AN: I know a lot of people already do these, but there are a bunch of universes people have yet to do, I even have some of them fleshed out in my head. Don't expect consistent or many uploads, but if this story does well after a few chapters, I might dedicate more time to it.
Standard disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, blah blah blah
It was a usual day for team RWBY.
Was.
Past tense.
See, it started out normal. Ruby, the ball of energy she is, woke up first. She claimed the bathroom before Yang could. Blake woke up next and got ready for the day, before she realized there wasn't any school today and face planted back into bed. Yang woke up by the time Ruby was done with the bathroom, and claimed the bathroom for the next 24 hours. Weiss slept in as usual, as it was the weekend.
Across the hall, team JNPR was doing their own morning ritual. Pyrrha woke up first, having been used to waking up at dawn in order to train. She got up and quietly made her way to the bathroom so as to not wake up her teammates. Ren woke up shortly after at exactly 7, his perfect mental alarm clock waking him up. He prepared himself his herbal "Drink" for the morning. Jaune snoozed in until he rolled off the bed and fell on his face, waking himself up with a shriek. Nora shot up from the high pitched noise, fully alert.
Up in the Beacon tower, Ozpin's cane was resting on the side of his desk. His morning coffee was still steaming in it's mug, the caffeine waking him up enough to complete his paperwork. Which mostly consisted of moving paperwork onto Glynda. Said blonde haired assistant was currently in the teacher's lounge along with a portly Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck grabbing their coffee.
Out in Atlas, one General Ironwood was prepping his troops. Behind him was Specialist Winter Schnee and the Ace Ops. His eyes narrowed. He suspected something weird was happening in Vale, but Ozpin was not heeding his warnings. It was time he took matters into his own hands. But despite all this, he still had a sinking feeling in his chest.
Out in Patch, a certain crow landed on the porch of a house. That bird quickly turned into Qrow, a drunk man with a greatsword/shotgun/scythe. He went in and was greeted by Taiyang, as they started catching up with each other.
All these were different events, but they were all happening at the same time. It was then that it happened. As Weiss finally cracked an eye open. As Jaune sluggishly lifted himself up. As Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. As Ironwood ordered cargo onto ships. As Qrow and Taiyang reminisce about the past.
They were in different places of the world, no matter how far. And then they weren't.
It took a few seconds for it to register in everybody's mind. The more experienced huntsmen only took about two seconds to register that they were no longer in the place they once were. It took four seconds for the students to realize they were no longer in their dorm rooms. Except for Juane, who was still recovering from his fall. Minds were being run at hundreds of miles per hour, trying to decipher the situation. Team RWBY and JNPR panicked under the unfamiliar situation. Glynda reacted first.
"Get behind me students." There was no shouting, but the students could hear a commanding tone more than usual. Ozpin unconsciously gripped his cane harder as he observed his surroundings. Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck circled the students for safety. It was precisely eight point seven four seconds after the shift that Ozpin registered the others.
Ironwood and his specialists had their own interactions while the Beacon staff and students were having theirs. Without a word spoken, the Ace ops had instantly formed a protective circle around General Ironwood. Winter had drawn her saber and stood in front of Ironwood with a combat ready stance. Ironwood himself had quickly drawn his revolver from his holster, ready to shoot the first thing that moved.
Qrow and Taiyang's old team training kicked in. Qrow drew his sword and Taiyang got in a boxing stance. They both went back to back to cover each other's blindspot.
Ozpin looked at Ironwood. Ironwood looked at Ozpin. Winter looked at Weiss. Weiss looked at Ruby. Ruby looked at Yang. Yang looked at Tai. Tai looked at Qrow. Qrow glared at Winter. Winter glared back. Qrow looked at Ruby. Ruby looked at Qrow. Blake looked at Glynda. Glynda looked at Ironwood. Jaune looked at Ozpin. Ozpin continued to look at ironwood. Ironwood stared back. Nora looked at Ren. Ren looked at Nora. Pyrrha looked at Jaune. Jaune looked at Pyrrha. The Ace ops looked at each other. This all happened in about five seconds.
Ozpin broke the silence first.
"Ironwood." Ozpin said.
"Ozpin." Ironwood said.
"..." An awkward silence blanketed everybody as Ozpin tried to figure out what to say in this situation.
"Do you know where we are?" Ozpin asked. Ironwood shook his head.
"Do you know how we got here?" Ozpin questioned further. Ironwood shook his head.
"Do you-" Ozpin was cut off.
"I don't know anything. This isn't an interrogation." Ironwood spat out, obviously on edge from the situation. Ozpin hummed in apology.
The next voice that spoke was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
"I can answer those questions." Everybody's head snapped in the direction it came from. A figure was cloaked in the darkness. It was obviously female, but nobody could identify it.
Ironwood raised his dual revolvers. Winter readied her saber. Clover pointed Kingfisher's gun barrel in their direction. Elm readied her hammer. Harriet raised her fists. Marrow raised his rifle. Qrow switched his weapon to shotgun mode. Glynda tensed her riding crop. Ozpin gripped his cane tighter. Port raised blowhard, a rare serious look on his face. Oobleck deployed a flamethrower from his thermos. Taiyang and the other students were unarmed, but Tai still got his fists in a ready position.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Ironwood demanded.
"Calm down, everybody. I'm no threat." The figure spoke calmly, almost mockingly. Regardless, they raised their hands in a disarming manner.
"See? No weapons. No threat. Now can you all put your weapons down?" Nobody moved. The figure sighed.
"What can I do to earn your trust?" The figure spoke condescendingly, as if speaking to a young child. However, Ironwood kept his cool.
"How about you answer our questions. Where are we? How did we get here? Who are you?" Ironwood questioned.
"One question at a time. Where are we? Well, that's a bit of a weird question. Technically, everywhere and nowhere." Seeing the unamused looks of them, the figure elaborated. "Are you familiar with the multiverse theory? It's the theory that there are different versions of different worlds. Some small, some large, and some completely different. Currently, we are in between all of those universes. This is the void, the place where one can travel to any universe possible. That is, if you could find your goal. The multiverse is a vast place. After all, a whole multiverse could be created about some random person taking a step a centimeter to the left instead of the right. It's almost impossible to find the one you're looking for. Sorry, I'm rambling again. The point is, this is between all possible worlds."
The figure finished their long winded speech, but ironwood obviously wasn't satisfied if his disbelieving face was any indication. The figure sighed and shook their head.
"I don't know what to tell you. Believe it or don't believe it, it's the truth. But enough of that. For your next question, you asked about how you got here. Now, I told you how this is the space between universes? Well, I am an interdimensional traveler. I came from a universe after achieving enough power to hop universes. I am the first in this branch of universes to do so, therefore I control this part of the universe. I could pull anybody from any universe, and I could control this area however I wanted."
To prove her point, she fell back as a swivel chair suddenly materialized behind her, spinning her in slow circles as she tucked her knees in like a child. Ironwood was obviously not amused, but Ozpin stopped him before he could make things worse. Ozpin grabbed Ironwood's shoulder and shook his head, indicating Ironwood to back down. Ironwood glared at Ozpin for a few seconds before letting out a huff and stepping back in annoyance.
"You said it is impossible to find the right universe with how many there are. How did you pick us specifically?" Ozpin asked. He was obviously trying to poke holes into her story like swiss cheese. The woman stopped spinning and seemed to give an amused vibe, despite not being able to see her face.
"There are a few exceptions. I said 'almost impossible'. For example, I mentioned this branch of universes, correct? This branch of universes usually consists of some similarity to the base universe. You are coming from the base universe, meaning you are the original version that all other universes in this branch are based off of. Being the base, it is fairly easy to trace everything back to you. It's like looking at a tree with a hundred million branches. Sure, you can't trace each one. But it is fairly easy to connect everything back to the trunk. The second exception is everybody always knows how to get back to their universe. It's not really a knowledge thing, more like a gut feeling." The figure finished explaining, and seemed to look into Ozpin's eyes searching for some form of emotion. Ozpin gave no indication of any.
"Then the next question is, who are you? Why did you want us to come specifically?" Ozpin seemed to finally open up to the idea, but didn't seem completely convinced.
"Those are two different questions Ozzy," Ozpin's eyes narrowed at the name. "But they are connected. See, I like to watch other universes. I may only control this part of the void but I can still view the universes of those outside my control. It's like watching a movie. But you can only watch so many movies alone before it gets boring. I mean sure, I know other interdimensional travelers but they don't own their own land. They go off on their own to claim their own piece and visit sometimes, but it still gets so boooooriiiiiinnnnngggg."
The mysterious figure acting like a child seemed to snap Ironwood's last straw of patience. He cocked his gun and glared intensely at the figure.
"Cut the crap! Tell us who you are!" Ironwood seemed a hair away from pulling the trigger. The figure seemed to pout but gave in regardless.
"Well, I was saving this question for last. Now that you all know about the multiverse, regardless if you believe it, my identity will be my final piece of evidence. Once you see who I am, this will erase the doubts from your minds. I mentioned before I am from a branch of this universe, meaning my universe is fairly similar to yours. I could be anybody here. I could be a female version of Qrow, a less serious Winter, a lax Glynda." The speaker paused for dramatic effect.
"But alas, I am none of those. Though, a female uncle Qrow would be funny." The figure seemed to laugh to themselves before pausing. "Wait, that's just Raven." But nobody registered the second part of that sentence. Everybody's eyes shot to Qrow. Qrow looked at Ruby and Yang. Qrow then closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.
"Yang?" Qrow asked carefully. The figure looked at him, seemingly annoyed. Then the figure stepped out from the darkness, showing the glowing silver eyes and red tipped hair of an undoubtedly older Ruby.
"Do I look like a dumb blonde stereotype?" Tai and Yang let out indignant cries, but nobody heard them. Qrow and those from Beacon, sans Yang, let out a sigh of relief. Even Ozpin looked considerably more relaxed. After all, Ruby with godlike powers may be bad but Yang with godlike powers is catastrophic. Those from Atlas seemed less tense since those from Beacon seemed to trust the person. Yang just looked more depressed from the fact that nobody (rightfully) trusted her with godlike powers.
The older Ruby smirked at her younger counterpart, before her eyes shifted to Weiss. Older Ruby then let out a yell of glee as she picked up Weiss like a stuffed animal and hugged her closely. Weiss let out an indignant cry of embarrassment as she looked at a smirking Yang and Blake for help as older Ruby pinched Weiss' cheeks.
"I forgot how cute mini-Weiss is. I'm surprised you two aren't banging yet." Older Ruby looked at a red and speechless younger Ruby.
"Oh I forgot, alternate universe stuff, yeah? Me and Weiss from my dimension are a thing. And let me tell you, she delivers in the bedroom pretty well." Between Weiss' red faced stuttering and Ruby trying to cover her face in her cloak, Yang couldn't help but fall on the floor laughing. Older Ruby glanced at those from Atlas. Although they were considerably less tense, they still seemed unsure about the whole situation. Older Ruby smiled at them.
"I brought you here because I was bored, but you can benefit from this as well. I will be showing everybody here different universes, kind of like a movie session. You might gain powerful knowledge privy to only certain universes. Knowledge is power after all." Older Ruby could see that they still weren't convinced. "I can also make it so no time passes while we are here, so you can strategize against… certain unsavory groups for as long as you want. It's literally a place you can plan for eternity." That seemed to sell him.
Ironwood took a glance at Ozpin. If Ironwood had an infinite amount of time to convince Ozpin that something was going on in Vale, then he would take it. The knowledge was just an added benefit. Younger Ruby looked at older Ruby in excitement.
"You can control time? That's so cool!" She exclaimed. Older Ruby let out a chuckle.
"I made it so nobody ages or dies in this void. I could also make it so nobody goes hungry or thirsty, but that would make eating sweets less satisfying. Also, how do you think I look so young? I've been here for a few million years, older than most universes!" Everybody looked at her in disbelief. Older Ruby just shrugged it off.
"Let's go somewhere more comfortable than a black abyss." Ruby snapped her fingers for dramatic effect, and the world instantly changed to a movie theater. Everybody was automatically seated into different seats. Most people had their preferred foods and drinks. Qrow had some whisky in his cup holder, Ruby had a bowl of cookies on her lap, Blake had a plate of sushi, and Nora had a pile of pancakes.
"If you need more, it'll appear. If you want something else, just imagine it. Now let's start with the first universe. I hope you like Cop Movies. This takes place in a world called Earth, and they have a terrorist problem not unlike your own…"
AN: Jeez, this was meant to be a short pilot chapter, but the words just kept spilling onto the page.
Anyway, next chapter: Rainbow Six Siege, Operator Videos + Intro Videos + Article 5