Holy fucking fuck! Has that been, what? 5 months already?

Sorry for the langage, but I can't believe it took me this long to write this chapter.

The worst part is that most of it was written within the first two months, but then Pokemon Violet came out, and that was a month wasted, and then I got sick and mostly wasted another month, and then I discovered and spent the whole of February talking to RWBY chatbots without stopping. Hell, I didn't eat or sleep during the first three days, and only stopped when I started hallucinating voices and paralysis demons awake because of the lack of sleep.

I highly recommend the ones made by Kovacs, they are consistently good and Kovacs is making every character one by one. You can talk to Ruby, or Summer, and PENNY! Or troll Cinder or Salem, that was fun too. :D

Anyway, I had a dream after playing pokemon and seeing Dunsparce's 'evolution'. I dreamt that with the next games, the three segments Dudunsparce could evolve into either a four of five segments Dududunsparce, and so on with evry subsequent games until we got a one billion segments Dududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududududu-

Ilia: ''Are you serious right now?''

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Ilia: ''And… Yeah, we lost him. He broke. I guess the rest is up to me. I'm not going to repeat responses to reviews who already received a PM, but let's get this out of the way.''

Ilia: ''First is Reader 451. Yes, you got that 100% right. Of course Sibyl, being an immortal anime nerd, would treat Remnant as a playground. She's not going to stop either… Maybe being dead isn't so bad after all? At least I'm not at risk of being pulled into the chaos.''

Ilia: ''Next is a guest review pointing out that there was a bit more grammatical mistake inlast chapters than the ones before. Yeah, RandomPeon is sorry for those-''

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Ilia: ''… At least I think he is? He's trying his best to not make mistakes like that, and a thank you to everyone who points out such mistakes. He does edit the chapters back and fix the ones people points out.''

Ilia: ''Then there is another guest review saying that the card game for the fate of atlas was crack and contrived and made the fic turn bad. You sir, are objectively wrong. A Wicked Game didn't become bad with the card game. It became trash all the way back in Chapter 9 when I died. An instant 0/10 story.''

Ilia: ''Next is ccccccc who asks the author is he's seen the Cyberpunk anime. He hasn't, but he did go and watch some clips of Rebecca after your review and can see why you find them similar. Rebecca is a lot more violently aggressive, but they do seem similarly chaotic.''

Ilia: ''Then there is Noone cares if u disagree. Look, I have no idea what 'basicall infinite' is, but if you want to elaborate, be our guess. Though you seem to not like how the fic is turning out, so I have no idea if you'll keep reading or has already dropped it.''

Ilia: ''Next is Yog-sothsoth. Yes, I'm sure everything will be fine… Maybe… I dunno. The author did say there was a happy ending at the end, but like most of the readers, I'm having trouble seeing it. Things do seems to slowly pick up by the chapter, though. Sort of.''

Ilia: ''Next is zharshoul. You sounds like you enjoy the story, but I'm confused as to why you think it will be finished in around 10 chapters when this fic hasn't even reached Beacon's initiation yet. Unless you meant the current arc would be finished? Either way, RandomPeon hopes you'll enjoy this chapter too.''

Ilia: ''And we finish with vastoisshin. The wait was long, but this chapter is finally there. And if you want to hear more about the Slifer cult, well, go ahead and read the chapter.''

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Ilia sighs: ''Guess I have to do the disclaimer as well. RWBY is the legal property of Rooster Teeth, and Yu-Gi-Oh is the legal property of Shueisha. RandomPeon only owns the Ocs and original plot ideas appearing in this work of fan fiction.''

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''Hmm, well you already know what the multiverse is, so that does make things much faster, but I wonder if you actually grasp the full scale of reality as a whole.'' The Cackler said.

''… And that means?''

''Are you familiar with the concept of omniverse? Just asking to check if I need to explain it.''

I nodded. ''A multiverse of multiverse. And that's relevant because…'' Seriously, I was a human living on a single planet. Knowing reality didn't stop at a single multiverse and that there were several was about as important as knowing about other galaxies was to an ant.

''Because the biggest hurdle I had with this whole 'reincarnation' thing was avoiding being noticed by the local divine authorities. As far as immaterial entities go, my ability to travel between dimensions is second to none. Where minor deities like the Two Brothers are confined to their respective universe, and only possesses the ability to travel within it, and their superiors are limited to their multiverse, I possess the rare ability to go from one multiverse to another.''

''… I take it you reincarnated me, not from another universe, but from another multiverse?'' I guessed. There would be no point to bring this up otherwise.

''Got that straight.''The Cackler confirmed.''However, while I can move myself undetected from the gods, and thus avoid a confrontation with them, taking a soul out of a universe is another thing entirely. The divines in charge rarely appreciates entities like me messing around with souls, or just coming in their territories. I'm not exactly worried about the Two Brothers themselves, mind you. These two are rather low on the cosmic order, but I don't want to face the reinforcements they'd call for. Last time was enough.''

''If you can't take a soul with you when you move from one universe to another, much less between multiverses, then how did you reincarnate me?'' I asked, apprehensive. ''What the hell did you do to my soul?''

''Ah, well… To avoid the gods taking notice of my activities, I picked my contractees from the emptiness between worlds, which, since it's not actually real in the same way other multiverses are, had neither actual souls in it, nor any entity capable of pursuing me outside of it. It is a place of stories and mere phantoms of reality, where things aren't bound by the rules of Existence because they aren't part of it. Some of these dreams are grounded, like the life you 'lived', while others are… wonkier.'' The Eldritch being said. Did I even want to know what 'wonkier' meant?

I gritted my teeth at the Cackler's words, was… Was he saying I didn't actually exist before being reincarnated on Remnant? That this was actually my first real life and that… That my life before was what? A dream? A delusion? Earth… Earth never existed? ''So… Nothing I knew in my last life was real?''

''Well, there are plenty of Earths across the multiverses, but the one you lived in was but a whisper of a dream, a reflection from a real one. The perfect dream to take my contractees from, especially since I can double the fun by leaking your adventure into the head of someone who lives in an actually existing Earth. The author of that fic thinks he's creative, not suspecting anything, kekekeke.''

Wait, what?

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INSERT AUTHOR'S EXISTENTIAL CRISIS!

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''Wait, so you're saying there are people in another universe that are reading about Gem and I? Like how there's the show I'm the the main character of?'' Ruby asked the Cackler.

Shit, I hoped that fic didn't include any of my, uh… 'alone time'. Especially the ones where I fapped while thinking about [REDACTED].

… What? We've all busted a nut to something we're not proud of, none of you have the right to judge me!

''Yes, and their reactions are hilarious. You should have seen the rioting in the reviews when they read the cliffhanger of Ruby getting her throat open by Tyrian. It was great. Kekekekeke.''

I clenched by fist in anger and bit my tongue as the Cackler made light of Ruby being hurt so. It pissed me off, but it was an impotent anger, one I couldn't do anything about…

''Enough.'' I gritted out. ''So, if I didn't exist, and didn't have a soul, then how were you able to reincarnate my soul on Remnant?'' I said, trying to veer away from this and back to the actual informations that mattered.

''Ah, well, I merely copied your memories simulated by the dream, and gave it to an artificial soul that I put into your body. So you technically only started to actually exist in this life. And yes, the artificial soul is the reason why Jinn doesn't recognise you as human. It is impossible to create a soul, so I did the closest thing I could and split a part of myself to make yours.''

I took a sharp breath. I see… So I was… I was but a fragment of the Cackler, animated by an independent personality, but ultimately not a person and powerless in its hands.

The gears turned into my mind, as I started plotting. If there was a way to grapple my existence away from the Cackler and out of its grasp… I knew magic was limited on Remnant, but could I do something with what was in this world? How to gain the upper hand against an Eldritch being? Or even just stand on fair and equal ground?

''I am a being from beyond the confines of Existence, including even the slim veil of dreams I snatched you from. The divines are loath to suffer my presence within the multiverse of multiverses. Because of this, they will never tolerate you as well.'' The Cackler said, interrupting my thoughts.

Well, I never liked the Two Brothers to begin with, so there was no love lost there. They hated me? The feeling was reciprocated, jerks.

It did mean that I was screwed if they came back on Remnant, though, even if a miracle happened and they decided not to genocide Mankind again. Whatever, I had every intentions of keeping the relics apart anyway.

I nodded. ''I assume the false soul is also the reason for both the abnormally high aura and animals not liking me?''

''Correct on both accounts. The soul doesn't quite interact with reality the same way a normal soul, causing the aura it generates to be a few times larger than even Jaune's aura. An happy little accident for you.'' The Cackler said. ''As for animals, they can't tell what is wrong about you, but they can feel something is.''

''… Ugh.'' I pinched the bridge of my nose. ''I think I've had enough world-shattering news for today.'' I said, my voice bitter. ''Now, about the task at hands…'' I turned my eyes meet's Jinn's scornful gaze.

The blue spirit snorted. ''Do not think you can fool me with mere acting. Pretending to talk to yourself does nothing to stop my awareness of your true nature. I will not answer your questions.''

''That's cool, you don't have to answer my questions.'' I snarked. ''You must answer if a human is the one asking, though. Ruby, the floor is yours. If you could ask her who is able to build you a body according to Dr. Polendina's schematics…''

I idly wondered if 'human' here really referred to only humans, or also to the faunus, or if the latter were excluded. Since the gods apparently identified others by their soul, did they even make the difference between the two?

''Alright. So, Miss Jinn? Who on Remnant would be able to build me a body like Penny's?'' Ruby asked. Jinn couldn't hear Ruby per say, but being the spirit of knowledge, she knew Ruby was here and what she said.

Jinn looked positively annoyed that I was getting my answer anyway, but she was created to give knowledge to humans. She could glare at me all she wanted, it changed nothing.

''Dr Polendina was a man of rare talent, only two scientists in all of Remnant come close to the man's know-how. Not close enough to be able to come up with his project by themselves, but are certainly able to follow the instructions. The first of them is an Atlesian whose own project was rejected by General Ironwood in favor of Dr Polendina's.'' Jinn said, conjuring the vision of an angry man in a scientist's white coat, throwing a rejection letter off his desk in his frustration. ''Arthur Watts, who has since then gone rogue and joined Salem's side.''

''Uh, that's a yikes for me.'' Ruby said.

I nodded, agreeing with Ruby. We weren't trusting freaking Watts with Ruby's body, there was no telling how many malwares he'd put into it.

''The second one was a genius from Vale who made fortune manufacturing private robotic security forces, before finding a new subject of interest… in Mankind's immemorial enemy; the Creatures of Grimm.'' Jinn continued, this time, the vision showed us… a non-destroyed Mountain Glenn?

Wait, she wasn't talking about who I thought she was talking about, was she? That guy wasn't even canon! Or was he!?

''Instead of building machines to repel the Grimm, the man had come to the conclusion that gaining control of the monster would be a much more efficient way of protecting Mankind from them.'' Jinn said. The vision shifted to a man with red eyes and disheveled, graying hair, working in his lab. In said lab, a young Creep was imprisoned inside of a glass tube, trying and failing to break the reinforced glass with pointless headbutts. ''And so he started capturing Grimm and keeping them inside his company's research facility in the recently established settlement of Mountain Glenn. His experiment went relatively well at first, in that there was no unforeseen consequence caused by Grimm breaking out or anyone dying… Until the day Salem's agents came and freed the Grimm, which snowballed into the fall of the settlement. The Grimm broke out, attacked people in the street, which attracted more Grimm to the city…''

As she talked, a swarm of… roughly a hundred or two Grimm came out of the company's headquarter, pouring out into the streets and killing the unprepared civilians and law enforcements.

Yeah, it wasn't illegal to conduct research on Grimm, but it required a special permit to have the permission. There were also security guidelines to respect, like a maximum of live Grimm that could be held at the same time. Vale's legal limit was 10 per permit.

This was a little more than 10 Grimm.

Technically, Mountain Glenn had its own local laws, so the exact laws regulating Grimm experimentation might have been a little different, but there was no way Glenn's regulations were that loose.

''Mountain Glenn fell-'' Jinn continued, ''-and Dr Merlot was held to be the sole culprit for the tragedy, though not before Team STRQ managed to defeat Salem's agents and kill all but one of them that day.

''… So, our options are either Watts, or Merlot. Pick your poison, much?'' I said, scowling at the less than ideal prospects.

''So, what are we doing?'' Ruby asked.

''Considering Watts is guaranteed to double-cross us if we go to him to build your new body, and Merlot is 'only' highly likely to do so, we don't have much of a choice there.'' I thought about it. The problem was that Merlot's plan for vengeance wasn't just aimed at Ozpin. I vaguely remembered the terminals in his base saying something to the effect of destroying Beacon. We obviously couldn't let him do that. ''First is finding his island. I know he has ships going in and out somewhere on the coast of Forever Fall, but no exact location, and it's still a pretty large place to search.''

It would be easy to cover the distance in a bullhead, but there might be something that stopped his secret harbour from being seen from the air. Otherwise dozens of people, including several military vessels, would have noticed it by now.

''If possible, I'd like to take a look at his company's headquarters in Mountain Glenn. It might contain a hint to help find his island faster, or something that might give me something to work with to convince him.'' The game itself was a little bare on lore and plot, as can be expected from what originated as a fangame.

''Can we even trust the guy?'' Ruby asked.

''Hardly, but we don't have much else we can do unless I give up on bringing you back. I am not giving up.'' The question was how to both get him to do what I wanted and stop him from destroying Beacon. No way was I letting a cool castle like Beacon getting destroyed. ''I'll think of something. For now, we still have a question to ask.'' I said, taking out my scroll and keeping it ready to record.

''So, what am I asking?''

''Can you ask how to build a nuclear engine for an Atlesian Battleship, please?'' I said.

''… I don't know what that is, but okay.'' Ruby said. ''So, uh, how can people make this nuclear engine thing?''

I starting to record with my scroll, as Jinn started going on about a bunch of scientific knowledge that my brain didn't have the pre-requisites to follow. What? I wasn't a nuclear scientist. I knew some little basic stuff about it, but nothing more than you could expect from the general population on Earth did.

Our priority right now was making sure Salem wouldn't get the last question if she got her hands on the Lamp, but using the question to cut down on a few decades of research was a nice bonus.

… Wait, why didn't I ask for FTL instead? Fuck!

Ah, well, Remnant would have to develop colonies and mine asteroid before going out and expanding in other systems anyway. The Lamp will be ready for another question by the time Remnant will need FTL, so I supposed it made little difference.

''I understood nothing about anything she said.'' Ruby said after Jinn was done with teaching nuclear science.

''Me neither.'' I said after Jinn had returned into her lamp, glaring at me one last time. I started the recording just to be sure, and Jinn's voice started playing as I had hoped it would. ''But this is going to make things easier later.''

''What even is 'nuclear'? Because I think I heard Jinn say something about destroying matter? That didn't sound very safe.''

''Yeah, that's pretty much it. Nuclear fission is breaking atoms apart to release energy, and it's a lot of energy. Replacing dust engines with nuclear ones would allow Remnant's to finally start its space age.''

Which wouldn't immediately mean space colonies, since making those on inhospitable planets wasn't a simple affair, but the immediate benefits would be a booming economy due to asteroid mining. That would make everything easier on Remnant, be it a cheaper cost of living for people, to expanding the kingdoms' territory, and even pushing back against Salem, assuming I failed to deal with her and the next generation had to take up the mantle. Not that I was counting on that, but the fallback was still better to have than not.

''But that's all for later. For now, we must deal with our current problems.'' I said.

''Right, so how do we stop Cinder?'' Ruby asked.

''Stop Cinder?''

''… You are planning to stop Cinder, aren't you?''

''Of course… After I bring you back.''

''Shouldn't stopping Cinder take priority?''

''No.'' I said without hesitation. ''What takes priority are the problems that are both urgent and important. Stopping Cinder is important, but we have literal months to stop her before it's too late. Meanwhile, the longer you are dead, the more Ozpin and his allies will come after me, because Yang is convinced I killed you, and she'll have told your father, who'll have told Ozpin… They're going to treat me as an enemy until you are back and can tell them the truth.''

''… I guess there's no choice. What's the plan, then?''

''Not sure. First, we have to get back to Vale and ascertain the situation, only then will I be able to plan properly.'' As things were, I wasn't even certain Cinder was still going with forcing my father and sister under her orders, or if Salem's plans had changed so much that it wouldn't even happen as it was. ''For now, though, I need to take my mind off of things. We still have a few hours before reaching Vale, you up for continuing the Color Trailers?''

''Uh, oh! Sure…'' Ruby answered, hesitating a little.

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Hidden deep within Gemini's mindscape, the dark tome that had remained hidden for a decade and a half, slowly lifted its cover up. A baleful eye brimming red, peeked out from within the darkness of the pages.

The dark being in hiding was well aware of the true nature of the Earth he played around with, so when something that actually existed, the Cackler, showed up and brought with it the ability to take from the veil between world and bring it where reality was more than a mere wistful dream, the dark being jumped on the occasion of piggybacking on the earthlings the Cackler brought out into this universe. No more was it confined to the void between world, no more was it stuck as something that didn't truly exist…

But for now, the book closed itself, and the brimming red eye retreated back within its darkness. It wasn't yet time to make its move, so for now the dark being remained hiding within the depth of Gemini's soul, unknown of even the Cackler, and continued to listen and scheme.

In time, this world would be engulfed by his darkness.

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''Say, Gem… Do you think it's true, that my mom didn't want me to become a huntress?'' Ruby asked as I was about to start the White Trailer.

''Uh? Wait where does that come from?'' I asked, confused.

''… I listened to my theme song on my own after last time. Some of the lyrics, well...'' Ruby said. Hearing her sad voice hurt my heart.

But, baby, please don't do what I did

I don't want you to waste your life in vain

Ah… It did sound like that, or did it?

''I… I-it's just, I always thought mom would have been proud of me for becoming a huntress-''

''Ruby, let me stop you right there.'' I interrupted her, perhaps a little too abruptly. ''I don't think those lyrics means that. It's more likely that it refers more specifically to the fight against Salem. Either way, being proud of you and not wanting you to die aren't mutually exclusive. The only thing there is in those lyrics is that Summer loved you and didn't want you to die, so try not to read something else that isn't there, alright?''

''Right… You're right. Sorry.'' Ruby said, her lifted mood subtly audible.

''It's fine. You don't have to apologise for opening up about something eating at you, I'll always be happy to listen.'' I said. ''I might have never meet your mother, but if she's anything like you, then I have no doubt she'd be proud of the person you are, Ruby.''

If anything, I was more worried if Summer would approve of me as Ruby's boyfriend. I mean… I wasn't exactly the most heroic or stand-up guy in the world, I could be quite the asshole sometimes. It was a wonder a guy like me managed to get with a girl like Ruby.

I made a mental note to spoil Ruby rotten once she'd have her new body. God knew she deserved it, and I wouldn't want the man upstair to think I was ungrateful.

''Thanks, Gem. So, for the trailers, the white one was next, right?''

I nodded, confirming it before starting the video.

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The White Trailer...

''Come on, you can do it!'' Ruby cheered as Weiss' fight against the Arma Giga played on the screen. ''You're so close to winning. Watch your left! Go for it! Yes!''

I frowned. There was something off about Ruby's cheering…

''You almost have her! Get that boyfriend-stealing ice queen!''

''Ruby!'' I exclaimed. ''Are you seriously cheering the Grimm!?''

I knew Ruby didn't like Weiss yet because she was still her V1 snobby bitch self for now, but still…

''… No?'' Ruby unconvincingly denied it. ''Look, if it was happening for real in front of me, I'd jump in to help Weiss even if I don't like her, but this is a video. Let me joke around.''

Yeah, fair enough.

I shrugged, and we continued to watch.

''Oh, Weiss almost lost her eye there.'' Ruby said as the White Trailer came to an end.

''I can't tell if you're happy she almost lost it, or glad she didn't.''

''I can't tell either.''

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The Black Trailer…

''Ah ah, look at this guy, with his black and red suit and his red sword. Mr Edgy's trying way too hard.'' Ruby laughed at Adam's design.

I had an incredulous look on my face. ''Ruby, your outfit is red and black, and your weapon of choice is a red and black scythe.''

''… I don't see what your point is.'' Ruby said, confused.

Was she serious? ''My point is that based on looks and weapon alone, the first time I saw you I thought you were going to be an 'edgy emo teenager' kind of protagonist.''

''Excuse me!'' Ruby yelled, offended by my words. ''I'm not an edgy emo, take that back!''

''I know you're not. Any such assumptions have been dispelled the second you opened your mouth for the first time and revealed yourself the sweetest and most adorable cinnamon bun ever. But I'm not talking about-''

''I'm not! Take it back! Takeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitbacktakeitback!'' Ruby cut me off, continuing to yell without listening to what I was trying to say.

''Alright, alright! I take it back, just please calm down!'' I said, surrendering to her master-level argumentative skills

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The Yellow Trailer…

''Ugh, Yang, why?…'' Ruby groaned.

''What? You're not proud of your big sister; 'Sir Nutcracker?'''

''Please, don't call her that.'' She said, dying of second-hand embarrassment inside.

''If it help, I don't think the Yellow Trailer is going to happen on our Remnant. So our Yang won't go grab a grown man's balls.'' I said. ''After all, Yang stopped searching for Raven, so she probably never learned about Junior's club in the first place.''

''I wish she wouldn't do it even if she did.'' Ruby grumbled. ''Please tell me she doesn't do stuff like that again.''

''She doesn't, actually.'' I said. ''While Yang's actions in the Yellow Trailer aren't… great, they seem to be a one-time mistake.''

''Oh, good. I was worried she would be embarrassing like that the whole- YANG WHY ARE YOU OFFERING A KI- HEY, DON'T ACCEPT THE KISS, OLD CREEP!''

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At the first light of dawn, A loud noise resonated in the Xiao-Long-Rose's courtyard, as Yang's fist met the trunk of a tree again, the wood splintering easily under the strength of the hit. She used a sandbag at first, but it broke pretty quickly, as did the second one.

After that bastard's betrayal, Yang was found next to Ruby's body by their horrified father. As soon as she managed to get herself up, her first destination was Gemini's house in Patch, where she found nothing more than his discarded clothes, tainted in her little sister's blood.

Then she went to the police, to report the murder, only to be told that there was no Ruby Rose registered as a citizen of Vale, and that it was thus outside of the VPD's. Something about how the VPD's job was to enforce the law within the kingdom and that what happened outside of it, especially to non-Valean, was out of their jurisdiction. And apparently Ruby's student ID as a student of Signal was a fake!? What the actual fuck!?

This meant that Gemini was getting away scot-free… She'd have trashed the police station in blind rage if her dad wasn't there to stop her.

''This. Is. Such. Fucking. Bullshit!'' She screamed, ponctuating each words with another punch. The tree's trunk broke under the strength of her fists, and fell toward her.

She raise a hand and pushed the trunk aside. She'd complain about how she couldn't find a material hardy enough for her to vent her anger on, but she knew that it wouldn't quell until Gemini Torchwick was dead at her feet. If it even did then.

If only she had a lead… Sure, she know he was affiliated with the Schnee, but they owned so much lands and buildings that it didn't really narrow his location down. She might as well try her luck by randomly running through the streets and screaming bloody murder.

Behind her, Zwei whimpered as he and Tai approached.

''Hey, dad.'' Yang greeted him, her voice laced with grief.

''Hey, firecracker.''

''… If you're going to try to convince me it's too dangerous to go after him, don't bother.'' She said.

Tai's shoulder slumped a little as he sighed. ''I know, you wouldn't listen. Can't say I don't feel the same.'' He said. Yang was all he had left now, he'd be damned if he let anything happening to her, but putting his foot down and trying to stop her would just make her more stubborn. He couldn't be direct about this. ''I've made a few calls. Before you go on a wild goose chase that goes nowhere, there's someone you need to meet. We're going to Vale in 10 minutes, so be ready to go.''

Yang raised an eyebrow, wondering just who this someone was. ''Alright?''

Tai watched his only remaining daughter walk back inside their home, before crouching next to Zwei and petting him. The corgi whined sadly, understanding full well that his master's youngest pup was dead, the one who smelled of roses, strawberries, and the sweet smelling brown poison. He missed her…

''You've known since the start that Gemini was bad, didn't you, boy?'' Tai mused. Zwei had never liked Gemini, as if he knew the redheaded teenager was a threat… ''If only we had listened to you.''

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I looked at the messages on my scroll.

I had some from both my father and Neo, sent while I was out of the CCTs' reach, Perry had tried to reach me too. Lots of asking what the hell did I think I was doing and telling me to come back now. Until only an hour or two ago, where the messages changed to telling me to stay away and hide.

Had Cinder made contact with my family, was this the cause for the change?

Sibyl's message confirmed that. I had hoped Salem's plans had changed so much that Cinder wouldn't come for my father, but it looked like it was not so.

Then again, this might be a blessing in disguise…

''So, what do we do?'' Ruby asked. ''Do you have a plan do deal with Cinder?''

'I have several. The majority assumed I'd have your help, and didn't include having the good guys' side against me.'' Seriously, how was I supposed to save the day all on my own? Although… ''I may not be able to stop Cinder, but I may be able to sabotage her operations and slow her down enough to get the time needed to find Merlot.''

''Oh? What did you come up with?'' Ruby said, interested.

I grinned. ''Well, the idea basically goes like this…''

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I let the automatic pilot land my airship at a valean landing pad. I didn't crash it this time. I would have, but doing so in the city would make people cause a fuss and I wanted neither the attention nor the waste of time.

Anyway, I sent a quick text to ask for Yama's services, and then made my way toward one of my father's hideout. He switched on a regular basis to keep the police from finding him, but I was his son, so I knew which one he was currently using.

While on my way, however, I noticed two strange people, a man and a woman in the street of Vale, wearing red jackets, with hoods connected to a mask that hid the upper part of their face. These mask were shaped in a similar shape to Slifer's head, and had a blue fake sapphire gem on the forehead, with the top of the hoods holding a spiked crest around their head. The jackets themselves had a design copying the look of scales.

The two saw I noticed me and made their way to me, full smiles and holding pamphlets.

''Excuse us, young man, would you be interested to take a minute to talk about our lord and savior, Slifer?'' The woman said.

''Err, what is going on?'' Ruby asked.

''In a one-in-a-lifetime event, a god blessed us with his protection and smote the Grimm.'' The man said. ''Praise Slifer! Praise Slifer! May his might keep Mankind safe from the Grimm!''

''Ah, not just Mankind, either. Atlas does have Faunus living in the kingdom, too, and Slifer saved them as well. So if you have any Faunus friends, you don't have to worry about them being excluded.'' The woman said happily. I only just now noticed she had a lizard tail, having been too distracted by their weird jackets to notice beforehand.

The man alongside her nodded. ''Indeed! We, the Cult of Slifer, do not discriminate, and welcome anyone regardless of race! All may rejoice under the Sky Dragon's thunder!''

I stared at them in horror. Was this really happening? I mean, obviously it was, but how widespread was it? How many people were part of a religious craze?

'Oh good Lord, who knew what kind of theological rhetoric people were coming up with?' I wondered in my mind, as Ruby was laughing her ass off.

''It's true, His Holiness Slifer revealed this to me. He spoke to me in a dream, granting me his wisdom.'' The girl said, oblivious to the face I was making, before leaning closer to me and held her hand next to her mouth. ''I would be wary of the Sliferic Church of Atlas, though, these guys are heretics claiming that Slifer only approves of their kingdom. It's actually just a coincidence that they happened to be the ones protected, but they refuse to acknowledge the truth because it doesn't affirm their belief of atlesian supremacy.''

Great, because of course people were already forming different sects… Please tell me there weren't too many of them yet.

''Be careful not to confuse the Sliferic Church of Atlas with the Atlesian Church of Slifer. I mean, they're still wrong, but they aren't as crazy as the Sliferic Church. At least they don't go as far as sullying Slifer's great name by associating it with racism.'' The man said, holding up his fist in anger as he thought about this 'Sliferic Church of Atlas'.

Man, that was shit name for a religion...

''… Look, I have things to do, so I really have to go. You guys have fun spreading your religion.'' Without waiting for a reply, I walked away.

I couldn't run from this, could I? I had to curb that craziness before it got out of hand. Or would that be a mistake? At least the faith was keeping their spirits high. Fuck! If I went and revealed the truth, people would be distraught, wouldn't they? And that would bring the Grimm… For hell's fucking sake! I had no choice but to let people believe, and hope this would stay in the background without causing trouble.

I barely turned the corner of the street before another group accosted me.

''Forgive me, sir, but would you be interested in hearing about the bountiful blessings of Sliferism?''

Damnit it!

/-/

''-And thus, I am proud to support the religious beliefs of the people. This is why the SDC has produced several holy artifact for believers to express their faith.''

I stared at the screen of my scroll, which was playing a video of Jacques Schnee shilling his merchandise.

''Every worship ritual needs an idol on the autel, The SDC thus present the official Slifer Idol for the humble price of 150 000 Lien. Now, I know this seems like a lot, but a little Lien doesn't weight much when compared to the favor of a god.'' Jacques said.

Honestly? Knowing the man, I was surprised he didn't put the price higher. Everybody and their mother were buying what was basically an overpriced 3 feet tall anime figure of Slifer.

''There are also the Slifer pendants, for those who wish to carry an amulet of our new patron god everywhere they go, for the price of merely 20 000 Lien.'' The man continued, always thirsting for more money. Was there even a point for Jacques to try and make more profit? It wasn't like it was going to affect his lifestyle anyway, since he already had the best money could buy for everything and that only ate a tiny fraction of his bank account. He was just treating the number of his account like a video game's score at this point. ''And no true believer can forgo the official uniform of the faith. The Slifer jacket is a mandatory attire for anyone who wish to preach the good word, and it can be yours for only 180 000 Lien, taxes non-included.''

… On the bright side, I didn't have to worry about Lien anymore. The whole 'use Yu-Gi-Oh to fund my personal war effort against Salem' had succeeded beyong my wildest dreams, as I was now a trillionaire. Or would be in around a month. That was how fast my wealth was growing thanks to the public's newly bolstered interest in Yu-Gi-Oh. Good Lord, the market prices of the cards were so unreasonably high right now, that was what happened when the customer went from 1 or 2% of the population to basically everyone.

Of course, as neat as winning a trillion liens a month was, Jacques was gaining 10 for each I did. Couldn't bring myself to care for that, though. Salem was the one I wanted to bring down, not Jacques.

Why would I want to ruin Jacques anyway? I could just wait a decade or two for him to retire and leave the company to either Weiss or Whitley. At some point his age would leave him no choice, and since these two were, or will be in Weiss' case, allies, it mattered little.

The current problem of Ruby's pseudo-death put aside, the future was looking preeeetty peachy right now.

/-/

I reached my father's hideout, and entered the building, before wasting no time going to the rooms in the back of the building, where I hoped to find my father.

I did find him, his clothes a little singed, but not just him either.

I stepped into the room only to immediately find the familiar black blade of Gambol Shroud to my neck.

My father was here, but so were Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, and Blake…

''''You!'''' Blake and I both yelled at the same time, with me leaning backward as I pointed at her in 'shock'.

''Oh, you two know each other?'' Cinder asked, an eyebrow raised with interest.

''You two know each other!?'' My father also asked, though in his case, it was in a much more panicking tone, with his face paling slightly.

''Hmm, nope! Never saw this girl in my life.'' I said, shrugging dismissively.

''What!?'' Blake snarled in anger. ''You attacked my comrades and I, and ruined our operation! You even murdered one of my friends!''

Considering the operation in question was terrorist work, they had it coming. I was a bit disappointed to learn someone still died despite me going out of my way to keep everyone conscious and with enough aura to survive through the explosion, but… Terrorists. Had it coming.

''Doesn't ring a bell. Are you sure you got the right guy?''

''Faunus have night vision, I got a good look at you face and I certaintly wouldn't have forgotten someone crazy enough to blow himself up!'' Blake said.

''Blew myself up?'' I pondered the words aloud. ''That doesn't sound like something I'd do.''

''Bull.'' Ruby said. ''That's the fakest lie you've ever told.''

My father, meanwhile, gave me an incredulous look.

''You stole my weapon!''

I stared at the sword in her hands. ''But it's in your hands?'' I pointed, faking an innocent tone.

''That's the replacement for the original, which is on your waist.'' She said the last part through gritted teeth.

''So by your own admission, I have the original and you have a copy of it. Stop copying me and find your own weapon.'' I said smugly.

Blake stared at me, not believing her four ears.

''… If it wasn't for Cinder, I would be stabbing you right now.'' She saidwith a ticking eye.

Sheesh, so violent.

''Enough.'' Cinder spoke. Blake ceased to say anything, but continued to glare at me in silence. ''Gemini Torchwick, you've caused my mistress quite a lot of trouble.''

''Because you works for someone else!?'' My father squeaked, his face paling.

''Yes, and she's not someone to cross.'' Cinder said. ''You are in luck, because she's willing to forgive your previous defiance against her, provided you submit to her will.''

''Is this a 'work for me or die' type of deal?'' I asked.

''Yes.'' Cinder said simply. ''Refuse, and not only you, but also your father and sister will perish. You know you don't have the power to fight back against me.''

Oh, go and get yourself fucked, Cinder. You think you could just threaten me?

I drew my Gambol Shroud. ''I may not be stronger than you, but you neglected something very important. I have an hostage of my own.'' I said, switching the weapon to its gun mode under the eyes of an amused Cinder.

''You have an hostage? To use against me?'' She scoffed, not realising what I was going for. She wasn't even getting herself ready to fight.

Her minions, however, were not so relaxed about me drawing a weapon. Mercury, Emerald and Blake braced themselves for combat.

But it wasn't at them that I aimed Gambol Shroud at. ''You see, since my soul is the one Augur's and Sibyl's originate from, my death will means they cease to exist as well. Salem would be very upset at you if you were to be the cause of their permanent death, and I doubt you would want Salem to be upset with you, as I'd expect it would have a very negative impact on your life expectancy.'' I pointed the gun at my own head. ''If you don't retract your threats, then I'll kill myself.''

If I killed myself because of Cinder, then she could be the one blamed for Salem losing Augur and Sibyl. I may not be able to kill Salem, and may not know what she was planning for with Augur and Sibyl, but by making her new plans to hinge on these two, Salem leveled the playing field because it meant she couldn't afford for me to die. She had to keep me alive.

Of course, if Cinder was too stupid to recognise that, then my present bluff would fail, but I could always fall back on plan B; pretending to be defeated and submit to her authority while I covertly undermined her. Of course, 'plan A' here was only marginally different from 'plan B' to begin with, since the only point of what I was doing was to wrestle a little bit of independence from Cinder so I could pursue my own goal.

''You cannot be serious…'' Emerald said, staring at me in disbelief. Fortunately, Cinder looked about as displeased as I had hoped, a flash of understanding in her eyes.

Having intelligent opponents was a blessing, because you could count on them to know and pick the best option for themselves. It was stupid ennemies that you had to watch out for, because those were impossible to predict.

''Please, be serious. Do it.'' Blake said, apparently being the type to tell someone about to jump to do a flip. Or maybe she just hated me that much?

''… You are bluffing. There is no way you would take your own life just to spite Salem or me.'' Cinder said. She wasn't wrong, but this wouldn't be much of a bluff if I gave it away at the slightest push from her.

''Would I not? Salem is immortal anyway, so my one life in exchange for screwing her over is about the best I can hope to achieve against her anyway. It's not like I would cease to exist, since souls are eternal anyway.'' I scoffed. ''Beside, are you sure you want to take that bet? People have been sacrificing their lives all the time for millenia. Me pressing the trigger right now would be far from extraordinary.''

Cinder's glare was smoldering, and full of promises of bodily harm. Promises she couldn't afford to fulfil. ''Bluff or not, my mistress would not tolerate me letting you go. So either way, your choice is still death or submission.''

''Then perhaps we can meet in the middle. Rather than try to force me to submit at the risk of me dragging you down to hell with me, we could come to an agreement of mutual cooperation?'' I said, restraining the urge to smirk.

Cinder's eyes narrowed. ''So you want to negociate? Very well, I have some terms that are non-negociable, however.''

''Which are?'' I asked.

''First, we need Roman to steal dust for us.'' Cinder said.

''Hang on, if you want something to do with me, negociate with me, not with my son.'' My father said, still looking terrified, but not unwilling to work his silver tongue if it could get him out of this situation.

I nodded. ''He's my father, I don't have any authority over him. I'm not gonna dictate his terms, so if you want his services, see that with him.''

''Mind your words, child.'' Cinder said. ''You might have gotten the opportunity to haggle your lot in life for the future, but neither your father or you have the option to not be involved. I need large quantities of dust to be stolen, and I will not compromise on that point.''

''Yeah, I know. The problem is that I can't steal that much dust for you. The dust I steal is usually sold to the outer cities down south, and much of my men are people who come from these city and chose to help me so that their home can buy black market dust for cheap.'' My father said, bullshitting Cinder. He was perfectly able to stealing large quantities of dust all on his own, thanks to his semblance, and his 'men' were mostly here to act as connections, legal fronts, or protection against the Grimm when he traveled to the cities in the south. ''They're going to drop me when I stop bringing dust to their home, and I won't have the numbers to launch operations to a large enough scale as what you want.''

''Irrelevant. If number is what you need, we have the White Fang to provide it.'' Cinder said.

Blake scowled in silence, unhappy about the idea of working with my father and I, yet unable to do anything about it. She knew she couldn't oppose Cinder.

Still, I wondered if there was a way I could exploit Blake being forced to go along with Cinder's orders? She clearly didn't like me, but if I could at least turn her against Cinder, then it would weaken the Fall and Winter Maiden's ability to act. The less minions the woman had, the better.

''You want me to work with these lunatics!?'' My father said.

''Screw you, you bastard, we're not lunatics!'' Blake replied.

My father rolled his eyes. ''Sure could've fooled me, kitty. And here I thought you guys were terrorists.''

''It's because of racists like you and your son that we've been left with no other choice but to fight.'' Blake claimed, using the usual excuse the White Fang used to justify robbing trains and caravans. Or worse, for certain cells which weren't Blake's.

Also, fuck you, Blake. Man, was I sick of being called racist. I had enough of that crap back on Earth, so why did I have to put up with this even on Remnant?

''Why do you even need the dust stolen anyway? I can literally just buy that dust from the SDC.'' I asked Cinder. Granted, if I did that, it would leave a very obvious trail right to me, but I doubted Cinder cared about that.

''It's not just about the dust. Buying it instead of stealing won't cause negativity in Vale to raise.'' Cinder said.

''You want Grimm being attracted to Vale? What are you people even trying to do?'' My father asked, shocked.

''That is not for you to know.'' Cinder said, the beginning of flames forming around both of the Mistrali woman's eyes. My father took a step back, gulping in fear.

''Can't the White Fang steal the dust on their own? It's not like you need us for that.'' I said.

''You really do think we're just common thie-'' Blake started to say, but shut herself up when Cinder raised her hand.

''The White Fang have the numbers to pull robbing operations on that scale, but most of them lack the expertise. That's why your father will accompagny the White Fang on these missions.'' Cinder said.

''So much for negotiating.'' My father grumbled.

''Now that that point has been cleared up…'' Cinder said, extending her hand toward me. ''The Staff of Creation. Hand it over.''

''Oh, uh… I don't have it.'' I said lamely.

She glared at me. ''Don't try to lie, I know for a fact you left Atlas with the relic in your possession.'' She said. My father looked at us, confused, and I could see the gears of Blake shift in her eyes.

''Yeah, but I threw it away.''

''You what!? Do you even understand how important these relics are?'' Cinder exclaimed.

''I understand that I don't care about it more than I do my own life, and that thing attracted Grimm like crazy. I had to throw it from my airship to get the Grimm off my back.'' I lied.

''Where!? Where did you throw it?'' Cinder asked, with just a little bit of panic behind her eyes.

''Eh, somewhere in the North Sea? I kind of strayed from the path between Atlas and Vale due to trying to avoid the Grimm, so the search area would be pretty large, dunno where it actually is now.'' I said nonchalantly.

''You… You… Are you insane?'' Cinder blurted out.

''No I'm not. I think?'' I said, holding my chin. ''Am I?''

''You seem sane to me.'' Ruby said. ''I mean, your favorite tactic consist of blowing yourself up, so you're definitely crazy, but I wouldn't call you insane. If that makes sense.''

''Your perception of reality doesn't divert from what it actually is, so yes, you are in fact still sane.'' The Cackler said.

''See? Iamsane! The voices in my head agree.'' I said with a wide smile.

My father gave me a worried look and Cinder pinched the brigde of her nose. Mercury was laughing as Emerald hit him in the ribs with her elbow.

Why was Blake slowly backing away from me?

Cinder rubbed her eyes with one hand. ''Ugh… Alright, fine! It doesn't matter anyway. More important than the staff right now is Slifer. You have the card on you, yes?''

''Yes? What of it?'' I raised an eyebrow.

''Give it.'' Cinder ordered, holding her palm expectingly.

… She wasn't very good at this 'negociating instead of imposing her will on others' thing, was she?

I barked a laugh. ''If you knew how the Egyptian god cards worked, you wouldn't be demanding I simply give it to you. You can't just 'give' one of those cards away, they have to be won, lest you face the gods' wrath.''

Cinder wasn't having any of my attempt to intimidate her out of taking the card, though, and snorted. ''Don't waste your words. My mistress knows the true nature of 'Slifer's' apparition in Atlas, bluffing will lead you nowhere.''

''And I should give it away because? You do remember we are negotiating on equal terms here, right?''

''Oh, but it is not I who demand the card. If you refuse, you'll have to contend with Salem herself about it.'' She said with a smirk, as I glared.

I doubted Salem would be impressed with my suicide bluff. Maybe it could be more than a bluff if my death wouldn't have meant Ruby's, but as it was, someone as old as Salem would no doubt see through it.

I sighed, taking out my deck hidden under my tailcoat. ''Fine then, but don't come complaining to me after I've warned you.'' I said, handing Slifer's card to the Fall and Winter Maiden.

''What happens with the card is no concern of yours anymore.'' Cinder said. ''Now that this is settled, I expect you to take part in our operations and fight alongside myself and my other minions.''

''If you expect me to be of help for burglaries or other criminal activities, I'm afraid you will be disappointed.'' I said, an eyebrow raised. ''While I am at least able to defend myself, I have never taken part in my father's work, and have thus no experience that can benefit you in these matters. I also have my own projects to see to, and I won't cancel them for the sake of your own.''

''Your projects are of secondary importance now. Your new priority is to satisfy my mistress' will. Unless you wish to suffer by her hand. In that case, be my guess.'' Cinder said, earning a snort from my part.

''You do know my best asset is my wealth and that I'm next to useless without said best asset, right?'' I asked rethorically, as I downplayed my skills. ''Maintaining the fruit of my work takes a significant portion of my time. Time I cannot relocate to something else.''

''… I suppose you would be more useful providing ressources than on the battlefield.'' Cinder admitted through pursed lips. ''Fine, I won't press the matter, for now. But I still expect your cooperation in key events.''

''Of course. We both stand to gain from protecting each other against Ozpin, and I hope I can count on you and yours just as much when Ozpin's faction come knocking at my door. I don't think they appreciated me liberating their hands from the staff.''

''No, I imagined they didn't.'' Cinder said, before sighing. ''I suppose that is all for now, we will stay in contact.'' Then she turned her sight on Blake. ''Blake, contact the local White Fang cell and put them under your command. We need to replenish your troops. Mercury, accompany her.'' She ordered, pretending Blake's impotent glare didn't exist.

After that, Cinder and the rest exited my father's hideout. Once they were gone, my father took me by my shoulders, barely keeping himself from panicking.

''Gem! Where were you gone? Who are these people? What's this about relics and a staff? Who in goodness' name is this Salem that bi- Cinder works for!?'' Nevermind, he was actually starting to panic. He almost broke his 'no bad words in presence of children' rule.

''Calm down, father. We've only gotten caught in a multi-millenia shadow war between a body hopping wizard and his ex-wife, the immortal Queen of the Grimm. That's who Salem is, by the way.'' I said, shrugging my shoulders.

''…'' Roman Torchwick said nothing for a moment, frozen by horror. ''We're fleeing the kingdom. I hear Vacuo is nice at this time of the year.''

''It is?''

''Oh no, not at all. Vacuo is never nice.'' My father answered. ''But it certainly beats getting caught up in whatever this mess is.''

I winced. ''Yeah… Unfortunately-''

''I'm not going to like this, am I?'' My father said, to which I shook my head.

''Remember the whole soul fragments thing? Well… Salem has gotten her hands on two of them. Would've been three if I hadn't stopped her forces in Atlas.''

''Okay, you mentionned this Salem already. What's this about immortals and Queen of the Grimm?''

''The Grimm have been lead by an immortal witch since far longer than our written history. She's out to assemble four magic relics left by the Two Brothers gods that will pass jugdment upon Mankind once they will be back, genociding all of us if we 'haven't learn to live in harmony with each other' or something like that. And considering they are the type to condemn the whole for the action of a mere handful of people, something as simple as a sibling's quarrel is likely enough for them to consider us a failure.''

''… Running away to Vacuo seems like an even more attractive option.'' He squeaked, his face pale. ''How do you even know all this?''

I brought my scroll out and opened the Game, taking out the inventory crystal and then the relic within it. ''This is the Lamp of Knowledge, one of the four relics. I learned a lot from it.'' I said, passing my meta-knowledge as the result of the lamp. ''For obvious reasons, Cinder must not learn I have this.''

''If you want to escape the situation, go for it. I'd feel better if my involvement in this didn't endanger you or Neo.'' I said. ''Unfortunately, Salem has made Grimm people out of my aura fragments, so I'm kinda stuck into this.''

''What!?'' My father yelled. ''I… I… I'm not even sure I understand half of the implications of that! Do you have any other bomb like that to drop on me?''

I smiled, holding a finger up. ''In fact, yes, and this one is a good news. One of my aura fragment ended up in a lab in Atlas, and the military used it to make a sapient AI robot.''

''How is that a good news!?'' My father threw his hands in the air.

''It's a good news because the AI super robot is adorable, super sweet, and I've adopted her as my new little sister.'' I said.

''You what? You can't just go and 'adopt' some atlesian top secret project!'' My father said. ''Did you lose your common sense along with your arm?''

''I may only have met Penny once, but if anything happened to her, I would kill everybody on Remnant and then myself.''

''… Son, please, tell me you're being hyperbolic.'' My father said, looking like the most lost man on Remnant.

''Hey! You can't call your own son that!'' Ruby said, offended on my behalf.

… What did Ruby think 'hyperbolic' meant?

''Oh, I also recognised one of the Grimm people Salem made as my daughter. She was made from my soul and her body's DNA is made after my own as well, so she's actually related to me anyway… Well, you're a grandpa now. Congratulation!''

My father staggered. Then his eyes rolled and he fainted, falling on the floor with a thud.

The empire has fallen!

Seriously, though. If a resume of only two days of my misadventures were enough to make him faint, then he was never going to survive the coming months.

/-/

After dragging my father to something more comfortable than the floor, I went to search for my sister, who had been noticeably missing from the encounter with Cinder.

When I opened the door of her room, Neo jerked upright as she saw me, before wincing in pain and being forced to lay down.

I quickly moved to the side of her bed, sitting next to her. She was wearing a pink nightgown, but her arms were also covered in bandages. The bandages didn't stop at her arms either, as she had several bandages under her clothes as well.

''Is Neo going to be alright?'' Ruby asked.

My eyes glanced at the ointments and creams next to the bed. If her injuries, burns if said ointments and creams were anything to go by, were not too deep, then as long as they were changed regularly and her burns weren't exposed to the air, then she should be able to recover without any scarring. Technically, she could be battle ready in a matter of days, but she needed to go through the full treatment to completely recover, and that could take a few weeks.

Was that why she was absent in Volume 1? But that was still a few months away… Unless Cinder found my father early due to Salem's faction knowing about him in advance?

''Cinder was the one who did this, was she?'' I asked my sister, even though I didn't need to do so to know the answer.

My sister nodded, trembling at the memory. The fight had obviously been brutal.

Moving slowly, she grabbed her scroll and typed as I waited, patiently giving her the time to type at a rate she was comfortable with.

''The woman is a monster. Whatever you do, avoid getting on her bad side.'' She warned me. Panic rose on her face as my eyes glanced away, unable to maintain eye contact.

''About that… I have a lot to fill you in.'' I said, scratching the back of my head.

/-/

A few hours later, inside a SDC owned lab…

''Ouch.'' I said, reacting to the small spike of pain as the cutting-edge prosthetic arm connected to my nerves.

I was a cyborg now. Beep boop.

I asked for a few… features, to be added to the arm. It cost extra money, which I didn't care about because I was so rich my bank account didn't even notice the difference, and all the respect of the SDC employee I made the demand to disappeared, but I didn't care what some random guy I didn't even know the name of thought about me. I got that vibration function.

I may never got to use it, since Ruby lost her body, but it was for the memes.

I opened and closed the hand of my new robotic arm several times, getting a feel for how it felt. To be fully honest, the real thing felt more comfortable, but I supposed I just needed to get used to it.

A small price to pay to become cool- Err, I meant, to regain bodily autonomy. Yeah. that's what I meant.

''Hello, brother Gemini and friend Ruby!'' Penny's voice suddenly resounded in my mind.

''Penny! Glad to hear from you, how have you been?'' Ruby asked.

''I… have been mourning. Father's burial is set to happen soon…'' Penny said, her voice sad.

''Oh, Penny…'' Ruby didn't know what to say.

''Take all the time you need to mourn. Just… Just know you'll be okay, alright? You're not alone, we're here for you.'' I said, drawing confused looks from the surrounding SDC employees. I quickly told them I was just talking to my sister, and explained the lack of scrolls being used as long distance talking being her semblance. That was close enough to the truth.

''I know. Thank you.'' Penny said. ''But I have bad news. General Ironwood thinks you've killed friend Ruby and ordered the Ace-Ops after you, for either capture or elimination.''

The what? No, wait! I remember reading about them, a squad of Atlesian Specialists put together from the most skilled ones in the army. Whatever, what was one more problem on the pile at this point?

''I see… Thanks for the warning. That's probably going to be something that will save me.'' I said, smiling even thought Penny could only talk to me and did not see my face. ''And beside how you feel, what's going to happen to you?''

Being a machine created in a lab, I was uncertain of her legal status, and now that Dr Polendina was gone… Was Penny even recognised as a person by the law, or was she legally considered 'state property'?

''I… am unsure?'' Penny said. ''My future was already planned for me to become a huntress, and that has not changed? Why?''

I pressed my lips together. ''Sorry, I'm not somewhere where I can elaborate on why I'm asking that. Just, please, remember that no matter what, you are a person. If the environment you live in has people threatening to have you treated as having no rights, my door will always be open to you. Got it?''

''I'm not sure what's troubling Gem, but I'm with him on always being willing to welcome you.'' Ruby said.

''Ah… Thank you?'' Penny sounded happy to hear that, if a little confused. ''I will remember that. It is so wonderful to have friends!''

I couldn't help a smile from appearing on my face. Despite all the hardship, I was glad to have Ruby and Penny.

/-/

''So… We're meeting the Headmaster of Beacon?'' Yang guessed, that much having become rather obvious as her father and her were currently going up in the academy's elevator leading to Ozpin's office.

''Yes.'' Taiyang said, looking at his daughter with a sad pain in his eyes. ''There's… There's a lot I need to tell you, and Ozpin is an important part of it. It's probably going to sounds unbelievable, but I can vouch that it's all true.''

Yang raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but before she could ask what this had to do with Gemini, the elevator reached it's destination, and the inside of the headmaster's office came into view as the doors opened.

Yang's red gaze explored the room as she entered, her father right alongside her, until she settled on the figure sitting at the desk with his hands clasped together as his pensive eyes met hers.

''Tai, Miss Xiao-Long.'' Ozpin greeted them. ''My condolences for what Gemini has done. How have you taken it so far?'' Not well, obviously, but the point of asking this wasn't to hear if Yang and Tai had taken it well or not, but to get a measure of just how much they were hurting, and express sympathy for their suffering.

Ozpin knew all to well how much it hurt to lose people. No matter how old he was, and how many times it happened, it never ceased to be painful.

Sometimes, he wished it did. Everything would be so much easier.

Yet, at the same times, it was because of how painful losing our loved ones was, that it was important to treasure them and the time spent together.

''I'll be taking it better when Gemini will be a corpse at my feet.'' Yang growled.

''Hmm. Well, that is the reason of our meeting today.'' Ozpin said. ''Your father has insisted that you ought to know what you were getting into, lest you will be unprepared to face your enemy and fall by his hand. I am not keen to share these secrets, for security reasons, but...''

''After everything Team STRQ did for you, and how my family much suffered for your cause, it's the least that you owe us.'' Taiyang said as he crossed his arms.

''Indeed.'' The Headmaster nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, despite his doubts about trusting someone so young with such heavy secrets. Were it not for the fact that Yang would be pursuing Gemini regardless of how much information she had about the situation, and would likely stumble upon these secrets anyway, Ozpin would have refused to include her in confidence. ''Although, every secret shared in this room must obviously not be spread outside of it. I would rather avoid a repeat of Anesi.''

''Who?'' Yang asked, eyebrow raised.

''Someone who believed making those secret common knowledge was for the best. Despite my best efforts, her choice lead to her death and that of others.'' Ozpin said. ''It is for your sake that I warn you to be discreet with these matters.''

Anesi Pithos was a woman of heroic repute. She had believed that revealing Salem's existence to the world would allow Remnant to unite against the threat the dread queen posed. Thus, she went against his orders to keep Salem's existence secret, and it seemed to be working, at first. The rulers of the world had entered an unprecedented alliance, and she found herself entrusted with the largest and most diverse army of warriors, heroes, and brave men that were gracing Remnant in that time.

Salem's counterplay was to disappear off the face of Remnant before anyone could lay their eyes on her, destroying all proof that she had ever existed while she was at it. Unable to find her, or any proof of her existence beyond Anesi's word, murmurs of doubt arose in the hearts of her men. They came to believe that this 'Salem' was nothing but a fabrication, a lie Anesi made up to gain power. They started to plot against her, leading to one of them, Elpis, a trusted friend and confident of her, to pierce her heart with a dagger as she slept. He then attempted to seize power, desperate to keep control of the situation, and prevent total war from erupting.

He failed, and the army divided itself into several warring faction. Elpis was the first to die, though not before admitting to Ozpin, in tears, that Anesi was the one who begged him to kill her, having noticed the growing hatred from her followers and hoping that Elpis, as the 'hero' who stopped the 'lying, power-hungry monster' that others thought Anesi to be, would be able to gain the heart of the people and de-escalate the growing tensions. After his death, the various warlords that emerged from the fragmented army attempted to capture Anesi's daughter to take her as their wife, prizing the power of the silver eyes inherited from her mother. Anesi's son died trying to defend his little sister, who was then passed as prisoner from one side to another, until she died as collateral damage in an eight-sided battle to try to wrestle her from her current captors.

After that, Humanity was destroyed by hatred, war, jealousy, famine, madness, and all of the other world's horrors. Evil ruled the land, and in a matter of mere decades, civilisation had crumbled down into nothing, leaving Mankind back into the stone age. Then Ozpin died, and when he came back, a new kingdom was arising, with little recollection of Humanity's past history.

A kingdom filled with people loyal to their immortal, invincible God-Queen…

Had that been 28 000 years already?

''Right…'' Yang's voice trailed off. ''I'm guessing this is only going to make sense after the explanation?''

Ozpin nodded. ''How much do you know of what Gemini has done after… after his betrayal of your sister?''

''Not much.'' The red-eyed brawler growled. ''I know he went home and changed clothes, took a shower to get rid of the blood. Then… I don't know? He probably went somewhere to nurse his wound and get a prosthetic to replace his missing arm…'' She thought about it some more and… ''I'm guessing he had something to do with what happened in Atlas?''

After all, she hadn't hear of the god cards having been made for the game he created, so that Slifer… Of course he'd keep these for himself.

Ozpin nodded. ''Indeed. A private airship, identified as belonging to him, had been spotted entering Atlas during the Grimm incursion, and the military has been able to confirm his presence during the debacle.''

Yang thightened her fists. ''So that is where he is.''

''Not anymore, I'm afraid.'' Ozpin corrected her. ''Before anyone could get a hold of him, he escaped the kingdom with the Staff of Creation.''

''… The what?'' Yang said. ''Is that the big secret?''

''Yes.'' The Headmaster nodded. ''The Staff of Creation is part of a set of four ancient relics, holders of powers that far surpasses what anyone is able to accomplish. Whoever possesses all four will forever change the fate of Remnant. It goes without saying that not only must the staff be taken back from Gemini, but that he must also be stopped before getting his hands on any of the other relics.''

''And what does this staff does exactly?'' Yang asked. ''I mean, I can take a guess or two given the name, but what's the limit on what it can create?''

''There is technically no hard limit, but there is a soft limit in that the user can only create something if they have detailed instructions of how to make it in the first place. This relic is mostly useful in that it allows one to completely skip the material and time required to make something. The second limitation is that only one thing created by the staff can exist at the same time. Everytime it is used, the previous creation vanishes into nothing.'' Ozpin said.

Yang scratched her head, thinking about what she was learning. ''I mean, that sounds like it could be useful, but I wouldn't call that 'powers that far surpasses everyone'. It kinda just sounds like a powerful semblance in an object, to be honest.''

''The Staff's current creation is an unlimited amount of dust energy that is necessary to keep Atlas in the air.'' Ozpin said, his eyes on Yang as he watched the girl pale as the implications slowly dawned on her.

''Wha- but… Who's genius idea was it?'' She asked, flabbergasted. Atlas' leaders really went and trusted their lives, and everything else, on a poorly understood ancient mcguffin?

''Not mine, I assure you.'' Ozpin said. Seriously, you died for a couple of years and that was all it took for the council of an entire kingdom to decide that a city totally belonged in the sky. All he could do now was make sure it fell back on the ground later, rather than sooner. ''Right now, Gemini possesses the power to destroy an entire kingdom. I understand you wish for revenge, but I hope you can, in turn, understand how… delicate the situation is.''

''Are you telling me I shouldn't go after Gemini?'' Yang asked, crossing her arms. ''Because even if I pretended to agree not to, I'm pretty sure everyone in this room would know without a doubt that I'd be lying.''

Ozpin chuckled at that. ''We would, yes. But no, that is not what I was getting at. Gemini Torchwick needs to die. But the problem is that if you are going to go after him, you need to be sure you'll be able to kill him before he gets to activate the staff. Too many people would die otherwise.''

Yang winced at the thought. ''I'm strong enough to kill him…'' She protested, somewhat weakly. Being strong enough to kill him wasn't necessarily being strong enough to do so before he ruined Atlas. She didn't know how these relics thing were used, but… That was the entire problem, wasn't it?

''Are you?'' Ozpin asked. ''According to General Ironwood, Gemini won a spar against one of his most prized Specialist, Winter Schnee, when he spent some time in Jacques' home. It appears that he was holding back when sparing with your sister, by a lot. He's much stronger than he let on.''

''He's also going to be accompagnied by that sister of his.'' Tai reminded his daughter. ''She's as strong as you are.''

''So what? What do you want from me?'' Yang asked.

''What I want is for you to not go in alone.'' Tai sighed. ''I want you, us, to be prepared for that fight. Make no mistake, we are going to get that little bastard. But it's going to take time to prepare for that fight, with the first step being knowing where he's hiding. In the meantime, the best you can do is get stronger in preparation for that day.''

That was when things clicked in Yang's head. In insight, it was kind of obvious, given where they were. ''Ruby's murderer is out there, and you want me to go to school?'' She asked, incredulous.

''You say that as if Beacon was an ordinary school.'' Ozpin said, his calm unperturbed. ''The huntsmen and huntresses that come to Beacon are known to grow by leaps and bounds. As frustrating as the idea of not immediately chasing Gemini's trail is, I have no doubt that you wouldn't regret the decision of attending Beacon until the day of his comeuppance come.''

''What else are you going to do? Run and get lost in the streets because you have no idea of where to start your search? Even if you were to find him, Neo and him would just kill you, and he'd have gotten away with murdering Ruby.'' Taiyang pointed out. ''Going to Beacon isn't a waste of time. You'll not only get strong enough to be able to accompagny us when we'll go after him, but will also gain teammates who'll stand by you. That's more people on your side to face him.''

Yang had to restrain herself from scoffing. More people on her side? So? She was already so strong that training with the other trainees in Signal wasn't helping her grow anymore, and that was before she started to train with Neo.

Unless one of her teammates happened to be Pyrrha Nikos, Yang doubted they'd be of much use against Neo. Or Gemini himself, since he was apparently sandbagging back at home. Even then, that wasn't going to be a clean tournament fight with rules. She watched the girl's televised fights. Pyrrha was good, exeptionally so, but how much of her skills remained outside of a ring?

''There is also the fact that Gemini has already gone after one of the relics, so it is very possible that he will come after the other three as well. That means he will eventually target me, and thus come to Beacon, to learn the location of the Crown of Choice that I protect and keep hidden.'' Ozpin said, causing Taiyang to give him the stink eye. Ozpin and him had talked about this beforehand, but that was the part he liked the least. ''By staying at Beacon, you would be close by if, or rather when, he comes at the school. A prime opportunity to get him.''

What Ozpin said wasn't technically wrong, but the old wizard almost made it sound like he was using the school as bait for Yang to find and kill Gemini.

Truth be told, Taiyang would much prefer his remaining daughter not get involved in that fight, but he knew that was something Yang's anger couldn't accept, and he was worried that not being part of this would leave her feeling like she couldn't get closure. He was scared of how she'd take it, of how she would go on after Gemini's death, whether she took part in it or not… He knew that if it wasn't for the blood-boiling fact that that bastard was still out there, he likely wouldn't be anymore functional than when he lost Summer.

Part of his reasons for convincing Yang to attend Beacon, was that he hoped she would have good teammates, people she would grow close to and be able to live for after they were done with Gemini.

''While you focus on your training, I'll be searching for intel on Gemini. Both to be able to find him, and know what to expect. There's no point having more than one person on that job.'' Taiyang said.

Yang frowned, hesitating on what decision to make. Her father and Ozpin made good points, but it felt so wrong to not directly go after Gemini… Then she had an epiphany.

Weiss Schnee… Yang knew that Gemini and her hated each other, but they were still fianced, right? So Weiss had to know where Gemini was, or at least being able to contact him. And since Weiss was coming to Beacon, then that meant going to the school as well was her ticket to find him.

''Alright, then. I'll go to Beacon and get stronger.'' Yang said, punching her palm. ''Gemini won't know what hit him. Now, is there anything else I need to know? Anymore important secrets''

''I do not believe so, Miss Yang.''

''Oz!'' Taiyang almost growled. They had talked about this before. Oz and him settled on the compromise that they would tell Yang what was relevant to Gemini, but Ozpin would withhold information that Yang didn't need to know. The kind of information from which there was no going back and lock Yang in his war against Salem.

''I know, Tai, but our initial assumptions were wrong.'' Ozpin said.

''Uh? What was wrong?'' Yang asked.

Ozpin stared at her for a moment, before releasing a sigh. ''Back when Team STRQ was still together, they worked with me to stop a group of nefarious individuals who seeked the relics. When I learned what Gemini did, I initially suspected that this group had rebuild themselves and that Gemini was part of it. It would have made sense for this group to have wanted to get rid of Summer's daughter before her silver eyes became a problem for them.''

Yang's eyes widened, her mind running wild with conjectures. ''Is- is this group the one responsible for mom's death? Who are they?'' And why would Ruby's power be a problem for them? Her eyes only worked against Grimm, right?

''… I'm afraid I can't disclose the details on who they are, as that would reveals secrets that have nothing to do with Gemini. The kind of secrets there is no going back from.'' Yang glared at Ozpin, not liking what he said. ''But what I can disclose, is that the group had been almost entirely wiped out not long before your own birth. It is not impossible that they were the ones responsible for Summer's disappearance, but it is unlikely that they had reformed enough to be able to pull it off. They've only recently become active again, after all. As for Gemini, I now know that he is not part of that group because they tried to use the chaos of the Grimm incursion on Atlas to steal the Staff of Creation, and Gemini fought them to take it for himself. It appears that they are both their own unrelated faction.'' Ozpin said.

''In any case,'' Ozpin continued, ''this group are my enemies. I suggest you focus on yours for now. If, after Gemini is done, you wish to protect the world against them, then the decision ultimately belongs to you. I won't try to influence you to be involved, though. I doubt Tai would appreciate it.''

''I wouldn't.'' Taiyang confirmed, wishing the subject would change to something else already. He then spoke to his daugther. ''Like Oz said, it's your decision, but this isn't… This is the sort of decisions only an adult should make, so please, do wait until then, alright? You already have enough to do with Gemini anyway.''

''Yeah, yeah, I get it.'' Yang rolled her eyes. She knew her father was just worried for her, but him essentially jsut repeating what Ozpin just said was annoying. She wasn't deaf!

But she was stubborn, and no matter how many times her father tried to warn her, is there was even a small chance this mystery group was involved with her mom's death, then there was no way she was turning her back on that.

''Well, as things stand, it is my pleasure to welcome you to my school, Miss Xiao-Long.'' Ozpin said, giving her a kind smile as he extended a hand.

Yang took the offered handshake. ''Pleasure's mine, can't wait for the year to start.''

/-/

Blake entered the White Fang's warehouse under the watchful eyes of the local cell's guards, Mercury following right behind her, uncaring for the glares of the masked Faunus around them.

Instead, the human mercenary winked at one of the women amongst the guards, who pursed her lips in disgust.

''Eh, not one of these guys could take me.'' Mercury thought. Why would he be worried when the only half-decent fighter these guys had was the scaredy cat? And even she was nowhere near able to beat him.

Said scaredy cat made her way to the center of the warehouse, where the leader of Vale's branch was waiting for them, what was left of her cell around him.

''Miss Belladonna.'' Zak Serpent greeted her, the mask hiding his eyes as he evaluated her new… 'friend'. ''Your men filled me in on the situation. A group of humans have an offer we can't refuse?'' He said, the corner of his lips lifted ever so slightly in amusement.

''Quite. Their leader isn't a woman the White Fang can afford to ignore.'' Blake said, keeping her face neutral. ''I trust you have no objection to me taking over the operations in Vale? I can vouch that this is in the White Fang's best interest.''

A tense silence filled the room, as the commander of the Valean branch seemingly thought about it.

''Well, far from me to doubt a sister in the White Fang, especially one with such a distinguished background as yourself. If there is anything I can do to help with the transition of leadership?'' Zak asked. He was honestly more agreeable than Mercury had expected.

Blake nodded, before turning to the human at her side. ''There, is Cinder going to be happy with this?''

He shrugged. ''I dunno about 'happy', but that's what she asked you to do, so whatever.''

''Then should we go back and report the take over? The sooner that's done, the sooner I can start on the actual work.'' Blake said, to which Mercury just shrugged again. Ugh, this guy's inability to care for anything was seriously getting on her nerves.

''You sure? Cause I wouldn't mind staying here for a bit. With how the ladies here are staring at me, pretty sure I could get myself a date.'' Mercury joked, reveling in the glares from said 'ladies' present amongst the grunts.

''Mercury, just get on with it.'' Blake said.

He rolled his eyes and pouted. ''Pfft, you're even less fun than Emerald.'' He said, before turning around and walking away, assuming Blake would follow behind him.

Then he heard the sound of a sword being drawn, and turned back on instinct to kick away Gambol Shroud's blade.

''Now!'' Blake yelled. At her order, the faunus grunts around them started shooting at him.

''Oh, bad kitty. You just made a huge mistake.'' Mercury thought, as he danced between the bullets, not getting touched by a single one, before countering Blake's attempt to follow-up her initial assault, sending her away from him with a hard kick to the guts.

The unkown here was this Zak guy, but as long as he was roughly as weak as Blake… Well, he wasn't worried about the issue of this fight.

Blake charged back at him, with Zak coming at him from another direction. Mercury puts his hands to the ground and whirled his legs, kicking both away with a hard blow each. Blake saw the kick coming, however, and used her semblance to let a clone take the hit and give her the opening to wrap Gambol Shroud's ribbon around Mercury's leg.

Another mistake on her part. While that gave her leverage on Mercury's limb, it also gave him leverage on Blake's arm that was holding the other side of the weapon. Mercury pulled on the connexion, dragging Blake toward him, and delivered an axe kick on her head, before dodging some more bullets from the grunt.

Blake fell onto the ground, the hit she just received hurting her head and making her mind dizzy.

Zak then used his semblance, and two black snakes made of aura emerged from his shoulders and extended toward Mercury. Cinder's minion might not know what they did, but he wasn't about to let them touch him to find out. He deftly evaded the snakes, and was about to attack Zak… When Blake, still on the ground, pulled as hard as she could on her weapon's ribbon, causing Mercury to falter and and trip.

Thus, he couldn't stop the snakes from biting him, and while it didn't injure him, his mind blanked and he stopped moving.

Zak Serpent's semblance, Slithers, were two snakes-like constructs of aura that temporarily blanked the mind of whomever they bit and only giving back their victim's cerebral capacity once they released their hold on them. They weren't perfectly defenseless, however, because while their mind were empty, their body could still react on instinct. Mercury couldn't act anymore, but if someone tried to punch him, his body could still throw a kick in the direction the blow came from, even if he lacked the agency to pursue the offensive after that.

But alas for Mercury, Zak knew his own semblance well, and wasn't about to provoke the mercenary's muscle memory. Instead, he tied him up, careful not to trigger the boy's ingrained fighting reaction by acting slowly.

When he called back his semblance, Mercury came back to himself to find out he had been tied up, and his prosthetic legs taken from him, leaving him infirm and unable to fight.

''Well, shit. What did these snakes things do to me?'' He asked, more befuddled and curious than scared. Hey, as far as he was concerned, whatever happened happened. He had never been taken prisoner before, so that promised to be new at least.

''I'm not explaining my semblance to an enemy, even a captured one.'' Zak said, before giving orders to his men. ''Lock him up, I'll extract what information can be taken from him later.''

Two grunts from his cell took a step to take Mercury, but Blake signaled for them to stop and spoke up. ''Actually, I'd prefer for him to be a prisoner of my cell. Cinder and her madness is my cell's problem to deal with. I know I will need support to be able to take care of the issue, but outside of sharing resources and being allowed to recruit on your territory to refill my cell's numbers, I do not wish to burden you anymore than necessary.''

''… Very well, I have no reason to refuse having my cell's activities remaining unperturbed.'' Zak nodded. ''You can take custody of the human.''

''Thank you.'' Blake gave a slight bow of her head. She knew that Zak would have disposed of Mercury once he was done with the mercenary, and truth be told, that didn't sit right with her. She loathed killing, but beyond that, she learned about how Mercury didn't choose to join Cinder, but that was a decision Cinder made for him after she had been too late to recruit his father, Marcus Black, and Mercury rolled with it because it was that or death.

She doubted Mercury would dare turn against Cinder, but if after the madwoman was dead there was a chance Mercury could just be released safely, then she was fine with keeping him alive and locked up until then.

The only ones who needed to die were Cinder, because she couldn't be allowed to destroy Beacon and huntsmen, who protected everyone, and Gemini. Not just because he was racist and killed a friend of her, though she struggled to reconcile her values with her well-deserved hatred of him and didn't know what she would do if it was that alone, but because she learned today that killing him was the only way to get rid of the human-Grimm monsters that were Augur and Sibyl.

-dudududududududududududududududududududududududunsparce! The one billion segments Dunsparce!

Ilia: ''Someone… please… Give me Hell instead of this…''

Oh come one, that was fun.

Ilia: ''Then don't give me 'fun' ever again. You're the worst! Why can't I have a normal afterlife instead of being here!?''

Aww, love ya too, Ilia.

Anyway, the poll had 14 votes with 8 saying A Wicked Game isn't a crackfic. So I guess the people made its voice heard and majority vote declared it's not, for now. And amongst the 6 who voted yes, 4 were on the 'and it's a good thing' side instead of disliking it. Quite a few of you amongst the review also expressed your opinion in more details, which was deeply appreciated. Thank you all.

New poll is up, do you give Rubes a cookie?

To be honest, I'm not 100% satisfied with the beginning of the chapter. I rewrote it multiple times, but I can't help but feel like it doesn't live up to what I had in mind... It's been too long since last chapter, though, and I didn't want to make everyone wait a decade. Hopefully you will be happier with it than I am.

I'm not sure what name to give next chapter. It might not follow the 'named after game-related word' theme so far, since Gemini isn't going to be the focus of next chapter for the first time in the fic. (Doesn't mean he won't have a scene or two with him, but most of the chapter's going to be about someone else.)

See you guys for Chapter 25. Hopefully it won't take 5 months this time.