A/N: This review episode will be the start of the second season's Part 2 storyline, which will introduce more characters, a brand new original setting set on Earth, and a storyline that will build up in the Sociality Arc up until the Season 2 finale which will be more epic than the Season 1 finale. It will tease some things that will be leading up to the second season's third and final part, as well as other stories in the future that's set in The Critique Universe. For this and other future chapters, this story (along with other spinoff stories) will start more worldbuilding on The Critique Universe.

Just as a reminder, it may look like that most of this chapter will have an extended introduction of this new setting, as well as introducing more characters that will appear throughout many stories within The Critique Universe, although the review will still be covered up. Sorry about the long wait, because I was busy with some things again and this was a long chapter. As always, enjoy.

P.S.: The original setting that will be introduced in this chapter for the Critique Universe and this story is influenced by animes such as Samurai Champloo, Hyakka Ryƍran: Samurai Girls, Senran Kagura and Bakumatsu Rock. The Edo-style original setting is also inspired by the Japanese Colony setting from the Guilty Gear series.

P.S.S: RWBY Volume 8 has premiered recently and I'm not spoiling anything, but it's looking so far, so good after the few new episodes that debuted. And again, I'd still confirm that this story and this Critique Universe is non-canon to most of the events of RWBY, yet it has some characters from later seasons of RWBY into this universe's canon.

In this thirty-third non-canon review and the first review episode of the second season's Part 2, taking place immediately after the events of the previous review episode (Spy Kids 3D: Game Over), a certain character (and new addition to the character lineup) unites with team RWBY to see if the first Star Wars Anthology spinoff film is worth being such a hit, while RWBY and the others join this certain character into a new sacred land on Earth that team RWBY and their friends have yet to discover and eventually explore.

BEACON
8PM

We zoom out of Ruby's eye and back immediately where we left off, reflecting on the mysterious silhouette in the shadows.

"Who...in the world of Remnant...is that?", Ruby and Yang said under their breaths.

Blake and Weiss suspensed, "We don't know..."

As the figure drew closer, its appearance was gradually showing the person's self into unveilment. The height of this person was taller than Ruby and Weiss, yet shorter than Yang and Blake.

First, the figure's feet came into view, revealing black sandal footwear that resembles boots that revealed the person's feet, similar to Lie Ren's footwear. The person also wore a sarashi for the groin area, a red, black and white kimono with a torn right sleeve and a clawed grappling hook in place of the person's missing right arm, along with black greaves and a black gakuran with a white skull on its right sleeve, which this person wore the gakuran over the shoulders like a cape. The sheath of the person's katana was even red. And then, the figure appears to wear a big straw hat, hiding the person's eyes and head.

"Uh...hello?", Ruby nervously said.

The person hears this and proceeds to tip then remove the straw hat. She has long pink hair, which was fuller with two tufts pointing upward like cat ears, worn in a ponytail, as well as peach eyes. A red tattoo adorns her right eye and forehead while her permanently-closed left one has a scar over it with a goggle-like eye patch and a tsuba on it.

It was a woman. In fact, she looked like a badass female Japanese samurai.

She looked at Ruby and the others with an unfazed yet serious glare.

"I presume you must be the people who held this special social event?", said the pink-haired woman, not surprised or showing excitement.

Yang said, "Well...yeah."

"So I've been told.", the samurai replied.

Blake and Weiss wonder, "...What brings you here?"

"There are two reasons for your question. First, I'm aware of this event and like everyone else here, I was thinking of joining too. And second, I'm not from around here, or in any civilized city back on Earth. I came from a place called Edo.", the Japanese warrior told everyone.

Team RWBY all said in unison, "Edo...?", before they remembered something earlier that day, with Ruby situating, "Wait a minute, one of our friends also said she and her friends came from Edo too."

"Do you mean Kasuga, Saika, Matsu, Nohime and Oichi?"

"Yeah- Hold on, you know them?"

"Yes. We live in the same land."

"Coincidental, since our friend Fuu, you, Kasuga and their friends all dress as if it's like the Edo era.", Yang told.

Fuu informs, "Actually, I was from the Edo era. Something phenomenal sent me here in this era..."

"I see.", the pink-haired samurai said.

Faye and the brunette Edo-era girl questioned, "And where is Edo, exactly?"

"Edo is an island residing many miles off the coast of Tokyo, southeastern from Tokyo and away from Aogashima and the rest of the Izu Islands.", said the pink-eyed woman.

Iki said, "Sounds quite interesting."

"Yeah, we've never been to Edo before," both Ruby and Miria said.

Celty and Ann ask, "What exactly is Edo like there."

"It may look exactly like the Sengoku period.", the female eyepatched samurai confirmed.

Natsume delights with her Australian accent, "Well, crikey! Ain't that a ripper? I'm sure Edo is gonna be a fair dinkum to its ancient Japanese history."

"Look, we're starting to love your Australian accent.", Blake and Weiss says.

The ginger-haired turned to them as her accent switched back to American, "Fluent for both American and Australian accents, but I prefer the former, although the latter is so good it makes my mouth tingle with excitement. Forgot to mention that I am a Japanese-Australian actually, but I do speak English with both Americanized and Australian accents."

"I presume you're from Australia?", the pink-haired Japanese woman said whilst saying in her serious demeanor.

Natsume tilts her head, "Yes, I am. Born and raised by Japanese-American parents in the outback, more likewise in the city of Melbourne."

"Anyway, what is your name?", Ruby and Yang ask.

The samurai introduces herself, "The name's Baiken, and I know my way around the sword. I, myself, am also the protector of the land of Edo."

"Well, I'm Ruby-"

The pink-haired warrior seriously figured, "I already know all your names and who you are, I've heard every word. Regardless, I am very obliged to join this social event you've held. But there is one thing you guys wouldn't mind to do."

"What is it, Baiken?", the leader of team RWBY questions.

Baiken answers, "I am willing to show you guys around Edo for a bit and have a short stay over there. I have protected my people there...so that I and my people can live in serenity. After seeing you and your friends battle those monsters last night, I couldn't help but feel so proud of you. I wanted to go help but I had to wait for the perfect time for introductions. And plus, I had to go back to Edo for a bit to catch up on my duties as Edo's protector."

"Wow... So you're...", Yang said.

The pink-haired woman finished, "...like a feudal lord? You could say that."

"I'm sorry to tell you, Baiken, but it's getting late and everyone is about to go to their dorms.", Glynda Goodwitch politely said.

Ruby said, "Miss Goodwitch...I don't think it's a bad idea to go to Edo. It's only 8 o'clock in the evening. I suppose it'll only be a day or two, and then we can go back here when we're finished."

"We'll even keep Beacon in check while they're away. There usually haven't been many Grimm attacks other than that encounter we had last night. And besides, we also have some training to do.", Jaune says.

Penny offered, "But if there are, let us handle it."

"I also have decided I'll stay here while you guys do your thing. I suppose fighting these Grimm creatures must be fun, huh?", Harley Quinn announced.

Noelle Silva raised her hand, "Basically, me, Harley, Church and Sarge also decided to stay at Beacon to help JNPR with their duties while you two go to Edo. Maybe we could also react to something if there is some spare time."

"Thanks, guys. I'm surprised you're staying behind to help with Beacon. But you'd do that...for us?", Ruby and Yang proudly says.

Church and Sarge said, "Of course, we serve to protect for the greater good. Especially since we helped defeat those witches back on Halloween."

"I suppose so.", Ruby ponders.

Blake and Weiss queried, "Are you guys sure, though?"

"Well, you and your teammates may have been the huntress stars of this academy. Maybe it's our turn to help.", Ren thought.

Pyrrha told, "We wish we could come to parts unknown but somebody's gotta help protect the academy."

"Oh, and if you could find some food there, I would love to have a taste of Edo cuisine.", craved Nora, signifying her love of food.

Natsume nods, "Yeah, tucker like that must be delish."

"All I know is that food like sushi, fish, crab, rice, cheese mochi, cod roe...they must be a thing there.", Ann theorized.

Fuu notifies, "I tried cheese mochi and cod roe once back in my time. It was pretty good."

"Maybe Iki and I will give it a try if there is any.", chuckled Faye.

The feline-human witch Blair perked up at this, "And did you just say fish, Ann? If so and if there's availability in Edo, I'm craving for it."

"I have to agree.", Blake said, her feline Faunus ears perking up as well due to her love of fish.

Baiken points out, "All those foods you've mentioned are exactly some examples of what they have there. But with a few other delicacies on the cuisine.", before saying, "Never mind that for now. I think you guys should get the things you need before you go."

"Give us five minutes. We'll be back.", Ruby ensured, "Come on, guys. We're going on a trip!", as everyone started to go back to get their luggage, while Glynda, team JNPR, Harley, Noelle, Church, Sarge and the newly arrived guests stayed put.

Harley said, "We'll be in our dorm room.", as she, Noelle, Church and Sarge leave back to the academy.

"This is gonna be fun!", Noelle said during that.

Miria sweetly said, "We'll be staying put in the meantime. Our luggage has been with us since our trip here."

"Wow, just a few minutes of introductions and now we're going to another place?", Ohana cutely mystified, "That's pretty strange for going from one place to another."

Celty hopes, "We might as well make the best of it then. We haven't been there before."

"With that just said, I'm so excited!", Natsume said in a mix of both her American and Australian accents.

After a few minutes, team RWBY, Athena, Maka, Sinon and the others came back with their luggages of some of their stuff for the short stay over at Edo.

"We're ready.", Ruby told.

Glynda said to Ruby, "Please come back here once your trip is done."

"Will do, Goodwitch.", Ruby and Yang promised, "We're the top students of Beacon Academy. Plus, we've gone on trips before. Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, who knows where we can go next? Maybe Edo could be as good as those other places."

Baiken told, "It is tranquil, I can tell you that."

"Well, then. Have fun.", Glynda decided with all seriousness as well.

Jaune and Ren said, "We'll keep Beacon in check."

"We'll be here.", Pyrrha, Nora and Penny all said.

Blake and Weiss gratefully replies, "Thanks, guys."

"We're leaving in the shuttle. It'll take us to Edo, I've requested already.", Baiken prepared.

Ruby told her teammates, "I can't help but notice things have been getting convenient in our travels."

"I know, right?", Yang answers her younger sister.

Blake and Weiss say in unison, "Can't argue with that."

"C'mon, everyone! There's a new land that awaits us to explore and discover!", Sinon playfully said, as Leafa giggles and hugs her due to this joke.

Athena and Maka said, "I guess we're in the mood for a new adventure."

"There's no regretting it, though.", Miria and Celty both said.

Ty Lee, as everyone was boarding onto the shuttle, interacted with Jacuzzi Splot and asked, "So, what do you do back home?"

"Oh, nothing. I run a small liquor business with Nice and a few of our friends back where me and my friends reside, but I could tell you that I was once a bootlegger.", Jacuzzi said.

The acrobatic young girl confused, "A bootlegger?"

"You know, it's about the business of transporting or making liquor back in the days.", Jacuzzi corrected her.

Ty Lee got the idea, "Oh! I get it. I thought you meant bootlegging meaning ripoff or low-quality games or movies."

"That was another term."

"I know. But I also can't help but like that tattoo on your face. It looks like a sword or something."

"Yeah. I wanted to have this tattoo to match my friend Nice's looks."

"Was she injured?"

"Kind of. But she's still okay. Now she bears scars and marks from her accident she had when we were...younger."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, I'm sorry about hearing this too, okay?", Jacuzzi anxiously apologized, "I just hope Nice would still be safe in one piece, you know? Whether or not I'm there or not."

Ty Lee said, "You don't have to worry. You're there with her. And I also assume that Mai, RWBY and the others have each other's backs. We're gonna be fine, alright?"

Jacuzzi looks at her and smiles.

"Whatever you say.", he said as he and the acrobatic Fire Nation girl proceed to embrace in a friendship fashion.

Ty Lee lets him know, "By the way, although I am a bit of an acrobatic and a Kyoshi Warrior back home, in case you haven't noticed, I am also a reactor to videos on YouTube."

"Really? I do too!", Jacuzzi said, "What kind of videos?"

"YTPs, mostly."

"I react to those too. Some of those were pretty funny. Although I may have seen some anime lately..."

"Like?"

Jacuzzi answers, "RWBY, Sword Art Online, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Re:Zero, and others you might know-", just before he two of them suddenly stop in realization as they look at each other, then look over to team RWBY, Sinon and the latter's friends, before looking at each other.

"I think you just broke the fourth wall.", Ty Lee realized.

Jacuzzi looked anxious but decided to play it cool, "Nah, it's no big deal."

In the meantime, Ruby and the others have finally boarded in the shuttle as the team leader of RWBY said to Baiken, "Excuse me, Baiken. I was wondering what Edo would look like when we go there?"

"I can simply tell you, it's a Japanese paradise in your own point of view.", the samurai replied in a serious demeanor.

Ruby slapped her hands together, "We can't wait.", saying to everybody, "Is everybody ready?"

"Ready.", Athena, Maka, Ty Lee, Sinon and their friends said.

Maki, Tamaki, Iris, Ohana and Natsume nod, "Ready!"

"Ready now.", Miria, Celty, Ann and their friends answer.

Faye, Fuu, Iki, Akane and the latter's friends ensure, "We're ready."

"Everyone's ready, so are we.", Team RWBY all said to Baiken.

Baiken says, "Okay, let's go to Edo. I'm very sure you're all gonna love it. Promises promises."

The shuttle then took off and was leaving Remnant, as team JNPR and Glynda watched it depart from Beacon and on its way to Edo.


As the shuttle arrives on Earth just less than a hour later at 9PM, they re-enter the atmosphere and enters the region where the island of Edo is at, everyone stayed seated as the shuttle had managed to land safely, all of the passengers inside haven't got a view of what it looked like, due to a foggy mist that shrouded the whole view.

"Where are we?", Ruby asked.

Baiken told, "We're here."

"We don't see anything... There's a big fog... Plus, it's hard to see through it during night time.", Yang assumes, trying to get a clear view outside.

The pink-haired samurai Baiken sighs, "Just wait and see. I'll lead the way."

"Guys, I think this is where we get off.", Ruby presumes.

Miria wonders, "Strange. Maybe the fog is going to fade."

"It's not every day you see a mist. Or else we might be in a Stephen King flick.", nervously theorizes Mika Harima.

Celty told her friend, "No, we aren't."

"Let's just get ready and get off, okay?", Yang cuts to the chase.

Ann said, "Luggages are unscathed.", as everyone prepares to leave as they grab their luggages.

"Now, we're ready.", Ruby said as she, Baiken and the others proceed to leave the hovercraft shuttle.

The shuttle then departed once they left, as the mist outside still blinded the night. Baiken led RWBY and the others as they went up on a small hill, where a cherry blossom tree resided.

"Okay, Baiken. Where do you think Edo might be through this mist? That cherry blossom tree is the only thing we've getting to Edo so far...", Ruby asked in exhaustion, just as everyone notices the mist was now already starting to dissipate, "...On second thought, and as a matter of fact, we just noticed the fog is going away."

Miria mystifies, "Weird weather patterns, I guess."

"Can you just say your thing now?", Yang said as the mist almost faded away.

Baiken reluctantly replies, "Whatever you say," before introducing, "Welcome...to Edo."

Then, as the fog finally dissipated, the wonderful view enraptured everyone but Baiken by the sight of the kingdom ahead.

It looked exactly and elaborately like the Edo period, but with a few modernistic elements. The kingdom up ahead was a sight to behold, though it wasn't much of a Japanese citadel. There were dozens of machiya townhouses seen in the kingdom's western part with its rooftops having assorted colors of the rainbow, which included shops, businesses, restaurants and of course, a red-light district. While the main castle in this city looked big, it still resembled like any other Japanese castle, consisting of five floors, a outdoor six floor on the top and steep stone burdock piling foundation walls on the bottom of the castle, while it seemed to have a small wall around it with a cherry blossom tree seen inside the fortified castle's big courtyard along with small keeps and subsequent buildings. The kingdom had three areas, with the southern part of it being the entrance, the eastern part of it being the residential area, and the most northern part of the kingdom was where the castle grounds are. A few moon bridges were seen in the city nearby, with a few waterways underneath and across a few parts of the city, like Japan or China. Most authentically, there was no sign of modern building or vehicle in sight, thus making Edo having an ancestral feel.

One example on the modern side for this kingdom, there were several electrical line posts that were safely outside the walls of the castle and is mainlining energy and power to the city. Antennas and electricity-powered lights were seen from the horizon as well. Besides those, everything has the antiquity of the Sengoku-Edo era. And outside the kingdom, there was a big red wooden moon bridge that was between the valley and the kingdom.

And as for the environment, although there were many green trees including niwaki, weeping willows, oak and beech trees, as well as some cherry blossoms in the beautiful landscape. A forest resides behind the kingdom while there was an open field in between the hill the group was at and the kingdom ahead.

"Oh my gods.", Ruby and Yang amazed, "Have we travelled back in time?"

Baiken couldn't but faintly smile and chuckle with a hum, "It may seem like it."

"It...reminds me of home...", reminiscenced Fuu.

Faye and Iki agreed with their close relative, "We can imagine that."

"Interesting.", Rachel, a friend of Miria's, said.

Anri Sonohara, another friend of Celty and Mika, also replied, "Surely amazing."

"This place is...beautiful.", complimented Blake and Weiss, as the latter heiress embraces the former deeply as they look into each other's eyes and said, "This is the perfect getaway destination, don't you think?"

The Faunus said in certainty, "I believe this may be one of the best romantic getaway destinations for us both, my love.", as her white-haired girlfriend giggled cutely as the two proceeded to make out with love and care for each other.

Baiken watches this and turns her head away, unfazed and oblivious.

Ruby and Yang were proud of their two fellow teammates of their renowned love.

Natsume cringed a bit, likely due to may have seen a same-sex romantic relationship in reality for the first time.

Miria sees this and, although she was happy at the time she is watching this, she could be feeling a bit different despite her emotions of happiness and interest.

"So...this is where you live?", Ruby asked Baiken, "It looks peaceful and dynastic by the looks of it."

The pink-haired samurai simply apprised, "That is correct. Edo is the name of this island. In fact, this island has three different districts all around this island. The kingdom ahead is the biggest out of all of them, named the Samurai Kingdom, also known in Japanese as Okuku-bugeisha."

"Okuku-bugeisha?", Ruby and Yang look at each other and sputter a bit in confusion before apologizing, "Look, the four of us teammates never went to Japan before, so we correct in assuming it's a very great name for a kingdom."

Sinon admits, "Hey, me and my friends are Japanese citizens, but we've never come to this part of Japan before."

"Same here.", Akane and Ohana rose their hands, the former informing, "Me, my girlfriend and our two other friends are from Tokyo. The technology nowadays is sometimes modern, sometimes futuristic."

Faye told, "Unfortunately, the three of us don't reside in Japan. We still live in Asia, it's just that we actually live in Singapore."

"Singapore? Yeah, you already told us you're a Singaporean earlier today. That sounds cool.", Ruby complimented Faye.

Fuu and Iki told, "We're of Japanese descent, but yes, that's where we live."

"Anyways, what are the other two districts of this land?", Blake and Weiss continued.

Baiken answers, "The second district is in the forest region known as the Glade of Ninjas, also named Kunoichi no Sato, or simply otherwise known as the Kunoichi Village. That district also happens to be close by in the forest, acting as the next-door neighbor to the Samurai Kingdom. People there come to this kingdom very often."

"Wait a sec- The Glade of Ninjas? Why does it sound very familiar to Street Fighter...", Athena and Maka wondered.

The samurai tells the meister, "You'll find out soon enough.", before saying, "And the third district is a seaside region known as the Pirate Coastline, also called in Japanese as Kaizoku no Kaigansen."

"Pirates? First samurai, then ninjas, and now pirates...?", Sinon said in interest, "That sounds a bit like the Tales of Arcadia trilogy to me, or more like any movie trilogy that has three different themes throughout."

Baiken also mentioned, "A few nautical routes from there also lead to the archipelago of Cremona and back."

"Cremona?", Ruby asks before pondering, "Hmm. Sounds quite similar, but we'll look the place up on the web some other time.", the leader of team RWBY interested.

The pink-haired wandering samurai decided, "Now if you'll follow me, we're going to the Samurai Kingdom here."

"We were wondering, what you're saying is true..." Yang asked her as the group moved along from the hill and followed Baiken en route to the nearby kingdom, "...that it's like Ancient Japan but with some modernized themes, right?"

Baiken recalled in seriousness, "100%."

"So...does this island have mainline electrical power though?", Blake and Weiss asked again.

The samurai replies, "Not just here, but the entire island has electricity."

"And what else? Any vehicles or police protection system here?", Ruby questioned and reasoned, as the group went down the hill and went across the moon bridge as they go, passing by a few small village houses and a few weeping willows between the two sides of the bridge, with a small waterway underneath that looked amazing in the nightly landscape with the big bright moon in the sky.

The female pink-haired warrior then says, "Not the ones that the rest of the world has for transportation. For this place's transportation on land, we use rickshaws and litters known as kago."

"So again, like ancient times. We already know cars weren't invented back then, yet it does sound traditional by Japanese dynasty standards. And on sea?", presumes Yang.

Baiken simply said back, "We use boats. Hell, even pirate ships occasionally. Point being that one of my friends here happens to be a pirate, part of a part-time group known as the Jellyfish Pirates. But as for aircrafts like planes or helicopters? We don't have that, except aerial transportation from outside the land."

"That group name you just said sounds kinda cute with that name when you think about it.", thought Leafa.

Rachel suggests, "Well, how about trains and railroads? Do they have it here? If so, I'd love to check it out. I'm very fond of trains sometimes nowadays."

"No.", told the pink-haired woman.

The dark blonde woman in coveralls answered back, "Worth a try.", sighing.

"I'm pretty sure this place here has its own unique culture that was centuries old to this day.", Anri Sonohara said, comforting Rachel.

The samurai prompted as they neared the Samurai Kingdom, "Well guys, we're almost there. Let me handle this."

"As you wish.", snickers Blake and Weiss happily.

Natsume giggled and said with her Australian accent, "Oh, crikey! I'm so excited!"

"I suppose so.", Ohana said, "And I forgot to mention, great Australian accent by the way."

The ginger-haired thanked, "Cheers, mate."

As Baiken led the group to the kingdom, there were two guards heavily-armored in samurai armor in front of the heavily-armed door entrance that acted as a gate into the kingdom.

"Hello.", Baiken said as she rose her hand lightly to the guards.

The guards notice her as the two said, "Welcome home, Lord Baiken."

"Lord?!", Ruby, Athena, Maka and Sinon exclaim.

Yang realized, "I knew it! You're a feudal lord?"

"Obviously.", the pink-samurai woman revealed, "Don't mind them. They're some new friends who happen to be guests here. Gonna show them around so they can have a chance to stay for the night or two."

The guards do not reply, as they listened to Baiken's orders as the two open the entrance doors, giving Ruby, her teammates, Athena, Maka, Sinon and the others to witness the kingdom that awaited inside.

The main area of the kingdom looked as majestic as an ancient Japanese, Chinese or Korean palace would be. Of course the kingdom had many machiya townhouses, ranging from stores to traditional Japanese Edo-style restaurants, yet the whole place seemed to have many inhabitants in the kingdom, all wearing traditional Japanese kimonos which also includes yukatas and furisodes. They also wore kanzashis on their heads like Fuu has and wore either geta, waraji and zori footwear with or without loose socks.

One thing about that was that there was no sign of male individuals throughout the Japanese kingdom.

"Well, I'll be...", astonished Blake and Weiss.

Ruby believed, "Okay, we've definitely travelled back through time."

"Maybe so, maybe not.", Alice assumed.

Yang looked around as the group entered and strolls through the kingdom whilst passing by the Samurai Kingdom's civilians, "I can't believe there's a place in this world that has...all of this. This is like an Edo-styled Fantasy Island. Not the 2020 film, but relating to the one from the classic show."

"Plus, I haven't bothered to notice that I don't see any boys here...", Blake and Weiss said.

Baiken said, "I'll tell you in a bit. We're going to my castle."

"Oh, so that's the castle we saw in the kingdom.", realizes Ruby yet again, "Some of the people here happen to dress very good here...", noticing the inhabitants of Edo's Samurai Kingdom passing by whilst wearing their attire, "Even some of these people mostly have foreshadows for future major appearances and spinoffs.", breaking the fourth wall.

The group passes by a couple of girls in the busy night of the kingdom, the first girl having long blonde hair, yellow eyebrows and red eyes, wearing a pink-green floral kimono and geta sandals; while the second girl had long black hair, black eyebrows and red eyes, wearing a purple floral kimono and sandals, with a small ribbon on the back of her hair and a red kanzashi hair ornament. After passing by, the two girls look back at the group curiously before going back to what they were doing.

Another person they pass by was an attractive blonde woman of average height of 5'7' and a slender figure. She has a scar running horizontally across the left side of her forehead and another vertically down her left cheek, while her shoulder-length hair is normally tied up at the back of her head, while her parted fringe is done up in a bun, held by two miniature kunai, both with red thread at the end on each side. The woman was wearing a black kimono without a right sleeve and exposing her right leg, decorated with autumn leaves and held by a red obi. She sports a detached sleeve on her right arm that goes from her mid-bicep to her wrist, and also wears fishnet stockings and black high-heel boots that reach just below the knee. Lastly, she appeared to be smoking a kiseru. Nonetheless, the blonde woman was also another character who would be foreshadowed for future appearances. The woman looks at Ty Lee, who looks back in curiosity as they went along in separate ways.

Fuu amazed, "I can't believe it. These are my people, and finally there's a place where the Edo era flourishes.", examining the kingdom and its people.

"We still live in Singapore, Fuu.", Faye tells her close relative, "Potentially we may or may not move here. But this place really is peaceful here."

As Fuu, Faye and Iki look at a machiya building where some graffiti was stylized on a wall, the former Edo-era girl looks behind at her own kimono in which she had decorated it with some graffiti, reflecting on how influential the art was to her since she arrived in this era.

Fuu tells Faye one of her previous adventures when she was back in the Edo period, "You know, before I came to this era, I remember a time when me and one of my two samurai friends Jin met these brothers who were influenced by the art of graffiti, so I mistakenly came up with a competition for whom could tag the most dangerous spots in a town of the Aki province without getting caught wins, and I happen to be the grand prize. Goodness, even thinking about when the two brothers were fighting over me makes me feel so embarrassed I blush. On the other hand, my other samurai friend Mugen at the time even had trouble understanding how to read but he eventually learned. Now that I think about it, ever since I met him prior to those events, he never read anything whilst on our travels."

"That seemed interesting.", the violet-haired woman pleased, "You've told us before. I think Mugen and Jin may have been great bodyguards on your past travels, Fuu."

The brunette spoke to Miria and Celty, "Oh, and you wanna know why my kimono is a bit decorated with graffiti? Because I was a bit influenced by that style of art back then. Look, I'm not someone who illicitly does graffiti as a hobby, but I kinda see that for using it more so like a decoration."

"We've heard. Sounds reasonable.", Mika said for Celty, as she and Celty smiled at each other.

Miria curiously remarks, "Oh? Yes, I can see why. Seen graffiti since it was invented."

"What? Really?", Faye, Fuu and Iki all said in unison.

The blonde brown-eyed girl realizes what she said, "Oh, I mean... I've seen graffiti ever since I was young..."

"Oh.", Fuu supposed, "I suppose that art style is a bit contagious in the world of street art."

Iki smiles as her ethereal tail swayed back and forth, "Even the style of this kingdom is very ancient because of that art. And the rainbow-colored rooftops, and the energy, and the people... It's just breathtaking..."

Yang, on the other hand, was looking around whilst she followed alongside the group to Baiken's castle, accidentally bumping into someone wearing a white kimono and a color-matching hood, holding a big basketball-sized object wrapped in bandages.

"Oh! Watch where you're going, but sorry.", Yang apologized politely, before catching up with the others.

As Yang goes off with the others, the person she accidentally bumped into turns around, the face covered up and only revealing red eyes, looking at the group as the person's red eyes narrowed earnestly.

"Here we are," Baiken told everyone as they reached her castle, "Welcome to my humble abode.", glaring to the others whilst still in her unfazed and brave behavior.

Blake and Weiss couldn't help by saying, "We cannot believe how authentic this place is, even your castle. So we're still hyped of what to discover next."

Everyone then advanced into the castle, Baiken dismissing the guards surveillancing from the defenses and granting admission inside the castle.

After going across the huge courtyard, Baiken led the others inside her castle as they entered through the courtyard, up a small set of stairs outside it and went inside, where they saw the first floor being the living quarters. The left side was a U-shaped stairway to the upper floors while on both the middle and the right led to the presumed living quarters. Ancient paintings and pictures of the Edo era were shown on their frames, placed on some walls to maintain its ancestral look. The flooring too, being nightingale floors, was as slick and polished as it could be. There was still electricity around the kingdom and other places in Edo Island, but for particular things such as modern-day furnishings and technology used in the ancestral Edo era-esque period.

"Feel free to take off your shoes. I prefer going barefoot sometimes when I'm at home, so I'll take off my sandals very soon.", Baiken ordered.

Ruby shrugged off, "Whatever you say.", as she, Yang, Blake and Weiss too removed their footwear for the interior, all wearing socks.

Natsume for example also removed her sandals, leaving her barefooted indoors, same going for Fuu. Everyone else removed their footwear to wear socks for indoors, likewise back at Beacon.

"The flooring here feels great!", Miria said, "It's like an onsen!"

The pink-haired samurai tells her, "Speaking of onsens, there are some hot springs here. I even have a private hot spring out in the back."

"There are?", the blonde brown-eyed girl curiously asked, "There are! My, this is life!"

Fuu Kasami solicitously agrees with her opinion, "You're telling me. It's been so long since I've been to a place that resembles my time period."

"We could go to the hot spring first, but we have to settle in first.", sorted Faye Valentine.

Baiken also says, "Some of the buildings that are in the courtyard and fortress include the armory, the bathhouse, and the storage area. This is my main residential home. Feel free to settle in."

Yang and Ruby look to the room on their right where they saw a few sets of samurai armor on display with a few bookcases in one edge of the room, with a few wooden tables having a few matsu pine tree plants by the window. The smooth carpet was colored red while there was a 4K 55-inch TV on the far side of the room while some chairs were seen as well.

The main living room was authentic as it would be, with the tatami floors, the samurai paintings and the rooms being lit by fiery torches and candles. The room on the left of the living room was the shrine room, where a Tamaya altar was placed, as well as a hallway to the back of the castle.

"You know what would make this place look cuter? A small tanuki statue on a table.", thought Ty Lee.

Baiken muttered, "I hate tanuki statues. I prefer sake bottles."

"Sake? You mean, for goodness sake.", jokes Maki and Tamaki.

The samurai threatened as she was about to pull out her samurai sword from her sheath, "Don't joke on that again.", seriously as her stern behavior made Maki and Tamaki nervous.

"Excuse us, but what else is here that is very interesting?", Ruby, Athena and Maka ask.

The female samurai warrior says, "There's also a daidokoro kitchen for food, living quarters on the upper floors and a few other rooms made for recreation."

Just then, three people come down from the upper floor, who happen to be another three female characters. The first was a young girl of 5'2' (158 cm), with brown eyes and waist-length brown hair, wearing an orange coat with a skin-tight bodysuit underneath, orange pants, big orange boots, a orange pirate tricorn hat and fingerless gloves with silver plating over them, carrying what appears to be a ship anchor and her outfit looking as spunky as ever. The second looked similar but was two inches taller than the other (at about 163 cm), who has long brown hair worn in a waist-length loop and secured at the top of her head with a Pokka Oolong tea can, along with brown eyes, fair skin, and a very athletic physique; she wore a tight-fitting Chinese-styled dress of red silk and black trim that has no sleeves and falls to about the top of her thighs and is cut high over the hip, wearing a second skirt underneath, which is white with red trim and about the same length as the red dress (which doesn't cover her hips); she wears wide sleeves made from red silk with black trim and are held on by straps at her upper biceps, and on her feet were high-heeled red boots with black trim. And lastly, the third was a long blonde-haired woman and the tallest of the three (being 5'6 and a half (169 cm)), wearing a yellow blouse with black hemlines, a matching pillbox hat, black leggings, white fingerless gloves and peach-colored ballet shoes.

"What the?", said Yang, Trucy and Tsubaki, unexpecting the three women they and the others see.

The orange-clothed pirate-like girl smiled, "Ooh! Visitors!"

"Who are you?", the blonde woman asked, looking serious at first.

Ruby was about to explain, "Well-"

"Allow me to introduce. These are my new friends Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Athena Cykes, Maka Albarn, Sinon, Ty Lee, Trucy Wright, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, Blair, Leafa, Alice, Asuna, Mai, Faye Valentine, Fuu Kasami, Iki Hiyori, Akane Tsunemori, Shion Karanomori, Yayoi Kunizaki, Rina Takizaki, Maki Oze, Tamaki Kotatsu, Iris, Miria Harvent, Nice Holystone, Jacuzzi Splot, Rachel, Celty Sturluson, Mika Harima, Anri Sonohara, Ann Takamaki, Futaba Sakura, Ohana Matsumae and Natsume. The last eleven I've mentioned, I have met on my trip to Remnant, where I happen to meet up with the rest of these guests having their good old fashioned social event.", politely said Baiken.

The red-black-haired leader of team RWBY stammered, "So- Who are these girls?"

"These are my faithful companions. The brunette wearing the orange outfit, her name is May; the other brunette with the red silk dress is Kuradoberi Jam, and the blonde one is Millia Rage.", the female samurai introduces.

Blake and Weiss look at each other and wondered, "Are they like your friends, your-"

"That, but they're also my comrades and acquaintances. Like myself, they're warriors too.", the pink-haired woman explains.

Ty Lee tilts her head in confusion, "Really? If you're a samurai, what are these three like in particular?"

"Well, I'm not a samurai warrior, but I am a pirate.", May told Ty Lee, meeting her.

The former Fire Nation girl reacted, "Cool!"

"I am a martial artist of the Chinese dynasty.", Kuradoberi Jam also points out.

Ty Lee smiled at this, "Double cool!"

"And I am a trusted assassin originated from Russia.", Millia Rage adds.

The young Kyoshi Warrior cutely said, "Triple cool!"

"First Edo, now more characters to meet? Is this night getting better?", Leafa asked.

Then, RWBY and their friends (excluding Baiken, May, Jam and Millia) heard another voice saying, "Um, excuse me..."

The one who said this had May, Kuradoberi Jam and Millia Rage to step aside to reveal a beautiful girl with light pink hair that ombres into hot pink and her hair is tied into pigtails using two tubes, as well as had a small red clip on the left side of her face; she had red eyes, small glossed lips, a height of 5'5' (166cm), and she had wore a red leotard with the middle mostly cut out, red-orange spoilers with flowers on the side, high red gloves, long black leggings with red-black footwear on the bottom.

"You almost forgot me.", the light-pink-haired girl said.

Ruby asked, "Who's that?"

"This is one of my best friends Inori Yuzuriha.", Baiken said.

Inori introduced herself, "I am 16 years old, and I actually was born in Japan many years ago. I eventually visited Edo Island some time ago, but as soon as I came to this majestic kingdom and met Baiken and the others, I felt...influenced by it. As if it was calling to me, as if this was a real paradise, as if this is a place where I belong. So I decided to move here one or two years ago, but I still keep in touch with my friends over in Japan."

"Oh? So it's like the trope where a particular someone from a foreign country visits a place where that person gradually grows to love it and decides to stay even though they still keep in touch with their home country?", Ann Takamaki conjectured.

Yuzuriha hesitates and then nods, "...I'm gonna say yes to that."

"Okay, then. It's almost 10 in the evening...where shall we be sleeping?", Ruby and Yang yawned, "We're starting to get tired..."

Baiken says, "This way.", as she led RWBY and the others up the U-shaped stairway that the four friends of Baiken came down from, going up to the second floor.

The second floor looked even as majestic as the first floor was. It seemed to have a series of rooms in a square-shaped corridor, as more furnishings from the Sengoku/Edo periods were fashioned all throughout including a few paintings, aizu candles and a drawer to name a few, with each room having sliding shoji doors as the entry. The middle one, which is the biggest out of any room on this floor, was a tatami room.

"What are those rooms?", Ruby and Yang questioned.

The samurai woman said, "This is the guest room floor. Most of the rooms you see are washitsu rooms. One of the biggest rooms on this floor is also a training room, where I and my companions go to train our skills and weaponry, as well as sparring, fighting practices or combat training in the way of the samurai. The tatami room in the middle is the main dining room and the other living room in this castle."

"So this is where we'll be sleeping...", interested Akane, Faye and Iki, looking at each other.

Fuu smirked, "Welcome to my world.", playfully.

"We've never slept in a Japanese-styled room before.", Blake and Weiss amazed.

The leader of team RWBY and her elder sister both said, "Good point. We'll give it a go. This is reminiscing ancient times, so this is a perfect getaway. Even our fellow teammates Blake and Weiss would think the same."

"What's on the third floor?", Asuna wondered yet again.

May ecstatically hoped, "You'll see."

"What's up there?", curiously inquired Leafa.

Kuradoberi then said, "You'll see..."

"I mean, seriously. What surprise is awaiting us?", Alice said, a little stern.

Millia guaranteed, "You'll see.", as they all go up the stairway to the next floor up.

"I suppose it's some kind of special floor, but I beg it's not some kind of room from Fifty Shades, right?", sarcastically told Sinon.

Baiken refused, "Nothing of the sort."

They all went to the third floor, entering what appears to be the inevitable had wowed RWBY and everyone else but Baiken and her friends after the samurai slid the cherry blossom shoji door open.

It was a royally-authentic and majestic throne room, with three royal thrones with the bigger of them being in the middle. A tapestry featuring the map of Edo Island was put on the wall behind the thrones, the pillars were far from the thrones on either side of the room, two tall gold candelabras were placed beside the three thrones, a big red carpet preceded before the thrones which trails down the few steps and across the throne room, though there were no signs of windows on this floor besides the first floor, with a beautiful shoji wall with cherry blossoms on it, like the door that led to this room. It was neatly empty and spacious besides the thrones and furnishings, and the entire throne room looked like one of, if not the, best that RWBY and the others ever seen, even if it was as similar as the royally-ancient Japanese Emperor's Chrysanthemum Throne.

"Okay, first off, mind blown. Second, I can't believe you're very lucky to become some sort of emperor! Still, we understand you're the main feudal lord in all of this island, since you've told us.", Miria said.

Baiken smiles faintly, "What can I say? I am the protector. I lead my own people, regardless of all the three kingdoms on this island.", as she walks towards the thrones and up the few steps, before settling down onto the one in the middle.

"Clearly, you aren't just a feudal lord...but you are a feudal samurai lord, in an even better way.", confesses Mika.

Celty noticed, "What's the other throne reserved for, if we may ask?"

The pink-eyed woman doesn't respond.

Ruby innocently questions, "Who sits there? Could you tell us?", politely about who sat on the other throne.

The female samurai sighs as she facepalms whilst on her throne; she then got up from her chair and started relating, momentarily telling this with depth; "The other throne belonged to a dear friend of mine. She was like a goddess, but was also someone who brought a smile to my face and stuck around. Her name was Aria. She happened to have a child named Dizzy, who had a heck of a growth spurt in a matter of years...but then one day...she disappeared without a trace."

"The child disappeared? Where to?", warily said Yang.

Baiken continues, "It was a long time ago when she disappeared. My dear friend had been so devastated, she decided to go find her alone...but...she never came back.", turning away emotionally but still fighting through coming tears and maintaining her sincere behavior.

"Well...we're very sorry to hear that. Hopefully...she's coming back, right?", Blake remorsed as her cat ears fold down emotionally.

The pink-haired warrior says, "I know...I know she will. I refuse to accept that Aria's fate had stepped in. If it was someone that killed her, I'd like to kill them myself.", grudgingly.

"I don't think it was fate, or otherwise somebody. This person you speak of sure sounds like she's missing..."

Ruby agreed, "She could be anywhere here. This is a case that needs to be solved later at some point, not now. We just came here, so maybe we'll figure out sooner or later."

"I suppose so.", Baiken reflected as her sullen look still showed, "Still, the night goes on. Maybe now is the time for you all to settle in. Maybe spend time, get to know others even more, maybe even give reviews along the way."

Yang suddenly heard her say this, "What are you saying?", surprised.

The samurai woman told everyone but team RWBY, "Everyone but Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss, settle yourselves in and pick any guest room downstairs. Feel free to use the hot springs in the back. Rest assured, it's perfect for relaxation. Jam, May, Millia, Inori, come with us."

"Yes!", Ty Lee and Natsume cheered, "Hot springs!"

Athena and Maka both said, "The two of us will be sharing a guest room together with Trucy, Tsubaki and Blair."

"Same here.", Sinon and Leafa included, hinting they'll be sharing another with Asuna and Alice.

Miria, Akane, Faye, Maki, Celty, Ann and their friends all said, "Us too!"

"Alright, save the hot springs for us when we get there. We'll get back to you!", Blake and Weiss hoped, as everyone simply left the throne room to do their thing.

Ruby turns back to ask Baiken, "What did you mean when you give reviews? Are you a part-time reviewer too?"

"Yes.", confirmed the pink-haired warrior, "That is why we're going to my room.", as the nine of them started going to the fourth floor using the stairway, closing the cherry blossom door to the throne room.

Yang thumbs-upped playfully, "Sweet! This is turning from a five-star to a six-star!"

"This isn't a hotel, you know.", firmly said Baiken, as if what she had heard was intentional.

The blonde huntress replies, "We're not saying this place was. Can't you take a joke?", seriousness in her tone.

The fourth floor looked as similar as the second floor, but this time there were walls that had brown beadboard panelling on them. Only two rooms were seen on both sides of the hall besides the middle and the front, whose entrances had more shoji doors but with differently unique Edo period designs on it, presumably for Inori and Baiken's three other companions. The center of the floor had a few banners which looked like the ones from the kimono and gakuran as decor, with a few more candlelights decorated on this floor as well.

"It looks so good!", Ruby excited.

Yang rubs her eyes, "I don't want the candlelights to strain my eyes, though..."

"So, we assume these are your quarters?", Blake surmises.

The female samurai says, "Yes. The ones on the left are May and Kuradoberi Jam's room, and the ones on the right are Millia and Inori's room."

"And the one in the middle is yours, because the banners look like the same symbols on your outfit.", postulates Weiss.

Baiken simply told, "Typically. That's where we're going."

"Oh, gosh. We can't wait.", said Ruby, amused.

The nine girls went over to Baiken's room in the middle, opening the shoji door while RWBY had a chance to look around.

Baiken's bedroom at first looked like it had a bed on a wooden surface that was higher than the flooring and looked as more comfier than any other bed (basically with her bed being similar to an Alaskan King bed), with only small fire-lit torches and no windows being the only lighting. Authentic paintings of ancient Japanese samurai were seen in a couple parts of the room. A 75-inch 4K TV was on the opposite side of the room opposing to where the bed was, alongside with lanterns and furnishings on the same side of the room where the TV is, with a sitting area in the middle of the room (with the square-shaped sitting area being a bit lower than the floor) and a curtain seen on the far right of the wall where the TV is. Surely, while a few of the walls were painted white with brown beadboard panelling like the fourth floor outside the room, the right side of the room had a woodblock picture of the Edo Island landscape.

"Very quaint. This looks like one of those windowless hotel rooms that are just cozy yet a bit claustrophobic. And again, not saying this is anything like a hotel.", Yang respectfully referenced.

Blake said, "And the paintings...even that sitting area."

"It's like if everything was as authentic as ancient times, but with some modernistic styles.", Weiss imagined.

Baiken sighs in relaxation, "You may wish to look around.", as she kicks off her boot-like sandals, revealing her bare feet; she mutters, "It hasn't been long since I left, only to come back with a handful of visitors not too long after.", just as she jumped onto her soft, warm, huge bed.

"To be honest, they seem nice.", May insisted.

Kuradoberi Jam sweetens, "That Ty Lee girl looks to be a good friend in the future. I could show her my fighting skills, and so she can also show hers. Maybe we have so much in common!"

"And besides, RWBY and the others also have the chance to stay in Edo Island for a bit. I mean, it's their first time. It'll be like my first experiences when I first came here on this island," admitted Inori.

Millia shared her opinion of RWBY and the others, "I believe we're gonna get along just fine..."

"Go join the others at the hot springs. We'll meet you there soon.", Baiken ordered to May, Jam and Millia, "Inori, stay here."

Inori nodded simply, "Mm-hmm."

"Anyway, I have one more question...", Ruby curiously responded to the pink-haired female samurai, "What's that behind the curtain on the right side of the wall where the TV is?"

The pink-eyed warrior said, "Well, that's-"

"Guess we'll just see for ourselves...", Ruby said, approaching the curtain and going through with Yang, Blake and Weiss...

...only for them to be astonished once again.

Behind the curtain led to a room that was quite longer and vaster than Baiken's adjoined bedroom. It had movie posters including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Spider-Man (2002), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Bourne Identity, Collateral, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Village, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Field of Dreams, Unbreakable, Deadpool, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Avengers (2012), Pulp Fiction, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, and much more either on the wall or packed in storage. A 65-inch 3D/4K TV was displayed on a stand along with 3D glasses, a 3D/4K Blu-Ray player and a few Nintendo and Playstation systems hooked onto the 65-inch TV. Another TV, this time being an old 50-inch TV, was seen from across the room with a VHS player, VHS rewinder and both PS1 and Nintendo 64 consoles hooked up. Shelves that contain an immense amount of movies on Blu-Ray, 3D Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD with some even on videocassette, comics, books, video games (particularly for the systems Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube, Wii, Wii U and Nintendo Switch, as well as the PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4), and even anime season Blu-Rays, rare movie collectibles and figurines of Super Smash Bros. amiibo and anime characters. A large sectional couch resided in the middle of the room facing the flatscreen TV with an ottoman in between. As for the Edo-styled authencity, the walls and flooring still looked like the same as the adjoined room except that it doesn't have a woodblock picture. However, there were only a few ceiling flush lights in this room instead of torches that llluminated the room.

"Whoa...", amazed Ruby and Yang, looking around.

Blake and Weiss took a look around, "I don't understand...how did Baiken get all of this stuff? Now this is getting so anachronistic."

"Maybe so.", Baiken said, coming in the room past the curtain, "I was gonna surprise you with this, but..."

Ruby assumed, "Curiosity killed the cat?"

"Not necessarily. I-", said the pink-haired samurai woman, about to explain.

The leader of team RWBY examined, "I can't believe your collection is WAY bigger than ours. Honestly our movie collection back in Remnant isn't as big as this. Usually there's streaming services nowadays that has a variety of movie selections like Netflix and Disney+. Saves us the finances of getting them all. Also, how did you get all this stuff?"

"Obviously since I am a feudal ruler to my people, I usually have plenty of riches for safekeeping.", reasoned Baiken.

Yang crossed her arms, "No wonder. How did you bring all this stuff up here?"

"May, Jam and Millia here helped me out back then. It was a bit difficult, but we managed to set it up without damaging any part of my room. Inori came along and helped decorate this room sometime after. Consider this as our woman cave.", the pink-eyed warrior contemplated.

The blonde lilac-eyed huntress confused, "Don't you mean the she sheds?"

"They're not the same thing.", disgruntled Baiken.

Blake compliments, "Regardlessly, you don't seem to only own movies here...but you seem to have games, books, comics, even the anime season box sets, and the figurines, and the movie posters...! Actually, that's still awesome."

"Plus, your room seems therapeutic. What's your excuse on this room?", Weiss questioned more.

Inori Yuzuriha said for her friend Baiken, stammering at first, "Well- I- Truthfully, we both came up with this. I know this woman cave may look a little bit nerdy, but-"

"It's hard to say, yet this room can make people consider that I'm a fucking nerd, even though I'm like a feudal lord nerd.", snickered Baiken, suddenly cracking a smile as she laughs heartily.

Inori says to her samurai pal Baiken, "I mean, you're a fucking... Like, you're a fucking NERD!", bellowing the last sentence just for fun and laughter while Baiken couldn't help but roar with laughter in amusement; the pink-haired Guilty Crown character jokingly cheered, "A fucking NERD! NER-R-RD!"

Team RWBY looked perplexed by this.

"But seriously, I'm more of a collector and I review films and games in my spare time.", said the samurai, her amused mood suddenly switching back to seriousness.

Weiss pointed out, "And outside of that, you run things around here and train your abilities?"

"That's right.", Baiken typically corrected.

Ruby asked, "To start off, what is all this stuff? Like the comics or the books and- Wait, you have a Goosebumps collection...AND Watchmen?! Oh my goodness, you must be a master collector or something! Have you even heard of-"

"Starscraper? Yes, I happen to have downloaded it. Case you were wondering about how many fans I have, I have over 920,000, almost a million to count.", states the pink-haired warrior.

The red-black-haired girl said, "Same here. Nearly a million.", before looking over at the bookshelf with not only the Goosebumps books, but also books by Stephen King and movie-based books, "You sure like to read too, Baiken..."

"Yeah, I read those once in a while. Stephen King, Goosebumps, and even movie-based books like Men in Black or Batman Begins.", Baiken excused.

Yang surprised, "Wow! You even have all the seasons of our show so far?", looking at the anime Blu-Rays on another shelf and finding all seasons of RWBY on Blu-Ray, "RWBY. We still can't believe they made a show based on us."

"Yeah. They even made a game with myself in it called Guilty Gear. And my Inori just discovered her own show Guilty Crown recently.", sighed the female samurai.

Blake simply responds, "Fourth wall break. Enough said.", adding, "You even have...Nintendo 64 games? Man, that's a lot."

"Yeah, we had to stop collecting those because of maintaining finances. We're far from being broke.", Inori said for her friend.

Weiss commented, "Man, they must be expensive as hell...", looking at the N64 collection, "I mean, look at this! Banjo-Kazooie, Bomberman, Conker, Let's Go Pikachu, GoldenEye, Mario Kart 64, Pokemon Stadium, Paper Mario, StarFox 64, Tigger's Honey Hunt, the original Super Smash Bros., Super Mario 64, and Superman 64?"

"Also known to be as the worst game ever made for the system and one of the worst in general.", Baiken rebuked.

Ruby mentions, "You even also have TV show season boxsets...and anime!", looking at the other shelves with said collections, "Flash...Ren & Stimpy...Spongebob...Doug...Hey Arnold...Even Young Hercules starring Ryan Gosling? That, we'll have a look at that someday. On the anime side, it looks like not only you have our show RWBY but also Studio Ghibli, even other awesome anime such as Yona of the Dawn and- Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Noragami complete series sets?! Faye, Fuu and Iki are gonna flip when they see this! Not in an angrily fashion, but more like a surprised manner."

"Yes... Anime nowadays are pretty badass like me.", smirked the pink-haired woman, "Putting that aside, what movie are you thinking for us to review since...we like to review in our spare time?"

The leader of team RWBY kept her eyes peeled at the Blu-Ray movie collection for a movie to review, "I'm thinking...", before selecting a movie from the shelf as she read, "...Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

"Really?", Baiken crossed her arms and questioned cynically.

Ruby's elder sister nods, "Yeah, that looks like a good film. I remember bringing that up when me and Akane were doing our Spies in Disguise review earlier today."

"Plus, we haven't reviewed a Star Wars movie yet. This looks to be interesting.", suggests Blake, confidently.

Weiss turned to Baiken, "You wouldn't mind, right?"

"I may have already reviewed it after a screening before, but...I guess a collaboration review wouldn't hurt.", Baiken considered.

Ruby said, "Okay, then it's settled."

"Inori, go join the others. We'll be there once we're done.", Baiken tells her friend.

Yuzuriha replied, "Yes, Baiken.", as she goes off to the hot springs where the others were at.

"We'll just pop the movie in and we'll review as we go. You do have Disney+, right?", Ruby said.

The pink-haired warrior told, "Well, yeah. It's already hooked up on the TV. My place even has enabled Internet connection like the rest of this island as well."

"Then there's no need for the physical Blu-Ray disc for now, then.", the red-black-haired huntress proceeded, as she and Yang help set the TV up and put the Disney+ app on, thus starting the movie as team RWBY and Baiken sat down together on the big sectional couch.

After selecting Rogue One on the Disney+ service app and pressing play to begin the movie, so did the review.

When the movie started off with the Lucasfilm logo and the caption 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...', it suddenly cuts to the opening scene without any sign of an opening crawl.

Ruby said, "Wait a minute.", pausing the film, "Where's the crawl? And the Star Wars title and the big music? Even since we seen this for the first time, we couldn't help but notice that."

"Well, it's a different kind of Star Wars movie.", explains the samurai, "You see, this isn't part of the trilogies that spanned three generations, this is more of a spin-off film. It's a story that stands on its own, but also happens to be in the same universe, hence the title, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

Team RWBY and Baiken's Commentary of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Part 1)

Baiken introduced, "Rogue One is the first of what's currently an unending series of Star Wars universe films, that was until they decided to make Star Wars projects like The Mandalorian on Disney+ after another Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars story, flopped at the box office. While the trilogies will continue to follow the stories of the characters we know and love from the first movie, these will be more background stories. Think of them as the appendix in The Lord of the Rings, a way to get more history of fictional events and characters. They're stand-alone films that give us more information on a world we can't get enough of. So the idea of cutting out the crawl is just a way to show it's one of the many side stories that's yet to come."

"It's strange how these recent movies except for Solo released in December. It's like if it's a Star Wars Solstice or something.", Ruby said.

The female swordswoman ensured, "This is just what Star Wars is now. I mean, it can't be any worse than the changes they made for the original Star Wars trilogy in the past back in 1997."

"Part of us says we want a crawl, but another part we really want to get things started, so anyway... This is Rogue One.", the leader of team RWBY began.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Baiken summarized, "So a young brunette girl with a British accent is separated from her family, and she spends most of her life with no direction, trying to cope with that tragic day."

"Actually, that was sorta Rey's character from the new Star Wars trilogy by Disney.", referenced Yang, "Not that Star Wars doesn't have a lot of repeat, don't you think that's a little cut-and-paste?"

The pink-haired samurai reasoned, "I'm not mixing them up, yet both protagonists are played by an actress under the same nationality."

"After cheerfully accompanying the Rebel Alliance, Jyn, played by Felicity Jones, is taken to their headquarters, where one of the rebels named Cassian, played by Diego Luna, reveals that her father Galen is the architect of a new weapon called the Death Star.", Blake continued as they saw the part where Cassian discusses with Jyn about their plans to help save her father in order to figure out the secret information the Rebels need, "Now how long did it take to say all that? Less than a minute?"

Baiken answered, "Well-"

"Then why does it take us less than a minute and the movie a DOZEN minutes to say the same thing?!", argued Weiss, "This movie goes beyond taking its time. It stretches out so much info for a story that we already kind of have figured out. It's like watching it in slow-mo, yet they somehow talk in normal speech."

The female Japanese warrior stated and supported, "Some of it doesn't even add up, like when this pilot named Rook wants to defect for the Rebellion, yet Saw doesn't trust him. So they hook him up to a lie detector squid.", as the five watch said scene with Rook, played by Riz Ahmed, being held captive by Saw, played by Forest Whitaker, as the said giant squid comes closer to Rook; "It also doesn't help that this movie jumps all over the place. It seems like every other minute, it cuts to a new planet or solar system.", whilst they see the next parts of the movie including Cassian and Jyn going to the rebel headquarters in one scene and then off to go to Terfafa in order to find Saw in the following scene, and also featuring a scene with Krennic (played by Ben Mendelsohn) approaching the Death Star.

"It's like they're trying to make a simple story seem bigger by constantly trying to seem angry and busy.", Ruby problematically said.

Baiken shook her head in a serious manner, "Ah, the George Constanza method."

"Basically.", told the red-black-haired huntress.

The pink-haired samurai commentaries, "Thankfully, their team is full of people who distract from that, like K-2SO."

"Who's kind of like C-3PO if they sucked out all the pussiness. I bet C-3PO could say, 'Greetings and salutations. I am C-3P...' and then K-2SO suddenly comes in and is like, 'Oh, piss off, you pansy! Suck my big black rod!'", the blonde elder sister of Ruby joked as she, Ruby, Blake and Weiss laughed, while the Baiken rolled her eyes in amusement.

Baiken summarized as they continued watching the movie, "There's also a freedom fighter named Baze, whose philosophy is shoot first, ask questions in...whatever this world calls Hell."

"Actually, I think it's just Hell. Like how Solo said it in The Empire Strikes Back.", the Faunus added.

The Japanese Edo-style warrior referenced, "So this universe has both angels and Hell, yet no Christianity?", notifing the use of angels back in The Phantom Menace.

"Keep with the midi-chlorian church.", the black-haired huntress then included.

The white-haired heiress introduces thereafter, "And then, of course, there's the blind warrior named...Chirrut Imwe? Yeah, we're just gonna call him Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender."

"But the downside is, while many of them are entertaining, we don't really know that much about them. We have no idea how Chirrut, played by Donnie Yen, and Baze, played by Jiang Wen, even know each other, why the pilot Rook defected, or why the hell Squidward was in this movie!", argued Baiken angrily.

Ruby attempted to calm the samurai woman, "Girl, you gotta let go.", about to touch her shoulder.

"No! What...was that?! Why was that in the movie?! Stop putting scenes with tentacles in your movies like with the Rathtar in The Force Awakens! They don't work, even like in the opening credits of Spectre!", refuted the pink-haired samurai, slapping Ruby's hand away in response as she makes her point.

The leader of team RWBY went along and said, "Okay...", watching the next snippet where Jyn and Saw were arguing when the former arrived at his destination, "It might be a good thing not knowing their stories, though, as when you do, it almost makes us less interested in them somehow.", before the film's following crucial moment had Jyn and the others escaping Terfafa while Saw stays behind as it was blasted by the Death Star.

"That blast, by the way, was a test by the Death Star done by General Krennic and Grand Moff Tarkin.", Baiken continues.

Yang supposed, "Wait a minute. How did they do that if Peter Cushing is dead?", before she and her teammates realized in horror, "Oh, no... Not..."

"That's right! Digital Talkin' Tarkin!", reveals the female Japanese warrior, "In all his CGI glory.", as the movie showed Moff Tarkin shown in CGI likeness.

The blonde huntress responds in affright, "OH, GOD! It's like Jeff Bridges from Tron: Legacy mixed with Jim Carrey from A Christmas Carol!"

"Well, it's actually not that bad.", confessed Baiken in all seriousness while the four members of team RWBY all look at her in disapproval, "Sometimes.", describing, "The CG is really impressive. It always looks like somebody's really there. But the uncanny valley distracts from ever fully accepting it."

Blake acknowledged, "Sometimes, he looks convincing, but the rest of the time, you'd swear they put the fake lips of John Lennon from Forrest Gump on there.", saying, "But look on the bright side. At least the scene is over...except that there's about five more scenes with this digital character later on.", as she and the other four sighed in annoyance.

"That's the other thing. He's in this film...a lot.", unveileda the pink-haired samurai, synopsizing the next part of the film where Krennic meets Darth Vader, "It kind of makes you wonder why they didn't just replace him with Darth Vader, who's only given less than 10 minutes in the movie. He's one of the most famous villains who always wears a mask. Why not use this guy as much as possible?"

Weiss exampled, "Well, to be fair, it might be because James Earl Jones' voice is sounding a little tired after doing it all these years. Vader's like, 'Oh, my God, are they still making these? Okay, where's the script? How many lines do I have? What? This it? Oh, Christ, I was in The Sandlot longer. What, am I literally just taking a bath while I'm off-screen? Okay, okay.', and then he talks to Krennic and be like, 'Look here, Director Krennic. Krennic? What the hell kind of a name is that? It's like in one ear, out the other, forgotten. I forgot I even said it. Oh, fuck it. Just don't have me scream 'Noooooo!' like in Revenge of the Sith and we'll be good.'"

"I don't care if he sounds old. He's Darth Vader! We deserve more of him. Remember when Gareth Edwards, the guy who did this movie, directed Aaron Taylor-Johnson, also starring Godzilla in a 2014 film?", Baiken brought up the fact.

The red-black-haired huntress snapped her fingers, "Oh! That Godzilla movie that had almost no Godzilla, before it became vice-versa in the new Godzilla movie sequel."

"Right.", nodded the female ronin.

Ruby's elder sister excuses, "To be fair, that movie had such bland main characters that just weren't interesting and you couldn't get sucked into. You see where I'm going with this?"

"Yeah. But it doesn't change the fact that it was awesome at the most.", reluctantly agreed Baiken.

The Faunus and the heiress huntresses described, "While the side characters work well enough, our main leads are mostly pretty flat. It's almost like they were given direction to not be awful, but not be interesting either.", as they watch another scene with Jyn and Cassian, the latter arguing with her about his distrust on her father if he could possibly be an enemy working for the Empire, as Jyn tells him that she seen his message and is on their side.

As RWBY watches this part, they look to find that Baiken had already gotten up from the couch and was leaving the room.

"Baiken? Where are you going?", Ruby curiously asked.

The samurai woman was about to leave through the curtains leading to her bedroom as she did a 'follow me' hand gesture, "Follow me. I would like to show you something."

"What is it?", Yang questions but with no response given to them, as Baiken had left the room while RWBY follows her.

Leaving the woman cave and exiting Baiken's bedroom, the four team members of RWBY then look to their right, seeing the female pink-haired warrior herself going up a set of stairs to the upper floor.

Blake and Weiss both said, "Wait!", as the two, Ruby, and Yang all ran to catch up with her.

Going up the set of stairs leading up, the four of them were amazed by the sight.

The top floor was a majestic observation deck with an open view of the whole Samurai Kingdom, with a Japanese-styled hidden roof above and within the observation deck's perimeter, held up with wooden pillar structures. The deck had a nightingale flooring that can make chirping sounds as detection (which may seem unintentional for most) unlike the rest of the castle's tatami floors, while a wooden railing was placed around and at the ends of the deck as a means for safety.

"Whoa...", Ruby awed at this, as she, Yang, Blake and Weiss look to see Baiken watching over her kingdom as she stood by the edge of the observation deck, leaning onto the sturdy wooden deck railing; the girls then walk up to her as the RWBY leader asked, "Baiken? Are you alright?"

Baiken sighed, "Yes. I'm just thinking. My kingdom...my people...and a few other things in my mind."

"The view though... It's so beautiful.", complimented Yang, "The moon, the stars, the ancestral atmosphere..."

The samurai woman suddenly says, "Sometimes I wonder...when will Aria come back? I know I'm doing my best to search for her far and wide on this island...but she's nowhere to be seen..."

"We're pretty sure she's still here somewhere.", Blake proved.

Baiken acknowledges, "I know, but it has been years since I've seen her!", rebuking.

"...How many years?", hesitantly asked Weiss.

The pink-haired Japanese warrior sighs momentarily as she looked at the starry night sky, "Girls... I wouldn't expect you to understand. But...there's one thing I have to tell you four if you do want to understand.", as team RWBY listened carefully, "I...myself...am immortal."

"Wait...", Ruby replied before making a quick but calm realization, "What?"

Baiken revealed, "I have been waiting...over 35 years or so since I last saw Aria."

"35 years? Or so?", surprised Yang, "But...how...? Sounds like a different Guilty Gear universe, don't you think?"

The female samurai pointed at the biggest tree seen in the island horizon, "You see that gigantic tree over there?"

"Yes, we clearly saw that once we came here earlier.", Blake noticed.

The tree in the horizon looked much bigger and more different than the other weeping willow trees seen. The branchlets of leaves were purple instead of green, and the size of it was about ten times bigger than Baiken's castle, the size being a bit similar to the Hometree in James Cameron's Avatar.

Baiken outlines, "It is a sacred tree. My people on this island discovered it a long time ago and it is known to be the main landmark on this island."

"First off, do tourists and visitors come here often as a vacation hotspot?", pondered Weiss.

The pink-eyed warrior answered back, "Not quite. The tree, however, possesses a spiritual, ancient and divine sap that, if ingested with a small amount, can grant the person strength and ultimately, immortality. I was one of the people to inherit it...and Inori...and May...Jam...Millia...Aria...and so on."

"So what you're saying is, everyone on this island is immortal?", Ruby pointed out.

Baiken confirmed, "Yes. But do you think the spiritual powers of this tree can help whatever it is that outsiders like you and your friends must do?"

"Well, I know it may not solve all of life's problems... We're all not intending to use it, but we're actually surprised you and the others residing here are immortal... We might spread the word to our friend but with all do respect, that sounds like a very interesting revelation.", understood the red-black-haired leader of team RWBY, "Maybe someday, we'll find this Aria of yours so you can reunite with her. Strong friendship love, huh?"

The pink-haired samurai looks at the four, "I guess so."

"By the way...thank you...for showing us this majestic Edo-period paradise.", team RWBY all said to Baiken.

Baiken can't help but crack a smile again, "You're very much welcome.", reverting back to seriousness and considering as she took one last look at the night sky before they would go back down to continue what they were doing, "I suppose we should go back and finish our Rogue One review for tonight? Then maybe later on, you can choose a kimono here if you girls like to."

"Oh, boy, would we!", Ruby and Yang excite.

Blake and Weiss shook their head in amusement, "Good ol' Ruby and Yang.", as the five of them head back down to Baiken's room to continue their review.

To be continued...