176.1 Masterweaver

[-]

Knives and Weights and Chess and Snakes

"Dear sister, I was hoping we could use this time to catch up." Whitley grinned smugly at Weiss. "I have to know, why did you go through so much trouble to leave home, only to come crawling back?"

Weiss smiled back, genuine and warm. "My journeys have made me realize how much you have suffered, brother of mine."

"...what?"

"Winter, early on, escaped to the Atlas Military. My own sojourn to Beacon allowed me to grow as well. I will admit that my time here after that was sullied by what happened during the Vytal tournament, but another step out allowed me to clear my head. And now, I realize you have yet to have the same opportunity that Winter and I have been allowed-the chance to grow outside the somewhat... confining environment of this mansion."

"I-well, I don't know if I would need that," Whitley recovered quickly. "After all, I am to inherit the company and-"

"And it will still be here when you get back from camp."

"Camp? What?"

"Oh yes," Weiss revealed, "I took the liberty of signing you up for a camp in Anima. It's rather rustic, but my own stay taught me many things, and I hope you'll discover things as well."

"Now hold on-"

"Oh, and here's camp Counselor Raven now!"

"Sup kid," said Raven Branwen, swiping a snack from one of the utterly stunned waiters. "Got your cot ready, so we'll be going now."

"But you can't-"

"Don't worry!" Weiss assured him. "Raven will provide you with all the necessities you need!"

"It's a little rough," Raven admitted, "but what can you do?"

"Anima is-"

"Just a quick hop for me." Raven plucked him off the ground and snapped, generating a large gash in the air. "Come on, let's get you settled."

"Have fun!" Weiss chirped with a happy wave. "Learn valuable lessons!"

"This is-"

Whatever Whitley was about to say was cut off when he was carried through the portal, which snapped shut behind them.

Weiss became aware of the party guests all staring at her. She hmmed and shrugged casually, before whipping out a scroll and skipping toward the dining room.

Nora leaned in toward Ruby. "...She does know the loop is going to end in a few hours, right?"

"I mean, yeah, but any win is worth it, right?"

[-]

176.2 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles Of Mantle: Weiss deals with those she hates

It was a perfectly ordinary day in the city of Mantle-

Well, scratch that. It had been a perfectly ordinary day until about six minutes ago.

"What's the situation?" Robyn asked as she came onto the scene.

May shrugged helplessly. "All these fuzzy things just filled the road all of a sudden. Fuck if I know what they are-"

"They're tribbles," growled a new voice.

Robyn turned and found herself shocked to see the Schnee heiress, of all people, glaring at the fuzzballs. "Okay...?"

"Not okay. Not in the slightest." The heiress unsheathed her sword. "These things breed at a rate that makes rabbits look conservative, and they will get into any food storage you can think of. This plague is the worst thing that could happen to Mantle." She spun the chamber in her blade. "It'll take multiple sweeps to clear them out-if you'll allow me," she added quickly. "I intend to purge them with fire."

Fiona quirked her brow. "That's a little extreme, isn't it?"

"Tribbles are death. Fuzzy, despicable death. The Grimm at least have the decency to portray themselves as fully dangerous as they are, but this blight must be struck down before it consumes all."

The four huntresses shared a look.

"...You wouldn't back down if we told you to, would you?"

"No, miss Hill, I would not."

"You have a license for that weapon?"

"Several. Admittedly, they only allow me to hunt Grimm, but I am adept at avoiding arrest, if that is your concern."

Robyn quirked a brow. "...If you hurt anybody, we're going to have to stop you."

"I will endeavor to complete this task without collateral damage."

"Okay, kid, go nuts I-"

The heiress was off like a bolt, half the fuzzy balls on the road aflame in a second.

"-guess..."

"Wow." May shook her head. "She really hates these... what did she call them, tribbles?"

"We should probably keep an eye on her," Fiona suggested.

[-]

176.3 Awesomedude17

[-]

Satisfaction

Yang tossed Weiss and Winter a couple of wine glasses and a bottle of grape juice.

"Grape juice. Really? Are we in the world of Ace Attorneys?" Winter remarked.

"Don't wine, Winter."

Winter rolled her eyes as she poured herself a glass once Weiss finished filling hers up.

"So Jacques the jack off has finally had karma bite him in the ass," Yang started off, raising her own glass. "As someone who had a bad parent herself, I can hope this will humble him."

"Doubtful, but one can hope," Weiss said.

"So let's just say, justice has come for Baseline. A drink to that!"

Weiss and Winter couldn't help but break a smile as the three clinked their glasses and enjoyed a fine grape juice.

[-]

176.4 Masterweaver

[-]

Finest Catch?

"Ah, hello Penny."

"Salutations, Maria! Are you dating my father?"

Maria choked on her juice for a moment. "I-I'm sorry, what?!"

"I would just like to say I have no opposition to the possibility," Penny stated with an entirely innocent smile. "He has done so much for the people of Mantle and beyond that he deserves whatever happiness he can find."

"I'm not-no," Maria sputtered. "I'm not dating... I'm not dating Pietro."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes! I'm certain! I'm not dating him, I just help him in baseline because... well, because he's an old friend!"

"Just an old friend?"

Maria narrowed her eyeshutters. "You're teasing me, aren't you."

Penny smiled innocently.

"...Ruby mentioned you have expression cancellers," Maria said slowly.

"I have been leaving them uninstalled for eight hundred and thirty-five loops!"

"...Right." The old woman shook her head. "I'm not dating Pietro."

"Why? Is he not good enough for you?"

Maria pointed at the door to the restaurant. "Out, you robotic rapscallion!"

Penny smiled and, without saying anything, popped wheels out of her boots and rolled out the door backwards.

"What is with these people and shipping?" Maria muttered to herself.

[-]

176.5 Matrix Dragon

[-]

The Tribbles Of Mantle: Logistical Concerns

Frowning thoughtfully, May Marigold knelt down next to a tribble, watching the fuzzball vibrate with a happy purring noise. "I dunno guys, Schnee must be exaggerating Schnee isn't exaggerating," she corrected herself as, without warning, half a dozen balls of fluff rolled out of the first one, expanding in seconds to be nearly the size of their mother. "That's not right!"

"She said they breed fast," Fiona mused, carefully picking one of the creatures up, smiling despite herself as it purred happily. "And depending on what they eat, I suppose it could be like when they introduced foxes to Vale?"

"Much worse than that, I'm afraid," a new voice said, making the small woman jump in surprise. Turning, the Happy Huntresses were greeted by the unexpected sight of James Ironwood walking towards them, Winter Schnee close behind, with the rather confused looking Ace-Ops following at a safe distance. "My apologies Miss Thyme, I didn't mean to startle you."

Instinctively, the Huntresses slipped into defensive positions, looking over the General and his soldiers. Robyn resisted the urge to raise her weapon, instead meeting the man's gaze with an unflinching one of her own. "General. Quite a surprise to see you down in Mantle."

"I should spend more time here, honestly," he replied. "Help to remind myself that the kingdom is more than just a floating island." He pretended not to notice the faint surprise on her face at that comment, turning his attention to the tribble Fiona was still holding. "Foxes were an ecological problem over decades. Tribbles are much, much worse. They're born pregnant, and give birth to a litter less than an hour later. If they can find anything relatively edible, a single Tribble can have well over a hundred thousand offspring in a matter of days."

"And they are disturbingly good at getting anywhere," Winter Schnee added. "In the past, I have observed a Tribble squeeze itself through a hole less than a centimeter in diameter." She paused, not quite restraining her smile at the sound of an explosion in the distance. "While I am not as enthusiastic about the matter as Weiss, I agree with her conclusion. They must be destroyed."

Fiona looked at the Tribble in her hand, squeezing it softly and drawing a happy chirp from the puffball. "...How do they taste?" she asked after a moment.

"Like recycled cardboard," the other woman replied flatly. "And even less nutritional value."

"Miss Hill," Ironwood said, his voice hard and serious. "I'd like to hire the Happy Huntresses for a search and destroy mission, one vital to the defense of the Kingdom." Taking a scroll out of his pocket, he handed it to the woman. Taking it, she glanced at the screen, before her eyes widened at the number it displayed. "I was able to convince the Council to pass a vote on emergency funding, given the nature of the situation."

"That's a lot of zeros," May whispered under her breath.

Looking back up, Robyn nodded. "Well then general. Let's get to work."

[-]

176.6 FriTik

[-]

Neo By Any Other Name

Neo absently stared at the drink in her hand. Non-alcoholic she wanted a clear head right now. Another sip was comforting as she enjoyed the taste but her thoughts kept her from properly indulging in it.

"Well there you are." Roman walked in, though he paused a moment, likely noticing her expression. "And you're looking uncharacteristically wistful."

Not feeling like talking, she held up a sign. "How would you describe my appearance?"

"Umm, I think your name does a pretty good job of it already," Roman pointed out coyly, taking a seat across from her.

"Ha-ha." She put the sign away and sighed, and let go of her illusion.

Roman sat there and watched as her trademark ice-cream like appearance shattered like glass and left behind a black-haired, green-eyed, and relatively unremarkable girl.

"...that's not an illusion, is it?" Roman concluded.

"No." She spoke out loud now, her voice momentarily raspy as she formed vocal cords she didn't have before. She coughed briefly. "Not this loop, and it's not the first time either. It's not the first time it's turned out my normal look is an illusion but recently this variant has started to become more common. Specifically with… this." She gestured at herself.

"That's the disguise you used during the Vytal isn't it, and I haven't actually seen any of the recent expansions yet but someone mentioned you were disguised as a maid at Jacques's going away party." He looked her up and down, "I'm guessing you used the same appearance?"

"Yep." She popped the "p" before continuing. "And now Yggdrasil seems to think since I use the same basic unremarkable disguise, that it might not be a disguise at all." She sipped her drink again, catching her reflection in the glass; if nothing else, her eyes were certainly piercing when she looked like this. Unfortunately, it still gave her the feel of a stranger staring back at her.

"I'm not quite sure if it actually bothers me, maybe it's nothing but it gives me this vague idea of just being a little girl playing dress-up. And yes," she interrupted as Roman opened his mouth to refute her, "I know how ridiculous that sounds. I'm sure I'll get over it soon, but it's weird ya know?"

"Hmmm," Roman hummed as he leaned back in his chair. "I think I get it actually. With how the tree's damaged pre-baseline history is never really consistent, heck I don't even know what my parents look like and I'm guessing most other adult loopers are the same. But in this case, it's not knowledge that's variable, it's your appearance."

"Exactly!" Neo exclaimed dramatically. "And the worst part is it's not something I expected, just one loop I woke up and suddenly this was my natural appearance! At first I didn't think anything of it, 'weird variant, but okay, let's move on' but then it happened again, and again, and so on." She gestured loosely flicking her hand. "It's not every loop but it's every few loops, and the idea holds an uncomfortable amount of possibility. Of course there's been only two opportunities to draw from but the fact that I've used the same disguise for both is… telling? I guess, or at least the tree thinks so."

She put her glass down, covered her face and groaned into her hands. "I'm taking this way too seriously. Honestly, this wasn't an issue with my voice and it would be easy enough to make this," she reapplied her customary appearance, "permanent. But I just hate it when the tree throws you curve balls. Especially when you're not even sure if it's real or not."

"That's something I think we can all agree on." Roman nodded as he signaled a waiter.

[-]

176.7 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles Of Mantle: Tribbling Prospects

A flash of lightning had all the furry spheres on the small road gathered into a pile, which a giant rocket hammer smashed into a pulp.

"Can you believe this?" Harriet grumbled, wiping off the fluffy gore from her arms. "We're the Ace Operatives! We're supposed to be fighting Grimm, not rounding up fuzzballs to smash!"

Elm hefted her hammer, scrubbing off the blood and idly stabbing one of the survivors with the blade on the haft. "You have to admit, they're particularly difficult to hunt down."

"All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you."

Harriet gave Marrow a baffled look.

"...Watership Down?" Marrow offered hesitantly. "Classic novel?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"The novel is about rabbits," Vine explained as he finished sweeping away the pile of corpses, gathering up the few surviving tribbles. "The quote itself refers to the legendary 'first rabbit' that the rest of the rabbits worship. Killing a rabbit is easy, but catching it in the first place is hard."

"I'm not surprised he'd read a book about rabbits," Harriet deadpanned. "You, though, Vine?"

"It is not for the faint of heart," Vine assured her as Elm smashed the small bundle of tribbles he gathered.

"Really."

"Watership Down is one of the most well-known epics of its time," said a new voice. "It singlehandedly defined the entire concept of xenofiction."

The four soldiers turned toward the speaker, a young girl with a side-ponytail in white.

"That said, the similarities between rabbits and tribbles are surface level," Weiss continued, looking at the smear of guts with disdain. "The trouble with tribbles is not catching them, but catching enough of them in enough time for them to not be a problem."

"I get that they're 'dangerous,'" Harriet said as she waggled her hands in the air, "but this is something we can leave to the machines! We're huntsmen!"

"The glory of a huntress comes not from their battles, but from the number of lives they save. Anyone who would put something else above that, no matter what, is no true huntress."

"She's got a point," Marrow said.

Weiss nodded toward him. "Thank you, mister Amin. You have quite often struck me as being the best of the ace operatives." She side-eyed Harriet. "Perhaps some of you should follow his example."

"HEY!" Harriet snapped. "What do you mean by-?"

"We've got reports of a tribble infestation in a nearby deli!" Clover shouted over the comms. "Ace Ops, move to fifth street and prepare for containment!"

"On it!" Marrow declared, rushing off.

Harriet glared at Weiss, who was already striding toward the crosswalk, before running after the faunus with a huff.

[-]

176.8 Luna 2

[-]

The timeline has changed

"Ok." Ruby yawned, as she walked with Weiss in Beacon's courtyard, going over details of the expansion, the other having recently learned about it, "that actually went better than I expected. Grimm contained. Mantle being evacuated. And the look on Tyrian and Watt's faces." She smiled slightly. "I was worried it was going to go more like the Battle of Beacon, you know…more people not coming back." Her smile disappeared and she sighed. "I know we're not out of the woods yet. "

"I think we were all pretty worried about this one," Weiss spoke up. "Just remember those positives and do all that you can." She smiled at Ruby. "And remember everyone who's standing beside you in this."

"Right." Ruby's smile returned as she looked toward a familiar approaching figure.

"Ah, hey Cinder we were just talking about…Um. You okay?" Ruby looked concerned at Cinder's annoyed expression.

"Ok?" Cinder growled in frustration.

"Is this about the banana forest with the singing bananas that just won't stop singing? Because that was definitely not me," Ruby tried.

"No."

"The new expansion?"

"Yes."

Weiss rolled her eyes.

Ruby kept on her line of inquiry. "So... you and Neo got some more details. But it couldn't have been much. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just, we know from the last expansion that you're in Atlas, and I didn't hear anything big happening back there when I was fighting, and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if…"

"Tell me, Ruby. Did everyone in charge of the plans just decide to throw strategy and common sense out the window?"

"Huh?" Ruby pondered that one for a moment, slightly taken aback. "I actually thought everyone did pretty well… their fighting styles have really come on in baseline since…"

"Not them. To be fair they have improved. Mostly." Cinder waggled her hand a bit. "I'm talking about those who were making the plans on both sides. Even taking into account the pressures of the battlefield, the..." She wrung her hands, "...stupidity of some of the decisions they made and things that they ignored is mind-blowing. It's painful just thinking about it. I know that my strategy at Haven was flawed in baseline… putting aside the morality of it for a moment," Cinder hastily added, eyeing Ruby's slightly worried face and Weiss's quizzical look. "…but there were factors that were not obvious. Raven hiding her identity as the Spring Maiden? That wasn't obvious. Blake, the Faunus Militia and the Mistral Police showing up to stop Adam and change the balance of the fight? Not obvious in baseline to anyone outside Menagerie."

Cinder stopped to take a breath before raging on,

"But Watts! After he lectures me on undermining the plan for Haven with my obsession over you, he's even more blinded by hatred of Ironwood. It wasn't enough for him to neglect the possibility of cameras in the Schnee Manor, he had to fall for the obvious bait set by Ironwood and go to Amity? Then there's Tyrian falling for Robyn's so obviously signaling her planned location live on air? Of course those were both traps but neither of them noticed anything wrong! And don't even get me started on the sheer incompetence of the Atlas response throughout – trapping a hacker you know can break through your systems in the computer-controlled Amity? Without then cutting the power? Not even updating the code in Mantle to begin with? Only sending a team of 3 to take on Tyrian, in a dark alley, without anyone who can see in the dark? In the Loops sure, but it doesn't matter how strong they are if he goes into the dark and they can't even see to fight him. Seriously. It's as if everyone briefly forgot these things...AS IF IT'S CONVENIENT FOR A PLOT?!" Cinder stopped for a moment, wheezing and eyes flaring.

Ruby and Weiss just looked on for a moment.

"People make mistakes – I know that can be pretty annoying. If it makes you feel any better, I'm still kicking myself about not telling Ironwood to begin with about Salem," Ruby piped up. "Along with plenty of other signs I didn't spot."

Cinder breathed deeply and then looked up, a calmer expression on her face. "Maybe. But your decision actually had merit to it. It was strategic, and it was thought out. You had reasons to question trusting Ironwood or Atlas more generally at that point."

"And it's now resolved for the moment. Oscar told Ironwood in baseline and, while undoubtedly he's going to have to process it, he took the best decision of continuing to fight to save Mantle," Weiss chipped in. "We may not always take the smartest decisions in baseline – I certainly don't. But, we're doing the best we can, and, as you say, our adversaries are making mistakes too. We just have to wait and see how those fights actually go." She suddenly looked thoughtful, before frowning and then sighing. "Speaking of making mistakes. I sense that our visiting loopers might have gone one further than making a singing banana forest… and it hasn't ended well…".

"Ah. I should probably go sort that…" Ruby began.

"No. It's ok. I'll go." Weiss gave her a look and hurried off.

The two stood apart, neither saying anything for a moment.

Cinder looked at her feet, her brow furrowing. "There's something else you should know Ruby. Last loop, I woke up practically at the end. I had just ordered Neo to go after the Lamp, which means going after Oscar, and I'm also going after the Winter Maiden."

The breeze gently rustling the leaves was the only sound for what seemed like an eternity, two sisters still standing, like statues.

Ruby sighed. "It's not like that was unexpected."

Cinder looked hesitantly up at Ruby, a look of confusion on her face. "What?"

"That's what's really bothering you isn't it?" Ruby's eyes were full of sympathy. "Sure you can't stand sloppy strategy-making, especially from those you would call rivals. But that's it. Cinder. We've known since baseline you met back up with Neo that she was going to come after us, and it wasn't hard to see where that might go when these expansions started."

Cinder's confusion gave way to a grimace. "We're going to be fighting again soon aren't we? In Atlas."

Silver eyes looked back, unphased, unchanging. "We don't know exactly what's going to happen. And besides, I don't think it'll be us directly, particularly with Neo th…"

"IT'S STILL ME!" Cinder practically barked, tears tugging at her eyes. "I'm the one who's setting that up Ruby. Whatever happens to Oscar, to Fria, to anyone who interferes with my schemes… Whether I do it personally or manipulate people to do for me, I'm still the one responsible. Whatever the distinction may be. And whatever I might say about the others – baseline me is maybe showing some greater degree of thinking than at Haven, but she's still being fuelled by that hatred, so I don't know what she'll actually do when it comes to it. This is the first time in 2 sets of expansions I've directly been in that position, where it has that greater impact, and the stakes could be even higher this time. You… you remember what it was like when Weiss was impaled?!"

Ruby immediately froze, her face instantly draining of colour and her eyes going wide, the words cutting through her, buried worries about the latest expansion and a ghost of that nightmarish revelation, as well as her response afterwards, rapidly resurfacing in her mind, a tidal wave of emotions.

Seeing the reaction, Cinder backtracked and quickly closed the distance, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Sorry. I…I shouldn't have put it like that, I…gah", Cinder turned to leave, but stopped as a hand grabbed hers and pulled her into a hug.

For a moment they just stood there.

"You know I do. All too painfully... and you also know how we'll deal with it if anything like that happens again," came Ruby's slightly muffled voice, quivering slightly with emotion, "we'll deal with it together."

They kept on hugging.

"There was something else," Cinder spoke up softly after what seemed the longest time. "Strange actually".

Ruby stepped back slightly and looked up with a slight smile. "Stranger than everything else we've seen?"

"'The timeline has changed,'" Cinder looked right, towards a tree near them. "It's what my unawake self said when talking with Neo in Atlas. When I realized I had said that… I genuinely thought for a brief moment that my baseline was becoming aware of the Loops before I realized the context. It was rather ironic, but also unnerving, moreso than I expected."

"Huh. Ok. Yeah, I guess that is a strange thought. Maybe it's written into Yggdrasil's code at some subconscious level? Gotta ask Marianne about that at some point. Wow. Even more fuel for philosophy debates and me looking for evidence that it's happening... Actually, I'm sensing prank potential there." Ruby chuckled, before becoming slightly somber again. "Weiss is definitely going to schedule more counseling at some point, for both of us."

"She was probably going to do that anyway."

"Yeah."

[-]

176.9 Mattman The Comet

[-]

Django Reference

One shot. Heavy impact. The corner of Kali's cover was gone. A moment. Two. Kali dashes out of the bulwark and behind the next one.

Two, Three. Two heavy magnum rounds right where she used to be. Kali lets out a breath.

"You're not going to make this easy, aren't you General?"

She barely got a "Hmph" in reply before she moved out of cover and dashed downrange, with liberal application of small-arms on her end covering a sprint towards a dividing wall. A leveled revolver and a click prompted a knee slide from Kali as Four sailed harmlessly overhead. Now behind cover, Kali broke into another sprint towards the other end of the wall, heavy footfalls opposite signaling the General doing the same.

Perfect.

An arching leap cleared Five, with a short recovery roll back to her feet. Kali stalled, allowing Six to pass, before she rounded the divide and pointed her pistol at Ironwood.

"I count six shots General."

Ironwood pulled out a second revolver. "I count two guns, Belladonna."

Oh.

[-]

176.10 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles of Mantle: Elemental Puffballs

May crossed her arms and watched as Weiss froze a pack of tribbles solid before shattering the entire block of ice into shards smaller than her teeth. "You seem to really hate these things," she commented dryly.

"I try not to let my emotions get the better of me," Weiss muttered darkly, "but yes, tribbles in particular have earned my everlasting ire."

"There a story behind that?"

"If we wipe this plague clean, I'll tell you." The heiress turned a corner, looked up, and groaned. "Oh no..."

"What? What is okay, uh, wow, tribbles can fly?"

"Not naturally, but they will eat anything."

May glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, but her eyes were still on the dozens of floating fuzzballs drifting lazily through the air. "Not sure what that has to do with anything."

"They're remarkably simple creatures on a physiological level," Weiss explained, impaling one on her sword and bringing it down, slicing it open for inspection. "Which means it's very simple for them to incorporate foreign substances into the bodies of their children, once they're eaten. See?" She pointed at a particular bit of guts. "Gravity Dust lining the neurons. From the concentration, I'd say we're five generations down the line from whichever tribble consumed the Dust crystal in the first place."

"Can I say it's disturbing how much you know about tribble biology?"

"You may. It is, however, a knowledge hard-earned." Weiss shook her head, tossing the corpse into a nearby trash bin. "Dust is at least inorganic. Six or seven more generations, and the spawn won't have enough in their systems to do anything. Of course," she added, "that's still... let's low-ball it at fifty thousand floating tribbles."

"Fifty thousand?"

"Accounting for the ones that die of Dust poisoning before being born and/or being able to reproduce, of course."

May frowned. "Ironwood said tribbles spawn children an hour after they're born..."

"He was correct," Weiss replied, already pulling forth an armor summon from her glyphs. "I'll handle the floaters. You should track down where they came from-"

"-because if one got a gravity dust crystal, another could have nommed up an ice-dust crystal," May finished with a nod. "Or lightning, or wind... yeah, this could be a mess."

"Let's just hope it's only Dust they've eaten..."

[-]

176.11 Masterweaver

[-]

Henchpals

"You know you're going to have to talk to everyone eventually, Merc."

Mercury snorted. "Come on, Em. All the other loopers would hate me."

Actually they would tease you for thinking you pulled one over on them, Emerald didn't say. "Cinder might be a bit upset you didn't tell her," she said instead. "But she'd probably come around pretty quickly."

"Hmf."

"She would," Emerald insisted, offhandedly pickpocketing a passerby and clearing the lien out of their wallet before tossing it over her shoulder to bang the man on his head. "I mean, sure, baseline Cinder would be angry, but the looper-"

"Has she really changed so much?" said Mercury, his tone sarcastic and belittling.

Emerald hid her own smirk at the faint line of curiosity she heard underneath it.

"Let me put it this way," she replied. "You know Ruby Rose? Little miss goody two-shoes, 'oh everything will be wonderful', who probably would willingly tell Salem off to her face? She's the anchor, and she's aggressively kind."

"So?"

"So almost every loop Cinder's been awake, she's had to not only live with the knowledge that killing Ruby is off the table, that trying to torture her psychologically could backfire on a universal scale, that even attempting to try would be laughed off because Ruby is that much older and more powerful than her-not only all that, which is just basic Anchor 101, no, she's had to have Ruby basically shoving her face into her face and screaming 'YOU KNOW IF YOU WERE NICER I COULD GET YOU COOKIES' with a big grin."

"...seriously?"

"Well, not literally that. But yeah, Cinder's had to become kinder for her own survival. She's... grown," Emerald admitted. "I get that I'm coming from a biased position, I'm not going to deny my Cinder thing is... strange. But Cinder the looper cares about me-pretty much everyone knows it-and I'm pretty sure she cares about you too."

Mercury rolled his eyes as he continued walking. "When did you get so cheesy?"

"Eh... I'm really only like this about Cinder and Ilia."

"Who?"

"Girlfriend, another looper from Remnant."

Mercury stopped, turning around. "You have a girlfriend and it's not Cinder?"

"Surprised me too, we just sort of... fell into it." She smirked. "Helps that she's not averse to a little crime on the side, you know?"

"So what, you rob Schnees on your dates?"

"Not all our dates. And Weiss is generally off-limits anyway."

"...I was joking," Mercury deadpanned.

Emerald shrugged. "Hey, I'm a thief. Gotta keep sharp. Oh," she added, "incidentally, I don't know what exactly our relationship is, but you do seem pretty close to 'annoying brother' so just a heads up: if you try to pull any stunt on Ilia I will modify your legs to play loud polka every seventy-three steps you take."

"What," said Mercury.

"Yep," confirmed Emerald.

"...Fine, whatever, I won't bug your girlfriend. But I'm not going to tell the other loopers I'm looping either," he insisted.

Emerald heaved a long sigh. "Your loss. They'll find out eventually..."

[-]

176.12 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles of Mantle: From Whence They Came

"There is one question that has yet to be addressed," Winter pointed out as her summoned beowolf chased down a set of flaming puffballs.

Robyn Hill launched a bolt into a small horde of fur, nodding in satisfaction as the entire group squealed in pain from the resultant electric burst. "And that is?"

"How the tribbles arrived in Mantle in the first place. The only danger they pose is that of overconsumption, they are flimsy creatures otherwise."

"You think somebody must have brought them here."

"I'm certain of it. Though the number of people who would have access to tribbles is fairly low..."

"I know I'd never heard of them before," Robyn admitted, slicing apart one of the creatures with the bladed feathers of her crossbow. "Are they from Menagerie, maybe?"

Winter sighed. "No, they're-" She paused, looking around carefully.

"They're...?"

Assured nobody was listening in, Winter lowered her voice. "They aren't native to Remnant at all."

Robyn Hill's eyes widened for a moment, before she shot out a hand. "Say that again."

Winter rolled her eyes, grabbing it and letting Robyn's aura link to her. "Tribbles are not from Remnant."

As soon as her aura flashed green, Robyn pulled it back. "That's... insane."

"You don't know the half of it."

"I mean, your sister seemed to know all about them."

"Weiss has... been offworld," Winter admitted. "Something we want to keep quiet. She's been through enough as is."

Robyn accepted the surface level explanation with a nod, though from the way her eyes narrowed Winter felt she had accidentally caused a number of problems down the line. "So, this is an alien invasion."

"Mmmm. To be fair, tribbles aren't sapient." Winter frowned as she jabbed her parrying dagger into a nearby ball of fuzz. "Just dangerously hungry."

"Who would let loose alien locusts on Mantle, though?"

"Now that is the real question."

[-]

176.13 Matrix Dragon

[-]

Trash Talk Psychological Warfare Is A Valid Strategy

Standing alongside Robyn and Clover in a Mantle alley, Qrow kept his weapon aimed at their opponent. "So, Tyrian, I see you got the tail replaced. No problems with it, I hope? I know a lot of people have problems getting used to prosthetic limbs at first..."

"What happened to his natural one?" Robyn asked before the assassin could respond.

On the other side of the Huntress, Clover smirked slightly. "From what I heard, he made the mistake of leaving it somewhere Ruby could get her scythe around it." Tyrian actually snarled at the memory, tail instinctively moving in closer.

Robyn let out a soft whistle of appreciation. "Pipsqueak did that huh? It's always the nice ones-" As Tyrian lunged, still snarling, she adjusted her aim and fired her crossbow, forcing the faunus towards Clover's line. The trio met the man's attack with the ease of numbers, experience, and general familiarity with each other, cutting off every attempt he made to get a solid blow in.

Spinning Harbinger around to deflect another lunge from the man's tail, Qrow caught sight of Tyrian's face, noting the shifting expressions. Surprisingly, the cultist was actually starting to calm down slightly, possibly because the fight was giving him an outlet. His movements were becoming less frenzied, more calculated, adapting to his opponents worryingly fast. Frowning slightly, Qrow transformed his weapon to scythe mode, swinging it around to deflect an arm blade and forcing the other man to back up, an act that left him vulnerable to Robyn again. Considering the fight for a moment, Qrow let a smirk appear on his face. When it came to finding a Baseline enemy's weak spots, no one could hope to match a Looper. "Hey, Callows, quick question. Was it you or Watts that came up with the idea of hitting the election party?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Robyn flinch ever so slightly, and made a note to try and apologize to her before the Loop ended. More important though, was the faint smirk that appeared on the cultist's face. "Your doing, huh? Gotta say, that was not your brightest move. See, before that, we figured the problems between Mantle and Atlas were normal. Ironwood havin' the usual blind spot the Atlas military always does, not botherin' with politics and all that. We never even really suspected you were in town, helpin' to make things worse."

Behind Tyrian, Clover glanced towards Qrow for a moment, then nodded in understanding, taking over the narrative for a moment. "Then you murdered those innocent people in that warehouse, and tried to frame Penny for it." Head twitching to the side, Tyrian glanced at the Ace-ops leader, but the man continued before he could even start to gloat, keeping the flow of the conversation on their side. "You must have thought you were so clever. You got to make things worse, while satisfying your need to kill innocent people. But that's where you messed up. Not Watts. You."

"There were people in that crowd that recognized you," Robyn continued, picking up the thread with the ease of a woman who'd won the trust and love of an entire city. "People that have fought you before, and know who you serve." Tyrian spun towards her, and she gave him a smile of pure hatred. "When you killed those people, you announced to everyone that Salem's minions were here. After that, we questioned everything. We found the truth... because of you."

Flinching, Tyrian's expression shifted, a touch of fear replacing the anger and glee. "No, no, that's not how it-"

"If you survive this," Qrow said, seizing the man's attention again. "If you somehow manage to escape us, and go running back to wherever your little queen has built her castle, you're going to have to stand in front of her, and explain this." Tyrian flinched again, curling in on himself, clearly remembering when Hazel, Mercury, and Emerald had been forced into a similar situation after the Battle of Haven. "When she asks you what went wrong, and whose fault it is, you're going to have to tell her... It was you."

That did it. Screaming in terror and fear, Tyrian launched himself at Qrow, arm-blades and tail outstretched. Wide-open. Whipping Harbinger around, Qrow slammed the blunt end of the scythe into the man's chin-

- Sitting at the bar in Vale, Qrow blinked as he Woke Up. "Well, that figures," he muttered, putting his drink down and reaching for his wallet. Pulling out a handful of Lien, he sent out a Ping, and wondered if he was the first to experience the latest Expansion. If nothing else, the girls would enjoy a nice tale of a Tyrian beatdown...

[-]

176.14 Shimmer712

[-]

Creepy Dolls

"Okay, this is creepy," Raven muttered, staring into the woods. Her loop memories told her that this loop, there were no grimm. Instead, there were dolls.

Raven eyed the doll. It's porcelain lips were curled in a smile, blue eyes blank, one hand to its cheek. Raven blinked slowly then turned and walked off a few steps, pausing to look over her shoulder.

Now the doll had its head tilted to one side, hands clasped in front of it.

Raven considered all the creepy dolls out there in the multiverse.

"Nope. Not dealing with this."

With that, Raven vanished into her Pocket.

[-]

176.15 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles of Mantle: The Beginning of Grimm Tribble-ations

Most Grimm were large, dangerous, and direct. But some... some were small. Very, very small.

In the sewers of Mantle was a swarm of spiderroaches, cockroach-like grimm with eight legs and the ability to spew forth dark webbing. They weren't a major threat-true, their webs could drain life force, but they burned easily. In large numbers, of course, they were dangerous. And of course, starting so small meant that when they grew old enough to be dangerous singularly, they would also be smart. How they kept sneaking in wasn't clear, but usually they'd be swept out every week or so. Not a fun job, just a necessary one.

On their own, spiderroaches weren't dangerous. In fact, this one was dying. Not dead yet, but with three legs missing and an antenna crushed, it wouldn't survive the small cave-in that had pinned it.

A tiny, fluffy ball fell down from a nearby manhole. After a moment, it righted itself and began to explore the sewer blindly. That its path took it toward the spiderroach was a coincidence.

But tribbles will eat anything that they can wrap their mouths around.

A few minutes after finishing its meal, the tribble whined piteously. It slowed down its trek... it stopped. And then it reared up and vomited forth six balls of black fluff.

Each ball expanded outward, growing red veins and a smattering of white spines as they hit the same size as their parent. They huffed and purred and approached their mother, nuzzling the progenitor tribble before leading it down the sewers again. One paused, niffling at the air before it started crawling toward a nearby crevice, emerging onto the road above. A small distance away, a group of women were arguing, pointing at their map and around them, and didn't notice the tiny black fuzzball slurping at the air behind them.

Tribbles will eat anything they can wrap their mouths around.

And Grimm, it must be said, are attracted to negativity.

The black fuzzball barfed up six more of its kind, all of them slowly slurping away at the anger from the women. And in the sewers, the other Grimm tribbles continued to meander on...

[-]

176.16 Masterweaver

[-]

Mirror Mirror, Tell Me True

"Hey Penny." Pyrrha slid in next to the gynoid. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing alright."

"Really?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "So yes, we have a visiting Anchor and Ruby's not Awake and she got together with Weiss after that huge scandal Zwei arranged, but it's not like that hasn't happened before."

Pyrrha hummed noncommittally.

"...and..." Penny cringed. "And... tree damn it all, they do make a cute couple."

"Mmmhmm."

"Look, I will freely admit I am jealous of how close Ruby is to Weiss," Penny said. "I'm nowhere near jealous enough to say 'hey stop spending time around her,' I'm not stupid. I'm Ruby's girlfriend, not her... master. It's just... sometimes I think, if things had gone just a little differently in the early days... or, really, at any point... the two of them would be together and I wouldn't be with Ruby."

"Believe it or not, I can understand that feeling."

"Really."

"Oh yes," said Pyrrha. "You would not believe how many loops there were where Jaune hooked up with somebody-he wasn't Awake for any of them, but before any of the first expansions hit he had a chance of landing pretty much any woman in Vale. Of course, when he was Awake he was always too awkward to romance people, and then... well, and then we hooked up."

"That's..." Penny frowned. "I want to say that's different."

"Mmm."

"Pyrrha, what... what would you do if, in the expansions, Jaune found love with... somebody who wasn't you?"

"Well," Pyrrha mused, "I won't say I haven't thought about it. If they were another looper, I'd have a talk with them, seriously and calmly. If they weren't... well, it depends on who they were. Obviously I'd talk with Jaune about it."

"Obviously," Penny murmured.

"...I think," Pyrrha offered, "that Weiss-the looping Weiss-respects you too much to let such a matter go unaddressed. If that happens down the line, there would be a conversation."

"I know, I just... I don't know how that conversation would end." Penny sighed. "Weiss uses her jedi skills so often... do you think maybe she..."

She trailed off, unsure.

"...Maybe," Pyrrha admitted. "It's hard to tell. I mean it's obvious she cares for Ruby a lot and differently than how she cares for anyone else. But if it's romantic..."

"I don't-no, I do know why I'm bothered by this," Penny admitted. "I just don't want to be so constantly bothered..."

"It's not likely to amount to anything," Pyrrha pointed out. "Not unless somebody prods her. She... she wouldn't want to hurt you."

"I know. It's irrational, I know. But... it's still how I feel."

Pyrrha nodded, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know."

[-]

176.17 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles of Mantle: Evil Mastermind

"And a fluffball for you, and a fluffy ball for you, and a fuzzball for you-"

"Thanks miss!" said the kid, hugging her new pet gleefully. "You're the bestist!"

Neopolitan giggled, ruffling the child's hair. "Awwww, no, I'm not. I'm really, really not." She glanced up at the sound of an explosion. "You should head on home now, little ones! Have fun with your new friends!"

The children all ran giggling, the last one disappearing around the corner just as Weiss Schnee stepped onto the road. "Excuse me, but have you seen any small fuzzy spheres around?"

"Nope," said Neo smoothly.

"Alright, I-"

Weiss paused for a moment, peering at the blue-haired, red-eyed woman with dark skin.

"...Something wrong?" Neo asked, absently toying with her ponytail.

The heiress narrowed her eyes. "...You didn't."

"I didn't what?"

"You did."

"Did what?" Neo asked in a baffled tone. "I'm sorry, young lady, but-"

"Neopolitan Torchwick you drop that illusion right now and tell me exactly what you did or so help me-"

"Who's Neopolitan?" asked Neopolitan. "My name's Cherry Fudge!"

Weiss crossed her arms with a scowl. "Fine. Be that way. You just earned a hundred thousand loops on the naughty list!"

Neo gasped dramatically. "That sounds terrible! What's the naughty list?"

"You're not fooling me, Neo, I'm a Jedi, and when I tell Roman what happened here-"

A sudden chirp caught their attention, and they turned to see a black ball of fuzz on the ground.

"...damn it all." Weiss pointed. "Grimm Tribbles, Neo. GRIMM TRIBBLES!"

"Why are you yelling at me, strange lady?"

"They can literally feed on negativity, did you know that? Gah!" Weiss threw up her hands. "The Dust tribbles weren't bad enough-"

"Wow, that sounds terrible-"

"Neo." Weiss took a deep breath, and let it out. "Neo," she said again. "Congratulations. You win. You've gotten under my skin. I am supremely irritated now."

Neopolitan blinked.

"Yes, you heard that right." The heiress applauded slowly, sarcastically. "You got me."

"Huh." The ice cream girl let the illusion fall. "Can I get that in writing?"

"...Only," Weiss ground out, "if you promise to help clean. Up. This. Mess."

Neo smirked. "Writing first, then you get me."

"...FINE! FINE!" Weiss pulled out her stationery and a pen. "I, Weiss Schnee, Second Looper Of Remnant, do hereby state for the record that Neopolitan Torchwick managed to upset my level-headed chill so utterly that I actually got mad! There!" She tore off the sheet and slammed it into Neo's chest. "You happy?"

"Oh, more than you can know." Neo pocketed the sheet with a grin and walked away twirling her umbrella.

"You need to clean up the tribbles!" Weiss shouted after her.

"Patience, girlie." Neo rubbed her fingers together. "Gotta set up a few things first."

[-]

176.18 RandomRex6

[-]

Protecc Farmboi 2020

Oscar would freely admit, waking up during the Volume 6 events was troublesome for him. He got punched a lot, and none of it was his fault. But on the other hand, an excuse to go clothes shopping during his brief disappearance was welcome. Particularly since the shops were loop-variable, and new curios were constantly presenting themselves.

As he reviewed a rather nice selection of scarves, he found that someone was tapping his shoulder. He turned, and was greeted with an unfamiliar and completely unremarkable face. Assuming it to be one of the clerks, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

The mystery girl revealed her identity rather simply, by holding up a sign which read, "Looping?"

Realizing this was Neo, Oscar quirked an eyebrow. The illusionist wasn't usually one to be so bland in her appearance if she could help it. And a quick once-over allowed him to notice the somewhat solemn expression on her face. "Yeah. Did you want to talk?"

Neo, with a heavy pain in her voice, replied, "Please."

Shortly thereafter, the two found themselves at a nearby cafe. One which Oscar hoped would not be the one Ren and Nora would visit.

"So what's wrong?" the young boy asked.

The petite psycho paused before summoning the strength to speak. "You... you know I would never hurt you, right?"

Oscar was taken aback. Neo was rather infamous for her lack of morals, but he had been willing to assume that this was one of the few lines she had. "Well yeah. 'Cause I'm a looper, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Neo tried to find the words. "It's more than that. You're... my friend. Other than Roman and Zwei, I feel like you're the only one I could really talk to. I never get a decent childhood anymore, but I've still got whatever this is. And I don't wanna lose that."

Oscar started to cotton on. "This is about the expansions."

Neo nodded. No words this time. Just a sign, slid from one side of the table to the other. "She'll kill you."

Oscar could've gone without seeing that spelled out. "I mean, I expect her to try, but..."

"I hate this."

The former farmer was struck silent by the return of her voice.

"I've never done this," she explained. "I've never been worried about an expansion before. The worst I ever got was losing Roman, and I was dead with him pretty often. And I... I don't know how to do this... I'm not... I've never been... scared of myself before."

Oscar put his hand on hers. "Neo. Be honest. If next expansion, you become the Winter Maiden, and drop Atlas out of the sky, would you even blink?"

She shook her head.

Oscar decided to press on. "Have you... done that in the loops?"

She paused briefly, and began to slowly nod.

"Do you regret it?"

"...no."

"Does anyone else know you did it?"

Another shake of the head.

Oscar sighed. "I'm not going to say you should talk to Weiss. Roman or Zwei should come before that. But... it means a lot to know how much you care."

"And if I do hurt you?"

"You won't," he reminded her. "You might not like it, but you should probably talk to Cinder, too. She's our expert on stuff like this."

Neo stuck her tongue out in defiance.

Oscar smirked. "There you are."

Neo wiped away the smallest forming tear, and asked, "So... want me to be the weird friend you met shopping?"

"Ruby's awake, so she'd probably be into that."

Neo smiled. Just because she had no morals didn't mean she couldn't be a good guy now and then.

[-]

176.19 diesel

[-]

Live Action Roll Play

Pyrrha landed hard and rolled to her feet as she Awoke coming up with one hand on the table, a strand of hair falling into her face as she rose to face Cinder who stalked across the ruined Beacon tower towards the one that stole her... garlic bread? Pyrrha's mind raced as pings rang out signaling a full house of loopers, given the situation there was only one viable thing to do here. "I roll to hit you with my shield using my semblance!"

Cinder paused as Pyrrah flung a D20 across the ground. The plastic icosahedron bounced across the ground and coming to rest with the number 11 facing up.

"My AC is 16, you miss." Cinder's blades turned into a bow as Pyrrha's shield flew at her head and missed, "I fire an arrow," She said grandly tossing the dice back only roll her eyes as a 7 came up.

"AC14, you miss." The arrow shoots off into the distance as Pyrrah dashed forwards and grabbed at her weapon, "I grab my weapon and throw it at Cinder," kicking the dice as she did so.

Both warriors watched with bated breath as the dice bounced across the ground and then over the side.

"Sorry!"

"I'll take that as a miss," Cinder said deadpan.

[-]

176.20 Masterweaver

[-]

The Tribbles Of Mantle: PURGE THEM WITH...!

Winter, Robyn, and Ironwood stood on the highest roof of Mantle.

"...So you said your sister had crazy adventures in space," Robyn said conversationally.

"That did happen," Winter replied.

"So... are the ice cream monsters her friends or...?"

"No," sighed Ironwood, "but they're not her enemies either."

"Ah, General." Weiss stepped off a nearby glyph, nodding to the three of them in turn. "Winter, miss Hill. I found the perpetrator and... convinced her to agree to clean up the mess."

"With ice cream monsters," Robyn deadpanned.

"I left the matter to her discretion." Weiss sighed. "Primarily because I was tired of dealing with her... her-ness."

"Neo?" Winter asked.

"Neo," Weiss confirmed. She turned toward Robyn. "Send me the bill for the expenses and I'll reimburse you thrice over. If you all will excuse me, I need to go find a room to scream in."

Ironwood quirked a brow as Weiss started off. "That's... actually a bit further then I expected her to go."

"She really doesn't like tribbles."

Robyn pinched her brow with a sigh. "Look, I get your sister's space adventures are top secret or whatever, but can you promise me that this... this is going to get handled?"

"With... eighty-seven percent certainty," Ironwood allowed. "Neo is... Neo."

"That tells me all of nothing."

"This," Winter sighed, "was the wrong week for Ruby to go on vacation."