The following story is a work of fanfiction. Any resemblance to other works, living or dead, is entirely intentional.

Here's a little secret the old guard doesn't tell you: high-altitude insects do not care how many times you've saved the world. They will still splatter against you without a single care in the world, like their sole purpose is to ensure your jacket, your face, your hair gets covered in bug guts and wings, and maybe even a few legs if they get lucky.

At the very least, Yang was wearing a helmet that covered her head and most of her hair, her suit was easy enough to clean, and if she was flying during the day most bugs would burn up from the intense heat before they got too close to her. Most bugs. She was pretty sure she read an article once in school about a breed of worm that survived Pompeii or something.

But for other situations, like the one she was in right now, which required a more…subtle touch? Well, she couldn't exactly put the flames on full blast when she was trying to discreetly fly through the night sky, now could she? And that meant weathering the storm of nighttime insects who preferred to hang up here, rather than down in the city with its deluge of people and garbage that would surely be more attractive than one eighteen-year-old with fire powers.

Still, this wasn't enough to put a damper on her trip through the skies. Being able to see the world from above was just so much cooler when her view wasn't limited by a tiny rectangular box stuck to the side of a giant flying aluminum can,and dampened by the white noise of the engines and the ambience generated by a hundred other passengers going about their own business.

Her helmet's speaker crackled to life as the radio scanner in her helmet picked up on an emergency call.

"Hello? I'm calling from the Vytal Labs over in Staten Island!" A panicked, nasally voice rang in her ear. "We need help! Some sort of darkness…creature broke in and started moving towards the lower levels. It's killing anyone who tries to stop it, please we need—!"

The noisy feed suddenly cut off before the caller could finish his message. Was their power cut, or did he…?

Still, what little she was able to pick up from his description of the culprit told her everything she needed to know. She screeched to a halt, the flames shooting out of her hands keeping her aloft as her eyes scanned the horizon in the general direction of Staten Island.

"Guess subtlety is out…" She muttered, her entire body glowing brightly as she drew upon more of her power.

Like a shooting star, she rocketed forward towards Vytal Labs, propelled by a large jet of fire that encompassed her entire body. Of course, such a display would let every superfan know that Sunfire was busy heading towards Staten Island, and that of course would mean that every criminal would know too.

But that was fine, because this incident was more important, especially if She was involved. Plus, she was pretty sure she could feel the bugs tangled in her hair burning to a crisp, so that was nice.

Her speaker crackled to life once more. "Miss Xiao Long. I see you've noticed the break-in at Vytal Laboratories."

"Hey, Oz! Just sit tight, I'll be there in a flash!" Yang said. "Should I expect anyone else?"

"Unfortunately, no." Director Ozpin replied. "You're currently the only active hero in a fifty mile radius from VL. Please, be careful."

"Don't worry, Oz. I can handle this. The broadcast said there was only one of her creations."

"That's exactly what worries me. Don't let your guard down just because she sent a single Grimm. She must have some sort of trick up her sleeve."

Inside her helmet, Yang rolled her eyes. Salem was attacking a lab, right? The Grimm Queen probably just thought she didn't need much to fight off a bunch of nerds in lab coats.

"Fine. I promise I'll keep my eyes open. Sunfire, out."

Her comm clicked off as she neared the building marked with a large 'VL' logo on the side. Even through the darkness she could see civilians flooding out of the main entrance and emergency exits. Thankfully, the worst she could see was a few cuts and bruises some of them picked up trying to escape.

The people gave her a wide berth as she lowered her flames and touched down in front of the entrance, the double doors knocked off their hinges and scattered inside the facility. So, it was strong enough to clear a pair of steel doors by a large margin. That probably didn't bode well for the rest of the lab.

"Sunfire!" A scientist fleeing the scene shouted, stumbling to a halt past her. "Oh, thank God you're here! That thing has made it to the lower levels, you have to stop it!"

"Any idea what it's after?" She said, her helmet automatically distorting her voice.

"I…" The man hesitated, avoiding her gaze. "I don't know."

Liar. She forcefully grabbed his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. "Lives are at stake. Tell me. Now."

"Okay, okay!" The scientist blubbered. "There's an experimental reactor down there! It wasn't exactly constructed above-board, but come on! Free energy for the whole city, if we can get it to work without melting down! That monster broke in before we had the chance to properly shut it down like all the other times!"

Her grip slackened as she realized Salem's plan. "Go."

He gave a single, terrified nod before disappearing into the street. With no time to waste, Yang sprinted into the lobby, activating her communicator.

"Oz, did you get all of that?"

"I did. We've just seized the head researcher's files on their little 'side project'. The police are evacuating the area, but right now there's no telling when the reactor will melt down, or how much destruction it will cause when it goes off."

"It's not going to go off." Yang growled as she leapt down a destroyed elevator shaft. "You better have something ready for me when I get down there."

"I have my best men working on a solution." Ozpin replied as she kicked off the back of the shaft and into the bottom floor. "Don't forget about the Grimm."

"Yeah, I see it."

The lowest floor of the laboratory was one large, circular room. Piping and cables lined the ground and snaked up the walls, leading to a metal cylinder at the center of the room. Jutting out of the floor, in front of what Yang assumed was the reactor, was a rectangular box of a control panel. An employee was slumped forward over it, unmoving, his white lab coat stained red from the gaping hole in his back. Floating just above him was an inky black sphere, with several thin tentacles extended from the jagged white base it rested on.

Sensing the presence of another human, the Grimm reacted by sending its arms flying towards her. Leaping aside to dodge the spear-like protrusions at the ends of the tentacles, her left hand snaked out and grabbed them like a bundle of sticks. A forceful yank brought the glowing sphere hurtling towards her, as her right hand closed into a fist and engulfed itself in flames. Keeping her grip tight on the Grimm's arms, she drove a right hook straight through the orb, shattering it like glass as the rest of the body burned away.

But there was no time to waste celebrating a premature victory. As she ran up to the console she could already tell it was too late for the poor scientist. After gently laying his body down on the ground next to the control panel, she called up Ozpin.

"Sunfire." Though the poor underground signal distorted his voice somewhat, there was no hiding his worried tone. "Report. What's going on down there?"

"I've taken out the Grimm." She said, looking down at the control panel. "The reactor's…oh, no."

"Sunfire?"

Before her lay what Yang could only describe as an utter clusterfuck of exposed wiring, buttons, switches and blinking LEDs. And that was before she took into account the fact that nearly all of them were slashed, smashed, or shattered in some way, causing the whole thing to look more like a fireworks show of sparks than a user-friendly, easy-to-use interface.

"I was too slow." She relayed, frustration creeping into her voice. "The Grimm completely trashed the controls to this thing. Please tell me there's a way to shut it off manually."

"There might be a way." He replied after a pause. "Do you remember your adventure in Yosemite last year?"

"I'd hardly call that an adventure, Oz." She scoffed. "I showed up, there was a big fire, I learned I could absorb the flames—wait. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes. The data is incomplete, but the preliminary tests we've done on your DNA seem to suggest so. I believe that your meta ability should allow you to absorb all types of radiation, not just fire."

"Well, you better hope you're right. And we'll be having a talk later about why it took a reactor melting down for you to tell me about this 'DNA test' you've done on me."

"Of course." Ozpin spoke slowly. "But Sunfi—no, Yang. If it ever seems like you can't stop the reactor from going off, I want you to get out of there, do you understand?"

She took one final glance at the destroyed console, eyes hardening in response. "Sorry, Oz. But that's not an option."

"Yang, wait—!"

In one swift motion, she ripped her helmet off and threw it to the floor, cutting off their connection. Placing both palms against the metal reactor casing, she felt the energy pulsing within, and knew then and there that Ozpin's theory was right. It was just like how she normally did with fires, just bigger this time. She could do this. She had to.

The initial surge of energy nearly knocked her off her feet. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt. She could feel her heart jackhammering through her chest, like she'd accidentally mixed energy drinks into her morning coffee, and though she was fully covered by her suit, every hair in her body felt like it was standing on its end. Her head swam as bright lights flashed in her eyes, wisps of steam rising through her clothes as her legs gave out and she fell to her knees, forcing down the bile that crept up her throat. Still, she kept her hands on the reactor, grit her teeth and kept going, even as her vision went white, and her blood felt like it was going to burst through her skin. She couldn't pull away now even if she wanted to.

And then, everything faded away. The heat of the reactor, the energy coursing through her veins, even the ground beneath her. The last thing she felt was the sensation of falling, and the strange, otherworldly hum in her ears.

"Yang."

Ugh. She felt like shit. Every muscle in her body felt sore for some reason. Did she overdo it on last night's patrol?

"Yang. Get up."

Someone was talking to her. Most likely Ruby. Her sister was probably trying to make sure she didn't oversleep.

"Not now, Ruby." She mumbled. "Tired."

"Good for you!" Her sister replied. "I don't care. Get. Up."

*WHAP*

Yang jolted up as something smacked her in the face. "I'm up! I'm up."

Combat training kicked in as she glanced around wildly for a threat to punch. But instead, all she saw was a pale blue, cloudless sky and—wow, that was a lot of sand. Her sister, wearing a black blouse and skirt with a red trim, was already walking away from her with a long black metal cylinder attached to her hip, warily looking around for any other signs of life or any indication of where they were.

And where exactly were they? Why was her little sister here? How did Yang even get to wherever here was from the—

"Oh no. The reactor!" She shouted. Did she defuse it in time?

"The what?" Her sister spun on her heel to face her.

"No time to explain!" She said as her sister stared at her with confused red eyes. "We have to—"

Red?

Ruby stared at her expectantly. "We have to do what, Yang?"

Standing still in front of her, Yang finally had a chance to get a good look at her sister. Her signature slouch was gone, and her normally scrawny frame was replaced with a figure that no amount of overnight training could possibly explain. Did she accidentally manifest superpowers or something?

"Ruby, your eyes are, uh, red?"

Ruby tilted her head and gave a half-lidded stare. "Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night. Now, if you're done being hungover, why don't you—"

"Hey, I'm not hungover!" Even if she felt like she was. Could you get drunk on radiation? Wait, they were getting off topic—

"The fact that I found you passed out wearing that says otherwise."

Yang's eyes widened in panic. No freaking way was her secret identity getting leaked here. "It's not what it looks like!"

"Really? So it doesn't look like you took Bumblebee out for a night in town, and got so plastered that you didn't even bother to change clothes before passing out for the night?"

Oh, thank God. Maybe she thought it was just a very eclectic motorcycle outfit?

"Okay, fine. It's exactly what it looks like." Yang lied, latching onto the excuse her sister gave her.

Ruby gave a very un-Ruby-like roll of her red eyes, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face before turning away and walking towards the peak of a tall dune.

"Wait!" Yang said, feet sinking into the sand as she tried to follow her sister. "I'm still not done talking about your—"

She cut herself off as Ruby tensed, bringing an open palm up as if to say 'stop'. "Do you hear that?" Her sister whispered.

As silence fell between them, Yang could very faintly hear the sounds of two new voices, just beyond the hill of sand they were walking up. Fantastic. Now there were at least four people stranded in the middle of nowhere. She might have been able to carry Ruby out alone, but there was no way two more people could fit on Sunfire Airlines.

Ruby started moving again, albeit much more slowly. "You've got your weapons with you?"

"Always." Yang held up her fists with a grin. "Wait, but why would we need them?"

She sighed. "In case we need to defend ourselves, Yang. Gods, I will never understand the appeal of alcohol. Now, come on. I'll take the lead."

Frowning to herself, Yang followed Ruby up to the peak of the dune. It was nice of her to try and act all mature during a time like this, but there was no way she was letting her baby sister put herself in harm's way, superpowers or not. She'd figure out the weird differences she was seeing in her sister once it was guaranteed that they were out of any immediate danger.

Peeking down from their vantage point into the center of a sand pit, Yang saw a tall hispanic woman deep in the throes of an argument with a very short white girl with multicolored hair. Or maybe it was just the angle they were watching them.

The taller woman was dressed in dark blues and teals, a tunic strapped down by belts and cinches, with a skirt that nearly reached her dark brown boots. On her neck rested a crystalline amulet in the shape of a skull, and despite it not being anywhere near Halloween, a large skeletal mask covered most of her face. She was holding a staff adorned with a single skull at each end, using it as a prop as she gestured with her free hand.

Meanwhile, the other girl stood in stark contrast with both the darkly colored woman and the sands of the desert, the mix of pink, brown, and white of both her hair and her outfit reminding Yang of neapolitan ice cream. Despite wearing heels, Yang was shocked to see that she could barely come up to the other woman's neck. But the thing that attracted her attention was what she was holding; a parasol in one hand and a strange looking gun that would look more at home in a sci-fi movie than here. Glancing down at the metal cylinder at her sister's waist, which she now realized was actually a bunch of sheaths stuck together, she felt a bit self-conscious about being the only one of the bunch without a weapon.

Speaking of her sister, Ruby was currently glaring at the tri-colored girl, hand drifting towards the handle sticking out of her sword…thing. Back down in the sand pit, the argument seemed to be heating up as well. She wasn't quite sure what was going on anymore, but she guessed now was a good enough time for her to step in before a fight broke out.

"Comin' through!" She shouted, vaulting over the crest of the dune, using the looseness of the sands to drift down to where the two women were standing. "Crazy day, huh? Are you two just as lost as I am?"

Predictably, the stranger in blue turned towards her, gripping her staff defensively. "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

The ice cream girl, however, didn't have the same reaction. Instead, her eyes literally lit up like a christmas tree as she spotted her, mouth twisting into a mischievous grin. With a speed belying her size, she zipped up to Yang, forgetting about the other woman entirely.

"Blondie!" The girl greeted her like they were old friends. "Am I glad to see a familiar face around here! Nice ponytail, by the way. Looks good on you!"

"Do I…know you?" Yang shot a confused glance at the woman in blue, who stared back impassively through her mask.

"Ha ha, very funny." The girl said, playfully poking at her ribs before sidling up to her so they were both facing the masked woman, arms wrapped around her waist. "Aaanyways, you can drop the goody-two-shoes act here. My GPS tells me this desert goes on for miles. No chance of our…extracurricular activities getting exposed, you get me?"

Yang's eyes narrowed as the girl gave her a conspiratorial wink before continuing. "So why don't you tell the dreg over there, that your old pal Trivia has never heard of this 'Argus' place in her life, and we can all go our separate ways, hm?"

Yang opened her mouth to ask what a 'dreg' was, but was interrupted by the sound of Ruby sliding down from behind her.

"Yang. What the hell are you doing?"

"Well—I, er, I'm trying to figure out what's going on?" She responded quickly with a weak shrug of her shoulders. She took the opportunity to shove off the girl currently attached to her, prompting a short yelp of protest as she tumbled into the sand.

The frown that crossed her sister's face looked nothing short of terrifying to her. Yang had never seen Ruby like this before, even during that one time she accidentally almost burned down their apartment by forgetting about the cookies her sister had told her to watch while she was out getting that night's dinner.

"And you decided the best way to go about doing that was to side with one of our enemies?" She asked incredulously.

"What? One of our enemies?" Yang wanted to melt something. Why the hell was everything so damn confusing? "Can we just slow down? Ruby, I've never met either of these people before in my life! Am I the only one who has no idea what's going on? I mean, one minute I'm…minding my own business, and then suddenly I wake up and find myself in the middle of freaking nowhere!"

"Same here, actually." To Yang's relief, the masked woman piped up next. "I was in the middle of hunting a Nevermore when I was surrounded by a blinding light. Next thing I know, I'm here, and Shorty over there is pestering me for directions."

Trivia sat up and glared at her aggressor. "Hey, I resent that! And what the fuck is a Nevermore?"

"Right?" Yang threw up her hands in exasperation.

For some reason, this caused her own sister to take a step away from her, hand resting on the sword and sheath attached to her hip. And of course, she couldn't forget that mystery either!

"Something's wrong here." Ruby muttered worriedly. "Very wrong."

"Then we find out what. And fast." Yang said, pounding a fist into her palm.

"Easier said than done, Blondie. After all, it's not like we're stuck blindly traversing a lifeless desert, where we could easily get turned around and lost for days on end before we all die of dehydration!"

Yang…didn't really have a response for that. Again, she could have easily carried Ruby away alone, flying in one direction until they eventually hit the ocean or land that wasn't covered in sand, but a group of four was way more complicated, especially with the lack of identifying features the dunes carried. Her determination began to crumble as she tried and failed to think of a way out of this situation. How the hell was she supposed to save all of them?

Suddenly, the 'Nevermore' hunter looked up and gasped in surprise. "That tower wasn't there before, was it?" She said, pointing behind them.

Yang turned around. What tower—? Oh, that tower. To her shock, a tall, jade clock tower loomed over them that certainly wasn't there before. The hands of the clock were unmoving, permanently pointing straight upwards towards a domed top with stained glass windows as if to signify their importance.

The four of them shared uneasy glances before Ruby spoke. "I guess we'd better see what's inside…"

"Count me in. Anything's better than out here." Trivia added.

The base of the tower held a single entrance that led into a simple lobby, devoid of any furnishings save for a walled spiral staircase in the center, that no doubt led up to the top of the tower. A tiled ceiling prevented any of them from seeing further up, prompting the group to approach the stairs one-by-one, in case of an ambush. And so they silently tread onward.

But there wasn't one. Instead, as they climbed up the staircase, they were treated to a rather strange sight. The last of the natural light from the entrance had left them, and would have plunged everyone into darkness were it not for patterns etched into the walls that surrounded them. Like the starry night sky, brightly shining diamonds soon began dotting the walls with increasing frequency, each 'star' connected to at least one other with thinly drawn lines, myriad colors illuminated by the light emanating from their endpoints. It almost reminded Yang of a constellation, yet she was certain no constellation could ever contain this many stars. Plus, not only were the connections overlapping, but there were simply far too many of them, forming more of a spider's web than a clear, concise image that the constellations were supposed to represent.

When they finally reached the top, Yang expected an observatory, a library, a monologuing supervillain, something that might tell them what was going on. But instead what they got was a simple round table with four seats, gently tinted red by the light flowing through the stained glass windows.

"Great. Now what?"

"Now you sit, and listen to what I have to say, Miss Xiao Long." A voice echoed around them, causing Yang to jump. Beside her, Ruby shifted into a defensive stance, and their other two companions likewise laid hands on their weapons.

The voice let out a chuckle that sounded suspiciously like Director Ozpin. "Come now, there's no need for that. I've got snacks."

Yang's eyes were drawn to the table, where a plate of cookies and four cups suddenly materialized from out of thin air. The cookies were chocolate, and for some reason each drink looked completely different from one another.

"Dibs on the fizz!" Trivia said, quickly snatching up the bubbly drink and settling into a seat.

Yang grabbed a coffee and followed suit, watching as the other two warily approached the table, before finally relenting. Once they were all seated, a large 3D projection appeared over the center of the table, showing a blank, featureless face. No eyes, no hair, and no neck; just the gray outline of a head on a half-transparent projection that flickered from time to time.

"I suppose you are all wondering why you are here." The voice began.

"Understatement of the year." Trivia snorted. "And who are you supposed to be, anyway?"

"Who I am is not important, Miss Vanille. But you may call me 'Ozymandias' if you wish. Now, shall we continue?"

The shorter girl didn't look quite satisfied with that answer, but nodded anyway, crossing her arms behind her head and propping her feet up on the table.

"Right. To put it simply, you're all from different universes. Each one of you is from an alternate reality."

"What?"

"That would explain a lot…"

"Called it!"

"Bullshit."

"I can assure you, Miss Calavera, that this is very real. And very serious, for all of you. But before we move on, let's go over a little bit of each of your histories, shall we?"

The floating head of Ozymandias flickered out of view, replaced with a somewhat embarrassing image of Yang, posing with her fist held high while fully in costume. Immediately, she noticed that the holographic recreation of her was completely accurate. Everything was accounted for; from the sleek yellow and purple bodysuit she was currently wearing; to the modified motorcycle helmet she had ditched back at the reactor; to the black jacket emblazoned with her emblem; right down to the last detail on her gloves, boots, and kneepads.

Trivia whistled. "Lookin' good, Blondie! The headgear really completes the set!"

"Hasn't anyone ever told you to shut up?"

"Yang Xiao Long." Ozymandias narrated. "Better known to her world as the superhero 'Sunfire'. On a planet of over seven billion, she is just one of many heroes who work tirelessly to protect the innocent."

Like a slideshow, the holograph instantly shifted to another picture, this time of her looking slightly younger. Damn it. She knew where this was going…

"But she didn't start out this way. No, for fifteen-year-old Yang Xiao Long, the accident that imbued her with her amazing powers was nothing more than an invitation to freedom. No more speed limits. No more traffic. Just a duty to herself, to go out and live each night to its fullest."

The slideshow continued, showing Yang as an unrecognizable blob of light blazing forward in the skies above a highway, leaving a trail of flames in her wake.

"Until one day…her reckless behavior caused…an accident."

Yang glanced at her fellow dimension hoppers. They were all staring at the projection, transfixed with a mix of wonder, fear, and curiosity. But Yang turned her head and shut her eyes, for she didn't need outside help to picture what would happen next.

A late night. An overconfidence that told her that her powers were completely under control. A little too much firepower, like a bright, shining beacon. And her father's car, eager to get home after working overtime, overtaking the truck in front of him at just the wrong time.

"A harsh wake-up call, but a necessary one. For in just three measly years following the incident, Yang Xiao Long turned her life around, going from delinquent to hero. And now, Sunfire stands proud, in spite of her past, as one of humanity's greatest defenders."

The pictures shifted again as Yang opened her eyes. But there was no time for self-reflection as the narration moved on to the next person.

"Trivia Vanille. Known in some circles only by her name, and as the mysterious 'Neo' in others."

"What, like the Matrix?"

"You know it, Blondie."

"The Vanille household was one of wealth, of privilege. But none of these things, or their associated benefits, ever interested young Trivia. No, it was the thrill of breaking the rules, and of not getting caught, that turned her away from the dull, idyllic lifestyle her parents lived. Thus it was no surprise, when combined with the various social and economic problems plaguing their city, that Trivia eventually ran away from her family, becoming a petty thief in the process."

The picture of the girl in question stood in stark contrast to how she actually looked, sitting across the table. Past Trivia looked utterly ordinary in appearance, most noticeably lacking the multicolored hair and heterochromia in her eyes. This of course, raised a few eyebrows, to which Trivia simply responded with a wink that again changed the color of her eyes. How did she never notice that before?!

"With nothing to her name and little experience, Miss Vanille failed to make a name for herself as a criminal, remaining a small-time crook for quite some time. Until one day, she caught her big break."

Past Trivia disappeared, replaced with an all-too-familiar snowflake logo.

"It was sheer coincidence that led Miss Vanille to Schnee Enterprises the day the break-in occurred. And while both criminal and law enforcement alike were focused on the company's more valuable assets, Miss Vanille was always more interested in the esoteric."

The scenery shifted, showing her sneaking into an unguarded laboratory, where what Yang could only describe as a freaking cyborg arm lay floating in a tube of air.

"Cutting edge nanotech. A swiss army knife of modern innovation in the palm of her hands. How could she possibly resist?"

Yang watched as the arm disassembled into a cloud before reforming like a gauntlet over Trivia's left hand. The girl in the hologram clenched her new fist a few times, grinning mischievously.

"In addition to strengthening her physiology, the experimental technology came with some…added benefits."

Their view shifted to the door, in the process of being kicked down by security. But as they entered the lab, Trivia was nowhere to be found. Then, as security left the room to chase down their thief, the girl in question shimmered back into existence, having not moved from her spot from earlier.

"Armed with the ability to manipulate light and sound, 'Neo' quickly rose to the top of the criminal underworld." A montage of her in action quickly flashed by. "She could be anyone, look like anything, and hack anything. Her actions quickly caught the attention of the authorities, and even landing her the front page of an article titled: 'The Most Notorious Criminals of 2040'. To this day, no one has caught the elusive Trivia Vanille."

"What, so you're just a thief?" Yang asked incredulously.

Trivia gave a cheeky grin. "Sure am. Nice jacket, by the way."

"What—? Hey, give that back!"

"Maria Calavera. The Grimm Reaper."

Their now-named fourth was displayed on the projection, looking almost the exact same as the one sitting with them. The sole exception was that her mask was off in the picture, revealing a striking set of silver eyes. Eh, Yang had seen weirder.

"Unlike our previous two guests, there isn't much to say about Miss Calavera that you can't already infer. No dramatic heel-face turn, no sudden stroke of luck flinging her into the spotlight, no tragic backstory pushing her forward. Just a story of talent, hard work, and a desire to protect humanity that drove her to the profession of Huntress to begin with."

Several flashing images showed Maria fighting off hordes of Grimm with her staff, which apparently had blades hidden in the ends, as well as the ability to split into two. Kinda reminded Yang of Darth Maul, if she was being honest.

"That's a lot of Grimm…" She commented, drawing everyone's attention.

"You have Grimm too?" Ruby said. Too? "Why'd we never see any during your, uh, backstory?"

"They're tied to one of my enemies. Her 'thing' is that she summons them." Yang explained.

"But that's impossible." Maria rebuked. "The creatures of Grimm have been around since the beginning of time. They're a force of nature, not someone's pet."

"Hey, don't look at me like that." Yang held her hands up in surrender. "I'm just explaining how things work in my neck of the woods."

"Her knack for single-handedly slaying any Grimm that crosses her path earned her the moniker: 'The Grimm Reaper', one she wears with pride. A living legend among Huntsmen and civilians alike."

"So that's three for three on celebrities in our little gang." Trivia gloated. "How 'bout you, Red? Care to make it four?"

"Not really."

"And finally, our last guest. Ruby Branwen."

Yang's fist came down on the table, hard. "What."

"Yang." Ruby said softly. "Not now."

"Life in a bandit tribe—"

"Bandit tribe?!" Yang shrieked, kicking back her chair as she stood up.

"Yang!" Ruby had likewise stood up, staring her down with cold, red eyes. "Not. Now."

"Ahem." Ozymandias cleared his throat as another chair materialized under Yang's knees, forcing her to sit down. "Growing up in a bandit tribe was hard, but young Ruby was never one to buckle and break under pressure. Instead, it was that very pressure that forged her into a veritable diamond in the rough, whose brilliance was even able to convince her own mother that she was meant for greater things."

Yang could hardly contain her rage at seeing that bitch appear on the display at the mention of her sister's mother. But she kept to herself. As Ruby had said, now wasn't the time.

"And it was that same brilliance that attracted the Headmaster of a certain academy, who let the young Branwen in two years early, under an alias, of course. With her mother's training and life lessons instilled in her, she now leads her own group of Huntresses in training through their first year at Beacon Academy, as Team RWBY."

Yang blinked in surprise as she saw herself, along with Weiss and Blake, standing with Ruby in a line as Ozpin congratulated them.

"Though they live in uncertain times, Miss Branwen understands that it is both individual strength, and strength through cooperation and understanding, that will ensure their collective survival. Out of her depth she may be, but she lives every day promising to do right by her family. Her father, her sister, and her mothers. Both the one that birthed her, and the one that raised her."

Wait. Something didn't add up. "B-But Ruby, your eyes…"

"Colored contacts." She explained. "Mom was always a bit paranoid. Something about silver eyes…"

"She was right to be." Maria added. "Why do you think I wear this mask?"

"What, so people discriminate based on eye color where you're from or something?" Trivia asked, her own eyes blinking silver.

"No, of course not." Maria said. "It's a long story."

"And one you will have plenty of time to share later. Now that you all are familiar with each other, it's time for you to learn why you've all been brought together."

"You want us to steal something!"

"Not quite, Miss Vanille. Rather, it is the opposite. You are all here, because your lives have been stolen away from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. And in context of what she was previously doing before she wound up here, it didn't spell anything good, that's for sure.

"Allow me to explain. You see, time itself is like the starry night sky. Infinitely expanding forward, dotted with lights that illuminate the major decisions in one's history. If we were to connect the points between multiple stars, we'd get a timeline. Likewise, if two points connected to the same star, we'd call that a branch in the timeline. Maybe you decided to get a sandwich for lunch instead of noodles, or maybe you decided to become a doctor instead of an athlete. The possibilities are endless."

"Endless?" Maria asked doubtfully.

"Well, perhaps not infinite, but believe me when I say there are trillions of trillions of worlds just like yours, except for one thing, one key detail that may be different."

"This is insane…" Ruby muttered.

"Now, what would happen if one day, one of those stars were to fade and disappear when it wasn't meant to? Perhaps the effects would be minor. Skipping lunch for the day isn't likely to change much in the long run. Or perhaps, the changes could be much greater. So instead, you don't get your medical license. You join the wrong sports team which ends up dissolving a season later. And these changes can create a domino effect."

Everyone waited with bated breath as Ozymandias continued. "Suddenly, you're no longer on the path to a successful and profitable career. Then later down the line, you can't afford to pay for the surgery required to save your mother's life after her accident. So you resort to robbing a bank. A stray shot fired kills the man who would have found the cure to cancer. And you rot in jail, condemning countless cancer patients in hundreds of timelines branching off of yours."

"But none of us would ever do that!" Yang argued.

"None of you, perhaps. But you are not the aggressor in this situation." And with that declaration, the full implications of what was happening sunk in. "You are the cancer patient in the next universe over. The victim."

No one spoke for a full minute, too shocked to even move. Then finally, Ruby spoke up.

"What…what happened to us?"

The display flickered to life, showing a familiar scene. It was Yang, standing in front of the reactor. No…

"Yang. You were successful in defusing the unstable reactor threatening your city." Yang breathed out a sigh of relief. They were safe. Everyone was safe.

"A little too successful, as you ended up absorbing far more of the reactor's unstable energy than you were capable of handling. Permanently altering your genetic makeup."

The picture shifted, showing a horrific scene.

"Holy shit…"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

Yang sat petrified, staring into her own horrified face that was surrounded by a sickly green glow. Still in the reactor room, the Yang of the future was surrounded by a sea of half-melted corpses of scientists and various military personnel.

"A special containment suit was quickly designed to neutralize your new powers. You will never feel the touch of another living thing for the rest of your life."

Before anyone could recover, Ozymandias moved on.

"Trivia. Your theft of the original technology attracted the attention of both Schnee Enterprises and the Chinese Triads whom you had beaten to the punch. Individually you could escape either of them, but you couldn't have predicted that they would ever work together."

A series of images displayed Trivia successfully dodging law enforcement, Schnee security personnel, and gang members hired by the triads, before cutting to a scene of her being surrounded on both sides of an alleyway by all three of them.

"After years of misuse, the experimental nanotechnology had permanently bonded to your DNA, but that wasn't a concern to the SE researchers." Future Trivia was strapped to a table, tightly restrained but conscious, a fearful smile on her face. "No, their only concern was retrieving the stolen invention. The extremely painful extraction method they used meant survival of the host was secondary, and their criminal connections meant they had plenty of ways to dispose of the body."

A loud clattering jolted everyone's attention to Trivia, who had fallen out of her chair. She flickered in and out of existence before the illusion dropped, revealing a terrified, brown haired, brown eyed girl. True to Ozymandias' description, her left arm was entirely metal now, as if it were a prosthetic rather than something to be worn over.

"Maria. The consequences of working alone finally caught up to you when you were ambushed outside of Mistral."

A video played, showing Maria taking down a giant bird Grimm, before being attacked by a lizard…person?

"Thinking yourself untouchable, the idea of losing never occurred to you. And even when it did, you at least thought the end would be painful, but quick. But it wasn't quick. And it wasn't the end."

An image of a smiling Salem flashed, followed by an inky black darkness, which slowly zoomed out to reveal a Grimm that Yang had never seen before in her years of fighting the witch.

"Converted into the thing you once hunted with ease, you'd spend the rest of your days doing—well, I'm sure I don't have to spell it out for you, now do I?"

A flash of silver emanated from Maria's mask. Yang had no idea what that was, but she was pretty sure it meant she was angry.

The images faded, replaced with nothing. Wait, what about Ruby?

"Ruby. You were simply never born."

"Lucky bastard." Trivia grumbled, getting back up from the floor. "So…what now?"

"Now, you fight back. Your lives may have been changed, but even our future bank robber can still win a lottery beforehand. You still have the opportunity to turn your lives back around, and avoid these fates, if you so wish."

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I'd very much like to keep living the life I have. I'm in."

"As are the rest of us." Ruby said. "What do we have to do?"

"As we established earlier, the incidents affecting you are occurring in other realities, so that's where you'll be going. While some might not seem to affect you on the surface, I assure you that they all do. You'll be reconnecting all of the stars that lead to you, and in doing so, ensure that you remain on the right path."

A brief pause, and Ozymandias continued. "If you are successful, you'll return to your life, unchanged by this little adventure, and restoring balance to the multiverse in the process. However, there are risks. If you fail to resolve an incident in any of the universes you visit, your fates will be set in stone. No second chances."

Suddenly, Ruby yelped in surprise, holding up her wrist. A wristwatch that wasn't there before was fastened tightly to her sister, seemingly affixed in place even as she tugged and twisted at it.

"A multiverse navigator. To help you on your mission. Invisible to all but the four of you, it will act as a tour guide to the best of its ability, providing you basic information about the universe you are in, as well as what incident you are meant to resolve."

"What do you mean: 'to the best of its ability'?"

"Trying to predict the future can be very messy, mathematically speaking. Now then, are there any questions before I launch you into your first alternate universe?"

"Um, plenty, actually." Yang commented. "First, you still haven't told us exactly who you are—"

"Good! I'll be keeping in touch every now and then. Best of luck!"

And for the second time today, she fell.

Next: Team WBY?

List of Timeline-Sensitive Individuals:

Yang Xiao Long (Sunfire), Earth-616

Ruby Branwen, Remnant-39

Trivia Vanille (Neo), Earth-55

Maria Calavera, Remnant-4

A/N: If you've read Marvel's 2001 Exiles run or anything like it, you'll know where this is going. Unfortunately, RWBY doesn't quite have the massive repository of characters with deep histories like the Big Two of comics do, but I'll try and make this work regardless.

By the way, Yang's hero outfit is based on her alternate costume in the chinese mobile game. Just imagine that, but also on fire.