in Mistral, Oscar was in a training room while wielding The Long Memory. As he panted from exhaustion, he heard a voice enter the room. "You're really getting better, huh?" Ruby asked as she was seen walking down the stairs into the room. "Are you hungry? It's almost dinnertime." Ruby told him.
"Uh, yeah. That sounds good. I was about to call it a night anyway." Oscar admitted.
"So, you've never fought before?" Ruby asked.
"Just the occasional small Grimm. Nothing like this, though." He explained.
"Wow." Ruby said, then giggled. "You look like a natural." She assured him.
"It's strange, I have only had this cane for a few weeks, but... I feel like I've had it for a lifetime. Longer, even." He explained, before pausing. "I sound like a crazy person." He realized.
"I mean, uh, yeah just a little. But at this pace, you'll be combat ready in no time!" Suddenly, Ruby frowned upon mentioning her last phrase. Sure, Penny had survived the attack on Beacon thanks to Kratos' intervention, but the Fall of Beacon still tore the two friends away from each other and the fall of the CCT tower meant they couldn't communicate anymore. She could only hope her friend was doing well in these trying times.
Oscar noticed this. "Uh..." He tried to ask a question, before Ruby interrupted him.
"Well, see you upstairs." She said, starting to head up.
"How do you handle all of this?" Oscar questioned.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"I'm... scared." Oscar told her, his voice starting to crack. "I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life, than I ever thought was possible." He said as he walked over to a weapon rack. "I always knew that I wanted to be more than a farmhand, but this?" He went on as he placed the cane in the rack. "Who would ask for this?" He asked.
He glanced down at the floor as a tear dripped from his eye. He sniffled before kneeling to the floor to reach his backpack. He grabbed the cane off the rack and pulled the lever on the handle to compact it before putting it in his backpack.
"We all went to Beacon because we wanted to help people. But, you're right. None of us asked for this either. We just have to press on and-" Ruby explained.
Oscar couldn't handle it anymore. "How can you be so confident?! People have tried to kill you! The world's about to go to war all over again! How are you okay with any of this?!"
Ruby was taken aback by Oscar's question. She frowned as she gave her response. "When Beacon fell, Kratos was seriously injured. All of us here were afraid every day to hear news that he died. He died trying to defend all of us and stop Cinder from destroying everything we loved. And at least two of my other friends nearly died during the attack, one of them just to prove a point. Just because they did survive in the end doesn't take the danger out of the situation. Every day, I could only think of how I wanted to get to know him more, how I should've spent more time with him and how I never got to repay him for everything her did for me. And also, because of the Fall of Beacon and the destruction of the tower, it's still almost like I lost all those friends I made, the ones that aren't here on our journey with us. I cant contact them and all I can do is wonder if I'll ever see any of them again. So even if I haven't lost them in the literal sense, it's still like they're gone." Ruby said.
"I'm... sorry." Oscar said.
"I am scared, but not just for me. What happened at Beacon shows that Salem doesn't care if you're standing against her or not. She'll kill anybody and that scares me most of all. If it had been me instead, I know Kratos and the others would have kept fighting too, no matter how dangerous it was. And the Revived, like Kratos and Ryu... or my sister Bayonetta, they were all dragged into this conflict, made to help fight against Salem without much choice, so if my own sister is forced to fight, why should I be allowed to sit on the side? So that's what I choose to do - to keep moving forward." Ruby explained.
Oscar walked up next to Ruby and they both shared a smile. Ruby wiped tears coming from her eyes with her arm. She then put a hand on Oscar's shoulder. "C'mon, if we don't hurry, Nora's gonna eat everything. It wouldn't be the first time. Ryu can only keep her at bay for so long." She said.
Ruby began to leave the room as Oscar lingered for a bit. "Hey, Oscar? This isn't gonna be easy, but the fact that you're even trying says a lot about you. You're braver than you think." She assured him, then proceeded up the stairs while Oscar watched.
(She really is remarkable, isn't she?) Ozpin asked mentally.
"Yeah. She must've been one of the best Huntresses at Beacon, huh?" Oscar asked.
Ozpin chuckled. (In some ways, yes. But in many others... no. She has her quirks, her faults, just like everyone else. But she also possesses something unquantifiable: a spark, that can inspire others even in the darkest of times.) He explained.
"This must be really hard on her too." Oscar realized.
(It most assuredly is.) Ozpin confirmed.
At the Branwen Tribe camp, Vernal poured cups of tea for Raven, Yang, Cereza and the Schnee twins. They were all inside Raven's tent with the latter five seated around a table.
"You can wait outside. Thank you." Raven told Vernal, who did so.
"So, what's the 'truth'?" Yang questioned.
Raven took a sip from her cup. "You know, it's better when it's hot." She told them.
"You know, you're really obnoxious." Weiss countered.
"Exactly. Just say what you're going to, then make us the portal so I don't have to keep looking at your face, because I'm getting more and more tempted to shoot it." Bayonetta snapped.
"The truth is that 'truth' is hard to come by. A story of victory for one person is a story of defeat for someone else. By now, your uncle has surely told Ruby and her friends plenty of stories." Raven explained.
"Well, he's never given me a reason to doubt him before." Yang told her mother.
"That doesn't mean those reasons don't exist." Raven explained, causing Yang to glare at her. Bayonetta growled as well, but resisted the urge to grab her gun. "You know, you and your teammates might as well be the poster children for the Huntsman Academies. Your motives vary, but you all enrolled to try and make the world a better place. It's adorable." Raven teased.
"We like to call it 'not being scumbags.' I'd tell you to try it, but you're probably physically incapable of doing that." Dante told her.
"It's what Huntsmen and Huntresses do." Yang said.
"Not all of them. Some people are just in it for the money and the fame, but there's even more that are just looking to grow stronger. Your Uncle Qrow and I didn't attend Beacon to become Huntsmen, we did it to learn how to kill Huntsmen." Raven declared.
Yang and Weiss gasped at this, exchanging a brief look with each other. Dante and Bayonetta glared at this. "One more reason I should've turned into a panther and eaten you when you were a bird." Bayonetta snapped.
"Well, I am your mother. It's my job to make sure you don't cling to childish fantasies." Raven said as she began to pour more tea for herself. "Aside from the Grimm, Huntsmen were the only ones capable of ruining our raids and hunting us down. Our tribe needed a counterforce." She explained, taking a sip. "And Qrow and I were the perfect age." She went on, before standing up. "The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we'd already been through. We were good. So good, that we caught the attention of Beacon's very own Headmaster, Professor Ozpin. Even after we were put on a team, I could tell he was keeping his eye on us. Back then, I thought it was because he knew, but it was Team STRQ he was interested in." She declared.
"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked.
"Constant attention, extra training missions, turning a blind eye whenever we happened to break the rules and get into more trouble than we should've. Sound familiar?" Raven asked.
Yang and Weiss shared another glance at each other. They knew that fit for them, but especially for Team SCRN. Dante and Bayonetta looked at each other as well. She at least knew Ozpin's secrets, which would be hard enough to explain that they were aware of, but if she also knew about the Revived, they might lose their siblings forever.
Weiss gestured Yang to keep going. "What's your point?" The blonde asked her mother.
"How much do you know about Professor Ozpin? About his past?" Raven asked.
"He was... a prodigy. One of the youngest headmasters to be appointed to a school." Weiss explained.
"Because that's how he planned it. Because the man you know as Ozpin designed those schools and has followers inside every academy on Remnant that are loyal to him and no one else." Raven told them. "Including your siblings and the rest of their team." Raven said, looking to Dante and Bayonetta.
"Dante?" Weiss asked.
"What's she talking about, Bayonetta?" Yang demanded.
The two looked at each other and sighed. "Well, we might as well tell them now, before any more damage can be done." Bayonetta said.
"She's SERIOUSLY twisting things to sound worse than they are, she's right. It turns out that Oz... Well, he's ancient. Not old. Ancient. He's been around for thousands of years. He reincarnates as a new person, but it's him every time, picking up where his last self left off." Dante explained.
"Why... Do you know that when we don't? And what do you mean picking up where he left off?" Weiss asked.
"That doesn't make any sense! How could he have...? No. Why would someone even do that?" Yang questioned.
"Because old man Oz has a great and terrible secret. One that could spread fear across the world. One that he eventually entrusted to our team and once I knew, there was no going back. I needed to know more, but with every new discovery I made, the more horrifying the world became." Raven said.
"Maybe that's because you're a coward who's afraid to face even something remotely on her level." Bayonetta countered.
Raven growled at this and it looked like mother and daughter would fight again, before Yang stepped in between us. "Okay, then tell us. What's the big secret? What's so crazy that the rest of us don't know?" She demanded.
"The Creatures of Grimm... have a master named Salem. She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with and she will not rest until Humanity crumbles at her feet." Raven said. As she spoke, Weiss and Yang's eyes widened more and more. They sat in silence as Dante and Bayonetta glared daggers at the bandit leader.
"What?" Weiss asked in shock.
"At least... not by normal people. Oz is banking that a certain group might eventually be able to take her out. A certain group they are a part of." Raven said, gesturing to Dante and Bayonetta, who looked away.
Yang looked to Bayonetta, looking at her as if she wasn't even her sister anymore, but a stranger. "Tell me she's joking." She said.
"Brother?" Weiss asked. Dante simply sighed at this.
"So, are you going to tell them, or should I? Maybe you could take the time to enjoy your tea." Raven taunted her dark-haired daughter, who simply glared at her for a moment, before shooting the teapot on the table. She scoffed at this. "You let your anger show too quick, Cereza. Maybe not as extreme as Yang, but you may actually be easier to set off." She lectured, before turning to Weiss and Yang. "You may be familiar with the legend of the revived warriors: heroes who died in another world and were brought back to life on Remnant, possessing skills that surpass all other huntsmen and huntresses with abilities beyond what should be possible. Sounds like it fits the bill for those two, doesn't it?" She asked.
The two looked to their siblings, he continued to be despondent. "Is this true?" Weiss asked.
Dante looked to Bayonetta, who gave a small, sad nod, before sighing. "We have the same names as we did in our world and used similar weapons, but that's about it. I was half-human, half-demon, hunting other demons for killing my mother. Way back when the White Fang attacked our family and put a gun to mother's head, I remembered it all. Bayonetta was Cereza: an Umbran Witch, who had magic powers under the full moon light. She was basically stuck having to kill angels her whole life, or be dragged down to hell." Dante gave an abridged version of their histories.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Yang asked, stepping up to her sister.
"How could we? Would you have believed us? And even if you did, how do we know others wouldn't just think we were crazy and throw us in padded cells?" Bayonetta asked.
"You could've trusted your families." Yang said, turning away from Bayonetta. The former Umbran reached out for her sister, but thought it'd be best to let her have some time.
"Now you're catching on. So far you've done nothing but accept what others tell you," Raven said, putting her cup down, "but you need to question everything." She told them
The two stared at each other face to face, then to their siblings, who still couldn't meet their gazes. "I'm sorry." Dante said quietly.
Raven turned around. "Otherwise you'll end up just as blind as Qrow..." Raven began, Yang and Bayonetta gritting their teeth and their eyes narrowing, seething "... And your fool of a father." She finished.
A shot from Ember Celica is heard, destroying the table. Raven's empty teacup clatters across the floor, stopping when it hits the heel of her boot. She then jumped back to avoid several bullets fired at her from Bayonetta. Raven looked toward her daughters, faintly smiling as they stood beside each other, looking ready to fight her together. Yang's eyes were red. "Don't you dare talk about my family like that!" She snapped.
"Exactly. Even if they learn the truth and don't see me as family anymore, Qrow will always be my uncle, Yang and Ruby will always be my sisters and Taiyang will always be my father. Talk about them like that again and you'll need to be revived in another world!" Bayonetta snapped.
While the Xiao Long twins spoke, Weiss stared up at them wide-eyed and flinched when Yang raised her voice for emphasis. A weapon was heard being drawn at the twins.
"You need to calm down." Vernal said.
Dante suddenly stepped in her path, holding Rebellion out in front of him. "And you need to take a hike. This is a family matter and you don't look like either of those lovely ladies or that hag of a mother who brought them into this world." He told her, causing her to growl at the insult to her boss.
Weiss put a hand on Dante's shoulder. "Dante, please. Yang, Bayonetta, let's just hear her out." She pleaded.
"Listen to your friend, Yang. You too, Cereza. Your teammates never let you down before." Raven told them.
"You don't know the first thing about my teammates! About Bayonetta! About me! You were never there! You LEFT US!" Yang snapped, her eyes then turned back to normal. Why?!" She asked as she hung her head in sadness.
"I know more than you realize. Not just about you and not just what I've been told, but things I've seen with my own eyes. I know the Grimm have a leader, I know people who can come back from the dead, I know that magic is real and I've already proved it." Raven continued addressing her daughters. "You said Tai told you all about my Semblance." She went on as Vernal lowered her weapon while Raven headed toward the back exit of her tent. "You saw that I can turn into a bird. I doubt your father ever told you Ozpin did that to my brother and me." Raven declared.
"Ozpin did that to you?" Yang asked, shocked.
"And what exactly is the problem with that? You can clearly change back and forth as you please. I can do it to and in fact, I think it's pretty fun. You making it sound like a curse just sounds like another case of you whining about things you don't like." Bayonetta challenged her mother again.
Raven sighed. "Well, clearly you're tired of hearing this from me and don't care about my opinion..." She began, then drew Omen and slashed behind her, creating a portal with her Semblance. "So why don't you hear it from someone you'll listen to, like your uncle." She finished.
"You're letting us go?" Yang asked.
"I'm giving you a choice." Raven explained as she sheathed her sword. "Stay here, with me and I'll answer all your questions and more. We can have a fresh start." She offered, both her daughters glaring at her at her. "Or..." She continued and stepped to the side of her portal. "you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem and meet the same fate as so many others. But can you really go back to trusting someone that's kept so much from you?" She questioned.
Weiss reacted timidly, but Dante put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, sis. Do it for Ruby. I know you want to see her again." Dante told her. She nodded a bit, but was still unsure. Dante then smirked and whispered. "I heard you talking about her in your sleep, too." He told her.
She began to glow bright red from blushing, before pounding on Dante's chest. "You degenerate! It makes sense you're a Revived now. You could never have been so unrefined having been born into our family otherwise!" She snapped.
Yang just glared at her mother. "All I care about is making sure my sister is safe." She declared.
"Exactly. Ruby is the only thing that mattered. You'd know that if you gave a damn about family." Bayonetta jabbed at her mother again.
"Ugh..." Raven scoffed, dissatisfied with the response her daughters gave.
Yang and Weiss were then shown riding on Bumblebee, with Dante and Bayonetta on Cavaliere. However, before they could enter the portal, Raven addressed her daughters one more time. "Yang, Cereza. If you side with your uncle, I may not be as kind the next time we meet..." She warned them.
Weiss rolled her eyes and looked ahead. "You weren't kind this time either." Yang told her.
"Exactly. But I do have a gift for you before we go, Mommy dearest." Bayonetta said, pulling out Shuraba, grabbing a hold of her long hair that resembled her mother's and cutting it off, letting it fall to the floor and leaving her with a pixie cut somewhat resembling a short bob... Her Bayonetta 2 hair, okay? "Now no one would think I was your daughter." She said as Dante drove through the portal, Yang and Weiss following close behind.
Raven sighed and looked down at her daughter's severed hair. "I should've taken her as a child. She would've been an excellent edition to the tribe. And she wouldn't have turned into such a little bitch." She snapped, using the wind of her Maiden powers to scatter the fallen locks.
Back in Mistral, Qrow was seen leaning against a stone railing. "This isn't right. I get one or two of them, but... all of them?" He questioned, before sighing and hanging his head in disappointment. Suddenly, he heard the sound of Raven's portal behind him.
"Raven?" He asked, spinning around. The sound of a pair of motorcycles was heard coming from the portal. "Oh." Qrow said, surprised.
Bayonetta got off Dante's bike and hugged her uncle. "It's good to see you again, Uncle Qrow." She told him.
Qrow smiled, before hugging her back. "Great to see you, too, Bayo." Qrow told her, before looking up at Yang. "Come on, Firecracker. Bring it in." He told her, Yang quickly getting off the bike and hugging him as well, putting a hand on Bayonetta's back as well to show her sister things would be okay between them. Bayonetta smiled and placed a hand on Yang's back as well.
Back at the house Ruby, Team JNPR and the others were staying at, each of the members were helping prepare dinner: Ruby and Ren were cooking at the stove, Jaune and Pyrrha were setting up the table and Nora was cutting carrots, occasionally eating slices. Luckily, Ryu was beside her, cutting up extras
"Alright, the first batch is just about done." Ren stated.
"Awesome! Now we just need Qrow and we'll be all set." Ruby said happily.
Nora brought up a good question, even while still eating carrots. "Do you really think he's gonna bring that many people? This is a lot of food." She said, eating another carrot slice.
"It's better to be safe than sorry. But I'm sure between all of us, we could likely eat any leftovers." Ryu told her.
"Exactly. It definitely sounds like we'll need all the help we can get." Ruby said.
"I'm back!" Qrow called out from the other room.
"Be right there!" Ruby called out.
Kratos then walked up from having grabbed a bottle of champagne from the cellar. Both he and Ren noticed that Ruby was letting the food set in place for too long. "You're going to overcook that." The former Ghost of Sparta warned her.
"No I'm not, shut up!" She snapped.
"Hey, uh, Ruby?" Qrow called.
"I'm coming!" Ruby cried. Some smoke then came from the pan Ruby was cooking with. "Fine! You take over." Ruby snapped.
"I'm sure the Huntsman and Huntresses Qrow brings would prefer their food cooked, not burnt." Kratos said, taking her place.
Ruby grabbed the tea tray and headed to the living room, looking at the tea tray. "So, we didn't know how many people were coming, so we just cooked all of it." She explained, looking up and gasping as she dropped the tea tray and its contents, which shattered on the floor. She stared in disbelief at the sight of not only Qrow, but of her sisters, Dante and teammate/crush, Weiss.
"Ruby..." Bayonetta said as she and Yang approached their little sister.
"Yang, I... I'm so sorry! I- I should've stayed and I should've talked to you more! I'd- I just..." Ruby began, her voice cracking as tears started pouring from her eyes. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me around and-" She continued until her big sisters gave her a strong hug. Ruby's lips quiver and she looks toward her sisters.
"I love you." Yang told her, tears streaming from her eyes as well.
"Same for me. I told you I'd always be here when you needed me. Now we're both here for you." Bayonetta told her younger sister.
Ruby sobbed as she leaned into her sisters' hug. "I love you both, too." She said.
Team JNPR, Ryu and Kratos entered the room, smiling at the sight of the three sisters embracing each other. Qrow smiled as well.
Dante smiled at this as well, before noticing his teammates, heading over and giving Ryu a bro-hug. He then turned towards Kratos. "Man. I was worried I'd never see you again." He said.
"In this, or any world, we are survivors." Kratos said as they shared a bro-hug as well.
Oscar then entered the room. "Uh..." He started, before he looked up, seeing Ruby and Yang hugging and smiled. Weiss smiled as she wiped a tear from her eye, before frowning while looking down.
"Weiss." Ruby called to her. Weiss looked up and saw Yang and Ruby open their arms up for her as Bayonetta left the hug. Weiss smiled and eagerly joined them in their hug.
Bayonetta then walked over to the rest of her team, the team sharing a group hug. "Just when I was starting to think it'd take dying again for us to see each other again." She stated.
"We failed before, but now we're back together. And we'll be better for it and stronger than ever." Ryu declared.
"And perhaps, we may even gain all the old powers we had in our last life. And Salem will be stopped once and for all." Kratos told her.
"Nice to hear, but that's talk for another time. For now, let's just enjoy each other's company." Dante decided.
Everyone smiled as they watched the reunion of Team SCRN and three of the four Team RWBY members embracing each other, before everything went black.