A/N: Okay so I guess I couldn't help myself, I had to do this, for those who are still following my story "Tale of Ignis Rose" don't worry, I still fully plan on continuing that story, but I had to get at least a chapter done with this idea that has been festering in my head for weeks. This is the first of multiple universes I plan on the characters of RWBY to react to, the characters in this universe have been RWBY-ified as to add further drama for the characters watching it. Not sure how I want to rate this story so staying with T to be safe, Naruto is a shonen but that doesn't necessarily mean everything in it is exactly child friendly, in fact there are quite a few moments in this show that are not, though it's pretty tame in comparison to some other anime/manga.
This is going to be a long prologue so I hope you guys don't skip it, it gives the background of why everything is happening, and also the heroes in RWBY have just gone through a devastating defeat in Atlas and Mantle, so naturally I want to give them time to process and such.
RWBY Multiversal Madness - Naruto
RWBY Reactors:
Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao-Long, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Qrow Branwen, Raven Branwen, Summer Rose, Jaune Arc, Pyrhha Nikos, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Ozma, Salem, Oscar Pine, Glynda Goodwitch, Professor Oobleck, James Ironwood, The Schnee family, Blake Belladonna, Ghira Belladonna, Kali Belladonna, Sun Wukong, Neptune Vasilias, Adam Taurus, Coco Adel, Velvet Scarletina, Cardin Winchester, Emerald and Mercury, Roman and Neo, and finally Cinder Fall.
Everyone knows about the theory behind the multiverse, a theory in which there are a near infinite amount of alternate universes and possibilities, where in one universe a person may be a psychopathic serial killer, in another that same person may be a saint among mankind, revered centuries after his/her death.
Well that hypothetical theory? It's true, all of it. In fact, there is an order of scribes, simply known as The Order, whose task it is to maintain and secure their specifically assigned universes, sometimes these gatekeepers, as they're called, will share their universes with other gatekeepers, or will collaborate together at the order of the First Scribe, the leader of their order, in case there are any anomalies or dangers to the balance of said universe.
The Order serves at the pleasure of the god of time and space, Gegenwart, who is the true master and lord of the multiverse, much to the envy of the individual gods of each individual universe. Sometimes when a universe is particularly troubled, he'll order The Order to take notable individuals from said worlds and educate them in order to better their world and the people in it.
This is done by showing the people of a struggling world, and the people close to them, the triumphs and tribulations of other worlds, with alternate versions of said people in these worlds, it is meant to empower them and to teach them alternatives to help alter their present course.
This order is rarely given, Gegenwart as lord of the multiverse cares deeply for every single world in it, but he's also a firm believer in the hands-off approach, believing that the inhabitants of said world generally can overcome almost anything by themselves, but the world of Remnant in particular has especially concerned their lord on more than one occasion, for one it was already almost destroyed before, by two upstart gods who were overzealous in their punishment.
Gegenwart is well aware of the tendency of relatively youthful gods to make headstrong and foolhardy decisions without taking into account the long term, and is usually content with letting them make these mistakes so that they could better learn.
When they attempted to wipe out every single human life in their universe because of the actions of a freshly widowed and grieving woman however, that is when he had to draw the line in the sand and rescue a viable enough population for them to inhabit the remainder of their once beautiful and full of life world.
He did this by saving all of the newborn babies that had been born around the time of the destruction, he had servants take care of their every need in a vast and beautiful pocket dimension, and then when they all reached sixteen years of age, they were put back on Remnant.
Gegenwart wanted his presence in their universe to remain a secret however, and had their minds wiped when they passed on into their home universe. It was an incremental process, he wanted to give the illusion that a new version of humanity was slowly but surely reviving the species, so as not to make the Brothers suspicious that another force was at work.
When the children he saved inhabited Remnant again, their connection to magic that had been inherent in this version of humanity was no longer there, Gegenwart had many theories on this, the most prominent one being that as magic develops the older you grow, and these children never got the chance to grow up in their home universe where magic was strong, it had effectively altered their body chemistry, the part that gave them their magical abilities had mutated in the form of auras and semblances.
As Lord and Master of all time and space, this was a rather elementary and simple move on his part, but it saved their universe and race of people, the Brothers were foolish enough to believe humanity started to spring about again despite their attempts to wipe them out.
The God of Light and Darkness are young enough to not know of Gegenwart's existence, unlike the older more ancient gods who are very aware of him, and are envious, but respectful of him.
Now their world faces destruction again, at the hands of a monster that is the product of the original destruction wrought by the two overzealous gods, Gegenwart has decided that enough was enough, it's not every day he personally intervened in a dying world, but this was an exception to the rule.
5 men and 5 women sat at what appeared to be a business conference table at the head of the table was another, he appeared to be an old wizened wizard to the untrained eye, but the men and women in that room knew the truth, he was Gegenwart, their lord and master, god of all space and time, and he requested the presence of the top disciples of his order to discuss the fate of the world of Remnant.
"I would like to thank you all for coming on such short notice, as you know, the fate of Remnant hangs in the balance, this has been a troublesome world to say the least, and not just for what has taken place there, but also because of another matter within our own ranks, I have decided that enough is enough. We shall personally intervene in this world and set it on the right path."
There were grumbles of surprise and curiosity, which is what he expected since this doesn't happen often.
To his right a hand raised up, and he nodded to this person, the room was dark with few light sources, but just enough to see this person's body, just barely, it was feminine in shape and the voice was quite feminine as well "My lord, we of course trust that you know what you are doing, but may we ask what universe you will have them be watching first? The first selection is critical and can set the stage for the rest of the experience."
Gegenwart closes his eyes for a moment, preparing for the outburst that was bound to happen when he mentioned the world he had in mind as it was related to that "other" matter he mentioned, he then opens them and resolutely looks at all of them, "They will be experiencing the World of the Shinobi first, more specifically, the story of the two brothers."
Gasps could be heard all around the room, a bulky figure at the end of the table was shaking in what appeared to be rage, they slam their fists on the table and stand abruptly, "What sort of tomfoolery is this?! This- this is unprecedented! Bad enough that one our own stole those two from their rightful universe and their family! But now we'll ask that same family to watch those two grow up in such a dark and depressing world, all the while being powerless to stop it?!"
The woman to his right gets up and slams the table herself, furiously looking at the man at the end of the table, "Who the hell do you think you're talking to like that?! Master Gegenwart is blameless in the crimes of that foul rogue!"
"Yeah! And now he wants them to view the fruits of labor of that foul rogue! Granted, they were fortunate enough that they were able to defy fate in the end, but fate is not set in stone! Not even for a god! Many things could have happened and still could happen! If the worst should come to pass, WE ALL take the blame and responsibility, including Master Gegenwart!"
The woman to his right snarls, "Why you!-" Gegenwart raises his hand to silence her, she notices almost immediately and sits back down, he nods appreciatively, "Thank you, Celeste" Celeste nods and waits for his response.
"Now, Marick, there are a few things I would like to clarify. Firstly, I don't plan on just having that family watch this, a whole host of people I've deemed important to watch these universes will be there. Secondly, part of the reason that family will be there for this universe is my way of giving them an olive branch, they were robbed of two family members that they never got the chance to see grow up and form bonds with, but they will get to experience their experiences, triumphs, tribulations, heartwarming, and even sad moments, they'll be given a gift that they don't even know they need, and to make it worse, it was all done by the previous First Scribe, a man that I personally trained and regarded as a precious student, you don't need to remind me of my responsibility as a teacher."
Marick grimaced at that, knowing he had let his emotions get the better of him, but he couldn't help it, this was a universe he personally oversees after all, and he knew better than anyone what happened there, he also blames himself for not noticing something was off right away and interfering before it became too late, two sets of parents were pregnant, though that previous Scribe was diligent enough to make the pregnancies a bit apart just on the off chance that someone in their Order found something amiss, to top it all off, in order to make their assimilation in that world more smoother, he made sure each child ended up with one parent for each of the two sets that was the multiversal counterpart to their original parents.
The one who took more after his mother ended up with that world's version of his mother and another father, the one who took more after his father ended up with that world's version of their father and another mother, then that universes' god as part of the deal attached the two legendary chakras to the two brothers, they were also made genetically similar enough to their other parents that they were able to manifest their own chakra on top of the legendary chakras they both received.
The previous Scribe knew what he was doing, cross-universal tampering is seen as a severe crime by their order, not only is it immoral as you are effectively stealing another person who belongs to one universe and putting them in another, but it also disrupts the natural order, and can very easily tear the very fabric of reality and cause great destruction and mayhem, to minimize the chances of this happening, he made sure not to wait until they were out of the womb, and took them when they were still in very early development, then using powers only possible due to him being Gegenwart's apprentice transferred them to two different sets of parents, the one who took after their mother in looks was put into the universe first, then the one who took after the father was second.
By doing it this way, he had decreased the risk of damaging the fabric of reality, for one, they had not been born yet in their home universe, so it was a sort of loophole that made the potential for less damage to the multiverse, secondly, he was also smart enough to not just put them with any person in that universe, but rather with one multiverse counterpart parent for each kid, it made their compatibility with the universe stronger, and then to strengthen their presence even further, the god of that universe also genetically linked them to the new sets of parents they were given to, even still with these precautions there was a decent chance of something wrong happening and he also robbed a family of their family members, what the last Scribe did was unforgivable.
Marick is convinced the reason the old man hasn't picked another First Scribe since that incident and has taken a more direct role in operations is because of what happened, and he couldn't blame him, he regarded the last Scribe as a son.
All of a sudden Lord Gegenwart had a smile on his face, which alarmed Marick, and then he looked at Marick intently, "Thirdly, that conviction and integrity is why you will be the perfect first host for these people, that along with being the gatekeeper of this world makes you the ideal candidate."
Marick was overwhelmed, of course logically he knew it made sense given his connection to this world, but did their master really mean what he said about those other things? Being complimented so heavily by a god was not something he took lightly.
After a few minutes he bowed his head in acceptance, "I will do my utmost best to represent the organization and you, Lord Gegenwart."
Gegenwart's smile grew wider, "Of that, I have no doubt."
Yang was falling to her to death, she was sure of it, Blake had thrown her Gambol Shroud, and the one time she absolutely needed to catch it, it fell out of her reach, Ambrosius said not to fall, and they failed to heed his warning.
As the darkness enveloped her she couldn't help but think of Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Ren, Nora, Jaune, her father, and mothers, one who was by birth, and the other who earned the title. If she had the time she would cry and grieve for the family she was leaving behind, but she did not, and soon darkness reached her.
Until it didn't.
Yang looked confused, if she had to guess, she would say she was in the grand hall of a Mistralian palace, it was straight out of a page of a fairy tale, she should know, she's read plenty of them to Ruby as a small child.
There were rows of seats with comfortable velvet cushioning, soon she wasn't the only one in the grand hall, and she heard a voice yelling "YANG!"
She turns around and sees Ruby, tears enter both of their eyes, and they run towards one another to hug each other.
"I-I thought you were dead Yang! I didn't know what to think! I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I-"
Yang shushes her and holds her close, Ruby looks down in sadness, "Yang, I fell too, so did Blake"
Yang pulls away and looks at Ruby in horror, "You fell too? Wha-... Where's Blake?"
"RUBY! YANG!" Two very distinct voices that they would know from anywhere came from a hallway to the left of them, they both were running towards them with tears in their eyes, all four of them ran to each other to unite in a great group hug, crying, laughing, and smiling at one another.
They had been working so hard this whole time, that they never really had a chance to sit back and take stock of everything that has happened to them so far, this was a well earned reprieve.
In another arm of the palace, a certain blonde haired hero was still in shock after what he just did, so much so that he didn't even care when he fell, and he certainly wasn't processing the surroundings around him.
Penny... dead, at his hands, what the hell was wrong with him? This poor girl finally had a chance to live the life of a human, after years of serving as what was essentially an indentured servant because of her mechanical parts.
She had a chance to be happy, to love, to laugh, to cry, to experience victory, to experience defeat, to taste and to drink, to maybe even have a family one day, all of this she deserved, no, what she was entitled to after everything she did for so many people, the gift of life.
He was starting to see Penny as a little sister. He was disgusted with himself, disgusted at Salem and Cinder for even creating a scenario where his friends even had to fight in a war, disgusted with his semblance for not healing Penny fast enough.
He should have ignored her request, he should have stayed there and healed her, relics and civilians be damned, she could have hated him for the rest of his life, better her to be angry at him than for her to be dead and feel nothing at all, what did he care for Atlesians or Mantleans when compared to Penny's life?
Half of them up until recently would have disregarded Penny as state property, and the other half would have treated her as some sort of abomination, they could have all hanged as far as he was concerned, none of them deserved this girl.
Even before his and Ruby's team showed up, she spent months cleaning out Grimm infestations and incursions, she was the best thing that ever happened to these people and they were too stupid to know it, would she even be memorialized? Would they even give her the hero's send off that she was rightfully entitled to? He doubt it.
Yet the little voice in the back of his mind he wanted to crush right about now reminds him that leaving the people of Atlas and Mantle to their fate would have been selfish and wrong, and further it would dishonor Penny and her sacrifice.
That yes, maybe there were a lot of people that disregarded or absolutely loathed Penny, but surely not everyone, perhaps there was a little girl or boy who witnessed the pretty robot girl save their family from a Grimm horde, or maybe an elderly man or woman who was about to be devoured by a beowolf before Penny blasted it away, and even the prejudiced people were still people, they didn't deserve to die.
He hates himself for having morals.
Tears were running down his face, that's another friend he couldn't save, first Pyrhha and now Penny, both instances he was completely helpless to do anything to actually help them.
He thought he grew in strength and skill since Beacon, but he learned squat. Is he just a magnet for death? Is this the fate he's cursed to? Forced to witness the death of everyone he loves and cares about until finally he's alone?
He still sees and smells the blood that streamed from her body after he did the deed, and the reminder makes him almost empty the contents of his stomach.
He was so caught up in his grief and trauma that he didn't notice when a certain red haired girl appeared behind him, said girl had the gear and weaponry of a fighting champion, and looked around until she saw a boy she knew quite well, "Jaune! I thought I was the only one here. How in the name of the gods did we get here? I've never seen a place like this before."
That voice... no.. no no no... it couldn't be, he turned around and sure enough it was her, she had a hand on her hip with that ever present look of nobility mixed with compassion, it was another hallucination he was having, another sick trick his mind was playing on him.
He closed his eyes real hard, counting down from ten and then he would open them, when he did surely she would disappear, as she did a hundred times before, and he could just chalk it up to another memory that'll never go away.
He opened his eyes, fully expecting her to be gone, when not only did that not happen, but instead she now looked at him in a bemused way, he could feel his pulse go up, he was panicking, his mind was fully broken now.
Killing Penny was what broke the camel's back, this ghost will be here forever to haunt him now, he wouldn't be surprised if Penny soon joined in on the 'let's break Jaune's mind' game.
"Jaune... what... have you been crying?" Her voice was very concerned, he had to admit, this was a quality illusion his mind made up, it even got the inflection in her voice down pat.
"It was Cardin again wasn't it? I've had just about enough of that thug, what gives him the right to behave like that? Nora is always talking about breaking his legs, but I tell you, more than once it's been extremely tempting to follow through." Her voice became righteous and filled with anger.
It was all too much, he had just mercy killed a friend, and now his other dead friend, who likely could have been more if he wasn't such an idiot, is coming through as an illusion, giving him nostalgia for simpler and frankly better times.
He wish he could just deal with Cardin again, how his former bully nemesis would be preferable to a bitter immortal divorcee witch who cannot be killed and leaves scores of bodies wherever she goes.
He collapsed and started crying, he didn't hold back like he had been doing this entire time, when out on the road with Ruby's and his teams there was always another town that needed help or Grimm incursion to deal with.
The most he had time to reflect was when training to Pyrhha's old pre-recorded messages and even then he was mostly focusing on the forms Pyrhha taught him, if he thought about Pyrhha herself for too long it overwhelmed everything.
Seeing her memorial and her mom, or was it her older sister? He never asked, did make the pain better for a while, but evidently with the killing of Penny, it proved to just be a band aid, a temporary fix to hold back the dam of trauma.
He heard her move fast but didn't bother to look up, she got on her knees and enveloped him in a hug, "It's okay, Jaune. We'll practice more and more, as long as we need to so that this doesn't become a problem anymore"
Jaune looked at her, "Why are you here? Just to torture me? Haven't you done that enough?" Pyrhha was taken aback, and started to look hurt.
"Jaune... why would you say that to me? Just because you're hurt doesn't give you permission to spread that pain to others." Jaune just shook his head and looked around, finally comprehending his new surroundings, what the hell?
It looked like he just got dropped into a fantasy RPG, he heard some yelling a distant bit away and instinctually reached for his sword, and then remembered it was destroyed in that infernal battle with that damn evil bitch, Cinder.
Snarling at his misfortune, he nonetheless ran towards the commotion.
"Jaune! Wait!" He ignored the ghost, even though he could hear her running and catching up to him as well, this was all wrong, so wrong.
He heard another commotion coming from the same area and picked up the pace, the ghost of Pyrhha catching up to him on the way there, they both finally arrived at what must of been the great hall of the palace, and wow, was it ever a great hall.
There was a hearth at the end of it and it's fire swallowed the room with it's light, high above the hearth was a gigantic screen, easily comparable in size to most movie theatre screens you'd see.
What you wouldn't see however were the rows of seats made of gold and velvet, and not only that, to the left and right, lines of tables of food and drink, more than Jaune and his team would eat in a year.
However, observation of the room quickly stopped the moment he noticed the people in said room, some of them were welcome surprises, others should not be here like the ghost of Pyrhha, and others that were very much not welcome surprises.
Just... what was this? His team and Ruby's team were all here, Yang's mom was here, from how he heard Ruby describe her mom and what he saw in a picture Ruby showed him one time on the road, it looked like she was here as well, but Ruby's mom is supposed to be dead.
She's not the only one, Roman AND Adam were here too, Yang and Ruby's dad was also there as well, and was that HIS SISTER? What in the name of all the gods is happenng?
His breath hitched though when he saw three people he very much did not want to see, the former because it was still a fresh wound, and the latter because they were responsible for said wound.
Penny was there, in all her glory, with her big wide smile hugging everyone, and then there were two other people, the witch and the witch's apprentice, Salem and Cinder, if he had Crocea Mors he would strike them down where they stood, or at least he would try, Cinder could be killed, though all you could do with Salem it seems is just slow her down.
"MOM!" Ruby and Yang scream, and ran towards their mother, Summer quickly ran to where they were and hugged the both of them, tears running down her face, Ruby and Yang quickly follow in crying tears of joy.
Taiyang just stood there mouth agape, in too much shock of everything that was happening, Summer. Alive. In the flesh. Ruby and Yang were there too, and by the gods had they grown over the past two years, Qrow, and even RAVEN was here, he feels so many emotions at once.
Joy for having his loved ones with him again, sadness at seeing Raven again, shame at himself for never getting off his ass and joining his daughters in the fight against Salem, upset that Ruby left without saying a word, happy to see her in the flesh again, proud of Yang for sticking with her sister, grateful to Qrow for watching out for them when he didn't.
Tears enters his eyes as he walks toward his family, even Raven, and joins in on their hug, his daughters and wife happily including him. Raven looked from a distance with a guarded expression, though Tai could swear he saw a ghost of a smile at seeing Yang and Summer again.
"My girls, you are so grown, words can't describe how much I missed you!" Summer tearfully exclaimed.
Salem looks at Summer in utter shock, that's not an emotion she's used to feeling, and it was the second time today she was surprised, the first was when Ozma released that explosive blast on her and her Grimm, she didn't get 'shocked' or 'surprised', she's always 10 steps ahead of her enemy, and even when they caught up to her she always had a contingency just in case.
Summer Rose was a great and formidable foe, Salem doesn't remember every fight she gets into, she's lived far too long to get hung up on such details, but Summer was one of the few she remembers vividly, the only other fights she remembered with such vivid detail were ones with Ozma.
More than once she got in hits that would have been lethal if Salem wasn't cursed with immortality, but ultimately she lost, just like everyone else who tried to meet her in combat, she more than lost however, she was captured by Salem.
Used for a personal project she had been planning for quite some time, last she remembers, Summer, if you could call her that now, was in the deepest bowels of her castle, guarded at all times and under strict surveillance, she wasn't quite ready for real world application just yet.
Summer's will is a strong one, but Salem is a patient woman, she has to be, she knew it was just a matter of time, or at least she thought, but now here she is, in the flesh.
Near the entrance of the great hall, Winter Schnee looked on and observed her surroundings, and to say that she was confused was the understatement of the century.
Last she remembers, she had just gotten the Maiden powers from Penny, and was leading the charge against the Grimm in Vacuo, but as she charged head first into combat she appeared here, wherever here was.
As she scanned the area she noticed multiple faces, some of them she was displeased to see to say the least, there was Roman Torchwick, an organized crime thug, he helped the White Fang and Cinder bring down Beacon, but the last report she read about him stated clearly that he was presumed KIA.
Arthur Watts and Ironwood were there as well, traitors to Atlas, Mantle, and it's people, both just as responsible for Atlas and Mantle's destruction as Salem's faction, there was no worse form of enemy than a traitor in Winter's mind.
An enemy on the field of battle was straightforward, you fought, you either win or you lose, if you lose you die, or pray the enemy is kind to prisoners of war, if you won you lived and gave your terms of peace to the enemy.
A traitor does not battle you on the front lines however, there are no flags or banners to identify them as the enemy, they wore the same uniforms you did, mingled in the same social circles, they whisper in the back alleys and plot in the darkness. Truly, an enemy at the gates was less to fear.
Her eyes shined when she lingered her gaze on Ironwood, filled with unshed tears, Ironwood saw her and immediately grimaced, not being able to bring himself to even look at her.
Her face went into a snarl, that stupid, stupid man! Why couldn't he just admit that he was wrong?! How many lives were destroyed and upended because of his stubborn foolishness?
Tears went down her face as she continued to stare at him, did he even know what he was doing to her? How much her heart broke when the man she regarded as a surrogate father descended deeper and deeper into paranoid madness?
How she repeatedly made excuses for him, hoping beyond all hope that he wasn't becoming what everyone around him feared, a maniacal tyrant. It even put her at odds with her sister, her own flesh and blood, and she would not blame Weiss one bit if it changed her view of her sister, that is if she were still alive.
She lowly sobbed at remembering that, Weiss, the sister she practically raised, her face full of terror as she knew she would fall through but was powerless to stop it.
Winter will never forget the look on her face and her screams, for as long as she lives she will remember, how can she not? Her face is full of fury, most of all she could not forgive Ironwood for Weiss, they would have never been in that situation if it wasn't for him.
At seeing Cinder, something inside of her snapped, two of the people responsible for it all in the same room as her, immediately she activates her Maiden powers, but finds they do not work, clearly confused by these turn of events but nonetheless determined to follow through, she pulls out her sabre, and marches to both Cinder and Ironwood.
"YOU!" she shouts, she's not sure if she's referring to James or Cinder, but frankly either one would do.
Her intent was obvious demanding that Ironwood and Cinder pull out their weapons, Ironwood looked down in sadness but reluctantly pulled his pistol out.
Cinder had no weapon and figured out beforehand that her powers didn't work in this place, but nonetheless would not go down without a fight, and immediately went into a stance.
As she gets halfway towards them, she heard a voice she thought she'd never hear again, "WINTER!" Winter froze, it can't be, it just can't.
She turns to her left and sure enough, there Weiss was, with Whitley who looked surprised and their mother who looked doubly so, even their father Jacques was lurking in the background.
She dropped her sabre, full on sobbing now, she ran like she never ran before, Weiss has tears in her eyes too and runs towards Winter.
Winter and Weiss completely envelop each other in a hug, it wouldn't have been that long ago that Winter would find the whole aspect of 'hugging' to be foreign, she was not raised in a loving family, and always stressed proper etiquette whenever Weiss would see her.
Now she knew what she was missing, hugs were absolutely wonderful, and she suddenly has the urge to slap her past self for being so averse to them, she would never not hug Weiss again.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Weiss, for everything" She says through her tears, Weiss looks up at Winter in confusion "What for?"
"For everything! For ignoring what Ironwood was becoming, for letting it come between us as sisters, for not joining your side the moment you came to my aid when Cinder attacked me. For not being strong enough to save you when you fell, I'm a Maiden now! I should have been faster!"
Weiss has fresh tears in her eyes as Winter confesses to her, she also expresses shock at Winter being a Maiden, but at the end of it she shakes her head "You're a Maiden, not a goddess, there's only so much you could have done." Winter just shook her head.
Weiss looked down for a second, "I won't lie, it did hurt a lot, when you stayed by Ironwood's side, it still kind of stings, but eventually I chose to believe in us as a family, and I had faith that you would come to make the right decision, and you did, because you're Winter Schnee, that's who you are."
Winter's eyes widen at Weiss' faith in her, the pedestal that Weiss puts her on was truly high.
"Oh Weiss, I'm honored that you think of me that way, but I'm no better than anyone else, worse actually, I was complicit in a tyrannical regime that could have wiped out all of Mantle, if I had done nothing that would have-" Weiss cuts her off with a determined look.
"You were part of a tyrannical regime, and then you worked with me, your sister, to put an end to that same regime, you didn't do nothing, because of your actions there was still enough time to save people that would have otherwise been doomed. You've always been my hero Winter, you saved me from myself, if I didn't have your love, guidance, or support, I don't even want to imagine how I would have turned out, because of your guidance I was able to be molded further at Beacon, where I learned the value of friendship, and now you've not only become a hero to a little girl in need of a big sister, but to an entire kingdom of people in your debt."
Winter was at a loss for words at Weiss' speech, all she could do in response was hold on to Weiss and cry.
There were many others in the hall as well, Velvet and Coco, Sun and Neptune, even Mercury and Emerald, Velvet, CoCo, Sun, and Neptune started to comingle with the heroes, while the villains kept to their side.
Everyone figured out almost instantly that their powers didn't work here, and agreed to a temporary truce until they could figure out what was going on.
Qrow couldn't even believe what he was seeing, last he remembers, he was watching Atlas and Mantle sinking underwater, and neither Ruby or Yang, or any of their teammates were answering his call, he feared the worst, and now they're all safe and sound but not only that, Tai, Raven, AND SUMMER were here too.
He suddenly felt the urge to drink again but remembered that he threw his flask away, he was conflicted, on one hand he wanted to run up to Summer and the girls and squeeze them in a group hug, on the other, he didn't want to ruin their moment, plus hugs aren't exactly what he's known for.
Fuck it. If they tell him to piss off, that's fair enough, but he's too happy to see them alive to not do or say anything, he carefully approaches them, and in a low but emotional voice says, "You brats almost gave me a damn heart attack, you know that right?"
Ruby and Yang are surprised to see their Uncle Qrow, but smile to each other, "Yeah, we can imagine." Yang says with a smirk.
Summer looks like she's almost in tears at seeing her old partner again, and walks up to him, "Bird-Brain" she says playfully, "Waif" he says in an equally playful manner.
The girls and Summer all at once go in for a hug, and Qrow could swear he almost felt the wind knocked out of him, but returns the hug with equal force.
Raven looks on and rolls her eyes, "Softy."
Qrow heard that and smirks at his outlaw sister, "Yeah, fuck you too, sis" he heard Summer gasp and then slightly slap his chest.
"Qrow Branwen! I will not have my daughters listen to your sailor mouth!" Qrow starts to look rather sheepish, while Ruby and Yang giggle at one another at his expense, Raven smirks at this.
"Oh, problem with swear words, and they're to view this universe? That's not a good start, not a good start at all." Everyone turns to the raised dais in the hall where the voice comes from, and saw a bulky man with short black spiky hair that is shaved at the sides and the back, sunglasses are raised at the top of his head, he also had blue eyes, a deep blue like the ocean, he was wearing a white trench coat with grey striped suit pants, and white wingtip shoes. He stood about 6 feet tall and is all muscle, he looked to be about in his mid-30s and had a cropped beard, with a slightly shaved mustache and soul patch.
Everyone got their weapons out and prepared for combat, not knowing where they were putting them on edge.
"Good grief, I'm afraid you lot have got the wrong impression here, there is no need for such crude instruments." He pressed a button on the dais and all of their weapons seemingly disintegrated.
"What the hell did you do to our weapons?!" Yang demanded.
The man waved his hand in a dismissive way, "Not to worry, they will be returned as soon as our business is concluded."
"What business would that be?" Ozma/Salem asked at the same time, they then narrowed their eyes at one another, they supposed it made sense, out of everyone in the room, they've lived the longest by far with thousands of years of experience, they would be the most cautious.
The scholarly man chuckled, "Why, to view the multiverse of course, you have all been summoned here at the request of Lord Gegenwart, god of time and space."
The room erupts in shouts of disbelief and shock, Gegenwart? Multiverse? What sort of prank is this? Salem and Ozma are particularly alarmed at this information, all too familiar with the whims of gods.
The man simply sighs expecting, which may imply he's done this more than once before, he presses another button on the dais and a boisterous bell sounds ring out in the hall and continue to do so until they are quiet.
"Thank you, now, as I said you have been summoned here on request from my order's master, Lord Gegenwart, he has viewed your universe with some concern for a while now, long before most of you were even born, the fall of Atlas and Mantle was the last straw for him. He usually does not like to take an interventionist approach to the various universes out there, but desperate times and all that.
This will not be the only universe you will be watching, though it is the only universe you'll be watching in my pocket dimension, as you leave, another gatekeeper, the chroniclers of our order, will escort you to his or her universe he or she oversees.
This is done in the hopes that you will gain inspiration and learn important lessons from the other universes you can take with you to your universe after you are done and improve said universe, though of course not every "scene" you watch will necessarily have a lesson in it, think of it as if you are watching a movie or television show, every scene is interconnected to a larger whole and must be viewed to fully comprehend the lessons and inspirations in said universe, in fact we've edited our knowledge specifically so that you can experience it this way, hence the large screen television.
Lord Gegenwart even had his court musicians and personal orchestra make a soundtrack specific to this universe to better acclimate you to this experience, we think it's easier to process the information this way, and past experiences with other newcomers have proven us right. Now, are there any questions? Again, I must insist on you raising your hand instead of screeching like a monkey."
Everyone's hands raised, the man was expecting this, picking at random he ends up landing on Ruby.
"So, what should we call you? What's your name?" The man smiles genuinely at that, from what he heard of how the gatekeeper in their universe spoke of her and what he knows of her counterparts, this would be the first thing she asks, though internally he is sad of what he's about to show her.
"I am Marick, senior gatekeeper of the Order, part of the Top Ten, the most experienced and revered members of our order, I oversee the "World of Shinobi" universe."
Ruby thinks this over and nods, satisfied with the answer, he picks randomly again and lands on Ozma.
"Not that this isn't a fascinating prospect to consider, and indeed there would be value in viewing this, but we do have our own problems that are still happening on Remnant as we speak in this hall." Marick merely chuckles at this.
"Gegenwart is not the god of space and time for nothing, he has managed to effectively pause your world while all of you are gone, when you come back, it'll be as if nothing has happened" Mortimer notices some hands go down at this answer, no doubt they wanted to say the same thing.
He randomly lands on Salem this time, "What exactly are we going to be watching?" Her voice was filled with suspicion and malice, not trusting this man one bit.
Marick raises his left index finger.
"Ah ha! Now you are getting to the meat of the matter, well the first universe you'll be seeing is a bit tricky." He looks at Taiyang, Raven, Qrow, Summer, Ruby, and Yang, and it takes every fiber of his being to not simply wipe their minds and send them back, but he knows doing so would be defying Lord Gegenwart, and further, Gegenwart is correct, they have a right to know what happened, even if they're completely unaware that something did in fact happen, this is their family after all.
"Okay.. well where to begin? There's no easy way of saying this. We'll be watching the Shinobi universe, but it'll be more focused on two boys in particular and the events that unfold around them as they grow up, it's a story of triumph, tragedy, darkness, joy, family, and friendship."
He looks at the Rose/Branwen/Xiao-Long family, "It's a tale of two boys that are related to you, more specifically, the sons of Taiyang Xiao-Long and Summer Rose."
Everyone was absolutely shell shocked at this information, but especially Summer, Taiyang, Ruby, Yang, and Qrow, even Raven's eyes widened at this.
"Y-You mean our multiverse counterparts right?" Taiyang asked nervously, still unsure if he heard Marick right.
"No, I mean they're your sons, no multiverse counterparts, they come from you and Summer."
Summer is absolutely shaking at the news, thinking back, there was a time shortly before she did that mission where she thought that she felt the signs of pregnancy, there was even a moment where she felt sick like she did when she was pregnant with Ruby, she'd know that feeling from anywhere, she bought multiple pregnancy tests to confirm her suspicions, and they all without fail said she was pregnant, she told Taiyang and they were both excited and nervous at the prospect of more children, but then a few months before that mission she felt a great emptiness inside of her, it was as if something sucked the life out of her, she fell into a great depression, not getting out of bed for anything, on a hunch she took more pregnancy tests, and they all said she was not pregnant, false positives happen, but rarely to that degree.
Eventually, when she found a lead on Salem, it sparked something back into her, and she eagerly followed the lead and went on that fateful mission, but if what she's hearing from her family is correct something went wrong during the mission.
Tears start to fall as she quickly falls into a state of deep grief, it's bad enough that she left her two daughters behind, but to know she had two sons, twins, and she couldn't even protect them from whatever dark force stole them from her and her family was too much, another realization suddenly occurs to her, if she was pregnant during that time, and stayed pregnant, she would not have gone on that mission, she'd alert Ozpin and the rest of her team to the lead, but there's no way in hell she would have put her babies in harms way, she collapses and is utterly inconsolable to this realization. She feels multiple hands on her shoulders, and all of her family, while they're all in tears, are there to comfort her.
They're not the only ones, Marick grits his teeth as he shatters this family's whole world, but seeing Summer's reaction almost did him in, he walks slowly towards the family until he's directly in front of Summer, he quickly gets on his knees and performs an obeisance bow in front of the entire family.
"As a representative of the Order, we take full responsibility for what happened to your children, and I especially take full responsibility as it all happened under my watch."
Taiyang and Yang look at him strangely, "What do you mean?" They both asked with an edge to their voice.
"The Shinobi universe is a universe I personally oversee, the previous First Scribe, a person who is basically second in command in our organization, someone who only answers to Gegenwart himself, the one who took your children/brothers, stole them from your mother when they were just starting to develop in her womb. As overseer of this universe I'm supposed to immediately notice anomalies and correct them, however, the First Scribe didn't get into his position by luck, he was able to make it seem like an ordinary occurrence, with everyone else none the wiser, he even spaced out the time in which both of your brothers/children were born just on the off chance that someone from the order noticed something was a little off.
By the time everyone noticed, it was too late, the god of that universe had integrated them into his universe by genetically linking your children/brothers to the two sets of parents he had impregnated. If we took them back to your world, we'd risk further damage to the multiverse. So we did nothing, we are responsible and we did nothing to fix the situation, I do not blame you if you cannot forgive us, and if you wish, I will request Gegenwart to return you all to your world without delay."
Marick was still in a submissive bow while saying all of this, the people in the audience familiar with Mistralian customs were flabbergasted at such a display of submission from such a powerful being, Summer shakily gets up and gently places a hand on Marick's shoulder, urging him to get up, when he does and looks in her eyes, he is shocked to find a determined look.
"No, you will do no such thing, if I hear you right, you cannot bring our boys back to our world, because of that world's god's interference, so I, and the rest of my family, at the very least, want to see how they grew up, I want to see their story, their experiences, it's the-" her voice breaks a bit "closest thing we can have to an actual relationship with our sons, and so I and my family will have it, and we'll not accept no for an answer."
The rest of the family nodded fiercely at this, Taiyang was conflicted between crying and punching a wall, Yang's older sibling instincts were fired up, Qrow wanted to drink now more than ever, but more than anything wanted to be there to support his partner, Summer and the rest of his family, and Ruby was crying like her Mom, feeling robbed of being an older sister to two little brothers, already imagining what it could have been like, but she too is determined to see this through.
Marick is in awe of Summer and the rest of her family, and quickly inclines his head in a bow, accepting their wishes, and returning to the dais.
Pretty much almost everyone lowers their hand after all of that, due to a combination of the emotional bomb shell that was just dropped, and the question that was being asked is the next most common question that people tend to ask whenever they're brought before the multiverse, all except one, Cinder.
Marick is not used to questions going beyond this point by now but nonetheless motions for Cinder to ask her question.
"If your god is so powerful, why does he care about one insignificant universe? I know if I had that power, everyone in this so-called multiverse would be bending to my whim" She says too much though, and almost immediately realizes it as soon as the words leave her mouth.
Salem gives her a dangerous glare, as she was implying she'd subjugate Salem too in this scenario, making Salem think that Cinder must fantasize a lot about overthrowing her.
She's not the only one who is displeased, Marick himself is completely red faced and trembling from anger at her utter disrespect for their lord Gegenwart and the work The Order does for the multiverse.
"HOW DARE YOU! You know nothing about our work or how important it is, and you especially do not know the mind of our lord, nor of how much he does for nearly fallen universes like yours! Gegenwart is god of all space and time, of course he regards everything that happens within that space and time to be important! I suppose to an utterly warped mind like yours you cannot even comprehend that, but-"
There was a sudden rumble in the hall itself, startling everyone in the room, Marick immediately knows the cause and gives a nod seemingly to the ceiling in understanding and immediately takes on a calmer demeanor, the rumbling stops.
He clears his throat, and takes deep breaths before continuing, "Yes, he does care about all of the multiverse, but it's also a matter of self-preservation, as god of all time and space, Gegenwart is personally connected to every single universe. He is a part of them, when a universe falls, and it has happened unfortunately more than once, our lord loses a piece of himself, if enough universes were to die, not only would it be fatal to our lord, but it would also cause several ruptures in space and time itself. The fabric of reality would come undone, and the destruction of the multiverse as a whole would be assured."
At that, almost everyone's eyes grew as wide as saucers, fully comprehending how important it was that everything stay alive, for Cinder at least, it satisfies her curiosity and she simply nods at that information.
Summer looks at Cinder and ponders for a bit, for some reason she feels like she remembers her from somewhere but cannot for the life of her place it anywhere, she almost looks li- her eyes widen and she feels tears at the corner of her eyes appearing, she looks to Marick who immediately stares back, and almost as if he knew the answer to the unspoken question, he grimly nods at Summer.
Summer places her hand to her mouth, and tries to calm down, she thought she was gone forever, and now here she is, but not as she remembers, her entire left arm was blackened with a clawed hand, and it looks like she has plenty of scars, and an eye patch that covers a damaged eye no doubt, and it seems she serves the mortal enemy of all life, Summer could not think of a worse outcome and looks down in shame.
Ruby looks at her in confusion, "Mom, what's wrong?" Summer suddenly realizes she's not alone and tries to put up a good front, and smiles "Nothing sweety, was just thinking about something."
Ruby looks like she wasn't buying it, but chose not to push the issue further, for which Summer was grateful, she didn't know how she'd unpack the situation with her.
Cinder noticed Summer's gaze and looks at her strangely. So, that must be the mother of the little annoyance she constantly has to deal with. Strange, for some reason Cinder feels like there's something familiar about her, but dismisses the notion, surely she would have remembered someone like her, she'd stand out in a crowd for sure.
CoCo, Velvet, Sun, and Neptune were excited to see everyone from Beacon again, even seeing Cardin was a welcome surprise, after their adventures in Vacuo and learning that time would essentially pause until they came back, frankly, it was a welcome reprieve from the madness of that desert kingdom.
Ozma didn't notice it at first, but after looking at his hands and feet, and requesting a mirror from Marick and having it materialize in his hand, it was confirmed, and he was absolutely floored at the revelation, he was in his original body, no incarnations, just his original self, he got choked up at this, so much had changed since he appeared as this man, this great hero, who was battered down and withered over multiple millennia into the husk of a soul he was now, tears run down his face, and he looks to Marick who merely nods as if to say "you're welcome".
Glynda and Oobleck look at him strangely, feeling a familiarity with this tanned man clad in green, Glynda remembering how the man spoke earlier and knowing that Ozpin was technically immortal connected the dots rather quickly, she walks up to him in a very fast yet dignified way.
"Ozpin... is that really you?" She asks in a just barely controlled tone, Ozma smiles and nods.
"It's so good to see you again Glynda, how have you been looking after the school in my rather extended absence?" In an instant Glynda loses what semblance of calm she had and breaks down in to tears at seeing her former boss, colleague, and friend again, she rushes forward and envelops Ozpin in a bone crushing hug.
"You fool, you complete and utter fool, why did you so recklessly throw your life away? Do you know how hard it's been without you? All of the Grimm that got attracted that had to be cleaned up and dealt with, and they still are attracted by that accursed Wyvern! Vale is in chaos, barely holding by a thread, the council and their machinations are enough to drive me up the wall, and I am completely and utterly alone in my endeavors to restore order and sanity to it all!" She tearfully exclaims.
Ozma feels shame at the fact that Glynda had to be the one left behind to clean up his mess, "I know, and I am so sorry for leaving you with the mess, Beacon was under attack, and as the former Headmaster, I felt it was my duty to defend it, unfortunately it cost me the life of my previous incarnation, more than that, I was too confident with our positioning at Beacon, my complacency cost us greatly, and I will regret that until the day I truly die."
Glynda says nothing for a few seconds, but then shakes her head, "Oz, no one could have predicted all of that, nobody, if anything we all failed that day, I'm just so happy that you're back, you've said to us before that you reincarnate but have also said that you cannot determine how long it takes exactly to do so, I genuinely thought we wouldn't be seeing you again in my lifetime. I'm glad I was wrong."
Ozma smirks, "Yes, I'm glad you were wrong too." Glynda lightly laughs at his jape.
When Ruby heard Glynda talking about the Wyvern, she starts to feel a great guilt at technically being the cause of the Grimm being attracted to Beacon, and puts her head down in shame, Yang puts a hand on her shoulder, "Ruby, it's okay, no one ever told you about the silver eye power, and it happened against your will, you can't blame yourself for that."
"Silver eye power?" Taiyang and Summer ask in unison, the former in confusion, and the latter in apprehension, Summer goes to Ruby and puts her hands on her shoulders, "It's already manifested?" she asks intently.
Ruby nods in response, Summer sighs and looks down in sadness, regretting a great many things, one of them being not being able to guide Ruby as she learns more about her past and lineage.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there Ruby." Ruby looks away in sadness for a moment before giving Summer a light smile, "I-it wasn't your fault mom."
One look at Ruby and she could already tell that her absence greatly affected her, she hugs Ruby again, "I don't know how much time we have left with each other, but I promise that as long as we're here, I'll be here for you and Yang, you can talk to me about anything, you can tell me stories of your childhood, about your days in combat school, your friends, about boys, anything really, you can even ask anything about me, as long as you are involved I'm interested and here to listen, okay?"
At the end of her speech, she could feel warm tears hit her shoulder and she knew Ruby was crying, "That would be awesome" she says through her tears, Summer smiles at this.
Salem wants to test a theory, and so gets a knife from the long tables of food, she pokes her finger with a knife until she bleeds, and when she isn't automatically healing it confirms her suspicions, in this space at least, she was no longer immortal, she feels a great weight lifted from her shoulders, just that feeling of being mortal again was enough of a reprieve for her to be pleased to be here.
Marick notices this and clears his throat, "Just so you know, The Order is well aware of your wish to perish along with the rest of Remnant, that poke was a freebie, but as long as you are here you will be forbidden to cause further harm to yourself."
Salem snarls at this infernal man and the order he serves, how dare they keep her from the bliss of death, but he merely stares back at her blankly, she supposes she could still gain usefulness out of knowledge of the multiverse and take that knowledge back with her in her war against Ozma, but how she wishes it could all end right here and now.
Jaune walks down the hall, and stands in front of all the seats as if he was about to make an announcement, "Um, so guys, I have a surprise" RWBY, NR, CV, and SN stared at him questioningly, the oldest of the group waited expectantly.
Jaune walks quickly to a corridor of the great hall, and whispers something to a mysterious figure, when that mysterious figure turns out to be a red haired warrior who is walking by Jaune's side, all of the former students of Beacon, Ozma, Glynda, Oobleck, and even Cinder look as if they're seeing a ghost, the hall was quiet as a tomb as Pyrhha walks up apprehensively to the group of people that had formed in the great hall.
"H-hello" Pyrhha says uncertainly, she doesn't understand why everyone is staring at her like that, especially her team and team RWBY, actually now that she thinks about it, they all look rather different themselves, and does Yang have a CYBERNETIC arm? She feels like she's been put in a different universe.
Marick was anticipating this moment and quickly intervened, "As you've all noticed, there are people that are here that you think probably shouldn't be here." He stares to Adam, Summer, Penny, Ironwood, and Pyrhha as if to point them out.
Adam looks at all of them with contempt, not knowing why he was even here, he had just taken control of the White Fang and these distractions were hindering his plans, though he supposes there were some uses to watching other universes, it'll give him more ideas for their struggle against the human vermin at any rate.
When Marick looks at Adam, Yang and Blake both tense up, another ghost that is here, though unlike Summer, Penny, and Pyrhha, he isn't exactly a welcome ghost.
"As I've said previously, Gegenwart is responsible for why you are here, we are showing you our knowledge at his request, as god of space and time, he is more than capable of going into different parts in the timeline and pluck people from that timeline to be here, Pyrhha, Penny, and Adam were plucked from places that were before their deaths"
At hearing this, not only was everyone else surprised at this information, but said people were surprised as well, Pyrhha puts her hand to her mouth, she starts tearing up as the context for Jaune thinking she was there to torment him became clearer.
She runs to Jaune and embraces him, he is surprised for a few seconds before eagerly returning the hug, shedding a few tears of his own, as well as mentally berating himself for being so obtuse, how many times did he wish that Pyrhha was still alive? That if she was right there in front of him he would apologize for being so clueless, for not being strong enough to help her in her fight against Cinder, for being an utter burden to deal with at Beacon, how many times did he wish he could go before her and tell her how precious she really was to him, and proclaim his love for her?
Instead he acted like a basket case and shunned her away, thinking that she was another ghost his mind conjured up to torture him.
"I'm sorry." He whispers, she shakes her head, "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"Yes I do, I'm sorry for being a clueless idiot, for not noticing your feelings towards me, I'm sorry for not noticing my own feelings before it was too late and most of all I'm sorry I couldn't have saved you from Cinder."
Pyrhha blushes and smiles warmly at his confession of feelings, but looks at him in confusion when he mentions not saving her from Cinder, Marick cuts in.
"We pulled you during the Vytal festival, the "transfer students" from Haven Academy turned out to be enemy agents who infiltrated Beacon and laid waste to the school and resulted in the death of many students, including you, you ultimately decided to take the powers of the Fall Maiden, and in your last heroic attempt, tried to stop Cinder Fall, one of the enemy agents, who also had the other half of the powers, she killed you in mortal combat in front of one of your friend, Ruby Rose, you also put Jaune in a Beacon locker to save him from battling Cinder, likely knowing it was an endeavor that would guarantee death."
Pyrhha is overwhelmed, so she decided after all to take the powers, and then fought an enemy with the other half of the powers, and died, it becomes clear to her why Jaune blames himself, she supposes if she was in such a situation, that she would rather sacrifice herself rather than ask any of her teammates to die with her, still, it's obvious that Jaune considers this a failing on his part, that he wasn't strong enough to help her in her fight, and that he partly blames himself for her death.
This breaks her heart even further, that would be the last thing she'd want him to feel, that he failed her somehow, that he was partly the reason she died, she looks at Jaune with a determined look, "Jaune, you are not responsible for my death, you know that right?"
When he looks away from her, she continues, "You aren't! I made the decision, not you. I need you to see that Jaune, the last thing I'd ever want was for you to blame yourself for my death!"
"Then why did you push me into a locker and fight Cinder by yourself?!"
Pyrhha's eyes moisten at his question full of heartache, she looks down, "I- I don't know Jaune, I haven't even technically done that yet, but if I know myself, and I do, I can take an educated guess and say that if I what I heard from Mortimer was right, my future self likely knew fighting this 'Cinder' was certain death, she likely did not want to sacrifice any of her friends and was willing to lay down her life to protect them and the people of Beacon."
Jaune closes his eyes and nods as tears fall down his face, a part of him already knew that, but to hear it from the source was like taking a weight off of his shoulders, he walks up to her and held her close to him, she accepts his embrace, "Thank you, Pyr, and I don't know what'll happen to us as a team now that you're here, but as long as we are here, the team and I will all be here for you."
Pyrhha smiles at this, "Thank you Jaune.."
Adam is still trying to process what this 'man', what was his name, Marick? Was saying, in the future he's dead, but how? He had planned everything out so perfectly, the domination of the Faunus was assured, no longer would they be the oppressed, but the oppressors! This was their just due after all of the suffering and heartache they've had to endure!
Why in the name of the God of Animals would he... then he stares at Blake, her. He didn't know the specifics but he knew she was responsible somehow, he's always known that she was his one weak spot, the one person who could undo his entire work in a single stroke. Then he stares at the blonde bimbo she calls a friend, and from the way Blake stares at her, because he's seen that look before directed at him, likely more.
When they noticed his stare they did their best to guard their expressions, but Adam has seen that look before, he's seen it on the faces of recruits he's lead into combat, and in the aftermath they had that same look, Adam too once had that look, when he was weak enough to value all life, the look that signified you've taken another person's life.
A feral roar escapes him as he charges at the two who've ruined his plans and doomed Faunus-kind. Every one of their friends and family get into defensive positions to defend them, but Adam pays no mind, he would tear them all to shreds if they dared get in his way, before he can get to them though he finds himself seated to a chair with chains around his torso and legs so he cannot move, he glares dangerously at Marick, and Marick returns the glare with one of his own.
"I must insist on the no violence rule, these will be placed on you until I am convinced you pose no threat to the people around you, and not a moment before, food and drink will be given to you by our servants in the hall, speaking of which." He turns to the stunned group.
"If any of you are hungry, now is the time to get food from the tables I've presented, the food is constantly being warmed so you need not worry about it getting cold, and since we are in a pocket dimension where time is ultimately nullified, it'll never rot either, further food and drink will be provided during the intermissions which will be regular, hunger is still a thing here as Gegenwart believes in the power of food for raised spirits and good conversation." He looks to Adam, "Is there anything in particular you like that I can have someone get for you."
Adam murmured something that Mortimer thought he heard for a second, but asks for clarification in case his hearing was wrong, "I'm sorry?"
"I said I want a chicken! One of those personal sized chickens, with some water, you fucking hear that right, you buffoon? Or do I have to personally search for every fucking chicken in this room?"
Marick was stunned, positively stunned, he knew there was a rhyming to the multiverse, and similar things remained constant, but to see it rhyme in such a blatant way was a sight to behold. "Yes, I'm sure we have a cornish game hen or two, I'll let the servants know."
Everyone got their food ready, as Marick knew Adam was a rather touchy subject for many people in the hall, he placed him near the back. Others were free to choose, Ruby and Yang sat with Tai, Summer, and Qrow in the third row, Raven sat a little bit away to the right of them, still reluctant to engage with her old team and daughter again, also in the third row was the Schnee and Belladonna family, Jacques chose to stay away from his family for the time being and sat near the back with Adam, the villains all chose to sit in the fourth row. The rest of the heroes sat in the second row.
Marick made his seat at the very front row in the middle, he got up momentarily and stood before the crowd, "Without further adieu, let's begin."
A/N: Wow, I know. Such a huge prologue chapter, I'm gonna be honest, it was deceptively tricky getting all these characters together to interact, I couldn't focus on all of them in such great detail for the time being as that would have made the chapter multitudes longer than it already is.
I hope those of you who've seen Volume 8 understand why this was such a big introductory chapter, a lot of things happened in that Volume, and the characters that were part of it needed some time to acclimate to their new surroundings.