Journeys on the Jellybean

by Mudsaur

Look, this is another reaction-RWBY story, do I really need to spell it out? RWBY, (J)NPR, more to come, watching movies of alternate universes of themselves, you know the drill. I update Fridays, I write more than is probably appropriate for a standard chapter length, and I aim to make my reader's laugh their guts out because what's life without dancing and giggles? Come and read.

2. Uncharted I

Alright, first movie. Let's see how it goes. Tell me how I did, how I can improve, etcetera.

Be creative, though. Don't tell me I just suck, I already know I do.

I named the chapter just after what I would be using as reference material, as well. Why? Because I sometimes see stories trying to do the 'guess what story I'm going to show off today' game and I never like playing. Sometimes, I just want the story to be forward in what it's showing off. If you don't like that, by all means, tell me below. I can be creative, no problem. But simplicity has an appeal all of its own, too. If I hear enough complaints, then...

Anyway, I also got a couple suggestions that inspired me a little from the reviews. Definitely going to think about them a little more and keep you posted if I'm working on a fan-provided idea.

Anyway, sally forth!

\-\ JELLYBEAN /-/

Uncharted I

The seats of the unusual theatre were comfortable and spacious, thankfully, for the seven students to feel somewhat more adjusted to their new environment then they had before. Most took to their new accommodations with surprising ease, with Nora deciding the best way to break into her new seat was to bounce on it several times while Ruby kept glancing around at the others with awkward and shy expressions and hoped she looked as regal and professional as her partner did beside her.

"Can I get anyone anything?" Captain asked after a moment of everyone getting seated. "These viewings will probably be of some length, so if there's anything I can do to help, I am all ears. Food? Drinks? Alcohol?" He paused. "Wait, is alcohol legal for seventeen- uh, warm milk, maybe? Is that what teenagers drink?"

"Nachos!" Cried a still bouncing Nora.

"Water, please," asked Ren.

"I'm fine, but thank you." Sweet, sweet Pyrrha.

"I-I'll take that milk, thanks," shyly requested Ruby.

"If I am to be saddled with these bothersome viewings, I would request at least a glass of Mistralian Red Storm and a nice piece of white cake, light on the frosting, if you would." Weiss was a simple woman; she simply liked the best.

"Coffee. Black." Blake seemed remarkably bored whilst sitting in a chair on a spaceship.

"Okay, so, I don't know if you can do this one, but I had these things called Strawberry Sunrises before and they are the bomb. Think you can whip me up a couple of them for me?" Wild Yang smiled over to her captor. She was already leaning back into her chair and undoubtedly the most comfortable of the lot of them in their new surroundings.

"Absolutely," nodded the Captain. "I'll be back in just a few with your orders. In the meantime," he pointed his arm out to the large screen and with his fingers, snapped them loudly. "You may begin."

The lights slowly dimmed and darkened the room. Captain ventured around the teens towards the exit and made his way out with an almost over-eagerness to his steps.

Ruby watched him as he left. "This is so weird."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Yang replied back, propping her hands back behind her head. "But hey, free alcohol and movies. I can get behind that."

"I'm not sure being accustomed so quickly to what amounts to kidnapping would be something to 'get behind of,' Xiao-Long." Weiss added in her two lien but relaxed into her seating regardless.

"Well, I'm sure this will prove interesting, if nothing else," Pyrrha added. "Viewing about alternate Jaunes sounds…well…" She smiled a little in her seat.

"I'll admit, I'm slightly intrigued by this premise, as well." Ren stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe there will be something to gain from all of this beyond what we can see-"

"Shhh," Nora interrupted helpfully. "It's starting!"

The eerie sound of shifting of water was the first sounds to come from the screen. The dimly lit viewing showed unusual rock formations and slowly swaying branches of tall seaweed. Something was swimming beneath a great amount of water, searching watery depths with attention.

"Oh, OH. Is this a shark movie?"

"Ruby, shush."

The unseen swimmer continued a bit deeper into the depths, brushing aside seaweed and fish as they went. His journey was largely dark and covered by the underwater flora, until a crude and shapely box came into view. Made of hard stone and covered in crustaceans, the diver swam closer and closer until he was right on top of it. And on the top of the large casing, there was an engraved sigil of a Sword and Staff crossed over a breast plate in the center. Below it, the single word of 'Ozma' was etched into the stone.

The scene shifted with the large container. Now, out of the ocean, it laid atop a large boat in the middle of the ocean.

A young woman wearing a tightly fitted diver outfit circled around the procured object with great interest. Her hands held a modest sized camera eagerly towards her new find. Caucasian, brown-haired, with a distinctive pair of rabbit-like ears protruding from her head.

"Hey, HEY!" Nora cried out. "That's Velvet!"

The rest of the teams perked up at the yell. "Wait, really?" Yang asked, surprised and shifting to get into a more focused place in her seat. The ears were certainly similar to the Velvet they knew…

"But, but I thought this was about Jaune." Ruby said, confused. "Why is Velvet there? H-how did Velvet get there?!"

Blake's eyes were a little more focused now, too. She wasn't the closest of friends with Velvet Scarlatina, but she knew the girl by look well enough to notice the obvious resemblance. "The Captain guy did say these were alternate universes," Blake reiterated. Voice still sounding bored, but slightly less so than before. "Maybe this is an alternate Velvet? She definitely looks a little older than ours does, though."

The others took a moment to look a little closer at their now older friend. Indeed, the Velvet on screen was a bit older. Fuller figure, mature face, all signs of baby fat gone with an especially confident expression to her face.

This was definitely an older Velvet.

This revelation also renewed the interest of the viewing parties. Seeing other universes about Jaune was one thing. But seeing universes with their friends and, possibly, alternate versions of themselves? That was something else entirely.

"I am here off the coast of southern Mistral," Velvet spoke up, focusing her camera forward and narrating loudly over the coastal waters, "where we just recovered what we believe to be the coffin of legendary explorer, Sir Ozma of the Lost Vale, who was buried at sea over 400 years ago."

Clank!

Right into the crack between the coffin's top and it's base, a crowbar was slammed firmly into it from an unseen figure from the side. The figure struggled for the bar to find some measure of opening to push into the coffin's lid.

Velvet sighed, lowering her camera. "Are you sure you wanna be defiling your ancestor's remains like that?"

"Ahh, heh, you make it sound so dirty." The other figure laughed as he looked up from his work.

"It's Jaune!" Ruby gasped, pointing excitedly to the screen and jumping up and down like a child.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, we can see that, Ruby," she growled. "And thank you for using your indoor voice."

Everyone stared at the new figure, who was only too obviously their one and only blond boy. An older Jaune, to be certain, like Velvet. And he looked…

"Hubba hubba," Yang smiled to herself, sitting up fully now and staring at the man on screen. "Not bad, Vomit Boy. Not bad at all. Loving the scruff there."

Pyrrha eyed the older Jaune appreciatively. Shorter haircut which was complimented by the light shade of a beard on his face. Add in the pair of piercing blue eyes and Jaune looked-

"Fearless leader looking pretty good there, huh Pyrrha?" Nora poked her friend from the side, smiling widely while Pyrrha blushed from her spot in the room.

"He looks…very mature, now." Yummy.

"Besides," Jaune continued, jamming the crowbar into another spot in the coffin, "I thought you didn't believe me."

"Well, I did do my research," Velvet countered, letting her camera resume filming. "And apparently, Ozma didn't have any children."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "So Jaune's lying."

"We can't be sure of that yet," Blake offered in his defense, surprisingly. Her interest in history and this historical find was catching her intrigue. "Just keep watching."

"Well, history can be wrong, you know." He continued to try and pry the lid open. But four centuries made such a chore a difficult one to say the least.

"How can you even be sure this is actually Ozma's coffin?" Velvet had to ask. "I mean, names on coffins are one thing, but I can't be getting footage of an exceptional counterfeit on my show, Jaune."

Jaune paused, thinking she had a point before laying the crowbar down and kneeling to the coffin's side. "See this passage right here?" Jaune pointed to the side of the coffin in interest. Velvet kept her camera on him the entire time.

"Uh-huh. What does it say?"

"It says… 'there must be a beginning of any great matter…but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished…yields…the true glory'." Jaune translated carefully, finger pointing to the words as they went. "Two years before old Ozma allegedly bit the dirt, he offered these words to a Queen in Vacuo. A bit of light flirting on his part, but his way with words were as synonymous with the man as were his achievements."

"Hmm." Weiss crossed her arms but nodded appreciatively. "Fine words from this Ozma person. Fine words indeed."

"Why?" Ruby asked. "What does that mean?"

Yang was all too happy to answer her. "Basically, little sis; you can start whatever you want to start. But if you want to get the best results and really show your stuff, you've got to take the journey or task to its end. That's what makes you truly awesome."

Ren pursed his lips. "That's…a safe rendition of what Ozma was saying, but yes."

"Ah," Velvet nodded. "Sounds like Ozma had quite a way with the ladies."

"Oh, absolutely. You should have seen his wife," Jaune picked up the crowbar again. "Real charmer from what I heard. Oof! And from what I've been told, umf, it runs in the family." He shot a charming smile to the camera.

Nora laughed in her seat. "I guess that's one thing that never changes," she said. "Jaune's always got to show off the charm for the ladies!"

Weiss was less amused, rolling her eyes. "No matter the universe, Jaune Arc always thinks he's a Casanova. Typical."

Velvet rolled her eyes in good humor. "Uh-huh, yeah. Sure."

"Agh, anyway, to answer your question," Jaune pushed the crowbar in one last time and gave a hard push. The coffin's lid gave a shudder and a fine pop before opening and breathing fresh air for the first time in centuries. Jaune's smile widened. "Do I feel any guilt? Nah. 'Cause you can't defile an empty coffin."

With a hard lift and push of the lid, Ozma's coffin was opened fully then and there on that ship.

Only, Jaune was right. There was no body in the coffin.

Velvet's eyes widened with excitement bubbling inside her. "What the hell…?"

Jaune wasted no time in his pilfering of the coffin. Shrugging off some loose grains of sand and barnacle or two, he found something most interesting at the bottom of Ozma's supposed resting place. A small box. Metal and rusted but still holding tightly closed, Jaune flicked the latch open and carefully opened the case. Inside was a small booklet, red in color and made of an extremely old leather with a very similar crest like the one on top of the coffin's lid. It sat comfortably without so much as a speck of dust to cover it.

"A book?" Yang stated superfluously, tone unimpressed. "A guy digs up his ancestor's grave for just some book? Bor-innng."

"Shhh, Yang! Books from the bottom of the sea are awesome and have hidden treasures inside the pages, shut up!" Ruby whispered harshly her way, earning a few eye rolls for her innocence.

Books with hidden treasures in them? Yeah, right.

It was such a simple thing but Jaune's eyes shone with glee as he picked it up with careful fingers and flipped the pages through for a quick glance over. Maps. Hieroglyphs. Guidelines. So many wonderfully drawn pictures and well-written verses from front to back in vivid detail. The laugh that came from Jaune's lips was practically jolly.

"Ozma, you devil," Jaune could only nod appreciatively. His ancestor was a genius.

"What, what is it?" Velvet chirped in the background; camera raised over her shoulder to glance over his. "C'mon, hold it up for me!"

Jaune turned his head around, remembering he wasn't alone. "No, no no no no no – no way." He closed the book and pushed the camera away. "The deal was for a coffin. That's it."

Velvet blinked owlishly at him. "Wait a minute," she shouted, "if my show hadn't've funded this expedition, you wouldn'tve even come close to being here!"

"Hey hey hey! You got your story, lady. That was the deal."

Velvet's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Look, Mr. Arc, you signed a contract." She tried playing the legal card. Jaune just laughed at her some more. "I have a right to see every single thing that book has to offer so you better-"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Jaune raised a hand to her, stopping her rant. His eyes weren't on her anymore and he wasn't laughing. "Could you hold that thought…" Jaune walked away from the coffin to a crate at the side, lifting up a small radio to his lips while keeping his eyes on the horizon. "Port? Uh, we got some trouble," his eyes narrowed. "Hurry it up."

"Port? Professor Port? He's here too?" Ruby asked.

"Oh gods," Yang groaned. "Please tell me he doesn't tell stories in this universe. I can only take so much over-inflated ego from him in a day."

Blake nodded. "Hmm. Between you and the professor, it does start to get to be a bit much at times."

"Yeah, exac- wait, come again?!"

"Okay, okay, w-what's going on?" Velvet lowered her camera at the shift in attitude from her hired archeologist.

Jaune grit his teeth and looked a tad sheepish back to her. "Uh…pirates."

Velvet blinked. "Pirates?!" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, the modern kind," Jaune answered her while procuring a small, slightly old and beat-up case from behind a crate. His name was stickered in big bold letters – J. ARC – on the front. "Kidnappings, ship stealing, murder." He opened the case up to reveal a pair of pistols and several magazines of ammunition. He checked one of the guns carefully. "They don't take prisoners…or, at least, not male prisoners." He had the decency to at least look apologetically back to Velvet.

It didn't help the rabbit-eared girl. "Wait, what are you…talking…" Her eyes shifted to the west and looked outward. It didn't take long for her to catch sight of what caused her companion some distress; four motor boats swiftly approached their unmoving vessel. Her face felt like the blood had drained from it. "Uh," for once, Velvet was lost for words, "sh-shouldn't we call the authorities or something?"

"Mmm, that'd be a great idea," Jaune replied, still sheepish and offering her an awkward chuckle, "buuut we don't exactly have a permit to be here…"

"What?" Some of the students asked allowed.

"So, wait, is Jaune there illegally?" Ruby was the one to ask that, eyes widening. "Illegal…is Jaune a criminal?!"

Weiss crossed her arms, glaring up to the Jaune on screen. "Well, I don't know why we're all surprised. This isn't exactly the first we've heard about Jaune breaking the rules to get what he wants."

The others shifted awkwardly in their seats. "Little harsh there, Weiss-cream."

"I'm simply stating the facts. And knock it off with that nickname, Xiao-Long. It wasn't funny when you first said it and it isn't funny now."

"What?" Velvet narrowed her eyes to her companion. If anything, the young woman seemed to forget about the pirates for a moment and narrowed her eyes back to Jaune.

"Yeah, so unless you wanna end up in a Southern Mistrali jail," Jaune clicked a magazine into one of the guns and cocked it readily, "we should probably handle this ourselves."

Velvet's hands went to her hair, grabbing her ears angrily. "W-wh-what's worse?" She asked shakily. "Jail or murder by pirates?!"

"You obviously haven't been in a Mistrali jail before." His tone suggested familiarity.

"Ha! Fearless leader has a jail-time record!" Nora slapped her knees and gave the screen a thumbs up. "Love this Jaune! Ten-outta-ten!"

"Three-out-of-ten, for me." Weiss rubbed a hand to her eyes. "A criminal record. This Jaune is proving less and less impressive to me by the minute."

"Obviously he's been caught doing some less than savory actions," Blake chimed in, crossing her arms defensively. "But so long as this Jaune has done his time, I don't have much to say against whatever he's done before. No one should be able to evade justice their actions."

Ruby looked over to her teammate. "Weren't you part of an international terrorist organization and got off scot-free when you came to Beacon?"

Blake's eyes widened and the black bow on her head twitched. "Th-that's completely different! I was pardoned! That's a different thing entirely!"

"Hey Pyrrha," Yang shouted over her arguing sister and partner, "what are Mistral's prisons like? They really that bad?"

Pyrrha pursed her lips. "Mistralian Jail are…intense, from what I've heard," the former champion answered carefully. "And the further south you go, the worst I hear they are. You definitely don't want to be in one for any length of time, trust me."

Ren simply nodded in agreement.

Velvet's hands fell from her ears and rubbed at her eyes. "Oh crap oh crap oh craaap…"

"Do you know how to use these?" Jaune slid another magazine into the second gun he had and held it out to Velvet. "Might help."

Velvet looked uncertainly to offered firearm. "Uh, yeah," she said, reaching clumsily for it. "It's like a camera…you just, you point and shoot…right?" Her grasp of the weapon was delicate and awkward to look at, to say the least.

"That is a terrible hold she has there," Ruby stated, vaguely remembering when she first held her own firearm in her youth and being just as careful and nervous as the older Velvet looked. The only difference being that she was three when she held her first gun. Her mother was so proud.

"Good girl." Jaune nodded. As far as first gun lessons went, it was poor but whatever. He cocked his own firearm and moved to find cover. "Here we go."

Velvet only sighed, stared again out to the pirate boats and followed the man quickly to the side.

Bangbangbangbangbangbangbang!

The gunfire came quickly from the pirate boats. Small-caliber ammunition battered the side of the ship as Jaune and Velvet ducked and held their heads down as the pirates spun around the ship, firing constantly and looking for another angle to attack.

"Ah!" Velvet cried out, sparks from the bullets raining onto her. "This is insane! How did they find us all the way out here?!"

"Gah, these guys have been tailing me for weeks!" Jaune shouted, returning a couple shots back to their attackers and being lucky enough to hit one off their boats. "Thought I lost them back in Cloverdell."

"What did you do to piss them off?!" Velvet asked, raising her gun over her head and firing sporadically outwards to what she was hoping was one of the pirate boats.

"Eh, kind of a long story."

"Oh, of course it is…"

"Jaune's doing pretty good with that gun." Nora complimented, smiling as she watched older Jaune push the pirates back. "Actually, has our Jaune ever used a gun before? 'Cause if he's even half as good as this guy, that would definitely help in the Vytal Festival."

Pyrrha stroked her chin in thought, then turned to Ruby. "The idea has merit. Ruby, would you be able to recommend us a firearm that you think would best fit Jaune later?"

Ruby's eyes were wide and happy. "Would I?!"

"Sis, don't go helping the enemy get a leg up in the festival."

"Wha? Yang, but weapons! And for Jaune! That's like a double whammy!"

"Ruby, no."

"RUBY YES!"

The gunfight continued on. Jaune and Velvet, to their credit and testament to their luck, weren't dead yet. Jaune shot at the pirates with aggression and accuracy, with even needing to occasionally grapple with a few who swam aboard to attack up close. The older Arc's style was crude and brutal, but efficient in removing the pirates in quick succession enough.

He punched one of the pirates out cold before tossing him back into the seas before diving again behind crates for cover. Jaune grit his teeth harshly as wooden debris fell on his shoulders.

"Come on, Port." Bang-bang. "Hurry it up…"

"Uh, Jaune?" Velvet called from the side, looking over her cover spot. "We've got a problem!"

Jaune chanced a look over himself. "Oh, that's a big problem."

The smaller boats were moving away from their ship – good news. Bad news? A bigger one was roaring up closer instead. A mounted turret was only half the problem there; the damn boat had a rocket launcher attached to its back end.

"TAKE COVER!"

Pheeeeeeew-BOOOOM!

The first RPG hit the wheelhouse of the ship with a fiery explosion. The whole vessel shook and metal pieces of the craft jumped everywhere. Adding to it, the mounted turret of the boat relentlessly pestered bullet after bullet into the ship, aiming for anything moving with deadly intent. Jaune and Velvet's only hope of survival was by sheer luck and keeping just below the other boat's viewpoint; shimmying around under cover as best they could.

"Crap crap crap," Velvet shouted over the gun fire. "I am not getting my security deposit back from this…"

"THAT'S what she's worried about right now?!" Weiss shouted. "Just buy another boat! It's not worth your life!"

"Ladies and Ren, our resident rich girl and her words of wisdom."

"Oh, be quiet, Blake!"

"Gah, where the hell are you, Por- PORT!" Jaune's eyes went from desperate and worried to elated as a large plane roared overhead. "You beautiful bastard, you!"

The plane twisted overhead, soaring over the water before turning and heading over to the gunship of the pirates. A small compartment opened up over the ship and a metallic, egg-shaped object fell right onto the pirate's boat. The resulting explosion and destruction of the pirates shook the already unsteady salvage ship they were using violently. More explosions from deeper in the ship didn't help matters further.

"Ah, crap," Jaune yelled. "Whole ship's about to blow! Everyone off!"

Velvet didn't need to be told twice. She dashed for the edge of the ship then paused. "Wait, wait!" She shouted back, turned and reached out for the camera lying on one of the crates.

"Priorities, Velve!" Yang yelled angrily to the screen. "Get off the boat!"

"Oh my God, you're insane!" Jaune yelled at the annoying reporter as she jumped past him and into the water below, him following suit right as the insides of the ship exploded upwards in a scorching, dark cloud of death.

Some distance away, Port's plane settled down on the water, away from the still burning wreckage. Jaune lifted his head out of the water next to the plane, drawing deep gasps of air as he stared up their rescuer as he opened the side door to the plane. A rotund man, aged with graying hair, a brilliant moustache and a cigar in his mouth, laughed and clapped his hands down to Jaune in the water.

"Ha ha! I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I, huh?"

"And there's Port in all his moustache-y glory," Yang commented jokingly. "Although, gotta admit, casual clothes do look better on him than his usual getup."

"On that, I'd have to agree with you, Xiao-Long." Weiss nodded appreciatively. Her opinion of the professor was of a higher standard then the rest of her team, but even she would admit that the usually boisterous professor did not look too bad in the buttoned-up t-shirt and khakis.

Jaune smiled up to the man. "Hey, come on! I had everything under control until they blew up the boat." He defended himself with a joking smile, earning a few more laughs from the older man. Jaune turned to his side and saw a pair of rabbit ears swimming towards them. Camera still in hand. "Hey," he called out, "you all right?"

Velvet swam over to them, smiling and struggling to keep her camera as dry as possible over to the plane. "Nothing that years of therapy won't fix," she joked weakly, looking up to their savior in the plane. "Hey, uh, would you mind…?" She held up the camera.

"Oh, no, of course," Port took the device from her hands, settling it down nicely to the side and helping her in. "You know, when I started my day off this morning, I wouldn't have believed I was going to save the beautiful and talented Velvet Scarlatina today." He smiled brightly down to her, helping into the plane and earning a grateful smile from the reporter.

"Oh, flattery. That will get you screen time."

Port just laughed. "Ah, I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy." He smiled up to the taller woman, pulling her hand to his lips and offering a quick kiss. "Peter Port, at your service."

Some of the theatre residents looked somewhat pale from the interaction.

"Okay," Ruby started off, "all in favor of hopefully never seeing Professor Port do something like that again? Ever?"

A resounding 'Aye' was her answer.

As Peter flirted with the young reporter, Jaune just stared up at the two of them. Both having seemingly forgot about him in the ocean and leaving him to climb out on his own. "Stay classy, Port. Stay classy…" He shook his head, closing the portside door behind him and looked over to his friend and mentor. "Hey Port, whaddya say we get out of here before we attract any more attention?"

"Ah, I like the way you think, kid." Port nodded his way up to the cockpit of the ship, quickly plucking a few controls and panels before taking off for the skies and leaving the wrecked ship to find its place down on the ocean floor. Velvet was getting footage of their daring escape from the air as Port looked to his co-pilot with a raised brow. "Now," Port kept his voice even and low, careful of their plus-one in the back, "did you find anything…?"

Jaune smiled brightly, lifting up the red book. "A little present from Sir Ozma."

Port's expression brightened immensely. "Oh, ho ho ho! So, you found the coffin?" He sounded as if he could barely believe it. He stared at it a little closer and, as possible as it seemed, his eyes widened further. "Wait a minute – is this what I think it is?"

Now it was Jaune's turn to laugh. "Ozma's lost diary."

Yang snorted. "The 'great explorer' had a diary?"

"More like a journal, I'd imagine," Ren spoke up. "And from what was shown earlier, one of considerable detail. It would probably be worth a lot alone just to have it."

"Really?" Ruby perked up. "How much?"

Weiss put her hand to her chin, thinking. "Well, it really depends on the notoriety of the individual it belonged to, the information inside of it, how hard it was to find, and, honestly, the story behind how and where it was found." She nodded to herself. "The story alone of the diary being found inside what was assumed to be the man's coffin would, by my best assumption, make it a very sought-after collector's item. Probably in the tens of thousands of lien, at least."

A few in the room considered how having that much money would change their lives. New upgrades for motorcycles. A pancake house to own. New weapon modifications. So many books, first edition, author signed. That little book was looked upon far more favorably in that moment alone.

"Ozma faked his death, just like I said," Jaune pointed to the diary. "He must've been onto something big."

"Yeah, well," Port's voice went quiet again, "let's just keep that between us, huh?" He gestured back to the Velvet, who was taking a moment to self-camera narrate her recent adventure, unaware of the two men talking.

"Pirates! Mistralian pirates flanked our ship from every side. Explosions, gunfire, an RPG! All that and all we have to our name after the sinking of our beautiful ship is a tiny diary found in the bottom of our empty coffin." Velvet's smile was excited and pleased. "We'll find out just how everything connects with our mysterious and perplexing Sir Ozma very soon."

Port sent Jaune a look that was anything but impressed. To which, honestly, Jaune could only shrug sheepishly to.

"I'M BACK GUYS!"

A loud voice shouted from the back of theatre, making everyone jump in their seats and turn around to the entrance to the theatre.

"Okay, so, I might've forgotten on the way back down, but I'm pretty sure it was one of the girls who ordered the Mistralian Red Storm and Strawberry Sunrises, right? Am I right? Pretty sure I was right, it's a one-in-seven chance I'm wrong and I feel confident in those odds."

The Captain had returned. And in his cloaked arms, balanced carefully and with some measure of grace, were several orders of food and drinks. Although, admittedly, he did look a little goofy in his balancing act, as well. A tall, dark, somewhat intimidating figure harmonizing a plate of nachos on one shoulder and a hot cup of coffee on the other, whilst balancing a cold glass of milk on top of his head, was an uncommon sight for everyone involved.

Ruby, surprisingly, was the first to recover from the return of their host. "I-I had the milk," she called. "A-and thank you. For the milk."

"An-and the red is for me. With the cake."

"Oh! Nachos! Give 'em here!"

"Careful with the coffee. Here, let me help."

It seemed whatever unease towards their host had permeated before had dissipated somewhat, with the students all aiding the Captain in his removal of his carefully balanced items. And though his face was still well hidden behind the hood of his cloak, the Captain's posture, once freed of food and drink, was noticeably appreciative.

"Ah, much obliged." He rolled his arm and shoulder around. "Probably should have just used magic there. Wasn't thinking. Too excited. Wanted to get back to the show. Did I miss anything exciting?" The Captain spoke quickly and looked to any of his guests for an answer.

Nora was gracious enough to answer him. "The ship just blew up."

"Which one?" The Captain asked, head tilted.

"The one with the coffin on it. Profes- uh, Port saved Jaune and Velvet just now."

"Oh! Perfect! Haven't missed much then!" Delighted, the Captain slid past the row of children and down towards the front of the screen, stretching back and allowing a seat, not previously there a moment ago, to materialize for his posterior to lay on. "This is so exciting…!"

For a moment, everyone just stared at the giddy Captain of the Jellybean. So childlike in his actions, it reminded some of their professors.

Yang just took a sip of her beverage and smiled at the taste. "Just the right amount of sweet and alcohol. This day is turning out weirdly awesome."

The scene changed to a tropical island some distance away from where the Velvet's ship fell into the ocean. The area was scoured with luscious palm trees, moss covered boulders, a bright blue beach with a small coastal village outfitted with a rudimentary docking area that was just large enough to dock Port's plane into.

Velvet, now dressed out of her swimming gear and into something more casual and relaxed, was walking back and forth outside the plane, speaking into a large satellite phone with her manager and updating her on the situation. Jaune (dressed more comfortably, as well) and Port were excitedly going over the contents of Ozma's diary inside of a new boat they'd procured from the local islanders. Jaune's enthusiasm to his find, as he shared it with Port, could not be understated.

"So look, when Ozma sailed into the Vacuan White Sea, he took the Mantalian fleet completely by surprise. He captured their ships, he took all their maps, their letters, their journals, and he recorded everything in this diary."

Port nodded. "Uh-huh, so this-"

"But when he got back to Vale," Jaune continued, "Queen Sappheron confiscated all of his charts and logbooks – including this one – and then swore his entire crew to silence."

"Yeah, so this-"

"See, Ozma discovered something on that voyage, Port. Something so secret, and so valuable, they couldn't risk it getting out!"

"I can't remember Jaune ever being this excited about something like this." Pyrrha commented. "It's kind of refreshing to see him so happy. He sometimes can put himself down when we try to work on his form and legwork together. He just doesn't quite get what I'm trying to tell him and that really brings him down."

"Hmm. I definitely get that," Yang chimed in over her Strawberry Sunrise. "When I was a kid, I tried to be like my dad and learn how to fight like he did. I was a bit of a daddy's girl at the time."

"She still is," Ruby chimed in, smiling.

"Haha, shut up. Anyway, to me, it seemed so cool to see him punch an entire tree into tiny little splinters just for a morning workout. I wanted to be just like that." Yang laughed then, a light red tint to her cheeks in embarrassment. "Buuuut I always got frustrated when I couldn't do the same things he could do. Couldn't get my legs to move right, couldn't get the punches down, lost my balance when I tripped over my own hair, etcetera. And that put me into a funk, sometimes." She took a sip of her drink. "Always made me think I was a failure for the longest time. And that feeling sucked major."

"Success is not the key to happiness," Ren said with a nod. "Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." He turned his head to Yang. "You have no reason to be embarrassed anymore. You are an exceptional combatant and a remarkable Huntress. I am sure your father is proud."

"Here here!" Ruby chimed in again, giggling at the further red tint on her sister's cheeks.

"Aww, look at Renny being all philosophical and nice!" Nora smiled, throwing some nachos at her friend for good measure.

"Yeah, keep it in school, Ren!" Yang laughed, plucking the little umbrella from her drink and failing to hit the boy on the other side of the room with it. Ren only shook his head, though, and plucked the chips from his hair.

"All right, Jaune," Port interrupted the eager and excited younger man. "Let's just pretend for a minute that I don't really care about any of that stuff and cut to the chase, wouldya?"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "A man only interested in the climax. Heh. I have no idea how you're such a hit with the ladies."

Port smiled. "Charm. Persistence. And a little trick I learned in Bota-Bota with my tongue."

The theatre's occupants groaned. One louder than the others.

"Bleach! I need bleach! For my brain! My over-active imagination has failed me!"

"Okay then, I'll jump to the good part, just for you." Jaune threw the diary onto the small table of the boat and pointed to a small map on the page.

Port stared at the page for a long moment. His smile grew into a great, wide and beaming thing. A hearty laugh escaped as he couldn't believe what he was reading and his cigar threatened to pop down from his lips.

"El goddamn Dorado…"

"Phhhhtt!"

Blake sputtered into her coffee at Port's words, coughing into her fist as the liquid caught in her throat. Everyone turned her way, concerned.

"Uh, partner? You doin' alright there? Should I, uh, get you some cream or-?"

"Did he," Blake shouted out before coughing some more, "did he just- did that book just say Ozma found El…El…"

"El Dorado. The El Dorado," the Captain answered from the front. Even without seeing his face, everyone could tell from his tone he was smiling. Maybe even smug. "Or would it be El El Dorado? Is that how it works? Hmm."

"El Dorito?" Ruby chimed up, confused as several others. "Is anyone getting this? What's a dorito got to do with this? And who's El?"

Blake coughed some more, waving her hand and pointing to the screen. "Keep watching!"

Jaune's smile matched Port's. "Ozma was onto to something big, all right."

"Does it say anything else?" Port asked, flipping through the diary's pages quickly.

Jaune snatched it right from his hands, looking smug. "Oh, so now you're interested, huh?"

"Of course, I am! Hey, hey, when am I not interested in listening to your crazy stories and wild theories, huh?"

"Oh, my stories are the crazy ones now?" Jaune shook his head but smiled regardless. "Well, unfortunately, that's as far as I've gotten," he lifted the diary up. "No last page. Looks to have been torn out at some point." And by the looks of what little remained of the page to begin with, hastily and without care unlike how everything else in the book was handled. Port looked like some of the wind in his sales had been lost but Jaune only looked more eager. "I'm telling you, Port, this is it. This is finally it."

"Yeah," Port nodded, while his eyes went out the nearby window. "Only, we got one little problem…"

Jaune followed his look, seeing Velvet still negotiating over the phone.

"Yes, that's what I said, it blew up," Velvet explained for what felt like a twelfth time in the last hour. "It sank." Fifteen time. "No, that's why we have insurance, right?" More noise on the other end of the phone. Velvet's face cringed. "Oh…well, at least the cam- yes, the camera made it out, it's fine, don't worry about the camera." She checked it over quietly just to be sure. Lights still worked, recording capabilities still all there, she was still able to make this work.

"Port, the girl can hold her own!" Jaune defended Velvet inside the boat. "I mean, her aim was all over the place, but you shoulda seen her!"

But Port wasn't having it. "Fine, you go on out there and you tell her, 'we just found the lost City of Gold!' Maybe her producer can get it on the air tonight!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! The City of what?!" Weiss shrieked in her seat.

"Gold!" Ruby shouted now. "The book did have a secret treasure in it! I called it- I was right! Go Ruby, go Ruby, it's your birthday, it's your birth-"

"Is that what El Dorado is? A city?" Ren asked, interested but not so invigorated with intrigue as his friends were. He turned to Blake. "Blake, do you know anything about this?"

Everyone turned their eyes the dark-haired girl. Suddenly being the center of attention, the Belladonna girl curled herself inward. Regretting her earlier reaction. "I-it's just an old story from when I was a kid," Blake stated, wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling them close. "W-where I used to live, when I was younger, a lot of people would talk about the myth of the City of Gold that was somewhere out on the ocean somewhere, just waiting to be found. W-we used to speak a-about how it was a great city, wealthier than any that came before or after it, and how it was filled with riches and wonders beyond anyone's imagination." Her cheeks were a little red as everyone continued to listen intently. "Older fishermen said the amount of wealth in the city would be able to pay for half of Sanus easily. With all the mineral rights found throughout the continent, too." She loved the stories when she was young. They were probably exaggerated, but she once imagined what it would be like to have such economic power to her name. Her people would never go hungry again and want for nothing.

Imaginations of the others ran wild then, too. One bike? Try a dozen- or better yet, buying the best manufacturer entirely. A pancake house? Food districts all owned under one person, on every continent and every city and every town. Weapon modifications? Giant Mecha. Or a dozen of them. With missiles and guns and lasers that went pew-pew-pew against the Grimm.

"So, uh, Captain, sir, umm, about this El Diab- uh, El Dorado place…?" Ruby spoke up, trying not to look too greedy in that moment and failing miserably as she looked down to their host, who craned his neck to look back to her. "I was just wanting to ask 'cause, uh, I'm sure everyone else is curious here. Honestly. No reason for my question beyond being pure and well-intentioned. Purely innocent, even. Honest. But, um, so, does the city actually…exist? In our Remnant, I mean?"

The Captain waited for a moment, thinking it over, then shrugged. "Who knows?" He said, sounding smug still. "Let's just continue to watch and see, 'kay?" He probably didn't win any brownie points there, if the irritated sighs were anything to go by.

Jaune rolled his eyes at Port's words. "Oh, come on…"

"Jaune," Port's tone turned serious, pulling his cigar from his mouth, "do you trust me?"

Jaune pursed his lips. "Sometimes against my better judgement, but…" He nodded.

"Good. 'Cause we're gonna have every two-bit scumbag from here to Vacuo racing us to this treasure, unless we cut her loose right now."

Jaune stuttered for a moment there, turning to look at the still-pacing girl outside before sighing deeply. "You're a real gentleman, Port."

Port nodded. "I know. It stinks. And hey, if it'll ease your conscience, give her the story of how we found the city after we have a perspective buyer on the way." Port said no more and turned towards the controls of the boat.

Jaune just shook his head. This did not sit well with him.

"No, I don't- I don't care if we're over budget." Velvet continued to shout into her phone. "I mean, do you realize that this could be, like, the biggest story of the year?" She turned around back to the boat. Jaune was reading the diary again. Port waved back to her with a smile. She waved back, forcing a grin. "No, I don't trust 'em, okay?" She held the smile to her face for a long second before focusing back to the phone. "That's why we need to move fast. Camera crews, microphones, a chopper if you can, and I promise you that I will- hey, HEY, WAIT!"

The boat's ignition roared to life, quickly speeding away from the dock and away from Velvet and her phone.

"SONOFABITCH!" Velvet gave a good effort to run after the boat to the end of the dock, but by the time she was there, Port's new boat was already making waves to open sea.

And the worst part? The newswomen felt she only had herself to blame. "Shoulda seen that one coming."

"Ouch. Feel bad for Velve." Yang remarked, moving onto her second Sunrise. "I mean, I saw that coming a mile away, but still."

"Well, at least Jaune seemed to regret that they had to do that," Pyrrha said, defending her leader and partner to the others. "It wasn't his decision to just leave her there. It was Port's."

"He certainly didn't feel guilty enough to tell Port no," Weiss countered, crossing her arms. "Leaving a girl alone in the middle of island like that? Even with a phone on her, that's dangerous."

"Yeah, kind of a dick move there." Yang added in with a shrug. "Still funny, though."

"He's still a three for me. And a low one, at that."

Pyrrha frowned in her seat at the still low score of her friend.

Some time later, now in lush jungle far away from the ocean, Jaune and Port navigated the rougher terrain through knee-high grasses and aggravating bug life. Jaune appeared well-accustomed to the outdoors, but Port groaned behind him.

"Hol-hold on, kid. I'm not, phew, I'm not as young as I used to be."

Jaune looked to be in his element, however. "Heh. You weren't too old for that little barmaid in Kuo Kuana, were you?"

"Ha!" Port barked heartily, moving forward again. "Now, that, that was different. Although, I must admit, equally as strenuous."

"Ugh! Bleach! BLEACH!"

Jaune just shook his head. "Well, just hang in there, old timer. We're just about there."

The jungles were beautiful, if nothing else. The greenery, the sounds, the clean flowing water- it had its appeal, undoubtedly. And after that gunfight on the ocean, Jaune could take a little peace and relaxation amongst nature without complaint.

"Yeah, it may be nice out there," Ruby said, eyes wandering around. "But I would definitely be on guard for the Grimm."

"Yeah, they're taking all this very casually," Pyrrha added, similarly worried. No mecha-shift weaponry to be found on either of them. Just a couple of pistols. That would be effective against anything larger than a Nevermore – and a small one, at that.

"I don't think either of them have Aura, either," Blake added, only adding further to the nervousness of the theatre's occupants. "I mean, remember how Jaune hid from those bullets? Or how he fought earlier? I don't think he has any Huntsmen training in this universe." Middle of a jungle? Low-tech weaponry? In Remnant, that would border on a death sentence for all but the most fortunate and lucky.

"You're right about that, Ms. Belladonna," the Captain yelled over to them. "But don't you worry; Jaune and Port won't need Aura or training here."

"Really?" Weiss asked with raised brow. "And why is that, if I may ask?"

The Captain shrugged, seeing no reason not to answer such a question. "Well, simply put," he started, pointing to the screen, "there are no Grimm there."

There was a pause in the room. "You mean there's no Grimm wherever they're at?"

"No, Ms. Rose. I mean there's no Grimm, period. This Remnant you're viewing now," he waved his finger to the screen, "is without Grimm of any sorts whatsoever."

The room went quiet again. Very quiet. Minds trying to wrap themselves around a world without Grimm.

"H-how?" Nora, for once, seemed lost for words. "How are there no Grimm? Wh-where did they all go?"

"Nowhere. There have simply never been Grimm on this Remnant. Which means that there aren't any Huntsmen Academies, no discovery of Aura or Semblances, and the world is often times in a relatively calm peace with its neighbors and fellow men. Be they human or faunus." The Captain turned his head around and wasn't surprised in the least to see significantly troubled expressions on everyone's faces. "It might surprise you to know that, in the great and vast multiverse, Grimm are on a very distinct minority of them."

It was quiet again, except for the screen where Jaune and Port continue to wade through the jungle. Everyone in deep thought at what they heard.

"Well," Yang tried to speak, forcing out a laugh that sounded strange on the usually confident girl, "I-I gotta say that…what you just said, it…it doesn't sound so…so…"

"Bad." Blake spoke up in her usual quiet voice. Everyone heard just fine, though. "That doesn't sound bad at all."

The Captain stared at everyone. "No," he spoke quietly. "No, I guess it does not…"

"You really think Ozma came all the way up here, huh?" Port asked as the pair scaled a boulder in their way. "We're an awful long way from Vale."

"Well, that's what made Ozma an explorer, Port," Jaune retorted, brushing away a large branch and coming to a clearing. He brought out a small device from his pocket, holding it to the air and letting a loud, quickly-repetitive beeping be heard. "He liked to travel…and he liked to travel far…"

Jaune looked confused for a moment, holding the device up. Beep beep beep beep beep. Again and again and again without stopping.

"Well?" Port asked, looking around for anything in the clearing.

Jaune shook his head. "I don't get it. According to this," he held up the beeping instrument, "we're right on top of the mark."

"Maybe you're not reading that thing right– here, pass it over." Jaune handed it over easily enough, still looking over the area. Rocks, trees, grass, more rocks. No sign of an ancient civilization to be found.

"No, this is definitely the place…"

"Well, there's nothing here, Jaune." Port pursed his lips, throwing his hands up and growling as the device offered nothing new to them. "Another goddamn dead end."

"Easy, Port. Just relax. And watch that blood pressure of yours, I've told you about that." Port just waved the younger man down, still groaning. Jaune just shook his head and pointed to an opening in the surrounding rocks. "Let's just take a look around. Hmm? Okay?"

Port fumed for a minute, kicking over some stones before making towards the opening himself. "Come on, we're burning daylight, slowpoke." Port grunted, moving quickly while Jaune just rolled his eyes, smiled then followed right along.

"I doubt it would be so easy to find a lost city if everyone just wanted to give up looking after so short a time or effort." Weiss nodded thoughtfully. "Success takes effort, perseverance, diligence, and more often than not, a little luck. It speaks well of this Jaune that he keeps moving forward even when others tell him to stop."

"Another thing this Jaune has in common with our Fearless Leader." Nora smiled and nudged Ren at her side, who smiled and nodded lightly to her in agreement.

Ruby smiled over to her partner, who huffed at the Valkyrie girl's declaration. "That's pretty good advice, actually."

Weiss's expression softened a little at that. "Thank you. It was actually my grandfather who told me that when I was little," Weiss said. "They were…some of the last words he ever said to me. They meant a lot to me." Ruby frowned from her chair while Weiss decided it was about time to see if her white cake was any good.

Past the rocks, the mood of the two brightened considerably. "Well, would you look at this…"

Aligned in ordered and neat patterns, several stone pillars stood proudly before them, neatly carved and still standing even with the jungle having long grown over them with roots and leaves.

"Think we can get a pretty penny off of making this a tourist trap?"

"Eh, maybe," Jaune replied back, wiping his hand over the stonework carefully. Pieces fell off as he rubbed his fingers over the light pebbles. The stones were old but basic and no different then the rocks from before. None made of gold. "Let's keep looking. I have a good feeling about this."

Port rubbed his hands over the stonework too. "This is old…what do you think it is? Karloof? Imbodias?"

"Nah, it's older than that," Jaune moved around the pillars quickly. The architecture seemed to be growing less and less overgrown as they went deeper in. "Like two thousand years older."

Nora scratched her head. "Uh, Karloof? Imbodias? What are those, some kind of rocks?"

"Ancient civilizations from roughly two thousand years ago," Blake answered her. "I read about them from one of my books-"

"One of your smut books?"

"Ye- NO." Blake corrected herself, glaring to her smug partner. "From one of my historical dramas. Which also have very useful and insightful pieces of information on history before the kingdoms, I'll have you know."

"Uh-huh, sure. That's why you read them."

"Anyway," Blake grounded it through the clenched teeth, "I don't know much about 'em, honestly, but I do know they were a group of people that came before Vale, Vacuo, or any of the kingdoms that we know of today." Blake paused in thought. "And come to think of it, those ruins from the entrance exam from the beginning of the year? Those might actually have been from one of the civilizations."

"Whoa…" Ruby's surprise was easy to see on her face. "And this place is even older than those ruins. Hardcore…"

"Hey, Jaune! I found something!" Port shouted back to his partner as he stood before a dark, damp walkway that led into the forest floor. Port brought out a flashlight and shined it into the ruined underground. "Well, I'll be…looks stable enough…"

"Age before beauty?" Jaune asked with a smirk.

Port playfully glared his way. "Okay, smartass, get down there." Jaune only laughed some more and quickly descended down into the untouched ruins of (maybe) El Dorado.

The walls were worn. The floors were soaked from rainwater. And bats had long since made their home amongst the forgotten place for some time. So, the place was not the worst dump Port had ever dragged Jaune off to. Still, even as they traversed downward, passing hall after hall and coming across room after room without sign of gold of any kind, even Port was starting to think this venture was a waste of time.

"What a warm and homey place, huh?" Port groaned, flashing his light at yet another ruined shrine.

"Not exactly what you were expecting huh?"

"Yeah, where's all the damn gold?" Port grumbled, kicking up stones from the floor.

Jaune shook his head, looking over grime-covered walls. "Ah, this place was picked clean centuries ago. Not a doubloon to be found."

"Agh, Ozma, you no good lousy pirate…"

Jaune was about to agree when his flashlight caught something. "Nope," he knelt down, brushing off some dust and procuring a helmet amongst the cobwebs. "It wasn't Ozma. Check it out; that's Old Mantle's craftsmanship." He passed the old relic on to Port. "Guessing they got here before we did."

Port's face turned red at Jaune's every word, turning and tossing the old helmet to the floor with a clang.

Nora jumped in her seat. "Oof! Someone's not happy!"

"Yeesh, yeah. Don't think I've ever seen old Port that mad before…or ever, actually, come to think of it."

Jaune was surprised to say the least. "Port, what the hell?!"

"Jaune, I'm not looking for a lousy piece of tin!" Port started to pace around the room, glaring to the floor. "I'm up to my eyeballs in debt here!" He turned his eyes to Jaune, whose expression had softened and even looked a little worried his way. Port saw the pain in his eyes and sighed, sitting on one of the many fallen pillars around, tired and desperate.

"I'm, I'm sorry, kid." Port pursed his lips. "I just…I was really countin' on this one…"

Jaune stared at the old man for a moment. It was rare to see Port for down for any reason. It was another thing entirely to see him depressed and out.

"I, uh," Jaune scratched the back of his head, looking for something. "I guess you picked up one too many bar tabs in old Menagerie, huh?" He forced a laugh which didn't quite reach his lips.

Port, however, looked up. He stared at Jaune before smirking. "Something like that…along with a few bad deals I won't bother bringing up." The older man shook his head and looked up gratefully to Jaune. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," the smile came to Jaune's face easier this time. As did the smirk after. "I always told you to stay away from the bad guys…and the bad girls." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ha, these two have a good dynamic going on." Yang complimented. "Hey, Cap, what's the relationship between these two, huh? Some kinda alternate-universe father and son relationship?"

"Eh, close," Captain replied back. "Jaune was born in a less than savory environment. He picked Port's pockets one day, Port tracked him down, bought him dinner, and asked if he wanted to learn how to make real money over being some petty pickpocket in some no-way-ahead spot of the world."

"Aww, that's so nice of him! Way to go Port!" Nora crooned, toasting the old man on screen with a nacho.

"So, wait, does that mean Jaune doesn't have his sisters in this world? Or his parents?" Pyrrha asked concernedly.

"Wait, hold up, P-Money," Yang sat up a bit. "Jaune has siblings? Sisters?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Seven, actually."

That caught everyone's surprise.

"Seven? Seriously?" Ruby could hardly imagine. She had a hard enough time dealing with one.

"Eight children. That poor woman," Weiss muttered under her breath, imagining what such a thing must have been like.

Yang nodded, though with a smirk to her lips. "Tough woman, you mean. Jaune's moms a fighter."

"Man, I wish I had seven sisters," Nora giggled to herself, leaning over to Ren and whispered. "Can you imagine? Me with seven sisters. How crazy would that be?"

Ren raised his eyes upward, imagining just that. "…The world wouldn't know what hit it."

"To answer your question, Ms. Nikos," Captain spoke up, "not every universe has Jaune with seven sisters. Sometimes, he only has only one. Or he has a brother, on the odd occasion. Or even, often times, no siblings at all, like this world."

Pyrrha frowned deeply. "This Jaune had no siblings?"

Captain shrugged. "No siblings or parents, actually. He was a street rat; didn't even have two liens to rub between his fingers most days."

Pyrrha thought for a moment on what she'd just been told. "So Port really did save his life," she whispered, smiling at the thought. "He had someone, at least. That's good."

"Oh-ho-ho! Are we gonna talk about my lovelife right now?" Port laughed at his spot on the pillar, removing one of his boots and letting tiny pebbles fall out. "'Cause don't think I didn't see you making eyes at that reporter back there." This time, it was Port's turn to wiggle his brow. Jaune just waved his hand in his direction.

"Velvet? Phht, please. I snuffed any chance with her the second we ditched her on that dock."

"Haha! All's fair in love and war, kid!"

"Hm," Jaune nodded, smiling as he offered his hand to Port, who took it firmly and lifted himself off the rubble. "And what, pray tell, do you do if you can't tell the difference?"

"Then, my boy, you are in big trouble." Port and Jaune laughed together in good humor, renewed in their hope and moving further into the deep ruins.

The deeper the two went in, the more curious the environment soon became. Odd doorways and puzzles came up with some frequency that the pair wondered what could possibly have warranted such security measures from so old a civilization. The place was well-made, but almost had an odd intention of keeping anyone from reaching further inward. Braziers and light sources, thousands of years old, found themselves lit anew by the efforts of the two men along the way. Whatever was going on in the deep parts of the world, Jaune and Port found themselves determined to find out.

"I've gotta say," Yang spoke up again, "I'm kinda digging this place a bit. Exploring old and forgotten places of the world? Not a bad way to live, if you can make some money off of it. Heck, in a world without Grimm, I'd definitely be up for it."

"Yang Xiao-Long. Old world explorer, daring adventurer, all-around badass." Ruby spoke in as deep and dramatic a voice as her small frame would allow, giggling at the end. "I could definitely see you doing that. You'd be awesome at it."

"Aww, thanks little sis!" Yang reached out to give her sister a hug over their two teammates, who rolled their eyes as one tried to use them as meat shields and the other laughed at her sibling's dismay.

The pair of treasure hunters continued through the old temple, as they decided the old ruin must have been after a time, and came upon once again a new, large area that stood differently from the others. The roof had crumbled in some time ago, but the pillars on the sides seemed more ornate than ones prior and the room was more extensive then all the others before. And at the end, a great wall, chiseled with murals and sculpted history, caught both treasure hunters' attention.

Port eyed it eagerly. The effort and time something like this must have taken. "Holy moly…"

Jaune nodded, stepping up to a small stage at the center of the wall. He looked over everything with a careful eye. "The temple must've been built around this…" He gestured to the sculpted wall, before glancing around the room. "Or whatever was here before..."

"There was definitely something here before," Port said, lifting a finger to a spot of interest. "Look at these people. They look to be worshipping something." He narrowed his eyes. "Or, at least, I think they're people…"

"They look to be worshipping…some kind of statue…" Jaune looked the small stage again, kneeling down to the floor and rubbing his hands over the dirt. Tiny, glittering specks fell from his fingers. His eyes widened. "A gold statue."

"A huge gold statue!" Port clarified. The indentation of the floor, the way carvings on the wall, all signified that something great and large was once there. "And those people, things, whatever – they were worshipping the damn thing! They were worshipping the statue!"

Jaune's mind raced over everything he knew so far. A statue. This temple. El Dorado. "El Dorado…the golden man…" Revelation hit him. His eyes widened. "Of course! El Dorado doesn't mean the city or temple – El Dorado means 'The Golden Man'! It's the statue, Port! The idol! The idol was El Dorado!"

"So it isn't a city made of gold?" Ruby asked, mildly disappointed.

"I'm sure a statue of that size made of pure gold would still make you very happy, Ruby," Pyrrha said back with a mild, humorous smirk on her lips, to which Ruby squeaked embarrassingly and threw her hood over her head to cover her reddening cheeks.

Port's eyes were wide and astonished. "Oh man. Can you imagine what that thing would go for now?" The gold alone would be worth millions of lien. The fact it came from a long dead civilization would only add more zeroes to the price tag.

"Hey hey hey, look over here," Jaune flashed his light over the ground, where the stonework appeared rough and dragged out. "Tracks." He pointed his light upwards, to a small hallway at the corner of the room. "I bet Mantle dragged it out on cut logs."

"Sturdy logs." That statue had to be several tons at least.

"This was a while ago," Jaune shook his head. "I'm guessing we're four hundred years too late for that party."

Once again, Port sighed. "So, the trail's gone cold."

"Yeah, it looks that way."

"Goddamn it."

Jaune looked over the tracks, following them to the hallway. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

Jaune smiled, excitement renewed in his eyes. "We follow the tracks."

"Yeah, go Jaune and Port!" Ruby cheered. "Don't give up yet! Find that statue!"

"Ruby, please, they can't hear-"

"Jaune, Jaune, he's our man!" Yang cheered alongside her sister, chanting loudly. "If he can't do it, no one can!"

"Yeah, keep going Fearless Leader! Woohoo!"

"I have faith in you, Jaune! You can do it!"

The Captain smiled in his seat, listening to the cheers behind him. Things were going very well.

Once again, the pair set out further into the temple, until they came around a large hall in the wall. Blasted out, Port assumed, by the Mantalites desperate to get out from the temple. The trail was harder to follow after that; the hole led back into the jungle, where the foliage made following very old tracks damnably harder. But if there was one thing both men were in that moment, was determined and eager for riches and gold.

They followed the easiest path they could find through the jungle's terrain, figuring the men of Mantle would do largely the same while lugging a heavy gold statue about. The day was getting on and the sun was getting lower as Jaune and Port desperately moved forward in search for any hint of where such a massive object might have gone.

And then, they heard sound of rushing water.

"Whoa, now," Jaune's eyes looked out over a vast waterfall in the distance. But what caught his eye was what was perched on its side. "There's something you don't see every day."

"My God," Port said in astonishment. "It's an old DW-Boat! How the hell did one of those get all the way out here?"

Weiss raised a white eyebrow at the ship caught in the waterfall. "That's a submersible from Atlas. Or modern Mantle, at least. Those are meant to be out in the ocean – how could it possibly have gotten all the way up there?"

That was mystery now further tied into a quest for a grand treasure now. The interest of the Beacon students increased substantially.

Jaune and Port moved closer to the ship now beached in the waterfall. The vessel was old with its metal long rusted over. The markings and pain had long faded by the elements. It managed to somehow still stand, almost with dignity and poise, out towards the deep jungle.

"How do imagine this got all the way up here?" Port wondered again.

Jaune shook his head. "I don't know. Best guess, it must've come up the river during flood season and gotten stuck." A one in ten million chance. Jaune couldn't help but laugh. "Wanna go check it out?"

Port hesitated, looking over the rickety vessel. "Nah, nah, no way," He shook his head. "This all feels too convenient, Jaune. I don't like it."

"For once, I have to agree with Port here," Yang said. "This feels a little too set up for my liking."

Blake furrowed her brow. "Who would use an Old Mantle submarine as a 'set up' for a couple of no-name treasure hunters?"

"The most devious and desperate of villains, I'd bet."

Blake looked over to Nora clenching her fists and glaring at the boat. She honestly couldn't tell if she was being serious or not.

"Ah, come on, Port, you act like you've never seen a Mantalian war-vessel in the middle of the jungle before."

Jaune meant it as a joke but Port wasn't having any of it. "No, no, I'm being serious here, kid. This screams funny business all over it."

Jaune just shook his head, undeterred in the slightest. "Aren't you the one who always tells me 'Jaune, all you need is confidence'?"

Port's expression turned pained. "Kid…"

"Heh, okay, okay, look, tell you what," he pointed to the ship. "Why don't you stay here, I'll check it out myself. I'll call you if I run into any zombie Mantalians."

"Hmph. Yeah, you do that," Port grumbled, sending him the stink eye. He didn't like any of this. Not one bit.

"Oh, wait wait wait," Jaune paused and turned back to Port, handing him Ozma's diary. "Hold onto this for me, will ya? Don't want it to get any wetter than I already have."

"Alright, alright," grumbled Port, pocketing the book. "And Jaune, please, keep safe. No funny business up there."

"Sorrycan'thearyoujumpinginthewaterbyeeee!"

Splash!

Jaune Arc cannon-dived into pool of the water fall, laughing all the way down. The water was freezing, there was always the fear of a possible crocodile or piranha shoal waiting to get him, but Jaune didn't care. He was having the time of his life.

"Okay, seriously, is there any chance our Jaune might be like this guy when he gets older?" Yang asked over to Captain, smiling excitedly. "'Cause I want to take this guy out drinking with me sometime, and if our Jaune is even half as awesome as him, then I just found my new drinking buddy."

"Uh, Yang, remember what dad always says-"

"Drink responsibly or you'll end up like Uncle Qrow?"

Ruby blinked. "Well, no, but that's a good one too. I was gonna say-"

"Don't mix Dust with gasoline, it's not an alternative to NOS?"

"No, no- well, I mean, yeah, but that isn't-"

"The only good boy who flirts with us is a dead one?"

"No, Yang! Don't corrupt my friends with your dangerous habits – I don't have that many to begin with!"

Nora tried desperately to contain her laughter while Pyrrha giggled behind her hand while Ren just smiled and shook his head. Weiss and Blake could only groan quietly in their seats, only too used to this level of excitement from the two.

It took some time and a little climbing around the local environment and rock formations, but Jaune did eventually manage to find himself onto the war vessel and jump into one of the open hatches into the ship's interior.

The insides had seen better days. The outer shell of the ship was punched inward. Mechanical systems were just as rusted as the outside. And it only got worse from there.

"Jaune better be careful," Blake muttered to herself. "That's not soup on the walls."

"Yeah," Ruby breathed out just as quietly. "This place is giving me the willies."

"Jaune?" Port's electrical voice echoed in the interior of the ship, coming from Jaune short-way radio. "Jaune, can you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Port."

"Ah, good. How's it lookin' in there? Any zombies?"

"Heh. Nah, not yet, but it looks like I missed something mean that came through here."

"How mean are we talkin'?"

"Mean enough to splatter blood everywhere in this place."

"Blood?"

"Yeah, something nasty happened to these guys." It was a little unsettling. Blood everywhere. No bodies. Never a good combination. "I'm going in deeper. I'll keep you posted."

"Be careful."

Jaune maneuvered through the ship carefully enough. Blood was still everywhere. Walls. Ceilings. Rust was rust, but blood stood out in particular to them. And there was more blood then rust on the old ship.

And then, he found his first body.

"Ah, geez…"

The corpse did not look good. Dressed in a pale military uniform of Mantle, the man was bathed in red of his own blood. Face carved up and throat torn open, time hadn't decomposed him yet to bones, leaving a scared and pained expression behind.

Jaune began patting the man down.

"Wait a minute!" Weiss shouted again from her seat. "Is he- is, is he robbing the dead?!"

"No, no!" Pyrrha shouted back. "I-I'm sure Jaune is just looking over the man carefully. He wouldn't do anything so deceitful."

"Just look at him, he's checking his pockets! That is first-class robbery!" Weiss, as an Atlesian, felt some measure of patriotic pride whilst watching the older Jaune search the pockets of the corpse. The whole thing felt very, very wrong.

"You know, I actually never understood what the big deal was with robbing the dead," Blake spoke up with her same monotone voice, shrugging when the two girls stared incredulously at her. "I mean, what's a dead person gonna do with what his left behind corpse anyway? Better to get some use from it then just let it pick up dust."

Weiss's eyes flew to her teammate with an expression that could only be described as astonishment. "Blake, what are you- I, I can't believe you would say that! It's immoral!"

"It's practical," she countered back. "And who decided picking stuff off the dead was immoral anyway?"

"Societies! Governments! People with morals and decency!"

"And when those very things prevent someone from stepping out from the shadow of oppression and tyranny, what then, Weiss? What then?!"

"What the hell does tyranny have to do with society's rules and grave robbing?!"

They argued a little more after that. Yang, sitting off to the side, rolled her eyes and shouted to the front. "Hey, Captain, my Captain?" Said man turned his head around. "Can we press play on the universe again? Before the Faunus Wars, Part 2, starts up between them?"

Jaune rummaged through the dead man's pockets, looking for anything that might have pointed out why the ship was so far away from Mantle to begin with and up in the jungle, no less.

"Ah ha! See?" Pyrrha smiled brightly. "He was just looking for clues as to why Mantle soldiers were in the area. He was not robbing them."

Weiss simply crossed her arms and turned her head away from the direction of the redhead, earning snickers from the others.

Jaune started to mumble to himself as he tried to keep his fingers from touching any of the dead man's skin. "Nothing. Nothing. More nothing. Nothing again. And hey, look, another pocket full of n- oh, wait, crap!"

Riiiiiip!

The Mantle soldier's clothes ripped under Jaune's touch. Old and withered with time, the fabric tore apart at the seam and a secret little pocket opened wide to the world, spilling its contents to the ship's floor.

Jaune stepped away as the corpse's contents hit the ground. Coins littered around the room now, contrasting with the dry, blood-colored flooring. Jaune was hesitant but reached out to pick up one of the coins and look it over carefully.

Just like he suspected; pure, twenty-two carat Old Mantlalian gold coins.

"Ooooh, momma like!" Yang rubber her hands together and looked over her partner to Weiss. "Hey, Weiss, you're rich; how much do you think those coins would go for today?"

Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed to the heavens. "You know, just because I come from a wealthy household, doesn't mean I know everything about money and how much somethings might be worth, you know," she was quiet for a moment, though, and stared at the fallen coins on screen inquisitively. "Although, like I mentioned, if I were to use the determining factors of how something is valued – the rarity, the age, the weight, and the story behind how an item was found – I might be able to hazard a rough guess. Aaaand if I based my assumptions around my experiences with antique auctioneering I attended with my father around before, then I'd say these coins might be worth…" She thought deeply for a moment. "Anywhere from eight-to-twelve thousand each? It's only my guess, of course. Could be even higher."

Everyone listened to her. The tension in the theatre was finally starting to go and Nora smiled over to the other team.

"Renny, I think I changed my mind about being a Huntress. Clearly treasure hunting is the way to make real money in the world."

Ren smiled up to her, nodding. "Hmm. Clearly."

"Now this is interesting…" Jaune said to himself, looking over the coin. "Where, oh where, did you find this, my decomposing friend?" Unsurprisingly, silence was his answer. So Jaune tried for a more talkative fellow instead. "Hey Port. Good news. I think the trail just got warm again."

"How so?"

"Well, I just met a guy with pockets full of Mantalian gold, only the coins are stamped with a mint mark I've never seen before."

"You're kidding me."

"Looks like our friends from Mantle had a little secret." Jaune remarked, getting curiouser and curiouser by the moment. Pocketing one of the coins, he continued inward, wading through waist-deep water as he went and pushed forward into the crew quarters and up into the captain's area.

The captain's abode was much larger than the other rooms. Enough space for a bed, a desk and still with leg room for other little items of the captain's personal choice. Maps and graphs lined the walls of the room with markings and designations pointing to several locations. They were worn with time and undoubtedly the elements, but the fact remained that the area was probably quite nice once upon a time.

And then Jaune found the captain.

"Oof, yikes. Okay, why does everyone look like they tried making out with a Beowolf?" Yang asked sarcastically, seeing yet another corpse torn to shreds and with obvious signs of brutality that strongly suggested the captain had not died quickly.

"Are you absolutely sure there are no Grimm in this universe, Captain?" Ruby asked skeptically.

"One-hundred percent." Said the Captain. "Grimm have never graced this world's surface. Not once, not ever."

He said it with such assurance. Still, the Beacon students were unsure.

Jaune swallowed a lump in his throat and pulled the radio to his lips. "Hey Port. I'm in the Captain's quarters. And get this – he's still here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, looks like he was killed…" He paused, looking over the gruesome gash in the man's throat. "Ripped to shreds, actually. Oof. Not a good way to go."

"Eh, sounds terrible. Check his wallet."

Some of the students couldn't help but laugh. "Geez, Port's a little greedy. And I kinda love it."

Jaune just rolled his eyes. "You're all heart, Port." He put away the radio and looked over the dead man. A real number had been done on him, but something around the captain's hands caught Jaune's attention. A small piece of paper was still held to the man's chest.

"Well, what do we have here…" Jaune was less than gentle with removing the hand from folded piece of the captain. Intrigue started to spark in him again; what could possibly be so valuable that the dying captain spent the last moments ensuring that what he had would remain close to him until his last breath?

And then Jaune found out what it was; a map.

"A treasure map!" Ruby got excited again. "I knew there had to be a treasure map somewhere! All the greatest treasure stories have one – it's a rule of awesomeness!"

"To awesomeness!" Nora shouted/cheered.

"To awesomeness!" Yang would always support her sister.

"To awesomeness!" Pyrrha just had to get in on it too, giggling behind her fingers.

"I'm surrounded by crazy people," Weiss rubbed her eyes as they chanted 'awesomeness' with great enthusiasm. Even Captain seemed eager to join after a bit. Blake, being the good teammate she was, simply rubbed the heiress's back and assured her she wasn't alone.

"No way…" Jaune whispered to himself, looking over the contents carefully before wiping off the old desk of dust and grime to place it carefully on top. And as far as conveniences go, another map laid on the desk, as well. Showing the exact same island on both maps with coordinates in the top corner. "You've got to be kidding…"

"Find anything, kid?"

Jaune turned around to the far wall. A world map of Remnant hung proudly to it. Somewhat worn from time, but still very legible. He lifted the maps from the table and went to the larger map, looking around it carefully.

"UK2642…UK2642…"

His finger crawled over the map carefully. Starting at the top of Mistral, roaming down. Over ocean. Over the island of Menagerie. Further down until he tapped his finger to a spot on the map.

Jaune's smile was ecstatic. "Gotcha!"

"Hey, Jaune, you all right?"

Oh, he was better than all right. "Port, you are not gonna believe this."

"Hah. I'm old. Try me."

"I think I found our missing page!"

"You're kidding."

"It looks like Ozma and our Mantalian comrades were after the same treasure. And I've got the map that's gonna lead us right to it." Jaune couldn't stop smiling. This was all too good to be true.

"Jaune, this better not be another wild-goose chase. We've got to get something out of this trip or…"

Jaune waited for the old man to continue. No sound came out from the radio. "Or what?" He waited again. No reply. "Port? You there?" Nothing. "Peter?" Nothing but dead air.

Pyrrha swallowed a lump in her throat. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Yang leaned forward in her seat. "Ditto, P-Money. Ditto."

Jaune put the radio away. He didn't let the concern show on his face. Probably just the batteries dying again – Port kept forgetting to change them all the time. It was nothing to worry about.

To be sure, though, he decided that the best exit was a quick one. Only for the door to the crew quarters to be inexplicably shut and refusing to open again.

This was fine, it was fine. The torpedo bay door was right there. This wasn't the first time he would have to squeeze through an unusual space to get out of a tricky situation. Just had to find an open torpedo bay door and-

Clink. Crank. Thump.

Jaune's eyes widened at the door. A torpedo fell to the floor. And it's propeller was spinning fast. "Okay, that's probably bad."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Torpedoes explode, you dolt!"

"Run, Jaune, run!"

"What has two legs and should be getting the hell out of there now!"

Jaune didn't need much more in the way of motivation to get out of the ship fast. And wouldn't you know it, one of the torpedo tubes was empty and just waiting for him. Jaune leapt into without a second thought.

It took some maneuvering but the tube eventually opened to the underside of the ship. Jaune swam as quickly as he could under the wreckage, not knowing how long an old torpedo would take before ultimately detonating, even out of water. He came onto dry rock quickly enough and enjoyed the fresh air without the stench of rust or dry blood. His relief was short-lived, however, when he noticed he wasn't alone quite so alone.

A tall man in a bowler hat and carrying a cane knelt at the edge of the waterfall, tipping his hat to him. "Hello."

"Roman-fucking-Torchwick!" Yang shouted out, standing up and raising her hand in a crass gesture to the screen. "How the hell did he beat me to the big screen? Seriously, how?"

Weiss just rolled her eyes. "Would it kill you to use your inside voice, Xiao-Long? All of us here haven't been seen yet either, if you haven't noticed. Just keep quiet and let us see what will happen next, alright?"

"Ms. Schnee is correct," the Captain nodded. "Not all universes will have everyone here. And some will have a significant number of you, as well. I would simply ask for patience until we reach those designated universes."

Yang listened to their host and his words for a moment for crossing her arms and falling back into her chair again. "Fine. I hope Jaune at least caps his ass."

"Dad's gonna be angry if he hears you cursing again, Yang."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Jaune stared up to the new arrival. A sharply-dressed man who seemed somehow appropriately and not-so appropriately attired for the jungle area. And he wasn't alone; an entourage of armed men were scattered about. Even on top of the boat, men searched every nook and cranny they could find with purpose

The man smiled smugly, obviously the one in charge, and offered Jaune a hand up for his trouble. Jaune simply ignored him and pulled himself up, with one of the fancily-dressed man's apparent guards deciding to drag him up instead. Gun raised and uninterested in any funny business.

"Wait, I-I know that guy. That's Mercury!" Ruby pointed out, surprised by the older Mistralian was, evidently, working for Roman.

"Oh! Yes, I think you're right, Ruby." Pyrrha commented, surprised by the boy's presence. He was simply a student from Haven in their world, but in this new Remnant, he was a guard to Roman Torchwick himself?

"I guess some universes can make good people bad, huh?" Nora wondered aloud, earning a few nods from her friends.

The Captain simply raised his hands above his head, leaned back and smiled.

"Hey, hey, whoa…" Jaune raised his hands defensively, leaving the guard to remove his sidearm from its holster easily and without complaint. He looked past the bowler hat wearing pansy and his boyfriend to wave in the direction of Port, still thankfully alive. "Friends of yours, Port?"

The one with the cane smiled. "I'm Roman Torchwick."

"Yeah, I know who you are, asshole." Roman had a reputation in the underworld that stretched far and wide. He wasn't a man you wanted to make an enemy of.

Still, Jaune's inane language seemed to amuse Roman more then upset him. "Manners, young man, manners. This is just business." The guard pushed Jaune forward to stand beside Port, who looked less than confident in the current situation. "See, the thing is, your friend owes me money, Mr. Arc." Roman turned his eyes to Port. "A lot of money. So when he told me that you two were onto something big – 'the find of a lifetime,' he said. Well, I was intrigued."

Jaune sent a pointed look over to Port, who could only look sheepish in response. He messed up big time.

"Ugh, come on, Port!" Yang groaned into her hands. "I was just starting to think you weren't as lame as ours is. Don't ruin this for me."

"But he's made grand promises before," Roman continued. "Haven't you, Peter? And here we are again. Another fool's errand."

Jaune rolled his eyes at the monologuing. "Sheesh, does he always go on like this?" His answer was the butt of a rifle being jabbed into his back.

"Easy, Mercury," Roman calmed his man down. "No harm done. Least not to me. So," he turned back to Port, "I'm afraid the time is up…unless, of course," he eyed Jaune's person, "you found something in that old boat, Mr. Arc, that might compensate for all this unpleasantness?"

"He's screwing with you, Jaune," Port grunted from the side, glaring at Roman with loathing. "They heard everything. Just give 'em the map."

"Slowly…" The guard with the lousy temper – Mercury – growled from behind. Jaune wasn't stupid, though. He pulled the maps from his pants and handed them over. Slowly, as instructed. Mercury plucked it from his hands and moved to hand it over to Roman. Not before, at least, getting a good look at it. "What does an Achromatic map have to do with El Dorado?" He gave the chart over to Roman, who already began to study it intently.

"What, you think this is a coincidence?" Port shouted at the men. "Mantles been after the treasure for centuries. They failed to get it once four hundred years ago, and it looks like they failed to get it again some seventy before today. That map," he pointed to Roman's hands, "has something to do with the treasure, though."

Roman looked up to him then back to the maps. The items did seem to have his interest.

"So," Port spoke up, "we square?"

"For now," Roman nodded, then turned his eyes to Jaune. "But just in case you need a reminder…" He raised his cane and pointed it right into Jaune's face.

Everyone's eyes widened. "Jaune, no!"

"Port! Do something!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hang on a long second there, champ!" Port shimmied closer to Jaune. "You got me, that's all you need, but leave him out of this!"

"Yeah, don't you guys usually just cut off a finger or somethin'?" Jaune tried weakly to settle the man down to no avail.

Roman smiled viciously. "No, that's far too vulgar. I'm just looking to hurt old Port boy here, is all. You understand, don't you?"

"Roman, come on, this isn't necessary. Just leave him alone and we can-"

The cane turned slightly towards the stoutly man.

BANG!

The theatre's occupants jumped. None were unfamiliar with the sound of a gun going off. But in the theatre, the sound felt…magnified. Harsher. Louder.

"Port?" Someone whimpered.

"Port, is he…?"

"Did that asshole just kill-?!"

"Port?" Jaune's eyes widened. His fingers tightened and his legs felt like they were about to buckle. "Port, wake up!" Jaune's world seemed uneven all of a sudden. Sounds seemed duller and he was seeing red. "PORT!" Still no movements from the man in question. Jaune's eyes turned to Roman and fury took him. "YOU SONOFABITCH!"

He flew at Roman quickly but was stopped short by Mercury, who had little trouble ramming the butt of his gun once again into the oncoming Jaune – this time to the face. Jaune fell harshly to the stone earth, right beside the fallen body of Port, and looked up in time just to see a smiling Mercury raise his gun to his head.

Pyrrha scrambled to her feet. "JAUNE, GET OUT OF THERE-!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

The earth shook around them all. The entire DW-Boat went up in flames. The torpedo had finally hit it's end of use. Metal shards and wirings flew over the area of the waterfall. Roman's men, who had secured the top of the vessel, had been thrown off by the fiery explosions several feet into the air. Mercury and Roman both had been knocked off their feet, as well. Jaune, having already been floored before, fared much better than the two of them.

Jaune's ears were ringing but he managed to scramble to his feet first. His expression shifted to the recovering Roman and Mercury then down to the unmoving Port. Jaune's face was stricken and dour, but he stepped back as Mercury lifted himself first to his feet and aimed his gun at the retreating Jaune Arc, only for the gun to jam in his moment of need.

"Stop him!" Mercury shouted, pointing forward to the quickly disappearing Jaune. "Get him, you idiots! Don't let him escape!"

"Run, Jauney, run!"

"Move those legs, Vomit Boy!"

"Be the leaf, Jaune! Be the leaf!"

Bullets flew over as Jaune ran into the jungle paths. He never looked back to see if anyone was catching up to him. Didn't stop running even his lungs burned from the dead sprint into the untamed jungle. None of that mattered except for the fact he needed to get away.

Port gave him a chance. He wouldn't waste it.

The screen slowly turned black. The sounds of gunshots and the jungle quieted. Then, the lights around the theatre came up again.

Ruby's eyes looked to the now lit room, eyes blinking to adjust to the new light. Confused, she looked over to their host, who stood and moved to the side of the room.

"Wait, what?" She spoke up, looking confused. "What's going on? Why'd we stop?"

Captain turned his eyes back to her. He cocked his head to the side. "Stop?"

"Why'd the movie end?" She clarified. "What happens next?"

Her thoughts mirrored the others around her. Things had started to get interesting. "Yes," Pyrrha spoke up, "what happened to Jaune? Is he alright?"

"Yeah, don't be a tease, Cap," Yang leaned forward again in her seat. "Turn it back on or whatever. I wanna to see what happens next."

"Ditto!" Shouted Nora, with an agreeable nod from Ren.

"I'd like to see how the story ends, as well," Weiss spoke up, looking prim and proper in an effort to hide the intrigue she felt from moments before. It would not do for her to seem too eager at wanting to know if Jaune was alright or not. That would arouse annoying remarks and raised brows she did not care for.

"I-I just want to see El Dorado, please," Blake at least had the decency to admit her thoughts. "Could we watch just a little more?"

The Captain looked over everyone. His figure shifted awkwardly. "Oh. Uh, crap," he looked to the floor, then the side wall, then back to Ruby. "That may be a little tricky to do."

"Why is that?" Ruby asked for the others.

"I," Captain hesitated, took a deep breath, then sighed, "I don't really have great control over this thing…"

Everyone in the room stared at him. "Come again?"

"Well," the Captain started, shrugging his shoulders, "the theatre is kind of set to random…I guess?" His hand went to his face, scratching at a chin the others couldn't see. "Something like that, at least. I haven't figured out how to take control of the theatre yet."

The others stared at him.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"Aren't you the captain of this place?"

"Yep. Not proud of my lack of control here."

"Have you tried turning it off-and-on-again?"

"About a dozen times," the Captain shrugged in the direction or Nora. "Nothin'. This thing," he lifted a thumb to point behind him at the screen, "pretty much has a mind of its own at this point. Never can tell what it's going to show next until it switches to somewhere else. Even stops mid-way in some cases when I would like it to just keep going. It's super annoying, actually. Best I can do is help it move a little faster, but that's essentially it."

"So, that's it then?" Blake's eyes drooped, her bow twitching with her. "We don't get to see El Dorado?"

Everyone else seemed melancholy at the thought, as well. Like being offered a trip to a candy store as a kid by your parents, only to be tricked and then ushered into a dentistry for a checkup. It was not a nice feeling to have.

But then, the Captain shook his head.

"Oh, no no no, you probably will," he told them. "Just because you won't see it today, doesn't mean you won't at all. Like I said, the theatre has a will of its own. It's grumpy, but not mean. If you want something bad enough, it may feel more inclined to give it to you. Wants. Needs. It likes those kinds of things." The Captain moved again to the side of the room and brushed his hand over the wall next to the screen. He looked to be glossing over something, but no matter how everyone adjusted themselves, they could not see whatever it was that caught his interest. "Very nice…anyway," the Captain turned back to the teens, "the theatre will accommodate your interests and desires. Just give it a little time, Ms. Belladonna. I assure you," his posture straightened a little and, again, though his face was hidden, they felt more than saw the smile gracing his lips, "you won't regret it."

Blake stared at her host for a moment, thinking over his words. To her, the Captain seemed genuine. Or as genuine as a man who refused to show his face could be. She had less than great experiences with such characters in her life. Still, he seemed honest and straightforward, which was welcomed and comforting in a weird way.

She relaxed herself back into her seat. "Eventually El Dorado?"

The Captain nodded. "Eventually El Dorado."

The others seemed of a similar mindset after a moment, relaxing back into their seats.

"It was nice, though," Pyrrha said, brushing out a wrinkle in her skirt and offering a smile to everyone. "Seeing Jaune and Port, I mean. They look like they got along. Up until the end, of course."

"Yeah, poor Port," Nora crossed her arms and pouted. "Why do the good have to die young, Ren?"

"I think Port was nearing sixty from what I saw, Nora. Not exactly a youthful age."

"Young at heart, though, Ren. Young at heart."

"Ah. Of course. My mistake."

"It was a more interesting viewing then I anticipated it would be, I confess," Weiss stating primly, looking somewhat reluctant at her admission. "What with the star being Jaune of all people, I honestly expected some measure of poor singing or an egregious amount of flirting. My expectations were subverted, so I am pleased."

"Wow, what a glowing review that was," Yang rolled her eyes, smiling to the Captain. "Definitely wasn't a waste of time on my end. That older Jaune, though? Hmm," she winked playfully. "Show me more universes like that and I think we'll all get along juuuust fine."

A few in the audience shuffled in their seats, thinking about the older blond. Tan. Nice scruff. Witty and humorous. Some hid their appreciation for the older version of their friend better than others.

"Hidden treasures and Jaune was a weird combination," Ruby thought with her hand to her chin, before smiling and giving two thumbs up. "But overall? I liked it."

"I liked the historical parts. And it was nice to see Velvet, I guess." Her team stared at her with less-than impressed eyes. "I said I prefer books…"

"And that's fine, Ms. Belladonna," Captain assured her. "Believe me, I get this is all weird. If I knew of a way to make it all not-weird, believe me, I'd take that option in a second," he shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I know this might take some getting used to, still. But I am extremely happy to have you all here – more than you could imagine – and if there is anything I can do to make your stay here even a little more relaxed, please, you need only ask."

The Captain waited for anyone to say anything. But no one did. They just stared curiously at their host and kidnapper. Watched as he stood at the front of the room, open and kind even as they stared.

The Beacon students would later reflect on why they were so quiet in that moment. They would agree, though, that the cause was in part due to the uniqueness of the Captain as he stood there. There was something unusual about him. That was a given, all things considered, but it was not so simple as that. He held a familiarity to them all, but none could quite figure out why. The feeling was not terrible, of course. In fact, his awkwardness had a sort of childish charm to it that was disarming even the to more tightly wrung and defensive few in the room. He made no undue advances, nor asked questions of the personal sort. He was there, but not willing to stand out more then needed. Were he not sitting at the front of the theatre, watching and enjoying the spectacle of the screen like themselves, they might have even forgotten he was there. Or even that he wasn't one of their own.

At the moment, though, the Captain had been standing there still, waiting for someone to speak after him. No one did, and he was starting to feel very uncomfortable with the stares.

"Uh, right, well," he clapped his hands together, forcing a light chuckle. "I'll just, uh, stop talking then and get the next universe set up, alright?"

\-\ JELLYBEAN /-/

One universe…partially done, I guess.

Tell me if you want to see more of it. Uncharted is a wonderfully entertaining video game to play and enjoy by Naughty Dog. Shame they never made a sequel to their other smash hit, The Last of Us. I'm sure it would have been fantastic…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make sure I captured the feel of the scenes instead of just reiterating them. So, in the offhand chance you aren't familiar with Uncharted (which, honestly, it can be a pretty short game, go to YouTube and watch the cutscenes or a playthrough or whatever) you could still imagine it enough to get an idea of what's happening.

Also adjusted only a couple dialogue pieces here and there. The first game had some 'Early Installment Weirdness' to some of the relationships, so I tried to adjust it slightly while still keeping the feel of the scene. Hope it wasn't too grating.

Anyway, I have a movie up next. An actual movie. I had a video game again, but I don't want to go into one media type over another too much. Plus, two games in a row? Poor taste. Try to guess the movie if you can, too.

Hint: it came out in 2010.

Peace.