Disclaimer, I do not own RWBY or any of the franchises referenced in this work

Chapter 33: Hereafter

Inspiration: Justice League (DCAU)

"Welcome back." Blank flickered in greeting while his audience filed back in and took their seats.

"So… what's up?" Nora asked, kicking her legs back and forth, waiting for the viewing to start.

"No more of those ugh… disgusting things, right?" Emerald scowled at the memory of the last one.

"None of that in this one, this is a possible future for your world." Blank answered.

"Oh? Tell me it's one we kick Salem's ass." Yang punched the air and grinned.

"Fool, such an attitude will only get you killed." Cinder sneered, causing Yang to glare at her.

"No it is not." Blank shot down the idea.

"Then… we lose?" Ruby said in a small voice.

"Yes." Blank flickered again and the lights dimmed, the screen came to life seconds later.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose, bisecting a Nevermore swooping down towards her and the disintegrating Grimm halves tumbled over the side of the airship into the void below. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she paused to wipe it away before it could get into her eyes.

"Look at you go sis." Yang gave Ruby the slow clap for the clean kill.

"That's not so bad." Pyrrha hazarded.

"But that's over the city of Atlas itself." Weiss's words put a damper on their spirits immediately.

The floor lurched under her as the another Nevermore made a suicidal dash into one of the ship's engines, destroying both of them in the crash. Planting her scythe into the ground to stabilise her footing, the ships hull creaked ominously from all the stress heaped on it.

"Ru… get ou… there! Ship's goin… down!" Ruby's ear piece crackled to life and Jaune's static filled voice pierced the din.

"Jaune? I can't! There's still people on board, I have to save them!" Ruby said tersely, stumbling forwards and blasting the jammed doors apart with Crescent Rose.

"What kind of Grimm fights like that?" Ironwood's stared wide-eyed at the kamikaze tactics being deployed against the Atlesian vessel.

"Grimm under personal direction." Ozpin said grimly.

"Ohhh… I'm too sober for this." Qrow muttered and began chugging from his flask.

Salem's offensive on Atlas was in full swing and to say they were doing poorly was an understatement. The Atlesian air fleet had been caught with their pants down and they were all paying for it now.

"How'd they get past our early warning systems!?" Winter growled and slammed a fist down onto her armrest.

"Concerted assault from Grimm to disable or destroy your sensors. You were too focused on the agents inside the city to notice Salem bringing her army closer." Blank answered.

"There are fail safes, it can't be that easy!" Winter protested.

"True. But she has Arthur Watts." Blank's rebuttal caused Winter to fall silent.

All of them had scattered across Atlas and Mantle, doing their best to help wherever they could. Ruby herself had boarded one of the warships to try and blast as many of the flying Grimm as she could with her eyes and rifle.

That plan was being derailed rapidly, Salem had noticed and had sent a detachment of Grimm on a suicide mission to bring down her ride. Too many to shoot or petrify, not even the deck guns could hold back the tide. The ship was going down and now she had to rescue the men trapped below decks before it reached its final destination.

"No tim… get ou… ther…" Jaune's crackling voice intruded on her thoughts as she pushed several injured soldiers towards the exit.

"I can make it! Don't worry about me!" Ruby insisted. Bursting into petals, she pushed her way deeper into the doomed ship, searching for anyone left. Alarms blared in her ears and flames licked at her cloak as the ship began to break up in the air.

"Help! Somebody!" A scream got her attention and Ruby made a beeline for it immediately.

"Hang on! I'm coming!"

Rematerializing inside what appeared to be an engine room of sorts, she found an engineer trapped under a fallen steel beam. Another engineer was trying to lift the heavy piece of debris to no avail. Ruby nodded and stowed Crescent Rose away, rushing forwards, she grabbed onto the beam and added her strength to the rescue effort.

Inch by painful inch, the steel shifted and the trapped engineer was able to crawl out. Once he was safe, Ruby released her grip and allowed the beam to crash to the floor.

Another explosion rocked the ship, lightning crackled along the machinery and several sparked and blew as well.

"And this is the part the ship blows up." Mercury commented.

"What's going on!?" Ruby raised her hands to shield herself from the blasts as they retreated towards the thankfully unbarred exit.

"No good. The dust storage is critically unstable… you need to leave now." One of the engineers said tersely.

"Alright, let's go, I'll lead the-"

"No." The engineer interrupted.

"There's no time left. We're won't make it, but you can."

"I'm not leaving y-"

"We're more expendable than you, huntress! GO!"

"All that way for nothing? How pitiable." Cinder smirked.

"Ruby will find a way out." Weiss shot back.

"So, delay the inevitable then. You don't win in this one, remember?" Cinder shrugged.

Ruby's mouth's clacked shut and she grit her teeth. "No. I'm not letting anyone else die."

Before the engineers could protest, she grabbed them both and used her semblance's speed to drag them off. Even with aura enhanced strength and the speed her semblance afforded, it was awkward and slow, the two engineers were larger than her and dragging them along without crashing them into something or killing them by whiplash was harder than she thought it would be.

Still, she refused to give up and fortune seemed to smile on her. Another Nevermore rammed into the ship, breaking through the battered armour plating and tearing through the decks before disintegrating, inadvertently giving the three of them a shortcut back outside.

"Ah, so that's where all my stolen luck went." Qrow chuckled, inwardly delighted at the sudden turn of events.

"Like you had any luck to steal in the first place." Taiyang ribbed.

"Boys. Behave." Summer chided.

"Alright! This way!" Ruby cheered and dragged the two engineers with her up onto the burning surface deck.

"Parachutes… parachutes… where are th-" Ruby's danger senses spiked and she shoved the two engineers towards what she hoped was safety. Drawing Crescent Rose, she spun around and just barely brought her weapon up to block the Griffon's talons in time.

Ruby grunted as the force behind the blow sent her skidding backwards. Swinging her scythe to force the Grimm back, she backpedalled and shifted Crescent Rose to sniper rifle mode. No time to charge up a silver eye blast, she just had to open fire with her gun and hope it was enough.

Somewhere in the melee she lost track of the engineers, hoping they got to safety, she pushed aside thoughts of them to deal with the Grimm in front of her.

"Yeah! Kill the big chicken!" Nora cheered.

"Chicke-why would-it doesn't even look like a-" Weiss sputtered, only stopping when Ren put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Don't question it." He said quietly.

"It's easier that way."

After almost emptying her entire magazine to push the Griffon into position, she used her last shot to boost herself forwards, the momentum looping the scythe blade around the Griffon's neck. With a savage yank, the blade cut through Grimm tissue and cleanly decapitated the beast.

Unfortunately for her, the Griffon managed to connect a kick in its death throes, knocking her back down the hole the Nevermore made.

As Ruby rose to her feet shakily, her eyes widened when she realised where she was. Shaking off the disorientation, she burst into petals and shot towards the outside, trying to clear the ship before it exploded.

Just as she reached the edge, the world vanished in white light.

"What!? She was so close! BULLSHIT!" Yang roared, her hair lit up and her eyes flared red.

"Calm yourself Ms Xiao Long. I do not believe it's over just yet." Goodwitch spoke up.

Ruby awoke with a gasp when raindrops fell on her face. As the slight drizzle became a torrential downpour, she dragged her battered body into a sitting position. Everything hurt and what little of her aura remained was working overtime to fix her up.

"She's alive." Blake sighed in relief and slumped in her seat.

"Oh. So that's how it is." Emerald muttered.

"What is it?" Mercury looked over.

"She's not the one that needs worrying about." Emerald said and left it at that.

"Ow owowowow… where am I?" Ruby winced and surveyed the desolate landscape she had awoken in. The heavy rain made visibility poor, but she could still make out the ruins surrounding her.

"…Is this… is this Mantle? N-no, this can't be." She whispered and tightened her grip on Crescent Rose for comfort, but the freezing metal offered none.

"W-where's everyone? I-my scroll!" Fumbling with her weapon in a panic, Ruby reached into a pocket and pulled out the palm sized device, heaving a small sigh of relief when it lit up with a pale blue glow.

"Come on, come on, pick up Yan-no signal!?" Ruby stared at the words disbelievingly. Rainwater splashed onto the screen and dripped off, but no matter how much she stared at it, no miracle happened.

"…We're the ones that didn't make it?" Nora stopped kicking and stared at the bleak scenery.

"M-maybe it's just the CCT network down?" Yang offered.

"YANG! WEISS! BLAKE! JAUNE! PENNY! ANYBODY!" She howled into the storm. A crack of lightning and peal of thunder the only responses she got.

Ruby spun her head around slowly, looking at the devastation all around her, feeling more alone than ever before.

"N-no. I can't be the only one left, t-they must have evacuated from the city, y-yeah, that's probably it." Ruby stammered. Rising to her feet painfully, she grit her teeth and soldiered on, picking a random direction to walk in and hopefully find someone or something useful.

"Damn that sucks." Roman muttered and pulled his hat down. He didn't need the Mount Glenn reminder.

As she trekked through the ruined city, dread and confusion warred within her. There was no longer any doubt that this was Mantle, several of the destroyed buildings retained enough of their original form for her to recognise them.

Only… they were old, very old. Much of the destruction could be attributed to the fight against the Grimm invasion, but at the same time, buildings also bore the wear and tear of age. More than should be possible for the short time she'd been knocked out.

And through her entire trek, there was not a single soul to be found. The only life in the area being the flora slowly reclaiming Mantle for nature. The questions mounted yet no answers presented themselves.

"Plant dust gone out of control? That kind of foliage takes years to grow normally." Winter said, trying her best to not think about what such rampant plant growth meant for the previous inhabitants of the city.

"Doesn't explain the rain. If the city is in this bad shape, the heating grid should be offline as well, it should be snowing, not raining." Ironwood added.

"The grid is offline." Blank confirmed.

"So how is it raining?" Ironwood asked.

"The world changed." Blank answered succinctly.

The hopes that maybe the Grimm had left as well were dashed when she came upon a lone Sabyr prowling the empty streets. Ruby's eyes narrowed and she took aim with Crescent Rose.

The sniper rifle's report pierced the storm and the Grimm crumpled, half its skull blown away from the perfect shot. Ruby exhaled softly and gripped her weapon tighter upon hearing answering howls.

The rest of the Sabyrs came pouring out of the woodwork, clamouring vengeance for their slain. With the cloud of negativity emanating from her and the fact that she was probably the only aura user around for miles, hiding was impossible.

And, she didn't even try. Bursting into rose petals, Ruby swept through the black and white tide trying to overrun her, her scythe flashing through the air, cleaving through the Grimm like a hot knife through butter.

Once she emerged on the other side, the Grimm collapsed one by one, dead and disintegrating before they hit the ground. Ruby spun her scythe and slid into a stance, there were more Grimm on the way, the clopping of hooves on stone said as much.

"Effective use of semblance and weaponry." Goodwitch gave her praise.

A chill ran down her spine once the Grimm came into view. Its bone armour plating was slightly different and this one lacked the battle damage its brethren had. But there was no mistaking the Nuckelavee for any other Grimm.

"Why is that thing here!?" Ren shouted in a rare outburst.

"It's a scout." Blank said.

"There are more of those things!?" Ren was on the verge of hyperventilating and Nora was busy patting him on the back to calm him down.

"You can relax, this one is friendly."

"FRIENDLY!? ARE YOU FU-" Ren's mind was going into complete meltdown and Nora did the only thing she could think of to calm him down, grab him by the shirt and press her lips to his.

Once she broke away for breath, Ren was sputtering gibberish as his mind tried to reboot. He wasn't focused on the Nuckelavee anymore so Nora would count that as mission success.

"It doesn't look friendly though." She observed.

Last time, they fought it as RNJR, this time, she was on her own. Even so, she refused to back down. The Grimm's horrible screech tore at her ears and Ruby launched herself forwards. Pushing aside her doubts and fears, she gave killing the Grimm her all.

Ducking under its stretchy limbs, she used her superior speed and agility to literally run circles around the ancient Grimm, slashing at its flanks whenever an opening presented itself. Every successful strike bit deep and caused the Nuckelavee to howl in pain and flail its arms about in the hopes of scoring a lucky hit.

Then it gave up trying to hit Ruby and reared up on its hind legs. Slamming back down onto the ground, it struck with enough force to crater the asphalt and unleashed a shockwave that sent Ruby stumbling backwards.

Her boots skidded along the slippery ground and she stabbed Crescent Rose into the dirt, arresting her backwards drift. Glancing up at the Grimm, she scowled when she noticed its wounds healing before her very eyes. Black mist leaked off its numerous injuries and once it dissipated, the wound had sealed completely with no sign it had even been struck to begin with.

"That's friendly? Then what the hell is unfriendly!?" Qrow stared at the ball of light incredulously.

"It'll be clear soon." Blank replied.

"Fine! Be that way." Ruby's eyes began to glow silver as she charged up her power. The Nuckelavee howled in anger and was about to charge the stationary target when it suddenly halted in its tracks. It simply stood in place and tilted its head in an almost quizzical manner.

Ruby noticed its strange movements but didn't give a damn about them anymore. Just as the Nuckelavee raised its right arm, she blasted it with her eyes, enveloping it in radiant silver and lighting up the entire area.

When the brilliance faded, the Nuckelavee had been completely petrified. A hideous stone statue stood where the demonic Grimm used to be. Lashing out with her scythe once, Ruby smashed the ugly aberration to pieces.

"I can do that?" Ruby asked in wonder.

"What was that?" Cinder leaned in closer for a better look, none of her intelligence gathering had ever indicated Ruby could do something like that. But a blast of light from silver eyes, she could have sworn she heard Salem mention something about it in the past.

"So she does have it after all." Taiyang murmured.

"Is that it-" Ruby spun around, scythe at the ready when more clopping reached her ears. Her eyes narrowed when a second Nuckelavee emerged from around a building. Its yellow eyes were blazing embers in the darkness and the rain pouring down did nothing to extinguish their unholy fire.

"Another one? This one friendly too?" Qrow stared at the screen dubiously.

Ruby breathed in deeply, preparing another silver eye blast, then the unexpected happened. A pale white glow suffused the Grimm, coating it in a shimmering barrier against the downpour.

"A…aura? It has aura!?" Ruby's eyes widened and she took a step back from surprise. She raised her hands to shield her face when the glow suddenly intensified to an almost blinding degree.

"This… this is like that Merlot one, isn't it?" Roman narrowed his eyes.

"Doesn't have the glowing green stuff, but I don't like where this is going." Yang muttered.

"Something has clearly changed." Ozpin sipped from his mug to hide his own worries.

"Assuming direct control."

Ruby dropped her arms to stare at the Grimm in spite of the glow around it, instantly recognising the voice despite the heavy distortion.

Once the light faded, the Nuckelavee was still largely the same, save one key detail, its previously amber eyes were now a dull sapphire.

"…Ruby."

"Jaune?"

"That's Jaune!? What happened to him!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Assuming direct control? He can possess Grimm too like that mad scientist maybe?" Blake hedged.

"He can, although the process is a little different from that version of Merlot." Blank replied.

"Are you… real?" Nuckelavee Jaune asked.

"O-of course I'm real, you! You're a Grimm! What!? why!? How!?" Ruby sputtered.

"It's a long story. I'm just borrowing this body for now. It's easier to explain in person, come, I'll give you a lift." The Nuckelavee said before its form wavered. The imp on its back hunched over and the Grimm seemed to fold in on itself, bits of it bulging out and other parts sinking inwards, melting and fusing back into a misshapen lump.

Ruby watched in horrified fascination as the monstrous Nuckelavee morphed into a giant Nevermore. Once the transformation was done, it bent forwards, beckoning to her to get on its back. She gulped once before gingerly stepping forwards.

No attack came.

"I have full control over this Grimm… relax." Jaune's distorted voice came from the Nevermore in an attempt to assuage her fears. Slightly more confident, Ruby took a deep breath before walking the rest of the way over and climbing onto its back. Through it all, the Grimm remained perfectly docile, lending credence to Jaune's claims.

"That is freaky." Yang summed up nicely.

"Hold on." Water sprayed everywhere as the Nevermore flapped its wings, taking to the stormy skies instantly. Ruby clung tight to the Nevermore's feathers while the howling winds buffeted her.

Once in the air, Ruby had a bird's eye view of the entire city… or what was left of it. Her heart sank when she saw how widespread the devastation was. She had thought the section of Mantle she traversed was in bad shape, in truth, it had gotten off largely unscathed compared to the rest of the city. Entire sections of Mantle were simply gone, nothing but giant blast craters filled with twisted steel to mark where towering skyscrapers had once stood.

And when she turned her attention to the skies, Atlas was also conspicuously missing. It could have simply moved somewhere else for safety, but somehow, Ruby doubted that was the case.

The longer they flew, the bleaker the surroundings. The world outside the city limits had been reshaped as well. Entire mountain ranges had been flattened and new ones raised elsewhere. Not to mention the giant craters that were everywhere too.

"God. Damn." Ironwood exhaled.

"Bloody hell, even Mount Glenn doesn't look as bad as this." Roman paled.

"What kind of Grimm could do something like this?" Goodwitch asked.

"It wasn't a Grimm." Blank said.

"What happened?" Ruby whispered, realising she no longer recognised the world she was in.

"We lost." Jaune's reply was succinct and soul crushing.

"Lost? H-how? I was… I was out cold for just a bit! How did all this happen a-and where's… where's the snow? This… this is Solitas… isn't it?" Ruby glanced at the storm clouds blanketing the world. The rain was still pouring down even beyond the city, which didn't make sense. In Solitas, it snowed, not rained.

"The world has changed Ruby. You… you disappeared a long time ago." Jaune's reply made no sense to her.

"A… long time? B-but I was just on that airship! I… there were two engineers I tried to save, a-and a Griffon!" Ruby protested.

"The frigate exploded, you never came down." Jaune replied.

"But… she did?" Mercury frowned in confusion.

"Idiot, clearly something happened and she got kicked into the future or something." Emerald rolled her eyes at his inability to see the obvious.

"Bullshit, that's impossible." Mercury said flatly.

"Last time red got caught in an explosion, didn't they get knocked into a parallel universe. You telling me getting shot forwards in time is impossible after that?" Emerald raised an eyebrow.

"Ah… fair point." Mercury conceded with a grumble.

So many questions burned inside her, but before she could voice any of them, the Nevermore shot into the clouds. Her vision was completely obscured for a few seconds before they burst through into the night skies.

The sea of stars greeted them and Ruby found her breath stolen away by the sight in spite of the situation. Then she looked to the moon and her mind crashed.

"W-wha… the moon!" She babbled.

"What's left of it." Jaune confirmed.

High above them hung a single thin crescent.

Remnant's shattered moon as she knew it was gone.

"What in the…" Winter trailed off, gobsmacked.

"Salem did this?" Ozpin whispered.

"She shares some of the blame, yes." Blank confirmed.

"We've arrived." Jaune said once the Nevermore landed in what used to be Argus. Ruby got off silently, her mind in even greater turmoil after the lunar revelation.

Belatedly, she realised the Nevermore had deposited her at Saphron and Terra's house. It was the only one still standing in the ruined port city. And even then, it too bore countless signs of repairs and patchwork.

"Releasing control." The Nevermore shuddered once Ruby left. The aura glow returned, flaring briefly before fading. The Grimm screeched once before collapsing, dissolving into shadows and leaving Ruby alone.

She perked up when the sound of something unlatching reached her ears, deafening in the total silence. The door to Saphron's house creaked open and Jaune stepped out to greet her.

"That's fearless leader now? W-what happened to him?" Nora shifted uncomfortably.

"He looks just like her." Ozpin whispered.

He was both the same as she remembered yet completely different. His armour, faded jeans and Pumpkin Pete hoodie were gone, replaced with a simple hand-woven T-shirt and pants. But by far the most striking change was his face.

His once fair skin and blonde hair were now completely bleached white. If one closed an eye, they could have written it off as by-products of age and not getting enough sun. But the pitch black sclerae and crimson pupils as well as the black veins framing his gaunt face put paid to that theory.

"Jaune? What… why do you look like Salem?" Ruby stammered.

Jaune reached up to his face and rubbed it gingerly with one hand, a sad smile on his face. "Ugly sight isn't it? Done to me, this was."

"Salem…" Ruby growled and her hands tightened into fists.

"We can fix this, we jus-"

"No. You can't." Jaune shook his head.

"We can!" She insisted.

"Ozpin must know something, or Salem did this, she can… she can reverse it!" Ruby wracked her brain, trying to come up with a solution.

Jaune's sad smile never wavered once. "Ozpin is gone. And Salem… if she could fix this, she would have fixed herself long ago. You caring is enough. Ah, where are my manners, come in, you must be cold." Jaune gestured to the door and beckoned Ruby to enter before leading the way inside.

"Gone?" Ozpin frowned, was he dead and hadn't reincarnated yet? No, something told him it was more than that.

"Fix… herself? What is that supposed to mean?" Cinder was confused, what exactly needed to be fixed about her? She was the most powerful person she ever met.

"He feels so… sad? No that's not it…" Pyrrha wracked her brain, trying to find the word she was searching for.

"Defeated?" Blake offered.

"Yeah, that's it. He's… he's given up. But, there's something more…" Pyrrha trailed off.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Ruby asked. Jaune shook his head and gestured to a beat-up couch for her to sit on.

"Relax, just… rest. I'm afraid I don't have a lot here in the way of clothes, but you can use some of my spares. Just sit, I'll get you a dry set and some tea. We have plenty of time to catch up later." Jaune waved off her questions and left Ruby to her own devices while he moved deeper into the house.

Ruby sighed and acquiesced. The entire world had gone mad, and Jaune was her only link to 'normalcy'. Arguing with him here and getting everyone mad served no purpose. As she plopped herself down on the couch, she looked around the place, taking in all the changes from the last time she'd been here. It felt like an eternity ago now.

The layout of the living room was still the same as it was the last time. Only, this time there were piles of books lying everywhere. Everything from fiction, to history textbooks to lawbooks lay scattered about, their well-worn pages yellow with age.

"Blake would have loved it here." She whispered.

"I would actually." Blake shrugged.

"By the coast, so fresh fish too." She added as an afterthought.

"You think so?" Jaune replied, startling Ruby who hadn't heard him approach.

"That's… nice then." Jaune handed over the spare change of clothes and set a teacup down on the coffee table. He turned and left without another word, gliding across the floor noiselessly and giving Ruby some privacy to shed her soaked attire.

By the time jaune returned, Ruby had already changed and was halfway through her cup. He forestalled her questions with a raised hand, taking the time to pull out his own seat. "I know you have a lot of questions, take your time. Time, is something we have no limit of after all."

Ruby's mouth worked for several moments, but no words left them. Until she finally got the courage to ask the question she dreaded the answer to most. "Everyone else… where are they?"

"Gone." Jaune's one word crushed her spirits completely.

"No…" Ruby whispered heartbroken.

"How did… how did it happen?"

"I don't know. By the time I got back, there was nothing left." Jaune replied.

"Got back? That phrasing seem off or anything?" Roman said.

Neo poked him in the side and displayed her scroll to him.

"Oh yeah, that's right, he was fighting at the start too, wasn't he? He get kicked to the future too?" Roman's question received no answer.

"And Salem?" Ruby all but spat out the name as a curse.

"In Evernight. She hasn't left her castle in… I can't remember anymore." Jaune frowned as he tried to recall the last time Salem had even stepped foot outside her castle and drew a complete blank.

"She needs to be stopped." Ruby said, a small crack appearing in her teacup from the strength of her grip.

"She isn't doing anything that needs to be stopped. I'm not sure if she's even doing anything anymore. It's why I just leave her alone now, fighting her is pointless." Jaune said in an even tone.

"Well, looks like there's finally a version of him that gets it." Cinder chuckled.

"Isn't doing anything that needs to be stopped? What!? It's Salem! She's trying to end humanity." Ironwood protested.

"Maybe… maybe she's doesn't need to be stopped because it's already too late." Taiyang's words caused a hush to fall over the audience.

"This future… we lost right? And Ruby is even further along in that timeline? What happens after we lose?" He continued before falling silent himself.

"How can you say that!? Yang, Weiss, Blake, Ren, Nora, Penny… they're gone because of her! How many more will she take!? We need to-" Ruby exploded in anger and Jaune interrupted her.

"There's no one left to take. We lost."

"I know we lost! Even so! We can't just give up! For the people-"

Jaune interrupted again with a tired voice. "Humanity. Lost."

He held her gaze with his Grimmified eyes. "There is no one left. You're the last 'real' human on Remnant."

"What?" Summer spoke up.

"What?" Ruby whispered.

Jaune sighed and looked into his own cup of tea. "You've been gone a long time Ruby. Humanity went extinct six centuries ago."

"WHAT!?" This time the exclamation came from the entire audience.

Silence dominated the living room after Jaune dropped that bombshell. Seeing as Ruby was at a loss for words, Jaune spoke up. "I suppose, I'll start at the beginning. After you di-disappeared, we continued fighting. And believe it or not, we actually won the battle of Atlas."

Jaune paused to take a sip of his tea, casting his mind back to the days before his corruption. "It was close. Atlas's fleet was almost completely destroyed, we were losing ground by the minute. Then a miracle happened."

Jaune chuckled softly as he recalled the giant Colossus from Argus busting through a wall of smoke to punch the Grimm whale in the face with its drill. His memories from those days had largely faded into oblivion but there was no forgetting that sight.

"Cordovin brought reinforcements from Argus and Mistral. Between them and Penny, we managed to hold."

"Then what happened?"

"What happened was Salem is immortal. So she lost that day, nothing more than a minor setback. She came back for rounds two, three, four…" Jaune trailed off and shrugged.

"Eventually she would have worn us down to nothing. So we made one last gamble, to beat her before she could overrun the rest of the world. Haaaaa… let's just say, things didn't go according to plan."

"No one's invincible, there must be some way to win." Winter insisted.

"A war of attrition, how do we overcome that though." Qrow pondered aloud.

"Mankind is hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned and at times, outmatched by the Grimm. How do we beat back a never-ending onslaught?"

No one had an answer for him.

Jaune's shield arm held firm as several large explosive quills struck the hardlight barrier. Rustling spines heralded the paladin sized porcupine Grimm reloading for another barrage and Jaune called out a warning. "It's about to fire again!"

"Understood, eliminating targets now friend Jaune." Penny raised her hands and a ball of lightning collected in her palms. The bolt fired in a blinding flash, zapping the lead Grimm and chaining to the others nearby, frying them all from the inside.

"Go Penny!" Ruby cheered for her friend despite the circumstances.

"Lightning? But she doesn't… ah, I see. So it worked after all." Ironwood exhaled, piecing together the fact that Penny now had the maiden's powers within her.

"Way is clear, let's go!" Jaune charged out of hiding and into the castle proper with Penny and Weiss trailing behind him. The opening they cut into Salem's defences wouldn't last forever, not with the endless amounts of Grimm she could spawn.

But with any luck, their two-pronged assault would be able to rectify that problem. Splitting their group into smaller teams, their mission was to infiltrate and destroy the Grimm pools or die trying. Much as he would have preferred to have Ren with him for this, necessity dictated they be on separate teams.

While Ren's group snuck behind enemy lines with his semblance and wreaked havoc. Jaune had the unenviable task of being with the heavy hitters. With maiden Penny and a fully buffed up Weiss, they could draw the main bulk of the defenders towards them, making Ren's infiltration even easier.

Their window was limited as all hell and their plan was far riskier than Jaune was comfortable with. But they were simply out of options. If they didn't stop the Grimm spawning or at least slow it down, humanity would be overrun before the year was out. With Ozpin and Ironwood on the front lines occupying Salem, it was all or nothing now.

"Scans indicate a pack of Beowolves approaching us from the front. Please step back friends, I shall deal with them." Lightning crackled along Penny's fingers as she prepared another blast.

Weiss gently pushed her arm down and shook her head. "The thunder indoors will deafen us Penny, please, allow me. Jaune?"

Jaune nodded and placed a palm on Weiss's shoulder, flowing aura into her and amping her semblance. Weiss exhaled softly as the Beowolves came rushing down the hall towards them.

Snapping her fingers once, a massive armoured gauntlet sprung into existence and rocketed forwards in the mother of all punches. As the ethereal arm occupied the entire corridor, the Beowolves had no chance to dodge.

All of them were simply picked up by the giant fist and slammed into the wall at the end hard enough to be instantly dusted. As a bonus, the wall itself crumbled, allowing them access deeper into Salem's base.

"…I need to learn how to do that." Weiss whispered in awe.

"Hey! I'm the punchy one of this team, don't go stealing my job Weiss." Yang laughed good-naturedly.

"My scans do not pick up any more Grimm, I believe we are clear." Penny said after a moment.

"Good, then let's go." Jaune led the way forwards again, shield at the ready in case Penny's sensors were wrong.

The further into the castle they got, the heavier the opposition as expected. Jaune watched Weiss summon a giant Megoliath right on top of a dozen Sphinxes, squashing them all flat under its massive bulk.

"Ahahahaha! Puny Grimm go squish!" Nora cheered.

"…Interesting semblance application." Winter grimaced slightly. On the one hand, it worked, but on the other, surely there must have been a more dignified way of using summons.

"If it works, it works? Gotta say, squashing Grimm with other Grimm isn't something I've every tried before." Qrow shrugged.

"Hmm? There was the time that-" Taiyang began.

"Didn't happen!" Qrow cut him off.

"Are you still mad abou-"

"Didn't. Happen." Qrow stressed the words and shot his brother in law a glare.

Taiyang's mouth clicked shut.

Unease ate at Jaune despite the progress they were making.

"I don't like this. This is too easy, it's some kind of trap." He voiced his worries at last after they finished clearing out yet another room full of Grimm.

"Easy? What do you mean easy!?" Weiss looked at Jaune like he'd grown a second head and gestured to the destruction all around them.

"We've killed more Grimm in the last two hours than most huntsmen will in their whole lives!"

"Indeed, friend Jaune, I believe the word difficult would be more apt to describe this mission." Penny concurred.

"It doesn't make sense. All the Grimm in the castle should have noticed us by now, why are they not coming to us? In fact, why the hell are there so many Grimm here in the first place!? This isn't the spawning pits, this is… it's Salem's home, right? Where she lives and keeps her minions? This many Grimm inside, and the destructive type too? We're missing something here!" Jaune threw his arms up. His instincts were screaming at him to run, that they were walking straight into a trap and they should get the hell out of there while they could.

"That… is true." Cinder muttered, in all the time she'd spent in Evernight, there had never been so many Grimm just running about.

Under Salem's control or not, they tended to be… messy.

Weiss and Penny exchanged a glance, noticing the oddities as well now that Jaune pointed them out. It was Weiss who broke the silence first. "So, she let us in? Why go through all this trouble?"

"I don't know. But I don't like it. We should retreat for now." Jaune said.

"What about the mission?" Penny asked.

"I'm seventy percent sure the mission was screwed from the beginning. We should leave while we have the chance, before whatever trap this is goes off. We can… we can try again once we have better intel." Jaune's uncertainty bled into his voice.

"Perceptive. But you're too late." Salem's voice rang out from all around them and the next thing Jaune knew, the floor beneath them had vanished. Penny started flying, Weiss kept herself aloft in place with her glyphs and Jaune tried arresting his sudden fall with his shield.

For a moment it seemed like it would work, then an unseen force crushed his precious shield into scrap metal and Jaune plummeted into the abyss.

"JAUNE!" Weiss screamed and stretched out her hand, trying to summon another glyph beneath him. Penny too tried rocketing towards the falling huntsman to save him. But it was not to be, something invisible grabbed his leg and dragged him down into the deep before either of them could reach him.

The last thing Jaune saw was his friends reaching for him, then he hit the surface of the Grimm pool and darkness took him.

"That can't be good." Mercury muttered.

"Understatement much?" Emerald countered.

"What… what is that thing? He called it the Grimm pools, but what are those things." Pyrrha shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

"That must be where the Grimm are spawning from." Ozpin said.

"And what happens when someone falls in?" Weiss asked.

"They die. Or…" The headmaster trailed off.

"Or?" Goodwitch prompted, never hearing this before.

"Or Salem happens." Ozpin finished.

Unbelievable, mind fraying agony consumed his entire being. The pain was all-encompassing, so total in its obliteration of his senses that he didn't even know if he was still screaming or had already bitten his own tongue off.

The Grimm pool was anathema to everything he was, an alien poison invading his system seeking to corrupt everything it touched and destroy everything that resisted. Jaune's very soul screamed in protest, and his semblance answered.

In an effort to protect himself, the most primal side of Jaune's subconscious fought through the pain and corrupting haze to force his aura amplification to the maximum… and then beyond. First a barrier against the essence, then the expulsion of every last drop of poison within and finally beginning the healing process.

At least… that was what it should have been. The essence of the God of Darkness would not be thwarted so easily, its tendrils had already ensnared Jaune and refused to yield to the will of a single man. The war between his soul and the corruption engulfing him intensified with every passing second, causing more pain and his semblance to push even further, far, far beyond the limit of what was humanly possible.

Time held no meaning in the void, he could have been floating there for eons or perhaps just a scant few seconds, in which case this torture was most heinous indeed. Periods of lucidity were exceedingly rare for Jaune, most of the time his mind was simply shut off to escape the pain while his semblance ran on autopilot.

But bit by bit, the pain started receding and the periods of lucidity grew longer and longer, until one day, Jaune managed to 'kick' towards the surface.

Ripples formed on the surface of the tar like liquid and one bone white arm burst through the surface, latching onto the edge of the pool and pulling the rest of the body through in an undignified crawl back to dry land.

A fit of coughing took him as Jaune struggled to draw breath. Lungs that hadn't seen use in ages suddenly forced to work again burned from the strain, but compared to the hell he just crawled out of, it was sweet merciful release.

"He survived." Cinder said, genuinely impressed with that fact.

"Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?" Mercury asked.

"I… don't know." Emerald admitted.

"He's what, half Grimm now?"

Black smoke poured off Jaune's body as the excess Grimm liquid evaporated away into nothingness, leaving behind only the transformed human. Not all of it went though, enough of the liquid darkness clung to him, slowly coalescing into imitations of the clothes he wore before the fall.

Wrong.

That was the only word Jaune could use to describe himself now. Everything was off, nothing was right and he was a stranger in his own body. All of his sensations felt strangely muted, his actions delayed, almost like he was puppeteering his own body from a distance.

"Wha? Wha happun ter mee?" Words came out slurred, his tongue not able to mould them well anymore. Jaune staggered to his feet, nearly stumbling back into the pool from a sudden bout of weakness but fortunately catching himself before that could happen.

When his right hand came up to touch his cheek, the feeling was again muted, the sensation of touch barely registering. No, there was one thing that he could still feel.

"Cold." In fact, his cheek felt positively freezing. When he pulled his fingers away, it took a little bit of effort, upon glancing down, he noticed the icicles where they had frozen to his face. He should have felt confusion at the sight, maybe fear at the unknown fate that had befallen him, instead an overpowering surge of anger nearly overcame him.

"Magic? He has magic?" Ozpin's eyes widened.

"Yes and no. It's not quite the magic you know of, but it is magic all the same." Blank answered.

"The different Grimm subtypes have powers of their own that would be termed magic, after his change, he can now access all of them."

"So he's some kind of… super Grimm in human form now?" Roman asked.

"You could say that. It was a fluke he managed to survive, anyone else would have been erased by the Grimm pools." Blank said.

"Wha iz dis!?" Jaune's head spun as the urge to lash out and destroy everything around him flared and faded just as suddenly as it had come, leaving him feeling weak and drained.

The sound of footsteps growing louder drew his attention towards the woman walking down a flight of stairs. Salem raised an eyebrow as she saw the disoriented Jaune. "My, my, isn't this a surprise."

"Ssshaalem!" Jaune growled and felt the urge to destroy return in force, this time laser focused on the one who personally sent him to hell.

"Monssther!" He accused. The temperature dropped drastically and the entire chamber began to ice over as his power ran rampant with his emotions. A howling gale began to pick up within the chamber and the air became charged with energy.

Salem stood there unfazed by Jaune's display. "You… survived. I thought dropping you into the pool would have finished you… yet, here you are. How curious."

"Kick her ass Jaune!" Nora yelled.

"She looks… different." Cinder remarked, something about this version of Salem was off, compared to the one she knew. A certain flair or energy was missing from her movements.

"Aaaahhhrgggh!" Jaune thrust out one of his hands on instinct, a massive spike of ice formed mid-air and shot towards Salem at supersonic speed. For her part, the immortal witch didn't even bother dodging, simply standing there with the same blank expression as the spike impaled her through the heart.

She remained standing for several seconds before keeling over and dying. Then in a flash of light, she fully resurrected without any sign of her previous violent death. "Are you quite done, child?"

"So much for a quick finish." Qrow muttered.

"Things are never that easy." Summer sighed.

Salem shook her head and chided Jaune. Snapping her fingers once, a sheet of pristine ice formed in front of him, in its mirror-like sheen Jaune could see his reflection perfectly. Horror slowly dawned on his face as he reached up to his face and watched his reflection mimic his actions.

"No."

"I don't know how you survived falling into the pool, but it matters not. We're the same now. Grimm in human form." Salem's words cut deep and her disinterested tone sealed the deal.

An unholy screech tore at Jaune's ears and the ice mirror shattered into a million crystal pieces. For a brief moment Jaune wondered what tortured creature could make such a sound, then he realised, the screaming was coming from himself.

"That can't be good for his psyche." Goodwitch said.

"Kid's gonna need a lot of alcohol." Qrow added.

"And he spent what, six hundred years as that? Is he immortal?" Roman asked.

"Essentially. The mix of his semblance and the Grimm essence means he's ageless and immortal. Even if he's completely destroyed he'll just reform again, angry and ready to kill whatever killed him." Blank said.

"Just like her." Ozpin whispered.

"And that was it really. Spent four years drowning in that muck, by the time I escaped, the world already ended." Jaune closed his eyes with a sigh. Even centuries later, it still stung, some wounds, time would not heal.

Silence filled the living room as Ruby found herself at a loss for words while Jaune took the moment to recompose himself.

"To answer your question, after our assault on Evernight failed. Ozpin activated some kind of backup plan involving the remaining relics. I don't what it was but Salem interfered somehow, the plan backfired and ended up destroying the moon completely. Orbital bombardment across the entire planet, wiped out ninety percent of all life on the surface instantly." Jaune finished.

"That explains the craters everywhere." Blake said.

"What the hell kind of plan did you come up with Oz!?" Qrow turned to stare at his boss.

"I… I don't know. It must be something I came up with in the future. I… don't have any plans that could end with the moon being destroyed." Ozpin admitted.

"And the remaining ten?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

"Most surviving species went extinct slowly over the next few decades. Humanity included. It wasn't even the Grimm that did us in, with the kingdoms devastated by the shattered moon, we lost our farms, our homes, water supplies, everything we needed for civilisation vanished overnight. Those that survived the collapse just… lacked the will to go on." Jaune said sadly.

Snapping his fingers once, a pool of darkness formed next to them and an alpha Beowolf emerged from the shadows, rising out of the ground like a spectre. "I can create, control, modify and takeover Grimm now. Spent decades using them to guard the remnants of humanity from Salem, but it wasn't enough, it just wasn't enough."

Waving his hand once, he directed the Grimm outside and it left without so much as a growl in their direction. "And I'm immortal to boot. Got to watch humanity dwindle away to nothing and still I'm damned to continue existing."

"…What a horrible fate." Winter frowned.

"Hey! What happened to the rest of us?" Mercury piped up.

"You did not survive the shattering of the moon. None of you do." Blank said.

"That wasn't the plan." Cinder muttered.

"It really wasn't. In that timeline, everyone lost. Everyone."

"A-and what about Salem?"

"What about her?" Jaune said in a disinterested voice.

"She's immortal, completely and totally unkillable… well no, that's not quite right. killing her is easy, it's getting her to stay dead that's the problem. After humanity went extinct, I gave into hate and fought a war against her for over two centuries. Killed her hundreds of times, died a lot too." Jaune's eyes had a faraway look as he recalled every battle he presided over after the end. Armies of Grimm clashing in pitched battle amid the backdrop of a ruined world.

"There aren't many things more pointless than two immortals killing one another over and over again. To the victor the spoils? Heh. Pointless." Jaune laughed bitterly.

"My hate eventually burned out and I was sick and tired of it all, so I walked away. Now, Salem remains in Evernight, and I stay here in Argus. Been that way for… four centuries now? I don't know, the days slip away from me so easily…" A defeated sigh came from Jaune before he shook his head to get rid of the negativity.

"He's been alone for all that time, hasn't he?" Pyrrha said.

"In effect." Blank said.

"How is he still sane? That level of isolation…" Roman shuddered.

"Once humanity disappeared for good, he went completely insane. Spent two centuries fighting Salem, driven by nothing more than hate and instinct until he started to put his broken pieces back together again." Blank said.

"I wouldn't call his current state a picture of good mental health, but it's what he's got."

"I… you can't give up! There… there must be some survivors, maybe, maybe in hiding or something!" Ruby protested.

"If there are, I haven't found them. I've been sending my Grimm out to scout, searching… always searching. Nothing… until you appeared in what used to be Mantle. Speaking of which… how did you get there anyways?" Jaune's dull eyes sparkled with a small twinkle, Ruby's arrival was the first break in this world of endless grey and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

"I'm not sure myself, all I know is that I was on the airship and then…" Ruby began explaining everything she had done and experienced up until the white light engulfed her. Jaune listened without interrupting, simply absorbing and processing the new information quietly.

"The frigate you were on… the Resplendent I believe, it was carrying a cargo of lightning and gravity dust meant for the Amity project. I wonder…" Jaune stood and walked over to a pile of books, pulling out several massive tomes in search of something.

"Ah, here it is." Jaune returned most of the massive books back to the pile, keeping only one that bore the SDC's mark. Ruby's eyes bugged out of her skull when he flipped it open and an endless array of handwritten numbers and meaningless symbols greeted her.

"W-what is that!?"

"SDC dust research, I retrieved it from their archives after I quit fighting Salem. Say what you want about them, they're pretty damned paranoid about keeping their records and backups, worked out for me." Jaune shrugged.

"You can understand all that? Ruby's gaze returned to the gibberish on the paper and then snapped back to Jaune.

"Yes."

"How!?"

"I'm immortal. I have a lot of spare time to teach myself things. Reading keeps me sane…ish." Jaune shrugged again.

"It… is better than drinking his life away." Ozpin whispered, reminded of some of his earlier lives.

"But that's beside the point. I compiled most of their research on theoretical dust application here. Most of these never went anywhere due to lack of funding, interest or time, but I do recall reading about the possibility of tearing open rifts in spacetime with gravity dust."

"Time travel?" Ruby muttered dubiously.

"Yes. Unless you have a better explanation? You disappeared more than half a millennium ago, then suddenly reappeared again out of nowhere." Jaune replied.

"Then… if it's time travel… is there a way to go back?" Ruby asked, hoping against hope for some way to turn the situation around.

Jaune didn't answer immediately, mulling the question over in his head for a minute before sighing. "I don't know. The SDC never went anywhere with the research beyond recording the theory and the hypothetical requirements. But…"

Jaune's expression soured instantly. "Salem would know. She has the relic of knowledge after all."

"He's kidding right? Someone tell me he's joking." Qrow lowered his flask and stared ahead blankly.

"You're joking." Ruby said flatly.

"I'm not. I suppose, it's time to pay her a visit." Jaune grimaced and rose to his feet.

"There's no way she'll help us."

"You'd be surprised. This isn't the victory she was searching for. Give her a chance to undo this mess and she just might take it." Jaune said.

"It's Salem! She caused all this, didn't she!?"

"And maybe she can help fix it. Ruby, what have we got to lose at this point?" Jaune's simple question silenced Ruby's protests instantly.

"I don't like this either. But if there's even the smallest chance of preventing this world from coming to pass… you jumped into the future, if we can send you back before the world ended. You might be able to change things for the better."

"…Alright. But I still think this is a bad idea." Ruby muttered.

"Preaching to the choir." Weiss muttered.

"There's no way she'll help. She'll just find a way to double cross them even if she does." Ironwood stated firmly.

"But… they don't have any other options, do they?" Summer replied.

"Anything else is preferable to going to the one responsible for mankind's extinction for help." Ironwood said.

"Hmm? Isn't Ozpin also to blame for that general?" Cinder's mocking laughter caused Ironwood to start grinding his teeth hard enough it was audible.

"This is Evernight?" Ruby stared at the ruined castle once their wyvern touched down.

"Hmmm… she never bothered rebuilding after our last battle. Didn't see the point in it I guess." Jaune said and dismounted.

A lone seer floated through a section of destroyed masonry and approached them. Ruby reached for Crescent Rose but Jaune held up his hand a shook his head.

Black mist emanated from the Grimm and a hologram of Salem appeared shortly after. "I felt the world shift on its axis awhile back. I presume that was your doing?"

"Not mine. Hers." Jaune nodded towards Ruby.

"…Who are you again? I thought humanity went extinct. Was I mistaken? Silver eyes too… how curious, but, inconsequential." Salem glanced at Ruby dispassionately before writing her off completely.

"Wha!? I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!" Ruby all but shouted.

"And? Is that name supposed to mean something?"

"Ice cold." Roman commented.

"Hey! Where does she get off being that rude to Ruby!" Yang growled out.

"It is more than six hundred years in the future. Memories do fade with time." Blank pointed out.

"She's a comrade of mine. From before the collapse." Jaune interceded while Ruby sputtered angrily at being forgotten.

"Oh? Hmm… yes, I do recall a silver eye from back then. If memory serves, she died before the collapse. In… Atlas I think." Salem's brows furrowed as she tried to find Ruby's place in her memories.

"She didn't die, somehow she got sent to the future instead." Jaune replied.

"Is that so? Then you're here for the relic of knowledge. Trying to find a way to send her back and stop me in the past?" Salem mused to herself before chuckling.

"Very well, come on in. If nothing else, this will make for a fine distraction from my boredom."

"What." Qrow's flat tone spoke for everyone.

"She's… she's willing to help?" Ruby frowned.

"What's in it for her?" Winter asked.

"Same thing that's in it for them. A second chance. A do-over." Blank answered.

"Wait. You're willing to help us?" Ruby stared at the queen of the Grimm in confusion.

"Why not? I have nothing to lose from this, but so much to gain. If you fail, then I am entertained for a bit and nothing changes. If you succeed, then I too get another chance to succeed." Salem's hologram dissipated after one final chuckle and the Seer began heading back into the castle, leading the way forwards.

"There's the catch." Taiyang shook his head.

"What's the worst that could happen though?" Qrow mused.

"Everyone's already dead. Is it even possible to have a worse outcome than this?"

"I'd prefer not to come up with an answer for that." Winter said drily.

"…What if I go back and she wins?" Ruby asked after a while.

"If she wins, she wins. Maybe humanity will find a way to beat her later on. Even a chance at a possible future victory is better than this." Jaune waved his hand at the destruction around them.

"How do we beat her? You've fought her right? How do we win?"

"There will be no victory through force, that's all I can tell you, at best I only drew with her. But don't worry yourself too much, living in the 'what ifs' is a dangerous and painful exercise, not to mention useless. You just have to give it your best shot come what may." Jaune muttered.

"Encouraging. Real encouraging." Blake smiled grimly.

"Look on the bright side. If we know what won't work on her, we won't waste time and effort trying it again. We can try something else that might succeed." Ren said, finally coming back to reality.

Stepping into the destroyed throne room, the two of them found Salem seated on her throne with an amused smile on her face. The lamp floated in mid-air in the centre of the room, held aloft by her power.

"Fortunately, I have not used the relic in a long time. Three questions, make them count, would you?" She made a small pushing gesture and sent the lamp floating towards Ruby.

Once it was close, Ruby snatched it out of the air and hugged it close. When Salem made no move to renege on her offer of assistance, she took a deep breath. "Jinn."

Time froze for everything except the three of them and the spirit of the lamp emerged. "Wonderful! Familiar faces once more, tell me, what knowledge do you seek?"

"How do I go back?" Ruby asked immediately.

"Same way you arrived. Through a rift in reality caused by a mixture of gravity dust, lightning dust and your own semblance." Jinn answered cheerfully.

"My… semblance?"

"Yes. Your semblance is the only thing that will allow you to survive passing through the rift, anyone else will be torn apart by the stress and never finish the transport, essentially erasing themselves by scattering their being across the entire timestream. But while you haven't reconstituted your petals, you get a free pass on it." Jinn answered.

"So no chance of Salem going through the rift. That's good news at least." Goodwitch exhaled softly.

"As to the procedure…" Jinn trailed off and snapped her fingers once, Jaune winced as the information flowed directly into his mind. A full list of what machinery they would need and how much dust would be required to recreate the event.

"Got it."

"Any other questions?" Jinn asked and Salem was next to go.

"Just one spirit. If she goes back, can she change the past? Prevent this present from every occurring?"

"Oh but of course she can. But what new future will be born from her actions, who can say?"

Ruby sighed in relief to hear that. She had a shot at fixing things after all.

"Anything else?"

"What happens to this timeline should Ruby change the past?" Jaune asked the third and final question.

"It will never have existed of course. This world and everyone in it will be erased because they never came to be. It will be replaced by whatever present is born from her actions in the past." Jinn answered, not at all concerned that she would be erased as well. With the third question answered, Jinn faded away, returning to her lamp and time began to move again.

"WHAT!?" Ruby shouted.

"I see. That is acceptable." Salem nodded.

"Couldn't ask for anything more." Jaune agreed.

"T-they agree on that!? B-but they're erasing themselves!" Ruby protested.

"Understandable." Ozpin closed his eyes, in their position he'd have a similar reaction probably.

"W-what do you mean!?" Ruby looked to Jaune aghast.

"Y-you'll be erased if I succeed! Both of you! How can you be fine with this!?"

"Is it that surprising?" Salem tilted her head quizzically, not seeing anything wrong with the situation.

"I'm old Ruby. I've lived for too long." Jaune said, his expression belying his true age for once.

"Immortality is suffering child, unending suffering. You offer the both of us a chance to escape this hell. Trust me, erasing us is the greatest favour you could do for us." Salem continued.

"But!" Ruby sputtered, still unconvinced.

"Would you prefer we continue existing in this world of nothing for the rest of eternity?" Jaune asked, and Ruby had no answer for that.

"I… is there no other way?" She asked in a small voice.

"Even if there was…" Salem began.

"We'd ask you not to take it." Jaune finished.

"Immortality is a curse." Ozpin spoke up, speaking from personal experience.

"Is there no other way?" Nora asked.

"None that ends happily for Jaune. That's it. He's… he's tired of living." Pyrrha said, the thing that had been bugging her earlier finally clicking into place.

"He doesn't want to go on anymore."

"Can't say I blame him." Qrow shrugged.

"He's outlived everyone else. And… there's no out other than this is there?"

"Indeed. He is functionally banished from death the same way Salem is." Blank said.

Ruby stood by solemnly as a squad of Apathy shifted the last piled of dust into place. With the Grimm under Jaune and Salem's joint control, progress on the portal site had been expedient. Even with a few minor setbacks in locating functional equipment and having to manufacture the pieces that no longer existed, construction was still finished in a month.

Once the final calibrations were complete, it would be time to recreate the accident that sent Ruby to the future. This time, with a little help from magic and Atlas's aura experiments, they would be able to lock on to Ruby's aura signature in the distant past and send her back to the point where it vanished.

Ruby surveyed the ruined city of Mantle around her, taking it all in and searing the sight into her memories. This was what she was going back to avoid, to prevent this cursed place from becoming reality.

"It's done. The final preparations are complete, all that's left is to start the chain reaction." Jaune reported and flipped a switch, causing the machinery to rumble to life.

"Lock on her aura signature is holding steady. All good on this end." Salem said shortly afterwards.

Ruby breathed in deeply and walked into the centre of the array. It was time.

"Wait." Jaune strode over and gave Ruby a big hug before releasing her.

"For luck."

"Thanks Jaune." Ruby nodded resolutely, letting her doubts drain away.

"See you on the flip side Crater Face." Jaune cracked a small smile, one that Ruby returned. Then he hit the final switch. Sparks and explosions flared and the reaction was underway.

"I won't let you down Vomit Boy." Ruby shot back and then activated her semblance, the flurry of rose petals swirled in place as the reaction grew more and more violent. Until suddenly, there was a blinding flash and she was gone.

"D-did it work?" Weiss blanched at the size of the explosion, worrying about Ruby being right at ground zero.

"I hope so." Blake said.

The two immortals left behind watched as their month's worth of work vanished in a massive explosion, uncaring about the burning debris that rained down on them.

"I noticed what you did. You gave her a permanent boost with your semblance, didn't you?" Salem's question was more a statement of fact than anything else.

"I did. You didn't stop me." Jaune replied.

"Hmmm, didn't see a need to. Maybe it'll even help her win against the me of the past. But you know what? I don't mind. Freedom from this cursed existence doesn't sound so bad." Salem shrugged.

"She doesn't mind losing because of this?" Ren raised an eyebrow.

"No. She believes she wins either way." Ozpin said.

"Headmaster?" His students turned to him.

"If Salem wins the next time around, then she wins. If she loses and Ms Rose finds a way to put her down for good, then she is freed from her cursed immortality. And in the worst case scenario, things simply don't change." Ozpin explained.

"Yes…" Jaune felt the world shift every so slightly and smiled.

"Doesn't sound bad at all." Jaune agreed. They were beginning to fade away, a sign that Ruby had succeeded in changing the past after all.

Vision blurry, Jaune could just barely make out the outlines of the new reality replacing their failed one. It might have been nothing more than wishful thinking, but he was pretty sure the ruined city was slowly being overwritten by a thriving one, full of life and good cheer.

"Farewell to the last immortals, and may the world never see our kind again." Salem intoned.

"Heh." Jaune chuckled softly.

Then they were gone.

The screen went black and the lights came back on.

"So she succeeded in changing the past." Cinder stated.

"Oh come on! We nearly saw what kind of future replaced it, show us!" Nora whined.

"Hmm… no, I don't think I will." Blank chuckled at the subsequent boos he received.

"Time travel… could-" Ironwood began but Blank interrupted instantly.

"No. Messing with time travel is dangerous business. Even aside from the fact that this method of travel is only possible for Ruby Rose, it is not a solution to all your problems."

"But if you could go back in time, you could fix all your mistakes before you even make them." Qrow said.

"One, the butterfly effect does exist. Two, repeatedly tampering with the timestream can cause time itself to break. That fate isn't… pretty to say the least. Don't even think about it." Blank said.

"Damn, so much for that." Qrow shook his head.

"Well, I let you all go refresh yourselves while I go prepare the next viewing." Blank said and his audience filed out.


Author's notes: I've been writing this for over a year now. Time flies.


Inspiration list:

Jaune Arc and Salem as Vandal Savage

Ruby Rose as Superman