Author's note: We're still in the other timeline, since condensing it into one chapter wouldn't have worked, and I want to keep the bonus chapter for crossover stuff.
In another Remnant, General Ironwood and Arthur Watts waited for the Ace-Ops to return with Penny's sword, so they could infect her with the killer virus. Logically, Ironwood knew that Arthur would rather destroy the entire world than help him even a little, but thanks to Mettle, he didn't care. Not that he knew enough to try and figure out what plan Arthur could have, anyway. Just as they got impatient, the door was forced open and a summoned Beringel charged into the room, knocking out the two soldiers posted as guards. Arthur backed away, and General Ironwood drew his pistols.
"Is this a way to react when someone wants to help you?" Regina asked as she calmly followed her summon. As soon as she was within his line of sight, General Ironwood aimed his guns at her.
"I don't see how this is helping me," General Ironwood said, "You broke in here, assaulted my men, and now you're threatening me."
"I am simply doing what you're too weak to do," Regina explained, "Fighting Salem at all costs."
"You clearly don't understand what is going on," General Ironwood said, "Salem can't be fought."
"Then what has Ozpin been doing all this time?" Regina asked and said, "Salem can't die, unless she accepts Ozma's death. It makes her immortal, but not unstoppable. Ozpin kept stopping her for billions of years. His approach worked, because he understood the person he was dealing with, at least a little. But you just had to ruin it, and now you're running away from the consequences of your actions. I won't allow that." Her summoned Beringel grabbed General Ironwood's organic leg and swung him around the room, knocking Arthur unconscious and destroying the technological equipment. Once General Ironwood's aura broke, the summon let him down and disappeared, and Regina walked over to him.
"You have no idea what you've done," General Ironwood said.
"I do, actually," Regina said sternly, "I stopped a military dictator from helping Arthur install a killer virus on Penny and destroy Atlas. You had your chance in Vale. After the Breach, all you needed to do was use the events as excuse to team up with the kingdom's huntsmen and eradicate any larger Grimm as a preventative measure. You failed. You saw your failure. You refused to accept your failure. And now, you're failing even worse than before, because Salem knows how to make you fail. You're no hero. You're a murderer, tyrant, and a threat to anyone who follows you into battle." Regina turned around and walked away.
"Wait," General Ironwood said, and Regina stopped without turning around.
"No," Regina said, "Back in Vale, Salem took over a small part of your army. Not because she couldn't take over more. I mean, she had the virus the entire time. She did it because she didn't care, and because it was more useful to her in your hands. She handed you the chance to close one of her attack avenues, and you still refused to accept just how little she fears your army. And that is why I won't take your weapons. You pose no threat to anyone but your own allies, and despite proof to the contrary, part of me still hopes you can find the strength to accept that one day." With that, Regina used Quick Fight, knocking General Ironwood out cold. She walked over to Arthur, switched to Spectral Assault, and used Deathzone on all of his rings, making them harm Grimm within ten meters for a day and setting the damage to her own melee strike. After that, she used Quick Travel to teleport away.
~o~
Just as Emerald and Neo wanted to get back into their stolen aircraft, with the former carrying an unconscious Cinder, they were stopped by Regina, and immediately prepared for battle. Regina seemed unimpressed by their display, even though Emerald made her see Cinder fully awake and with her maiden powers engaged.
"Running away from fights you started," Regina said with fake disappointment in her voice, and asked, "Is that in fashion lately?"
"What do you want?" Emerald asked.
"Nothing much," Regina answered, "I just want you to finish what you started." Maria and Penny came running towards the duo, and Penny paused when she saw Regina.
"Hello, nice to see you again," Penny said and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Less talking, more beating," Maria said and rushed Neo, catching her off-guard. Emerald engaged Penny again, despite her semblance being useless against her, and Penny knocked Emerald out with a powerful energy blast from her swords before helping Maria subdue Neo.
"Go back to Atlas, and prepare for combat," Regina said, "General Ironwood is out of commission, so you'll have to handle this yourselves. If all else fails, get the staff and use it to make portals to Vacuo."
"Are you sure?" Penny asked, "What about Atlas?"
"It can be rebuilt," Regina answered, "But the people cannot be brought back to life. And don't forget the railings. I'll give you a present, then I'll go ahead. Also, don't worry about those three getting away." She put her right hand on the aircraft and activated her silver eyes to overcharge her aura, pumping it all into Deathzone to make the aircraft harm Grimm it touches for three days, and setting the damage as high as possible. Once that was done, she let out a sigh and teleported away with Quick Travel.
~o~
Regina appeared in another Atlas, at the edge of where the Grimm army would appear, and set up a Healing Circle, Safezone and Icy Terrain. She summoned a Seer and a swarm of Queen Lancers, and had the letter pepper the battlefield with bone spikes before using Landmine. As soon as she was done, the barrier failed and Grimm flooded the city. As they approached, they triggered the Landmines, which created jagged ice spikes all over the place, with Ice Trap and Spectral Assault increasing the damage output. After she was done, Regina entered her soul core, then teleported back to her own timeline.
~o~
Clover impaled a Beowolf with his fishing spear, electrocuting a large portion of the pack. Spectral Healing produced numerous white orbs, which recharged his aura a bit. Vine threw a Sabyr at a nearby Teryx, causing it to crash into a mountainside. Marrow manifested several icicles from his tail fur and coated them in a dark green energy with Shadowpoint, then flung them at the rest of the pack, cutting off their wings and forcing them to land. Suddenly, Harriet appeared next to the trio.
"Incoming!" Harriet's voice echoed across the landscape, arriving three seconds after she did. She fired off two of her special disks, coated in orange-red energy from Homing. The disks immediately homed in on an approaching Thunderbird, triggering Spectral Assault with every hit, then bouncing off to strike again.
"Alright, let's go," Clover said and set up a Grimm Banner and Grimm Ward, and Marrow readied even more icicles. Vine coated his hands in yellow energy, with his fingers straightened and pressed together, ready to send aura arcs at the enemy. The massive avian Grimm crackled with green lightning, a sign that it was still deadly at a distance. Harriet fired two more disks at it, then repositioned herself.
"Keep in mind that I copied Honorguard," Marrow said, "Since it's four against one, I'll only deal one fourth of my usual damage, and take four times as much. Grimm Banner and Grimm Ward help somewhat, but I'll focus on defending you from its attacks for now." The Thunderbird came closer, ignoring the constant attacks from Harriet's special disks and Spectral Assault. It stopped, flapped its wings, and used the momentum to fire a barrage of lightnings at the group. Marrow flung his icicles at the lightnings, destroying them before they could hit the group.
"Good job," Clover said and coated his spear's tip in hard-light-dust, shooting cyan arrows at the Grimm while it repositioned. Vine swung his arms and sent two aura arcs at it, only dealing minor damage, and both triggered Spectral Healing with each hit, since only Harriet had copied Spectral Assault. The Thunderbird flew another turn and came back for another attack, when two of Elm's rockets hit it from a nearby hilltop.
"I'm done over here," Elm said over communicator and burst into rose petals, appearing next to the rest of the group. She planted the handle of her hammer on the ground and set up a Grassy Terrain, then switched her weapon into its rocket launcher form and anchored herself to the ground with her Roots.
"Here comes another," Marrow said and shot his icicles at another lightning barrage. Elm loaded more rockets into her weapon and used Homing on them, then fired them at the Grimm. Vine kept sending aura arcs at the Thunderbird, which turned green due to his semblance being affected by the Grassy Terrain. Harriet continued dashing around the battlefield, never getting out of reach of Grimm Banner, and shooting energy disks at the enemy.
"Let's reposition," Clover said, shot a fireball from his spear, and began running towards the nearby mountain. Harriet ran after him, and Vine extended his Vines from his legs to take longer steps, while all three continued attacking the Grimm. Elm burst into rose petals and appeared next to a boulder, coated it in orange-red energy and hit it with her hammer, sending shrapnel towards the Grimm.
"Thanks, guys," Marrow said as they got further away from him, eventually getting too far to affect Honorguard. He fired off an icicle barrage, then burst into rose petals and joined up with them. The Thunderbird followed them, and they slowly led it to a steep cliff.
"Great idea, now we're backed into a corner," Harriet said.
"Correction," Elm said, set up another Grassy Terrain and grew her Poisonous Roots over the cliff walls, "It can only attack us from one direction." As the Thunderbird approached, Elm began releasing spores from her Poisonous Roots. Clover set up a new Grimm Banner and Grimm Ward, and Marrow focused on his predator sense.
"Harriet, aim where I aim," Marrow said and flung another icicle at the Grimm, hitting its left eye. Harriet charged another set of special disks and made them home in on the enemy's weak spot, while Clover and Vine just attacked normally. The Grimm staggered and tried to fly away, but found itself surrounded by solid stone, and Elm's poison spores dealt serious damage to it when it flew into them. Once it crashed onto the ground, Elm easily killed it with Poisonous Roots, although the others helped deal damage, only letting off once it evaporated. Seeing Harriet's special disks repeatedly slam into the Grimm, the other Ace Operatives all got the same idea.
~o~
Regina appeared in Vale, and after confirming that it was, in fact, her original timeline, she let out a sigh of relief after so many failed attempts. She sat down on an old bench that creaked a little under her weight, and huffed that the bench would dare imply she was heavy. She set up a Healing Circle and Safezone to boost her aura regeneration, before using Repair on the bench. Seeing how the surrounding area made her work look out of place, she repaired the nearby buildings as well.
"Now, what do I do?" Regina asked herself after the hospital's parking lot was restored to its prime, then had an idea and said, "I know." She teleported away again and appeared above the ocean. Regina fell into the water and used her aura to filter oxygen from the water around her, then focused on the otter-like Grimm that had driven off Ryn earlier that day.
"You dare pollute the waters with your presence?" Regina asked as the Grimm extended the armor on its forelimbs into swords, "Well then, if you desire death so, I will be happy to oblige." As the Grimm charged, Regina prepared her cane and blocked the attack, engaging Retaliation to reflect some of the damage back to it. She summoned two Arma Gigas, then used several Glyphs to place half a dozen Shock Crystals all around the area. The white bone shards floating in the ocean remained motionless, but Regina knew they would hurt if she touched them. The Grimm charged again, and Regina blocked another attack, but positioned herself so that the Grimm would charge into some Shock Crystals with its next attack.
"Got you," Regina said after dodging the next attack and created an Aura Guardian, which immediately charged the Grimm, together with the Arma Gigas. The Grimm tried to block the attacks, but every time it raised one of its swords to block an incoming attack, another summon would land a hit. Regina held her cane towards the Grimm, and the top popped open to reveal a disk launcher. The device sprung to life and launched a prismatic energy disk at the Grimm, which burst into dozens of prismatic orbs on impact. The orbs homed in on the Grimm, dealing significant damage with each hit. The Grimm, beaten by two Arma Gigas and an Aura Guardian, shot by Cursed Archers, bombarded by Shock Crystals and Regina's special disk, and with Spectral Assault triggering every time it took a hit, died within a few seconds.
~o~
Salem stood before her Grimm pools, thinking of new ways to combat Ozpin's plans, or at least find out what they are. A Seer floated over to her and made frantic clicking sounds, alerting her of an intruder, just standing at the edge of her domain and demanding to speak with her in person. She waved the Seer to leave and walked towards the intruder, but took a pack of Beringel with her. As she approached the edge of her domain, she saw a prismatic shimmer, and the Beringel refused to keep going, so she went alone.
"I see you possess some interesting ability," Salem said, "Hello, I am Salem, although I do not recognize you."
"I'm Regina," Regina said, "I believe we would both benefit if we skipped any further formalities, though. What do you call this?" She pulled out her scroll and showed a hologram of the otter-like Grimm she had just killed, confusing Salem enough that she showed it, even for half a second.
"Aren't you a bold one, Regina," Salem said and answered, "That is called an Asura. I can make more, if you wish."
"I will have to decline that offer, I'm afraid," Regina said with a dry chuckle, "But thank you for taking the time to answer my question."
"What are we doing?" Jaune thought, "Shouldn't we just set up a Safezone and bounce?"
"Consider it a professional courtesy," Salem responded with a hint of a smirk, "I insist."
"Later," Ruby thought, "I need to know what she's planning."
"That is very kind of you," Regina said, "However, I cannot possibly bother you so, when you must have more important matters to attend to." She offered barely the slightest hint of a smile, though more one brought on by societal convention than genuine kindness, just as Salem herself did.
"And how is this helping us?" Jaune thought, "I mean, we're just talking to her."
"We locked her into a business conversation," Weiss thought, "We're speaking High Society BS right now, and she hasn't realized yet that I'm fluent in it. She'll reveal information because she doesn't know I understand her."
"It is not a bother at all," Salem said, "I quite enjoy making new Grimm, and testing their effectiveness."
"Weiss, translate," Ruby thought.
"If you have something to say, say it," Weiss thought, "It's a trap to get us to help her make stronger Grimm. Either she's having creative issues, or she wants to trick us into hurting our own allies."
"Then let's fall for it," Ruby thought, "Since she doesn't know we're aware of what she's doing, she'll think she got us. And that cockiness makes her vulnerable."
"Then, how about this?" Regina asked, used Puppeteer to make her scroll display a creature from beyond the bounds of reality, and explained, "I admit that it may not look like much, but it can carry other creatures across the ocean."
"Is this really a good idea?" Jaune thought as Salem took a good look at the unusual creature, which had four large fins instead of legs, a hard shell on its back, and a long neck, with a small horn on its forehead.
"Yes," Weiss thought, "Depending on her reaction, we'll know what she's planning." Salem took a step back, and an approving grin flashed across her face.
"That does look interesting," Salem said, although more in an approving tone than a gratuitous one.
"She likes it," Weiss thought, "But she would still like something more dangerous."
"I'm glad you like it," Regina said, made another hologram appear and asked, "How about this?" Salem stepped closer again to take a good look at the new creature, a large quadruped with a long neck, and two membranes growing out of the back of its neck.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Jaune thought.
"Yes, that does seem appropriate," Salem said and stepped back again after committing the design to memory.
"It's fine, we're just about done anyway," Ruby thought, "Besides, both of these deal with ice, so if Weiss gets to summon them, she can capitalize on Ice Trap."
"That's good to hear," Regina said and put her scroll away again, "Also, both of these have elemental abilities, specifically ice."
"I see," Salem said, "Yes, that will certainly be a much-needed addition to my army. Now I only have one thing left to do." She turned around and began to walk away, while several Grimm arms came out of the ground, grabbed Regina and pulled her to the ground. She initially gave in, allowing Grimm to approach her.
"Now," Regina said and activated her silver eyes to overcharge her aura, then set up a Safezone with a hundred meter radius. As soon as the Safezone reached the Grimm, Spectral Assault triggered and harmed them even more. She used Quick Fight on numerous Grimm, instantly killing them all and turning them into white mist that neutralized the next Grimm that touched it. The arms holding her turned into mist as well, and she got back up and grabbed her cane, looking as dignified as always. Salem turned around and sent a Wyvern to circle above the Safezone, raining down more Grimm, only for them to trigger the ice-dust Landmines placed around the area. In the chaos, Regina used Quick Travel to get back to Vale.
Author's note: The two creatures are Pokémon, by the way. Specifically Lapras and Auroros.