WARNING: For those who aren't aware, this story is a sequel! If you wish to avoid spoilers for this story's prequel, The Defenders of Remnant, then I suggest you read that first. Again, this is a sequel. The specifics of the first story's events will be spoiled for you! You have been warned.

RvBvRWBY: Incursion
Chapter 1: The Best Laid Plans

Ruby Rose. You're the bravest, kindest, most genuine person I know.

The girl who gave Roman Torchwick what for, who wanted to become a huntress since she was just a little girl…

You are a better hero than I could ever hope to be.

The boy was stabbed, driven through by an obsidian sword.

I'm happy to call you my friends. My family.

Blood dripped down the blade. Her body swelled up with anger and pain. She could feel the tears on her cheeks. Then suddenly, it all just turned to white.

Ruby's eyes shot open and she found she was breathing heavily. Her chest was tightened and her head was drenched in sweat. She took a few moments to slow her breathing and calm down. She was alright, she was in her room at home. And her nightmare was just a memory, albeit a painful one. But she had nothing to worry about. She was safe, and he was safe. Peter Parker was home, a world away. And she was here. She really missed him sometimes. They had spent so much time together, he, Ruby and the rest of the team, that going this long with him gone was still just… strange. Sometimes the day felt partially hollow, like a piece of her everyday life was just gone.

It had been just over a month for them since he and the other heroes had left Remnant. In that time, life had somewhat returned to normal. Vale had repaired almost all the damage done to the city, but work on the Beacon Campus had barely gotten underway. In the meantime, Professor Goodwitch would hold classes in the Vale Library.

Ozpin was still gone. The official story was that he was missing, and that huntsmen would continue to search for him until it bore fruit. In reality, he was dead, killed by Cinder when she opened Beacon up to attack. Ruby was one of the few people that knew, the rest being Goodwitch, her Uncle Qrow, General Ironwood, her teammates, and their sister team, JNPR. And they had to keep their mouths shut about it, among other things.

Ruby yawned and threw her feet over the side of her bed, pushing the covers off. She stretched her arms out and felt her shoulders and back pop. A chill went up her spine and she stood up. She was dressed in a two-piece black and red pajama outfit. She rubbed her eyes groggily before exiting her room and heading to the front of the house, where the kitchen and living room were. Her father, Taiyang, was making plates of eggs and bacon for the three minors of the household. Ruby saw her older sister Yang sitting in one of the chairs brushing out her golden locks, the brush catching on her thicker hair.

Meanwhile, sprawled out on the couch, still out cold asleep, was Ben Reilly, the honorary brother of the household and younger genetic replica of Peter Parker himself. He was about Ruby's age physically, but in terms of actual existence, was short of three months. Before Peter left, he and her father had come to some agreement to let Ben live here. Ruby was grateful for that. Ben was just as much a friend as Peter was, and it was nice to have someone 'her age' around for once. Everyone else was older. She guessed it was nice to feel like the big sister for a change.

"Food's ready," Tai said.

"About time," Yang said after finally brushing her hair out. She tossed the brush aside and got up to get her plate. Ruby wandered over to the table as well.

"Morning, Yang. Morning, Dad," She yawned.

"Morning, sweetheart," Tai smiled before placing a plate in front of his youngest daughter. "Eat up, then get dressed. I wanna make it to Vale by noon."

"Ugh, why do we have to come with for stupid errands?" Ruby groaned.

"Because part of those 'stupid errands' is figuring out when school will start again. After I drop a few things off back at Signal, we'll be going straight to Glynda. Maybe after, we can grab lunch on our way out."

"Ugh, fine," Yang rolled her eyes.

"What's with you guys not wanting to go to Vale?" Tai questioned.

"Dad, Beacon was attacked. We fought in an actual full out battle and survived," Yang said. "You know what Uncle Qrow says: 'A day out there is worth a week at Beacon'. After something like that, we are so beyond school!"

"Well, tough. You're still going. Now seriously, hurry up." Tai stepped out of the room to go get changed himself. "And can one of you wake up Ben?"

Yang rolled her eyes and slipped Ember Celica over one of her arms and fired it upwards. The bang of the gunshot startled him awake and he fell off the couch, hitting the floor with a thud. "I'm awake…" He groaned groggily.

"Yang, the roof!" Tai exclaimed from across the house.

"Nailed it," Yang smirked.d. Ruby was about halfway done with her food when her scroll chimed. She set her fork down and took her scroll in hand to see a message that surprised. Her surprise must've shown on her face, as Yang looked at her curiously. "What is it?" She asked.

"It's… General Ironwood," Ruby said.

"What's Ironwood messaging you about?" Yang questioned.

"He says he wants us for a mission. Apparently Weiss and Blake are already on board. If we're interested, come see him in Vale at the temporary Beacon site as soon as possible." The two sister's traded glances, then began to scarf down their food at a rapid pace. By the time Ben had pulled himself to his feet and slogged over to the kitchen, the two sisters had cleaned their plates and already rushed back to their rooms to change into their huntress outfits.

Ben groggily looked around the now empty room with a glass of juice in his hand. "Morning…" He deadpanned to no one in particular before sipping his drink.

Ruby hopped into the passenger seat of the truck and buckled herself in while Yang hopped into the truck bed. "C'mon, Dad, hurry up!" Ruby called excitedly.

"Yeah, I know, just a sec!" Tai called back as he came out the front door, and Ben stood in the doorway behind him. "Sure you can take care of the house while we're gone?" Tai asked him.

"Yes, sir. I'll also fix the roof," Ben assured.

"You sure you don't wanna come into Vale with us?" Tai asked.

"I'd rather enjoy the quiet life a little while longer before going back to the city," Ben said.

"I understand," Tai nodded and smiled. He patted Ben on the shoulder before heading over to the truck. "We'll be home tonight. And no wall crawling in the house!"

Ben rolled his eyes. "I know."

"I know' doesn't mean sit on the ceiling as soon as we're gone either," Tai said as he sat himself in the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. He slid the key in and started the engine, then the truck pulled away from the homestead. Yang gave Ben a wave from her truck bed seat as they drove up the hill. "So, what is this I hear about James giving you guys a mission?"

"We don't know," Ruby answered. "All he said was he was in Vale and had a mission for our team, and that he was waiting with Goodwitch if we were on board."

"Eh, I don't like this. It's out of the blue, and you're supposed to be on break during all this. But you two have made your feelings clear about staying put, and I know better than to try and stop the women of this family," Tai relented. "We're still stopping at Signal first. If James has something for you, I wanna hear it."

"Fine, just go faster!" Ruby insisted.

"I'm going, I'm going, the port is still a while's to go." Tai replied defensively. "While you're sitting there, text Ben and tell him to get off the ceiling."

Ironwood waited patiently, with Glynda Goodwitch standing next to him less patiently, an annoyed look on her face.

"I don't know how you talked me into this, James," Glynda sighed.

"Because you know the possibilities with what we've made. What it can do for us, and for them," Ironwood replied.

"It's dangerous," Glynda frowned.

"They are simply escorting the shipment. I wouldn't put them at risk if I didn't think they could handle it, and the Ace Ops are preoccupied. Besides, they played a large role in the Battle of Beacon, and they knew some of the people who have traveled through."

"As I recall, so do you," Glynda said. "And if this is just a shipment, why does it matter who guards it?"

"My point is they know the potential of the material and are skilled enough to protect it if necessary. Oz had faith in them. That combined with their record is more than enough for me."

"I still don't like this," Glynda shook her head.

"Just let them take a chance," Ironwood said.

"If something happens, James, it's on you."

"I am fully aware of that. But they will be fine, Glynda."

"They better be…" Glynda furrowed her brow.

"General Ironwood!" A female voice called out. The two adults turned to see none other than Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna approaching, weapons holstered and standing at the ready. "I hope we aren't late," Weiss greeted.

"Not at all, Miss Schnee. In fact, we're still waiting to see if your leader will turn up," Ironwood replied.

"Ruby and Yang aren't here?" Blake questioned.

"No, but I imagine they're on their way, if they are as eager as you are," Ironwood chuckled.

"Eager isn't the word I'd use," Tai said as he and his daughters approached as well.

"Tai!" Ironwood smiled and approached the father, putting a hand out to him. "It's good to see you, old friend."

Tai stared at Ironwood's hand before hesitantly shaking it. "Yeah, you too," Tai replied unconvincingly.

"I wasn't expecting you."

"Well, I wanna hear about this mission you have for my girls. As I understand it, Beacon isn't back in session yet, and all contracted missions have been rescinded until the city is back on its feet. An out of the blue message from you in the morning isn't exactly what I expected," Tai frowned. "I figure this better be good."

"Well, you're welcome to hear. I'm sure once you hear it, you'll be interested as well."

"I doubt it…" Glynda muttered.

"So what's the mission?" Ruby asked, her teammates all standing at her side.

"To explain that would require some preamble. It's important you know what you'll be protecting in this mission," Ironwood said. "In light of recent events, and the otherworldly nature in which some of our foes and allies pertained, it is of my opinion that should a larger threat come from another world we could hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned. If Remnant is to defend itself, we must be ready, which means we need some understanding of what is out there."

"Wait… you mean you're trying to prepare for more multiversal encounters?" Blake asked.

"But Taskmaster and the others are dead. What else do we have to worry about?" Yang questioned.

"While it's true that our current threat has been dealt with, that doesn't mean more won't come, and we must be ready. So, I've had my best minds come together to create a prototype material that, if harnessed correctly, has potential to be able to open rifts throughout the multiverse in a much safer fashion than that super collider under Merlot Industries," Ironwood explained.

"You mean… you might actually have a way to travel between worlds?" Weiss asked.

"It's a work in progress, but like I said, you must know what you are protecting." Ironwood pulled a small disk-shaped device out of his hand and pressed a switch to show a hologram of a pale blue dust crystal with white shining star-like sparkles in the gem. "I present to you, X-636, or as we have taken to calling it, Cosmic Dust."

"Cosmic Dust? I've never heard of that before," Blake said.

"You won't have. My scientists created it. It's a synthetic Dust, one that if works as intended, will open up the door to the multiverse for us," Ironwood said. "We could create a defense for anything, cure any disease… visit distant friends." Ironwood stressed that last part and gazed down at the four huntresses. He knew if they weren't in before, the promise of being able to see their good friend would sell them.

"You mean we could…?" Ruby started. Ironwood nodded. "As a matter of fact, I promise you that if you escort this shipment of X-636 from here to the halfway point to Argus, where Specialist Winter Schnee will take over, the first test with the Dust will be to see if we can't get you to see Peter Parker again."

The members of Team RWBY traded glances, but there wasn't much to think about. Within seconds, they all already had the same answer. "We'll do it," Ruby said.

Glynda sighed, then looked at Tai, who was oddly quiet. "Taiyang. You're quite silent," She noted.

"Well… synthetic Dust is certainly… a thing. Everything else…" Tai said warily. He looked over at Ruby, who gazed up at her father concerningly. He let out a heavy sigh. "It sounds like a good opportunity. I don't see the harm in it."

"Well, with that out of the way," Ironwood said before pocketing the small device, "The bullhead with the Dust is waiting for you. Good luck, Team RWBY."

"Thank you, sir! We won't let you down!" Ruby cheered excitedly. "Go, Team RWBY!"

Ironwood led the team to the aforementioned bullhead, and after a warm goodbye to their father, Ruby and Yang were the first to enter, with Weiss and Blake taking up the back. The Huntresses filed in and the ship began to take off before the door was even closed.

"See you soon!" Ruby waved to her dad as they rose up into the air. The door finally shut on them, and with a boom like thunder, the ship flew away, soon out of sight and earshot.

"They'll be fine, Tai," Ironwood assured him.

"I wanna believe you, but I just have this sinking feeling in my stomach…" Tai sighed.

"Fatherly concern, I'm sure," Glynda added.

"You don't seem so convinced yourself, Glynda," Tai noted.

"She's wound tight, and reasonably so. We're in a new age now," Ironwood said. "Anything can happen. It's a heavy weight on all of us."

"So where's Qrow?" Tai asked.

"On a mission, looking for a… person of interest," Glynda answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I just haven't seen him since he brought Ruby home, and you know how little he picks up the phone."

"If we hear from him, we'll let you know," Ironwood promised. "And thank you for the seal of approval, Tai."

"It doesn't seem like too much. Plus, I know how much that Peter kid means to them. You should've seen them during his recovery. Every second of every day was spent well until he left. He was practically a part of the family."

"Speaking of which, how is Mister Reilly doing? I understand you've taken him under your roof," Glynda said.

"He's doing alright. He more than pulls his own weight. He's happy. And that's good enough for me," Tai said. "Which reminds me, I should be getting back to him. It'll already be late when I get back, and the one thing I don't trust him to do is cook."

"Have a good night, Tai," Ironwood smiled.

"You too, James. Glynda," Tai replied before walking away, and leaving the two behind. Once he was gone, Ironwood turned to Glynda.

"Have you heard from Qrow?" He asked.

"Of course not," Glynda frowned. "And we shouldn't expect him so soon. It takes time for Ozpin to come back, let alone find us."

"We can tough this out until then. I know we're all fully capable. Otherwise Oz wouldn't have trusted us."

"I hope you're right. Or we're in for a very rude awakening."

The four members of Team RWBY sat together in the cabin of the bullhead, with a single Atlesian officer piloting the ship. They'd already made their way past the borders of the kingdom of Vale, the earth below them being the wide expanse of trees that made up the Emerald Forest. Next to their seats was a door to the cargo hold, where large crates of the X-636, the "Cosmic Dust", sat waiting.

"I'm so excited to team up again!" Ruby smiled.

"It's only an escort mission. It's nothing too exciting," Weiss said.

"But you heard Ironwood! This new Dust could let us see Peter!" Ruby replied.

"She's right. I'd say this is an important mission to us," Blake agreed.

Weiss felt her chest tighten in anticipation. "I suppose you're right," She agreed. Weiss started to gently rub her thumb over the glimmering crystals on the snowflake necklace hanging from her neck, a gift from the very person they hoped to reunite with at the end of this. "And I suppose the quiet would be an opportunity for us to catch up."

"Yeah. How's Vale coming along?" Yang asked.

"The city's back on its feet for the most part," Blake answered. "Beacon hasn't been touched though. I don't think Goodwitch wants anyone near it."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"We're not sure," Weiss answered. "Whenever we ask her about it, she never gives an answer."

"Guess even after all this, she still has a stick up her-" Yang started, then suddenly alarms sounded in the ship.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked the pilot.

"Proximity alert," The pilot answered. "But I'm not getting anything on the actual scanners."

"Yang, Blake, go check the cargo hold!" Ruby ordered. Her teammates nodded and ran through the cabin to enter the back part of the ship.

"I don't get it, where-?" The pilot started to question aloud. Then a long, furred black arm with white claws broke through the roof of the ship and wrapped its long, spindly fingers around the pilot's skull. Ruby only saw it for a moment before the pilot pulled up through the hole in the ceiling. Weiss and Ruby looked up in horror for a moment before the ship began to tip forward and plummet. Weiss leapt for the controls and pulled up on the control yoke to bring the vehicle back to an even level.

"Be careful!" Yang called from the back. "Dust just spilled out everywhere!"

"And we just lost the pilot!" Weiss snapped back. Blake, in the hold with Yang, frowned, as she felt something was terribly wrong. She then looked at the bay door, and seeping inside through the crack was black airborne substance like a curving smoke.

"Guys?!" Blake called out. Yang quickly took Blake's side and saw the same thing. The smoke kept seeping through, forming a cloud that became thicker and thicker. The cloud shifted and made a solid form. Suddenly, in the cargo bay with them was a single Grimm. It was a quadruped creature with short, wide snout with its teeth overlapping over its jaw. It seemingly lacked eyes, but had canine ears and quill-like spines on its back.

"What is that thing?" Yang wondered.

"It's not like any Grimm I've ever seen," Blake replied. "Guys, we have a Grimm in here!" Ruby quickly rushed to the hold with them.

"Woah!" Ruby exclaimed.

As soon as Ruby entered, the hound-like Grimm paused and snarled at her in particular.

"I don't think it likes you," Yang noted. The Grimm kept snarling, then turned its head to one of the crates. It placed its paw on one of the crates, and Ruby's eyes rounded.

"No!" She quickly unfolded her weapon, the scythe named Crescent Rose, and leapt forward. She swung her weapon down and cut the Grimm's hand clean off, also taking a section of the crate off with it. The Grimm howled and stumbled back as crystals of X-636 spilled out onto the floor.

"The Dust!" Blake exclaimed. The Grimm snarled, and eyed one of the crystals. Ruby followed his eyeline, but before she could move, it already took the crystal in its dark paw. Immediately, the crystal in its hand as well as all the ones scattered on the floor began to vibrate violently, and the star-like specks in its look began to shine brightly, turning the crystals white. Then each crystal's light became harsher, as if each one was a sun. Soon the entire cargo hold was filled with the harsh white light.

"What's going on back there?!" Weiss exclaimed. She looked over her shoulder only to also be blinded by the ever-growing white light. She felt her body become weightless, and then nothing.

His head was pulsing and his vision blurry when he first awoke. His armor felt heavy on his aching muscles, and his stomach felt so turned over, it felt like he could vomit at any second. It took him far too long to realize he was sprawled out on the ground. "Uuugh… what happened…?" He groaned. Suddenly, another armored soldier in pink stood over him.

"Hey, he's awake!" The pink one called out.

"I still wanna know why I don't get a laser gun," He heard another man out of his vision say.

"Shut up, dumbass," A third one scolded.

"Guys, Tucker's awake!" The pink one called out again.

"Huh?" The soldier with the third voice, the one wearing maroon armor, approached Tucker as well. "Hey hey hey, take it easy, Tucker. You've been out a while."

Then the second voice, one belonging to a more robust man in orange armor, popped up as well. "And I thought I was lazy," he remarked.

Tucker took a chance to sit up and find his balance. He glanced at his own teal/cyan/light blue-ish armor, then up at his surroundings, which was a sandy deserted rocky desert landscape, then back up at the three others before him. "Ugh… what's going on? Who are you people?"

"He has amnesia!" The pink one proclaimed. "Tucker, don't worry, you are safe. We are the Reds! We are your mortal enemies! Wait, that didn't sound right…"

"Tucker!" Another, more annoying voice said. Suddenly, with that one little urge to punch this one in the face, everything came back to him. The new one was a younger-sounding man in dark blue armor, Caboose. And the three before him were members of Red team. Donut was the pink one, Simmons was the maroon, and grif was the orange. Their leader Sarge, wearing basic red, must've been nearby too. So was his leader Church, wearing a slightly darker blue than his own. "Tucker! I am so glad you are alive," Caboose spoke in an odd fashion, with slightly spaced out words, his speech pattern not clear if it was for the benefit of others or himself.

"Caboose? You sound so dumb, but you look so different," Tucker said. He was right, the armor they were wearing wasn't quite what he remembered it as, but that could've also been whatever hit he'd taken.

"We're in the future! Things are very shiny here!" Caboose claimed. He really must've hit his head then. Tucker, not Caboose. Tucker remembered him being stupid before, so this was nothing new.

"The future?" Tucker repeated. "Oh, I can't fuckin' wait to hear this one."

"Obviously," another gruff voice with a southern accent sounded from behind him. Tucker turned to see Sarge carrying his trust shotgun in hand as he approached, "Lopez's weather matrix combined with the power of bomb twenty-one created an explosion so large, it created a temporal rift in time, that cascaded throughout the-"

Tucker cut him off. "Woah woah woah, wait a second, wait a second. I don't understand."

"Sarge, can we do the skit now?" Donut asked like a giddy child.

"Yeah!" Caboose agreed.

"Yes!" Simmons added.

"I don't wanna do that dumb skit," Grif replied.

"Fine," Sarge relented, "But only because I wanna see Grif be miserable. I miss the old days…"

Suddenly a deafening boom filled their ears, and out of nowhere above them an airship with a flaming engine shot through the air above them, coming down for a crash landing. The ship narrowly missed the small clearing they were in and crashed just outside, obliterating one of the rocky pillars jutting out of the sand on its way down. The Reds and Blues could hear the sound and feel as the ground shook from its impact. After a few moments, a solid pillar of smoke rose from the crash site.

"Well, looks like we can put a pin in my suffering and go see whatever the fuck that was," Grif said before starting for the crash site. "Ships falling from the sky. Told you it was the apocalypse, Simmons."

"Name one apocalypse movie where you actually see the helicopter in the process of crashing," Simmons exclaimed before following his friend.

"Point taken."

"Well, I guess we're doing this now, as if this day couldn't get any weirder," Tucker remarked as he followed suit.

"Aw, I was really wanting to do the skit! I rehearsed for an hour!" Donut complained.

"Shut it and fall in line, numb nuts," Sarge commanded as he followed as well. Donut sighed before following his commanding officer, as well as the others. Once they all reached the crash site, they saw it wasn't a kind of ship they recognized, like the standard army Pelican gunship. "Huh. That's weird. I don't recognize the model."

"You think someone's inside?' Simmons questioned.

"Well the ship didn't crash itself," Tucker said. "Should we open it?"

"We might as well. Might have supplies for the apocalypse," Sarge said.

"Yeah, you'll still have to explain all this 'we're in the future' bullshit to me later," Tucker said.

"That's what the skit was for…" Donut whined. Tucker slid down the slope down to the back of the ship, where the back cargo door was twisted half-open, with wires hanging out and sparking from their ripped ends.

"Hey, someone help me open this!"

"I got it!" Caboose said, approaching the door himself.

"Caboose, I appreciate the help, but I don't think you can do it on your own," Tucker warned. Then, without a sign of any effort, Caboose gripped the ship's cargo door, tore it free from its remaining hinges, and dropped it to the side.

"All done!" Caboose proclaimed proudly. Literally everyone else stared at him silently for long moments. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Caboose, you are, uh,... very strong," Simmons remarked.

"Thanks! My mom always said I was a growing boy," Caboose smiled under his helmet.

"I don't know whether to be really impressed or extremely fucking terrified," Tucker muttered to himself.

"Onwards, soldiers! And let's forget any of this happened! Right. Now…" Sarge said as he entered the ship first. The others soon followed. The harsh sunlight from outside poured in, revealing storage crates torn apart the place, crystals of some kind littering the floor here and there. Sprawled across the floor were three young women unconscious, with weapons that could only be theirs laying on the floor next to them. "Looks like we have some survivors after all. A couple little ladies."

"You mean girls still exist in the future? This is my kinda apocalyptic future," Tucker smirked.

"Woah, slow your roll, Jared Fogle. They're teenagers. When means keep your hands away from where they don't belong."

"Ah, what? Kids? That blows, and not in the fun way…" Tucker groaned.

"You need help," Grif remarked.

"Simmons, Grif, Caboose! You three get these kids outta here and set 'em up in the clearing. Tucker and I will inspect the cockpit for more survivors. Maybe we can even get this baby flying again," Sarge commanded.

"Uh, about that, Sarge?" Simmons said. "There is no cockpit."

"What?" Sarge went further in and joined his lieutenant at the front of the ship. Or rather, where the front used to be. The entire cockpit section of the ship had been torn off, nowhere to be found. "Well, that plan goes out the window. Alright, new plan! We get the little missies outta here, and go from there. Maybe when they wake up, we can get a better handle on what's going on."

"Yes sir," Simmons nodded before returning to the cargo hold.

Sarge sighed. "This is gonna be a long day…"

Ruby's eyes slowly opened as her senses returned to her. When that white light took them, it felt like an out of body experience, like she was weightless, stripped down to just her soul. Now that she felt her body's weight again, it felt heavy. Drained. Now that she was herself again, she could feel the soreness of her body. Once her vision cleared, she realized she wasn't on the ship, and was instead sat against a rock pillar in a desert landscape. At either side of her were Yang and Blake, still unconscious. Ruby rubbed her head gently and saw that a man in blue armor holding a small firearm was pacing back and forth around the general area, talking to himself quietly.

"Uh… hello?" Ruby said. The blue soldier suddenly turned and ran up to her.

"Oh! You're awake!" He yelled, his louder voice sounding harsh to Ruby's ears. She winced, but tried to stay polite.

"U-Um, who are you, and where are we?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, um, I am Michael J. Caboose, and this is the future!" Caboose answered. The answer didn't help Ruby at all, and she assumed she would have to find someone else to talk to. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Aside from a slight headache, I'm fine," Ruby answered, surprised at his concern. Caboose put out a friendly hand to help pull Ruby to her feet, and she happily accepted with a smile. At least Caboose seemed like a good enough person. "Nice to meet you, Caboose. I'm Ruby."

"That is a nice name," Caboose said.

"Thanks. Yours is too," Ruby replied. He sounded a little childish, but she didn't mind it. It made him seem more genuine. She couldn't help but smile.

"Ugh…" Ruby heard Yang groan. Ruby turned around and saw that her sister and Blake were starting to come around. "Ruby? What's going on? What happened?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Ruby said before helping her sister up. Caboose walked over and helped Blake to her feet as well. "This is Caboose. He was watching over us until we woke up."

"Hello!" He waved, despite standing right in front of them.

"Caboose, this is Blake and my sister Yang," Ruby said.

"Hello!" Caboose repeated.

"Uh… hi," Yang awkwardly replied, before then turning to her teammates. "Do you guys remember what happened at all?"

"I remember that Grimm, then everything was just all white," Blake answered.

Then suddenly, a thought popped into Ruby's head. "Wait… where's Weiss?" The three huntresses looked around, and realized the heiress wasn't with them. Ruby then turned to Caboose. "Caboose, was there anyone else on the ship with us?"

"No, there were just the three nice ladies sleeping on the floor. You're the nice ladies," Caboose clarified.

The three of them traded glances. "Caboose, can we go see our ship?" Blake asked.

"Um… I think the sergeant would like to talk to you first," Caboose said.

"I mean, we might as well," Yang said. "We gotta find out where we crashed somehow."

"Alright then, Caboose," Ruby said. "Lead the way."

"Yay! This way, new friends!" Caboose said before running ahead.

"He's definitely… peculiar," Yang noted as they began to follow.

"He seems nice," Ruby said.

"Well, let's hope his team is at least a bit more organized," Blake said.

They would soon be disappointed.

"They destroyed it all, Simmons," Grif said, facing both Simmons and Tucker. "Those damn stupid bastards. They blew it all up! Damn them! Damn them to hell! Those damn dirty apes!"

"Calm down, Grif. We don't know that the whole world is like this," Simmons replied.

"Yes it is, they destroyed it all," Grif kept with it. "I guess the society of men just wasn't meant to survive."

"Hey, how about this, how about we explore more than two square miles before we jump to any conclusions?" Simmons suggested.

"It was definitely nuclear weapons, that's what did it. And the explosions caused massive power outages which caused all the failsafes to fail, which released super bacteria from a secret lab," Grif continued.

"Oh, come on," Simmons groaned.

"That caused a huge plague, and as the victims died, they rose from the dead twelve hours later to roam the Earth and feast on human flesh."

"What?"

"A handful of gritty survivors from all walks of life were able to keep the legions of infected radioactive undead at bay using only their wits and an inexplicable understanding of agricultural science and engineering. Everything was looking good, and that's when the meteor hit."

"I think you just quoted every crappy Hollywood apocalypse movie ever," Simmons regarded.

"Nah, Hollywood doesn't understand apocalypse," Tucker chimed in. "They think that just one thing from everyday life goes away and that changes everything. Like in Road Warrior it was gas, and in Water World it was land."

"What went away in The Matrix?" Simmons questioned.

"Sunlight," Tucker answered.

"I thought the missing element was plot," Grif jabbed.

"I'm talking about Matrix one," Tucker deadpanned.

"Oh, right," Simmons said.

"Face it, Simmons: the age of man is done," Grif said grimly.

"If all that stuff is true, then what happened to the zombies? What aren't they still around?" Simmons asked.

Grif answered, "The meteor killed them!"

"And what about the super bacteria?"

"It was infected by alien bacteria brought by the meteor and was wiped out by a massive bacteria-on-bacteria plague. Very ironic."

"Okay, then why haven't we been infected by the new alien bacteria?"

"It only infects other bacteria. Are you even listening to me?!" Grif exclaimed.

"Do you guys ever get anything done, or do you just stand around and talk all day?" Tucker questioned.

"We don't get paid enough to do stuff," Grif replied.

"What about Church, you idiots? How are we gonna get him from the past to the future?"

"I guess he can just wait," Grif suggested. "That's how it usually works."

"But when he gets to the present, he'll just get destroyed like everything else."

"Well, he'll just have to fix it on his own then," Simmons said.

"And if he's successful, he'll get to live through the coolest apocalypse of all time!" Grif added.

Sarge approached the trio quickly. "Simmons, Grif, get your keesters over here. The survivors are awake."

"Oh, can't wait to see this," Tucker said as they followed Sarge.

"Seriously dude, get help," Grif remarked.

The multi-colored soldiers filed down into a more open area, where Caboose and Donut were waiting with the three young women from the ship. "Well look who's finally awake," Grif remarked.

"These are our new friends: Ruby, Blake and Yang," Caboose introduced.

"Thank you, Caboose," Blake awkwardly thanked the strange blue soldier. She was already learning it was better to just let Caboose do his thing.

"Welcome to the land of the living, little missies," Sarge greeted. "I'm Sarge, leader of Red team. Seems you've met the resident bricks already, so those three dirtbags up there are ones you have to get acquainted with. The maroon one is Simmons, the fatass in the orange is Grif-"

"Hey!" Grif exclaimed.

"-And the schmuck in teal is Tucker."

"'Sup," Tucker said.

The introductions were certainly different than the three huntresses expected. These people were certainly keeping their heads spinning.

"We appreciate your help, Sarge," Ruby said gratefully, "But are you sure you didn't find our friend on the ship as well?"

"No ma'am," Sarge replied. "You three were the only ones aboard. If your little friend was in the cockpit of that ship, she could be long gone. That thing was torn apart."

"So… if we ended up here… where did Weiss end up? Ruby questioned aloud, looking at her sister and teammate concerningly.

The man in purple armor looked down at the unconscious girl in white sprawled out on the beach near the shoreline facility. She was just out of reach of the ocean's water, so she laid in the sand completely dry. A strange rapier-type weapon laid at her side.

"Well… things have certainly gotten interesting," O'Malley chuckled.