Patriot-112: A thousand apologies, again and again. Please don't hunt me down, okay?
*Ahem* Anyway, here is a new chapter.
Chapter 8:
The Road to Mt. Glenn
Beacon Academy
After Drei's arrival
After the arrival of the robotic dog, the group immediately got him out of sight, and off an unconscious Ruby, and took him down to the vault in order for him to reunite with Ru. Drei's loyalty to the time traveler showed as he curled up alongside the bed, and gave a mechanical version of a canine whimper of worry. The group could only look on in sympathy, as the robotic canine was helpless in what to do for his mistress.
Ruby sadly looked at the android canine as she walked forward and knelt next to Drei, and gave it a gentle rub on the head.
"It's okay boy, she's gonna be okay," she said, but didn't know if it was for trying to convince Drei, or herself.
The older Yang walks over before she kneels down and gives Drei her own pat.
"All the same, but it's good to have you here buddy," she said, "With you around, protecting Little sis is gonna be a bit easier."
The Andro-dog looked up at E-Yang and it's tail wagged just a bit, happy at the gratitude.
"Now, we just need to make sure you don't try to kill General Ironwood this time," said E-Weiss, making the younger versions make a snap take at what the older version of the Heiress just said, while Drei began to growl in anger at the mention of the said Headmaster/General of Atlas.
"Wait, what?" Jaune said, "What do you mean 'try to kill him this time?',"
E-Blake gave a sigh at that. "Ruby made a warning video for General Ironwood, telling him that Salem would get inside his head, and make him go psychotically paranoid...making him abandon the people of Mantle to their fate when she invaded, and ended up murdering one of the Council, when said man protested against his actions."
This caused everyone's eyes to widen in shock at what the firm, but fair, Atlesian General had become and done.
"Of course, Ruby blamed herself because she felt that, had she told him what they had learned, instead of following Ozpin's way, and hid the truth from him about one of the relics hidden beneath the schools, the fallout of when he eventually found out would've been less severe." E-Yang added, as her hand formed into a fist at the memory of the video, "And to make it worse, the ungrateful jerk ordered us arrested for 'betraying' him when we told others about his plan to make Amity Stadium the replacement CCT for Beacon Tower. And thanks to that, and Salem's little river of Grimm, she was able to breach Atlas' shield, and invade the City...both it and Mantle were destroyed within a day."
All of the students gaped at what they had just heard from their older counterparts.
"Of course, according to Ru, we managed to get the majority of the people to Vacuo thanks to the Staff of Creation spirit Ambrosius...but ran headfirst into a SANDSTORM of all things!" E-Nora said in exasperation. "And if that wasn't bad enough there was the Ravagers and those creepy Sulfur Fish...eugh!,"
"Thankfully Winter was there." Ren finished, "But, of course, Team RWBY and Jaune didn't make it in time, and they ended up on some island."
Both Younger teams looked at their counterparts.
"Really, how did you get off?" Y-Yang asked, but E-Yang held up her robotic finger and wagged it side to side in a 'tsk tsk' fashion.
"Nah ah ah, that would be telling now would it?" she said, which made the current Yang give a glare in return.
"...Bitch,"
E-Yang just gave a shit-eating grin at that.
"You know you love me!" The older version of the blonde brawler said before sighing, "So, any ideas for how we can prevent the Breach from happening?"
"I already got to Torchwick and...convinced him that continuing to work for Cinder would be detrimental to his health," E-Blake said, with an emphasis on the 'convinced'. "Plus, I convinced him to not have Neo with him when we get to Mount Glenn."
"Good," E-Weiss said, with some relief in her tone, "I rather not fight her again, the agile little tramp,"
E-Yang gave E-Weiss a raised brow at that, "What are you complaining about? I'm the one who got beaten up by her. Twice!"
"Uh, did you forget she gave us a beating when she showed up at Atlas!?" E-Nora questioned/accused. "That wasn't fun, ya know!"
"Uhh, who's Neo? And just how tough is she?" asked Y-Jaune, confused as well as the others about this mysterious henchwoman of Torchwick's.
His older counterpart answered him.
"Oh that's right, you haven't met her yet," he said, "She's Torchwick's right hand woman, shorter than Ruby..."
"Hey!"
"...neopolitan ice cream colored hair and eyes, hence her name. Don't let it fool you though, she's really dangerous. Especially with her semblance which she can use to disguise herself,"
The younger Beacon students all had shocked looks at the brief but blunt description of the said petite criminal. And all of them made up their minds in not wanting to challenge her to a fight at any time.
"Thanks for the warning...," Y-Yang said, "So any other ideas while we wait?"
The other teens all shrugged their shoulders, while the time travelers smiled.
"How about we tell you about what we did when we arrived here...," Jaune said, "...and prevented a few future headaches down the road."
And that's what they did as they waited for the eventual day, telling them of their travels after they used the Relic of Time to travel to the past. Stopping at the Brunswick Farms, and dealing with the Apathy Grimm, which the Time travelers were still having nightmares about, dealing with the Nuckelavee, which was finished off by E-Ren, much to his younger counterpart's approval, and finally dealing with a few members of Raven's bandit tribe...E-Yang especially dealing with a creep that tried to hit on her at a gas station back in the original timeline, and did more than knocking out a tooth.
The present Yang approved with a chuckle, knowing she hated creeps with a passion. Especially if they attempted to make a pass toward Ruby, then ALL bets were off.
Soon after the day finally came, as the Elder WBY all watched the students gather below.
"Well, ain't this nostalgic?" Said E-Weiss as they watched from their vantage point as the other teams prepared to go out on their first field assignments.
"Yeah, the day before where we investigated Mountain Glenn, and where Ruby got captured by the White Fang," E-Yang clarified, while E-Weiss clutched her sister's sword angrily.
"Not this time," the now-named Ice Puma said.
As an agreement between them, the elder RWBY members will shadow the younger RWBY, and kick the living shit out of everyone at that place. If, by some chance, thay they can't stop the breach, they at least could limit the damage.
Speaking of damage...
Squarely in Blake's sights were Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. While Emerald had her reservations and obeyed Cinder mostly out of fear and a debt to her, Mercury on the other hand, killed his own father, and didn't care much for anything.
So one or both of them needed the ass kicking of their lives. It was a good thing they knew how to fight them. Constantly dealing with the idiots on a regular basis in the past did that. So they were going to tear the two apart when the time came.
However all three of their eyes narrowed hatefully as they spotted the one person they hate with a burning passion, and whom they wanted to die slowly, and painfully. The first of two reasons why they lost Ruby... twice.
"It's her..." E-Yang growled out, wanting nothing more than to punch the bitch's block off with Ember Celica, "...oh I SO~ wanna make that bitch scream in agony when I break her spine,"
A hand on her shoulder stopped her, before she looked over and saw Blake giving her an understanding frown.
"Later." E-Blake said, "We need to make sure things stay on track. Last time, she wasn't able to get into the CCT tower, but the White Fang more than made up for the robots."
Yang was forced to reign in her more angry tendencies. The last time, her mother had to step in to save her. And she SOOO didn't want to owe that damn coward anything.
Without Neo in the picture, things were looking up.
Speaking of Neopolitan...
Said girl was disguised as a student, her hair changed to all dark brown, while her eyes were colored sapphire blue.
"I can't believe you managed to convince that weasel to send Neo here, Blake," E-Yang said, as she saw through the half-pink head's disguise easily since she was using a lot of her aura to do it. E-Blake shrugged her shoulders.
"Actually, I'm quite surprised that happened," the cat Faunus said.
The younger teams had met her, and in spite of her silence, they liked her.
Until E-Weiss decided to be a bitch and tell Y-Yang that she nearly killed her. The result was Neo running from her for six hours. At which point she calmed down and Neo signed that she was sorry for thinking about it. The older one made sure she was honest.
But as such, Neo was currently on VERY thin ice. It would just take one flame up for her to be in deep shit.
"Well, at least she's not gonna be used by that mentally unstable bitch," E-Yang said, "Remember our future Neo? She was tortured by Cinder, because she told her to make herself look like Ruby to take her frustration out on someone, and when we found her...let's just say, enemy or no, even she didn't deserve that,"
The other two nodded at that.
"We should get ready." said E-Blake, "Thankfully Jaune and the others are looking after Ruby while we're gone"
The other two nodded and went to the rooms that Ozpin assigned them.
"Oh yeah, when dad moved in he brought Zwei with him. He and Drei already got along great with each other," E-Yang said, causing E-Blake to stiffen.
While she did get BETTER with Zwei, she still wasn't truly, FULLY, comfortable with him around. Drei was another matter altogether, but that's a different story.
She was getting there. Very, VERY slowly.
She was a CAT Faunus after all. And cats are REALLY scared of dogs...with a few exceptions.
"Just...keep him away from me," she said, causing E-Yang to giggle. E-Weiss however had a concerned frown on her face.
"I still don't like leaving Ruby here alone," E-Weiss said worriedly, "What if something happens while we're gone?"
E-Yang placed a hand on her shoulder, "It'll be alright, Weiss," the blonde said comfortingly, "With Jaune, Pyrrha, and the rest of Team JNPR here, along with Drei, they'll make sure she's safe. Pyrrha especially, since after the other Ruby died, she was protective of the one we know and love,"
The older Schnee was not convinced. She remembered how devastated Pyrrha was when both their own Ruby, and the Elder Ruby died in what they called the Ru-Timeline. Pyrrha saw this as her second chance to help Ru, and Weiss was thankful for that.
Regardless, E-Weiss was not willing to leave.
"That doesn't make me feel any better," she growled out.
"You know it wasn't Pyrrha's fault that day, Weiss," E-Blake said.
"I know that!" E-Weiss snapped before calming down, "It's just...I don't want to lose her again, after just getting her back,"
"We know." E-Blake said comforting the older Weiss as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "It might not be our Ruby, but she's still Ruby."
"No, she IS our Ruby." E-Weiss, with conviction, "We were just...separated for a while."
The three joined their younger counterparts, passing themselves off to the rest of Beacon as 'relatives' to Team RWBY.
Irony was a bitch.
The two sets then headed to the bullhead that will take them to Mountain Glenn, but then E-Weiss realized something.
"Wait a minute...when we were on this assignment, the professor assigned to us was..." E-Weiss' eyes widened comically white as she remembered, "...oh crap."
"Hello, Ladies!" a familiar hyper voice shouted, "Who's in for the fight of their lives!?"
The three older versions of Team RWBY had only ONE thing to think of all of this.
'Oobleck. Out of ALL people, why Oobleck!?'
The hyperactive, coffee-addicted history teacher stood before the younger RWBY, whose eyes were twitching.
While the man was capable, insanely so, his drawbacks were that he seemed to be a living caffeine rush and drove them INSANE with his lightspeed lectures at history. On the other hand, the breach was lessened mostly by the fact that he was damn good at his job.
"A pleasure to see you all here today! Hopefully as you're all aware that even though your relatives are accompanying you on this expedition, Ozpin strictly stated that an official teacher of Beacon is to remain with you at all times so you don't get into TOO much trouble!" he said at a fast pace, much to the Younger RWBY's annoyance, and the Elder's exasperation.
"What did he say?" Y-Yang deadpanned.
"He's here because Ozpin said so." Y-Blake clarified.
"DAMN IT ALL!"
The Bullhead dropped the eight off near the ruins of Mountain Glenn. The Elder Team RWBY remembered coming back to this place back in the old timeline, and the history behind the now abandoned settlement. It was supposed to be an extension of the kingdom of Vale, but the Grimm kept attacking the place, forcing many people to evacuate while the others were forced to live underground. That same underground town eventually became a White Fang Base.
"Stick with Oobleck." E-Yang told their younger versions, and pointed at the red-hooded girl we all love, "That goes double for you, Ruby. You got captured by the White Fang. And I don't think either Weiss can handle it if you get hurt."
The words 'ethnic cleansing' came to mind. On the other hand, who would care? They were terrorists. These people KILLED people.
But not the RWBY of the past. They wouldn't see their deaths as necessary.
"Ah, and before I forget...," she said as she turned Ruby around, opened her backpack, reached in and brought out a single black and white Welsh Corgi dog. "...Hey Zwei!,"
The little dog gave a happy bark prompting everyone to look at said animal.
"You brought him with you?!" Y-Blake said, her cat instincts running on all cylinders.
"Relax, Blake." Y-Yang said, trying to calm her down, "He came with dad all the time, and is actually stronger than he looks."
"THAT, we can actually confirm: that little dog can kick the ass out of any Grimm." E-Weiss said as she gave the dog a scratch behind the ears, causing the little dog to pant happily.
Understatement: the dog killed an Ursa during the Breach. If the pup wanted to, he could kill that dragon Grimm.
"You are right about that!" And queue the caffeine addict, "And not to mention dogs have been companions for Huntsmen and Huntresses for centuries! Their acute senses of smell and hearing, and their sixth sense can warn of any Grimm approaching! Marvelous, this is just marvelous!"
"Here we go," the younger RWBY said at the same time, as Oobleck went into his quick paced professor mode.
Of course, Blake wasn't paying as much attention as she kept a wary eye on the little dog. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see her older counterpart.
"Relax, little sister. Zwei is friendly to everyone." E-Blake said, though she was nervous herself, cat genes and all, "Let him near you and let him show you." Zwei approached the younger Blake, who was still getting used to the 'younger sister' thing. While the cat in her was yelling to run, her reasoning said the dog wanted to be her friend.
Reason finally won out and she petted the dog. Zwei responded by being cuddly.
"There! That wasn't so bad!" E-Yang said, "Now shall we?"
"Yes! Of course!" said Oobleck, as he turned around, "Also ladies, just so you know! I was already informed by Ozpin about the Time Travel scenario!"
"Damn it." groaned E-Yang, "The whole world's gonna know at this rate."
"Not true, Ms. Xiao Long!" Oobleck countered, "I am quite good at keeping secrets! Though you are correct: your information will end up in enemy hands eventually."
"So long as Cinder still fears Ruby, I don't think we really care, Doc." E-Blake said, "The main reason she was so screwed up was Ruby's attempt to kill her. No one ever got that close to the bitch in the red dress, until Ruby tried. Though we finished her off."
"Yes you did!" Oobleck said, and then spoke gravely even though speaking fast, "But, at great sacrifice."
The elder three fourths of Team RWBY all know what he meant, while the younger ones understood. Though to be perfectly honest, the now named Ru sacrificed a whole lot more.
"Now! Time's wasting!" Oobleck spoke, getting their attention, "We must continue our search for the White Fang base! Hurry now!"
Little did Oobleck know that they already knew the location of the base. The three elders just needed the excuse to get in and do what needed to be done. So they just needed to spend time with their younger 'siblings'. And they wanted to. Yang was the only one with experience as an older sister, and as such, they wanted to experience it on their first outing with the younger RWBY. All the while fighting Grimm.
"So, exactly, what is your relationship with the currently incapacitated future Ruby?" Y-Weiss asked her counterpart/sister, who just slashed off a Beowolf's head.
"All I can say is that we were extremely close," E-Weiss said, before turning her head, "To your left!"
Y-Weiss impaled another Beowolf, but the heavy animal nearly knocked her over before a larger, and white, Ursa Major lifted it's paw up to strike at her. However that was stopped when the Elder Weiss, with grace much like their shared sister Winter, sliced the Ursa in half.
Y-Weiss looked at her 'elder sister' in shock. "But..."
"As with all things, practice. I've been around ten years longer then you have. As such-" She summoned the armor that both faced during their 'exam' at the Schnee manor to help the younger Ruby. "I've mastered a few things."
Y-Weiss watched as her older self showed a mastery of glyph summoning, and to her shock, something from their past. She began to feel something within herself, a sense of determination to one day surpass not only her sister Winter, but also herself.
Meanwhile with the two Yangs, they were having a blast as they proceeded to punch-blast any Grimm that came after them, with the Elder Yang giving a strong punch that took an Ursa's head right off.
"How the hell did you do that?!" Y-Yang gawked at the power of the Elder Yang's punch.
"A decade of work! Plus a few upgrades to Ember Celica given to me by Ru!" The younger Xiao Long looked at the weapons. They had extended to cover the entire forearm, and the loading mechanism was further back, incorporating heavy armor plating into the shotgun's mechanism, as well as what appeared to be aura-charged magnets alongside both barrels.
"That's one of her designs?" Y-Yang said, before she had to punch away a Boarbatusk, that was charging at her.
"More like modification," E-Yang said, before she grabbed a Beowolf and placed it in a chokehold. "I'll show you the blueprints when we get back!"
"Geez! Is there anything Ru hadn't designed?," Y-Yang said, before shaking her head and going back to demolishing Grimm.
Both Blakes used their respective weapons to take down several Creeps, Although E-Blake's weapon seemed to be doing more damage, and firing much faster.
"What did she do to that thing?" Y-Blake said, blinking in amazement.
"Gave it a full automatic fire setting and a more secure grip for the ribbon!" Another Ursa swiped at the older girl, claws connecting with the blade.
With the younger one's Gambol Shroud, that would have shattered the blade. "She also redesigned the blade to be a hell of a lot stronger and lighter!"
With that said and with cat-like speed and reflexes, E-Blake sliced the bear Grimm apart. The younger Blake watched as her counterpart/sister dealt instant death on the Grimm.
"I still have a lot to learn," she said, and went back to taking out Grimm.
With Ruby, she watched as her teammates and sister(s) took on the Grimm, while watching the older ones and their modified weapons.
"Wow, I need to take a look at Ru's own Crescent Rose, and see what she did with it," the red/ravenette said, before the sound of an Ursa behind her caught her attention.
It roared before Ruby hacked its' head off, but with her attention on it, another Beowolf attacked her. None of the girls could stop it.
But something did.
A small black and white blur hit the Beowolf in the head sending it flying back into a building. The blur then did a backflip before landing next to Ruby.
"Thanks Zwei!" Ruby thanked as she patted the dog on the head. The corgi gave a bark in reply.
The Elder Team RWBY gave a sigh of relief at that, thankful the little dog was there.
In short, the Grimm were slaughtered by the eight-person and one dog party within a few hours, clearing out an area for the girls to rest in.
If it took the apocalypse to create Grimm killers like them, then damn, it needed to happen as many times as possible. The Grimm would be extinct in a few months that way!
They were all resting by the fire as the older Yang began to tell them their war stories, most of them not pretty. She was currently telling them about what happened at Mistral in Ru's Timeline. Especially the betrayal of Lionheart in which they prepared for, and dealt with him and took his pocket watch which was the key to the vault room below the school. Instead of Adam though, since he was killed at Beacon, it was Tyrian. Whom Qrow dealt with quickly while Team JNPR took on Hazel, along with Oscar.
Another thing that happened differently was Pyrrha, instead of Weiss, who was impaled by Cinder, and Jaune's semblance activating in the nick of time.
"And after you dealt with Lionheart, you guys went on the Argus Limited again?" Y-Yang questioned while the elder nodded.
"Yup," E-Yang said, "And like before, the Grimm chased after us because of the Relic, but unlike last time, we didn't have to separate the cars."
"And...Brunswick Farms?," Y-Blake asked, causing the girls to stiffen in memory.
"...Let's just say, in that timeline, we made sure to avoid that place like the plague," E-Blake said with a frightful tone, "We were in no rush to face the Apathy."
All the youngsters all shivered at the very thought of the will sucking Grimm. Glad they didn't have to face them themselves.
"What about the song?" The elders looked to Ruby, who was visibly depressed.
"What song?" E-Weiss
"The one on the scroll." Ruby said, and watched as the other's eyes widened, "You watched it didn't you?,"
The Elders all looked down at that, while the younger Team RWBY also had depressed looks, as they were there when they heard the elder Ruby sing.
"Yeah...we did," said E-Blake, "But it was actually a week after Beacon fell, the Ruby, our Ruby, was greatly devastated by it,"
"Time travel gives me a headache..." Ruby said as she massaged her head, while the Elder RWBY all chuckled at that.
"Ruby, we stopped worrying about the specifics of time travel a very long time ago." said E-Yang as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "All we care about is that we're here, and we're going to save everyone."
Ruby took this in, before she remembered. "Ru said in the message, that Team CFVY and Team SSSN died as heroes. I believe... The same thing happened in...your timeline?"
The Elder RWBY all winced at that.
"Yeah...," E-Weiss said, "Team CFVY stayed behind in Vale in order to help evacuate any remaining people still trapped there. They were swarmed by a mix stampede of Ursa, Beowolves, and Deathstalkers...Yatsuhashi was the first to go down, after protecting Velvet, who immediately followed. Then Fox was killed when a Deathstalker hit him with it's stinger, it didn't kill him, but he got jumped by a pack of Beowolves...they tore him to pieces."
The younger Team RWBY were horrified by that.
"And Coco...?" Yang said, worried for the leader of Team CFVY.
"She survived." E-Blake said sadly, "Kept living for a while. But eventually she just...took a knife and slit her own throat. She was SMILING the whole time, like something just drove her crazy."
Like something wanted to make her whole, maybe?
The younger Team RWBY all had pale looks on their faces, while E-Yang and E-Weiss groaned.
"Thank you Blake," E-Weiss grumbled, "Now I'm not going to be sleeping for the rest of the night."
"So much the better." E-Blake said, "We have to hit that hideout today."
"What can we be expecting?" Y-Blake asked, "Aside from the White Fang?"
E-Yang was the first to answer, "Well, last time, it was Torchwick, his little pet, a train full of bombs, and all the Grimm the explosions let in...not much,"
"But Neo's at Beacon, as you told us," said Ruby, "What do you think she's doing there now?"
Currently driving Glynda fucking BONKERS, but that was better left unsaid. Unless you count this.
Back to the story.
"Hopefully staying out of trouble," said E-Yang, though she shouldn't have said that.
"And Sun's team?" Y-Blake said, concern for her fellow Faunus' team.
The Older Blake sighed sadly.
"They fell when Mistral did," she said. "The last we heard was that they were last seen fighting six King Taijitu. We never heard anything else since,"
The girls were all silent knowing all their friends, aside from Team JNPR were all gone, either falling in battle, or to grief.
Railways were the lifeblood of any nation. From all the railroads built on another planet inhabited by humanity, that needs no introduction, the same applies to Remnant itself. Which was why there was a full-blown railway connecting Mountain Glenn to Vale.
I'm just going to say that was a really stupid idea, just like Mountain Glenn itself.
And that is precisely why the White Fang, a SHIT LOAD of White Fang, were now in the tunnels as they waited for the go ahead to begin the operation. This is exactly what the two Team RWBYs, Oobleck, along with Zwei are currently looking at right now.
"There weren't THAT many White Fang grunts here the first time around," E-Weiss said.
"Maybe Cinder got spooked." E-Yang said, "Who cares? More people that need to be shot."
"A little cold, Yang," E-Blake said, "but correct: they are terrorists." As noted, the White Fang, more specifically Adam's branch, were race-political terrorists.
As such, fuck 'em; they want to kill people for no other reason than that they're human, so throw them in a meat grinder and be done with it.
"Whoa, that's... kinda dark," said Y-Yang, while her elder self looked at her with the 'are you serious' look.
"War and losing friends can do to you, little sis," E-Yang said, "And despite the fact that the Grimm were attacking both Faunus and Humans, Adam Taurus' branch of the White Fang continued their 'little crusade' to wipe out humanity and any Faunus they saw as traitors,"
Y-Blake's eyes widened at that before her hands clenched into fists, being reminded of how slowly Adam turned from the man she once loved, into the cold heartless killer he later became.
"So, if we can avoid killing them, we will." E-Weiss stated, but then scowled, "But a man once told us that there's a stupid gene, and we're not tolerating it any further. They want to be stupid? They can die for their stupidity."
Not nice, but a decade of losing friends to stupid idiots and the Grimm tends to make one go 'fuck this' and get with stupid in...extreme ways.
The younger RWBY didn't like that at all. But since this Team RWBY was from the future that the elder RWBY came from, they had no right to judge.
"It is true what they say girls," said Oobleck, who despite whispering, was doing it really fast. "Your future selves have fought in a war, and war can change the outlooks people have on the world,"
"But they don't need to die just because they made a mistake." Y-Weiss argued.
"Ms. Schnee, I understand you want to make overtures to the Faunus, but these particular White Fang are not going to listen." said Oobleck, knowing of Weiss' desire to undo the damage her father caused, "If anything, they will kill you and gloat about it. But they will make sure the number of fatalities are as low as they can be, yes?"
"We'll knock them out if we can, Doc." E-Yang said "Otherwise, no mercy."
Especially for Mr. Chainsaw.
Ruby didn't like the sound of that, but unfortunately, she had no choice.
"Now that we're done," Oobleck said, "Let's move!"
Roman Torchwick was many things.
Dumb wasn't one of them. And this was STUPID! He was going to get killed for this by that cat lady, and he was not wanting to die.
Survival instincts were strong in him, thank you very much!
'Man, I'm stuck in a crossfire between crazy women who want to tear each other's throats out,' the criminal said, as he lit another cigar to calm his nerves. 'After this job, I'm outta here!'
Explosions and screaming were heard outside the train. "And that would be my cue to get the hell out of here." Cinder agreed to let him go after mountain Glenn. He just had to do this, and he was free of her.
Of course, he feared the cat lady more than he feared Cinder. He still remembered the said female Cat Faunus' promise to gut him alive like a stuck pig if he crossed her.
Still, as soon as he saw her, he was just going to surrender. As long as Neo lived, he didn't care.
He immediately jumped onto the train along with other White Fang, as the sounds of gunfire, blades clashing and slicing flesh were heard.
"Start the train up! We're going!" Roman shouted.
"But it's too early!" said the White Fang member with him.
"Well, my friend, someone is KILLING your friends! You want your plan to go forward? THEN START THE MOTHERFUCKING TRAIN!"
Another scream was heard before another Fang member (Roman wasn't sure if he was dead or not, nor did he care) impacted the side of the car.
And Cat lady was standing there.
Roman paled when he saw her, especially when he saw that smirk on her face.
"MOVE IT!" Roman yelled and the Faunus hesitantly, but surely started the train and it took off down the tunnel, which seriously, the Vale authorities did a crappy job in burying.
Too bad they didn't have a BOMB that could collapse the entire tunnel. THAT would do the job!
"There it goes!" E-Blake just as the team joined up after dealing with the large amount of White Fang.
"Now comes the good part," E-Yang said with a smirk.
"Good for whom?" Y-Yang asked, before she saw the other elders smirk.
"Not these idiots, that's for sure." E-Blake said.
Roman was curled up in the fetal position, attempting to forget about Cat Lady.
He wasn't succeeding.
"Repress, repress, she doesn't exist. Repress, repress..."
The Faunus who were with him, all looked at him with varying degrees of confusion.
"What the hell's the matter with him?" said a female Faunus, with two goat ears on her head.
"Beats the hell out of me...," said a male Faunus with deer antlers.
"He's referring to me."
Both morons slowly turned their heads to the rear of the car. Standing there was seemingly an older, much more lethal Blake Belladonna.
Torchwick screamed. Everyone else is no doubt enjoying this too much.
"OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" the man kept repeating , as the two Faunus grabbed their weapons. As they looked at her, they recognized her in an instant.
"Wait...Blake?" said the goat-eared female Faunus, "W-What are you...?"
"Oh, I'm not the Blake you knew. I know better. And what do I see?" Both Faunus blinked. "A bunch of idiots trying to conduct mass genocide. Which is a crime against sentience. What happens to those people, hmm?"
The two morons got the picture. "FUCK THIS, WE'RE LEAVING!"
They immediately left, by jumping out of the train into the large tunnel. Now it was just Torchwick, and the Elder Blake.
"O-Okay, look. I did what you asked okay?" the crook said, "I didn't bring Neo, and I kept my word this is my last job!"
"I know. Cinder's a bitch." E-Blake said, "Though you're still under arrest."
"Just don't kill me!" Torchwick whimpered, while E-Blake rolled her eyes.
Out of character, perhaps, but confidence flees in the face of almost certain death. And Torchwick is not an idiot.
Extremely stupid at times, but not worth a dip in the death tub.
However a boom got their attention, causing the Cat woman to grab him by the front of his suit.
"Why didn't you disable the bombs!?" she accused, her eyes boring into him.
"I did!" A motor started up, and Blake groaned. Yang had nicknamed this one Mr. Chainsaw. And Weiss hated him.
Mostly because of said thrice-damned weapon. She then threw the thief against the wall of the engine cabin as she turned to face the White Fang lieutenant.
"I should've known he'd sent YOU of all people here," E-Blake growled, as she readied herself, "One less psycho among our people, the better,"
"Traitor!"
"The White Fang under Adam betrayed our people the second you started killing people simply for being human." E-Blake said as she readied her Gambol Shroud, "Not their fault."
The man screamed as he attacked Blake, who deftly dodged the chainsaw. "Be thankful Yang isn't here. She would tear you apart."
She then proceeded to engage the chainsaw wielding ass-hat to a duel, which the Faunus was a little clumsy at best.
"Adam's training skills must be sucking." E-Blake mocked, "I remember the last time I was around you juggernauts were a little more faster and coordinated,"
"DIE!" He swung the chainsaw again, missing Blake by a full meter.
"You missed." the cat Faunus ninja said with a smirk, Blake had become the mistress of psychological warfare in the decade of genocide. And it was showing.
She could make Adam commit suicide if she wanted to. Just through talking.
The grunt was getting angrier and angrier, making him more stupid and predictable. And THAT's what she wanted. The chainsaw maniac then roared a feral shout and charged at Blake, chainsaw raised, determined to kill, in his mind, the traitor to White Fang. And with that mistake...Blake struck.
With a single, fast stroke of the HFV modified blade of her Gambol Shroud , the blade cut through the White Fang Grunt's aura, and cleanly through flesh and bone, making the juggernaut stop in mid step.
Blake then placed the katana blade back it's bladed sheath.
"Game. Set. Match," was all she said before slamming the rest of the blade down with a loud snap.
The idiot's corpse impacted the deck, blood pooling under the cooling body.
'Should've thought better,' The Cat faunus thought before back to the cabin where Torchwick was now cowering.
"Now then, where were we?" she said, and Roman gulped, as she said the Three W's that no bad guy wanted to hear.
Elsewhere on the train.
"One would think that disarming explosives all set to a single timer would be simple." Weiss was not an explosives expert, if you hadn't noticed.
She didn't know much about backup timers, solenoid cells detonators, you get the idea. Her elder sister, on the other hand, did.
"Apparently someone in the White Fang is smart enough to put in a backup trigger in case the timers were disarmed," E-Yang said, "It looks like the Breach will happen after all..."
The Younger Team RWBY all had horrified looks at that, as the Grimm swarmed into the hole from the ceiling. "Don't worry. We'll limit the damage as much as we can. If we can cut the cords-" "No, all of the wires have detonator circuits. One clip and they explode with enough force to destroy the walls."
Disarming them wasn't going to happen. They were going to have to move them in order to limit the damage to the interior of Vale.
"Hurry now girls!" Said Professor Oobleck. "We must stop the train!"
Then another of the cars detached and the two sets, one professor, and one dog jumped toward the next car, 10 seconds later the car exploded and then the White Fang Faunus were coming out to stop them.
"GET THE HUMANS!" shouted a female Faunus as the extremist rushed out to stop the Hunters.
"So, disable or kill?" E-Yang asked E-Weiss whose only response was readying her Myrtenaster.
"They're the idiots stupid enough to attack us!" the heiress said, though the elder Schnee wasn't looking forward to killing any Faunus, but self-defense was allowed.
"Good point," E-Yang said, and they then charged the extremists.
Meanwhile back at Beacon
Team JNPR, the younger set, were heading toward the Bullhead, while their elder counterparts were looking after E-Ruby, along with Drei. Said future selves gave them the details of the Breach, and told them to stand by just in case it DOES happen. While they headed for the transport, all of them couldn't help but be worried for Ruby, both the older and the younger.
"You think they'll complete the Dust in time to cure her?" Pyrrha said worriedly.
"From what we were told. We barely got it to her the first time." Ren said, "When our older selves came back, they decided to make sure we could speed up the process of making it. She took it just a week before the fall of Vale, which is over a month away if time remains as it is. If she takes it now..."
The end of the sentence was unsaid, but clear: if the elder Rose recovered faster, instead of either her or Pyrrha's corpse on the office floor of Beacon Tower, it would be Cinder's corpse lying there instead.
Victory for the good guys, right?
"But what about that immortal Queen, Salem?" Jaune asked, "From what they, and the older Ruby told us, she's nothing to be sniffed at."
"Then we just need to train harder and kick her Grimm butt to the other side of Remnant!" Nora said enthusiastically, making the rest of Team JNPR laugh at her eagerness. However their laughter is cut short by the sound that they actually hoped never happened...warning sirens.
"It appears the Breach has happened after all," said Pyrrha.
"I don't think we can change much." Ren said, "Some things might be meant to happen. But we'll be damned if we let those Grimm kill anyone."
The last time, the Grimm were contained and the hole sealed, but a number of people lost their lives. The elder team vowed that wasn't going to happen, not this time.
"Come on; let's get to the breached area." Jaune said, a determined look on his face, "And if there's a next time, we'll find a way to PERMANENTLY seal those tunnels."
"We'll think on that later, let's just get going!" Pyrrha said as Team JNPR jumped into the Bullhead, which took off in the direction of the city.
"Well THIS is certainly a case of Deja Vu," said E-Yang, as the two-three quarter sets of Team RWBY where in the Plaza, surrounded by Beowolves, Creeps, Ursai, and Boarbatusks. "I guess no matter what this event always happens."
"No time for jokes, Yang," said E-Weiss.
"Who said I was joking?" the Elder Yang retorted.
Before they can argue, the Grimm began attacking, and the 2 3/4 sets began the slaughter of the Grimm, with both Yangs dealing damage on a group of Beowolves, both Weiss' attacking Boarbatusks, and the Blakes dealing with the creeps, leaving Ruby to deal with the Ursai.
"I feel lonely here," the Grimm Reaper said solemnly, wishing her own 'Big sister' was there with them. But knowing why she couldn't. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she began to use her Scythe-Rifle, using the blast of the gun to swing the scythe fast to deliver devastating cuts, and dodge incoming swipes.
The efforts were worth it as they dealt damage to the Grimm as they came through the hole.
However, a Beowolf managed to sneak up on Ruby, but before it could attack a hail of Dust bullets rips it to shreds, causing the red hooded girl to look behind and then in the direction where the shots came as the Atlas Air Fleet, along with Bullheads containing all the other teams.
"And right on time!" E-Weiss said as the said Huntsmen and Huntresses disembarked.
Among them being Team CFVY, as well as young Team JNPR. Between them and the Atlesian Knights, they easily dealt with the Grimm, while the Elder Team RWBY was feeling nostalgic, seeing CFVY dealing pain to the Grimm, including Coco using her Purse minigun, Fox's blades, and Yatsuhashi using his Fulcrum sword. Of course, they didn't see Velvet use her mimic semblance since Coco told her not to. Overall, it was awesome to see them in action again.
When it finally ended, Roman, captured by the Elder Blake, was handed over to the Atlesians, and the day ended with far less casualties than expected. Which Team RWBY Elder were happy about, after the last of the Grimm and any surviving White Fang members were dealt with, the RWBY two three quarter pack, along with Team JNPR, and all other student teams, returned to Beacon.
Ozpin's Office
An hour later
After a moment's rest, the aforementioned teams had arrived at the Headmaster's office to give their report. At the mention of their being more White Fang, from the Elder Team RWBY, and Ru's respective timelines suggest, Ozpin can conclude one thing...
"It appears the butterfly effect is in motion," he said, "We'll need to be extremely careful from now on."
Everyone of the teams groaned at that knowing that with the changing timeline, there could be variables they won't expect.
Before anyone could voice anything, E-Yang's scroll rang, and after seeing it was from E-Jaune, she answered it.
"What is it, Jaune?" she said.
"Yang! You gotta get down here now!" they heard E-Jaune's voice frantically shout, and all of them knew it wasn't good, "Ruby just had another attack, and the medicinal Dust isn't working as much anymore! She nearly flatlined!"
That last part, caused everyone's eyes to widen in horror. Especially for the Elder Team RWBY members as they immediately bolted for the elevator.
"DAMMIT!" E-Pyrrha shouted as she, E-Jaune, Maria, Amber, and E-Nora were glancing at the heart monitor, while Ru's breathing was becoming more and more erratic. And the thrashing that the said woman was making was not helping matters "Ren, Professor, hurry!"
"We're almost done!" Glynda said, just as the three quarters of Team RWBY arrived. Both E-Weiss and E-Yang were looking at Ru with extreme cases of worry.
"Well move a little faster!" Maria snipped.
"Ruby!" E-Weiss shouted frantically, as she saw the heart monitor going crazy.
"Please stay where you are!" Glynda warned, "We don't know how this will affect her aura so-"
She was cut off when the sound they all dreaded was heard, the wail of a flatline. Everyone's eyes widened in horror.
"NO!" Yang shouted.
"Not on my watch!" Nora shouted, as he took out a, what everyone saw, was a lightning dust crystal, before she smashed it in her hand, and an arc of lightning formed over her body, "Everyone stand back!"
Everyone did exactly, as her hands glowed brighter with electricity before she slammed them on Ru's chest, and like a human defibrillator, the woman's body jolted up at the current, "Come on Ruby! Stay with us!"
The others all watched, as Nora hit Ru a total of five times, before managing to get a heartbeat on the monitor, slow but steady. They all breathed a sigh of relief at that.
"Phew! That won't happen, again," Nora said, a proud smile on her face as she wiped the sweat on her brow off, while the rest of Team RWBY and her own team looked at her incredulously. Weiss the Elder was the one who spoke the one thought on their minds.
"We don't want to SEE that again!"
"Alright, it's done!" Glynda said, as she filled the said Dust into a syringe and walked over to Ruby, the dust itself, being silver instead of white. "Here goes everything,"
With that she injected the dust right at Ru's heart and depressed the needle. The results were immediate as Ru's back arched as her mouth opened in a silent scream. E-Pyrrha, and E-Nora moved to hold her down, but were stopped as the silver glow of her own Maiden powers went into overdrive. It lasted in the space of a full thirty seconds until finally the glow vanished, and Ru collapsed on the bed, her breathing quickly turning from barely able to completely normal.
Glynda took out the scanner and placed it over Ru's chest, and looked for any remnant sign of the Strangler. After thoroughly making sure, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's gone..." she said tiredly, "There's no sign of the Grimm parasite anywhere, and her heart rate is returning to normal,"
That caused everyone to smile, or breathe a sigh of relief, as E-Weiss rushed over and cradled Ru's head in her arms, tears of happiness in her eyes.
"You little dolt." the Schnee said, her voice filled with relief, "Don't you EVER scare like me that again, or I will kill you myself,"
Everyone chuckled at that, as the younger teams and Ozpin arrived, and seeing the happy faces on their older counterparts, they immediately pieced it together and that it was a success and shared the same reactions.
Glynda walked over to the Headmaster, who had a relieved look on his face.
"It was a close one...," the Telekinesis specialist said tiredly, "...we almost lost her, but thanks to Ms. Valkyrie's quick thinking, we were able to administer the dust,"
Ozpin nodded, happy that the first part of the ordeal was over. But, he knew that now comes the ever harder part of the Elder Rose's recovery...the mental kind.
Patriot-112: FINALLY! At long last! This chapter was as big of a bitch as last time. Especially after months (years) of dealing with family drama, political idiocy, and trying to stay working. I hope you've all been patient to see this re-edited version. Until next time my friends. Ciao!
