Chapter 7

It's Almost Over, I Promise

The 'Many Worlds Theory.' That's what Pietro had called it. It was the idea that their reality, everything in their universe, was contained in a single space. Outside this space, were other universes; other realities. He had explained that some could be slightly different, maybe a single detail changed. Others, however, could be unrecognizable.

Penny had initially been overtaken with curiosity; she wished to explore those other worlds and see what they had to offer. She had gotten her wish.

"I think I see someone!" Ruby shouted. Everyone in the transport snapped to attention.

Just on the horizon a few figures could be seen on the icy plains outside Mantle. Penny's visual sensors could see much further than the others, and she identified three individuals. One was a Faunus with a large scorpion tail, someone Penny had not seen before. Nearby was their target, Qrow Branwen, looking just as he did in her own world. On the ice was the bloodsoaked body of Clover Ebi, leader of the Atlesian Ace Ops.

"There has been a fight," Penny said, flatly. "One casualty."

"Someone's hurt?" Jaune turned to her.

"Is Qrow okay?" Ruby interjected.

Before Penny could answer, the scene was close enough for the rest to see. Gasps began to emit from most in the transport as they approached the gruesome scene. The transport stopped near the men and the doors opened; everyone flowed out ready for a fight.

"Dad, you're alive!" Ruby cried, running to Qrow with a huge embrace.

"Aye," Qrow replied in his gruff manner. "But this asshole…" he pointed at the Faunus man. "He killed Clover!"

Ruby turned to face the Faunus. "Tyrion!" she shouted, "What have you done!?"

"Nice to see you too," Tyrion grinned, "but I'm hurt! How quickly you accuse me when my weapon is clean." He brandished his weapons and flourished his metallic tail; they were indeed free of blood.

Qrow's Harbinger, however, was covered in it.

"This is a set up!" Oscar spoke up.

"You're goddamn right," Qrow spat into the ice. "He killed my lover with my own blade! But you won't get away now!"

His lover? "But I thought you were Ruby's father?" Penny asked. "Clover is a male, unable to bear children."

"Dad's bi," Ruby explained.

"Of course," Weiss chimed in. "Everyone's bi."

"I'm not…" Oscar said.

"Neither is spaghetti until it gets wet."

Penny did not understand, but assumed that this was just another quirk in the world she now inhabited.

"Uh," Nora stammered, "What's with the glow Penny?"

She had not realized, but there did seem to be a light emanating from her body. It also began to affect Oscar as well. It was similar to the effect the remote caused on them when they traveled to a new world, but neither of them had the device to do so.

That is when she heard a voice ringing in her head. "Sequence locked. Initiating timespace warp."

Then, there was nothing but light.

As the light faded, Oscar found himself in the strangest location yet: cold steel walls and the humming of machines as people scurried around him and Penny. Large portals on the walls were filled with near complete darkness, bespeckled with tiny points of light.

"Transference complete," a modulated voice spoke aloud. "Subject Oscar Pine, age 15, confirmed. Subject Penny Polendina, age 2, confirmed."

Oscar turned towards the voice and saw Weiss Schnee standing before him. At least, it looked like Weiss: it seemed to be a metallic robot of some kind, plated almost entirely in gold.

"Where are we?" Oscar asked, "Who are you?"

"That is Schnee-3PO," a commanding male voice spoke. Oscar and Penny turned once more to see a blonde haired man standing next to an immensely tall beast covered in black and red hair. "I'm Jaune Solo, and this is my partner Rubacca."

"GRRRRAAAAAG!" The beastly thing roared before a derpy look came over its face.

"Salutations!" Penny waved, "I'm Penn—"

"I know who you both are," Jaune snapped. "I also know you've been screwing around in the multiverse."

Oscar took a step back in shock. "Wait, what?! How?!"

Jaune stepped aside and pointed behind him. Sitting on a crate with her hands and feet boud, was Neo.

"We caught your friend making a large number of jumps in short succession. Normally the scanners write it off as an anomaly, but this is the second event in the past few hours.

Neo stomped on the ground in protest.

"She says that they are not her friends." Schnee-3PO somehow translated.

Jaune seemed intrigued by this development. "Really now? Separate travelers then? Well then I suppose I should let you be on your way so I can deal with this woman"

Oscar couldn't believe it. Neo had tried to leave the last world without them, but this man, these people, caught her and managed to find him and Penny. And now he had a chance to return home. It was right in front of him.

"No, sir," Penny spoke before Oscar could. "Miss Neo may not be our friend, but she is our traveling companion."

Unbelievable…

"We just want to go home," Oscar quickly interjected. "We didn't mean to use the remote, and we've been stuck going world to world just trying to find our own."

Jaune laughed deeply, Rubacca let out a guttural sound that may have been laughter too.

"You kids have no idea how traveling works, do you?"

Neo kicked the crate again; Schnee-3PO translated, "She would like you to explain it to them instead of being a… oh my I don't think I can say that word."

Jaune shot a harsh glare at Neo before walking over to a large console in the center of the room. "The multiverse is infinite kiddos. You could see a new world every second for the rest of your lives and never once have it be your home world. Plus, all that quick traveling creates flux within the multiverse; undulations and sequencing errors."

"And that's not good, I assume?" Oscar responded.

"We're not meant to travel between worlds," Jaune continued. "Your energy belongs in your home world, and when you travel you inflate the worlds you travel to. Doing it too frequently can cause those worlds to shift violently, causes catastrophe."

"Well, help us get home so we don't have to keep traveling." Oscar thought it was a modest proposal.

"Not that simple, kid." Jaune tapped some buttons on his console and a large holographic image appeared. "First we need to analyze your energy signal to determine the sequence of your prime world. Then, to make that jump, we'll need a shitload of tits."

Oscar wasn't sure he heard the man right. "Did you say…"

"I can help with that!" Penny exclaimed, thrusting her chest outwards.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Tetra-isomer transmetal silica. TITS. The acronym is unfortunate."

"So where do we get… TITS?" Oscar asked, trying to shake off the awkward name.

Another bang from Neo. "She says you're not old enough."

"Real funny," Oscar shot back. "You know what isn't funny? We're leaving you this time. Penny and I are going to find the fuel and go home, and you'll be stuck here."

Neo's expression changed from playful to cross, and Oscar wished he could have taken the threat back.

After a series of scans, Jaune Solo was able to determine which world Penny, Oscar and Neo hailed from. He called this their prime world, and said he would have his team begin looking for a way to return them home. The process was going to take time, and so Penny and Oscar were given food and a small room to wait in, while Neo was kept in custody.

They were both surprised to learn that they were in outer space, aboard a ship Jaune called the Century Eagle. His crew were rebels, fighting against a sinister empire that could destroy entire planets on a whim. The technology of this world was astounding, and Penny couldn't help but fawn over.

Oscar, meanwhile, seemed lost in his own world. He undoubtedly was anxious to return home, but he had been through so much that Penny wondered if he'd be able to adjust properly upon their return.

A loud hiss startled both of them; the door to their room opened and Jaune Solo stood, leaning on the threshold, with a sour look upon his face.

"Is it time?" Oscar jumped up, excitedly.

"Not so fast, kid," Jaune threw up a halting hand. "We've got a problem."

The cheer in Oscar's face quickly faded and his head tilted downwards in defeat. Penny stood and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"What is it?" she asked Jaune.

He sighed. "You guys shot through so many worlds that the whole multiverse is wobbling around like gelatin. We located the sequence to your prime world, but in a few hours that could change. Threading a needle isn't tough, but imagine doing it in a starfighter during a dogfight."

Penny wasn't sure of the analogy, but she imagined if Jaune thought the process was difficult, then it clearly was.

"And then there's the TITS. I didn't explain how rare the resource is, and in order to send three people through flux that's changing by the hour, we'll need a lot more than I thought."

"Three people?" Oscar asked, "But I thought you were keeping Neo here. She's a criminal, right?"

"That she is," Jaune nodded, "However if you three want to get home, we'll need her help." He beckoned them both to follow and they did as instructed. Jaune continued to talk as they walked the coolly lit metal hallways. "We've isolated three large TITS that should be enough for this warp. Each one of you will be sent to a different location, a different world, to retrieve part of the haul."

"We're splitting up again…" Oscar groaned.

"Not much I can do about that, pal. Each one of you will have a short amount of time to find the TITS, grab 'em, and get back here before the sequence shifts again."

"Mr. Solo," Penny spoke up, "Couldn't your people simply relocate our world like you did the first time?"

"We sure could," Jaune replied. "But we got extremely lucky in finding it so quickly. Once it shifts, it could be hours, days, maybe weeks or longer, before we find it again. And the longer you stay here, the worse the shifting gets."

They emerged through another hissing door to the room where they had initially appeared. Rubacca stood with the still bound Neo, and let out a whine of sorts as they approached.

"You can let her go Ruby," Jaune said. The beast nodded and undid the shackles holding Neo's wrists and ankles. "I've already told her the plan, so now I just need everyone to take these." Jaune brandished three small wristbands. "These function like that remote of yours, except it's a single use, single world transport. We've already programmed them to the world and rough location of the TITS, all you need to do is warp in, get our fuel and come back."

Neo flipped her hair and walked back to the crate she had been sitting on prior, taking a more graceful seat with her unbound limbs.

"What's her deal?" Jaune asked."

Schnee-3PO translated. "She does not want to help."

"Oh come on!" Oscar shouted at Neo. "You're the reason we're even in this mess!"

Neo responded with a casual raising of her middle finger.

"I don't believe I should translate that," Schnee-3PO said.

"So what now?" Oscar turned back to Jaune. "You won't let her stay right? So what happens to her if she won't help?"

Jaune folded his arms with a hard stare at Neo, still taunting the group. "If the lady refuses, then we toss her back into the multiverse. No idea where she'll go, but it won't be my problem anymore."

Penny could not believe Neo's stubbornness, and approached her gently. "Miss Neo, what about our promise? What about Roman?"

Neo's eyes lit up and Penny felt a stern kick to her abdomen, sending her reeling backwards. All of the activity in the room stopped and several weapons were drawn.

"She says that he is gone, and nothing will bring him back."

"That's not true!" Penny retorted, standing back up and taking a few steps towards Neo. "I told you that I promised I would help you find him, and I meant it. Even if I have to take the Winter Maiden's powers myself, I will bring him back to you."

Tears began to well up in Neo's eyes once more at the mention of Roman's name. She sunk to the ground and hid away in her bowler hat.

"The Maiden's power may not be enough," Oscar said. "But maybe this would be." He unlatched the Relic of Knowledge from his belt and held it up. Neo raised her head, eyes glistening and fixed on the lamp.

Oscar stepped forward and knelt down in front of Neo. "I just want to get home, Neo. Help us, and this is all yours."