An Old Wizard's Multiverse Respite

by The Hat Of The Hats

On a mundane and routine morning, Professor Ozpin comes across something he wasn't expecting to find in his office. With the weight of the world on his shoulders and the stress of running an academy screaming at him to take a break, perhaps this brief respite with his students, colleagues and even a few strangers is just what he needed. (Reaction Fic)

12. Youjo Senki

A/N: Hey there. Been a while, huh?

I'd like to apologize for the wait. I was focusing on school and other projects over this for the first few months of 2023, and after that, it was just a lack of motivation that kept me from getting this done. But, I got a few reviews asking me when the next chapter would come out, and I guess that was enough to finally get me going. I had a lot of fun with this one in the end, so I hope you guys enjoy reading it just as much as I did writing it.

To all of you Youjo Senki Light Novel readers out there, I'm going to apologize here. This chapter is based on the anime, not the LN, which I haven't read. If that turns you off, then I'm sorry. I hope you can still enjoy this chapter regardless of that fact, and if not, I hope you have a good day.

I'd also like to apologize for any mistakes on my part that may or may not be present. I'm confident that this chapter is the best one so far in this fanfic when it comes to grammar and punctuation. I've learned a lot ever since I started writing over two years ago and if you compare this chapter to the first one, it should be night and day. What I'm worried about, however, is that since I haven't updated in a while, I might be out of practice when it comes to writing everyone in character. If you do find any issues, I ask that you take it with a grain of salt, and simply point them out in a review so I can deal with them.

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Presenting: Youjo Senki - Episode Two: Prologue

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The first thing displayed on screen was a blue sky filled with puffy white clouds.

Coco let out a bark of nervous, yet revealed laughter. "Alright, I'm going to be honest and say I was expecting something… a bit worse."

She didn't miss Adam's sneer, but the bull faunus said nothing.

Slowly, the view panned downwards, revealing a bustling city spanning as far as the eye could see. At the bottom center of the screen, the time and place were displayed. "2013 AD, Tokyo".

A sharp whistle pierced the stunned silence. "Ain't that a sight?" Qrow mused to himself as he took in the view.

"It… sort of reminds me of Mistral," Velvet added. If one paid attention, they'd notice the hint of displeasure in her tone.

Coco frowned and was quick to place a comforting hand on her teammate's shoulder, earning a smile that she soon mirrored. They were back to watching a moment later.

Torchwick snorted. "Like Mistral and Atlas had a baby."

Jaune paused. "Wouldn't that be Argus?"

Neo glanced over at Roman with a shrug. The thief himself sighed. "Okay, you've got a point, kid."

As the camera flickered through various sights throughout the city, a voice began to narrate. 'I am well aware of the fact that I'm not a perfect human being.'

Whatever the audience may have expected, Qrow's sudden peal of laughter was not one of those things. "You've gotta be kidding me! That's who I think it is, right?"

"I'm afraid so," Winter said with a bemused sigh.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Qrow continued as he wiped a tear from his eye. "That Jacques Schnee himself would admit he's anything less than perfect!"

Taurus himself was… confused. He glanced from the raven-haired huntsman over to the elder Schnee, and then to the younger, noting the small smiles and gleaming laughter shining in their ice-cold orbs where he'd instead imagined scowls to be.

It was jarring.

"Surprised?" Blake's soft voice broke him out of his thoughts. He glanced over to her, her amber eyes locking with his own behind his mask. "What?" he asked.

"They're just people, Adam," Blake spoke, her voice stern and unwavering. "They might be Schnees, but that doesn't mean they're evil."

It was Blake's turn to be surprised when, instead of arguing, Adam just hummed thoughtfully, before turning away.

'I have a somewhat twisted personality, and I'm definitely obsessive,' the voice continued as the inside of an office building appeared, with many people within seemingly hard at work, seated behind their desks.

Weiss' subtle mocking cough did not go unnoticed, earning stifled barks of laughter from those around her, most notably Qrow.

Finally, the view settled in an office where a well-dressed young man with black hair and blue eyes was speaking to a nervous office worker. The former of the two, who seemed to be a mix of mostly European and a little bit of Asian descent, held an infuriatingly neutral and somewhat exasperated expression as he rapped his pen against his desk in what appeared to be boredom. This was Jacques Gelé.

'That being said, at least I'm superior to this incompetent man.'

Ruby blinked. "Wow, I knew he kinda sucked, but he really is a jerk, huh?"

"Yeah," Yang agreed, sucking a breath in between her teeth, "Isn't that kind of harsh?"

The office worker, with sweat trickling down his brow and tears prickling the corners of his eyes, gazed at Jacques with desperation as he spoke. "Please, sir… I'm begging you…!"

As soon as Weiss caught sight of the broken man with tears in his eyes, she wilted. "Oh no…"

"He's being terminated," James noted with a frown. He didn't account for the gasp of horror coming from a certain android in the room.

"Is he going to die?!" Penny gasped as her hands flew to her mouth.

Ozpin stifled a laugh as he caught sight of Ironwood's expression, which went from somber to blank as his mind struggled to process what had just happened. His eyes dimmed for half a second before they brightened once more, like a piece of machinery rebooting. Finally, the general turned towards the girl with a fear in his eyes rarely seen, although often present, he noted, when it came to the girl he was now addressing.

Ruby and Qrow's eyes boring into him certainly didn't help matters, he assumed.

"Uh, n-no, Penny," James coughed into his fist to clear his suddenly tight throat and calm his nerves. "I meant he's being fired. He's losing his job, Penny."

"Oh!" To her credit, the girl processed his words much quicker than James did, her expression turning sheepish and a little embarrassed as she held the back of her neck. "Right. Oops…"

"It's alright, Penny." James sighed, both fond and very, very relieved.

In the back row, Roman and Neo shared incredulous glances, decided they didn't care enough, shrugged, and then returned their attention back to the screen.

'I've spent my entire career making sure I'm invaluable to the company… unlike this underachieving nobody who won't be missed.' The plaque behind him, which read: "Talented Employee Award" cemented that fact.

Even as Adam scoffed beside her, Ilia couldn't help but blink. "Wait, so he's not the head of the company this time around?"

"I guess so," Ren replied. "It looks like he's in a management position, but he's not exactly an executive."

"If he's letting this guy off, he's probably the HR manager," Qrow noted. "Not exactly a pleasant job."

When Jacques remained silent, the office worker continued. "Please, I have a family! How will I pay for my daughter's college tuition?! Or the mortgage on our house-"

Jacques cut him off. "You've brought this on yourself by missing several days of work and completely ignoring our warnings to improve your numbers. Logically… there's no reason to keep you in our employment. At this point, you're nothing but a waste of space."

Yang scowled. "Wow, this guy's an asshole. Is he like this in our universe?" She turned to Weiss as she asked the question, pointing her thumb at the version of Jacques on screen.

"Not… exactly? He's a lot more… subtle," Weiss explained.

Ruby blinked. "Huh?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I mean, when he talks with his employees he's usually… nicer about it?" she explained, hesitant.

"You can't expect me to believe that," Adam snarled. "You're telling me the Jacques Schnee actually gives a damn about his employees?!"

"She didn't say that," Winter interjected, her eyes as cold as ice. "Whenever he deals with people, be it employees, customers, or investors, he always puts on a mask. He always tries to come off as nice and approachable for PR, but deep down, the only thing he cares about is profit."

"That," Weiss added, pointing at her sister.

Adam merely snorted, yet he appeared satisfied.

"No," the office worker cried. "You can't just fire me! Come on!"

Blake grimaced. "I… kind of hate to say it, but, even though he's harsh, I can't exactly defend the guy he's firing."

Nora turned to her, uncharacteristically serious. She seemed upset as well. "Why not?"

"Well, assuming his words are true, which…" She paused before a snort escaped her. "Okay, I'm not exactly buying it, but, again, assuming the accusations are true, then the guy can't exactly blame anyone other than himself."

Ilia thought for a moment. "That's… fair…? I don't really see a reason for them to be lies anyway. I mean, it's not like being an office worker is a dangerous or relatively low-paying job either, and he's not the CEO here. He's probably just being told to fire the guy by his boss." She paused for a moment before turning to Ozpin. "Actually, can you use that scroll of yours to verify that?"

"I believe I can," Ozpin admitted with a smile. After a few moments of fiddling with the device, he turned towards her again. "Yes, it seems your assessments are correct."

"Huh," Ilia hummed. "I'm not sure how to feel about that honestly…"

The confirmation seemed to mollify Nora, who turned back to the screen a moment later, visibly calmer.

In response, Jacques simply slid a book across the desk. It read: "Improve Your Skills More Than Ever! Career Support Book: What You Need To Work the Way Only You Can!" With that, he spoke the words that no struggling employee ever wanted to hear…

"Kindly clean out your desk."

"Still kind of sucks though," Sun noted.

"True," Coco added. "But that's just life."

The view shifted to Jacques speaking with his superior, before he bowed his head in submission. 'My job can be stressful, but as long as I'm getting paid, I'll happily fire anyone.' With that, Jacques left the office and began to walk home.

Velvet frowned. "He's not at all likable, or sympathetic about it but… I can understand him, I guess. I mean, it is his job, right?"

"But he doesn't have to be such a big jerk-face about it!" Nora added.

'It's always easy to do something when a higher-up tells you to.' Jacques paused when a drop of water fell on his face. He glanced up, only to scowl as rain began to fall from the dark clouds overhead. Nevertheless, he continued his journey and made it to the train station with time to spare. He settled to pass the time by reading a book, titled: "Freedom of Choice".

'Freedom of Choice, huh?' Roman thought to himself with an amused grin. 'Ain't that ironic?'

'You don't have to know economic theory to understand that businesses need firm rules and structures to succeed.' A sign above the platform flashed with the words "Train Arriving". 'All I have to do is follow the company's rules and I can climb all the way up to a big corner office of my own.'

"If only the SDC worked like that," Qrow huffed, annoyed. "Might be true for the office workers in Atlas, but the faunus in the mines? Yeah, no… That's a dead-end job through and through."

"Unfortunate," Ozpin agreed. "But his words here are not incorrect. From a purely monetary standpoint, abiding by set rules and making decisions to upkeep profits is the more logical choice. Business would struggle, or even collapse entirely otherwise."

'The goal, of course, being the leisurely life of an executive.' Jacques couldn't help but smirk at the thought.

Adam snarled. "Of course he is…"

"You know, this Jacques doesn't… seem that bad?" Neptune pointed out. He faltered halfway through his sentence as Adam turned towards him, what little of his face left visible was blank. "I mean, aside from being… a bit of an asshole," he paused, awaiting a shout to watch his language for a few seconds, but when none came, he continued, "But has he actually done anything objectively bad?"

Blake looked pained, but she still spoke up. "Not… not really…" Adam, despite his anger, couldn't bring himself to entirely disagree.

He didn't particularly care either.

And then gravity had a hold of him as Jacques found himself hurtling towards the tracks of the oncoming train. 'But… things don't always go as planned.'

"Woah!" Jaune yelped.

"Wasn't expecting that!" Coco exclaimed.

"Well… That went from zero to a hundred real damn quick." Qrow's words were topped of by downing the drink in his hand.

"But… who did that?" Velvet inquired, one of her ears folding slightly as she tilted her head.

Roman huffed. "Wasn't it obvious?"

His book and bag flew from his hands as he fell, and Jacques just managed to twist himself around for his eyes to meet with the ones belonging to the very same man he'd fired not even an hour before.

"Oh…" Velvet mumbled, trying her best to ignore Torchwick's amused snort. "Yeah, that… makes sense."

'He's the kind of impulsive person who wants revenge. A more reasonable man would've ignored such emotions.'

A sharp crack from right beside her made Ilia jump. She turned, only to see Adam gritting his teeth so hard she was surprised they hadn't splintered. One of his handrests was shattered due to how hard he'd been gripping it. Ilia wasn't very surprised that he'd had that kind of reaction. So many faunus had been wronged by humans and the SDC in particular, that their reasons for signing up with the Fang more or less boiled down to revenge. It was why she'd joined after all, and she was angry too. If their universe's Jacques bit the dust she'd be whooping and cheering, but here, looking at it from a different perspective… she couldn't bring herself to be truly angry, at least not at this version of the bastard, even if he was a prick.

Because, in a way, even if she hated to admit it, he was right. The guy had just destroyed his own life because he'd been impulsive. At worst, he would've needed to tighten his budget for a while and look for a new job in the meantime and things might have been okay in the end, but going to jail killed any chance he'd had. If he'd been wronged in a way she or Adam might've been, it would've been different but Ozpin had confirmed that the guy only had himself to blame. The Jacques here was just following an order to fire an underperforming employee. It wasn't exactly personal, was it?

Ilia sighed and chuckled bitterly. Even if it wasn't the exact same person, she was still sympathizing with the man who'd, at least indirectly, gotten her parents killed. What the hell was happening to her?

The man himself looked stunned as if he couldn't believe what he'd done while those around him had only just begun to react to the situation, horror twisting their faces in the small time they'd been given to react.

Right before Jacques and the train collided, everything went still. Vehicles stopped, and drops of water froze in mid-air. All motion ceased. It was as if time itself simply ground to a halt.

"Wait, what?" Emerald murmured as her eyes widened.

"Boo!" Mercury jeered. A tub of popcorn found itself bouncing off of the screen, spilling popcorn everywhere, though it was cleaned up a moment later.

"Did… Did time just freeze or something?" Sun murmured, uncertain.

"Is it that surprising at this point?" Roman drawled. "You do know this room is supposed to work on similar principles, right?"

Sun flushed. "Oh, right. Forgot about that part."

"Dumbass," Roman hissed under his breath. Sun must have heard it, however, if his sudden embarrassed laughter was anything to go by.

Except, Jacques was still aware. As the shock began to wear off, he found himself unable to move, save for being able to look around. His eyes fell upon the train conductor, whose face had been filled with surprise. Jacques couldn't believe what was happening.

'What the hell is going on…?' he asked himself. 'Am I dead?'

"That is an excellent question," Ozpin murmured. "He's still alive, no doubt about it, but what caused this phenomenon?"

Ironwood's voice dropped to a whisper. "The only other time something like frozen time has happened was with the relics," he pointed out.

Glynda stilled. "You aren't suggesting…" She didn't get to finish.

"This is getting very tiresome." The voice that came from nowhere startled him and his eyes snapped to an unremarkable man gazing at him with indifference and a hint of contempt.

"What…" Coco murmured, drawing out the word. The rest of the theater shared her confusion.

Roman leaned forward, suddenly very interested. "The hell was that?"

Ozpin sighed, a variety of emotions playing across his face in an instant. Even viewing it through a screen he recognized the pressure and power its mere voice radiated. 'A being of the divine,' he thought. 'A god.' His next words were spoken aloud, but quietly. "I had never considered the possibility, although in hindsight I shouldn't have been surprised."

"Oz?" James murmured.

"Remnant was host to two of them, once," Ozpin reminded him softly. "The Two Brothers. Is it so hard to believe, that if there are other worlds out there, they may have divine beings of their own? Although, I wonder what the similarities and differences are between the Brothers and… whatever this is."

"Humans think they're all-knowing," another voice spoke, a nearby woman this time, catching Jacques' attention. "But they've lost sight of what's right or what's wrong."

"Oh, great," Qrow grumbled. "The eldritch entity is a narcissistic prick." A smile etched itself onto his face at the scattered chuckles around him.

"What is it though? A spirit or something?" Ren asked himself.

"I'm not certain," Pyrrha said. "The way it… He? She? The way they speak leads me to believe it's something… greater than just a spirit."

"Oh!" Ruby piped up. "You think it's a ghost?"

"A really old one, maybe…" Yang allowed. "That doesn't feel right, though."

"They think the laws of the universe don't apply to them," a third voice spoke, a different, older man this time.

Jacques, baffled as he was, could barely react. 'What are these people saying…?'

"Yeah, I can relate with the guy right about now…" Roman admitted. "This is weird…"

"Humans no longer empathize with others," a woman spoke again.

"And they haven't an ounce of faith in their mighty creator." The final voice to speak, most surprisingly, was merely a pigeon, but the tone of voice was regal and powerful, one befitting a higher being.

"Our creator?" Weiss parroted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Pyrrha's eyes lit up with realization. "The Two Brothers!" She blurted, catching the attention of the entire room. Her cheeks warmed immediately after, embarrassed.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"It…" Pyrrha cleared her throat to compose herself before she continued. "It just reminded me of an old fairy tale. It was about two brothers, a God of Light and a God of Darkness. The former brought life and creation to the world and the older brought death and destruction. Tired of fighting, the two decided to come together and make one final creation; humanity." She paused briefly. "It's also the story that tells of the creation of the Grimm."

Emerald's eyes widened. "But… that was just a fairy tale… It's not… real, right?"

"Well… We were told earlier that The Girl In The Tower was real," Blake pointed out, "and she was apparently the one who wanted to kidnap Ruby. And so was The Warrior in the Woods, because that explains why Tyrian was after her – her silver eyes. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if all of them, or at least most of them were real, or held some truth at the very least.

"Regardless," Roman spoke up, "I think that tells us what… that… is."

"So that's supposed to be some kind of god, then? A deity, all-powerful, omniscient, immortal being that created this version of humanity?" Neptune asked.

"Looks like it," Qrow added. "Huh, you know, this wasn't exactly something I was expecting to experience at any point in my life."

"Tell me about it," were the words on Neo's sign. The look on her face was resigned. Intrigued, but resigned.

'Our creator…?' Jacques mused.

Weiss sighed, frustrated, even as her teammates snickered around her. "Damn it…"

The conductor's eyes snapped to his own. "You heard the bird."

Yang hummed with a Cheshire grin on her face.

Qrow saw it. "Yang, no…"

The girl deflated. "Aw come on, it's funny!"

"Zip it!"

"Boo!" Yang blew a raspberry at him but otherwise refrained from making a joke.

It didn't stop the soft laughter from those around them, but still.

'You're asking me to believe that, not only is god a real entity, but he stopped time in the moment before my death so he could speak to me through some random bystanders… and at least one talking pigeon?'

Winter hummed. "Well, when you put it like that it does sound absurd."

"If nothing else, it speaks well of his character," Glynda pointed out. "I'd imagine a true narcissist would be overjoyed at the thought."

"That begs the question," James added. "What does this… supposed deity want with this version of Jacques?"

Blake, suddenly, was struck with a thought. She read a lot, and while her preferred choice of literature was… more romantic in nature… that didn't mean she hadn't read all kinds of genres. And now that she thought about it, there was a certain popular genre in Mistral that jogged her memory.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me…" she huffed. With the way Adam leaned forward, interested, she could tell he'd caught on. The knowing and hungry smile on his face only made it more obvious.

"What?" Yang asked. "Something wrong?"

"No, just," She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You'll figure it out." 'It just… had to be an isekai plot, didn't it? God damn it.'

"That's correct," the bird replied.

Yang snorted, which earned her a dirty look from Qrow. It got worse when she started laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just funny…!" she managed in between laughs.

'Impossible,' Jacques thought. 'This is some kind of near-death hallucination. I'm a rational person. I believe in logic and reason. Not in God's existence.'

Every single living being in his vicinity snapped their gaze to him and spoke a single word in tandem. "What?"

"I don't think he liked that," Qrow said.

Ruby grimaced. "Oh my god, why is that so creepy?" she whispered as a shudder ran down her spine.

"That's like something straight out of a horror movie…" Yang added.

Jacques continued. 'Besides, why should I trust you? Aren't god and the devil supposed to inhabit the spiritual worlds? Hypothetically, if God did exist, I doubt he'd do anything this absurd to get a point across…' There was a moment of silence before Jacques spoke in his mind once again. 'So you must be someone else…'

Coco hummed. "That's actually a fair point."

"I agree," Ren said. "It's just hard to believe that, assuming a god of some kind does exist, he'd personally intervene in someone's death."

"I could see a minor deity doing that, though," Jaune said. "Maybe an angel or some kind of demon, anything lower on the religious totem pole?"

"Maybe," Blake admitted. "It's still unlikely. Not impossible, but still."

"Like the Devil?" It was a young girl, a middle schooler, who replied, her empty eyes meeting his own.

Roman hissed out a breath. "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at children the same way ever again." He paused as several others whirled to face him, faces aghast or on the brink of laughter. "What?" he blinked, only for a quiet snort to escape Neo's lips.

When his eyes met hers, his own grew wide as he realized the implications of what he'd just said. "No, no, no, no!" he sputtered as he frantically waved his arms, "That's not what I meant!" His face fell into his hands as everyone around him burst out laughing. "For crying out loud…"

'Or perhaps something similar… I think I'll call you… Being X.' The girl's eyes narrowed in response.

"You really don't want to believe. Even when a miracle is happening in front of you?"

'It's probably not the best time to lecture me on my lack of faith,' Jacques quipped. 'Besides, I'm a bureaucrat. You should have filed a report if you wanted me to take you seriously.'

Coco let out an amused whistle. "Okay, say what you want about this guy, he has balls of steel."

"Coco…" Velvet whined beside her, a high-pitched keening noise.

"What? Tell me you would actually mouth off to God himself of all people."

Neptune tilted his head, considering. "I know I wouldn't," he eventually admitted.

Sun and Coco snorted in tandem. "Coward." The ensuing laughter did little to help with the embarrassment he felt.

A high schooler spoke next. "As the being who controls the cycle of reincarnation, there are firm rules I abide by. That said, I shall make an exception for you."

"Now, see…" Qrow began warily, "That's either a really good thing…"

"Or something completely undesirable," Ozpin finished with a grimace on his face and a bitter glint in his eyes.

'Hold on, reincarnation?' Jacques thought, surprised. 'You mean, after we die, we're born again?'

Ruby piped up, curiously. "Does anyone think that actually happens? That we've all lived past lives and just don't remember?"

"I'm not sure we can ever really know," Pyrrha said warmly. "It's interesting to think about, though."

Qrow glanced over at the reincarnating, immortal wizard who just so happened to be his boss and did his level best to keep from laughing at the carefully neutral look on Ozpin's face.

Brown eyes from another bystander locked onto his own. "That's no longer your concern, I'm afraid."

"Oh, he fucked up," Roman laughed, his lips split in a wide grin and sadism clear to see.

Neo nodded her head, lip wobbling and expression twisted with sorrow. "He'll be missed," her sign read.

Qrow snorted and Neo's mask crumbled as she fell back into her seat, giggling.

A chill shot up Jacques' spine and trepidation began to take hold. 'Wait a minute, are you not familiar with the principle of full disclosure? Also, if you're really God, shouldn't you hold to your own rules and avoid heat-of-the-moment decisions?'

"He's scared…" Adam's expression filled with glee, and his eyes behind his mask shone with excitement. "This'll be good."

Jaune ruined the moment by raising a hand. "Uh, sorry, but what's he talking about? That full disclosure thing, I mean."

Roman blinked. "You're serious?"

"Uh… Kind of?" Jaune squeaked.

Winter sighed. "Simply put; It's a business practice where both parties in a business transaction inform each other about the whole truth in regards to any material issue in said transaction. It prevents deceit, among other things."

"Oh, thanks. Not, uh… Not really one for business."

"Clearly," Weiss drawled.

"I manage seven billion people on this planet. I'm completely overworked as it is. Honestly, reincarnating people without any faith is a waste of my time."

"Seven-" James began, a little too excited, before he cut himself off. The general took a deep, calming breath before he let himself speak again. "Seven billion… people? That's…" He trailed off, astonished.

"Remnant's population hasn't surpassed a hundred million since before the Great War. We still haven't fully recovered and it might be decades still until we do…" Glynda breathed in awed. "In a world without the Grimm… Is this how much we can truly grow?"

Torchwick scoffed. "It just means one less thing keeping people from tearing each other apart." At the glares, he just held his hands up in surrender. "You can't say I'm not right!"

Before any more arguments could pop up, Ozpin raised the Theater Scroll into the air. "Please, please, there's no need to argue. We could simply find out if it interests all of you so."

Blake grimaced. It didn't considerably worsen her already uncomfortable expression. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Professor?"

The old man only smiled. "A little knowledge never killed anyone, Miss Belladonna."

Someone coughed pointedly. Ozpin couldn't tell who.

"Can we take a look at that later, though?" Mercury butted in. "Not to relate to the terrorist over there, but I kinda wanna see where this is going." He blew a raspberry when Adam snarled in his direction.

"Of course, Mr. Black. It's not a problem."

'I hate to tell you this,' Jacques began, not sounding apologetic in the least. 'but being overworked is the sign of a flawed business model. You've failed to sufficiently analyze your customer's needs. Of course, there's no faith in a world full of advanced science where almost everyone's core needs are met! Here, you only matter to the weak and desperate who look for someone to cling to when times get hard! A smart businessman like me would never need you.'

Emerald sighed. "Am I the only one who thinks he should have kept his mouth shut?"

"Nope."

"Not really."

"Nah."

"Of course not."

Emerald nodded, satisfied. "Thought so."

"It still makes sense though," Sun spoke up. "I mean, yeah, he shouldn't have said anything, but he's not wrong."

Weiss sighed. "Point."

An infant, too young to even dream of proper speech, was the one to reply. "So you're saying you have no faith because of the world you're in…"

Then a university student. "…All your needs are met here through technology…"

A female bystander. "…You have a high social class…"

And then a dog of all things. "…And you've never been in dire straits?"

Roman barked out a laugh. "Oh, he's so fucked. Goodbye, Schnee, I doubt anyone will miss you."

Adam snorted. "Good riddance," he mumbled under his breath. Blake chose not to react to his words save for a small twitch of the ear. Besides, this was one of the few things she and Adam could still agree on.

For the first time during this conversation, Jacques felt a pang of fear. 'Uh… Well, technically, but, hold on!' His hand began to twitch as instincts of self-preservation began to kick in. 'You might be jumping to the wrong conclusions about me!'

"Took him a while," Qrow snorted, earning a few scattered chuckles.

"What if I placed you…"

"…Into dire straits?"

"Do you think then…"

"…Your faith in me…"

"…Would be awakened?"

"That's actually sort of terrifying…" Jaune breathed out with a slight shudder. "Just, imagine Remnant had a god like that, and anyone who wasn't religious just… had this happen."

"Agreed, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said slowly, eyes dull and voice hollow. "Agreed."

Ren hummed. "I wonder what's going to happen to him? Or, maybe it's better to ask where he'll end up?"

Velvet whimpered softly. "I'm not sure I want to find out."

Despite time being still, Jacques managed to gasp. 'Let's not be hasty now! I don't want to break any rules about rebirth or whatever you said!' But his plea went ignored.

Visions of death, destruction, despair, and war flashed before his eyes as millions of voices spoke in unison. "Try to survive as long as you can in your new world. If you die again, there will be no further reincarnations for you. Go!"

'Wait…! What?!'

The last thing Jacques Gelé heard were the screams of bystanders as his bones snapped under the weight of the very train he sought to board.

"Did we really just…"

When Yang, mouth agape and tone uncertain, trailed off, Blake continued. "Watch a man get crushed by a train after speaking to God, apparently? Yeah. I think we did." The raven-haired faunus seemed just as uncomfortable.

Beside them, Ruby's hands were clamped over her ears, her body shaking ever so slightly and her expression twisted in disgust. "Ugh…" she groaned, "I don't think I'm ever going to forget that…"

Goodwitch turned to Ironwood and Ozpin. "Did either of you manage to catch those flashes?"

They both nodded. "I did," James mumbled. "Soldiers, armored vehicles, battlefields…"

"It appears Mr. Schnee has gotten himself into quite the predicament," Ozpin said. His voice carried interest and resignation in equal measure.

Ren swallowed as Nora chuckled uneasily beside him. "Is it just me," she began, "Or is it getting a little… easier?"

No one answered her.

When consciousness returned to Jacques, the sound of a crying child was the first thing he heard. His eyes finally opened a few moments later and he came face to face with an old, weary, yet seemingly loving nun who looked upon him with kind eyes.

"What…" Coco muttered as she leaned forward in her seat.

"I'm seeing things," Neptune muttered, eyes wide.

Sun snorted. "No, you're not." And yet even he could barely believe it.

Ozpin hummed curiously. This was different compared to what he was used to. A single soul placed into a body at the time of birth. There would be no host, no other soul to merge with, and yet the need to relive the early years of life would be detrimental to him, personally. There were issues with reincarnating in the way the gods cursed him with, but it was still preferable to this.

"There, there, child," she spoke calmly. "Now, open up. Eat," she said as she raised a spoon.

"Holy shit…" Emerald whispered. "He's… a baby. What the hell?"

A noise escaped Adam as he stared at the screen, one difficult to place. To the most observant, however, the twitch in his lips would suggest amusement. The shaking of his shoulders implied quiet laughter, and yet, Adam was bewildered. 'What the hell am I looking at?' he asked himself.

Jacques felt himself turn away instinctually, only for his eyes to land on his reflection in a nearby mirror. Only, it wasn't his reflection anymore. That was all he could process before the nun pulled his gaze toward her again. "Don't be fussy, dear! You won't grow up into a big strong girl if you're a picky eater," she said. "A little more, Ruby."

Ozpin sucked in a breath. 'Oh dear,' he thought.

"Wait, what!?" Yang shouted as she all but shot to her feet.

"Me?" Ruby squeaked, shocked. Several emotions warred across her face, twisting her expression into an incomprehensible mess. Her mouth opened and closed numerous times as she mustered the will to say something, anything, but no words came. All she could manage were various noises that held no meaning.

Qrow blinked. He glanced down to the half-empty glass in his hand, then back up to the screen. He grimaced. "Maybe… I've had a bit too much to drink." He hissed as a hand slapped the back of his head.

"Yes," Winter said, irritated. "Yes, you have."

The view panned out, only to reveal that Jacques was no longer Jacques. His body, now that of a young girl, had a tuft of black hair with a red tip. As he, now she, swallowed the mush the nun was attempting to feed her, teary eyes opened to reveal shining silver orbs.

'Huh…? Where am I? Who's Ruby? Wait! Is it me?'

Suddenly, Yang, her expression stormy, whirled to face Blake, who flinched at the sudden action. "Did you know this would happen?"

"N-No!" she said. "I mean, I expected the reincarnation but not- not that!"

"Okay, so, Papa Schnee is in Little Red's body for some damn reason," he said. He took a drag of his cigar as everyone turned to him. "Now, what I'm curious about is if there's an extra passenger… or if he's alone in there if you get what I mean."

"You mean I died!?" Ruby cried as her hands clutched at the sides of her head.

Weiss didn't remain idle. A single hand fell on Ruby's shoulder, and to give credit where credit's due, Penny was on the ball and quickly moved to do the same. Soon enough, the two girls – one more machine than flesh – were doing their best to comfort their friend.

"I mean," Mercury spoke up, a mischievous grin on his face. "Did you really die if you never lived at all?"

The cocking of a shotgun gauntlet shut him up pretty quickly.

The view changed as years passed in the blink of an eye. Jacques Gelé, now Ruby Rose, was sat in a cafeteria with dozens of other young children, munching on a stale piece of bread as two boys in front of her fought over table scraps.

'Thanks to Being X, I found myself in another world. I was reborn as a baby girl who'd been abandoned in an old, run-down nunnery. My new home reminded me of a certain European nation from my own world, though obviously in an older time period.'

"Ugh, that's uncomfortable…" Coco cringed.

"His thoughts sound like…" Velvet began, only to trail off with a grimace.

Penny blinked. "Like you, Friend-Ruby. But younger."

"Do I really sound like that?" the girl in question asked.

"Not now," Yang said as she forced a chuckle. "When you were five, maybe."

Ruby's gaze shifted towards two conversing nuns a few tables across from her. "There's no flour left?" she managed to hear one of them say. "No," the other responded. "And we don't have enough money to get some from town."

"What are we going to do? We have nothing to feed them!"

"Well then, whoever that Being X guy was, he wasn't playing around was he?" Roman snarked. "Okay, shutting up now," he said at the various glares he received.

"The contrast is obvious," James noted sadly. "Before, there were skyscrapers and modern architecture. The nunnery there is dusty, old, and worn-down. The poorer parts of Vale come to mind."

Suddenly, Roman burst out laughing.

"Something funny, Torchwick?" The general growled.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," the crook said. "It's just rich that you, the general of the Atlesian army, can just sit there and say that with a straight face. If poverty bothers you so much, why is Mantle still such a shit hole?"

"It's not up to me where overall funding is directed," James protested angrily. "Atlas Academy and the military are my jurisdiction, I don't-"

"And just how much of Atlas's GDP goes into the military and the huntsman academy? No wonder Mantle damn near starves and freezes if you decide you want a shiny new robot every other month to waste more money on!"

"Says the thief," Winter snarled.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Roman wagged his finger. "I may be a career criminal, but at least I'm honest."

The sound of ice clinking against glass cut through the tense silence as Qrow lifted the glass to his lips. "You know, he's got you there," he said to Winter.

"What? How in the- Where did you get that? I took the last one away from you!"

"You can't keep a man and his love separated for long, Ice Queen!"

Then tension fled as the two began to bicker. James sighed and deflated into his seat. 'Idiot,' he thought to himself. 'He's just a crook. There's no reason to get so worked up.'

'In this world, there was a huge divide between the rich and poor,' Ruby narrated as images of poor, overworked people in different situations flashed on the screen. 'Lower classes were all but fated to lead a miserable life.'

Emerald grimaced. 'Like that's anything new.'

'It didn't help that the country was gripped in the sort of widespread madness that precedes war.' The view shifted to a large demonstration of people marching through the streets with signs advocating for war, all as Ruby watched from an alleyway.

"We must punish the enemies of the Fatherland!" one citizen cried.

"Now's the time to show our power!" another called.

"Wait, you're telling me that those people actually want war?" Yang asked, aghast. The surprise on her face suddenly morphed into horrified anger. "What the hell is wrong with people?"

"Well, let's see… There's-" Roman was cut off as a tub of popcorn bounced off of his face with a satisfying thwack. He burst out laughing, which only served to fuel Yang's anger, but he stayed quiet after that.

"Does that happen, Headmaster?" Pyrrha asked softly, a worried glint in her eyes.

Ozpin shook his head with a warm smile. "We are in an unprecedented time of peace, Miss Nikos. The Kingdoms haven't gone to war in over eighty years. The day I look outside my window and see Remnant's citizens calling for war, that'll be a strange day indeed." The answer seemed to mollify both her and those around her, who relaxed in their seats ever so slightly.

The Mercury had to ruin it. "Did you all just forget that the White Fang exists?"

"A bit of a tall order with the edge master right beside us," Coco said as she threw a thumb at Adam.

Unsurprisingly, he took offense to that. "What did you just call me?" he hissed.

"Aww," Coco cooed. "Did I hurt your feelings? Don't worry about it, you're not the only one. Just take a look at Blake over there and tell me she doesn't have some edgy-emo stuff going on."

As several others snickered around her, Blake calmly looked herself over, then nodded. "Okay, I'm not wearing black ever again."

Ruby blinked. "Isn't black sort of your thing though?"

"Shut up!"

There was a beat of silence.

Weiss broke it. "Your name means black."

"Then I'll change my name!" The laughter only served to make it worse.

'It was obvious to me that a large-scale conflict was inevitable, and I feared it would be impossible for a poor, powerless little girl to survive. But… Fortunately, in this world, magic really existed,' Ruby narrated as the scene changed again. She was in the nunnery once more, sat before a military doctor, strapped to medical equipment.

'And during one of my routine physicals at the orphanage, my magical aptitude was noted.' As the test began, the machinery began to glow and many small objects surrounding Ruby levitated high into the air. The doctor before her looked stunned.

Ozpin's eyes glinted beneath his glasses. "Fascinating! Out of all the different worlds and realities we've seen, this is the first where magic is present. I wonder what it's capable of…"

"Wow," Roman drawled. "She can make things float. Amazing."

Qorw butted in. "Now, you see it's times like these that make me wonder if you're even half as smart as you think you are."

Roman sniffed. "Are you drunk?"

"No."

"Of course he is!" Winter argued, heatedly.

"Anyways," Qrow said loudly with a lazy wave of his hand. "It looks like you forgot, but just to make sure, you wouldn't happen to remember what Glynda's semblance is, would you?"

The red-haired thief glanced over and was suddenly reminded of when he'd first arrived here and… had been violently slammed into a wall, courtesy of a blast of telekinesis.

And suddenly, Roman was a lot more nervous. He cleared his throat. "Wow! She can make things float! Amazing!" The difference in enthusiasm was clear to all who heard it.

'I'd learned enough about the army to know that they drafted any citizen who had talents like mine and trained them as military mages.' Ruby watched as an officer handed a letter to a concerned-looking nun, whose face fell upon reading through it. 'So I figured, if I was going to be drafted in the future, it makes sense to go ahead and volunteer for military service, go through officer training, and attempt to get promoted quickly.' The young girl couldn't keep a frankly disturbing grin off her face at the thought.

Ironwood grimaced. "I'd applaud his intelligence if it wasn't for him possessing the body of a young malnourished girl."

Velvet nodded weakly. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that idea is…" she trailed off hesitantly.

"Crazy?" Coco suggested.

Her partner's face scrunched up with distaste, but nevertheless, in the end, Velvet managed a shaky nod.

"As an adult, in mind if not in body, he may be able to push through the fatigue and strain that a younger girl naturally wouldn't be able to," Ozpin said. "Her magic might even be able to aid her in some way, akin to aura perhaps."

On the other end of the row of seats, Yang scowled. "I don't like this…" she said.

"It'll be okay, Yang," Ruby reassured her. It helped a little.

'I didn't look forward to war,' Ruby narrated as she stood in a large crowd before a military parade, with hundreds of soldiers marching in formation through the streets. 'which is unproductive and wasteful, meaning it's inherently intolerable, and I hated the idea of being a target myself. Still, I knew that if I could reach a high enough rank, a prosperous future off the battlefield would be assured.'

"That's… actually pretty reasonable, all things considered," Ilia murmured softly.

"It's sort of reassuring too, in a way," Sun added. "You know, the more we watch this, the less he sounds like our Jacques and more like someone who just doesn't like things going to waste."

"It's true that you show great promise as a magic user," a voice spoke as the scene shifted once more to a reputable-looking institution. 'Imperial Army Officer Training School' was displayed at the bottom of the screen. Inside, Ruby stood with her arms behind her back, speaking to two senior military instructors. "But why not wait until you're a little older?"

In response, Ruby had one thing to say. "I have no other path! It's my duty!"

Mercury snorted, earning a few looks. "Sorry," he said unapologetically. "Just never thought I'd see a kid stand at attention like that. She looks so serious, it's killing me!" he laughed.

Neither of the two military officers present shared his amusement. "Thank you for informing us that you find children going to die amusing," Winter said, her eyes as cold as her namesake.

Mercury's laughter evaporated almost immediately. "Oh… Wow, yeah, that sounded…"

"Bad," Emerald finished for him, a disgruntled look on her face. "Really bad."

The young man rubbed at the back of his neck uncomfortable, but didn't say more.

Soon enough, Ruby Rose found herself dressed in uniform, stood in formation, and very out of place to any outside observer, if the stares she received were anything to go by. 'Knowing I wouldn't receive another reincarnation, my priority was to survive the looming war by any means necessary.'

The awkward silence was broken when Winter sighed abruptly, the tension in her face relaxing. "Although, I admit he does look… out of place," she finished lamely.

Jaune frowned. "Wait, is it 'he' or 'she'?"

"That's…" Coco trailed off, an uncertain look on her face. "Okay, that's a pretty good question."

"I find it difficult to imagine my father referring to himself as anything other than a man," Weiss said, then paused. "Oh my god, we're really having this conversation…" she moaned quietly as her head fell into her awaiting hands.

Ilia just snickered incredulously. Adam's mouth falling open was the only thing that clued anyone in on his bewilderment.

Nora threw her hands in the air, playfully frustrated. "Well, it's not like we can just ask him, can we?"

"That's still Jacques in there," Yang said bitterly, and yet strangely insistent. Her arms were crossed over her chest. "Doesn't matter that he's wearing my sister's face." Ruby's hand fell on her shoulder and she relaxed ever so slightly.

Roman groaned, then yelled, "You're all idiots! He's still a he for fucks sake!"

Ozpin cleared his throat. "Perhaps, we could simply agree and move on?"

'While there were similarities between this world and the one I knew, that didn't mean this Empire was destined for defeat.' She was thrown through training and classes, and soon enough, she found herself in possession of her very own computation orb, which glowed brightly as she rose into the air. The other trainees all let out noises of awe.

"What does he mean by that?" Blake frowned. Her ears perked up suddenly. "How similar are those two alternate worlds exactly?"

Mercury shrugged. "Similar enough for him to make that connection. I'm sort of curious now about whatever that other empire was though."

"Fair enough," Weiss allowed with a nod.

Ozpin picked up the Theater Scroll, a contemplative look in his eyes. "I find myself curious as well. One moment, please." What people didn't expect was for the old headmaster to grow more frantic and horrified as the minutes flew by. "What? No, that's… That can't be, I- Dear god…"

"Professor?" Pyrrha asked. She looked quite worried, as did many others.

"Oh…" Ozpin finally said after a silence that had stretched on for far too long. "Oh, dear…" He tilted his head up. His eyes were dull and weary. Ozpin slumped as if a weight, one forgotten until recently, had settled upon his shoulders once again. He looked exhausted and worn out.

Qrow, despite an unhealthy amount of liquor in his blood, quickly grew serious. "What did you see, Oz?" He flinched at the haunted look in his eyes as Ozpin turned his gaze upon him.

"Hell," he said. "I saw Hell on Remnant."

James and Glynda shared a look. "Would you like to tell us, Oz?"

Ozpin hesitated. "No," he finally said. "No, I don't think I will. I… I could never properly convey the sheer… horror… of what I have seen here with words alone."

Blake grimaced. "At this point, I'm not sure I want to know."

"That… is more than understandable, Miss Belladonna," Ozpin said, slowly. He set the Theater Scroll down cautiously. "I shall leave it to you. Once we are done here," he said with a gesture toward the screen. "You may decide for yourselves."

There was a moment of silence before Ozpin spoke up again. "Roman," he said suddenly. The headmaster turned his thousand-yard stare towards the red-headed crook. "Do you recall your response to Glynda's inquiry? Of the potential of humanity in a world without the Grimm?"

Roman swallowed. "Yeah…" he said shakily.

Ozpin nodded slowly. He said nothing.

For some reason, that was more worrying than anything else.

'If we won… the leisurely life I'd always imagined could still be in reach.' Once in the air and stable, Ruby looked up with a gasp as she gazed out across the land, with the setting sun falling below the horizon. 'Plus, my prosperity and success would all serve as excellent revenge against Being X!'

"That's… pretty cool," Sun said. "Always wondered what it'd be like to fly." While the smile was bright, all could tell it was forced. Nevertheless, it brought some cheer back to the audience as the tension in the atmosphere dissipated somewhat.

Sometime later, she found herself dressed in uniform, standing before a few dozen recruits. Ruby adjusted the cap on her head before she began to speak. "Welcome, recruits, to your first day of hell!"

"Wait, already?" Velvet asked, bewildered.

"Okay, I get it that it's a supposedly competent adult in the body of a child, but who in the hell lets a toddler with her age in the single digits supervise trainees who're all young adults?" Coco asked, a sharp frown marring her features. She turned towards General Ironwood. "Does Atlas do shit like this?"

James shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "The youngest applicant to Atlas Academy we've had was sixteen, a year older than Miss Rose. Outside of special circumstances, the minimum age is seventeen, and that goes for enlistment as well."

'The Imperial Army was run as a meritocracy. In less than one year, I was entrusted with training squads of underperforming students,' Ruby narrated. Meanwhile, as she continued with her speech, the soldiers before her were… distracted at best.

"Guess that answers that," Emerald said with a shrug.

"Doesn't look like the screw-ups are paying attention though," Mercury pointed out. He shrugged. "Not that I blame them, but still."

"That's our instructor?"

"I think my little sister is older than her…"

"This has gotta be some kind of joke, right?"

Winter sighed. "If I were in their shoes, I'm not sure my reaction would be any different. It is very bizarre."

"A washed-up Winter Schnee, huh?" Qrow mumbled to himself as Winter went rigid right beside him. "Ain't that something to think about…"

There was a sharp slapping sound followed by Qrow loudly yelping. No one quite saw what had happened, but the vivid red hand print on Qrow's cheek and a fuming Winter Schnee was quite telling.

Despite the murmurs, Ruby continued unperturbed. "I'm the only person who matters in your life, you maggots better do everything you can to impress me! Otherwise, I will make sure you know true despair!" While the scowl on her face might have been frightening, her small height, childish tone, and young age made her out to be more humorous than anything.

"If I disregard that it is Mr. Schnee with Friend-Ruby's body…" Penny hesitated, a teasing smile, or what would pass for one, all things considered, growing on her face. "I would describe that as very adorable."

Ruby choked on her spit and promptly curled up into a ball, her face as red as her cloak. Her team snickering at her expense didn't help at all. "Penny," she finally groaned. "Why?"

One of the trainees scoffed. "She's trying to sound tough. This'll be a breeze…"

"Do we blame him for thinking this?" Coco asked rhetorically.

Neo held up a sign. "Nope!"

"Do we agree that he's going to get his ass handed to him?"

Neo paused at Coco's second question. She made a show of turning her sign around and sticking out her tongue in what appeared to be intense concentration as she rapidly scribbled something on it. She turned it around a moment later, revealing a cartoonish sketch of herself giving an exaggerated shrug.

Coco snorted loudly. "Okay, fair," she chuckled.

The view shifted away from the training grounds to the academy's courtyard. At the top of some stairs, two officers conversed. One was fairly unremarkable in appearance, but the other had shining green eyes and flamboyant orange hair that swept over the right side of his face. "Chief of Personnel Affairs Lieutenant Colonel Roman Torchwick" was displayed beside him on screen.

Weiss, unfortunately in the middle of drinking a glass of water, choked, which quickly devolved into a coughing fit as she struggled to clear her airways.

"What the hell…?" Roman mumbled as he leaned forward in his seat, eyes narrowed.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Glynda murmured, interest lacing her tone.

Coco whistled, low and appreciative as Neo shot him a thumbs up. "You really know how to rock that uniform," the fashionista said.

"What I would like to know is how a scoundrel like you managed to achieve the rank of Lieutenant Colonel," Winter said as she turned towards the thief with narrowed eyes.

"What am I, omniscient?" he asked, exasperated. "Hell if I know, your guess is as good as mine." Roman calmed and looked his alternate self up and down. "Huh. Didn't think I had it in me."

"Your concerns are justified. Go ahead and file a report with the investigative division," he spoke. "I plan to move from Personnel Affairs to Operations in the next year, but I'm pretty sure my succe-" His words were cut off as an explosion rocked the building, causing both him and the officer beside him to stumble.

"Was that Jacques?" James asked hastily, a nervous look in his eyes. "What the hell did he do?"

"I think we can safely assume explosions are one of the many applications the magic of this world is capable of," Blake said dryly.

Penny frowned. "Are you certain it was an explosion, Friend-Blake? I believe it would be more accurate to say that was a kinetic impact rather than-"

Mercury cut her off by blowing a raspberry, much to Emerald's disgust who cringed away from him. "Explosions go boom, whatever that was went boom; ergo explosion."

Went Penny opened her mouth to argue, Yang lightly, yet quickly, pressed her hand against it. "Don't argue with stupid, Penny."

Roman's gaze flicked towards the far end of the courtyard as others nearby cried out in surprise. "What's going on here?!" His eyes widened when he saw the blasted hole in the wall with clouds of dust being blown away by the breeze.

On the other side of said wall, was a room filled with derbies and injured students, groaning in pain as they lay sprawled on the floor.

"Yeesh! He really did a number on them, huh?" Qrow mumbled.

"Wasn't that a little extreme?" Ruby asked.

"Discipline is common in the military," Winter explained. Her eyes hardened. "Although, that was far more than the necessary amount. He went too far."

"Pathetic!" The students snapped their attention toward the voice. Inside a hole in the wall, was Ruby Rose, weapon in hand, glaring down at them as if they were the scum of the earth. "You look like baby birds who've fallen from the nest… Shall I step on you and put you out of your misery? No, I think you need to learn from the pain!"

Sun blinked, an uneasy expression on his face. "Uh, is it just me, or is the little girl suddenly a lot more scary?"

"No…" Blake muttered, equally disturbed. "It's not just you."

"It's even worse because it sounds like…" Velvet swallowed, then glanced warily at Ruby.

"It sounds like me…" Ruby finished in the meekest tone of voice any of them had ever heard from the girl. "I… I really don't like this," she finally managed.

Though she stayed quiet, a storm of emotions washed over Yang. Anger raged with sorrow and every emotion in between as she stared at the girl on screen. It took everything she had not to blast it into pieces, only the knowledge that it would be useless stayed in her hand. 'Me neither, Ruby…' She thought to herself.

One of the students managed to push himself to his feet. "Why… Why are you doing this?"

Roman snorted quietly. "As if you don't know already, dumbass."

Ruby's computation orb flashed as she levitated down to the ground before she stalked toward the man who'd spoken. "You're failures," she declared. The look on her face was disgust – plain and simple. "When I tell you to be ready at a certain time, you should be dressed and at attention at least five minutes earlier."

The student's eye twitched and his face contorted with anger. "You… You brat!" He rose to his feet and lunged but his legs were swept out from under him before a rifle butt smashed into his sternum. He hit the ground hard.

"No, no, no, why are people always so stupid?" Roman groaned into his hands. "They were blasted through a wall just a minute ago, what do they think attacking her is going to do?"

Mercury snorted. "Tell me about it."

The thief snapped his gaze towards him so quickly it was a wonder he didn't suffer whiplash. "You do realize I include you on my list of stupid people, right?" Roman asked. "The fact that you don't even realize that baffles me. Just how stupid are you? Were you born like this? Or did Daddy dearest beat you over the head one too many times?"

Emerald sucked in a sharp breath as Mercury went still. "The hell did you say?"

"You heard me."

The look on Mercury's face could only be described as absolute fury. He made to stand up but a hand clamping on his shoulder, courtesy of Emerald, gave him pause.

The dark-skinned woman shook her head frantically. It was enough. After a tense moment, Mercury sat back down, though not without shooting the thief a smoldering glare.

"Well… I suppose you're free to hold whatever opinion of me you'd like," Ruby said softly before her glare turned piercing. "But attempting to assault an officer calls for harsh punishment!"

Neptune grimaced. "Oh shit…"

She didn't even take a step before the other trainees were pleading for her to stop.

"Wait, he didn't mean it!"

"He's learned his lesson!"

"Stop it!"

They all went ignored.

Ruby stomped onto his chest, pinning him to the ground, before she aimed her rifle at his face, the bayonet resting just before one of his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Coco yelled as she waved her arms in front of her face. "He's gonna kill the guy for that?! I get it's pretty serious, but still!"

"There's no way, right?" Jaune asked with a nervous grin. "He'd get in serious trouble!"

"I'm not too sure he cares…" Ilia argued, a frown on her face.

"Maybe you'll finally understand how the army works if I open up that skull of yours and carve the rules into your brain!" Her rifle thrust forward, but a hand grabbing it stopped it dead in its tracks.

"Are you mad?!" A voice cried. Ruby flicked her gaze to the side, only to see Lieutenant Colonel Torchwick staring at her with a plethora of emotions in his eyes, horror being the most prominent.

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered. "Good Guy Torchwick!"

"The thief finally saving someone," Adam drawled. "I'm shocked."

"Oh, eat shit," Roman said with a snarl. There were a handful of scattered chuckles directed at the exchange but not much else.

It was a coincidence that Mercury's happened to be the loudest.

The next words out of Ruby's mouth were spoken so softly and innocently, that everyone in the vicinity couldn't help but shiver. "I'm simply doing my best for the Empire, sir, that's all. Isn't it my duty to discipline these soldiers?"

Glynda grimaced. "How cold and unfeeling can a single person be?"

Silence.

Goodwitch blinked in surprise. She turned slightly, only to realize that all of her students, along with a handful of others, were staring directly at her. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

There was just more silence.

A bead of sweat trailed down her brow.

"Really, Glynda?" Qrow asked, baffled.

Her eyes widened abruptly. Her gaze snapped to the sociopath disguised as a little girl on screen, then back to the judging stares directed at her. "You're comparing me to... that?"

Yang coughed. "Well, I mean…"

"Oh for goodness sake," Goodwitch snapped. "Yes, just because I care for your safety and try to prepare you to the best of my ability, I'm suddenly cold and heartless," she said sarcastically. While she wasn't loud or truly angry, she was definitely miffed.

Again, silence.

Nora frowned, downcast. "Uh… Sorry, Miss Goodwitch," she said. A few of the other children parroted her words.

It took a moment, but the stern expression on Glynda's face slowly gave way to a weary and exasperated smile. "Children…" she scoffed playfully, turning her attention to the screen once more.

They continued their staring match for several seconds before the shouts of other officers drew their attention.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"No, no, not this again! Let him go!"

Coco burst into nervous laughter. "Again? How many times did that happen?"

Velvet shook her head. "I don't want to know."

'There were a few… minor… setbacks, but eventually, I finished my officer's training.' The scene shifted from the academy to a military garrison in the Northern Theater, with forests, hills, and mountains aplenty. "Northern Theater Force Garrison" was displayed on the screen. 'The only thing that stood between me and graduation was a routine field deployment in the northern region.'

Yang and Blake shared a look.

"Yeah, no," Yang said.

"No way," Blake added.

Neo held up a sign. "Things going smoothly isn't possible."

Jaune glanced over. "You guys really think it's going to be that bad?"

Sun blinked. He gestured aggressively towards the screen. No words left his mouth.

"Point…" Jaune sighed.

Dressed in flight gear, Ruby took a deep breath before her gaze hardened. "Ruby Rose, beginning patrol!" With that, she took flight. 'But it was there I learned that nothing is routine… Like in my old world, things don't always go as planned… For anyone.'

"See?" Blake asked rhetorically as Jaune groaned quietly. "If that's not foreshadowing, I don't know what is."

A small map popped up in the corner of the screen displaying the northern region of the Empire and the Entente Alliance, with a red dot to symbolize Ruby's position. "Unified Year 1923, Norden Region" was displayed at the bottom.

"Hey, look!" Ruby said excitedly. "There's a map."

"Yes, thank you for informing the blind, deaf, and stupid," Roman drawled. "Where would we be without you?"

Penny didn't lean forward only because she didn't need to. Anyone perceptive enough, which applied to no one in the room at the time, would have noticed the pupils of her eyes shifting and twisting, similar to a camera lens zooming in on something. "I believe this is the first time we've seen a map not of Remnant," she said confidently, a smile on her face. "It's so interesting!"

"It looks so…" Emerald hesitated for a second. "Weird," she finally decided on.

Pyrrha agreed. "It is rather different, isn't it?"

"Attention," a voice came in through Ruby's radio. "Norden Control to all zones! We're detecting border violations from the Entente Alliance! Initiate anti-air interception strategies! I repeat, initiate anti-air interception!"

Neo abruptly went rigid. She sat up in her seat and thrust her arm forward, her hand ending in a point. She wiggled her finger aggressively, gesturing at the screen. The smug look on her face screamed, "I told you so!"

Jaune simply opted to groan once again.

Coco laughed quietly. "Smug bitch," she mumbled.

Ironwood didn't pay the bickering any mind. He leaned forward, interest shining in his eyes. For all the power the Atlas Military held, eighty years of peace would dull the capabilities of any soldier and limit the effectiveness of any army. Training could only take you so far, and the Grimm, while dangerous, were not the same as people. 'If nothing else,' he thought, 'This shall prove highly informative.'

"I didn't think I'd see real battle during a training exercise," Ruby said to herself as she slowed to a halt before her eyes narrowed with irritation. "You're to blame, aren't you, Being X?"

"Who the hell else could it be?" Mercury asked.

"This is Norden Control!" Ruby snapped out of her thoughts as the radio got her attention again. "Warrant Officer Rose! You've been promoted to Second Lieutenant! Cease patrol and begin field observation! Your call sign is Fairy-Zero-Eight!"

'Fairy, huh?' Ruby thought as she raised her binoculars. 'Well, that's not exactly intimidating…'

"A promotion that quickly?" Qrow asked curiously. "What the hell did he do to earn that?"

"Certain responsibilities require one to hold a certain rank," Winter explained. "It's possible a promotion was rushed through, although I'm not certain as to why exactly." She paused slightly. When she next spoke, her hesitance was clear. "The only reason I could think of that might apply was if she was about to see live combat."

"Live combat?" Yang asked, a growl building in her throat. "That's supposed to be a training exercise, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, it is," Winter said as she turned to the screen once more. "Or, perhaps it's more accurate to say it once was."

Pyrrha spoke up next. "Would a border violation elicit such a harsh response?"

"Not on Remnant." Surprisingly, it was Ozpin who had quietly spoken. The others turned toward him and the atmosphere grew somewhat uncomfortable. "Not on Remnant," he said again, slightly louder this time. "Not now. Not while we're at peace."

Ren hesitated. "And elsewhere? In another time?"

Ozpin didn't respond.

That was answer enough.

It didn't take her long to get her eyes on a large infantry column marching through the forest. "This is Fairy-Zero-Eight! Confirming visual on advancing enemy infantry, over!"

"That looks a bit more serious than just a border violation," Jaune noted.

"No kidding," Blake agreed.

Adam grunted. "That's an invasion, no question."

"But what the hell for?" Sun questioned.

"Understood!" the radio operator called back. "Preparing long-range artillery barrage! Maintain position and report on accuracy and enemy movement!"

"Roger that, Norden Control!"

"Artillery?!" Velvet squeaked. "Is that really the best option?"

"From a military perspective, perhaps," Ironwood said grimly. "Long-range guns can easily engage the enemy without putting your own soldiers at risk while dealing high casualties, and causing disorder and panic."

"And morally?" Pyrrha asked warily.

"No," the general said. "Far from it."

Several seconds later a sound like thunder cut through the silence. Ruby watched a shell fly through the air and explode once it hit the ground some distance away. "Strike confirmed! Adjust target ten degrees! Enemy holding! Suggesting full-scale barrage! Maintaining aerial observation!"

"Roger! Contacting artillery unit, out!" Then the Imperial guns began to sing.

Dozens of shells flew through the air as the artillery opened fire, raining destruction down on the enemy infantry. The enemy formation disintegrated into a disorganized mob as men ran around like headless chickens. Dozens died in droves, and many more were grievously wounded.

"That was so fast…" Yang mumbled, wide-eyed.

Velvet's ears twitched each time a shell exploded. There was a grimace on her face and tears in the corners of her eyes. 'I hate this,' she thought.

Emerald watched on blankly, a strange feeling squirming in her gut. She couldn't help but fidget as a bead of sweat trailed down her brow. "What… What am I watching…?" she mumbled to herself.

"War."

She blinked. Emerald turned slowly, only to meet Ozpin's dull stare. No one else paid them any attention, no one else seemed to notice. He had spoken so quietly she had barely heard him, and yet heard him she had. They stared at each other for a time, until the old man turned away. Emerald blinked, and it was as if they had never spoken at all.

Her attention again turned to the feeling in her gut. She still didn't know what it was. Just that she didn't like it.

From the air, Ruby watched the battlefield. 'Are these really the most capable soldiers in the Entente Alliance? Why would they cross the border if they weren't prepared for war? They deserve to die,' she thought.

Ruby squeaked. "What…?" Her voice was so quiet it was barely audible. Her face was pale white, twisted with shock.

Yang growled. "How the hell can someone think something like that?" she shouted loudly.

"Well," Qrow began. "That depends." When several other sets of eyes fell on him, he continued. "Most people, those that qualify as normal, wouldn't think like that. They'd feel horrified, sick, disgusted, or some combination thereof." His eyes swept over the room, landing on a few particular people.

Velvet's eyes were wide, her ears pinned to the sides of her head. Her form trembled occasionally, ever so slightly.

Weiss' complexion had turned a little green, a hand held to her mouth. Once in a while, she'd lurch forward slightly, as if to vomit up her lunch, only to hold it down and repeat the process again.

Glynda's hands, placed in her lap, were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Her expression was twisted into a fierce scowl, her eyes alight with scorn.

"But," Qrow continued. "Not everyone is normal. Not everyone thinks like they should." His crimson eyes slid over, landing on Roman's uncaring form. "Not everyone feels like they should. Ain't that right, Torchwick?"

The thief said nothing but the sudden scowl that appeared on his face was telling.

"Thought so," Qrow snarked bitterly. "I guess some people are just irreversibly broken."

"Medic! I need a medic over here!" A man cried, unknowingly holding his comrade's already cooling corpse around his shoulders.

"Dammit, where are they firing from?!" Another man called out, as a dazed soldier slowly walked through the battlefield, holding his bleeding stump of an arm with no real reaction. He was torn apart by an explosion seconds later.

Pyrrha's hands raised to her mouth as tears gathered in her eyes. "They're so... young…" Huntsmen were trained young, that was true, but that was for preparation. They trained for years in safe environments so when the time came they'd be ready. This… wasn't that. These were young men, plucked from their homes and sent to die with barely any training if their reactions were anything to go by. Huntsmen trained for years, decades even. How long did they? Several months? A single year, if that?

Coco scowled. "As far as I can tell, the youngest look my age." Her hand slammed against her seat's handrest with a muffled thump. "Damn!"

Up above, a large, burly man with dark hair and amber eyes observed the carnage with a scowl on his face.

Blake's eyes bulged in their sockets, all previous thoughts and feelings swept aside as fear consumed her. "Dad!" she screamed.

"That's your father?" Weiss asked, surprised. Blake didn't hear her.

"No, no, no, no, no…" the faunus mumbled frantically, her hands clutching at the sides of her head. The last time she'd seen her dad, let alone spoken to him was in the midst of a heated shouting match. This was the first time she'd seen him in years and for all she knew she was going to watch him kill or be killed. "This can't be happening, this isn't happening…"

"Are… Are you okay, Friend-Blake?" Penny asked hesitantly.

"Of course she isn't!" Yang hissed, earning a startled jolt from Penny. Yang's glare softened ever so slightly at the sight, a hint of guilt in her eyes, but she didn't apologize. Her attention turned to her partner in an attempt to comfort her.

It was hard to say if she was having an effect at all.

"Battalion Leader, what's going on here?" one of his men asked.

"This was just going to be a patrol!" another cried.

Sun gaped. "Wait, did their leaders march them across the border without telling them what would happen?" he asked, disbelief radiating off of him in waves.

"Damn, that's a dick move," Coco said with a scowl.

Velvet wilted. "That just makes me feel worse…" she said.

"Damn Upper Brass assured us we'd be clear!" The man grumbled. 'Entente Alliance 5th Air Mage Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Ghira Belladonna' was displayed on the screen. "This is why we can't trust politicians to run our military!"

Ironwood almost snorted. He imagined Ozpin might have as well if it hadn't been for what he'd seen earlier, the wizard had been strangely quiet since then. Regardless, he could relate to this version of Blake's father all too well.

Ghira turned towards his second and shouted. "Cunningham! How are the troops down there?"

"Not good, sir! I can't get anyone to respond on the radio!"

"Yeah," Mercury said. "When they're all running around like headless chickens, no wonder they can't respond…"

"That was the first intelligent thing I've heard you say all day."

Mercury turned with a glare. "Shut it, Torchwick!"

Roman just laughed.

Ghira clicked his tongue. "We have to do everything we can to give them cover!"

"But with our numbers, we'll never be able to take out a whole artillery camp!"

Blake latched onto that information with a death grip. "Yes, good!" she mumbled desperately. "Just leave! Go back home…! Don't get yourself killed…"

"Of course not! Although," he said as his gaze turned to steel. "We can go after their observation scout and blind them!"

Blake froze. "No, no, no! Don't do that, turn around dammit!"

"And risk court martial?" Winter asked.

Blake whirled on her with an intensity that almost made her flinch. "At least he'd still be alive!" she screamed.

"Sure," Roman agreed. "For a time. Until he gets charged with desertion or treason." His smile turned predatory. "Then it's off to the firing squad with him."

Qrow growled. "Do you really enjoy being such a cold-hearted bastard?"

"Don't you have me all figured out?" Torchwick sneered. "You tell me."

A few minutes after the barrage started, Ruby radioed back. "Norden Control, this is Fairy-Zero-Eight! Fire mission effective! Enemy infantry retreating into forest, over!"

"Roger that, Fair-Zero-Eight! Proceed to Patrol Line number two immediately! You're to guide suppressing fire against the infantry, understood?"

"Roger that, command." With that, Ruby took off with a burst of speed.

'Those men will be obliterated in no time.' Ruby allowed herself a small smirk. 'I didn't expect my first real combat mission to be so easy!' Her smirk turned into a toothy grin as a soft giggle spilled past her lips.

Her grin fell away when radio static filled her ears. "This is Fairy-Zero-Eight! Repeat transmission! The signal was breaking up!"

Neptune hesitated. "That doesn't sound good."

"But what's causing it?" Ilia asked no one in particular. "I doubt it's just bad signal."

"Something is causing it," Ironwood agreed. "Perhaps the-" he cut himself off from saying 'enemy army'. Wouldn't do for him to say that with Miss Belladonna as emotional as she was. "Perhaps the invading soldiers have radio jammers?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense to me," Jaune said.

Once more message came through as little more than static. Only the words "Combat-" and "Be on the lookout for-" were somewhat distinguishable.

Coco winced. "Oh yeah, that's bad."

Yang felt herself growing tense. "I'm not sure I want to watch this…" she said to herself. She glanced to the side at her little sister. She was nervous, but unflinching as she watched the screen with interest. Yang steeled herself. If Ruby could do this, then so could she.

"Norden Control! Bad connection! Please repeat, over!" Once more, nothing but static.

"Enemy interference?" Her eyes barely had time to widen before flashes of light appeared in the distance. Moments later, gunfire smashed against her hastily thrown-up shield. As soon as she could, Ruby turned and began to flee.

"This is Fairy-Zero-Eight! Under intense enemy fire!"

"Damn good reflexes," Coco said.

"Indeed, it's impressive," Ironwood said. "Let's see if Jacques can keep it up."

Yang felt like she'd been doused with cold water. She hadn't even noticed she'd tensed up. 'Right,' she thought to herself as she took deep, calming breaths. 'That's not Ruby. That's not Ruby. It's just someone wearing her face. It'll be fine… It is fine.' It helped. Barely.

One of the enemy mages clicked their tongue. "Ugh! How did we all miss her?"

"She's an Imperial mage," Ghira breathed. "But she couldn't be any older than my daughter…"

Neptune felt himself swallow reflexively. "This entire thing is pretty screwed up, huh?"

"Y-Yeah…" Sun said shakily. "It is."

"Pursued by enemy mages!" Ruby cried into the radio. "I repeat, I'm under attack!" Silence met her as she weaved to throw off enemy aim. "Dammit, why isn't anyone responding?!"

Finally, she got a response. "Fairy-Zero-Eight! This is Norden Control! Give us your sitrep!"

"Company class unit invading, Combat Zone Alpha, Block Zero-Eight, altitude: forty-three-hundred!"

"Roger that, initiate delaying countermeasures!" the radio operator ordered. "Imperial air support will arrive within six hundred seconds!"

There were many sharp intakes of breath throughout the theater followed by muffled curses or angry hisses.

"That's, um…" Jaune hesitated. "That's bad, right?"

"Extremely so," Winter said gravely. "In battle, a single second can be the difference between life and death. For Jacques, to hold for several minutes in a combat operation when outnumbered and outgunned against an opponent which I assume is, if not better trained, then at least more experienced is near suicide."

Yang let out a shuddering breath, though she didn't speak a word.

'Yes, because we all care about the sociopathic maniac,' Adam thought sarcastically with a scowl on his face.

Ruby's heart dropped. 'Six hundred seconds?! I could cook instant ramen, let it cool, eat it, and clean up any messes in that amount of time! I can't hold out against a company that long!' "Come in, Control! Requesting permission to retreat!"

"That really puts it into perspective, huh?" Sun mumbled.

"Tell me about it," Velvet said quietly.

There was silence for a time before the radio operator responded. "We cannot allow you to leave." Ruby's hopes plummeted. "You are to delay the enemy until response teams arrive."

"That's… That's insane!" Emerald said, disbelievingly. "Who the hell would expect a kid to stand up to that, and for all they know that is a little girl!"

Ruby's voice trembled slightly when she responded. "Roger that. If those are my orders, I'll do what I can…" While her tone held a semblance of calm, her eyes were wide with anger and fear, twitching madly.

"Something tells me this is going to end badly…" Weiss muttered dejectedly.

"I wonder how many are going to die…?" It took Weiss a second to realize it had been Ruby of all people to say those words.

The heiress turned quickly, her wide eyes landing on Ruby's form. It was hard to describe the girl, but she was far from cheerful. She seemed somewhat sad, disappointed, angry, and resigned all in one, the emotions twisting her face into a complex expression of exhaustion.

"Ruby…?" she muttered quietly, earning the girl's attention. "Is everything okay?"

"I think so…" Ruby eventually replied. "I just feel a little… numb right now."

Weiss closed her eyes and took a breath. 'Oh god…' she thought.

"Stay strong," the radio operator responded. "God is on our side."

Weiss had to force down the sudden deranged giggle that threatened to spill from her lips. Her hands pressed against her face, muffling something between a whimper and a groan.

Ruby closed her eyes and sucked in a trembling breath before she turned towards the enemy mages with resignation in her gaze. "God…? Did she really say that…? I still refuse to accept the existence of God!"

As Ruby approached, Ghira's eyes widened through his binoculars. "The girl turned around. She must think she can take us herself…"

"That's not it at all…" Penny mumbled solemnly. "He doesn't believe he has a choice…"

One of his lieutenants called out. "I can hit her from close range! Keep me covered soldiers!" The order was meant with an enthusiastic call. "Roger!"

"Company commander!" Ghira called the squad advanced. "Be careful!"

Roman scoffed, a light chuckle bubbling in his throat. He knew it was warranted, but something about telling several soldiers to be careful because of a borderline toddler was funny to him in a way he couldn't really describe.

When Ruby saw the advancing squad, a muffled curse tore from her throat as her eyes snapped shut, while trembles born from frustration and fear wracked her body.

'There's the fear again,' Adam thought to himself. He tried to smile, but strangely enough, the grin on his face felt forced. Even if he knew it was a Schnee behind the mask, watching what looked like a little girl rush to her death was troubling, even for someone like him.

However, her shuddering breaths quickly turned to soft snickers, then barely restrained giggles, then finally intomad, cackling laughter that burst passed her lips which were held in a wide, open-mouthed smile.

"Okay…" Coco mumbled. "That's one of the more… frightening things I've seen in my life."

"There's something wrong with that," Torchwick said as he glanced over at Ruby. "No way in hell someone so… so…" 'Cute? Defenseless? Innocent? Naive?' He gave up when he couldn't find the right word. "Can look like that!"

"There's something wrong with him," Winter mumbled. "Father is many things… but even he isn't… crazy."

Weiss turned around, meeting her elder sister's wide-eyed stare. "Is he?" she asked, gesturing towards his alternate self on screen. "Crazy, I mean."

Winter swallowed. "If that's not crazy… I'm uncertain what crazy looks like."

There was a second of silence.

"Tyrian?" Weiss asked.

"Tyrian." Winter agreed.

There was another pause.

"I can't see all that much difference right now…" Weiss mumbled.

Winter couldn't find it in her to disagree.

"I get to be the hero of the battlefield today! What an honor!" Ruby spat, her voice thick with sarcasm.

"So much for trying to play it safe," she cried as she threw her radio equipment away, lightening her load. "Today's as good a day as any other to die!"

"Don't tell me he actually wants to die all of a sudden…" Ilia said, both disturbed and shocked in equal measure.

"You won't find me losing sleep at night over it," Adam said. Despite the words, his tone felt just a tiny bit forced.

Ironwood shook his head. "He's getting himself riled up, excited. He's pushing his fear and anxiety down so he can focus on survival," he noted.

"If nothing else… This alternate version of him would make a good actor," Glynda said slowly.

Winter and Weiss had the same thought simultaneously. 'He already is. Most of you just don't see it.'

"Take aim!" Both sides raised their rifles.

Yang averted her gaze and closed her eyes. "I can't watch this…"

The comforting weight of Ruby's hand settling in her own helped her relax. She just wished it could have been enough.

Blake only had a single thought on her mind. 'Don't die, Dad…'

"FIRE!"

Bullets smashed against Ruby's magic shield, but she held firm. Once she closed the distance, Ruby squeezed her rifle's trigger, firing off two shots that hit their mark, violently exploding and throwing black smoke into the air. Out of the original five Legadonian mages, only four emerged and began to circle back around.

"There's one down," Mercury noted idly. "Four to go."

"This is really happening…" Nora said distractedly. "I'm watching a little girl fight in war…" A hysterical chuckle escaped her.

"That's still Jacques," Ren argued softly. "He's a grown adult."

"Do the others know that?" she asked.

Ren thought it over. The officers he'd interacted with, the soldiers in his unit, the enemy mages he was now fighting, everyone thought that Jacques was just a young girl not even in her pre-teens.

And they didn't care.

When Ren didn't respond, Nora laughed again.

It sounded like she was crying.

More bullets flew as they passed each other again, but all enemy fire missed. Meanwhile, mad, dramatic music began to blare as the fighting intensified with chanting to accompany it. (Young Girl's War)When the barrage stopped, Ruby whirled, aimed, and fired with grit teeth. The first shot threw a man off course and the second ripped him apart, the explosion forming another cloud of smoke.

"And there's more music…" Qrow muttered. "Great…"

"Is that really necessary?" Glynda muttered, clearly off-put.

"It adds gravitas to it," Roman said.

"It's disrespectful is what it is," Glynda hissed back.

With only two other men left, the company commander charged Ruby. The enemy mage aimed but Ruby swerved underneath him right as he was about to fire. He was barely able to turn and raise his arms over his face before Ruby, who had already taken aim, squeezed the trigger. The bullet smashed his shield, throwing smoke everywhere.

"Oh shit…" Jaune muttered, his face pale. "Do you think he's okay?" he asked as he turned to his partner.

"I… I hope so…" Pyrrha muttered.

"Commander!" a soldier cried as the smoke cleared, revealing the man with both arms blown off from the elbow, squirting blood. His haunting screams filled the battlefield as the pain of losing two limbs registered.

"That's not okay," Velvet whimpered as her body shook. "That is not okay. That is not okay!"

"You okay, Velv?" Coco asked as she placed a hand on her shoulder. She winced. She regretted asking almost as soon as the words had left her mouth.

"No!" Velvet shouted, tears in her eyes. "Can't you hear that!? It's… It's so loud!" The girl grabbed at her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise. "I just want it to stop!"

Ironwood twitched, his mouth morphed into a grimace. His gaze fell to his right arm. It itched. The general closed his eyes and took deep breaths. The uncomfortable sensation of his arm and half of his torso being torn apart began to fade.

The battle continued with rifle bullets exploding like artillery shells. Ghira was quick to send in reinforcements and another five-man squad charged. "Damage report!" he called.

"We've lost two men, and Captain Ragald is wounded!" Ghira scowled.

Cunningham turned towards him. "Battalion Commander, please, let me go in!"

Ghira was quick to grant permission. "Save our soldiers! Back him up, men!"

"Roger!" They bellowed a battle cry and charged into the fray.

"They're just going to get themselves killed!" Weiss said. "Can't they just pull back?"

"I don't think it's about killing Jacques anymore," Jaune said warily. "They can't leave without leaving those already fighting to die. They won't abandon them."

'Two minutes until reinforcements arrive,' Ruby thought desperately as she tried to tag another mage, but enemy reinforcements appeared behind her before she could fire.

'Dodge!' Yang screamed in her mind as her hands tightened around Ruby's own. If her sister protested the increased pressure, she didn't notice.

Ruby barely managed to dive to the side as bullets surged passed. She wheeled and returned fire, colorful rounds filling the sky with thunderous explosions.

Neo hummed, or as well as she could with her lack of a voice. She raised her sign. "If you ignore all the suffering, it looks pretty," it read. "Kind of like fireworks."

"True," Roman nodded idly.

Unfortunately, when she finally ran out of ammo with a click as she tried to pull the trigger, the enemy mage was quick to notice. "Out of ammo," he called as Ruby gasped in surprise.

"So… that's it," Emerald said, a tiredness within her she hadn't expected to feel. "He either has to surrender or die now."

"To surrender would be the sane option," Winter said. "Something tells me that just won't happen."

"But, what the hell can he even do now?" Emerald asked. "I mean, sure, he probably has a knife but they'd just shoot him before he can get close. We know he has magic but we haven't seen him use it outside of amplifying his shots or flying. He's stuck."

She scowled and flew higher in an attempt to widen the gap, but her expression quickly morphed into a smile.

"I don't think he's as stuck as you think he is, Em," Mercury said, a grin on his face that pissed Emerald off to no end.

Abruptly, she tossed her useless rifle aside and halted her momentum. Gravity took hold a moment later and she was falling toward the ground. An enemy mage, caught off guard by the maneuver, received a boot to the face. His magical equipment came loose from the force and he began to plummet with a shriek.

"Holy shit…" Sun mumbled, his mouth gaping.

"Yeah, no kidding," Coco chuckled, a hint of hysteria in her tone. "I wasn't expecting that."

"NO!" Cunningham cried, then paused as he realized he couldn't find the girl anywhere. "Where'd she go?!"

"That's a good question," James mumbled. "In the air like that, you have no cover. There's only one place one could go and that's…"

"Behind," Ruby and Jaune said simultaneously.

"Is he trying to run?" Pyrrha asked uncertainly. "He must have held out for long enough by now."

"I don't think so…" Ruby replied, her voice quiet and somber. "I just hope I'm wrong."

His question was answered as the girl in question crashed into him before her arms wrapped around his neck in a vice grip. Her eyes were wide and her smile was all teeth. Her next whispered words sent terror through him.

Roman flinched. "God dammit, I can't get used to that look! It's so… unnerving!"

"I don't need ammo!" With those words, Ruby's silver eyes began to glow red.

Ilia gaped. "Oh god…"

"Ruby…" Penny mumbled wide-eyed as she turned to her friend. She didn't know what else to say.

"He's not going to…" Weiss said, disbelief written all over her face.

"He's actually going to," Ironwood whispered. "My god…"

Even Adam had an uncertain frown on his face.

Ghira, who saw what was about to happen, cried out to his men. "Get out of there! The little girl is too dangerous!"

"Dammit, listen to him!" Coco yelled. She waved her arms frantically as if to shoo them away. "Move! Go!"

Yang couldn't take it anymore. With her eyes screwed shut and with tears gathering in their corners, she opened her mouth and screamed, her voice filled with sorrow and fear. "RUBY!"

A second later, a blinding red flash surged throughout the battlefield as Ruby exploded, the music cutting off as she did so. Anyone in her immediate vicinity was incinerated.

"No, no, no!" Yang yelled as her tears spilled over. "NO!"

"Yang?" Ruby asked, warily. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong…?" The blonde mumbled before the volume of her voice rose abruptly. "What's wrong?! I just watched you die, Ruby! What the fuck do you think is wrong?!"

Ruby flinched and scooted away, startled by her sister's outburst.

"Yang!" Weiss said, aghast. "Please, calm down! Ruby's fine, and besides, that wasn't Ruby anyways."

"Well, sorry if I can't handle someone wearing my sister's face committing suicide!" Yang screamed. "Am I supposed to just brush that off like I don't care?! What the fuck is wrong with you, Weiss?!"

All noise in the Theater died. Angry tears streamed down Yang's cheeks as she took deep, panting breaths.

"No…" Weiss said, guilt thick in her tone. "No, you're not… I… I'm sorry…"

Slowly, the anger in her melted away, with sorrow and despair twisting her expression. "I…" Yang was cut off as she choked back a sob. "I need a break…" she mumbled before she stood up and stormed out of the room, one of her arms furiously wiping at her eyes.

All Ghira could do was stare. "She… blew herself up?"

"Wait, Yang!" Ruby shouted as her brain caught up with her. She made to stand but Yang beat her to it.

"Don't follow me, Ruby!" The girl shouted, right before the door to the theater slammed shut behind her, leaving everyone in a stunned, awkward silence.

"Yang…" Ruby raised a hand toward the door her sister had left through before she slowly let it drop.

She sniffed.

"It's okay, Ruby," Weiss said hesitantly as if she wasn't sure if she could even believe herself. "She'll be fine. Give her a little bit to cool off. We'll go find her together."

Ruby nodded. She would have spoken, but if she opened her mouth she'd just start crying.

He was brought out of his shock when some of his men appeared beside him. "Battalion Commander! Enemy reinforcements coming in fast!"

Blake felt conflicted. "Is… Is it bad that the only thing I care about right now is that my dad lived…? Does that make me a bad person?" she whispered as she stared down at her hands, damp with tears and sweat.

No one answered her.

As they retreated, Ruby fell through the smoke cloud with shards of her smashed shield falling all around her. Wounds covered her body and her injured left eye was forced shut due to blood from a head wound. Yet, despite it all, her face was split by a wide, gleeful smile.

"He's alive…" Glynda whispered, shocked.

"And heavily injured," James noted. "None of it looks fatal, but he needs to get medical assistance as soon as he can."

"There's that smile again," Roman noted to himself. A chill ran up his spine. "That little girl has no right to be as creepy as she is."

The thief was brought out of his musings by the sound of someone chugging a drink. Roman turned, only to see Qrow downing liquor from a flask, his cheeks flushed red from the alcohol. When one ran dry, the man procured another and repeated the process all over again with no sign of stopping. Beside him, Winter held a hand to her forehead.

Roman sighed and patted his shoulder. He would have said something if he'd known what to say.

'Sometimes, the best way to protect yourself and survive is to make it look like you fought hard,' Ruby narrated as the screen began to fade to black. 'Like you sacrificed yourself for your country. Then you can exit the battlefield as an injured martyr…'

"That… that was his plan?" Jaune asked shakily. "The entire time…? That's…"

"Genius…" Emerald finished, awe in her tone.

Velvet made a noise in between a sob and a cackle. "After all of that… What the hell…"

'But… That can backfire.'

"Of course, it can," Blake mumbled. "Why wouldn't it at this point?"

When the screen lit up once more, the scene had shifted once more to a small town, at the center of which, was a building with imperial banners. "Imperial Army Northern Theater, Military Garrison One" was displayed on the screen.

Ruby herself was laid in bed, wrapped in bandages as a host of officers stood around her, the senior most of whom happily began to read from a letter in his hands. "Second Lieutenant Ruby Rose, during the battle with the Entente Alliance…"

"Well… He's okay, I guess," Roman noted idly.

"What's with all the officers, though?" Jaune asked.

"Perhaps they're reviewing his actions during the battle?" Ren suggested.

As he spoke, Ruby only had one thought on her mind. 'Not good… Not good at all…'

"I'm… struggling to see why she'd be worried about this," Weiss said.

"…you delayed the enemy until reinforcements arrived, and despite your serious injuries, you managed to accrue four confirmed kills…"

'They're treating me like some kind of military hero,' Ruby noted.

"Oh, I see," Winter said. "Jacques has proven his worth, just as he planned to."

"But," Roman inquired.

"But," Winter continued, "He went too far. It's entirely possible, that instead of simply shipping him to a desk job far from any conflict like he wanted, they're going to send him to the front specifically because he's proven useful."

"And with the border conflict he just fought in…" Blake mumbled as she realized.

"War is much more likely," Winter finished with a grim nod.

"…and two unconfirmed kills, successfully halting the enemy's advance across…"

The more the officer spoke, the more exasperated Ruby became. 'I didn't think they'd be this impressed that I took out some mages…'

"Of course, because a toddler killing up to six people in her first engagement isn't impressive," Roman snarked.

"It hasn't registered," Penny realized. "He doesn't fully understand his situation, or at least, he doesn't understand how the world views him. To him, he's still an adult male, but to everyone else, he's only a little girl, albeit one with incredible potential. What would would be well within the realms of possibility or even mediocrity for him…"

"Would be incredibly impressive for a child," Goodwitch finished for her before she turned towards the robot girl. "Very astute, Miss Polendina."

Penny smiled at the praise.

It didn't reach her eyes.

"…our borders. In recognition of your efforts, I'm proud to award you the Silver Wings Assault Badge. Congratulations!" With that, the officer placed the medal on the pillow, beside her head. All Ruby could do was gape both at the badge and the men around her who burst into applause.

"A medal…" Roman drawled. "You killed a lot of people and didn't die. Congratulations, you're a hero now."

Neo slapped him on the back of the head softly. "Hush," he read off of her sign after turning towards her.

'I was kind of hoping they'd say I'd done enough for the Empire and promote me instead… Then I'd be safe…' Still, despite her thoughts, Ruby couldn't keep the self-satisfied smile off her face. 'As long as they don't use this as an excuse to send me to the front lines for moral…'

"At this point, I'm going to assume that's exactly what'll happen," Ilia said. Several people nodded at her words.

'I wonder if there's some sort of child protection agency I could ask for help…' With that, the screen faded to black for the final time.

Coco sat up, her eyes widening slightly. "Wait, it's done?"

"Y-yeah," Sun said. "I think so."

"Thank fuck," the fashionista said with a groan. She slumped in her seat and dragged a hand down her face. "I'm not sure how much more of that I could handle."

"Same," Neptune mumbled tiredly. "I need a bathroom break."

"I think we all do…" Velvet added. She still looked shaken and far from calm, but she looked just a little bit better than she did earlier.

"We're taking a break, children," Glynda declared with no room for argument. "Grab some drinks, and some food, and use the restroom if you need to. We'll continue another time."

"I could use a nap," Qrow sighed.

Blake shook her head. "I'm not watching something like that again. Not right after we just finished this."

No one disagreed.

"We'll decide later," Weiss reassured the faunus before she turned to Ruby. "Come on," she said to the silver-eyed girl. "Let's not keep your sister waiting any longer."

---

A/N: So you made it! To everyone reading this, I'd like to thank you for reading this chapter all the way to the end, and once again, I'd like to apologize for the wait.

I don't have anything to say today that I haven't already said, so I'll just say that I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I'd really appreciate it if you gave this fic a favorite and a follow. I especially enjoy reading any reviews I get, so if you have something to say, I'd love to hear it regardless of what it is. All I ask is that if it's negative feedback, it be constructive criticism and not just hateful ramblings. And because it's better to be safe than sorry, I'm going to up the rating from T to M just in case. There was some... stuff in this chapter, so I think the decision is warranted. If you disagree, though, let me know.

One last thing, I also got a review some time ago more or less rambling about how they hate react fics that swap out the characters. To people who agree with this, all I have to say is this: Frankly, I don't care. I understand that it's seen as lazy and low effort, but I started this fic specifically with the intention of having the characters react to themselves regardless of the setting because it makes sense to me, and more importantly, that's what I enjoy. Now, I understand character swapping can get out of hand, especially if only a single character is the main focus all the time like those Jaune-centric fics, and I will try to limit it to reasonable levels, with some chapters not having any characters swapped at all, but if you're going to come in here and just yell at me like that, I'd like to ask you to leave and go somewhere else.

With that said, I'll see you all next time!