The (Mis)Adventures of Team JPTR

by GenericUsername3846

You know when you have a really bad idea that seems better the more you think about it? This is one of those. Jaune Arc, Peter Parker, Ben Tennyson, and Rex Salazar together in the RWBY universe to form team J.P.T.R. And they said Infinity War was the most ambitious crossover in history. Updates will come fairly regularly if my schedule allows for it.

4. R - The Machinist

I apologize that this chapter took longer to release than the others. All 4 of my teachers collectively decided "Hey, it's only the second week of the Spring quarter, but we should all assign fucking research projects already. Doesn't that sound fun?" They're doing way too much for 156 and 160 classes.

You know, I have to admit, I never watched Generator Rex as a kid. It's not that I didn't want to, I just didn't have any way to watch it. When I was about 14, I thought to myself "Hey, remember that show you used to see commercials for that made you think 'damn, that looks cool as shit'? Why don't you try finding it? It's probably awesome."

Well, apparently Generator Rex isn't anywhere! Seriously, I checked on every streaming site I've got a subscription for and didn't find anything! I almost gave up before I ended up getting lucky and finally tracking it down on Prime. I literally bought a subscription just for this one show, and it was totally worth the price. I watched every episode in like, a week. But seriously, what's the deal here? It's not on Netflix, not on Hulu, even Cartoon Network doesn't have it. How the hell is it not available on Cartoon Network, the company that pushed it out?

I don't know man, I'm just happy I found it.

Anyway, you all know what time it is. We're here for the final chapter of character introductions. It's about time our boys got out of that dusty interrogation room. I don't want to keep you all waiting any longer than you have to, so let's hop right into Rex's chapter. Just like Peter's chapter, it's pretty dialogue heavy.

I don't own RWBY, Spider-Man, any version of Ben 10, or Generator Rex.

.

.

.

Clang!

"Whiff."

"..."

Clang!

"Super whiff."

"... Noah…"

Clang!

"Are you trying to whiff?"

"Agh, shut up man!"

The world had fallen into the early evening hours. The sky was beginning to turn orange and light was fading quickly. On an old basketball court slightly overgrown with moss and weeds, two teenagers were playing a quick game of pickup basketball. Well, one of them was, at least.

"How is it that the dude who turned into a god and saved the world can't even score in basketball?"

One of the boys had blonde hair and green eyes that matched his olive-green jacket, unzipped to reveal his brown t-shirt with a white stripe running horizontally across his chest. For the past 5 minutes, he hadn't even tried to stop his opponent from scoring, instead choosing to rest on the sidelines, scrolling through his phone and offering "helpful" advice every time he heard the familiar sound of the basketball hitting the rim.

"Gimme a break, it's way different! I'd take fighting the Consortium again over this!"

In the middle of the court, a boy with black hair and light-brown skin was pointlessly dribbling a basketball, preparing to take another shot. Like his friend, he too wore an unzipped jacket, though his was mostly red, save for the orange stripes on the wrists, bottom hem-line, and just above the elbows. The shirt he wore underneath was black on top and white on the bottom half, and the pair of black gloves he wore matched his black pants. He completed the look with a set of orange goggles that he wore on his forehead.

His muscles tensed as he jumped slightly back and took another shot.

Clang!

"Can't even score in basketball. So sad."

"Maldita sea!"

The goggled boy threw up his arms in frustration. He didn't bother to retrieve the ball that rolled back to his feet and instead stomped over to the bench his friend was resting on.

"That's it, Noah. I quit. You can be the basketball king, amigo. I'll settle for being an ex-god."

"How humble of you, o savior of the world. Take notes, Rex, you might just learn something." Noah smirked to himself before switching his phone off and shoving it into his pants pocket. Walking onto the court, he snatched up the ball and began making quick movements, jerking from side to side and sporadically twisting his arms from side to side, like he was avoiding invisible blockers. Rex, watching from the sidelines, just rolled his eyes as his friend suddenly leaped into the air, rotating his arm in a complete circle before slamming the ball down into the hoop, the net violently swishing around afterwards.

Falling back to the ground, Noah began cheering for himself in a mock tone of amazement, prompting Rex to roll his eyes once more. Every time Noah beat him at anything, he was always so dramatic about it.

"Oh, and the crowd goes wild! Noah Nixon, ladies and gentlemen! 'How does this boy wonder to do it', you ask!?" Noah suddenly turned and pointed at Rex, winking like he was letting him in on top-secret information. "As long as I know there are pretty ladies cheering me on, I can pull off anything!'

"Cool, I'll let Claire know you're thinking about other women." Rex's mouth stretched into a sadistic grin the moment he saw Noah's expression twitch ever so slightly.

"Wh-what do you mean man? I'm just playing around. Seriously, it's just a joke!"

"Calmate, Noah! I'm just messing with you." Rex playfully slugged his friend in the shoulder, perhaps a bit too hard, given Noah's pained grimace. Glancing down at his feet, Rex picked up the basketball and turned it in his hands.

"I can't lose this bad without even scoring a single point." His smile growing, Rex's arms began to glow through his jacket, blue circuit-like patterns criss-crossing the appendages. "I think it's time this game got a little more excit-"

"NO!" Suddenly shouting, Noah slapped the ball out of Rex's hands. Caught off guard by the sudden action, the blue lights disappeared from the goggled boy's arms. "Every time you pull out the Smack Hands, you destroy the hoop! I'm tired of hunting down new basketball courts every week just because you suck at shooting! You already got us banned from half the gyms in the city, no more dude! Just learn how to shoot properly!" Noah did not sound angry, or even really annoyed, just tired, like an adult who had grown tired of lecturing a trouble-making child.

Rex just huffed in annoyance, shrugged his shoulders, and picked up the ball to make yet another shot.

Clang!

"..."

"... Don't you dare say it…"

"... Whif- Ow! Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Noah's sarcastic remark was cut short when his already sore shoulder was met with another, much harder punch.

It was obvious that basketball would only lead to disaster, so the two boys abandoned the court, trekking to a nearby riverbank and laying down side-by-side in the grassy hill by the water. Rex had his arms crossed behind his head as he stared up at the darkening sky.

"I still can't get used to all this." He confessed lowly.

"What do you mean?"

"All this. How calm everything is, how easy it is to go outside without having to worry about something dangerous happening. It just feels weird not having to deal with EVOs anymore."

It had been nearly three months since Rex merged with the meta-nanites, using his godly powers to cure every EVO on the planet before commanding the almighty devices to shut down permanently. He had known beforehand that it wouldn't be easy getting used to a world where he didn't have to fight to save people from the monsters they became, the world that, for so long, was the only one he remembered. But, after so long, Rex still couldn't shake the feeling that the world was wrong.

He felt dissatisfied, cooped-up. He had done simple things while EVOs were still a threat, sure. He went to movies, he played basketball, he arranged that haunted hotel with Noah to scare the girls into clinging to them… but it just didn't feel the same without that extra bit of excitement to break up the ordinary, everyday activities.

"I mean, I can't say I miss it too much. Being an out of control EVO monster was really not fun, you know." Noah, on the other hand, did not seem too bothered, fiddling with his phone again as he answered. Despite himself, Rex cracked a smile.

"Aw, but you looked so good, dressed up as a blonde Sasquatch! The mop of hair, the trimmed pecs, ooh, and that handprint tattoo? Muy bueno, very daring, Noah."

"Shut up! I hate how those stupid nanites made me look! I'm lucky nobody saw me, or my reputation would have been ruined!" Noah's indignant reply was instantaneous.

"Oh yeah? What reputation is that, exactly?"

"My reputation as the coolest, hottest, most mysterious guy in highschool of course! The strange and elusive, yet enchanting and dangerous Noah Nixon! Men want to be him, ladies want to be with him!"

"..."

"... H-hey, come on. Say something."

"I'm telling Claire."

"It's just a joke, dude!"

The pair of friends spent another hour on the riverbank together, cracking jokes and talking about pointless subjects. The EVO topic had been abandoned as soon as it was brought up, neither of the boys wanting to bring the mood down with serious conversation.

"You hear from Circe and the others lately?" Noah inquired curiously.

"Yeah, they were all on a video call last week. Hong Kong's changed a lot since I cured everybody. Crime's gone down a lot, and the whole place just looks better. It's brighter, cleaner. Definitely not the worst place to be." Rex explained, a satisfied look on his face.

After the mass-curing, Circe had hung around for a few weeks before she and Rex went to Hong Kong together with all his old friends. Walter and the others were accommodating well to their lives out of the alleyways, and the former squid boy himself had even landed himself a job as a daycare assistant. He loved the kids, but they had a bad habit of pulling on his long hair. After much debate, Circe had chosen to stay in Hong Kong with the others, explaining that she felt better there than she did anywhere else. Rex was hesitant to leave his home with Caesar, Six, and everyone else, so they agreed to visit each other every now and then. With Providence technology, not to mention Rex's own abilities, it was barely a two-hour trip. [1]

"Man, you gotta take me out there one day. I want to see the world too, and you guys talk up Hong Kong so much, it has to be awesome."

"Oh, yeah? I would have thought the mysterious, enchanting Noah Nixon would have his own ways to travel the world." Rex cracked a shit-eating grin.

"Ugh, shut up." Noah, utterly defeated, just crossed his arms against his chest and pouted.

As the conversation began to pick up again, the sound of squealing tires could be heard on the road above the riverbank.

"About time. We've been looking for you two for hours now." A large, white, armored car had driven up to the two boys, and a single man stepped out. He wore a green, unbuttoned suit with matching pants, and a white dress shirt could be seen underneath, along with a black tie. His hair was shaved down in a buzzcut, and a single patch of hair under his lip was all the facial hair he possessed. His eyes were covered by sunglasses with dark-green lenses, though you could tell by the way his eyebrows were pointed down that he wore a permanent glare.

"I don't know why I got dragged along, but I was right in the middle of an extra large bean and cheese burrito. Every single one of you is just begging for a Bobo bomb." The next person to step out of the car was… a chimp.

A brown-furred monkey walking around on his knuckles with an extra-tall fez balanced on his head, a black eyepatch covering his left eye and a brown and blue bodysuit wrapped around his torso, had hopped out of the vehicle and was now threatening to assault everyone present with an unimaginably horrifying chemical weapon. Despite EVOs not having been a threat for three months now, he still insisted on carrying around the two oversized laser pistols strapped to his back.

"Don't you dare! I'll throw down right here if you ruin my clothes!" Noah was quick to rise to his feet and point an indignant finger at the smirking chimp.

"Do not escalate the situation. Both of you, stand down." The suited man, known only as Agent Six, was as serious as ever even in a casual setting.

"Did you need us for anything? Why'd you go out looking for us?" Rex was the next to stand, brushing the loose pieces of grass off his pants and back.

"... Holiday wants you both back for dinner. Caesar seems excited to have you try his new recipe."

The unexpectedly simple reply had so easily slipped out of the serious agent's mouth. Despite Providence no longer being necessary, many of the agents and operatives remained together, and Rex's group was no different. He, Six, Bobo, his brother, Caesar, and Dr. Holiday practically lived together in the compound, and none of them had any immediate plans to relocate. Although…

Caesar's cooking was not to be trusted. He had such strange preferences in food that everything he made had to be forced on Bobo for testing to ensure its safety. No sane man would actively request pizza topped with salmon and pineapple, but then, Caesar had never claimed to be sane.

"Ugh, count me out." Noah wasted no time backing out despite most likely not being invited anyway. He was not going to risk having to eat Caesar's food, not after… the incident. "I should probably be getting home anyway. It is getting kinda late."

The green-jacketed teen walked up the riverbank, stopping to exchange a few words with Six and Bobo before he left. Rex remained on the riverbank and turned away from the others, shooting a glance at the sky. Overhead, the world was already grey and nearing black, save for the distant horizon, which still retained some orange and pink coloring.

"Normal everything, huh? Well… I guess it's not the worst." His pursed lips curved into a small grin. Life may not have been as exciting as it was before, but that didn't mean it was bad. As long as he kept a positive outlook, there would probably be something new to focus his attention on before long.

This whole positive attitude thing must have been working, because the horizon was already looking brighter. Blue, even.

… Blue?

On the road, devoid of other vehicles, Noah was finishing up with the two Providence agents. Bobo had somehow talked him into bringing him to a soon-to-be-released movie about an American soldier trapped behind enemy lines. Bobo loved those crappy war movies, apparently because they made him laugh.

"I really do need to get home now or my parents will freak out on me. I'll see you guys some other time, Later, Rex!" Noah turned to wave goodbye to his friend, only to pause with his hand still in the air.

"... Rex?"

Six and Bobo followed his gaze to the riverbank. They, too, paused in confusion.

"Rex?"

"Where you at, kid?"

Despite looking away for less than thirty seconds, all three of them had somehow lost track of the goggle-wearing hero. He was not anywhere to be seen, and there was no trace that he had left.

"Rex!?" Six raised his voice, padding forward and looking all around. "Rex!?"

Still, no answer came. In his short moment of distraction, Six had totally lost sight of his charge.

Not one trace of the loudmouthed teen remained.

?:

"I was surprised to hear that you had shifted your attention to a different project. You sounded so sure that the artificial soul project would be your only focus from now on."

"Oh, come now. Every man can have his dreams, but we all need breaks from our dreams every now and then. It doesn't hurt to try new things and see where the research takes you."

Two men occupied a rustic, warm looking room. It was decorated almost entirely in brown, from the slightly scratched floorboards, to the bookcases, to the furniture. An advanced, metallic table was built into the floor in the center of the room, holograms projected on its surface. A large fireplace took up a section of the far while, a comfortable-looking recliner pulled up next to it.

"I suppose what you research is your own decision, so as long it gets approved. It certainly seems more beneficial than the last project." The first man was dressed in all white, save for the black dress shirt and red tie that could be seen under his popped-open white suit. He looked to be in his late-forties at least, and his black hair was turning grey on the sides, a feature that went well with the slight creases on his cheeks. For some reason, he wore a white glove only on his right hand, and a large bandage took up a spot above his right eye. His face was so perfectly clean-shaven, not a single hair could be seen on his face.

"Please, general. You make it sound like I've stopped my initial project altogether. I'm just taking a short break to give the poor girl some rest." The other man looked like he might have also been tall, were it not for the chair he was confined to. He was a warm, friendly-looking older man with dark skin and completely silver, spiky hair, along with a full beard of the same color. He wore thin, black glasses and a brown beret that matched his pants. A tan, long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up was worn underneath a red cargo vest, and a pink tie completed the look. Furthermore, the old man was seated in an advanced "wheelchair," if it could even be called that, given the chair had mechanical spider legs instead of wheels.

"Of course, professor Polendina. I had heard you'd made great progress recently and wanted to see your new project for myself. If you really did pull something like this off, we can begin implementing it all around Atlas immediately, and it won't be long before we can connect the rest of Remnant."
The old man gave a hearty, genuine chuckle at his general's ambitious declaration.

"Now, now, General Ironwood, shouldn't you take a look before you get your hopes up? I do still need to work out the bugs, you know?"

Professor Polendina set his chair to walk forward, leading Ironwood away from the holographic display table, which continued to flash images of complex blueprints and mechanical parts.

"I knew my little girl was being pushed a little too hard, so I thought a break was in order. But for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything else to do with all my free time. Then, it was brought to my attention just how poor our methods of travel really are. Boats, Bullheads, cargo transports, every one of them is always at risk of a Grimm attack. Why don't we have a better way to travel, one that eliminates that risk?"

Polendina walked to the end of the large room and grasped a gilded cord attached to a thick set of red curtains that covered the entire far wall. Slowly pulling it towards him, the curtains were fully drawn back, revealing a large glass window with another room beyond it. This room was stark white, with complex machinery and terminals all over the place. A small, rectangular gate about the size of a door was bolted onto a large, silver, square-shaped platform, under which multiple spinning mechanical components could be seen whirring about. Occasionally, a spark of electricity would travel from one side of the door to the other, and a colored ripple could be seen within the doorway, like air distortions above a raging fire.

"It's a novel idea, but I personally didn't believe it would ever be possible. Something like this, even for you, it just seems too unbelievable." General Ironwood walked up beside the old scientist, hands clasped behind his back. "The idea of instantaneous travel between two fixed points… it just sounds like science fiction."

"I admit, I also thought as much, which is exactly why I wanted to try it out, figured I'd bring a little fiction into reality. It'd make for a fun distraction, and if it worked, there'd be no denying its benefits." The general nodded in agreement, smirking in good humor.

"And if it didn't work, we'd be down a few hundred thousand valis and dozens of high quality Dust crystals. Not that I can complain since I approved it."

Both men went through a door beside the window, walking down a silver hallway that looped around in the opposite direction after ten feet, with random circuitry lighting up along the walls. The hall was set at a slight downward incline, just enough to be noticeable. At the end of the hallway was a sealed set of silver double doors, which quickly opened automatically when approached by the two visitors.

"I never could have done something like this without the manpower you gave me. An old man like me is good for crunching numbers and coming up with theories, but not so much for doing manual labor." Polendina continued to make small talk as he walked to where he needed to be, a waist-height terminal built into the floor with glowing green displays on its screen. "It didn't take long to come up with a unique combination, two parts hard-light Dust, one part lightning Dust, and one part gravity Dust, to form a unique reaction. Everything you thought you knew about dust-enhanced travel is about to change."

The small doorway was set in the center of the room, and the room itself was roughly twenty feet below the previous room. The massive glass window they had used to observe before entering the laboratory rested at the top of an otherwise normal wall, the closest one in the lab to the glowing terminal. It was like a layer cake, shifting from white to clear halfway up.

Flicking a switch on the wall beneath the glass, Polendina set to work on his terminal, inputting commands and turning off power inhibitors. Ironwood watched with his arms crossed in front of his chest as the doorway in the center of the lab began to glow. His expression remained calm as the space in between the frame began to spark with purple and blue light, electricity shooting from one side to the other and forming chains that remained for several seconds. The platform underneath it began to glow with white light, making the walls of the laboratory painful to look at as they, too, lit up.

"It might get a bit loud, so I do recommend covering your ears." The old professor could barely be heard over the loud sounds of mechanical parts activating in response to powerful Dust coursing through the framework of the lab. Ironwood kept his arms crossed, passively observing the gateway.

Chains of lightning were now criss-crossed within the frame, forming a web of sparks that was quickly filled in by some kind of energy. Ironwood could no longer see straight through the doorway. The gaps between the lightning chains had begun to color, turning a light shade of blue, slowly growing darker as the color barrier grew thicker and more opaque. The mechanical whirring had grown even louder, to the point it sounded like a Bullhead was in the room with them. Right when the passive general began to grow concerned and was about to question the scientist on whether this was truly safe, the whirring stopped.

All at once, with no warning, the sound simply stopped, like a light switch had been flipped. The doorway no longer had lightning coursing through it, and the center was totally filled with a warm, blue light.

"General Ironwood, I present to you the GATE system." The crippled old man walked his chair over to the gate, proudly emphasizing it with a wave of his hand. Ironwood looked thoroughly impressed, stepping over to get a closer look himself. He noticed the elderly scientist inputting commands on a keypad built into the side of the door. Shortly after, it was pulled apart, the two halves of the square platform separating from each other. Peering around the opaque doorway, Ironwood could see that a second door had been directly behind the first and was now moving to the opposite end of the platform.

"By all means, have a go, general." A warm smile and a friendly wave beckoned the jaded general. Cautiously, he reached a hand out and pushed it through the wall of blue light. He felt no different, even though half his arm had seemingly disappeared.

However, while nothing in his body felt different, Ironwood was immensely surprised - and pleased - to see that his hand had emerged from the other gateway. Testing his hand by wiggling the fingers, he could see the left hand emerging from the sister portal shake around and move its fingers.

"Pietro, this is incredible. With some more time and resources, this could revolutionize Remnant. If we can make these bigger, supplies could be transported directly to other bases, and reinforcements could arrive to battles in seconds. Do you understand what you've made here?" The serious-looking military man threw an amazed, respecting glance at the genius researcher who had done the impossible. He was so pleased, he slipped out of his professional speech and referred to the older man by his first name.

"Oh, it's nothing, anyone could have done it with enough time." Pietro just shrugged off the praise. He waited patiently for Ironwood to remove his hand before moving the two gates back together and returning to his terminal to switch them off. The blue light crackled a few times before fizzling out, like a lightbulb slowly losing its charge.

"If you'll send over your blueprints, I can put together more teams to get to work on more efficient designs and customize the staging area for more large-scale gates. How soon will you be ready to share with the rest of the research division?"

"Well, there are still some bugs, like I mentioned before, and acquiring enough hard light Dust to make it work wasn't cheap. Even the Atlas military would be hard pressed to gather enough to get a larger gate to function reliably. But, as a scientist, I'd hate to say it's impossible. I'd say that in another week or two, I can put together some new designs and Dust formulas that'll surely-"

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

A blaring alarm cut Pietro short, red warning lights along the walls flashing in time with the grating noise.
"What's going on!?" Ironwood remained calm, but switched his attitude from friendly to serious in a heartbeat. Pietro made his way back to the terminal as fast as his chair would allow, setting to work on finding what was causing the error.

"Dust valves are optimal, power is optimal, platform is behaving as normal… external signal? It's not designed to pick up on anything from outside this lab!" Throwing his head up, the elderly scientist watched with curiosity and worry as the gate began sparking again.

"What does this mean?" Ironwood pointed a finger at the "external signal" warning flashing onscreen.

"I-I don't know. Like I said, it isn't designed to pick up signals from anywhere except this lab. I didn't even program it to alert me of something like this!"

The gate took far less time to fill in, already having returned to its warm, blue color. However, the power was far more out of control. The blue light quickly grew oversaturated, morphing into an ugly red, and electricity arced out of the frame entirely, striking equipment and searing the laboratory walls. One stray bolt surged right towards Pietro, but he was protected by Ironwood, who jumped in front of him and used his aura to tank the blow.

"Shut it down. Right now!" Like he hadn't just eaten a bolt of lightning, Ironwood gave the order to terminate the project, brushing off his suit as he did so.

"I'm trying! It's not responding to me." Pietro tried in vain to input commands, only to receive endless "error" notices.

The sound of bending metal could be heard as the portal frame began to warp, closing in on itself as the corners compressed inwards. The frame became zig-zagged as the energy within pushed and pulled at it violently. A horrible, unsettling humming noise grew ever louder, a sound Ironwood recognized from his time as a soldier. An instinct, one that was practically trained into him, alerted him to what would happen next.

"AURA, PIETRO!" Grabbing the crippled man from his chair, the stalwart general knelt behind the walking chair for cover. As both men activated their auras, Pietro was encased in green light, while Ironwood was surrounded by blue light.

Not a moment later, there was an ear splitting explosion, and smoke filled the lab. The gates were blown apart, scattering unactivated Dust around the lab. Exposed to loose gravity, electricity, and hard light Dust, random shields of solidified light popped up around the lab amid floating furniture and machinery, and electricity was zapping all around the walls. The explosion had blown out the large window on the far side of the lab, raining glass into the adjoined, rustic sitting room.

It took two minutes for all the loose dust to stop going off and for the smoke to clear up enough to see in front of one's face.

"Pietro-"

"I'm alright, sir." Coughing was heard. Rattled but unhurt, Ironwood stood up with his head researcher in his arms, carefully setting him back down in his mostly undamaged chair.

"I don't understand. Nothing was as I programmed it to be. My failsafes didn't respond, the portals activated on their own… was I invaded by a virus?" The old scientist began to theorize the moment he was back in his chair. Ironwood had a few theories of his own, but those could come later. First came ensuring the safety of the lab. He made to grab his scroll and call in a cleanup crew, but stopped when a sharp noise caught his attention.

The sound of a person coughing.

"... Ugh, dios mio. Anybody there?" It was obviously a young man, though nobody was actually visible with all the smoke still filling the lab.

Ironwood pulled out his personal revolver in an instant.

"Pietro, leave. Specialist Schnee is waiting outside. Stay with her until I come back." The old man did not argue, walking his chair straight to the exit doors and traversing the hallway back to his sitting room.

Ironwood slowly paced forward, revolver at the ready. If somebody really did hack the professor's portal system, he wasn't taking any chances. This person could be a White Fang agent for all he knew.

"Hel-hello? Is nobody in here?" To his left now, this stranger was on the move. The combat-ready general silently padded forward, aura up to protect him from a sneak attack. Closer and closer, that voice grew louder until, through the smoke, Ironwood could see the silhouette of a person. A young man, if he had to guess, with no obvious Faunus traits just yet. His back was turned, giving Ironwood the advantage.

"Stop right there." It was a simple command, delivered in a stern voice intended to make his intentions inarguably clear. "Make any sudden moves and I'll fire. Come towards me, now. Keep your hands up."

The silhouette did not move for a few long seconds. Then, whoever it was began to move towards him, though they clearly did not put their hands up. It took only a few seconds for them to come into view, passing through the smoke barrier effortlessly.

"I said hands up." The stern commands continued. Gun raised, he could see they were indeed a young man, probably about sixteen years old. Based on his appearance, he seemed human, probably from West Vacuo based on his black hair and tanned skin.

"Yeah, I heard. Listen dude, I have no idea where I am. Is this Providence? Did I jump into the future again? Aw man, that sucked last time." The strange boy with an accent Ironwood had never heard before ran a hand through his hair, seeming to not be bothered by the man holding a gun in his face.

It seemed the boy had no intentions of following commands, but he also did not seem hostile. Ever so slightly, Ironwood lowered his weapon.

"Who are you?"

"A mi? The name's Rex Salazar. Y tu?"

"..."

Ironwood caught the most important part, the boy's name, but he had never heard the strange language he began and ended his sentence with. Though, he had a feeling he had just been asked his name.

"General James Ironwood of the Atlesian Military. You are trespassing on private property, and I expect an explanation. You can talk here or in a cell." Holding his revolver with one hand, Ironwood tapped a button on his personal, highly customized scroll. A security detail would reach his location shortly.

"Atlesian? Never heard of it. And I already told you, I don't even know how I got here. One minute, I'm standing by the river, the next, I'm in the middle of some crazy lab with a bunch of explosions going off everywhere. Good thing I pulled out Block Party, or that could've been bad." Only then did Ironwood take notice of the massive black gauntlets that had been hidden in the smoke. Circles on the backs of the hands glowed electric blue, indicating they were active.

"Deactivate your weapons immediately."

"Weapons? No, you've got it all wrong, these are just shields. But, if it'll really make you feel better…" Complying fairly easily, Rex raised both hands in front of him and focused until a network of blue lights crossed over the gauntlets. Shortly after, they began to seemingly deconstruct into thin air, revealing normal, human arms underneath.

"Curious. A semblance of some kind? He seems rather peaceful and compliant, perhaps we can take this discussion elsewhere."

Ironwood could hear footsteps as the small security detail he called in arrived in the adjacent room. Deciding to take a minor risk with this stranger, he made an offer.

"I'm going to lower my weapon now. If you don't try anything, we can talk without detainment being necessary."

"Excelente! Finally, somebody who doesn't try to shoot me right away. It's nice to meet somebody who actually listens when I say 'I don't know'."

10 Minutes Later:

"I'm starting to think you weren't actually listening."

With the condition that he remain in front of Ironwood, Rex was given the freedom to walk on his own, surrounded by the security detail of five Atlesian soldiers carrying rifles, dressed in mostly white armor with either blue or red markings on the helmets and chest plates. He was directed on where to go, making his way through the complex building loaded down with laboratories and libraries, until he finally reached a sort of conference room. The escort team saluted Ironwood and left the room.

"Would you rather be held in a containment pod while I interrogate you through a barred window?"

"... This isn't so bad."

The stoic general couldn't help but feel apprehensive. He'd dealt with hundreds of individuals, and very few ever remained as calm as Rex when faced with the general of Atlas himself, in his own compound no less. The only time somebody remained this calm in his presence was when they were untouchable, had nothing to hide, or were simply powerful or prepared enough to not have any need for being nervous.

Rex had kicked back in his black, leather chair and swung his feet onto the dark oak table. The dark blue walls around him felt stifling, but it was a minor improvement over the white… everything outside. Whoever these guys were, they must have really loved the color white.

The door to the conference room was opened and three people entered, receiving a simple nod from Ironwood.

"Hello sir. I take it this is the intruder?" A stiff, proper looking woman stood with her back perfectly straight, arms clasped behind her. Her face was beautiful, but incredibly stern, even more so than Ironwood's, and the tight bun her white hair was tied into only further emphasized how strict she was. Her outfit, like Ironwood's, was almost entirely white, consisting of a strange coat that ran down the sides of her legs, but ended at her waistline in the front and split into two sections in the back, mostly unbuttoned to reveal her blue, button-up blazer. Her pants were equally as white as her coat, but the high-heeled boots that ran up to her thighs were grey in color. A long, silver rapier was fastened at her hip.

She looked… very unhappy to see Rex. She did not even try to hide her glare, which could put Holiday to shame. The intimidated boy had no problems looking away from her and to the second newcomer, an old man sitting in a strange sort of wheelchair.

"Specialist Schnee, Professor Polendina welcome. And you… why is she here, Pietro?"

The final newcomer was a young girl, probably about Rex's age. Her outfit was much simpler than everyone else's, consisting of a white and grey thigh-length dress, with green highlights along the waist and hem-line. Long black boots with green stripes running up the sides nearly reached the same place her dress stopped, and between her short, curly orange hair that could somehow be described as "bouncy," her bright green eyes, and the big, pink bow peeking out from the back of her head, she looked very much like an innocent, "girl-next-door" type of person.

"Sal-u-tations, General Ironwood!" She spoke very loudly and slowly, like she had just learned to speak yesterday, and even somebody like Rex could tell how sloppy her salute was. Even so, she looked and sounded very bright and cheery, and for some reason, she looked incredibly happy to be here.

"Apologies, General. When she heard I would be joining you to speak to our… 'intruder,' she insisted on accompanying me to make sure it was safe." Pietro came to the girl's defense. "I promise she won't be any trouble. It's better for her to learn to be around people, anyway. You did say he wasn't dangerous, yes?"

"He doesn't seem dangerous." Ironwood looked straight into Rex's eyes as he made his opinions clear. "But that means nothing yet. You're still far from free to go. There's a lot you need to explain."

"You can ask me as many times as you want, but I can't tell you what I don't know, comprende? I don't know how I got here, where I am, or who any of you people are. I just showed up here."

"You honestly expect us to believe that you simply appeared inside a high-security military compound?" Schnee was the next to speak up, doubt clear in her tone and expression. Even still Rex returned with a completely serious "exactly," nodding his head as if to say "nice, you've got it." That attitude of his irked the serious woman.

"From what you told me in your message, General, you said Rex was on a riverbank, and then found himself here?" Pietro raised a hand to his chin in thought. "It's entirely possible, extremely likely, even, he was brought here because of my GATE technology. Although, I'm still not sure how any kind of signal was intercepted. Rex, was it? Do you remember what you were doing before you found yourself here.

Faced with the kind, smiling old man was a stark contrast to the serious, stern-faced military operatives. Rex actually found himself relaxing just by listening to the man's grandfatherly voice.

"Well… I was playing basketball with my friend, Noah. He got mad when I tried to pull out the Smack Hands, so we decided to go somewhere else and ended up at the river. We talked for a while about our friends and EVOs, then my talking monkey friend and my mentor came in a Providence car to pick us up for dinner. I looked at the horizon, saw some kind of blue light, and then I was here." Rex finished his explanation without ever once looking like he was thinking up his nonsense on the spot. He had succeeded in thoroughly confusing everybody in the room.

"Smack… Hands?" Schnee was the first to speak, utter confusion coloring her tone.

"EVOs?" Professor Polendina was much the same.

"Talking monkey friend?" Penny went last, though she sounded more excited than confused, that dorky, clueless grin still on her face.

Rex spoke as if everything he said was totally natural. Ironwood couldn't stop his right eye from slightly twitching.

"Okay, fine. Let's start at the beginning. First of all, what are these, 'Smack Hands'?" It looked like it physically hurt the middle-aged man to say such a ridiculous name. Rex, on the other hand, brightened up immediately.

"I'll show you. Remember Block Party, from earlier? Well, these guys are their big hermanos!" Raising his arms, those same blue lights from before surged across his arms, a mechanical whirring sound not unlike a car engine starting growing louder as more lights appeared. Ironwood had no time to command him to stop before Rex's arms suddenly warped into metal constructs, growing in size until they were cartoonishly large. Rex's hands had turned into giant orange, grey, and black hands composed of metal that seemingly appeared from nowhere.

Pietro looked absolutely amazed, Ironwood remained passive despite his honest feelings of amazement, and Penny looked awestruck, like she had just seen the greatest thing in her life. As for the Schnee woman…

"Deactivate your weapons immediately, or I will strike you down." The moment she sensed something was wrong, she had pulled out the fancy-looking sword at her hip and rushed forward, holding her arm straight with the blade at Rex's throat. Ironwood, too, had a hand on his revolver, but he kept it in his holster.

"Ay, ay, ay! Chill out, lady, I'm just giving you a demonstration!" More blue lights, more whirring, and the giant, mechanical hands disappeared, the metal returning to nothing just as it appeared from nothing. Raising his hands in surrender, Rex waited for the white-haired woman to lower her weapon and return to her place before lowering them again.

"Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating! Are you some kind of construct? Did the Vacuoans create you? I had heard they were beginning to dabble in android technology, but to think they'd made such progress!" Pietro was talking so fast, it was difficult to understand him. His excitement was clearly taking hold, and he was beginning to say things Rex didn't understand.

"I don't know what a Vacuoan even is, dude. And I'm not an android, I'm a human. I make this stuff by controlling my nanites."

Pietro paused for a moment, thinking quietly to himself before asking "Nanites"?

That was it. Rex was floored. All this stuff, portaling around, meeting strangers, being interrogated, it was all nothing new. But… that!?

"How… can you possibly not know what nanites are? Hold on, didn't you say earlier that you'd never heard of EVOs, either?" Rex looked all around taking in every person around him. Pietro looked strangely guilty, like he'd let Rex down. Ironwood and Winter remained stoic, and Penny just tilted her head to the side, looking confused by his unfamiliar words.

"Database search reveals no relevant data regarding "nanites" or "EVOs". Penny spoke up, suddenly sounding weirdly robotic, like she was reading off a pre-written script. Pietro gained a nervous glint in his eyes and rubbed Penny gently on the back, whispering something Rex couldn't hear.

"... Okay then. Let me try one last thing. Have any of you… ever heard of me? Of Rex Salazar? I'm a pretty big deal. People everywhere know my name, my face, all of it. I'm the guy who saved the world. None of you know me?"

Another glance cast all around, another set of four clueless looks. That clinched it. This was not home.

It wasn't a hard conclusion to reach. No nanites, no EVOs, no Rex. It wasn't clear how he had been brought here, but it wasn't like he hadn't known there were other worlds out there.

"Man… this must have been how Ben felt when Alpha pulled him into my world. Dios mio, where do I even start with these guys?"

"Got it, I know what to do." Ironwood's eyes narrowed at Rex's confident statement. He had trouble following everything that had been said thus far, and it only grew more confusing as time went on. "If you really want to know about me, then let's get started. Let's see… about 5 or 6 years ago, the Nanite Event went down…"

"I found out I could use my own nanites to cure out of control EVOs…"

"Turns out, the nanite event started with me, when I got hurt in an accident…"

"Breach accidentally threw me 6 months into the future, and then I met…"

"Ben and I had to team up to take on Alpha, but nothing was working…"

"I used the meta nanites to cure every EVO on Earth, and then forcibly shut them all down. For the past 3 months, everything has been normal. No EVOs, no big fights, no nothing. At least, not until today. I saw that weird, blue flash, and then I was here." Finally… after almost two hours of talking, Rex had finished explaining everything important.

Long ago, Pietro had begun pulling pads of paper out of his vest's oversized pockets and filling them with countless notes, documenting every scientific phenomena Rex described. The Schnee lady had scoffed countless times at the unbelievable tales, not willing to entertain this boy's insanity. Ironwood held his questions for the end, wanting to see where this all went before he went in for his own information. And Penny…

"Incredible! I've never heard of technology capable of controlling natural forces in such a way. It's just like the comics father gives me to read!" She had been excitedly clapping and commenting every now and then, evidently losing her mind over meeting a real-life superhero. Madam scoffs-a-lot was clearly getting fed up with her.

"There you have it, General. Like I've told you, I don't know how I got here. Weren't you guys the ones who built the portal? So, then, didn't you pull me here? Why am I the one on trial? You guys are the ones who kidnapped me."

"Watch your tone! Do not speak so rudely to the General!" Rex just rolled his eyes at the too-serious Specialist being overzealous about her job again.

"... If what you're saying is true, am I to understand that you're from another world?" Surprisingly, Ironwood sounded completely serious. His officer looked more shocked than anyone.

"S-sir? Do you actually believe this story? Another world? Something like that doesn't exist!"
"The world is a deeper, darker place than most of us know, Specialist Schnee. There are many things out there that even our most knowledgeable scholars have no clue about. There are definitely things that don't exist, but until we learn more, we shouldn't dismiss our only information source so easily." Something about the general's words felt… ominous, like he was talking about something else entirely.

"Thanks, and yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. There are other worlds out there, other dimensions, other universes. They're all separate but connected. Someway, somehow, I got pulled into this one, just like Ben got pulled into mine a few months back."

"Hm… I don't know how or why, but our portal was clearly the reference point." Pietro pored over his amassed notes, settling on his most recent page. "I still have no idea how a connection was established between us, but it's clear that you were pulled from your world into ours through my GATE device. The massive amount of energy needed for interdimensional travel likely caused the doorway to overload and collapse in on itself." The elderly man did not seem at all displeased by his work's destruction. Instead, he looked positively thrilled, and his daughter was much the same, looking through his earlier notes to see what he had written about the EVOs Rex had described.

"Good. Great. Awesome! So, are we all settled, then? We're in agreement that I didn't choose to come here? Then, can I go? I'll just hop into another portal and be on my way." As if it were the simplest thing in the world, Rex declared this with a smile, his feet once again swung onto the table as he leaned back in his chair.

"..."

"..."

"... You do have another portal, right?"

"Unfortunately, the portal that was destroyed was my very first successful prototype, and in the ensuing explosion, my work terminal was destroyed and all my blueprints lost, not to mention we still don't know how you were connected to the software in the first place. Between gathering the materials again, redrawing the blueprints, creating another safe model, and somehow figuring out a way to calibrate it to take you home… I… have no idea how long all this will even take. I'm… truly sorry." Pietro looked down, guilt coloring his wrinkled face.

"You mean… I'm stuck here? You don't know how to send me back home?" A shaken head was all the answer Rex received.

"... I realize it's still early, but… how would you like a tour of the compound, Mr. Salazar?" The Specialist's eyes snapped open and she jerked her head towards her general.

"Sir!?"

"Relax, Specialist Schnee. I understand the risks. It's all calculated. Mr. Salazar, would you like that tour?" The general repeated his question, no less inexpressive than he was the first time.

He could see that the otherworldly boy was having a hard time. Anybody would after being told they might not be able to go home. Ironwood's semblance was not something as convenient as lie-detecting, but something about the way this kid spoke, the way he carried himself, the way he was now slumped in his seat, deep in thought…

It all seemed truly genuine.

"If he's the hero he claims to be, there won't be any problems. If not, he stands against the might of Atlas."

Ironwood was a caring man. He loved the people of Remnant, wanted them all to feel safe and happy, cared for and protected. It would have been respectful and right to leave Rex be for a while…

But, Ironwood was also a calculating man. He never let a single opportunity pass him by once he saw it. Call it insensitive, but what he saw right here was a perfect opportunity.

Rex was unresponsive momentarily, lost in his thoughts.
"Yeah… Yeah, sure." Tossing his feet off the table, Rex stood up and got ready to leave. Pietro did the same, gathering his notes, while Schnee continued to stand by, albeit looking conflicted as she did so. Penny, meanwhile, looked dissatisfied. These past two hours spent listening to their visitor's stories were so much fun, and the stuffy compound was soooo boring. She wanted to hear more fun stories from the strange visitor, something Ironwood was perceptive enough to notice.

"Penny, would you like to come as well?" The red-haired girl looked surprised by the sudden question, but recovered in less than a second, replying with a resounding "Of course!".

"It's fine, as long as she doesn't leave the compound." Ironwood thought to himself.

"Mr. Salazar, you can step outside, we'll be with you in a moment. Winter, accompany him."

Rex and Winter both left the conference room, leaving Ironwood, Penny, and Pietro alone.

"... You really think what he says is true?" Ironwood directed his question to Pietro, the only other person who had personally witnessed Rex's "infiltration".

"I can't think of a better explanation for all this with the information we have now." Pietro's answer could hardly be considered solid, but neither could anything else about this situation, so it would have to do.

"Right. You're dismissed, Pietro. And Penny?"

"Yes sir, General Ironwood, sir!?" The dopey girl gave the same sloppy salute she had given when she first entered the conference room.

"If what he said about being able to 'feel machines' by touching them is true… you are still a top-secret military project. Try to avoid being too physically close to him, for now."

"Yes sir, General Ironwood sir!" That same dopey smile, that same sloppy salute.

Ironwood had a feeling his day was far from over. Sighing internally, he and Penny left the conference room, ready to give their visitor the grand tour.

30 Minutes Later:

"This is the training division. All our recruits live in this cluster of buildings. Dormitories are separated by time spent in our military academy, and the meal halls are on the lower floors."

Rex nodded his head absentmindedly. Ironwood had taken him and Penny all over the relatively small military compound. It seemed it wasn't a central base, but rather a site mainly meant to serve as a boot camp for new recruits, along with a large collection of relatively small labs for either low-budget or discreet projects.. Apparently, professor Polendina moved his lab here because he wanted his daughter to be around people her age.

It was so painfully boring.

This place was just like Providence with none of the charm. Everything was white, everybody was so pointlessly serious, and the guy in charge didn't even try to make his explanations more fun. Though, one look at his genuine smile made it clear that Ironwood honestly thought all of this was so great and impressive, it was entertaining to listen to him explain everything within the compound.

Seriously, there was nothing good here. Even that hot Specialist lady, Winter, had been unpleasant to share a room with. It was like Holiday's good looks sharing space with Six's annoyingly strict personality, only dialed up even further. Also, Rex had a feeling about this earlier, but it seemed like Ironwood was taking special care to show him around the training courses and dormitories. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was after.

"Come on, dude. I know I'm pretty awesome, but are you seriously trying to recruit me already? At least give me some time to think about all this." Rex forced these thoughts down, biting back the thirtieth snarky joke he had thought of in the last ten minutes as the general-turned-salesman continued his tour.

To be perfectly frank, Rex didn't really care too much about his inadvertent trip to a new world. It had been a shock, sure, and he was a bit out of it at first. But, after just a few minutes of walking around, the shock vanished and his inherent curiosity took over. Did it really matter if he had hopped to a new world? He had been asking for entertainment to brighten up his now monotonous life not even a day ago, and this was about as exciting as it got. Ben hopped into his world, and he got home just fine.

In fact, Caesar was probably already getting to work on that portal gun he'd used to send the green-jacketed hero back to his home. Rex was supremely confident that he wouldn't even be here for a month before his family tracked him down. Besides, Pietro was also working on the same project on this end. Sooner or later, he would manage to replicate his prototype and send him home.

So, if his return trip was inevitable, why not see what this new world had to offer? It might even be pretty fun, seeing all the crazy stuff that didn't exist in his own world.

"The main firing range is here. Standard issue weaponry is provided for trainees, and the holographic simulation field projects hard light images to enhance the experience of being on a battlefield."

"... Sigh."

Sooo fun.

"Are you alright Mr. Rex? You seem quite tired. Have you been getting enough sleep? It is very important for people our age to get at least 8 hours of rest every night." Penny clearly took notice of how bored he was and leaned her entire body to the side, hands still clasped behind her back.

That… was another oddity.

The inordinately friendly girl, for some reason, had not come within five feet of him since this tour began. She stood on the other side of the hall, and visibly distanced herself from Rex whenever he stepped closer, as if he had some disease she was afraid to catch. Truth be told, Rex always felt something strange about her. It wasn't a feeling that she was lying or anything… but he could swear she was always speaking to him. He kept hearing hushed words, grating whispers coming from her direction, yet she never said anything when he turned to face her other than "Is something wrong" or, her favorite word, "Sal-u-tations!". It was all very familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"... Just 'Rex' is fine. You don't need to be so formal, chica. I get enough of that back home." His voice was in a lower tone than usual, his voice dragging from boredom. Worming a finger under the strap securing his goggles to his forehead, Rex absentmindedly scratched the back of his head. He wasn't even pretending to listen to Ironwood anymore.
".. -azar."

This was just unbelievable. A whole new world should have come with adventure, but he was stuck in a military compound with some dude trying to recruit him. Same story, different armed force.

"Mr. Salazar?" His thoughts disturbed, Rex's head snapped up. Ironwood was staring at him, awaiting an answer to whatever question he had just asked.

"U-uh, yeah?"

"I asked you what you thought of this training camp. It's not as large or well-equipped as the ones in central Atlas, but I believe it is still acceptable as the first step in our cadets' careers."

"Oh, so he's really going for it now."

"Yeah, uh, listen man, I'm really not looking to join some other military group right now. I was kind of hoping to travel all around while I'm still here, see what this place has that I don't have back home. I don't want to waste my interdimensional vacation in boot camp, tener sentido?"

Ironwood did not seem surprised that he had been seen through. At least he was aware of how hamfisted he was.

"I can understand the sentiment, but this really is the best option for you, Mr. Salazar. Wouldn't you agree that the best course of action would be to remain close by? If professor Polendina completes the gate to send you home, it would be convenient for everybody if you were within arms reach. And, in the unlikely event that we can't figure out how to return you to your home-"

"It'd be great if I was part of your army, right?" Rex was not even remotely impressed by the general's explanation. If they completed the gate, all they had to do was give him a call and he'd fly straight back with the Boogie Pack. At least he made no effort to hide that he clearly just wanted Rex under his command. Penny just stood off to the side and rocked back and forth on her heels and toes, not sure what she could say to add to the conversation.

"I realize it sounds callous, but there is a very real possibility we won't be able to discover a way to return you to your home. If that ends up being the case, isn't it only natural to have a fallback here? We pay our all troops very well, even the Privates, and you receive tremendous benefits upon being discharged. Room and board are provided, and healthcare is covered. If you haven't exaggerated your skills, I don't doubt you could easily pass Specialist training. You would be sent all around Remnant to deal with whatever threats are deemed relevant. It's the closest you'll get to your previous life."

As much as Rex didn't want to admit it, it was a pretty convincing sales pitch. Even still…

"Ah, General Ironwood! I need to discuss the academy situation with you, sir!" The conversation was interrupted by a green-haired man, probably in his late-twenties. He had come from around the corner of the hallway, looking all around before his eyes settled on his commanding officer. "Ms. Katt, well… she still has not stopped harassing the gate guards at the academy. It seems she has no intention of leaving until she is accepted for the upcoming term."

The bizarre report must not have been as strange as it sounded to Rex, because Ironwood sighed in annoyance, like it was a regular occurrence.

"That's the third day in a row. Has nobody explained to her yet that she still has time to send in an application?"

Now in business mode, Ironwood walked a short ways away with his subordinate, leaving Rex to stand alone with the silent Penny. The pair of teens waited in silence for a moment, Penny bouncing on the balls of her feet, trying to think of something to say. When she finally had the genius idea to ask Rex if he liked action movies, something she was sure all boys enjoyed, she noticed that the jacketed boy had turned on his heel and was walking away from everybody without a word.

"Ah! Mr. Rex, where are you-"

"I can't be here anymore. I can only handle so much military stuff in one day. Don't worry, you can tell him I'll be back later. I'm just gonna walk around for a while." Rex carelessly raised a hand above his head, waving goodbye to the redhead without turning around. He made it about ten feet away when he stopped and tilted his head over his shoulder.

"Unless you wanna come with? You don't look like you're having much fun either." The friendly offer caught Penny off guard, and she wasn't sure how to respond. Instead, she just stood there, stumbling over the beginnings of her words.

"Ooh, father mentioned this! When a boy asks you to spend time with him alone, it's a… a… oh, that's right!"

"De-lightful! Are you asking me to go on a date?" Such a strange question, asked so seriously, with so much excitement, like she barely even understood what she was asking. Now it was Rex's turn to be confused.

"Uh, not exactly. I'm just inviting you to hang out. If you wanna come, let's go, chica. The sooner, the better."

Not waiting for a response, Rex continued his departure. Ironwood was still locked in discussion with his subordinate, leaving Penny by herself. Weighing her options, she quickly decided to follow the cybernetic stranger.

Hopelessly lost, Rex had hoped to find an exit quickly, but he only seemed to end up deeper inside the compound. He may have lied when he said he planned to come back later. He had initially planned to find the nearest exit and book it out of the compound. Why did he have to notice how bored Penny looked? With the redhead in tow, his escape would be even more complicated.

"Are there lots of people where you came from? Do you have lots of friends? Did you ever have any pets?"

This was another strange phenomena Rex had taken note of. He had initially believed Penny was a polite but shy girl, based on how quiet she was when Ironwood conducted his tour. But, now that it was just the two of them, she had fired off question after question, curious about absolutely everything. It was kind of overwhelming, but also somewhat endearing.

It was pretty apparent that the girl did not get out much and didn't have a whole lot of experience talking to people, so Rex tried his best to remain patient. Whenever he got the chance, he interjected with a question of his own. There was plenty he was curious about, like why Atlas' large military was necessary. Was there a war going on? Did this world have its own threats to worry about.

Of all the answers he had imagined, "Grimm, demonic, lifeless creatures of shadow, thinking only of destruction, stalking the lands looking for lives to claim" was not what he expected. Also, he was pretty sure he had seen Penny's eyes flash for a moment before she gave him an explanation that sounded like it was pulled straight from an internet article.

"And the military handles these things?"

Another flash, he definitely saw it that time. The awkward girl's light green eyes flashed brightly for a moment just before her response came.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses, warriors trained specifically to eradicate Grimm, are hired to go on hunts. They are trained in Hunter academies around Remnant, one of which is right here, above Mantle, though Atlas academy is more like an extension of our military." Strangely, this explanation, too, started off sounding like an internet article, but slowly became more natural and less stiff, like Penny's own emotions leaked into her words.

"Huh. Cool. Anything else I should know about?"

The mutual grilling continued as the two teens walked through the complicated hallways, ignored by the researchers and soldiers around them. Rex was pretty sure they were approaching an exit, now. He could hear the sounds of trucks and the heavy thuds of cargo being unloaded.

They both traded information, questions for questions, answers for answers.

Providence, nanites, EVOs, all this information went to Penny.

Huntsmen academies, Grimm, and some kind of terrorist group called the White Fang, all that information went to Rex.

Hardly any personal information was shared. Penny did not ask too much about Rex's private life, and he did not inquire much about hers.

At last, a massive doorway stood before them. It looked like there would normally be a bulkhead sealing the three-story gateway, but it was now left wide open, revealing a sort of warehouse on the other side. Large trucks were everywhere, and dozens of Atlesian soldiers were transporting heavy cargo crates all around. Further still, beyond the hustle and bustle of the warehouse, the outside world could clearly be seen through another massive, open doorway.

"Finally, some fresh air. I was getting tired of wandering through all those hallways. Ah, but it's just snow out there. More white? Aburrido." Jacketed arms slumped down as Rex complained about the lack of color. Getting over himself quickly, he walked straight into the warehouse, not noticing Penny's nervous expression as she slowly followed him inside.

He looked all around, curious about the cargo being hauled. Some men carried ammo, others hauled colored crystals, and some small groups were using forklifts to transport long racks of deactivated robots. One crate in particular caught his eye. Sitting alone beside a now-empty truck, a 4x4 crate that was oh so shockingly completely white, was left alone with its top removed, revealing the contents. Small devices, reminiscent of smartphones, filled the crate. Curious, Rex picked one up and turned it over in his hands. No soldiers were nearby, so there was nobody to tell him no.

"Oh yeah, you mentioned these things. Scrolls, right? They're kinda like cellphones." Rex pressed his thumbs onto the orange buttons on the front, pulling the odd device open and revealing its holographic screen. It looked pretty advanced for a standard cellular device. If it was here in a military compound, it was probably some kind of advanced model intended for soldiers.

"Hey Penny, you think anybody'll notice if I snag one of these? I mean, they did kind of kidnap me, so it's only fair I get something in return, right?"

"Eh? Um, isn't that stealing?" The already nervous looking Penny now looked utterly lost. She was always taught that stealing was wrong, but she did not want to disturb her new companion by reprimanding him for his actions.

"Nah, it's totally fine. When you do something bad to somebody, you gotta make it up to them however you can. I'm doing Mr. Serious a favor, now he doesn't have to get me a gift basket. I doubt my phone would work here, anyway, so it all works out." His case made, Rex slipped the scroll into his back pocket with a satisfied smile and continued making his way to the door leading to the outside world. Still looking conflicted, Penny hesitatingly followed after him, looking apprehensive.

With no further interruptions, the pair soon stood right in front of the doors leading out of the military compound. Outside, snow coated the ground, and more continued to fall. The sky wasn't too terribly blocked out by clouds, though, and it was still reasonably bright. It didn't look like there were any other buildings outside, unless you counted the wall surrounding the entire complex and the guard towers on both sides of a gate built into it.

"Well, thanks for answering all my questions, chica, but I gotta get out of here. I've only got room in my heart for one stuffy, overbearing military group, and White Knight would get mad if he found out I was sleeping with another organization." Stretching his arms behind his back, Rex decided to just be honest. The sooner he could leave, the better.

"Hm? You're already leaving? But, you haven't been here very long yet, and I still have so many questions I want to ask you." Penny looked crestfallen that her new companion was going to leave her behind. "Where will you even go next, Mr. Rex?"

"Again, just Rex is fine. And I don't really know yet. I guess being a Huntsman sounds like a pretty cool way to kill time until Caesar or your dad figures out how to get me home. Traveling around, beating monsters, saving people, sounds like a pretty familiar life. I'm not really excited to stay here, though. Maybe I'll go find another academy and ask to work for them. You said the closest one to here is Beacon, right? I figure I'll show up, show my stuff, and they'll send me on some missions pretty soon after." Rex was slightly rambling, rushing through his plans with little regard for the confused girl. "I guess I don't really know how to get there, though. You wouldn't happen to know the right direction, would you?"
"U-um, I really don't… I'm not sure… I-I…" Penny could not answer. She was looking more distraught by the second. Rex halted his rambling, concerned for the excitable girl.

"Hey, it's alright! I'll see you again before I go home, and you can always call me. I've got this thing now, remember?" Rex pulled the scroll from his back pocket and held it beside his face. "Oh, I don't actually know my own number though. But, that's alright! You can show me before I go." Putting the pilfered scroll back in his pocket, Rex's expression suddenly turned thoughtful.
"Actually, I've got a better idea. You wanna come for a ride? We can zip around for a while, then I can bring you back." He had thought it was a kind offer, but Penny looked genuinely scared by such an offer.

"A-a ride? Oh, on your… Rex Rider? U-um, thank you, but I'm really not supposed to leave without guards to escort me, or my father will be worried. And also… also, um…" She desperately wanted to avoid saying "I was told to not get near you, let alone touch you."

"I, um, I'm not supposed to go on trips alone with boys. That's what my father told me." The moment her sentence was finished, a single hiccup forced its way out of Penny's throat. Feeling incredibly nervous, Penny unknowingly took steps away from Rex, distancing herself from him.

"Seriously? They have you locked up, too? Hey, look, I wasn't supposed to leave Providence either, but my alone time was the only thing that kept me sane while I was locked inside. Trust me, a short trip won't hurt. Just an hour, no, just thirty minutes." Completely misunderstanding, Rex walked towards Penny as she continued stepping away backwards.

"Th-that really isn't the problem! It's just, I can't, er…" The backwards steps continued.

"Then what's wrong? Do you not like the cold? Should I wait for you to get a coat?" Rex continued walking towards Penny.

"Rex…"

"Penny…"

"HEY, WATCH IT!"

Both footsteps stopped as a new voice shouted loud from across the warehouse. Caught off guard, Penny let out a small eep and froze in place, glancing behind her to locate the speaker. Rex, though, could see to her right, some kind of truck carrying cargo crates was reversing straight towards her. They had both been so absorbed in the argument, neither of them had noticed the warning beeps.
"Penny, move!" Closing the distance quickly, Rex wrapped a hand around her wrist and yanked her towards him, clearing the truck's path. The driver did not stop at all, paying no mind to his surroundings as he continued on his way. Penny and Rex had ended up about two feet apart, the girl's wrist still clasped in his hand.

"You okay? I'm sorry, I should've paid more attention. That was my faul-" Rushing out his apology, Rex took a moment to notice a familiar sensation.

Circuitry. Electric signals. Machines "speaking" to each other. And, most notably, that warm feeling in his right hand, the very same one grasping onto Penny. Not only that, the familiar light in Penny's eyes that appeared before her dictionary-definition explanations was now ever-present, her eyes remaining a bright shade of green as she looked utterly horrified.

"I… I… I-I-I-I…!" The poor girl looked like she was having a panic attack. She wrenched her hand free of Rex's grip with far more strength than he would have expected from her. That same hand was now clenched against her chest tightly. Penny looked ready to run at any moment.
As for Rex, he pulled his hand away far more slowly, glancing at it apprehensively. He knew that feeling. He had felt it countless times in the past five years.

"You're… a machine?" He did not sound disgusted or betrayed, as Penny feared, only curious.

"N-no, of course not! I'm a regular person!" Another hiccup escaped Penny's lips. "There's nothing strange about me! I'm definitely a normal human!" A second hiccup. "I-I just have a very unique body. Yes, that's all. Nothing more!" A third hiccup.

Penny was once again backing away, fear written all over her face. Rex was at a loss, not knowing how to respond to all of this. But, like Six taught him, when words failed, use your actions to get a point across. Perhaps she was so distraught she simply did not notice, but Penny did not speed up her shaky retreat when Rex calmly walked over to her, nor did she fight when he grabbed her hand once more.

"..." He observed silently as he felt that familiar feeling again, that warmth that came from interacting with a machine, especially one that was at least somewhat sentient. Penny, too, said nothing, afraid to speak or even move at this juncture.

"... Huh. Cool." Such an incredibly simple response, so much so it was underwhelming.

"... Wh-what?" Was all Penny could squeak out.

"I've seen plenty of robots wandering around at Providence, but I've never met somebody like you. Wow, interesante." That strange language Penny could not understand was used again, but that was the least of her concerns.

"You… that's all you'll say? There's… nothing else?" She remained apprehensive.

"Uh, should I say something else? You… look super real?" Rex only scratched the back of his head, confused by her behavior.

Penny was dumbstruck. This… this was too far outside the realm of her expectations.

At some point, they had wandered away from the center of the warehouse and were now sitting against a vacant wall, a wall of cargo protecting them from view.

"...Most people are born, but I was made. That was my father's project. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura."

Rex remembered that word, aura. The way Penny explained it, it was some kind of energy that everything with a soul had, from humans to plants. He still didn't know very much about it, aside from the incredibly basic explanation.

"He cares for me very much, and treats me as his own daughter, but…" Penny wrung her right hand in her left nervously, treating Rex's ears to the faint sound of metal rubbing on metal. Whatever material was used to pose as skin flaked off a tiny bit, revealing small patches of silver on Penny's hands.

"I'm not real. I'm… just a robot. I'm not really alive, like everybody else."

This whole time, Rex had been confused. From the portal, to the tour, to Penny's behavior, he hadn't had any clue what was going on or how to act for the past six hours. However, in the face of what he had just heard, his response was immediate.

"Mierda." Penny had no idea what that word meant, but Rex wasn't done.

"Listen, I don't know a lot about you or this place, but I'm kind of an expert of machines. I knew plenty of 'em back in Providence. Transport bots, drivers, all kinds, and none of them were like you. None of them had a personality, none of them had any real emotions, and none of them thought to ask me questions. I don't know any lifeless robots who get excited just from hearing about my life. I could go on, but my point is, so what? What does it matter if you're made of metal? You think, you feel, you act for yourself. A person makes their own decisions. A robot would have gone right on standing in that hall, waiting for Ironwood to give an order." Not once did Rex raise his voice. He spoke evenly, gently, trying to hold a comforting tone with the terrified girl, because that's what she was. Not a robot, but a scared girl.

"... I don't, um… you're taking this extraordinarily well." Fear was replaced by childlike confusion.

"I'm just saying, I can't think of any robots that feel so much fear when somebody finds out what they're made of. And so what? Your body's not made of muscle and bone, so you're not alive? Dude…" Rex grinned, raised his left arm, and a whirring noise was heard as the familiar sight of a giant, metal fist greeted Penny's eyes. "Same here. I've got a little too much iron in me, but I'm still alive. I know I haven't known you too long, but…" The giant fist vanished, revealing a regular, human arm in its place. "You seem pretty alive to me."

Silence. Nothing was said in return, and Rex's sentiment was not continued. Green eyes that should have been lifeless filled with emotion. Confusion, relief, fear… happiness.

Before Rex could react, he found himself tackled by a very heavy weight as two terribly strong arms wrapped around him. He could not support the unexpectedly huge weight of Penny's body and fell over onto his back, his ribs groaning in protest over the bone crushing hug he was currently receiving.

"Thank you!"

Two words, nothing more. That was all it took to express the heartfelt gratitude the synthetic girl truly felt. Ignoring the popping sounds his bones were making to the best of his ability, Rex grit his teeth and hugged her back, trying not to cry as the hug tightened.

"Just give her a few seconds, Rex. Just a few seconds. Just… a few… more…"

He could finally breathe a sigh of relief when Penny released him. He could physically feel his ribcage shifting back into place after its compression into his body, though he tried to ignore that as well as he rose to his feet.

"Well, I think we should take the opportunity to start over, now that we've cleared the air here." Rex's right hand was extended to the still kneeling Penny, his smile kind, his eyes inviting. "Hi there. The name's Rex Salazar, hero extraordinaire, and your new best friend. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Penny's smile grew instantaneously, even before her processing unit understood what it had just heard, like it was a reflexive action. She hurriedly jumped to her feet and clasped the outstretched with both of hers, making Rex wince as his bones were only slightly crushed.

"Sal-u-tations, friend Rex! My name is Penny Polendina! It's delightful to meet you!" Loud as ever, happy as ever, that goofy grin as wide as ever. Rex had only known her for a few, short hours, but this just seemed so natural for her.

"Now that all of that's out of the way, you want to take that ride? The offer still stands." Rex jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, pointing to the open hangar doors. Penny's smile dropped slightly, but she looked less afraid and more disappointed this time.

"I'm sorry, friend Rex, but I'm really not supposed to leave by myself. I'm not even supposed to walk around the compound without somebody to-"

"Agh, weren't you listening!?" Rex's exasperated groan cut the android off, but his smile did not drop. "Who cares what you're supposed to do? I snuck out of Providence all the time and it was the best way I spent my time. Ironwood's probably looking for us now, anyway, so what's a little more trouble? You gotta do what makes you happy, even if it'll get you in trouble. And we're teenagers, or at least, I think you are. Doing what we're not supposed to is part of the job. That's what being alive is, Penny."

"Being… alive?" Like a confused dog, Penny tilted her head to the side. Rex was totally serious, his thumb still pointing over his shoulder. He looked eager to go. He wasn't just asking to be nice, he truly did want to go with her.

"... We will be back soon, correct?" Slow, hesitating, yet undeniably excited. Rex grinned widely.

"Oh yeah, just a quick little ride, I'll drop you back off here, and then I'll be on my way. It's alright, I promise you'll see me again."

The decision made, both teens padded back to the compound entrance.

"Hm, guess moving on the ground isn't an option with that big wall in the way, and the Boogie Pack's not really good for a two-person joyride. Guess there's only one option, then."

Rex jumped into the air, his legs morphing into a massive hoverboard. A stark, surfboard-like construct almost entirely colored in black was now attached to the bottom of his legs. Two silver fins jutted out from the sides, and the board was kept in the air by two horizontal wheels composed entirely of glowing blue energy. Penny clapped her hands excitedly.

"Ooh, I know this one! You said this was called the Sky Slyder, yes?!"

"Yup, that's right. You getting on or not?"

Penny hopped right onto the hoverboard, grinning madly as she stuck her arms straight out to balance herself. It brought to mind a toddler excitedly taking their first steps. While she righted herself, Rex pulled down his goggles and flew just outside of the warehouse, feeling the cold snow hit his face.

"This is your captain speaking. Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle and prepare for a crazy fun ride."

"Understood, captain!" Rex honestly wasn't sure if Penny was just playing along with her salute, or if she was being genuine.

Urging power into the hoverboard, it rocketed forward at an upward angle, easily clearing the wall surrounding the complex and soaring into the sky. Penny did a remarkable job keeping her balance. It barely even looked like she was focusing on holding herself steady as all her attention went to the world around them.

The compound they left behind seemed isolated, with nothing around it except for a snowy forest and some rocky hills. After a few minutes of flying, the natural scenery far below gave way to a city, hundreds of buildings of various shapes and sizes passing by, bright signs and massive billboards providing more color and decoration. The sun peeked through the clouds and shone down on the snow already covering the ground, making it appear bright and shiny.

Penny had no words. Not once had she ever been outside of a military complex, unless you counted the journey from one to another, which she did not. There were so many colors, so many strange sights, so much… everything.

"This… is Remnant. De-lightful!" The words came out breathlessly, like it had taken everything she had to force herself to speak. It was almost scary how massive her smile had grown, the corners of her lips almost being level with her nose.

Minutes passed in silence, Rex allowing Penny to soak everything in, and Penny unable to think of anything to say. It was only when Rex, on a whim, looked straight up and saw the city-sized chunk of earth floating in the sky, the silence was broken

"WHAT IS THAT!?" Unable to contain his surprise, the shout came out before he could stop it. Penny followed his gaze to the impossible sight.

"That is the city of Atlas. My father's main lab is there, he was only in Mantle temporarily to work on the GATE project. General Ironwood was visiting to personally witness his progress."

"It's… flying."
"Correct. Is that not normal?" Bless this girl's heart, she was so cluelessly innocent.

"... Not particularly."

Glossing over the flying city, the ride continued peacefully. Rex took care to fly all around, low enough to skim the treetops, and high enough for Penny to run her hands through the clouds. After a full hour of flying around aimlessly, it was time for Penny to return home.

"Friend Rex, will you really not stay here? Atlas does have its own academy. I am sure they would happily accept you!" To emphasize how certain she was, Penny bent her arm and swung it inwards.

"Yeah, but it's part of the military right? It'll be pretty hard to enjoy myself if I gotta act like some model soldier all the time. I spent a week in boot camp before, and that was more than enough. I don't really care which of the other academies I go to, but Beacon is probably the closest, judging by what you've said. And, hey, if I decide it's not for me, I'll fly straight back. I promise." Rex could not physically turn all the way around, given that his legs were part of the hoverboard they were standing on. Instead, he twisted his upper body around as best he could and gave his newest friend a thumbs up. She looked disappointed, but understanding.

"Oh, thank you, friend Rex!" She leaned forward on the oversized hoverboard and wrapped him in a hug, overjoyed once more. "Oh, that's right! I may be able to offer support!"

Reaching into his back pocket, Penny pulled out his stolen scroll and input some type of command, changing the display before putting it back in its place.

"There you are, friend Rex. I have programmed your personal scroll to display a map to Beacon academy. Your estimated time of arrival is precisely seventeen hours, thirty-two minutes, and fifty-eight seconds from now."

"Whoa, thanks Penny! I was just planning to fly around until I saw somebody on the road, then ask for directions. You're the best!"

Penny's response was to excitedly bounce up and down on the hoverboard, giggling to herself.

Pulling up on the compound, Rex could see flying transports and ground vehicles swarming around it, searchlights flicked on every tower flicked on to compensate for the waning evening light.

"Wow, he really wants to find us. He's committed, I'll give him that. Maybe a little too committed. I feel bad for the guy's wife." Rex cracked a joke to ease the tension, expecting Penny to be scared at the sight before them. Surprisingly, it actually seemed to make her happy.

"Wow, with such a large search party, General Ironwood will likely be most displeased that I disappeared. I will probably receive a very stern lecture, perhaps even a punishment." Penny giggled into her hand, like such a thought was funny to her. "Sen-sational! Part of being alive is doing what makes you happy, even if it gets you into trouble. Being alive is so much fun!"

Rex couldn't help but grin at her declaration.

They both agreed the best course of action would be leaving Penny a short distance away from the compound so she could return on her own. If Rex went with her, Ironwood would probably have him shot out of the sky.

"Goodbye, friend Rex!" The sweet robot girl shut her eyes and waved her hand so fast it blurred.

"See ya Penny. Good luck with Ironwood."

They said their goodbyes, and Rex promised he wouldn't tell a single person her secret before he flew away, leaving Penny alone to happily skip back to the compound, humming to herself along the way.

"Right, let's see. If I want to get to Beacon… I just fly straight from here. For seventeen hours. Ugh, this is gonna suck." Rex groaned, not at all looking forward to the long trip ahead of him. His legs would be screaming by the time he finally landed.

Flicking off the map display, he was about to return the scroll to his pocket when a pop-up notice caught his attention.

Contacts: 1

Curious, he tapped the icon with his thumb, opening up a fairly standard number selection menu for phone calls. Er, scroll calls.

Contacts:

Penny Polendina

It seemed the happy-go-lucky android had left Rex more than one present before they parted ways.

"Thanks Penny. I'll give you a call when I land."

Maybe he really could enjoy himself in this world. Once he got to Beacon, it would probably be a matter of showing off his skills to convince the teachers there he was qualified for field work, and he'd be able to skip all the boring school stuff and get straight to going on missions.

"Monster hunting, here I come!"

19 Hours Later:

The door to the interrogation room swung open, revealing…

"Professor Paradox!?" Ben and Kevin jumped to their feet, unable to believe what they were seeing. He was back? Already!? Why?

"Ah, hello boys. I see everything has gone according to schedule. How wonderful, truly." The eccentric scientist carelessly walked into the room, pulling up the chair on the opposite side of the table from the five teenagers and seating himself comfortably.

"You know this guy, Ben?" Rex pointed to the strange visitor, who didn't look like any cop he had ever known.

"Oh yeah, he's the one who sent us here. You planned for us getting locked up, Paradox?" Kevin was understandably frustrated with the time walker's carefree attitude.

"Why, of course. You may not realize it yet, but this was quite an important night for you. You've gathered those you will need to save this world together, just as I intended. It was quite difficult, manipulating so many different realities to ensure everything happened as they should."

"Wait, you mean…" Peter addressed the scientist, having a bad feeling. "You're the guy who brought us all here?" Paradox smiled at the youngest teen, folding his hands on the table before speaking.

"That man you fought was little more than an amateur in the way of dimensional travel. Without my assistance behind the scenes, that frame of his would never have turned on, and his energy core could never have produced such a wonderful effect." Admitting to something so serious as being the sole perpetrator behind Peter's trip to Remnant, the man was annoyingly calm.

"What?! So you're the reason I-"

"And you, Mr. Salazar." Paradox ignored Peter completely. "I was sorry to interfere with a fellow professor's work, but I'm afraid it was necessary in order to track you in your dimension and pull you into this one. I left him a rather splendid gift basket to make up for the damage my tampering behind the scenes caused to his project."

It was Rex's turn to be taken aback. This old guy was the reason he got pulled into this world?

"Hold on, if you could do all that, why not just send them here yourself?" Ben made his confusion known, put off by his old ally's questionable methods.

"Simply put, I hoped to avoid unnecessary confusion. It would take far too long to make it known I am not a hostile presence, and these methods work out better, regardless. Certain people had to be met, connections had to be made, and this was the most entertaining… the most efficient way to do so." Not a single person in the room missed Paradox's slip of the tongue.

"U-um… sir? I'm not really sure what you're talking about." Finally, a meek, quiet voice made itself heard. All eyes turned to Jaune, his right elbow planted on the table, raising his hand like a child in a classroom. All this talk of dimensional travel and portals was going way over his head. This was the kind of thing he would expect to see in one of his precious comics, not real life.

"Ah, Mr. Arc. The centerpiece, the cornerstone, perhaps the most important person in this entire room. You, young man, have an incredibly crucial role to play in the events that will play out in the coming two years. It's not an overstatement to say you are the foundation of the legend that will be written when your deeds are done." Paradox declared all of this with no dramatics and no sarcasm, only straight-faced certainty.

"Wh-what? What are you talking about? Something's… going to happen soon? Is that what you're saying?" Of course, the out-of-place blonde could not hope to understand.

"I'm not a fan of spoilers, so I can't say too much. All you need to know is that the five of you are currently the most important people in the world. Your presence is absolutely necessary for the people of this world to rise above what is coming. I only hope my predictions of this conflict's outcome are correct. Listen well, no matter what, you must all remain at Beacon until the time is right. This is of tremendous importance." Paradox's jovial attitude grew more serious towards the end, his face darkening. "Right then, I've said all that I must, so I'll be going. Everything rests in your hands now, boys." With that, Paradox made to leave. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, he did not turn it, but instead turned his head back to the boys.

"And before I forget, Ben, Kevin, listen to me very carefully." The two boys who were addressed narrowed their eyes curiously. "The things you saw in that place, the woman you met, the names you heard, everything…" Paradox paused dramatically, making sure everyone present knew how serious he was being.

"Don't tell Ozpin."
As the last syllable escaped his lip, the time walker vanished into thin air in the time it took to blink. Jaune rubbed his eyes in shock, believing they were playing tricks on him. Peter and Rex reacted in a very similar fashion, while Ben and Kevin were just confused.

"Don't tell Ozpin?" Ben parroted the professor's words.

"Ain't that the guy we're supposed to meet?"

As if on cue, the doorknob began to jiggle once more. All conversation halted as the interrogation room door was opened. Two people entered this time, a relaxed, calm man with a messy mop of grey hair and a gorgeous yet stern-looking blonde woman carrying a riding crop.

"Hello to you all. I apologize for the sudden visit, but I was already in the area to visit someone else, and, I must admit, I was intrigued when I heard of the incident that transpired two hours ago." The grey-haired man seated himself in the same chair Paradox had been in, the woman standing next to him and wordlessly glaring at each of the five boys. None of them were sure who they were speaking with and glanced at each other, some feeling uncertain, some nervous.

"Please, there is no need to be uncomfortable. I am only here to talk about what happened tonight. My name is Ozpin. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

Jaune choked on air, sputtering hopelessly. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened. He had continually told himself it was fine, that the others were right, that he could explain himself, leave the police station with no problems, and make it to Beacon in time to apply. All that went out the window when the Headmaster himself could clearly see his current predicament.

"Whyyyyyyyy!?"

"If I may be so forward," Ozpin rested his elbows on the table, folding his hands in front of his face so the boys could not see his mouth. "What exactly transpired two hours ago?"

.

.

.

Writing this chapter reminded me just how much I love Penny. She's just so fucking cute. I would say I want more of her, but they'd probably just kill her again. Speaking of Penny, I considered saving Rex finding out she was a robot for later, but then I realized there wasn't really any reason to. He would react the same no matter when he found out, and even in the actual show, it took all of two sentences from Ruby to cheer Penny up. I did make it so a little bit more was necessary since Rex hasn't known Penny as long as Ruby did at the time, but it honestly felt more like a box that had to be checked than something that had to be made into a huge, dramatic event. Penny is easy to cheer up, especially coming from Rex, who can relate to her a little more than Ruby can, for obvious reasons. Overall, it would have been the same if it happened now or later, so I figured I should just do it now.

God, this chapter was so long. Literally 20 pages longer than usual. So much dialogue, so little excitement. Somehow, even though it was the longest by far, this chapter felt the most rushed. Thankfully, this was the end of it all. The last introduction chapter. No more exposition dumps, no more super long character/lore introductions, it's finally time to get moving on this story the way it's really meant to be.

[1]: I have to say, as much as I loved Generator Rex, I did not care for Circe. She was just… so boring. Right from the start, I thought to myself "Let me guess, she's gonna leave Van Kleiss at some point and get with Rex?" I like developments like that, don't get me wrong, but Circe was just so boring to me. Nothing she did ever caught me off guard or was surprising to watch, it was always exactly what I expected her to do and say. I was genuinely happy that there wasn't concrete proof that Circe and Rex ended up together because it let me huff some copium and believe they just stayed friends after the series ended. I understand they tried to kiss at one point, but, again, I'm on copium. She wasn't terrible as a character, but as a love interest, she was so bland. As far as romance is concerned, I would have been happier with Breach, or Cricket, or hell, even Kenwyn. I would have taken Annie! Literally anyone but Circe would have made for a better, more interesting romance in my opinion. I don't have problems with people who like her and Rex together, it's just not for me.

Next chapter, we'll finally see what happened that got our boys thrown in jail. Most of you have probably already guessed, after the huge clue in Ben's chapter. Again, I can't make promises, but it will probably release within the next 2-4 days.

Thank you for reading and please leave a review.

Aren signing off.