King of Grimm

by Devlin Dracul

Sequel to Treasured Silver. The World's Strongest Huntsman and his son are going to be facing a lot of challenges, from old enemies, new ones, and strange occurrences. Even the Grimm seem to be changing, and it all has something to due with the Arc family. What awaits the Arcs and their friends and family? Let's see. OOC/Overpowered Jaune

24. Movie Chapter: Injustice

A/N: You wanna know why this is called a Movie and not a Special? BECAUSE IT'S FREAKIN' LONG! Over 36000 words! So I hope you either can read fast or have a lot of time. This was inspired by a Deviant Artist named MechaG11 and his Injustice RWBY series. Check him out. His work is awesome. Anyway, onto the story of the Grimm King, who is the World's Strongest Man, take on Corrupted Man of Steel. Ooh, that actually sounds like a pretty cool nickname for next time Supes becomes evil.

---

Argent was looking a bit nervous. He jumped when there was a spark. "Are you sure this is safe," he asked looking up.

"Of course," Dante went. "We're far enough from the testing zone and this glass panel should keep us safe from anything unsightly."

"I meant for my dad."

"What's wrong, Arie? Don't you trust your old man," Jaune asked.

"Dad, you're powering an experimental machine using lightning magic."

"So I am," Jaune said as he was supplying a steady stream of lightning into the machine, the portal like device whirling awake. He was the only one in the area, save for Nimueh on his hip. Behind the glass was Dante, Maria, Winter, Ruby, and of course, Argent.

"Honestly, I don't like this scenario much myself," Winter said. "I should be in there helping him."

"General, we need electricity. Lightning," Maria explained. "Your Winter Maiden powers only allow you to channel the element of ice alone. Mrs. Pine couldn't possibly reach us in time to help Mr. Arc, the Summer Maiden primarily uses Fire Magic or any element pertaining to heat, and there is no way we could convince Ms. Branwen to aid us."

"I wouldn't allow her this far into New Mantle's Science Department, anyway," Winter deadpanned.

"Such is another problem. As you can see, Jaune, being the King of Grimm, is the only one with the necessary magic. He's the only one who can make this experiment a possibility," Maria explained.

"I can at least be in there to keep an optimal temperature," Winter justified.

"Winter, just stay calm. I've got this," Jaune said. "Besides, I can't exactly place New Mantle's General and Council Member in harm's way, now can I?"

"Jaune."

"Plus, Qrow would kill me."

"If anything happens to you... I'll kill you," Winter said.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Seriously, dad. If things get too dicey, will you promise to get out of there?"

"I'll try, kiddo."

"Remind me to shoot you when you get out of there," Ruby said.

"What?"

"At least TRY to ensure our son."

"That's why you're here, Ruby. Who better to keep a son calm than his mom?" Ruby sighed at Jaune's words.

"Alright, Jaune. Enough idle banter. The lower left power source is under the preferred level. Give it a bit more juice," Dante said.

"Got it." Jaune shot a bit more lightning at the source.

"Status," Dante asked.

"Stable," Maria said. She then placed a finger on her earpiece. "How are things on your end, Mr. Schnee?"

"Just fine," Whitely said as he paced in the room. "The transporter seems to be in working conditions. The Snow Shoe droids are supplying a steady amount of Lightning Dust. All seems well. Wouldn't you agree, sister?"

Weiss was watching the process next to her brother. "I still think this is too risky. It's not like when we asked Ambrosius to make portals."

"True. But we can't exactly rely on him all the time, now can we? Especially since if you mess up via travel with him, you end up on a summer island in a vault." Weiss sighed at Whitley's comeback. Whitely then placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Weiss. We're going to send a droid in to test it when ready."

"And after that?"

"Well, we have the Grimm King as a partner."

Weiss's eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting-"

"He'll just send one of his Grimm in."

Weiss's eyes widened. "Oh. That's what you meant."

"Hm? Of course that's what I meant." Whitley's eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?"

"Oh. Uh. Nothing," Weiss went with a nervous laugh.

Whitely sighed as he shook his head. "Oh, Weiss."

"Don't take it personal, Whitely." He looked to see Yang and Blake walk in, Yang holding bottles of soda. "Old family habits die hard."

Weiss blushed in embarrassment as she accepted the drink from Yang.

"Still, if this succeeds, this will be an even greater achievement than the CCT Towers. Being able to travel all over Remnant in just a few moments. From New Mantle to Vacuo. From Vale to Menagerie. It's beyond revolutionary. The entire world connected," Blake said in awe.

"Let's just hope the hero can come through," Yang said. "I don't want to have to open the Summer Vault to get his butt out of that island."

"Yang, that was only with Ambrosius's design," Weiss said.

"And?"

"WE'RE the ones building it. If this fails... someone could die."

"Ooooh. Riiiight," Yang went nervously.

Jaune was supplying more power when he heard something. A sort of whirl. "Is everything alright," Jaune called.

"What do you mean," Maria asked.

"I thought I heard something. Check the sta-" A loud screech was heard. Loud enough for the glass to begin to crack. "WINTER, GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!"

"WHAT ABOUT YOU?!"

"I'M GOING TO TRY AND CONTAIN THE BLAST!"

"CONTAIN THE-"

"JUST GET MY KID AND EVEYRONE ELSE OUT OF HERE, DAMMIT!"

Winter gritted her teeth. "YOU HEARD HIM! EVACUATE THE AREA IMMEDI-" Winter's eyes widened when Argent jumped past her and through the glass.

"ARIE," Ruby screamed before she used her Semblance to try and grab her son. However, as soon as she did catch him and try to fly back, Jaune had already frozen the area to try and keep the damage to a minimum. As soon as Ruby slammed into the wall of ice, she and Argent began to fall.

Argent was able to use his shield's glider to reach his dad while Ruby landed on her feet while rubbing her head. She looked up in time to see Argent land in front of Jaune.

"ARGENT ARC, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING," Jaune roared.

"PROTECTING MY DAD," he yelled back as he readied his shield, extending it using Hard Light Dust.

"IT'S MY JOB TO KEEP YOU SAFE, KID! GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

"WE'RE A TEAM, DAD! I'M NOT LEAVING YOU! BESIDES, I CAN'T EXACTLY GO ANYWHERE NOW!"

"WHEN WE GET OUT OF THIS, YOU ARE BEYOND GROUNDED," Jaune roared.

"BEYOND GROUNDED TIMES TWO," Ruby yelled as she appeared behind Argent and yanked Jaune behind the shield.

Jaune then created his two pairs of wings and wrapped them around his son, wife, and ex. Then, they heard an explosion, the three screaming against it.

As soon as the bright light vanished, Winter lowered her arm and looked past the ice in horror.

Inside the testing zone... was nothing. No Jaune. No Ruby. No Argent.

Just an empty white room... with a sparking, heavily damaged portal machine.

---

Jaune felt like he was falling. He opened his wings to see he was still holding Argent and Ruby. He then looked up. "WHOA!"

Jaune flapped his wings, preventing him and his family from splattering onto the ground. Even with Aura, that would have hurt like hell.

Jaune flew his family safely onto the ground, placing both on their feet. "Everyone alright?"

"Dazed, but alright," Ruby said as she shook her head.

"I feel like I'm vibrating," Argent said as he held his head. "Ow," he went after his dad chopped his head.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, you brat! What were you thinking," Jaune scolded.

Argent looked down. "Sorry, dad. But... I just sort of... you know, moved on my own?"

Jaune sighed. "You really are my kid. Ruby's as well. Two stubborn fools make a little mule, eh?"

"Hey," Ruby went with puffed up cheeks, while Argent snickered.

The three then began to look around.

"Where are we," Argent asked.

"It looks like... New Mantle... but also not," Jaune said.

Ruby then gasped. "J-Jaune?"

"Hm?" Jaune looked at Ruby, seeing she was looking up. He followed her gaze. His eyes widened in shock. "Impossible."

"Whoa. What is that," Argent asked.

"It's... It's Atlas," Jaune went.

"But... Atlas was destroyed," Ruby said. "How is this possible?"

The sound of screeching tires was heard as the three were surrounded by armored vans. Atlesian Knights and regular soldiers ran out and pointed their guns at the group.

"Hey now. We don't want any trouble," Jaune said as he raised his hands, Argent and Ruby following his lead.

"Think they're with the Insurgency?"

"That's for the High Councilor to decide."

"High Councilor," Ruby whispered.

"Look, this is some big mistake," Jaune went.

"Back down, scum!"

"Trust me. You don't want this," Jaune said, his eyes beginning to glow.

"By the gods, look at his eyes!"

"He's one of Salem's!"

"Salem? Salem is-" Jaune began.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!"

The soldiers opened fire on Jaune, who shielded himself with his wings.

"DAD!" Argent then drew Crocea Mors and swung with all his might, creating a massive wind blade that sent many of the soldiers flying, destroying many more droids.

"You little shit," a soldier yelled as he aimed at Argent.

The soldier's gun was pointed upward. He looked up and felt terror when he looked up into Jaune's eyes. "Big mistake." Jaune then crushed the gun with a squeeze of his hand before punching the man into a van, the force of his punch sending both into a building.

The other soldiers were about to fire before Jaune roared. All of the humans fell to their knees, unfortortunately including Argent and Ruby. Fortunately, the volume of his roar caused the droids to short circuit. Jaune then grabbed his son and ex and flew off.

Argent shook his head. "Still can't get used to the Apathy Scream."

"I'd be shocked if you could," Jaune said with a smile.

"Jaune, what's going on? Why did they think you were with Salem? Salem's dead... isn't she?"

"I'm not sure anymore. After all..." The three looked up. "I'm flying below Atlas."

Argent then noticed something and looked down. "DAD, LOOK OUT!"

"Huh?" Jaune was then hit by an explosive, the man falling out of the sky. Ruby immediately activated her Semblance, catching father and son, and safely carrying them onto the roof of a nearby building.

"You two alright?"

Jaune shook his head. "What just hit me?"

"It looked like one of Aunt Nora's grenades."

"No way. Nora would never attack Jaune," Ruby said.

"Don't be so sure, Rubes." The three looked to see someone jump into the shadowed part of the roof. "Someone's gotta knock some sense into you two." Nora walked forward. "Also, since when did the pill let you fly?" Nora then walked out into the light. Her eyes widened. "W-What the?"

Argent squinted. "Lyra? Lyra, what the hell?! You know that's my dad you shot, right? Also, since when did Aunt Nora let you use Magnhild? You told me she grounded you last time you took it. And what ever happen to your own hammer? I thought you loved Mogni because of how it shot faster than Storm Flower and had bigger slugs than Magnhild."

"Argent..." He looked at his dad, seeing the shocked look on his face. And the look on his mom's face. "That's not Lyra."

"You're... You're not Jaune... but you look just like him." Nora then looked at Ruby. "And you... look like an older Ruby." She then looked at Argent. "And you look like what would happen if Jaune and Ruby had a kid!"

"Um, I guess that makes sense... since I am?"

"NO WAY!" Nora then began to pace back and forth. "You gotta be kidding me! Does that mean Batman's crazy scheme worked?! But why are they so old?!"

"Hey! I'm only 34," Jaune said as he stood up.

"I'm 32, thanks," Ruby said in annoyance.

"I'm ten," Argent said with a raised hand as if he were in a contest.

"Ten? TEN?! JAUNE, YOU BROUGHT YOUR KID TO THIS NIGHTMARE, AND HE'S ONLY TEN?!"

"1. I didn't bring him anywhere. 2. I've already gotten that lecture plenty of times already. 3. Look in the mirror, Nora. You're a kid yourself."

"Hey, I'm 19. I'm a woman," she huffed.

"Good for you. Now, mind telling me what the hell is going on? How did we get here? Who's this Batman? And what the hell happened to New Mantle?!"

"New Mantle?"

"Oh, right. What happened to Mantle?"

"Well, Jaune. It's a really long story."

"A story you can tell in prison, Ms. Valkyrie." The group looked up to see Yellow Lantern flying down.

"What the hell," Jaune went.

"I thought yellow was our color, dad," Argent went.

"Not that much yellow," Ruby nudged.

"I see you got new recruits for your little club," Hal said as he looked over the group. "A kid? Batman must need a new Ro- Wait, why do you look like Ruby?"

"Why do I feel like not answering you?"

"I wouldn't get snarky with me, lady."

"And I wouldn't be threatening her if I were you," Jaune said as he drew Nimueh and pointed the sword at Hal.

"Hey, that's not Crocea Mors," Nora said.

"No. That's my mom," Argent said. "I've got Crocea Mors now."

Nora stared at Argent like he was crazy. "Your... mom?"

Ruby sighed heavily. "Long story."

Argent laughed nervously. "Sorry, mom."

"Trust me, pal. You don't want this fight," Hal said.

"Funny. That's usually my line."

"He's right, Jaune! You're gonna need-" Nora began.

"Stand back, Nora," Jaune commanded.

"Jaune," Hal asked. He then analyzed the hero and sighed. "This is your big plan, Bruce? I get it, the kid's one of our best enforcers, but what could he possibly do alone? Whatever." Hal then prepared a bus construct. "Nothing personal." He then threw it at Jaune.

Just as it was about to hit him, Jaune slashed upwards, sending a wind blade through the construct and slamming into Hal so hard, that he was sent flying. "What? Was that all," Jaune asked as he rested Nimueh on his shoulder.

Nora's jaw dropped. "W-What just happened?! He took down Yellow Lantern like he was NOTHING!"

"To dad, he probably wasn't," Argent said with his hands behind his head.

"Not very surprising," Ruby went with a shrug.

"Ruby, what happens when we grow up," Nora asked.

"Well, long story short, Jaune becomes the best of the best."

"Yeah! My dad is, in every sense of the phrase, the Strongest Man in the World."

Nora stared at Jaune in awe before realization hit her. She then shook her head. "I need to take you guys to Batman!"

"And who is Batman," Jaune asked.

"I'll explain on the way. Come on," Nora said as she jumped off the roof.

The group walked over and looked down.

"What's the hold up, guys," Nora called.

"How did she survive that," Argent asked. "Even my Aura would be sparking if I didn't use my Semblance."

"This entire situation is insane. Ruby? Would you like to do the honors," Jaune asked.

"Why I would be happy to." She then used her Semblance and got Jaune and Argent safely to the ground.

"Wow! I didn't know you could do that, Ruby!"

"Fifteen years," Ruby asked Jaune.

"Sixteen at most. So, Nora, you said you would explain on the way?"

"Oh, right."

---

Meanwhile.

Regime Jaune was training with Yang when a crash was heard. They, along with Ruby, Weiss, and Cyborg ran towards the sound and ended up in the courtyard. On the ground was a now groaning Hal Jordan as he sat up, rubbing his chest.

"Lantern," Cyborg called as he ran and analyzed Hal's now bleeding wound. "You'll live, but you should go to the med bay."

"Thanks, Vic," Hal said as he got up.

"Whatever did this to you was either lucky or powerful," Cyborg said.

"I'm going with powerful."

"What did this?" Hal looked at Jaune, who was looking at the gash on his friend's chest.

"Well, believe it or not, Jaune, but it was you."

"Me?"

"How could Jaune have done that," Yang asked. "He doesn't even use a sword anymore. How could he cut you like that?"

"Well, to be more specific, it was a future version of Jaune."

"Huh," Jaune went.

"Looks like we know what Batman's newest plan is," Hal said.

"Wait, why Jaune," Weiss asked. "Surely, there should be others."

"Well, an older Ruby was with him."

"I was there," Ruby asked.

"So he thinks he can use older versions of my little sister to win his fights?" Yang punched her palm. "You got a lotta nerve, bat freak."

Later

Cyborg was typing away to find the footage of the time and place Hal told him about. "Found it."

Jaune, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Hal walked up.

"It really is me," Jaune went in shock.

"Never thought I'd say this, but you grew up hot, Jaune," Yang said.

"He's wearing the old Ace Ops uniform," Weiss noticed. "Is he part of the Atlas military? Wait, that woman behind him. That's-"

"Me," Ruby went in surprise.

"Ha-hah! My little sister grew up to be a fine-looking woman," Yang bragged. "But who's the kid next to her?"

"And why does he have Crocea Mors," Jaune asked as he leaned up against the computer panel.

Cyborg enhanced the image. "That's your old sword, alright." Jaune looked towards a wall to see Crocea Mors hanging like a mantle piece. "But your older self has his own steel."

Jaune looked in time to see Jaune draw and point Nimueh. "It's... beautiful."

"Wait, that looks like Jinn's lamp," Yang said.

Weiss then analyzed the image to notice Yang was right. "Are you saying... JAUNE is wielding the Sword of Destruction?"

"One of the Four Relics you told us about," Hal asked. "Is that why he beat me so easily? He used the Relic's magic?"

"No, that's not right," Cyborg said, getting everyone's attention.

"What's not right?" Everyone looked to see Superman walk up.

"Look," Cyborg began as he started the play-by-play. "Jaune slashed using the Relic, creating this wind blade. Looks like magic, right?"

"Which shouldn't be possible," Weiss said. "Only Salem and the Four Maidens can use magic. That has to be Wind Dust."

"Putting Dust on the most powerful weapon in the world? I don't think so. That's like putting a knife on a nuke," Cyborg said. "Besides, I've analyzed the image. Sensors aren't picking up anything. "No Dust. No magic. Not even tech."

"What are you saying," Jaune asked.

"I'm saying... that it's all him."

That shocked everyone but Superman.

"Are you saying he beat me with pure strength alone," Hal yelled.

"Cy, this isn't funny," Yang said.

"There's no way he can be that powerful," Weiss said.

"Yeah! Even with the pill, I'm not strong enough to take on a fully charged Hal. The only one who could possibly do that is..." Everyone then looked at Superman, who was glaring at the image of Jaune swinging Nimueh.

"So that's your trump card, Bruce? Using my best enforcer against me? I don't think so. Where did this take place?"

"Sector M-21," Hal answered.

"Alright. Have a search team scour Sectors 21 through 24. I don't care how fast he is. They won't esca-"

A loud explosion was heard, followed by a quake.

"Where did that come from," Superman yelled.

"Sector M-22," Cyborg answered.

"Closest operative?"

"Ironwood."

"Send him there. Jaune, you're with me. You should meet your counterpart," Superman said as he walked away.

"Sir," Jaune went as he followed his leader. Everyone else then began to leave, except for Ruby.

"What's wrong," Cyborg asked.

"That boy. Can you zoom in on him?"

"You're curious about a kid," Yang asked as she walked up to her sister. "Should I be worried?"

"Shut up."

Cyborg then zoomed in on Argent.

"He... has silver eyes," Ruby said.

Yang then took a closer look. Her eyes widened. "Ruby..."

"What?"

"He... He looks just like you."

"What?"

"The kid. He looks EXACTLY like you when you were a kid!"

Ruby's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?!" She looked at the image. "He's got blonde hair! He's holding Jaune's sword! He's obviously Jaune's son! He's Jaune's... silver... eyed. . . Son?"

The sisters looked at the image more closely.

"Ruby... you're standing in front of the kid. Like you're trying to protect him."

"But, protecting people is my job. O-Of course I'd... Cy?"

Cyborg analyzed the image before looking at Ruby. She saw his visor shine. "Facial structures match, kid."

Ruby's eyes widened before she looked towards where Jaune left with Superman, the boy long gone with his mentor. "Me... and Jaune?"

Unknown to her, Superman heard their entire conversation. He then tightened his grip angrily. 'Bruce, you're using a son against a father? How DARE you?'

---

Earlier.

"How DARE he," Jaune hissed angrily.

Nora was shocked. She was looking at Jaune's fist slammed against the building... that nearly completely toppled over. She was shocked at how strong this Jaune was. if she didn't know any better, she'd say he was as strong as Superman himself.

"He's using Pyrrha's death... FOR GODDAMN PROPAGANDA!"

"How could I fall for that," Ruby said as she wiped some tears off of her eyes.

"I-It wasn't your fault. Either of you. Superman just used your grief against you guys," Nora said, trying to calm them.

"It is my fault, Nora. I let him manipulate me." He then turned towards her. "I failed you as a leader. I'm sorry."

Nora stared at Jaune before walking up to him. "I know this isn't totally accurate." Jaune raised an eyebrow. He was then surprised when Nora hugged him, seeing tears fall down her cheek. "But... it's so great to have you back, Jaune," she said through a cracking voice. Jaune looked down sadly before returning the hug, as best as the giant of a man could.

"Well, we can do this mushy junk, later," Nora said as she sniffled and wiped off a few more tears. "Let's head back to headquarters."

Jaune smiled before he glared and looked down an alley. "I'd rather not be followed there. Come on out!"

"Huh?" Nora looked down the alley.

"Very astute."

Someone walked out of the shadows.

"Uh-oh," Nora went as she took out her hammer. Argent followed her lead by drawing his sword and shield.

However, Jaune and Ruby were too shocked.

"No way," Ruby went.

Jaune couldn't believe who he saw.

"Ironwood."

Ironwood aimed his gun at the group while Jaune took out his license. "Stand down. I am an International 1st Class Huntsman. Even though you are a general, you and I are equals in terms of Huntsmen status."

"Hm. That used to mean something. But not anymore. You're either a soldier for the Regime, or a traitor working for the Insurgency. Which one are you?"

Jaune stared at Ironwood's gun before putting away his scroll. "I'm only going to say this once: You don't want this fight, James."

"James is what my friends call me, and you've shown you're no friend of mine." Ironwood then pulled the trigger.

His eyes widened when he felt he shot upwards. He looked to see that Jaune had grabbed his arm and pointed it up. "How did you-"

"I warned you." Jaune then punched Ironwood in the stomach, making him buckle. It left him open for a knee to the face. Jaune then swept his feet and punched him in the face with enough force to smash him into the ground. Ironwood's Aura then flickered as Jaune removed his fist.

"WHOO! THAT WAS AWESOME, JAUNE," Nora cheered.

"And loud. We need to go." Jaune looked up. "We need to go. NOW!" He didn't hesitate to run, making the other run, too.

"Where are we running to," Ruby yelled.

"We just need to reach that subway tunnel!"

"Got it!" Ruby then used her Semblance on everyone, speeding down into the tunnels.

"Whoa. That was awesome," Nora said.

"Huh. Blake hates it," Ruby said.

"Let's go again," Argent went excitedly.

"Second it," Nora went.

"We can have your mom do that after your Aunt tells us where to go," Jaune said.

"Wow, that is weird to hear," Nora said.

"Well, this is a weird situation. Come on, Nora. Where do we go from-" Jaune was slammed into by a white Boarbatusk.

He rolled onto the tracks but jumped to his feet, only to be punched in the face by a white Beringel that sent him flying into the dark tunnels.

"Whoa-boy," his voice went.

"Do not resist," a soldier went.

"Oh, just bring it, already."

Gun shots and flashes were heard.

"Dad!" He was about to run after him before Ruby grabbed his shoulder.

"Your father can take care of himself. We might be in trouble ourselves," Ruby said.

"I'll say," Nora said as she took out her hammer.

Ruby then took out her scythe while Argent took out his sword and shield. The three looked towards the sound of clicking heels to see someone walk out of the darkness.

Ruby sighed. "Winter."

"Aw, man. Aunt Winter, you're one of the bad guys?"

"Aunt? I don't know what you're insinuating, boy. However, I am not your aunt, nor am I the villain. You criminals are. Except for you, Ruby. Your counterpart was smart enough to join our cause. I hope you will make the same decision."

"Sorry, Winter. Nora told me the whole story. I don't plan on joining. Especially seeing the state Mantle is in now."

"I see. That's a shame."

Ruby's gaze softened. "I don't want to fight you, Winter. You're my sister-in-law. Don't make me do this."

"S-Sister-in-law," Winter asked with a blush. "I know less about my sister than I care to admit. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I need to take you in."

Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that." She then used her Semblance.

Before Winter could react, Ruby was spinning around her, forming a mini tornado that lifted Winter off the ground. She was about to use a glyph before Ruby began to shoot her. Winter continued to rise and be shot before Ruby appeared above her and slammed her scythe into Winter's gut. She then shot towards the ground and slammed Winter into the concrete with enough force to make the beauty gag. When she landed, her Aura shattered.

"Sorry, Winter. You and I trained a lot in my time. I know your tricks. Actually, you were the one who taught me the same move I used to beat you."

Nora's jaw dropped. "Kid, your mom's a badass."

"I know," Argent said with a toothy smile.

The fifteen years of experience also helps." Nora and Argent looked to see Jaune walk up, clapping his hands together to clean it of dust, not a scratch on him.

"How tough ARE you two?!"

"Nora, I'm an International 1st Class Huntsman. I'm going to be hard to beat," Jaune said as he jumped onto the platform.

"Man. International 1st is the highest rank we can get, right? I guess Ruby's a-"

"Second Class," Jaune interrupted.

Ruby elbowed him. "Did you have to mention that so casually," she growled through her teeth.

"Hey, she had to know the truth."

"You only got promoted to first class because you always take the best and hardest missions," Ruby yelled as she pointed a finger in his face.

"Hey, I can't help it if you're too slow to get the good missions, Mrs. Speed Semblance."

"Oh, don't go there with me, Mr. Leave our Kid With Nora and Ren!"

"Hey, Arie needed a babysitter! I'm wasn't about to bring my five-year-old son on dangerous missions against some of the world's deadliest Grimm and most blood thirsty gangsters!"

"And all those times, you didn't think of having ME look after my own son!"

"You lived in New Mantle! I lived in Vale!"

The two were arguing as Nora and Argent watched. "Do they do that a lot?"

"Yeah."

"Yeesh. Is this what married life is like?"

"Hm? Oh, they never married."

"Wait. What?"

"Yeah. Mom's always been married to Aunt Weiss. My dad's married to mom."

"But... if you're Ruby's son... and she's married to Weiss... Eh?"

Argent then felt a chill and used his Semblance to enhance his hearing. "Dad?" He and Ruby were still arguing. "Dad?!" Still arguing. "DAD!"

"WHAT," the pair yelled.

"Company," he said as he pointed at the stairway. Jaune walked over and saw soldiers running down.

"THERE THEY ARE!"

"PREPARE TO ENGAGE!"

"Ah, screw this." Jaune then pointed his hand at the stairway and created an ice wall before the soldiers could get any closer. He then froze the other stairway, accidentally freezing an unfortunate soldier in the process. "Whoops. Ah, whatever. Nora?"

"D-DID YOU JUST CREATE ICE?!"

"NORA!"

"Oh! Right! This way!" The group then ran away.

Nora was knocking on a wall before she knocked on a certain brick. "Found it." She then opened the secret passage. "Come on."

"Wait." Jaune then took a deep breath and belched out a fire ball down the subway. The group saw the explosion from where they were. "That should distract them. Come on." Jaune, Ruby, and Argent ran into the passage.

Nora just stood there, staring down the tunnel, babbling, not believing what she saw. "He just- Like a- How did- But can- WHOA," Nora went after Jaune yanked her into the passage way, the door closing.

The four were now walking down the passage way.

"Alright, I gotta know!"

"Hm? Know what," Jaune went to Nora.

"You're as strong as Superman! You can make ice walls without Dust! You just belched fire! Is THAT your Semblance?!"

"Huh? What are you talking about," Jaune went with a raised eyebrow.

"That! It's like you have Dust powers! You're like Superman! You don't even use Dust!"

Ruby stopped walking. "What? Your Jaune doesn't use Hard Light Dust?"

"No!"

"Gravity Dust," Argent asked.

"Kid, as soon as Jaune joined Superman, he abandoned Crocea Mors!"

Jaune's eyes shot open in shock and rage. "What," he went in a low tone.

"Whoa. That's scary," Nora went.

"He abandoned a family heirloom... to imitate a dictator?"

"Uh... yeah?"

Jaune got so angry that his eyes began to turn read, the hologram starting to fail. He then took a deep breath to calm himself. "Nora, how many of us are part of the Insurgency?"

"Well, obviously there's me. Then there's Ren, Blake, Glynda-"

"Wait, Glynda's here," Jaune asked.

"Hm? Yeah. Why?"

"Uh, no reason," Jaune went nervously.

"Hmmmm." Jaune jolted when Ruby did that. He didn't want to turn and look at her. If he did, he'd see her with her arms crossed, looking at him with blank eyes, a cold Aura around her. "How fun for you, Jaune. You get to see one of your exes again. And if I remember correctly from what Arie told me, you were really happy when you two dated."

"Arie," Jaune hissed through his teeth.

Argent laughed nervously. "S-Sorry, dad."

"HOLD THE SYRUP," Nora went. "YOU DATED MS. GOODWITCH!?"

"We don't need to talk about it," Jaune said as he turned around.

Nora then jumped on his back. "That's where you're wrong! We ABSOLUTELY have to talk about it! Whatwasitlike?! Howgoodofakisserisshe?! Issheevenhotteroutsideofschool?! Didyouevergettothirdbase?! Whydidyoubreakup?!" Nora gasped dramatically. "Is Argent an older brother?!"

Jaune turned completely red. "NO, HE IS NOT!"

"Ho-hooo?" Jaune jumped again. "You seemed to REALLY need to deny that last one, Arc," Ruby went, her aura even colder, making Argent shiver like he was in the cold.

"Why do you even care?! You're acting like you're my wife!"

Now Ruby blushed. "I-I don't care! I'm just... speaking for Nimueh!"

"Who's Nimueh?"

"My wife."

"You never married her," Ruby yelled.

"I'm going to! Ah. Fuck."

"What's wrong," Nora asked.

"I... haven't proposed to her yet. I'm just so used to thinking of her as my actual wife that I call her that out of habit. I was planning on proposing to her soon."

"Aw. Where is she?"

"Look next to you."

"Hm? Who said that," Nora asked as she looked. She then saw the beauty herself. "WHOA! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?! Wow, you're pretty."

"Thank you. Now can you please get off of my husband?"

"Oh. Uh, sure thing." Nora jumped off before walking behind Jaune and Nimueh. "But seriously, where did you come from?"

Nimueh sighed. She then reverted back to a Relic, Jaune catching her by the hilt.

"WHOA! Y-You're a sword?! Jaune's marrying a SWORD?! Wait a minute, THAT'S YOUR MOM, KID?!"

"Yeah. Told you so."

"Oh, that is seriously cool. Jaune, do you realize how awesome it is to get to legally marry your weapon?! How did you even have that made?! In Atlas?!"

"Don't be silly, Nora," Jaune said as Nimueh turned back into her human form. "She's one of the Four Relics. She's the Sword of Destruction."

"Hellooo~," Nimueh went with a wave.

Nora stopped, eyes wide. She then ran up to Jaune. "The Sword of Destruction?"

"Yup."

"THE Sword of Destruction?!"

"Uh-huh."

"The same sword cute-little-boy Oz told us about, saying it could help us turn the tide of the fight?!"

"Did he, now? Well, that's her. Glynda's sister."

"Glynda's WHAT?!"

"Oh, she didn't tell you? Glynda's the Crown of Choice." Jaune walked past the now frozen Nora.

"WHAAAAAAAAT," she went as she began to fall, only to be caught and yanked over to Jaune. She didn't notice that he did it using a Grimm Arm Stretch.

As Nora was babbling, unable to process everything, Jaune just stopped. Ruby and Argent noticed and turned to look at him.

"Something wrong, dad?"

Jaune looked around. "Nora, is there supposed to be anyone at this base," he asked.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. It's still a bit of a walk still before we reach the main hideout, but there's people there already. Some Atlas scientists and Huntsmen who don't like the Regime. Why?"

Jaune then concentrated. He couldn't sense anyone. That shouldn't be possibly in such an oppressive Regime. He then smirked, realizing why. "You can come out now, Ren."

Nora looked surprised before looking around before looking up. "Ren?! Are you really in the shadows again, you ninja?"

Someone then fell from the ceiling... trying to impale Jaune. He caught it... and saw Ilia. "Who're you?"

"Take this, Regime scumbag!" She then activated the Lightning Dust in her weapon.

Her eyes widened when Jaune just raised an eyebrow at her. "That all you got?"

"Sorry, sweetie." Ilia looked back at Ruby. "You'd need a Sea Feilong to hurt that monster with lightning."

"Who are you calling a monster?"

"Ren, it's alright! He's on our side!"

Someone landed in front of Jaune this time, Ilia jumping off to land next to him. "Does that mean you were able to convince Jaune to come back to us," Ren asked as he stood up, only for his eyes to widen. "What?"

"Well... not exactly, Renny," Nora laughed nervously as she scratched her cheek.

Ren stared at Jaune in shock before he sighed sadly. "You're... not our Jaune."

Jaune sighed, about to respond.

"HE'S BETTER THAN OUR JAUNE," Nora cheered. "Look, Ren! He's HUGE," she went dramatically as she emphasized her point by trying to touch his head, only being able to grab onto his shoulders while on her tippy toes. "He's STRONG," she said as she lifted his arm and made him flex, showing off an impressive bicep. "He has a WICKED cool beard!"

"Ow," Jaune went after Nora yanked his goatee.

"He has a SWEET ponytail," Nora went as she lifted his hair with her raised palm.

"Warrior's Wolf Tail," Jaune and Argent went in unison.

"And best of all!"

"WHOA," Argent went after Nora lifted him by his armpits.

"HE COMES WITH HIS OWN, ADORABLY CUTE MINI-ME!"

"I'M NOT CUTE!"

Nora then squished her cheek onto Argent's rubbing him. "You're right! You're beyond adorable! I'd eat you up like a stack of pancakes!"

"Uncle Ren! Help!"

"So cute! And hearing you call Ren uncle and me aunt makes me so happy! Because that means we can have a happily ever after when this war is all over!" Nora's eyes widened when Argent was taken out of her hold. She then looked up at the towering Jaune gently looking down at her with Argent on his shoulders.

"That's not how it works, Nora. Everything happening here. Everything that occurred. It never happened to me."

Nora's eyes widened. "You're... not from the future?"

"Is that what you thought? No. I'm not. I'm sorry."

Nora then looked down. "But... if you're not from the future... then... what was the point in dragging you into our mess? I thought you came from the future to tell us how to fix this without anyone dying. Isn't that why you're here?"

Jaune looked down sadly at Nora before looking up with a glare. "Why don't you explain it for us?"

Ruby, Nimueh, and the Regime looked towards where Jaune was looking.

"Impressive." Batman walked out of the shadows. "Not many can find me in the dark."

"Unless your name is Lie Ren, you can't hide from a Grimm so easily."

Ren looked at Jaune in confusion. "Grimm?"

"What does the Grimm have to do with anything," Nora asked, equally confused.

Jaune looked at the two sadly. "So you don't know." He then looked at Batman. "Do you?"

Everyone looked at Batman. He was quiet for a bit. "Yes. I do. It's one of the reasons I brought you here."

"So, YOU'RE the reason we're here," Ruby asked as she walked up, taking Argent off Jaune's shoulders and holding him in her arms.

"Uh, can someone let me down, now," Argent asked.

"I am. However, this isn't how I planned it."

"What do you mean," Nimueh asked.

"I only wanted Jaune. Nimueh was a hopeful bonus. You two... weren't supposed to be here. I'm sorry," he said to Ruby and Argent.

Jaune stepped forward, looking angry while his son and the boy's mother looked shocked. "You mean Ruby and my son were dragged here FOR NOTHING?!"

"It wasn't intentional. They jumped after you. There was nothing I could-" Batman was interrupted when Jaune grabbed him by the throat and lifted him easily.

Ren and Nora were shocked by Jaune's speed, being so fast that not even Batman's reflexes could keep up. Ilia didn't hesitate to try and whip Jaune, but she was shocked when he caught her weapon again, without even looking.

"Send. Them. Back. Now," Jaune went through clenched teeth.

"I... can't."

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"It's... too... risky."

Jaune let go of Batman, the dark knight rubbing his neck before looking at Jaune. "I'll explain everything in detail."

"You'd better. I don't give a damn you dragged me into whatever this is. But getting my kid involved, even by accident, is a totally different story."

Batman stared into Jaune's eyes. "You truly care for your son, don't you?"

"More than anything."

"I'd be pissed if you didn't," Nimueh said with a proud smile.

Batman looked down sadly before turning his back to Jaune. "I could learn a thing or two from you."

"What?"

"Come. There's a lot you need to know," Batman said before he led the group into the base.

Jaune followed Batman into the Insurgency Headquarters.

"Batman." They looked to see Glynda walk up. "We have trouble. Superman is on the move." She sighed sadly. "Mr. Arc is with them." She then noticed Jaune, her eyes widening. "Who... are you?"

"That's the awesome thing, Ms. Goodwitch," Nora went excitedly. "This is Jaune! A FUTURE Jaune!"

Glynda looked at Jaune in shock. "Mr. Arc? Is that really you?"

Jaune sighed. "I guess it really is a bit unbelievable. Hello, Glynda."

Glynda smiled. "Oh? So you're close enough to address me by my first name in your time?"

"Mrm. Uh..."

"Actually, you're apparently close enough to date," Nora said without a second thought.

Jaune jolted while Glynda's eyes were hidden by her glasses.

"Seriously, Aunt Nora," Argent went as he slumped over.

"Hm? Oh. Eeeeeeeew. Yeah, I might have messed up," Nora said nervously.

"I see," Glynda said as she adjusted her glasses. "Personally, I can't see that possibility."

Jaune sighed. "From what I've seen and gathered, I don't blame you."

"Hey. I'm not complaining."

Glynda looked towards the voice, her eyes shooting open. "Nimueh?!"

"Oh, NOW she notices me," she says with her arms behind her head.

"What are you doing here?! HOW are you here?!"

"Gee, this is an awfully weird way to say: 'Hello, sister. It's been too long. Is that a new human body you have? I guess I'm not the only Relic who can do that now. I've so very missed you.' And now I feel like barfing, actually."

"Nimueh, come on. She's your sister," Jaune said.

"Shut it. You know I don't get along with any of my siblings. Hell, after what he's putting you through, I hate my own dad!"

"What?" The two looked at Glynda, who looked horrified. "What do you mean what father is doing to him? What did the God of Darkness do?!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Glynda in shock, a lot of them murmuring among themselves.

Jaune sighed. "It's a long story. Something we don't have time to deal with."

"Mr. Arc!"

"Right now, I apparently have a Regime to take down. And I'd still like to know why I was the one who was supposed to be here."

"And you'll get your answers." Everyone looked towards Batman's voice.

Jaune's eyes widened before he whistled. "and I thought Dante's computer was big.

"That looks like an SDC supercomputer," Ruby said in awe.

"That's because it is." Jaune and Ruby looked towards the voice. "It was very difficult to procure.

"Velvet," Ruby went in excitement before she hugged the Rabbit Faunus without thinking. "It's been way too long!"

"Uh, Ruby?" She looked at Jaune. "That's... not OUR Velvet, remember?"

"Oh. Right," Ruby thought sadly before releasing the girl. "Sorry."

"Don't." Ruby's eyes widened when she saw Velvet... crying. "I've missed being able to do that to you, Ruby."

"Velvet," Ruby said sadly.

"It really is nice to see you again, as inaccurate as it is to say that."

Jaune and Ruby looked towards the voice, their eyes widening.

Ruby covered her mouth in shock. "Blake."

"What... happened to you," Jaune asked.

Blake smiled sadly. "If you have to ask that... I can only guess you're from a happier future."

Jaune and Ruby looked at each other.

"I'm not so sure about happier," Jaune said. "Where's Yang? What happened to her?"

Blake looked away.

"Jaune..." He looked at Ren. "Yang... was the one who did that to her."

Jaune's eyes widened.

Argent fell back on his butt. "Aunt Yang... did that to Aunt Blake? But... they barely even argue back home. Verde even complains about how embarrassingly lovey-dovey they can be."

Blake looked at Argent. "Are you saying... me and Yang are... MARRIED in your time." Argent looked down sadly. Blake sighed. "I guess you really did come from somewhere happier."

"Relatively speaking," Batman went, gaining everyone's attention. They saw he was typing away at the supercomputer. "But they have their own problems as well. After all..." He looked right at Jaune. "This war would be far more difficult if this Remnant's Jaune Arc was cursed to be the next leader of the Creatures of Grimm like he is."

That ceased activity in the HQ again, everyone looking at Jaune in shock and horror, while the man in question just stood there in cool, calm, and collected way.

Still... he did glare at Batman.

"Leader of the Grimm," Ren asked in horror before looking at Jaune. "Jaune, what is he talking about?"

"No," Glynda went in horror. "Please, no. Tell me it isn't true. He wouldn't-"

Jaune sighed. "You all will find out eventually anyway." He then held up his arm, showing off his sophisticated watch. He then pressed the button. In a flash, his golden hair turned white, his sink just as so. His blue eyes were nor red, his sclera black as Batman's suit. His hologram was down.

Nora covered her mouth in shock and horror. The rest of the Insurgency was just as horrified, some of them even aiming their weapons as Jaune.

Nora then began to cry. "Oh, Jaune. What happened to you?"

Jaune sighed. "It's a long story."

"How could he?" Jaune looked at Glynda, seeing the beauty cry. "How could he do such a thing?! Father. Why? Why my student?!"

"It wasn't him."

She looked up. "Eh?"

"He's indirectly responsible for what I am. Callows was the one who hired a mercenary to inject me with Grimm Pool Water, making me into this."

"Callows." Jaune looked to see Qrow walk up. "Of course, that lunatic is involved in what you are. Freak was way too obsessed with Salem."

"Uncle Qrow!"

"Great Uncle Qrow!"

Ruby and Argent hugged the man. "Oof! Good to see you, too, Kiddo, as big as you are." Ruby giggled nervously, realizing the mistake she made. "And you, little guy. Calling me Great Uncle makes me feel old, especially since I'm not your uncle... yet."

"Shishishi. Sorry."

"At least call me your Cool Alt Uncle."

"That's kinda long."

Jaune smiled at the sight.

"Still, it's unfortunate." Jaune and Ruby's eyes widened. They looked at the owner of the voice. "To think that you defeated Salem, freeing her of her curse, only for an even worse one to take hold. Destiny is quite cruel, isn't it?"

"Ozpin," Ruby went.

Oscar smiled. "Would it be appropriate for me to see it's been a while, Ms. Rose?"

"Uh, it's Schnee-Rose," Ruby said nervously.

"Oh, my," he said with a smile.

Jaune walked up, looking down at Oscar, the man towering over the boy. He looked quite intimidating.

"Hello, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said without fear.

Jaune stared at Oscar before he smiled. "You know, it's oddly nostalgic, talking to you again after all this time."

"All this time? So, I truly am free, I suppose?"

"Yeah. The moment Ruby and I beat and freed Salem, you left Oscar not that much long after."

Ozpin then looked down sadly. "So, I get freed of a curse while you receive a worse one. I am... truly sorry."

Jaune knelt down and placed a hand on Oscar's shoulder. "Hey, don't blame yourself. Your curse was yours. This one is mine. I'll deal with it my own way. Ow."

Nimueh just bonked Jaune's head. "Don't make it sound like you're dealing with this mess alone."

Jaune stood up as he rubbed his head. "Like you are Argent would let me."

"We wouldn't," Argent said as he jumped on Jaune's back. "We're a team, after all," he said with a toothy smile.

The sight of the family made the Insurgency relax, the heroes getting back to preparing for the upcoming battles.

"Now, Batman, you never did explain what made me so special compared to Nimueh," Jaune said.

"Don't you mean compared to yourself?"

"Come again?"

Batman typed on the computer. "What do you know about multiverse theory?"

"The theory about there being countless universes? One being created for every choice you did or didn't make," Jaune asked.

"Exactly. There aren't just two versions of you, Jaune. There are scores of you."

Jaune looked up to see a version of him fall into the abyss of Ambrosius's disappearing portal. "That's just my past." He then saw a version of him in Atlas... with Pyrrha. His eyes widened at that. Then, he saw Pyrrha grabbing his face, yelling "Don't EVER wonder off!" Jaune then got a closer look to see that the Jaune Pyrrha was grabbing... looked like a zombified Grimm. Then, he saw a scene that shocked both Jaune and Ruby.

Their wedding.

"There are countless versions of your story, Jaune. Countless ways it could have diverged. Countless paths you could have taken. We were able to narrow it down to some of your most powerful versions.

"Wait, that's me fighting with Lyra," Jaune went.

"Lyra looks different. She's not even using Mogni. That looks like," Argent began.

"My Magnhild," Nora yelled.

"And... my Storm Flower," Ren went.

"Hey, dad! You're using your Grimm powers!" Jaune noticed that Argent was right. Yet, something was off. "Why only Beowolves? I know I rely on them the most, but that situation calls for aerial combat. I would have used Nevermore wings. Why is he only using Beowolf claws?"

"It's because that's all he CAN use," Batman said.

"What?"

"This universe is where you were injected with just Salem's blood, and awakened into a new species known as Grimmkind, or what the locals called, a King of Grimm. You were the King of the Beowolves here."

"I... can only use Beowolves in that world?"

"Hm? Dad, check out Aunt Yang."

Jaune looked to see Yang using... "Since when did she use a sword?"

"Yang with a sword," Ruby asked as she walked up and looked at the monitor. "That would never happen. . . Wait, that's not Yang."

"What are you talking about? How is that not Yang," Jaune asked.

"Jaune, she's my sister. I think I can recognize her."

"Blonde hair, red eyes, huge knockers. Looks like Yang to- OW," Jaune went after Ruby and Nimueh jabbed his sides. "Yeah, I deserved that."

"That isn't her, Jaune," Ruby said. "Besides, you two are fighting side by side. Why do you look so old while she looks young enough to be your daughter?"

"Well, why does Raven still look hot," Jaune asked.

"I WILL hurt you," Ruby said as she glared at Jaune, the man raising his hands in defense.

"That isn't Yang Xiao Long," Batman said, getting everyone's attention. "The computer allows us to access the information of the world's we see, including information of the people. This girl's name... is Phoenix... Salem... Branwen... Arc."

Jaune and Ruby's eyes widened. "Branwen," the two went in unison.

Batman looked at Jaune. "In this universe, this girl is your daughter with Raven Branwen."

"I have an older sister instead of an older brother," Argent asked innocently.

"Hold on there, cutie," Nora went.

"I'M NOT CUTE!"

"Yesyouare." Nora cleared her throat. "What do you mean instead?"

"Oh, Raven's my stepmom, since I have an older half-brother, Sparrow Branwen."

"Whoa," Jaune went after Argent heard the sound of a sword being drawn. He looked to see his uncle and Glynda pointing their weapons at his dad's neck, the man holding up his hands defensively.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't carve you like a turkey," Qrow growled.

"Well, for one, I'm technically stronger than you... by leaps and bounds."

"Why you-"

"International 1st Class Huntsman."

Qrow's jaw dropped. "I'm... just a 3rd Class."

"Then I seriously outrank you. Even Rubes is a 2nd Class."

Qrow looked at Ruby, who held up a peace sign, showing that Jaune was telling the truth.

"That's all well and good," Glynda began. She then pushed Jaune's head up using her riding crop. "However, that doesn't excuse you for sleeping around with various women. What kind of example are you setting for your son?"

"I can explain... kinda."

"And how could I fall for such a man as you?"

"Hey, you and I dated LONG before Raven and I did anything. And you were the one who broke us up because you wanted to pay more attention to your career as the Head Mistress of Beacon."

"That... sounds like something I would do," Glynda said with an embarrassed blush as she lowered her crop.

"And I'm glad you did," Nimueh said as she plopped her chin onto Jaune's shoulder. "I REALLY didn't like my sister dating my partner. It's bad enough we're having Jinn live with us."

"Hm? Jinn? What does our sister have to do with anything," Glynda asked.

"Not important," Jaune and Nimueh went in unison.

Jaune then looked at the screen, seeing the still image of Phoenix. "So... Raven and I had a daughter in another universe," Jaune asked as he walked up next to Batman.

"Yes. Phoenix Salem Branwen Arc, the oldest of four half-siblings."

"Oldest of what," Jaune, Nimueh, and Ruby asked in unison, the red huntress popping up next to Jaune.

Batman ignored that and typed out Phoenix's data. "The strongest of the siblings. Brilliant tactician. Skilled in the ways of the sword. A powerful Semblance she merely calls Phoenix, which engulfs her in flames that rejuvenates her Aura reserves, making her 'immortal'. She was chosen by her father to be the next wielder of the Sword of Destruction, as well as be the Crown Princess, meaning she will be Remnant's first Queen when her father steps down."

"Come again," the three went in unison.

Batman looked at Jaune. "You're royalty. You didn't want the crown, though. The people begged you to lead them after you saved the world. Your rule is currently a golden age, despite waging a war against the God of Darkness. Your daughter is one of the most skilled generals in the fight against him. So much, in fact, that I was thinking of having the machine bring her instead."

Jaune then grabbed Batman and slammed him into a wall of ice he created in a split second. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! Don't you DARE drag any more of my kids into this mess!"

Batman stared into Jaune's enraged eyes. "She isn't your daughter, Jaune."

"Just because she's in a different universe? I don't give a damn! She's still an Arc. Still my damned child. And as long as I'm still breathing, I'll take on the burdens of whatever hell there might be, so they won't have to suffer what I have. Do whatever the hell you want to me." Jaune released Batman, the ice evaporating immediately when he did. "Just leave my family out of it."

Batman stared into Jaune's eyes once more. "You know... you remind me a lot of Alfred."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Who the hell is that?"

"A true father in every sense of the word," Batman said as he walked past Jaune. He then typed away at the computer. "Besides, I said I THOUGHT about it. That is until I found you." Batman then pulled up various images of Jaune's various fights.

Blake gasped. "Adam?! He's alive?!"

"And he's the reason I'm like this."

Blake slammed a fist onto a nearby guardrail. "DAMMIT!" Ilia tried to comfort her, but all she could do was place a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"MR. ARC," Glynda yelled. "HOW COULD YOU PUT A CHILD IN SUCH DANGER?! AN ENTIRE ARMY OF BANDITS?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Tell him, Ms. Goodwitch," Ruby snickered.

"AND YOU'RE NO BETTER, MRS. SCHNEE-ROSE! YOU'RE THE BOY'S MOTHER, AREN'T YOU?!"

"I'M his mom," Nimueh went.

"Oooh, don't get me STARTED on you, Nimueh."

"Hah?! Oh, you wanna say somethin' to me, sis?!"

"You've always been like this! How could either one of our fathers allow you to have such a destructive personality?!"

"Ooooh, so the Sword of Destruction has a destructive personality?! I think I raised my kid just fine! What I want to know is which of our dads stuck a tower sized STICK UP YOUR ASS!"

Nimueh and Glynda started arguing loudly, Jaune sighing at the sight.

"In all honesty, I couldn't stop that kid of mine, even if I wanted to. He's an Arc. We're stubborn."

"Well, I gotta admire the kid's enthusiasm," Qrow said, looking proud.

"So, Batman, what makes me more special than a damned king," Jaune asked.

"Well, for one, you have the power to control ALL Grimm, while he could only control Beowolves."

"Well, from what I can tell, Grimm might not be enough to beat this Regime. And if what Nora told us was true, this Superman character can easily take down an army of Grimm."

"It's not the Grimm that will beat Superman." Jaune raised an eyebrow before Batman pulled up an image of Jaune powering the machine that brought his family to this universe to begin with. He then pulled up an image of him talking to Raven, holding a ball of fire in his hand. Then an image of him turning Skyshadow into Neverflame.

Jaune's eyes then widened in realization. "My magic."

"Yes. Magic is the only thing Superman has no immunity against. He's only resistant, and he has a limit against even that."

"So that's it," Jaune went.

"What's it," Nora asked.

"No." She looked at Ren. "Batman, you can't be asking that."

"Bruce, it shouldn't have to be him," Glynda said.

"What," Nimueh asked, annoyed that Glynda stopped their argument abruptly.

"Nimueh..." she looked at Jaune. "He wants me to be the one to take down Superman."

"That is a TERRIBLE idea," Nimueh yelled. "Jaune doesn't even LIKE to use magic! He barely uses it at all!"

"I've only ever seen him use it to strengthen Skyshadow and help up with Dr. Dante's weird science projects," Argent said.

"Wasn't there a time he used Ice Magic to make a sword to fight those Manticores in the Solitas Tundra," Ruby asked.

"That was just so Winter could see how much I'm capable of. I'm nowhere near her level yet," Jaune said.

"What does Ice Queen have to do with anything," Qrow asked.

"She's the Winter Maiden," Jaune, Nimueh, Ruby, and Argent answered in unison.

Qrow sighed. "Of course, she is."

"Hey, how is Aunt Winter not the Winter Maiden here," Argent asked. "Mom beat her easily."

Ruby thought of it. "That's right. The Winter I know would have put up a much better fight. She didn't even try to use magic on me. That win shouldn't have been that easy. It shouldn't have been easy at all. Not against her."

"That's because Winter isn't the Winter Maiden," Glynda explained. "From what we've gathered, Fria is still alive."

"After all this," Jaune asked. "They must have her under enough security to keep out an Ice Dragon." Jaune's eyes widened. "An Ice Dragon. . . Ren, what's the status on the Grimm population in the area?"

"They're collecting outside of Mantle's walls. The Regime only has a few soldiers handling them, making sure they don't amass too large of a pack to overwhelm the walls. Their war with us is probably the only reason there aren't more soldiers dealing with them."

"Can you show me?"

"There are cameras on the walls," Blake began. "But we can't hack them. Atlas security protocols are too powerful."

"Especially since Cyborg reinforced them. Not even I can hack them without the possibility he can track us back here," Batman went.

Jaune looked at the computer before turning around. "Arie."

"Hm? Me," Argent asked as he pointed at himself. Jaune smiled at his son, the boy's eyes widening in realization. "Uh-uh. Uh-uh. No way," he said as he shook his head and hands desperately.

"Come on, kiddo. I know Winter made you do it."

"Yeah, and I HATED it! Do you realize how much of a headache it gives me?!"

"I know. I realize that. Still, Argent, you've seen just as much of this version of New Mantle... of Atlas as I have. Do you really think I can take on this Regime without help? We'll need their help. You're the only one who can do this. This guy pretty much said so," Jaune said as he pointed a thumb at Batman.

Argent sighed as he slumped over before looking up at his dad. "Sometimes I hate you."

"Hey, I'm your dad. I'd be weird if I didn't make you do something you didn't want to do every once in a while," Jaune said with a smirk. "Could be worse. I could have you do Nimueh's chores when we get home."

"Bad idea! We never taught him to cook," Nimueh went. Argent stuck his tongue at him mom, the beauty sticking it back at her son.

Argent then sighed in defeat before walking up to the computer.

"Are you sure about this," Batman asked.

"Just watch."

Argent closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Everyone watched as his entire body began to glow.

"Is that his Semblance," Nora asked.

"Yeah. Aura Enhancement," Jaune said.

"Enhancement? Like your Amplification," Velvet asked.

"No. Not at all. My Semblance amplifies the Aura of everyone else, strengthening their Semblance in the process. For example, if I used it on you, you'd probably be able to copy the moves of that lunatic, Tyrian."

"Not gonna try that."

"Argent's Semblance allows him to enhance his physical abilities. People believe he can only have Super Strength, but that's only because that's his favorite way to use his Semblance. He can also enhance the strength in his legs to give him super speed that could help him keep pace with Speed Semblances. He even outran Ruby."

"He WHAT," Nora went as she looked at Ruby.

"He did," she said with a shrug. "You have no idea how proud I was when he did. Too bad doing that makes him nauseous."

"It used to be that enhancing his strength made his arms hurt like they were being torn off, or so he said, but he's practiced so much with Strength Enhancement that he has no side effects," Jaune explained. "But it's not just strength and speed he can enhance. He can enhance his durability," Jaune began as Argent's Aura glowed bright before it began to travel up his body. "His sense of smell," he said as it passed Argent's nose. "His eyesight," he said as it passed his closed eyes. "And in this case..." Argent's Aura was now surrounding his head before it vanished.

"His intellect."

Argent's eyes shot open.

At first, he was typing at normal speeds before he gradually began to type faster. Then, his fingers were moving at such speeds that they were leaving afterimages. Then, it looked as if he had multiple arms typing away.

"Whoa," Nora went.

"Incredible," Velvet went.

"Such precision," Glynda went.

Batman watched the boy. 'It's like watching Barry type,' Bruce thought.

---

Meanwhile, Cyborg was updating the security measures of Atlas's mainframe when the screen turned red. He looked up to see a warning:

SECURITY PROTOCOL BREACHED. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED

"Finally showing your face, Bats? Alright," Cyborg said as he cracked his fingers. "Let's play," he said before he separated his fingers to make more before he began to type away.

---

Argent was typing away before, moving like a machine. Everyone was watching in awe when the computer flashed WARNING.

"What's going on," Glynda went.

"Cyborg," Batman went. "He's trying to counter Argent."

"That might be bad," Coco said as she walked up. "If the kid messes up, the Regime might find us."

"Then you'd better hope he doesn't mess up," Jaune said.

"Well, aren't you ca-" Coco began before she looked at Jaune. "Wow, that is one concerned looking dad. You grow up to be pretty scary looking, Jaune."

"Just imagine what I'd be like if you pissed me off," Jaune said, not taking his eyes off of Argent.

---

Cyborg was typing away, his many robotic fingers moving at blurring speeds when Flash walked in. "Hey, Victor."

"Don't talk to me, Flash," Cyborg gritted out.

Flash noticed the tone and walked up to Cyborg. "What is it?"

"Bats recruited a damned monster. Whoever they are, they're good." Flash looked up and was shocked to see the code on the screen. "Batman has someone who can hack at YOUR level? Is that the power of these Semblances?"

"Don't know, but it looks like they're runnin' out of gas. It's getting easier."

---

Jaune noticed that Argent fumbled a bit and ran up to his son. "Arie! You okay, kiddo?" Jaune's eyes widened when he saw Arie beginning to pant, as well as a drop of blood stream slowly down his nose. "Arie, stop! You've done enough!"

"No. I can do it. I just... need an Amp."

"Arie-"

"I can do it, dad! I just... need your help. We're... a team... aren't we?"

Jaune stared at his son, clenched his teeth and tightened his grip hard enough to draw blood. "DAMMIT," he went as he placed his hand on Argent's head, activating his Semblance. As soon as he did, Argent worked faster.

---

"WHAT THE HELL," Cyborg went.

"What is it?!"

"They got a second wind! No, it's like they activated the damned turbo! I can't-"

ACCESS DENIED. UNKNOWN USER LOCKED OUT OF SYSTEM

"NO! DAMMIT," Cyborg roared as he smashed his fists on the keyboard.

Flash was shocked. Cyborg just lost at hacking.

---

"ARIE," Jaune went as he caught his son, the boy panting heavily.

"ARIE," Nimueh and Ruby went in unison as they wan up next to the father and son.

"What's wrong with him," Nimueh yelled.

"Just... seriously... tired," Argent panted, looking like he had a fever.

Jaune placed his hand on the boy's forehead. "He's burning up." Jaune immediately created a block of ice and placed it on Argent's forehead.

"Ooh, that's nice," Argent sighed contently.

"Is this what happens when you enhance your intellect," Nimueh asked in concern.

"Jaune, what were you thinking," Ruby yelled.

"I'm thinking I need to have a talk with Winter when we get back," Jaune said angrily. "She told me she had him enhance his intellect to teach him how to hack just in case another Watts ever showed up. She never mentioned how it nearly put my kid in the damned medical ward!"

"Ow," Argent went as he grabbed his head. "Please don't yell," he said weakly.

"Sorry, kiddo."

Ren then ran up with something. "Here, this should help with his fever."

"Thanks, Ren," Jaune said as he took the drink without looking at it and gave it to Argent who began to drink. "Wait. Oh, crap!"

"BLEEEEEEAGH," Argent went. "Ow."

"REN," Nora went as she yanked the "drink" away from Jaune. "We're trying to make the poor cutie feel better, not poison him!"

"I already told you there's a lot of health benefits to algae."

"Enough," Glynda went as she walked up and picked up the still panting boy. "I'll take him to the medical ward. He can recover properly there."

Jaune stood up and nodded. "Thank you, Glynda."

"Goodness, Jaune. You are far too reckless for my own liking. I'm beginning to see that I shouldn't have used my career as an excuse. I should have stayed and helped you raise this boy properly," Glynda said as she walked away.

"I RAISED MY KID JUST FINE," Nimueh yelled.

"Ow," Argent went, making Nimueh cover her mouth.

"Sorry, sweetie," she went sheepishly.

Jaune sighed. "She really is Glynda. The one back home would have said the exact same thing. Except she would have slapped me."

"Before or after she kisses you," Ruby asked offhandedly.

"After," Jaune answered quickly. He then realized what he did. "Aw, dammit."

"Hu-hu-huuu. We got ourselves a playboy," Coco teased. Jaune groaned as he facepalmed, feeling the daggers Ruby was glaring at him.

"Argent was able to successfully hack the Atlas mainframe. We now have full access to the security, including the cameras," Batman said as he typed at the computer. "He's very talented. You should be proud."

"Don't worry. I am," Jaune said as he walked up to the computer.

"You wanted to see outside the wall, right?"

"Bingo." Batman typed away. Jaune then whistled. "Ren, what was that about Regime soldiers keeping the Grimm packs under control?"

The entire Insurgency was shocked.

"S-So many," Ilia said.

"There's an entire army's worth," Blake said.

"If those things break through, Mantle will be finished," Velvet went.

Jaune leaned forward, analyzing the video.

"Was this what you were hoping to see," Batman asked.

Jaune didn't answer. He just kept staring until he lifted a finger. "There."

Everyone looked to see Jaune pointing at what just looked like another Grimm to them.

"There, there, and there," he pointed.

"What," Qrow asked.

Ruby then realized it immediately. "The Alphas."

"Yeah. I need to Conquer those Grimm."

"And then the entire army will be under your control," Batman asked.

"Either that... or I get torn apart by an entire ocean of Grimm who don't accept me as their king."

"WHOA, WHAT," Nora went.

"JAUNE, THAT IS FAR TOO HIGH OF A RISK TO TAKE," Ren yelled.

"Got any better ideas," Jaune asked his teammates.

"How about one where we DON'T lose you a SECOND TIME," Nora yelled.

"Nora, if what you said about Superman is true, we're going to need an army to take him on. This is the best bet we've got," he said as he motioned at the monitor.

"No." He looked at Ren. "It's too risky. We dragged you into this war. We shouldn't force you to take such a drastic measure for us."

"It's the best move I can think of." Jaune then heard a weapon being prepared and looked to see Nora with her hammer.

"If you try to go out into that horde, I will break your legs. I lost you once. I'm not going through that again."

Jaune then heard guns being cocked and looked to see Ren with his Storm Flowers. "Et tu, brother?"

"I couldn't save you from your despair in this universe. I couldn't console you. Help you deal with the grief of losing Pyrrha. That's why you were seduced by the Regime. I won't fail you a second time, especially not with you being a father."

"We WILL protect you this time," Ren and Nora said in unison, the two prepared to fight Jaune if they needed to.

Jaune looked at his two teammates before he sighed. "Ren, Nora, we need these forces if we want to beta the Regime."

"Not at the cost of losing you again," Nora said.

Jaune looked at the younger counterparts of his family, seeing that they weren't about to back down. "Ren, Nora, I know I can't convince you with words, but thing long and hard." Jaune then released a wave of killing intent and bloodlust, a trick that Raven taught him for interrogations. That alone made everyone but Batman, Ozpin, Ruby, and Nimueh tremble. Jaune only made it worse when he expanded his wings. "Do you really think you have a chance at beating me?" He then grew his second pair of wings, plus the tails of a silverfish. Then, he summoned his most hated yet intimidating feature yet, his Deathstalker tail.

Ren and Nora were both shaking, terrified of the being before them, forgetting in that moment that it was Jaune in front of them. All they saw was the most powerful Grimm they had ever seen. A monster of true power and terror. Something that made the Nuckelavee look like a wounded Beowolf pup in comparison. Nothing seemed more powerful in their eyes at that moment.

Then, Ren used his Semblance to calm him and Nora down before they regained their steely gaze. "Yes," they went in unison.

Jaune stared at them and sighed. "Sorry about this."

"Sorry about wh-" Nora began.

Jaune then screamed. Since Nora and ren were right in front of him, they took the full brunt of the attack, falling to their knees, looking tired.

"What... just happened," Nora slowly asked

"So... tired," Ren said.

"Apathy." The two looked up at Ozpin, who was just fine, holding his cane in front of him. He then turned towards Jaune. "So, you really do have the power of all Grimm. You may very well be just as great a threat as Salem herself."

"Not sure how to take that," Jaune said. He then turned towards Batman. "What the fastest route to that sector."

"Northern passageway. You'll come across a cross section with four different paths. Take the second one to the left and you'll exit the second manhole. You'll be right at the wall."

"Thank you. Ruby, can you stay behind for Argent's sake?"

"Really? You're asking me if I'm willing to stay behind for my own son? Sometimes you really, really, REALLY make me want to shoot you, Arc."

"Coulda just said yes," Jaune went with a shrug. He then looked at Nimueh. "Ready, partner?"

"Always." She then turned to a sword, Jaune catching and holstering her.

"Jaune," Blake called, getting his attention. "Sun should be in that area. If you need help, he'll be there for you."

Jaune chuckled. "He always is."

"Also," Blake began. "There's... reports... of someone else in the area."

"Someone else?"

Blake looked down sadly. When she did, she saw Nora looking up at her. Despite being affected by the Apathy Scream, she still had enough strength to look at Blake with pleading eyes, begging her not to say anything. Blake sighed. "Hopefully, it's no one you'll have to deal with. Please, for everyone's sake, come back alive."

Jaune smiled. "No promises."

Blake sighed. "You grew up to become a wiseass."

"Guilty as charged. But don't worry too much. After all... I'm the World's Strongest Huntsman." They then watched as Jaune's legs began to transform. "As well as the new King of the Grimm." He then disappeared, followed by a howl of wind.

"He's fast," Batman said. "But Flash is still faster, unfortunately."

"Why... didn't... you... stop him," Ren struggled to say.

Batman looked down at the monitor sadly before looking right into Ren's eyes. "Because he might be the only way for us to win this war."

A soldier was patrolling the streets. He then heard a rumbling and looked to see a manhole rumble. The soldier aimed his rifle. When the manhole stopped shaking, the soldier went for his communicator to report the suspicious activity.

Then, the manhole he didn't realize he was standing on sent him flying into the air.

Jaune jumped out of the sewer, caught the lid, dropped it back on the hole, then caught the soldier by the ankle. Before the soldier could react, Jaune punched him in the solar plexus, knocking the unfortunate fool out. Jaune then sniffed the air. He couldn't smell anyone, nor could he sense any nearby emotions.

The area was abandoned.

"Guess no one wants to live near a wall swarming with Grimm."

Jaune saw a broken window on a high floor, jumped into it, and stripped the soldier. "Uh-oh."

"Oooh, she's hot," Nimueh went.

"Don't even think about it. Mind destroying the armor?"

"Making sure she can't call for backup when she comes to? Smart."

"Nimueh, we've done this plenty of times before."

"Jaune, you known none of the gangsters we took down had gear this sophisticated or henchmen who are your type."

Jaune snickered. "Please, this girl is a four compared to you."

"Ooh, flattery. Careful, Jaune. That'll get you everywhere with your wife."

"Ooh."

"Alright, we've flirted enough. Put me on her gear." Jaune did as Nimueh said, placing the blade on the pile of gear, watching it glow before it vanished into thin air. "So, are we going to just leave her there?"

"Eh, she'll be fine."

"She's in her underwear."

Jaune looked around and saw there were clothes in the room, now realizing it was a bedroom. "They either rushed out... or were forced out." Jaune quickly dressed the woman before flying out of the building.

He latched onto the wall using the physiology of a Spider Grimm. He climbed up to near the top of the wall. He then grew Beowolf ears. "I hear two."

"Not too much. Still, better make sure you're not seen."

"I've been wanting to try this one out."

The soldier walked around when he stopped. "Superman!" His partner turned and looked to see it really was him.

Both soldiers saluted. "It's an honor, High Chancellor," they yelled in unison.

Superman didn't respond. The soldiers looked at each other, confused. Then, they felt a finger on their necks.

ZAP

The two fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Spider Illusion Casting. Not bad," Nimueh said.

"They seem to REALLY respect this Superman if he was the first thing they saw."

"That was still risky, Jaune. Spiders can only make people see what's on their thoughts. What if they were empty headed morons?" Jaune cracked his knuckles. "Oh, yeah."

Jaune destroyed their uniforms, too. He then remembered the first time he ever met Salem and pointed his hand at the guards. He webbed them up with the same substance Salem used on Yang, tying the two up securely.

"They're still probably catch a cold, you know."

"We'll send them some hot soup."

"Or one of Ren's smoothies."

"Or that." Jaune looked over the other side of the wall and whistled. "Good thing this wall is obviously fortified. If these guys got into the city, it'd be overrun in no time. I doubt even this Superman character could stop a force like this."

"Think you can Conquer them?"

"Well, Salem's still alive in this time."

"And you know this how?"

Jaune then looked up towards the sky. In that moment, he saw her eyes looking back at him. "I've felt her the moment we reached this wall. She's alive, alright."

"Then we'd better make sure she doesn't find out about you."

"Nimueh... it's WAY too late for that," he said, actually FEELING her gaze on him. In their minds, they were face to face, Jaune standing like a king while Salem was sitting like a queen, the two basically challenging each other's royalty.

Jaune then looked down, searching for the Alphas. "Let's see if these guys prefer me over her." Jaune then jumped over the wall, falling towards the waves of Grimm.

Then, he was slammed into the wall. "THE HELL?!" He looked down to see he was pinned to the wall by what looked like a giant black staple.

"Well, well. What have we here?" Jaune looked up, expecting to see Yellow Lantern, or someone like him, since this was like his power. Jaune's eyes then widened in shock and horror at what he saw.

"A new recruit for the Corp," asked... Black Lantern Pyrrha, the zombie chuckling darkly.

---

Glynda was nursing Agrnet, ringing out the rag before placing it back on the sleeping boy's forehead.

"How is he?"

Glynda looked to see Ruby walk into the room, grabbing a chair and sitting next to her. The two looked down at the boy, still a bit red, but sleeping peacefully.

"He'll be alright. It's no different from having a cold."

"Chuu," Argent went lightly, the action barely a sneeze.

It still made both women giggle. "No different from a cold."

The two were quiet as they watched over the child.

"I... wasn't exactly honest."

"Hm," Ruby went as she looked at her former mentor.

"I said to Jaune... YOUR Jaune that I couldn't see us in a relationship. That I couldn't see that possibility."

". . . You were lying, weren't you."

Glynda looked at Argent. "Once upon a time... before he was corrupted by that vile Regime... I found Mr. Arc to be... quite dashing, actually," Glynda said with a blush. "He was always my favorite student."

"Really," Ruby asked with a giggle.

"And why is that so funny," Glynda asked.

"Well, I always thought Pyrrha was your favorite. Or maybe Wiess. Or Blake. But Jaune?"

Glynda shook her head. "We all had our favorites. Oobleck thought Ms. Schnee was the best student due to her grades. Port thought it was Ms. Valkyrie because 'she had gusto'. Ms. Nikos was Ozpin's favorite, along with you, of course. We all had our favorites for a reason."

"Well, what was your reason for Jaune being your favorite?"

Glynda giggled. "Because... as silly as this sounds... he actually listened to me."

"Huh?"

"Mr. Arc always took my advice to heart. Always tried to improve himself. He even asked me for some private tutoring some days. He was my most diligent and self-improving student. In contrast to students like you and your team, who deliberately disobeyed me, getting only slaps on the wrist from Ozpin."

"Urgh."

Glynda giggled before looking back sadly at Argent. "I went to look after I put him to bed," she said as she pushed back a strain of hair off her face.

"Huh?"

Glynda glanced her Ruby. "Your universe. I found the days I spent in a relationship with him." Glynda sighed. "I couldn't believe how happy I was. Despite being the Headmistress of a newly built Beacon, I found the time to be in a happy, healthy relationship. And to think, it was with my former student, who made a name for himself as one of Remnant's heroes." Glynda slumped down. "I can't believe I threw that away. . . No, I can believe it. He was a grand Huntsman. One I can't even begin to describe how proud of I am. I? I was the Headmistress of Beacon. We both had too much responsibility to be happily together. At least, that was my excuse."

Glynda looked at Argent, the boy adjusting to sleep on his side, looking even cuter as he snoozed away. She smiled. "To think, had I not made that decision... I could have been this one's mother." Glynda gently traced her fingers across Argent's cheek. She was surprised when he quickly grabbed her hand but smiled when he held it like it was a think of comfort. "I think I would have liked that, being a mother, especially to a child as special as this."

Ruby cleared her throat. "Um, Ms. Goodwitch? May I remind you that this is MY son? As in I'M his mother, a.k.a. the woman who BIRTHED him?"

"Oh! Apologies, Ms. Rose," Glynda went as she quickly yanked her hand out of Argent's.

"MRS. SCHNEE-Rose," Ruby went.

Glynda stared at Ruby, her eyes hidden by the shine of her glasses. "Come again?"

"Ah."

"Come to think of it, my SISTER kept saying she raised HER SON just fine. And Argent seemed to be addressing HER as his mother. We may look human, but we Spirits can't give birth. Mrs. Schnee-Rose, care to explain," Glynda went as she turned towards Ruby and crossed her legs, looking like the teacher Ruby knew and feared.

"Uuh... well... You see..." Ruby cleared her throat. "About that-"

"HOW COULD YOU LET HIM LEAVE!"

"Oh, thank the gods. Saved by the Nora," Ruby said as she got up to run away.

"This conversation isn't over, Mrs. Schnee-Rose," Glynda called.

Ruby ran and saw Nora arguing with Blake.

"Nora, you saw how powerful he is. He can handle himself."

"He shouldn't have to do that! He shouldn't even be here! We dragged him into OUR mess!"

"A mess we need help cleaning up, Nora. You have to realize that," Ilia said.

"What I realize is that we just sent a good man out into a nightmare without telling him spit! He doesn't know what's out there! Sure, he's strong! But what if he... What if he runs into HER," Nora asked, taking a deep breath to make sure she didn't cry.

Blake looked away in shame.

"You didn't think of that, did you?"

"Run into who?" They looked to see Ruby walk forward. "What's wrong?"

Nora looked at Blake, who was looking down. Nora shook her head in disappointment before walking up. "Ruby... when Superman and his goons came to our world, they brought all sorts of nasty stuff. A pill that makes people as strong as Supes, which caused Jaune to abandon Crocea Mors."

"He abandoned his sword?! That would make my Jaune FURIOUS!"

"Glad to hear that. But that's not all. They also a rope that makes you tell the truth, a gas that makes you see what scares you most... and rings."

"Rings? Oh, like what that guy in yellow was using against us? That wasn't a Semblance? It was a weapon?"

"Y-Yeah. But... it's not just in yellow."

"Huh?"

"There's a... a black one."

"Nora, are you alright," Ruby asked in worry.

"I'm fine," she said with a cracking voice. Then... "No. No, I'm not," she sniffled as she wiped a few tears off. "The black rings... are the most horrible thing I've ever seen. They... bring the dead back. . . As these horrible, rotting monsters."

Ruby's eyes widened in shock and horror. "What?"

"Nora, stop," Blake pleaded.

"Ruby... Pyrrha's a Black Lantern."

Ruby's eyes shot open. "W-What?"

Nora then began to sob. "Pyrrha... is an UNDEAD MONSTER BECAUSE OF WHAT THE REGIME BROUGHT WITH THEM TO OUR WORLD," Nora sobbed.

Ruby was horrified. "Pyrrha's a what?"

"I'm sorry, Ruby." She looked at Blake. "I wanted to say something, but I just couldn't."

"Blake... how could you," Ruby cracked, making Blake's ears droop even more. "Jaune is strong. I know that better than anyone. But... not even he can..." Ruby turned and walked away.

"Ruby? Ruby, where are you going," Blake called.

"To save my son's old man! Besides, I'm tired of everyone putting the world on his shoulders. Even heroes need people to save them." Before anyone could say anything, Ruby used her Semblance, but not before Nora jumped onto her, the two speeding away.

---

Jaune looked up at Pyrrha in absolute shock. "P-Pyrrha?"

"Hmm? You know me?" She laughed. "Of course, you do. The Regime HAS been using me as a martyr for their little agenda. How does it feel to be in front of your boss's propaganda?"

"Propaganda?" Jaune then felt a rage boiling inside of him. "He's been... using you... for propaganda?" Had he looked down, he would have seen the Grimm look up... and even a few of them bow.

"You're not very smart, but you are admittedly cute."

"That he is." Jaune looked to see another creature in Pyrrha's uniform float down next to her. "Nice face. Nice body. Oozing power. He'd make a fine recruit. And he seems plenty angry. Mind if I take a bite, love? Turn him into us?"

"I caught him; I bite him."

"Ooh, you're no fun, dear."

"You can bite the next one, Tock."

"Fair enough, love. Hm? Say, he looks familiar."

"How so?"

"He looks like your old boyfriend."

Pyrrha then looked angry. "Don't bring him up! He was taken from by that b*** Superman! I WILL get him back! I swear it!"

"Ha-hah! I love you, dearie! Hm? Oh, he seems angry."

Pyrrha looked to see Jaune's eyes were shadowed. Still, she felt a powerful surge, her construct beginning to crack. Pyrrha enforced it.

"What is WRONG with the place? I'm working for a tyrant, Mantle is a damned police state that would horrify Winter, and I'm fighting against my own family. And now... I see THIS?!"

The construct cracked even more, nearly shattering, causing Pyrrha to put more power into it, holding onto her arm for leverage. "What is this?!"

"What's wrong," Tock yelled.

"He's... strong!"

Tock look at Pyrrha before looking at Jaune. "Not strong enough, I'm betting," she said before she created a construct of a beartrap that chomped onto Jaune, but he didn't look affected at all.

"I won't allow this to stand. I will... PUT AN END TO THIS!" Jaune then roared, the sheer volume of his angered roar making the entire city shake.

---

Wonder Woman turned towards it. "By Hera, what was that?"

"Nothing good, I'm betting," Yang said.

Weiss and Winter were walking through a corridor to reach an airship.

"That came from the wall," Winter said.

"The Insurgency is problem enough. We don't need the Grimm to break through," Weiss said as she followed her sister into the ship.

---

Tock and Pyrrha were having trouble keeping Jaune in check.

"How strong is he," Tock yelled.

"Those pills are even more impressive than I thought! But it's not enough to stop us!"

"Strong," Jaune asked, getting the Black Lanterns attention. "Pills? You think I'm string because of a damned pill?! No. These are my powers. Power forced upon me, but my power all the same. And you have no idea... how POWERFUL I TRULY AM!" Jaune then broke out of the constructs, his two pairs of wings spreading majestically yet terrifyingly. When he did that, the Grimm began to roar, many of them going wild... as if they were cheering.

Pyrrha shook her hand after Jaune's breakout caused her arm to feel a bit of pain. When she looked up, she was met by Jaune's fist, sending her flying.

"Now is that any way to treat a lady, mate?!"

Jaune then caught a morning star aimed at the back of his head by its neck.

"Absolutely not. But I'm far too pissed to care," Jaune said as he glared at Tock.

"Buggar." Jaune then sent her crashing into the wall with a punch.

Jaune was then shot in the head, the man wincing in pain before looking and blocking the next shot with his wing. Pyrrha then appeared above his wing and tried to stab him, but Jaune was able to bend back to avoid the stab. He tried to backflip kick her, but Pyrrha was able to kick off of his shin.

She flew around and created a sword, trying to slash Jaune. He countered by growing out claws and clashing with her, the two face to face.

"Oh, you're good," she hissed in his face, giving what Jaune disturbingly knew was a smile.

Then, she stopped struggling, her eyes widening. "I... know those eyes." Jaune's eyes widened. He didn't even react when Pyrrha softly touched his cheek. "Those eyes... they're changed... but the same. . . Jaune. It's you... isn't it."

Jaune didn't respond.

"What happened to you. You look like a Grimm. . . Like..." Her eyes shot open in rage as she grabbed Jaune's beard. "YOU'RE NOT HERS! YOU DON'T BELONG TO HER! YOU'RE MINE! ALL MINE!"

"What are you-"

"YOU DON'T BELONG TO SALEM! I WON'T LET HER HAVE YOU!"

"You know about Salem?!"

"YOU'RE NOT HERS! YOU'RE MINE! MINE! MINE," she screamed madly as she shook Jaune's head by his beard.

She then felt a hand on her arm. "Actually, he's mine."

She looked over in rage, only to get a fist to the face that sent her flying, the undead lantern barely skidding to a halt to look up in fury.

Before her, next to her Jaune, was a beautiful woman with long black hair, blue eyes, and worst of all, a dynamite body. "Please reframe from touching my fiancé like that."

"Fiancé," Pyrrha screeched.

"Fiancé," Jaune asked in confusion.

Nimueh then held up her left hand, showing a beautiful ring.

Jaune looked at her with a blank expression. "You stole that from my back pocket just now, didn't you."

Nimueh stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"This is NOT the way I wanted to propose."

"Hey, what can I say? I'm impatient. Destruction waits for no one, babe," Nimueh said with a shrug.

Pyrrha then roared in rage before she charged at the couple, ready to tear them to shreds.

Pyrrha created a chainsaw, ready to slice Nimueh in half. Her rage grew when Jaune wrapped his fingers around hers. She was so angry that she didn't even notice how Nimueh began to glow.

Pyrrha only came back to her "senses" when her chainsaw clashed with a beautiful sword.

Her eyes widened and glowed red with rage. "A SWORD?! YOUR HEART WAS STOLEN FROM ME BY A SWORD?!"

"It's a long story," Jaune said.

"Filled with heartache, adventure, tragedy, and love," Nimueh said as she appeared in her spirit form, hugging Jaune's neck while spinning her finger as she spoke.

Pyrrha roared as she flew away and covered the sky with her swords. She then swung her fist down, the swords flying at Jaune. He began to rapidly slash the blades away, only a lucky few hitting him, but he still shattered most. He then swung his arm, creating a wind wave that destroyed the rest of them.

"Pyrrha, enough! This isn't you! Hell, I'm not even your Jaune!"

"YES, YOU ARE! YOU MAY BE FROM A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE-" That surprised Jaune, the man learning Pyrrha knew about multiverses. "BUT ALL JAUNE'S ARE MINE! I LOVED YOU BEFORE ANYONE ELSE! I DESERVE YOU! I WON'T LOSE YOU TO ANYONE! NOT WEISS!"

"Don't have to worry about her," Jaune called.

"NOT RUBY!"

"That's a bit more complicated!"

"NOT SALEM!"

"That one's EVEN MORE complicated!"

"AND NOT TO SAME DAMNED SWORD!"

"We're engaged," Nimueh called.

"SHUT UP," Pyrrha roared as she created a black meteor.

"Whoa," Jaune went.

"Meh," Nimueh went.

"Really? Meh?"

"Remember who created me."

"Riiiight."

Before the meteor hit him, Jaune slashed the construct, black light shattering. Pyrrha was just floating there. Without lips, it was hard for Jaune to tell what she was thinking. Then... something closed around him. "What the-"

"Tock! Stay out of this!"

"Sorry, love. He seems to be a bit much for you. But nothin' a good ol' Iron Maiden can't deal with."

The sound of the ancient torture device activating was heard.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Calm down, love. Now... we can make him one of us. Then, he'll be all yours."

Pyrrha looked at the device. "He'll be... all mine. . . I like that."

"I knew you wo- Urgh?! What?!" Tock grabbed her arm, putting more juice into the ring. "Bloody beast of a man! No one's Aura is that powerful!"

"A bit of advice," Jaune went from within the maiden. He then jabbed his hands out and began to pull it apart before the construct shattered. "Never underestimate an Arc."

Pyrrha looked at him in awe. "He's so much more powerful now."

Jaune smirked before he heard roaring. He looked down to see the Grimm roaring up at him, some thrashing about, pacing, or patiently looking up at him. Like they were waiting for him to come down and challenge them... for the role of dominance.

"Honey?" Jaune looked at the Sword of Destruction. "Let me deal with these two. We need that army. Show them who the king is around here."

"You sure, Nimueh?"

The sword glowed before it took a human shape, Nimueh placing her hand on Jaune's cheek. "You don't trust me, partner?"

Jaune smiled at her before grabbing her hand. "Let me just give you some luck." His hand then began to glow before Nimueh's entire body began to shine.

"Leave some for yourself, babe," Nimueh giggled.

"I can handle those guys without Aura just fine." Jaune then looked at Pyrrha sadly, the undead girl seething with rage. "Please... save her."

Nimueh kissed Jaune's cheek. "Trust me, hero. I've got this."

Jaune nodded before he retracted his wings, falling towards the flood of Grimm.

Nimueh smiled down at him before she sighed and nonchalantly tilted her head to avoid Pyrrha's spear. She then opened one eye to look at her, raising an eyebrow as she did so.

Pyrrha was still in her stance as her ring created a new spear for her. "I will BREAK you. Shatter you into dust."

"You break me? I doubt that." Nimueh then threw a back fist, her attack shattering a black crocodile. Tock then descended behind Nimueh.

"It's two against one, love. It's not a fair fight."

"Maybe not. Should I wear a blindfold or something? Have an arm and leg vanish? I can do that, you know."

"JUST SHUT UP AND DIE," Pyrrha roared as she created... Penny's swords. She even had them spin to create a laser, while Tock had missiles form around her.

Nimueh glanced at the two before she shrugged. "Bring it."

---

Ruby's Semblance slammed through the manhole, Ruby and Nora landing in front of it.

"Nora, why did you jump onto me just now?"

"I want to save Jaune, too!"

Ruby sighed. "I can handle saving my idiot. You should have stayed behind."

"No way! He was MY idiot first!"

"Technically, I met him first," Ruby said with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, but you were only friends. We were teammates. Family. Besides... I'm tired of standing around and not doing anything to help or save Jaune. I had a chance to do it before. If I did something, he might not have been dumb enough to join the Regime. We dragged you into our problem. The least we can do is help you. Besides, you said it yourself: even heroes need saving sometimes."

Ruby looked into Nora's smiling face before she sighed. "Fine. Just don't make me regret this."

"No promises," Nora went with a happy-go-lucky smile and salute.

Ruby giggled. "You never change, do you?"

"Nope! So, where do you think Jaune is?"

"Just follow the explosions."

"Huh?" BOOM "Like that?"

Ruby looked towards the sound. "Exactly," she said as she saw something fly towards the sky. Ruby then used her Semblance again to get herself and Nora at the top of the wall. Thye two landed safely upon it.

"Wow, you got awesome with your Semblance," Nora yelled.

"Thanks. Fifteen years will do that to you," Ruby smiled.

The two then heard another boom and saw something fly off. Then, Nimueh floated up, her back to the two.

"Nimueh," Ruby called.

She turned to look at them. "Ruby?! What are you doing here?!"

"We're here to help you!"

"Help m- YOU LEFT MY KID ALONE?!"

"He's safer with Glynda! . . . ALSO, HE'S MY SON!"

"LAST TIME I CHECKED, I WAS THE ONE WHO RAISED HIM! HE'S BEEN CALLING ME MOM ALL HIS LIFE!"

"OH, DON'T YOU START WITH THAT CRAP!"

"I'M STARTING WITH THIS CRAP!" Nimueh was then slammed from behind by a giant shield, smashing her into the wall below Ruby and Nora.

"Your son?" Ruby and Nora looked up, their eyes widening. "Jaune had a child... WITH YOU?! YOU WOULD BETRAY ME IN SUCH A WAY, RUBY?!"

"Pyrrha. . . By the gods, what happened to you?"

Pyrrha chuckled darkly. "Like it? It's from a different universe like you are. The Black Lantern Corp Ring. It can bring the dead back to life. It brought me back, and now I'm able to right so many wrongs, like the fact that MY Jaune had a child with YOU!" Pyrrha then held up her arm, creating countless blades aimed at Ruby and Nora.

However... "Forgot about me," Nimueh went before punching Pyrrha in the face so hard that she flew into the sky.

Ruby stared up in shock at what she saw before realization hit her. "Nimueh, where's Jaune?!"

Thunderous howls were heard.

Ruby and Nora looked over the wall to see an ocean of Grimm.

"By the gods," Ruby went.

"It's even bigger than last we saw it," Nora said.

"How could your Jaune see this and NOT think something was wrong with this city?"

"Because Superman pinned the blame on the Insurgency."

Ruby gripped the wall angrily before looking for the roars. She then saw a now beaten-up Alpha Beowolf bowing before Jaune.

"Question answered~ Nora went in a singsong tone. "Still, its surreal to see Jaune standing in the middle of that many Grimm.\\

"Hey, Jaune's weird," Ruby said with a smile.

Nora looked between Jaune and Nimueh. "Which one should we help?" She then saw Jaune jump high into the sky before falling into another area of the wave of Grimm.

If she was able to see that far, she would have seen him standing before a Sphinx, the Alpha Grimm roaring at him as Manticores flew around it. Jaune smirked as he cracked his fists. "Here, kitty, kitty."

"Jaune can handle himself," Ruby said.

"WHAT?! He's up against an entire OCEAN of Grimm! How is he supposed to kill all of those by himself?!"

"He's not killing them. He's Conquering them."

"Huh?"

"You saw Jaune. He's not a normal Huntsman anymore. He doesn't just look like Salem. He IS her now. He's the new ruler of the Grimm."

"You mean OUR Jaune is THEIR boss now?!"

"Yeah. Only problem is that isn't evil. Most of the Grimm don't respect him like they did Salem, so he needs to beat or 'Conquer' the Alphas and MAKE them follow him. He can only do that by himself. If you or I jump into that mess, those things will tear us to shreds."

"So, we're helping Nimueh?"

Ruby groaned. "Yes, we're helping Nimueh."

"GOT IT COVERED," Nimueh called as she grabbed Tock's wrist when she tried to stab Nimueh from behind. She then spun the zombie around before tossing her into Pyrrha. "I think you two might want to deal with whoever's coming," Nimueh said as she pointed in a direction before flying towards the Lanterns.

"What did she mean by that," Ruby asked.

Nora turned around. "Oh, no."

Ruby looked, her eyes widening. "That's... MY ship."

"What," Nora went.

"That's my and Weiss's ship."

"Yours and Weiss's? I thought you were with Jaune? You two have a kid together, don't you?"

Ruby looked away and scratched her head nervously. "It's a... long and complicated story."

"That sounds like something worth listening to," Nora said before getting her grenade launcher ready. "Still, get ready."

Ruby sighed. "I really don't want to fight my wife."

"Wife? Okay, now the story is WAY more interesting. . . Is that why that cute mini-Jaune keeps calling Nimueh mom?"

"DAMN RIGHT," Nimueh called before slamming Tock into the wave of Grimm, the creatures piling onto her. Tock then burst out using a rocket construct that slammed into Nimueh, the two flying into the sky.

Ruby sighed. "Nora, I love you, especially with how well you treat Arie, but please don't start."

". . . I'm his favorite aunt, aren't I," Nora asked with a knowing smile. Ruby sighed, making Nora give a giant smile and a peace sign.

Ruby then prepared her rifle. "You ready?"

"You gotta ask?"

The two waited for the ship to get closer before Ruby heard a gunshot. She glanced in the direction before holding up Crescent Rose in time to block the bullet. When she lowered it, she saw her young counterpart walk up.

Regime Ruby lowered her gun to look at herself with wide eyes. "Wow. I grow up to be so... so..."

"Sexy? Cool? Hot," Nora asked.

"Uh, yeah. All of that." R. Ruby then held up her gun again. "But I can't believe I'm siding with the bad guys."

"Yeah. I can't believe it either," Ruby said as she looked at her younger self. "How could you join the Regime?!"

"Me?! I with the heroes!"

"Heroes?! Look down," Ruby said as she pointed at the wall.

R. Ruby looked before looking back at Ruby. "There are a lot of Grimm. So what? If the Insurgency wasn't fighting us, we'd be dealing with them."

"A lot of Grimm? There is an entire OCEAN of Grimm! Not even Salem brought this many when she attacked Atlas back in my time!"

"Salem attacked Atlas," R. Ruby asked.

"Yeah. And we lost. Bad. A lot of good people died, homes were destroyed, and we messed up. She brought a giant whale Grimm that brought a lot of Grimm, but that was nothing compared to this. Grimm are attracted to negativity! What the hell have you guys been doing to attract this many Grimm?! Not even the Great War history books talk about legions this big!"

"We're... we're fighting a war against the Insurgency!"

"You think a fight against a small group like the Insurgency could attract a herd this huge?! No. It would take an entire city full of negativity and a lot of time to attract this. Fear. Anger. Hatred. Greed. Depression. Hopelessness. How much of that has your Regime spread to attract this?"

"We're not spreading any of that! We're the good guys!"

"No. THAT is a good guy," Ruby said as she pointed just in time for Regime Ruby and Nora to see a Sphinx sent flying into the air before Jaune jumped up, grabbed it, and threw it back to the ground. He then grew wings and flew back down to it.

"How did you know he was going to show up at that moment," Nora asked.

"Okay, that was pure luck," Ruby whispered to Nora.

Regime Ruby ran over and looked over the wall in horror. "YOU'RE LETTING HIM FIGHT ALL THAT BY HIMSELF?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"He's more than strong enough to handle that."

R. Ruby pointed her gun at her older counterpart. "Now I KNOW I'm in the right! No way I would EVER let Jaune or ANY of my friends fight an impossible battle like that! ESPECIALLY Jaune! He's been through enough!"

Ruby aimed her gun at her younger self. "You have no idea how strong my Jaune is. If anyone can handle that, it's him."

"I don't believe you."

The sound of howling was heard. The three looked to see Jaune riding the Sphinx, fist pumped, while Manticores flew around and roared, as if informing their brethren of their new Alpha. The Sphinx then flew up, Jaune jumping off and landing in front of a sleuth of Ursa. Moments later, the largest of them all stepped forward, stood up tall, and roared.

"BRING IT, FLUFFY," Jaune said as he outstretched his arms, as he ready to grapple with the large Grimm.

"Okay, that was cool," R. Ruby said.

"Told ya he could handle it," Ruby said with a proud smirk.

"Still doesn't change that I see you as the bad guy."

Ruby sighed. "Alright." Ruby then turned Crescent Rose into a scythe. "Then let's go, already," she said as she pointed her weapon at her younger self.

Regime Ruby shot at Ruby, who merely just tilted her head and body. Ruby then used her Semblance to appear behind R. Ruby, who swung her scythe. Ruby easily blocked the swing before kneeing the shorter girl in the chin before smacking her away with her scythe.

R. Ruby skidded to a halt before shooting at Ruby, who continuously dodged using her Semblance before appearing at Regime's side. She then tripped the girl with her scythe before slamming her into the ground, pinning her with the blade.

"Why aren't you using your Semblance? Getting out of this should be easy using it," Ruby asked, Regime just looking away.

"It's because she can't," Nora called. "The Regime takes a pill that makes them as strong as Superman! She's supposed to be super strong and super tough, now!"

"Yeah. I am," R. Ruby said as she grabbed the blade of Ruby's scythe and flung the woman around. She tried to throw Ruby over the wall, only for the woman to use her Semblance to land next to Nora.

"The catch about the pill: it takes away our Aura, meaning we can't use our Semblance," Nora explained.

Ruby growled. "Our Semblances are what makes us who we are! How could you take something that takes away what makes us who we are?!"

R. Ruby stood back up and pointed her scythe. "Because we needed more power! If we were stronger, we could have prevented Pyrrha's death!"

Ruby looked furious. "Don't you DARE use her as an excuse! The Pyrrha I knew would have NEVER wanted this!"

"The Pyrrha you knew is long dead." Ruby glared towards the wall to see Black Lantern Pyrrha floating near her, pointing her ring. "And soon, you will join me. Then, Jaune will be with me, whom he truly belongs with."

"Ahem." Pyrrha glared behind her to see Nimueh, holding Tock by her throat, floating behind her. "You do know I'm still here, don't you?"

"I hate you."

"I get that a lot." Nimueh then smacked Pyrrha away, throwing Tock into her. "Especially from a certain silver eyed chick."

"Not the time, Nim."

"Probably not." Nimueh then flew after the Lanterns.

"She's strong," Nora said in awe.

"She's Jaune's partner," Ruby sighed.

"Jaune gets to have a partner that powerful?" Ruby looked at Regime. "If our Jaune had her, we could save so many lives. The Insurgency wouldn't stand a chance. Nora, we don't have to fight like this. Just help us make the world a better place."

"That's exactly what I'm doing, Ruby. A guy like Superman won't make the world better. He's no different from Salem!"

"He's a hero," R. Ruby yelled.

Roars were heard, followed by... trumpeting.

Ruby looked and smiled. "He's almost done."

"You can tell," Nora asked.

"Yeah."

"How?"

"I know him." Ruby then glanced at Regime. "And I thought you'd know better. If anything... I thought you might have been able to talk him out of this nonsense. You're supposed to be a Huntress, not a thug!"

"This is getting NOWHERE," Regime yelled as she stabbed her scythe into the ground, making the wall rumble, before firing away at Ruby. Ruby just moved to perfectly avoid the shots before firing. Her bullet then amazingly went down the barrel of Regime's Crescent Rose. When she pulled the trigger, the gun exploded.

"NO! MY BABY," Regime yelled.

Then, Ruby used her Semblance to circle around R. Ruby at enough speeds to make her rise as if she were being sucked into a tornado. Ruby then appeared above her counterpart, slammed Crescent Rose's blade into Regime's side, and spun around. She fell towards the ground before slamming her younger counterpart into the ground, unknowingly causing more cracks in the wall.

Regime Ruby struggled to get back up, only to cough when Ruby landed on her. She looked up to see the woman standing over her, her red hood fluttering beautifully. "Sorry, kid." Ruby then punched R. Ruby in the face, knocking her out.

"Okay. That... was SERIOUSLY awesome," Nora went.

"International 2nd Class Huntress," Ruby said with a smile.

"Niiiice. Wait, isn't Jaune a 1st Class?"

"Mm," Ruby went as she glanced at Nora.

Nora laughed nervously. "Sorry."

"NOT AS SORRY AS YOU'RE GOING TO BE!"

Ruby and Nora looked towards the yell, only for Ruby to be it point blank by a fire ball that sent her flying. She was able to skid to a halt, looking up to see who attacked her. "Oh, no."

Nora ran up to next to Ruby and stood by her side, getting her hammer read. "Well, Nim did say they were coming."

Walking towards them was a furious Weiss, still pointing her rapier at the heroes before kneeling down and checking on her partner. "Ruby, are you alright?" R. Ruby just groaned. Weiss growled before looking at Nora. "You've gone too far this time, Nora! You're under arrest for assaulting... assaulting. . ." Weiss's eyes widened when she saw Ruby as the beauty stood up.

"It's as I told you, Weiss," Winter said as she stepped forward. "That anomaly Cyborg told us about. Batman truly did drag alternate counterparts here."

"Ruby... what are you doing," Weiss asked.

"From the looks of things... fixing one hell of a mess."

"What," Weiss went.

"This is no time to talk, Weiss," Winter said as she drew her sword, Regime soldiers running in front of the sisters. "Nora Valkyrie of the Insurgency, Ruby Rose of the Insurgency, I'm placing the two of you under arrest for crimes against the Regime and the assault of an officer. Comply peacefully."

Ruby and Nora prepared their long-range weapons. "Not happening," the two said in unison.

"Very well. Non-lethal force only. We have questions for them. Their Auras will protect them anyway. Ready!" The soldiers stood at attention. "Aim!" The guns cocking was heard. "FI-"

A Beowolf pounced on a soldier, the man screaming as he was being slammed into the ground. Before the other two could react, they were pounced on as well.

"WHAT," Winter went. She then stabbed upward in time to kill a Beowolf, only for another was to smack her away.

"WINTER," Weiss went before she was tackled, the girl slamming into the wall. She groaned as she looked up to see a Beowolf try to grab her, only to roll out of the way and take her stance.

"BEOWOLVES," Nora went. She jumped in surprised when two more stood in front of her and Ruby, obviously protecting them as they roared defensively.

Ruby looked over the wall and chuckled. "Of course."

Nora looked over, too. "Whoa."

At the base of the wall stood Megoliaths. Beowolves climbed the great Grimm before forming ladders for other Beowolves to climb them, the Grimm easily scaling the walls in record time. Then, the sound of Nevermore screechings were heard. Nora looked up in time to see the great birds fly over the wall, Ursi jumping off and landing on incoming ships. The Manticores, led by the Sphynx, flew in and fought the remaining ships, the Teryx and Razorwings dealing with the approaching soldiers.

"How is this happening," Nora asked in awe.

"Because of him." Nora looked to see what Ruby meant and saw Jaune standing on the head of the Alpha Megoliath, leading the Grimm into war.

"Because of the King of Grimm."

The Beowolves began to flood the wall, lunging over the walls and running through the street. Soldiers tried to shoot them down, but they were quickly overrun, being slashed into buildings, slammed into the ground, or mauled before being carried away.

Winter was slashing the Beowolves into dust, Weiss stabbing one trying to attack Winter from behind. The sisters were now back-to-back as Winter called HQ.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! IT'S A CODE OMEGA! THE GRIMM ARE BREAKING THROUGH! REPEAT! THE GRIMM ARE-!" The wall began to rumble, the sisters losing their balance before Weiss looked over the edge.

"WINTER!"

Winter looked, her eyes widening. "By the gods. How did the wall get so frozen?"

A single spot of the wall was frozen solid, covered in cracks.

Winter then looked up. "Oh, no."

Weiss followed her gaze, her eyes widening. "Why... are the Grimm so organized now? Those Megoliaths look ready to-"

"SEND IN AS MUCH AIR SUPPORT AS POSSIBLE," Winter yelled. "ATTACK AT MY COORDINATES! KILL THE MEGOLIATHS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

"I'm already on it," Yellow Lanter said as he flew over Winter.

He flew over the waves of Grimm, smacking some of the lunging Sabyrs with a baseball bat. He was about to stab the Alpha Megoliath with a giant drill... when he was dropkicked in the face.

Hal shook his head, disoriented from the attack, before looking up. "You."

"Didn't learn from the last time we fought," Jaune asked, flapping his wings.

"Oh, I learned. I learned that you're too dangerous to hold back against. And even more dangerous to be left alive."

"So, you want to kill me, eh?"

Hal created a minigun. "You didn't give me a hard choice to make, monster."

Jaune's eyebrow twitched. "Monster? You're calling ME a monster? . . . I don't blame you. Anyone would call this monstrous," he said as he gestured to himself. "Still, it's nice to meet you, Pot. Name's Kettle. Have we met?"

"Smartass." He then fired.

Jaune flew up, avoiding the shots before growing a pair of Wyvern wings to go faster. He flew as fast as he could, realizing that he needed a bit more speed. He then Teryx wings below his Nevermore wings to go at Mach speed, breaking the sound barrier. Before Hal could react, he was punched in the face with enough force to slam him into the wall, making it crack even more.

Jaune then held his hands over his mouth as he gagged, holding in his need to vomit. "Now I know how Arie feels," he groaned.

"You think that's all it takes to beat me?!" Jaune looked up to see Hal floating above him, ready to create another construct. "I'M JUST GETTING STAR-" He was then struck by a red meteor.

Jaune looked at the now burning crater with wide, surprised eyes, blinking a few times before looking up. "NEO?!"

The Red Lantern floated down, looking down at the hero. She then held up her ring. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, the ring constructed.

"Uh... someone who doesn't want to piss you off?"

GOOD ANSWER, she said with her ring. She then looked at the wall. ARE YOU TRYING TO BREAK DOWN THAT WALL?

"Is that a problem?"

DEPENDS. ARE YOU PLANNING ON DESTROYING THIS CESSPOOL OF A CITY OR ARE YOU AFTER THAT BASTARD, SUPERMAN?

"Honestly, I'm just here to this Superman guy. That's the mission."

Neo looked down at Jaune before looking at the wall. She then looked to see Yellow Lantern burst out of the crater. FINE. JUST MAKE SURE THAT BASTARD SUFFERS.

Jaune sighed. "No promises."

Neo glanced at Jaune before she glared at the incoming Lantern.

"Hey, Neo." She looked at Jaune. "No offense... but you were cuter in your old outfit," Jaune said with a genuine smile.

Neo blushed before she looked angry again. DON'T TRY TO FLIRT WITH ME, OLD MAN. She then flew away, creating a giant rapier that stabbed into a shield that Hal created, the two beginning to fight.

Jaune sighed. "Man, that's surreal. And for HER to ask ME not to flirt? You were the flirty one when we dated, Neopolitan. Always teasing and messing with me. It's a miracle I never had a kid with that woman. Now then..."

Jaune placed his fists on top of each other and placed them in front of his mouth. He then took a deep breath and blew, making a trumpeting sound. A trumpet that sounded exactly like the roar of a Megoliath.

When he did, the Megoliaths roared before they charged. Various airships tried to attack, but Nevermores, Teryxes, and Razorwings got in their way. Winter tried to prepare a Dust Firebomb, only for it to be destroyed by a shot from Ruby.

Then, the Megoliaths smashed through the walls, trumpeting in victory as the Grimm came pouring in.

Jaune jumped off the back of the Alpha Megoliath, looking around as his Grimm flooded the streets, running over and knocking out soldiers, ripping robots to pieces, and picking up scared civilians to place the terrified and confused people into safe buildings. The people were obviously more confused when the Grimm were actually protecting the buildings, making sure they weren't caught in the crossfire, instead of trying to eat and tear them to pieces.

Jaune sighed. "How ironic. Fifteen years ago, I was protecting Mantle from the Grimm. Now I'm leading them-"

"To tear it to shreds?" Jaune looked to see Ironwood walking towards him, loading his Due Process.

"That's not what I'm doing, James," Jaune said as he turned towards him.

"Your monsters are flooding my streets, attacking my men, destroying my robots, and kidnapping my citizens. It looks EXACTLY like you're trying to destroy Mantle." He aimed his gun at Jaune. "But I guess that makes sense, with you being a Grimm and all. The world is dark enough with one Salem. It doesn't need another."

"I'm not like her, James."

"James is what my friends call me. It's General, to you, Son of Salem."

Jaune shivered in disgust. "Wow. That is MUCH worse than I thought it'd sound." Jaune sighed. "You couldn't beat me when we first met, and it should be obvious that I was holding back. What makes you think you can beat me now?"

"'Cause he ain't alone." Jaune was then blasted form behind by a sonic cannon. He groaned a bit before looking behind him to see Cyborg walk up. "Oh, you're tough."

"In the back? Bit of a dick move pal."

"Like I'm gonna play fair against an Insurgent scumbag, especially if he's a damned monster," Cyborg said as he pointed his arm cannon at Jaune.

Jaune looked at Cyborg before glancing behind him at Ironwood aiming his gun at him. "Two against one? These aren't very fair odds. I don't mind waiting for you to call backup," Jaune said with a smirk.

"Punkass," Cyborg said as he and Ironwood prepared to fight Jaune.

---

Regime Jaune was flying a Javelin to the war zone, Superman flying next to him.

"Are you ready, Jaune? The reports we've been getting-"

"State that I'm the enemy. I know. That doesn't matter. He's standing in the way of justice. I'm not about to let a criminal run loose and stand against the Regime."

"Well said, son. Pyrrha would be proud of you."

"Thank you, sir, but I'm more preoccupied with helping you make sure needless deaths like her never- What the?"

Something crashed through Jaune's window, making the boy lose control of his ship momentarily. Superman was able to save him by grabbing the ship, landing it safely onto the ground. "Are you alright?!"

Jaune kicked the door out of his way. "I'm fine," he said as he carried someone out, placing them on their back carefully. "I just wish I could say the same about Vic."

Superman appeared next to his protegee, kneeling down and checking his comrade with a sad expression. "Oh, Cyborg."

Cyborg then coughed, Jaune immediately calling backup. "This is Regime Commander Jaune Arc, requesting immediate assistance. Head Technician Victor Stone, A.K.A Cyborg is in critical condition and in need of evaq. Repeat: Cyborg is hurt and needs immediate medical attention."

"Cyborg, what happened to you," Superman asked.

Cyborg turned his head to look at Jaune. "Y... o... u."

"Me?"

Cyborg then weakly grabbed Jaune by the collar of his uniform. "Why... is the older... you... so... damn... strong?" Cyborg then lost consciousness.

"Cyborg," Jaune yelled in worry.

"It's alright. He just lost consciousness. I can still see and hear his heartbeat," Superman said.

"I did this? I've never seen anyone do this much damage to Vic, not even Batman."

The Regime members then looked up when they heard thunder, seeing lighting crash around the war zone.

"Medics are on their way, sir," Jaune said.

"Then grab on." Jaune immediately jumped onto Superman's back, the chancellor flying off towards the zone, smashing through flying Grimm like they were nothing.

---

Jaune punched Ironwood's gun out of his hand before landing a liver blow. He then gave the former council member a powerful uppercut that made even his metal body float before kicking him into a wall. Ironwood groaned before he slumped onto the ground, his Aura shattering.

Jaune walked up, looking down at the unconscious general. "I'm sorry, James. I really am." Jaune grabbed Ironwood's other gun and crushed it with his super strength as Beowolves walked up next him. "Restrain him. Take him to the Insurgency headquarters. Hopefully, they'll have a cell to contain him, but even if they don't, I'm sure Batman will have something just as well. Make it impossible for anyone to follow you."

The Beowolves growled in compliance, no maliciousness in the sounds at all. More like the beasts pretty much saying either "yes, sir" or "yes, Your Majesty" before they lifted Ironwood and ran off.

Jaune then heard gunshots and looked up. He saw Ruby fighting a woman with a sword and shield that disturbingly reminded him of Pyrrha, save for her black hair. Jaune then summoned his wings, about to go and help Ruby.

But before he could take off, he was punched in the face. "What the-"

Punch. Punch-punch-punch.

Jaune stumbled a bit, about to fall before shaking his head and regaining his balance. He looked around to see no one in sight.

He was then kicked into the air before he saw someone in red about to punch him. Said mysterious being then punched him hard enough to smash him into the pavement.

Jaune groaned as he got up, trying to recharge his Aura, only to be kicked in the face, spending him bouncing across the street. Jaune was able to flip onto his feet with a slide, his Aura beginning to spark. 'A few more hits, and it's shattered,' he thought.

Jaune then created an orb of wind in his palms before clapping them together, creating a whirlwind.

Jaune then heard a crash and a groan, looking to see the same red being as before slammed against a wall. "Neat trick," the man groaned.

"A speedster. You're not the first one I've ever had to deal with."

The man got out of the wall. "But I bet I'm the fastest you've ever had to fight."

Jaune's Aura sparked before he recharged it with his Semblance. "Yeah. You are. Who are you?"

"I'm the Flash, fastest man alive. And you're under arrest."

"Funny. I was about to say the same thing. By my authority as an International 1st Class Huntsman, I'm placing you under arrest for the subjugation of Mantle, aiding in hostile conquest, and for assaulting a Huntsman."

"Well, this is awkward. We're both trying to uphold the law."

"And neither one of us is from this timeline."

"You can tell?"

"You can't fool the senses of a Grimm without the right Semblance. Though, even with Ren's or Lyra's powers, you can't fool me so easily."

"Alright, then it's justice vs justice."

"Justice? Flash, look around you," Jaune motioned. "Look at all these Grimm."

"They're yours, aren't they?"

"Now. They're mine, NOW. But they didn't just appear at the snap of my fingers. They herded together at the Mantle walls. It takes a terrifying amount of negativity to call this many Grimm. Hell, it's a miracle an SS-Rank Grimm hasn't appeared yet. What the hell have your people been doing to call them here?!"

Flahs stared at Jaune. "Honestly, Jauney..." He then took his stance. "Not a lot of things I'm proud of."

Jaune looked at Flash with sad eyes. "We don't need to do this, Flash."

". . . I wish that was true, Jaune."

Jaune then took his stance, ready to fight another regrettable battle.

---

"HAYAAAH!"

"HAAAA!"

Ruby clashed with Wonder Woman, her scythe booming against the fallen hero's sword.

"You are powerful. Far more than the Ruby I know."

"I'd better be. I'm about fifteen years older than she is." Ruby then gritted her teeth. 'But damn, is this woman strong. I could actually feel my Aura taking damage.'

Ruby and Wonder Woman then began to duel, Ruby's skills keeping up just fine with Diana's. Ruby then used her Semblance to get some distance, shooting at the Amazon.

Wonder Woman easily blocked the bullets before throwing her shield at Ruby. This angered Ruby, seeing as it reminded her of Pyrrha.

Ruby used her Semblance to avoid the attack, reloading her sniper and aiming at the flying Wonder Woman. Ruby then fired, Wonder Woman holding up a wrist.

Ruby smirked.

Wonder Woman's arm was pushed back. "What?!" She looked to see it was frozen. "ICE DUST!"

"Of course, you'd know about that." Diana glared at Ruby as she was still aiming at her. "You did trick my wife into joining your Regime." Ruby fired a few more shots.

Diana used her sword to block instead, not carrying that it was being covered in ice.

"Oh, crap," Ruby went as Diana got closer.

Diana was about to slash at Ruby with her ice-covered sword when she was hit by an explosive, sending her falling towards the war zone before being grabbed by a Nevermore's bite. Ruby looked to see Nora on the bridge, her grenade launcher smoking. The ginger girl then gave a peace sign and a giant smile, Ruby smiling back.

---

Jaune slammed into a truck, groaning as his Aura was sparking again. He tried to use his Semblance, only for Flash to grab him by his armor. "Not this time, buddy." Flash then threw Jaune over his shoulder and continuously punched him at superspeed, keeping Jaune midair before kicking him into a light post, shattering Jaune's Aura.

"That Aura of yours, it keeps you safe from real damage, meaning that everything after this is going to really hurt."

Jaune groaned as he stood back up, shaking his head. "You really think this is the first time I've ever fought with a broken Aura?"

"Guy like you? Honestly, no way. You're probably as stubborn as Batman."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Flash stared at Jaune. "I would, too." Flash then vanished.

Jaune then felt a heavy fist on his cheek that made him stumble.

Punch. Punch. Punch-punch-punch-punch.

Jaune put up his guard, creating bone armor to further protect himself, feeling the brunt of Flash's punches. However, he was also concentrating. He took a few deep breaths, enhanced his sense of hearing, searching for Flash's negative emotions... which he had a lot of.

Then, Jaune's eyes shot open, showing that he was now fully Grimm, his watch not able to hide his power when in use. Jaune then reached out and grabbed Flash by the throat.

"How did you-?!"

"I told you, I've fought speedsters before. As fast as you are, you're also repetitive, making it easy to predict your next move. Don't underestimate the power of the Grimm." Jaune then reeled back his other arm, growing it to that of a Beringel, adding earth and fire for good measure, before punching Flash with such strength that he smashed through at least three buildings.

Flash was crushed through the pavement, groaning as he got up. When he looked up, he felt Jaune grab his head. Flash swatted Jaune's hand away before jumping away. "What did you do?!"

"Win."

"What?"

Jaune then grew four spider legs, a third eye appearing on his forehead. "Show me your worst memories, criminal."

Flash was then in the Regime meeting hall. "There have to be limits on us."

"No."

"Especially on us!"

"Not this. Please, not this."

"Lois wouldn't-"

"CLARK, DON'T!"

Flash then watched as Superman killed Shazam a second time. Flash fell to his knees as he looked at is now dead friend.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Flash looked behind him... to see Billy. "Barry, is this what you call justice?"

"Billy, it's not... it's not like that."

"Not like what? Barry... I'm dead. And you just stood by and watched."

"No. No."

"You allowed Superman's madness to take hold." Flash looked behind him to see Batman. "You could have prevented him from going as far as he did. Now, his insanity has reached another world and tormented a universe that isn't even ours. How can you justify this?"

"I-"

"Barry." He looked and saw Billy... with burn holes in his forehead. "Was killing me worth it?"

"No. No! NO, OF COURSE IT WASN'T," Flash screamed as he slammed his fists on the ground. "It wasn't worth it," he began to sob.

Jaune then stepped forward, looking down at the now crying Flash. "Flash... what... the hell... was that?"

Flash looked up, tears still flowing, looking into the angry eyes of the hero above him. He then looked down in shame. "His name... was Billy Batson. A superhero named Shazam. He... tried to make Superman listen to reason."

"Why were there two of him? An adult and a boy?"

Flash was quiet for a bit. "Because... Billy was just a kid with magic. He could transform into an adult, which is how he was able to be a hero."

Jaune then grabbed Flash and slammed him against a wall with such strength that the entire building shook. "HE LOOKED NO OLDER THAN MY OWN SON!"

Flash looked away. "He... He was twelve."

Jaune then punched the wall, his fist right in front of Flash's face. "He was two years older than Argent. He was a child. And you... ALLOWED THIS SUPERMAN TO KILL HIM?! HOW IS THAT JUSTICE?! HE WAS SPEAKING OF LIMITS, OF HOW YOU NEEDED TO KEEP YOURSELVES UNDER CONTROL! AND YOU REWARDED THAT WISDOM WITH COLD BLOOD MURDER?!"

"YOU DON'T GET IT! CLARK IS A BROKEN MAN! IT ALL STARTED WHEN JOKER KILLED HIS PREGNANT WIFE!"

"AND SUPERMAN HONORS HER MEMORY BY KILLING CHILDREN HIMSELF?!"

Flash's eyes widened. "Oh, Christ." He then covered his face as he began to sob. "What have I done?"

Jaune released Flash, letting him fall to the ground, looking down at the Regime member.

When Jaune sensed his emotions, he felt pity for Barry. "Flash... you can still redeem yourself."

"How? After everything I've helped do, how could I possibly make things better?"

"By helping me put an end to this." Flash looked up. "You're a good man, Barry. The negativity I sense from you is of grief, shame, and sorrow. Those are the emotions of one who wishes to repent. I will still arrest you... but I'll arrest Superman first and have him face a just trial."

Flash stared at him. "Are you going to kill him?"

"That isn't for me to decide. . . But... I've done it before. If I am asked to do so, if I get the right clearance and permission, I'll play the role of executioner. But for now, he's just a criminal I need to place in handcuffs." Jaune held out his hand. "Help me stop him... hero."

Flash looked at Jaune before looking at his hand. He then... grabbed Jaune's hand, letting the hero help him up.

"You're going to need something stronger than handcuffs to bring Clark in, Huntsman."

---

Argent groaned and mumbled a bit before he opened his eyes. He sat up and yawned as he scratched his head. "Ow. Still feel a bit of the sting." Argent looked around to see he was in what looked like a medical ward. "Dad?" He looked around. "Mom?" He then saw Crocea Mors next to his bed.

He got out of the bed, put on his shoes, and holstered his sword before walking out of the room.

He walked around the base, a bit lost in the large hideout. 'No sign of mom, dad, or Aunt Ruby. Did something happen,' he thought.

He jumped a bit when a door opened.

"Oh, you're Jaune's son, right," a Rabbit Faunus asked.

"Uh, yeah. I- Hm? That accent."

"Something wrong, dear," she asked as she knelt down.

"Pretty brown eyes."

"Eh," she went as she blushed.

"Long, pretty bunny ears."

"Pr-?! W-Well, they're actually rabbit ears, but-"

"Soothing accent."

"You think my accent is soothing?"

"You're Aunt Velvet!"

"Oh! Oh, you know me. So Jaune told you about me," Velvet asked with a blush.

"Yeah! He said you're the smartest fighter he's ever met."

Velvet giggled. "Coming from someone as powerful as your father, that must be a grand compliment."

"Hey, did my dad really accidentally glomp you during a school dance fiasco?"

Velvet turned bright right, her ears standing straight up. "That... happened to him as well?"

"So, it's true?"

Steam was leaving Velvet's head. "Love... I'm going to shoot your father next time I see him."

"Shishishi. That seems to happen a lo... Wait... that usually happens with my dad's exes."

"Exes?! Plural?!"

"Did you and my dad ever date?"

"WHAT?! NO!"

"Yeah. That would be weird. As much as I like you, I can't imagine you being my mom." Velvet looked a bit hurt by that. "I like how happy you are with Uncle Yatsu too much for that."

Now she was back to blushing. "Happy? Uncle Yatsu? Happy? Yatsu? Happy?! Yatsu?! HAPPY?! YATSUHASHI?!"

"Something wrong, Aunt Vel?"

"VEL?! BUT THE ONLY ONE WHO... S-S-S-S-S-SWEETHEART?"

"Hm?"

"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AM I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I M-M-M-M-M-M-"

"Married to Uncle Yatsu? Yeah. Why else would I think it'd be weird for you to be my mom?"

Velvet's jaw dropped open as she gave out a cute, hi-pitched scream before falling back stifled, rocking back and forth.

"AUNT VELVET?!"

Argent placed Velvet on a nearby bed before walking out of the room, looking for any clues of his parents. The boy walked around, narrowly avoiding other Insurgent members unintentionally.

"This is insane. It's an actual war out there."

"Ms. Ilia?"

"I can't believe Jaune is controlling all of them."

"Aunt Blake! Wait, dad?!" Argent ran towards the voices and saw a giant computer. Batman, Blake, Ilia, Sun, Coco, Oscar and Glynda were in front of it, watching chaos ensue.

"What did he do to that Flash guy," Coco asked. "It was pretty brutal. Can we trust that?"

"He used the power of a Spider Grimm. I fell victim to that during the Fall of Beacon. Doesn't look like Jaune enjoyed using it. I've never seen him so angry before," Blake said.

"Remember, Ms. Belladonna, this is an entirely different Mr. Arc than we are familiar with. That child seemed no older than Argent. A true father is quite protective of not only their child, but those as young as their progeny," Oz stated.

"It doesn't matter now. He was able to convince Flash to rejoin our side. That was one of the best possible outcomes. We need to get Jaune back to the base. The odds are stacking up against him," Batman said.

"You're kidding, right," Sun asked. "Look out there. Jaune's DOMINATING the field right now!"

"That's because Superman hasn't appeared yet," Batman said.

"Ooooh, right."

"We don't know how powerful the Grimm King is, and I'd rather not leave it to chance. If we can equip him with Kryptonite laced weaponry, he'll have a better chance of winning."

"I don't want to fully rely on him. Jaune has been seduced before," Glynda said sadly.

"Ms. Goodwitch, pardon my bluntness, but this Jaune far outclasses ours," Ren said. "One only needs to look at the screen. He's strategically brilliant, extraordinarily powerful already, has a sense of both duty and justice, but most of all, as shown with Flash, is merciful. I can out my faith in him. Though... I wish I was out there, now," he said as he saw Nora fighting in the background.

"It's too reckless right now, especially with our lack of equipment. Recreating Kryptonite in Remnant using the small piece I carry was difficult enough as is. Until Jaune intercepts Superman, it's too dangerous to go out in the open."

"But sir-"

"Out in the open," Batman reiterated, getting Ren's attention. Batman then zoomed in to various areas. "Lack of soldiers but also lack of high ground and shadows. Moderate soldiers but adequate amount of shadow. Moderate soldiers with high places. This area is overrun with Grimm, but that shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it could work to our favor, given that they are under his control. We will send teams to each area. Neutralize as many soldiers as possible." Batman then took a vial out of his utility belt. "And give Jaune the Kryptonite Dust."

"That's a great idea and all," Sun began. "But Jaune doesn't exactly have his sword with him. What's he going to stick it into? We can't give it to Coco."

"It'd only be good for one bullet."

"Can't give it to Blake."

"It would be too risky. My Shadow Clone might just waste months of precious research."

"And Velvet would not be able to produce another sample. She has stated that quite clearly enough," Oz said.

"So, in the end, the vial is only feasible with the use of Crocea Mors," Glynda said.

"Did you understand all of that, boy," Batman asked, confusing everyone.

Argent then walked out into view. "You knew I was there the entire time?"

"Your stealth skills are impressive, but it needs more work."

"Aunt Blake won't like hearing that," Argent said as he scratched the back of his head.

'So, I trained him,' Blake thought.

"What are you doing out of bed," Glynda yelled as she walked over towards the boy.

"Hey, I woke up and got up. It's not that ba- Ow," Argent went as he grabbed his head, hissing a bit. "Maybe it still kinda stings."

"This isn't something you need to be involved with. That nosebleed you had is proof that you are in no condition to help."

"No condi- Hey! I take offense to that! I can help just fine! After all, I'm the son of a hero!"

"You are a ten-year-old boy!"

"And I'm an Arc! We don't back down from bad guys! We save innocents from them!"

"A child shouldn't have to take on the role of a hero!"

"Then don't! Let me be what my parents are! Let me be a Huntsman!"

"I forbid it!"

"That's not your call to make! What makes you think you can even stop me?!"

"Because I am an adult that you have to listen to!"

"No, you're not! You're not my teacher, yet! You're not my aunt, and you're not my mom either! My dad is fighting this crazy war with both of my moms and my favorite aunt! Why won't you let me help them!?"

"BECAUSE I'M TIRED OF FORCING CHILDREN TO FIGHT IN A DAMNED WAR!"

Argent's eyes widened when Glynda said that, especially with what happened next. Something he had never seen before.

He saw Glynda cry.

Argent looked into Glynda's eyes, feeling a bit bad about making the beauty cry before she wiped the tears away. She then looked down at him sternly. "Argent, you remember who I am, don't you?"

"Eh? Um, the Headmistress of-"

"No. Do you remember... Who... I... Am?"

Argent looked confused before realization hit him, making him look down. "You're... the Spirit of Choice."

"Meaning?"

". . . You're my mom's sister."

"And that would mean?"

". . . You're my aunt."

Glynda then knelt down and gently lifted Argent's head by his chin. "And I've accepted the truth."

"Truth?"

"That under different circumstances... I could have been your mother." Argent looked away. "Argent, look at him." He did. "The fact that you're family is one of the many reasons I don't want you involved in this."

"One of them?"

"Yes. I have made many regrettable mistakes, and many of them have affected your father in the worst possible ways."

"What do you mean?"

"In some ways, I am responsible for the death of his first partner, Pyrrha Nikos. In others, I failed to protect him and his fellows, placing a heavy burden on his shoulders." Glynda then looked back at the screen. "Even now, I'm relying on him to save my world, placing the burden of hero on a man who doesn't belong here, much like I did to Batman before him."

"But Aunt Glynda, you're the Goddess of Choice. You're supposed to be as smart as Aunt Jinn."

"No. Not smart. Wise. My sister, Jinn, is the most knowledgeable of us. Your mother is the most powerful. My brother is the most creative. I? I am the wisest. I can grant humanity the wisdom necessary to proceed towards the right path. . . However, the right path is not always the best. It dragged you and your family into this war, after all."

Argent's eyes widened. "You're the reason we're here?"

"I am. It was a suggestion to Batman, but seeing my nephew here makes me regret it."

"Hey! Don't blame me! My family can fix this place no problem! My dad is the Strongest Man in the World! If anyone can take down the Regime, it's him!"

"Exactly."

"Eh?"

"I know better than most the power your father wields. He was my favorite student, after all. Though the Jaune Arc in this time has strayed from the right path, your father has not. He's strong, Argent. Place more of your faith in him, and believe he can end this, even without your help."

Argent looked down.

"My sister is with him, too, after all," Glynda said with a smile.

"I-I guess. But still, just sitting here and waiting for my parents to save the day? It doesn't feel ri-"

A massive explosion shook the entire base.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT," Coco yelled.

Batman quickly typed away at his computer, quickly pulling up a feed. The camera was looking at a smoke-filled area, soldiers groaning while Grimm were popping out of the rubble, shaking themselves clean of debris. They even saw a Beringel lift what looked like part of a building wall off of itself with one arm, caring something else in its other arm.

"That Beringel. It's holding a little girl," Ren said.

"He really is leading them to protect the civilians. Well done, Mr. Arc," Oz said with a proud smile.

"Wait, where's my dad," Argent asked.

As if on que, a loud boom and the smoking clearing occurred, Jaune now clashing with Wonder Woman, his claws pushing against her shield.

"You're a sad excuse for a king!"

"And you're no hero!"

---

Earlier.

"Are you sure about this, Flash?"

"I can handle it. Enough people are being dragged into this mess as it is. Don't worry. Once I destroy the Regime's Portal Gate, I'll help clean thing sup back here."

Jaune and Flash then shook each other's hand. "Good luck, hero."

"Right back at you, superhero," Flash said before running away.

Jaune watched as the red blur vanished before his instincts kicked in. He then caught a shield aimed at the back of his head, a loud vibration sound occurring when he did.

"Impressive," Wonder Woman said as she began to float down.

"Didn't Ruby kick your ass?"

"How charming of you. It takes far more than an oversized raven to take down an Amazon."

"Over-sized Raven? That's a new one," he said as he thought of Raven. Unfortunately, since he's, well, him, he thought of the only "over-sized" part of Raven, the beauty holding them up with her arms and she winked seductively at him, the captions "Like what you see" above the older beauty.

Wonder Woman pointed her sword at Jaune. "Call back your monsters, man."

Jaune looked back at Wonder Woman, Raven completely leaving his mind as he got serious again. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you will taste my blade."

"Lady, you lost to Ruby. You don't have that much of a chance against me," he said with a smirk. "Nooffenseruby," he muttered quickly.

"I'M STILL GOING TO SHOOT YOU," Ruby called from somewhere.

"Damn, she's good."

"You will regret underestimating an Amazon, villain."

Jaune then deadpanned Diana. "You are literally one of the last people who get to call me that. Other than that, I think I'll take my chances." Jaune then threw the shield back at Wonder Woman in the nonchalant way one would throw a frisbee. However, when he threw it, the shield flew back like a bullet.

And yet, Wonder Woman caught it as easily as Jaune did before her.

"Oh."

"You were saying," Diana asked as she took her stance.

Jaune then took his. "Bring it."

Jaune and Wonder Woman's fight was brutal. Their clashes caused shock waves, each missed attack causing damage to the city, the Grimm working on overtime to protect the citizens. It was harder for the poor creatures since the people were terrified on them, but some had an easier time than others. After all, no one wanted to be crushed by a building.

An entire family even hid underneath a Megoliath, but the great beast instead scooped them up with its trunk and placed them on its back before running to safety. A scared boy was clinging to the back of a Beowolf for dear life, while a little girl was crying when the Beringel that saved her life was slashed by one of Wonder Woman's attacks, the girl hugging its head as it faded away.

Jaune saw how much damage his fight was doing and decided to grapple Diana.

"UNHAND ME, YOU FLITH!"

"Only when we're airborne," Jaune said as he grew wings. He then flew up into the sky. When he was high enough, he headbutted Diana before kneeing her in the gut. He then finished his combo with a roundhouse that sent spinning in the air before she regained her balance.

Diana shook her head before glaring at Jaune. "Do you believe you have a greater advantage against me in the air?"

"Possibly," Jaune shrugged.

"Then you are a fool."

"Shut up and fight."

Diana and Jaune then both gave battle cries as they charged at each other, Jaune's magic enhanced fist clashing with Diana's sword. The two were in a stalemate, both pushing the other back.

Then, as they were trying to outdo the other, the sound of a motorcycle was heard. Jaune looked towards the sound, only to get a punch to the face, followed by a blast that sent him slamming onto a roof.

Jaune groaned as he struggled to get up, barely able to push himself onto his knees. He looked to see blood spilling onto the ground, a searing pain on his cheek. He reached and felt the spot to realize he had a hole in his face... that was already starting to heal. 'Gotta love combined Grimm Biology. Having the powers of all Grimm basically gives me a healing factor,' he thought.

He then stumbled onto his feet before looking behind him to see Diana land with his attacker. "Hey, there, Yang," Jaune said.

"Hey," she said as she looked him over. "So, you're a Jaune that the Bat dragged over, huh?" Yang looked down towards the city. "If he wanted you to destroy Mantle, then he made a damn good choice."

"Look again," Jaune said. Yang raised an eyebrow at him before looking down. "My Grimm aren't doing anything to destroy the city. They're trying to protect its citizens. On the other hand, your Regime soldiers are shooting wildly at anything that moves."

As soon as Jaune said that a soldier shot a rocket at an Ursa, who ducked just in time. However, the rocket exploded within a building, the sounds of screaming heard. It was followed by people running out, some of them on fire. Grimm started to run in, many of them jumping out of upper floor windows while holding terrified civilians.

"What? Are you saying you're the hero in this story," Yang asked as she glared at Jaune.

"Hero? No. I've never called myself that. I'm a Huntsman, Xiao Long. Something you used to want to be."

"Used to want to be? I AM a Huntsman, Arc."

"No. You're not. You're just another thug for a tyrant." Yang's eyes turned red at that statement.

"Enough talk," Diana said as she stepped forward. "Yang, he is vulnerable. That protective shield your people are able to conjure no longer protects him."

Yang looked at Diana with a surprised expression before looking back at Jaune. "You're fighting us without your Aura?" Jaune shrugged. "Wow. I don't know whether you're crazy, brave, or just plain stupid."

"Kid, I'm an International 1st Class. I've had to fight plenty of impossible battles with a broken Aura. Huntsmen need to be prepared to give up their life for the mission. A shattered Aura is no excuse to stop fighting. If you haven't figured that out, then you really aren't a Huntsman."

"Okay, now you're SERIOUSLY pissing me off!" Yang activated her Semblance. "Let's see you get up from this, 'Huntsman'!" Yang then shot at Jaune; fist reeled back. Jaune was ready to fight her.

BANG-BOOM

Yang screamed as she was sent sliding across the roof from the explosion.

"What in the name of Hera?!"

Jaune looked towards the direction of the shot, seeing Ruby appear with the help of her Semblance. "Damn, you've got good timing."

"When you're involved, I have to," Ruby said as she turned Crescent Rose back into a scythe.

"Ruby?" She looked to see a shocked Yang get on her feet. "Y-You're with him?"

Ruby looked at Yang with a sad expression before giving a disappointed sigh. "So, Blake really was the only one of us with any sense."

"Sis, what are you doing?! We're not the bad guys, here! Batman is! JAUNE is! He's leading the Grimm, for crying out loud!"

"And yet his Grimm have saved countless lives while your Regime hasn't even tried to save one." Yang didn't have a response for that. "The moment we showed up, we've seen nothing but a totalitarian nightmare. This is even worse than the Death of Atlas in our universe. Martial Law? Regime soldiers ready to arrest anyone who breaks these ridiculous rules? One man, who isn't even from YOUR universe, ruling everything with an iron fist?! When Ironwood went crazy, he thought he was doing the right thing in order to take down Salem because he was terrified! What excuse does your Superman have to make a government even worse than what he did?!"

"Ironwood going crazy? I have no idea what you're talking about! And what do you mean, worse?! We're stronger now, because of them! Not even Salem would stand a chance against us, and once we find her, we can end her!"

"And then what? Everything just goes back to normal, or will Superman just keep on running the world and attracting more and bigger Grimm?! You had an entire LEGION of Grimm waiting outside of your wall!"

"A wall YOUR JAUNE broke down so he could flood Mantle with Grimm!"

"Dammit, Yang, you're not listening to me!"

"You're right! I'm not! Because you're talking crazy," she said as she punched her fists together. "It's time I helped you wake up."

Ruby looked at Yang with a sad expression. "Yang, don't make me do this."

"You afraid, 'Big Sis'?"

"I don't want to hurt you, Yang. Even in a different universe, you're still my sister."

"THEN YOU SHOULD BE HELPING ME INSTEAD OF JAUNE!"

Ruby sighed. "Yang, you can't beat me."

A tick mark grew on Yang's forehead. "Oh, you sound so sure," she said with an angry smile.

"Of course, I'm sure. I've beaten you before."

Yang growled. "I BET THEY WERE ONLY SPARRING MATCHES!"

"They were... but MY Yang is far stronger than you."

Yang looked furious. She then charged at Ruby with a roar, fist reeled back. Ruby responded by running towards Yang.

Yang's fist clashed with Ruby's scythe, the loud boom signaling the beginning of their fight.

Ruby was able to easily parry and deflect Yang's attacks. It got to the point where Ruby stopped using Crescent Rose, just weaving and bobbing to avoid Yang's attacks. When Ruby saw the perfect moment, she performed a counter, punching Yang right in the face. It had enough force to make Yang skid back, groaning as she held her face.

She looked up in shock at her sister, unable to believe that Ruby was able to land a punch on HER. "Since when did you fight without Crescent Rose?!"

Ruby clenched her fists in a way that made her knuckles pop. "You learn a lot in fifteen years, Yang."

Yang growled before she got ready to shoot Ruby. She thought she wouldn't need to when she saw Wonder Woman about to attack Ruby from behind. However, that thought left when Jaune drop kicked Diana away from Ruby, landing behind the silver-eyed beauty. Without looking at each other, the two fist-bumped before Jaune lunged at Wonder Woman, the two falling off the building before flying into the sky.

Yang watched Jaune and Diana fight before looking back at her sister. "So, what's the deal between you and Jaune?"

Ruby blushed a bit before shaking her head. "He and I have a... complicated relationship. Let's just... leave it at that."

"Ex-boyfriend?"

Ruby sighed. 'If only it were that simple,' she muttered.

"Wait a minute, I've seen reports about a kid being seen around you and Jaune." Ruby jolted. "A blonde boy... with silver eyes. . . Ruby, care to explain?"

Ruby sighed. "Like I said, complicated."

Yang readied her gauntlets. "You can tell me all about it in jail." Yang then began to fire.

Ruby spun Crescent Rose at great speeds, easily blocking the shotgun shells. When Ruby heard a beeping on her scythe, she quickly swung it with all her strength, sending the bomb Yang mixed in her shots back to the blonde. It exploded halfway.

Yang lunged out of the smoke, trying to punch Ruby. Instead, Ruby easily side-stepped and slashed at Yang's ankles, tripping the beauty with enough force to make her spin midair. Ruby then shot Yang with fire dust bullets, the explosion making Yang bounce away before landing on her feet and skidding away.

Yang groaned as she looked up at Ruby, her eyes red. "Why are you so strong?!"

"1. I'm fifteen years older. 2. I've trained with YOU. 3. I have much, much, MUCH more experience than you. I've even helped him before," Ruby said as she pointed her thumb behind her in time for Yang to look up and see Jaune land a heel drop right on Diana's head. She flew down with such speed and force that it made the building shake. Of course, after that, Diana's lasso wrapped around Jaune's ankle, yanking him down at bullet speeds.

Yang growled before she got back up. "If you've really trained seriously with me, then you know damn well that I won't give up that easily."

Ruby sighed. "Yang, I don't want to do this. Even if this isn't my universe, you're still my sister."

"You think I want to fight you? I don't, but you're siding with Batman. That makes you a criminal. So, I'm going to beat you and cuff you. Believe me, Rubes, this isn't personal. Just come in quietly," Yang asked as her eyes turned lilac for a split second.

"I can't. I'm sorry."

Her eyes went back to red. "Then what happens next is on you."

Yang looked ready to lunge, Ruby taking a defensive stance. Then, a door behind Yang opened. Surprised, Yang looked behind her, only to see no one. "What the-?"

"Ah."

Yang then looked down. "Wha- You're that-"

Ruby then saw a familiar sheath raise above Yang's head before it slammed down onto it with a loud BONK.

Yang's hands twitched a few times before her Aura vanished. When the sheathed rose, Yang stood up, wobbled a bit, then fell onto her back, her eyes glazed as she groaned.

"Sorry, Aunt Yang."

"Arie?!"

"Hm? Geh! Uh... Hi, mom," Argent went nervously.

Ruby immediately used her Semblance to appear before the boy, pulling his cheeks. "What are you doing here?! It is way too dangerous for even you to be out here! It's a damned war zone down there!"

"I know, I know; but I needed to give dad Crocea Mors," Argent said through his pulled cheeks.

Ruby released her son's cheeks, kneeling down to eye level. "Cookie, what are you talking about?"

Argent then took out a vial.

"Green Dust? Wait, that's not Wind Dust. It's glowing too brightly for that. What is it?"

"Something Batman calls Artificial Kryptonite. He combined various Dust to make it like this weird glowing rock he keeps. He thinks this will help dad beat the Regime's boss. This was all he could make, by the way."

"As helpful as that sounds, why are YOU bringing it to him?"

"Uuuh," Argent went as he looked away from his mother's eyes.

"Arie," Ruby went sternly.

"Uum."

"Cookie?"

"Shishishi."

"Shishishi, nothing. Argent Arc, why are you the one giving what could very well be the key to victory to your father," Ruby said with the no nonsense tone only a mother could give.

Argent looked down. "I kinda swiped the vial from Batman and ran before Aunt Glynda could stop me."

Ruby's eyebrow twitched. "So, you stole it?"

"Y-Yeah."

She stared at her son with a blank expression.

"Uh... but... at least Aunt Raven and Sparrow will be proud of me, right? And Aunt Neo? A-And Aunt Emerald?" Argent gave a nervous laugh.

"Cookie?"

"Y-Yes, mom?"

"When we get back to New Mantle... you're grounded."

Argent looked down. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered sadly.

---

POW

Jaune slammed against a wall, groaning as he rubbed his chin. "Ow. Forgoing the sword and shield?"

Wonder Woman walked towards him; fists clenched with his sword, shield, and even lasso left behind her. "You should be grateful. I'm acknowledging you as a worthy foe that I need to defeat with my bare hands. Weapons are no use against you, so skill and force will have to do," Diana said as she popped her knuckles.

Jaune chuckled as he ripped himself out of the wall, dusting the rubble off of his shoulder. "I'm honored. Now, let's end this before your boss shows up," Jaune said as he took his stance.

Diana then glared at him. "Why do you insist on insulting me?"

"Huh?"

"Do you believe I wouldn't notice?! That I couldn't tell you've been holding back?!" Jaune didn't respond. "I know you wield mystic arts, yet you haven't used a single spell against me! All you've relied on were wings and claws! Am I not worthy of your full power, Grimm King?!"

Jaune stared at Diana. "If you knew the true origin of my powers, then you'd understand why I'm not a fan of relying on them. I'd rather not use my magic if I don't have to."

"Do you fear your own power?!"

". . . Yeah. I do."

Diana seemed to calm down. "You have awesome power. You are able to lead an army of monsters, wield magic that can shape the very world we stand on, and have power comparable to the very gods themselves. You could even BE a god, yet you hold back due to fear of your own strength?"

"The fact you ask that shows me you know nothing of Remnant. Of HIM. If you knew even a fraction of what I knew about Darkness, you'd know why I am so reluctant. I can never let him come back. Never."

Diana stared Jaune dead in the eyes. "It's a shame. Had you been a member of the Regime, we could have helped you master your power, and aid you in your battle against this Darkness should the need ever arise."

Jaune chuckled. "Thanks, but not interested."

"It doesn't matter. Now that I've seen how powerful you are, Superman and I will just have to train our Jaune to surpass even you."

Jaune then glared at her. "You want to turn him into a weapon."

"He will be an enforcer for justice and peace."

"And exactly what is the difference between the two in this context, Wonder Woman?"

Diana then punched at Jaune, the hero lunging back. Their fists then clashed, causing a shock wave that broke many windows.

When they parted, they began throwing multiple punches and kicks, both dodging and deflecting the other's attacks. However, Diana found an opening first and was able to punch Jaune's bicep, temporarily paralyzing it before kicking the side of his knee, making Jaune buckle. She followed with an uppercut, a straight to the solar plexus, a hook to Jaune's open Jaune, finished off with a roundhouse.

Jaune landed on his back with a heavy thud, groaning as he tried to get up, only for Diana to perform a flying knee drop on his gut.

Jaune groaned in pain as Diana stood over him. "You are powerful, Arc, but not powerful enough to take on the entire Regime alone."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing he's not alone."

Wonder Woman looked behind her in surprise before she was sent crashing through a shop's display window by a hammer.

Jaune sat up, rubbing his stomach before spitting out some blood.

"Are you alright?"

Jaune looked to see a hand outstretched towards him. He looked up to see a familiar smile. "Just fine, Ms. Scarlet." Jaune then took Velvet's hand, letting her help him to his feet.

"My goodness, you're tall. I think you're taller than Yatsu," Velvet said.

"Give him fifteen years, and he'll be taller than me again."

"Ah, good to know. Thank you, Jaune. Also..."

"Hm? Ow-ow-ow-ow," Jaune went as Velvet tugged at his ear.

"That's for telling your son about that embarrassing school dance fiasco," Velvet scolded with a blush.

"So that happened in this universe, too? Ow-ow-ow."

Diana lunged out of the shop, ready to punch Jaune, only for her instincts to kick in, the fallen Amazon holding up her arms to defend against Coco's bullets. When the onslaught stopped, she flipped back to avoid Ilia's whip, landing next to her sword and shield. She picked up the weapons to block Ren and Blake's attacks.

"So, the Insurgency makes its appearance at last," Diana said.

"At last, indeed." Jaune looked to see Glynda walk up next to him. "We should have been a part of this from the very beginning."

Wonder Woman took her stance, looking ready to take on the Insurgency. "Do you believe these numbers will help you, Grimm King?"

"Probably," Jaune shrugged. "You were having trouble fighting me alone. What makes you think you can take on everyone here?"

Before Wonder Woman could say anything, something else answered for her.

A laser to Jaune's back. It was so powerful that it smashed him into the ground, pushing him away from the Insurgency. Everyone looked up, knowing who it belonged to.

Diana smirked in victory.

"Uh-oh," Velvet went.

"Well, this sucks," Coco said.

Ren and Blake looked ready to defend themselves while Glynda glared as Superman began to fly down. Everyone glared at one another before the sound of rocks being punched was heard.

Everyone looked to see Jaune's fist burst out of the ground before he roared with enough force to get the rest of the rubble off of him. He jumped out of the crater, dusting himself off before glaring at his attacker. "So, you're this Superman I've been hearing about."

"And you're an alternate version of my best enforcer."

As soon as Superman said that Regime Jaune appeared behind his heroic counterpart, ready to punch a hole through the hero's head. He instead received a shock when the older version easily caught his fist without even looking. "Something I am severally disappointed to hear." He then threw Regime Jaune away like he was a piece of paper, the boy easily landing on his feet, looking at his older counterpart in absolute shock.

"You never should have come here. I was leading Remnant just fine."

"Bullshit. The legion of Grimm running around Mantle is proof enough that you're not fit to lead. This isn't even your world. You have no right to be here."

"I have as much right as you do."

"I'm not here to stay, dumbass. I just accepted a mission: bring in Superman. I have a job to do, and I plan on seeing it through." Jaune then took out his license. "Superman of Earth 22, A.K.A. Clark Kent of Kansas, by my authority as an International 1st Class Huntsman, I'm placing you under arrest for murder, hostile take-over, attempted conquest, and the assault of a Huntsman. Most of these charges usually warrant an on-sight execution, meaning I have every right to kill you here and now."

"Jaune, no," Ren called.

"That's not how we do things! We'd be no better than them if we-" Blake began before she was silenced with Jaune's raised hand.

"That would be my power within the law under normal circumstances, but yours is a special case, Superman. You're to be brought in alive and put on trial. After that, the state gets to decide your fate. Live the rest of your life rotting away in prison or be executed. That's what you'll be looking forward to once I drag you back to whatever passes for a council in the universe in handcuffs."

Superman stared at Jaune. "You really think you can beat me?"

"I've taken down an immortal goddess, survived a near nuclear explosion, tanked getting crushed by a literal mountain, and defeated two Nightmares with only the help of my best friend. Plus, that's my wife," Jaune said as he pointed upward in time for everyone to see Nimueh punch through Tock's wall construct and hit her in the gut hard enough that the zombie slammed into Atlas. "And all of those feats I mentioned were BEFORE I was cursed into this."

"Wow, you're awesome," Coco said. "Props, hero."

"Oh, Jaune. You could have been like him," Velvet said somberly to Regime Jaune. He couldn't respond. He was too dumbfounded by the feats of his older counterpart.

"I think I can take you," Jaune said with a smirk.

"I don't think you can." Superman then grabbed Jaune by the throat before punching him towards the sky, flying after him, beginning their battle.

Beginning the battle that would decide the fate of Remnant.

As Jaune was flying through the skies of Solitas towards the rising sun, Superman prepared to punch him. However, when he threw his punch, Jaune caught the Kryptonian's fist and countered with an electric knee to the skull. Superman yelled out in pain as he fell towards the icy tundra, slamming hard enough for large chunks of the ice to stick up.

Jaune flew down, only to see one of the large chunks raise. He then saw that Superman was lifting the chunk and swung it like a bat, hitting Jaune point blank. Homerun.

Jaune slammed through the Mantle wall, making the hole even larger, before smashing through some buildings and crashing into the ground. He coughed up some blood as he sat up with a groan. He hissed in pain as he looked down to see a shard of stone in his gut. Bracing himself, he ripped the stone out of his gut and seared it shut before standing back up.

"You're quite impressive." Jaune looked up to see Superman flying down slowly, looking down at Jaune with glowing red eyes. "I've decided to never hold back again, to make sure I never lose anyone I love ever again. Those punches, that swing, that was me going all out. Yet, without this Aura business, without 5-U-93-R, without even a suit of armor; you're taking my attacks. I've fought enough Grimm to know that they shouldn't survive so much as a flick from me. I've also executed enough criminals to know that without Aura, my punch should have turned you to paste. How are you still standing? What ARE you?""

Jaune just stared at Superman as he grew claws, electricity sparking around his right hand, four elemental balls spinning in the palm of his left. "I'm the goddamn Grimm King."

Superman's eyes shot open as he rushed at Jaune. He didn't expect Jaune to match his speed and grab Superman's fists, electrocuting the man of steel to the point his skeleton was visible before slamming the spinning elements onto his face. This act caused an explosion that sent the two flying from each other.

Jaune landed with a heavy thud, sliding across the pavement, while Superman bounced a few times before sliding across the ground on his back.

Jaune's left arm was now bloody. It was healing, but slowly. He wasn't an immortal like Salem. His healing factor is exceedingly minor compared to hers. Looking at it, he guessed it would be an hour before he could properly use it. Time he definitely didn't have in this fight.

Superman wasn't much better. Jaune nearly blew off the tyrant's face with that move. His eye wasn't just bloodshot, the sclera was completely red, his iris now gray. He saw that he couldn't see through that eye anymore. Jaune had blinded him. If that wasn't enough, blood was flowing out of his head, enough skin torn off to expose his skull right above his eyebrow. This was the absolute worst damage he had ever taken, and he knew it.

Yet, he chuckled.

Jaune stumbled onto his feet, holding onto his messed-up arm. "What's so funny?"

Superman stood up, looking right at Jaune. "How ironic. You came here to put an end to my Regime, only to show me how I can make it stronger than ever."

"What are you talking about?"

Superman pointed at his face. "Look at what you've done to me. What YOU did to me, Jaune. Look... at how powerful YOU are."

Jaune then glared at Superman in realization. "Wonder Woman already gave me this bullshit speech."

"That is why she is my right hand. Why she would be my successor if anything were to happen to me. Why SHE is the general in times like this. Once I kill you, we'll find a way to make our Jaune awaken his powers and make him into the greatest force for good this world has ever seen."

"No, you won't." Superman glared at Jaune. "Someone like you? No. You'd just be giving Darkness what he wants. A perfect vessel to take over Remnant for himself. You might as well be rolling out the red carpet for a force worse than Salem. Worse than you and your Regime."

Superman looked at Jaune with an unamused expression. "You think I can't handle whoever this Darkness is?"

"You have no idea how powerful he is. And besides, being the King of the Grimm comes with certain perks, one of them being able to see what the Grimm see. Sense what they sense. They can sense Negativity, Clark. It's what draws them in, like a hungry pup coming in for dinner. And trust me, buddy... you're a damned buffet by yourself. You can't beat Darkness. If anything, he'd turn you into his bitch."

Superman gripped his fists hard enough to pop his knuckles and draw blood from his palms. "I have defended my world against evil time and time again. I've stared death in the face over and over again and stood tall. Took on beings stronger than me all the time. And each and every one of those times, I WON! I'VE FOUGHT AGAINST THE GODS OF MY WORLD! GODS OF OTHER WORLDS! I'VE EVEN BEATEN THE MOST EVIL NEW GOD IN MY UNIVERSE! IF YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF THIS WORLD'S GODS WHEN I'VE BEATEN DARKSEID, THEN YOU DON'T KNOW ME!"

"You're right. I don't know you... just like you don't know Darkness." Jaune then raised his right arm, extended his claws, and had the four elements spin around his palm again. "Where do you think my powers came from?"

Superman looked surprised at first before he sighed. "Should have known."

"Yeah," Jaune said as he dispersed the spell. "You should have," he said as he summoned his wings and transformed his legs.

Superman then gave Jaune a challenging glare as Jaune did the same before both lunged at each other with a roar. Then, their fists clashed, creating the largest shock wave yet. One so powerful, that even Atlas shook from the sheer battle between two gods among men.

---

Regime Jaune kicked up Diana's discarded shield and threw it back at the Amazon. She easily caught it and blocked Coco's bullets. "NOW, JAUNE," Diana yelled.

Jaune jumped over her, and with a roar of exertion, punched the ground in front of Coco with enough force to send her airborne. Diana jumped towards Coco, about to slash her when she was instead shot by Velvet, her grenade sending the Amazon down the street.

Velvet looked in time to jump away from Jaune's grasp, leaving a big enough opening for Ren to shoot at him. Jaune held up his arms, protecting his face, and more importantly his eyes, from the onslaught of Ren's bullets.

Then, Ren was shot.

The Insurgent rebel looked to see oncoming Regime soldiers, the military shooting at the rebels. One was even fighting against Ilia, giving the Faunus a hard time. More and more soldiers came running towards the rebels. Fortunately, the Grimm showed up as well, a Beowolf lunging over run and pouncing on the soldier closest to him. It slammed its huge paws on the soldier's helmet hard enough to crack open the protective gear, showing an unconscious, groaning man underneath.

It was a full-on war.

As this was going on, Regime Jaune was searching for a specific Insurgent rebel.

"He's not here."

Jaune glared behind him before turning to see Glynda. "So, he sends my counterpart... sends YOU to stop Superman, while he's nowhere to be seen. Your leader is a coward, Glynda."

"No more than you, Mr. Arc. . . But I should take the blame for what you have become. It truly hurts, knowing you could have been a great Huntsman. A hero. . . A father. I've failed you, Jaune."

"No. You failed Pyrrha. You failed Remnant! I'm much more than a Huntsman, now. And I AM a hero! You're just a criminal, Glynda." Jaune then got angrier. "Really? Tears?"

She wiped them away before taking her stance. "I may be a part of the Insurgency, but I'm still your teacher, Jaune. You're my responsibility. I may have failed to save you, but I will not fail to stop you."

Regime Jaune took his stance. "You never had the right to save me, but I have every right to arrest you."

The shock wave occurred.

Most of the fighting stopped, mostly due to everyone losing their balance. Everyone looked towards the origin of the sound, only to be hit by a huge gust of wind. Then, they heard explosions, thunder, and destruction. A building was even seen crumbling to rubble.

Jaune then saw something rising into the sky. It kept going higher and higher before it began to descend. Whatever he saw was getting bigger. That's when he realized something was getting closer. Jaune jumped away just as whatever he saw crashed past him, crashing into the middle of the area.

Everyone looked and was shocked to see Jaune, face in the ground, his long hair covering his face completely, his left arm still covered in blood. What's more, he had burn marks on his back, ice on his thigh, a horrible bruising all over his left side. The bigger shock was Superman right next to him, on his back, face lying on the left to expose his newly scarred right face. The wound was even worse, more of his skull exposed. Most of his costume was torn off as well, showing the slash and burn marks on his chest and sides.

Both looked like hell.

Then, Jaune's right hand twitched. It slowly moved up before Jane groaned as he was pushing himself back up. Superman also groaned as he tried to get up, yelling in pain as he did so. When Jaune was on all fours, he coughed up blood before forcing himself onto his wobbly feet. He was now panting as he looked up, his hair covering most of his face, only one red eye visible as he glared at Superman. Superman was also glaring at him with his good eye, blood still dripping off the right side of his face.

Everyone was shocked to see how damaged Superman was. Some soldiers even dropped their weapons out of sheer disbelief.

The two fighters were panting at the other, neither one looking ready to back down.

Then, Superman flew towards Jaune, but that only gave Jaune the chance to punch him in the face with his good arm. Superman retaliated by punching Jaune in the left side, stunning Jaune enough to grab him by the throat. "All that power, and you're wasting it."

"Am I?" Jaune then blasted Superman pointblank in the face with a Sea Feilong Lightning Breath. Superman screamed in pain as he held his face, still sparking with electricity. "I think I'm using my powers as well as they need to be." Jaune then reeled back his arm, strengthening it with Beringel, Ursa, and Goliath muscle strength. He was about to give Superman what would have been the knock-out punch, until his counterpart punched him into the face.

Jaune slammed and slid across the ground, groaning as he tried to get up.

"Superman," Jaune yelled in concern as he placed his leader's hand on his shoulder.

"I'm alright. Jaune, take him out. Once he's gone, the Insurgency won't have anything left."

"After that, we can take them into custody."

"Correct. End this."

Jaune nodded his head before glared at his counterpart, the man still groaning on the ground... with Glynda kneeling by his side.

"Jaune, you have to get up," Glynda pleaded.

"Working... on... it," Jaune struggled to say before coughing up blood.

"Don't bother." She looked towards the approaching Jaune, Wonder Woman landing behind him. "It's over." Jaune then lunged at the two, Glynda preparing to defend herself.

However, the batarang to Jaune's face told her she didn't need to. She, Regime Jaune, and Diana looked to see the approaching Batman. "You're right. It is over."

Diana glared at him. "It's rare for you to make as foolish a mistake as appearing alone, Bruce."

"And who said I'm alone?"

Diana felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked behind her, only to get punched in the face hard enough to send her crashing into a building.

Jaune looked behind him in shock.

"Hello ," Nimueh went with a wave before chopping Jaune on the head, knocking him out.

Jaune chuckled at the sight of his wife. "You really have the best timing, don't you?"

Nimueh looked at him. "Hm, my husband has a messed up left arm, blood flowing down his mouth, covered in nasty looking bruises, and possibly worst of all, is being held up by my sister."

"That's the worst of it," Jaune asked, not having the strength to look up at Glynda's blushing face.

"So, me having good timing is debatable right now."

"How are you even here," Jaune groaned.

"If you're asking about the flying zombies..." She pointed her thumb behind her, showing Neo float into view, Hal, Pyrrha, and Tock in a red cage, their hands covered with red energy, their rings in front of them.

"Well, this is a might bit embarrassing," Tock went.

"GLYNDA! GET AWAY FROM MY JAUNE," Pyrrha roared.

"It was a lot easier to take these two down with Neo's help. As for the formerly yellow guy, someone else helped me with him."

"Who," Jaune asked as he began to get up.

Wonder Woman then burst out of the building, lunging at Nimueh. Nimueh didn't even try to defend herself.

Instead, Diana looked as if she got punched in the face by a red blur. When she looked around, she got punched countless more times before Flash appeared next to Nimueh.

"Barry? You're betraying us," Wonder Woman asked.

"Diana, it's over. The Regime lost. Just look at Clark. He can barely stand."

"Don't pity me, Barry," Superman yelled.

"Look around you! The Regime's fallen. All of your officers are down. Jaune's Grimm has nearly ever solider in custody. Everything is in the Insurgency's favor. Just stop. Please. Let's end this here."

"No," Superman groaned. "We still have a chance. Barry, get our Jaune out of here. Find out how to make him like his counterpart. If we have our own Grimm King, then-"

"ENOUGH," Flash yelled. "Just... stop. It's over. We lost on our Earth. Now we've lost on Remnant."

"Then we'll just go to other Earths."

"With what? Your transporter? Sorry, but I already dismantled that."

"You WHAT?!"

"We've dragged enough innocents into this. We've done more than enough damage. I'm done, Clark."

"You're a coward, Barry," Diana yelled.

"Yeah. You're right. I am. I should have done this the moment Clark killed Billy. No. Even sooner than that."

Superman stood next to Wonder Woman. "You realize that you won't be seen as a hero by doing this for them. You'll be just a criminal to them."

"No less than what I earned for what I've done," Barry said defiantly.

Superman glared at Flash, his eyes red. "You had your chance." Superman prepared to lunge at Flash, him and Nimueh getting ready.

CLONK

Superman was now on his knees, holding his head in pain before he felt even more pain. He felt like his life was being drained. He then looked towards where he felt most of his pain originating from and saw a sword with glowing green edges. A familiar green glow.

"No. It can't be. It shouldn't exist in Remnant."

"It doesn't." Superman looked at Batman. "It was very hard to make, but possible thanks to Remnant's unique science. Just like the real thing, isn't it?"

"Damn... you... Bruce," Superman strained to say.

"How did that even get here," Diana yelled.

"That looked like it hurt," someone called from above. Diana looked to see Argent leaning over a window, Ruby standing over him. "You alright down there," he called before waving.

Diana looked furious. "You. You little-." Diana looked ready to lunge at the boy.

But when she jumped, she felt a hand on her shoulder bring her back to the ground. She looked behind her to see Nimueh with a sickeningly sweet smile. "No threatening my kid, lady." Nimueh then stabbed her fingers through Wonder Woman's thigh, the fallen hero crying out in pain as she fell to one knee.

"You lose," Nimueh said before she chopped the back of Wonder Woman's neck, knocking the Amazon out.

"Not... yet." Nimueh glanced behind her to see Superman crawling his way towards the unconscious Regime Jaune. "Still... have... a chance. Must... get him... ready."

"Ahem."

Superman looked up towards the voice to see Jaune above him.

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes," Jaune said before punching Superman in the face hard enough to render him unconscious.

At that moment, everyone was dumbfounded, save for Batman and Flash. No one could believe it. Before them were two of the Regime's leaders, the other officers already in custody thanks to Jaune's Grimm. The rest of the Regime soldiers were either being rendered unconscious, being chased, or surrendering to the Grimm. The Insurgency just couldn't believe it.

The fight... was over. . . They won.

---

It was an odd sight, seeing Grimm lead humans into police vans. Beowolves making sure the soldiers were in line, manticores perched on top of buildings to keep watch, and a Megoliath ready to lead the van their destination.

Almost every soldier was in handcuffs, being led away by volunteer Huntsmen and Insurgency soldiers.

"Where'd these even come from," Nora asked.

"The Regime wasn't as popular as Superman thought." Everyone looked to see the new voice, its owner walking up. "Gathering the funds to get the proper police escort was easier than running a campaign, that's for sure."

"Big Sis Robyn," Argent yelled excitedly as he ran and hugged the councilwoman.

"Whoa, there! Uh, who's the cute kid?"

"I'm not cute," Argent went with a pout.

"Says the kid making a face that's even cuter than before."

"Arie, that's not OUR Robyn, remember?" After hearing his father's words, Argent turned bright red and awkwardly stopped hugging Robyn, his head hung low. You could practically see the steam rising from his head.

"Well, you got quite the hug there, Cutie Pie," Robyn said with a giggle.

"I said I'm not cute," he muttered. "Even here, you call me that stupid nickname."

Robyn giggled before she looked at Jaune. "So, you're who Batman dragged over to help us. Kinda weird that our greatest help came from an alternate version of Supes' favorite lap dog."

"I guess that is pretty weird." Jaune looked at the maximum-security airships. "Think you can handle them," he asked as Diana was being led inside, the Amazon giving Jaune and Nimueh one last glare. She was then nudged in by Coco, pointing her Gianduja at the Amazon's back. With a growl, her arms and hands bound by her own lasso, she begrudgingly walked in. "I can literally taste her hatred towards me and Nimueh."

"Don't worry. Batman gave us plenty of info on how to contain them," Robyn said.

"It won't be enough!" They looked at Cyborg. "This ain't over, Arc. You're mine! Ya hear me!? It won't go down like this next time! I'll find your universe and kick your ass all the way to the damned shattered-"

Nora smacked his metal butt, but it hurt Cyborg way more than it hurt her. "Less yappin', more clankin' metal man. You too, Ironpappy."

Robyn laughed. "Ironpappy! I like that! I'm keeping that one."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, Ms. Hill," Ironwood said sternly. He then looked at Jaune. "Victor's right. A power like yours can't go unchecked. We'll find your Remnant and-"

Nora bonked his head with her hammer. "Didn't I say less chat, more clank? MOVE!"

Jaune then saw someone he wanted to talk to, running up to him. "Flash."

He and Ren stopped, the two looking at the hero.

"Thank you. Thanks for helping me stop this."

Flash shook his head. "I'm the one who needs to thank you, Jaune. I wish I had done this sooner."

"You're a good man, Flash."

"Barry."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Barry Allen."

Jaune nodded. "You're a good man, Barry. I know they're sending you back to your world, but I hope you'll be able to redeem yourself. Or, more accurately, forgive yourself. Worlds are in need of good men like you."

Barry chuckled as he shook his head. "Wrong again, Jaune. It needs heroes like you... and your son... and your wife," he said as he looked at Nimueh and Argent, the beauty placing a hand on her son's shoulder as she and Arie gave a toothy smile with a raised peace sign. Ruby's head popped in with an annoyed grumble.

Jaune smiled at his family before looking at Barry. "You can be one of those heroes again, Barry. I can sense it."

Barry smiled. "Well, if the man who can literally sense negative energy can say something so positive about me, I guess I've got no choice but to believe it." He then held out his handcuffed hand as best he could. Jaune grabbed and shook Flash's hand. "If you ever need my help, I promise, I'll be there, somehow."

"Thank you... my friend."

Flash smiled, his eyes becoming glossy, a single tear falling. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Ren smiling sadly at him. "Come, Mr. Allen." Flash nodded. He then gave the Arcs one last goodbye smile before following Ren into the ship.

Then, the awkward bit came. Team RWY being transported by Blake, Oscar, and Glynda.

Ruby walked up next to Jaune as the girls walked up. Regime Ruby stopped to look at her counterpart. She stared wordlessly before looking back at Argent, who looked away. "So... he's... mine?"

Ruby looked down at her younger counterpart. "Yes. He's my son."

Regime held up her cuffed hands, staring at them in shame. "How could I have screwed up so badly, for my own son to see me like this?" Her hands then fell. "Did we... really mess up that badly? Were we really that much of the bad guys?"

Jaune sighed sadly. "Superman manipulated you. You're a good person, Ruby. You were just... manipulated by a bad man." He then looked at Weiss and Yang. "All three of you were."

Weiss sighed. "Wouldn't be the first time I was used by a power-hungry man."

Yang looked at Jaune before looking at Blake next to her. As soon as Blake turned to look back, Yang looked down in shame. She then sighed as she walked up. She then looked at Jaune. "It, uh, kinda ticks me off how strong you've gotten. You and my sister both. I mean, Ruby kicked my ass."

"Well, you taught her well," Jaune said.

"Did I? At least I can be proud of that. . . if only she could be proud of me," she said sadly, her Ruby looking at her sister with a sad expression. "You must be ashamed, Rubes. I was a part of something really messed up. So bad, that you and Jaune had to jump across the freakin' multiverse to beat us up. I didn't do a good job of being your older sister at all, did I," she asked with a cracking voice.

Before she knew it, she was being hugged by her little sister and her "big" sister.

"Just keep loving her and continue looking after her. Can you do that, sis," Older Ruby asked.

Yang sniffed before she smiled. "Y-Yeah. Of course," she said as Ruby parted from the hug, looking to see her younger self grab Yang's hand. The sisters then looked at Ruby sadly before giving a hopeful smile, then walking away.

Jaune and Ruby watched as Team RWBY walked away together, probably for the last time, into the ship.

Then, Jaune looked to see an oncoming encounter that would be even more awkward than the last.

The approaching Jaune Arc of the Regime.

Regime Jaune was being walked up by Batman himself, the boy stopping when he was near his older counterpart and older Ruby... and their son, with Nimueh standing next to Jaune.

Regime looked up at Jaune, the hero's hologram back, blue eyes looking up at blue eyes. He then looked down, quiet for a bit. "Do you think... if we had that power... Could we have saved her?"

Ruby looked sad before looking at her Jaune, Argent looking up at his dad in confusion, while Nimueh looked at him with knowing sadness.

Jaune looked down at his younger counterpart before holding up and looking at his arm. Even with the hologram, he was still able to grow his nails into claws, the man analyzing his own powers. He then sighed. "No. We couldn't."

Regime's eyes widened before he gritted his teeth. "WHY NOT," he screamed at himself, tears flying. "LOOK AT HOW STRONG YOU ARE! HOW POWERFUL YOU ARE! YOU! BEAT! SUPERMAN! YOU TOOK DOWN THE REGIME PRACTICALLY ON YOUR OWN! FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, YOU'RE CONTROLLING THE GRIMM! THAT'S ALL IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN," he screamed as he grabbed Jaune by his coat. "YOU'RE CONTROLLING THE GRIMM! THEY'RE LISTENING TO YOU! THEY'RE FOLLOWING YOU! YOU COULD HAVE MADE THEM STAND DOWN! YOU COULD HAVE MADE THEM LEAVE! YOU COULD HAVE-! YOU COULD HAVE...! You could have. . ." He then began to sob as he fell to his knees.

"Without the Grimm, Ozpin would have had no reason to make Pyrrha take the power. She wouldn't have had to be taken to the Fall Maiden. I wouldn't have fucked up after hearing her scream in pain from taking that damned power. Cinder would have never killed that girl. Ozpin wouldn't have died. Pyrrha wouldn't have died. All we had to do was be what you are now. We just needed to be the King of the Grimm. We could have saved her. We could have saved her."

"Jaune," Ruby went sadly, tears welling in the corner of her eyes.

It wasn't just her.

Nora was hugging Ren, the girl crying softly in her boyfriend's arms as he shed a few silent tears. Regime Ruby, sitting in the airship, began to cry, hearing her friend's sorrow, her sister and best friend trying to comfort her. Wonder Woman just looked angrily at the older Jaune, thinking he was being needlessly cruel to his younger self.

"Look at the state you're in now." Regime Jaune looked up at the hero. "If you could see the negativity spewing from you. Back then... I wasn't ready for power like this. I wasn't even ready to be a proper Huntsman. We were just kids who wanted to be heroes to make our family proud. It blinded us to the point where we didn't even see the girl of our dreams right in front of us." He then quickly glanced at Ruby before looking back at his counterpart. "And we've constantly made that mistake over and over again."

He thought he was in the clear, but Ruby indeed noticed him, making her blush at his next statement before looking away in embarrassment... and a bit of regret.

"We weren't even ready for the responsibility and legacy Crocea Mors truly held back then. You're not even ready for it now. The fact that you abandoned that treasured sword for false power speaks volumes to me. If you had this power at that moment... you would have failed. We..." Jaune clenched his fists angrily, already hating his next statement. "We wouldn't be able to save Pyrrha back then."

Regime Jaune looked down at the ground before giving an enraged roar, slamming his fists on the ground, crushing the pavement, before continuing to sob. "I... wouldn't be able to save her? I'd just fail her again? Dammit. Dammit. Dammit," he squeaked, his tears falling freely.

Jaune looked down at his counterpart before he sighed, preparing to console him.

"That isn't true." Everyone looked at the approaching Superman, who was being held by two Alpha Beowolves, his cuff laced with Batman's artificial Kryptonite, Batman's own Kryptonite ring on his hand.

"He told me himself, Jaune. He's afraid of his own power." Regime looked at his counterpart with wide eyes, the man glaring at Superman. "He never had anyone to help him perfect his powers. He's scared it would go wild one day."

"And if I am? Beings with power like mine need limitations."

"In short, you need to hold back, is that it? That's his crutch, Jaune. He fears his own power. He's afraid of what he could do. He's just like me."

That ticked Jaune off. Ruby and Nimueh, as well. Jaune even walked up, standing face to face with Superman. "I am nothing like you."

"Don't fool yourself. You have absolute power at your disposal."

"No, I don't. And even if I did, I wouldn't abuse it like you do yours."

"You mean you wouldn't use it to its full potential. Because you're afraid of yourself. Afraid your powers, your power over the Grimm would make people fear you. Afraid of what you'd unleash if you aren't careful every second of every day. Are you going to spend your whole life holding back?"

"I'm spending it keeping these powers in check."

"That will cost you like it cost me! I feared my powers, making me hold back! And it cost me Lois! What's it going to take for you to not hold back anymore?! The destruction of your home?!" Jaune glared at Clark. "The loss of your wife?!" Jaune clenched his fist, his eyes turning red through the hologram, and the tip of his hair turning white. Something that Nimueh noticed, but she was also holding back her anger. "THE DEATH OF YOUR SON?!"

Ruby gasped as her eyes widened in horror, while Nimueh looked enraged. Jaune's eyes widened in the purest of rage before he grabbed Clark by the throat in a split second.

"Jaune, don't," Batman went.

"Dad!"

Jaune growled in anger, smoke gushing out of his mouth as Superman felt the heat of the magical fire igniting in Jaune's throat. "That's right. Think of your son. If you hold back, he'll be taken away from you. I know from experience."

"That's not true! My dad taught me to be strong! I can take care of myself!"

"Not from everything, son. Not from everything. Your father is bound to have powerful enemies. You think you can take them on?" Argent was about to say something when he hesitated, remembering what he and his dad went through... thinking that he probably wouldn't have survived without his parents at his side. "See, Jaune? You shouldn't hold back."

Jaune glared at Clark, looking ready to end him. His Beowolves looked ready to tear the Krpytonian to shreds. They were just waiting for their master to give the order... before he took a deep breath and released the fallen hero.

His hair turned back to normal, the smoke and heat from his mouth gone. When he opened his eyes, they were back to being blue. "Whatever we have now, between you and me... STAYS between us. Don't you ever... EVER. Drag. My family. Into this."

Clark stared into Jaune's eyes. "You don't know what you've done just now, do you."

"Enlighten me."

"You just revealed your weakness." Jaune raised an eyebrow. "You have enemies now, Arc. Powerful ones. Now they know... that to get to you... they have to go after your son." Jaune went back to glaring.

Superman then walked past Jaune, the growling Beowolves following him.

"Like it or not, hero... your son has been dragged into this."

The family watched as Superman was pushed towards the ship. The fallen hero then stopped next to Regime Jaune, the dictator looking down at his protegee. "We can get you that power. We'll find a way and show him how to truly use it."

"You don't know the first thing about these powers. Don't get involved with them," Jaune called.

Regime looked down; eyes shadowed. "I don't believe you."

"Huh," Jaune went.

Regime then looked towards him with tear-filled eyes. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! WE COULD HAVE SAVED PYRRHA WITH THAT POWER! WE COULD PROTECT ALL OF REMNANT WITH THAT POWER! I'LL PROVE YOU WRONG! I SWEAR IT!"

Jaune glared at his younger counterpart before taking off his watch, revealing his true form. Regime shook a bit but stood tall after a hard gulp.

"Look at me. Look into my eyes." Regime was still shaking but did so. "Who do I look like?"

"Huh?"

"Did you ever even meet her yet?"

"H-Her?"

"Salem! Did you ever even SEE her?" Regime stayed silent. "I thought not. You claim to want this power, not knowing there's already someone in the world who mastered these powers years ago. Someone who I can say is stronger than me alone."

"Stronger than- Y-You're lying! You're the reason the Regime fell! How can someone be stronger than-"

Jaune held up a hand, creating the magic orbs to swirl above his palm. "Master of magic." He then grew Nevermore wings. "Control over the body." He snapped his fingers, a Beowolf landing behind him. "Lordship over the Grimm. And one more power that I don't have but she is cursed with: immortality. I may be able to heal faster than most, so much so that you'd think it was a Semblance, but my healing factor is a joke compared to hers. The Salem I knew outclasses me in everything. I can't beat her alone."

Regime noticed what he said. "Alone?"

"Yes." He then turned towards Nimueh and Ruby. "Not alone." The women smiled at that.

"I'm not a god, boy. I am not all powerful. You say I did it, but I didn't take down the Regime on my own. Ruby was the first to take on Wonder Woman and beat her with Nora's help. Nimueh kept the Black Lanterns occupied before Neo showed up and took them down. My Grimm took on your Regime Army while the Insurgency took down the remainder. All I did was take down your boss. If I was alone, I would have been overwhelmed. I would have lost without them. Power is just a factor in victory. There is much more to being a Huntsman than just being powerful. If all you have is power, then it's only a matter of time before someone else exploits your power and breaks you."

Batman clenched his fist in anger, remembering the person who exploited his former best friend. Looking at Clark, Bruce knew Jaune's words flew right over the fallen hero's head, but it hit Bruce harder than any of Clark's punches. What made it worse for the Caped Crusader... was hearing HIS laughter in his head.

Regime snarled at Jaune. "You can only say that because you actually HAVE power! I don't! I've lost so much because of my lack of power, but Superman gave me so much by giving me power! And now I know I can help him by getting more!"

Jaune glared angrily at his counterpart. "So, you're willing to do whatever it takes to obtain more power?"

"Yeah! I am!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Now doesn't that sound familiar?"

"Hah?! What the hell are you ta-" His eyes then widened in realization. "You. How DARE you?! How DARE you compare me to HER?! I'm NOTHING like her! She took EVERYTHING from me!"

"In pursuit of power."

"SHE WANTED POWER TO DO WHATEVER SHE WANTED! I WANT IT TO PROTECT THOSE I LOVE! REMNANT! THE REGIME! RUBY! I'LL MAKE SURE NO ONE I CARE ABOUT EVER HAS TO SUFFER AGAIN!"

"BY USING POWER AGAINST REN AND NORA?! AGAINST GLYNDA?!" Regime winced but continued to glare. "If anything... if you gain these powers... you would give Salem exactly what she would want. You would become her most powerful weapon, instead of Superman's."

"No. If what you said is true, then this Salem is the enemy of Remnant. I am not."

Jaune sighed. "You idiot." He then looked at Nimueh. "You want more power?" Regime just glared. "Then look for her," he said as he pointed a thumb at Nimueh.

"Hm? Me," Nimueh asked as she pointed a finger at herself.

"The Spirit of Destruction? You're telling me to go to Vacuo? After all that, you're telling me to go and get the most powerful weapon in all of Remnant?"

"No. I'm telling you to go to the only being in all of Remnant who can knock some actual sense into you. If anyone can save you, it's her."

"I don't need saving! I need to get stronger!"

"Oh, she'll make you stronger all right. But if you go to her while still relying on that idiotic pill instead of your own powers, she'll show you hell."

"He's right, you know," Nimueh called.

Regime glared at his counterpart before looking at Nimueh. He then looked at his cuffed hands before turning and walking away. "This isn't over. I'll get the power needed to prove you wrong. I swear." He then walked into the airship, seated next to Ruby, staring at his hands.

Superman was then pushed, making him walk towards the airship. He stopped to look at Jaune one last time, the two glaring at each other. "He's right. This isn't over. I know Bruce plans to take us back to our home universe, and most likely put me in the Phantom Zone."

"Phantom Zone," Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But it doesn't matter. I'll get out. I'll find Jaune and give him the power you deny yourself. And when he's ready, we'll come after you."

Jaune glared at Superman. "And I'll be waiting, ready to beat you again. Also, don't you dare forget, Superman, I'm not a typical hero. I don't have the same code as Batman. I'm a Huntsman. I've killed before. Come to my Remnant, break my world's law. I dare you. Sun, Glynda, Arslan, and most certainly General Schnee. All it takes is one order from one of the leaders of Remnant... and I will execute you."

Superman stared into Jaune's eyes... and chuckled. "So, you're not afraid to kill criminals. . . That's something worth respecting." He then frowned, not taking his eyes off of the hero. "I wonder, if we had that mentality... how many more lives would we have saved... had we killed animals like Joker."

"Don't make it sound like I do it for fun." Superman raised an eyebrow. "Most of my enemies have bounties of Dead or Alive. If possible, I bring them in alive. Everyone deserves a fair trial, even madmen like you. However, if I am told to kill, and given reasons I understand and deem worthy, I play the role of executioner. I'm not a judge, I'm not part of a jury, but sure as hell am a damn good executioner. Don't ever forget that."

Superman stared at Jaune before he turned away. "We will meet again." He then walked into the ship, the doors closing behind him.

The ship then ignited, flying away towards Atlas.

As they watched it fly away, Argent walked up and tugged at his father's arm. "Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Have you... really killed before?"

He looked down at his son, the boy's eyes filled with curiosity... and a hint of fear. Jaune then sighed before looking up towards the sky. "More than I care to admit, kiddo."

". . . Oh."

The ship was flying, Regime Jaune starring at his hands. In his mind, he saw the magic that could be his. The claws that could be his. The power that could be his. He was thinking about what he could accomplish with that power. What he could do. What he could protect. WHO he could protect.

"Jaune?" He looked at Ruby. "I... heard what you said."

"Huh?"

"You said... you wanted power to protect what you loved. . . I heard you say my name." Jaune didn't respond. "Do you... love me?"

Jaune looked down. "Ruby, you're my best friend. I know you consider Weiss yours, but I see you as mine, especially since... the man I thought was my brother betrayed us for the Insurgency. I'm tired of losing everything, Ruby, and the thought of losing you just... It terrifies me." He jumped when he felt something grab his hand. He looked to see it was Ruby's. He looked into her silver eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere. And I don't need you to protect me. We can... watch out for each other."

Jaune stared at her, not knowing how to respond. He then received another shock when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"We'll get through this. I promise."

Jaune stared at her before doing a risky move and placed his head atop hers. "I believe you."

"I'm allow that just this once, Jaune," Yang said form across the ship.

"Thank you, Yang." Jaune then closed his eyes, trying to enjoy few moments of freedom he had left.

---

LATER

Jaune, Nimueh, Argent, and Ruby were standing before the device that dragged them into this mess; Batman typing away at the computer.

"So, this will take us back home," Jaune asked.

"It will, as well as take me, Clark, Diana, Hal, and Victor back to our universe. We'll leave Remnant forever."

"Is that a good idea, Bruce," Nimueh asked. "This Remnant's Jaune now knows about the Power of Grimm."

"It doesn't matter that he does," Glynda said as she walked up. "I've failed that boy enough. I'll handle his reeducation personally."

"You really should find Nimueh first, Glyn. Like I told my counterpart, if anyone can knock some sense into me, it's her."

"Do you doubt my skills, Mr. Arc," Glynda asked with a smirk as she pushed up her glasses.

Jaune jolted, realizing the small mistake he may have made. "Uuuh. Well, you're a brilliant woman, Glynda. I mean, you're the Spirit of Choice, after all. You taught me incredibly well when we were together."

"Together as teacher and student, or together as man and woman?"

"Well, you taught me a lot of useful skills when I was a student, but when we were dating, I think I learned even m- wait."

Nimueh then grabbed and tugged Jaune's ear, an angry blush on her face. "Why haven't you realized she's messing with you yet, you idiot," she hissed through clenched teeth and shut eyes.

"Ow-ow-ow. I'msorry-I'msorry-I'msorry."

Glynda giggled. "It seems I have much to teach my Arc to make sure he doesn't make such basic mistakes."

"Watch it, Glynda," Nimueh went. "Can you send us back, now?"

"Agreed. This is getting annoying," Ruby went with her arms crossed, eyes closed, and eyebrow twitching.

"Why are YOU annoyed," Nimueh asked.

Ruby blushed and looked away. "No reason."

Argent snickered. "Our family's kinda weird."

"Kinda, he says," Jaune groaned. "OW," he went after Nimueh tugged harder.

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Jaune?" Nimueh released his ear, the man turning back as he rubbed it to see Ren, Nora right next to him. "Thank you. For helping us."

"These three helped too, ya know," Jaune said as he pointed his thumb at his family.

"Oh, we already thanked Ruby and Arie. Ren made her favorite chocolate chip cookies. I'm pretty sure it was enough for all for you," Nora said happily.

Jaune, Nimueh, and even Argent looked at Ruby, who quickly turned her head away nervously.

"Some things never change, eh, Schnee-Rose," Jaune went with a teasing smile.

"Shut up, playboy."

"Oi."

"Well, it's true." Jaune then made Ruby squeak adorably by tracing his finger up her back. "HEY," she yelled with a blush.

"Still works," he said as he held up a peace sign.

Ren smiled sadly at the sight. "I wonder if we can ever have moments like that again, Jaune messing around with friends. Ruby hoarding cookies like Nora hoarding pancakes. Just... us being friends again."

The group looked at Ren sadly before Jaune gave a reassuring smile. "You will. Trust me, Ren, if anyone can fix this mess, it's heroes like you."

Ren chuckled. "Heroes, huh? Being called that by an actual hero makes me a bit more hopeful. Jaune, if you're ever in need of assistance, we'll be there."

Jaune sighed. "No offense, Ren, but I hope a situation that bad never happens."

"Agreed," Ren, Glynda, and Batman said.

"It's ready," Batman said as he pushed a final key, the machine whirling to life.

"Goodbye," Jaune said to his younger friends. He noticed that the rest of the Insurgency appeared at the last moment, most of them yelling their goodbyes or waving. He then saw Nora's tears as she waved energetically... before a bright light engulfed him. He quickly grabbed Nimueh's hand, picked up Argent, and wrapped a wing around Ruby, huddling the group together.

---

"It's been nearly two days, Winter! Where's my wife," Weiss yelled as she paced.

"We'll find her, Weiss. I promise."

"You sound pretty unsure, General," Yang growled as she tapped her foot.

"She's got this," Qrow went.

"You don't seem convinced, Qrow," Blake said.

"I SAID MY WIFE'S GOT THIS!" Qrow was so close to grabbing the nearest drink he could find. Fortunately for him, there was nothing to drink in the lab he was in.

"General, we have something!"

"It's a reading!"

"PULL IT UP! DON'T LOSE THAT SIGNAL! REEL IT IN, DAMMIT!"

Weiss ran up and placed her hands on the window. "Oh, gods, please."

The machine whirled to life. A bright light occurred, everyone covering their eyes. When it was gone, a familiar pair of black wings was in the middle of the room. As soon as she saw them, Weiss took off running.

Jaune then parted his wings, looking around as he still held Nimueh's hand while carrying Argent on his arm. "Think we made it back?"

"Oh, I hope so. I don't need another alternate reality adventure," Nimueh went.

"I wouldn't mind," Argent said.

"No," his parents said as they looked at him.

"Shishishi," he went nervously as he scratched his cheek.

"RUBY!"

They all looked towards the yell, only to watch as something ran past the Arcs and smashed into Ruby.

"Why," Ruby groaned.

When the Arcs saw Weiss crying on top of Ruby, Jaune and Nimueh had the same thought. "He screwed up. This CAN'T be our universe."

"What makes you say that," Argent asked.

"That's not Weiss," his parents said.

"Yes, it is. Aunt Weiss acts that weird plenty of times."

"Seriously," the parents asked in disbelief.

"Seriously."

"ARC!" Jaune jumped before looking behind him to see the approaching Winter.

"Uh... General?"

Winter walked up to him, looking him in the eye... then slapped him. "YOU HAD US WORRIED SICK! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, HERO?!"

Jaune blinked a few times before he sighed.

"Definitely our universe," Jaune and Nimueh went.

"What are you on about," Winter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Its' a long story. Just..." Jaune then made Winter yelp in a cute way by hugging her. "I'm glad to see you again, Winter."

Winter yelped again when Argent hugged her. "I'm glad you're a hero again, Aunt Winter."

"Again? You four have a lot to report," she said.

"We know," the four said.

"Now... can you please let go of me?"

A shotgun was heard being cocked, Jaune looking up nervously to see Qrow aiming his gun at him with a dark smile.

"Uh, sure," Jaune went nervously.

END

---

A/N: SONOFABITCH, THAT WAS LONG! AND IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO EDIT IT PROPERLY! ONE TIME, MY COMPUTER JUST RANDOMLY SHUT OFF, ERASING MY PROGRESS! SECOND TIME, I ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE BACK PAGE KEYS, ERASING MY PROGRESS AGAIN! AFTER THAT, I SAID FUCK IT, AND DECIDED TO SPEED THROUGH IT! *sigh* Meaning there are bound to be penty of mistakes here. Dammit. Aw, whatever. Here's the first, and hopefully ONLY, King of Grimm movie. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Also, this Omake you're about to read is special. I know a pair of twins I love like little sisters, and they had an idea about putting Captain Cold in the RWBY universe. This little scene was inspired by those two:

"Let me get this straight, kiddo, you... STOLE... from Batman," Cold asked.

Argent had his head down, kicking up some dirt a bit. "Y-Yes, sir," he muttered.

Cold knelt down. "I didn't catch that, squirt. Look at me." Argent nervously did. "Did you... steal... from the world's greatest detective?"

Argent was really scared. He really respected his Great Uncle Cold, as much as he respected his Great Uncle Qrow or his Great Aunt Ra- er, Stepmother Raven. He didn't want to disappoint the man, but he didn't want to lie, either. "Yes, sir. I stole from Batman."

Cold looked at Argent dead in the eye, a scowl on his face... before it twisted into a smirk. He then began to laugh. "That's my boy. THAT IS MY BOY!"

"Huh? WHOA," Argent went as Cold lifted him and placed him on his shoulder.

"Ya got talent, kid! Stick with your ol' Uncle Cold, and we'll make a thief outta ya yet!"

"You're not mad?"

"Mad?! Kid, I'm beyond proud! Who'da thought that prude you call a dad would raise a damn fine thief?! there are plenty of tricks I can show ya. You'll be robbing criminal scum blind before they could even blink! Just think, one second, that mob boss tryin' to off your old man is looking at his diamond encrusted watch one second, the next, all he has left on is his silk undies!"

"Isn't silk really valuable, too?"

"HA! GOOD POINT, KIDDO! ROB THE PRICK OF HIS TIGHTY-WHITIES, TOO! MAN, I'M SO PROUD OF Y- OW," he went after Jaune and Ruby drop kicked the back of his head.

"DON'T GO TEACHING OUT KID BAD HABITS," the parents yelled in unison.

---

A/N: And that's the end. Hope you enjoyed this, because it was MURDER on me! Oi. I hope I don't have to proofread something this long anytime soon. I'm tired from sitting in front of my lapton on my chair like this. Welp, leave your reviews, people. Favoirte fights, favorite scenes, what you would have done differently, ect. Go wild in the comments and look forward to the next special. Yes, next chap is a Special.

Until then.