King: Two things real quick. First, people have been asking where the inspiration for Baron Jaune came from in the last chapter. Unfortunately, there isn't a 'go here and check this out' show or fic. The Baron was a play on the Voodoo god/spirit Baron Samedi. So there's that.

Second, and more important, 100,000+ views! No better way to celebrate than with something special. Gorillageek has been asking for this one and its time. Hope you all enjoy~!

Inspiration: Red Vs Blue

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King floated among the group, offering any refills or snacks. Once everyone was set he flickered a moment. "Oh! Oh god!" He burst out into laughter.

Ruby wasn't sure how to take that. "Um… should we be concerned?"

"No! No… I just…" He was struggling to speak through his laughter. "Oh god… This is going to be amazing!" His disappeared and the screen started to glow.

Ruby leaned toward her sister. "Yang… I'm scared."

"We're all scared, Ruby…"

King popped in again for a moment, "You should be…"

The first thing they saw was a giant, futuristic tower. They saw Penny repairing a radio on a balcony of some kind.

"Penny~!" Ruby was happy to see her friend on the screen. But she was also concerned given King's tone earlier.

Penny set the radio and smiled. "Okay! Radio's finished~"

They watched as Nora leaned out from the side and ran over. "Awesome! I need to make a call!"

Penny stepped to the side and Nora started to tinker with the radio.

The camera started to rise upward. After a moment, the skyline changed and fell back onto a complex of some kind. It moved inside to show Jaune walking down a hall. He was dressed in black armor with golden trim.

Pyrrha blushed seeing Jaune. He was older, more rugged, but still very handsome. Everything about him seemed amazing.

"Hey!" A man down the hall called out to Jaune. "Arc! You've got a call!"

Jaune turned toward the man in confusion, "A call? Who even knows I'm here?"

"Came in on your personal channel. Routed here." As Jaune walked up toward him, he reminded him, "5 minutes…"

"What?" After a second, Jaune nodded, "Right… Got it."

Jaune stood in front of the radio, "This is Agen…" He exhaled. "This is Jaune… Go ahead."

"Jaune! It's good to hear you again!"

"Nora?! What are you… why are you… Are you guys all okay?!"

"So, we've met in this one, at least." Nora grinned.

"Yeah! It's been awesome! We got new bases! Well, I mean… they were the old bases we visited while you were here, but still!"

"They… gave you the bases?"

"They're so cool! What about you?! Did you get a metal?!"

Jaune's eye twitched a little. "I have a lot more metal in life, yes…" The camera refocused to show the wording on the wall behind him, [UNSC Maximum Security Prison].

"Jaune's in jail?!" Ruby couldn't believe what she'd heard. "Why would he be in jail?!"

Yang tried to diffuse the situation a bit, "The metal line was kind of funny though…"

Weiss raised a brow, though, "If he's in jail, why would they let him keep his armor?"

Winter thought for a moment, a small realization making its way to her face. "A lockdown…"

"What?"

"A lockdown. It looks like his armor is more advanced and likely uses some form of electrical system to allow for movement. There's likely a failsafe in the armor to keep a rouge agent from moving."

Weiss nodded, "That makes sense."

Nora hadn't caught his double meaning, "That's awesome!"

The man from before appeared around the corner. "Five minutes are up!" He shut down the radio and left Jaune staring at the electronic system.

Jaune glared at the device and turned to the man, "Take me to the Warden…"

"What? Why would I…?"

"Because I know where to find what he's looking for."

Roman smirked, "He's selling you all out."

"No way!" Nora jumped to her leader's defense, "Jaune would never do that!"

"Guess we'll see soon enough."

Jaune was brought before a screen that showed a shadowy man on the other side, "Jaune… You think you have something I want?"

"No. I know where to find something you need. The Epsilon AI. You never found it, did you?"

"Epsilon?" Weiss crossed her arms in thought a moment. "Wasn't that the AI Jaune from the first one?"

"Hey, yeah!" Ruby looked between Weiss and the screen. "I guess this is a possible of the first reality."

"Makes sense…"

Jaune continued, "But I know where to look…"

Time passed as the camera returned to the tower. It showed Ren overlooking a mechanical body. "How does Nora keep doing this…" Ren started to try to move the broken bot, but it was dense and difficult to move.

A low growl sounded through the hall.

Velvet shrunk in her chair, her ears drooping in fear. It was the growl of a hunter, a predator. It was a primal fear for many… Difference was, Velvet didn't have the self-confidence of the others in the room.

A figure in a full suit of futuristic brown armor walked into the light. The body denoted a female beneath the plating and form-fitting suit. A helmet covered the figure's face with a golden faceplate visor. This was once a creature called the Meta.

"Meta?" Yang looked in disbelief, "That's a dumb name."

Controlled by her AI unit, Sigma, she became a force of destruction. Gathering power all for one purpose, to help the AI in the suit become truly human. To achieve Metastability. But the simulation soldiers of Beacon Canyon destroyed the AI with the help of Agent Arc. Now she was broken with nothing to hold her together. Now, she was a shell of the woman once known as Velvet.

cannot comprehend. Attempting reboot. "I'm that thing?!"

Coco chuckled a bit, "Why are you growling?"

"Why would I know that?!"

Velvet took a step forward from the shadows. She reached behind her and pulled a strange weapon from her back.

Ruby went strarry eyed, "Woah! What is that?! A rifle? Knife? Knifle?!"

Nora wasn't quite so impressed, "What's she planning to do to Ren?!"

Velvet loomed over Ren, her armor giving her a bit of height over him. Ren turned toward her as she approached. He, unlike the others, had met Velvet before. Ren had no reason to fear her or her weapon. He was still cautious though… "Um… Hi? Are you the new Blue team member? Nora could use the help keeping things under control."

Velvet growled.

"Woman of few words, then?"

"I don't like where this is going." Ren frowned. He could tell this Velvet wasn't exactly friendly.

A motorcycle could be heard outside. Ren's ears perked. He slid a foot back, keeping an eye on Velvet. She reared her weapon back as Ren dodged to the side. She hit the robot on the ground hard enough to implant it into the wall.

Coco recoiled on impacted, "Holy crap! How strong it Velvet in this?!"

The sound of the motorcycle ended, and footsteps replaced it. "Hey Ren!" Weiss walked into the base's hallway. "Have you seen Ruby's tool box? I think Nora borrowed it for…" She saw the form of Velvet in the hall and a flood of panic flowed through her. "Oh fuck!" Her feet scraped against the floor as she turned around and ran away. Ren used this to follow after her, leaving Velvet alone in the hall.

She growled and reloaded her weapon, slowly walking toward the door.

Ruby was fixating on Velvet's weapon. "It's a grenade launcher?! That's so cool!"

Yang grinned. She might not be as big a weapon nut as Ruby, but she could appreciate the ginsu gun show.

Weiss and Ren ran off from the base and hopped on the ATV. Weiss fiddled with the ignition for a moment before burning rubber on the dirt and practically flew toward the opposing base. Weiss nearly crashed into the base as Penny watched on.

Penny smiled toward Weiss and Ren. "Hello friends. Welcome back!"

Glynda raised an eyebrow, "She almost acts robotic…"

Ironwood, Winter, and Ruby felt a shiver go up their spines. The two military members looked toward the odd one of the trio in suspicion.

Weiss fell off the bike, trying to get up too quickly. "Penny! We need to get a message to the others, now!"

Penny blinked, tilting her head slightly, "Is something wrong?"

"Just the galaxy's MOST DANGEROUS MUTE!"

Neo frowned and crossed her arms. She felt personally attacked at not filling this roll. In fact, she hasn't been in any of these so far…

Ren wasn't sure what was going on but could tell it must be pretty bad.

The group got hold of simple weapons nearby, mostly rifles. Weiss looked around in fear. "Watch your motion trackers! She can turn invisible!"

Velvet was shocked, "I can do that?! No way!" She was starting to get excited about the idea, even if the others seemed to be afraid.

Coco couldn't help but smile at her partner's enthusiasm.

Weiss was breathing heavily in fear. "We're going to need bigger guns! Something… Anything!"

Penny walked into the base without saying a word.

A shimmering on the upper deck denoted Velvet's presence, unseen by those below. She readied her weapon and set to fire, but another thought came to her first. She jumped down and reformed to a visible armor. She slammed her blade into the cycle to keep them from escaping so easily.

Yang jumped seeing the vehicle explode. She couldn't even begin to imagine that happening to her Bumblebee.

Weiss and Ren fell over and spun around. As Weiss pointed her gun, Velvet sliced the rifle in half, barely missing Weiss's fingers. Weiss fell back as Velvet hung her weapon over Weiss, ready to impale her through the gut. A small round of mini-rockets slammed into her and sent her flying back. Penny was standing in the doorway of the base with a personal missile pod system in her hands.

Ruby was amazed seeing Penny with a weapon that crazy. That was designed for a mounted turret, not a human carrier. It had to weight a ton! Granted, Penny was a robot, but still…

Velvet growled and her armor shimmered before she disappeared again. She planned to rip them all apart, but the missiles had stopped Velvet long enough for them to escape. If she wanted the Epsilon AI, she'd have to give chase.

"So, Velvet wants that AI, too?" Weiss tapped her finger on the chair in thought. "Why would she need it?"

Ruby shrugged, "Maybe she works for that Warden guy Jaune was talking to."

Weiss, Ren, and Penny ran in a formation. When they stopped, hidden by a rock formation, Ren turned to Weiss, "Okay… So, who was that?"

Weiss took a breath to calm her nerves. "That's the Meta! She's a crazy nut job that we helped stop with Jaune…"

"Okay. I think Nora told me about that one. She was the one after the other Freelancer AI, right?"

"That's her…"

Velvet was a little concerned to hear she was apparently crazy in this world. She wanted to know what happened to her.

Penny looked around them, watching the canyon around them, "So, why is she here?"

Ren paused a moment, remembering the robotic body. "Nora… She kept the AI."

Weiss spun around to Ren, "She did what?! She was supposed to hand that back over to the military! Not keep it!"

Penny tapped Weiss's shoulder. "If I may, the Meta arrived here somehow, right?"

Weiss paused in thought. She nodded slowly for a second. "Yeah… She did. She must have a vehicle parked somewhere around here!"

Winter shook her head. "Good luck finding it…"

Ruby turned around to face Weiss's sister, "What do you mean?"

Qrow, oddly, was the one to answer, "If she's got invisibility, its likely she's got the same tech for her car."

Winter was surprised but nodded. "Yes… Quite."

The group tried to search for the car, only to have Weiss hit her knee across the hidden metal plate.

Everyone recoiled a little. That was never fun…

As Weiss fell, grasping her knee, she looked up to the flickering cloak. "Found it…" Weiss stood back up and winced.

Yang chuckled a little. She couldn't help it. It was a little funny.

Penny tapped the car and it flickered back to sight. She looked over the vehicle. "She seems to have removed the starter. We won't be able to start the vehicle."

Ironwood was impressed with the, clearly, military-grade vehicle. The sleek form with a sloped form allowed for bullets to bounce off more often and keep the driver and passenger safe. The giant minigun on the back looked positively incredible. He wasn't a fan of the lack of doors and the nonexistent armor to keep the gunner safe...

Ruby tilted her head, looking over the vehicle. "It… kind of looks like a big cat."

Yang turned toward her sister, "What? Like a puma?"

Ruby snapped her fingers, "That's it!"

Emerald and Mercury looked toward each other, hearing a familiar conversation playing out nearby.

Velvet appeared in the background, moving toward them. Penny looked toward the oncoming threat. "And we may need to find a way to move soon."

Weiss looked up to the gun. "Okay! This thing always has ammo to spare!" She jumped up to the gun and starts to spin the barrels. She started to fire from the chain-gun, but the gun refused to turn.

Penny picked up a rifle from the passenger side of the jeep. "You won't be strong enough to turn the gun without power from the vehicle."

Winter folded her arms, "That seems like a design flaw…"

Ironwood shook his head, "I can see the point. If the vehicle can't start, it means your enemy can't use it against you if you disable it after using it."

Weiss jumped back down and found another rifle. "This is bad! This is really bad!"

Ren noticed something in the distance. "Who's that guy?"

Everyone spun around to find Jaune running up from the side, "Stop right there!"

Ruby cheered, "Military Jaune comes to save the day!"

Everyone from Beacon couldn't help but smile in relief. The kid seemed to really be a hero like in the books.

Jaune slowed and stood next to Velvet. "Stand down… I'll take it from here."

Ruby felt a sting in her heart, "w-what?" No one was sure how to take what he was doing.

Jaune turned to Weiss, Ren, and Penny. "Where's the Epsilon AI?"

Weiss wanted to take a step back, but her back was on the vehicle. "Jaune?! What are you doing?! That's the Meta! You're supposed to hate each other!"

Velvet felt a slight sting in her heart that she and Jaune were enemies. But it faded seeing him not attacking her. Were they really enemies?

Jaune shook his head, "Times change. Missions change. Now… last chance, the AI, where is it?"

Ren leaned toward Weiss, "He was your friend?"

Weiss was shaking, "I mean… I thought so."

Jaune sighed and drew a heavy magnum pistol from his side.

Penny tried to step forward, "Jaune, was it? I think we can…" She was cut off by a loud bang. Penny sparked a bit and fell forward.

"Penny! NO!" Ruby was going through a few emotions. Pain, anger, sorrow… So much. Her friend was shot in this world and Jaune was the killer.

Glynda jumped in shock seeing Penny get shot. She was a little surprised that she was a robot, but she seemed perfectly sentient. So, it was a jarring moment all the same seeing her die.

Ren watched on in shock. "Penny! What the hell?! You're supposed to be our friend and you shot her?!" Another shot rang out over the canyon.

Nora placed her hands over her mouth, "No… He didn't… He wouldn't!"

Ren looked down to see a bleeding hole in his chest. He turned toward Weiss as the light faded from his eyes. Weiss jumped forward, trying to do something to help Ren. Weiss shouted out as she did, "REN!" Tears started to fall as she addressed Jaune, "Why would you do that?! Jaune! How could you?!"

Ruby was crying, "Why would he do that?! WHY?!"

Jaune's name echoed in his mind, remembering the time just before he left the prison.

"Agent Arc?"

The screen changed back to the prison. Jaune shook a bit and looked back to the shadowy figure on the screen. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was saying… What makes you think these… simulation troopers will just hand the AI over to you when you ask them?"

Jaune started to chuckle. "For as long as I can remember…" As he listed off each transgression, the viewers saw what had happened, the hell he lived. "I've been lied to and used…" They saw Ironwood shrouded by darkness with various other Agents beneath him like a chess board. "…stabbed in the back…" They saw Emerald shoot Jaune in his back to facilitate her escape. "…and left for dead by the people I trusted!" The last scene was Velvet looming over an unconscious Jaune, her blade glowing. "People I called my friends…" Jaune took a breath. "And now I have a way out all that."

No one wanted to believe what they'd seen. Some didn't care, but seeing him in that moment… It was a scary sight. A desperate man with a way out. A man willing to burn the world to ashes to be free of it all…

Jaune clenched his fist for a moment, a silent laughter resonating at an absurd question. "What in the hell makes you think I'm going to ask for it?"