Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?

The earliest recording of this concept comes from the ancient greek philosophy of atomism, proposing that the collision of atoms led to the creation of infinite worlds, infinite Earths. Since then, the concept has shown up in cosmology, physics, astrology, religion, philosophy, and many forms of entertainment.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, I should probably explain what the multiverse is to the buffoons who aren't enlightened yet. Heh heh heh. The multiverse is the idea that there's more than just one universe, one dimension in existence. All of these dimensions don't exist on the same vibrational frequency, meaning that travel between two of these is impossible without special abilities or technology.

But what's the difference between these dimensions, the utterly naive reader asks? Well, the worlds are all earth, but they're all different and unique in some way. It can be as small as a child choosing whether or not to eat its vegetables or as large as the big bang failing to happen. The difference can be nearly impossible to see or blindingly obvious. Hitler could have won world war 2, the nincompoop writing this could have pursued a different hobby.

Heh, or maybe you could never have been born.

So, now you're wondering, what if travel between dimensions was possible. What would you do then? An altruistic person would attempt to create a network between the worlds, forming a massive inter-dimensional alliance and bringing peace to all of reality.

Boooooring.

Maybe that person is a warmongering monster, enslaving the populaces of each and every reality and pitting them against each other in a glorious gladiatorial deathmatch for the entertainment of quintillions of people.

Fun, but not my style.

Or maybe...just maybe…

That person wants to

Burn. It. All.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Boys and girls

I present to you

Lightning Strikes The RWBYverse

"Aaaaaaaaand TIME!"

Barry slid across the finish line like lightning, the soles of his boots scraping against the concrete of the track as Mina began to clap, jumping up and down with elation, "Wow! That was a world record!"

After the provisional license exam, there wasn't much to do except wait for classes to really start up again. Wally was still packing up to move into the dorms and the league of villains haven't shown their faces since Kamino, so what else was there to really do other than train in UA's indoor track.

Mina and Barry weren't the only people on the track though. Kirishima stood in the middle of the field, tanking shots from Bakugou in order for both of them to improve their quirks. The thunderous explosions coming from Bakugou's hands would blow anybody onto their butt, Or into the sky for that matter. Not Kirishima though, he could take a beating and keep on trucking, especially with his hardening quirk. Further down the field, Uraraka floated a few meters in the air, attempting to master her maneuverability in midair as Midoriya leaped by, attempting to practice the precision of his jumps while using shoot style. Meanwhile, on a segment of the track, Derek James rapidly rifted in a circle around Kendo, attempting to hit her from an angle she wouldn't expect. As he finally closed in, attempting a strike on her back, Kendo whirled around, swatting him off his feet. As he landed on his back, Derek growled in frustration, "How the hell am I supposed to catch you off guard. You know I'm coming!"

Kendo chuckled, offering Derek a hand, "It's all about speed. You can still surprise your enemy in combat if you're quick enough."

Derek grumbled, taking her hand, "I would have liked to know that before you knocked me on my ass."

"Oh quit complaining, if you can take a ton of bullets, you can take getting knocked on your butt by your girlfriend." said Kendo, pulling him up, "Besides, there's plenty more where that came from."

"She's right you know." said Midoriya, landing on his feet as Uraraka plummeted out of the sky, landing on her front and eliciting a concerned yelp from Midoriya, "U-Uraraka! Are you ok?!"

Uraraka raised her arm, giving Midoriya a thumbs up before spitting the grass out of her mouth, "I'm fine, Deku."

Midoriya nodded, turning back to Derek, "But yeah, she's right, It's key to learn a large variety of strategies. If you use just one, the villains can catch on, find a way to beat you. It doesn't pay to be a one-trick pony."

"What do you know, Deku?" barked Bakugou, sending a particularly powerful and vicious blast Kirishma's way, causing him to stumble back as Bakugou whirled around to face his frenemy, "I've gotten by fine with just my explosions!"

"I think he's right dude, adaptability is a good thing to have." said Kirishima, regaining his balance as he unhardened, "Honestly, it's something I need to work on. I'm a bit of a one-trick pony, I just tank hits and deal em out."

"It's all about finding the limits of your quirk and how you can work around them in creative ways." said Barry, strolling onto the field with Mina, "Once you find that workaround, you'll be taking people of guard like it's running a lap around the track."

"That analogy only works for you." said Mina, "But I get where you're coming from."

Placing her hands together to form a spout, Mina produced a steady stream of acid that hosed out of the palms of her hands, "See, if I put my hands together like this, I can send my acid farther! Creative workaround!"

Barry stepped forward, "The point is, you've got to be ready for anything, and one trick doesn't fit every challenge."

"Oh yeah?!" said Bakugou, "The next challenge that we come across will get annihilated by my explosions. Just you wai-"

*SHOOM!*

As if out of nowhere, a massive ball of black energy spontaneously forms in the middle of the track, creating a gravitational pull that began to suck the heroes into its core. Uraraka, who was already beginning to float into the air, immediately began to fly towards the ball, screaming in terror before Midoriya leaped into the air to catch her. Barry raced over to the duo, grabbing them before they could fly any further before anchoring down, digging his feet into the grass as the others quickly grabbed the ground to avoid going into the ball.

"What the hell is that?!" shouted Derek.

"Think you can beat that with explosions?!" asked Kirishima, "You and your big mouth, Bakugou."

"Shut up! I'll show you all!" shouted Bakugou, letting go of the grass and leaping straight at the ball, unleashing a massive blast while shouting "DIE!". Unfortunately, as soon as the smoke cleared, the ball remained undamaged. Surprised, Bakugou wildly swung his arms, attempting to grab anything in order to avoid going into the ball, but it was no use. Being so close, Bakugou was swallowed up by the ball in seconds.

"KACCHAN!" Shouted Midoriya, pure terror in his voice, "We have to go after him!"

"What, are you crazy?!" shouted Derek, "He could be dead?!"

"I refuse to believe that!" shouted Midoriya, looking to Barry, "Please! We have to save him!"

Barry gritted his teeth, "Alright, if Bakugou's in trouble, then we go in!"

Uraraka nodded, "Of course, he's our classmate! We can't leave him!"

Kirishima smirked, "I'll go to hell and back for that bastard, even if he is stupid."

Mina glanced at Barry, seeing the determination in his eyes, "I'm going too. There's no way you're leaving me out of this."

Barry looked towards Derek and Kendo, "You guys don't have to come, this is probably really dangerous."

"Don't bother, we might not be in the same class, but Bakugou's UA, just like us." said Kendo, glancing at Derek, "Are you in?"

Derek frowned, "I'd be a really bad boyfriend if I wasn't in. So hell yeah, let's do this!"

With everyone in agreement, Barry closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before letting go of the grass with the rest of his friends. As they all tumbled towards the black ball of energy, Barry could feel a slight tingle as he hit the ball before he lost all feeling in his nerve endings.

Team RWBY and team BSCO sat across from each other in the Beacon arena, watching Clark and Yang slowly march into the arena's center. Clark took a deep breath, watching his opponent stretch her legs and crack her knuckles. Getting into a more combat-reliable brawler stance, Yang sent a wink towards Oliver before motioning towards Clark, non-verbally asking if he was ready. Clark nodded, remaining in a relaxed state as Yang threw her arms behind her, firing ember celica and rocketed forward, raising her arms for a flying punch.

*WHAM*

Mere seconds before Yang's fist made contact with Clark's head, he swung his fist upward, uppercutting his opponent at just the right time. He watched her fly upward, spinning out of control before slamming into the ceiling and sticking to it for a second before falling all the way down to the arena floor, landing face-first and burying her upper body in the ground. The entire room winced at the sight as Clark scratched the back of his head, a bit surprised, "I-uh...didn't expect that to go so well."

"Woo Hoo!" piped Victor, "That was a hell of a sight!"

"Oh Jeez, my sister really needs to get her head together," said Ruby, "She's never been this bad."

"Maybe she'd have her act together if she stopped thinking about her boyfriend." said Weiss.

"Hey! Don't put this on me!" erupted Oliver, "It's gotta be something else."

"Mrph rphmrph Mrpherphemrph."

Yang's muffled voice could be heard from the ground as she kicked her legs about, struggling to free herself. The teammates looked at each other, shrugging as Clark grabbed ahold of Yang's foot and uprooted her from the ground. As she sat up, she spat concrete out of her mouth, wiping the debris from her forehead, "I said, it's not about Oliver. The Vytal Festival is only a few weeks away! I've been thinking about all the fun we're gonna have!"

Blake nodded, "It's true. I'm pretty excited myself. There's a lot that comes with the Vytal Festival. Foreign exchange students to meet, food stands."

"And a big tournament," said Bruce, "I trust that BSCO will perform to the standards I set for us."

"Woah, maybe lower your expectations Bruce!" said Victor, "Ollie might not measure up."

"Ok, can everyone quit ragging on me?" said Oliver, "Besides, Clark's a freaking ace in the hole, there's no way we can lose with him on our side!"

"Maybe," said Clark, "But you never kno-"

*SHOOM!*

Suddenly, a ball of black energy spontaneously forms behind Clark in a deafening explosion. Being right next to the blast, Yang and Clark are thrown off their feet before being sucked in instantly, their absorption increasing the gravitational pull exponentially. The rest of the team yelped in surprise, grabbing hold of their seats so as to not get sucked in.

Everyone except Ruby.

"Yang!" shouted Ruby, crying out for her sister as she immediately leaped towards the ball after her family.

"You idiot! Don't do that!" shouted Weiss, grabbing at Ruby along with Victor in an attempt to keep her from jumping straight after her sister. Unfortunately, the pull of the ball of energy was too strong for all three of them, who immediately tumbled out of the chairs and into the ball. Grabbing Blake and Oliver to save who he could, Bruce grabbed his grapple hook, firing the line and watching it hook to the wall. The three feel the pull of the ball, but are held in place by the grapple line.

"Hang on!" shouted Bruce, "I can get us out of this!"

"Bruce," shouted Blake, holding on for dear life, "We can't leave the others! We have to go in!"

"We don't know what that thing is or what it does!" shouted Bruce, "I can find a way to get them back from here!"

"You don't know that!" shouted Blake, "Please!"

Bruce glanced at Oliver, "Ollie?"

"I'm on board!" shouted Oliver, "Let's go get 'em."

Cursing himself, Bruce let go of the line, allowing the three of them to fall into the ball.

*CRASH*

Bruce felt his body slam into the ground, a throbbing feeling propping up in his spine immediately. Groaning, he sat up, clutching his side as he began to stumble to his feet. When he finally stood up, he began to look around, taking in his surroundings.

"Where...Where am I?"

Bruce seemed to be in a formless black void, nothing in sight for miles upon miles of space. As he looked left and right, a bright white light suddenly appeared in front of him, forcing him to shield his eyes. Realizing that his options were to either stay here or go into the light, Bruce cautiously stepped forward, reaching out for his salvation.

A hand cloaked in black thrust forward, grabbing his forearm and yanking him into the light, and from there everything went dark again.

*GASP*

Barry shot up, his head pounding as he rubbed his temple. Groaning, he stood up, taking in his surroundings. He wasn't in the UA track anymore, he was in what appeared to be a dank and dirty dark hallway, large enough to accommodate a cargo truck. While one way leads into a dark and intimidating extended hall, the other way seemed to lead to a bright light, closed off only by a large gate. Raising his eyebrow, Barry prepared to race over to the gate when a pair of arms flew around his neck.

"Who are you?!" grunted a deep and intimidating voice, "Are you the reason I was brought to this place?! Explain yourself!"

Barry felt the pressure around his windpipe tighten as the figure behind him interrogated him. He could easily vibrate out of this situation, but considering the questions asked, this guy was just as confused as he was, "I don't know anything! I just got here. Did you fall into a big black orb of energy?"

The grip around his throat seemed to stop tensing up, the pressure around his airway relieving slightly before the person behind him finally retracted their arms, allowing Barry to turn around to find himself face to face with an extremely handsome teenager about a year older than him. He had gorgeous black hair and seemed to be clad in a tight suit of flexible armor.

"I didn't see you come through the damn orb," said Bruce, "Damnit, I don't know what's going on."

"Me neither," said Barry, "But it looks like there were more orbs than the one that showed up at UA. Which school do you go to?"

Bruce raised his eye, "Beacon academy."

Barry frowned, "Beacon? I've never heard of that one. Where is it located?"

"Vale." said Bruce.

"Vale?" said Barry, his mind racing, "I've never heard of Vale."

Bruce stared at Barry, incredulous, "You've never heard of Vale?! One of the four main continents of Remnant?!"

"Remnant?!" said Barry, "What do you mean Remnant?! Is that even a place on Earth?"

"What's Earth?" asked Bruce.

Barry's mouth fell open, agape in surprise before he quickly came to the only conclusion that made sense, "Earth…. You know...the planet humans LIVE ON?!"

Bruce shook his head in confusion, "What are you babbling on about, humans live with the faunus on...You know what, forget it. This is a waste of time. I should be figuring out how I got here in the first place."

"CONTESTANTS OF WARWORLD!"

A big booming voice sounded off from the light end of the hall, making itself known as the gates rose, "COME FORTH, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!"

Barry and Bruce looked at each other in confusion, staring in silence until Barry spoke, "Well, I guess the best place to start with that would be to see what this guy has to say."

Bruce watched as Barry began to walk towards the light, raising his eyebrow at the oddly dressed boy. He couldn't be more than a year younger than him, yet they seemed to be so different, as if they came from different planets. Sighing, he realized that the answers likely did lie with the voice ahead. Following Barry, Bruce walked beside him until they finally broke into the light.

Exiting the hall, Barry and Bruce entered a massive arena. An audience of thousands cheered them on with deafening screams and applause from the seats above, threatening to take the heroes' hearing with their cries alone. As they walked onto the dirt, Barry looked up into the sky, his eyes widening when he realized that there were no stars in the sky.

"There's something wrong with this place," said Barry, "Because it's definitely not Earth."

"Bring it on, pipsqeak!"

"Hey! Don't talk to my sister like that!"

The duo's head swiveled until they laid eyes on the rest of their companions, though they were in a heated argument with each other. Rushing over, Bruce and Barry came upon a comical sight.

Weiss, Blake, Victor, Clark, and Oliver were attempting to hold Ruby and Yang back from dogpiling Bakugou, who was at the moment being held back by absolutely everyone from UA. The three in the center barked at each other with vicious anger, ready to strike at any moment. Barry rushed in, getting between the two with lightning speed.

"Break it up everyone!" said Barry, "We're all in a strange place, we shouldn't fight each other."

"Like hell we should!" said Bakugou, "That shorty made fun of me!"

"It was just a joke!" shouted Ruby, "And I'm not short!"

"Hell yeah you are!" shouted Bakugou, "Come and try me, I'll make you even shorter!"

"Hey, speak to my sister like that again and I'll punt you into the stratosphere!" said Yang.

"Come and try, you bimbo!" piped Bakugou.

Yang's eyes turned red in an instant, "Call me that again, I DARE YOU!"

"SILENCE!"

The big booming voice from before returned, making itself known before a snap of the fingers was heard. In an instant, all sixteen fighters were transported to opposite sides of the arena, separated by their world. As they looked around in confusion, a massive flying chair began to descend into the arena, a chair housed by a massive yellow-skinned alien in purple armor.

"What...is...that?!" stuttered Weiss.

"I don't know!" said Victor, "Maybe ask him yourself?!"

"Do not be alarmed, contestants." boomed the man, "I am Mongul, and I have brought you here from your respective realities using cosmic tools."

"Cosmic? Respective Realities?" said Barry, the solution clicking into place like a lightbulb in his head, "Oh no."

"Barry," said Mina, "Is this...an alternate reality?"

"The pink one is quite right!" said Mongul, "This reality is not your own, and it is not theirs either."

Mongul pointed at teams RWBY and BSCO, "They have been summoned alongside you for a very special purpose!"

Clark stepped forward, the concepts being thrown around flying over his head. Still, he wasn't going to sit around and wait, "What do you want with us?"

Mongul smirked, pointing down at the ground, "This….is Warworld. Once a mere planetoid, it is now part of a larger WarUniverse, all under my control! Here, we celebrate and entertain ourselves, but watching and doing glorious battle! However, after a history of successful fights, our universe grows cold. We have expended those who are worthy of the fight in this universe, and now we must pull from new ones."

Mongul pointed at both the UA students and the Beacon attendees, "Now, we pull fighters from other realities, and you are the first to be chosen! All of you are now destined to clash in a battle that determines the fate of your universes."

"T-The fate of our universes?!" said Midoriya, "What does that mean?!"

"Oh ho ho! It appears I have failed to reveal the stakes, very well." said Mongul, raising his hands to the sky. Two planets, Earth and Remnant, appear in each of his open palms.

"The winner of these fights, these battles, these contests of ability and skill, will return home safe. As a prize, any on the winning side who fall during these tests will be restored to life and returned home with the living ones. The loser of these fights however," Mongul crushes both planets in his hands, reducing them to dust, "Will have their universe destroyed."

Both sides stared in horror at the demonstration, terror seeping into their hearts and minds. It had just been any other day when these heroes had been taken from their homes, their worlds. Now they have been pitted against each other in a battle with stakes so high, neither would truly achieve victory.

"Now you see!" shouted Mongul, "The fight for the fate of your Universes is upon you, my friends." Mongul raised his fist into the sky, "The question is, who will come out on top?"

Barry stared across the arena, making eye contact with Bruce. The two stared each other down in trepidation, unable to move as Mongul jubilated in the start of the tournament. One thing was for sure now.

One Universe's death would be too much to bear for any of them.

OK! Here it is! The opening chapter of the big crossover! It's been a hell of a journey getting here and I can't wait to put out more!

I'll see you guys next time around!