Gamer4 in. Welp, nobody voted on the poll since last episode, so it ultimately ended in a tie between Saga and Gears. Okay, time to pull out my tier list, which, now that the polling is over, I have no qualms about revealing to you:

Tier 1: Best Starting Places

Chronicles of the Crescent Blade (Xenoblade 1) and The Last Contact Part 1 (Xenogears Disc 1)

Tier 2: The Outliers

The Voyage Home (Xenosaga) and Childhood's End (Xenoblade X)

Tier 3: Better With Context

The Road To Shambhala (Xenoblade 2)

Tier 4: Best Finales

Chariots of Fire (Xenoblade 3) and The Last Contact Part 2 (Xenogears Disc 2)

To be absolutely clear, I won't be binging these one by one, top tier to bottom. This is just the order in which I'll be prioritizing them, and ideally finishing them. Should you have any questions or concerns, of course, feel free to drop them in the reviews. Now, onwards to the very first Xeno game there was. Let's rock!

Episode VIII

The Last Contact

"Omelettes, anyone?"

8 sets of teary eyes turned to see Jack stepping in from the kitchen with a large plate of cooked eggs on a tray with ten plates.

"We just... watched one of our best friends die... and you offer us... omelettes?!" Blake growled.

"You haven't lived until you've tried my omelettes," Jack shrugged. "I mean, I'm not gonna make you eat 'em..."

Ruby tearfully took some onto her plate and took a bite- her eyes immediately lit up. "These... these are good!" She quickly began digging in to more, her sorrow seemingly forgotten for the moment.

Weiss took a dubious bite, and her eyes widened. "These are good!" she agreed, grabbing a plate for herself. One by one, the others took plates and dug in, all pleasantly surprised.

"Bone app the teeth!" Jack grinned.

Vanessa groaned. "I know you're doing that on purpose..." Her chagrin didn't stop her from digging in to some omelettes of her own.

Once they all seemed to have calmed down, Vanessa cleared her throat. "We all good now?"

"Yes," Jaune nodded, taking stock of the situation. "But still... maybe we should take a break from that world for a bit."

"Understandable," Vanessa agreed. "In that case, I believe the next world on the queue is The Last Contact."

"Really?" Jack blinked. "Right from that into... that?"

"Descriptive as ever, Jack," Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Why is he surprised?" Blake immediately picked up. "What are you setting us up for?"

"This world's opening is... a little dark," Vanessa admitted. "Which is why I rented the Hand's sister's dog."

"Oh- no, nonononono-" Blake pleaded, even as a ballistic missile of mottled fur burst in and jumped up on her, yipping in joy as it attempted to lick up her nose.

"Oh- Echo!" Weiss's eyes glowed as she seized the doggo and held her tight to her chest. "If it isn't the cutest widdle pupper outside of Remnant, yes it is, yes it is!"

"I guess that'll help," Yang chuckled. "Everyone who's not named 'Blake,' that is."

"Keep that monster away from me!" Blake hissed.

"Give that doggo to me!" Nora began fighting for it.

"I guess we should just get the world started," Vanessa sighed.

The world opened up on the black void of space, through which a vast ship was floating- the camera had to pull back several times to capture its true majesty, as the drone of a pipe organ could be heard. It seemed large enough to contain a vast city, the ship's name written on the side in letters a mile high: Eldridge.

"Space!" Ruby's eyes glowed. "More space- I'm always down to see space! Space is so cool! Weiss, I gotta see it- gotta see it all! Space space space spaaaaace!"

"I'm well aware, Ruby," Weiss sighed, finally surrendering Echo to cover her ringing ears. "You've said as much already."

"That's a rather large ship," Pyrrha commented. "I wonder what they're transporting?"

The droning organ played a final few notes as the camera entered the ship, into what was clearly a cafeteria- there was a table around which seven people were sitting.

"Oh, hey, it's us already!" Nora beamed. "Hi, us!"

"Almost all of us," Ren pointed out. "Someone's missing."

"Yes..." Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. "Where's Jaune?"

"Oh, he's not off being moody somewhere, is he?" Nora pouted. "Like back when Cardin was bullying him?"

"I hope not," Jaune shuddered, recalling how awful that week had been for him.

"So there we were," Nora was declaring dramatically, "in the middle of the night!"

"It was day," Ren commented casually.

"Surrounded by humongous black bears!"

"...Adolescent wolves."

"DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of them."

Yang laughed. "Well, this takes me right back!"

Ruby smiled nostalgically. "We're even reacting just like we were then!"

Indeed, Pyrrha was giggling at Nora's antics, while Yang was watching with wide-eyed fascination. Ruby was paying only half her attention, focusing more on the plate of cookies in front of her, while Blake was poring through a book and Weiss busied herself filing her nails.

"But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took 'em all down and made a bundle selling bearskin rugs!"

Ren took a deep breath. "She's been having this dream for nearly a week now."

"My goodness, Nora, what an enchanted world you live in," Blake rolled her eyes.

"Be nice, Blake," Yang chastised, bopping her on the head, much to her annoyance.

"Quit it!"

"I agree with my other," Blake confirmed from atop a nearby cabinet as Echo yipped cheerfully up at her. "Stop it."

"I agree with Blake," Weiss put in, rolling her eyes. "Have you, perchance, considered writing fiction?"

"Maybe I should," Nora pondered. "I could probably make a bundle off of that, too!"

"Yeah... yeah, maybe I could!" Nora nodded thoughtfully. "Say, V, you think the Hand would give me some lessons?"

Vanessa choked on her latest drink. "Believe me, the Hand is the last person you want to be taking writing lessons from."

"Of course, it probably still wouldn't be nearly as exciting as what Pyrrha could write!"

"Me?" Pyrrha asked, caught off guard.

"Me?" her other agreed. "Nora... I'm not a writer."

"But you totally could! I mean, you're the one with the top-secret mis-"

Ren reached out and covered her mouth, but the damage was done.

"Ooohhh, sounds like someone's got a big, secret, classified mission!" Yang smirked at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha flushed. "I... I'm sure it's not truly that important..."

Again, Yang's other reflected herself. "Well, well, well, P-money's got a secret job, does she? Do tell."

"She can't!" Nora interjected. "If she told you, it wouldn't be a secret!"

"Think, Yang, think!" Nora agreed, pointing dramatically at the sides of her head.

"The thought occurrs," Ren sighed heavily, "that it would have remained even more secret if you hadn't just told them."

"Think, Nora," Ren sighed, pointing at his own head. "Think."

"Oh yeah... oops!" Nora bopped herself on the head.

Ruby broke into a grin. "Are you sure you can't tell us anything? It sounds so cool!"

Pyrrha shook her head sheepishly. "It's... like Nora said- it's not something I can just tell you, unfortunately. Maybe when we get back home. I promise, it's not nearly as interesting as it sounds."

"That just makes me want to know even mooooooore!" Ruby complained loudly.

Before the others could question her any further, an announcement came in over the intercom. "Attention, Eldridge, this is Captain Ozma speaking."

"Ozma?" Jaune asked. "Haven't heard that name before."

"The name's in my notebook," Blake announced, flipping through her notebook, staying balanced on the cabinet, and leaning as far back from Echo as she could, all at the same time. "It sounds like he was in another one of these worlds that we forgot." She directed a glare at Vanessa, who simply shrugged. "Apparently, he looks something like Ozpin."

"Sounds similar, too," Pyrrha reflected ponderously.

"As I speak, we are passing into the gravity well of what seems to be a hitherto undiscovered exoplanet. Please be aware that we may experience gravitational fluctuations as we pass. Repeat, we are passing into the gravity well..."

"An undiscovered planet?!" Ruby screeched, mirrored by her other.

"Guys, guys, a new planet, and we get to see it- do you even understand how cool that is?! Maybe we'll get to name it- RWBYlandia!"

"I doubt it," Weiss shook her head skeptically. "We seem to be mere crew aboard the ship- if anyone, I suspect Ozma would get naming rights."

"Aw..."

The onscreen Ruby did not share such disappointments- she rushed to the nearest window, closley followed by the rest of the team- and everyone else in the mess hall.

There it was- it was still distant, but growing larger. A massive sphere floating in space, perfectly catching the light from its own sun. Swirling around it were two interlocking rings of ice and gas, which, from their perspective, formed the shape of an X.

"Well..." Yang smiled. "Isn't that a hell of a thing?"

"It is..." Pyrrha smiled. "It really is."

The camera cut to what seemed to be the ship's bridge- a massive area the size of a city block beneath a dome for maximum visibility of the stars around them. A large platform raised above marked the captain's seat, and there, sure enough, was Ozma, a tall man with brownish skin and hair.

"Yup, looks like Ozpin, alright!" Ruby confirmed.

Even he seemed taken aback by the sight- but he was unable to comment before alarms began flashing throughout the vast dome.

Emergency! Emergency!

"Uh-oh," Nora winced. "I didn't do it this time, I swear!"

"I believe you, Nora," Ren nodded. "I suspect, whatever this is, it is significantly worse."

"Status report," Ozma commanded calmly.

"We're seeing pulses of energy from Sector E-5!" one of the officers called. "They're growing in intensity- the speed is overwhelming!"

They could see the panic in Ozma's eyes at this news- especially at the location of the surges- but he kept an outward calm. "Cut power to the sector."

"Commencing- command denied! It's spreading signals to the rest of the ship- all containment measures failing!"

"Cut the cables manually."

The officers entered several commands, and the camera cut away to a hall through which several cables ran, certain segments rigged to blow- which they did. For a moment, it seemed as though the measure had worked, but a second later, electricity arced through the missing space, continuing to flow.

"No good, nothing happened!"

"So... there's something aboard the ship... trying to break out?" Jaune summed up, suddenly very nervous.

"Something capable of hijacking all the electronics and undoing all the safety measures," Weiss agreed, eyes narrowing in concern. Echo looked up at her, nudging her chin with her snoot.

The camera returned to the cafeteria, where the cutting of the cables caused the lights to flicker momentarily.

"What was that?" Ruby asked.

"A problem in the engine room?" Weiss asked, glancing in Yang's direction.

"Everything was fine when I was down there earlier..."

"So I'm an engineer?" Yang pondered. "Idunno, I think that's more Ruby's schtick."

The camera returned to the bridge. "It's breaking through all firewalls!" one officer reported in a clear panic. "It's taking over the damn ship!"

"It's accessing autopilot- it's setting a new course- the main planet!"

"What is 'it?'" Nora cried in frustration. "What's causing all this? What wants to come back to Remnant and do what?!"

Ozma seemed to understand perfectly. "I see." Even now, he was retaining his cool. He picked up a transmitter. "Yang Xiao Long, this is the Captain, do you read me?"

Yang picked up immediately. "Yes, Captain, I read you."

"There's been a problem in the engine room. I must ask you to cut the power. Repeat, for the safety of the ship, I must ask you to force a shutdown by any means necessary. Do you understand?"

Yang's eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded regardless. "Yeah, I can do that. ASAP."

"Clearly, whatever 'it' is, it's dangerous enough for the captain to consider a ship-wide shutdown a viable alternative over allowing 'it' to take over," Ren summed up.

Yang put on a calm veneer of her own as she closed the transmitter. "Yup, problem with the engines- I'll be right back, okay?"

She pulled Ruby into a quick hug before turning and dashing out.

"Brrr..." Ruby shuddered. "I just got a chill down my spine..."

"Don't worry, Rubes," Yang whispered reassuringly, pulling her into a side-hug. "No matter what happens up there, I'm still right here."

Echo yipped her affirmation, making her way to Ruby and cleaning her nose as well.

Ozma closed his transmitter as well, only to find the computers locking out his officers. Spreading across all monitors were the same words over and over again- a holoscreen appeared above, taken up by the same repeating phrase:

YOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODSYOUSHALLBEASGODS

"Whatever 'it' is," Ren muttered, glaring past his interlocked fingers, "it seems to have a sick sense of humor."

Ozma bowed his head. "We cannot wait for Ms. Xiao Long. Put me on the intercom again- I am evacuating this ship. I will send a dispatch once evacuation is complete."

"Can't wait on me?" Yang asked indignantly.

"He... seems to consider it a matter of life and death," Blake commented from up above. "If there's the slightest chance you might fail, he needs to get everyone off the ship now, rather than risk being unable to do it later."

"I... guess that makes sense..." She still sounded rather miffed, though.

Alarms flashed throughout the ship, a mechanical voice announcing, "Evacuate immediately."

The group remaining in the cafeteria looked at each other. "Evacuate?" Nora asked, taken aback.

"More serious than we thought, perhaps," Ren surmised. "Come- we should be going."

"But- but what about Yang?" Ruby hesitated. "You're not gonna ask me to leave my sister behind, are you?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Ruby," Weiss assured her with a hand on her shoulder. "She'll fix whatever's going wrong, and we'll be right back- my guess is, this is just an extra security measure."

"I really want to believe that," Jaune nodded, "but... something about this..."

Everyone else slowly nodded- they all felt the chill running up their spines.

Ruby slowly nodded, and allowed herself to be guided towards the bay where the escape pods waited.

Ren and Nora were on the verge of following, until they noticed another missing member. "Wha- where did Pyrrha go?!" Nora asked in exasperation.

"Yeah, where did she go?!" Nora agreed. "And where's Jaune? You'd think we'd be a little worried about him, don't ya?!"

"I am increasingly of the opinion that we don't know Jaune yet in this world," Ren shook his head. "As to Pyrrha... again, speculation, but perhaps something to do with that secret job of hers?"

Pyrrha was sprinting through the hallways of the Eldridge in the opposite direction of the espace pods, towards Sector E-4, where a door opened to reveal a small room, but the camera did not pan to show what was inside.

"Weeeeaaaaak!" Yang roared.

The engine room was far worse than Yang had expected- it was overheating to the point she was having trouble breathing, let alone focusing on the task at hand. Nevertheless, she did all she could, pulling cables and throwing switches, everything she could think of to force a shutdown. No matter how hard she struggled, nothing was having any effect. Finally, she produced the transmitter. "Cap, I'm in the engine room, but nothing I do is working!"

"I was afraid of that," came Ozma's voice, sounding very grave. "Very well, Yang, you've done enough- evacuate with the others."

Yang nodded and turned to leave, only to find the door melted shut. "I... don't think that's gonna happen."

"No!" Ruby squeaked. "No, you can find a way out, you always do!"

"I don't understand-"

"The door's sealed," Yang explained, closing her eyes in resignation. "Just make sure Rubes gets out alright, okay? If you don't, I'm gonna come back and-"

The engine exploded, taking her with it.

"No... No!" Ruby whimpered- Echo increased the intensity of her licking.

"Hmm... you weren't kidding about this being heavy," Yang crossed her arms, glaring.

"I'm guessing this is only the beginning," Blake commented gravely from behind a box set of Calvin and Hobbes.

Ren, Nora, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby arrived at the escape pods. "Alright, Nora, on we get," Ren instructed, stepping into one and extending a hand for Nora as well.

"But... what about Pyrrha?" Nora asked uncertainly. "What if she doesn't catch up?"

"She'll be fine," Ren assured her, with that soothing voice of his. "We eject, loop around the ship a couple times, come back on board once this is all sorted out. We'll be laughing about it next week."

"No..." Jaune's eyes widened. "No you won't."

Nora still seemed nervous, but she took his hand. Weiss and Blake had already boarded, but Ruby was having clear misgivings of her own.

"Ruby? Come on," Weiss held out her hand.

Ruby bit her lip, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just can't leave without Yang!"

She turned and dashed back into the ship.

"No!" Yang roared. "You're gonna get yourself killed, for nothing!"

Weiss wasn't handling it much better. "That dolt! What does she think she's doing?!"

Blake took a deep breath. "We should have known the only way she'd get on a pod was with Yang- let her go, Weiss."

Weiss quietly conceded as the pod fired its way into space...

And into a battlefield. The Eldridge was surrounded by a ring of fire- by some sick prank, the ship's weapons were turning on its own fleeing pods, blasting them away well before they could make it anywhere near safety.

"The ship has truly been taken over," Pyrrha was biting her nails.

"What the hell?" Nora gasped, breathless with horror.

Weiss brought up her own transmitter. "Eldridge, this is escape pod 430- what is going on? The ship is firing on the evacuation- repeat, the ship is firing upon the evac-"

A beam pierced through their pod, destroying it in its entirety.

The audience grew more slack-jawed still- Echo quickly attended to those she deemed most in need of comfort.

Ren was keeping the steadiest, but there was a noticeable tremor in his voice as he summed up the situation. "That leaves us with Pyrrha and Ruby..."

Ruby dashed through the Eldridge, ignoring the voice screaming to evacuate- the only thing that finally brought her pause was when the message changed-

"Engine room destroyed. Repeat, engine room destroyed. Please, evacuate immediately..."

She collapsed to her knees, tears flowing freely. She wrapped her arms around herself. "No... Yang..."

"Ruby..." Yang's heart ached.

Pyrrha finally reached her destination- a secret bay with only one escape pod in it, large enough for a small child, perhaps, but not for her. She could hear the ship collapsing around her, but did her duty as she'd sworn she would, placing the ship's greatest secret- its most precious cargo- into it before sending it out. As it fired towards the planet below, she saw the warzone the evacuation had become. She produced her transmitter.

"Captain Ozma... The package is secure. But... the pods are being destroyed."

Ozma's voice was heavy as he replied- "Yes, I see. You may still have time to get to a pod yourself, if-"

"No," Pyrrha interrupted, her eyes wet with tears as she collapsed against a nearby wall. "The longer we wait, the more people die. If my sacrifice spares my friends' lives, it's a sacrifice worth making."

Ozma's voice seemed to tremble a bit at last when he replied. "You're a noble woman, Pyrrha Nikos. I'm sorry."

"Pyrrha, no!" Jaune roared.

Ozma put down his transmitter and reached into a pocket, producing a small locket. Inside was a picture of him, arm-in-arm with a tall blond woman with gentle blue eyes, each of them holding on to a small, similarly blond girl.

"Salem... Autumn... I'm sorry I couldn't make it back."

He produced a key and opened a secret panel in front of him, turning a dial and pressing several buttons in a strict sequence.

"Self-destruct sequence engaged."

"It seems... there's little else to do..." Blake commented uncomfortably, actually coming down and allowing Echo to give her nose its long-overdue cleaning.

Pyrrha heard this announcement and leaned back against the wall, taking what she knew to be her final breaths. "Nora... Ren... RWBY... I hope you all got out, at least..."

"That... that settles it," decided an unusually subdued Nora. "Jaune wasn't on the ship, she'd have thought of him first."

Ruby heard the announcement, but made no move towards the escape pods. "Without Yang, there's no point..."

"Ruby!" Yang cried.

Ozma folded his hands. "And so, the captain goes down with his ship."

He spun his chair to face the outer edge of the dome- he saw a brief glimpse of the outer shell of the Eldridge warping as something struggled to escape. He narrowed his eyes. "'To the last, I grapple with thee; from Hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee,'" he quoted as the entire ship was engulfed in flames.

"What the-" Ruby started.

"Moby Dick," Blake explained. "I'm guessing, whatever that thing was is the 'it' that caused all that, and he's using his last breath to tell it to die in a hole."

The camera lowered to the planet below, where dawn was just about to break- the explosion above resembled a meteor shower. It would be a thing of beauty, if the audience didn't know what had caused it. Most of the debris seemed to be landing in the ocean.

The camera moved towards a beach, where a naked woman crawled out of the sea and stood, her long black hair preserving her modesty. She turned and looked up at the shower above through a pair of emerald green eyes before turning to gaze around at the world around her.

And slowly, the camera faded to black.

"Well... that went from zero to a hundred pretty damn fast," Yang growled. "Why would you want to show us a world like that, huh?!"

"That was horrible!" Ruby squealed. "I usually like space, but that wasn't anything like the space I like!"

"Because that's not the end," Vanessa said simply. "Barely even the beginning."

They were all caught off guard by a sudden sting of music heralding the return of the world- in the form of an opening text crawl.

"Wait, that music!" Ruby's eyes widened for an entirely different reason. "That's Space Wars!"

PERFECT WORKS

EPISODE V

THE LAST CONTACT

"Wha- Perfect Works? Episode Five?" Weiss spluttered. "What is all this? Is your goal just to show us the most awful things, then confuse us into not complaining?!"

"Another joke from the Hand, I'm guessing," Vanessa sighed.

The text scrawl continued.

For the past five hundred years, the nations of Atlas and Vale have been at war! So long has it raged that neither side remembers the roots of the conflict in the first place.

Thirty years earlier, Atlas gained a stunning advantage in the war, in the form of the Holy Ethos, who came bearing gears- ancient, humanoid fighting weapons that forever changed the face of the battlefield, and gave Atlas the edge they needed to begin carving out larger and larger pieces of Vale territory!

All seemed lost, until the military force Gebler appeared in the desert kingdom of Vale, digging up ancient ruins and giving Vale's people access to gears of their own! With Gebler at their side, Vale launched a vicious counter-offensive, retaking all their lost land and returning the border to its place along the Misty Mountains.

Far removed from this bloodshed is the small, peaceful village of Ansel, secluded from Atlas by the mountains and Vale by the Emerald Forest. Here, our story truly begins...

"Holy infodump," Blake crossed her arms.

"In English, please?" Yang requested.

"Atlas and Vale are fighting and endless war with sponsors that gave them giant fighting machines," Blake summed up.

"That kinda sounds like the world with Ren, doesn't it?" Jaune pondered. "I mean, we don't know that they have to kill to extend their own lives, but the whole 'endless-war' thing..."

The camera hovered over a small village at night, before cutting into a dark bedroom. A second passed before a young man sat bolt upright on the bed with a gasp, sweat coating his body.

"Well, there's Jaune, for whatever it's worth," Weiss crossed her arms.

He slowly raised a hand and wiped his forehead. "Wow... what a nightmare..."

"Wait... so all that... it was just a nightmare?" Ruby asked hopefully, taking the chance to hug Echo again regardless.

"I... suppose it's possible," Blake said skeptically.

He sat up in his bed, throwing his blankets to the side. He reached under his bed and produced a bottle of blue liquid that he took a quick drink from. "What was it about, again? I... I can't remember..."

He spent a moment struggling to recall the dream, but it was like trying to hold water in cupped hands- it kept slipping away from him no matter how hard he tried.

Abruptly, his head perked up, and he smiled, turning to the side, and lifted a sheet off a canvas- currently empty, but that was about to change. On his bedside table was a pallette of paints and oils- he took a brush and began gingerly applying color to the empty space.

"Oohh, Jaune-Jaune's an artist in this world!" Nora beamed.

"Can you paint, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, intrigued.

"I mean, I've never really tried," Jaune shrugged thoughtfully.

The sun was rising by the time he'd completed the image- it was a clear match to the Eldridge, mid-explosion. "Yeah... yeah, that's what it was..."

"So it was just a nasty nightmare!" Ruby sighed with relief, leaning back into the couch.

"Try not to give us heart attacks, Vomit Boy," Yang chastised.

Jaune laughed as he scratched at the back of his head. "Sorry!"

The more thoughtful members of the audience were less than certain, but didn't feel like raining on the others' parade.

"Morning, Jaune- another long night?"

Jaune smiled as he turned to find a blond-haired woman at the foot of the stairs leading to his room.

"Saphron!" Jaune smiled.

"Haven't seen too much of her," Yang acknowledged, "but any fellow big sis has my respect!"

"Kinda," Jaune nodded, adding a few final touches to his painting. "Had a nasty nightmare."

Saphron moved closer, plopping a hand on his shoulder as she looked at the painting. "Hmm... technique's as nice as ever, but the subject matter... not so hot. Hope that's not your wedding gift."

Jaune blinked. "Oh- right! That's tonight, isn't it!"

"What, my own little bro, forgetting my wedding?!" Saphron gasped, faking hurt. "How... how could you?!"

"Oh- are we going to get to see Saph's wedding?" Jaune asked, perking up.

Jaune laughed. "Tell you what- I'll make it up to you by painting you and Terra at the altar. Little more romantic than... whatever this is." He gestured to the painting of the Eldridge.

"No arguments here," Saphron chuckled. "Anyways, we were wondering if you were ever gonna get up, but knowing you spent the whole night working on this, I think my adorable little bro could use a nap!" She ruffled his hair.

"Hey- stop- cut it out! You're only two years older than me!"

"Oh, and you're sure about that?" Saphron quirked her brows.

Jaune hesitated. "Well... that's what Ren said, at least..."

"Wait, wait, waitwait! Back up! How could Fearless Leader not know how old he is?" Nora demanded.

"Amnesia," Vanessa answered unceremoniously.

"Seriously?" Blake furrowed her brow. "Really? You're using the amnesia card?"

"That's just how it is," Jack shrugged. "Jaune showed up in this village three years ago with no memory of anything that happened before. Ren's the village doctor, and he says Jaune's probably about twenty-three, but-"

"Ren?" Nora perked up. "See, guys, Ren's still alive! It really was just a bad dream!" She pulled Ren into a tight hug. "Oh, that's a load off my mind!"

"...I share your happiness, Nora," Ren finally decided.

Saphron laughed. "Well, two years is two years- I decided when we took you in, you're my little bro!" She smirked. "And don't think I haven't seen you signing things with my last name, Jaune Arc..."

Jaune flushed furiously, but rose to his feet nevertheless and ascended the steps behind her.

"Wait, so, I'm not even an Arc in this world?" Jaune gasped.

"It sounds like you took the name after your honorary sister," Weiss nodded.

"Oh, that's so cuuuuuuute!" Yang squealed, pulling him into a tight hug usually reserved for Ruby. Ruby, for her part, was fine not being the object of Yang's squeeing for a change.

At the top of the stairs, they found Ansel's mayor Peter Port in conversation with several others, laying out plans for the night's festivities. Nevertheless, he turned when he heard Jaune ascending the steps. "Ah, my dear boy, we were about ready to take you for dead!"

"He was fine," Saphron chuckled. "Just caught up in one of his paintings."

"Ah, that certainly explains it!" Port nodded amiably. "You know we all love your artwork, son, but you need to step out and get some fresh air every now and again!"

Jaune smiled. "Duly noted. Mr. Port... thank you. Thank you all so much for taking me in."

"Ah? Where is this coming from?" Port asked, quirking one of his brows.

"It... just occurred to me," Jaune shrugged.

"Or perhaps it's the lingering effects of the dream," Blake speculated.

"Ever since I showed up on Ren's doorstep, three years ago... you all took me in like one of your own."

There was a sudden cut to a dark, stormy night, and a man in a hood walking along the rain-lashed dirt road up to Ren's house. He raised a fist and pounded at the door. A second later, the door opened and revealed Lie Ren on the other side. "Hello?"

"Ohhh, flashback!" Nora exclaimed.

"You are this town's physician, correct?" asked the man, his face hidden in the depths of his hood.

"That I am," Ren agreed.

The man jostled the bundle slung over his shoulder. "This young man needs help."

Ren nodded and stepped back. "Come in."

The man did so, bowing his head slightly. Ren cleared off a nearby table and allowed the hooded man to drop the bundle upon it. Unwrapping it revealed the pale, soaked face of Jaune Arc. "His name is Jaune," the man said. "He's in a bad way... can you help him?"

Ren ran his hands up and down Jaune's face. The only outstanding thing he noted was a series of scars along the boy's right arm, intricately forming into a single word: HABIT.

"HABIT?" Ruby asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"More importantly," Pyrrha asked hostilely, "who carved that into his arm in the first place?"

"Yeah," Jaune agreed. "I like to think I'm not the type of guy to do that myself..."

As Ren commenced his examination, Jaune suddenly began tossing and turning. "Father... father, please, don't let them take me! FATHER!"

The panic attack lasted for about twenty seconds before he laid still on the table again.

"That... is not a good sign in any regard," Weiss stated the obvious.

Ren finally looked back to the man in the hood. "He has a fever, but nothing I can't cure. Would you like some tea while I work?"

"No. I can't afford to stay here long..."

Slowly, the flashback ended, returning to Jaune standing in front of Port. "It's only been three years, but you all took me in. Ren's like a brother to me... Saphron, my sister... and I guess that makes you my father."

Port seemed touched, though the abundance of facial hair made it difficult to tell.

"Port... as a father?" Jaune mused. "I... don't think I can see that."

"Grandfather, maybe!" Nora snorted.

It fell to Saphron to speak next. "Feeling sentimental there, bro?"

"Something like that," Jaune smiled. "Let's see... I'm gonna go get some fresh air. I think I'll head to Sakura's."

"Well, I ain't about to stop ya," Saphron raised her hands. "Just make sure you don't miss the ceremony!"

"Not for the world," Jaune agreed, stepping out into the sun.

The skies were blue above Ansel today- a small village consisting of several houses in a ring around a deep well. Jaune took a deep breath before turning towards the town's central eatery, Leblanc Café, manned by the elderly Sojiro Sakura, a balding man with a goatee. He came across as rough to newcomers, but those that got to know him found a heart of gold underneath.

"I don't know anyone like that- you know anyone like that?" Yang asked.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squeaked.

"I mean, yeah, but does anyone know this Sakura guy specifically," Yang clarified.

Just before he could enter, he heard a whispering from around the building. "Psst- Jaune, hey, Jaune!"

He smiled as a small girl circled around the building. "Morning, Scout!"

The girl beamed as she approached. "The time has come, Jaune- the time to finally decide which of us truly deserves to hold the Legendary RPS Badge!"

"RPS- you can't mean Rock Paper Scissors," Weiss sighed heavily.

"Rock Paper Scissors is serious business, Weiss!" Nora declared.

"Really?" Jaune asked exasperatedly- though it was ruined a tad by his smile. "You wanna do that now?"

"No time like the present!" Scout declared. "Alright, my record is four wins in a row- beat me five times in a row, and I will acknowledge you as the true RPS master! Alright, let's go!"

The ensuing game definitely took longer than Jaune might have liked- very frequently, he won four games but fumbled the fifth. It was only after what felt like an hour (though it was more likely ten minutes or so) that he finally brought down a rock- against Scout's scissors.

"Noooooooo!" Scout wailed dramatically. "I've been bested!"

She flopped down on the ground, weakly holding up a small metal badge with a picture of a rock, a sheaf of paper, and a pair of scissors on it. "Go on in my name... bear the title of true Rock Paper Scissors master..."

"I will," Jaune promised with a smile as he knelt down to accept his prize, ignoring Scout's loud death gurgles as he turned at last into Leblanc, more conscious now than ever of his biting hunger.

"A perfectly necessary diversion that I'm certain was absolutely necessary for this story's development," Weiss crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss," Yang nudged her. "I'm glad to see our boy having some fun after that whopper of a nightmare."

Sojiro noticed him pretty quickly. "Afternoon, kid- what'll you have?"

"The usual," Jaune smiled, sliding into a seat at the counter.

"Oi, Jaune!" called someone behind him- Jaune turned to see two elderly men ushering him over.

Yang chuckled. "I'm starting to think bars are required by law to have two old guys sitting together, yammering about Brothers-alone-know-what."

"What's going on, Gaffer?" Jaune asked, taking a seat beside them.

"What's not going on?!" ranted the oldest man in the village, affectionately referred to by many as 'the Gaffer.' "Ain't you heard that Atlas is on the move against Vale again?!"

"You've got water in your head," the second-oldest man in the village shook his head. "Vale and Atlas ain't never let up on each other since Second Impact five hundred years ago- you oughtta know, you were there!"

"Second Impact?" Weiss asked.

"Hmm... undoubtedly an enormous event to still be spoken of like this five hundred years later," Ren speculated. "If it coincides with the start of the war, perhaps there's a connection...?"

"Har-de-har," the Gaffer scoffed. "It's all fun and games 'til all this bloodshed summons the Demon of Vacuo!"

"I haven't drunk enough to listen to this today," the other old man rolled his eyes. "This daft man's been going on about the Demon of Vacuo all month!"

"It's true!" the Gaffer insisted. "'In a single day and night of misfortune, Vacuo was torn apart by just one man!'"

"That sounds... like quite the tall tale," Weiss shook her head. "I have trouble believing an entire kingdom could be wiped out by just one man, no matter how strong. If Vacuo was truly wiped out, it seems more likely it was a natural event or an invading army-"

"Like the two armies that have been at war for five centuries?" Blake suggested drily.

"...Yes, like those."

"Still... a whole kingdom wiped out... that's awful..." Ruby lamented.

The Gaffer's friend seemed to agree with Blake. "Or Atlas and Vale ripped it apart- they're the ones throwing those gears around everywhere like there ain't no consequences! I tell ya, things have been changing for the worst..."

As they argued, Sojiro quietly brought Jaune his usual coffee and curry- Jaune thanked him and handed over five lien as he continued to watch the debate.

"Y'know, I hear Port and Oobleck are kinda like this, when nobody's watching," Jaune reported.

"I... actually wouldn't doubt that," Pyrrha conceded.

Finally, the Gaffer sighed. "Well, it ain't worth a hill o' beans anyways- not like there's anything we can do about it. But then, they don't got any reason to bother with us- we've got nothin' to offer either side. Keep that in mind, Jaune- keep your nose outta trouble, and no trouble'll come to you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jaune nodded, taking another drink from his coffee.

"If only things were so simple," Ren sighed heavily.

Jaune leaned back- he was on the point of finishing his coffee when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He sighed when he saw who it was. "Yes, Dove?"

"Dove?" Blake blinked. "Well, I'll admit he's probably the least offensive of Team CRDL, but I'd still rather not be reminded of him regardless..."

Dove silently motioned with his head towards the door- Jaune sighed heavily, polishing off the last of his coffee and leaving the mug as he stood and followed him out behind the building.

"So, Jaune," Dove finally spoke, with an unpleasant nasally voice, "given any more thought to our plan?"

"You mean your plan?" Jaune crossed his arms sternly. "I don't remember ever agreeing to this."

"Yeah, yeah, that's great," Dove waved aside, clearly paying him no actual mind. "Look, the wedding's tonight- this is our last chance to stop it!"

"Of course he's trying to stop the wedding," Weiss rolled her eyes heavily. "Why wouldn't he be?"

Jaune rolled his eyes heavily. "Dove, we've been over this, Terra's just not into you."

"Not with the wedding on the horizon, of course not! But if you can slip into her house... I've seen the way she looks at you! If you can just... convince her to call off the wedding, then back off yourself, that'll be my chance to slide in and lay on the moves!"

Everyone stared, slack-jawed. "That plan..." Pyrrha seemed to be struggling not to be too rude, "is so full of holes, I don't even know where to begin."

"Way nicer than how I'd have said it, Pumpkin Cereal," Yang decided.

Jaune sighed heavily. "If I do this, and it doesn't work, will you finally lay off?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, just do it quick!"

Jaune shook his head, but did finally cross the short space to Terra Cotta's house, soon to be shared between herself and Saphron. He raised a fist and knocked.

"Hm?" came a grunt from the other side. "Oh, Jaune! Sure, come in!"

Jaune opened the door and his eyes immediately widened. Terra Cotta was trying on her bridal gown- it was strikingly beautiful on her.

She smirked through her gentle brown eyes at him. "I take it you approve?"

Jaune quickly came back to his senses and nodded. "Yeah- yeah, you look great!"

Pyrrha pouted, but said nothing.

"Well, I'm guessing Saphron will like it, too, then!" Terra smiled, doing a little twirl before focusing on Jaune. Her smile seemed a little sadder for a second. "Almost a shame, in a way... the thought occurred to me once... if you'd been born here..."

Jaune looked away. He'd be lying if he said such thoughts had never crossed his mind, either.

Now Ruby was pouting as well.

Terra shook her head. "Well, I'm guessing you didn't come just to scout me out on your sister's behalf."

"No..." Jaune flushed. "It was... Dove. Still on with those hare-brained schemes of his."

Terra shook her head, but didn't lose her smile. "That boy... well, I'm sure he'll get over it once everything's over."

"We can hope... we can hope," Jaune scratched awkwardly at his chin. Three sole years of memories hardly left him a social wizard.

"I suppose they wouldn't, at that," Blake rolled her eyes.

Jaune looked around, seemingly searching for a reason to leave. "Er... Ren! I need to go up the path to Ren's place- I need some special paints for the wedding!"

Yang laughed. "Yeah, a few lessons on socializing definitely couldn't go amiss!"

"Ah, you're doing some painting?" Terra asked, intrigued. "Well, I'm sure everyone looks forward to seeing your work. Tell them I said hi!"

"Right, of course," Jaune agreed, meekly bowing himself out of the house.

The camera then followed him up a mountain trail towards a clearing with a house in the center that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

"Wait... that's where I live?" Ren asked, caught off guard.

"Side effect of living with Nora," Jack grinned.

Ren and Nora suddenly flushed. "We're living together?" Nora asked.

"Together-together," Jack's grin became a smirk.

The two turned even redder.

"Nora pitches Ren ideas, and he designs and builds the house- he's quite the Renaissance man in this world," Vanessa chipped in.

Nora looked like she wanted to say something, but in what was a truly rare occurrence, had been struck utterly dumb.

Separate from the house was a small building that acted as Ren's workshop- he seemed to be on the roof, tinkering with what seemed like a large mechanical crab. "Alright, then that must connect to here..."

"A mechanic, too?" Ruby's eyes sparkled. "Ohh, I like this version of Ren!"

There was a loud popping noise, and Ren jumped backwards off the building, landing with a grunt on the ground.

"Ren- you okay?!" Jaune asked urgently, rushing to his side.

Ren, however, pulled himself to his feet without any clear need for help. "Don't worry, I'm quite okay. I've taken worse tumbles than onto soft grass and soil before, believe you me." He smiled. "Good to see you, Jaune- actually, this is perfect timing! I just received a delivery from an old colleague- I'd like to show it to you, if I may."

"Pretty smooth, I have to say," Yang smirked. "Say, Nora, if you ever decide you really don't want-"

"Back off, milk jugs!" Nora snarled, finally snapping out of her flush-induced trance, and earning a roar of laughter from Yang.

Jaune glanced up at the machine he'd been messing with earlier. "That thing?"

"Oh, no, no, that's a land crab- an ancient weapon. I believe it dates prior to Second Impact. I thought I'd try and restore it, but it's proving more difficult than I'd anticipated... at any rate, please, come in!"

He stepped into his workshop and immediately spied what Ren seemed to want to show him- a tall box of polished wood.

"What is it?" he asked, walking around, locating no identifying marks except a small patch of text inscribed into one side that he couldn't read.

"It's a very fascinating specimen," Ren answered. "This text is a dead language- it's not been used for over six thousand years. It took extensive study to translate it."

"An archeologist as well?" Blake raised her eyebrows. "You weren't kidding when you called him a Renaissance man."

"What does it say?" Jaune asked curiously.

"'To my dearest daughter Penny... I wish you all the happiness in the world,'" Ren read for him.

"Penny?" Ruby immediately perked up. "Penny's somewhere in this world, too?"

"So... a father made this thing for his daughter?" Jaune surmised.

"A logical conclusion," Ren nodded.

"Or a mother," Blake suggested.

"Perhaps, but... Jaune seemed rather certain that it was a father," Pyrrha commented. "I wonder why...?"

"But what is it?" Jaune repeated.

Ren smiled gently- he stepped behind the box, grabbed hold of a small key, turned it several times, and released it.

The box opened up, revealing a wooden set, complete with little wooden figures, their features marred by the passage of so much time. That said, the mechanics within the box were still working, either hardier than the figures, or repaired by Ren. The little figures danced around each other, in time with a slow, beautiful melody- it almost brought a tear to Jaune's eye.

"A music box!" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"A rather beautiful one at that," Pyrrha smiled gently- even some of the audience felt moved by it.

"That music..." Jaune whispered.

"A nostalgic tune, isn't it?" Ren agreed. "Something you can almost swear you've heard before."

"I... kinda do get that feeling," Ruby nodded. "Like all those 'oddly familiar' videos on YouTube... but not the Backrooms!" She shuddered.

Ren continued. "Music... is a mysterious thing. It can return to us memories we don't expect. Thoughts and feelings at the very edges of our consciousness... perhaps things we don't even desire to remember. It's a form of magic, in its own way- or so I think. Long ago, even in that forgotten era, people would listen to this melody, as we are now... at times, it would bring a smile to their face... at others, a tear to their eye."

Nora smiled. "I love it when Renny gets all philosophical!"

"Incidentally, however," Ren continued, "what brought you up here in the first place?"

"Oh!" Jaune finally broke free of the box's spell. "I was planning on doing a painting for Saphron and Terra's wedding- I wondered if you could lend me some paint?"

Ren nodded. "I believe that can be accomplished. Perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner before going down to the wedding?"

"Would I?!" Jaune reacted excitedly- then rubbed his shoulder self-consciously. "I mean, yes please."

Pyrrha giggled. "Ren's cooking is not something to be missed!"

"Except for those health drinks of his," Nora shuddered.

Ren chuckled. "Well, I have a few things to put away first- go sa hi to Nora and Shinji, why don't you?"

"Wait, I know who I am," Nora interjected, "but who's Shinji?"

"Your son," Vanessa answered simply.

"Our so-so-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sssssssssss..." Nora seemed to shut down, her brain absolutely fried. Ren didn't speak- shocker- but the expression on his face indicated he wasn't in a much better state.

"Congratulations, you two!" Pyrrha beamed. "I'm so happy for you!"

"I... don't think they can hear you, Pyr," Jaune chuckled.

Jaune nodded and stepped out of the workshop.

Ren leaned against one of his desks, closing his eyes. "I'd nearly forgotten the wedding was tonight... I've enjoyed this simple life. I wish... this could last forever."

"A simple life compared to what?" Blake pondered.

"Well, they definitely had a rough run before they came to Beacon," Jaune volunteered. "I'm guessing that's what he's talking about."

Ren opened his eyes when he heard a groaning from the music box- he looked at it just in time to see it seemingly break down, smoke rising from the mechanics within. His smile became a deepset frown. "An omen? That... does not bode well..."

On which ominous note, the world finally did close.

"That... was a bit of a roller coaster," Yang understated.

"Accepting that the first half was a nightmare, it wasn't too bad," Pyrrha decided tentatively. "But... that really is just the beginning, isn't it?"

"It is," Vanessa agreed. "Keep Echo close, we're going into overtime."

XXXX

I took the chance to clean this one up quite a bit. I don't know what it is with me and my inability to properly type out 'immediately.' I think I'll go ahead and put up a poll in the ol' profile as to whether or not you guys want some new reactors. It's no guarantee either way- those who have been following YAM for a while know how fickle I can be- but I'd like to get a sense of how the audience feels regardless. I won't put any specific names up, at least for now, just... a general idea. Next time, we continue on with this world a little longer- until then, don't you dare go hollow! Gamer4 out.