Ruby was humming to herself as she walked back from doing some target practice near the edge of the Emerald Forest.

True, Beacon had shooting ranges for students to use to keep their skills sharp, but she preferred to do it in the woods, firing at targets she'd hung on the trees. It reminded her of training in the woods around her home back in Patch.

She heard voices nearby, hidden by some trees and shrubbery, which caught her attention as it was very rare for anybody to be in the area for almost any reason. In fact, the only person she'd seen in the last month was Harry.

Then she blushed as it occurred to her that it might be a couple of people looking for someplace to be alone. Yang might like to delude herself that her little sister had no concept of sex, but Ruby was fifteen, not five.

She had been given The Talk by Uncle Qrow before her dad had realized what happened, and some things just couldn't be repressed.

"Are you sure you're alright with this? It'll be literal torture, and you've earned a break. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Nobody is forcing you." The male voice said.

Ruby frowned, worried and curious. That didn't sound good. Were they going to do something dangerous? Her cheeks slightly pink Ruby crept forward, using all of her (minimal) sneaking skills, as the other person, a woman, responded.

"Considering what you plan to do, how could I say no? It's everything I dedicated my life to." Ruby began to peek around a tree, being as quiet as she could be. Whatever she expected, however, it wasn't what she saw, and she froze, eyes wide and face pale as the woman finished what she was saying. "Besides, I would do anything for them."

Ruby let out a whimper of shock and hurt, but by the time the people who had been talking had turned to look, only a few rose petals lay on the ground to show anybody had been there.

The door to Team RWBY's dorm room slammed open as a blur of red dashed in, stopping in the middle of the room as the other three occupants looked over, Weiss preparing a small tirade about rushing about and slamming doors. The words stopped before a sound was uttered as she took in her leader's face. "Ruby?"

Ruby was pale and shaking, her silver eyes wide and tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked like she was having trouble breathing, and she appeared dazed.

Yang was instantly on alert, removing her earbuds as she swung her feet around to sit on her bed rather than lay on it, Blake setting her book aside on the bunk below her. "Ruby, what's wrong?"

Ruby took several deep breaths, appearing to try to catch her breath. Her corgi Zwei approached his mistress, looking up at her worriedly. Finally all strength seemed to leave the girl and she dropped to the carpeted floor, wrapping her arms around the dog, which proceeded to lick her face, trying to comfort her as best he could.

"What's going on?" Jaune said as he appeared in the doorway, the rest of his team behind him, all of them looking concerned after hearing the bang of the door slamming open and the state Ruby was in.

"Indeed, I would like to know as well." Penny said as she peered in over his shoulder, making the boy yelp at her sudden appearance. "I saw Ruby rush through and she didn't return my greeting. That was very unlike her, so I wanted to see if she was okay."

"We don't know." Weiss said as Yang hopped down from her bunk, kneeling in front of her sister.

"Rubes, what's wrong?" The blonde asked softly, prompting the crying girl to finally look up at her. "Ruby?"

"W-why?" Ruby asked softly, sounding so young and so fragile that Yang couldn't help but wrap her arms around her.

"Why what, Ruby?" She asked softly as everybody watched respectfully.

"Why did they lie to us?" She said, he voice cracking at the end.

Yang glanced at the other teens in the room, all of them looking as confused as she was. "Ruby, what are you talking about? What was who lying about?"

Ruby looked up at her sister, opening her mouth, but no sound escaped. The look in her eyes scared Yang. She'd never seen Ruby look like that.

Suddenly the reaper stood up, making Zwei jump back in surprise with a small bark. "I… I need to see Professor Ozpin!" She blurted out before rushing back out of the room, scattering her friends.

"Ruby, wait!" Weiss called out, but the girl was gone.

Ozpin was gazing out the window of his office when Glynda strode in. "They've left, then?" She asked the ancient man in front of her.

He took a sip of his coffee. "Yes. At full speed they should be quite a ways away by now."

"I'm surprised James simply let them have a full warship for their journey to the Land of Darkness. Yes, it will probably be necessary to get them close enough considering the concentration of powerful Grimm, but that's still an asset that's basically about to be written off." She said.

"It helps that Cortana can run the ship on her own without need of crew, so he's not risking any lives on this." Ozpin said calmly. "And he agrees that the opportunity to incapacitate Salem, if not eliminate her completely, is well worth the risk." Then he smiled and chuckled slightly. "Harry did say that we may not see them again, however. Apparently they have developed a habit of jumping out of danger to a completely new world at the last second like an action movie. I think he was joking, though. There's no reason he can't more easily create a portal back to Vale once the job is done."

Glynda hummed in thought. "Do you really think they can do it?"

Ozpin considered the question seriously. "Considering Harry's plan, and his own, not inconsiderable power, not to mention his team… I'd say they have a very good chance." He sighed. "We may finally have a chance to make some headway in improving things…"

Glynda was about to respond when the door to the elevator opened and Ruby rushed into the office. The look on her face caught both teachers' attention, and they turned their gaze to her with concern. "Miss Rose? What's wrong?"

Ruby didn't look like she knew what to say, apparently having rushed in without thinking that far ahead. Finally she blurted out the first thing to come to mind. "I need to talk to Harry. Could you call him here?"

Ozpin let an eyebrow rise. "I'm afraid Mister Potter is not available and won't be for a while. He's just headed out of the kingdom on assignment on an Atlesian warship and we don't know when he or his team will return. What is it you need to speak to him about, Miss Rose? I can see if I can answer any questions or pass along a message."

Ruby considered it and began opening her mouth when she froze, an agonized look on her face. "I… I can't."

Ozpin blinked. "Why not?"

"I… I don't know if I can trust you." The girl replied in a trembling voice.

"Miss Rose!" Glynda gasped, surprised.

Ruby flinched slightly, but her face became resolute. "I'm sorry, but no. I need to talk to Harry first." Then, before either teacher could reply, she left the room, her stride serious and intent.

Glynda glanced at her boss, concerned. "Ozpin, what was that about?"

"I have no idea, Glynda, but I believe Miss Rose has once again displayed her ability to end up in the center of things without meaning to." He moved to his and took a seat, steepling his hands in front of his face. "I think we need to keep an eye on her."

Glynda bit her lip worriedly, wondering what had occurred now that things were finally going their way.

Yang was pacing anxiously in RWBY's dorm, her friends talking throughout the room, looking worried as well, Penny standing still in the corner, her eyes darting around, Zwei at her feet.

"Yang, have you ever seen Ruby like that before?" Jaune asked seriously, brows knitted in worry.

The blonde shook her head forcefully, her long hair swishing to and fro as she did. "No. Ruby can get anxious or freak out about weird things, but something like that… I can't even imagine what would cause it. Maybe dad or Uncle Qrow getting hurt, but…" She was interrupted Ruby walked back into the room, tear tracts still on her face but looking more serious and focused. "Ruby, what happened!"

Said girl gave her sister a glance before focusing her gaze on Penny. "Penny, an Atlesian warship just left Vale. Can you tell me where it went?"

As the other teens looked at each other, baffled, as Penny looked confused. "No, but I could find out."

Ruby bit her lip. "Can you fly a bullhead?" She asked next, not seeming to notice the others look more alarmed to go with their confusion.

"Of course." Penny said promptly. "Why?"

"I need you to fly me after that warship. I need to talk to the person on it." She said quickly. "We'll commandeer one of the school bullheads reserved to taking people to Vale."

"Ruby!" Weiss gasped, shocked. "What's gotten into you?"

Penny looked unsure. "I… I don't know…"

"Please Penny…" Ruby pleaded. "This is important. It's probably the most important thing I'll ever ask you."

Yang rested a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Alright Rubes, that's enough. I'm with Weiss-cream. What's gotten into you? What's so important that you're going to freaking steal a school bullhead?"

Ruby looked at the blonde, biting her lip before grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the bathroom. Yang allowed herself to be led, still looking worried about the young reaper.

Everybody watched in consternation as Ruby closed the door. A few seconds of murmured whispering passed. They all jumped, however, when Yang let out an explosive sounding "WHAT!?" After another minute of soft voices even Blake couldn't make out, the door opened and the girls walked out, Yang now looking as determined as her sister. The bombshell was the one to address Penny now. "Can you please take us to the warship, Penny?"

Weiss gaped at the sudden about face, while Blake brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose, looking like she was coming down with a headache.

Ren was the one to try to be the voice of reason. "Wouldn't it be easier to have Penny send the warship a message to whoever you need to talk to?"

Ruby immediately shook her head, looking at the boy. "No. I need to confront them directly. I can't let them just blow us off. This is way too important."

"How important, Ruby?" Jaune asked, looking concerned.

Ruby's hands clenched as she closed her eyes, looking so pained Jaune was about to apologize for asking when she opened her eyes. "This… If what I saw was real… I'll do anything, Jaune. I'll give up being a huntress and leave Beacon, as long as it gives me a chance to confirm it."

There was more than one gasp at that, all of them knowing that being a huntress was at the very core of who Ruby was. To say this was more important than that…

"What is it?" Pyrrha asked quietly.

Ruby bit her lip. "You'll think I'm crazy."

"Try us." Weiss said icily, obviously thinking that whatever it was couldn't be worth what Ruby was planning on doing.

Ruby glanced at Yang, who shrugged, before turning to look back at her friends, realizing for the first time since she'd first burst into the room how worried everybody was. Then she took a deep breath and told them.

There was a stunned silence, everybody staring at her in shock, unable to believe what they'd heard. Even Zwei looked poleaxed. Finally Weiss spoke. "Ruby… You can't have seen what you think you saw…" The hesitant way she spoke the words told them all how worried she was for her leader.

"I know it's insane, Weiss, but I saw it! I heard it!" Ruby took another deep breath. "I need to find out the truth. And I can't ask Ozpin. If they lied to us, then he's involved." She shook her head. "No. I need to confront Harry directly, where he can't avoid the question by hanging up on me or something."

Penny finally caved. "Okay Ruby, I'll take you."

Ruby whirled around, smiling widely, dashing in to give the android a hug. "Thank you so much, Penny!"

"Great!" Nora said with a manic grin on her face. "When do we leave?"

"Huh?" Yang asked in surprise, closely mirrored by Ruby.

Jaune ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. "You can't expect us to just let you do something this crazy on your own, can you?"

"Yeah!" Nora exclaimed again as Ren sighed in resignation and Pyrrha smiled lightly.

"They're right." Blake said softly. "We're a team, guys. We stick together."

Weiss groaned and closed her eyes as if in pain before nodding in agreement. "Yes. You dunces would probably end up messing this up somehow if we let you go on your own."

Ruby shared a glance with her softly smiling sister before giving her friends a grateful smile of her own. "Thanks guys…"

"Hi!" Nora chirped to the startled bullhead pilot, Ren at her side and aiming Stormflower at the hapless woman. "We're going to be taking this bullhead out for a spin."

"...Huh?" The pilot said in response.

Ten minutes later Teams RWBY and JNPR were settling in on the airship, Penny sitting in the pilot's seat and doing pre-flight checks. Even Zwei had hopped on, sitting in the corner and prompting Blake to sit as far from him as possible.

"Alright, we ready?" Ruby asked as she took the copilot's seat next to Penny.

"Yep." The ginger android said as she flipped a last switch.

"And you found out where the warship was headed?" The reaper asked again.

"Only the general direction." Penny said apologetically. "They didn't provide an actual flight plan with a destination included."

"Okay. We'll just have to hope they didn't change course on the way to wherever they were going."

The bullhead lifted up off the ground before turning and heading west-northwest. Penny was careful to send the appropriate codes and authorizations to the surrounding Atlas warships, which were still on alert after the attempted attack, but everyone was extremely tense till Vale was no longer visible, which allowed them to finally relax.

"Welp, if we aren't expelled outright, I wonder how long we'll be in detention for?" Jaune asked.

"I say a year!" Nora said.

"I imagine our punishment will be quite extensive." Pyrrha said as she sat back against the wall, leaning slightly against Jaune.

"You guys didn't have to come." Yang said as she fiddled with her gauntlets.

Weiss gave an aristocratic sniff while petting Zwei. "Too late to say that now. We're committed."

"Mm-hmm…" Blake put in from behind the book she'd brought along.

Hours passed, and the teens did what they could to alleviate the inevitable boredom that came with long travel, especially as they could not stay tense the entire time. Thankfully they'd (meaning Ren and Blake) had the foresight to bring food along, so no one went hungry.

Jaune was about to take a bite of his sandwich during their meal when the radio suddenly burst into life with the sound of a supremely pissed off woman, making him yelp and drop his food.

"Penny Polendina!" The voice roared, making most of those in the bullhead wince, Zwei whining and curling up against Ruby. "I expected better of you!"

"Miss Cortana!" Penny cried. "I, um, ah…"

"You stole a bullhead, and came out after us with nothing but a couple of teams of students! You're lucky you didn't run into the Grimm we're currently fighting, or you'd be dead!" Cortana thundered, making Penny whimper. "What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

"It was… important?" Penny asked sheepishly.

Ruby cut in. "It's my fault, miss. I need to talk to Harry."

"We gathered as much." Cortana said drily, no longer screaming. "Why, exactly, couldn't you wait for us to return to Vale? Or have Ozpin send us a message?"

"I… I didn't want him to lie or avoid me." Ruby said, fists clenched on her skirt.

Cortana sighed. "Well, you're here now. Come to us and we'll discuss whatever it is before we send you back home. Penny, I'm sending you our coordinates." The radio went dead as one of the screens changed to show them where to go.

The teens were silent a bit longer before Yang spoke. "Soo… Think she's angry?" More than one person let out a sigh in response.

"Oh my." Penny said about fifteen minutes later as Ruby gasped from the copilot's seat.

They could see the Atlesian warship now, and it was surrounded by flying Grimm that were being held off by the guns. Any that touched the hull bounced back, a flash of light appearing wherever they had impacted.

However, what had caught their attention was the massive Sea Feilong, a serpentine sea monster Grimm with the ability to fly and fire bolts of electricity from its mouth. The beast flew around the ship, attacking as best it could while dodging the attacks and tanking the shots it couldn't avoid.

Jaune, who was behind them and looking out the window with the others, gulped. "Well, she was right. If that had attacked us, we'd be so far beyond dead it wouldn't even be funny."

"How do we dock on the warship?" Pyrrha asked with concern. "We'll be torn apart if we get too close."

"We'll be giving you a window to get through the swarm, but you're going to need to do something first." Cortana suddenly said from the radio. "Mr. Ren, are you able to use your semblance to hide the entire bullhead from the Grimm's detection?"

Team RWBY and Penny were confused, but Jaune and Pyrrha turned to look at their teammate, who was shaking his head along with Nora. "No ma'am. I can mask one or two people at a time, but it takes a lot out of me."

"I see. Well then, we'll just need to give you a boost." Cortana said. "Mr. Arc, you're going to be using your semblance to boost Mr. Ren's."

Jaune was incredibly confused. "But… I don't know what my semblance is."

"I do." Cortana said, sounding amused. "Your semblance, Mr. Arc, is the ability to amplify a person's aura, either your own or someone else's. You can make them heal faster and keep them alive if they're in critical condition, and boost their semblance by giving them more aura to work with. If you boost Mr. Ren, he'll be able to mask the entire bullhead from being detected by the Grimm."

Jaune's eyes were wide as everyone looked at him. "That's… impressive." Weiss allowed.

"How do you know this?" Blake asked, confused.

"We can discuss that later. Are you ready to try to boost Mr. Ren, Mr. Arc?" Cortana asked.

Jaune glanced at Ren, who nodded agreeably. "Alright, how do I do this?"

"You need to be touching the person you intend to amplify. The next part is just speculation. Focus on your aura, then make it flow into your target. Perhaps think about what you want to have boosted."

Jaune hesitantly put his hand on Ren's shoulder as everybody else watched somewhat anxiously. When Ren nodded once again, he closed his eyes and did what Cortana had said.

Everybody saw Jaune begin to glow, and after half a minute or so the white light began to flow into Ren, who's eyes went wide as a gasp escaped his mouth.

"Ren?" Nora asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Nora." Ren said somewhat shakily. "I just feel like I'm… overflowing…"

"Good, it seems it's working then. Proceed to mask the bullhead and head into the hangar we're opening for you." Cortana said as more instructions appeared on the bullhead's screens.

Ren quickly knelt on the floor, Jaune's hand still on his shoulder, and placed his palms on the cold metal. The others watched as color seemed to be leeched out of their surroundings, themselves included. They also felt themselves become calm, their anxiety to and apprehension being muted.

Seeing that everything was working Penny began their approach on the warship, eyes focused on the bullhead hangar she could see opening up, two figures standing inside of it and firing at the Grimm that were trying to use the opportunity to get into the ship. As they approached they could make out that one of them was a large man in green armor holding an enormous minigun, firing with discipline and experience at the Grimm and shredding them to ribbons. The other person was Lara, a strange rifle in her hands which she used to great effect in order to pick off whatever her companion didn't kill.

The teens all watched from inside the bullhead as they passed through the cloud of Grimm surrounding the ship with ease, the monsters ignoring them like they weren't there. Soon enough they landed inside of the hangar, who's doors promptly began to close. One they shut Ren released his semblance, color returning back to their surroundings as they all blinked when they felt their emotions go back to normal. "Whoa, that was…" Yang said before stopping, apparently not finding the words to describe the sensation.

Jaune took his hand off Ren's shoulder and stopped channeling his aura, both of them taking deep breaths. The blonde then looked at his hand in awe. "Finally…"

Pyrrha gave Jaune a hug. "I'm happy for you, Jaune."

"Yeah!" Ruby said with a smile. "That was so cool." Her eyes lit up. "Ooh, what do you think my semblance would be like if you amplified it?" She began to daydream about going so fast nobody could even see her, Grimm falling apart seemingly on their own.

There was a hard knock against the door of the bullhead. "Are you going to come out?" A strong voice asked.

They all looked at each other before Penny pressed the button to open the door, getting up to join her friends as the inside of the hangar was revealed, including the only other occupants.

Lara rested her hands on her hips, eyeing the teens with displeasure. "Well, this is a fine mess you've caused. Glynda is already preparing your punishments. Ozpin was forced to remind her that they aren't allowed to cause you any lasting harm."

They all cringed, looking more than slightly frightened at the news that their strict teacher was angry with them. "I just…" Ruby began before continuing a bit more quietly when the attention of Lara and the green armored man turned to her. "I need to talk to Harry…"

"So you've said." The archeologist sighed. "Fine then. Come along and we'll get this done before we send you off back to Beacon to face your punishment." She turned and began to walk.

The students all glanced at each other before following behind, Zwei happily trotting along with his mistresses, tail wagging.

They reached the bridge of the ship to find the other members of Harry's team there. The students flinched when the Sea Feilong rammed its head into the glass of the bridge's windows, surprisingly not doing any damage.

Harry turned away from the view to look at them all, his hands behind his back and an eyebrow raised. "So… You've pissed off and worried a lot of people, guys."

Beast Boy, who was sitting off to the side with a portable video game console, gave them a glance. "You're going to be in detention till you graduate."

Alice leaned on one of the duty stations scattered around the bridge, the screen showing Cortana's serious face. "I trust you had a good reason for this little bit of insanity?"

The teens all looked at Ruby, who hesitated before stepping forward, Yang following a step behind, her hand on her sister's shoulder. The reaper then looked at Harry in the eye. "...I saw you in the forest earlier, Harry…"

Harry gazed seriously at the girl before letting out an explosive sigh. "Yeah, I thought that might be it… Honestly, in that case I don't really blame you. I'd do the same if I saw something similar without knowing what it meant."

Weiss looked surprised. "Wait, so she really saw what she thought she saw?"

"...In a manner of speaking…" He said slowly.

Yang stepped forward, eyes full of desperation. "Where is she?"

Harry hesitated, glancing at all his friends, each of which either nodded or shrugged. Then he reached down and fiddled with a ring on his finger none of the teens had noticed before. He turned it three times, and suddenly there was someone standing in front of Ruby and Yang, who's breath caught.

The figure wore a hooded cloak much like Ruby's except it was white on the outside with red underneath, the hood up and obscuring the figure's face. The figure proceeded to lift slim hands up to remov the hood, revealing the spitting image of Ruby were she a bit older, with kind silver eyes and similar hair done in a half-up/half-down style. She smiled lovingly at the two tearful girls as everybody else in the bridge remained respectfully silent.

"M-mom?" Ruby asked shakily, tears streaming down her cheeks, Yang's hand on her shoulder vicelike as the blonde let out a shuddering breath that was almost a sob.

"Oh Ruby, Yang…" Summer Rose said, her own eyes shimmering with loving tears. "My baby girls. You've grown so much. I'm so, so proud of you both…"

I think that's a good enough place to leave it.

I'm going to assume that most of you guessed Summer would be showing up from the beginning, but I still wanted to preserve what mystery there was to be had. Hope I did a good enough job at it.

So, we're entering the home stretch of our time in Remnant. We'll probably end up in our next universe at the end of the next chapter, unless it ends up being longer than I expect, which could easily happen.

I decided not to go too much more into the aftermath of the invasion cause I couldn't think of enough small events to justify an entire chapter of them. I might go into it in the future, but that'll be a loooooong time from now.

Speaking of something else, I'm curious as to what a TVTropes page for this fic would look like. (hint hint)

Now then, we're not done just yet! I've come up with an omake that I've been thinking of for a while now but seems to be perfectly timed thanks to a certain movie release. This is not canon, however if I get enough positive feedback on it I'm considering changing that and making it into a proper chapter of its own to make the character in it part of the team. So please let me know your opinion on that, whether yea or nay, in a review.

Please enjoy.

Omake: Baba Yaga

The rain was pouring down on the streets of Manhattan as night fell, the people walking through under umbrellas as they tried to keep from getting soaked.

Through this downpour ran a man in a damaged, bloody suit, a brown bull terrier keeping pace with him at his side. The man had a neat beard on his slim, handsome face, which was marred by several small wounds and scratches. His dark brown eyes darted around as he kept track of everyone that passed him.

He glanced down at his watch, seeing the minute hand ticking passed the forty minute mark. Due to his distraction he bumped into somebody walking in the opposite direction. "Sorry." He muttered, about to continue running.

"No problem, Mr. Wick." The person he'd bumped into said in a British accent. "I realize you're in a bit of a hurry. I hope you can take a moment to talk, though. I'll make it worth your while."

John Wick froze before turning to see a teen with messy black hair and bright green eyes standing there. He wore a long black coat that reached his knees which seemed to made of some sort of odd leather, a white shirt, and some simple yet sturdy jeans. He was looking at John with a small smile, green eyes intense.

John was experienced enough in the ways of the world that he didn't discount the young man as a threat simply because of his age. "The hour isn't up." He said simply.

"I'm not affiliated with the Continental or the High Table, Mr. Wick, even though I'm aware of them. I'm actually hoping to screw them over by helping you survive this little mess you've made. Are you willing to hear me out?" The teen said calmly, still smiling.

John hesitated and considered his options. He could take a chance with this kid, or he could go on with his original plan and keep heading to the New York Public Library to grab his 'ticket'.

He glanced down at his dog, who looked back up at him from where he sat at his feet. Finally he his gaze turned back to his prospective benefactor. "Fine."

The teen's smile widened. "Excellent. Follow me, please." He turned and headed down a side street, his pace unhurried, John following along behind him.

A couple of minutes later the two had taken a seat inside of a small, warm cafe. The waitress had initially refused to let the dog in, but the kid handed her a couple of hundreds to allow it just that once. John and his new companion had just placed their orders when the teen leaned forward on his elbows, looking at John seriously. "Alright, a bit of information on me so you know why I want to help you. My name is Harry. And I'm not normal." He glanced to the side as a couple of people took a seat at a table near theirs and lifted his hand, waving his fingers oddly.

"What do you mean?" John asked as he rubbed his hands, taking the chance to warm himself up.

Harry picked up one of the napkins from the holder and waved it slightly before setting it on the table. Then he waved his fingers again and the napkin suddenly transformed into a small replica of the dog sitting at their feet lapping at some water. John jerked back in shock, eyes wide as the small dog began to scratch itself right there on table.

"Wha-?" He looked around to see what the other patrons' reactions were, but nobody even glanced in their direction, the waitress seating some more people the most activity in the room..

"Relax, Mr. Wick. I set up a field around us to keep anything odd from being noticed." Harry said with a small smile. "As far as they're concerned we're just having a light conversation about travel destinations that would be nice to visit."

John stared at the tiny dog, which let out a yawn, and reached down to pick it up, making it squirm in his grasp. It felt real, like an actual dog in miniature. He looked up at Harry, confused. "What are you?"

"I'm your ticket to a hopefully long, fulfilling life free of the world you tried so hard to get out of." Harry said with a smile. Then he reached over and plucked the dog out of his grasp, turning it back into a napkin as the waitress came over with their drinks.

"I'm sorry about the wait." The girl said with a smile as she set the coffee down. "More patrons than usual trying to get out of the rain."

"No problem." Harry said with a smile, taking a sip of his caramel mocha. "This is great, thanks." She gave them another smile before turning to attend other customers, prompting Harry to turn back to John.

"How do you intend to do that?" John asked once she left, taking a sip of his black coffee..

Harry sat back, cracking his neck. "If you know anything about comic books or sci-fi, then you've heard about the multiverse, right?"

"Something like that… My wife liked Doctor Who." John said softly, feeling a pang in his heart at the reminder.

Harry looked at him sympathetically. "Right. Well then, essentially, me and my friends have gotten lost through the multiverse. We've been travelling from universe to universe, looking for our home, or something that will let us choose our destination, since we're travelling randomly. All of us have some sort of power or ability, so while we're in a universe we try to help the locals." He took another sip of coffee. "Say we wind up in a universe where Earth is being invaded by aliens, for example. We'll usually throw ourselves in to fight."

"So you want to recruit me?" John asked, catching on.

Harry nodded agreeably. "Yes. You're incredibly skilled, and we have the ability to give you a power of your own to boost your combat capability. This power is called 'Aura' and it enhances your abilities, gives you a sort of forcefield that protects you from a certain amount of damage, and carries the possibility of unlocking some skill or ability unique to you."

"What do I get in return other than this 'aura'?" John asked, part of him not believing what was happening, sure he was going nuts but unable to deny what he'd already experienced.

"You get away from the High Table, not needing to live in fear. And as we travel, if you find a world that you like and want to live the rest of your days in, we'd part ways amicably, giving you some resources to make your way with."

John sipped his coffee, thinking furiously. It sounded too good to be true. Finally, after a couple of minutes and a check of his watch he spoke again. "I'll need another demonstration of your abilities. Something more substantial."

The minute hand above the register of the cafe reached twelve as Harry nodded. "That can be arranged." He said with a smile and hard eyes over the sound of multiple chairs scraping against the floor. Then he launched himself at the closest man in the cafe, who was pulling a pistol out from under his coat, his hands emitting darkness as his hair ganed white streaks and black markings appeared on his skin. John followed suit against another.

Mayhem followed.