Questions of Maternity

"Watts, I leave Atlas in your care," Salem said calmly, bringing the meeting to its close. Watts, more than a little proud of himself, rose imperiously from the table and stalked from the room, a less than enthusiastic Tyrian trailing behind him. Salem folded her hands, watching the pair pass beyond the doors. Truthfully, she had little doubt that Arthur would be able to rein in Tyrian's worst impulses whilst using him to his full potential. Brains and brawn, they were a good combination.

It was only when the doors shut that Salem detected it. The faintest traces of emotion beyond reverence or self-confidence. An aperture through which she sensed greater turmoil.

The Grimm Maiden rose to her feet and began to straighten the various fixtures of her meeting hall, cleaning up the candles and pushing the chairs into their proper places. The emotions switched, from a tumult of unmatched raged, mental anguish, and roaring frustration to utter bewilderment, and then with a hint of bemusement beneath a wall of stoicism. "You know I'm here."

"I am of the Grimm. I am the adopted daughter of the Dark God. I knew you were here from the start," Salem whispered.

The emotions, which had flooded the room like the fog of ages, coalesced. A small, red-cloaked woman sat in Salem's chair at the head of the table, but a look of disgust instantly transfixed her expression, and she rose to her feet. "How can you sit on that?"

"Millennia of not giving a damn," Salem said, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the woman before her. "I imagine you've come to understand quite a bit more than Ozpin would want you to?"

Ruby's lips pulled themselves into a knife's gash, the rage of emotions behind her silver eyes sealing themselves away. "More than you'd know Salem."

"Are you here to threaten me?"

"What good would that do?"

"Children like you believe that violence brings catharsis."

"But I'm not a child, am I?"

Salem paused, reassessing the woman before her. Ruby's bearing was less than impressive, and in fact it was almost haggard. The ironclad emotional control was far more interesting, as every second that passed indicated that Ruby was absolutely bereft of guidance. "Why did you come to me?" Salem said, her projection of pride disintegrating.

Ruby held Salem's gaze for longer than Salem had expected, but eventually the flower wilted. "I wanted to know what happened to my mother this time."

Salem caught the tail of Ruby's answer, an eyebrow rising delicately. "This time? Have I ever done something different to Summer Rose?"

"...What are you willing to believe?"

The immortal witch sat down, folding her hands. "Try me."

...

The candles had burned very low by the time Ruby's tale reached the moment of her encounter with Salem. The Grimm Maiden emerged from the eon spanning epic with a look of slack-jawed amazement, which upon noticing herself she corrected. Salem sat up a little straighter, pulling her composure out of its slump and unto herself. "That is... a very painful story to hear."

"Try living it," the fellow immortal quipped. Ruby dabbed at her eyes, putting away the fresh tears. "27 trillion years... or thereabout. And... for the first time in eternity, I'm in reach of her, AND I STILL DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S DEAD!"

Salem actually flinched as Ruby slipped, the apparent teenager leaning forward and palming her face. Deep breaths wracked her deceptively slim frame as she fought to get herself under control. "Do you even know what it's like not to know?"

"Of course I do."

Ruby laid her head on the table, staring at nothing. "Would it even mean anything, to know what happened to her? It wouldn't... really, be the answer."

Salem looked at Ruby, old emotions, old feelings stirring in her heart. "I can show you where it happened."

"..."

The pair rose to their feet, taking to the halls like ghosts through the nighted palace of the false gods. The end of their journey was not five minutes away, an otherwise empty hallway, swept bare of the old detritus of battle. Ruby nearly stumbled when Salem halted, the last vestiges of self-control fading away. Salem averted her eyes, as much for Ruby's sake as her own.

When Ruby regained what composure she could, she surprised Salem by wrapping her arms around her. Salem instantly grabbed her and shoved her away. "Do not pretend that I am your therapist," she snarled, anger flaring her ebon gaze. "I am only indulging you because you could clearly annihilate me."

Ruby got to her feet, but she was nearly limb, a puppet held on one string. "Salem..."

Several seconds past before Salem relaxed, allowing Ruby the smallest act of twisted catharsis. It did amaze her, how little hatred Ruby seemed to possess: it seemed true that it wasn't the hope of justice she sought, but simple knowledge instead. Ruby wanted her mother, in whatever form she could have her. As Salem allowed Ruby to sob into her bosom, that old spark of pain inside of her flared for a moment. Truly, the world was a cruel place, made by evil gods for twisted entertainment.

Ruby finally removed herself from the Grimm Maiden's immediate vicinity, her composure returning with more deep breathing and brushed cheeks. "Thank you."

"...Are you content to wait Ruby? You could become a God this very moment. You could bring her back, or you could learn the truth."

"And condemn all to die for my love?" Ruby turned to Salem, resolute. "I won't become like the Brothers Salem. I could never become like them. My ascension is the death warrant of Remnant."

"Maybe Remnant deserves to die," Salem offered.

"...No." Ruby took Salem's hand in her own, and in that moment the alabaster and crimson skin faded away to its natural hues. Salem breathed for the first time in millennia, air flooding her lungs like the sweetest honey. It was nearly enough to drive her to her knees, before Salem tore her hand from Ruby's grasp. The sensation dulled and vanished, and Salem was herself again. "Salem, one day you'll become a Looper. I feel it in my bones. On that day, you'll be asked: if it was the path to reuniting with your daughters, would you walk the slow road with us? Or will the questions of godhood consume you?"

Salem looked at the false youth before her, and simply asked: "If I am your mother Ruby, if my some cosmic joke I am a thief of her body and soul, what will you do?"

"...I am the Saint of Remnant. I will hold her, and you, and I will be at peace."

Ruby began to fade into scattering rose petals. "This place is the heaven you make it. All its tortures. All its torments. They only mean what you let them mean."

"Thank you for showing me Salem. Goodbye."

[-]

177.2 Shimmer712

[-]

A Card Game for Horrible Loopers

"Sun? What is this?" Kali asked, looking at the cards in front of the blond.

Sun jumped slightly. "Kali! I didn't hear you come in," he exclaimed.

Kali smirked. "You weren't meant to," she said. She turned her gaze back to the cards. "But really, what is this?"

"Oh, it's a card game I picked up from the Hub," Sun told her.

Kali picked up a card and read the back. "Cards Against Humanity," she read before flipping it around and reading the other side. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Sun.

"Okay, basically, you have these black cards and they'll have a sentence or a question with at least one blank. One player will pick one of these cards and the others have to fill the blank with the white cards. Whoever plays a card that the person drawing the black card finds the funniest gets a point and then someone else draws a black card," Sun explained. "The Hub has a bunch of different expansions so I was thinking of making Remnant Loopers expansion."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, there are probably already looper expansions out there, even if I haven't heard of them yet. So why not a Remnant one?"

Kali shuffled through the cards, reading them. "Maybe make up one set so that they're less awkward to play in certain combinations of players," she suggested.

Sun crinkled his face in confusion. "Huh?"

Kali put a black card down. "Alright, let's say both Ghira and I are in a game that Blake and Yang and also in and this card comes up. A white card like this one," she put down a card with "Bees?" printed on it. "Would be funny and no awkwardness at all. But if someone had only cards like these," she put down several more white cards. "And had to play one of them?"

Sun's eyes widened as he read the cards. "I get your point, Mrs B. I'll make two decks, one family safe so Ghira and Tai don't kill me for those sort of cards if they ever play with their daughters." He paused. "It'll also spare us any combinations Neo may come up with."

"She is certainly... imaginative in that area, isn't she?" Kali commented. "I think, if I ever play with her, it'll only be with the family safe version."

"Good plan," Sun nodded. "Think I'll do the white cards first. I can figure out the black cards later. Maybe get some inspiration from the loops."

Kali smiled and left the other looper to his project. "Maybe I should look into a new hobby," she mused. "Maybe some sculpting..."

[-]

177.3 BIOS-Pherecydes

[-]

[RWBY][Hellsing]

Patient Intake, Part 1

The afternoon sunlight shone through the windows of the Beacon Academy hallways, brightly illuminating the students and faculty who passed through them in blissful obliviousness to the disaster which would have, in the normal course of events, resulted in unparalleled death and destruction. Walking the hallways beside an attractive blonde and her faunus teammate, the cause of said destruction's prevention listened in casual amusement as the dark-haired girl at his side spoke.

"Thanks for agreeing to do this. These last few Expansions have been particularly hard on her."

Yang snorted, "She wasn't doing too hot before either, with all the shit that got revealed after Penny and Ruby's relationship drama."

Blake nodded in agreement. "We've been talking about getting her a therapist of her own for a while now, and, well..."

"You decided I would be the best person for the job."

Yang tilted her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. "More like you're the only other therapist we've had show up that we know for sure is any good. You did great back when she was having her other freak-out over the last set of Expansions and she asked you to take over for her."

Alucard smirked, "Well, I wouldn't say she 'asked' me to take over. In fact, if I recall correctly, I offered to help and she demanded I apply for the position."

Yang burst out laughing at that. "Okay, yeah, that sounds like Weiss."

Hiding a smile of her own, Blake continued, "This time, we're definitely asking. This latest thing with Ironwood seems to have really bothered her. She spends most of her time, whenever someone doesn't drag her outside to participate in whatever crazy idea they've come up with for the Loop, locked inside our room Force Meditating."

Alucard actually frowned slightly at that. "I see. Very well. I'll be more than happy to lend my services," he grinned, "you can discuss the bill with Integra the next time you visit the Hellsing Estate."

Yang rolled her eyes, but nodded, "Yeah, sure, fine. Hey, I gotta ask, what did you do with Cinder? I know she was Awake, and she's not really the type to go down without a fight. But as far as we can tell she just vanished right before the Vytal Tournament."

Alucard grinned a slightly too wide grin. "Let's just say we had a talk, vampire to vampire."

[-]

Weiss sat in the corner of the room which she had designated her meditation area, eyes closed and breathing even. She allowed her emotions to roll over her, pass through her, and be released into the Force. She gave herself over totally to the process of seeking perfect harmony of self and surroundings. She was one with the Force, and the Force was one with...

The door slammed open with a wall-shaking crash, and a tall man in red walked into the room. "Lucy! I'm home! And you got some 'splaining to do!"

Weiss' brow twitched and she opened her eyes. "Alucard. Why, exactly, are you barging into my room?"

Alucard strolled over to the desk and pulled out a chair to sit in before crossing his legs and grinning at Weiss, "Well, princess, I've been hired to do some fine-tuning to your adorable little noggin. So why don't you lie down, get comfy, and tell me about your father."

It took a moment for Weiss to actually process the meaning hidden behind the condescension, blatant sexism, and stereotype. Mostly because she wasn't actually sure she'd heard it correctly for several seconds.

"Excuse you? I am completely fine. I do not need a therapist, let alone one as rude as you. I will reluctantly admit you may have done a good enough job with my team, but I am perfectly capable of dealing with my own issues on my own. Unlike some people here, I actually have training in the subject."

Alucard made an exaggeratedly offended expression. "Who, moi? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class at Imperial College London." He was abruptly standing next to the wall, where he hung a framed diploma, before just as abruptly returning to his previous position in his chair.

Weiss gaped. "You, of all people, went to college."

Buffing his nails on his coat, he grinned smugly. "Of course. As you so helpfully pointed out during my little interview, I can hardly call myself a professional without the appropriate paperwork. Sir Integra concurred and generously agreed to pay for a full scholarship. I am a fully licensed Psychotherapist, summa cum laude."

Weiss buried her head in her hands with a sigh. "Fine. You're accredited. But, as I stated before, I have no need for your services. I am doing just fine on my own, thank you very much."

"Oh? Well, your teammates do not appear to agree. As I stated before, I was hired to do this job. By a lovely interspecies couple you may be familiar with."

"Wait, what? Yang and Blake hired you? Why?"

Alucard leveled Weiss with a rare serious look. "Perhaps they feel you aren't adjusting as well as you would like to believe. Perhaps, they're concerned for your well-being. So, for the sake of expediency, let's pretend we've already gotten done with the usual back and forth and you make yourself comfortable? We have a lot of ground to cover, I'm sure."

He paused, then resumed grinning, "Would you prefer your couch or mine?"

Weiss stared in surprise at Alucard's change in demeanor, before allowing herself a roll of the eyes. She wasn't sure she actually needed anyone else's help, but she would allow that if Blake and Yang thought she did, then the least she could do was consider the possibility.

"I'll use my own, thank you." So saying, she Unpocketed the couch she usually used for her own patients, and situated herself on it with a small sigh.

[-]

177.4 Masterweaver

[-]

It's a serious thing to consider

"Emerald, I have a very important question for you."

Emerald drew herself up. "Yes Cinder?"

"...Actually, before I ask it, let me rephrase." Cinder folded her hands together. "This is not 'strategically' important, nor is it 'personally' important. Well, it is personally important, but it isn't a question that is important to just you and me. It is emotionally important for the entire loop, and I want you to take time to consider it from all angles."

"I understand."

"In order to prevent... certain individuals," Cinder glanced at the door, "from making the family tree more complicated, I have been considering semi-officially claiming Mercury as another ward. However, not only will I not do that until after he officially reveals himself to be looping, I also will not do it if you object. So... thoughts?"

"Huh." Emerald sat back down on the bed. "Well, I don't think Mercury would like that-"

"More specifically," Cinder pressed, "your thoughts. Not what you think he would feel."

"Ah. Hmm." The greenette cleared her throat. "So, I've basically always seen you as a patron figure of some sort. Mix of mother, hot older student, goddess... actually, yeah," she mused, "goddess works. In the classical sense, I mean, you're powerful and I obey you but I know full well you might do something stupid because you're bored."

Cinder frowned.

"Not-not that I'm calling you stupid," Emerald backpedaled quickly. "I mean, you're more of a greek god-NORSE! Norse god! Uh, shenanigans and... the point is I sincerely and totally respect you while acknowledging you are capable of error for human reasons!"

"...I believe I gather your meaning," Cinder said dryly.

"Aheh, so, anyway, that's, that's how I view you. But I know that's not how Mercury views you, so I... I think calling him your ward would be a bit..." Emerald waggled a hand. "It feels like he wouldn't respect what that means, you know? At least to me."

"You would prefer to remain my only ward," Cinder concluded.

Emerald shrugged. "I mean... there was that loop way back when-a hub loop, where he was my adoptive brother, and that felt... not quite like what I've got with him now. Maybe a cousin or... no, that's not right either...? Somewhere between cousin and brother, maybe. Look, I'll be honest, the only experience I really have with the concept of family is either our baseline relationship or the looping family tree as a whole."

"How do you feel about him emotionally?"

"Mercury's an annoying ball of spikey snark that I don't hate but don't want to be around, right up until I actually get threatened emotionally, then he becomes this hard wall of 'don't mess with Emerald' for exactly how long it takes for the threat to go." Emerald shrugged. "So... I dunno, he's an annoying irreverent jerkass, but he's my annoying irreverent jerkass?"

"Hmm."

"But if you don't want me to adopt him into the family tree that's fine," Emerald said quickly. "I mean if you have plans-"

"Not plans so much as weighing the pros and cons." Cinder tapped her fingers together thoughtfully. "The vast majority of adoptions in the Remnant family tree have been mutually decided. I suspect Mercury will choose where he fits when the time comes. Honestly, the only thing I'm worried about is exactly how much this will bungle our already stupidly complicated chart."

"Yeah. So... wait for Merc to weigh in?"

"Wait, yes. But we can suggest things to him..." Cinder's smile grew dangerous. "Seriously, subtly, or otherwise."

"...why are you smiling like that?"

"Well, we haven't dropped by Marcus's yet..."

[-]

"But Ciiiiiiiindeeeeeer," Emerald whined petulantly, "I dunwanna share the wagon!"

"Hush child," Cinder admonished her with a bright smile. "Ah whoudav' thought ya'll'd'a love havin' a big brother! Come on then, pardner, we'v'a long ways ta get!"

Mercury, confronted with the image of Cinder dressed as what some would call a southern belle and Emerald for all the world looking like a bratty teenager, shrugged and staggered forward on his bloody legs. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

[-]

177.5 Masterweaver

[-]

Failure is not Forever

James Ironwood leaned over his desk, gripping the edge tightly.

"...So, you saw the backups."

He sighed. "Glynda..."

"James, you know-we all know..." Glynda trailed off for a moment. "...you've... been afforded knowledge and opportunity he hasn't."

"I know. And I know," he added, "I know that he's... that I... that he isn't in his right mind."

Glynda took a deep breath, walking up to the desk. "I can't say I understand exactly what it is you're going through. Any mistake I made in baseline... it boils down to, well, failing to teach my students. Not making the wrong choices. I... could say this is similar to my absence during Cinder's psychotic episode. But even that is different, isn't it."

"You were always unprepared." James let out a haggard chuckle, no mirth in it. "Glynda Goodwitch, based on the witch who saw everything, all her faults built only on not seeing enough."

"James-"

"And I'm the Tin Woodman. I'm supposed to value my heart, but I throw it away-"

"James." Glynda put a hand on his shoulder. "You aren't alone in this."

"...Aren't I?"

"No." She gestured behind them. "Every member of team RWBY made choices in baseline they regret. Every looper from Remnant-except maybe Neo," she allowed, "knows what it's like to see the mistakes of who they could have been."

"Neo... and Penny, and Pyrrha, and Oscar, and Kali and Ghira and-"

"My point," Glynda continued firmly, "is that this... this isn't something you have to endure alone. That this... what she did to you... we understand. We will help you heal... here. In the loops, and I'm certain that they will talk to your unawake self, calm him and give him peace. You can't let regret determine your path for eternity."

Ironwood turned to look at her then. "Isn't that why we declared war on Baseline? On fate itself? Because we regret what we did?"

"I..." Glynda sighed. "I think, perhaps, war was not a good word. We didn't want this to bind us. To chain us. But that doesn't mean we wanted to ignore it." She considered for a moment. "...Independence, perhaps. The ability to decide our lives, apart from the tragedies that happened. The enemy is not regret... it's despair. And..." Her eyes looked out the window, to the edge of Atlas and the barely visible city of Mantle beneath it. "And it seems that is an enemy we struggle against the most often."

"It's very similar to apathy," James agreed. "The sense that life... doesn't matter, in the end." He turned toward her. "How... how do you do it? Looping, for so long-longer then me. Knowing that eternity exists... that it's all dust in the breeze... that what few great edifices there are, your failures are among them?"

Glynda did not reply for a moment, simply looking out the window.

"...Some would say the existence of a multiverse... of any infinity... renders everything pointless. Because anything that vast, that large a scope, it renders even the greatest effort impotent against the size of eternity." She took a breath. "But... the value of a thing is never in its size. Never in how much it affects. It is always in what is affected. I am a teacher, a mentor, and every loop I teach the same students-some, permanent fixtures of baseline, some loop variable beyond comprehension. Loopers may not need my guidance anymore, but I can still run them through their paces-and when inevitably Yggdrasil throws something at us we didn't expect, I see the skills I honed within them put to excellent use. And for those who aren't looping, who don't exist beyond that one iteration, I still provide the roots of a future. It is small, meager, in comparison to the size of everything-but it is important. To them. To me. To the lives they will lead."

She turned to look him in the eyes. "This 'great edifice' of a failure matters only however you let it. And I know it isn't easy to accept that-to know, looking from the outside, that you made a mistake which will cost lives, Mantle, perhaps ultimately Atlas itself. That you have within you the capacity to make this error once more. But to let it weigh on you... to let the pain become your guide, to let the suffering determine your outlook... no matter how difficult it is, you can't take this that way. You have to stand up, James. You have to stand up, look that horror straight in her face, and say two simple words. 'Never again.' Let that be your creed."

James Ironwood looked away, a slow breath escaping his lungs. "...It isn't easy."

"It never is. Especially alone." Glynda took his hand. "But... you know it's right."

"...I know." He shut his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his brow. "I guess I should... go make sure everyone knows I'm alright."

The general turned away from his desk, walking toward the door, but paused. "...Glynda?"

"Yes?"

"How many of them are out there waiting to glomp, lecture, and or psychoanalyze me?"

Glynda chuckled. "Every looper who heard Ruby's broadcast in baseline."

"...They're not going to leave me alone for a month, are they."

"Two months, minimum."

James sighed, though a small smile graced his face. "I suppose it's time to face the music." He stepped out of the room.

[-]

177.6 Masterweaver

[-]

Will somebody think of the children?!

"Okay." Jaune crossed his arms. "I'm not going to be mad. I just want to know who, exactly, convinced Harriet Bree to babysit Adrian."

Pyrrha hesitantly raised a hand. "We were talking, she was drinking, I was pretending to drink, I kind of... suggested that I had more experience with kids, and one thing led to another..."

"Okay, that makes sense."

"Does this have anything to do with the news report?" Ren asked.

Jaune gave him a flat look. "The one about the Colossus doing dance moves?"

"Yes."

"I wish I could say it did. But no, that was something entirely different."

"Oh."

"Sooooo... why are you so mad?" Nora asked.

"Because Harriet managed to expand Adrian's vocabulary."

Nora winced.

"Volumoniously."

Nora hissed a sharp breath. "Yikes. Okay. Wow. Saphron's mad?"

"Oh, she's just disappointed. Terra's the one who's mad. She... she's published an expose and used her tech skills to make sure it spreads through Argus."

Pyrrha sunk in her chair, putting her face in her hands. "I'm sorry..."

[-]

177.7 BIOS-Pherecydes

[-]

[RWBY][Hellsing]

Patient Intake, Part 2

Alucard shrugged, "Suit yourself. Now then, why don't we get the customary prognosis out of the way first: You're gay."

Weiss blinked, blinked again, then levered herself up to level a disbelieving gaze at Alucard. "Seriously?! That's how you start your sessions?"

Grinning widely, Alucard made a note upon the clipboard he now held. "You'd be surprised at how often that actually works. Granted, my experience may be slightly skewed, but I've found that approximately a fifth of all my patients' issues stem from a repressed sexuality. Freud was a hack, I think we can both agree on this, but he was not entirely without merit."

His grin turned slightly smug, "Also, even those who aren't actually in denial over their sexual preferences typically provide enough information for me to start working on their actual issues based upon their reaction to the accusation. Shall we continue?"

Huffing, Weiss grudgingly resumed her previous state. "That is highly unprofessional."

Alucard broke out into laughter at that. "My dear Weiss, at what point in our acquaintanceship have I ever given the impression of professionalism?"

Giving a small smirk of her own, Weiss nodded her head in acknowledgment. "True enough, I suppose. However, if we are to have a working relationship, I'd appreciate a bit less 'Crimson Fucker' and a bit more Voivode."

Alucard paused, and narrowed his eyes seriously. "I think you may want to reconsider. Are you certain that's what you want?"

Weiss met his gaze evenly. "I'm aware of the risk. 'Rouse not the sleeping dragon.' But I am quite certain. If I am to bear my innermost thoughts to you, I would prefer to do so in an atmosphere of dignity. While your typical persona is fitting for normal day-to-day chicanery and shenanigans, this is a serious subject and should be treated as such."

Alucard sighed, but nodded. "If that's what you want, then so be it."

The air seemed to grow heavier, the shadows longer, and where once had sat a man in crimson cloak and matching fedora now sat an aristocrat. His piercing gaze no longer hidden behind his usual glasses, Alucard met Weiss' eyes.

"Very well then child. I hope it is all that you expected. Now, as cliché as it may be, I'll ask again. Tell me about your father. I'm given to understand you have strong opinions about him, and his existence in general."

Steadfastly refusing to give in to the almost palpable aura of danger being projected by Alucard's loosed presence, Weiss nodded her head and lay back on the couch. She began to speak.

[-]

"Would it be fair to say that Jacques' lack of ethics and remorse has left you feeling as though you have inherited the guilt that he doesn't feel for the actions which he has taken?"

[-]

"I see. So, if I'm to understand this correctly, you feel as though it is your fault for not noticing and addressing both Cinder, Ruby, and Penny's underlying trauma which in turn led to the various tragedies and drama which has plagued your Loop."

[-]

"Explain exactly what you feel your role is as the 'second' of Remnant."

[-]

"How would you define your relationships with each of the various Loopers? Let's hold off on Ruby for now. We'll start with the most recent Loopers first, and work our way backwards."

[-]

"And how did James' decision make you feel? Not your Baseline self, you as a Looper."

[-]

Leaning back in his chair, Alucard contemplated the past hour with the young woman before him. He took another glance at his notes, checking to see if he'd missed anything, before setting the clipboard down. "Well, this has been a fairly productive first session. I can see now why I was called in."

Weiss sat up and pulled a bottle of water from her Pocket. "Oh? And what, may I ask, is your conclusion?" she questioned curiously, though not with any real malice; she did actually feel calmer, so she agreed that if nothing else, this had actually helped.

"It is, of course, too early to make any definitive conclusions, but as a preliminary diagnosis I would suggest a mild case of Responsibility OCD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and General Anxiety. From what you've said, you have an almost chronic need to resolve the other Loopers' problems, and a guilt complex should you perceive in yourself any failure to perform that task. In addition, you have tied your entire identity — as well as your sense of self-worth — into the role of 'Remnant's Second' and being the person who resolves the mental turmoil of those around you.

"In and of themselves, neither of those are inherently negative duties, but by making that your primary, if not sole, function you have limited your ability to express yourself freely. Additionally, and I will admit there is a slight bias on my part here, I do not think your Jedi training has in any way helped this situation. To be perfectly frank, I consider the idea of surrendering your emotions and passions to the Force for the sake of inner peace to be a denial of the self which I would think any licensed therapist should find abhorrent.

"Standard meditation is an essential tool for mental health, allowing a person to confront and examine their own minds and emotions and deal with them properly. Force Meditation is a tool through which the practitioner seeks to remove the emotions entirely. The Sith retain the negative only, whereas the Jedi attempt to hollow themselves out completely in an effort to willingly make themselves a more perfect vessel to the Force. Both are a denial of the emotions being surrendered, and completely fail to deal with the emotions themselves in any meaningful way.

"You need to find a way to confront and work through the emotions, and find a way to express them in a productive manner. For example, myself. In my original Baseline, I was self-destructive, nihilistic, hedonistic, and suicidal. I found an alternative however, upon living through the events of my Second Baseline. I discovered an outlet for the negativity within myself, in the form of irreverence and black humor. Even before the conclusion, in which I directly confronted myself and my varied disorders, I managed to find a form of catharsis. You need to do the same.

"Figure out who you are, outside of and divorced from the roles you have taken upon yourself. Find an outlet for your emotions that don't involve meditating them away entirely, which is little better than repressing them, and a method for expressing yourself that is entirely independent of and unrelated to your relationship to the other Loopers in your Branch."

"And how, exactly, do you suggest I do that?" Weiss demanded, a bit more defensively than she had intended.

"That's up to you. What worked for me is unlikely to work for you, and vice versa. Also, unrelated to the previous point, I would like to draw your attention back to an earlier statement you made. You said that you and the other Remnant Loopers quote 'declared war against your Baseline.' Let me ask you a question, what does it mean to you to make war?"

[-]

177.8 Masterweaver

[-]

Yarr-harr and Fiddle-de-dee

"Hey, Ruby, you remember way back when we decided to be pirates for a loop?"

Ruby glanced over from her knapsack. "Yeah?"

"Apparently there are pirates on Patch."

"Well, that's a strange variant-"

"No no no, it's one of those fill-in expansions. I had a run-in with them."

That got the reaper staring at her sister. "...Seriously?"

"Seriously," Yang confirmed as she finished pitching her tent.

"Wow, Yang, that just-wow. I mean, geeze. Pirates from Patch."

"Yeah." The blonde cleared her throat awkwardly. "Also my cooking skills in baseline are apparently abysmal."

"Oh." Ruby's face fell, and she reached out to put a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder. "I'm... I'm so sorry, sis-"

"It's fine, it's fine." Yang rolled her eyes. "There are so many things you can learn in the loops, after all."

"It's just, I know it's a little thing. But it's... important, right? Having something like that taken away in the expansions... It has to hurt a little, right?"

"...Eeeeenh. Hurt's not the right word, I think. Irritation. 'Oh come on, I've been helping around the house, baking cookies for my sister, for literal eons! Why do you decide now I can't do that tree?' Something like that."

"Hmmm."

Yang gave her an amused look. "Of course, if it turns out you're a horrible cook in baseline, you can totally bemoan your fate."

"Oh, well yeah." Ruby started gathering up some firewood. "...Pirates on Patch."

"Mmmhmm."

"You know, I'm suddenly thinking... Pirates of Penzance, right?"

"Oh, yeah, that could-huh. Yeah, actually..." Yang rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "That might be their template, come to think of it...

[-]

177.9 Luna 2

[-]

Of Wizards and Tin Men

High up a steep mountain in Northern Saunus, in the dark, a lone figure huddled in a deep cave, the light of a fire flickering in front of him. Garb befitting a hillwalker or huntsman more accustomed to the wilds than a city in the sky, a beard waist long and hair unkempt, any pretense at cutting or combing long since abandoned. James Ironwood just sat there, eyes closed, thinking.

And yet, even while thinking, he was aware of movement at the cave mouth. This visitor had made no attempt to hide their presence, and, as it became clearer who was approaching, he visibly relaxed.

"Evening, General."

Ironwood looked up with weary eyes at Ozpin, barely registering any change, but acknowledging him with a nod.

"I brought a special brew for such a cold night," Ozpin intoned while he poured out two cups from a large flask.

"I appreciate the sentiment Oz, but I'm not exactly a fan of coffee at the moment," Ironwood responded in a slightly tired tone.

"I never said it was coffee. In fact, you would only be the third person I've invited to drink this."

Ironwood quirked an eyebrow, before accepting the cup with a polite "Thank you."

It certainly looked like coffee, but the smell was 'different' – it didn't seem to be that powerful. Shrugging slightly, Ironwood started drinking. The liquid itself was far more potent than its look or smell, and Ironwood felt his head becoming simultaneously both much clearer and duller as he drank... then the kick of the concoction nearly set his throat on fire and made his head feel it'd been on the receiving end of Magnhild.

"What is this?" he hoarsely whispered.

"A little something Oscar and I brewed together as an experiment." Ozpin drank his own before wheezing slightly. "Not quite in the realm of the popular beverages that Roman devises, but I find it very helpful sometimes. Clears the head but also punches you in it. More?"

"Please." Ironwood had the cup refilled before continuing. "I tried to reassure them that I was ok, but, I still needed… some space… to think about it. Of all places out there, Loopers tend to go to the deserts of Vacuo, the mountains of Atlas, the forests of Mistral or the many interesting places of Menagerie. But, there's so much of Sanus outside of Vale itself where people can just… disappear without a trace."

The two sat quietly for a moment, punctuated only by the occasional crackling of the fire.

"Why did you come here?" Ironwood's question was simple and yet so complicated.

"Because I understand the feeling of thinking alone about past mistakes, and that while well-meaning physical hugs or psychological treatment agendas have their time and place, there is sometimes value of having a person who just listens."

Ironwood thought for a moment.

"I know that my baseline self is different, but that doesn't change the fact that anyone else among our Loopers will struggle to understand the particular challenge of how I'm feeling. It's different."

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow.

Ironwood continued, voice calm but sad. "I turned on them Oz. None of them have that experience. I wasn't a villain in disguise, a traitor, a manipulative ex-associate, or just some misguided official who didn't know them. They were my allies. They did everything they could to protect the people and to support me. And in a single moment… I let my anger and my fear blind me and ordered them to be arrested. Ordered Winter to do… that… to seize the Maiden's powers. Ordered that Mantle be abandoned by raising Atlas!" Ironwood pounded his fist into the dirt. "I… I was so close to doing the right thing, but then I allowed my fears to override my common sense and also abandoned my humanity. And because of what?" Ironwood's voice cracked as his face contorted, almost deflating as he said it. "A chess piece."

Ozpin said nothing

"I know that was only the trigger. All that stress I'd been put under. All that manipulation. But all the same... She didn't use a weapon to do this Oz. Watts and Tyrian undermined me, but they never got into my head the way she did. She didn't have to draw a sword, shoot a gun, throw a fireball. Cinder was the messenger, but it was... Salem's symbol. She used… nothing more than a chess piece… to throw my mind into confusion. Her little light show and monologue did the rest."

He put his head in his hands.

"I don't blame my baseline self for not being in his right mind. What disturbs me most is that he didn't even stop to consider that possibility. Oz, if any man under my command was experiencing that kind of stress or made the obvious mistakes that I did up until that point, I would have immediately had them relieved of duty. I had just received the trauma of burning the skin off my arm to bring down Watts... and then…" He looked up, shaking his head, eyes wide in disbelief. "…Am I supposed to believe that I, the paranoid and ever-cautious General, just picked up the bag Watts carried, didn't bother checking it, flew the bag back to Atlas while at some point getting my arm put in a sling, and then walked through all the Academy security right to my office… with a Seer Grimm in it?!"

Ironwood's face fell.

"It's not just about what we did in Baseline Oz. It affects us whether we want it to or not. That paranoia, that blindness, what if I carry that over to the Loops? I've been looking back at mistakes I've made since I began looping and wondered if I already have?"

A moment of silence before Ozpin spoke again.

"James, you're talking to the mysterious old wizard. My baseline self was blinded by love for a woman whose own passions for me led her to destroy the world once over, before she convinced me to help her on the road to doing it again. In spite of living uncountable lifetimes in a supposedly 'trusting' and symbiotic relationship with those I became joined to, I was paranoid to the point of not even trusting my closest allies with all the secrets I held, including you. And I see now just how much hurt that is continuing to cause." Ozpin's grip on his mug tightened as emotion played around the edges of his voice. "Even in the Loops, I was addicted to conspiracy from the start, the original stealth looper of our branch and schemer extraordinaire of Remnant... So, in fact," he gave Ironwood a sympathetic and wearied look of his own, "I have an all-too-familiar idea of how it feels to act out of fear, to turn on those trying to help, and to run the risk of being consumed by your own paranoia."

More crackling from the fire.

"You know. I never did find out how I planned to stop team RWBY and Qrow on that mountain."

"What?" Ironwood looked perplexed.

"After the train crash, on the way to Mistral. It's a part of baseline that the Loopers don't tend to revisit as much these days – of course there's a lot of talk about what Jinn told them, shenanigans with the Lamp, the revelations about me, their hostile reactions to it in the Loops… but no-one really concentrated on how I took it at that moment in time, beyond the impact it had on Oscar and myself subsequently. When we were arguing in the snow and I was trying to convince Miss Rose…" He sighed, trailing off. "…to convince Ruby to return the Lamp to me… then there was Oscar holding me back, telling them about Jinn, weapons drawn, words exchanged. It reaches the point where Ruby asks her question and I…" A troubled look came onto his face. "I scream 'No' and run towards her with my arm outstretched, dodging the others and almost reaching her before the vision started."

Ozpin stared towards the fire, such that reflections of the flames danced on the lenses of his glasses.

"Even after all this time, I still don't know what I was doing in that moment James. Was I simply trying to stop her receiving the answer? Was I wanting to cling to her in act of desperation? Or, in a fit of paranoid rage, was I planning to harm her and everyone else there? Possibly even to knock them out and use magic to erase their memories of the event?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"I've thought about it often enough."

By his expression, that genuinely took Ironwood by surprise.

"Yes. Whether it was thoughts embedded in Loop memories or reflecting on it while Awake."

"I never heard anything about that."

"Well it never cropped up, even in variants, so I never told anyone. Not even Weiss. Not even Pyrrha or Glynda when I talked with them about it. Certainly not Ruby, although she and the other Loopers there would undoubtedly have considered the possibility at some point."

Ozpin took another swig of what was definitely stronger than coffee but indistinguishable by appearance.

"So you see James," he wheezed, "we've both turned on them in different ways. And for different reasons. What you did may have ended up being guided by paranoia, but it was always driven solely by a desire to protect as many people as you could, when placed in an impossible position. My actions were fuelled by my own selfish desire to protect my personal secrets, my arrogance, and my guilt, as much as by any nobler intentions."

"It doesn't make my actions any better."

"No. But it certainly doesn't make them worse either. And you've been a lot more open with the Loopers than I ever was. Besides, it isn't a one-way street. They are also going to find themselves having to reflect uncomfortably on the serious consequences of the information their baseline selves withheld, from you and from each other."

The two looked at each other before Ozpin continued.

"I know for a fact it is very unpleasant, particularly for those of us not prone to divulging our innermost thoughts. But I also know that, sometimes, it is as much of benefit to them as to us."

"I know that, and I will tell them what I need to. But, you can imagine my reluctance to have people sympathetically analyze my 'supposed' problems with 'chess pieces'. I'm not looking forward to when Yggdrasil starts putting me in chess-related loops just to torment me," Ironwood said with a sense of resignation.

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow in reply and nodded. "And somehow, I think using magic to pretend this conversation never happened would actually be worse for both of us."

After a beat, the two of them clinked their mugs together and started laughing… a strange laughter, seemingly of amusement, but tainted by the dark undertones of the conversation.

[-]

177.10 Masterweaver

[-]

Old folks and new jokes

"What up, granny Callie!"

"No."

"No... what?"

"No," Maria said firmly, "I am NOT going to be called granny Callie."

Sun shrugged it off with a grin. "Well the other choice was Gramaria-"

"Oh gods no, that sounds like some sort of disease!"

"You're right. You know what, though?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe it doesn't have to be based off your name. We could take your motif instead." He spread his hands. "'SkullMama!' Fun, right?"

Maria looked at him for all of fifteen long seconds.

"You know what? I don't have to put up with this kind of abuse." She burst into flames, transforming into her younger body. "I can become the Grimm Reaper whenever I want!"

"Or maybe Gram Reaper-!" Sun ducked under a blue skull to the head, rebounding off a nearby house to dodge a backswing. "Wow, you're a feisty old lady!"

Maria paused for a moment. "...I can live with feisty old lady."

"But then we miss out calling you granny something or other!"

"Do you want me to beat the respect of your elders into you?" Maria asked. "Because I can do that."

Sun grinned cheekily. "I've been looping longer than you have."

"That just means it'll take a while," she replied with an evil smirk. "But I've lived a long life. I know the value of patience."

[-]

177.11 BIOS-Pherecydes

[-]

[RWBY][Hellsing]

Patient Intake, Part 3

Weiss blinked. "I'm... not sure I understand the question. To make war against something is to fight against it."

Alucard shook his head, and spoke. Quietly, intensely, with a sense of terrible, intimate understanding. "No. To war against something is to deny it's right to exist. It is to decide that it is unthinkable that it be allowed to continue. To make war is to reduce the value of that which is warred against to being of less worth than the dirt beneath your heels. To look at it and see not a person, or a nation, neither a creed nor an ideology, but an eyesore that is worthy of nothing less than annihilation. To make war is to desire ruination.

"What you have chosen to do with your Baseline is not war. If it were war, you would not feel so strongly affected by the events which occur therein. If it were war, you would look upon it, and see neither success or failure but information to be acted upon. Intel, to be used to excise the cancer which you cannot bear to tolerate. If it were truly War you would not allow it to guide your actions and emotions, to allow it to hold such power over you that it drives you to isolation to deal with feelings of impotence and shame, anger and sorrow.

"You have not declared war upon your Baseline. You have declared outrage, like a child's tantrum over having been denied a treat. With every Expansion, you allow the Baseline to have power over you, to decide for you, what it is that you should feel and how it is that you should behave. You vacillate between extremes, defiance and acquiescence. You pick and choose what you will stand against, and what you will allow to sway your emotions and opinions.

"Of all of you, Ruby is the least affected by this. She has chosen the hardest path of all. Understanding. You have said yourself, she seeks out the darkness, looks upon it, and laughs. Not because she cannot hate, but because she chooses not to. In spite of, rather than in spite. It is a path filled with thorns, which will rip and tear at her heart and soul; acid that will burn from within, and scour her raw and bleeding. However, should she persevere and make it to the bitter end, it is a journey which will see her emerge a guiding light of beauty, mercy and hope.

"And yet, she follows the example of her friends and family. You have given Baseline a place of honor and importance, a position of power, and because it affects you all so greatly, she allows it to do the same to her. Some Loopers choose to accept Baseline, some choose to refute it, and others still make war against it in truth. Of them all, you have chosen to do none of these. You alone, of all those whom I've seen and met, have chosen to do all three; and in so doing, have failed to do any."

Alucard stared into the stunned, gaping Weiss' eyes. "You asked that I be the Dragon. And so I am. Never has it been said that I am unjust, but equally so, may it never be said that I am not a harsh man. And the harshest of truths that you will need to confront before next we meet is this: you have placed your Baseline upon a pedestal, and made it the center of your worlds. You have given it a hold upon you, even as you heap blame at its feet. And, in truth, that fact is the source of the greater half of all of the ills which have plagued you ever since."

Weiss remained frozen, caught like a deer in the headlights, as her mind attempted to refute Alucard's words; only to find that it could not. Try as she might, she was forced to admit that all of the greatest traumas which had troubled her fellow Loopers, could all trace their roots back to Baseline events and/or reactions to them. Cinder's attempted Ascension, Penny's fragmentation, Ruby's Salem Chibis, Yang's attempts to reconcile her Looping and Baseline selves, even things as simple as her sister and Qrow's most recent relationship drama. All of them, in some form or another, directly tied into the importance which they'd given to Baseline.

And the worst part of all was that, once again, she had missed it. Somehow, she had completely failed to see it. Which meant that this could all be traced back to her as well. This was her fau—

Weiss found herself on the floor with a pain in her head.

"No. This is not your fault. You cannot be blamed for the actions of others. You cannot blame yourself for the actions of others. You are not responsible for everything that happens, nor are you responsible for the happiness of those around you."

"How did you... did you just hit me?"

Alucard smiled slightly. "Yes. I did. Would you care to object?"

Weiss glared upward at him, but grudgingly admitted that she had been in an emotional spiral and his actions had snapped her out of it. Even if it was the crudest, most asinine way to do so possible. "Don't do it again."

"Oh? And why not?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Because next time, I'll be reporting you to Integra for behavior unbefitting of an English gentleman."

Alucard winced outright at that. Immortal god-king of vampires he may have been, but Yggdrasil help him if he roused Integra's ire. Hell hath no fury like an Englishwoman on the warpath. Doubly so, if that woman was Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. The devil himself would flee her wrath. In point of fact, she actually had a framed picture of that exact event hanging above the desk in her office, so he knew with certainty that that was not an exaggeration.

"Understood. And to answer your other question, I knew what you were thinking both because I knew you would be thinking it, and because I could actually hear it running through your head. Even most Loopers lack defenses against my particular brand of quantum bullshit. More to the point however, as I said before, I believe you to have a mild case of Responsibility OCD. Though I may or may not need to revise that assessment upwards. Regardless, you feel a need to take responsibility for things that you should not in any reasonable way be held accountable for.

"This is not your fault alone, this is a shared lapse in judgment. Most likely a result of being too close to the subject to appraise it objectively. What matters now is not that you failed to recognize it as an issue before this point, but how you choose to handle it now that you have become aware of it. The greatest gift, and curse, of Looping is that it frees you from the events of the Baseline, allowing one to choose their own path. You can either allow yourself to be carried along in the wake of your Baseline self's actions, forever obsessing over what might have been, or you can create your own destiny, taking into eternity only those things which benefit you.

"The choice, in the end, is entirely your own. For better or worse. You can offer to help those around you, but you cannot be held at fault for the choices they make. Even if you have made it your mission to advise and assist, the fault lies with the ones who make the choice. You can light the path, but you cannot make another walk it."

Nodding tiredly, Weiss sighed. "I understand. And... I'll try."

[-]

177.12 Masterweaver

[-]

What Reputation Matters

"Hey Ruby?"

"Yeah, Yang?"

"What, uh, what are your feelings on the fandom?"

Ruby paused her current modifications to Crescent Rose. "Okay, what have they done now?"

"Like I mean, in general," Yang clarified. "I know we don't like thinking about it but-"

"The fandom is large with multiple sectors shouting over each other and getting into large online arguments despite the silent majority still enjoying the show now stop dancing around the question and tell me what they did this time."

"They, uh... you, well... they decided... that, um." Yang rubbed her hands together. "After that thing with the Megoliath? You fighting dirty is kinda... memetic."

Ruby stared at her.

"Yeeeeeeeah..."

"Wait. That's it?" she clarified. "That's what I'm supposed to be worried about?"

"I mean, you know, there's reputation and-"

"'Oh that Ruby Rose, she fights dirty,' what, that, that's actually supposed to bug me?"

"You know, it's a contrast, to... the whole, innocent vibe you've got going."

Ruby gestured wordlessly at the sniper scythe on the desk.

Yang conceded the point with a shrug. "Sooooooo, you're okay with that?"

"I am a silver-eyed badass huntress heroine who has managed to win many fights where I was supposedly 'outclassed,'" Ruby replied. "That's not the sort of thing that bugs me."

"Okay then."

"Now if they start shipping me with Cinder again, I'll be worried."

[-]

"Why did I tempt the tree?" Ruby muttered the next loop.

"What was that, Ruby-chan?"

The girl put on a broad smile. "Nothing, Cinder-senpai!"

"Oh, Ruby-chan," said the dark-haired woman in a gold-and-red miniskirt, "you know you can trust me with anything that comes across your adorable little head right?"

"Aheh... yeeeeeah... uh... OH LOOK IT'S SALEM-SENSEI!"

The moment Cinder's attention was off her, Ruby booked it.

[-]

177.13 Shimmer712

[-]

The Debriefing of a General And Spy

"I'm an idiot," Qrow growled, passing a bottle over to James.

James winced. "Qrow, I'm so sorry about baseline me betraying-"

"Not what I'm talking about!" Qrow snapped. He took a deep breath. "Trusting you isn't a mistake. Baseline you might not have the best judgment, but you've always tried your best."

"...Thanks," James said softly. " but what were you talking about?"

"The chess piece calling card," Qrow grumbled. "It was being used way back in the lead up to the attack on Vale. And it didn't occur to me to wonder about that when I'm supposed to be Ozpin's spy!"

James blinked. "I'm not sure I follow."

Qrow shot him a look. "You better not be one of those idiots who think spy work is just sneaking into secret bases to snoop around, dramatic chases and hidden meetings," he grunted. "That only makes up a little of it. There's also using the bits of information you get, whether it be from enemy fills or tidbits you've winnowed from gossip, boiling it all down to cut out the unimportant stuff and figuring out what the enemy is doing so you can come up with a counter plan." He shook his head. "The chess piece calling card had no purpose, especially since Salem doesn't want to announce herself. If Cinder had used the White Fang emblem then it would simply be her emphasizing the impression that the attack was the White Fangs doing. Using a chess piece just gave proof it wasn't solely the White Fang responsible. Which isn't the impression Salem wanted people to have."

"So she was taunting Ozpin?" James murmured.

"No," Qrow shook his head and looked at the general. "She was attacking you in preparation for the move on Atlas." He paused. "Although, I think everyone figured it was just some taunt."

"An attack on me?"

Qrow shrugged. "You were in Vale. You saw the troops you brought to protect people shooting down civilians, which included children and you knew the CCT had been hacked by someone with the chess piece calling card. I dunno if you found the chess piece on the drones or something but it wouldn't take much to figure that the CCT hacker was linked to the drones being hacked. So you go back to Atlas and start working to come up with a way to unite people and keep them safe. Then you find out Leo, someone we both trusted had turned traitor. Another whammy that gets you paranoid because if Leo, a guy who was impressive enough to become Haven's headmaster, who Oz trusted enough to bring into things, could turn against us, who else might?"

"Then," Qrow continued. "We get to the events in Mantle and Atlas. Robyn's supporters getting killed and people thinking it's your doing, Penny being framed and then our climax where you have just had your arm fucking flayed, know that Salem is immortal and she sends you a message in your own office via a Grimm. I'll bet she was planning to push things so that you were on the verge of a stress-induced breakdown so that chess piece calling card would push you off the edge, leading to you dividing people." Qrow bared his teeth. "She is certainly good at playing the long game."

"No one knew the chess piece would have any significance after the attack on Vale," James told him.

"But I should have figured it out," Qrow said softly. "Taking little scraps of information and figuring out they slot together so it can be used is part of what a spy does. Putting tiny scraps together is often how baseline me knows that whoever Salem had attacking Amber was Vale rather than working elsewhere while Salem made her move with a different follower in Vale."

"And you also had just one of your beloved nieces dismembered, lost a mentor and baseline you probably held his own semblance partially responsible for the attack," James pointed out. "While your younger niece had just activated her eyes and painted a target on her back. And then you were focused on protecting Ruby and her friends as they traveled. So you missing that detail is perfectly reasonable. Expected even."

"I still should have noticed something was up with the chess piece," Qrow grumbled.

"The same could have been said for all of us," James said, sighing. "Let's hope baseline me lets the others talk some sense into him." He looked at the bottle Qrow gave him. "So what is this?"

"Just some wine," Qrow shrugged. "Figured if anything would drive you to drink, it would be this."

James snorted. "Trust me, I drink plenty. One time, I actually started a war because I forgot to check whether my cybernetic augmentations included alcohol tolerance. Neo was quite happy to tell me what I did while I was blackout drunk."

Qrow blinked at him. "Don't think I was Awake for that loop. Details, now."

"And you'll get them from Neo if I keep quiet, right?" James groaned. "I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Yep. Now spill."

[-]

177.14 Masterweaver

[-]

It's a lovely morning in Beacon...

"...so I turned to professor Port and asked if that counted as extra credit."

"Pffffff..." Nora snickered as she jabbed a fork into her food. "Ruby Rose, you are an absolute unit of audaciousness."

Ruby mock bowed in her seat. "I know, I know, hold your applause please..."

"And how have things been with you?" Weiss asked politely. "Has anything happened in your life?"

Jaune honked, shifting in his armor.

"That's right," Ren recalled, "we had the funniest encounter in town last sunday."

"Oh?"

"There's this cafe that we wanted to try out for a while, but the moment we stepped in, the manager said they couldn't serve Jaune."

"Ouch." Blake shook her head. "I've been in that position a few times myself. Kind of surprised Jaune was singled out, though, was there any reason for that?"

Jaune honked huffily, ruffling his feathers.

Yang rolled her eyes. "It took you that long to realize you were going barefoot?"

"Hey," Blake pointed out, "you've run afoul of the 'no shoes no shirt no service' rules before."

"I was wearing a jacket, that totally counts as a shirt!"

Pyrrha hummed thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, does my armor qualify as a shirt in the strictest sense?"

Jaune beat his wings with a loud honk.

"Yeah, Jaune's right," Nora agreed. "If a tank top can be called a shirt, then your armor is definitely a shirt."

Pyrrha nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that's a very good point..."

[-]

177.15 BIOS-Pherecydes

[-]

[RWBY][Hellsing]

Patient Intake, Part 4

Alucard nodded as well, and then reverted back to his typical attire. He clapped his hands once with a jovial grin. "Well, this has been absolutely peachy. But, before we go, I'd like to add one last thing."

Weiss quirked an eyebrow curiously. "Oh?"

"Yes indeedily. And do bear in mind that I'm not saying this solely for effect this time: You're gay. No pestle in your mortar, drinking from the furry cup, keeping your nails cut short, etc. If you were any more hard up for Ruby, you'd be Buloke."

Weiss' jaw dropped. "EXCUSE ME?"

"I'm sorry, was I not explicit enough? Would you like me to get the dolls?"

"I am not interested in Ruby. We're practically sisters."

"Scissor sisters?"

"NO!"

"Please. Weiss, if you were any more obvious about your feelings you'd spontaneously grow a tattoo."

"How dare you!"

Alucard sighed. "Look, Weiss. I'm being paid for this. This isn't just me being a troll. Though, admittedly, I'm also being a troll. But the point here is, you are absolutely —metaphorical — balls to the walls in love with Ruby. Or, at the very least, you want to dance the horizontal tango. Now, we can pussyfoot around the issue for another ten or twenty minutes, or you can save us both the trouble and just admit it."

"I refuse!"

Alucard gave a theatrical sigh. "The ones in the closet are always the hardest."

True to his word, it took almost twenty minutes of inane badgering before he finally managed to get Weiss to admit to the possibility.

"Even if it were true, I'd never do anything to break up Penny and Ruby. They're happy with each other, and I'm happy for them."

Alucard nodded understandingly. "But..."

"But what?"

"But you still love her."

"Allegedly!"

"Right, right. Of course. Regardless, I did have an actual point to this."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"If you'll recall, I pointed out earlier that you are entirely too devoted to your role as Ruby's Second. At least in part, that stems from an unrequited love that you won't even admit to yourself, let alone to her. You are so caught up in this duty you've assigned yourself, that you are neglecting any alternatives. You don't go out and let your hair loose, you just follow along with whatever ideas the other Loopers come up with. Always the one standing to the side, taking notes, observing. All to complete a task you've set for yourself, stemming from a desire to prove your necessity, to people who already know. The only person who still needs proof is you."

He paused, and met Weiss' gaze directly, "But the only person who's opinion truly matters on the subject, is hers."

"That's not..." Weiss couldn't bring herself to finish the weak objection.

"You took it upon yourself to make sure she remained stable. To make sure she remained happy. It most likely wasn't originally motivated by love, at least not of the romantic variety, but that changed somewhere along the way. And now, you've locked yourself into a position from which there is no way out. Maybe you don't want, or need, one. But even if one existed, you would remain. Because you've made her the most important part of your life, and tied this job into being the most important part of your self-esteem.

"And that's not healthy. Is it?"

Weiss refused to meet Alucard's eyes.

[-]

177.16 Matrix Dragon

[-]

The 'Divorce'

Ironwood looked around his office, taking in the sight of all the Remnant Loopers (Except Mercury), many of them looking somewhat concerned, and smiled slightly. "Ladies, gentlemen, whatever Roman is currently listed as for tax reasons-" that got a laugh, as the mood in the room noticeably relaxed. "I have summoned you all here for a purpose."

"No one summons Noratron!"

"Then it pleases me to be the first. Now, I think everyone here can agree that my Baseline self and I have experienced irreconcilable differences."

Leaning back in her chair, Cinder sighed. "Sorry about that."

He waved a hand dismissively. "Let's be fair, your Baseline was only taking advantage of bad habits and attitudes anyway. No, I think it's safe to say I'm done with his shit. Unfortunately, the Loops mean I'm going to forever get stuck dealing with the consequences of his screw-ups, which is why I'm asking for your help in dealing with him."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Dealing with him?"

Next to her, Weiss chuckled softly. "I can almost taste the amusement," the Jedi noted.

"Indeed. My Baseline either needs to grow the hell up, get therapy, or get kicked out of the nice chair." Leaning forward, James rested his hands on his desk. "This is a task to which all of you have the skills and experience needed, and the creativity to keep it amusing for when I wake up."

"Wait." Emerald gave him a confused look. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

"Yes," James replied. "I want you to get me fired. Creative, embarrassing, silly, whatever you feel like. Try to avoid a body count, that's kind of the reason I'm so furious at the idiot, after all. Make him suffer for my enjoyment."

There was a long moment of silence, before Maria spoke up. "Cinder, I'm going to need to borrow five Seer Grimm and a Lyshen. Neo, pass me one of your low-grade carnage plans you're willing to share and adapt." Next to her, Neo gave her a curious look, then pulled a notepad out of her Pocket and handed it over.

"This won't end well," Oscar mused.

"Eh, I have faith in them," James replied with a shrug.

[-]

177.17 Solomongrndy

[-]

A Surprise in the Office

Pyrrha disliked expansions, primarily because while they were going on the loops usually started after Beacon fell, so she was usually dead and uninvolved.

So Loops like the current one were something of a treat. She had inhabited Crocea Mors again, but unfortunately her husband was not Awake this loop, it seemed to only be Ruby and herself, as there had only been one ping reply.

When she had the opportunity Pyrrha Pocketed herself and utilized the Aura Transfer Tech she had gotten from Penny to transfer herself from the sword and shield to a robotic duplicate she kept in her pocket for just such occasions.

She unpocketed herself and placed Crocea Mors back from where she had left before sitting on Jaune's bed and giving him a hug. He might not have been Awake, but he would always be her Jaune.

Jaune awoke from his slumber at the shifting weight. "Pyrrha? What?" Tears formed in his eyes. "Not this dream again."

"It's not a dream. I really am here."

"Why now? where have you been? We all thought you died!"

"I had."

"What?"

"On that tower I was killed by Cinder Fall. But, I did not go on to the hereafter. I stayed. with you, Jaune. When you worked my circlet, Miló, and Akoúo̱ into Crocea Mors I became a part of it as well. I was only just recently able to free myself thanks to Pietro's workshop. I was able to make a new body for myself."

Still believing he was dreaming Jaune replied, "I'm just happy you're here." Then he pulled her into his arms and laid down back to sleep.

Pyrrha just sighed and closed her eyes while Jaune held her.

[-]

The next morning Jaune Awoke and woke up at the same time. Feeling his arms around someone he was surprised until he reviewed his loop memories.

"Good Morning, Pyrrha." He let off a Ping.

Pyrrha snuggled into him and replied with her own. "Good morning."

A third Ping resounded, but no more.

"So, Jaune, looks like nobody else Awakened with you. Do you know where in the expansion we are?"

Jaune coughed. "Uhh, It's hard to pin down exactly when, thanks to variability due to montage vagueness, but I'd guess somewhere in the beginning of the montage part? I haven't run into any grateful mothers yet, at least."

"Good, I'm sticking with you. I don't care if it blows any plans. We get so few shared loops during expansion periods."

Still with his arms around her, Jaune pulled her a little tighter to him. "I'd never ask you to. Though what are we gonna tell everyone else?"

Pyrrha laughed. "What else, Magic. Anyone relevant has been through enough to know it is possible, if difficult. and given my title they will probably imagine some scenario and go with it."

[-]

Later, Ironwood was fed a story about Pyrrha feeling a call to return from the afterlife and finding herself awakening in her current robotic body. Pietro had no idea where it had come from so nobody was sure. Her use of her semblance, plus a diagnostic check from Pietro was enough to assuage Ironwood's paranoia, at least enough for him to allow her roughly free reign; she had noticed that Ace Ops tended to hang around her. The groups were out and about doing missions, and due to her rather well known death, Pyrrha had had to use a pseudonym Thetis for her Huntress License, but it was better than nothing.

She and Jaune were currently helping to escort children home from school when a gaggle of women seemed to be getting a little too friendly with Jaune.

She grabbed onto him in a very public display of affection.

She smiled as the women seemed to sulk off.

[-]

Pyrrha was sitting at Ironwood's desk waiting for Cinder. Despite the changes, such as Ruby stopping Tyrian before he could hurt anyone, Cinder and Neo's plans were still going. So she waited, till finally the door opened.

"Time has not treated you well, Cinder Fall."

The woman she had just called out to froze, a look of shock etched upon her face.

"I killed you."

"Yes, but we both know that Death doesn't stick for some people."

Fury, and perhaps just a hint of fear, showed in Cinder's body language. "Then I will just have to be more thorough this time."

Pyrrha Readied Éromai. Cinder was in for a short fight.

[-]

177.18 CrazyCog

[-]

[Star Wars x RWBY]

Two Troopers on a Death Star

It was a quiet day aboard the jolly old Death Star, and while there probably were looping shenanigans going on, instead we focus on two Stormtroopers. They were on a routine patrol of their section of the battle-station, and had been walking in silence for the last half hour. Finally, NH-1977 broke the silence, "Poor CW-2008, he got eaten last week. His squad was sent to Kashyyyk, and one of the Wookies apparently turned into a giant lizard like thing only with fur. I think Lord Vader labeled it a T-Rex."

The other trooper, PM-1999, shrugged. "I saw the pictures, and it looks more like a bird to me. Besides, it's better way of going out than getting choked."

NH-1977 came to a halt and raised a hand off of his blaster. "Hard disagree my friend, when Vader does it, he does it in style."

The eye roll from under PM-1999's helmet was almost audible. "Look, I'm not going to shame you for thinking that, but at the same time I'd much rather go out being attacked by something epic."

There was silence for a moment as the two continued on their patrol.

Once again NH-1977 broke the silence, "But would you be cool with him choking you if he was a mecha dinosaur?"

His partner pumped his fist slightly. "Heck yeah I would!"

Again, there was silence for a short period. This time however, it was PM-1999 who spoke, "By the way, did you hear about Tarkin biting it?"

The other trooper tilted his head quizzically. "No, what happened?"

At this point they had reached an area with some terminals for miscellaneous usage. In this case, one was used as a table to hold their weapons while PM-1999 narrated. "So I heard from TFA-215 that some girl dressed in red crashed through a wall in the command room and some of the debris smashed into Tarkin's head while she was screaming to Vader about vengeance for her 'newest baby', whatever that was."

"I mean Lord Vader has smashed quite a few things, I think she would have to be more specific if she wanted him to remember what it was."

"That's what I thought too, but TFA-215 said that Vader acted like he knew her, and said something like:" PM-1999's voice took on a low baritone with the occasional wheeze, ""You cannot gain what you have not earned young one." Or something like that."

There was a moment as NH-1977 took this in. "Huh, so what happened next?"

PM-1999 shrugged. "Nothing special, he just threw her into the trash compactor with the force while jettisoning the contents into space. Nothing we haven't seem him do before to some poor mook. Anyways, some time later she smashed back in through the bridge's viewport, but Lord Vader seemed to expect that. He sidestepped so she would go flying right back into the trash compactor, although he didn't jettison it that time. Apparently the sanitation department gets difficult to work with if that happens too much. So yeah, a crazy red head chick offed Tarkin while going after Vader. Actually…" He leaned forward and spoke in a mock menacing voice, "Some say that she is still trying to get to him to this day…"

A laugh sounded from the other Stormtrooper. "Yeah right, would you believe a story like tha…"

The sound of squelching shoes echoed throughout the hallway. Looking in the direction they came from, the troopers were greeted with the sight of a girl with red hair wearing a red cloak drenched in filth. NH-1977 slowly reached for his blaster, only for it to get shot off the console by a large weapon the girl had seemingly pulled out from nowhere. She looked to them both with a blank expression and said three words.

"Don't, just don't."

She then trudged off, leaving a trail of filthy water behind her.

"So do you want to tell Lord Vader or should I?"

"Don't look at me, you're the one okay with getting choked by him."

[-]

177.19 BIOS-Pherecydes

[-]

[RWBY][Hellsing]

Patient Intake, Part 5

Alucard just nodded to himself. "So then. Here's what needs to happen before our next session. First and foremost, you need to find someone else to take over for you as Remnant's psychologist," he ignored Weiss' objection and steamrolled over her protests, "Not on a permanent basis, but at the very least until you have figured out how to do the job without letting it consume your life entirely.

"Secondly, you need to figure out a form of expression that is entirely divorced from the other Loopers. Not just a hobby, but something you can really dedicate yourself to in lieu of being responsible for the stability of the other Loopers. I would actually suggest against getting a pet. Pets are a responsibility, and we want to move you away from anything that forces more of that on you.

"Finally, I want you to try meditation. Regular meditation, of the non-Jedi variety. Actually allow yourself to feel your emotions, rather than studying them and then giving them away to the Force. You are a human being, not a puppet; you're not just an avatar for the Force to move through. As a therapist yourself, you of all people should know that it is better to embrace your emotions instead of trying to pretend they don't exist."

Chagrined, Weiss nodded agreement to that. She didn't entirely agree with his interpretation of the Jedi, but at the very least she could admit he was right about repression doing only harm.

Standing, Alucard pulled out an antique pocket watch and checked the time. He gave a low whistle. "Well now, I think we've overshot an hour by just a bit. You'll probably want to start running if you want to make it to dinner before the cafeteria closes. I'll leave the contact details with one of the others so they can negotiate with Integra over the bill for this little talk. For now though, I think we've made some good progress. How about you?"

Meeting Alucard's eyes, Weiss considered this. She had had this entire situation dropped on her without warning, had been forced to deal with accusations both harsh and embarrassing, was being ordered to surrender one of the biggest parts of her life for an undisclosed period of time, and was going to have to do it again far, far too soon.

She sighed, and gave a rueful smile, "It's a start."

[-]

177.20 Masterweaver

[-]

Pyrrhic Psychology

Cinder smirked evilly at the flamingo. "Now now, Weiss, Alucard only wants what's best for you!"

"He really banned you from psychotherapy?" Ruby asked in astonishment.

The flamingo nodded sullenly.

"I'm free!" Cinder cackled. "Free from the constant meddling of well-meaning but pushy snow queens! Hahaha HA!"

"But Cinder!" Ruby gasped, her face carefully schooled into an expression of over the top worry, "Our last expansion had us all set up to fight the Ace Ops! Without professional and accredited care, who will help us handle the inevitable emotional trauma in a relaxed and accepting environment complete with properly prepared scented candles?!"

The flamingo squawked in shock.

"Yes, I noticed the candles, Weiss, you're not as subtle as you think you are."

"NO MORE OVERLY ELABORATE DIAGNOSISES!" Cinder crowed. "NO MORE CONSTANT PRODDING AT MY ADMITTEDLY VERY DEEPLY INGRAINED ISSUES! NO MORE PSYCHOTERMINOLOGY! I am beholden only to my OWN guilt! This is going to be-!"

A high heeled boot slammed onto the scene. Professional red slacks were pressed beneath bronze greaves. A brown labcoat bracketed leather armor. And behind half-moon glasses twinkled a mischievous pair of green eyes.

"The doctor," said Pyrrha, "is in."

"...Wait, you're a psychotherapist?" Ruby managed.

Pyrrha produced a number of diplomas. "Being dead gives one a lot of free time."

"Oh darn," Cinder grumbled. "And I was having fun being melodramatic too."