35.1
…
"...Say that again, slowly Iroh," Firelord Ozai said to his brother.
"Your daughter is an earthbender," Iroh said clearly and carefully.
Ozai nodded. "Okay then. I understand that. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to find the royal sake reserves and drink myself into a coma."
As Ozai left the room, Iroh and Zuko stared at their visitor. "So... you're an Azula clone?"
Cinder Fall shrugged, using earth and lava bending to make herself a better throne than her Loop father's. "Nowadays, I don't know what I am."
…
35.2 Masterweaver
…
"Ruby!" Jaune knocked on the door. "You ready to go?"
"Almost! Just... there we go!" After a moment, the Anchor stepped out with a grin. "New expansion! Yes. How are we playing this?"
"Me and Jaune talked it over," Pyrrha explained, "and while I'm not technically dead we figured it would be smart for us to head off in the direction we would have gone if I... had. So, mostly baseline...ish." She shrugged helplessly. "Ren and Nora are waiting at the pub."
"What took you so long?" Jaune asked.
"Oh, I... I had to, uh, get... a new outfit." Ruby coughed. "I kind of outgrew my old one. Weird, right?"
"Well, you do look a bit taller."
"...No, I outgrew my old one."
Jaune blinked.
"...Boobs, Jaune." Ruby gestured at herself. "Bigger boobs."
"Oh. Oh! Oh, I..." Jaune flushed. "I, uh... my wife is standing right there so I'm just going to default to that as an excuse not to say anything."
Pyrrha laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get jealous. I know you have a thing for redheads."
"It's still a little strange," Ruby mused. "I mean, I've been the same body type for... basically forever, and now I'm growing again, and... well, I dunno. Anyway, my top's not all I've changed."
"Really?" Pyrrha tilted her head.
"Yeah, I figured we're going on a journey, presumably to find a wizard named Ozpin, so..." She kicked up a foot. "Tadaaaa! Ruby slippers!"
"Heh, I guess I would be a cowardly lion."
"Wait," Pyrrha mused, "does that make me Toto?"
"Nah, Zwei's Toto. I guess you're the... other good witch, the one that most people forget."
"Oh. Well that's alright then."
…
35.3 shimmer712
…
"Oh, sorry," Pyrrha said as she stepped around the corner and found herself bumping into someone.
"It's...it's fine," Penny squeaked, before rushing past and quickly walking away. If the girl had been flesh, her heart would be pounding. Penny swallowed nervously, trying to calm herself. She was safe. Miss Pyrrha would not harm her. But she still wanted to run away.
Behind her, Pyrrha turned and raised a hand, opening her mouth to call after her, then stopped. Given how baseline went, Penny had a right to want to avoid her. Especially since she started looping after her Baseline death. Pyrrha had to admit that if she had started looping after she died, she would be frightened of being around Cinder, Awake or not. But she had memories of Cinder being a good person and friend to reassure her. She and Penny didn't interact much in Baseline so of course Penny would be nervous around her.
Pyrrha decided to speak with Ruby and ask her to check that Penny was okay. Just in case.
She sighed and looked after Penny's vanishing form.
"I really wish I could do something to help," she murmured before turning to continue on her way.
…
35.4 masterweaver
…
"So, Penny. You doing alright?"
"Hmm? Oh, Yatsuhashi." Penny sighed. "I... I'm doing... better."
"Yeah?" The big man sat down next to her. "Somehow I'm not so sure about that."
Penny looked away. "...I... well. I might have..."
"...bumped into Pyrrha and asked Ruby to get you away?"
She nodded.
"...Did you at least talk to her?"
"Yes. I was... I was able to..." Penny clutched her arms. "I hate this."
"It's perfectly alright to-"
"It's not alright! These, these moodswings! Either I'm happy and in love with life or..." With a sigh, Penny gestured around. "Or I'm terrified and hiding in my friends' pockets." She shook her head. "I thought... I honestly thought going to the wedding would... maybe not heal everything, but at least make it... better."
"Well." Yatsuhashi rolled his shoulders. "I think you're doing better."
"You're just saying that."
"No. Really. You've gone, what, two hundred loops without needing to come in here. I mean, you've visited, but..." He put his hand on her shoulders. "A relapse isn't the end of the world, Penny. Maybe it's hard to see from the inside, but I think... I think you're starting to move past it."
"...Really?"
"Really."
"...You know, you can be real smart when you want to be."
"Heh. Well, I try." He patted her shoulder. "Come on, before you get out Coco's going to want to style your hair."
"Why does she always do that?"
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but she's really obsessed with fashion and you've got the most human-like hair out of all of us..."
…
35.5 Masterweaver
…
Ruby stared in shock. "What. Is. That."
"What's what?"
"That. On your hoodie."
Jaune glanced down. "What-oh. That's... Pumpkin Pete. From the cereal."
"It's a rabbit," Ruby whispered, backing away slowly. "Oh Yggdrassil. You've had a rabbit on your chest this whole time."
Nora gave her a confused look. "Ruby? Are you feeling okay?"
At this point, Ruby was against a wall. "Naflmnahn' mghn'garfa Caerbannog Wat'ership wgah'nagl fhtagn..." she mumbled incoherently.
Ren coughed. "...Do you... have some sort of rabbit phobia?"
"...Most of them, they're harmless." Ruby wasn't so much replying, as she was letting the information be heard. "Most of them, they're innocent balls of fluff. The ones that step up... the league of looping lagomorphs..."
"The... what?" Jaune blinked. "What are you-"
She looked into his eyes. "They'll know, Jaune. Beware the bunnies. Their lightest touch can make the most innocent into the most deadly, and you'll never know until it is too late..."
…
35.6 Shimmer712
…
"Uh...so why is Forever Fall called Redleaf Woods this loop?" Yang wondered. The rest of RWBY and team JPNR just shrugged.
"Just one of those quirks," Ruby said cheerfully. "Let's get the sap then go see if there's anything else different about the place this loop."
"That means you need to stop eating the sap, Nora," Ren told his partner.
"I haven't done that for dozens of loops!" Nora protested.
"Still, no eating the sap."
Nora groaned and grumbled about never living it down.
At that point they heard screaming.
"Is that Cardin's team?" Blake asked.
"Oooh! I bet they ran into that Ursa! Let's go!" Yang urged. "I wanna punch something!" With that she took off.
"...Do you think she wants to punch the Grimm or Cardin?" Jaune asked as they followed.
"Probably both," Ruby admitted.
"I wanna hit both too!" Nora exclaimed.
"Cardin is a tempting target," Ren conceded. "And it has been a while since we've had anything to do with him."
"Maybe we should play some pranks on them, just for variety," Weiss considered. "I mean, we don't want things to get repetitive so going back to activities we haven't done for a while could help avoid boredom."
"You mean like a good old fashion sleep over?" Jaune asked. "With stories and roasted marshmallows?"
"...Have we ever done a sleepover like th-omph!" Ruby ran into Yang's back. "Yang?"
"Holy crap," the blonde responded. Ruby blinked then peered around her sister. Her eyes widened.
"Retreat!" Jaune hissed, backing up the way he came as quickly and as quietly as he could, his team quickly following.
"Good plan, very good plan," Weiss whispered., not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her. She glanced down nervously to make sure she didn't step on any branches. She did not want to draw attention to her.
"SOMEONE HELP US!" Sky screamed as he tried to bat the black bunny with bony growths away. Dove was climbing a tree, several of the rabbit Grimm gathering around beneath him. Russel was running away from them and Cardin was swinging his mace in blind terror. Disturbing, the rabbits seemed to be giggling manically.
"Get the teachers?" Ruby whispered.
"No way I'm getting into that," Yang muttered backed. At that point Cardin spotted them and started screaming for them to help, drawing the Grimm's attention to the loopers. Gleaming red eyes focused on them as the Bunnies seemed to grin too widely for their faces and began a high pitched chittering.
"RUN AWAY!" Jaune screamed, abandoning discretion and seizing Pyrrha's hand as he fled. Everyone followed his lead.
Later, back in the academy, they found this loop had a variant of Grimm that wasn't present in the other loops. In this loop, it was viewed as one of the most dangerous. Dangerous enough that several hunters had been called to guard the perimeter of the Forest in groups to and the forest was now forbidden to the public.
"Briar Grimm, huh?" Yang muttered. "Scary little monsters."
"I really don't wanna deal with them ever again," Jaune whined. "They're just creepy."
"Don't mess with bunnies," Ruby murmured. "Never mess with the bunnies."
…
35.7 Shimmer712
…
Ruby stared blankly.
"Well, at least there is no fanus discrimination this loop," the silver eyed, bipedal bunny muttered. Her ears twitched.
A loop where everyone was a bunny.
"Does this mean everyone at Beacon is a Killer Rabbit, or at least a Killer Rabbit in training?" she wondered.
Later, when she found out all the Grimm were also rabbits, she could only facepalm.
"Oh, c'mon! Have rabbits taken over loop or something?"
…
35.8 Euroteres
…
Cinder was terrified. She was also furious, but she was mostly terrified. It was supposed to be simple really. She woke up early, just as she was about to bring Adam Taurus to heel and had figured that she could relieve a bit of stress by burning the entire camp and Adam along with them. She'd been having some trouble sleeping recently, and she'd been hearing and seeing things that weren't there from time to time, and it was all doing horrible things to her ability to destress and relax.
She blamed the new expansions for her problems. There was something about being hurt like that, of being so much less, that had gotten to her. She was sure of it.
Of course the problem with her chosen method of destresssing was that it wasn't Adam Taurus who ran this cell of the White Fang this loop, it was Naruto Uzumaki. Now they sat across from each other in Naruto's tent in tense silence.
"You know who I am," the ancient looper said, "which means you're either aware of my reputation in this loop or you know who I am outside of it."
Cinder attempted to deflect. "What on Remnant are you talking abo-"
"Don't try," Naruto said, a dangerous glint in his eye. "You'll embarrass yourself. I know you're a looper and I know all about your story. Sasuke's let Blake fill in the role of a younger sister and she's more than willing to share stories of her time looping whenever Yggdrasil feels fit to let her drop by. Now here's what I think happened. You woke up just as your baseline self was about to attack and were more than willing to not only follow through but go the extra mile until the moment you realized I was here." He held her gaze for a moment longer before his expression shifted. No longer was he assessing her as a threat. Instead, he looked sad, as though he'd seen something worth pitying.
Cinder fought her body's urge to tremble with rage. How dare he. HOW DARE HE PITY HER!
"You don't even realize it do you," he said. "That you're-"
"SHUT UP!" Cinder lunged at Naruto, fire and lightning raging in her hands as the instruments of death she would visit upon the man who would dare-
It was over in a single strike. Her Aura was shattered, all of her contingencies against death she'd picked up during the loops were circumvented with contemptuous ease and she was laid out on the ground, choking on the blood that filled her lungs through the holes that had been torn by the fragments of her shattered rib cage. Soon after, the world went dark.
_
Naruto stared down at Cinder's cooling corpse, unable to dredge up any emotion other than pity for the juvenile looper.
'That was rather brutal for you.'
Naruto sighed. "Yeah, it probably was. I should have restrained myself better, but it's been a damn long time since I've felt that kind of intent to kill from a fellow looper that wasn't that asshole Dio and I guess it threw me a little. You felt it too though, right? That she was-"
'-broken, yes. She's likely recently suffered a truly extreme level of emotional stress that's fractured her personality. It wasn't immediately apparent, but I could feel the other fragment when I was looking for it.' Kurama was silent for a moment. 'Are you going to tell Ruby?'
"No."
'No?'
"No, it's not my place. It's not anyone but the loopers of Remnant's place to deal with one of their own unless they request outside help," he asserted. "If it seemed she posed a threat to Yggdrasil I'd intervene in a heartbeat, but as it stands I don't think she's in any position to destroy anyone but herself. I'll alert the rest of the Seven the next time I see them, and maybe a few others, just in case things go south." Naruto rose to step past Cinder's corpse, then paused and looked back down at it.
'Having second thoughts?'
"No, not that. It's just-" he trailed off.
'It's just?'
Naruto shook his head. "Nothing, never mind."
Cinder awoke, then smiled as her loop memories hit. A loop as Ruby's actual sister wasn't something she'd ever pass up. Then she paused as a phantom pain flowed across her chest, and why in the world had Naruto Uzumaki of the Original Seven come to mind? It wasn't as though she'd ever actually met him.
"Hey Cinder, is something wrong?" Ruby asked from right in front of her, looking concerned.
Cinder blinked in surprise, then smiled. "No, nothing's wrong Ruby. I'm just feeling a little Loopy is all."
Ruby's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and Cinder grunted and staggered back a step as the shorter girl glomped onto her. "Yaay, you're Awake this loop! We're the only two so far this time around, but that just means we get to do something super special together! Do you have any ideas?"
Cinder's smile widened as she gazed down at her sister. "I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever insane idea you come up with."
Ruby hopped back and span around with a twirl. "Of course! I'm me after all!" She began to walk away with Cinder following along behind before she suddenly stopped. She turned her head to gaze back at Cinder, an unfathomable look in her visible eye. "Hey Cinder?"
Cinder tilted her head in confusion at the sudden shift in Ruby's mood. "Yes Ruby?"
There was a long moment as Ruby continued to gaze at her. Then the moment ended and the girl turned away. "Ah, never mind. It was nothing."
…
35.9 Masterweaver
…
okay let's get this going again, what do we have here
Cinder walked through a large library. All around her the knowledge rippled and rumbled; a codex chirruped on the back of a massive thesaurus as it strode through the depths of the creative pool. She snapped her fingers, and a number of novels formed underneath her and sent her higher.
huh this isn't too bad unless you finds yourself that could be bad let me think
She reached out for one book-only for it to shy away, whimpering, morphing, scuttling into the sand of the beach. Blake rose, dressed in a provocative swimsuit, her furry ears and tail on full display as she gestured seductively. "Shall we talk about our secrets?" she asked in Emerald's voice.
oh this is great you're going to be so creeped out when you wake up
Cinder was about to step forward when Yang strode in from the side, launching her arm at her and knocking her back. "Her secrets are mine!" she proclaimed in Salem's voice, posing to show off her bodypaint. Blake hissed, and became a beowolf (still wearing the swimsuit); Yang matched her transformation by shifting into an Ursa (still with bodypaint).
yes darkness this is what i live for although do we not have feline grimm yet seriously
Cinder could only watch in amazement as swimsuited beowolf and one armed ursa wrestled each other, the sand rising up as the waves turned stormy and red. Beside her, Ruby used her spider legs to feed miniaturized ponies into her upside down head. "Ten lein on the ursa," she offered.
okay yeah that's just where did that even come from it's not bad it's just what is this
Cinder leapt forward, trying to dodge the fighting Grimm as she dug into the sand, past the sand, under the sand into the ocean, the book that had escaped her swimming away through the blood. Pyrrha stood in front of her, shaking her head. "You don't want that. Trust me. You don't want that." She smiled, bringing in Cinder for a kiss.
see if you turn out to be heterosexual in some expansion i will be extremely dissapointed
The blood washed through them as they engaged, twisting through the ocean, and Cinder smiled, shutting the book in her hands. She looked down at the child tucked into the bed she was sitting on. "Can you read it again?" Amber asked, her eyes wide and pleading. "Mommy can you read it again please please please?"
oooo i like this twist i think i'll make you wake up on this note
The door opened, and Cinder looked up to see her wife-a skeleton with red hair, who looked her straight in the eye. "You did this! YOU DID THIS TO US! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!"
-
Cinder gasped as she awoke. Again, she was covered in sweat, heart pounding, trying to process what had happened.
…
35.10 Diesel
…
A storm of blood drenched petals filled the air, glistening darkly in the light of the shattered moon, marking the passage of a caped figure weaving through the dark forest. Silver eyes flashed, darting side to side as she raced though the forest, looking for the aberration that was pursuing her. Every moment of every day it had been there, lurking in the shadows with dead, glassy eyes always watching from the corners. Dissolving into nothingness the moment she looked, nought but a fleeting illusion less real than the flickering dreams of a child.
Every year it got closer.
Icy terror flooded her veins, the harrowing silhouette stood out sharpy in the canopy, lit up by the dappled moonlight. Saber like incisors curled from the top and bottom of its maw, like old stained bone as its ball like tail twitched violently. The branch swayed in the wind yet the form remained unmoving, evanescing into the night as eyes locked upon it. Passing out of memory, leaving no trace of its existence bar that it had been there.
- "Mum, Dad!" Ruby wailed, busting in though the door, two naked adults lept out of the bed as they went for their weapons. An unpleasant smell wafting across and filling Ruby's nostrils, she did not care she just did not want to alone with ... it! Ruby shuddered, feeling its gaze at her back, itching the back of her neck, the feeling of teeth in her throat dancing with her mind. The door slammed shut, ruby almost tumbling to the side, desperate to get out of the way of the door, the weak point in the room even knowing it would make no difference. '"Its here! Its Here!" Taiyang and Summer looked at each other, slumping slightly in relief and exasperation, even as they looked at each other and then back at Ruby going red. Ruby stared helplessly at her parents, her heart breaking. they did not believe her. They just wanted to send her back, to hide that they had had sex the night before. Ruby shivered under the covers, clutching her scythe until her fingers went numb from pain, listening to the sound of the winds rushing though the branches and the constant thumping of feet. Unable to bare it any longer she pocked her head out of the covers looking around the moon shadows that draped her room. Blank, glassy eyes stared at her from across the room as blood, shining black in the semi-light , wetted its incisors. Ruby felt a fist clutch her heart as she stared blankly around her empty room ,no longer able to remember where it had been, waiting with dread from dawn. Her father's cry of horror heralding the new day and the end of their family lives.
A young girl clutched a toy scythe, running for all she was worth down the hall, ghastly hollow eyes haunting her mind, the constant thumping of its feet echoing though her head like the Call of the Grimm. It was getting closer, Ruby shuddered, tears glistening in her eyes as she recalled the foul feeling of millions of fine bristles scraping against her leg.
Black boots, drenched in blood of the dead, hit rock. Shattering it as Ruby's body fragmented into millions of petals billowing into the cloudless night, a pain ripping into her neck before she fully broke apart. Only a flash of white fur, stained almost black with blood, was visible for a fleeting instance among the petals.
Weiss... They had been so sure they could deal with this thing now they were awake. Broken bodies and blood drenched fur the only testament to their efforts.
Yang...
Blake...
Ruby reformed on a distant cliff, staggering as her head swam, vision fading in and out. Gazing down at the endless forest, her face marred with the blood of her friends, gripping the bleeding wound on her neck. It was unsettling to have normal biology, for wounds to actuality matter. But for Nightmare loops like this, being a Null loop was almost a given.
She was so tired, she had not slept for days and her Aura was running on fumes.
Warily, Ruby let herself slump to the ground. She had to rest, it had never taken less than an hour to traverse a six miles and even with the ever-closing end she would still have time to close her eyes. She had time to rest, even if only for a short time
A flash of white fur and floppy ears caught the first hints of dawn's light as Ruby closed her eyes.
…
35.11 Masterweaver
…
Roman Torchwick grinned, leaning on the desk. It was sort of nostalgic, being in Ozpin's office again. Team ORNGZ was almost assembled once again; the only difference, of course, was that Zwei was still in Patch, and two redheads were uncomfortably standing on opposite sides of the room.
"Now, I'm guessing some of you have a vague idea of why I asked you all to come," he began, twirling his cane. "But in the interests of saving time, let's get down to it. With the exception of our deputy headmistress over there, all of us are quite possibly supposed to be dead by the end of the year."
"I..." Pyrrha cleared her throat, glancing around. "I didn't realize that Neo-"
"She was blown off the side of a ship," Roman explained. "There was too much going on to confirm anything, and I'm usually too busy backhanding a griffon to check. It's up in the air."
"As is my own death," Ozpin reminded him. "While... evidence from miss Cinder's recent meeting with Salem indicates it might be true, the source of the information is unreliable."
"Yes, yes, but that is my point. We're getting expansions again." Roman leaned on his cane. "Expansions that, quite frankly, leave us with quite a bit of free time. Team RWBY will probably be busy dealing with whatever personal dramas the loop throws at them. Team JNPR-with one exception," he nodded to Pyrrha, "will have Ruby's quest to occupy their time. Winter and Ironwood will presumably be doing stuff with Atlas, Qrow will probably follow Ruby on off loops, Cinder... Well, if she's looping, she'll certainly throw a wrench into any planning."
"And I'll be busy cleaning up after her, in any case," Glynda deadpanned. "If you get bored after sidestepping death, you could always help out."
"Yes. Yes I could. Or, I could start up a hat shop. Or I could set up a mock-kaiju attack on Mistral. Or I could go back to being Remnant's greatest thief." Roman twirled his cane. "That's why I called you here. To ask one question. We know how to avoid being killed. We know how to sidestep our demise. So... Now what?"
…
35.12 Shimmer712
…
It was dark...
Pyrrha tried to open her eyes but couldn't. But even so, slowly light started to seep in, turning her surroundings from pitch black to gray.
What had happened? Pyrrha quickly searched her loop memories and mentally winced at the memories of being pierced with Cinder's arrow and burning alive from within.
'Okay, I'm dead,' she thought. 'So what is going on?'
As color started to manifest itself around her, Pyrrha became away off and herself swinging slight, a steady motion, like Jaune's heartbeat.
As her surroundings became clear enough to see, she realized who was present.
"Jaune!" she shrieked before she could herself.
Jaune stopped and stared eyed wide at Corcea Mors. He wasn't the only one.
"Uh...Jaune?" Ruby blinked. She paused, not really sure how to ask someone if their weapons just shouted with the voice of their dead love. The Anchor shook her head.
"...Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.
"Yes! It's me!" Pyrrha answered giddily. She was still here! She was alive! ...Kinda... She was still with Jaune and her team!
"OHMYGOD!" Nora grabbed the Shield and hugged it to her. "We missed you so much and now we can see the expansion with us! This is great!" Nora blathered,swinging herself around in sheer glee. Pyrrha tried to return the hug but couldn't. So she laughed as Nora danced around with her, ignoring the pang of pain she felt.
"Pyrrha, are you alright?" Ren asked urgently, wondering if he should address the shield or sword. His hands twitched, wanting to grab Pyrrha and see that she was unharmed, that she was hurt. But her human form was gone and they had only recently retrieved Corcea Mors back from the smith. He swallowed, resisting the urge to join Nora. His mother...he didn't know if this counted as alive. But she was here. He drew a breath. He was never going to get used to the loops where Pyrrha died.
"I'm fine, I think," Pyrrha answered. "A bit weirded out but I'll get over it."
"I guess we're still partners," Jaune smiled, his eyes damp and full of happiness. "You have any requests?"
"I was blacked out for a bit, I only just regained consciousness. Could you tell me what's been happening?"
"Of course," Jaune said, taking the shield back from Nora. "We'll tell you everything." He held Corcea Mors closely, shoulders shaking. The others fell silent, letting the couple have their moment.
'I'm glad I'm still with you,' Pyrrha whispered. She never liked leaving her team, not by dying. It hurt them. And she loved them, she didn't want to cause them pain.
"I'm glad too," Jaune choked out. Pyrrha deserved better than her baseline fate. It may have been a temporary death thanks to the loops, but each time it happened, it hurt. She was kind, strong, willing to do what right and had an incredible amount of compassion for people. She was an idol for a reason. Jaune on the other hand, he had lied and cheated his way into Beacon, he had been dead weight for his team and he had been a coward, preferring to run than fight. If either of them had to die, it should have been him.
Team JPNR continued on their way, talking eagerly to the ensouled weapon. Ruby smiled, watching them for a moment and followed behind, letting them have their moment.
…
35.13 MasterOfGames
…
Ruby whimpered as she looked out from her bunker, Ren giving her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder next to her as he flipped through a reference guide. Outside was an unholy beast.
And next to that beast was a Grimm.
A Beowolf Alpha snarled at the creature that would interrupt a hunt, towering over it and roaring in its' face.
The little brown bunny nibbled on a flower.
"I can't take it! I want to save the bunny, but if I go out there and it doesn't need saving... I want my insides to stay insides!" Ruby whimpered, fingertips clutching the bunker's high windowsill as she held herself up to peek over it.
Nora meanwhile glanced over from where she was lounging, cleaning her hammer, to Jaune, giving his armor the most relaxing polishing in the world, if the noises Pyrrha was making were any indication. "Seems a little odd for a variant. I mean, the Grimm do fight with local wildlife this time? It isn't like the system to toss something so tame at us all by itself."
Jaune shrugged, switching from his armor to his sword, the two eyes on his shield rolling back in bliss. "Well, infinite combinations and all that. The tree has to try everything. This was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Yeah, but I'll still feel better once we figure out how it happened. That said, find anything Ren?" Nora called over.
"Only if you call an extra continent and a fifth kingdom 'anything'." Ren replied, turning the book to show everyone the map inside. "Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, Atlas, and Jade."
Nora gave Jaune a smirk, and reluctantly he tossed her his wallet. "Fine, you win." he groaned, before turning back to Ren. "Anything you can tell us?"
"Oh man, the alpha's ticked that he's being ignored! The rest of the pack is showing up..." Ruby cringed, ignoring the others.
Ren ran his finger down a listing of kingdom facts. "Widespread population of pureblood faunus, possessing more dominant animal features than we're used to. Upside of living there, it's defended from the Grimm by huge deposits of gravity dust, warping space to the extent that the only entrance to the kingdom is the size of an easily defended city gate. It's not too far from here actually. Downside of living there, -"
Ruby yelped, jumping back as the bunker windows were splattered with black blood, which swiftly began to evaporate, finally clearing just in time to see the bunny swing not a fluffy cottontail, but a vicious whip with the head of an executioner's axe attached to the end of it, cleaving the alpha in half at the waist. It then jumped and punted the upper half of the Grimm over the treeline. No other Grimm remained.
"... Downside of living there," Ren continued, as if nothing had happened. "huge deposits of all other kinds of dust, means that the wildlife has evolved wildly differently from the rest of the world. Of particular note are the Wabbits (scientific name, death lupus.), known for their cuteness, their cunning minds, bloodthirsty tendencies, and territorial natures, and their tails, which possess a random bladed weapon on the end, and have vorpal properties." Ren paused and raised an eyebrow as he continued reading. "The bounty on a single tail would be enough to finance our next six loops."
Ruby returned to the window, eyes watering as she peeked out. "I want one... but I can't bring myself to go near it!" she lamented.
…
35.14 Diesel
…
Cinder gazed out the vast windows that overlooked the desolate planes of Spawning, a foul stench filling her nose from the vast oily, tar-like pits. Her cool gaze took into the massive monsters as they clawed their way out and the vast purple crystals that doted the otherwise barren landscape.
Out of the corner of her good eye Emerald gasped in silence, a look of horror and fear flashing across her face. Mercury looked grim and angry, their skin tainted an unnatural hue by the hellish red light that filled the night sky.
'That's right, know your crimes. This is your price for following me this far and this will only be the beginning.' Cinder looked away from her long time minions, ignoring the needling of the others who sat in this forsaken hall seething in abject fury, memories of her last loop bubbling unbidden to mind.
Her mind burned with shame and barely restrained rage. She had fled last time. From the twisted images of a loop she had heard of but never lived that had invaded her mind as the past lost blurred with the present new, and making her flee to safety. Cinder bit back a growl, as the obnoxious voice of that pompous want to be Englishman, Doctor Watt spoke up. It would be so satisfying and rewarding to devour him, dissect his mind and memories as she consumed his life utterly.
"I don't know what you are doing, from you posture it almost seems like you are pretending to have actually succeeded in something."
Cinder turned away from the view, as she returned to her seat, leaving Mercury and Emerald to gaze out at harrowing view. The dark hall was lit with sparse candles and glowing, toxic purple, crystals. Light from the blood stained night sky cast a horrid glow across the room as it streamed in through the vast windows that dominated the room.
It was a sight she had seen once before.
Two loops starting late, within 5 minutes of each other was unusual but not wholly unwelcome. After all, it gave her another chance to get answers very quickly. Cinder ignored the comment, leaning back into the chair as her mind drifted. Her ruined eye throbbed behind her hair and the slightest attempt to speak made her throat feel like it was being ripped apart by glass shards while left arm felt like fire raged beneath the skin.
It was agonising, like worms burrowing into her flesh and feasting on her mantle of seasons, far worse than the last time she was here. Footsteps echoed in the distance, as Cinder sunk into her loop memories.
At a gesture Mercury and Emerald came over to stand by her side once more as Salem approached, the words of the deranged hunter burrowing into her mind as Salem entered, her silent footsteps leaving only the sound of her robes sweeping past as she tore down the arguments of the so called doctor as the meeting started.
"If I was you I would hunt her down, find her and, well she took your eye didn't she?"
"What about the girl? It seems like this is Cinders problem, not ours."
Cinder seethed, she did not care about keeping to script right now. She would just devour what she wanted from them at a latter point. Team WTCH had better hope that her slight change in behavior over the last loop had derailed Tyrian comments, or they would not live to see another day.
Nor would they ever, if they so much as touched RWBY.
"Eye for an eye."
Cinder snarled, eyes flashing red as she lunged at Tyrian, slamming the maniacal man into the wall, shattering the windows. The weak, foul creature's limbs struggling futility against her unyielding grip. Cinder felt the almost narcotic rush of power as she drew on the power she obtained as Willow Rosenberg and all the other magics she had absorbed over the aeons,. Flesh ruptured and warped, a sublime choir of screams filling the dark hall as blood leak out of six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six lacerations, a fitting number for the pathetic beast that dared threaten her sister. Necrotic flesh spreading out from the sight of the quickly festering wounds as she feasted on life.
But he would not die, not yet, not until she said so.
"Cinder, Stop!" She turned to face Salem, the attacks of the others nothing more than an irritant quickly disposed of, the broken, barely alive bodies crumbling were they stood as she feasted on their power and lives. They were of no threat, no one here had the power to pierce her Aura. "Why should I do that Salem?" Cinder's voice was smooth, not carrying a hint of the unending rage and hate that consumed her mind as she met eyes with the corpse-like face of the Grimm Lady "He was threatening my sister and the one who holds the World aloft."
Her almost maniacal expression of rage twisted further, why was she so angry? Baseline was Baseline, Ruby would survive no matter what and the final loop was the only one that truly mattered. So why? Cinder dismissed that thought, dropping the sack of flesh with a squelch, healing them with a thought, she could not play with them later if they were dead and they might have interesting information in their minds to tear out. The Fall Maiden turned to face the enraged and intrigued monster
"Time, reality itself, broke a long time ago Salem. It repeats without end, fogy and blurred outside of a few defined events. Overtime it expands and clears, this is one such case. Ruby Rose became my sister a long time ago and she is the one who was at the center when the cataclysm hit, and it now the only one who holds this shattered world together. Harm her at your peril."
Salem's eyes tracked over the healing forms of her servants then back to Cinder, standing tall and whole, draped in power never seen on Remnant before "Interesting." A glint of interest appeared in the pallid face as Salem glided closer, black dress slithering across the floor of the silent hall "Could you please elaborate Cinder? It appears we are missing some vital information, but please do not take that out on your comrades, ignorance is not something to be punished, simply rectified."
"…Very well Salem. In short, every reality broke and to prevent their total collapse, the beings that live outside reality took a stable person of relevance in the area and time-frame of interest, in a given universe and tied a time loop to them. Anchoring reality to them until reality is repaired."
"The girl is the 'Anchor' then, so where do you come in then Cinder?" The deathly pale woman questioned, soulless red eyes boring into her own there was no malice in those words, just cold logic unfazed by Cinder's furry. "And you also said that things are unclear, so things were lost and you have a power from outside Remnant so it must be more than a simple time loop."
Cinder turned away, clicking her fingers and sending a glance to her servants as she spoke, calling them to her side as she strode to the great door. "All other loopers are simply company for the Anchor, so they may endure and not break. Chosen based on proximity and emotional connections to the Anchor and the key events. There are also variants and fused loops."
Cinder paused at the open door before turning one final time to face the Grimm Lady whose face was one of contemplation, "Make no mistake Salem, you cannot win against Ruby Rose. She dies and the loop resets, she breaks and the world ceases to be." Cinder's red eyes turned back to amber as her lips twisted into a feral sneer "And if you hurt her, I will end everything you have worked for. And there is not a power in Remnant that can stop me. Do keep that in mind for the rest of the loop, however short it may be."
Cinder stalked down the dark hallways, lost in her fury and frustrations, ignoring the questions from Emerald and Mercury as they headed to Cinder's quarters.
'I think I will take the next loop off' Images of cities burning filled her mind's eye bringing a dark smirk to her face. The broken moon caught her eye though a passing window, black clouds covering it like smoke, blocking out the silver light. That, was exactly what she needed to de-stress and this loop was not going to last for long either. The only question would be how far could she go and how many people were awake.
Amber eyes glowed golden, this was going to be fun.
…
35.15 MasterOfGames
…
Tensile strength.
Penny had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the tensile strength of her bladepack cords was what... well. What killed her. On the other, without it she couldn't have brought down that bullroar, or clambered up the wall to sit on this particularly high ledge and think about things.
Actually, this ledge was particularly high. In retrospect, it might not have been a good idea to retreat to the Beacon clock after the meeting closed.
"No, Penny, positive. Think positive." Penny gripped the edge of the clock. "You didn't clam up. You contributed suggestions. You even, you even... you said her name. Not Miss Nikos, her name. This is an improvement..." She nodded. "Yes. I'm... I'm doing better. Yes."
There was the sound of somebody knocking on metal. Penny's eyes snapped right.
Pyrrha, clinging to the side of the tower, waved awkwardly. "Um... hello again...?"
"...H...hello..."
"Ozpin just sent me up to see if you were... doing alright." She shrugged. "And probably as another one of his tests. If you like, I can leave..."
"...You're not using your..." Penny winced. "I can't feel your... you know."
"...Oh. My semblance?" Pyrrha shook her head. "No, I picked this up in a Marvel loop. Replaced Spider-Man." She looked down. "That said, I'm not exactly comfortable clinging to this tower like a spider. Do you mind if I come over?"
Penny frowned, but inched sideways. Pyrrha crawled up to the clock, slipping in beside her.
"...If this gets... to be too much, I can always Pocket myself."
"I really would rather you didn't. From the outside, it looks like a sudden shift in your position and that..." Penny bit her lip. "That is a trigger. I... will probably pocket myself first."
"...do you have enough space yet?"
"It's about the size of the dorm rooms at Beacon. Mostly, I... carry about self-modification tools. For if I don't have a chemical processor, or installing... scent processors." She frowned. "Or getting rid of laser vision."
"I see." Pyrrha nodded. "Personally, I carry around a few practical things, a few weapons and bits of armor... mostly, I carry momentos. Gifts from friends and family, unique objects from variant loops..."
"I have a few of those as well. The size of my pocket does mean I have to be very... careful, what I select."
"Mmm. I have the opposite problem. Too much space. I'm quite spartan, if you'll pardon the joke. Even accounting for various fused loops and... other necessities..." She sighed. "Lots of empty space. Not a lot of things going on in there."
"...Ruby has a planet."
"Yes, I've... seen Starkiller. She's the Anchor, she has the largest Pocket out of all of us."
Penny nodded.
"...you know," Pyrrha mentioned after a moment, "I've actually been considering putting some self modification stuff in my pocket myself."
"What? Like... a surgery table?"
"Not exactly. In the baseline of this latest expansion, Jaune takes some of the metal from... well, my armor and weapons, I presume. He has it forged into his own armor and weapons." Pyrrha coughed. "Sometimes, I Wake Up as the sword. Or the shield. I think it's my spirit possessing them."
"Huh." Penny gave her a look. "That's... actually quite fascinating."
"I'm not sure if it's really baseline, mind. But it's... surprisingly comfortable. Especially..." Pyrrha trailed off with a blush.
Penny managed a small smile. "...when Jaune cleans you?"
"...Yes." Pyrrha coughed. "That."
"Gives a whole new meaning to polishing one's sword."
"Ah... yes."
"Although, it must make nights a little awkward. Presumably, you still sleep together so-"
"My point is," Pyrrha interrupted, "if you'd like to advise me on how to put together a pocket self-modification setup, I would appreciate it."
"Hmm." Penny looked down at the ground. "...I'm going to be honest, I think I would need to see your Pocket to do that and... and I'm still very scared of you. I know you're trying, and I'm trying too, but..." She flinched. "Please don't hate me for this?"
"What? No, of course not."
"...part of the reason that I'm holding myself together right now is because I can push you off."
Pyrrha's mouth worked for a moment or two.
"That's about the response I expected." Penny hugged herself. "It's not... it's not the best coping mechanism."
"...It is understandable, though."
"You're... not mad?"
"No. A little shocked, maybe, but..." Pyrrha sighed. "You know, this tower is shattered when the dragon attacks. When Cinder... that's part of why I'm not comfortable up here. This is... this is where I die."
Penny inhaled sharply. "Oh."
"...You still go to Amity, don't you?"
"Yes. But... there are people there. Here..." Penny nodded. "Yes, I can see why this would be stressful for you. And with Amber downstairs..."
"This whole tower is a nightmare for me."
"...You can go. If you like. Tell Ozpin I'll be down in a moment."
"Well... if you're sure."
Penny let one of her blades free from the stone and waggled it. "You're not the only spider girl up here," she joked with a small smile.
…
35.16 Black Omochao
…
"Who are you and where did you come from!?" The newly Awake Yang questioned loudly as she stared at the double that stood across from her.
"I'm Yang!" The doppelganger announced proudly, holding her fists up and showcasing the only visible difference between the two; she had two arms.
"No you're not! I'm Yang, what kind of joke is this!?" Yang exclaimed incredulously, though internally she just wanted to see where this would go, since the other Yang didn't seem to be Awake.
"Let me specify; I'm you, but better!" The unAwake, two armed Yang announced with a smirk.
"Better huh? Where did you even come from, I don't recall donating my DNA for cloning experiments," Yang huffed skeptically.
"Let's just say, next time you lose an arm, don't just leave it on the ground!"
"Wait… seriously!? My arm grew a whole 'nother me!?"
"That's right, now step aside! I'm taking the stage 'mom'!" The new Yang stated arrogantly as she approached the original.
"I think you need to learn a bit more before you can fill my shoes 'daughter'" Yang hissed before she charged at the duplicate and flipped her over her shoulder. The duplicate Yang caught herself in mid-air and managed to land at her feet before cracking her neck and glaring at the original.
"Wow, and I thought you'd lost all your strength after Beacon's fall. Doesn't matter though, I'm just trying to go easy on you, but maybe I should get serious," The two armed Yang said before slamming her fists together while her eyes turned red.
"How do you know about that?" The Looping Yang asked, her eyes also turning red.
"Well, I have all your memories, obviously."
"All of my memories, huh?" Yang rolled her eyes at that proclamation, but the other Yang's smirk didn't fade.
"Yeah. Including the stuff about time being broken!"
"Wait, what!?" Yang's eyes went wide as she looked straight at her smirking double.
"Yeah! And now I'm going to beat you and take your place in the Loops as the new Yang!"
"That's impossible! Even if you have my Looping-memories somehow!"
"But I'm better than you in every way, and I have all your Looping powers."
"All of them!?"
"Yea… And I don't make puns!"
"… You sick monster! You're no spawn of any severed arm of mine!" Yang shouted in outrage before the two charged at each other for the brawl to end all brawls.
.
"And then she was like, 'take this!' and POW! Right in my face!" The two armed Yang exclaimed excitedly, with the one armed one chuckling by her side. The Awake Blake, Weiss, Ruby, Team JNPR, and Cinder all stared at the two with either concern, or just blank looks. Except Nora, whom looked excited. All sat at a table in Beacon's mess hall.
"Yeah, and then she was like 'oh no you didn't!' and we went all BOOM! CRASH!" The one armed Yang laughed before patting her double on the back "You really had me going there for a bit, me! I actually thought some kind of copy of me with Looping memories had spawned somehow!"
"Well my body did grow from the arm like I said it did, but I Woke up soon after," the two armed Yang chuckled in amusement with her double.
"Seriously, we've had Mikasa glitches before. But this is ridiculous," Ruby sighed.
"I'm more concerned over the fact that Patch is a smoldering crater," Weiss deadpanned. Both Yangs chuckled sheepishly as she glared at them.
"Well, they got everyone out, right..?"
"Barely," Blake muttered tiredly.
"Don't stop now! I want to hear about the rest of the fight!" Nora exclaimed impatiently.
"Can we all just promise that if we ever end up waking up as a duplicate of ourselves while another Awake version of ourselves already exists in that Loop, that we don't do what Yang did?" Jaune suggested.
"Agreed!" all but the Yangs and Nora nodded.
"… Nora," Ren jabbed his friend with his elbow.
"Alright! Agreed."
…
35.17 Masterweaver and Black Omochao
…
Weiss rose an eyebrow, noting the odd twitches of Blake's bow, and lightly tapped Ruby's shoulder.
"Huh? What is it Weiss?"
"We should probably clear our stuff out of the dorm."
"Why?"
Weiss, very subtly, flicked her eyes from Blake to the Yangs. Ruby followed her gaze... and gasped.
"Oh. Yes. Okay, yes, let's do that. FAST."
"Hey Blake, what's up?" Ruby asked as she and Weiss approached their teammate. Blake barely acknowledged them with a tired wave.
"What's with you?" Weiss asked curiously, Ruby poked the nearly comatose Blake in worry.
"Well… You guys remember how, a couple Loops back Yang's severed arm grew into another Awake Yang?"
"Yes…" Ruby muttered, looking a little nervous. Weiss' eyes widened.
"That didn't happen again, did it!?"
"Not… exactly," Blake shook her head, and the two visibly relaxed. "You see, when Adam cut off Yang's arm, it immediately grew back and the arm grew into another Awake Yang."
"… Wait, WHAT!?" Weiss shouted in shock and confusion. Ruby covered her ears, Blake looked too tired to care.
"And you know that weird thing that comes up too often in the Loops? When cutting something only makes more of it, but the person trying to kill it just keeps cutting?"
"… Oh no, don't tell me!"
"Yeah… I'm hiding from them, I needed a break," Blake sighed. Weiss looked horrified, Ruby looked between Blake and Weiss in confusion for a few moments… before a realization seemed to strike her and she blushed brightly.
"Ohhhh..! Ew!"
…
35.18
…
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Yang awoke mid lunge, hurtling at Adam with all her fury and force directed at the man hurting her Blake. In slow motion, she watched him draw his sword Wilt, power coursing through the Dust Infused Steel. With a swing almost shockingly fast, he connected with her arm.
The blade shattered on her bicep. His head went flying a moment later.
Yang helped Blake to her feet, Blake already healing the stab wound. Yang chuckled a bit. "So what do we do now? Go reinforce the guys in the courtyard, protect Beacon Tower, mutilate Adam's corpse together? Any plans?"
"I was going to see if I could track down my relatives, but that can wait," Blake said. "I think we should head for the tower."
"Fall Maiden verses Bumblebee. Let's do AGH!"
Yang's arm traced a bloody arc through the air, Blake dragging the maimed blonde away in a flash step. Adam flipped his sword over and sheathed it, glaring at them both. "What did I say about running away?"
Blake looked Adam dead in the eye, her own burning red. "Amaterasu."
The black flames of hell surged around Adam, his body sublimating to dust and ash. The metal of Wilt and Blush turned to slag. The mask he wore on his brow cracked and splintered, revealing his surprisingly normal brown eyes.
The mask he wore on his chest stayed for a moment, before fleeing from the long dead corpse of Adam Taurus. It too fell to the black flames though, and in a moment the Geist evaporated. Nothing remained of the man.
…
35.19
…
There was a rapid rapping at team RWBY's dorm door. Ruby opened it and beamed. "Oh hey, cous! What's shaking?"
"Ruby, we need to talk." Neo crossed her arms. "You remember that time I took Zwei on a date?"
"Yeah?"
"It was a prank. The date was a joke. We were trying to weird you out. There's no real relationship. You can stop spreading rumors about us now."
Ruby blinked.
"...Neo," she said seriously, reaching a hand out to clasp the girl's shoulder, "I get it."
"...great."
"I know how hard it can be to overcome literal lifetimes' worth of social engineering, to look beyond what you think is impossible and find something incredible. I know how difficult it can be to step out of what you think is normal, to find what you think is right. I know that sometimes, you can look back and think you've made a mistake, because you feel as if nobody is standing with you. But I want you to know something: I will stand with you. I will accept you for your true self, and your heart for the ways it goes. It matters not what the embodiment of your other half looks like; all that matters is that you have found love, and love has found you. It's going to be a tough ride. I can't deny that. And I guess I can't fully understand it myself. But just because I don't understand doesn't mean I don't care. So don't back out with a pretend lie, Neopolatin. We're all here, and we're all rooting for you."
Neo stared at Ruby.
Ruby smiled gently.
"...HE IS A CORGI!"
"Shhh." Ruby drew her into a hug. "It's okay. It's all okay. Don't ever doubt yourself."
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Neo pushed her back, waving a finger in her face. "YOU-I-THAT'S NOT-OH MY GOSH I CAN'T EVEN CONCENTRATE ENOUGH TO KEEP UP THIS TALKING SP-"
Her voice cut off abruptly, and she gesticulated vigorously for a few seconds before storming off down the hall.
Weiss cleared her throat. "Ruby-"
The redhead held up a finger, still smiling.
After a few seconds, there was, somehow, the sound of somebody slamming an elevator door shut, followed by a chime.
"Okay, she's out of earshot." Ruby turned. "You were saying, Weiss?"
"You do realize she was telling the truth, right?"
"Oh yeah. I mean it was obvious."
Weiss quirked an eyebrow. "So... you're keeping up this act... why?"
"I dunno. Partly for giggles, partly out of boredom. I want to see how far I can push this." Ruby shrugged. "I mean really, it's a fun way to rile her up."
"Hmm. I suppose." After a moment, Weiss shut her book with a sigh. "Fine, I'll go along with it."
…
35.20 Masterweaver
…
"Wait, hold on." Ruby held up a hand. "So if the Grimm are purple this loop-"
"Salem had to make some budget cuts," Cinder explained.
"Yes, I got that, but-Actually, the dragon has six eyes. Hmm. OH! The Geist! It only has one eye, and it flies. I guess one of its spines could be called a horn-"
"Let me stop you right there," Yang interrupted. "I researched this joke, and in the original song, the eater clarifies that it is an eater of purple people, not that it is a people eater who happens to be purple. Although that point wasn't clarified either, so I guess if there's anyone with purple skin... or hair, maybe-"
"Actually, do Geists eat people?" Cinder asked. "I mean they don't have jaws, so-"
Ruby threw up her hands. "Just trying to make a joke, guys, no need to analyze it to death!"
They sat on the bench for a few seconds.
"...Actually, a Nevermore might qualify," Yang granted. "If you stabbed out the other eye."
…
35.21 Masterweaver
…
"Why the ears? Why is it always the ears?"
"They're easily accessible and quite prominent."
Jada Hollins, better known across the multiverse as Judy Hopps, shook her head. "Look, in my baseline nobody believed a rabbit cop would amount to anything, and I had to fight for respect from day one. I'm not going to become some meek hideaway just because of one bully."
"Cardin's a particularly stupid one," Blake Belladona acknowledged. She carefully watched as Judy finally patted the fur on her ears down. "Sometimes he does mellow out after Jaune rescues him... usually, we only pay attention to him when we're bored and need to plan a prank on a deserving victim."
Judy gave the raven-haired girl a flat look-before pulling back her hair with a small growl. "Argh! Why'd my unawake self grow her hair out this long?" She tried to force it behind her head, not noticing Blake moving back a step or two. "Usually I keep it short when I'm human!"
"You're a faunus."
"Yeah, well, it feels like I'm a human. Aside from the extra ears." Her eyes rolled up to see her accouterments. "Seriously, is that it? Do Faunus just have animal ears on their head?"
"Ears, tails, horns, claws... it varies from individual to individual."
"Seems like such a small detail to base so much prejudice on," Judy quipped. "Second class citizen just because you have an extra part?"
Blake sighed. "Unfortunately, racism simplifies things. Us versus them is an easy mindset, all you have to do is define one or the other." The black bow atop her own head twitched. "That's why some of us hide it."
"Us versus them..." The rabbit-eared girl let a sigh of her own out. "You're right, you know. I've been on both sides of that. I was such an idiot back in the beginning..."
"I... have seen the film," Blake admitted. "It hit pretty close to home, to be honest."
"Really?"
"Ex-White Fang. Check your loop memories."
Judy tilted her head. "...you were a terrorist?"
"We thought of ourselves as freedom fighters. At one point we actually were-protesters, petitions-but things changed when... well." Blake rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I stayed on until a train mission. Robbing the Schnee company, I could go for, but letting the train operators be bombed to death... I drew the line at killing innocents. Cut the cars off so they could escape and made my way to Beacon from there."
"...I can respect that," Judy finally admitted. "I know that I've had to do less than legal things in my baseline to get the perp."
"Like I said, I've-"
"-seen the film, yeah. They skipped over a LOT of the paperwork, you know?" Judy chuckled. "You know, I think... I think this is why you get me."
"What?"
"We've both had to fight for our right to what might be seen as 'normal' by others. To live the life we want. Other loopers, they seem to be on edge around me, like they don't want to offend me for some reason-honestly though, I'm a big girl, I can take it." She shook her head. "I mean, really, a lot of them have suffered worse than me, they should... be..."
Judy frowned. "...Blake, why are you looking at me like that?"
The girl was staring at her in shock. "...Have you heard of the League of Looping Lagomorphs?"
"Um. No." Judy held out her hands. "Should I have? Am I going to get a letter in the mail or-"
"Oh sweet Dust. You don't know. You..." Blake's mouth worked for a few minutes, before she collected herself. "Okay. Where should I start with this..."
"What? Is this league some sort of..." Judy tilted her head. "Wait, do they teach rabbits crazy self-defense? Is that why people are so cautious around me?"
"No, it's... Look. You know the stereotype, right? Rabbits: Cute, cuddly, defenseless, all that?"
Judy frowned. "Yes."
"Forget it. It's wrong. Completely."
"Okay, sure. Wait, what?"
"Look," Blake said, "if you go around the multiverse and you find large populations of rabbits, most of the time you're safe-assuming they don't have names. The rabbits that have names, the rabbits that step up, the ones that are likely to become loopers... There's this girl called Cream, she's a nice rabbit from the Sonic loops, about six or eight years old, and she regularly decimates armies of robots. She's one of the local super-heroes, and don't get me started on Rabbot... Bugs Bunny, he's a karmic trickster toon with all the powers that that entails. Peppy Hare, from Starfox, he's an experience starfighter pilot-Buck O'hare, leader of a rebellion against a space empire. I don't know if you've looped into Watership Down yet-"
"First fused loop. Wait, what are you-"
"My point is, most rabbits are cute, cuddly, and defenseless, because the ones that aren't are completely terrifying. And it's not just pure rabbits-the girl you're replacing can replicate any weapon she photographs at will and use it with expert skill. You've seen the crazy weapons everyone has, you know how terrifying that is. And Usagi, her name means rabbit... she fought, like, five or six different kinds of demons in her baseline, and she's one of the original seven on top of that. There's a loop where a group of rabbits slaughters a village of other rabbits, and the sole survivor chased them down and killed them all by either kicking their necks in half or throwing knives in their eyes. People aren't cautious around you because they're worried you might be fragile, they're cautious because they're worried you might fry them five ways to friday!"
Judy gaped as Blake finished her rant, panting for breath. "That-that-that... I'm a cop! I want to serve and protect!"
"So you're the nice kind of terrifying. That's good to know."
"But-wait-you're kidding. You have to be pulling my leg, you can't possibly be serious."
Blake shook her head. "No. I'm sorry, but... Yggdrassil is filled with killer rabbits."
…
35.22 Zurcior
…
Blake stared at her girlfriend, "Okay, this has happened before. I'm sure the novelty of it has lost it's luster. So do not-"
"OHMYGOSHYOU'RESOCUTE!" Yang squealed as she pick up the little cat huntress and hugged her to her chest.
"Gaw da'it, Yang."
Ruby stared in confusion,"Wait, she doesn't have opposable thumbs this time. How will she-"
"Don't put too much thought into it Ruby," interrupted Weiss as she recorded the byplay for future amusement study. For science.
…
THREE LOOPS LATER FOR BLAKE, FOUR FOR YANG, AND SEVENTY TWO FOR RUBY...
"Hey... Ruby? Where's your sister?"
"What? Oh!" Ruby grinned. "Come on out, Yang, Blake's here!"
Something golden slithered out of Ruby's hood, perching on Ruby's shoulder. Blake quirked an eyebrow as the creature preened, noting the sunlight gleaming off its tiny horns and the miniature gauntlets on its forelegs. "So... you're a Chinese dragon this loop?"
"Yes, actually." Yang flexed her claws. "Five toes, like a proper imperial."
"And I see you're letting the dragon's sense of pride affect you."
"Well, yes." The serpentine creature ignored her sister's giggles. "I think the small size compresses it, which makes it very strong. Honestly the only reason I'm not just posing off on some roof somewhere is because Ruby's silliness is keeping me balanced."
"Really now." Blake nodded. "I've been a feline enough times to know how overwhelming pride can be."
"Hmm. Yes, I suppose you must have been."
"I also know there's a very easy cure," she continued. "And turnabout is fair play, after all."
Yang frowned. "What are you-oh no. Nonononono-!"
She tried to leap away, but Blake had already lunged forward and wrapped her tight. "YOUARESUCHACUTIE!"
"GAH! Ohmagash. Ruby, he' me!"
Ruby just doubled over, laughing and pointing.
"...eh." Yang shrugged. "Gue' thi' i'n't the wor' thin..."
…
35.23 Hunter81095
…
Ruby Rose was old. Innumerably old. She was quite possibly older than her universe, from conception to heat death, multiple times over.
And even now, she was learning there were things that she'd never seen before.
Sure, she'd seen Cardin and his bullies get beaten up as many times as she'd been through Baseline, she'd even replaced Velvet more than once!
But this time, she was getting a taste of something she'd not seen just quite yet.
"Don't you think that was just a little bit overkill?" Yang asked curiously, vaguely disturbed by what she'd just seen.
Angel Bunny, who was replacing Velvet Scarletina, simply shrugged indifferently and walked away from the twitching forms of team CRDL, who looked like they were...yep, they were frothing at the mouth.
Ruby sighed as she watched an Unawake Professor Goodwitch try to comprehend what had happened to an entire first year team to have put them into this state. If she hadn't been as experienced as she was, the Anchor would have been confused as well.
…
35.24 Black Omochao
…
"So, you're Kyubi?"
"Yes, and you're Jaune," The nine tailed fox yo-kai looked over the human briefly as they sat at a table in Big Macintosh's bar.
"You replaced me a few Loops back, huh?"
"Yeah, that Loop was fun… until the end," Kyubi shuddered a little as he recalled what had happened, Jaune nodded calmly as he took a sip of his cider.
"So I heard you dated a lot of women while you were in my shoes…"
"Yeah, what, you want some tips?" Kyubi asked curiously, his ears perking a bit.
"… No," Jaune shook his head, finishing his drink. He gave Kyubi a pleasant smile… before punching him in the face, hard.
"OUCH! What was that for!?" Kyubi shouted, holding his muzzle in pain. "I thought you weren't the violent type!"
"I'm not. But you tried to romance my wife, and my daughter. Even if they weren't awake, I think I'm being pretty lenient," Jaune stated, helping Kyubi back to his feet.
"Whatever, a punch can't effect a yo-kai of my caliber that much anyway," Kyubi huffed.
"Oh, I had to go easy on you because they want to talk to you too," Jaune gestured over to some other tables, where Ren, Qrow, and Grif were all seated, glaring at him rather heatedly. Kyubi gulped.
"Is it too late to say 'sorry'?"