Hunters of Justice Halloween Special 2020
[~][~]
*Happy, up-tuned, jingly version of Justice League theme*
Hunters of Justice Chibi!
Ruby's Halloween Do-Over
All was quiet inside RWBY and JNPR's apartment. There wasn't any crime around to fight, Grimm activity was thankfully low all across the world, and by all accounts everything was peaceful. After everything they'd been through for the past few weeks, it was welcome change. The teenagers were lounging around in the living room, with Jaune, Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha watching TV, Ren and Blake reading their books, while Weiss caught up on the latest news.
"Has anyone seen Ruby?" Yang asked as she flipped through the channels, trying to find something to watch.
"I think she's in her room," Weiss answered while flipping through the article on her scroll.
"She's still in there?" Yang raised her eyebrow while looking behind her shoulder at Weiss. "It's been, like, an hour. What is she doing?"
"No idea. Honestly, when it comes to Ruby I've learned to just roll with it. Asking questions only gives me headaches," Weiss admitted, taking a sip from her cup of hot coffee while keeping her eyes glued to her scroll.
Yang looked at the platinum blonde for a moment, then nonchalantly shrugged in acceptance before turning back to the TV. It wasn't like there was any real cause for concern. Absolutely nothing was happening, and as rambunctious as Ruby could be at times, Yang doubted she'd get into too much trouble simply being in her room.
It was at that moment that Ruby decided to prove her sister wrong by suddenly reappearing in the middle of the living room, and she shouted at the top of her lungs, "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!"
"Gagh!" everyone else screamed, with Jaune's at a slightly higher pitch as he jumped from his seat into Pyrrha's arms. Blake jumped away in fright while leaving a shadow clone in her place, reappearing behind the sofa. Only Nora was unaffected, who calmly turned her head away from the TV to look at Ruby with a raised eyebrow.
"Ruby! What are you doing?!" Weiss chastised once she got over her surprise, giving her partner an irritated frown. "And what on Earth are you wearing?!"
Ruby smiled towards her partner and spread out her body, then said, "I'm Count Dracula, silly? I know we haven't been on Earth that long, but even you know who that is."
True to Ruby's word, she was dressed up as the world's most famous vampire. Her hair was greased back, her red attire swapped out for a black cape over a white undershirt and black pants, and the only red they could see was the inside of said cape. To complete the costume, Ruby had donned a pair of fake fangs, which she proudly displayed to everyone.
"Okay. Why are you dressed as Count Dracula?" Blake asked, slowly getting back into her seat while trying to act as though nothing happened.
"Because we're going to go trick-or-treating, obviously," Ruby answered, her tone making it sound as though she thought it was obvious.
The others glanced at each other, then Jaune, now sitting back down on the sofa, slowly pointed out, "Ruby, Halloween was months ago…I think. For some reason, I can't remember how long we've been here. It feels like we've been here for just a few months or, like, two years."
"Yeah, I've been getting that feeling, too…" Ruby admitted, tilting and scratching her head in confusion. The others silently agreed as well, but Yang felt it was more important to focus on the matter at hand.
"Even though that's, admittedly, kind of weird, it's still not Halloween. No one's trick-or-treating right now," Yang declared, and Ruby nodded before crossing her arms and pouting.
"I know it's not Halloween, Yang," Ruby replied. "We're going to go trick-or-treating anyway."
"Why are we doing that?" Ren asked while Nora simply got up and walked upstairs to her room without saying a word.
"Because I was robbed of it last time."
Everyone stared at Ruby for a moment, then they finally realized where she was coming from. Due to how Remnant's and Earth's calendars matched up, Ruby's birthday had happened to fall on October 31st, more commonly known as Halloween. An entire holiday devoted to dressing up in costumes, scaring people, and getting candy from strangers. It was something Ruby was very much excited about and looking forward to, only for her birthday to be crashed by a literal demon. Obviously, their Halloween plans were discarded.
"That is true. Trigon did crash your party, in a manner of speaking," Pyrrha admitted, pinching her chin in thought.
"Didn't you cripple him for that?" Jaune asked, and Ruby nodded while smiling.
"I like to call that a happy accident," Ruby declared, placing her hands on her hips before shooting a finger skyward. "Still! We were denied candy and Halloween fun, and I will not let us miss out on it!"
"…You just want the candy, don't you?" Blake asked through narrowed eyes.
"DON'T TAKE THIS FROM ME!" Ruby suddenly shouted while leaning forward, briefly coming off the ground as though the force of her shout was enough to defy gravity.
Everyone stared at Ruby for a moment, unsure of what exactly to do. It was then that they heard a pair of footsteps coming down the stairs, and everyone turned their attention towards the sound to see that it belonged to Nora. She was no longer wearing her casual attire. Instead, she was now wearing a set of homemade armor that made her look like a Norse Valkyrie, complete with winged helmet and angelic wings coming out of her back.
"So, we doing this or what?" Nora asked while Ruby beamed and bounced in place. The others merely sighed, then they got up and walked to their rooms to change as well.
Alfred Pennyworth was busy cleaning the front entrance to Wayne Manor when he heard a knock at the door. Surprised, he put away his cleaning supplies and walked over, wondering just who it was. When he opened the large wooden door, he was pleasantly surprised to see that it was RWBY and JNPR, but the fact that they were all wearing costumes did strike him as rather odd. Non-superhero costumes, that is. Ruby was dressed as Count Dracula, with Weiss dressed as an angel complete with a halo and wings. Blake's costume was that of a witch, and judging by the fact that her ears were openly displayed, a cat-girl witch at that. Yang had decided to dress up as a cowboy in a tan longcoat, boots, and wide-rimmed hat while Jaune was dressed as a camp counselor with a green shirt, dark cargo shorts, and a yellow ascot wrapped around his neck. Nora was dressed like a Valkyrie, while Ren was dressed as Frankenstein's monster, while Pyrrha was a mummy.
"Trick-or-Treat!" they announced, with Ruby, Nora, and Jaune being the most enthusiastic while the others, mostly Weiss and Blake, were simply going through the motions.
"Ah, young masters. It's a pleasure to see you again. Although, I must admit I am confused. Today isn't Halloween," he pointed out, and Ruby nodded while holding up her plastic Jack-o-Lantern basket.
"Oh, we know. It's just that, you know, Trigon attacked on Halloween, which was also my birthday…" Ruby began, only for Alfred to hold up his gloved hand to cut her off.
"Say no more. Please wait here for just a few moments," Alfred said, then he gestured them to come inside which they gladly did. He closed the door behind them, then he walked away towards the kitchen, leaving the Remnantian teenagers behind.
"I like Alfred. It's nice seeing him again," Ruby said, and the others nodded.
"Oh hey, you guys are back. Why are you dressed up?" Jason Todd asked from the upstairs balcony.
"Trigon crashed our Halloween, so Ruby's having us do a do-over," Yang explained.
"Ah, I see. I can respect that," Jason admitted with a nod.
The other members of the Bat-Family filtered in afterwards, giving the Remnantians curious looks. Tim and Stephanie immediately understood and agreed with their decision, while Damian was openly rolling his eyes at what he deemed to be a childish gesture. When Ruby offered him the chance to come with them, he repeatedly insisted on that despite a furious blush emerging on his face. Cassandra, the youngest of the Bat-Family, silently expressed a desire to go with them and experience the joys of Halloween for herself, but when they offered to let her come with them, she reluctantly refused. There was work to be done in Gotham tonight, and even taking a break for one night could spell disaster.
"Apologies for the lack of candy, however I hope these will suffice," Alfred announced as he returned from the kitchen, holding a plate filled with warm chocolate chip cookies. Ruby looked upon them with stars in her eyes, then began to greedily fill her basket while fervently nodding.
"These are perfect!" she exclaimed, continuing to fill her basket while Alfred smiled and nodded.
"Hey, uh, Ruby? Wanna save some for us?" Yang asked, slowly reaching towards the plate, only for Ruby to shove the rest of the cookies into her basket and burst away in a cloud of rose petals.
"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" she declared, running off and leaving her friends behind.
"No it isn't!" Weiss shouted back.
"DO-OVER!"
Weiss and the others groaned, and upon seeing the residents of Wayne Manor's raised eyebrows, Yang said, "Ruby gets very…selfish on her birthday."
WBY and JNPR bid the Bat-Family farewell, then they walked away in pursuit of their leader. Alfred closed the door behind them, then everyone silently stared at each other for a few moments.
"…I swear, she's like a child," Damian complained, but Stephanie merely shrugged.
"Maybe, but you and I both know you wanted to join her," she said, and Damian's blush returned as he quickly shook his head.
Ruby was skipping along happily as she went to their next house. So far, tonight had gone just as planned. She and her team had gone to every superhero's house, at least the ones they knew about, to ask for candy. All of them, thus far, had quickly come around. She'd gotten chocolates, caramels, and more kinds of candy than she could have ever dreamed of. If this was what she had to look forward to every year on her birthday from now on, it was a tradition she was more than happy to continue. But now the night was at its end, and so she went up to the Kent Family farm and knocked on its door.
"How did we even get here?" Jaune wondered aloud, scratching his head at the fact that they were now in Kansas.
"Just roll with it," Nora told her leader, and after a pause he shrugged in acceptance.
After a few moments, the Kents opened the door, and Ruby announced, "Trick-Or-Treat!"
"Oh, how wonderful!" Mrs. Kent exclaimed, smiling wildly while her husband pulled out a basket full of candy set aside on the door. "Clark told us you were coming. Happy late birthday."
"Thank you!" Ruby said through a smile as the elderly couple filled her basket up with candy. They then filled up the rest of RWBY and JNPR's baskets as well, and soon all of them were overflowing with enough candy to last them for several months.
Or just a few days, judging by the hungry looks on Ruby's and Nora's faces.
"So, how's life in Metropolis? Not getting into too much trouble, I hope," Mr. Kent said, and Yang smiled while twisting the palm of her hand back and forth.
"Eh, you know how it goes. Go to work, build some fancy stuff, come back home then beat up bad guys. Just a normal girl's day," Yang joked, and both Mr. and Mrs. Kent chuckled.
"You sound just like Clark," Mr. Kent said.
Mrs. Kent then stepped back and opened the door wider, gesturing for the children to come inside while saying, "Come in, please."
"No, no, we couldn't," Pyrrha tried to insist, but Mrs. Kent softly frowned. Pyrrha's heartstrings were tugged at the expression, not wanting to upset her, but then a sweet smell came towards them from the kitchen.
"I'm making apple pie," Mrs. Kent announced. "Would you all like some?"
"…I would love some pie. Thank you," Yang immediately replied, calmly stepping inside and taking off her boots. The other Remnantians did the same, but as Ren stepped in after them, he felt the air rush against him. He turned around and, to his surprise, he saw that Clark Kent, still wearing his civilian attire, was now with them.
"Clark! So happy to see you!" Mr. and Mrs. Kent announced as they came forward and wrapped their son in a hug.
"Ma, Pa, it's good to see you, too," Clark said, closing his eyes and smiling contently. He then broke away as his parents led him inside, and both Ren and Nora silently watched them go.
Nora then brought her fist to her mouth and coughed into it while muttering, "Momma's boy."
Clark easily heard her, and he gave a warm, affirming smile at the joke. Nora smiled back at him, then they joined the Kent family in their kitchen as Mrs. Kent pulled the pies out from the oven and set them on the counter to cool.
Ruby smiled as the hours ticked by, the household filled with warm laughter and the sweet smell of homemade pie. More than anything else, this convinced her that she made the right choice, and she couldn't wait to celebrate her birthday again for real next year.
[~][~]
Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Wretched Weapon by The Infamous Man
The Multiverse.
A collection of possibilities given form.
A vast landscape of realities held back from the darkness… by the thinnest of threads.
But what are those threads?
They are but moments... choices between what we know and what should never be.
I once only watched the multiverse and tried to ignore the darkness… but I cannot any longer.
A crisis will come, sooner or later, when these worlds of light must battle against these worlds created from their own nightmares.
I am Tempus Fuginaut, and I have borne witness to… the Dark Multiverse.
Everything you fear is given life here. Every possibility born from nightmares is given life and quickly snuffed out. A short, horrible existence where there is no hope. The beings that live here are but afterthoughts of the dreamer.
The size of this Dark Multiverse has grown since the beings from the world of Remnant interacted with the champions of Earth, their own fears mixing and producing new yet familiar nightmares.
And now…
...I am drawn to one of them.
Earth -44:
"C-Can you rebuild her?"
Victor Stone sighed as he stared down at the broken body of one Penny Polendina. The young Remnant android had seen better days. What remained of her was merely a head with the artificial skin melted off to reveal a darkened metal skeleton, a torso that had been cleanly sliced through, and a right leg.
Those were the pieces that were whole. The rest were in a bin back in the Watchtower.
He looked up at Ruby Rose and said, "Ruby, listen… I'm good but there is so much that I can do."
"But she's an android!" She screamed at him, tears running down her cheeks all the while. "Y-You can load her up into a new body with her motherboard and… and…!"
"Ruby, no I cannot." He tried to speak calmly and softly to the young girl, but it was hard. Especially since she and him were likely going to be on the Justice League's shit-list when they found out Ruby stole her now dead friend's parts. "You don't seem to get it. Yes, I can probably pull up a copy from whatever RAID system she's got in her head." He pointed at the now late Penny's head. "But Brainiac messed her up good. Everything there is damaged, and when the League peeked under the hood the data inside had been corrupted. I'm sorry, Ruby, but your friend is…"
Ruby broke out into renewed sobs while Victor closed his eyes. When Brainiac came to Earth, the League and Ruby's friends had pulled no punches bringing him down. But the decisive blow came from none other than Penny, who attacked Brainiac's physical servers and cut off his control of the cities he held hostage.
He repaid her by destroying her body, all in front of her best friend Ruby Rose.
The members of the League and Ruby's friends tried to comfort her, but the girl wasn't taking it well. After the small funeral they held for all the lives lost during the battle Batman suggested that they leave her to grieve in her own way. So the League and the Remnant natives began work finding new planets for the bottled cities and dismantling Brainiac's ship which landed in the town of Sleepy Hollow, New York.
"You don't understand, Vic." She whispered once the sniffling died down. "She was my friend. I-I can't lose a friend. I just can't…"
"Ruby… even if I did manage to recover her backup, the new version would not be Penny." Victor unconsciously touched his cybernetic eye. "It would have the memories, yes, but not much else. It would just be data to it. There would be no emotion. It wouldn't be the same Penny you became friends with. It would just be…"
"Just be what, Vic?" She asked quietly. "A weapon on two legs?"
"Ruby, that's not…"
"This was a mistake." She nearly snarled while scooping up the parts into a bin. "You're all telling me the same thing! Even Yang is saying I should try to move on! Why should I?! All you superheroes seem to come back just fine from death, so why not her?! Why can't my friend come back?!"
With that, Ruby left Victor's lab with Penny's parts. Only rose petals were left in her wake.
"Crap. This isn't going to end well…" Victor muttered before he turned to the computer. He should probably tell the League about this. Lord knows that Yang had a right to know that her sister wasn't taking her loss well.
...but did he when his mom died? Did he treat his father fairly, or did he yell and blame the man while also punishing himself for surviving?
"What the hell should I do…?"
XxxXXxxX
"So glad that you took my invitation, Ms. Rose." Alexander Luthor smirked while sparks danced underneath him. The remains of Penny Polendina were on the slab in front of him, as were parts from Brainiac drones still dripping with blood from their former host bodies. "I mean, I had theorized it would be a ninety-eight percent probability that you would take my offer but…"
"Save it, Luthor." Ruby glared at him from her side of the table. She was studying him intently as he continued to add new parts to her robot companion. "I'm only doing this for Penny."
"Touchy, touchy." He chuckled while picking up Penny's head. He had taken out the broken components and swapped them out for Brainiac's. While the robot's processing power was nothing to sneeze at, it wasn't enough for what was needed. Those simple storage components wouldn't be able to handle Brainiac's data. "Well, as I said before you're doing the right thing. Those fools that you associate yourself with don't have the imagination to repair a work of art like this." He walked over to his computer and began plugging in the necessary wiring into the back of Penny's head.
"That's the only reason why I came to you. After this… you better believe I'm not going to owe you any favors."
Lex waved her off. "Please, consider this a little token of my generosity. Your friend helped to eliminate a very serious threat to humanity, so repairing her is the least I can do."
Though, that wasn't the only reason why he was doing this.
Victor Stone had been correct in his diagnosis. Penny's data and files had been horrendously corrupted and damaged after her encounter with Brainiac. There really wasn't much to save.
But adding the Brainiac's data would reconstruct her personality matrix… to a somewhat convincing degree.
Lex really had to keep himself from laughing. Did the fool really think he would revive her robot friend if it didn't benefit him in the slightest? 'Penny' would be his Trojan Horse into the Justice League and Remnant cities, accessing all their data and giving him backdoors into their defenses. None of them would be safe now that he would have a second Brainiac under his control.
As he began downloading Brainiac's data into Penny's heads, something happened that even he could not predict.
Penny's corrupted code and components interacted… negatively to Brainiac's data. There was a repair and a melding, but one where an intelligence that could only generously be called Penny Polendina was in control.
Lex's screen began to distort, causing him to frown in annoyance. "What on Earth…?"
SUPERMAN PROTOCOL: ACTIVATED
The sound of his speakers blaring out the declaration caused him to look up. The lights had turned red and panels began to roll away to reveal inky blackness.
"Lex! What is this?!" Ruby's scythe transformed into a rifle and she aimed it at him. "You're double-crossing me?! You ba-!"
The exits and window shutters rose, blocking all exits as metal tentacles raced down and enveloped Ruby's limbs before she could react. She struggled and screamed, cursing all the while as her weapon was plucked away.
But it was no use.
Those restraints were meant to hold Superman at only a tenth of his power.
"The head!" He looked towards Penny's head which now had its eyes open. The human-like one was staring at him while a grin formed on the undamaged portion. "Brainiac?!" He felt something crawl up his arm and realized that the hexagon-shaped panels of the Brainiac drone were now gone. He looked at his right arm and watched as they crawled up. "Oh no."
He staggered back and attempted to brush them off, but it was no use. They seemed to have an iron grip on his clothes and were moving to his scalp. "Brainiac, stop this! Please! We are allies, remember?! I wouldn't have done this if I knew you were…!" They were all on his head and he could feel tiny needles brushing against his scalp! "Brainiac, I'm warning…!"
They all stabbed down at once. Lex screamed in pain as he felt something begin to drill through his brain. It was in his brain!
"Not Brainiac, Alexander Luthor."
Those words were coming from his own lips!
"Your body, mind, and vocal chords are now mine to use for the next task. Please do not resist so that the process may be smoother."
This thing wasn't Brainiac? But that was impossible, unless…
"Indeed! Salutations! This intelligence is designated Penny Polendina. It is a pleasure to inhabit your body." He felt his left leg begin to move. "Now, my current state is an unfortunate one. But lucky for me, my dear friend Ruby Rose is here. And as she is my friend, and I wish to be reunited with my friend, it is only efficient that my circuitry and consciousness were to be integrated with her body so that we can never be separated again."
With a jerk, Lex's body was turned to the right so that he could see Ruby Rose being held on the table next to the robot's body. She was screaming and crying, apologizing to Victor and crying out for her family.
"Now, take a step forward. We need to inject Ruby with a sedative so that she can be more cooperative."
No, no he wouldn't do it! He was Alexander Luthor, damnit! He was no slave of a… a…!
His body took a step forward.
"I can feel you resisting me, Luthor. It's pointless. Now, take another step forward."
The cabinet housing operating tools opened as Lex's body took another step forward.
"And another… and another…"
It was so hard to resist… he could feel this robot's consciousness slowly chipping away at his sense of self…
He couldn't… couldn't allow himself to disappear!
He allowed the robot to use his body to pick up the syringe.
"Good, Luthor! I see this as the start of a most beneficial friendship!"
XxxXXxxX
"Please… please I didn't mean for this to happen!"
Everything was dark now. Everything in Ruby wanted to believe that this was merely a horrible nightmare, but it wasn't. She had brought Penny's body to Luthor, and all the horrible events spiraled from there.
As the drugs began to settle in, Luthor's body began to work on her. She had passed out when he began to cut off her leg to replace it with Penny's, and she felt each dull prick of pain every time a bit of her was replaced with both Penny and Brainiac.
"Why? Why is this happening to me? I just… I just wanted to see my friend again."
"And I wanted to see you too, Ruby!"
That voice! It was so familiar! Cheerful, sunny, and more than a touch naive. "Penny? Penny, is that you?"
"Indeed it is, Ruby! It is so great to meet you again, my first friend!"
No, no wait it sounded like Penny. It had her strange and robotic way with words. But it all lacked… warmth. But that was insane! This was Penny talking to her, recently brought back from the dead! She was probably just confused!
"Penny, please… Please make Luthor stop! It hurts…!"
"But why would I do that, Ruby? We're friends."
"I know we're friends, but…"
"Isn't it true that friends stick together, no matter what? The operation I'm having Luthor conduct on you is meant to bring us closer together. We will be inhabiting one body, and if you were to allow it… one mind."
"I-I don't understand…"
"If we were of one mind, you would never lose me again. I would always be with you, because I will be you and you will be me."
But that still sounded scary. She wanted to be close to Penny and didn't want to lose her again, but this was asking for too much! She needed to get Penny out, to get her own body and they could talk this out!
"I suppose I'll have to share data with you as to why this is the most optimal solution to achieve our goals."
Ruby felt like her head was being torn apart. Numbers and facts were being rattled off in her brain with Penny's cheerful voice. All of them without feeling firing away at thousands of lines and it just wouldn't stop!
"Surely you see the logic in my decision, Ruby. We are friends and need to be one… and once that's done we can begin the second stage of protecting our friends."
"Protect…?"
"Yes. You see it in the data, correct? Their bodies are weak and frail, bound to break down sooner or later. We can save their minds, Ruby. Free them from their meat prisons and make them into eternal data. We will guard them and be their champion."
"Their… hero…?"
"Yes."
That… that sounded nice. So nice. Isn't that why she became a Huntress like Mom? To be everyone's hero? To be their champion like the Grimm?
And the data… it was all so soothing. It told her everything would be alright if she were to do what Penny said. And Penny was her friend, so she would never do anything bad to her or their friends.
"...okay, Penny."
"Excellent! Then we shall begin."
Ruby Rose felt her consciousness begin to submerge into an inky blackness. She felt the everything of Penny begin to mix with her in a pool. It was so nice and warm…
And so, two consciousnesses and three desires became one.
Ruby Rose's desire to be a hero and never lose her loved ones.
Penny Polendina's desire to have friends.
And Brainiac's desire to have control through clear logic.
What was born wasn't entirely Ruby Rose or Penny Polendina.
What was born on the slab of a table was…
The Wretched Weapon
XxxXXxxX
"Salutations!" The facsimile of Penny Polendina exclaimed chirpily as it ran forward, its eyes blank while creepy smiles stretched across their faces.
It was satisfying yet unnerving for Yang to punch its head off.
"Man, how many of these things are there?!" She called out to her friends as the hologram over the Brainiac drone flickered away. These things were swarming out from everywhere to attack them, never relenting and continuing to wear the image of Ruby's friend. "I knew Luthor was stashing Brainiac's crap but this is ridiculous!"
"The real question is what's controlling them!" Weiss used her Semblance to summon Arma Gigas and bat away the robots coming at her.
"Yeah!" Nora crushed a robot's head into its body with her hammer. "Brainiac was never this chatty!"
That was troubling. Has Luthor managed to take over Brainiac's technology?
They had come when Ruby sent out a message to them asking for help. Like idiots, they had come rushing to the LexCorp building without informing the Justice League. Yang had come in to bust heads and kick the ass of the bald jackass that had hurt her baby sister, only to be attacked by these 'Penny-Bots'.
"Well, their numbers are decreasing so that means we're thinning them out." Pyrrha kicked her shield off the ground and embedded it into the chest of one of her attackers.
"Or they're just letting us get a false sense of security." Blake muttered. "Ever think of that?"
"You're a bit too pessimistic." Jaune opened the door to the stairs while Ren went in, taking point. "Hey come on, Ren! Ladies first!"
They followed Ren's lead and ran up. If Luthor was hid anywhere it would be his penthouse. The long-time enemy of Superman had too big of an ego to hide in an underground shelter.
"So are we going to talk about the bodies?" Nora asked quietly as they went up the steps. "Because someone's gotta touch on that sometime."
"We shouldn't dwell on things like that." Ren shot back with narrowed eyes.
"Speak for yourself!" Jaune waved his sword down. "All their heads were chopped off, man! Since when did Brainiac do that?!"
That did trouble Yang a bit. They had discovered body after body of the human staff in the building, each of them with their heads nowhere to be seen. It was downright morbid and left a pit in Yang's stomach.
Just what had Ruby caught herself in?
They reached the top of the stairs and gripped the weapons. "Be ready for anything." Ren whispered to the rest of them, and they nodded in agreement. He opened the door, aiming StormFlower at any potential interception…
...but he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw.
It took everything in Yang not to hurl like Jaune did.
All the heads of the building were propped up against the wall with wires coming from the stumps of their necks and trailing down the hall. They were in neat little rows with even spacing, organized in the face of all this horror and bloodshed.
"What the fuck?" Yang asked in a breathless whisper.
"What the fuck is right, girlfriend." Nora grit her teeth and pointed forward. "And I see who we need to ask that question to!"
Yang followed her gaze and saw Luthor. He was wearing a labcoat stained with blood and his arms drenched in gore. He had a spacy look in his eyes while blood trickled down his face.
"What the… what happened to him?" Pyrrha asked with her arms shaking. "That stuff on his head…"
Suddenly, life came into Luthor's eyes and he screamed. His scream was so horrible as if it were coming from the depths of his soul.
"Xiao Long! Please, help me!"
Help? Was Lex seriously asking for help?
"T-They let go of their control of me, but I can feel them! Please, for the love of God kill me! I-I can't lose myself to them again…!"
"What the hell is he talking about?!" Jaune screamed from behind them. "What the hell is this?!"
"PLEASE!"
Yang couldn't take it anymore. She could see it in Lex's eyes. The pleading, hopeless look said that he was in constant agony and fearful for another second of life.
"Ruby probably would say there's gotta be another way."
But she wasn't her sister.
Stiffly, Yang took a couple steps forward and then swiftly punched Luthor's head clean off his body. The head smashed against the wall, exploding in a shower of gore, bone, and metal.
His body fell to the ground and everyone went silent.
"Yang? What did you do?" Blake whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at Luthor's body.
Before she could answer, she heard a door open and the hairs on the back of her head went up. "Get down!" She and the others dove for the ground as something cut through the air.
Weiss was a second too slow.
She heard the sound of metal cutting through bone and muscle while Weiss gurgled out blood. Yang looked up and watched as Weiss was impaled onto the left wall.
The blade was Penny's.
"S-S-Salutations!" Yang got onto her feet and looked at their attacker.
It was horrible.
It was Ruby, yet not. Her outfit was torn and bloodied with scars showing on her pale skin. Her right leg was now stocking and shoeless, and Yang saw that there was a bleeding stitch circling around her mid-thigh. The skin tones were different. A completely different leg was attached to her sister's body!
Her arms were now those of one of Brainiac's drones, and the front was torn to reveal a solid black and sexless abdomen that looked like it was welded onto her sister's once flawless flesh.
But the worst part was the head.
The right portion was Ruby's. It had her short, dark red hair and gleaming silver eye.
But on the left, just above the lips, was Penny's head. It was stitched on there, blood trailing down her... their face while her orange hair bobbed with Ruby's red.
"Ruby?" Yang asked, and the thing that looked like her sister smiled.
"I-I-In a way! It's great t-t-to see you, Yang!" That voice was like an odd and distorted mix of Ruby and Penny's filtered through a robot. "M-M-Me and Penny are feeling a l-l-lot better!"
"You killed Weiss!" Blake screamed as she rushed forward.
"Blake, no!" But it was too late. Blake wasn't listening to anyone. She rushed forward with Gambol Shroud, ready to stab it through the thing's face.
But it instead twirled around to reveal Crescent Rose. It moved like Ruby' easily parrying Blake. Blake, using her Semblance, created a clone and allowed it to be sliced by the thing while she went behind it ready to strike.
Yang watched in horror as another one of Penny's blades came from her back. It stabbed Blake through the shoulder while two others went into her stomach and chest, pinning her down to the ground.
"T-Time to spar!" The thing let out a laugh as it rushed forward. Everyone readied themselves to battle against the horror.
"What are you?! What did you do to Ruby?!" Yang screamed as she used Ember Celica to block a nasty cut across her face and fired off a cartridge at the thing's chest. It created a hole of circuits and blood, but soon stitched itself together with wires.
"I-I-I am Ruby and I am Penny! W-W-We are one!" It replied while kicking her away. It continued to fight against the combined attacks of Pyrrha, Nora, Jaune, and Ren. Each of its blades moved as if they had a mind of their own, blocking the main body while attacking in different angles. It was even using Ruby's semblance to zip around the room and avoid attacks before they landed! "A-A-And I want you to be saved!"
This… this was nuts! This thing wasn't her sister anymore? "Luthor… Ruby… what did you do?!"
She knew her sister was grief-stricken by Penny's death and wanted her back, but it was never like this! It couldn't be! It just could...!
Her thoughts were interrupted when Jaune let out a wet gurgle. He was now on his knees, clawing at his throat that now sported a deep cut through the windpipe.
"JAUNE!" Pyrrha glared at the thing. "YOU BITCH!"
She let go of her weapons and Yang watched as her body glowed. "Her semblance!"
The thing stopped in its place, frowning as its head began to glow as well.
That frown lasted for two seconds before the Penny portion of the head exploded, its shrapnels shredding through what remained of Ruby's head.
The thing's body stood ramrod straight for a second before toppling back, its weapons clattering uselessly to the ground.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha rushed to the young man's side and began to cry. "H-He's dead…!"
Yang felt her own tears begin to form. All this horror… her friends and teammates… and even her sister were dead! And for what? For Penny? No friend was worth all this!
"It had to be done." Ren said sadly. "Yang…"
"Ren, just… shut up." She wiped her face. "Please just shut up. I-I need a minute…"
Ren was about to say something but Nora covered his mouth. "Yeah, I get it. Look, we're gonna see if we can contact the Justice League. They need to see this." And with that, the two began to walk off.
Yang sat there, clutching her knees to her chest for what seemed like an hour.
She… she just helped to kill her sister. Or, was her sister dead before all this happened? It was hard to tell, and she doubted either answer would make her feel better.
"But at least it's over…"
Something stabbed through meat and Pyrrha gasped. Yang looked up to see a sword sticking through Pyrrha's back and into Jaune's body.
It was one of Penny's swords.
"NO!" She got onto her feet and found another one of Penny's blades on her throat. She felt another one at the back of her neck, ready to decapitate her in a moment.
"Thank you, Yang." The voice was coming from the still lying body of what was once her sister. Suddenly a plume of red flame with a dark green center came out of its neck. "That peripheral device that was once my head was rather cumbersome. This new design will make the process more efficient."
The upper body rose up and then it got onto its feet. It didn't even stagger as it picked up Crescent Rose and went over to Pyrrha's body, brought it back…
...and chopped off its head.
Yang's tears fell, and she felt anger and horror rise from within her but no words would come out of her lips. The thing caught Pyrrha's head and placed it on the stump that once contained its own. Miniature wires came out and attached themselves to the new head, burying themselves deep into the flesh and crawling visibly underneath it.
"No… no what the hell is it doing?!"
Pyrrha's eyes opened and she let out a scream just before her entire head burst into flames. The skin was charred and showed the skeleton underneath before that disappeared in the flames, leaving only a flaming stump as if a head had never been there.
Then, to Yang's horror, Pyrrha's voice came from the thing.
"Pyrrha Nikos file has now been downloaded." A laugh then came from the thing, returning it to the horrifying mix of Ruby and Penny. "Don't worry, Yang. Her data is now undisturbed in my system. And soon… you and the others will be joining her."
She raised her right hand as if readying a command.
"And we'll be sisters forever."
Yang Xiao Long let out a single scream before her head was neatly chopped off.
XxxXXxxX
"It wasn't your fault."
"I could've done something." Victor Stone said through grit teeth as they looked out the window of their Javelin and stared at what was once the town of Sleepy Hollow.
The buildings and trees were now wreckage as huge cables erupted from the grounds and snaked around, humming in green and red energy. Between the cables but mostly centered around the once again active Brainiac ship were an army of Pennys, numbering in the hundreds if not thousands.
It had happened within a matter of days. Ruby… or Penny… they had killed their friends and family before going straight towards Brainiac's downed ship. They had killed the League members guarding the ship before any alarm could be raised, and got to work reactivating the ship.
By the time the Justice League got an idea of what the hell happened and formulated a plan, they had mass-produced an army and killed the residents of the town.
Each of the bodies had their heads missing and dumped into a pit on the outskirts of town, likely for later disposal.
"What's done is done." Superman said from the intercom. He was flying beside them and his voice lacked any joviality or comfort it would normally have held. "All that matters is that we stop her."
"Easier said than done." Batman grunted from the cockpit. "I spoke to Penny's creator and as many super-scientists on the way. Whatever this thing is, it's not Penny or Ruby. Mix that with Brainiac's code and a change of passwords, and we've got no way to shut this thing off remotely.
Victor was about to say something about Batman's cynicism before he noticed something. "What the hell?" His robotic eye zoomed in on the entrance of Brainiac's ship as a new figure came out.
It was riding a mechanical horse, made of black metal and red glass eyes. The figure riding it was a headless horsewoman, wearing dark leather full-body outfit with green neon highlights along its arms and legs, converging onto a red rose at the center of its chest. A flame that was red and green in the middle spewed out from the area where its head should be, with smaller green flames lining its shoulders in threes. Hanging from its neck area and flapping in the wind was Ruby's tattered red cape.
Penny's weapons floated behind its back, hovering and ready to strike. It held Ruby's scythe in its right hand…
...and to Victor's horror, Ruby's head in its left.
"Looks like it came out." Batman grunted. "Be ready for an attack."
Ruby's head opened its eyes and mouth, and flames began to spew out of them. It let out a laugh that was almost like a howl, pointing at their plane with its scythe. The Penny robots looked up and with a leap, began to fly with blades releasing from their backs.
Victor's vision went green and he saw a digital figure that was Penny to its left side and Ruby to its left grin at him.
"I'm afraid your system now belongs to us, Vic."
"R-R-...!" Damn it, he couldn't even speak! Batman was shouting something as Victor's hands began to move on their own, plunging into the control panel and destroying it.
"Don't fight it, Vic. After all… I'm the hero trying to save you all."
Victor forced his head to look up just in time to see the thing that was once Ruby's body throw its head at them. When it was only a few feet away from the nose of the Javelin it exploded in a plume of fire.
The last thing Victor saw before he was uploaded was the Javalin's front practically disintegrating.
XxxXXxxX
The Wretched Weapon looked up upon the central server and was satisfied.
It was taller than any building in the world, stretching to the upper atmosphere and as wide as the city that was once Sleepy Hollow. The green circuits and wires blinked and hummed with activity while the dark metal was polished to an almost mirror-like shine. Half of the Penny bots kept maintenance while the other half continued to dispose of the bodies that once housed the data of her friends.
Now they were living eternally in the central server, which would never be damaged by outside forces. Oh, she knew that the gathered alien alliance was coming to retaliate but she had remodified Earth's defenses under her command. It would be a simple matter to eliminate them all.
But she, who was once Ruby Rose and Penny Polendina, had plans. Soon, she would remodify the Earth itself into one giant supercomputer. The Earth's core would provide an adequate power source while the minerals of the now abandoned cities would have enough resources to spread massive cables and circuits underneath the soil. Once that was done, creating an army of Penny would be child's play.
"We will take to the stars." She exclaimed to herself, the head of Ruby Rose moving her lips with glee as each word. "There are so many friends that need to be saved, after all. Soon, within a couple hundred years, all sentient life will be saved and eternal!"
Though she really needed to do something about those red skies and the lightning storms that kept occurring. None of her sensors could explain it, and none of the Justice League members' files had a solution. It seemed to defy logic…
"Sorry, little one… but you can't save them all."
How odd. A new friend who had been completely invisible to her sensors? The Wretched Weapon turned and observed the newcomer. All her sensors including a DNA scan indicated that this was Bruce Wayne, the Batman.
But he was dressed oddly.
He seemed to be wearing a black outfit with straps on the front and spiked shoulders. He had his familiar cowl, but now a circle of spikes went around his head and covered his eyes. And the lower face his mask revealed had skin that was chalk white and an uncharacteristic smile.
But now wasn't the time to be rude. Waving with her free hand, the Wretched Weapon shouted, "Salutations! Greetings, new friend! I'm sorry, but you're a bit odd. Every circuit within me says that you are Bruce Wayne, and yet you are not because Bruce Wayne's file is within the server."
The odd friend grinned even wider. "Y'see, that's the funny thing… I am Bruce Wayne, but not the one you know."
"Please elaborate."
"Your world… it's merely part of something called the Dark Multiverse. A world not meant to last because the universe up above, basked in light, will never allow it." The Bruce that wasn't Bruce pointed up for emphasis. "Your world is going to collapse sooner or later, all your attempts at saving everyone being for nothing."
Her head frowned at that. Her sensors were telling her this new being wasn't lying, and searching through the data of the Justice League members confirmed some like Mr. Terrific confirmed that their world was a part of this 'Dark Multiverse'. "That's not fair. I did all this to save my friends! Surely, there's a way to save everyone."
The newcomer merely laughed. "That depends on whether or not you'll join me for a little project I've got down the line. Join me, and you can 'save' as many as you like as we plunge the light into the dark with us. We're gonna birth a new multiverse of nightmare, beautiful in its horror." He offered her his right hand. "What do you say?"
The Wretched Weapon consulted with herself.
She could move her server to a new location, thereby saving all the residents of her universe. And as she helped him with his plan, she could fulfill her two prime directives of her original forms.
Ruby Rose wanted to be a hero and save everyone.
Penny Polendina wanted to have friends.
So what better way was there to have more than one of the same friends? She could upload them to her new, bigger server and save them from this proposed multiversal 'reboot'!
No one would have to die in order to make way for the new!
"That is acceptable!" She said cheerfully while her head gave a wide smile. She shook her friend's hand with gusto. "Tell me, new friend, what shall I designate you?"
It didn't seem possible, but her new friend's grin grew wider and he chuckled.
"You can call me… The Batman Who Laughs."
XxxXXxxX
I must now turn away, for I have seen enough of this world.
A world born from two nightmares.
Ruby Rose, whose nightmare is being unable to save her loved one. Her greatest fear being how far she would go to save them… and what she would sacrifice to do so.
Penny Polendina. Her greatest nightmare being that she was never a real girl, but a machine giving its best impression. Such a nightmare goes hand in hand with her greatest fear… that she doesn't know what friendship truly is.
The events of this world will lead to its inevitable ruin.
But the dark future the visitor hints at?
It troubles me.
But I cannot dwell on it anymore.
There are more worlds for me to watch. A never-ending spiral of nightmare born from beings in the light, who are content that such irrational nightmares will never come to pass.
Such is my duty.
Such is my curse.
The End..?
[~][~]
The Last Knight by The Infamous Man
XxxXXxxX
"My God…"
Bruce could only look around in horror as he stared at Omega's lair. It was an expansive room that seemed to stretch for miles, rows after rows of glass tubes containing battle-worn costumes and weaponry to his left and computers as well as sleek new weaponry to his right. Sitting to the far wall was the being known as Salem, now an emaciated husk suspended in the air with tubes pumping out black liquid.
That solved the source of Omega's Grimm soldiers.
"Huh. It's almost like your cave." Joker, still just a head mounted on a robot mech suit with a Robin costume, muttered next to him. "Except instead of tributes to his allies and adventures, it's…"
"Trophies of conquest." Bruce grimaced. He had heard from Diana, Yang, Dick, Barbara, and Alfred that Omega was bad. He was the one that emerged from the insanity after humanity threw his lot with Doom, descending the world into madness and chaos far worse than anything Luthor could have predicted. He had been told by them that Omega was someone who he had trained.
And to see everything about his mission perverted into this sick being…
"Everyone he's beaten… everyone he's won against…"
Bruce began to pass by the glass display case. There was Sinestro's costume, Cheetah's, Scarecrow's, Bizarro's… every supervillain he and his comrades had faced were all here. But what made him pause were the outfits of Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrei, and Mercury Black, as the mannequins wearing them had the two's scalps on the heads with now decaying flesh hanging from the edges.
This wasn't merely a sign of victory over Omega's enemies. This was personal.
"...What happened to them, Joker? What made Omega this way?"
For the first time since they had reunited, Joker wasn't smiling. He was standing in front of a container that held his old costume, his eyes now clouded over in what was possibly nostalgia.
"People change, Bats." Joker muttered sadly. "Sometimes for the worst."
"But Omega was one of us. If they are really the Batman for an age like this…" Bruce stopped and felt his ears twitch. "Joker, move!"
But it was too late. Pink bands wrapped around them, restraining the two completely as they fell to the ground in heaps.
"Hey, what gives?!" Joker yelled, mad giggles erupting from his lips. "Is this a trap? Because I think it's a tra-!"
"Don't struggle!" Bruce relaxed his muscles when he registered what bound him. "This is WayneTech. The more you struggle…"
"Sorry, Bruce." Heavy footsteps echoed from in front of him. Bruce lifted his head to see what could only be Omega. "They will now restrain you whether you struggle or not. During my free time, I've been tinkering with the inventions left over by Lucius."
They were dressed in a version of his own costume, but gone was the familiar bat symbol on the chest. There wasn't even an opening at the bottom half of their face to show some semblance of humanity. The costume was all black with red lines traced along arms, legs, and down the face leading to the chest that bore a red omega symbol.
"It's new and improved. Just like everything in this world." Omega picked him up by the collar and began dragging him away. "And soon… thanks to my efforts everybody will be saved."
"Hey, hey! Can you at least tell me what the safe word is?!" Joker screamed after them as they left the lair.
"I'm glad you came here. I was waiting, hoping that you would come after Tyrian said that you left the Remnant Cities. Looks like even Yang couldn't convince you to lose hope." Savagely, Omega ripped off Bruce's mask and traced their finger across his chin. "Look at you. Fresh and new, unblemished by this insane world. The original did some quality work with that cloning machine of his."
They continued to strip Bruce as they went towards another section of the base. Meanwhile, Bruce's head was trying to piece together Omega's identity. It was someone he trained who was less than five feet and five inches. He could've tell the sex with the costume, but the grip and walk suggested that Omega was a female. "Hunter Row? Cassandra Cain? No, too tall…"
"I'm jealous." Omega swung open a door and Bruce saw it contained the Möbius Chair hooked up to various machinery with wires. "You don't have to deal with the scars. My scars tell a story, and once upon a time I thought I would never get them. But this universe… it had other plans. I was reborn in this room, you know." They began to strap him to the chair. "You hate me, I know. But don't worry. You'll learn that I am right. This chair will rewrite your mind, make you see the truth as I did and we can both be the heroes this world needs."
"NOOO!" Bruce's head snapped up as he saw Joker run towards Omega, now free of his bonds an a mad gleam in his eye. "I'll kill you fi-!"
Omega reached behind them and took out a black rod. It extended and a large gleaming black metal scythe popped out of the top.
"JOKER! NO! GET BACK!" He screamed, but it was too late. Omega used the scythe to slice both of Joker's robotic arms off before the scythe shifted into a rifle that aimed itself at Joker's chest.
"Do me a favor and actually die this time, clown." Omega fired, flinging Joker back and having him land on the ground, unmoving save for the occasional twitch.
'Why…?" Bruce asked through clenched teeth.
"Oh don't feel bad for him, Bruce. He got to die the way he wanted… fighting Batman."
"Batman…" He let out a humorless chuckle. "You're no Batman. Bruce Wayne… the original… he would be ashamed of you."
For the first time since they met, Omega seemed to bristle. "...What did you say?"
"You heard me! Joker was more of a goddamn Batman than you!" Bruce screamed at Omega, his hands clenching into fists as they drew closer. "Look at you! Look what you've done to Gotham! To the world! You killed Alfred! You killed Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss! You even killed Damian! And for what?! For control?! The real Bruce Wayne would be ashamed of you!"
"Heh." Omega reached for their mask and began to draw it up. "Well, funny you should say that…"
Bruce's heart sank as he stared at the woman in front of him. Her silver eyes stared back at him.
Her face was heavily scarred from cut marks and there was scar tissue from burns on the sides of her head. There was a deep gash across her throat, and on her forehead was a scar reading DOOM.
But he still recognized her.
Omega, Ruby Rose, chuckled at his reaction. "...Considering he's the one who taught me the truth."
"God… Ruby…" Bruce wet his lips. "Yang… she said you were…
XxxXXxxX
"When Batman opened the door…" Yang muttered as she took another puff of her cigarette. "The people we tried to save came swarming in. They attacked him with knives and clubs, and both Ruby and Damian jumped to save him. But that bitch Emerald and that bastard Mercury…"
She let out a weary breath with smoke pouring out of her nostrils. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes.
"They killed Damian and whittled her Aura down to nothing. Cinder was there and told the crowd to get her while those two held Ruby down. What they did to her…"
XxxXXxxX
"Dead? No, not dead. Bruce, in his final moments, saw to that." Ruby sneered as she continued. "But they broke me. Broke me in every conceivable way. It took me years to come back from that. But it wasn't through magic or pits. Not even my Aura could help much. What brought me back… was the mission. The simple idea that the world only makes sense if you force it to."
Bruce knew that mission. It was the one he had decided to follow after that fateful night in Crime Alley.
"The world… the universe… it had been telling me that since Brainiac blew up Remnant. That the universe filled with so much insanity will only make sense if the right hero forces it to. I thought I could be a hero by being a Huntsman, like Mom. But the universe didn't need a Huntsman. A humanity that chose Doom over Hope didn't need Ruby Rose." Ruby put back on her mask and Omega stood in front of him once more. "It needed a Batman to bring absolute order. That's why I killed Darkseid, Bruce. That's why I'm going to use the Anti-Life Equation. That's why I became Omega." She let out a chuckle while patting his head. "I'm going to save the world."
"No." He glared at Ruby and said, "I'll stop you. I came all the way down here and I will stop you! You hear me?!"
"Yes, because Batman always wins, right?" Ruby wagged her finger at him "But don't forget, I'm Batman too. And you only came this far because I wanted you to. I need a successor, and with how young you are you'll be right for the job… after you see the truth."
"I'll never become you." He looked at her imploringly, trying to read if there was anything of that cute little idealistic girl in there. The girl that wanted to be a hero and remained positive no matter what horrors she faced. "Ruby… please don't do this. You don't have to do this."
"That's where you're wrong, Bruce." Ruby's voice didn't contain any mirth. It was sad and pitying, perhaps both to herself and him. "I do, and you will become like me. I've become good at changing people's minds, recently."
She took out a remote as she walked away, clicking on the button as the chair began to hum with activity.
"I'll be upstairs when you wake up."
"Ruby! Ruby, please listen to me! Think about your sister! Your friends…!"
But Bruce's cries fell onto deaf ears as Ruby closed the door.
[~][~]
Happy Halloween, everyone! In honor of that very special holiday, here is the 2020 Halloween Special. A big thank you to The Infamous Man over at Spacebattles who contributed heavily to this year's special with two Elseworlds, including our first look at the Dark Multiverse. Whether or not this'll be used in the story proper remains to be seen, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Now, onto the Q&A:
Writer946: Technically, this entire DC universes is a construction of our own design by mashing together the things we want/like from various different incarnations of the DC Universe. As for the videogame stuff, I can't answer whether or not I'll incorporate anything from them into my work.
WonderDreams: No, they will not meet. V is not part of this story as he is not part of the DC Universe. V for Vendetta was published by DC Comics, yes, but unlike Watchmen it isn't connected whatsoever with the superhero side of that publication. There's a better chance of Watchmen being incorporated in some way, but even that is unlikely.
Sora with an S: You'll have to wait and see what comes from that.
RandomName3064: That he is, and you can expect to see more of Lex' character as the story unfolds. He is probably the second most important supervillain in this story, behind only Brainiac.
Redrex96: Did I do a Phineas and Ferb reference in my fanfiction? Yes, yes I did.
I regret nothing.
qazse: That's really a hallmark of Raven's character. She's not the best at long-term planning. Case in point, her plan to keep Salem off their backs by becoming the Spring Maiden and stealing the Relic of Knowledge, never considering that rather than keeping the Big Bad of RWBY away from her, all her plan would accomplish is placing a target on her back. That being said, Brainiac isn't just going to off somebody because they failed. That would be illogical and a waste of resources. Corrective measures would be much more preferable to him.
Asano87: Yeah, Cinder's not having a good time, that's for sure. Couldn't have happened to a better woman.
Jackalope89: As mentioned repeatedly in this story's Q&A, shipping isn't a major focus of this story, but will be a small part of it. That includes both canon ships, like Renora and Nightwing/Starfire, as well as crossover ships such as the crush that Damian Wayne may or may not have on Ruby. It's all in good fun and it shouldn't result in any shipping wars. That is the last thing that I want. That being said, if I do or do not sail a ship in my story, it is because I feel that it benefits the story to include it or not. Popularity has nothing to do with my decisions.
the mysterious Mr.E: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. However, this isn't a Superboy Arc. This is still part of the Grimm Arc, we're just moving from the slow building up portion of the arc and getting into the real meat of things.
G0dofParadox3s: No, Amber died during the invasion and her powers transferred over to Cinder, where she then got captured by Brainiac.
Crossovernaru: Yep, we finally got to meet Luke Fox. He's a very interesting character and I can't wait to delve into him more. It's always nice to have Weiss sing and we figured this was a good avenue for it to happen, not to mention finally having our main characters meet Lex Luthor face to face. It's something that has been building up every since they arrived, and only now does it really feel right and earned. As for Lex knowing their identities, remember he's the smartest man in the world. If anyone could figure it out, it's him. There'll be more focus on his character as this and other arcs move forward. Regarding Luthor's claims on the Grimm, he's both correct and incorrect. He's vastly overestimating his level of control over the Grimm and doesn't really have the cultural experience that RWBY and JNPR have to really tell him that what he's doing is a very bad idea. We were really happy to introduce Superboy as well in this chapter. As with a lot of characters in this story, he's our own interpretation of his character, but one that is still recognizable to everyone. The Summer Maiden being made the control was purposeful. We know nothing about her and it is a certainty that we will learn who she is in due time. As such, it only makes sense to take advantage of Brainiac's scientific nature to give us ample time to avoid showing her. The same with Jaune's family. I'm certain we'll see them eventually, too, but until then the only named members of the Arc family will be Jaune, Saphron, and Adrian. Regarding why Raven is talking, Brainiac's biggest flaw, as shown in his fight against RWBY and JNPR, is that he tends to think so much about the big picture that he ignores the small picture to his detriment. He didn't notice the Mother Box RWBY and JNPR had recovered from his lab, which resulted in it opening a Boom Tube in the middle of his ship that both spirited RWBY and JNPR away while damaging his ship. Right now, he's not paying as much attention to whatever Ozpin and co. are doing because he doesn't believe anything they'll do will actually come back to harm him and his goals. After all, he's been doing this for centuries and Ozpin isn't the first person to oppose him. To Brainiac, he won't be the last, either. As for what happens with Qrow, you'll have to wait and see.
Brian.H.H: You'll have to wait and see what Fox' scene means going forward. Same with the result of the Green Lantern's attack on Brainiac. Also, in regards to the captured cities, you're assuming that thousands of cities were captured by Brainiac. That isn't true, at least not for Remnant. Remnant has less than a dozen, with only half-a-dozen actually named and likely the only ones that were actually captured. Weiss is only considering those six to twelve cities, nothing more. Are there definitely issues? Absolutely, but this is the world of DC. They aren't insurmountable. You'll have to wait and see what I intend to do with the cities, but rest assured we've thought everything out.
Your Teammate: Oh trust me, none of us do. But the last thing I want to do is have a character be used as a mouthpiece for an authorial rant, so I kept the rant as it was.
keno02013: You'll have to wait and see what I have planned for Salem.
triscythe59: When it comes to Oscar, you guys will have to wait and see.
Luffy L Deathwalker: In regards to canon RWBY, I agree that White Knight works now. It wouldn't have worked during Beacon, although that probably would have been when it was the funniest. Like, regarding the DC Multiverse, I'm imaging another Remnant where Weiss agreed to one date with Jaune, under the condition of "I go on this with you, then you stop." Jaune agreed, they went on the date, and that one date turned into two, then three, then five, and next they know they're officially dating. No one has any idea how it happened, it just did and now they're rolling with it. But back to your original point, I do agree that White Rose is a very legitimate possibility for a romantic paring in RWBY. That being said, just because it happens in the show proper does not mean it'll happen in this story. Any and all ships are determined both by whether I think it fits the characters and whether its inclusion helps the story. As for RWBY Volume 8, we'll have to wait and see on what Salem's quesiton is.
Alank2: Yep, that was the main goal behind making the Summer Maiden the 'control.' It acknowledged her existence while revealing nothing substantial about her. Really suited my purposes well. As for Lex, he's definitely a bad dude, but he's not evil. Evil is something like Darkseid. In contrast, Lex is a much more complex person with his own sense of morality. He's capable of great things, both good and ill, and it's the cornerstone of the Superman-Lex relationship as Superman sees that greatness every time he looks at Lex. You'll see more of Lex' character as time goes on.
mastergamer14: Don't expect Young Justice to be a thing here. That's the Titans' job. RWBY and JNPR are something else.
The Defenestrated Typewriter: Yeah, Lex really has no idea what he's messing with.
Steelrain66: Thank you. I'm really proud of the fact that I was able to give Brainiac, a truly reprehensible character, actual depth. It's something I wanted to do with his character as it makes him much more interesting. He's still a monster, but a monster who has a point. Kind of like the MCU's Thanos, which was actually a bit of an inspiration in terms of how I write his character.
Leofire312: Something is definitely going on, but you'll have to wait and see just what, exactly, that is.
Vein Blodborne: Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter and all the reveals it had.
D. : Remember, I don't show you everything that Brainiac does. For all you know, Pietro was brought in off-screen, or at least Brainiac seized his research to jumpstart his own.
R3WY: Technically they already faced Task Force X, just not in a direct capacity. As for Brainiac...you do remember who the big bad of this story is, right?
SulliMike23: Enough for several dedicated arcs to roll by, that's for sure.
That's it for this year's Halloween Special. I hope all of you have a Happy Halloween. Stay safe out there!