"Ugh… The Brothers are just getting in the way." Shiro was sitting in a chair, looking at a holographic map of the multiverse.
"I honestly didn't understand your hatred for them, but I'm starting to understand." Red snorted.
"Well, they're gods, what did you expect? In most universes, gods are assholes. And it's not just the Brothers I'm talking about." Black shrugged. "It sucks. They still have control over that universe even though you created it. We're going to need the help of other Creators to be able to interfere from the outside."
"There are three of us. As I said, I won't interfere with an avatar, but the Brothers are in the way. With several Creators interfering on the outside, taking their control little by little, I can bring the others."
"So who are we going to ask for help?" Red asked.
Shiro pondered for a few moments, then rose from his chair. A door appeared beside him. "I already have names. I'll make some calls."
"So, who?"
"Al, Ryuusou, Kaito, Silver, Key and Weiss. Heavens, it's going to be confusing if the two meet." Shiro commented.
"She has other nicknames, remember?"
"Yeah, but I'm used to Weiss. Anyway, see how the Remnantians are doing. I'll make the calls."
Red and Black shrugged, then headed for the door. "As you wish."
Cinder was sitting alone in a secluded corner of a cafeteria like the one in Beacon. She watched the other Remnantians with disgust and anger. This damn interference from these Creators ruined all her work. Not even Salem supported her now that she was free of the Grimm essence. It wouldn't be like that, when the opportunity arose, she would destroy these Creators.
"Whatever you're planning isn't going to work." To Cinder's surprise, Shiro sat beside her. "I want to talk to you."
"I have nothing to talk about with you." Cinder tried to get up and walk away, but her legs were frozen. She glared at Shiro, who was looking at her seriously.
"We'll talk. Whether you like it or not." Cinder would open her mouth to deny it, but for a moment she saw a blue and white dragon form behind Shiro, causing her to shut up.
"What you want?"
"You know, continuing your useless quest for power will only destroy you more and more." Cinder rolled her eyes at Shiro's words, but got a flick on her forehead in response.
"Don't roll your eyes. I'm serious. You gave reasons for everyone here to want you dead. Let me tell you, what's keeping everyone here from killing you, it's me. But I can't help you if you don't help me in return. And do you know how you can help me? By changing your way."
"And why would I change?"
"Because you're going to die anyway if you don't change. There are many Creators who hate you, Red and Black included. They just didn't kill you because I'm in charge here. But across the multiverse, you have several versions with a slow and painful death. What did you see Bill do back there? It was child's play. As long as you remain a power junkie, only death and pain will exist in your life."
"Why are you so insistent on trying to change people like me?"
"Because the very idea of the multiverse guarantees that it can happen. After all, there are endless possibilities. No matter how bad a person is, in some dimension there's going to be a good version of this person. you are a good person in other universes."
"Your faith in the good of others is admirable, but it's to no use if you have faith and don't act."
"What makes you think I'm not acting?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh you'll see, Cinder. Just wait." He got up and walked away from the table, leaving Cinder alone, mulling over his words.
On the other side of the cafeteria, a door opened, out of which Black and Red exited… Behind Black and Red. The JNPR team, who was on the side, stared in shock. "This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them." Jaune said with a sweatdrop.
"Relax, Vomit Boy. Those who were with you were clones." As soon as Black said that, the other Black and Red vanished in smoke.
"So… Where were you guys?" Pyrrha questioned the two.
"Resolving some issues with Shiro. That's all." Red replied nonchalantly.
"You'll probably meet other Creators soon." Black stopped for a moment. Then he shivered as he remembered something. "I need to remember to be careful with what I say. I don't want to be beaten up by "Dialogue"."
"What is Dialogue?" Nora asked curiously.
"You do not want to know." Red said with chills up his spine. "Thanks for reminding me, Black. My head hurts just remembering."
"You guys are strange." Jaune said with a sweatdrop.
"Eh, as happened to a certain Time Traveler: I've been crazy for millennia, then I got tired of the madness and became sane again. But some remnants of madness still exist."
"Wait… What?" Ren asked in confusion.
"There is a universe where you guys met him, you know?"
"Oh! Is this the next universe we're going to watch?" Nora excitedly asked for the next universe.
"No." Black replied, making Nora deflate in boredness. "You're going to see a universe that personally is one of my favorites… But it won't focus on you. Early warning."
"What?! really?! That's unfair! In the first one Ruby was the protagonist, in the second it was Adam. It seems like the JNPR team are extras in these universes." Nora complained.
"Well… In a way, you guys are extras on Remnant Prime." Red said with a sweatdrop.
"What?! Even on Remnant Prime?! That's nonsense!" Nora waved her arms in rage, leaving everyone with sweatdrops.
"If it makes you feel better, Ruby, who theoretically should be a protagonist, develops less than everyone else." Black tried to ease the situation.
"That definitely doesn't help me! Seriously?! What's wrong with Remnant Prime?!" Ruby approached after hearing Black talk about her Prime version.
"I wish I knew." Red responded simply.
"I'm beginning to understand why so many Creators are unhappy with the status of Remnant Prime. How many problems do you guys have with Remnant Prime?" Oscar approached along with the rest of the RWBY team.
"We didn't mention even 5% of the problems." Red revealed, leaving everyone unhappy.
"We have a lot of problems to solve while we're here, don't we?" Weiss questioned everyone.
"Yep."
"Ugh… Well, I guess it's better this way. From what we found out, if we hadn't ended here, it would have been worse." Weiss looked at Penny with concern. She was talking animatedly with Maria and Pietro. Surprisingly, Ambrosius had been fascinated by Pietro's ability to build an artificial human. The spirit of Creation was with them.
"All that work just for Penny to end up dying again." Ruby glared at Cinder. "I have nothing against Shiro's decisions… But does Cinder really have any chance of redemption?"
"I'll tell you something, I share your feelings about Cinder. If it were up to me, I would travel the multiverse killing as many versions of her as possible. But I trust Shiro, so as much as I hate Cinder... I'll believe his judgment. He's got some tricks up his sleeve." Black said to the group.
"Trusting a person blindly like that?" Yang asked skeptically.
"Not blindly, Raven two." A vein pulsed in Yang's forehead at Black's response. "I've known him for years. He forgave me when I screwed up. He helped me when I needed it. This was all before we were Creators."
"Wait, before?" Blake questioned.
"Well, most of the Creators were from some specific universe. Me, Red and Shiro were from a Prime universe." Black revealed.
"That's right. I was the captain of a royal guard." Shiro appeared behind the group, startling everyone except Black and Red.
"By Oum! Where did you come from?!" Jaune asked with a hand over his heart, panting.
"From the door." Shiro replied. The group looked behind him, where there was literally a glowing door halfway between the tables.
"This is bizarre." Oscar said with a sweatdrop.
"How long have you been behind us?" Blake questioned the Creator.
"Since Ruby asked if Cinder really could be redeemed. Look, I know she caused a lot of trouble for you guys, I've seen it happen and her actions infuriate me as much as it infuriates you. But… Everything she's done, there's worse. I'm not saying she didn't do anything wrong, not at all, she made a lot of mistakes. But in the multiverse, there is worse. As well as much better things."
"How could there be worse things?"
Shiro sighed at Yang's question. "There are two multiverses." He used his magic to create a translucent map filled with light. "The normal multiverse. Where you are from and where the Creators act. In it, no matter what happens, the end will always be good. Heroes win, bad people can become good, evil doesn't last forever. A multiverse of light. That lasts forever." Shiro created another map covered in darkness. "And there is the Dark Multiverse. We Creators cannot tamper with it. It's a general rule. In the Dark Multiverse, nightmares come to life. Universes where your worst nightmares happen. Where the good ones don't exist, they always end up corrupted. It's like hell. Tell me, do you still think that a place where everything is destined to suffer and die in the end isn't worse than what you've seen?"
A shiver went through everyone's body. Shiro had only talked about the Dark Multiverse, but even so, the simple name caused a sense of terror in them.
"…You're right. There are worse things… Dark Multiverse… Did the two multiverses collide once?" Ruby questioned.
"Once, but not completely. The multiverses are divided into sectors. A sector is a set of universes, and every sector has a counterpart in the dark multiverse. Sector DC collided with his counterpart once. they almost were destroyed by it. Another responsibility of the Creators is to keep the two multiverses from colliding, but we are only the last line of defense. The one in the vanguard is the Time Patrol."
"Time Patrol?" Jaune asked with interest.
"It's a story for another day, Jaune. But what I mean is: we're in the normal multiverse, she might have done horrible things, yes. But everyone can change, whether it's for the worse… Or for the better."
"Well… Let's trust you on that Shiro. You gave us an opportunity to rest that we probably never would have and you stopped horrible things from happening like…" Ruby gulped for a moment as she remembered. It hurted just thinking about the possibility. "Penny's death. I think at the very least we owe you a little trust."
"You don't owe me anything. I'm just doing what many other Creators would like to do. Anyway, did you like your tour here?"
"Oh! The multiverse museum was my favorite part. So many amazing weapons…" Ruby said with star-shaped eyes, making Weiss roll her eyes and smile slightly.
"Black said some of those weapons are available for us to use in the simulation room, don't overdo it." Weiss punched Ruby on the shoulder. "And by that I mean get away from Dante's Pandora's Box, got it?"
"But Weiss! That's 666 amazing weapon forms! And I've only seen seven!" Ruby insisted, using the puppy eyes tactic, which had Weiss biting her lip in resistance while the others avoided looking at Ruby in an attempt to avoid falling for the trick.
"Years of experience with Nora and my Semblance's training have made me immune to this tactic." Ren said, noticing Weiss's futile resistance against one of the most powerful tactics in existence.
"Wait, did Nora uses tis tactic before?" Pyrrha asked, turning away from Ruby.
"Well Renny makes amazing pancakes but most of the time it wasn't enough for me."
"In the first few attempts she managed to convince me to make more pancakes, but after a while I became immune to this tactic."
"I'll still find an alternative method of convincing you, Ren."
"Okay, you win, Ruby! You can use Pandora's Box next time… But be careful!"
"She's right. A Devil Arm is extremely dangerous to use if the user doesn't have enough power. I used magic to seal this condition, but it's still dangerous." Shiro warned Ruby.
"No problem. I'll be careful, seriously. It's not just because I love guns that I'm going to go out testing every form without precautions."
"Still be careful. I'm already a little nervous about Cinder around Penny, I don't want to have to worry about you in danger too." Weiss said with a slight blush in her cheeks, which went unnoticed by Ruby, but the others noticed, getting smirks.
Nora pulled Yang, Blake and Pyrrha away from Ruby and Weiss. "Operation Cupid for those two?"
"This is going to be tough. Rubes is as dense as a door when it comes to love." Yang said with a sweatdrop.
"I would say this is Operation Cupid to unite three together." Red said, approaching the four.
"What do you mean by that?" Blake raised her eyebrows.
"None of you noticed Penny?" Red questioned, making the four of them look at the table where Penny was. She glanced discreetly at Ruby and Weiss from moment to moment, a blush in her cheeks and an expression of confusion.
"Oh. That complicates it a little." Pyrrha commented.
"A trio? Yes. I can tell Weiss is liking Ruby and she seems to be pretty worried about Penny. And now we realize Penny might be liking both of them." Blake concluded.
"The problem is that Ruby is dense." Yang said with a sweatdrop. "She might like them both that way, but she shouldn't even notice her feelings."
"Will you help us with this, Red?" Nora asked the host.
"Oh, no. I'm not a good cupid."
"Much less me." Black warned, approaching the group.
"Well then it looks like we're alone on this one girls." Nora declared.
"I wouldn't say "alone"..." Red commented, pointing at Shiro.
"What?" The white-haired Creator looked at the girls.
"Are you a good cupid?"
"I don't consider myself a good cupid." Shiro responded, earning indignant glances from Black and Red.
"What a lame lie." Black said.
"You've told better lies, Shiro." Red shook his head in disappointment.
"But I'm not a good Cupid. Seriously."
"Just help them with it." Black said to the albino, who sighed.
"Okay, what's your plan?"
Meanwhile, most of the adults were gathered at one table. Qrow, Tai and Summer were talking, happy to finally be able to see each other after years. Ironwood, on the other hand, had a depressed expression, being comforted by Glynda.
"James, everyone here has forgiven you. Don't blame yourself."
"Still, Glynda. I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself anytime soon. I'm honestly surprised they forgave me even after everything I've done."
"James." Glynda said in a serious tone, drawing Ironwood's attention. "You might have done all of that, but I'm sure everyone still had hope that there was still a good man inside you. That's why everyone forgave you. I said that in Beacon, James." A small smile spread across Glynda's face. "You're a good man, but you're not a titan.You can't carry Remnant's full weight on your back. That's why Ozpin created this group. To protect Remnant together."
"Um. I can at least try." Ironwood said with a small smile. "But speaking of protecting Remnant…" Ironwood looked at Salem, who was standing apart from everyone, with only Tyrian and Watts beside her. "What about her? I admit, I can see some sense in Shiro's words. Maybe it really was Grimm's essence that corrupted her. But do you think she'll be able to forgive herself?"
"Alone? Definitely not. Callows is always willing to support her, but… I don't think he's the best person to support."
"Honestly, many of us here need a therapist." Ironwood looked at the hosts. "I wonder if they have any ideas to help with this."
"They probably have. We can only wait for a while. Enjoy this place, James. It's the closest we'll have of a vacation in a long time."
"Um…yeah. You're right. Oum knows how nice a vacation would be for us."
Shiro had finished his little Operation Cupid planning meeting. He fired an ice spear upward, catching everyone's attention with the sound. "We have one more universe to watch." The albino headed for the Observatory theater.
The Remnantians and Red and Black headed for the theater, but Sienna held back Shiro, who looked at her doubtfully.
"You wouldn't even do an intermission, right? You just wanted to get Yang and Adam away from each other for a moment so they wouldn't jump on each other's necks." Sienna questioned Shiro.
"Of course."
"Well… I appreciate it." Sienna said, getting a curious look from Shiro. "You probably already know, but I was the one who brought Adam to White Fang. I feel responsible for what he has become. Initially, he had no pleasure for killing humans, but I often said it was necessary, that it was the right way to go... Maybe it was my fault."
The curiosity in Shiro's eyes faded, replaced by a satisfied smile. "Maybe it was, maybe not. What matters is that now you can correct your mistakes. But a word of advice: don't blame yourself entirely."
Sienna waved, then the two entered the theater. Sitting in their seats.
"Okay, the next universe is going to be pretty interesting. Personally, it's one of my favorites out of the universes I plan to show you. It's going to have a military vibe that's probably going to interest the Alesians. Early warning, this universe might be quite a bit… Graphic. Yeah, graphic. Watch out for those with a weak stomach." Shiro announced it to everyone.
"Well let's get started." Red said, then turned on the screen.
The Last Ones Standing
Chapter 1 - Angel City
"One more." A man with messy black hair, blue eyes and pale skin with a full beard was sitting at a counter inside a bar. The bar was with little movement this late afternoon. He wore a simple brown hooded sweatshirt, black t-shirt, jeans, white shoes, and black gloves.
"It's already your fifth glass, James. Are you sure?" The bartender was a blond man with messy hair, blue eyes, and tan skin with a sparse beard. He wore a simple white shirt, black apron, jeans and black shoes.
A silence filled the theater room. Which was quickly broken by Glynda.
"Alcoholic James and Tai Bartender? There is something very wrong in this universe."
"I know. I imagined Qrow as a bartender and an alcoholic." Raven said, earning a glare from Qrow.
"I don't drink alcohol anymore."
"But I still find it surprising." Raven answered Qrow, which earned her an elbow from Summer. "Ouch! What was that?!"
"Don't start your arguments. Or do you want me to take drastic measures?" Summer's question making the rest of the STRQ team, Ironwood and Oscar shiver, while Glynda smiled.
"What do you mean by drastic measures, Mom?" Ruby asked.
"Let's say Glynda taught me a few things, dear." Summer responded with a smile that made many shiver.
"Ruby's mom suddenly seemed extremely scary to me." Nora whispered to her team.
"Same." Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren responded.
"One more, Taiyang." James replied in an empty tone. Taiyang sighed, then filled James' glass.
"And I thought Qrow was a drunkard."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear anything, Tai." Qrow said, glaring at the Xiao Long patriarch.
"It wasn't really me, Qrow. Cut it out."
"Ignoring your discussion, what brought James to this state?" Glynda raised the question.
"Yeah. Those eyes and empty tone of voice… I've only seen that among veteran Hunstmen." Marrow commented.
"I have a feeling as to why." Ironwood sighed. "It's quite common among soldiers who go to the battlefield frequently."
"You know my reasons, Tai."
"But you decided to drown yourself in alcohol. Unlike others."
"The difference between you and me, Tai… is that you still have something that motivates you to keep going."
"I'm not asking you to join the resistance, James. I'm asking you to try and lead a normal life."
"Normal? In this damn IMC-controlled city? Where if you look the other way at one of these soldiers they'll shoot you in the face? Don't make me laugh, Tai."
"Oh… I understand the situation." Clover said with a slight tone of sadness as he understood.
"A dictatorial militia. It's ironic to see an Atlesian getting suffering with something the Faunus often suffered years ago. And they still suffer in some places." Adam commented, receiving slight glances from the Alesians. "I'm just telling the truth."
"Ouch. You look bad, James. My guess is that that would be you without any help back in Atlas." Qrow said.
"The worst part is I don't doubt it." Ironwood responded with dismay.
A young adult with messy black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin with a goatee approached the counter. He wore a dark blue sweatshirt, white shirt, jeans, and black sneakers.
"Only water, please." The young man asked, with Tai going to get it right away. "James Ironwood. Hero of the Frontier." James looked at him angrily. "You were one of the survivors of Harmony and the attack on Typhon. You disabled the Fold Weapon."
James stared at the young man for a moment, then set his glass on the counter. "Who in the resistance told you to try and recruit me, Kid? Whoever said it, it was a waste of time. I won't fight anymore."
"Oh. The other me is really bad." Ironwood commented with trepidation. "I know this kind of state. It's not uncommon for soldiers to end up like this."
'And I've seen a lot of Hunstmen like that too.' Oz thought sadly.
"My name is Jack Cooper, sir." James started to get up to leave the bar, but Jack grabbed him by the shoulder. "Wait! Wait! I know you're tired of this. Serving people who don't understand who's on the battlefield. But the resistance isn't led by that kind of people. It's led by Ozpin. He's your friend, isn't he?"
"Look, Kid. Me and Oz haven't seen each other in years. And the last time we saw each other, it wasn't on good terms. It's a waste of time trying to convince me, believe me. And by the way, that's not why I left." Ironwood took Jack's hand from his shoulder, put money on the counter, and left the bar.
"That won't work with James, Kid." Tai said to Jack with a sad smile, handing over the glass of water Jack had ordered.
"I don't understand. I thought after everything, he would jump at the first opportunity to go up against IMC."
"It wasn't just Harmony's fall, Cooper. It's a tricky case. Initially, he fought with the resistance, but… I'm not the best person to talk about it. It's a sore subject between James, Ozpin and Glynda."
"Wait, me?" Glynda looked at the screen with a confused expression.
"Ozpin and James too. What happened?" Summer questioned.
"I don't know Sum, but I doubt it's good."
"Wait, Glynda? Glynda Goodwitch?" Tai nodded to Cooper. "Shit! I forgot to warn him."
"Warn him of what, Kid?" Tai asked in confusion.
"Turn on the TV. Put it on the news." Cooper asked Tai, who did as he was asked. An expression of shock came over his face as he watched the news.
"Jill Gates and Glynda Goodwitch, members of the terrorist group that seeks to overthrow IMC, have been arrested. IMC has announced that they will be executed tomorrow."
"Oh shit."
"I think my alternate version has summed up almost everyone's reaction here." Tai said in a playful tone to try to stop chaos from happening in the theatre with the events on the screen.
"So… I think we can agree here that we hate IMC?" Sun asked, smiling as he saw several raise their hands in agreement. To his surprise, even Cinder had raised her hand.
"What? I don't like this kind of people." Cinder said in an aggressive tone, making Sun stop looking at her nervously.
"Considering her background, I can see why she wouldn't like IMC. Not that she's was any better, but it's understandable." Red said to Shiro and Black.
"Yes, yes. But one question, Shiro." The albino looked at Black. "Jill Gates? I didn't knew about this one."
"Well, initially Gates would be a female version of Cooper, only under the name "Jill"."
…
Ironwood walked along the docks in Angel City, carefully watching the drones patrolling the sky. People on the street were warming themselves by fires made in barrels, garbage in every alley. That was life in the Dock District of Angel City. The gray sky and thunder indicated a rainy night.
He entered the harbor and made his way to a boat, where he took his keys from his pocket and unlocked the boat door. He went into the bathroom and washed his face, watching himself for a moment.
"Living on an old boat in the ghettos of a city… Oh, shit. I'm starting to understand the people of Mantle better." Harriet said upon seeing the home state of Ironwood's alternate version.
"Is there any way we can improve Mantle when we get back?" Vine asked, getting Shiro's attention.
"I'm already taking care of it, don't worry."
"I have nothing to lose, so why do I refuse to fight again?" James wondered. "Damnit!" James punched the mirror, breaking it into pieces. He pulled his hand away, removing the glass-scarred glove, and tossed it in the trash. Revealing his cybernetic arm. He gave an empty laugh as he looked at his arm. "Lastimosa would be disappointed to see me like this."
"Some things never change…" Ironwood muttered regretfully upon seeing his alternate version. And to think he was like this before he was teleported to the Observatory. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, it was Glynda, looking up at him with a welcoming smile. "Thanks." The General whispered to the Beacon Headmistress.
"You're welcome."
…
"Go! Go! Go! Everyone to the aircraft! Harmony is about to be destroyed!" A voice announced over all the intercoms at the Frontier Militia base. Ironwood, in a Pilot's suit, ran through the base's corridors with a VK-47 Flatline assault rifle and an SA-3 Mozambique laser shotgun.
"Flashback! Harmony is the name of the base, I guess. I have a bad feeling…" Yang commented. Black, Red and Shiro held back from revealing that Harmony was a planet. They waited with excitement to see the reaction of the Remnantians.
"I don't think I'm going to like what I see." Velvet muttered, flinching in her seat in fear of what was said before in the bar. She reluctantly took pictures of the weapons the alternate version of the General carried.
"Who is the voice on the intercoms?" Mercury asked.
"Sarah Briggs, the commander of the Marauder Corps. The Marauder Corps is the defunct Pilots division of the now-dead Frontier Militia, which was fighting against the IMC.This Ironwood is a former Pilot of the Marauder Corps." Black explained before Shiro, who glared at him. "Titanfall is my territory, buddy."
"Pilots?" Penny asked with mild interest.
"You'll see." Black said, bending slightly to look at the screen more closely with animation. "It's going to be incredible."
He entered the hallway of the bedrooms, where he was found by a group of IMC soldiers. With quick reflexes, he aimed his Flatline and hit the soldiers in the head with precision, clearing the hallway.
Upon arriving at the base's aircraft carrier, he saw dozens of IMC and Militia soldiers fighting each other. Wasting no time he ran to a ship, but was blocked in his path by a group of soldiers, but before he fired, a flaming shuriken hit the ground where the soldiers were standing, then the fire spread, causing the soldiers to burn.
"Watch out for those IMC bastards, Jimmy." A woman in white Pilot costume said. A member of 6-4.
"Raven. Where are the others?"Raven pointed to another corner of the carrier, where three 6-4 Pilots cleared the way for a group of soldiers to reach a ship. One of the Pilots used a disk-shaped device to create a particle shield, called the A-Wall, blocking the soldiers' fire. He then used an EVA-8 to kill the soldiers through the shield.
Another threw a shuriken that caused a gravitational vortex, pulling several IMC soldiers. Wasting no time, he used an M1901 to eliminate the soldiers trapped in the vortex.
Another Pilot moved at speed around the aircraft carrier with the help of a stimulant. She used a B3 Wingman Elite to eliminate several soldiers quickly with headshots.
Some were slightly flinching with the violence, but after the beginning of the first two universes, they were used to it. Their main reaction was admiration for the Pilots.
"All these guns…" Ruby was drooling in a trance, just as Velvet had a big smile when taking pictures of the guns. A thought popped into Shiro's head when he saw Velvet photographing the weapons.
'By the end of this,Velvet is going to have a literal Pandora's Box?'
"Does this universe have Dust?" Pietro asked the hosts.
"No. Everything was made with technological evolution without Dust's help." Black explained. "And you might already have a guess as to who these three Pilots are."
"They've got everything taken care of. Come on, you need to get to your ship soon. Oz, Glynda and Lastimosa are already there." Raven said, receiving a nod from Ironwood.
The two began to run towards the ship, until they were blocked in their path by an Ion Titan. A familiar voice echoed from within the Titan, making Ironwood growl.
"6-4… Marauder Corps… IMC will pay us a nice extra for killing two birds with one stone."
"Slone…" Raven said with venom in her to the Pilot.
"Raven Branwen. Hello. And goodbye." Slone was about to activate her Laser Core, but another Titan knocked her to the ground with a jab. It was Lastimosa, with his Titan, BT-7274.
Everyone stared in shock at the Ion when she appeared, an expression of awe and horror at seeing a metal monster as big as a Mega Goliath. When Ion's eye began to glow red, some closed their eyes in horror. But the sound of cheers made them open their eyes, witnessing BT standing imposingly above the Ion toppled to the ground.
"Haha! Nice!" Flynt smiled when he saw Slone and her Titan on the ground.
"These machines… What are they?" Watts asked the hosts.
"Think of the Atlesian Paladins, and 10 times better. These are the Titans you are witnessing. Slone is piloting an Ion-class Titan, while the other Titan is a Vanguard-class, piloted by Tai Lastimosa." Black explained.
"Interesting…"Glynda looked at Ironwood with a scolding look. "I'm not planning anything. I just think it's something we should consider doing if possible."
"In this case, it's fair." Glynda calmed down.
"Oh, by Oum. Another Tai." Qrow said in horror.
"What does that mean?" Tai looked at Qrow with an offended expression.
"Relax, they don't look alike in personality." Shiro said, causing Qrow to sigh in relief as the rest of the STRQ team rolled their eyes.
"Ironwood! Raven! To your ships! I hold this bitch." Lastimosa took out his Titan's assault rifle, XOTBR-16 Chaingun, shooting suppression fire at Slone.
"Hell, no!" Slone declared as she activated her Titan Vortex Shield, returning fire and making BT stagger.
"Captain Lastimosa, I'm detecting more nearby enemy Titans. Slone may not be the only member of the Apex Predators here." BT said to his Pilot.
"How wonderful. Any other allied titans nearby?" Lastimosa questioned as he moved to flank Slone. He fired a barrage of missiles at her, then lunged forward with a powerful punch that sent her crashing to the ground.
"Negative. The 6-4 cannot launch any Titans without risk of being surrounded." BT responded, getting a Laser Core in his face immediately.
"Looks like it's just us then." Lastimosa said as he managed to lift BT after falling for having his vision systems briefly damaged by Slone's laser. To Lastimosa's surprise, he saw Ironwood leap onto the back of Slone's Titan, pulling one of the batteries on the Titan's head.
"What the hell?! Get the hell out of my Titan, you bastard!" Slone released the electrical smoke charge, but Ironwood jumped out of the smoke just in time. To Slone's surprise, Lastimosa fired another round of missiles, forcing her to retreat.
"Ironwood! Get on your evacuation ship!" Lastimosa said to the Pilot.
"No way! I heard BT, there are more Apex Predators nearby." Everyone on the aircraft carrier heard shots through the intercoms, a gunfight was taking place at the Communication Center at the Militia base. Sarah Briggs cursed through the intercom, but another wave of gunfire cut off her voice.
Ironwood, Winter, and the Ace-Ops instinctively saluted Briggs. Even though they only heard her voice for a brief moment, they had the feeling she had been a great commander. To their surprise, Red, Shiro and Black also saluted.
"As I told the RWBY team and the JNPR team, I was captain of a royal guard." Shiro explained. "Quite different from other universes, but I still have respect for soldiers."
"It's over, Militia. Sarah Briggs is dead and the Fold Weapon is about to fire." Another voice announced over the intercom. "Slone, this is your cue."
"That's it. Preparing Nuclear Ejection." Slone pressed in the sequence of commands in the Cockpit, causing Ion to glow an incandescent yellow."
Oh, shit." Lastimosa grabbed Ironwood, trying to run away from the explosion that covered part of the carrier with Ion's self-destruct. But the two were still hit by the blast of the explosion, falling to the ground.
Slone had flown up with the Ejection, where a ship bearing the Apex Predators logo was speeding towards her."Come on. Let's go. Let's go..." Slone used her Jump Kit to position herself perfectly to enter the ship, but a missile fire from a nearby ship hit the ship's wing, causing it to fall and knock Slone away with the impact.
"Not today, bitch." Raven said with a Heavy Archer Rocket in hand while inside the 6-4 ship.
"Nice shot, Raven." Tai said with a smile when he saw that Slone wouldn't escape.
"Ha! Dumbass!" Mercury laughed at Slone's fall. Of course, he still wouldn't say he was with the good guys, but Slone wasn't a person he liked.
"Ugh…" Ironwood groaned, climbing out from under BT, who sparkled incessantly. He looked around, only one ship hadn't taken off yet. His ship.
"Ironwood."
"Hm?" He looked up at the Cockpit, which opened, letting Lastimosa fall. "Shit!" He looked at BT, he was malfunctioning. "BT, status."
"Displays are not working. Movement systems are damaged, my legs are not moving."
"Shit… It must have been the EMP effect of Slone's Titan Nuclear Ejection. You're going to need fixing, BT." Regretfully, Lastimosa got up, coughing.
"We don't have time, Lastimosa. Enemy Northstar approaching." BT declared.
"What do we do?" Ironwood looked at Lastimosa.
"What are you going to do is go to your ship. I'm going to stay here and ensure the evacuation."
"No way. You and BT can still get out of this."
"No. Any minute this place is going to blow up." Lastimosa turned to BT. "BT, is there still a way to set up a manual self-destruct?"
"The manual systems are intact. Shall I deliver the SERE Kit?" BT asked, receiving a nod from Lastimosa. BT caught his eye, and removed it, handing it to Lastimosa.
"Goodbye, old friend." Lastimosa said as he watched Kit, then handed it to Ironwood. "Find him a good pilot."
"Lastimosa. Don't do this." Ironwood said.
"Your rank is lower than mine, James." Lastimosa replied with a smile as he entered the Cockpit. "You don't give me orders. I give you orders. And I have one last order. Go."
"I will not." Ironwood stood his ground.
"Stop being stubborn. You have a lot to lose James. Me? I don't have anything else." Lastimosa started to activate the self-destruction, but was alert after hearing heavy footsteps. "Get down!"
Ironwood heard the footsteps as well, following Lastimosa's order, he ducked, dodging a powerful shot. He hid behind BT.
"LASTIMOSA! IRONWOOD! The Marauder Corps is over! Die at once!" Slone screamed as she slung over the shoulder of a Northstar with the Apex Predators logo.
"This bitch is still alive?!" Emerald asked angrily.
"She's persistent, I must admit." Roman commented when he saw that Slone was alive. "Almost as persistent as a certain power-obsessed viper who discards her pawns like garbage." Roman directed a hateful glare at Cinder.
"Bringing you back was a mistake by those Creators, Torchwick. Plagues like you are better dead."
"Have you looked in the mirror today, dear?" Roman asked with venom at the end of his sentence.
"Leave it, Roman." Junior touched his old friend on the shoulder. "She isn't worth it."
"Are you going to tell me you don't want to see her get screwed too, Junior?"
"I'd like it as much as anyone here. But look on the bright side, we're free to use the simulation arena at will to take our anger out." Junior reminded Torchwick.
"Um…Fair enough." Roman took one last glare at Cinder. "Careful, Fall. Everyone here wants your head on a gold platter. The Creators are the only thing protecting you."
"James. Go. Now." Lastimosa ordered again. He turned on self-destruction. "Go. Glynda needs you." This line of Latimony seemed to have an effect on Ironwood, who closed his eyes in remorse.
A mutual thought briefly popped into the head of Ozma's inner circle, causing Ironwood and Glynda to blush while the others smirked. Ozma already shared a story for Oscar that the boy could take advantage of in the future.
However, that thought quickly vanished, being taken by worry for Lastimosa.
"Goodbye, Tai." Ironwood saluted.
"Goodbye, James." Sadly, he returned the salute. "And goodbye, BT."
Ironwood began to run toward the ship, catching the attention of the Northstar as it approached BT's carcass through the air. The Northstar fired at Ironwood, but the Pilot dodged using his Jump Kit, letting the shot hit the ground where he was standing and crack. The Northstar would advance towards Ironwood, but Lastimosa grabbed a Heavy Archer Rocket from inside the cabin and fired at the Titan, who dodged and looked back.
"Your Titan is in pieces, yet you still fight?" Slone smiled arrogantly. She got off the Northstar as the Titan headed towards Ironwood. Her smile faded when she saw BT's carcass emanate a yellow glow.
"Yeah. He is. I'm stubborn. But you're cocky. You know, an old phrase between Pilots popped into my head now. "One is quick, the other's tall. Together they will kill them all.". And looking at the current situation, you're already dead." Lastimosa smiled. While Slone tried to run away and talked incessantly for Northstar to turn around and get her. "See you on the other side. Boom."
Slone barely had time to process the explosion that engulfed her with Latimony. The Northstar advancing towards Ironwood's ship felt the EMP effect of the explosion, causing its systems to fail, but far from the explosion. Ironwood managed to climb onto the ship, which immediately took off and began moving out of the planet's atmosphere.
A series of emotions and thoughts took over the audience during all the events. The military Atlesians and the Creators again saluted when they saw Lastimosa and Ironwood say goodbye. While everyone else except Cinder and Tyrian paid silent respects to the Pilot.
When Slone came face to face with Lastimosa, many looked with distaste at her clear arrogant attitude. But those who noticed her look of shock smiled. Especially Adam, Roman, Mercury and Emerald.
Several pairs smiled when they heard the old phrase between Pilots. Ren and Nora, Blake and Yang, Velvet and Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi, Neo and Roman, Emerald and Mercury. A relation to the phrase was noticeable to them.
"I have to use that quip in the future." Yang, Jaune, Sun, Flynt, Mercury, Nora and Coco muttered to themselves as they memorized the quip Lastimosa used.
Some closed their eyes in sadness as they watched the explosion engulf Latimola, while others were mildly happy with Slone's death. But the moment was short, as they soon saw that Ironwood's ship was not moving away from the base, but rather, leaving the planet.
"Wait, Harmony isn't the base? What's going on?" Yang questioned as the Creators turned away from the glares they received.
"I'll go ahead, the following scene may be quite shocking." Shiro said to the Remnantians.
Inside the ship, Glynda had her hand on Ironwood's shoulder in comfort. Ironwood watched the SERE Kit with regret."I'm sorry for Lastimosa, James."
"We've lost Commander Briggs, Captain Lastimosa, Lieutenant Anderson… Who else are we going to lose until this is over?" Ironwood looked at Ozpin, who was in the spaceship cockpit. "Where are we going now?"
"Eden. Let's regroup with 6-4 and all the remaining forces of the Marauder Corps.The rest of the Militia…" Ozpin took a deep breath. A blank expression on his face. "Dead, captured, abandoned the fight or changed sides. This was the biggest blow we received from IMC."
"Do you think we still have a way to win?" Ironwood asked Ozpin.
"The odds are slim. We don't have the ways to make Titans and buy or produce weapons now. We've lost a lot of our strength."
The ship rattled in the range of an explosion, which caught the attention of the three. Ozpin put the ship on autopilot and looked out the window with the three of them. They widened their eyes in shock as they saw a blue beam hit Harmony, starting to create cracks across the planet's surface. Within seconds, the planet exploded, leaving fragments of the planet in space. Ironwood, Glynda and Ozpin could only watch in horror as it signaled an end.
The Creators paused the screen, letting the Remnantians process what they had just seen. Minutes passed, none of them expressing anything but horror and shock.
Salem and Ozma had seen something like this only once, when Remnant's moon was destroyed by the God of Darkness after he and his brother left Remnant. But that even went beyond the destruction of the moon. An entire planet was destroyed to pieces. They could barely imagine the people who couldn't escape, the dead animals, the destroyed flora. Salem couldn't help wondering as she saw this: Was this the result of the Brothers' return to a divided Remnant?
Ironwood, Glynda, Oobleck, Port and the STRQ team all had expressions of horror on their faces. Not even Raven could keep her face expressionless after seeing this. Summer felt tears run involuntarily down her face as she watched Harmony be destroyed. She had no connection to this universe, of course. But seeing all this destruction… It was hard to contain emotions.
She felt her team envelop her in a group hug, which eased some of her sadness. She smiled at her team in return for the hug.
"I do not know what to say." Oobleck couldn't stop looking at the screen, where it showed the alternatives Ironwood, Glynda, and Ozpin looking at Harmony. Oobleck was fascinated and horrified at the same time. The idea of something capable of destroying a planet was far beyond his common ideas, but seeing that it was possible in another universe excited him by the possibilities of other universes, even though he was equally horrified by Harmony's destruction.
"I hope nothing like this is possible in Remnant." Port said, receiving nods of agreement from all the Remnantians.
"The only thing in your Remnant that would be able to do that is the Brothers, luckily. Well, unfortunately actually. If the God of Darkness destroyed the moon out of anger, imagine what the two would do to Remnant." Red commented. "Amazing how the jackass destroyed the moon. That was so unnecessary."
"Gods being gods. Not surprising. Their pride is so easily wounded." Shiro commented with disdain.
"What exactly was this we saw?" Pietro asked, still in shock.
"That was the Fold Weapon of the IMC. A giant cannon powered by a battery from an ancient civilization on the planet Typhon."
"Why would they use such a thing?" Kali asked.
"There are many reasons. But the main one is control. Frontier control. Several solar systems are rich with resources that have become scarce in the central systems." Black explained in a somber tone.
"These bastards…" Adam growled in disgust.
"They are monsters." Ghira agreed with Adam.
"So much destruction…" Tyrian had a slight glint in his eyes as he saw Harmony being blown up. He did his best to avoid smiling or laughing at the chaos, as he refused to hurt his Queen feelings. Old habits die hard, but if that's her wish, so be it.
"Are you guys ready to continue?" Black asked the Remnantians, who nodded in acknowledgment.
"And to think that after that it all went downhill from there…" James looked at the SERE Kit from Lastimosa that he still kept even after years. "I never found a pilot for you, BT. Sorry."
To Ironwood's surprise, his cell phone started ringing. He answered it, being caught off guard by Tai's desperate voice.
"James, we have issues. Listen, I know you don't want to fight anymore, but-"
"No.Tai. No way."
"James, I'm serious!"
"The resistance can live without me."
"Not when Glynda and Gates have been captured and are scheduled to be executed tomorrow!"
Silence. That's all Tai heard on his side of the line. It lasted for a few minutes, making him think Ironwood had hung up.
"Tai. Is the Kid still there?" Tai looked to his side, where Cooper was sitting in one of the chairs at the counter.
"Yes, why?"
"Tell him to get ready. The IMC will probably go after me."
"…What are you going to do, James?"
"I'm living on a boat for obvious reasons, Tai. IMC will love finding out James Ironwood's location, but they won't find anything... Not even the soldiers they will send to the boat."
"You and I have never had this conversation if they come to this bar or to my house. Do you understand?"
"The last time I saw Taiyang Xiao Long was in Typhon seven years ago."
"Great. Good luck, James."
"Take care of Ruby and Yang, Tai." With that, Ironwood hung up.
"Hey, we exist there!" Ruby said with some slight happiness.
"Are you sisters still in this universe? Apparently, Tai still takes care of you." Qrow noticed.
"If we're half-sisters just like in our universe…" Yang glared at Raven.
"Yang. This is not the best time." Summer said, making Yang huff in irritation.
"Wait in front of the bar, Kid. He's coming." Tai received a nod from Cooper, who left the bar shortly thereafter to wait for Ironwood.
On the boat, Ironwood opened the SERE Kit, taking out the Smart MK6 Pistol and the Data Knife. He looked into BT's eye, then tucked it away in a small bag.
He went to the side of his bed, then opened a secret compartment on the wooden floor where his Pilot costume was stored. There were also a few rounds of ammo for the Smart Pistol, a suppressed Hammond P2016 with multiple rounds, three stimulants, an A-Wall disk, EMP grenades, C4 and… A Phase Shift device.
"I'd say I appreciate having a place to live during my time hiding from IMC… But this boat sucks. I won't miss you." He took the various C4's and began planting around the boat, hiding in closets, floors and under the bed.
Ironwood finished planting the C4s, then approached the door to leave. He glanced briefly at his helmet, resolution in his gaze. "Ugh. It's for Gates and Glynda, James. Gates and Glynda. You owe it to them." He put on his helmet. "And if I see Oz, I swear I'm going to punch that bastard in the face."
He got off the boat and used his grapple hook to climb a building. An IMC drone ran over him, but he activated the Cloak just in time. He looked around, seeing if had more drones in the area, then jumped on top of the drone, using his Data Knife to reprogram the drone.
"Wait, did that knife reprogramed the drone?" Penny asked, thanking Oum that she wasn't a robot anymore.
"Yes. That's a Data Knife. Every Pilot has one.They are able to decrypt, reprogram, control and disable anything with an input for a Data Knife. Lots of things have an input for a Data Knife." Shiro said.
"Why?! That only makes technology more accessible to enemies!" Winter criticized, seeing no point in so many technologies having inputs for a Data Knife.
"It's a double-edged sword, but it's necessary. If an enemy happens to hack a device, they can recover the device with the Data Knife. that hardly stays with one side for long. Like a No Man's Land in a battle with trenches. It's an old tactic that still remains functional even after centuries."
"Give an alert to the IMC. James Ironwood was last seen in the harbor, boarding an old wooden boat." The drone's eyes flashed, indicating that the alert had been sent. Drops of water began to fall from the sky. "Good. Now, record this message."
…
Three squads of IMC soldiers entered the harbor area carefully, looking at roofs, alleys and water. None of them even noticed a figure passing quickly behind them. He climbed onto the roofs, watching the soldiers carefully. He held a knife upside down in his hands.
"Charlie, look north. Echo, check west." The soldier who apparently led the mission ordered two of the squadrons. The figure watching them smiled under his helmet at the sight. "Central, this is Foxtrot Zero, the harbor looks clean, over."
"Foxtrot Zero, this is Central. Look for an old wooden boat, over."
"Well, all the boats here are old. But they're rusting, not rotting." One of the soldiers made a joke.
"Like your brain, Collins." Another soldier scoffed.
"Go to hell, Myers." Collins replied.
"If I go, you come with me."
"Silence, both of you." The captain ordered Collins and Myers, who shut up immediately. The captain saw a wooden boat near the bottom, isolated in the middle of several metal boats dotted around the harbor. "Central, we found the boat. How should we proceed? Over."
"Ironwood has been off our radar for years and all of a sudden he shows up in Angel City, be very careful. Who knows what the bastard plans. Over."
"Copy that, Central. Let's go in now. Stay on the line. Over." He decided to warn the other squads of the situation. "Charlie, Echo, we found the boat. Stay in your positions and keep an eye out for any hostile activity. Who knows where the bastard is."
The Foxtrot squad approached the boat, Myers opened the door, stepping in carefully with the others. Unfortunately, none of them noticed Collins being pulled away by the figure hidden in the darkness. Thunder and heavy rain drowned out the soldier's screams.
"Yeah. He's gone. Bye." Emerald waved at Collins with a smile.
"This is looking like a horror movie. Is this really a more military universe?" Oscar questioned the hosts.
"Remind me to introduce you guys to the Jaëger Corps. They are a horror movie." Shiro replied nonchalantly.
North of the harbor, the Charlie squadron split between the boats, looking from corner to corner. The figure was just below the metal platform on the dock. Watching the squad through the small holes in the platform. One of the squadron's soldiers looked at the water, but was surprised to be pulled over by the figure, who drowned him to death.
"Hey Harper. Got something?" One of the soldiers turned back but couldn't find Harper. He approached the water, seeing bubbles, then Harper emerged, dead. "WHAT THE FUCK! HARPER IS DEAD!" The soldier yelled to the others, who were alarmed and looked at him, only to see him get pulled into the water by a grapple hook.
Before one of them could react, the figure came out of the water and shot two of them in the head, leaving three of the Charlie squadron alive. They pulled out their guns to fire, but he activated an A-Wall, then finished off all three with a Smart Pistol shot. With the Charlie squad dead, he disappeared again.
The Echo squad was surrounded by more buildings, almost coming out of the docks. They looked at alleys, windows, and doors. It looked empty. It looked like this at least. A EMP grenade landed beside them, turning off the lights.
One was thrown to the ground and stabbed in the face, another had his pistol stolen and killed with it, another was thrown into the air, then pulled back to the ground with the grapple hook, dying from the powerful impact.
The lights turned on again, the four looked in shock at the three dead. "What the hell was that?!" one of the soldiers asked, looking frantically around.
"This is James Ironwood, Carter. This bastard is an IMC nightmare." Another had an angry expression, clearly he wanted Ironwood's head on a gold platter.
"I don't give a damn if it's Ironwood or the fucking Predator, Crane. I want him dead." One of the soldiers said.
"Me too, Johnson. So… Show yourself, bastard!" Crane challenged in fury.
"As you wish." A voice declared. In the blink of an eye, Johnson had a knife to his forehead, while Carter had a bullet hole through his head. Crane looked at the two in despair, then looked straight ahead and closed his eyes in cowardice at the sight of the figure about to kick him. To his surprise, the impact didn't come, but when he opened his eyes, a bullet went through his head.
"I think this is terrifying and amazing at the same time." Marrow commented as he watched the action.
"I admit, this is further increasing my interest in Pilots. They are amazing." Elm smiled.
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg!" Black declared with a smile. "Pilots are The Elite. They are the difference between victory and defeat on the battlefield."
"Tell me, which one of you would like to try a Pilot simulation?" Shiro offered with a smile. He wasn't surprised to see many raising their hands. The Ace-Ops, Tyrian, Blake, Ren, Yatsuhashi, Sienna. A Pilot's experience was something unique. Few things were comparable. Being a Spartan would be the closest thing to it, despite the big difference between the two.
The figure took his knife from Johnson's forehead, then looked back to where the last soldier of the Echo squad was pointing his gun at him. The soldier trembled incessantly, making the figure shake its head in pity. The figure pulled its helmet away, revealing Ironwood. He approached the soldier, then lowered the rifle from his hand carefully.
"What's your name, kid?" Ironwood removed the boy's helmet, revealing a dark-skinned face, pale blue eyes, and messy black-greenish hair.
"Ma-Marrow." He replied, still shaking."Go home, Marrow. I can recognize the face of someone who isn't fighting for what he really believes."
"I don't have a home, sir." Marrow responded with sadness. "Not since Eden's fall."
Ironwood looked at the boy doubtfully. He knew where the resistance base was, but should he take the boy there?
"Sir?" Marrow looked at Ironwood.
"I have to find someone, but…" Ironwood handed over a map he tucked into his bag. "See this circle? Outside the city? That's where the resistance hides. They'll welcome you there. Just say I sent you."
"Thank you sir." Marrow smiled. Starting to walk away.
"See? You can be good, James. Even in tough times." Glynda looked at him with a smile.
"It seems so." Ironwood smiled as he watched his alternate self comfort the other Marrow and help him.
"This is so different from what happened in Atlas…" Marrow muttered as he remembered Ironwood almost shooting him. No, he shouldn't think about it anymore. That Ironwood is gone. He shouldn't be thinking about it. But still, the doubt still existed in his head. He hoped none of this would happen again, as he would hate it if the man he admired fell into darkness again.
"It won't happen again, Marrow." Clover comforted his colleague. "We'll make sure of it. All of us." Clover said, looking at the other Ace-Ops, who smiled back and placed a hand on their colleague's shoulder.
"Thank you, guys." Marrow said, relieved.
"Good luck, kid." Ironwood nodded to Marrow. "Now…" He took the communicator from Marrow's helmet and implanted it on his helmet. "Let's see what's going on."
With the Foxtrot squad, they got into the boat, looking into the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom. There was nobody. "Central, he's not here. Over."
"Foxtrot Zero, the drone that found Ironwood has moved out of his patrol position and is heading to you. Wait, we can't contact Charlie Squad and Echo Squad."
"What do you mean, Central? What happened to them?" The captain asked with a slight nervousness in his voice.
"Hey. One of us is missing." One of the soldiers noticed.
"Collins?" Myers questioned. He looked around. "Shit! Collins is missing!"
"Central, Ironwood is here! I repeat, Ironwood is here! Call for backup!" The captain acted quickly upon noticing Collins' disappearance. To the group's surprise, the drone entered the boat, beginning to transmit a voice message.
"IMC. Over the years, you've taken a lot of things away from me. My house, my friends, my family. It made me believe I'd already lost everything. But today I realized. I still have things to lose."
Central was listening to the message, which caught the attention of a high-ranking IMC member present at the base. He listened to the message with disdain.
"I won't let you take more from me. Not anymore. Because you can be sure, you won't want to take more from me. Someone who has things to lose, fights to the death. Someone who has nothing to lose, can't be stopped by death. And you don't want to pick up a fight with someone who got nothing left to lose."
Before anyone could act, the boat exploded, engulfing everyone in flames. Central was in shock, but the high-ranking member of IMC quickly acted.
"I want Stalkers all over the Docks District. Send support drones. And get the Ticks ready."
"Sir, Ticks can cause civil casualties."
"What matters is capturing James Ironwood. Do it." The man said, revealing his face. The man had white hair and a white mustache, blue eyes and pale skin.
"Yes, Mr. Schnee."
A collective facepalm was made by all Remnantians. Why weren't they surprised by Jacques' involvement? Oh, yeah. He was the most greedy man in Remnant.
"Not only is he an idiot again there, it seems his indifference to innocent casualties is far more explicit." Willow commented with disgust. What had she seen in him? Sometimes she felt like going back in time just to keep herself from falling in love with a greedy, manipulative, murderous bastard.
"Well, the IMC doesn't exactly hide their indifference to what happens to the Frontier population. Greedy corporations being greedy corporations, nothing new in that." Black said.
The Schnees felt an overwhelming urge to hide in a hole now. Anything involving Jacques resulted in disgust and shame on their part. Not that anyone could judge them for that, if any of them were related to the man, they would want the same.
Ironwood was near Tai's bar, he went down to the side alley, then took off his helmet. He crept closer to Cooper, then pulled him into the alley, startling him.
"What the hell-" Cooper was interrupted by Ironwood, who covered his mouth.
"Let's go. Stalkers will cover the entire District in a little while and they've got Ticks in standby."
"We have to go through the sewers then." Cooper looked into a nearby manhole.
"Shit." It was Ironwood's only response.
"Literally. Ugh, how gross." Nora flinched just thinking about the smell.
"Look on the bright side, you aren't Faunus in this universe. It would be worse." Marrow said, making the other Faunus shiver and mutter a single sentence at the same time:
"I hate sewers."
"Then you guys are going to hate flashbangs even more." Shiro whispered.
…"I hoped you would have gotten used to the smell." Cooper scoffed.
"Funny guy." Ironwood rolled his eyes, he heard the Stalkers prowling the streets above. "I'll tell you something, missions where we go through sewers don't help you get used to it. You never get used to the smell of sewers. Anyone who says that probably has a bad sense of smell. You learn to breathe with your mouth, simple as that, but this doesn't change the smell. it's going to be as bad as ever. The smell will never be tolerable."
"Well, it's not like Angel City's sanitary quality is good in the lower districts." Cooper added. "What made you change your mind so quickly?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"The resistance. Why did you decide to help?"
"I only owe Glynda and Gates a favor."
"What about Ozpin?"
"The bastard can go to hell. I'm not doing this for him." Ironwood responded in an aggressive tone, surprising Cooper.
Ozma's inner circle was uncomfortable with this. Raven, on the other hand, had an smug smile.
"No matter the universe, old Oz is never as good as he's said to be. He's no better than Salem." Raven's speech angered many. Tyrian for indirectly speaking ill of his Queen, Yang for the smugness of thinking she was right and especially Qrow for her lie.
"You know, I'd rather not be the one to say this. But Tai and Summer will probably try to prevent anyone from getting to that point, so I'll advance that." Shiro caught everyone's attention. "You're no better than Ozma, Raven. And not even better than Salem. You act arrogant, so sure that you're right, but you hid and ran. Ozma might not have had a plan to fight Salem, but he was trying to fight back. You say fighting the war between them only leads to death, staying away from a confrontation between Salem and Ozma is a guarantee of survival. Who died when you weren't involved? Oh, yeah. Summer. Who wasn't really involved and died anyway? Vernal. And you got Vernal involved in this. You got involved in this. You became a Maiden for what if you wouldn't fight this war? To defend yourself against Salem? How stupid. You feel so desperately that you're right, yet you still fail nonetheless. Tell me, do you still believe you're right?"
A silence filled the theater. Raven had an angry expression directed at Shiro, but she turned her face away, hufging. Yang was surprised by what Shiro said. Some of those things she had told to Raven in Haven, but others Shiro had said she hadn't had the courage to say or even thought of it.
"Wasn't that a bit cruel?" Red asked Shiro.
"Am I wrong?" Shiro asked back.
"Well, no. But you could have been more… gentle."
"Sometimes a bitter truth is better than a sweet lie. And she tells so much that she hates lies and half-truths, so I only told one truth in return."
"Oookay…" Black glanced at the Remnantians, getting a sweatdrop at the tense atmosphere. "Better keep going."
"What happened between you and Ozpin?"
"Typhon happened. I lost too much by sabotaging the Fold Weapon."
"But wasn't that a great victory for the resistance? A big part of the Frontier stays out of the clutches of the IMC as long as the Fold Weapon isn't working."
"First of all, Kid. Like you said, it's not functional. But if IMC turns it on again, and believe me, the IMC will turn it on, the resistance goes back to square one. Second, do you have any idea how many died just to sabotage the Fold Weapon?"
"I know how many died. But that happens in wars. It's not good, obviously. But there's no way to stop it."
"You think I don't know that either?! The problem is when there was a way to save these people and still win, but an idiot in charge sacrifices these people for a few minutes of advantage!"
Ozma was uncomfortable with this. Has he done something like that in this universe? What did his alternate self had in mind to do this?
"Before Raven tries to comment, Ozma is already dead in this universe. And he doesn't reincarnate. Don't take it for granted that Ozma is responsible. In this universe, it's Ozpin."
"Ozpin?" Ruby muttered. "What was Ozpin like? Without Ozma's influence?"
Many others had the same question in mind.
"What does that mean?" Cooper stopped, looking confused at Ironwood.
"Ask your leader." Ironwood kept walking. Cooper was still for a few seconds, but he was back at speed.
The two continued in silence. Cooper still had questions, but Ironwood would likely refuse to answer. They came to a sudden halt as street light burst through the grates above.
Stalkers passed through the streets, patrolling the area in search of Ironwood. Their blackened metal shells and expressionless faces caused tension among the civilians who watched from their home windows. A drone passed near the grates, looking down, almost finding Cooper and Ironwood.
The pair had their backs to the wall, Ironwood even made a point of activating his Cloak. They breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the drone pass. Continuing on their way, they didn't notice a Stalker looking under the grates, finding them.
Up ahead, the two walked calmly to the base of the resistance. Ironwood decided to check IMC communications, pausing in shock at what he heard.
"What happened?" Cooper questioned the Pilot."They know we're here." Ironwood handed Cooper a stimulant. "We're going to have to run."
"How the hell do they know?" Cooper asked in shock. Much to their surprise. The wall behind him was broken, from which several Stalkers emerged.
"RUN, KID!" Ironwood yelled, injecting his stimulant into his chest. He started running at high speed, followed by Cooper, who also injected the stimulant.
Surprisingly, the Stalkers could keep up with the pair. They runned through the labyrinth that was the sewers of the Docks District. Ironwood was knocked to the ground by a Stalker, the two fighting on the ground with the Stalker trying to suffocate Ironwood.
Ironwood looked desperate as he saw more Stalkers approaching, but upon seeing the Stalker's Data Knife input, he smiled, driving the Knife into the input and reprogramming the squad of Stalkers to fight for him.
Getting to his feet, he ran again, finding Cooper holding a door open for him. Ironwood passed, then Cooper closed the door, locking it by turning the door valve.
"Let's go. We can lose them in the forest that hides the bunker." Cooper said.The two came out of the underground, coming face to face with a dense forest. Without thinking twice, they went into the forest to foil the IMC.
...
In the higher districts of Angel City, Jacques Schnee observed the statue of Monty Oum. The first human to set foot on the Frontier. As a tribute, the planet where Angel City was founded was named Oum. A statue was made in his honor, Monty Oum was a historical figure for humanity at the Frontier. A symbol of the future, what humanity could achieve.
"I will not let these animals take the Frontier."
"And with that, we're done with this universe for now. We'll come back to it in the future. What did you guys think?" Shiro stood up, asking the audience.
"I think this was one of the ones that interested me the most so far." Marrow commented. "You had said that these universes could teach us. Paying attention to what I've seen so far, I got some messages. In the first one with the Ciphers and Gleeful, I realized it spoke indirectly of regrets and difficult decisions." He looked at Ironwood and Oscar. "With Adam in the second, it was about accepting your guilt and not blaming others for your actions and choices. A bit ironic, honestly." He looked at the villains this time. "In this one, it talks about keeping the faith even when you seem to have nothing to fight for." He looked at RWBY and JNPR with a smile. "This is one of the lessons we need most right now."
"Hey, someone here is a good observer." Clover patted Marrow friendly on the back.
"Well, people say dogs are good judges." Black looked at Marrow. "No offense."
"No offense. I admit that some Fauns have more animal resemblances than they admit." Marrow smiled.
"I can confirm." Blake held up a hand.
"I admit, the technologies of this universe interested me a lot. Humanity has managed to get this far even without Dust. It's amazing." Watts commented.
"You would be surprised how many universes can advance technologically without Dust." Black said. "Dust isn't exactly revolutionary in the multiverse."
"I wonder how advantageous it would be if we had Pilots in Remnant. I doubt Grimms would be a problem." Hazel raised the question.
"My guess? If Pilots were implemented in Remnant military programs together with the Titans and the weapons of that universe, you would have a big advantage against several Grimms. An organized team of Titans should be able to kill a Leviathan without any problems." Shiro declared.
"Oh… That makes me excited for the Pilot simulation." Emerald said.
"How many variations of Titans are there?" Ruby asked with stars in her eyes.
You saw an Ion, the one from Slone. A Vanguard, BT. And a Northstar, the one from the unidentified Apex Predator Pilot. Besides them, there's also the Ronin, the Scorch, the Legion, the Tone and the Monarch, an IMC version of a Vanguard Titan. And some other new ones you'll see later." Black explained.
"So, ready for the next universe?" Red asked.
"Yes." Red got his answer from everyone.
"Great. Get ready for an android revolution."
A/N: Yo! Shiro here. I know. It took me a while to post this chapter, but calm down, I can explain. But before, how about talking a little about this chapter?
First of all, I loved writing this one. Titanfall is my favorite FPS, and with the tough time the Titanfall community is going through at the moment with the recent DDOS attacks and the P0358 conspiracy, a little bit of good stuff from Titanfall is something I am very happy about personally.
I know the reactions might have been a little bad and some characters might not have said anything, but it's difficult with a lot of characters. But I don't regret bringing a lot of characters! Some may be a bit off, but I'll still give them their highlights.
And I hope you guys enjoyed my tribute to Monty at the end. The planet where Angel City is located has never been named as far as I know and researched, so I decided to do it as a tribute.
And about the next universe… Most of you guys probably haven't figured out which one is next, so I'll give you another tip. Connor, Markus and Kara.
Well, now it's time for explanations. For starters, I'm lazy. I know, it's not an excuse. But it's a problem I have, but I try as hard as possible to win against laziness and write to you guys.
Second, translations. Most of you may not have read my bio on my profile, so let me explain. I'm from Brazil, English is not my first language. I have to translate the chapters before posting here.
Why do I, a Brazilian, post fanfics on a site with a lot more fanfics in English? Because of the smaller reach of my fanfics on the site I use. The Brazilian site where I post fanfics is extremely disadvantageous for writers like me. On the site I write, the two main categories are Naruto and K-Pop. I don't like K-Pop and I got bored of Naruto and all the problems in the anime.
Categories I like, like Assassin's Creed, RWBY, Borderlands, Titanfall, InFamous, Watch Dogs, Rainbow Six, ATLA and LOK, DC, Marvel and others are very unpopular. It's hard to have readers in these categories, which is why other writers like me prefer to migrate to sites like Fanfiction and Ao3. Here there is a wider reach of readers and more fanfics to read, different from the site I usually write.
However, my English I would say is 7/10, so I translate with Google Translator and then I check translation errors, which takes a long time. And I prefer to accumulate a good amount of chapters to translate in sequence and post here for you guys to read. No, I don't have other chapters ready (except a new fanfic that will also appear here, but I want to accumulate other fanfics and chapters to post this one), but tomorrow I'll start writing more stuff. Tomorrow, I'm going to start writing the second chapter of A Cipher History, which like all the other fanfics presented here, I'll post separately in the future.
And following that, I decided to present only ten universes here. With this chapter there were three, one I have already posted separately (look at my profile), another I have posted on the Brazilian site and I will translate in the future and the other five I am still deciding what they will be. But I'm not going to abandon the other stories I said I had planned, I'm just going to leave them on hiatus.
And as soon as I present the ten universes in this react fic, it's going to go on hiatus and I'm going to spend some time writing those universes until I have enough chapters for the Remnantians to watch here.
By the way, I now have a Twitter account in case any of you want to follow my fanfic progress. I post some news about the fanfics that I'm writing sometimes and some teasers for future fanfics. It's @HigetsuShiro with a profile picture of Hanako Ikezawa from Katawa Shoujo.
Well, I think that was everything that I had to say. See you guys next time. Sayonara!