Empty, that was all Ruby Rose saw around her. Nothing. Just an infinite void. An endless white space with nothing present. It's terrifying. A few moments ago she was entering the portal that would take everyone to Vacuo, now she is alone with no one around in an infinite void.
"Is that the pocket dimension Ambrosius used? Where are the others?"
The answer to her second question was immediate. A portal appeared on top of Ruby, from where Weiss, Blake and Yang emerged, falling on top of Ruby.
"Ugh, where are we?" Yang asked, looking around.
"Is that the other side of the portal?"
Blake got up and walked away from the two, then turned to the blonde and the ex-heiress and said, "You guys are crushing Ruby." The two looked down and saw Ruby purple of shortness of breath, they both got up quickly with that.
"Clean air! It's good to feel you again." Ruby looked doubtfully at the rest of the RWBY team. "So… where's the portal for Vacuo?" She realizes something. "Where's Penny?!"
With the question asked, another portal emerged, from which Oscar, Emerald and Penny fell. To everyone's relief, the Staff was still in Penny's hands.
"What the hell?! What is this place?"
"Emerald! Weren't you with JNR?"
"Emerald, Penny. I don't think we're on the way to Vacuo." Oscar looks to the side and sees team RWBY. "And we are not the only ones here."
"Emerald, Oscar, Penny. Any idea where we are?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Emerald said with a shrug. "Does Oz have any ideas, Oscar?" Look at Ozma's current incarnation.
"He's just as confused as we are." Everyone sighed at Oscar's answer.
"We still have the Staff, Ambrosius may know something." Penny commented. The group looked at each other and nodded in confirmation.
Then Penny summoned Ambrosius. The Spirit came up with his typical extravagant entrance, surprising Emerald and Oscar (Emerald more than Oscar. The boy was partially prepared thanks to Ozma).
"Ah! Free to create- Wait, again?" He looked at the group with a deadpan expression. "You know that I can't create anything otherwise the portals are going to close, right?"
"We don't want to create, we have a question." Blake said with his arms crossed.
"Wrong Relic Spirit, kids. That's Jinn's job." Ambrosius replied, then looked at everyone with a bored expression.
"Er, did you look around? This is not the way to Vacuo." Yang commented.
"Hmm?" Ambrosius looked around, then opened his eyes wide. "I didn't create this. Where the hell did you end up, kids?"
"That's exactly our question. Oscar and I hadn't even been through the portal in the first place." Emerald commented, receiving a strange look from Ruby.
"But you came from a portal. Me, Yang, Weiss and Blake saw you fall from a portal that disappeared as soon as you fell." Oscar's eyes lit up briefly, so Ozma took control.
"Miss Rose, all I remember is the feeling of falling and being here. No entering portals. But... I feel a presence. Three presences, actually."
All eyes turned to Ozma with the comment.
"So this is old Oz's current incarnation? Not bad." Ambrosius commented. "But I also feel these presences."
"Now that Ozma has spoken... I feel a light presence too." Penny said. Making everyone nervous.
"Are we talking about a Salem-level presence or…" Emerald did not dare end the question.
"These presences are compared to the Brothers. No. They are greater than those of the Brothers." Ozma said with awe in his voice.
"... Is it bad or good? If it is bigger than the Brothers and there are three presences it is good, since the Brothers appear to be two assholes. But the fact that these presences are unknown scares me." Yang said.
"I feel a great power of these presences, but I don't think this is bad. Usually presences like this behave with grandeur, showing all their power, but these presences are quiet." Ambrosius commented seriously.
"Wouldn't being quiet be bad? After all, we have no idea what their intentions are."
"I don't know, Weiss. I feel surprisingly calm." Ruby said.
"You are not with Crescent Rose." Weiss said with a sweatdrop.
"I take back what I said! No one leaves me away from Crescent Rose and gets away with it!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Hey! Thief's Respite is gone too!"
"Ember Celica! I don't have my gauntlets!"
"Gambol Shroud is not with me..."
"My Maiden powers don't work!"
"Where's Myrtenaster at?!"
"Long Memory is gone..."
"Wonderful. What else is going to happen? JNR, Qrow, Robyn and the Ace-Ops come out of a portal?" Yang asked sarcastically.
And to mock Yang, another portal emerged, from which JNR, Qrow, Robyn and the Ace-Ops fell. Without their weapons.
Yang looked up with a deadpan expression and said: "Really?"
"Ugh… what the hell happened?" Qrow said as he got up. He looked around and saw Oscar, Emerald, RWBY and Ambrosius. "Explanations, please?"
JNR immobilized Vine, Elm and Harriet, so the newcomers heard an explanation of the current situation. There was surprise when the group was introduced to Ambrosius, splinters on Harriet's part to find out about Emerald's side switch (saying that Ruby's group finally 'showed they real face' by allying with a criminal), tension to find out about the three mysterious presences, concern when they realized that they are without weapons. This also led to a short test to see if Semblances are working, but they are not (which was a relief to Qrow).
"So… what are we going to do? Can Ambrosius get us out of here?" Jaune asked.
"I'm sorry to say no, boy. Something is preventing me from creating anything. My guess? These are the presences." Ambrosius replied.
"You know, it would be nice if those presences came up and explained what the hell we are doing here! Atlas is falling!" Nora screamed at nothing.
"No. Atlas isn't falling." A voice that seemed to come from nowhere said. The group looked around, looking for the source of the voice. "The time in Remnant is stopped. And it will remain so as long as you are here."
"Okay, mysterious voice. Do us a favor and reveal yourself." Demanded Robyn in irritation.
"Oh, Miss Hill. Calm down. Two Remnantians are missing. When they arrive I will reveal myself. And speaking of them..." The voice left the sentence in the air, then another portal emerged, from where Winter and Ironwood fell.
"Ugh… where…?" Winter looked around, seeing the group. "Ace-Ops, RWBY, JNR, Robyn, Qrow and Oscar?"
"Ozpin, actually. We are a long way from Atlas, Specialist Schnee. Three unknown and more powerful presences that the Brothers have brought us to this place. We do not know the intentions of these presences, but apparently the time at Remnant does not pass while we are here."
A brief expression of disbelief appeared on Winter's face, but it was quickly replaced by understanding. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Qrow. "Wait, did Ozpin come back? When?"
"When the Whale appeared. At the same time that the Whale arrived, James shot Oscar, knocking him down from Atlas. The children and I made up, I don't know if you are willing to forgive me, but I would like to apologize. For everything." Ozma said, offering to shake hands. Qrow looked at Ozma's hand for a moment, then looked directly at Ozma. Qrow smiled a little and shook hands.
"I'm still pissed, but it is much better to get over it than to let the grudge take over." Qrow said with a laugh.
"Exactly, Qrow." Ozma said with a smile. Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted when everyone saw Ironwood start to get up, the tension rising in the air quickly. None of them were armed and their Semblances did not work, while Ironwood still had extraordinary strength thanks to its partially cybernetic body.
"W- What happened? Where am I?" Ironwood put his hand on his head in pain when the memories came. Everything. His slow descent into madness, the horrible things he did. Explode Mantle. "Oh… By Oum… What did I do?" He whispered to himself.
The group looked at each other, then Winter slowly approached Ironwood. The Specialist stopped when Ironwood hit the floor with his fist in frustration.
"What did I do?! Damn it! Damn my Semblance! Damn Salem! She managed to push me to the limit!" The group was confused by Ironwood's words. Then, a presence was finally present.
Everyone heard the sounds of footsteps, so they turned in the direction from which the footsteps saw. They all saw a young adult with short, messy white hair, chocolate eyes and pale skin. He wore a white sleeveless cloak with a gray interior that touched the floor, a simple black shirt with long sleeves, black fingerless gloves, gray pants and black boots. He also had a European dragon necklace around his neck.
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Shiro, Higetsu Shiro. I brought you here." The now named Shiro said with a smile. "You were questioning what the General said, let me explain. The General's Semblance, Mettle, strengthens his resolve and allows him to follow through on his decisions without hesitation. But the problem is that this is a passive Semblance that can take control of him depending on his mental state. I think it's pretty obvious that the Fall of Beacon affected him so much that he developed PTSD with it. Now, add this to his paranoia - which was developed when he lost part of his body by losing the control of his Semblance - and the situation he was in before Salem's arrival in Atlas and you have a recipe for chaos! Everything he did, it was his Semblance's fault. But that wouldn't have happened if he had had psychological help. And he definitely needs it now, otherwise it can happen again. "
Shocked expressions appeared on everyone's faces except Ozma, who was the only one who knew Ironwood's Semblance. Instead, Ozma had a sad expression, he blamed himself for not helping James.
Winter looked at the General, doubt in his eyes. "General, why didn't you tell us about your Semblance? Why did you ignore your personal problems?"
Ironwood sighed wearily, the stress of Atlas and Mantle's situation was still present. "Because I am afraid. Afraid that if I let my guard down and relax for a second, everything I ever fought for will fall. I impose myself with the mission to protect everything and everyone because I am afraid to fail and disappoint Remnant."
"Well, welcome to the club. I went through the same situation, only instead of being concerned about Salem it was about Torchwick and I thought I would disappoint the Faunus and not all of Remnant." Blake said as she approached Ironwood. "But they made me realize that self-imposing yourself without rest on something just destroys you. Sometimes we need to let our guard down and enjoy the moment, there are people who care about you and would hate to see you get lost like that. After all, it's not only you who end up hurting like that, is everyone around you. Live your life, don't get caught up in something that just destroys you. You don't have to abandon your goal, but don't let that goal take the pleasure out of you. Life is not a luxury, it is a necessity."
Ironwood took a few seconds to process what Blake said, so he laughed. "You kids have really matured more than I imagined." Ironwood smiled. A sparkle present in his eyes. "Wise words, Blake."
The General looked at everyone with a guilty look. He bowed his head in remorse. "I don't know if you're going to forgive me for everything I did, I don't even know if I deserve forgiveness. I would commit mass genocide if I was still out of control! But... I mean I'm sorry. For everything. If there is any way to pay for everything I did..."
"Idiot." Qrow approached Ironwood and punched his non-metallic shoulder lightly. "Honestly, now that I know your situation, I'm worried. Have you even slept recently? And keeping your Semblance a secret was stupid."
"I… When you arrived at Atlas, I only had 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I stayed on with caffeine." Wide eyes of all Remnantians at the revelation.
"By Oum, Ironwood! It's official, you really need help." Robyn exclaimed in shock.
"Wow. I knew the General was not sleeping very well, but this is too much. How can we not noticed his condition?" Marrow said in surprise.
"I… I think we noticed. We just didn't have the courage to speak." Elm said with remorse. She was in doubt about Ironwood's actions, but now she was sorry for being quiet when she could have helped.
"I think that's our problem. We don't have the courage to act on our own." Vine commented with his head bowed in guilt.
Harriet just looked down, lost in thought. Could she have done better if she had done what she thought was right instead of following orders?
Ironwood looked at Ozma, the two stared at each other for a few seconds, then the two shook hands. "Good to see you back to normal. General tyrant doesn't suit you."
Ironwood immediately looked at Ozma with a deadpan expression. "Ozpin, can I speak to Oscar?" Ozma just nodded, his eyes lit briefly, Oscar was present again. "Oscar. I'm sorry for shooting you. And for what I said. I… I broke. I swore to myself that I would never fall like this, but I did. I just helped Salem with everything I did."
"Don't be self-deprecating like that, General. I don't hold a bit of a grudge. Honestly, I was more sad than irritated by what happened. I know you can improve, General."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Oscar. And please, call me James." LIronwood said with a smile, which was returned by Oscar. Then, Ironwood went to Penny.
"General."
"Penny."
"What I did to you was horrible. I forced you to make a choice that shouldn't be imposed on anyone. And you almost died for it."
"Like Oscar, I don't hold a grudge, General. My dad always taught me to forgive and accept. And now that I know about your situation, I can't seem to be angry, just pity."
Ironwood laughed briefly at what Penny said. "You are a gift of kindness to Remnant, Penny. Don't let anyone say otherwise." He raises his eyebrows. "But I want to know, what happened to the virus? You don't look affected."
"Oh! I'm human now!" Penny said with a big smile. Not only was Ironwood in shock, but the Ace-Ops, Winter, Robyn, Qrow, Emerald, Oscar (Ozma had noticed this) and JNR.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"You what?!"
Penny approached Ambrosius with a smile. "Well, Mr. Ambrosius created an identical human body for me, so he took my soul out of my robotic body and placed it in the human body."
"Please, just Ambrosius. You don't have to use"sir", girl." Ambrosius said in a relaxed tone.
"Er…" Ironwood was still processing the situation, as was Winter.
Oscar, seeing the confusion of the Specialist and the General, volunteered to help. "Winter, James. Meet Ambrosius, the Spirit of Creation. Ignore the eccentric personality."
"I know that last part of the sentence was the old man's idea! I'm not eccentric." Ambrosius replied.
"How did you manage to get him to create portals for Vacuo?" Winter questioned when she saw the Spirit's personality.
"Hmm?" Ironwood looked doubtfully at Winter.
"Oh. Ruby and her group used the Staff to create several portals at key points of Atlas and Mantle that lead to a passage with a central portal for Vacuo." Winter explained.
"Vacuo? Wouldn't Mistral be better? After all, Mistral is much better for civilians than Vacuo." When Ironwood asked this question, Ruby and her group looked at each other and gave a collective facepalm. They were thinking so much about taking the Sword before Salem that they forgot that Vacuo was the worst possible place for civilians.
"Well, this is funny." Everyone turned to Shiro with the comment. They remembered his presence now. "I already know. "Why are we here?", "Who are you?", "What is this place?" And all these questions. Calm down, I'll answer everything." He snapped his fingers and then he was magically sitting in an armchair. "You are at the Observatory. My personal dimension. Where I work. You already know my name, but you do not know what I am. I am part of an order, The Creators. Also called Weavers, Guardians, Universe Writers and so on. We are responsible for creating universes. I imagine that some of you know the theory of the multiverse. There are the Primes universes, where it all starts, we Creators have the role of creating other universes coming from these Primes universes. The order of the Primes universes cannot be changed, but we can create other universes from the Primes. "
"So… are you a god?" Ren asked with a small edge of nervousness in his voice.
"Well, yes. But at the same time no. I have the power of one, but I am not a god. I am not a venerated deity. I just create universes. I don't interfere in the universes I create, I leave people and the gods of that universe to live their way, but I'm sorry to say that not every Creator follows this mindset. Some interfere very directly in the universes they've created. Every Creator is different, I have my code of honor, others have theirs. I don't interfere with the universes I create. Except for one that received a special box ... " Shiro blinked discreetly at the screen in the last part. "And your universe."
"Er… And why did you interfere with our universe, Mr. Shiro?" Jaune asked.
"Please, just Shiro."Sir" doesn't suit me. And about this question..." His face took on an irritated expression. "I am furious about the current state of Remnant Prime. And I am not the only Creator furious about this, many hate what's going on. And I decided to change as many Remnants as I can. And I brought you here to watch this Remnants and consequently help change your universe. "
"If you're not bold on my part... How bad is Remnant Prime?" Ironwood asked, shivering at the answer he could receive.
"Too bad. Team RWBY and Jaune fell on the passage to Vacuo, Vine sacrificed himself to prevent the bomb from exploding, Jacques was killed by Ironwood, Cinder… She wounded Penny lethally. Jaune tried to amplify her aura to heal her, but she asked for Jaune to kill her in order to pass the powers of the Winter Maiden to Winter, which he reluctantly did. Neo also fell in the passage after being betrayed by Cinder... Again. You made a mistake, you specifically said "a one-way ticket to Vacuo", because of that, several civilians were trapped in Vacuo in a sandstorm and an attack by Grimms. And Oscar, Emerald, Nora and Ren were unable to return to help team RWBY, Jaune and Penny. Atlas fell and Ironwood died. Everything was destroyed. Cinder took the Staff of Creation and brought floods, fires and earthquakes to Atlas and Mantle. Salem now has the Lamp and Staff. " Shiro explained with an expression of disappointment.
The entire group gaped. How…? The plan shouldn't have happened like that, only if they knew about it. "How?" Ruby asked in desperation.
"Simple, Neo trusted Cinder - which is totally stupid - and handed the Lamp to her. Cinder asked Jinn what Ruby and her group's plan was - a waste of a question in my opinion - and countered. Watts freed Ironwood - which was still being controlled by his Semblance - and consequently delayed Winter, who could have stopped Cinder, Watts hacked an AK and made him self-destruct near Marrow, allowing Harriet to let go and take the bomb to Mantle. For some reason, even outnumbered, Cinder and Neo won. For some reason I don't know, you were fighting like it was the first time in your life. It seems like you suffered amnesia and forgot how to fight! " Shiro exclaimed with his arms in the air in exasperation.
Ruby's group backed off with what was said. Did they get that bad for no reason?
"Anyway, you understand. I want to help. Do you accept?" Shiro asked. The Remnantians looked at each other briefly, the idea of the things that were revealed by Shiro not happening was a great one.
"If we can stop these bad things from happening, then I accept." Ruby approached Shiro.
"I don't want things to end as you said. If we can help it, I accept." Oscar said with conviction.
"You gave me the opportunity to correct the mistakes that I made and freed myself from my Semblance, I accept." Ironwood teamed up with Ruby and Oscar.
"I'm tired of tragedies, seeing friends dying, allies against each other, people like Cinder manipulating everything. I accept." Jaune joined the three.
The others followed the example of Ruby, Oscar, Jaune and Ironwood. Everyone wanted to change the future. And now they had the opportunity.
"Good. Now the others can come." Shiro received confused looks at that sentence. "Oh. You won't be the only one watching the future. There are still a lot of people missing. And speaking of that, you may not like some people that I'm going to bring, so I'll go ahead. I believe that everyone has the potential for good, as well as the potential for evil. Everyone can redeem themselves, and you will see some people redeem themselves in the universes you watch. Don't be angry at the presence of some people." Shiro's words only served to further confuse the Remnantians. "Red! You can send relatives, father figures and the pet!"
Three portals emerged, with one leaving Whitley, Willow and Klein, the other leaving Ghira and Kali and the last leaving Tai, Raven and Zwei.
"Ugh… Master Whitley? Master Willow? Are you all fine?" Klein asked in concern.
"We are fine, Klein. Don't worry. Now, where are we?" Willow asked. The matriarch Schnee spotted Weiss and Winter, relieved, but she tensed after seeing Ironwood present and beside the Schnee sisters. "Weiss, Winter? What's going on?"
"I thought the General had gone crazy. What happened? Aren't you a bit tense on his side?" Whitley asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well… it's a long story." Weiss said looking at her brother, her mother and Klein.
"Ghira, dear, are you okay?"
"A small fall like that doesn't hurt me, Kali. Don't worry." He looks around and sees Blake. Immediately he goes to embrace her with Kali, and Blake returns the hug without hesitation. "Oh, Blake! How nice to see you! Do you have any idea how worried we were after hearing the message from Amity Arena?"
"I know, it wasn't the best way to explain things. And the inopportune cut didn't help either. I'm sorry to worry you."
"It doesn't matter anymore, you're here and you're fine. That's enough, dear." Kali said in a comforting tone.
"Ruby! Yang!" Tai exclaimed as he held the two girls in a hug, which was quickly reciprocated.
"Dad!" The two exclaimed in happiness. "We missed you!" Zwei approached the sisters and started to bite Yang's pants. "Yes, we miss you too, Zwei." Yang patted the corgi's head.
"Hey, Tai. Good to see you." Qrow said, approaching the patriarch Xiao Long. The two embraced briefly.
"I say the same thing, old crow." Tai said with a smile. Qrow simply looked Tai with a deadpan expression when he heard the nickname. Qrow looked away and saw Raven. Tai noticed Qrow looking away, followed Qrow's eyes, widening his eyes to see who Qrow saw. "Raven…"
Raven looked away from the two, but Yang noticed the presence of the leader of the Branwen tribe. Before Yang could say anything, what Qrow said next surprised Tai, Ruby, Yang and Raven.
"Thanks for taking me out of that cell in Atlas." Qrow said sincerely.
"Wait, are you thanking me?" Raven asked in surprise.
"No, I am speaking with the voice in my head." Qrow said sarcastically. He looked at Oscar briefly. "No offense."
"None taken."
"Anyway, yes. I'm thanking you, Raven. Do you understand?" Qrow looked back at his sister.
Raven continued with her shocked expression for a second, but quickly returned to her expression of indifference. "Well, I just kept my promise."
"And for keeping that promise, I appreciate it." Qrow replied. But he kept a slight splinter just in his thoughts. 'One of the few things i can thank you for in my life, honestly.' The moment didn't have to be spoiled.
"Wait, wait! Did you get him out of the cell in Atlas?" Yang questioned, surprise still plastered on her face.
"Him and me, but yes. It was her. And who are you just to know?" Robyn asked.
Before she could respond, Yang interfered with Raven. "Raven Branwen, my birth mother." Anger was present in the words "mother", which hurt Raven, but her pride made her ignore it.
"Well, the resemblance is noticeable." Robyn commented.
"Very well! I don't have the patience to explain everything again, so..." Shiro snapped his fingers, making the newcomers have a short headache. Then, his eyes widened in shock. "Yes, now you know what happened."
"What the hell?!" Tai looks at Ironwood angrily. "Really, James ?!"
Qrow interfered before Tai, Raven, Kali or Ghira did anything against Ironwood. "Hey, calm down. I imagine you already know that it was the effect of his Semblance, right?"
"Yes. But he still committed many crimes. That is not enough to forgive him." Ghira said with her arms crossed.
"You guys are right. He did. But I did worse and I'm here now. As Oscar said before, you don't have to forgive him, but you can move on and accept the past." To the surprise of many, Emerald was in defense of Ironwood. The General looked in surprise at Emerald, but smiled.
"And besides... We are also partly to blame for what happened to the General." Ruby said with a look of remorse. "Perhaps if we had been honest about the truth about Salem and had trusted him more, none of this would have happened."
"Ruby, I appreciate you defending me, but I was wrong too. I should have been more honest about my problems." Ironwood interfered. A guilty expression on his face.
"We both made mistakes, General. This whole situation could have been prevented with more honesty." Ruby said, looking at the General.
"Well... If you really made it up, then I don't see why disagree." Willow said, approaching. "Honestly, it's better this way. If Salem seeks to divide us, the more we come together, the better."
"... You're right. At those times, splitting up just gets in the way." Tai said in acceptance.
"So be it then." Raven said with his arms crossed. She looked at Shiro. So, are we really going to watch the multiverse?"
"Yes, but people are missing. Red! Friends, mentor, teachers and creator/father!" Six portals have emerged. From one Sun and Neptune came out, from another came team CFVY, from the third Flynt Coal and Neon Katt, from the fourth came Illia, from the fifth fell Glynda, Oobleck and Port and from the last Pietro and Maria.
"Ouch! Neptune! Get off me!" Sun exclaimed as he tried to push the blue-haired boy.
"I'm leaving! Take it easy." Neptune said as he stood up and made room for the SSSN team leader. He looks to the side and sees the RWBY team. "Dude, guess who's here."
"Who?" He follows Neptune's gaze, then widens his eyes. "Ruby! Yang! Weiss! Blake!" The Faunus approaches the team. "What are you doing here?"
"The right question would be: "What is this place?". Where the hell are we?!" Neptune asked in exasperation.
"Nothing much. We are just in a pocket dimension called an "Observatory" where a multiversal god wants to make us watch other versions of ourselves to help save Remnant." Yang said it as if it were something common.
"... What?" Sun and Neptune asked at the same time. Expressions of confusion on their faces.
"Shiro? Can you repeat the trick from before?" Weiss asked.
"Already made this." The main "S" and "N" of the SSSN team had a brief headache with the information, but recovered.
"Oh… I had said in Vale that where you went, problems followed. I keep that, but I add another one. You indirectly follow and cause danger." Sun said with a deadpan expression.
"Hey! This is not true!" Ruby exclaimed in denial.
"Ruby, Sun is absolutely right." Blake said with a sweatdrop.
"I can't disagree with the truth." Neptune joined in defense of Sun.
"Hey!" RWBY and SN turned to see team CFVY, Flynt, Neon and Illia approaching. "Can you guys explain what is going on?" Coco asked with her sunglasses slightly lowered.
"Shiro, please." Weiss asked again. Sighing.
"Done." Shiro snapped his fingers and CFVY, Flynt, Neon and Illia were informed.
"Wow, and I thought what happened in Vacuo was a mess." Fox commented, receiving doubtful looks from the RWBY team.
"It is a long story. And it is less important than the current situation." Yatsuhashi said, slightly curbing the RWBY team's curiosity.
"I still don't trust the greenish one... But as you are accepting it, I will believe it." Coco said as she stared at Emerald, who recoiled slightly at the look Coco was giving her.
"Coco, if she is willing to change, we will believe it." Velvet advised the CFVY team leader.
"I know, Bun-Bun. It's more because of that fight at the Vytal Festival. I won't forget that so easily." Coco replied, making Velvet have a sweatdrop.
"It is a relief to know that the General is back to normal. Him in his former state… Was terrifying." Neon commented, shaking slightly.
"I agree. Now, if the people of Atlas and Mantle are still going to trust him after that, I doubt it." Flynt said.
"He'll probably be arrested. And I highly doubt he'll be able to be a Huntsman or a military man when he leaves." Neon commented as she looked at Ironwood.
"He'll be able to get over it. I know." Flynt said with conviction.
"Blake..."
"Illia…"
"By Oum, that transmission almost made me have a heart attack. I'm glad you're okay." Illia said hugging Blake.
"I know, I know. That transmission could have been better. But, it's good to see you, Illia." Blake returned the hug with a smile on her face.
"Miss Calavera! Dad!" Penny exclaimed as she approached the Grimm Reaper and Pietro.
"Penny?! You are alive!" Pietro said as he hugged his daughter.
"By Oum, girl! You are tough in the fall!" Maria said as she laughed.
"Well, technically I died. But Ambrosius saved me!" Penny replied with a smile.
"Ambrosius?" Pietro asked with raised eyebrows.
"This would be me." Ambrosius approached Pietro and Maria, surprising them. "I am Ambrosius, the Spirit of Creation. I separated Penny's soul and placed it in a human body that I created."
"Wait… Human body? Does that mean that-"
Maria was interrupted by Pietro. "Penny! You are a real girl!" Pietro said in a tone of excitement, pride and happiness.
"Yes! I owe it all to Ambrosius, Ruby and her friends. If it weren't for them. I would probably be dead. And rebuild me again... You know what would happen, Father."
"Wait, are you her creator?" Ambrosius questioned, pointing at Pietro. "I must say, you are a genius! Never in my entire life did I expect to find someone capable of creating a perfect replica of a human being and with a soul on top of it. I feel obliged to praise when deserved, and you, my friend, deserves praise." Ambrosius said with a smile.
"Oh. Thank you. I appreciate the compliments. Specially from the Spirit of Creation." Pietro said, laughing.
"Who knew, you're human now, Penny. Congratulations, girl. You deserve happiness." Maria said with a smile. "But…" She looks at Ironwood, who was standing next to Qrow and Oscar while facing Glynda, Port and Oobleck. "Wasn't he crazy?"
"Oh. Shiro, please?" Penny asked for the white-haired Creator. Who just snapped his fingers, causing Pietro and Maria a brief headache.
"Oh. Okay. Got it. You really are a magnet for madness, children." Maria said teasingly.
"I must agree. But, it's good to see that things are okay." Pietro smiled at Penny.
With Ironwood, Shiro had already snapped his fingers, informing Glynda, Oobleck and Port. At the time, Ozma was in control of Oscar's body.
"Glynda."
"Ozpin."
Glynda sighed, tired and stressed. "I imagined the situation would be better the next time we see each other, but that is wishing too much when you are involved."
"I wish the situation had been better, but the universe never seemed to be in my favor." Ozma looks at Port and Oobleck. "I am sorry to have hidden all this secret war against Salem. As the children and recent situations have made me realize, I should have been more honest."
"What matters now is that this Shiro is giving us the opportunity to change the future, Ozpin. The past is gone, let's look at the future." Oobleck said with a smile, which was returned by Ozma.
"That's right, Ozpin. Your mistakes are in the past. Let's move on." Port said.
"Speaking of mistakes…" Glynda approached Ironwood, then slapped him across the face, leaving a red mark and sending a shiver through Port, Oobleck, Qrow and Ozma spine.
"I deserved it." Ironwood said as he rubbed the affected area to relieve the pain.
"Yes. You deserved it for doing those crazy things." Glynda said coldly. Then, to Ironwood's surprise, Glynda hugged him. "Never do that again. By Oum, do you know the stress that
taking care of Beacon, watching that broadcast and finding out about the situation in Atlas caused me?"
"I'm sorry, Glynda." Ironwood said as he returned the hug.
"I knew it! You guys had an affair in the past! Just like that for Glynda to have such a reaction." Qrow said, receiving a murderous look from Ironwood and Glynda, which made him retreat behind Ozma. "Glynda scares me."
"Glynda scares all of us." Ozma said with a sweatdrop.
"Well... Time to bring in the ones you don't like. Again! Redemption is possible for everyone! The multiverse theory literally proves it. After all, there are infinite possibilities." He received confused looks from the group again. "Red! The antagonists!"
"Wait, antagonists?" Jaune asked with concern.
Then, four portals emerged. The first came Hei "Junior" Xiong, Melanie Malachite and Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite, the second came Tyrian and Mercury, the third came Watts, Cinder and Neo and the last ... Salem.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Yang, Tai, Qrow, Harriet, Elm, Coco and Raven shouted at the same time. They looked at Shiro as if he was crazy, while he just had a malicious smile. He snapped his fingers and all the antagonists except Junior, Miltia, Melanie, Mercury and Watts were chained.
"What? What the hell? Blondie?" Junior was surprised to see Yang. The Malachite twins looked at Yang angrily.
"Xiao Long…" Melanie said with an aggressive tone, which didn't bother the blonde at all.
"Oh, the Malachite sisters, right? Are you still sour from that beating?" Yang asked teasingly.
"Oh, shut up, Xiao Long." Miltia replied with irritation in her voice.
"Wait, Em?" Mercury asked when he saw Emerald with Ruby's group. "What happened?"
"Shiro, please?" Emerald asked the Creator, who snapped his fingers, causing a headache in Melanie, Miltia, Junior and Mercury.
"Oh. Oh… I'm with you. End of the world? No, thanks." Junior said approaching Ruby's group with the Malachite sisters.
"So easy?" Yang asked with raised eyebrows.
"What did you expect, Xiao Long? Staying on the fence is not going to help anything," Raven felt that phrase was directed at her. "better to team up with you instead of the crazy witch." Miltia said with her arms crossed.
"Em… Are you sure about that?" Mercury approached Emerald. "You know that going against Salem is risky."
"I know, but… Cinder never cared about me, you were right. Going against Salem is a risk, but siding with her is a bigger risk. Hazel died to give me a second chance, you can be damn sure that I won't throw that away." Emerald said with conviction.
"Ugh… I'm going to trust you with that, Em. I hope you're right." Mercury said as he put his hand on Emerald's shoulder.
"Thank you, Merc." Emerald said with a smile.
"Do you dare betray the Queen?!" Tyrian asked in fury, trying to get rid of his chains incessantly.
"Emerald! You damn traitor! And you too, Mercury! How dare you?!" Cinder struggled non-stop to get rid of her chains.
"Say the biggest betrayer I have seen, Cinder." Mercury was in defense of Emerald. "And as for you, Callows, I don't think our host is going to let you do anything against us." Mercury pointed at Shiro.
"I'm really not going." Shiro snapped his fingers, causing a headache in Neo, Watts, Tyrian, Cinder and Salem. Neo glared at Cinder, the information included the truth about Roman's death, Ruby never killed Torchwick, it was a Griffon who killed him, and the Grimms were brought in by her.
"Did you let me burn?! I thought you finally understood after I yelled at you in the face of death! You didn't learn anything!" Watts screamed in fury.
"Did you dare lie and disobey the Queen?! I will kill you!"
"Tyrian." Salem spoke, silencing Tyrian. "Calm down. I will properly punish Cinder myself when this pathetic attempt to save Remnant is over. And do you really think you can redeem me?" Salem asked mockingly.
"Oh, I don't think so, I'm sure." Shiro smiled. "I just need to get the Grimm essence out of you. I tell you, this is going to hurt. And you're going to go into a state of horrible guilt." Shiro teleported in front of Salem, then grabbed his hand.
Suddenly, Salem started screaming in agony, a black liquid started to come out of her body and go to Shiro's arm, where the liquid immediately dissolved.
Then, the color on Salem's skin started to return, the purple veins disappeared, her eyes returned to the ocean blue, the white hair returned to the previous blond and the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead disappeared.
Ozma looked in shock, along with everyone else who knew Salem's appearance before she was corrupted. Shiro stopped, letting go of Salem's hand, the witch was panting. The chains disappeared, making Salem fall to her knees. She looked at her hands in shock, and started to cry.
"I'm sorry for what you've been through, but right now, I'm giving you a second chance. I'm going to let you think about what you did, I hope you made a decision when you recover." Shiro said with an expression of pity.
A few minutes passed, with everyone's silence, the only sound was Salem's crying. Not even Tyrian had the courage to say anything to his Queen. Then the crying stopped.
"Can I… can I really change? Pay for everything wrong I did?" Salem asked in an empty tone to Shiro.
"If you don't believe it, watch the multiverse. You will see that redemption is something that everyone can have."
"... I hope you're right. I ... I don't know if I can live with more disappointments."
"If you don't end this convinced, I guarantee, I will give you your much desired death."
"I knew you were going to say that." A new voice was present, drawing the attention of everyone except Shiro, who already recognized the voice.
A young adult with messy dark brown hair, red eyes and dark skin approached everyone. He wore a red jacket with a black interior, a black shirt with the acronym of the RWBY team, gray pants and red and white sneakers.
"Really, Red? RWBY team shirt?" Shiro asked with a sweatdrop.
"I'm dressing according to the situation!" Red replied with a smile.
"I like the shirt." Yang said with a smile.
"It really is a nice shirt." Ruby said in a proud pose.
"It is good to be recognized." Weiss said with a proud smile and arms crossed.
"Okay, we are not going to increase our ego." Blake said to her team with a sweatdrop.
"Yo! Red Gravewalker. Like my friend, Shiro, I am a Creator." Red introduced himself to the group. "I am one of your hosts and one of the three presences that you have."
"And speaking of which, where is the third presence?" Ren asked.
"It is bringing the last part of the audience." Shiro replied with a smile when he saw the confusion.
"Last part? I think everyone's here already, don't they?" Marrow questioned, making Red and Shiro laugh.
"The dead are still missing! Black! You can bring them!" Red said excitedly for the reaction of those present.
A single portal appeared, leaving everyone gaping when they saw the people who left the portal. Adam Taurus, Summer Rose, Clover Ebi, Pyrrha Nikos, Roman Torchwick, Hazel Reinart and Sienna Khan.
Neo's chains were gone, the girl immediately jumped up and held Roman in a hug, in tears.
"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy, Neo. I've been dead for two years, I'm not used to a physical body." Roman said laughing while hugging Neo. "Good to see you again, Ice Cream Girl."
Neo released Roman, then handed his bowler hat back to Roman, who took it and put it on his head. "It's good to wear that hat again. But you look good with it, Neo."
Shiro snapped his fingers and a hat identical to Roman's appeared on Neo's head.
"It works." Roman said with a sweatdrop.
"Hazel!" Emerald and Oscar, who was back in control, approached Reinart. Who smiled slightly when he saw them.
"Emerald. And Oscar do I imagine?"
"Yes. It's good to see you alive, Hazel. I couldn't thank you before, I would like to do that now. I owe you one." Oscar said with a smile.
"You don't owe me anything, boy. Just do what I say, no more Gretchen's." Hazel said with a serious expression.
Oscar swallowed, but nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Hazel… I don't know how to thank you. You sacrificed yourself so that I had a second chance. I won't waste this."
"Good." Hazel smiled at Emerald.
"Clover!" The Ace-Ops approached their leader along with Ironwood and Winter.
"Specialist Ebi. Good to see you alive again." Ironwood shook Clover's hand with a smile.
"General. Good to see you in a normal state." Clover said as he returned the handshake.
"Clover, I-" Harriet was interrupted by a hug from Clover, surprising the Ace-Ops.
"Harriet, I know. My death affected you. But please, don't make the same mistakes as before."
"I… I'm going to try, Clover." Harriet said, returning the hug.
Clover broke away from the hug, then looked at Elm and Vine. "Elm, Vine."
"Clover. Good to see you again, friend." Vine said with a small smile.
"You were sorely missed on this team, Clover. Seeing you again is great." Elm said in a handshake.
"Clover, man, seeing you again is one of the best things in these awful last few weeks." Marrow said in relief.
"And it's good to be back." Clover responded cheerfully. He turned to Winter. "Specialist Schnee, thank you for taking care of my team."
"It wasn't a problem. Well, except for Harriet, but you may already have ideas for solving this." Winter laughed.
"Yes, I do. Good to see you in a good mood." Clover said.
"Hey!" Clover looked back and smiled when he saw Qrow approaching. The two shook hands. "You son of a bitch. I thought you would be dead!" Qrow said with a smile.
"What can I say? I am lucky." Clover laughed, then hugged Qrow. "Good to see you again, old crow."
"Likewise, lucky bastard." Qrow returned the hug. When the hug ended, Qrow looked at Tai, Ruby and Yang, who were hugging Summer. "Now…"
He quickly said goodbye to Clover and went to the four of them, on the way he pulled Raven by the arm.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?!"
"Taking you to speak with Summer. It will be worse for you if she pulls you."
"... Fair enough. Summer scares me." Raven said, stopping trying to break free.
The Branwen brothers approached Yang, Tai and Ruby, who had already released Summer. Summer looked at them both, then smiled, holding the brothers in a hug.
"It's good to see you again, Raven and Qrow."
"It's nice to have you back, Summer." The brothers said at the same time, responding to the hug.
Meanwhile, Nora, Ren and Jaune were staring at Pyrrha with tears in their eyes. Nora wasted no time jumping on top of Pyrrha, holding her in a hug.
"Pyrrha, tell me that you and I'm not hallucinating." Nora asked through tears.
"Hey, hey. Yes, it's me. It's not a hallucination, a dream or anything. This is real, Nora." Pyrrha said as she patted Nora's head.
The two broke free, allowing Pyrrha to get up. Ren approached her, then shook her hand. "Your death... It brought a huge void to this team. Having you back here is great. Good to see you again, Pyrrha."
"Likewise, Ren." Pyrrha said as she returned the handshake.
So, Jaune. Pyrrha and Jaune stared at each other for what seemed like hours, but it was only seconds. Then, Jaune hugged her.
"I… I never thought I would see you again. When I received the news of your death, I… We… I didn't know what to do. I thought that without you, there would be no more team JNPR. I thought it would be the end. Of everything." Jaune said, sobbing.
"Oh, Jaune… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused. Not just for you, but for everyone. It was stupid of me to take that chance. I believed so much it was my destiny, that I had no choice. I died because of that. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you, Pyrrha. All that matters is that you are here now. That is all that matters."
"Thank you, Jaune."
The two parted and looked at each other, smiling at each other.
With Adam and Sienna, the two were being watched by Ghira, Kali, Blake, Sun and Illia. The two Faunus just ignored the looks.
"Oh, stop looking at us like that. Me and Sienna already realized how wrong we were during our dead time." Adam said, surprising the Belladonnas, Sun and Illia.
"Wait... Did you really realized?" Illia asked.
"When you die, you rethink all the mistakes of your life. The famous "Lucidity during death." My violent methods were a mistake, I admit. But pure pacifism is still not functional, Ghira. I can admit my mistakes. But I still maintain my opinion on your method." Sienna said.
"The method that Blake introduced is much more functional than Ghira's pure pacifism or Sienna's violence and mine." Adam admitted.
"This... It was unexpected. But I think it's good, right?" Sun asked, looking at the Belladonas.
"I think so... Does that mean we are not enemies?" Blake asked Sienna and Adam.
"For me, yes. I have nothing against you. For Adam..." Sienna let Adam continue.
"I still have problems with the Schnee and you, Blake. But it's not the time for that. I refuse to let my problems consume me again. So... Yes, we are on the same side." Adam said, making Blake slightly uncomfortable, but ignored it.
"I still have a question. How did you all come back to life?" Mercury asked the relived.
The relived looked at each other, then said at the same time with a sweatdrop: "Death is a terrible poker player."
"Hmm?"
"What they mean, is that I won their soul in a game of Poker. When you said Death was bad at games, Shiro, I didn't expect it to be true." A new voice emerged, drawing the attention of everyone except the revived, Shiro and Red.
A young adult with shoulder-length, spiky black hair, onyx eyes and lightly tanned skin appeared. He wore a black jacket that reached the shins, a black and white flame printed on the back, a simple white T-shirt underneath, black gloves, black pants with a gradient to white that appeared in the shin region and black boots.
"Before any of you ask, yes, I am the third presence. Black Ashworth. Nice to meet you. I brought the dead back. I bet their soul on a game of poker. And I won." Black said with a false smug, arrogant smile. For winning over Death was so easy that there was no way to be proud of it.
"Well, beating Death in a game is not difficult. I win against her at Chess matches all the time. I don't know why she still insists." Shiro commented.
"Well, everyone is here, shall we start, Shiro?" Red asked.
"Not yet. Some things are missing. Maria, Adam, Pietro, Fox, Jaune, Neo, Ren, Velvet, Robyn and Clover, come here." The sayings approached, so Shiro snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, Maria and Pietro rejuvenated, both back to their peak. Even his clothes had changed. They both had expressions of extreme happiness.
Fox and Neo were able to see and speak respectively. Fox joined his team and celebrated with extreme happiness, while Neo hugged Roman and said "Thank you!" Without stopping for Shiro.
Ren, Velvet, Clover, Maria, Jaune and Pietro felt their Auras again. And Pietro's was full as if he had never lost.
So, Jinn came out of the Lamp of Knowledge. Ambrosius and Jinn looked at each other briefly and started talking.
"I… I don't feel any difference." Adam said.
A mirror appeared in Shiro's hand, so he placed it in front of Adam's face. "Take off your bandana and try to open your left eye."
Adam was confused, but he followed the instructions. He took off his bandana and, to his surprise, managed to open his left eye. He looked at the mirror in front of him and was shocked. The SDC brand that was previously on his face is gone. His eye was back to normal.
"I… I don't know what to say. I… Thank you." Those were the only words that Adam managed to say to Shiro.
"You're welcome." Shiro said with a smile. "Now ..." Shiro snapped his fingers, making cinema-style row seats appear, next to a big screen. "Please, sit down."
The Remnantians followed suit. Salem sat alone at the end of the seats, only Tyrian and Watts beside her. Cinder stayed as far away from everyone as possible, staying alone at the end of the seats, but on the left side while Salem was on the right. Roman, Neo, Jinn, Junior and the Malachite sisters were in the front seats, next to the team JNPR and RWBY, who were on the left side of the front and had Ambrosius, Oscar, Hazel, Emerald and Mercury on their right side. Further to the right of the center were Ace-Ops, Glynda, Ironwood, Port and Oobleck, while on the left of the center were Winter, Willow, Whitley, Klein, the team STRQ and Zwei. In the center the teams CFVY, SN, the Belladonas, Flynt, Neon, Maria, Pietro, Penny, Adam and Sienna. In the middle of the end were the three hosts, Red, Black and Shiro.
"Very well, this is how it will work. When you are not paying attention, the universe will automatically pause, and you will see pop-ups in the corners of the screens for extra information. They are other universes, but you will watch it as if it were a series. If you want something to eat or drink, just think that it will come. Ah, I remember now." Shiro snapped his fingers and Anesidora appeared in Velvet's hands. "Use it well."
"What are we going to watch, Shiro?" Oscar asked.
"A universe with a bizarre supernatural, deals with demons, incredible twins and more." Red said dramatically. A remote control appeared in his hand, so he hit the button to start.
"And there we go!"