Hello my friends and welcome to the rewrite of Oly Oly Oxen Free. I hope you all have stuck with me. I know this is jarring and I am sorry for that, but it was needed. And I hope you all will stick with me. I do think this is for the best, so please give me your thoughts. Now lets get to it.
/
Blackness. That is all that can be seen from the throne. World after world. Universe after universe. So many possibilities happening to make new worlds where the other option was taken. The Multiverse. And the one who looked out amongst the multiverse, the one who created it all, sat and watched each one. He knew each being in each world. He was the I AM. The Almighty. Lord. Father.
He loves his creations. He loves his children. Even if they scorn him. He gives them time to turn. He gives that time to repent because one day, his patience will cleanse the worlds with his wrath. For some worlds, that day has come and gone. For others, it is still a ways away. But some worlds are soon.
He could hear two " gods' ' of an anime universe bickering, not wanting to bother him. Arrogantly saying that they can fix things themselves. How tiresome. While some worlds that were made by mankind had odd religions to them, they still, in some way, answered to him. Even these two buffoons.
" Speak." he ordered.
Two lights coalesced into forms. A yellow light and a purple light. One formed into a yellow humanoid with the antlers of a deer, the other a purple humanoid with the curved horns of a ram.
The gods of light and dark from the Remnant dropped to a knee knowing who the actual boss was.
" My Lord," Light said humbly, " We lost control of our world."
"How." he asked, already knowing the answer.
" We made two beings immortal. One by not being able to die, the other by reincarnation." started light.
" We tasked the man Ozma to unite the world. And when that was done to unite the relics to bring us back for a final judgment." Dark continued.
" And."
" It has been centuries since we told him about his quest. We checked up on the world and found it so far gone that we were debating just destroying the world and restarting." Dark replied.
God looked into a splinter of Halo.
" And why haven't you?'" He asked.
There was a long pause.
" We can't. We tried but were blocked. We tried to influence people to do our will but we can't make the connection." Light said.
" That is because I have been blocking you."
/
Blue team moved into the compound. If Intel was right, Hector Nyeto was here with a Banished WarChief. Not Atriox but a Brute that was on the HVT list. The intel came from a probe that was sent into the system. A simple assassination of the brute and capture of Nyeto for interrogation.
As they moved along the perimeter, moving from shadow to shadow, Linda took a powerful beam rifle shot to her helmet, drilling into her head and killing her.
As if that was a signal, lights snapped on, and soldiers of the URF mixed with Brute and Elite forces came pouring in.
/
"You see, I have been watching you stumble in the dark trying to rule a world. And fail miserably. It is time I take over."
" But, it's our…"
" SILENCE! You have done enough."
/
Kelly leaped to her sister's weapon, beam rifle shot grazing her shoulder, she shouldered and fired the weapon into the Jackal sniper. Fred dueled an Elite scoring hits but taking them as well. Fred took a stab to the side from one Elite as he decapitated another. John got hit with AP rounds that chipped away at his shields.
" Instead of comforting a widow, you told her to suck it up and not to bother you. A widow who has been locked in a tower for her whole life until she was freed." he paused as he watched the events in this splintered universe.
"I have been watching the world YOU abandoned, and it needs warriors that are unyielding in their purpose."
Shots got through the shields as Brutes with Bruteshots appeared and fired, making a mess of things.
" Warriors that can fix your screw-ups."
Kelly laid down suppressing fire trying to give her brothers room to maneuver but got jumped by a roided out, rumble-induced man. He brought her shields down and began to way lay on her armor. Denting and damaging it before she dug her knife into his throat. But not before he plunged a blade of his own into her gut, severing her spine.
" But most of all, warriors that need a second chance. A chance I will give them,"
John, bloodied and bruised with his armor shot to hell and blood leaking from bullet holes, stood and faced the oncoming horde.
" I have seen the end of RWBY. I have seen how Halo ends. And one of my children has been begging for a dream ship of his to come true."
Fred held his side as he looked at his brother, to his sisters, and nodded. He fiddled with Linda's fusion pack and backed to his sister. John followed him as he took another barrage of fire, taking a shoulder pauldron with it and a bigger piece of his already fractured and broken visor.
/
From his perch, God saw the flash of their fusion packs detonate. Now came the time for judgment. They were not blameless. Far from it. But he also knew that they were video game charters. Still. He could show them mercy and give them a second chance.
" I have set a room up for these four warriors. They will be sent to Remnant to fix your mistakes and to guard a Forerunner station hidden in the surface of the planet."
" But my lord, there was no Forerunner station…"
" I put one there. Now be gone. And stay away from Remnant from now on."
With a wave, he dismissed the two false gods away and peered into the room he sent Blue team to be briefed and reborn. He would lock the memories of the conversation with the Maidens away for now and only let them unlock bits and pieces. Knowing what to do but not knowing how they came up with it.
/
John woke slowly. Oh so slowly. The weight of his Mjolner pressed down on his body. What happened? Blue team was supposed to report to the Infinity bridge for a briefing. When he did get his eyes to open, he was met with a helmet full of floor. Dark gunmetal-tinged green floor.
He heard the groans of his team and immediately got to his knees, not trusting his spinning head to get to his feet.
He eyed his teammates as they as well got to their knees. Their shields flickering and cycling.
" My head." Linda said as she shifted from a crouch to just plain old sitting on the ground and holding her head, " It feels like I took a shot to the head." She suddenly ripped her helmet off and heaved like she was going to vomit. She didn't but her breathing was labored as she sucked in air and tried to calm down.
John scooted to her side and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
" Breathe Linda. Just breathe. We got you." he said.
She gave him a thumbs-up before sitting back up. And giving the team a shock. On her head was a pair of fuzzy gray wolf ears. They twitched as she looked at her brothers and sister.
" What?" she asked, the green in her face fading to its normal pale complexion.
" Um, I don't know how to say this. But, you, umm…" Fred tried to say, his hands moving like he was trying to say something but couldn't, " Kelly, you got a better visor, mind throwing her your helmet?" Fred asked.
Kelly shrugged. " Sure, it's getting slightly uncomfortable anyway." she said as she took her helmet off, just to give the team a second surprise as a pair of brown bunny ears unfolded.
" Uhhh, Kells? You do know that you got ears on your head right?" Linda asked.
Kelly rolled her eyes, " Of course, I have ears on my head, Linda. We all do. Well, you have an extra set of ears. Wolf-like, and to be honest you look kind of cool with them."
Linda raised an eyebrow before she raised her hand to her head, her eyes growing with shock, surprise, and even a little bit of pleasure. She made a ' toss it here ' motion to Kelly who tossed her her helmet. Once Linda caught it she stared at the reflection.
" Oh. My. God." she let out. She then looked to her sister and pointed to her head, " You may want to check your head." she said as she tossed her helmet back to her. Kelly caught it and spun it in her hands to look at the reflection. The eyes of surprise were the evidence needed to show that she saw them.
She looked to her brothers, " WHAT IS WRONG WITH US!? IS IT CONTAGIOUS!?"
Both John and Fred shrugged and removed their helmets to see if they had a critter stuck on their heads. Surprisingly, they didn't. But just as surprisingly they all looked younger. Like a couple of years after their augmentations, young. They looked sixteen or seventeen, but their eyes still held the wisdom of decades of combat experience.
" This is new." Fred said.
John did not answer as Kelly sat next to Linda who was, for something unlike her, rocking back and forth with wide eyes and tear-streaked face. Kelly sat next to her, the two holding each other for a good five minutes before they stood and seemed to put the situation behind them. As they stood, John realized something. They no longer were wearing their Gen-II Mjolnir with all the dents and scratches and damage. They were in their Gen-I. It was hard to tell at first glance since the plates hid most of the detail, but he caught it in the gaps. The tech suit was of their old suits. Linda with her prototype Argus, Fred with his prototype Centurian, and Kelly was in a set of Recon armor with her EVA helmet. John looked at his armor and saw that it was his Mark-VI mod. The armor Cortana altered while he slept. Something that became a final gift to him. Something he would not let go.
" John," he looked over to see Fred looking at him, " What just happened?"
" When you get the answer, feel free to share." John responded.
" Ummm, I would take Cortana zapping us to a cryptum and put us in a simulation of a different life for five hundred please."
John could not help but give him a chuckle.
" How about we took a wrong turn on S-Deck and ended up in an odd simulation that Halsey cooked up." he shot back.
" HOW ABOUT YOU HELP US WITH OUR MENTAL BREAKDOWN!" Kelly bit out.
Both boys looked at the two girls.
" It looks like you two have that locked down. Carry on." Fred told them.
John shook his head and began to look around the room. The green lights cast an eerie glow on everything. But the thing that caught his attention were the two pods and machinery. He approached the occupied pod. The woman inside had tan skin and brown hair with white modesty gear on her. The only blemish he could see was the nasty scarring on her face and the grimace on her lips.
' Whatever put her there really left her mark.' John thought as he looked at the empty pod. His eyes moved from the pod to the tubes that connected the two.
He looked to see that Kelly and Linda managed to get over their reality meltdown by Fred scratching Linda behind her wolf ears. Her tongue was out and it looked like she was panting and her eyes were rolled to the back of her head with a bit of a blush.
Kelly looked at her sister with an expression of ' Okay, noted, don't let anyone scratch my new appendages.'
John looked back at the machinery and spotted the life support and bio-monitors. Her heart rate was low, like in a coma. For some reason, he felt a surge of determination run through him. He and his team were going to track the person or persons down and terminate them.
" Who is that?" Kelly asked.
" Unsure." John replied.
" She looks to be in pain, even in her comatose state." Fred added as he walked up with Linda, who has recovered from her pleaser-induced head scratching, kept her thoughts to herself.
They looked at the still form, not knowing who she was or how she got there, but all felt the same resolute feeling of determination.
" Blue team, let's find a way out of this crypt and get in contact with Laskey." John ordered.
They acknowledged the order and turned, to be met with a man and a woman standing behind them. The man was dressed in shades of green with gray hair and small wire-framed glasses. In his right hand was an ornate cane with a lever.
Standing next to him was a blond woman with green eyes and fair skin, She wore a white blouse, a button-up skirt that also acted as a clencher, black nylons that covered her legs, knee-length heels that they somehow missed, and a waist length cape that was purple on the inside and from what they could tell, black on the outside. She had a tablet in her hands and some sort of riding crop hanging from her hip.
" And who would this Laskey be?" the man asked.
John knew he should have been put on edge at the fact two civilians snuck up on him but felt at ease.
" Sir, that is classified." John responded.
The man softly chuckled.
" I take it you are the four I was told to expect.'' The man said, gaining all of Blue team's attention, " I am Ozpin. Headmaster of Beacon Academy. And you are Blue Team."
' Okay, who is he and how did he identify us?' John thought, " You seem to know a lot about us. Care to explain that?" John asked, his hand ready to snag his magnum.
The man, Ozpin, chuckled. " I apologize for putting you all on edge, but to put a long story short, you were sent here for a new mission. And I am here to help get you settled in and ready to go. School starts in a week."
School? What did school have to do with their mission?
Ozpin motioned for them to follow him up the elevator and after a few trips, they were in his office. With a freshly patched hole in the roof and a drop capsule leaning against the wall with a coffee distributor rigged into it.
Blue team looked at the pod with Fred pointing to it with a tilt of his head.
" That is my new coffee dispenser. Cycle the wheel and you get a cup of beans, grind them, and away you go." Ozpin explained non nonchalantly.
" You turned a drop pod into a coffee machine?" Fred asked.
Ozpin shrugged.
" He had to do something with it." Glynda spoke.
" Of all the things you could turn it into, you had to turn it into a glorified coffee pot? Not a piece of yard or building decoration?"
" Or convert it into some armor?" Linda followed up.
As much as John was curious about the pod, he wanted to know more about this new mission.
Ozpin seemed to sense that and began to break things down for them. The world and its nature, aura, and Grimm, Huntsman and huntress, human and faunas, to which Kelly and Linda were a part of now apparently. How and why he could not say other than a hypothesis.
And their new mission? Well, that is where things got complicated. They could join the military, which would waste them on guard duty, settle down and live where they can do whatever they want. Why that was an option they did not know and all four knew that it would be a matter of time before some unwise things were done. That left the last option, a mixture of the two. It would also give them the cover they would need to investigate what happened to the woman downstairs, and to learn more about how the world here worked.
" Sir, with all due respect, how do we know you are not setting us up or tricking us into abandoning our posts?" Kelly asked.
" A fair question. And one that I can't give you an answer to. I am not going to tell you to trust me, instead, I am going to ask for your trust."
' Well, at least he isn't demanding it.' John thought, " Trust is something that is earned. How do you plan on earning it?" John asked.
" A room for starters as well as all the intel you would need." Ozpin said, " I can even assign two rooms to you. One for you to sleep in and the other to make into your armory and storage for your gear."
" Well, that is a start. A warm bed to rest on. Throw in some hot meals and you would have earned that much more." Fred replied.
Ozpin chuckled.
" What are you going to need? I am sure you are going to need material to get your other room set up."
" Metal in assorted sizes as well as plumbing supplies. That is a start." Kelly listed.
" Would you care to share some blueprints or other plans as to what you are planning to make?" Glynda asked.
" When we get something planned, we will share." Linda replied.
They nodded and handed the team of Spartans a small white device.
" These are scrolls. A mobile device for you to call either of us and one another when you are not in your armor. It also can show you your auras as well as those of your teammates." Glynda informed.
They took the devices and pocketed them.
" School starts Monday with Initiation. And welcome to Beacon Academy." Ozpin told them, " Glynda will show you around and give you a schedule."
Glynda tapped at her tablet, and with a ding, they got the schedule as Glynda motioned them to follow her.
An hour later, they were at their dorm with Glynda walking back to her office.
" This is weird. Any ideas as to what the hell is going on?" Fred asked over the comms.
All he got was dead silence as John opened the door and entered. They were met with what one would expect from a dorm. Four beds, a closed door leading to a bathroom, a couple of bookshelves, and a closet were what met them. And it was spacious enough for the four to live in.
" If the other room is like this, we will have a good room for an armory." Linda noted.
" Then let's get started. We got a week and we also need to get some fatigues." John ordered as he and Kelly moved the beds to the other side of the room as Fred and Linda went to town on the adjourning wall with prejudice.
/
On the Island of Patch, we find a medium-sized house. Within the house, we find a family. A father and two daughters…plus the family dog. The oldest of the two daughters was in the kitchen making breakfast with the sole male of the household helping out.
Up in her room, still asleep, was the youngest. Ruby Rose.
She awoke after a very pleasant dream. A dream of when she was a fully-fledged Huntress. An S-class Hunter. But that was not all. For at the end of the driveway she found herself on, was a house. And she knew what waited in that house. Or rather who. She knew that a young child was in that house waiting for her, a young girl just like she was. And the one who gave her that child. A man she knew nothing about, as of the moment, but wanted to know, needed to know.
How she knew she had a husband was beyond her, she was still young and could choose to not have a husband or instead take on a wife, but somehow she knew she was going straight. She wanted children.
So was it any wonder when she entered the kitchen, she was smiling and in a good mood?
" What has you in a good mood sis?" Yang asked.
Ruby smiled at her sister.
" I had a great dream sis." she said as she grabbed some breakfast and sat down.
" Care to enlighten us as to what you dreamt?" Taiyang, her father, asked.
" I became a Huntress. Got married. Had a child." she replied.
Both smiled with her father asking where he put the shotgun.
" You don't have one dad. I on the other hand do have two on my wrists. If that helps." Yang added.
Ruby laughed good-naturedly and remarked saying that she would be sure to hide him from her crazy family and marry in secret and that if they wanted to meet the child she would pop out, then they should stay on their best behavior.
" Let's not get ahead of ourselves." her father said, " I am not ready to be a grandfather yet."
" And I need to give a beat down to the guy who dares to commit the ultimate sin…dating you. He has to go through me first and then dad."
Ruby rolled her eyes.
" You guys are so mean." She said sipping the coffee.
" What are your plans for the week sis? Since you are joining me in Beacon and all."
That got Ruby to pause as she processed the question. It was only yesterday that she thwarted Torchwick and was personally accepted to Beacon by Headmaster Ozpin himself.
' I still can't believe I am going to Beacon with Yang.' she thought.
" I am not sure yet." she admitted, " I do want to get one last get-together with the few friends that I have. One last hoorah before I leave them." she replied.
" You know you won't be alone right?" Yang asked.
" I know. But aside from you, I am not going to know anyone, and I have always had a hard time making new friends." she let out.
" Ruby," her father said as he held her in an embrace, " Your mom was like that. She was an introvert that only came out of her shell once we got teamed up.``He gave her a gentle squeeze, " Just start small. Start with your team and then branch out." Her father offered.
She nodded before returning to her breakfast.
/
Over in the nicest parts of Atlas, Weiss was triple checking her luggage. She would be leaving in a few days and wanted to make sure everything she needed was packed. Clothes, packed. Hygiene products, packed and sealed. Extra Dust from the mines, sealed and packed the same with Myrinaster. Her father talking her out of going to Beacon? Still in coming.
She knew what he was going to expect from her. To be top of her class, to lead her team, and to quit playing around with wanting to be a Huntress and to run the damn company as any Schnee would.
" Why be a lousy Huntress when you can run the CEO of the SDC, and have Huntsmen and Huntress in your pocket, at your bec-en-call." he would always ask.
It was so annoying. She wanted to break the norms. She needed to see the world and experience it.
He may see it as a waste of time, but she did not. She felt it was important to get some experience out in the world before she took an office job behind a desk.
She was not stupid. She saw how her father treated his employees. Especially if they were Faunas.
She let out a breath and walked to the window. It was a lovely view. Seeing the city from her room. The city was full of hustle and bustle and she was going to miss it.
/
Sitting in a cheap hotel room, we find a black-haired cat-eared girl waiting for Monday to arrive. And it was only Tuesday. A whole week before she was able to get to Beacon. A whole week. She could get a whole book done in that time. At least she had a couple of other books in her library.
She just hoped that Adam didn't send anyone to find her. She was an ex-terrorist on the run and the only one person who had an idea as to what she was. Professor Ozpin.
She took a peek out of the window to see the hustle and bustle. Looking for anyone she may recognize. White Fang spies that would be looking for her.
Paranoia. It was her life now. A terrorist on the run within a city that they are active in. Could that guy in a T-shirt be looking for her? What about that woman in the purple dress? Was that glare from the window a camera or just glass reflecting the sun? She did not know, and she had to be careful.
' Just a few more days.' she thought as she moved from the chair to the bed.
She lay there looking at the plaster of the ceiling and began to wonder what her parents were doing.
She closed her eyes and dreamt of the tropical home of her youth. The salty air, the sandy beaches, the palm tree's leaves swaying in the breeze. The sound of the sea-gauls and ocean waves breaking on the beach. A true paradise hidden among the ocean and desert island.
And with those thoughts in mind, she drifted off for a quick nap.
/END/
On the shorter side I know but I feel like it was a good place to end the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. And please be sure to tell me your thoughts. I know I am retreading some water but when you rewrite something, it kind of becomes part of the corse. But I hope I added enough new stuff to keep you interested.
So with that, I shall let you all discuss this new path. Read, comment, PM, let me know what you think.
Fly Fast, check 6…and I will see you all fine and wonderful people, on the virtual battlefield.