AN: Since I'm feeling generous this week, have another chapter.

The village consisted of a few dozen buildings in total, and these were… old-fashioned. They were made entirely of timber, when stone or bricks were more common in the previous world. The villagers, likewise, wore rougher clothing than Ruby was used to seeing.

Hmm… Ruby checked the output of various sensors. "The men are human, at least," she said quietly. "The women… some of them are monsters, succubi, it feels like."

"Why are they in disguise?" Yang asked. "Is this a world where racial relations are worse?"

"We won't know until we ask around," Sonya said. "But, looking at this village..."

"It looks like the pictures from medieval history books," Luka finished. "Is this a few centuries in the past?"

Ruby's group drew a few curious gazes as they approached the village boundary. It wasn't yet clear if it was due to being strangers or due to their futuristic—relatively speaking—clothing.

"Huh, more visitors," a young man said, walking up to the group. "You don't look like you want to hurt us… but what have you come to Succubus Village for?"

Ruby felt her heart race at these words. But she had to stay calm, she had to avoid doing or saying anything rash.

"We're just hoping for a place to rest, after many days on the road," Luka replied.

"Well, you can stay the night if you're fine with our humble village," the young man said. "But it's rare for us to get so many visitors nowadays… did'ya run into any monsters out there?"

"...No, our trip here was uneventful," Luka said.

"Then you've been seriously lucky," the young man said. "Ever since Black Alice attacked, everywhere's been dangerous…"

That caused everyone in the group to flinch. Even the ones native to a completely different world had still heard of that infamous Monster Lord… who'd reigned five centuries before the present, up until her eventual death at the hands of a hero.

"Have you lost someone to monsters?" the young man asked sympathetically. He was apparently misunderstanding the reaction of Ruby's group. "Lots o' folks have nowadays… Until a hero kills her off, it'll just keep happening…"

"Black Alice… a hero…" Luka murmured. "Hey, have you heard about Hero Heinrich!"

"H-Heinrich?" the young man said. "Sure, everyone's heard of Heinrich. He must be the most famous hero nowadays, after beating those Black Nobles in Sabasa."

Luka didn't seem to be paying attention anymore. A giddy smile was spreading across his face.

"A-Anyway, thanks for the information!" Sonya said, roughly pulling Luka away.

"Wait, one more question," Ruby said. "You said 'more visitors'. Who came before us?"

"A weird girl with white hair and a white dress—"

Ruby squealed and hugged—she wasn't even sure who, it might have been her sister or someone else, but the important part was that Weiss was here—!

"Breathe! Breathe, Ruby!"

Seeing "EMOTION OVERLOAD" warning messages in her vision, Ruby took several deep breaths. She loosened her arms around her older sister.

"Th-Thanks, Yang…"

"Do you know where that girl is now?" Ren asked.

"She'd be in the village inn…" the young man pointed in one direction. "But seriously, who are you people?"

Ruby didn't stick around to hear more. She dashed towards the inn in a burst of petals.

Now, it was true there didn't seem to be any dangers in this village. It was also true that even if something bad happened, Ruby's friends were right behind her.

But none of those tactical considerations were on Ruby's mind when she pushed open the inn doors.

There was a counter with half a dozen stools, as well as a scattering of tables. An innkeeper stood behind the counter and several patrons were sitting down, but Weiss wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"H-H-Have you seen a girl dressed in white?" Ruby asked.

"Who the hell are you!?" one of the patrons asked. "And—bleh—what's with all these petals!?"

"Wait, you talkin' about Miss Schnee?" another patron said. "She's upstairs, but what do you want with—"

Ruby hurried up a narrow set of stairs to the inn's second floor. Here was a corridor with a row of doors on the right side.

Now that she was already up here, it would be awkward to go back down and ask which room Weiss was in. However, that didn't mean she had to knock on each door and ask who was on the other side.

Ruby closed her eyes and activated her short-range mana-wave imaging system.

The room closest to the stairs had no occupant.

The next room had the silhouettes of two people in the same bed: one human man, one succubus. Ruby quickly looked away from there.

The third room was also empty.

The fourth and final room had one silhouette lying on a bed. Ruby focused her vision. She still couldn't see much detail in that silhouette, but she could see the silhouette of a narrow sword on a nearby table.

Not just any sword… a Multi-Action Dust Rapier…

Ruby walked up to the door and knocked.

"Weiss…?"

After a few nerve-wracking seconds, the door was opened by a blue-eyed girl with hair as white as snow.

"R-Ruby…?" Weiss said, her body trembling.

Ruby tackled Weiss to the floor in an almost bone-breaking hug.

"WEISS! I didn't know if you were still alive, or where you were, then I saw your message on that tree, but then we went up and didn't know where you went, and then—"

Weiss put a hand over Ruby's mouth.

"Ruby, quiet down, you'll cause a commotion. But…" She looked away, though it wasn't enough to hide the smile on her face. "Thank you for finding me."

-ooo-

Ten minutes later, Weiss had followed Ruby to the woodland outside Succubus Village. So did Nora, Ren, Yang and the strange humans accompanying them. The fourth member of Team RWBY was conspicuous in her absence.

That's something worth discussing… though perhaps now isn't the time for it…

Already present here were monsters, angels and a couple of robots. Weiss hadn't even seen angels before except in some picture books that she'd read in Succubus Village. Even more of a surprise was that Pyrrha was among the monsters. Specifically, she had green scaly limbs, horns and a tail, marking her as a dragonkin.

"P-Pyrrha…" Weiss said, dumbfounded. "The others just told me that you'd changed, but… how on Remnant did you turn into a monster?"

"Well… to simplify things, it was in response to almost being killed by Cinder," Pyrrha replied, seeming a little embarrassed. "I decided that couldn't be allowed to happen again. So… I chose to go through this transformation. Ruby as well, in a different way."

Weiss turned on her foot to face her team leader, who scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"Ehehe… I didn't mean to keep it a secret," Ruby said. "It's just something I couldn't show in the village…"

In the next instant, Ruby's skin changed in appearance. It kept the same basic colour, but it was now smoother and glossier.

Weiss reached out and touched Ruby's hand gingerly. She hadn't realised it before, being too overwhelmed by emotion, but her team leader's body was noticeably more rigid than before.

She also noticed the fear and uncertainty on Ruby's face. She thus said, "There's no need to worry. I don't think any less of you for this."

Ruby beamed and threw her arms around Weiss again, allowing the latter to very clearly understand why the former had become a cyborg.

"R-Ruby!" Weiss gasped. "I'm glad to meet you again, but can you let go, before you break my Aura!?"

While laughing, Yang pulled her younger sister away. Weiss took this chance to fill her lungs with oxygen again.

"Sorry about that…" Ruby said. "Alright, then I'll introduce you to the rest of the new friends we made over here! You've already met Luka, Sonya, Lucia and Selene. The rest are…"

Ruby pointed at people one by one while giving their names and brief descriptions. The people in question often added details of their own.

Their fashion sense is… quite outrageous, in some cases, Weiss thought, glancing at the brown-haired woman in a skintight leotard and the green-haired woman practically dressed for going to be beach. Well, as long as there's no obligation for me to match them, there shouldn't be any problems. I was already starting to get used to it after seeing the fashion sense of many monsters.

During Luka's introduction, a tiny girl with insectoid wings popped out—a fairy. It was a race of monster Weiss had only read about in books until now.

"And I'm Sylph, the Spirit of the Wind!" the fairy declared proudly. "That means I control all the winds in the world! Don't forget about me!"

Then three more appeared in the same way: a short girl in a green and brown dress who didn't say a word, a blue slime with the shape of a mermaid, and a fierce-looking woman clothed only in fire. These introduced themselves—or were introduced by Sylph, in the first case—as Gnome, Undine and Salamander.

For most people, this would be too many names to memorise at once. However, Weiss had been to events with people of high status ever since she was a child. It was a simple feat for her to associate each name with its owner after hearing it once.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Weiss said. "I am Weiss Schnee, one of the members of Team RWBY."

"It's nice meeting you," Luka said. The four spirits went back into his body, an action that made Weiss raise an eyebrow. "If I may ask, just what have you been doing in this world so far?"

"I fell into that… Tartarus about a month and a half ago," Weiss replied. She shuddered at the memory that dredged up. "You didn't happen to see—"

"The castle of horrors," Yang said. "Yeah, we saw that."

"We still don't know how those poor people ended up trapped there," Ruby said. "And… we couldn't get any of them out."

"Neither could I," Weiss said, looking down at the ground. "And because of those… creatures… in there, I fled the Tartarus as soon as I was able."

"Those are what are known as Apoptosis," said Promestein, one of the angels who had a scholarly atmosphere. "Among other things, they try to stop anyone from travelling between worlds."

"Well, I managed to get past them eventually," Weiss said. "Then I ran into what seemed like strange faunus with oddly varied Semblances. They could at least be negotiated with, but they all attacked me on sight. Only later did I discover that they were called 'monsters'."

"Yeah, we've been hearing about the war in this world," Sonya said. "It's hard to believe that this is really the era of Black Alice…"

"Hmm?" Weiss said. "The way you phrase it, it sounds like you know about her?"

If so, that would be very useful for Weiss. She'd been hearing Black Alice's name constantly in this strange world, but the truth about this ruler of monsters remained unclear. Depending on who Weiss listened to, Black Alice was a ruthless but fair leader, a bloodthirsty psychopath who loved to torment others, or a living embodiment of evil.

"Oh… to cut a long story short, the world that most of this group came from is five hundred years in the future compared to here," Ruby explained. "In their world, Black Alice is in history books as a warmongering tyrant… who eventually got killed by a hero."

"And I was already being overwhelmed with information as it was…" Weiss said, rubbing her temples. "So, there are multiple worlds in which monsters exist, set in different times?"

"That's right," Pyrrha replied. "There's quite a few of them. The world we just came from has seven Tartarus in it, each one seemingly leading to a different world."

"Well, all but one of them," Alice said grimly. "One of those worlds is gone now. Eaten away by chaos, a threat that'll eventually spread to other worlds if it isn't stopped."

"Wait, wait, you're throwing too much at her," Nora said. "Let's take things a bit slower. Weiss, how'd you end up in this village?"

"It's not like I can just overlook what was just said…" Weiss grumbled. "But very well. I found this village about a month ago, and I helped protect it by fighting off monsters in the vicinity. That's made the inhabitants grateful enough to let me stay indefinitely. And I learned more about this world from them."

"Yes… speaking of which," Lucia said. Her two arms had now been replaced by bundles of tentacles, something that shocked Weiss far less than it ought to. "Has anyone told you that some of those villagers are monsters in disguise?"

That came as a great shock to Weiss. "What…? But… none of them gave any signs of…"

"You haven't had too much experience with monsters, so it makes sense you didn't see it," Nora said. "But come to think of it, does this mean the village isn't really in danger from monsters?"

"Actually, it might be," said Alice, the purple-skinned lamia with a red tail who—apparently-was a Monster Lord from another world. "According to my lessons, there were plenty of monsters in this era who wanted no part in Black Alice's war."

"By the way, have you heard about the Hero Heinrich?" Luka asked, pressing forward with a fanatical gleam in his eyes. "Wait… is it possible you've seen him!?"

"Heinrich—I've heard of him a few times," Weiss replied, bending backwards a little. "He's a hero in this world, a role which sounds analogous to that of a huntsman. He's won some major victories against Black Alice's forces. But no, I haven't seen him."

"You'll have to forgive Luka, he's always been obsessed with Heinrich," Sonya said, pulling her childhood friend back using both hands. "And like I already told you three times, we can't try to meet him in person! We don't have the time for this, and what if we changed the history of this world?"

Luka was almost pouting. Sonya looked like she might give in, so Ilias—the little angel who was supposedly a weakened goddess—intervened.

"Alright, we've done all we needed to here," Ilias said with an authority that belied her appearance. We know what this world is and have picked up a lost member, who has spent over a month gathering information in this world. It's time for us to begin heading back. War might break out at any moment."

"Wait, you have war in your world as well!?" Weiss exclaimed. "And with the recent attack on Beacon back in Remnant… just what is going on!?"

"Technically, the war hasn't started yet," Ruby explained, then she winced. "Although… there was a different war until just a couple of weeks ago… in that world, I mean."

Weiss rubbed her temples again. "Hah… I suppose there is no path ahead that doesn't involve conflict. At the very least, I'd like to be as prepared as possible. Are there any Dust mines here or in your world, or have you found any substitutes for Dust?" She lightly grasped the hilt of Myrtenaster, which was hanging at her hip. "I'm down to the last dregs of my supply. Before you came, I was quite… nervous about conserving what I had left…"

"The second one," Yang said. She held out one half of Ember Celica for Weiss to see. "Basically, our weapons and ammo have been remodelled so they work using magic, either straight from our bodies or stored from earlier."

Magic was one of the many topics Weiss had been learning about in this world. Casting spells was actually somewhat like using Dust with her own Semblance.

Though it will be some time yet, before I can properly use magic in combat...

Suddenly, Luka turned his head to look at something in the distance. This gesture naturally drew everyone else's attention.

"Luka?" Sonya asked.

"There's two people coming," Luka said. "One's a human, the other is… hey, wait, what!? Hold on, if you all talk at once—"

Luka appeared visibly confused. He also wasn't looking in the same direction as before, nor at any of the people near him.

"Is he… talking to the four who are inside his body?" Weiss asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, Luka does that a lot," Ruby answered. "We've mostly gotten used to it."

"Sometimes, I do the same with the girls in my crew," said Selene, the ghost of a legendary pirate. "But more importantly, just who is approaching us?"

Now they could hear the sounds of feet crunching against dead leaves. It didn't feel like the approaching pair was hostile, but Weiss still kept a hand on the hilt of her weapon, just in case.

Then the pair finally came into view… and Weiss' jaw dropped.

The human that Luka had mentioned could be Luka's twin brother. He had the same short stature, the same boyish face, the same purple hair and blue eyes. Just as Luka was a swordsman, this doppelganger had a sword sheathed across his back. Even his clothing was similar, being a brown shirt, dark red cape and black pants. The only notable difference was that he had the yellow outline of a sun on his shirt.

As for the other person… she looked like a human as well. She was a woman perhaps in her twenties, with pale skin, red eyes and long blonde hair that framed her face. She wore a green dress, a pointy black hat, elbow-length black gloves and an orange cape. In her left hand was a staff with a blue crystal sphere at its head. Floating next to her was a teddy bear with a pointy purple hat on its head. Overall, she gave off the impression of a black mage, to use this world's terminology.

"Hello there," said Luka's twin. His voice was casual and easygoing. "We heard about a strange visitor protecting Succubus Village, and my companion said it might be worth taking a look. But we didn't expect to run into a group like this..."

"I… am the visitor in question," Weiss said. "My name is Weiss Schnee. If I may ask, what are your names?"

"I'm Heinrich," said Luka's twin. He scratched his cheek bashfully. "Yes, the same Heinrich people are talking about nowadays."

Luka let out a sound that… was similar to the sound Ruby made when she saw something amazing in a weapon magazine.

"O-O-Oh my gosh... It-It's really you… I… I'm Lu-Lu-Luka…"

"Lululuka?" Heinrich said. "That's… a pretty unique name."

"Ufufu, it's interesting indeed," said the black mage. She looked around in a seemingly ordinary manner that nevertheless set Weiss' teeth on edge. "My name is Alicetroemeria. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"No, you can't be…"

Those words came from Alice, who was staring in shock at Alicetroemeria.

And her reaction was surpassed by that of Ilias, who was staring at both Heinrich and his strange companion. To Weiss' experienced eye, she seemed to be feeling a mix of shock and… regret?

"Why have you come here?" Ilias asked, now focusing on the strange black mage.

"Eh?" Heinrich said. "Didn't I just explain it? We came here following rumours of Succubus Village's protector."

There was nothing in Heinrich's tone to suggest a lie. However, the unchanging smile on Alicetroemeria's face told a very different story.

It seems like she's the one who encouraged him to go here… But why? What made me more interesting than all of the other events in this war-torn world?

"This village was just too interesting for us not to come," Alicetroemeria said. "After all, to use a metaphor, new players have arrived on the stage, changing the performance entirely."

"This world is more than just a stage for performances… Alicetroemeria," Ilias said.

Heinrich looked between his companion and Ilias. "Hold on, have you met before?"

"If we have, I don't recall it," Alicetroemeria said casually.

"We have not," Ilias said. "I was simply disagreeing with something she said."

Weiss was completely unaware of the context here. However, she mentally prepared herself to draw Myrtenaster at any time.

"Anyway, I'm impressed by all of you being together," Heinrich said, looking around at the group. "Truth is, one of my goals is for humans and monsters being able to coexist. There's a few cases of that already, but not enough. So seeing it happen, and even angels accepting it, is just amazing."

Again, Weiss couldn't sense any deception in Heinrich's words. Even so, Alice and Ilias became more tense.

"Would you mind telling me about yourselves?" Heinrich continued. "Just how did you all meet?"

No one responded. Weiss hadn't been in this group for long, but it was clear that at least some of them didn't want to reveal anything in front of Alicetroemeria. She therefore ought to do the same.

"Oh, we should talk about ourselves first, Heinrich," Alicetroemeria advised. "That's only polite."

"Yes, you're right," Heinrich said, nodding. "Okay, so Alicetroemeria and me first met when—"

Suddenly, there was a loud beeping sound. Weiss almost drew her weapon then and there out of shock.

Luka pulled out a small leaf-shaped ornament from a pocket. This seemed to be the source of the beeping. And judging from the looks on the faces of those nearby, it was bad news.

The last time you made that face, Ruby, it was when a horde of Grimm were assaulting Beacon…

"Fuck—at a time like this!?" Yang groaned.

"It'll take us days, at least, just to get back to Grand Noah!" Sonya said, clutching her staff with trembling hands. "Why now!?"

"No, it's more than just Grand Noah…" Luka said, horror clear in his face. "All of the capital cities are..."

"Hold on, have the monsters launched a major attack?" Heinrich asked, now sounding entirely serious.

"It sounds even more interesting than that..." Alicetroemeria murmured.

"Um, that's…" Luka said uncertainly. "Uh…"

Weiss was reminded of Ruby when confronted with awkward social situations. Unfortunately, this time she had no idea how to help.

Even if we're not supposed to interact with Heinrich, what do we do when he's walked right up to us, and has overheard affairs of another world!?

"In the first place, how is that thing even working in this—here?" Ruby whispered to Promestein.

"Perhaps… Perhaps Luka's unique nature lets him act as a relay antenna?" Promestein replied, also whispering. "But that's just speculation…"

"W-Wait, what do we say to those two?" Chrome whispered. "We can't just bring them with us, but there's no way that legendary hero would just stay still…"

"Hero Heinrich!" Ilias said abruptly. "Do you recognise me? Or are those eyes of yours purely for decoration? Do I need to search for a new hero?"

Heinrich snapped to attention like a well-trained Atlesian soldier. "G-G-Goddess Ilias!? I though you looked familiar, but… that appearance?"

"I have this appearance to avoid drawing unnecessary attention," Ilias proclaimed. "Hero Heinrich, you are not yet ready to slay the Monster Lord."

At that moment, Weiss noticed Alicetroemeria's smile become slightly broader.

"To attain that level of fighting prowess, you require further training," Ilias continued. "What you are about to experience is a dream, of sorts, depicting a hypothetical invasion of all four capitals at once by monsters. Through this, you will be able to improve your skills without the danger of actual battle. It will also give you experience in cooperating with others."

Weiss looked incredulously at Ruby, who just shrugged in response. Apparently, this sounded just as absurd—or even more so—to her as it did to Weiss.

In the first place, everything I've heard about Ilias in this world indicates she hates monsters. Why would she show Heinrich a dream that involves cooperating with monsters?

"If that is your will, Goddess Ilias, then I obey," Heinrich replied.

A complete religious zealot? Weiss thought, only to frown. Hold on, from the sound of his voice, the slight flickering of his eyes… he doesn't seem to be fully sincere?

"And what about you, Alicetroemeria?" Heinrich asked his companion. "Will you come along?"

"Ufufu, of course I will," Alicetroemeria replied. "Why would I stay out of such a rare event?"

Weiss wasn't sure how to respond to this. However, the wary looks possessed by many of her companions suggested her instincts were right—Alicetroemeria was someone to watch out for.

"W-We would be deeply honoured to have you as our ally, Hero Heinrich!" Luka said, bowing so deeply he was almost kissing the ground.

Don't say that, you fool! Weiss wanted to yell out loud. Don't encourage him to leave his world and bring her with him! Ugh, how has Ruby been putting up with you for so long?

"Thanks, but there's no need for all the formalities, Hero Lululuka," Heinrich said. "You can just call me by my name, and you don't have to bow or anything. And Alicetroemeria will probably be even more helpful than me."

"Ufufu, you're too kind, Heinrich…"

Weiss wondered if Alicetroemeria spent every day practising her laugh until it was most effective at unnerving others. It was certainly effective against her.

"And there's no time to waste," Heinrich said. "Let's get to one of those cities right away! Actually, with our numbers, we could—"

"W-Wait, that might be a problem!" Ruby said, waving her hands frantically. "Because, um—"

"There's no need to worry about the distance," Heinrich said. "Alicetroemeria can teleport anywhere in the world!"

Weiss would have thought that claim a lie, had it come from anyone other than Heinrich. From the books she'd read, teleportation was an extremely difficult type of magic that consumed immense amounts of magical energy, especially when travelling long distances or bringing along many other people. Similarly, teleportation Semblances back home were extremely rare.

And even if she can teleport anywhere in this world, I doubt she can do the same across worlds, Weiss thought. It would be more feasible to go back through the Tartarus, then teleport while in the other world…

Alicetroemeria walked towards Luka. Sonya stepped between them.

"Wait, what are you planning?" asked the priestess.

"Come now, I only want to help," Alicetroemeria said. "I just need to use that communication charm as a reference to know where to go."

"Please, Luka," Heinrich said. "You can trust her."

Now Weiss strongly doubted that Heinrich had fallen for Ilias' trick… and it hadn't even been a full minute yet!

So much is still unknown… but we have no choice but to accept their help. There's no way to turn it down at this stage.

Luka pushed past Sonya and presented the communication charm to Alicetroemeria, so forcefully that he almost hit her with it.

"Ufufu, thank you…" Alicetroemeria said. "Though, as long as we're on this topic, do you have any souvenirs from the other three cities?"

"...We might," Alice said, not even trying to hide her reluctance. "Alright everyone, if you've got anything like that on you, now's the time to bring it out."

Weiss' companions began rummaging around in pockets and bags. Naturally, Weiss herself had no way to contribute to this.

Ruby and Yang have experienced so much more than I have… Weiss thought, watching her two teammates. I must work hard to not fall behind.

Sonya held out a ring. "Um, this is from San Ilia. It's a basic ring of protection. Not all that powerful, but I just never took it out of my bag."

Pyrrha held out a dagger. "This is something I bought in Sabasa, as a backup weapon."

Nora held out a silver necklace. "This is from Grangold." She blushed and glanced momentarily in Ren's direction. "It's… for protection as well."

"Thank you for your generosity," Alicetroemeria said. She raised her staff and the blue orb at its head glowed. "Now, please don't stick out your tongues, or you might just bite them off in surprise…"

Weiss' vision was filled with blue light. She grasped the hilt of Myrtenaster with her left hand and grasped Ruby's hand with her right.

-ooo-

Fortunately, this method of travelling between worlds didn't involve falling through a void.

When her vision cleared, Weiss saw an unfamiliar city of sandstone buildings… and it was at war.

On one side was a mix of humans and various monsters. Some had proper arms and armour, others looked like civilians who'd taken up axes, shovels and other improvised weapons. All fought with the desperate ferocity of those defending their homes.

The other side was a mix of elves and fairies. The elves were slender humanoids with pointed ears and most fought with bows, though there were a few muscular ones who fought in close combat. The fairies resembled colourful motes of light dancing through the air, and they were slinging around countless spells to support the elves or disrupt their enemies.

"ORRRAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

In the distance, behind several blocks of buildings, was a massive green-haired woman wielding a tree like a club. With every footstep, the ground shook as though there was an earthquake. With every swing of her tree club, rubble and the city's defenders were sent flying into the air.

Weiss also noticed that her own group had shrunken in number. The only ones with her now were Ruby, Yang, Ilias and Promestein. Even Alicetroemeria, the one responsible for the teleportation in the first place, was nowhere to be seen.

Did she send some of us to each of the four cities…? This is uncomfortably similar to what White Rabbit did.

There would be time for explanations later. For now, Weiss thrust her rapier forward while charging it with her Aura. A white glyph appeared in thin air, blocking an arrow shot by an elf archer towards one of the city's defenders.

"Hope you haven't fallen behind, Weiss!" Yang said, cocking her two shot gauntlets.

"Hey, you shouldn't say that!" Ruby said. She produced a slightly different-looking Crescent Rose seemingly out of thin air, then used it to shoot a fairy out of the air. "There's no way Weiss has fallen behind! She's a member of Team RWBY, after all!"

Weiss harrumphed. "There is no need to worry. I've had to improve my skills greatly, after all that time surviving on my own."

"Even knowing this was coming, it's a shocking sight," Ilias said. She fired a white laser at a group of elves, blasting them off their feet. "We must end this as soon as possible!"

"If I'd known it would involve so much fighting, I might not have left the Tartarus…" Promestein grumbled, taking out some potions in glass vials.

This group of five came from several different worlds, and one of them had only just joined today. But together, they entered the fierce battle.

AN: I decided to swap the monsters attacking Sabasa and Grand Noah, because this makes much more sense with their locations. Fairy's Island is closer to Sabasa while Vampire Castle is closer to Grand Noah.