
"Not a shoddy party you got here."
Blake looked up from the book she had been reading to see who was talking to her. Sun Wukong, monkey Faunus and leader of team SSSN, was standing in front of her, a cup full of what was probably illicit booze in hand. He actually wasn't looking at Blake, and was instead scanning the room, filled with dancing boys and girls and pumping music and enough lasers and fog to pass for... well, a rave. "Not too shoddy at all," Sun repeated.
Blake scooted to the side to let Sun sit down next to her, even swiping his drink. "Does the party critic have a name?"
"Sun Wukong. I'm from out-of-town. Heard a party was happening in Beacon, figured I'd drop by." Sun winked at Blake. "So imagine my surprise when the girl who started the whole shebang is off to the side, reading a book." Sun snatched back his drink. "What happened, party get too wild for you?"
Blake took Sun's drink back. "No. It's just the principle of the thing."
"The principle of parties. Whoop De Doo," Sun muttered. "Look, I'm not exactly the world's smartest guy, but I can tell that you're not exactly the rebellious type. So just throwing a party to tick off your parents isn't exactly going to work."
Blake watched as someone got soaked by a cooler of water. "Just watch." Blake took a sip of Sun's drink, only to cough and stare at it awkwardly. "This is... ginger ale."
"Yep," Sun said.
"This party has beer and you're drinking ginger ale," Blake said again.
"Yep. It tastes better."
Ruby tested her anchor line again. While a fall from this height into water wouldn't hurt even a novice huntress, and Ruby could honestly say she was better than Professor Goodwitch by now, it always paid to be sure. "Hey Blake!"
Blake scampered lower down the cliff face below Beacon, coming just into vocal range for Ruby. "What do you need Ruby! More spray paint!"
Ruby shook her head. "I just want to know if this is worth it!?"
Blake seemed to think about the question for a second. "Yes, it is!" Blake shook up a can of spray paint and started painting the cliffs above Beacon's lake.
Later that evening, Ruby and Blake stared up at their handy work. "You know Blake, that doesn't look too bad. A bit on the nose though."
"Thank you Ruby," Blake said.
Across the entire cliff face, a slogan was emblazoned: "DOWN WITH TYRANNY! DOWN WITH SCHNEE!"
4.17 Harosata
Roman looked down at himself.
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
And he shut his mouth...Did he just scream like that? Looking himself over once more, he was short and stubby and furry all over. What was he, some sort of rabbit? And more importantly, what was a rabbit doing in a junkyard? Right, the most important thing was not thinking about how he got here, but how he's going to get out, and so he wandered further into the junkyard, pausing to grab a discarded bowler hat and cane.
Of all the rotten luck, this world had a bunch of humans...this world belonged to the humans in the first place and he ended up as one of the invading party of stupid rabbits that were currently blabbing to themselves.
"Blab blab?"
"Blab!"
...There must be a word worse than stupid.
"Are you seriously talking to each other with only the word 'blab'?" Roman blabbed to them in their own language. "What are you even talking about?"
And so the rabbits blabbed to Roman.
"Mmhm, took over your world, invaded this world, got bored, decided to go home, which you think is up there." Roman pointed up at the moon. "And you decided the best way to get there is to steal stuff and build a tower to the moon. I think I got the gist of it. Tell me, have you ever considered a rocket?"
One of the rabbits grabbed a rock and threw it, which predictably bonked another rabbit's head. "Right, 'rock'ets can't fly. So, how big is this tower any...what's that racket?"
"-AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Two rabbits with a shopping cart popped out out a pipe followed by an oompah band, their cart full of many things, including...is that a cow? Apparently, those two rabbids were celebrating like they had just landed on the moon. They must think they're master thieves.
"Oh, challenge accepted."
The only issue he had was that it took too long for him to stop pushing the cart and load up his wares while running from a mangy mutt, so he had to recruit another dumb rabbit. Fortunately, the one he chose was silent and appeared to follow his orders rather well, though he wore an ice cream carton on his head, Neopolitan flavor if he was right. "Neo" was the cart pusher.
And Roman was the junk grabber, currently straining his neck over the cubicles. "Alright, Neo. Once the secretary comes, just head straight into the office. We're bound to get a lot of stuff in there, so no need to waste time. Got it?"
Neo tilted his head.
"...She's the one riding that moped...that's her! Quickly, go!" The duo quickly headed into the office and ransacked the place, with Roman grabbing the big clock in the room. However, the president of the company had just called security, so they had to flee on the rooftop. "Great! If my job taught me anything, it won't take long before we're surrounded. Unless you know any shortcuts?"
Neo quickly swerved and crashed into a wall, exposing a bathroom. He then began to toss everything into the toilet, and here, Roman though he picked a smart one. "Well, this plan certainly gone down the drain."
And then Neo tossed Roman onto the pile in the toilet and stomped the junk for good measures, then everything literally went down the drain in one gulp.
"DAAAAAAAAAAAaaaeeeewww! Please don't tell me that's what all our escapes will be like...and what is that music called?" He saw a pair of rabbits jetting past them with a jet engine in their cart, the oompah band sliding right behind them. "Okay, let's get out through this pipe. I have another robbery to plan!"
Roman frowned as he stuffed a fridge into the toilet and followed through. Another successful heist by yours truly, but...
"If you lot aren't going to stop playing, then can you at least play something else?"
The oompah band paused, shrugged, and began playing some light classical music...by trying to get the trumpet and tubas to sound like the subtle squeakiness of the violin.
"No, no, just go back to whatever you were doing before. Note to self: steal earmuffs."
Roman clanked his bottle of soda with Neo and the other two rabbits as he smoked his cigar. "You know, you guys aren't bad...for a couple of amateur thieves. And you were good too, Neo."
The rabbits chuckled.
"Yeah, it seems to be a long time since I stole just for the sake of stealing. No crazy witches, no dirty animals, an especially no War Corgis." Roman sipped his cola. Neo raised his eye at the animal comment. "Well, all these heists and robberies aren't just grab and smash, you know. A lot of planning goes into just the idea of robbing the place, and eventually, you have to realize you need a lot of hired muscles to execute a lot of the plan in a short amount of time."
One of the rabbits flexed his muscles. "No, not that kind of muscles. Extra people, like what you got going with your cart system. And I have to say, this is the kind of cooperation I expect from the real Neo. I mean, I had to deal with dumb minions who can't handle a little girl and a group of animals who can't handle a monkey and a cat, and..."
Roman blinked. "I just didn't like incompetent fools. No wonder. All this time, I always hated Faunus, but I guess it was because of how they failed their lives and grew dependent of anyone who promises them a treat like Cinder. That was why I didn't like to work with them if I could help it. I never truly hated Faunus, I just equated them to fools! And speaking of fools, you're all fools, but you're good, so maybe not all fools are bad!"
Roman laughed. Then he looked at his cigar and down at the blue planet, some debris floating among the rabbits. "Or it could be the lack of oxygen or whatever this cigar is made of. Oh well, Maybe there are a few idiots in the White Fang that could stand out..."
"And will you stop playing that...oompah music!?"
Adam's Moon Log, Day 56:
There appears to be rabbits on the moon, along with an oompah band. Despite the obvious lack of oxygen that should make their survival impossible (which should also apply to myself), they're present on the moon. And playing music. In a vacuum.
The seem quite cheery, if thick headed, for being surviving in hard vacuum. One is even smoking a cigar. In a vacuum.
I have to cut this short, they're stolen my moon-bucks. GET BACK HERE!
4.18 Detective Ethan Redfield
"Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked hesitantly.
The caffeine aficionado took a sip of his mug and motioned her to continue. The Red haired girl asked, "Are...you...experiencing time repeating itself over and over again?"
Ozpin sipped his coffee, an eyebrow slightly cocked. "Miss Rose... I don't believe I get the joke."
Ruby shook her head. "No joke. Are you time traveling?"
The headmaster took a drink of his coffee like he always did, seemingly unfazed, "I assure you Miss Rose, that I don't know what you're talking about. Might this have something to do with Mr. Winchester's unfortunate accident the other day when Mr. Arc was fine tuning his sword swings on that practice dummy? I must say, no one could have imagined he had such strength when he sent it careening into across the room and slammed Mr. Winchester into the wall. However, the staff ruled it a slip up when Mr. Arc missed with the edge and hit it with the flat of the blade instead."
Ruby held up her hands placating, "No! No, no, that...that was definitely an accident. He would never allow someone else to hurt Cardin."
Ozpin held up his mug, "But you didn't say he himself wouldn't harm Cardin."
He held up a hand to stop Ruby's objection, "Well, it was ruled an accident by the staff, and I trust their judgement in matters like this. As long as Mr. Winchester isn't cripplingly injured, I think it was a valuable lesson to be learned."
The headmaster folded his hands together. "Of course Miss Rose, you didn't come here to discuss Mister Arc's training regiment, or Cardin's injury. If you want to talk... time loops, then would you please explain these time loops?"
Ruby shrugged, "Consider for a moment that the whole of reality is a massive tree..."
Half an hour later, Ruby had drawn her presentation on how the universe was broken, how their universe and all universes were caught up in time loops until the tree computer was fixed, with a general rundown on looper terminology included, to a close. Ozpin had asked a few questions about the next couple weeks and months along the way, and after hearing her testimony, the headmaster had nodded and asked one final question, "Before I let you go, I'm curious as to why you think I'm looping?"
Ruby gave a sheepish look, "Well, a couple times we've seen you give us knowing looks, especially after our battles with Torchwick or the White Fang, when we completely destroy them. You even did that after our battle with Torchwick's mech this time around."
Ozpin set his glass down and gave her a serious expression, "Miss Rose, you single handedly cut down an Atlesian Battlemech in a matter of five seconds and, with the help of your team, managed to apprehend Torchwick's second, Neo. I am not blind, Ruby. Your skills have improved dramatically. One day, you and your friends will be the defenders of this world. I'm proud to have you and your team as my students."
Ruby beamed at the grey haired headmaster, "Thanks, Professor. We won't let you down."
Ozpin gave her a smirk. "I know you won't. Now, I think class is set to begin in an hour. You might want to catch up with your team, who are waiting outside and listening in on the conversation."
There were a couple muffled eeps beyond the door. Ozpin grabbed his mug again and rose from his seat, escorting Ruby to the door. As he opened the door, he finished, "For this loop, Miss Rose, might I ask that you work on sharpening the skills of your fellow students who are not awake? If these, "variant loops," as you call it, are as random as you say, some loop you might run into Miss Fall's faction running Beacon and in dire need of being overthrown. Just an idea."
Ruby looked thoughtful as she left the room.
Ozpin sat in his seat, silently listening to Cardin telling the headmaster he should punish Jaune for the unprovoked attack. He countered by hinting at several prime moments where Cardin himself had tormented the Faunus member of team Coffee as well as his attempts to pick on Jaune himself. Cardin lost some of his ego at that. Ozpin held up his mug and took a sip, "Well, things could always have been worse. Instead of a training dummy accident, you could have picked on an overweight expert huntress who might have taken revenge on you by slamming into you during the Initiation. You might have even ended up on said huntress' team and dragged along on her adventures to bring down the White Fang and their human thief partners."
Cardin scoffed, "Yeah, like that would happen."
Ozpin smirked and took another sip of his drink.
4.19 DrTempo
Weiss Awoke on a strange ship, and after getting her bearings, looked outside a window….
And saw the vastness of space.
'This is either a weird variant, or a Fused Loop,' Weiss thought to herself. A female humanoid alien walked in, and Weiss spoke to her hastily. "Hello. I'm a bit thrown for a Loop, so to speak. You are?"
The alien' raised her eyebrows and offered her hand. "My name is Ashoka Tano." The young girl smiled gently.
Weiss recognized that name, and knew where she was. "Nice to meet you. I am Weiss Schnee, of the loops of Remnant."
Ashoka smiled, and said,"I'd heard your Loop had gone active. Big fan of the hub's records for you."
At that moment, Weiss' Loop memories kicked in, and she remembered that in this Loop, she was Obi-Wan Kenobi's newest Padawan. Weiss, groaning, asked Ashoka, "Would you mind helping me learn to use the Force? I just Awakened."
Ashoka nodded in agreement. "It isn't that difficult, really. Let's start with the basics..."
A few hours later...
Weiss had found herself on the battlefield, and with Ashoka's quick refresher, she had come to realize she was a natural with the Force...
..As a platoon of Battle Droids squashed by a building Weiss had tossed on them could attest.
Anakin , who was watching the while situation, smirked at Obi-Wan. "You have it easy this time, Master. She's already pulling a Starkiller. I'd rather not have her drop a ship on us by accident. Because if it does, I blame you."
Obi-Wan responded to that with laser vision. Anakin groaned, "Not again..."
4.20
By force of habit and birthed from necessity, Roman and Neo had established numerous spider holes across the Kingdom of Vale. These little hideouts, ranging from concealed caves to lavish penthouses, were where they headed when the other loopers were starting to search for them. Usually this meant laying low for a few weeks, at least until they could be sure they could avoid being jailed earlier than Cinder planned.
This particular iteration found the nefarious duo hiding out within a small hotel on the outskirts of Vale, out of the way enough that it was usually the last place Ruby Rose and her comrades would check. For added effect, Mercury Black had been loaned to them to be their bodyguard. It was Cinder's little way of saying, 'You couldn't beat a group of students with a giant robot, so you suck and need our help.'
It was very annoying, especially since Mercury insisted they watch Football instead of something nice, like one of Neo's soaps, or Roman's personal favorite, the Rowdy Ruff Girls (a cartoon about three incredibly gifted huntress sisters who's been created in a laboratory by their father Professor Etonian and fought a smart, evil monkey Grimm). Of course, Mercury did this because he happened to like Football, rather than any specifically malicious intent. In fact, he was open to discussion for control of the remote.
It was during the third round of negotiations for the remote (where Roman and Neo had just offered Mercury their entire supply of nachos and beer), when there was a knock at the door. All conversation came to a halt. Mercury stood up, making sure his shotgun anklets were fixed right. "It's probably housekeeping."
He round the corner to the door. There was an audible click as it opened. "Hey, what do you-" THWACK!
Roman and Neo shared a look and grabbed Melodic Cudgel and Neo's parasol. Neo rounded the corner from the room, vanishing from Roman's line of fire. Then she spoke. "Roman, we have a problem!"
A short, cute dog waddled around the separating wall and past Roman, barking at him in passing. Roman blinked in surprise. "Isn't that Ruby's Corgi?"
"Yes it is, Mister Torchwick."
Roman stared at the man who had knocked out Mercury and was holding Neo at cane-point. "You? What are you doing here!"
Headmaster Ozpin smiled lightly and shoved Neo away from him. "What am I doing here? Well I'm honestly stupefied by that question as well. I'm honestly surprised why I'm here. Have you ever wondered that yourself Roman? Have you ever wondered why we are here?"
Neo rolled her eyes. The mute actor kicked her parasol into her hand and drew the rapier concealed inside. Any action she planned to take beyond threatening Ozpin was delayed though by the very audible click on her temple. Roman point at Zwei. "Is that dog holding a gun to Neo's head?"
"More or less," Ozpin said. "Now, Mister Torchwick, Miss Neopolitan, we can all agree that killing each other will only be an inconvenience, and push our meeting farther down the road. So if either of you wish to maintain any form of anonymity within the Infinite Time Loops, I suggest you put down your weapons."
For several moments, Neo and Roman stared down the calm Headmaster of Beacon. Ozpin's light smile and the gun to Neo's head were minute threats compared to the possibility of exposure though. After several moments of stalling, struggling to figure out a possible answer beyond disarming themselves, the two thieves dropped their weapons.
Ozpin's smiled widened a little and he lowered his own cane, Zwei mimicking him with his pistol. "Now isn't that better? We can discuss this like the high minded individuals we are without the threat of being blown to smithereens." Ozpin stepped forward and caught Roman's cane on the toe of his shoe. A flick and he was holding Melodic Cudgel in his hands. "Shall we?"
Roman and Neo followed Ozpin, their faces becoming masques of impassivity. Ozpin, perhaps by happenstance, perhaps not, took the seat that Mercury had been occupying recently, his hands falling into a steepled form, his glasses flashing white and concealing his eyes. "Now isn't that better?"
Roman stared vacantly at Ozpin. "Better? Let me... tell you something. I've captured the mechanical might of the Atlesian Military. I've won the loyalty and admiration of the fanatical White Fang. I've hoarded the largest supply of weapons quality Dust outside of the actual military stock pile. I've done all of this in baseline. And I'm being threatened by a teacher. This is not anywhere near better."
"..." Neo's glare spoke volumes for her stance on the issue.
Ozpin pursed his lips. "Well then, I believe I should ask you both something." The Headmaster leaned in. "What do you think your options are?"
Roman and Neo exchanged a glance. The bowler hat wearing criminal spoke for them both when he said; "blow you to kingdom come. And maybe your little school as well."
"And then what? Dance in the rubble? Take over Vale? Blow up the moon and destroy us all? Sell cookies on the street side?" Ozpin's stare turned steely. "Roman, there are only six months in our loop. Six. Months. In that time, you can do whatever you want, but it will always end, and you will always find yourself standing in From Dust Till Dawn, just ten feet from Ruby Rose, who will always be Awake. And she will know, simply put, that you and Neo are loopers. Because I will tell them."
Ozpin stood up, his Aura igniting and imposing his will over the room. "Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, you two will always be the villains that Ruby and her friends will fight, and looping has not changed that. I however am the wise, kindly headmaster who has protected and favored these children to exceptional lengths. They trust me, and my word. It's me against you two, and I'm bringing the strongest beings in our world to the fight on my side."
Roman gulped, Neo herself cowed by the force of Ozpin's soul. Roman spoke, but only with great difficulty. "So what. So what if we're discovered. They'll know that you were hiding. And they'll be asking why."
Ozpin smiled, a genuine showing of contentment that cut a bright swathe through the dangerous Aura. "But would they care? Would they care that the eccentric, secretive old man was, of course, hiding secrets? They wouldn't. Just ask yourselves; who would they side with?"
Roman and Neo stared at Ozpin, who smiled back. Finally, Roman broke first and glanced at Neo, who stared back. A silent exchange carried out between them. After that, Roman took a deep breath and once again met Ozpin's eyes. "What are your terms?"
Like a light cast into the darkness, Ozpin's Aura shut off, the powerful, experienced man becoming a simple teacher again. "Well then, now that you are ready to talk, I should explain myself. You see Roman, you're going to have a rare chance for revenge without fear of moral compunction. You're going to help me make them stronger."
Roman and Neo flatly stared at Ozpin. "Say what now?"
Zwei waddled into the room with a cup of coffee balanced on his head. He hopped up next to Ozpin, who took the coffee gratefully. "Roman, Neo, we are all aware of the... unique opportunity that an alliance between each other presents. You see, you're a rare breed in Yggdrasil; a true villain, one untainted by ethics or morals or even a clear goal. You've worked for Cinder for so long you've gotten used to not knowing what you've been fighting for. I'm going to offer you genuine direction."
"Genuine direction? Really?" Roman deadpanned. "You come to my hotel room, knock out my body guard, threaten the girl who is alternative my daughter, my sister, and my partner, and your offer is... 'genuine direction'? Are you fucking with us?"
Ozpin took a long drink of his coffee. "No Roman, I'm not. I'm offering you the chance to fight Ruby, Weiss, and all the rest with your full strength. I'm giving you a chance to fight them like you should: as a looper."
Neo blinked a few times. "..?"
"I agree with Neo. What the hell are you saying?" Roman asked.
"What I'm saying, Roman, Neo, is this: you two will fight my eight students as hard as you can, disguising you're out of Loop powers as your semblances, using your wits and your strength to surpass them, without ever letting on your nature as loopers. You will battle them, and through fighting you, they will be trained," Ozpin declared.
Neo opened her mouth. "..?"
"Why?" Roman concurred.
Ozpin smiled, but unlike the other smiles he had sported, this one failed to reach his eyes. "It's because I am a teacher Roman, and more specifically, a teacher who has run out of things to teach his prized students. There are no more tactics they can learn from us, no more skills we can help them master. In the time loops, I and my entire faculty have become an anachronism for the most important people in our entire universe. They must be taught now by experience." Ozpin leaned forward, his visage dark. "And you two are the only beings who can educate them."
The penny finally dropped. "You want to strike a bargain with us..."
"To help my students train without fear of holding back. Yes, I am." Ozpin concluded. "In return, I will offer you both protection and some nascent privileges, such as retaining your freedom and whatever you can carry within your subspace pocket."
Roman and Neo starred at Ozpin. And then, Roman laughed. It was a slow, growing thing, which started as a slight, breathy chuckle, became a stronger laugh, and finally near hysterics. Neo remained stoically silent, but her massive, nearly insane grin was demonstration of her thoughts. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahahahaha- You- hahah- ahahaha... You want... hehehe... you want me, me and Neohohoho... You want us, to fight for you. You must be out of you gods damned mind."
Ozpin nodded once. "Maybe I am. But I have assets you don't. I have the innate trust of our loopers. Access to there primary line of communication. I can divert their attentions, act as a shield for you. And most importantly, it would prepare them for our common enemies: Kyubey."
The laughter stopped, guillotined by a single word.
Ozpin continued. "Dio Brando. Waltz. Billy. The Tick. Paradox. Nightmare. Malicious Looping Entities. Beings of might surpassing myself, yourself, even Ruby. They would come to our world and lay it to ruin. Why? For godhood. For misguided good. For their own insane pleasures. You want to survive in the multiverse Roman, you need to play this part. You need then to be stronger. To be faster. We all do."
Roman breathed slowly, and gently, but fear crept behind his eyes. "And if we refuse?"
Ozpin glanced from Roman to Neo. "You're trapped in a room. A room full of locked doors. And almost all of the keys are around the neck of Ruby Rose. All of them except mine. That's merely the hand you two have been dealt. It's me, or them. Can you wage a war against them for eternity?"
Roman stood up. He walked over to Ozpin. And he glared at Ozpin for several long, painful seconds. And then he smiled and clapped a hand on Ozpin's shoulder. "Ha! You know, I really hate not being on the ball. Makes me mad. Mad enough to go..." Roman's hand tightened on Ozpin's shoulder. "Kill something." He slapped Ozpin on the back. "You drive a hard bargain Ozzy, but we're your people now."
Neo pointed at Zwei, who was sitting next to Roman and Ozpin impassively. "..?"
"Oh yeah," Roman said. "What's the Dog's angle on this? He your pet this loop?"
"Actually he's here to extort you for egregious amounts of lien," Ozpin answered truthfully. There was a click as Zwei put a gun up to Roman's head. "He likes down-payments."
Roman grumbled and started riffling through his subspace pocket, Neo mirroring him. "Alright, so you've got us. Your little cabal got a name?"
Ozpin chuckled. "It was easy. Ozpin, Roman, Neo, Zwei. Team ORNZ (Orange)!"
Roman and Neo shared a final, exasperated look. There entire world was falling apart... and it was all because of an eccentric teacher, and a dog. Simply put... they were screwed.
A/N: No responses this chapter. I'm too tired, and this is being finalized much too late. I'm sorry everybody.
