Well, we're finally at the end! This had probably been one of my favorite adaptations to do, especially given the circumstances of adapting RWBY Volume 8 as a whole when Volume 9 is in the works. Obviously, I hope Rooster Teeth gives us something amazing as by the time I'm writing this, the latest volume hasn't even started.

I'd like to extend a big thanks to TerrorKing10 for his help with editing the story as a whole, especially with the amazing cover he created. He's done a lot, and I'm happy that he was able to help me with this endeavor. Hopefully, I can return the favor someday soon.

So, we left off from quite a huge chapter last time. How are we gonna close things out? Well, let's find out!

REALITY

Out on the Atlesian tundra, Arthur watched on alongside Ultron as the floating city of Atlas had just been touched down into Mantle's crater. Only so much dust billowed from its impact that it could hardly be seen. The scientist narrowed his eyes.

"Why did you get me out?" he asked curiously.

"With Salem's defeat, any remaining resources of hers need to be properly associated with other members of Kronos," the android responded, not bothering to turn his head, "You've proven to be a valuable asset throughout your tenure under her," he mentioned.

"I… wouldn't exactly phrase it like that…" Arthur admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "Still…" he continued, "I can't believe that Salem was bested…" he said.

"It doesn't bode well for this universe, certainly," Ultron noted in agreement, "But had she had our assistance, this could've turned out very differently…" he assumed. At that moment, a purple portal appeared behind the pair, getting their attentions. They saw Eon walking out from it.

"We need to go," he told them.

"Have you figured out where she's gone?" the android asked of the time walker.

"I will," he affirmed in reply, "In the interim, we need to reconvene at Evernight," he advised seriously, "We have another problem on our hands," he pointed out.

"She lost the stone, didn't she?" Ultron guessed.

"It was shattered," Eon confirmed, much to his and Arthur's surprise, "Raven Branwen took one of the pieces and used it with the Staff of Creation to undo the Reality Break Salem formed," he explained, "Now that the Omni Force can freely travel to and from this universe and have neutralized our forces," he continued, "we have no place here except to return to our base of operations," he told the pair.

"Very well…" the android said in response, "Would you like for me to send a few of my sentries to help you?" he assumed.

"That would be appreciated," the time walker answered with a nod, "Now go," he advised firmly. No more words were exchanged as Ultron and Arthur entered the rift, though the latter looked back at the Kronos Alliance leader for a brief moment curiously before leaving. He removed his helmet, revealing his face as he let off an enraged expression.

The Omni Force may have not taken the Reality Stone, but breaking it was far worse. And with Salem gone for the moment, there was no telling how shattered it really was. Putting his helmet back on, Eon formed another purple portal, which he walked through. In spite of everything, he would be sure to get vengeance against his foes, especially for his beloved…

UNIVERSE-?

"This cannot be overlooked, Arawan," Arishem said as his form stood enormously over Xiaomei, whose head was lowered with shame, "She interfered with Universe-Four-Zero-Four-Zero's natural progression," he pointed out seriously, "Her choices to intervene on not one, but two individuals' psyches is a cause for great concern," he mentioned on, "From that alone, it should be enough to warrant you relieving her of her duties as an Eternal in your universe," he advised. Next to him was a colossal figure that was womanly in shape. She had long, flowing cyan hair and five jewels on the crown of her head. She appeared to be wearing a tight suit, making her look as if she was robotic, having a white and light blue color pattern across her body, along with grey gloves and boots. She was seated upon a mass of rock with green wires of energy plugged into her arms and legs from it. She opened her eyes, looking down at the oracle as her head remained lowered.

"Is there something you would like to say, Xiaomei?" she asked. The Eternal lifted her head up.

"My only intention was to watch, yes," she admitted in response, "But I cannot stand idly by watching when I know more people may suffer because of it," she confessed on.

"Then perhaps you may require a new assignment to your duties," Arawan suggested.

"What?!" Arishem exclaimed.

"Xiaomei had peered through time in many universes, sometimes merely for entertainment," his fellow Celestial pointed out, "But in the cases where she's received requests to help locate objects or people, she has taken that goal very seriously and then some," she noted on, "I understand that you were involved in a very interesting ordeal just recently," she mentioned to the Eternal, who merely nodded.

"Then what do you suggest exactly, Arawan?" the judge Celestial inquired.

"Let Xiaomei continue her viewing duties," she answered, "Her interferences will be scrutinized, but likely not affect much in the grand scheme of what occurs in the observed universes," she explained, "That is, so long as she doesn't leave an impression on certain individuals…" she mentioned in correction.

"…Very well…" Arishem responded after another moment, "You may resume your duties, Xiaomei," he said, disappearing in a massive red portal.

"Huh…" the time oracle sighed with relief, "Thank you for vouching for my life, Arawan," she said with gratitude to the female Celestial, bowing her head to her.

"Anything to help someone whose power I granted long ago in order to view the rest of the multiverse," she responded with a small smile, "Incidentally, I believe you still have more of your current tale to get through, correct?" she assumed.

"Oh, yes!" Xiaomei answered quickly, "Please excuse my rudeness…" she pleaded apologetically with a bow. The female Celestial silently chuckled, watching as the time oracle took a deep breath to calm herself.

We've come to the end of this grand tale, everyone. After all the setbacks and mishaps in Atlas, our heroes have successfully saved its people, bringing them far from any conflict. In fact, they've managed to reactivate their MPGs, allowing them to transport the refugees to Universe-57.

To accomplish this, Raven shattered the Reality Stone and had Ambrosius use one of its pieces to reconnect the bridges between the worlds to theirs. And as such, the Omni Force could finally arrive to help evacuate the people. But… not all is well…

During the battle in the central location, Jenny sacrificed herself to try and stop Cinder. It's difficult to determine if her actions were necessary. I believe that if she hadn't, everyone still in the central location would have died with her.

So with the Reality Stone destroyed, Salem defeated, and Cinder taken into custody, our heroes all reunite back in Universe-57… They attained victory. But was the cost too great?

UNIVERSE-57

OMNITRIX CITY

"Everyone, please calm down!" Rex pleaded with his hands held out to the murmuring crowd of Atlesian refugees. They had just arrived in Omnitrix City, still panicked and overwhelmed by all of the things that had happened. Standing by the portals that more were coming through were Kazuto Kirigaya, Asuna Yuki, Juvia Lockser, Hiro Hamada, and Ahsoka Tano.

"There's probably going be thousands of people coming through…" the swordswoman noted with a grimace, "Where are we all gonna put them?" she wondered in concern.

"Sunset and Law already came up with a plan for that," Hiro chimed in, "We just need to help with making sure they feel safe," he pointed out seriously.

"Right…" Kazuto agreed, narrowing his eyes. At that moment, he noticed another portal opening up nearby. Coming out from it were Ben, Sunset, and Toshinori. "Guys!" the swordsman called out, getting their attentions as they saw him waving to them.

"How'd you figure out what was going on?" the Biomnitrix bearer asked of his best friend.

"Paradox," she replied, "He looked through Forty-Forty's timeline and let us know what you guys were planning," she explained, "At least, once the Reality Break was taken care of," she mentioned.

"Reality Break?" Ben repeated in confusion.

"We'll talk about it later," Sunset assured in response, shutting down the portal behind them, "In the meantime, let's get everyone situated," she insisted.

"Right," the Omni Force leader responded. As more refugees exited the portals, so too did the likes of Qrow, Marrow, Harriet, Robyn, Elm, and Vine. They looked around in bewilderment, shocked to find themselves in another universe, which had a futuristic style that put even Atlas to shame.

"So this is what it's like for the kids…" the former of the group realized with a grin. Coming out of the rifts next were Obi-Wan and Tifa, as the latter grimaced from her wounds. Ahsoka took notice and widened her eyes a little at the sight of the Jedi.

"Agh…" the bar hostess groaned out as her knees buckled a little. Luckily, Obi-Wan was able to catch her… along with Ahsoka. He blinked in surprise to see her there.

"Ahsoka…" he uttered.

"Master Kenobi…" she said, giving him a small smile. Meanwhile, Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Uh, hate to break up the reunion, but I'm kinda bleeding out here…" she noted to them, getting their attentions.

"Right, sorry!" the Togruta apologized, leading her away. She shot a grin back to Obi-Wan, who smiled. Weiss, Blake, Danny, Genji, Kim, Hazel, Nora, Ren, Jaune, Starlight, Victor, Erza and Kevin were the next group of people to come out from the portals alongside the refugees, marveling the sights of Omnitrix City. The cat Faunus looked around before catching sight of Ben coming over. She ran toward him, causing him to blink in surprise before he found himself embraced by her, hearing her sob into his chest.

"I'm okay…" he assured, patting her head gently, "I'm okay…" he repeated, hugging her warmly. Sunset and Toshinori looked on with smiles. Meanwhile, Weiss and Danny took notice of Winter and Sabo walking over.

"Winter!" the ex-heiress cried out, causing her older sister to perk up before seeing her approach, hugging her without a second thought.

"Weiss…" she uttered, sighing with relief as she wrapped her arms around her, "Oh, thank goodness you're alright…" she said, hearing Weiss sniffle. Sabo glanced back to see that the Bad Batch was leading the unconscious James away, likely to get imprisoned.

"So…" Danny began, getting his attention, "all worked out on your end, huh?" he assumed. The Flame-Flame user chuckled, adjusting his top hat.

"With a little help, yeah," he answered, glancing over to see Luffy talking with some of the refugee children, laughing with them. One by one, more people exited the portal. Sunset and Toshinori approached to see Enji and Gaara exit, carrying the unconscious Cinder and Neopolitan respectively. The Hellflame Quirk user widened his eyes upon seeing the number one hero.

"All Might…" he uttered out.

"Endeavor…" the One For All inheritor said, quite surprised himself. Meanwhile, the Equestrian Magic user looked over at the pair of unconscious enemies, seeing their many injuries, specifically the mangled limbs of Neopolitan.

"What the hell happened?" she asked of the Kazekage, who looked away ashamedly.

"I…" he tried to say, letting out a sigh. Sunset blew a raspberry, realizing that he wasn't ready to talk just yet. She put her hands onto her hips.

"Let's get these two treated," she insisted, "We'll worry about processing them later," she decided. Everyone nodded in agreement, with All Might leading Enji and Gaara to where they needed to go. Robyn reunited with her fellow Happy Huntresses, sharing a group hug with them. In the meantime, Yang was the next to come out from the portals, carrying a barely conscious Wendy. Oscar and Emerald followed, with the former looking worriedly at the Sky Dragon Slayer.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked of the blonde-haired huntress, whose lilac eyes shimmered a little.

"I dunno…" she answered honestly with a shake of her head, "Back in there, when she was fighting Cinder…" she recalled, "she wasn't… like herself…" she noted.

"What does that mean?" Emerald questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"Wendy!" a familiar voice cried out, getting their attentions as they saw Carla hurrying over in her Exceed form, tearing up at the sight of her friend in Yang's arms. She opened her eyes to see her partner coming.

"Carla…" she uttered with a small smile. The Exceed leapt into her grasp, sobbing into her chest as she petted her gently. The others looked on with smiles. Raven and Penny exited from the portals next, with the Winter Maiden scanning the immediate area before picking up the location of a few people in particular. She rocketed off without a word, flying over.

"Thank you for picking us up," Pietro said in gratitude while aboard his moving chair, being beside Maria, "Honestly, we didn't know what to do after things with Amity went south…" he admitted. He and the former silver-eyed warrior were talking with a slender young woman with light skin and platinum blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a white combat suit with black accents, orange-yellow ombre fabric attached on the front and back of her suit, dark boots, a gold halo-shaped headband on her head, and a pair of white mechanical wings on her back.

"It's quite alright," she responded in a Swiss accent, putting her left hand over her heart, "We're thankful that at least an associate of the Omni Force was with you," she pointed out.

"Is that what Carla is?" Maria inquired out of confusion, tilting her head to the side.

"Dad!" Penny's voice cried out, getting their attentions as they saw the Winter Maiden land nearby.

"Penny…!" Pietro gasped in both shock and relief. His daughter hurried over to embrace him warmly. "Oh, my baby girl…" he uttered, "I thought I lost you all over again…" he admitted as sobbed a little, "What happened?" he asked.

"A… lot…" the robot girl responded, slowly pulling herself away, "How did you get here?" she asked curiously.

"Doctor Ziegler here came and picked us up once the whole portal-making things that those Omni-boys and girls have started working again," Maria answered.

"She tracked us thanks to a chip Carla had in case she got separated from the group, since she's not actually an Omni Force member," Pietro mentioned in explanation.

"Doctor Angela Ziegler," the slender woman introduced, holding her right hand out to the Winter Maiden, "It's nice to meet you," she greeted.

"…L-Likewise…" Penny stammered in response, taking her hand and shaking it gently. Maria narrowed her mechanical eyes in concern.

"Did… something else happen while we were away?" she inquired. As Penny let go of Angela's hand, she looked off to the side sadly while clutching the blue bolt in her hand. Understanding, her father went over to hug her, letting her cry into his shoulder for as long as she needed to.

Ruby was the last one to come out from the portals, allowing for them to be closed by her teammates of the Omni Force. She looked around, remembering the last time she was in this universe. She balled her hands into fists. What her problems had wrought led her all the way back here.

"Hey, Ruby?" Yang said, getting her attention as she perked up to see her older sister, "You okay?" she asked in concern. At that moment, the silver-eyed huntress' eyes teared up as she embraced her blonde-haired sister instantaneously, making her yelp in pain.

"I thought I'd never see you again…!" she confessed through whimpers. Yang held her close as she wrapped her arms around her.

"Yeah… I did, too…" she admitted. Looking over at them, Raven gave off a somber expression, imagining herself and Summer like that. She sighed, knowing that she would never get to enjoy such a moment because of her own selfish choices. As people were still murmuring about in the crowd, with Rook Blonko now joining Rex in the effort to calm them down, Sunset stepped out in front of everyone. In a flash of light, her skin turned amber as she gained a long ponytail, pony ears, and angelic wings. She flapped them to float up above the crowd, getting their attentions.

"Alright, listen up!" she called out, "We all know that many of you are really confused about this situation," she noted, "Put simply, you're in a world that's kinda different from your own," she told them. Some of the refugees continued to murmur nervously. The Equestrian Magic user rolled her eyes. "Okay, very different…" she corrected, "Good news, you're not going to need to stay here forever," she assured, "The City of Atlas is still standing, even though it's not in the sky anymore," she said, "And so is Mantle, even if it's been a bit roughed up," she mentioned.

"What about the Grimm?" one person in the crowd asked, "Are they still there?" he questioned on.

"The Grimm will be dealt with by us," Rook chimed in as an answer, "We will be working to exterminate them from your cities until we deem them safe for you all to return to," he vowed. His estranged wife smiled, thankful for his help.

"Along with that, we'll help rebuild the cities from all damages they've suffered," Rex mentioned.

"Will Atlas ever take to the skies again?" another person asked.

"Are we going to be to travel to and from Atlas and Mantle freely?" a woman questioned. Many of the refugees were clamoring for answers, making those trying to address them grimace in frustration. At that moment though, Ben approached.

"You can't expect us to answer all of your questions right now," he told the refugees, "All we can promise you is that we're willing to shelter everyone here for as long as needed," he explained.

"Exactly," Rook affirmed, "If you can, please convene in small groups of at most ten people," he advised of the crowd, "We will organize living arrangements and regularly inform you of the situations in your respective cities," he explained on.

"You've all been through a long few days from what we've heard, some more than others…" Sunset noted, "So please, take this time to relax while we figure things out for the future for you all," she requested of the refugees, who stopped murmuring. There was a long silence of contemplation amidst the crowd.

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?" one spectacled man asked, getting others' attentions. Blake was surprised, remembering that it was the drunkard that she and her friends had met when they first arrived in Mantle. "Let's group up, people!" he insisted. Soon, the refugees were bringing themselves together, some being mixes of Faunus and humans. The Equestrian Magic user sighed with relief, lowering herself to the ground and deactivating her ponied up form. She looked over to Ben, giving him a grateful smile for his aid.

"Well…" Qrow uttered, standing alongside his sister as she looked over at him, "all's well that ends well…" he remarked. The Spring Maiden glanced down in thought before letting off a small smile.

"Yeah…" she agreed. The danger was over for now. But the implications of what was to come still lingered…

X

Ruby was going through everything in her head that had happened in the past 24 hours. Dealing with the Hound, going through the turmoil of what Salem had done to people like her mother, coming up with a flawed plan to deal with James' forces and evacuate the whole kingdom, and having to ultimately rely on others to be successful.

"Rose…" a voice echoed in her head, "Rose!" the voice shouted, trying to get her attention. She blinked in surprise when a set of tattooed fingers snapped in front of her face. She looked over to see Trafalgar Law there. "You still with us?" he inquired, narrowing his eyes.

"Y-Yeah, sorry…" she stuttered apologetically. She was in the conference room of Omni Force Tower, with Sunset, Erza, Gaara, Toshinori, and Angela present as well. The Equestrian Magic user was pacing back and forth.

"So this… Reality Stone thing that Salem used to… veil your universe…" she started to say, "you guys got it back and ended up breaking it?" she assumed.

"Well… Raven did…" Ruby responded.

"I still can't believe that she was working with you…" Law admitted with a shake of his head.

"I can," Erza chimed in, much to his surprise, "What I'm having trouble believing is Salem's allies joining forces with you…" she noted, narrowing her eyes, "What exactly happened?" she inquired of the Team RWBY leader.

"A lot…" she answered with a sigh, "Look… I can't go into everything right away, okay?" she told her colleagues, "I'm just as worn out as Ben right now…" she pointed out, "I know that's no excuse considering he did way more, while I screwed everything up…" she mentioned in admittance, setting her arms against the table as she looked down in thought, "The choices I made in Atlas… they led to a lot of people getting hurt…" she noted as her comrades looked to her worriedly, "Sometimes, even killed…" she added solemnly.

"Ruby…" Sunset uttered as she walked over, only to stop her approach and sigh, "Okay, maybe we shouldn't be asking you everything right away…" she admitted, "But, you shouldn't feel like you're a failure," she insisted, putting a hand onto her shoulder, "You still saved all those people," she mentioned assuredly. The silver-eyed huntress stood up from her seat.

"Thanks," she said before walking away, heading out of the room.

"So, do we ask what happened on your end of things?" Law questioned of Gaara, making him perk up, "I saw that girl's injuries…" he pointed out, "What the hell happened in there?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"I…"

"Traffie, that's enough," Sunset insisted, interjecting Gaara before he could respond. All eyes focused on her as she took her seat. "I'm sure Paradox is gonna come to get that team he brought together and bring their members back to their own worlds," she told her colleagues, "He'll talk to us about anything we need to know," she affirmed.

"In the meantime, I believe our focus should not only be attending to the refugees, but also to making sure that their kingdom is safe to return to," Angela chimed in as she sat down in her own chair. The others took their seats as well.

"We'll probably need a team to help deal with the Grimm before thinking about trying to make repairs," Sunset assumed.

"Huh…" Law sighed deeply, "Guess I'll volunteer for that gig…" he muttered out, leaning back in his seat.

"You sound so excited…" Erza grumbled sarcastically. Meanwhile, Ruby was still standing by the doorway, having not completely left yet.

"As for the refugees themselves, how long do you guys think they'll need to stay here?" the Equestrian Magic user inquired.

"Maybe a week or so depending upon the situation in Atlas…" Angela assumed.

"What about the prisoners?" Toshinori inquired, "What are we to do with them?" he asked on as the silver-eyed huntress started walking away, wiping her teary eyes. The whole situation had spiraled out of control because of her poor leadership. And whenever she thought she had taken the right step forward, she had actually gone two steps back. She pressed onward as she sniffled, wanting to move on from today and focus on tomorrow.

"So there's also the Staff and the Lamp to worry about," Law mentioned, "Last time one of them was here, it got snatched," he pointed out.

"We'll cross that bridge with Ruby and her team later on," Sunset assured in response, "As for everyone we've detained, we'll release who we see fit tomorrow," she decided.

"I'm sure Ben will have a say in that," Angela affirmed.

"Speaking of whom, where is he now?" Toshinori inquired, "I would hope he's at least resting after all of this…" he noted. Sunset let off a small smile.

"I wish…" she replied, "He's still got one last thing to take care of…" she pointed out. There was a loud crying coming from one of the hospital rooms of the tower. Doctors were carrying a newborn infant boy in their arms, cleaning his body. Looking on with a smile while seated was Ben, who looked over to Rainbow Dash.

"Just in time, huh?" he remarked in question to his formerly pregnant wife, who giggled.

"You really do make things seem more dramatic than they really are, don't you?" she inquired back, earning a laugh out of her husband. He then lowered his gaze in thought. He wasn't even sure how long it had really been since they last spoke.

"I'm—"

"I'm sorry," Rainbow apologized, interrupting Ben.

"W-Wait… you're sorry?" he inquired, very confused.

"You were on a bit of a downward spiral after what happened with the Justice League in Metropolis," his wife pointed out, "And I made it a million times worse," she mentioned with a shake of her head, "Instead of trying to help you, I decided I'd fight Wonder Woman like a total idiot and just make you even angrier with the League…" she recalled, letting out a sigh, "I'm glad Sunset gave me the what-for…" she admitted.

"Sunset?" her husband repeated.

"She kinda talked me down a couple times after everything, including when you were stuck," she remembered, "I should've known better… and should've tried to at least say something to you…" she confessed, lying back on the plush surface of the hospital bed, "So you don't need to be sorry," she assured, "I'm the asshole here," she noted.

"Hey, don't do that…" Ben insisted, "I'm not Mister Perfect either, you know," he pointed out, "I should've known when to stop for my sake as well as my friends'," he told her. As the married couple conversed, Blake was watching on from outside through the window. She wanted to at least check in on the Omni Force leader before taking the time to get some rest. She watched as one of the nurses returned with their newborn son, cleaned and wrapped in a blanket. He was handed off to Rainbow, who gently cradled him.

"So…" she began, "already had the liberty of naming this little bundle of joy," she pointed out with a chuckle, making her husband roll his eyes, "Kenneth Tennyson," she said, giving off a little smile as she caressed her new son's head, "Of course, he's gonna need a cool middle name," she mentioned, looking over to the Biomnitrix bearer. He then took of the cat Faunus watching them from afar, as she waved to them through the window. He smiled.

"Blake," he said, causing his wife to arch an eyebrow in confusion, "Kenny's middle name'll be Blake," he decided with a grin.

"Kenneth Blake Tennyson…" Rainbow repeated, looking back at the newborn in her arms, "I guess it sounds cool enough," she admitted with a shrug as her husband laughed. Meanwhile, Blake herself smiled. It was such a relief to see Ben look genuinely happy for the first time in a while. And she was happy, too.

"Kitty!" a voice squeaked, causing her to perk up as she saw a little, brunette-haired girl bumbling toward her.

"Whoa, slow down, Raya!" Sunset called out as she jogged over, enticing the girl to come to a stop, "We don't wanna wake your new baby brother, do we?" she inquired, picking her up in her arms.

"Kitty!" she exclaimed again, pointing at Blake.

"Oh, hey," the Equestrian Magic user greeted, "Figured you'd be resting up with everyone else…" she noted.

"I… just wanted to make sure Ben was doing alright," the cat Faunus responded.

"You remember Blake, Raya?" Sunset asked of the little girl in her arms, "She was with your daddy for a while," she pointed out.

"Dada!" she yelped excitedly.

"Ah, shh," the Equestrian Magic user shushed, "We gotta be extra quiet, okay?" she advised, putting a finger up to her lips. Raya nodded and smiled, giggling a little. The cat Faunus looked off to the side for a moment in thought.

"Hey…" she uttered just as Sunset was about to head into the room, getting her attention, "Were you the person that Ben always talked with whenever he was feeling… awful?" she inquired.

"Yeah…" the red-and-yellow-haired woman replied, "Honestly, it's hard for me not to help him out," she admitted, "He basically gave me a second chance before anyone else did, and I've always wanted to live up to that," she told Blake, "Guess that means you became the person for him too, huh?" she assumed. The cat Faunus let out a laugh.

"Yeah," she responded, looking through the window to see the Omni Force leader cradling his newborn son, "He took on so much for me and my friends," she noted, "At one point, I thought that selflessness of his was going to get himself killed…" she admitted with a shake of her head as she sniffled, "But… he's too stubborn to die," she concluded, "And that's what makes him a hero in the end," she affirmed.

"It's what makes you all heroes," Sunset added, "Now go get some rest," she advised as she was about to head into the room, "I'm sure Ben would want you to be alright, too," she mentioned. Blake smiled in agreement, taking one last look at the Biomnitrix bearer as his family gathered in the hospital room, celebrating the birth of his son. She headed off, happy to know that he was happy.

Elsewhere in the tower, Penny tapped her foot against the floor, patiently waiting in a room with her father and Maria. He looked over to see how tense she seemed, holding the blue bolt in her right hand. The image of Jenny self-destructing was still fresh in her mind.

"Penny, darling…" her father began, trying to get her attention, "you really don't have to be the one to—"

"I do," the Winter Maiden interjected firmly, "I was part of the reason Jenny died…" she pointed out in a solemn tone, clutching the blue bolt tightly. At that moment, the sliding door opened, causing those inside to perk up. Rex entered.

"Right this way, ma'am," he requested. Coming into the room was an aged woman with a white updo for hair, a pointed nose, red lab goggles, a black turtleneck, and a yellow button-down lab coat with matching heels. Penny stood up from her seat, widening her eyes slightly.

"Hello there," the woman greeted, "I was told that you were going to explain the situation to me, yes?" she assumed.

"O-Of course," Pietro stammered, letting out a small cough, "My name's Doctor Pietro Polendina," he introduced, "That's Maria Calavera," he continued, gesturing toward the elderly woman in the room, who waved, "and that's my daughter, Penny," he finished, turning to the Winter Maiden as she tensed up a little.

"It's… nice to meet you, Doctor Wakeman…" she greeted, bowing politely. The aged woman looked at her curiously before approaching, narrowing her eyes underneath her goggles.

"Fascinating…" she uttered out, "She's a synthesized android, isn't she?" she inferred, looking over to Pietro, who chuckled.

"That she is," he confirmed in reply, "But she's a lot more than just that," he mentioned.

"I must say, this human-like appearance you've given her is astounding…" Nora complimented, looking her over, "I've tried multiple times to do the same for XJ-Nine, but it's always been the artificial intelligence that I can't quite figure out…" she admitted as she tapped her chin, while Penny blinked in confusion.

"XJ…Nine?" she repeated.

"Oh, you must know her as Jenny, of course," the aged woman realized, "Sorry, I'm so used to referring to her by her designation since she has eight other sisters…" she pointed out with a chuckle. Hearing that, the Winter Maiden tensed up as she clutched the bolt in her hand. "Where is she by the way?" Nora asked, "If she's received extensive damages, I'm sure I can be of assistance…" she affirmed confidently.

"Uh… well…" Pietro tried to say, clearing his throat, "you see… Doctor Wakeman…"

"Jenny is gone," his daughter suddenly said, much to his and Maria's surprise as they looked over to her, seeing her head lowered. Nora turned to her, arching an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by 'gone'?" she inquired. Penny let out a deep breath, stepping forward and crouching to the doctor's eye level. She held her right hand out, showing her the blue bolt. Her eyes slightly widened.

"When we were working to help protect the people of Atlas, there was a situation where we almost lost the battle against our enemy…" she recalled, with images of Jenny flying out toward Cinder flashing through her head, "Jenny was…" she continued, trying to keep herself composed, "She wanted to protect us…" she told Nora, "no matter the cost to herself…" she said, causing the doctor to widen her eyes underneath her goggles in realization, "She sacrificed herself to save us…" she finished, putting the blue bolt into her hands, "I'm so sorry…" she apologized, lowering her head sadly.

"O-Oh…" Nora uttered out, stumbling back a step. Luckily, Rex was there to catch her. As Pietro and Maria went over to console the doctor, all Penny could do was think about the last moments she spent with the robot girl she fell in love with. She couldn't accept the fact that she died. And an idea started to form in her head…

X

Night fell on the tower as everything had gotten situated. The likes of the Ace Operatives, Hazel, Emerald, Cinder, Neopolitan and James were imprisoned for the time being. The refugees were housed in large huts spread across the mountainside of Mount Rushmore, with the Happy Huntresses being amongst them.

As for those injured, they were doing much better. Thanks to Angela's expertise and the assistance of Baymax, those of the Omni Force and their associates were treated quickly. The last of their patients was Tifa, whose cuts were quickly sealed thanks to the healthcare robot's bacta spray.

"Hah…" she sighed with relief as patches were placed upon her stomach, "Thanks for the help, doc," she said in gratitude.

"Our pleasure," Angela responded, looking over to Baymax as he blinked.

"On a scale from one to ten, how would now rate your pain?" he inquired of the bar hostess, who laughed a little.

"Definite one on the pain scale, big guy," she replied, getting up from the bench, "Others are good, too?" she inquired of the Overwatch member.

"Yes, and they're resting now," she confirmed as an answer, "You should, too," she advised.

"Right, thanks," Tifa responded, heading out of the room. Once she left, Angela went ahead and pulled over a tablet, turning it on to see the preliminary x-ray scans of both Cinder and Neopolitan. She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Baymax, can you give me a description of Cinder Fall and Neopolitan's injuries?" she requested of the healthcare robot.

"Of course," he responded, making an image of the x-ray for the Fall Maiden appear, "Cinder Fall, age twenty-six, female," he began, "Preliminary scans show destroyed skin and muscle tissue around shoulder area," he noted, "The raw skin appears to have been due to what was described as a parasitic entity latched onto her," he explained as Angela went through images of the patient in question, looking closely at her raw skin, with bone almost showing. She had seen worse, but this was quite severe.

"We're lucky that the parasite was treated in time…" she admitted, "And Neopolitan?" she inquired of Baymax, whose screen switched to the x-rays of the mute woman.

"Age twenty-five, female with heterochromatic traits and inability to speak," he began, "Injuries include multiple breaks in both arms and legs, with significant damage to muscle and nerve tissue," he kept going as Angela paced about, putting her hand upon her chin, "It is difficult to determine if she will make a full recovery from these extensive injuries," he mentioned.

"Hmm…" the Overwatch member hummed, setting her tablet aside.

"You're wondering how she got those injuries, aren't you?" a familiar voice inquired, getting her attention as she saw Genji at the doorway.

"Genji…" she uttered, approaching him, "Are you in need of a check-up?" she assumed.

"I'm fine," the cyborg assured, "As for that girl…" he continued.

"Yes…" Angela said, "I learned about what Gaara had done to her in the midst of their battle…" she told him, "From what I heard, he had every intention to kill her…" she mentioned in remembrance, picking up her tablet to look at the x-ray scans again.

"He did," Genji confirmed, "I know I probably wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation if I were in his place…" he confessed with a shake of his head, "Can you save her?" he inquired on.

"I'll do my best," the doctor replied, looking back at him and smiling, "It's good to see you after so long, Genji," she admitted.

"You as well, Angela," he responded as he nodded.

"Doctor Ziegler," Baymax chimed in, getting their attentions, "I believe there is one more patient we should bring in for testing," he told her, holding up his right pointer finger.

"Who?" the Overwatch doctor inquired. Those of the Omni Force and their associates were given rooms for the evening in the tower, much like a hotel. Ruby and Yang were in the same room, as the former of the two shut her eyes tightly, grimacing all the while. She was lying upon her bed, wearing a black tank top featuring a heart-shaped Beowolf design on the chest and long white pants decorated with pink roses. Her sister came out of the bathroom with her metal arm tucked under her left, dressed in a dark-yellow short-sleeved shirt with black shorts. She took notice of the silver-eyed huntress wincing.

"You okay?" she asked in concern, earning a sigh of frustration out of her little sister.

"My eyes feel like they're on fire," she answered, "So no," she affirmed bluntly. Yang went ahead and took hold of her prosthetic, setting it down on the dresser between the two beds of the room before sitting upon her own.

"So… are your Silver Eyes like a Semblance?" she assumed, "Like… you can't use them too much or…" she started to infer.

"I could go blind," Ruby finished for her.

"Hey, don't—!"

"Don't what, Yang?" the silver-eyed huntress interjected, "Overwork myself? Try to make up for all the stupid shit I did? Say that I'm just a weak little girl who's got no idea what she's doing?" she listed off in question. Her older sister sighed, lying down in her bed.

"I'm sorry about what I said when we split up back in Mantle…" she apologized, "It wasn't fair of me to… essentially blame you for everything that happened with Atlas…" she confessed on, shaking her head.

"…But you were right," Ruby said to her surprise as she looked over at her sister, "I got in way over my head…" she pointed out, "I should've known people weren't just going to come save us like some big miracle," she admitted, "And because of that, I got careless and let my friends get hurt…" he mentioned, "And I let Jenny—"

"Okay, stop," Yang interrupted firmly, "What happened to Jenny was Cinder's fault," she stated, "We can't just keep blaming ourselves for the things we had no control over," she noted seriously, "We thought Penny took care of Cinder back at Amity, we thought after we took down Ironwood, we could at least get everyone in Atlas to safety," she listed off, "And we did," she affirmed on, "We saved those refugees, and hell, kept their cities mostly intact!" she emphatically pointed out, "I get that not everything went as you planned it to and yeah, some things could've gone better…" she continued in admittance, "but in the end, we protected the people like Huntresses are supposed to," she finished. Opening her eyes, Ruby took her older sister's words to heart. In the end, things did go well. People were safe, enemies were imprisoned, and Salem was seemingly gone forever, too. There were blemishes on the plan, but overall… it worked out.

At that moment, the door opened, getting the attentions of the two girls. They looked over to see Baymax standing there. He raised his right hand.

"Ruby Rose?" he said in a beckoning tone, causing the girl in question to arch an eyebrow. Moments later, she had her eyes follow the light coming from the small flashlight Angela had, sitting on the bench in the medical room. She turned it off after a moment.

"Your eyes seem responsive at least…" she noted, "Do they feel somewhat dry or itchy?" she inquired of the Team RWBY leader, taking her gloved hands to open the eyelids of her patient, inspecting both eyes.

"Yeah, dry for the most part…" Ruby replied, "I remember they were really hurting right when I got to this universe…" she recalled, "It felt like they were on fire…" she grumbled in remembrance.

"Have you been trying to water them?" Angela asked.

"All day since…" her patient responded.

"Perhaps it is a side effect of your optical ability and its overuse," Baymax suggested, getting their attentions, "I propose that Miss Rose be prescribed ketorolac as a remedy for this ailment," he decided.

"Uh…" the silver-eyed huntress uttered in confusion, looking expectantly toward the Overwatch doctor, who chuckled a little.

"Artificial tears," she said, "Or eye drops if you want to make it simpler," she mentioned as she took off her gloves, throwing them into the trash as she went over the nearby counter, "We'll get them to you tomorrow morning, but until then, please try to water your eyes as much as possible," she advised of her colleague.

"Right, thanks," Ruby responded, getting up from the bench, "I'll uh… see you in the morning then," she assumed, about to head out from the room.

"Ruby," Angela said, causing her to stop at the doorway as look back at the doctor, "if there's anything else you need, let me know," she insisted, "I'm always happy to help," she affirmed with a smile. The silver-eyed huntress managed to crack a small grin back. As she wandered down the halls, she continued to ponder everything that had been told to her. Everyone was telling her that things were just out of their control, that they couldn't get ahold of certain situations because of the interferences, whether from James' forces or Salem's.

"Ugh…" she groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. She just wanted to sleep on everything now. There was no point in sulking. But at that moment, she noticed something.

There was a cyan glow emitting from the balcony she was heading toward on her way to her room. She narrowed her eyes, surprised to find Penny there… with the Staff of Creation in hand. She didn't even need a moment to realize what the Winter Maiden was planning.

"Penny, wait!" she cried out as she hurried out onto the balcony. She arrived just as her robot friend activated the relic, causing a cyan smoke to billow out from it. Time slowed to stop around her and the silver-eyed huntress, who watched as Ambrosius appeared before them.

"Ah, another being to provide with my creative—!" He stopped upon noticing Ruby there. "Oh for Gods' sake…" he grumbled out, pinching the bridge of his nose, "How many times are you gonna have to call me today?" he inquired of the silver-eyed huntress, "It's starting to get a little annoying…" he admitted.

"I-I…" the Team RWBY leader stammered out.

"She did not summon for you, Ambrosius, sir," Penny chimed in, getting the spirit's attention, "I did," she confirmed.

"Oh, I see," he responded, folding his arms over his chest curiously, "And what might you be asking for today?" he questioned.

"Penny, wait a second," Ruby insisted, putting a hand onto her robot friend's shoulder, "Anything you make now means that the whole bridge thing between our world and all the others goes away…" she pointed out seriously.

"Actually… yes and no…" Ambrosius chimed in as he raised his right hand, "The bridge would be gone, but your world would still be open to travel to and from," he explained, "That last creation broke whatever barrier was around the universe, so…" he kept going, only for the silver-eyed huntress to give off a look of understanding.

"Whether or not we can return to that universe doesn't concern me," Penny stated, much to her friend's surprise, "If anything, I would not mind being unable to return to it…" she admitted.

"Penny…" Ruby uttered in shock. She watched the Winter Maiden step forward.

"Ambrosius," she began, taking out a Scroll and projecting a large screen of blueprints from it. The silver-eyed huntress gasped upon seeing what was on the projection. "These are schematics of my friend, Jenny," she told the spirit.

"Oh, wow…" he uttered as he took a closer look at the holographic screen, "This is some fine craftsmanship…" he complimented with a grin, "So you two both weren't human after all, hm?" he noted on, folding his arms over his chest. Penny gripped the Staff of Creation tightly. She wasn't in the mood to be humored.

"I want you to remake Jenny with these schematics," she requested.

"Of course!" Ambrosius responded with a smile, only to blink in realization, "Wait, when you say 'remake'…" he began, sounding confused.

"I want you to bring her back," the Winter Maiden insisted firmly. Hearing that made the spirit slightly widen his eyes. He could see the desperation and hope in Penny's expression. And it crushed him a little.

"Okay, just a moment…" he said, holding his hands out, "I can make what you've described, but… it's not going to be your friend," he told the robot girl.

"But… it will be…" she argued, starting to sound disheartened, "I mean… this is her!" she pointed out in a breaking voice, "What you'll create is Jenny!" she affirmed.

"No," Ruby chimed in, much to her surprise as she looked back at her, "It'll just… be something else that looks like her," she said, "Something that's just a shell of who she really is…" she mentioned solemnly. Penny clenched her teeth together, trying to hold onto that last bit of hope she had. But reality was setting in for her.

"There has to be a way…" she noted, shaking her head, "Somehow, she can come back…" she tried to tell herself, dropping onto her knees and whimpering. The silver-eyed huntress looked to her worriedly before letting out a sigh. She crouched down and put her hands onto the Winter Maiden's shoulders.

"Ambrosius… I think I can handle things from here…" she decided. The spirit looked on sympathetically.

"Yeah…" he responded, "I'm sorry, kid…" he apologized, disappearing in a puff of cyan of smoke. Time returned to normal. Ruby went ahead and wrapped her arms around Penny, holding her close. She hugged her back, sniffling as she looked at the staff.

"…Earlier, I met Jenny's mother…" she told her friend, "I told her everything that had happened…" she confessed, "How Jenny saved us and… how she sacrificed herself…" she mentioned as her bottom lip wobbled, "Ruby… I loved her…" she whimpered out.

"And I'm sure she loved you, too," the silver-eyed huntress affirmed additionally, pulling herself back to look the Winter Maiden in the eyes, "But… I don't think she'd want you to bend the rules just for her…" she pointed out, "Salem tried to do the same thing in her past with someone she loved…" she mentioned, "And while I get why she did it…" she kept going, "I don't know if she thought about what the person she loved would've wanted for her…" she noted, "Do you know what Jenny would want for you?" she inquired of the robot girl. She looked down in thought for a moment.

"She… would want me to live my life…" she answered, letting out another sniffle, "But I don't know if I can live it without her…" she admitted with a shake of her head.

"It'll be okay, Penny," Ruby assured, hugging her gently, "I'm here…" she said. The Winter Maiden embraced her, whimpering into her shoulder. Some things just couldn't be changed. But if Jenny's wish for her was live a good life in the wake of her sacrifice, then she would.

X

"Urgh…" Cinder groaned as her lone eye fluttered open. She could hardly make out her surroundings for a few moments. Moving her head to her left, she realized that she couldn't feel her arm. As her vision came back into focus, she realized why. Her Shadow Hand was completely gone. She sat up with a start, only to wince from something at her right wrist. She looked to see that her arm was cuffed to the bedframe, which she couldn't pull off. She gnashed her teeth together, attempting to access her powers.

"That's not going to work," a familiar voice chimed in, causing her to blink in surprise before slowly turned to see Emerald standing at the other side of the room.

"Emerald…" the Fall Maiden uttered, giving off an angered expression, "Where… am I?" she asked slowly. The green-haired girl let out a sigh, approaching her.

"We're in Tennyson's universe," she answered, folding her arms over her chest, "After you lost to his friends, we took you here while Atlas was getting saved," she explained, "Salem's gone, too," she mentioned to the shock of the prisoner, "She lost, Cinder," she affirmed, "You don't have to follow her anymore…" she added assuredly.

"You're lying!" the Fall Maiden snarled out, causing Emerald to flinch, "There's no way… she would lose…" she proclaimed, breathing heavily with anger. The green-haired girl clenched her fists in frustration. She wasn't going to be turned away anymore.

"I used to look up to you," she noted in remembrance, "You took me in when I had nobody else and gave me what I felt was a purpose…" she mentioned on as her former colleague glared on at her, "But now I realize…" she continued, "Mercury was right," she said, "You never cared about me," she pointed out, "Hell, you didn't care about anyone else but yourself," she added, glaring at Cinder as she gnashed her teeth.

"You're walking a fine line, Emerald…" she said in a threatening tone.

"What are you going to do, Cinder?!" her former ally inquired back, not even remotely scared, "You can't use your powers, your Grimm arm is thankfully gone, and Salem is, too!" she listed off emphatically, "You lost," she stated firmly, "If you could accept that, then maybe we'd give you a chance," she affirmed on, "But you won't," she concluded, "Because you're selfish…" she kept going.

"Stop it, Emerald…" the Fall Maiden growled.

"You're a psychopath…" the green-haired girl continued, not relenting in the slightest.

"Emerald, that's enough!" Cinder shouted.

"You don't give a damn about people that you kill!" Emerald yelled, getting closer to the Fall Maiden.

"Shut up already!" she screamed back, only for the green-haired girl to slam her hands down onto the bed, causing her to gasp in surprise as she widened her lone eye. Her former ally glared at her, not a hint of fear in her eyes.

"You're weak…" she said, "And you'll never know why…" she added as she stood upright. Cinder's breathing slowed as she sat up. She blinked, only to see that Emerald had apparently left, the door to the room shutting. The window outside was tinted, rendering her unable to see who was watching.

As it turned out, the green-haired girl had projected herself as an illusion onto the Fall Maiden, lowering her hands as she looked inside to see the seemingly distraught woman. Standing beside her was Sunset. She folded her arms over her chest.

"I never knew that she took you in…" she noted, glancing over at Emerald as she lowered her head.

"It… was just dumb luck that we met…" she claimed, looking away, "I was just a small-time thief that she saw, and she recruited me… thinking I'd be useful to her…" she told the Omni Force member, "And I just… let her use me like a tool…" she added, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself as her eyes were watering, "The worst part is… I don't think I even cared until what happened at Beacon and then after what went down at Haven…" she admitted, choking back a sob. Sunset went over and put a hand onto her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Well, I'm glad I gave you a chance for closure," she remarked, causing the green-haired girl to chuckle a little.

"Thanks…" she said with gratitude. To her surprise, she was then brought into a hug by the Equestrian Magic user. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. But she let out a contented sigh, hugging her back warmly. It felt like for the first time, she was actually being cared for… even if she didn't feel like she deserved it.

"Hah…" Qrow yawned, standing at the doorway to his nieces' room, "All set in there, kiddos?" he asked of the two huntresses.

"I'm good," Yang affirmed with a thumbs up from her prosthetic hand, which she had just put back on, "Ruby?" she called out, looking over to the open bathroom door.

"Just a second!" she yelled back, "Ow!" she yelped out.

"You okay, kiddo?" Qrow inquired.

"Yeah… just… eye drops… burning…" his youngest niece managed to wince out. Her sister chuckled.

"Hey…" she began, getting her uncle's attention, "where's uh… Raven?" she asked curiously.

"I think she spent the night with her new boyfriend," Qrow answered.

"You mean Endeavor?" Yang inquired, "Ah, ew…" she muttered out, "You think that Raven likes him?" she questioned on.

"Hey, she's the one who kissed him," her uncle pointed out, much to her disgust before she laughed.

"…I… haven't even gotten the chance to talk to her after she saved me…" she noted solemnly after a moment, looking at her prosthetic hand, "You said that she… had a rule…" she recalled, "That she'd only save me once…" she mentioned.

"And she broke it," Qrow added, leaning up against the doorframe, "To be honest, I'm still having a hard time believing this is the same Raven we know," he admitted, "Whatever she went through after Haven…" he continued, "It obviously made her change her mind, but…" he kept going.

"It changed her, too," Yang finished for him, getting up from her bed, "Well, no time like the present…" she remarked, stretching her left arm up, "Ruby?" she called out again.

"Okay, I'm all set," her sister responded, walking out of the bathroom dressed in her regular outfit, "Let's go grab Weiss and Blake," she said, earning a nod from the blonde-haired huntress. A few moments later, they were wandering down the halls of Omni Force Tower, greeting some of the Plumbers that they passed.

"Hard to believe we're actually rooming here for a little while…" Yang admitted with a grin.

"Well, I hope it's not too much longer…" Ruby replied, "If things are still bad in Atlas, then they're gonna need our help," she pointed out, "More specifically, my help thanks to my eyes…" she mentioned on.

"You sure you're up for that?" her sister inquired out of concern.

"Heh," the silver-eyed huntress chuckled, "After everything we've been through, I'm ready to take on whatever," she remarked, sharing a laugh with Yang, "Hey, why don't you get Blake?" she suggested, "I'm sure Weiss is still trying to pretty herself up right now…" she noted with a roll of her eyes.

"Good call, sis," the blonde-haired huntress agreed, "See you in a jiff!" she remarked with a snap of her fingers, jogging off. As she left, Ruby's expression fell as she sighed. Even though she knew Yang could be a good confidant like she was last night, for today, she felt like she needed to talk with someone else. She approached one of the doors, knocking on it.

"Hey, Weiss?" she called out.

"R-Ruby?!" the ex-heiress' voice yelped with a stutter, much to the surprise and confusion of the silver-eyed huntress as she arched an eyebrow, "Uh, hey… could you come back a little later?" she requested, sounding nervous.

"I just wanted to talk before we go meet in a bit," the Team RWBY leader said, opening the door.

"NONONONONO!" Weiss screamed repeatedly to no avail as Ruby entered, blinking in astonishment to find her teammate pulling the bedsheets over herself as her face was a bright red, while her white hair was completely down.

"Are you… naked?" she inquired with a tilt of her head.

"Huh…" the ex-heiress sighed, "Yes Ruby, I am in the nude…" she admitted in embarrassment, "Care to explain why you felt the need to barge in on me?" she questioned, evidently annoyed.

"Sorry…" the silver-eyed huntress apologized as she held her hands out, "It's just…" she tried to sigh, letting a sigh escape her lips again, "Can I sit down?" she requested. Nothing her solemn expression, Weiss softened her own, allowing for her team leader to sit down on the bed beside her.

"What's… wrong, Ruby?" she asked worriedly, "Did they find out something bad going on in Atlas?" she inquired.

"No, no…" the silver-eyed huntress responded, shaking her head, "They haven't even sent a recon team yet…" she pointed out.

"Then… what is it?" Weiss questioned, growing curious. Ruby took a deep breath.

"Penny tried to use the Staff last night," she told the ex-heiress, who lightly gasped in shock, "She wanted to bring Jenny back," she mentioned solemnly, lowering her head, "I was there to help talk her down, but…" she continued, "I don't think she can really accept that Jenny's gone…" she noted, "…And I don't either…" she admitted.

"Ruby…" Weiss uttered worriedly.

"I know everyone says that I did all I could…" her team leader recalled, "That we did all we could…" she corrected, "But I still feel like it wasn't enough…" she confessed, "And now, people are paying the price for it…" she finished in frustration. Weiss moved over to sit beside her.

"I'm frustrated, too…" she admitted, "I took on Cinder by myself and risked my life to protect all those people," she remembered, "And for a moment… I felt like I failed…" she added to the surprise of the silver-eyed huntress, "When all of us saw Jenny sacrifice herself, I think we all had that feeling of frustration, being unable to help in our minds…" she told her, "And we're all grieving in our own ways, too…" she mentioned, "It doesn't just go away after one day," she said with a shake of her head.

"It takes time," Ruby realized.

"Exactly," Weiss confirmed, "But the fact that we're grieving at all proves that we still care about our teammates," she noted on, "I'm sure Jenny really appreciates that," she affirmed with a smile. The silver-eyed huntress grinned back.

"Thanks, Weiss," she said in gratitude, sharing a warm hug with her, "So…" she began as she pulled away, looking at the bedsheets her teammate was covering herself with, "care to explain why you're naked in bed?" she inquired. The ex-heiress' blush returned.

"I… was just about to get dressed before you barged in…" she answered with a shrug.

"I don't see any clothes around…" Ruby pointed out, sounding suspicious of her.

"They're uh… in the bathroom…" she claimed with a stutter. The silver-eyed huntress wasn't remotely convinced, arching an eyebrow. "Okay, I slept naked!" Weiss exclaimed, "Is that what you wanted to hear?" she questioned, still blushing.

"Why would you sleep naked?" her team leader asked, causing her to gawk in shock.

"Well, maybe I just felt like it…" the ex-heiress suggested in reply, "Maybe I prefer that to just wearing my combat outfit in bed…" she added on, "I'm sure you'd think the same…" she muttered out.

"I'd… wear my pajamas…" Ruby affirmed, causing Weiss to roll her eyes.

"Hey, uh, Weiss?" a familiar voiced chimed in, getting their attentions as they looked over to see Danny standing at the doorway to the bathroom with a toothbrush in hand, wearing only a pair of boxers, "Sorry I took so long…" he apologized, "There was only one toothbrush, and I figured I'd just double back to my room and…" He stopped himself upon noticing that the silver-eyed huntress was in the room, sitting next to the ex-heiress, whose face burned a bright red. "H-Hi… Ruby…" he stammered in greeting, letting off a nervous smile. The Team RWBY leader took a deep breath and sighed, turning to her teammate.

"You too, huh?" she noted, patting her on the back, "Well, uh… congrats," she complimented, standing up and awkwardly heading for the door, "Meeting's gonna start in a half hour by the way," she mentioned before leaving, letting the door shut automatically behind her. Danny and Weiss turned to each other.

"She's… not gonna tell anyone about us… right?" the former inquired of his new girlfriend, who groaned with embarrassment, burying her face into her hands. Elsewhere in the tower's many rooms, a shirtless Sabo let out a long yawn as he woke up, smacking his lips. He turned to his left, trying to fall back asleep. However, he felt something soft press against his back as a pair of arms wrapped around him.

"Good morning…" Winter greeted in a whisper, making him smile as he glanced back at her.

"Morning, ice queen…" he greeted back, "Sleep well?" he assumed as he sat up.

"Extremely well for the first time in a while," she answered, sitting up with him. Her white hair was down. "You had a good hand in that," she mentioned as she smirked, making him chuckle.

"If anything, you made me sleep good," he pointed out, "I mean… you were quite the person last night," he added, earning a laugh out of his new girlfriend before she let out a wince, "Whoa, you okay?" he asked immediately in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine…" Winter assured, taking a deep breath through her nose, "Most of the pain I suffered from those injuries is… just lingering…" she noted through another wince.

"Is it permanent?" Sabo questioned on. For a moment, the special operative said nothing, lowering her gaze.

"Aura heals most injuries quickly, but some take time…" she told him, "I'll be fine though," she assured, giving her new boyfriend a smile, "Now that I'm no longer a tool for Ironwood, I can be what I best can for Atlas' sake… and Mantle's," she affirmed on.

"Now that sounds like a leader," the Flame-Flame user remarked, "And someone I'd be happy to share a bed with anytime…" he added as he grabbed hold of her arms from behind, pulling her back into his grasp as she yelped, followed by giggling.

"Sabo, stop it!" she laughed out, feeling him pepper her with kisses all along her neck before she turned to face him. He smiled warmly at her.

"Love you, Winter," he confessed. She smiled back.

"I love you, too…" she responded, closing her eyes to kiss him on the lips. They pressed their foreheads against each other, with the Flame-Flame user gently holding onto her. He didn't want to let go of her ever again.

"HEY! SABO!" Luffy's voice shouted as there was a sudden banging on the door, causing the couple inside to sit up in surprise.

"Aw, crap…" the Revolutionary Army chief muttered out, "We overslept, didn't we?" he assumed, quickly scrambling out of bed as he was dressed in only his boxers.

"Apparently…" Winter grumbled, getting up herself while only wearing a pair of white panties. Their door wasn't the only one being knocked on.

"Jaune, come on already!" Nora shouted as she and Ren were outside another room, with the former banging her right fist against the door, "They're gonna probably need everyone who was part of the whole mission to give a briefing! Especially you!" she pointed out, continuing to pound away at the door as quickly as possible.

"Gimme a few seconds, please!" the Team JNPR leader responded from inside, sounding frantic.

"Ugh…!" the orange-haired girl groaned, turning around and leaning back against the door, crossing her arms over her chest. She glanced over to Ren curiously.

"Can you figure out what's going on in there?" she inquired of him.

"I… would rather not…" he admitted in reply, much to her chagrin as she rolled her eyes, followed by letting out a chuckle.

"You know, this does feel pretty nostalgic…" she admitted, "The two of us, waiting on our bumbling boy of a fearless leader," she recalled, making Ren laugh.

"I get what you mean," he agreed, "And I think that's makes our team so special," he mentioned on, causing Nora to blink in surprise, "Most of us… we came from tough backgrounds," he noted, "But we persevered through hardships and learned to be better versions of ourselves," he pointed out.

"And some of us are still working on that…" the orange-haired girl mentioned in admittance, "But yeah, we're persevering," she confirmed, making Ren smile. Their nice moment didn't last long, however. "Gods, what is taking him so long?!" Nora yelled in question, "That's it…" she grumbled out, having the door automatically open.

"Uh, Nora?" her ponytailed teammate uttered out in concern, seeing her walk into the room.

"Jaune, you've got ten seconds to get it in gear and—!" She stopped herself and widened her eyes. The Team JNPR leader was standing right in front of her, stark naked. Starlight was also there, lying in the bed with the sheets covering her up to her shoulders. Nora's eyes were shaking. And she made the grave mistake of looking down. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, causing Jaune to shriek as well before his teammate left the room, covering her eyes with her gloved hands. Ren just blinked.

"I… assume he's still not ready?" he inferred, only to get a low groan of embarrassment out of Nora as she slid down the door onto her bottom, keeping her reddening face covered. A few moments later, the blonde-haired huntress exited, dressed in his jeans and hoodie as he pulled his boots on.

"There we go…" he grunted out before exiting, "Sorry for the wait…" he apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "Uh… lost track of time…" he confessed with a grin.

"So it would seem…" Ren concurred, peeking into the room, "Hi, Starlight," he greeted, earning a wave hello in response from the Equestrian Magic user.

"Okay…" Nora uttered, having calmed down somewhat, "First, I'm really happy for you two," she said in a complimentary tone.

"Oh, uh, than—"

"But second…" the orange-haired huntress interrupted, "why not wait until after the whole situation with Atlas' recovery to… have that time?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow while folding her arms over her chest.

"Uh… spur of the moment?" Jaune answered unsurely, letting out a sigh, "Honestly, she and I were really just happy to see each other again…" he pointed out with a chuckle.

"Alright…" Nora said, exhaling another sigh, "That brings me to point three…" she continued, letting a blush come across her cheeks, "Is… she okay?" she asked nervously, pointing into the room. The Team JNPR leader blinked in confusion.

"Uh… yeah?" he responded, "Why wouldn't she be?" he questioned with a tilt of his head.

"Well…" the orange-haired huntress uttered, awkwardly coughing into her left fist, "I mean… your uh…" she tried to say, sweating bullets as her entire face was steaming at this point. Raising an eyebrow, Jaune looked over to Ren, who could only shrug.

"We should get to the conference room," he advised of his teammates, walking off.

X

It wasn't long before most of the Omni Force members present and their associates were gathered in the conference room. Blake entered to find no Ben in sight, much to her relief. He was likely getting all the rest he needed and would be informed of any results later.

"I must say, this does feel quite surreal…" Obi-Wan admitted as he stood beside Ahsoka.

"You're telling me…" she whispered back with a smirk, "It really is good to see you, Master Kenobi," she noted.

"And you as well, Ahsoka," he replied, letting off a little grin. Yang and Qrow entered the room with a few others. The former took notice of her boyfriend, smiling and waving to him. But he seemed rather despondent, turning his gaze away to her surprise. She looked over to her uncle, who could only shrug and sigh. Watching from afar was Raven, who gave off a solemn expression.

"Are you going to tell her?" Enji's voice asked, getting her attention as he was standing beside her.

"Yeah… I will," she confirmed, "It's just… gonna be a little weird after everything that happened, you know?" she pointed out in question.

"I do," he replied with a nod, "You'll figure it out," he affirmed confidently with his hands folded over his chest. The Spring Maiden gave off a little smile.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, earning a slight grin in response from the Hellflame Quirk user. As Ruby entered, she looked around to see that Sunset, Erza, Gaara, Toshinori and Angela were there as squad leader representatives along with her. Ben wasn't present, and neither was Law. Meanwhile, Weiss and Danny came into the room with Winter and Sabo, as the two Schnees were dressed in their uniforms, though both had their hair down. They glanced over to each other curiously.

"Winter," the ex-heiress greeted with a nod.

"Weiss," her older sister responded, trying to remain stoic, "You seem… a little unkempt this morning…" she remarked.

"I could say the same to you…" Weiss retorted, "Your hair's down," she pointed out.

"So is yours," Winter noted as a rebuttal, "I guess both of us must have lost track of time…" she admitted, glancing off to the side.

"It seems that way…" her little sister agreed, looking over to see Danny conversing with Sabo and Genji, "Huh…" she sighed happily. The special operative overheard, giving off a little smile.

"I suppose both of us finally made a move…" she concluded. Weiss chuckled.

"That we did…" she confirmed. It wasn't long before everyone else who needed to be present had arrived. Sunset walked over to the head of the table.

"Okay… let's get started," she advised, placing her fingers down onto the interactive table, making a holographic map of Atlas appear, "From our understanding of the situation based on what everyone was able to tell us, Atlas is now placed in Mantle's crater," she noted, gesturing toward the once floating landmass.

"Our first priority should be to stabilize Atlas before its weight collapses on Mantle and causes more destruction than intended," Winter insisted of the group, "Of course to do that, we need to make sure that the Grimm have been dealt with," she mentioned seriously.

"Law's team is already out to assess the current situation," Erza confirmed, chiming into the conversation.

"That leaves Eon and the others who were there," Sunset concluded, narrowing her eyes.

"Wait… Eon?!" Kevin exclaimed in surprise, "When'd he show up?!" he inquired.

"Right near the end, before Salem wound up trapped in that pocket dimension," the Equestrian Magic user answered, "To top it off, we confirmed that Lysandre, Van Kleiss, and Acnologia are all still alive," she pointed out to the shock of many, "They're working with him and Salem," she mentioned.

"Glad that Ben's not here to hear this…" Blake admitted in a whisper to Ruby, getting her attention, "At least… not now…" she corrected.

"Yeah…" the silver-eyed huntress agreed.

"So it seems as if they're allying with each other…" Toshinori noted, crossing his arms over his chest, "It makes me wonder if he has any involvement…" he mentioned as he narrowed his eyes. Enji looked over to him, lowering his head slightly.

"We can worry about them after Law's team finishes their recon," Sunset affirmed, "I think the best course of action is giving the citizens an update, both from a Mantle representative and an Atlas one," she explained to those in the room.

"I can do that," Robyn chimed in, getting the attentions of some others as they saw her saunter in, "As for the Atlas part, I'm not sure we got someone good for that front…" she admitted.

"I'll do it," Winter declared, stepping forward, "The people need reassurance after everything," she pointed, "Who better to give them some peace of mind knowing that high-ranking figures of both places are coming to terms with each other?" she inferred with an uncommon grin, causing the Happy Huntresses' leader to chuckle. They shook hands firmly.

"There's also the Relics we have to discuss," Oscar chimed in, though his tone indicated that he had given control over to Ozpin, "Now that both Vaults have been opened, the Relics themselves need to be relocated for their security," he advised seriously, approaching the table with The Long Memory drawn, "I would suggest… taking them to universes where I can trust that they'll be guarded," he requested.

"I agree," Erza concurred, "We should also discuss the other Relics, considering that they're still held in their Vaults," she insisted of her colleagues, "They may be locked away, but who knows if Salem's followers are still vying to obtain one of the two…" she pointed out.

"Well, they can't get the Beacon Relic, since they'd need the Fall Maiden's power to open the Vault," Sunset noted, "And surprise, surprise…" she continued, "she's now a prisoner here," she said.

"Then I think it's for the best that we don't disclose any details regarding the Crown of Choice," Ozpin advised on, "At least… not until it's absolutely necessary…" he mentioned.

"Guess that means all we can do now is wait, huh?" Yang assumed, earning a nod in response from the Equestrian Magic user.

"What about Ironwood and Neopolitan?" Jaune asked curiously.

"And the Ace-Ops and all those other Atlesian Military members?" Nora chimed in, "What's gonna happen to them?" she questioned on. Before Sunset could answer, she felt a buzz in her pocket. She quickly pulled out her MPG, pressing the center icon to make a hologram of Law project over the device.

"Hey Shimmer," he greeted.

"Hey, what's up?" the Equestrian Magic user responded, "Figured it'd be a half hour before you got to notify us…" she admitted, "Things okay?" she inquired.

"Heh…" the pirate chuckled with his Kikoku on his left shoulder.

UNIVERSE-4040

ATLAS

"I'd say things are more than okay here right now," he confirmed, looking up to see the Mistral airships soaring by, shooting down Lancers that were buzzing about. Humans and Faunus were fighting tirelessly against the Grimm roaming the streets, taking them down without a second thought. Amongst them were Ghira and Taiyang, as the former slashed away a Sabyr before the latter took care of another.

UNIVERSE-57

OMNI FORCE TOWER

"I don't believe it…" Ruby uttered with shaking eyes as she stepped forward.

"They came…" Blake noted, letting off a smile of relief.

"Yeah, thanks to all this, we've got a good chance at getting repairs to the cities done real quick," Law affirmed over Sunset's MPG, "Still, I doubt that's gonna completely convince people to come back after what's already happened…" he pointed out.

"It's still good to see, Traffie," the Equestrian Magic user noted, "We'll let you go back to helping clear the rest of the Grimm," she said, ending the call.

"So it all worked out in the end…" Weiss concluded, looking over to her team leader. She teared up a little, laughing before she wiped her eyes.

"Yeah… it worked…" she confirmed with a smile. Everyone else gave off glad expressions.

"So… back to the prisoners…" Jaune chimed in, changing the subject. Elsewhere in the tower, the Ace Operatives were all in the same holding cell. Vine was meditating patiently on the bench, Marrow was pacing about with a nervous expression upon his face, Elm was leaning back against the wall, and Harriet was sitting in the corner next to the bench. The four of them had a lot to think about in the wake of their involvement with what happened on Atlas. At that moment, the door opened, causing them to perk up and see Rex standing there alongside Max Tennyson.

"You're all set," the magister confirmed to their surprise, "You got quite a couple people vouching for you," he mentioned with a grin.

"Oh, thank you so much…" Marrow said in gratitude as he stepped out, "Honestly, I wasn't sure if you'd want us out after… well, everything…" he admitted sheepishly.

"We appreciate it," Elm chimed in, bowing to Max, "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"It's quite a surprise to know that you're Tennyson's grandfather…" Vine added, "I suppose this business of heroism runs in the family…" he remarked, earning a chuckle out of the magister. Marrow then took notice of the fact that Harriet wasn't with them. He looked back into the cell to find that she was still seated next to the bench, wearing a despondent expression.

"Hare?" the canine Faunus uttered out, trying to get her attention, "Uh, they just said we're—"

"You're free to go," the mohawk-haired woman interjected before her colleague could finish, "I'm staying here," she decided, sounding firm.

"Harriet…" Vine uttered in shock, while Elm and Marrow looked to each other in concern.

"Look, we're all guilty of being involved with the general's plans…" the burly woman as she stepped forward, "But these people are willing to give us a second chance," she pointed out, "Maybe we could do some good with that…" she suggested.

"I'm sure you can," Harriet responded, looking away despondently, "After what I did though… I sure as hell can't…" she confessed, lowering her gaze with shame. Her teammates didn't know what else they could say to persuade her.

"I wouldn't say that for sure," another voice chimed in, causing the mohawk-haired Ace Operative to perk up upon recognizing it. She turned her head to find Wendy there alongside the humanized version of Carla. "In the end, you helped save me," she pointed out, stepping forward.

"Kid…" Harriet uttered, standing up.

"I know you said a lot of hurtful things about us, things I'm sure you regret now…" the Sky Dragon Slayer noted, causing her to glance away with shame, "The fact that you're acknowledging that proves you want to do better for your friends…" she mentioned to her surprise, "Trust me, I wanted to be better for the sakes of my friends, too…" she recalled, thinking back to when she trained tirelessly in the academy, "So I'm sure you do," she said with a smile.

"…Heh," Harriet chuckled out, "You know, I really shouldn't be calling you a kid anymore…" she admitted, approaching Wendy and putting her right hand atop her head, "You're talking to me like a grown woman," she noted, making her giggle.

"Uh, speaking of which…" Marrow began, causing Carla to arch an eyebrow. Before the canine Faunus could ask his question, the doors on the other end of the hall opened, getting the group's attention. They all looked over in surprise to see Ben approaching.

"Commander…" Rex uttered, saluting him. He held his right hand up, enticing the Plumber captain to lower his.

"Ben, you should still be resting…" Max advised.

"I'll get back to that after this," the Omni Force leader assured, "Is he still in his cell?" he assumed, earning a nod from his grandfather. Elsewhere, James was seated on the bench in his own cell, having his eyes shut in concentration. He heard the doors slide open. Looking over, he was somewhat surprised to find the Biomnitrix bearer there.

"…So you survived after all…" the general noted, narrowing his eyes. Meanwhile, Max, Rex, Wendy, Carla and the Ace Operatives were watching the meeting between the two unfold from the security camera footage. They watched as Ben stepped forward.

"I heard your city's still in one piece, too," he pointed out to James, "though it's not a floating rock in the sky anymore," he mentioned, earning a scoff out of his former foe.

"And what about Salem?" he asked curiously.

"Gone," the Omni Force Leader answered, "We had her trapped in that little dimension thing we used before making something with the Staff again," he explained, "On top of that, help's come to Atlas," he mentioned, "The Grimm are pretty much cleared out of the city at this point," he noted on, "and now it's just a matter of getting the walls fixed and rebuilding what's been lost," he added.

"And your friends?" James inquired on. Ben lowered his gaze slightly.

"All alive except one," he answered to the general's surprise, "And I don't blame you for that, James," he affirmed with a shake of his head, "What I and everyone else blame you for is focusing on the place instead of the people," he told him, "You can rebuild cities, but you can't forget its people," he pointed out, "They're what matters most," he stated.

"You got them all out?" James assumed.

"Every last one," Ben replied. The general took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm sorry… for pushing you to take extreme measures like this," he apologized, "I had just thought…" he continued, grimacing a little in remembrance, "my way was the only way to make sure we were safe," he told the Omni Force leader.

"Well that's the thing, James," he responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders, "You chose to run from Salem," he pointed out, "And we decided we'd fight," he added. All the general could do was hold his hands together and sigh.

"What happens to me now?" he asked.

"You're staying put," Ben answered, "We'll decide later if we wanna send you back to your universe or let you just stay in the cell and serve your time as usual," he explained firmly.

"Serve my…?" James repeated in confusion.

"Twenty-five years from what I heard," the Omni Force leader confirmed, "That's a minimum, by the way," he mentioned, making the general sigh.

"I'm sorry, Ben…" he apologized, lowering his head.

"Yeah…" the Biomnitrix bearer responded, departing from his cell while releasing a deep breath of his own, "Me too…" he said before walking off.

X

The day went on normally. With updates from Law and his team from Universe-4040, now it was time to start deliberating over what to tell the refugees. Gaara remained mostly silent during the conversations, merely nodding to confirm his position on certain ideas amongst his fellow squadron leaders. He was still thinking about his actions the day prior, remembering the sight of Neopolitan's mangled limbs.

"Hey, Gaara," Sunset called out, getting his attention as he was snapped away from his thoughts, "You still with us?" she inquired.

"Y-Yes…" he stammered in reply. Yang looked over at him in concern, glancing over to her little sister.

"Okay, so I guess we're all confirmed on providing the updates starting tomorrow morning," the Equestrian Magic user confirmed, "Winter and Robyn will deliver it along with Ruby and Jaune probably, and then we'll work from there," she told her colleagues.

"Sounds good to me," the Happy Huntresses' leader confirmed, folding her arms over her chest.

"What about the repairs and such?" Qrow questioned, chiming into the conversation.

"We'll be working on that in the coming days," Winter answered, "Along with that, we can expect help from the rebellion group," she mentioned assuredly.

"Then that's that for now," Sunset decided. With that, those present in the conference room started to depart. Yang looked over worriedly at her boyfriend, seeing him leave as well.

"You think people are gonna jump at the plan?" Weiss asked of Ruby as they exited the room.

"I don't know…" she responded honestly with a shake of her head, "Having Winter and Robyn explain is probably for the best, but…" she continued, lowering her gaze in thought for a moment, "it's hard to say after everything, they'd want to go back," she pointed out.

"Some probably don't," Blake concurred, chiming into the conversation, "Maybe they'd want to just start over after everything…" she suggested.

"Maybe…" Ruby agreed. In the meantime, her older sister tailed behind them down the hall. She was going to enjoy a quick dinner with them and then go talk to Gaara. She knew about what happened in the pocket dimension and how after he saw her fall to her apparent doom, he essentially rampaged on the woman responsible. However, those plans were halted the moment she took notice of her biological mother standing out on the balcony, looking toward the monument in the distance.

The wind waved through her hair as she stared ahead despondently. There was a lot on her mind in the wake of the events leading up to now. Thinking back to everything that had happened since she arrived at her ex-husband's home, she had changed quite a bit. She became more hopeful, more compassionate, and more determined than ever. Her fears still lingered, but her resolve had mostly been mended.

"Mom?" Yang called out, getting her attention as she turned to see her daughter come out onto the balcony.

"Yang…" she uttered, letting off a little smile. The two of them hadn't had a moment alone, or at least a moment to talk to each other ever since what happened in Haven. The blonde-haired huntress approached her biological mother, standing beside her.

"Quite a view, huh?" she guessed, leaning slightly over the railing with her arms upon it.

"Yeah…" Raven agreed as a reply, "It's nice," she said. Her biological daughter stood upright, taking a deep breath.

"I didn't know if I was gonna make it back then…" she admitted, "All I saw was that red aura washing over me… like I was sinking into hell…" she remembered, shaking her head, "And I heard those voices, warning me about the stone…" she kept going, "Then you showed up… and pulled me back," she noted with a small grin to the Spring Maiden, who looked away for a moment, "You saved my life, even though you always had that dumb code of… just helping out once…" she recalled, looking at her prosthetic hand. Her biological mother tensed up, sensing where this conversation was heading. Before she could do anything, Yang went over and embraced her warmly. "Thank you, Mom…" she said in gratitude, "I forgive you…" she added. Hearing that broke Raven's heart. As much as she would've wanted to accept the blonde-haired huntress' forgiveness, it didn't feel right. She put her hands onto her shoulders, gently pushing her back to her surprise.

"Huh…" she sighed out, "Don't do that, Yang…" she insisted with a shake of her head, causing her daughter to arch an eyebrow in confusion, "Don't make it easy for me…" she advised on.

"Wh…What do you mean?" she inquired back with a stutter.

"So I saved you more than once," the Spring Maiden noted, "That doesn't even begin to make up for all the time I spent away from you, Tai, and everyone else in my life…" she listed off seriously, "And to top it off, when we had time, I treated you like garbage…" she recalled ashamedly, "That's not something any mother should be like to their daughters…" she pointed out.

"But… Mom—"

"I'm not your mother," Raven interjected, "Summer was more of a mother to you than I ever could or even cared to be," she told Yang, causing her eyes to widen, "And even if you really do forgive me for all the terrible things I did…" she continued, "it's not like I want your forgiveness," she admitted, "You don't need to do that," she affirmed on, "I just…"

"…want to atone…" the blonde-haired huntress finished for her as tears brimmed her eyes, "Is that right?" she guessed, earning a mere nod from her biological mother, "Huh…" she exhaled, wiping her eyes with her left arm, "You know… you're right…" she realized, "There was a lot you did that you still have to answer for…" she remembered, causing Raven to lower her head in shame again, "But until then…" she kept going, embracing her biological mother warmly, "let me at least thank you for saving me," she insisted, tearing up a little. Raven sniffled, letting out a laugh.

"Yeah…" she responded, hugging her daughter back, "I'd say that's fine, too…" she affirmed. Watching on from afar inside the tower were Enji, Obi-Wan, and Tifa, who could only smile. The Spring Maiden caught a glance of the trio, more specifically, the Hellflame Quirk user. She pulled herself back from her daughter's embrace slowly. "There's something else I need to tell you…" she confirmed.

X

The next morning, those of the Omni Force and their colleagues were surprised to find the holographic statue of Jenny standing outside of the tower, alongside those of Rex Salazar and Smoker. Penny walked up to the new statue, reaching her right hand up to it. It phased through the hologram's own hand, much to her dismay as she lowered her gaze. Meanwhile, Hazel looked up at the latter statue. He exhaled a sigh as Emerald walked over, taking a glance at the memorial as well.

Ben was also amongst the group, looking at Rex's visage. A lot had happened since then. And not all of it was good. But things were going to be better.

"Okay, let's go," the Omni Force leader advised of his colleagues. Up beyond Mount Rushmore, many of the refugees, including the likes of the Happy Huntresses, exited from their huts to gather. There was an anxious and somewhat impatient murmuring amongst the crowd. They wanted to know what was going on. Winter and Robyn stepped forward.

"If I may have your attention, please," the former requested, causing the refugees to silence themselves, "We apologize for the delay in relaying updates to you," she noted, putting her left hand over her heart, "We promise to be more frequent in the coming days," she vowed.

"What's the situation with Mantle?" one person in the crowd asked.

"And Atlas?" another chimed in.

"We'll be talking about both, everyone," Robyn assured as she held her hands out, "Just let us explain," she insisted, turning to Winter and nodding. She nodded back.

"First, Atlas has fallen as many of you have probably guessed," she told the crowd, as many gasped lightly in surprise, "With the situation with the Grimm invading, we had no choice but to flee and let it fall," she mentioned, sounding somewhat ashamed, "But not all is lost," she affirmed, "Atlas itself has been placed in Mantle's crater thanks to the efforts of our colleagues," she explained, "Neither city is decimated as a result of this madness," she added.

"What about the Grimm then?" a woman questioned in concern.

"We had recon looking into everything over the past couple of days," Robyn answered, letting off a grin, "And we've got good news to share," she mentioned.

"A rebellion force brought together by the message broadcasted across the world has come to help deal with Salem's forces," Winter explained, "Salem herself… is gone," she confirmed to the shock of the crowd, "However, we do not know if that means she is truly gone," she mentioned, "It could be that she's gone back into hiding for the time being," she inferred to the refugees, who traded nervous looks.

"Listen, things aren't all dandy," Robyn chimed in, "Obviously, our cities are both still wrecked," she pointed out, "And Grimm are bound to show up in droves with all the negativity we have over the situation," she mentioned on, "Truth be told, I think we all contributed to that," she admitted with a shake of her, "We're not just afraid of Salem and the Grimm…" she continued, "we're angry, we're frustrated, we're trying to figure out how to fix all this, only for roadblocks to keep coming up against us…" she listed off.

"Sometimes, it was even the people we thought that we could trust who added to the negativity," Winter added, "General Ironwood has been imprisoned for his crimes against the kingdom," she told the crowd, "As such, the Atlesian Military will have a new leader appointed, one who'll help bring our kingdom back together," she concluded.

"And I believe our best candidate's standing right next to me," Robyn said, causing the special operative to blink in surprise as she looked over at her, "She might be a Schnee, but she's already rejected that lifestyle by wanting to do what's right for both Atlas and Mantle," she affirmed on, "As a matter of fact, with Atlas no longer up in the sky, I guess we don't need to think of them separately anymore…" she assumed, "Isn't that right, General?" she inquired with a grin toward Winter. She let out a little laugh.

"I agree," she said, "There shouldn't be such a divide between us," she told the refugees, "There never should've been," she affirmed on, "But learning that lesson will help us grow into a stronger kingdom," she proclaimed, "We can't keep touting ourselves as the best if we're not helping others become better themselves," she explained, "That's what Atlas should be for Remnant," she declared, "A kingdom to help make other kingdoms as strong as it," she finished firmly. Those in the crowd looked on with varying expressions of intrigue and surprise. Even the Happy Huntresses in the crowd seemed uncertain about this ordeal. And then Ben stepped forward.

"Now obviously, a lot of you are probably still scared to even think about what's happened in your world," he pointed out, "Believe me, I get it," he affirmed to the crowd, "So… we're offering you all a chance," he said, causing everyone to perk up in surprise, "We'll let you decide if you want to go back to your world… or stay here," he told them, "Either way, we're going to help you," he promised. Everyone was silent for a few moments. And then, there was clapping. It came from one of the drunkards that Ben remembered seeing in Mantle when he arrived with his comrades that one night, followed by Klein, Whitley, and Willow. Eventually, everyone started clapping and cheering.

"Let's save all of Remnant!" one man yelled.

"Yeah!" another agreed. As the refugees hope and optimism had returned, Ruby found herself smiling through her tears. She wiped her eyes, thankful that things had worked out in the end. She looked up to the sky, hopeful for what would come about from this.

ONE MONTH LATER

"How's the new scythe feel?" Qrow asked of his youngest niece, who had a sleeker version of her Crescent Rose in her hands, spinning it around as they were standing outside of Omni Force Tower.

"Lighter than I remember…" she admitted, folding it into its storage form after a moment, "I mean, with Doctor Polendina's help and the materials from the tower, it's probably better than before," she inferred. Her uncle chuckled.

"I'm sure a lot of things are gonna be a little better now," he noted, "But don't think I'm not lookin' out for you and your sister," he mentioned seriously, "Yang's case is one thing, but—"

"I know, I know…" Ruby repeated in understanding, interjecting Qrow, "I'll be sure to tell Dad everything that happened…" she promised. Her uncle gave off a grin. "Are you gonna tell him what happened with Raven?" she inquired curiously.

"Kinda should," the huntsman answered with a shrug, "It's not just that she decided to go, she went to a whole other universe in a whole other time," he pointed out, exhaling a sigh of frustration.

"Yeah… it's crazy…" his niece admitted, looking towards the holographic statues of the fallen Omni Force members. Two in particular ultimately died as a result of getting involved in her universe's problems. There was a lingering guilt in her mind over them, especially Jenny's. She remembered seeing those last few moments where the teenage robot had dived in to try and stop Cinder, only to end up sacrificing herself.

"Hey sis!" Yang suddenly greeted, wrapping her prosthetic arm around her little sister's shoulders as she yelped in surprise, "All set to go?" she assumed.

"Uh, yeah," she stuttered in reply, letting off a little smile, "You excited about that?" she inquired, taking notice of something on her sister's left hand. Upon her ring finger was a beautiful diamond ring. She chuckled a little.

"Oh, hell yes I am," she responded, "And you already know that you're gonna be my maid of honor or something," she mentioned, giving Ruby a big hug that she returned happily. After a few more moments, an MPG portal was opened up for the pair of huntresses and their uncle to travel through. The silver-eyed young woman stayed behind for a moment, looking back at the holographic statues and then toward the tower where the whole journey had essentially begun. She had a lot to reflect on. With a deep breath, she went through the portal.

From the moment Beacon fell, I had a lot of growing up to do. There was no room for error, no time for rest, and no risks that needed to be taken. But… I kept trying to act like things would be okay. In reality, they really weren't.

Returning the Sand Village, Gaara was met with a rousing ovation from his people, with Kankuro and Temari leading them in their cheers. Naruto Uzumaki was also there, putting his arm around the Kazekage and smiling brightly. He couldn't help but tear up, grateful to have come back to the village that was his home after so long.

And I think that's something I needed to figure out during this whole experience. Reality is far from perfect.

Back in Omni Force Tower, Kevin sipped the coffee from his mug, exhaling a contented sigh. He was then hugged by his wife, Gwendolyn, before their son, Devlin, jumped onto his lap. He laughed happily, glad to be home.

We were going through all kinds of stuff. Family drama, flashbacks, guilt by association… and fear.

Sabo was looking out over the horizon aboard the Sunny, holding his lead pipe over his shoulder as he sat on the deck. His brother came and sat down beside him, wrapping his right arm around his shoulders to hold him close. They laughed heartily, glad to be together again.

But… not everything was bad.

Knocking on the door to Fenton Works, Danny was seemingly anxious about seeing his family in friends after what felt like ages. The door opened, and standing there was his sister, Jazz. She gasped upon seeing her little brother, who meekly waved his right hand. Her bottom lip wobbled before she happily lunged out to hug him, followed by calling over the rest of those inside. Jack and Maddie Fenton, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson were all happy to see the half-ghost teen return. But then, the latter of the group took notice of something.

"Um, who's that?" she asked, pointing over to Weiss, who was wearing a short, glittering dress with a color gradation of gray blue to pale blue at the hem, a sweetheart neckline, and a white, tulle petticoat. A white sash was wrapped multiple times around her waist, and over the outfit was worn a slightly sheer long-sleeved gray blue bolero fastened at the collar with a large sapphire broach that had three pendants dangling from it. Printed on the back of the shrug was her family crest. Completing her attire are gray blue wedge heels and sapphire drop earrings. She wore her hair down, brushing it back behind her right ear as she nervously waved to Danny's friends and family. He smiled.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Weiss," he introduced, "She's… my girlfriend," he mentioned in confession.

"Um… hi…" the ex-heiress stuttered in greeting. Everyone looked to each other in surprise for a moment.

"Well, no wonder you took so long to come back!" Jack exclaimed with his hands at his hips, "Trying to find someone as good as Sam must've been pretty tough, huh?" he assumed.

"Uh, it's a little more complicated than that, Dad…" Danny sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck. In the meantime, Sam approached Weiss, who flinched a little. The goth girl stared her up and down before letting off a smirk.

"Glad there was someone out there to keep Danny in line," she remarked to her surprise. She then giggled a little.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, holding her right hand out.

"Likewise," Sam replied, accepting her hand and shaking it firmly.

The multiverse works in mysterious ways after all. I and so many others learned that after so many different things had happened.

Standing outside of Fairy Tail, Wendy took a deep breath. She was feeling so unnerved about her return, even though she really had nothing to worry about. However, Carla was at her side in her Exceed form, giving her a reassuring smile. Erza did the same, putting a hand onto her shoulder. With that, the trio entered the guild.

"HEY, WENDY'S BACK!" Natsu Dragneel roared out excitedly.

"Carla, too!" Happy added with delight as he lunged out. As her guildmates ran over to greet her, the Sky Dragon Slayer found herself tearing up with delight. To be back in the place that welcomed her when she felt lost before was truly nostalgic.

'I do hope you'll keep mum about me being with you for a little while,' Irene's voice echoed in her head, causing her to perk up in surprise, 'We wouldn't want Erza and the others to think I'm trying to take control of you again…' she pointed out. Wendy tensed up, clenching her fists in frustration. While reluctantly finding herself smothered by Happy, Carla took notice.

"Is something wrong, Wendy?" she asked out of concern, getting her attention.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she assured in reply.

'Miss Irene, you're not going to stay in my body forever…' she vowed inwardly.

'Oh, I understand that,' the scarlet-haired enchantress responded, 'Although, while you and I are intertwined, perhaps maybe you'd like some advice from that cute little boy you love,' she suggested, making the Sky Dragon Slayer tense up again. This was an unfavorable scenario for her. But until the time came where she could be rid of Irene, she'd have to try and learn how to work with her, much like Oscar did with Ozpin.

We all wanted to make the world a better place. We all wanted to stop Salem. We just had different ways of going about it… that we almost forgot what we were really fighting for.

Swinging through the streets of New York in his new costume, Peter was catching the eyes of many people below, seeing some take pictures as he landed atop a building, overlooking the city while standing up. He clenched his fists, recalling the events of Jenny's death and how it vaguely reminded him of something else in his life. A police siren then snapped him away from his memories, enticing him to hurry off in pursuit of it.

Meanwhile, Kim was in her college dorm room, studying at her desk. She let out a deep sigh as she leaned back in her seat, looking up at the ceiling sadly. Her door was opened by her boyfriend, Ron Stoppable, who immediately noticed how distraught she seemed. He went over and embraced her warmly, letting her sniffle into his shoulder.

As for Genji, he returned to Overwatch's headquarters alongside Angela, reuniting with many of his colleagues. He was glad to see everyone again, but something felt… different. As if there was still a part of him missing. Inwardly, he vowed to find that missing piece.

And when we fought for the people we did our best to save, we risked our lives. Not all of us were lucky to survive.

Penny had gone to Tremorton alongside her father and Dr. Wakeman, where they held a service for Jenny amongst others that were her friends and family. The Winter Maiden held onto the blue bolt she had kept, burying it in the ground at her friend's grave. She looked up at the tombstone before lowering her head. She wished things were different. But this was the unfortunate reality. And she remained knelt the grave well into the evening, thinking about what could've happened had the person she loved lived.

People doubted us. We even doubted ourselves. I think I was the one who was the most doubtful, even though I was the most optimistic. Still, Yang was right. Without optimism, we would've lost.

Back at Omni Force Tower, Neopolitan gave off a blank expression of disinterest as doctors such as Tsunade and Chopper were conferring on her treatment, all while Sunset watched from outside the room. As she narrowed her eyes in thought, she then noticed Cinder being carried away in a special containment chamber. The look on her face was pitiful to say the least. She couldn't have felt any more powerless than she did at the moment.

Meanwhile, Ben, Hazel, Emerald and Marrow watched as a cuffed James was being placed aboard a ship being piloted by Rook and Max. The former general looked back at the Omni Force leader, who stared at him indifferently. The bay doors closed, and the ship took off into the sky.

In the end, reality gave us a shot at victory. We didn't look back. It was the very thing we wanted to make better for everyone, even if it meant giving up on the bigger picture.

In Atlas, a lot of construction was underway, rebuilding the city. People of Atlas and Mantle were coming together at this point to help bring the kingdom back to its former glory. Watching on alongside Robyn and the other Happy Huntresses, Winter smiled, knowing that things were starting to get better.

Now, we have to find our place in the world. We have to not only be protectors for people around us, but in all other worlds. We have to be ambassadors for the sake of making reality better for everyone.

Blake had returned to Menagerie, being warmly greeted by her mother and father, along with an excited Ilia. Sun happened to be visiting as well, making the cat Faunus smile. She had a lot to tell them about what she had gone through.

Being heroes of Remnant should sound great. But in reality, we were just doing what we felt was right. It's what Huntsmen and Huntresses would do… It's what you would do.

"Love you, Mom," Ruby said, placing a small bouquet of flowers at the memorial for her mother. Standing behind her were Qrow and Yang, who smiled as she stood up.

"So, can we get to your Dad's place already?" the former of the three insisted, "I'm starving for something good…" he grumbled out with a grin.

"Same…" his eldest niece agreed as they walked off, "Also…" she continued, awkwardly coughing into her prosthetic hand, "the whole… me getting engaged might not be the only thing I need to tell him about…" she confessed sheepishly.

"Uh, what?" her uncle said, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say we're probably gonna have another mouth to feed…" she remarked in reply, putting her left hand over her belly. Qrow widened his eyes.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me…" he muttered out with a shake of his head. Yang just laughed.

"Ruby, you excited to be an aunt?" she inquired of her little sister, who perked up.

"Oh, uh, yeah…" she replied, though not as eagerly as she normally would've, "Really happy for you, Yang," she mentioned with a smile. As they trekked on towards the house in the near distance, the silver-eyed girl looked up at the sky in deep thought. Everything had led her to this moment as a huntress. And now, she had a lot of time to reflect on it all. She sighed with a smile, jogging onward with her family.

And that brings an end to our tale of the Reality Stone's whereabouts. The stone itself now lies in fragments. And even if they were to all be recovered, there'd still be one piece missing: the one used to save all of Atlas' people.

But of course, the story doesn't end there. While our heroes celebrate their victories, what are their villains up to?

X

"How much longer are we gonna have to wait here?" Mercury complained, leaning back upon the bench of the room he and Tyrian were staying in.

"Patience is a virtue, Mister Black," the scorpion Faunus responded with a chuckle, "You'd be wise not to be so impatient for our goddess' arrival…" he advised, earning a scoff out of the silver-haired, "So… you never considered what we were really planning, were you?" he inquired with a chuckle toward his colleague.

"Shut up…" he muttered in response, looking out the window toward the sprawling kingdom of Vacuo, with Shade Academy lurking in the distance.

"Even by some miracle if we were to secure the academy, we can't even access the Vault without the Summer Maiden," Tyrian told him, "There's no need to rush things along…" he assured, "It's how the good doctor and I managed to tear down Atlas from the inside out…" he boasted. Mercury didn't say a word, narrowing his eyes slightly. Just then, he and his comrade heard footsteps. They immediately shot to their feet, with the scorpion Faunus drawing The Queen's Servants as their blades extended. "I will admit, I do have a craving for blood…" he confessed, licking his lips, waving his prosthetic tail.

The silver-haired teen clenched his fists, glaring at the door as the knob was slowly turned. With the sound of a click, the door swung open little by little. Both men blinked in surprise to find All For One standing there, donning his mask over his face.

"Ah, so you've already settled in, it seems…" he remarked. Tyrian giggled.

"Oh, how unfortunate…" he grumbled while grinning widely, "And I was hoping for some bloodshed…" he noted as he withdrew his weapons.

"You know this guy?" Mercury asked.

"A benefactor of our goddess," the scorpion Faunus confirmed, approaching the masked man, "Along with those other lackeys who can't even hold a candle to her," he mentioned with a wicked smirk. All For One wasn't even bothering to acknowledge him.

"Salem has fallen," he said, causing both men to blink in surprise, "Along with that, Cinder and Neopolitan were both captured, while Emerald and Hazel have gone to join the likes of our enemies," he told them.

"They… turned against Salem…?" Mercury inquired.

"You lie…" Tyrian snarled, his expression shifting into one of unadulterated rage, "Our goddess… she would never lose to such swine!" he proclaimed, drawing his blades as he lunged out at All For One. He merely raised his left hand… and generated black tendrils with prominent red cracked lines from his fingers. They struck the scorpion Faunus, making his purple Aura flicker violently as he was blown back. He slammed into the wall hard, losing his Aura before the tendrils pierced through his body at his stomach and arms. All his silver-haired colleague could do was watch as he was pulled back to the masked man.

"Now…" he began, "Salem herself is alive and well…" he assured, "but her goals in this world are now meaningless," he confirmed, "And as such, we'll be using her… assets as we see fit," he decided, bringing Tyrian a mere foot away from him, "Honestly, I don't have much use for you…" he admitted as he put his right hand up, "But that Semblance of yours is quite enticing…" he noted. Hearing that made Mercury blink in surprise. He watched as All For One placed the palm of his hand over the scorpion Faunus's face. He screamed, writhing in agony as he tried to free himself, but to no avail. Eventually, his whole body went limp as he fell onto the floor, bleeding out.

"What… did you just do?" the silver-haired teen asked, seeing the masked villain retract his tendrils as his fingers morphed back to normal.

"I merely took the man's power," he answered, "Quite a useful ability for this universe in particular, wouldn't you agree?" he assumed of the shell-shocked teen.

"You… took it…?" he questioned on, trembling a little.

"Ah, the pieces are coming together, aren't they?" All For One guessed, chuckling as he approached Mercury.

"There's no way…" he uttered out, backing up in fright, "I…I killed you…" he claimed, shaking all the while.

"You killed Marcus Black," the masked man corrected, "Harsh as he was, he did his job in making sure you were properly trained," he pointed out.

"Trained… for what?" Mercury asked, finding himself braced back against the wall. All For One stopped, bringing his hands up to his mask. He pulled it off, revealing his face and his silvery-white hair.

"Trained to make certain you were ready to take your place by my side," he answered, "At some point, Salem was going to let you return to me, before she succeeded in her goal at least," he explained on, "But with circumstances the way they are now, we get to meet a little sooner…" he noted with a chuckle, setting his mask aside.

"You're…?" Mercury started to assume.

"It's nice to see you after so long, my son," he greeted, putting a hand onto the silver-haired teen's shoulder. Back at Evernight Castle, Nevermores cawed loudly before taking off into the air with mighty flaps of their wings. Inside one of the fortress' deepest parts, Lysandre and Arthur were carefully donning goggles over their eyes, allowing their sight to zoom in on the fragments of the Reality Stone lying upon the table.

"Hmm…" the former Atlesian scientist hummed out, using a set of tweezers to carefully attach the pieces to each other, "It's unfortunate that Salem only managed to gather so much of these fragments as she could…" he noted with a shake of his head, "By my guess…" he continued, "I'd say she only retained thirty to forty percent of the stone," he stated. At that moment, more shards were sprinkled onto the table. The two scientists looked over to see Ultron standing there.

"Make that seventy percent," he said, walking around his colleagues, "I do hope you're not looking to take Watts under your wing, Lysandre," he assumed of the former Team Flare leader, who perked up slightly, "I am the one who saved his life, after all…" he pointed out.

"I don't care what you do," Lysandre responded bluntly, "What we need to focus on now is restoring the stone to its full power," he insisted.

"I'm afraid that's impossible," Ultron replied to his surprise, "Eon was kind enough to inform me that Raven Branwen took one of the Reality Stone's pieces, using it to destroy the Reality Break Salem had formed," he explained.

"What?!" Lysandre exclaimed in question, slamming his hands against the tabletop as Arthur flinched, "Dammit…" he growled out, "It's bad enough that we have no idea where to find the other five…" he grumbled on.

"It won't matter if we can at least uncover the ones that are most viable to us," the android argued, "So we'll continue our search on that front, all while slowly building up in the background," he decided as he picked up and held one of the Reality Stone's fragments.

"And… where is Salem now?" Arthur asked curiously as he set down his tweezers. In the pools of Grimm, the immortal woman sighed as she bathed in them, staring up at the broken full moon in the sky. Thinking back on when the gods cursed her, she wondered if this was their way of telling that she would never truly live normally ever again.

"Salem…" Eon's voice uttered, getting her attention as she glanced back to see the time walker knelt by the pool.

"Beloved…" she said, letting off an ashamed expression, "I failed…" she noted, lowering her gaze. Eon didn't say anything. "I believed that I could see this endeavor through, that I could bring the gods who cursed me back and destroy this cruel world, along with myself," she confessed, "You asked me if I wanted to live," she recalled, "And at the time, I truly didn't know…" she admitted on, "Whatever life I tried to have after Ozma was met with nothing but turmoil and this innate desire for death…" she pointed out, "I did want that peace of death…" she finally said.

The time walker went ahead and removed his helmet, revealing his true face in a flash of purple light. Salem looked back at him, tears pricking her eyes. She shut them tightly, followed by clenching her fists. She stood up.

"But now, I want to live," she affirmed as the air swirled around her, "I want to mold not just this world, but all others into a perfect image," she declared on, reaching her left hand up toward the broken moon in the sky, closing it into a fist over it, "And then, we'll destroy them all," she proclaimed. Eon stood up.

"Then we have much to do," he noted.

END

And that brings an end to probably my longest story on the site, especially with the last two chapters. There's a lot that I didn't get to, or will get to in shorts. I'm gonna be listing off a few of those ideas right now actually.

Danny X Weiss (RATED M!)

Sabo X Winter (RATED M!)

Jaune X Starlight (RATED M!)

Gaara X Yang (RATED M!)

The Future of Team TOWER

Wendy & Irene's Predicament

Penny's New Life in Tremorton

Ruby X Peter First Date

Ben X Blake Conclusion

The Futures of the Ace Operatives, James, Cinder, and Neopolitan

The first of that list is one I would highly recommend someone request. Seriously, I'm dying to have that made after all the teasing I did in this story for Danny and Weiss' ship. Same with the other couple of shorts, too.

But that brings us to the end of the second story of the Infinity Stone Saga for the Omni Force. And now, we're a third of the way done. So, what's next? Well, let's find out!

TRAILER

Insert "Blowing" by NiL

Opens during Garnet's wedding party when Blue and Yellow Diamond invaded in an attempt to capture Steven Universe. We see Izuku Midoriya, the Next Avengers, Atsuko Kagari, and Diana Cavendish working together to fight them back alongside the Crystal Gems. At some point, Steven reveals that his Gem is the one of Pink Diamond's.

Blue Diamond: It's you… Pink…

NEXT WEEK

The scene changes to Steven and the others meeting the corrupted Gems around the Earth, trying to fix them with the Diamonds' help. Unfortunately, it seems like their efforts aren't fully enough to fix them.

Francis Barton: So we're going to that Homeworld place to fix everything? *rolls eyes* Yeah, that'll work...

Steven Universe: I just wanna talk!

Cuts to the entire group arriving on Homeworld, where Steven is taken by a Pearl to see White Diamond. Meanwhile, Izuku is seen sneaking around with Azari and Diana.

Izuku Midoriya: The Gems ravaged hundreds of worlds in order to create new Kindergartens to spawn new Gems. Question is, how'd you think they did it?

We shift to a scene of him removing his hood upon reaching the core of the planet, staring in awe at the purple gemstone that floats at the center.

Azari T'Challa: You really think there's an Infinity Stone here?

Izuku Midoriya: There's only one way to find out...

Cuts to him grabbing the stone before his eyes start glowing a bright purple and sparks of electricity surge about him as he screams in agony. The scene switches over to White Diamond upon her throne.

White Diamond: Power creates order. Order creates perfection. And perfection... will save everyone.

We see different scenes of Izuku kicking back Yellow Diamond, Atsuko transforming herself into a giant whale, the Crystal Gems being blasted by beams from White Diamond's eyes.

Steven Universe: Stop... Please... Leave them alone...

White Diamond: It's to come out, Pink...

She grabs Steven and attempts to yank his gem out from his stomach.

Connie Maheswaran: *in Pearl's grasp* NNNOOOOOO!

Izuku Midoriya: STEEEVVVENNNN!

We see a silhouette of Steven's Gem being yanked out before the camera cuts to black. What follows is the scene switching to a space garden where the seemingly lifeless figure of a certain Gem starts to twitch.

POWER

The trailer ends with a shot of an older Steven having a purple glint in his eyes.

END TRAILER

That's right, "Power" is next on the list to be released, with 15 chapters like "Reality" set to start next week! On top of that, it'll be my first time doing a fic based around Steven Universe, one of my favorite series! I'm looking forward to seeing how you'll all react to it when it finally releases!

But with that, we're finally finished with "Reality"! Big thanks to TerrorKing10 for the poster and helping with chapter edits! I couldn't have done it without you!

That's all for now, folks! Don't forget to leave a review, and I'll see you next time!