Chapter 10

Fallout

As Emerald and Mercury fell to the ground unconscious, Adam and Hazel were clearly losing their fights. The Mason Twins' raw strength surpassed even his own, and the dust crystals in his body were running out of energy.

Adam tried to go for the unconscious Blake, only for Qrow and Ruby to slash him simultaneously, shattering his aura and knocking him out.

Hazel was thrown dozens of feet, his semblance deactivated, causing him to spasm in pain and collapse.

The Mason twins immediately healed Weiss and Blake, as they woke up, Nia cuffed Emerald and said, "that's that"

"Unfortunately, before they left, one of Lupin's agents let some info slip," Charlie admitted.

Weiss gave a confused look and said, "How is that bad?"

Kelly shook her head and said, "because Darkrai, one of the most dangerous beings in the multiverse, is still alive."

Just then, a dimensional hole opened, and Lupin appeared; he pulled his sword and sheathed in less than a second. Slashes of light appeared around everyone, rendering everyone besides Ruby, Qrow, and Blake unconscious. The cat Faunus had just barely enough aura resorted to endure it, but it had shattered again.

Ruby breathed deep as she staggered from her aura shattering, and her eyes began to glow.

Lupin smiled and allowed her eyes to activate, the entire room was filled with a blinding light, but before it could do any damage, it was sucked into an energy cell Lupin was holding.

"Thank you for your assistance," Lupin joked before lifting Hazel, Adam, Emerald, and Mercury with telekinesis and throwing them into the portal.

Ruby's eyes filled with rage as Lupin vanished into the portal, and another blast erupted from her eyes. However, the energy was sucked into the dimensional hole, causing it to bulge and collapse into a vortex.

Ruby was closest to the blast, and she began to get sucked towards the void. She planted Crescent Rose into the ground, but the floor tore up under it.

Blake tossed Gamble Shroud's ribbon, and Ruby grabbed it just before the collapsing portal swallowed her.

The Faunus's eyes bulged as she realized what was about to happen. Qrow was too weak to move, so he could only watch as Blake was sucked into the portal before it detonated, leaving a small crater in front of the door.

Just then, Yang arrived on the elevator; her eyes were now permanently red; she noticed her little sister and partner's absence and asked, "where….where's Ruby and Blake?" She was desperately hoping that the crater was from the fight.

Qrow was in so much shock that all he could manage to say was, "they're gone….."

A few weeks later, everyone was gathered at Beacon; Yang now had her mother's sword at her side.

Zander emerged from a portal with his father and said, "they are alive….that dimensional hole was ripped open somewhere else."

"What took you so long to get here?" Yang demanded.

"Time zones, Zander was sent to a dimension where time flows differently. Weeks here was 3 months there," Malcolm clarified.

Qrow swallowed a sip from his flask and asked, "do you have a plan to find them?"

Just then, Nia's father emerged from the portal and said, "we're working on a way to track white matter; until then, there's not much we can do."

"I thought you said you could see the future! Where is she!" Yang demanded.

Malcolm shook his head and replied, "leave Z."

The nervous Zoroark nodded and said, "ok."

"There is no "the future"; there are only possibilities. There are thousands of ways this day could go, and finding anything in the vast multiverse that way is impossible," Malcolm clarified.

Yang stomped her foot and cracked the concrete under her, not use to her new strength.

"So nothing for now?" Weiss asked.

Zander shook his head and replied, "with Ironwood's paranoia, best to lay low. However, there is one more thing to discuss, regarding you."

Everyone followed Zander point to Oscar, who had been doing his best to keep out of sight the past few days.

"Me?" Oscar said timidly as he clutched the Long Memory.

Malcolm then stepped forward, his own cane in his hand rather than walking with it as he said, "no, Oz, come out now."

Oscar flashed green, and Ozpin took over, his face immediately turning dark.

"This is your last chance, tell them about your full history with Salem, or I will," Malcolm warned.

With the exception of Zander, Alpha team left the courtyard, leaving only Qrow, Weiss, Yang, and Team JNPR. They knew all of this and had no desire to be part of this revelation.

"What do you mean his full history with Salem? He said he failed to stop her in the past and was cured to reincarnate," Jaune reminded them.

Pyrrha nodded and said, "did you love something important out?"

"Please….don't," Ozpin begged.

Malcolm shook his head and slammed his cane on the ground, causing the world around them to freeze.

"Don't listen to…." Oz was cut off as Zander's eyes glowed, spawning a green bubble of energy around his head to muzzle Oz. It was painless and didn't prevent him from breathing, but he was forced into silence.

Zander and Malcolm's eyes glowed as their used their illusions to change the world around them, showing the scene of a massive tower surrounded by a green field.

The scene shifted to a woman in a tower in front of a mirror. The woman had fair skin, pale platinum blonde hair, and light blue eyes. She wore most of her hair in a half up-done bun style, with a small, simple bun on the top and the remainder of her long, straight hair hanging at the bottom. Most of her bangs were tied back, barring several large locks that framed her face to her left. She wore a white, two-piece dress consisting of a sleeveless, diagonally overlapping white backless pleated top with a raised, pale blue halter-top square collar adorned with an aquamarine-colored rhombus-shaped crystal on the clavicle, surrounded by two smaller white rhombuses. Her long, high-waisted skirt was white with a faint purple tint - adorned with white diamond emblems and white wavy lines near the bottom hem, ruffled around the waist, and completed with a purple sash.

Malcolm then uttered words that earned a gasp from Qrow, Weiss, and Team JNPR simultaneously, "long ago, locked away in a massive castle; there was a lonely girl named…..Salem"

End Of Volume 5