"C'mon, Ice Princess, work with me here." Conner grunted, trying to navigate through Haven's wreckage, Weiss and her rapier in his arms.

The Grimm were still running loose, but the area he was in was calmer, looters starting to take advantage of the chaos and running wild, stealing brightly colored crystals which he guessed were Dust and other valuable items.

As he walked through Haven, the hair on his arms stood up and he felt as if an electric current was going through him. Weiss' world seemed to be supercharged by Dust, the energy lacing the air itself as he breathed it in.

He remembered what it felt like when she used her Glyphs on him when they beat Bernadeth. The feeling was similar, except it wasn't as dramatic or concentrated.

Their sun was yellow like Earth's, so he still had his powers, but even so, he could still feel the difference as his body absorbed the radiation.

Whatever caused Dust to naturally appear on Remnant was screwing with his Kryptonian physiology.

Gunshots echoed through the valley as he walked towards the giant school-looking facility which was across the cliff side, the bridges that connected them destroyed in the fighting.

Conner remembered Weiss saying something about an academy, so he figured it was the best place to go while she recovered. He didn't like having to walk to get there, but flying or jumping there would attract unwanted attention from the Grimm and maybe the people too.

His enhanced hearing picked up some voices coming from the direction of the academy, so he walked faster, hoping that the people were the Huntsmen that Weiss had talked about.

"...That's strange. I thought the report had said that the south sector hadn't been cleared yet. Where are all the Grimm?" A high pitched voice piped up from across the shopping center.

Conner stepped forward, stepping on a stray bag of chips as he did so, trying to close the considerable distance between him and the voices.

"Wait, I think I heard something from across the parking lot."

He froze.

How the hell did she hear me?

"Across all that rubble? Maybe it was a rat or something."

"No, it was definitely a person."

Weiss stirred in his arms, her eyebrows creased as she dreamed. "Ruby...Blake...Yang."

The girl gasped, her pace switching from walking to running while the other two followed her, quickly making their way over to him.

"Weiss? Weiss are you there?!"

"She's here? Blake, you can't be serious. It's been months since she disappeared."

"I heard her. I wouldn't forget the sound of her voice."

Relief flooded through him.

They're Weiss' friends.

"C'mon Ice Princess, we're almost there."

He started walking in the direction of their voices, heading towards a clearing that was located in front of the academy.

When he walked out from behind a particularly big pile of rubble, he saw three girls around his age standing across the clearing from him.

The first wore a red hood and cape with a look that would've made her fit in great with Green Arrow's crew, her silver eye bright and observant. A weird looking red sniper rifle was in her arms, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

The second had a clever in one hand and a katana in the other, a ribbon attached to the latter. Her bright yellow eyes were almost cat-like, but when he noticed the cat ears on her head, he realized that she was more cat-like than he originally thought.

The last had long blonde hair and lilac eyes, reminding him of Black Canary, except with a mechanical left arm and bright yellow gauntlets on both.

When they saw him, their eyes immediately zeroed in on the unconscious girl in his arms.

Realizing how suspicious he looked he tried to break the ice.

"'Sup?"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as the blonde girl's hair lit on fire, her eyes turning blood red as she shot energy bullets out of her gauntlets and launched herself at him, barely giving him time to jump out of the way.

"Get away from her!"

She was incredibly fast as she ran after him, and just by looking at her he knew that a single punch would hurt like hell, so for his and Weiss' sake, he tried to get away.

"Would you calm down? I'm not your enemy here!"

The sound of gunfire distracted him and he got a few rounds in the back from Cat Girl and Little Red Riding Hood before dodging another fireball from the Yellow Canary.

"Let our friend go and we promise not to kill you." Little Red Riding Hood warned.

Yellow Canary faked him out and shot another fireball round at his back, making him grunt as he felt the impact on his back.

Make that Yellow Dragon.

He jumped as far away as he could and set Weiss down, making sure that there were no other Grimm or people in the area as he stood in front of her, ready to go no holds barred against the crazy girls.

"Last chance to let me explain, Blondie." He cracked his knuckles, getting ready for a fight. "Weiss is my friend, I would never hurt her. Ever."

"Weiss has been missing for three months and all of a sudden you show up with her unconscious? Not a chance."

"Leave before we make you wish you'd been killed by the Grimm." Blake asserted, her katana back in its gun configuration, pointed directly at Conner's head.

He sighed, knowing that he had been in Weiss' world all of an hour and he had already made someone want to kill him.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

He jumped up and slammed his fist into the ground, sending out shockwaves which blew the crazy girls back.

Faster than his eyes could follow, Little Red Riding Hood turned into a mass of rose petals and appeared behind him, slashing him in the back with a giant scythe that he guessed was the complete version of the sniper rifle that she had used earlier.

He tumbled forward, recovering by moving into a roll. He turned and leaped to punch Cat Girl, only for his fist to pass through her as if she was a ghost, her body turning to shadow as the real Cat Girl slashed another arc across his back, sending him face first into a brick wall.

Yellow Dragon appeared in front of him and punched him in the stomach, the force from her weird bullets and her sheer strength sending him flying.

As he caught himself he saw more Grimm start to fly up from the ravine below, probably drawn to their yelling and fighting.

"Blake! Take care of the Grimm! Yang keep him busy! I'll get Weiss!"

Little Red Riding Hood turned into a bunch of petals and surrounded Weiss, turning her into petals too as they pulled back.

"Weiss!"

Conner tried to go after her, but the blonde girl stopped him in his tracks, launching another round at him which he quickly blocked.

"You wanna play Blondie? Let's play." He ground out, launching himself at her and punching her in the stomach.

Yang flew backwards, her Aura wavering as she recovered from the intensity of the attack.

Does he have some sort of super strength Semblance?

She still had plenty to spare, but a single punch did more damage than a blow from Elm or Nora's hammers.

She popped the empty rounds out of Ember Celica and loaded new ones, readying her fighting stance. "Bring it, Muscles."

️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️ ️❄️

The sound of Yang's shot gauntlets was the first thing that Weiss had heard as she woke up.

Still drowsy from getting knocked out after her Aura broke, she tried to get up, only for a pair of arms to help her up into a sitting position.

"It's alright, Weiss, we've gotcha." Ruby assured her, Crescent Rose in its sniper rifle configuration next to her.

Barely able to open her eyes, she followed where the rifle was pointed only for surprise and anxiety to shock her system back to full consciousness.

"What the- Yang! Conner! Stop!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Yang and Conner were in a full out brawl, neither side holding back as they evenly exchanged blows.

Blake was off to the side fighting off the remaining Grimm as the two went at it, actively trying to kill each other.

Yang launched a volley of kinetic rounds, the salvos streaming towards Conner as he tried to block, eventually blown back by the intensity of it.

She launched herself at him once more only for him to block with his forearms crossed as he tried to stand back up, using the strength in his legs to push her back, a shockwave pulsing through the ground as both forces met. Eventually Conner was able to push her back, sending her tumbling before she caught herself and pushed herself into a standing position out of a roll.

Yang loaded her shot gauntlets and shot forward a pair of sticky bombs which attached themselves to his arm. He stared at them curiously before realizing what they were, charging at her at superhuman speed after that.

"What the-"

He slammed the part of his arm with the explosive on it to her side, detonating it and sending the both of them flying in opposite directions.

They both collided into the buildings behind them, sending up clouds of dust.

"Yang!" Ruby and Blake cried, with the latter still fighting off a pack of Beowolf Grimm.

Both of the brawlers picked themselves out of the wreckage and charged at each other once more, Yang's hair glowing with fire as her Semblance activated.

She looked angry, and Conner's smirk did nothing to help the matter.

They both pulled back their fists, ready to punch the other into oblivion.

"Yang! Conner! Stop fighting this instant!"

Conner and Yang both stopped mid-punch, their faces contorting in confusion as their fists were mere inches away from each other.

"Weiss? What's wrong?" Conner asked, not dropping his fighting stance.

"Weiss! You're awake! And why can't I beat him up?"

The Huntress in question stood up, grabbed Myrtenaster and used two Gravity Glyphs to force the brawlers away from each other, using another Glyph to jump between them.

"I know it's confusing right now, but the last thing we need is for you two to be fighting." She turned to Conner, putting Myrtenaster back on her side. "Conner, these are my teammates, Ruby, Blake, and Yang. Girls, this is Conner, he's a…" Weiss struggled to find the right word for what exactly their relationship was. "...friend. I met him on the other side of the portal that I was sucked into the last time that we saw each other. I wish I could explain more, but right now we have more pressing matters."

As if on cue, a Sphinx Grimm covered in red armor with Darkseid's omega symbol on its forehead came flying in through the opening in the mall that they were in.

It looked like the rest of its pack had been decimated by Blake, with only the slightly battered Sphinx left to support Salem's attack on Haven.

Ruby turned Crescent Rose back into its scythe configuration. "We can talk about what happened later. Right now, we need to make sure that Haven is still standing."

"Hehe." Yang cracked her knuckles. "C'mon, Muscles, let's see if you can keep up."

Conner flew up in the air, turning her smug look into one of awe. "I don't think I'm the one who's gonna be struggling."

Regaining her composure, she shook her head. "Let's find out."

They both charged at the Sphinx, punching it at the same time send it tumbling back into a wall, its armor clanging against the floor.

"Hope you're not rusty, Weiss." Blake called, shooting Gambol Shroud towards the roof of the building, pulling herself over the Sphinx and dealing quick strikes across its wings.

"Got a plan, Ruby?" Weiss asked, giving Myrtenaster's revolver a generous spin.

"The armor doesn't cover its underbelly. If we wanna kill it we need to attack its weak spot."

Weiss loaded Gravity Dust. "One step ahead of you."

Gravity Glyphs appeared around the Sphinx, making it float up in the air as its wings pounded harshly against the sides of the building, trying to free itself from her pull.

She wasn't in the greatest shape after being thrown into a fruit stand, but she could manage a few Gravity Glyphs for the time being.

"We've got to ground it!" Blake shouted, using Gambol Shroud to swing on top of the Grimm, striking its back as she ran up its wings.

The armor on its wings didn't budge and the creature roared, the sheer sound waves blowing back Blake breaking through Weiss' Glyphs.

She back flipped away with the grace of a cat as she hit the floor, Conner and Yang providing some cover for her as she did so.

"It's armor is ridiculous." Blake commented, jumping over to where Weiss and Ruby were.

The Sphinx opened its mouth and released a blaze so powerful it blew both Yang and Conner back to the others' position, effectively scorching his shirt as he didn't have Aura to protect his clothes from the fire.

"What the- hey!" He looked down to see that his shirt was in tatters from the fire. "That was my shirt you oversized pigeon! Damn monster." He grumbled, pulling off the tattered cloth, leaving his torso bare.

Weiss' face turned a bright red as she looked away, annoyed by his audacity while Ruby just giggled. Blake rolled her eyes while Yang whistled at him. "Nice scars, Muscles."

Conner ignored her comment and peered over at Crescent Rose. "How sharp is that scythe?" He asked Ruby.

She smirked, loaded a Gravity Dust round into it. "You read my mind."

"Blake, Yang! Ground it!"

Yang fired kinetic rounds into the ground, using the momentum to shoot herself over to the other side of Sphinx. Blake shot Gambol Shroud and swung it around the the Grimm, wrapping the ribbon around its wings, forcing them up and rendering them useless.

"Conner! Weiss! Keep it from moving!"

Conner leaped onto its back and grabbed ahold of its maw, pulling up so it couldn't its mouth to shoot anymore fireballs while Weiss used Ice Glyphs to freeze the lower half of its body.

Ruby focused in on the small area of unprotected feathers where the wings met the back of the creature. She pulled back and pulled the trigger as she threw her scythe, Crescent Rose cutting clean through the wings, leaving two big holes on its back through the armor.

She held out her arm, revealing a silver bracelet with a purple ring going through it. The purple ring glowed and a ring at the bottom of Crescent Rose glowed as well, reversing its trajectory and bringing it back to Ruby in the same way that Maria's own scythes used to do.

"Weiss! Blake! Get the holes in its armor!"

The Sphinx struggled as it broke out of the ice and tried to open its mouth, but couldn't as Conner was still holding it tight.

Yang attached multiple sticky bombs to its legs and detonated it, breaking its legs from under it and immobilizing it.

Loading Fire Dust, both Weiss creates two Glyphs in the air which they used to propel themselves off of, driving their swords into the Sphinx's back, creating a giant explosion which blew all of them back, breaking their Auras in the process.

Ruby used her Semblance and turned into a flurry of rose petals, catching her team in the petals while Conner sailed past her, getting flattened against the wall behind them.

She put her team down, smiling sheepishly at Conner who groaned in pain, peeling himself off the wall. "Hehe, sorry about that. I'm still working out the kinks on that technique."

He brushed some debris off his shoulder, giving Weiss a once over to make sure that she was alright. "I'm good, I don't have an Aura like you guys do but it takes a lot to put me down."

Team RWBY sheathed their weapons, taking in the hero from another world before them. "So that portal you fell through all those months ago, where did you go?" Ruby asked, sadness lacing her tone as her once bright silver eyes were now darker and seemed to have aged about a decade.

"It's complicated. Let's get somewhere safer and I'll tell you everything that happened." Weiss decided.

"Agreed. We cleared the Grimm but we don't know how structurally sound these buildings are." Blake added.

"Let's head out and meet up with the others back at Haven Academy." Ruby decided. "But before we do-"

She cut herself off and used her Semblance to rush at Weiss, practically tackling her in a hug.

Blake and Yang joined in right after, the war-torn Huntresses smiling more in that moment than they had in a while.

"We're so glad you're back, Weiss." Yang sniffled as she fought back tears. "You have no idea how scared we were when you disappeared that day. We thought you were-"

"We're just glad you're okay."

Weiss let the tears stream down her face, remembering the many times that she had thought that she would never get the chance to hug her teammates again.

"I missed you so much."

🌹❄️🐱🔥🌹❄️🐱🔥🌹❄️🐱🔥🌹❄️🐱🔥🌹❄️🐱🔥

After the adrenaline of the battlefield had worn off and Weiss was able to get a proper look of her teammates, she realized that much more had happened while she was gone than she initially wanted to believe.

They all sat in one of the dorm rooms of Haven Academy, with plans to meet up with the rest of the group later over lunch.

While they were only three months older apparently, their eyes and demeanors looked hardened and much older, as if they had seen things that had aged them twenty years in the time that she had been on Earth.

Not to mention the battle scars that blemished their bodies, making them look even more war-torn and battered than she had ever wanted to see them.

Blake seemed the least worse for wear, with only skin deep scars marring her arms and a fresh one marking the corner of her jaw, three jagged marks forming what looked to be a wound from a Sabyr's claw.

Yang, on the other hand, was now missing her left leg to match her mechanical right arm, though Weiss wouldn't have noticed had it not been for the rip in her jeans that showed the metal underneath. Her face and her hair however, remained unblemished.

But when Weiss' eyes landed on Ruby, she flinched and nearly looked away, but didn't out of respect for her partner. Only a single silver eye stared back at her, the other replaced by a cybernetic optical implant, like Maria's own.

Ruby smiled softly before nodding, confirming Weiss' fears. "Cinder and Neo got the best of me when we tried to stop the Fall of Atlas. A lot happened when you were gone, Weiss."

"Where were you all this time?" Yang asked, her voice soft after remembering the day her sister nearly died.

"What happened that day?" Blake continued. "Did he kidnap you?"

"Hey!" Conner's eyes narrowed. "I'm standing right here. You really think I would be conscious right now if I had tried to kidnap her?"

"It's a hell of a more logical explanation than the crap you tried to feed us." Yang bit back. "Why don't you-"

Sighing, Weiss held up her hand, "He's telling the truth. That night that I fell through the portal, I fell into a different dimension. It's a long story-"

"Tell us everything." Ruby insisted, knowing that what Conner and Weiss were saying was true, despite how outlandish and unbelievable it seemed. "And then we'll tell you what's been happening over here."

"As you can see…" Blake gestured towards Ruby's bionic eye and Yang's prosthetic leg. "A lot's happened while you were gone."

Conner snorted and crossed his arms, still shirtless from their fight with the Sphinx earlier, his various scars on full display. "It's not exactly like it was a cakewalk on our side either."

"Are there Grimm over there too?"

Weiss hesitated, knowing that while technically the answer was yes, it wasn't as simple as that.

"I think it's better if I explain from the beginning. It's complicated and even I don't understand it all." She decided. "I was training in the courtyard that night when I decided to experiment with Light Dust..."

As she recounted her adventures on Earth she realized how incredulity of it all, but as she thought about it, Remnant wasn't exactly lacking in that department either.

"-And then the Life Entity sent us back here. They said to go to where "the golden dragon lays to rest" and after remembering the history of Remnant and the Life Entity's connection to the god of light, I'm pretty sure we're supposed to go to the Domain of Light."

"Where Salem's war on Remnant began." Blake realized.

"It's probably where the concentration of Light Energy on Remnant is highest, so it'll be easier for another portal to be created through the Source Wall." Conner added, making Yang's eyes narrow. "Darkseid's probably planning an attack on Earth as we speak, so we need to get back and help the Justice League too."

"So you're really a half alien half human hybrid created in a lab? And you're like a superhero in one of Ruby's comics? With powers and everything?" She asked, still skeptical of his abilities.

He smirked and cracked his knuckles. "You wanna go a few rounds and find out, Blondie?"

Blake raised an eyebrow and Weiss rolled her eyes.

Those two are way too similar for this to end well.

Ember Celica extended over Yang's arms and she loaded kinetic rounds into them. "Don't call me Blondie. My name's Yang."

He smirked. "The name's Conner then. Not Muscles."

She grumbled something under her breath and extended her hand. "Good to meet ya. And thanks for looking out for Weiss while she was in your world, it means a lot to us."

"To be honest," Conner put his hand on Weiss' head. "She was the one looking out for me. Saved my ass in a lot of sticky situations."

She huffed and pushed his hand off her head. "Evil aliens, genocidal time travelers, bounty hunters, and a crazy shapeshifter, to name a few."

Blake frowned, looking at Ruby's eye and Yang's leg. "Wish you were here to help us with our 'sticky situations'."

Weiss' face fell and Conner clenched his knuckles. "It's not her fault-"

She placed her hand on his, quieting him instantly. The gesture didn't go unnoticed by her teammates but they didn't say anything. "What exactly happened while I was gone? I was on Earth for what seemed like a month, but has it really been three months over here?"

"Atlas fell not too soon after you left. Mantle was still recovering from the last Grimm invasion when Salem and these insanely powerful armored Grimm started showing up." Blake started. "The red armor made them stronger, faster, and smarter. Not to mention with Ironwood going crazy, eventually even Atlas became overrun."

"She brought an army of Grimm and nearly brought down Atlas itself. " Ruby remembered.

"We barely escaped with our lives that night…" Yang shivered subconsciously. "And we were the lucky ones."

"Jaune…" Weiss realized, remembering her duel against Darkseid's Huntsman. "He didn't make it."

Ruby put her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Penny found his sword and shield when she was doing perimeter scans after the battle. He's free."

Blake still looked uneasy. "So… Salem really has the power to turn people into Grimm after they die?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, at least... not necessarily. She captured the last of his and Adam's emotions before they died and molded them into Grimm, but the creatures that we fought weren't really them. Just...imitations."

Conner rubbed the newly formed scar on his abdomen, remembering the pain of being stabbed multiple times by Adam's Grimm. "Sure as hell felt real to me."

Weiss couldn't imagine fighting another Grimm person. "Has anyone else we know…"

Ruby shook her head. "No. Maria's in intensive care and we've all got scars for days, but no one else has died."

"Team SSSN and Team CFVY held Vacuo and right now they're stable. We're thinking that Salem's going to focus her attention on Vale now that she has what she wants."

"We're planning on heading back to Vale to make sure that the Relic is secure. We don't know where it is, but neither does Cinder and we're gonna use that to our advantage. Right now, Cinder has the Lamp of Knowledge but it's out of energy."

"Out of energy?" Conner asked, still not familiar with the rules of the Relics.

"The Relics are incredibly powerful objects, but like the ring that Green Lantern wears, they need to recharge after they're used, or at least, they have their limits. The Lamp of Knowledge only has three questions and the Staff of Creation can only be used to create one thing at a time." Weiss explained.

Ruby nodded. "Cinder used the Lamp's last question so now it needs to recharge for another hundred years."

"Do you know what she asked?"

Yang shook her head. "She didn't tell us, but the look in her eye made it seem like she didn't get the answer she wanted."

Conner hummed, picking up the map of Remnant that lay on a coffee table at the foot of the bed. "Wait...Atlas fell but the Relic is still safe? That doesn't make any sense."

"Penny, the new Winter Maiden, the only person who is capable of accessing the Relic, managed to get away before Salem could try and capture her. She's been safe ever since."

"So even though it's been overrun by Grimm, we managed to evacuate as many people as we could and sealed off the Relic. After we secure Vale we're planning on heading back to Atlas to see if we can try and clear it out."

"You said that this Life Entity said there was a chance to reverse the damage done by Salem and Darkseid. What do you think it means?" Blake asked, trying to connect the dots.

"Half of the planet is in pieces because of them, we'd need a time machine to fix this." Yang commented dryly, making Weiss freeze as an idea struck her.

She turned to Conner. "You don't think..."

Catching on to her train of thought, he nodded. "After everything we've seen, especially if the Life Entity likes you, it's possible."

Ruby's eyes flickered between Conner and Weiss. "What? What's possible?"

"Going back in time and resetting everything to before Darkseid met Salem. Making sure that he can't influence our world. But the Life Entity also said that we have to save Remnant before we can." Weiss remembered.

Yang scoffed. "Piece of cake then."

"Can't be that bad." Conner stated. "Just because someone's immortal doesn't mean they can't be killed. It's been done before."

Blake deadpanned. "The definition of immortal literally means someone who can't die."

"Who says she's really immortal?"

Ruby, Blake, and Yang all looked at each other, their faces bleak as they remembered Jinn's story.

"Let's just say we have it on good authority that she is." Weiss quickly interjected, trying to keep her teammates from beating the clueless hero senseless.

He shrugged. "Darkseid's immortal, too. Hasn't stopped us from beating him before."

Yang huffed. "Must've gone great considering how much he's screwed us over so far."

Conner and Weiss remained silent, both having seen the damage that had been dealt to one of the remaining safe havens on Remnant.

"Going back in time…" Ruby tried to wrap her mind around the idea. "We'd have to find a way to keep Darkseid from meeting Salem. Do you know how he was able to do it the first time?"

Weiss thought to back to the first time that Remnant had made contact with Earth. "It was most likely when the Grimm Pools showed up in Metropolis. If I was able to use Light Dust to open a portal, he probably got ahold of one of the Pools and used it to talk to Salem."

"Lashina and Knockout." Conner remembered, his fists clenching. "It can't be a coincidence that they were in Metropolis at the same time. They're probably the ones who collected it for him."

"So if we go back in time and keep them from getting it…" Weiss hypothesized.

"We'll stop Darkseid from giving Salem more power and Remnant will be saved!" Ruby finished.

"But why do we have to save Remnant now before we go back in time? Why can't we just do it now?" Blake questioned.

Weiss shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe it's because there's too much darkness on Remnant and it needs to be balanced out… or maybe the Life Entity is doing this as a test. Either way, Salem needs to be stopped."

"What about Haven? Who's gonna protect it while we're gone?" Conner asked, remembering how many Grimm he had seen, and how broken down the buildings were.

"It takes Salem time to gather enough Grimm to mount an attack. It'll be at least a few weeks before we get another attack that big."

"And Pietro has been working with Ren to see if he can use his Semblance to create a cloaking device to keep away the Grimm." Blake explained. "If it goes well, we'll be able to keep entire settlements safe and undetectable."

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's hit the road."