King: Whelp! This was a tear jerker and a half. I did say it was coming, and here it is. I won't hold you all here... I don't think I can. I'm coming home Ace...

Inspiration: Destiny 2

/\

Ruby groaned, "I hope the next one isn't that bad…"

Cinder smirked, "Speak for yourself. I certainly had my fun with that version."

The screen flickered again, and King reappeared, not saying a word.

"Um… Is it broken? Again?" Pyrrha asked the sphere.

King floated for a bit. "Don't you think we have enough of them?"

"What?"

The flickering top of King seemed to wave her off, telling her he wasn't speaking to her. "I'm serious. We have… No… Okay."

Mercury leaned toward Emerald, "Is… he talking to the screen?"

King groaned, "Three more. To fill the emptied seats, but that's it! After that, no more! Who's the lucky few?" After a moment, King sighed. "Seriously? Do you know how many laws that'll break?" A pause. "Fine. You win. Last three, so making it count… Lovely…"

After a moment, King spat out a tan ball of magic. After a second, the ball started to fade into other colors. Moments passed as the ball floated, only to pop, and a girl with a long ponytail to fall from the sphere. Her skin flickered between various colors as her gaze fell upon the crowd.

Nora gasped and jumped up toward the girl, "Oh my gosh! How do you do that?! That's so cool~!"

Ilia took a step back, uncertain of the girl before. Only to be even more confused when Ren dragged her back to the seats. Ilia turned to see Blake and her blood started to boil, seeing her ears hidden beneath a bow. She wanted to lash out, but felt the energy leave her body.

King floated into her field of few and shook his 'head,' "Play nice, now. No fighting in the theater."

Ilia fell to the floor in shock, "What the hell is that?!"

"I'm right here… Whatever. I've got physical laws to violate." He released a new sphere from his body.

This sphere was a double-toned sphere of magic: half an earthly brown, half a glowing emerald. After a moment, a boy around 14 fell from the bubble and onto a seat. He looked around in a panic for a moment, but he froze once he saw Ozpin. He was about to speak, but King cut him off.

"Everyone! This is Oscar. Oscar, this is everyone. Oscar is someone that won't be important to any of you until certain events in your future. As a result, he won't be giving any spoilers~ Right, Oscar?"

Oscar nervously nodded and was led to a seat. All the while, he would occasionally glance toward Ozpin. Oz took notice but wasn't going to ask here. He had a suspicion but needed to ask without so many eyes and ears around.

Nora frowned, "But then what about the sword in the lockers?"

King showed a shiver run up the fire ball. "Pardon?"

"Jaune's sword. In the locker. It was a possible future thing with Pyrrha's metal forged in."

"… WHAT?!" King flew off toward the back. After a moment, he returned just as quickly. "Fuck it… I don't care anymore. Everyone! Meet Ozpin 2.0! Or… 23.5? How many lives have you lived old man?"

Ozpin felt his eye twitch. It was official, his cover was now blown.

Oscar laughed nervously. "Um… Sorry? I'm a little lost."

"You and me, both…"

The students and parents all blinked and started to address the issue, "Um…"

"Later."

King shook his head. "Whatever. Now…" King flared, and various metal parts fell from the sphere. After a moment, he had the pieces fit together. In a few seconds, Penny was looking around the room.

Ruby jumped up, excited. "Penny!"

Penny turned and smile, "Salutations, friend Ruby! May I ask where we are?"

King took a breath and leveled himself before them all. "That would be because of me. Now… explanations."

(One explanation later.)

Penny had taken a seat near Ruby. "So… This screen can show us different versions of reality?"

"That is… exactly what I said, yes. But apparently, it's decided to break time timelines as well… Welcome to the future, I guess. And the past… My head hurts… Whatever. I don't have the patience. Next show's starting soon. Take your seats and I'll…" He suddenly flared a pale white with a black spade under his crown. "You're a twisted screen… Alright! Let's do this!" King disappeared, and the screen started to form the next world.

Penny leaned toward Ruby, "Does that happen often?"

Ruby nodded, "A few times recently, yes. It's kind of weird."

The screen opened to a crumbling interior of some kind. It was difficult to tell. All they could see was ruble and a man in a hooded cape lying on the round. His bright blue eyes looking up to the sky/ceiling. One notable piece of information being he was an Exo, a human consciousness living within a robotic body. In this variation, he was known as JAUNE-6.

Penny smiled. But she didn't dare voice anything. Ruby knew her secret already, but the others would have to remain in the dark. It was difficult, but she would manage.

He let out a cough.

Yang smiled slightly, "How does a robot cough?"

Penny clasped her hands together, about to answer, but the reminder that she was supposed to be a secret kept her silent.

He started to lean upward, "Well… This is awkward…"

Nora smiled, "It's Jaune!"

Penny turned to Ruby, who smiled and explained, "Our friend back at Beacon. He's kind of the central theme to all of these so far."

"Why is it awkward though?"

Weiss groaned, "Please tell me this isn't another one that can see us…"

Jaune coughed again, "Hey… You, uh… You got a gun I could borrow?"

The screen turned to show Mercury walking forward, a rather distinctive hand cannon in… hand. A sleek white cannon with gold accenting, a golden spade adorned on the sides and on the grip.

Ruby let out a whistle, "That's not a bad weapon. Good design… nicely put together. I wonder what it can do."

Penny blinked, "Um… friend Ruby?"

"Yes?"

"If I am reading this world correctly, I must ask, why does that man have friend Jaune's firearm?"

Ruby was silent. Her face started to pale as she looked back to the screen.

Mercury took a step forward, "No. But I do have a bullet." He pointed the gun toward Jaune, "With your name on it."

Jaune groaned, "Any second now… My partner is going to roll in here… and kill every last one of you!" He started to sit back up, only to fall back again. "And you! My man…"

Mercury shushed him, "This is going to hurt. A lot. Any last words?"

Jaune coughed and leaned himself up again, "How's your sister?"

Qrow clapped for the young man on screen. "A kid after my own heart."

Tai rolled his eyes.

Winter scoffed, "You would say that…"

Mercury took in a breath to calm her nerves again. Queen Cinder was a… touchy subject.

Cinder blinked and let a small smirk pass. Queen?

Emerald's eye twitched. Why does Mercury get to be Cinder's sibling?!

Mercury… just kind of shrugged it off.

Mercury closed his eyes and screen went black. After a moment, a gunshot rang out around them. After a second, the words [Prison of Elders: Sometime earlier] appeared on screen.

Pyrrha tried to think about how Jaune would survive, if he did. "He mentioned a partner! Maybe they're the one that shot the gun to save him at the end! And now we get to see how that happens."

As nods passed along, Ilia turned to Blake. She wanted to confront her but couldn't find the strength to. She didn't care about this other world stuff. But here? Blake couldn't run from her. She would have her time to confront her soon.

Oscar's eyes occasionally glanced around the room. So many faces he'd seen, and some he'd never known. One in particular was rather… How to put it… He didn't really have a word for how weird it was.

Two ships flew overhead. As they passed, two bursts of light dropped Jaune and his partner onto the gangway outside the prison. Walking next to the exo was a young woman in garb similar to his, except in an pink, white, and brown. She removed her helmet and revealed herself to be Neopolitan.

Emerald blinked. "Why… on Remnant, do she need a cape?"

Ruby smiled. "Because in this world, everybody gets capes!"

Ren glanced toward Ruby, "I think it's just the Hunter class."

Emerald groaned, "Doesn't matter!"

The two walked up to Pyrrha Nikos, the Queen's Wrath. Personal bodyguard to the Awoken Queen Cinder and the strongest warrior outside the Last City. Jaune smiled, "Pyrrha Nikos! Long time no see. So, what're ya packing for this party?"

Pyrrha smirked, "Oh… the usual." She took out a curved knife from its sheath.

Jaune got excited, "Ooh! Do the thing!" He leaned toward Neo, "Seriously, watch this."

Pyrrha used her power to levitate her knife and spin it around in the air before returning it to her hand.

Pyrrha smiled. She could easily do that, but she got the feeling that it wasn't quite the same idea as her polarity semblance.

Jaune shuddered, "That'll never not freak me out." He suddenly smiled, "Do it again!"

Yang snickered seeing Jaune act like that.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "Later. Maybe. Unless you've forgotten, we have a job to do. The main arena and upper levels are still on lockdown. The lower sections are in a full riot. We need to keep the central core systems online or containment will be… difficult." Pyrrha turned and started to make her way inside.

Jaune smirked and drew his personal weapon, the sleek hand cannon known as the Ace of Spades. "Alright, partner! This is a Jaune riff in 6. Watch me for the changes and try to keep up~"

The reference was lost on all involved. They didn't have Back to the Future in their world, after all.

Neo smiled a bit. This version reminded her a bit of her partnership with Roman.

As he loaded his cannon and spoke, he moved around and turned toward Emerald. "Now… Let's go to prison!" He held up both arms and jumped back and down a ledge. "WOOHOOO!" Beneath the walk, they could hear Jaune firing and shouting "Got you!" every now and then as he tore his way through the rioting prisoners.

Neo would laugh if she could. She could easily see Roman pulling something like that.

"Oh gods!" Weiss whole body shook, "Another Nora-esc version…"

Nora laughed at Jaune's antics, further proving the point.

Adam let out a condescending breath, "Big surprise. Just shooting his way through. Just watch. That prison will be full of faunas."

Blake turned toward Adam, "Do you really believe that?"

As Neo charged in, the screen fell below to show a giant creature of chitinous form. It was a giant beast waving a similarly sickening sword. Jaune shot the creature a few times. He had no remorse for them, because they'd have none for him. Everyone in the prison was the worst of the galaxy: murderers, psycho-cultists, you name it. Everything that wanted all life dead or subjugated: Fallen, Cabal, and Hive.

Blake grinned, "You were saying, Adam?"

Jaune jumped over a few and continued to tear each of these creatures a new one, or five. He continued to make his way through the compound and along a walkway. He had a large Knight-class Hive in front of him. He created his Golden Gun, a hand cannon of pure fire, and unleashed three powerful rounds, causing the creature to dissipate. He noticed Neo shooting her way through the lines. Jaune chuckled down toward her. "Not sure about you, but I'm having a great time~"

Nora chuckled, "I like this Jaune!"

Ren rolled his eyes and smiled.

Salem was getting rather bored with things as they were going. But, she had to admit, these creatures were giving her some new ideas for some Grimm.

The two tore through the area and made their way into the central hub. Jaune was behind glass as Neo defended the control room. Neo's Ghost, a mechanized form of Light that heals their respective Guardian, was hovering near the glass separating them. "Alright! Now hit the red buttons."

Jaune turned to the paneling behind him. "There all red!"

"Then push all of them!"

Jaune scrambled to push all of the red buttons. After a while, they were all green. "I cannot believe that worked." He pulled a lever and the defense systems were back online. "Alright! Get out there and bring it in!"

Neo nodded and ran off with her Ghost.

Jaune stretched his back and made his way topside. He took a breath and smiled. "Alright gang! Good work! Ramen's on me."

Velvet thought for a moment, "Do you think that one guy sells the ramen in this world too?"

Coco shrugged, "Probably. Guy sells pretty much everything in our world."

Pyrrha's voice came in through the group chat system, "We've got a problem! He's loose, Jaune! This isn't a prison riot! It's a prison break!"

Roman smirked, "Nice plan. And it must work, given the start."

Nora jumped up on her chair, "You shut your mouth! Neo will storm in and save Jaune at the end!"

Emerald looked at Nora like she was crazy. Which… she might be.

"The airlock on level zero! It's the only way out this far down!"

Jaune turned toward the large cables and wires, which were all barely holding the structure up. "Alright…" He leveled his gun. "Going down."

Velvet groaned, "He wouldn't…"

A gunshot rang out as the screen snapped to Pyrrha standing on a lower block of the prison. She ran over to the railing to see the central hub falling from the sky. As it passed, she saw Jaune holding onto a snapped cable to keep himself steady as the giant chunk of metal fell from the sky.

Roman started to laugh seeing that. Neo silently chuckled alongside him.

The hub hit the ground with an explosion. There was no way Jaune could survive that. In fact, he didn't.

Oscar joined the conversation for the first time, "Then… how does that scene from the beginning happen?"

A sphere of light was shown above rubble. Pieces of Jaune's Ghost were flying around the sphere before reforming and releasing a burst of Light. Jaune pushed off a slab of concrete and chuckled, "Never felt better." After he brushed himself off and reacquired his weapon, he shouted, "You see that Pyrrha?!" He was met only with silence. "Pyrrha? Neo?"

Roman groaned, "So that Ghost thing can raise him from the dead? Then what was the point of the scene earlier?"

Jaune started to stand again, seeing no one around him. "Must have knocked out the comms with my awesome landing…" He looked up to see a large creature step forward on a catwalk on the upper wall. "And, cue the ominous music." He stepped toward them and put on his usual smile, "Alright! Back to your cages!"

One of the creatures stepped forward and slammed a staff onto the metal beneath it, the crystal on top glowing for a moment. As if by command, smaller creatures started to move into frame, moving like animals rather than sentient creatures.

Jaune growled and spun his cannon into his hand, "I said! Back in your cages!"

As the creatures swarmed him, Jaune shot the first of the strange beings over his shoulder without looking back to it.

Yang smirked, "Show off."

He spun around, reloading his weapon, and shot another in front of him. Their 'blood' was an ethereal mass of glowing blue. Each kill would splatter the mass out and it would disappear into mists.

One of the creatures charged toward him. He blocked the oncoming beast and fired a round into the creature's jaw. He chucked the creature off and threw a knife into another one running toward him. Jaune stepped to the side as one of the creatures charged again, reloading his weapon with a spin, and unloaded three shots. One into the charger, one into a nearby creature, and the last shot through a creature and into a red barrel, causing it to explode and burn a few of them away.

As one of the creatures flew toward him, he bowed to the side with one hand to guild it passed, as though inviting it inside his home. This had it crash into another creature and he was on the move again.

Yang grinned, "I have to agree with Nora. I like this version."

Coco nodded. "Capable, stylish, in control of the situation. What's not to like?" She readjusted her sunglasses, "Pretty much the opposite of the Arc we know."

Velvet punched Coco's shoulder, which prompted the team leader to laugh.

Neo blinked at the screen. In some ways, she could see Roman fighting like that. However, Roman did have his limits. Primarily his situational awareness. Or rather, the lack thereof. In a one on one fight, he was an unstoppable force. Gang up on him or keep someone hidden away, and you could get the jump on him. That's why she was here, to watch his back. But this kid? He was like a better Roman.

Jaune jumped back and used a skill to jump again mid-air. He landed on a precarious stack of metal plating and looked to the side to see some of the beasts crawling up the plating. He placed a trip-mine and shot a few to keep them back long enough to get to a safe distance. He jumped down to another plate and slid down while shooting back. Unfortunately, he ended up in the arms of a waiting creature, which threw him into a nearby slab.

Jaune shook his head, "Okay. That hurt." As the creature pulled up a small slab of metal, Jaune was launched into the air. He hit a hanging piece of catwalk and dug his knife in to keep himself off the ground. He looked down to see the creatures swarming around him. He shot the hinge holding the piece up and used it to crush several of his enemies. He landed and looked back to them. "Sorry!" He turned forward again, "Not sorry."

Nora tapped Pyrrha's shoulder, "You know… you say 'sorry' a lot. Maybe you could use that line~"

Pyrrha chuckled, "We'll see."

Jaune ran forward and shot another of the creatures. He slid beneath another as it jumped at him, shooting it through the head on his way. All the while, the larger beasts were watching. One in particular, with a wedged face and a strange crossbow-like weapon started to move in the shadows. Jaune fought off the creatures, but they just seemed to go on forever. There were so many, he was tackled before he could fire his Golden Gun.

The creature with the crossbow was above him, waiting. A sniper at heart and in practice. He readied his gun and waited, silent. Patient.

Weiss glared toward the creature. "I have a feeling that's not a good thing…"

Yang winced, "Yeah… No kidding."

Penny's head tilted. "I don't understand. If the Jaune-unit on screen can be revived by that little Ghost, why is this a problem?"

One of the creatures grabbed Jaune and slammed his head into a metal surface, denting his head and breaking a hinge. Jaune fell to the ground and the creatures started to kick at him while he was down.

Yang growled, "Cheat shots you little…!"

Tai tapped his daughter's shoulders and pointed to the screen.

Jaune started to glow and jumped off the ground, throwing blades of flames into the creatures around him, burning them to dust. Jaune growled, "That's it!" He picked up gun, "Now, I'm pissed!"

Nora cheered her leader on, "Yeah! Go get 'em Jaune!"

Ozpin glanced toward Oscar, speaking low so no one else could here him, "I die in the future, don't I?"

Oscar nodded.

"And my soul binds itself to you?"

Another nod.

Ozpin sighed. "I am sorry. I didn't get the choice for this process either… We can discuss this later if you wish."

Oscar nodded. "It might be a good idea…"

One of the creatures charged him and pinned him to a steel siding. Jaune groaned and tried to point his gun toward the creature, but its grip was too strong. Instead, he had to stab the beast in the side with a knife and headbutt him to knock him away. Jaune staggered off the plating, "That all you've got?"

Yang's grin was back in full force. "Yeah! Go Vomit Boy!"

Penny turned to Ruby, confused.

Ruby sighed, "Yang's nickname for Jaune. Don't use it, it's kind of just her thing now…"

"Okay then. I will refrain from using that name when referring to friend Jaune."

Above him, the sniper waited, unseen. His sights were on Jaune, his weapon charged. A single shot to make all the difference. A finger on the trigger, ready to end a life.

Weiss was getting a little concerned now. Everyone was. Even Neo was getting a little nervous. That may have been the similarities she saw with Roman. Who knows…

Jaune held up his hand and his Ghost appeared, "Gonna need your help here, buddy."

The sniper's sights snapped to the side. A life would indeed end. One shot rang out and a burst of light erupted from the area.

The screen flew up to show Neo running up to a large alien creature (a Cabal Centurion) and plunging a sword into its head. She snapped to the side and jumped over the large being as the light eruption passed her. Her Ghost spoke to her through their shared comms, "That was… That was Ghost… She's dead! We need to get down there! NOW!"

Neo nodded and took off in a full sprint. She wasn't far. She had to get down there and keep Jaune alive. Without his Ghost, he wasn't coming back if he died this time!

Roman's eyes fell slightly, "Oh… then…"

Neo took a breath and clenched her hands into her chair.

Neo charged forward. She reached a large room blocked by a large abomination. The creature turned to look at her, its face covered by a solid metal mask. It roared out to her and lightning crackled out of its hands. Neo ducked behind a pillar as electricity tore out toward her. She swapped her sword for a high caliber hand cannon and leapt out from her hiding place to unload ten rounds of explosive ammo into the creature's head. She charged forward as her hand started to glow. A moment later, her own Golden Gun appeared, and she fired two of her three shots to put the abomination down.

Yang didn't want to admit it, but Neo was kind of cool in this. To be fair, if she wasn't on the receiving end of her, she would admit her fighting style was rather stylish and effective. She hated the girl, but she couldn't hold that against her.

Neo ran up to the door and forced it open. She charged in and held her gun up toward Mercury, walking away and into an air lock. Mercury turned to face her and held up Jaune's gun, "He didn't feel a thing." As he spoke, the blast doors closed. He was gone.

Heterochromatic eyes went wide as she looked down to see Jaune on the ground. With Mercury having escaped, she ran over to Jaune.

Pyrrha had her hands covering her mouth. She was trying to hold back tears again. It was always difficult seeing Jaune die in these things. It would always hurt, because she would always see her Jaune in their place.

Many in the room shared this sentiment. Strangest of all, however, was Neo. She saw Roman in place of that boy. Roman took her in when she had nowhere to go. What would she do if she was forced to be alone again?

Neo placed her gun to the side. Jaune chuckled and coughed at the same time, "H-how's my hair?" He tried to diffuse the situation, but he knew he couldn't. "Speechless. Typical."

Neo tried to have her Ghost heal his wounds, but it was a fruitless effort.

Jaune's breathing was raspy and pained, "Listen, kid. This… ain't on you. This is what I get for playing nice." Jaune went into a coughing fit as Neo tried to think of a way to fix this. Jaune took a few breaths before speaking again. "You go back and tell…" A cough cut him off. "You tell Weiss… and Ren… You go back and tell them… the Vanguard… was the best bet… I ever… lost…" Glowing blue eyes faded. Though robotic, the soul within was very much human. There would be no rebuilding. No way to bring him back. Jaune-6, was killed in action in the Prison of Elders.

The screen faded to black. The scene of the prison ending.

Yang's eyes fell. "Damn… that was…"

Tai took a breath, "Heavy?"

"Yeah. That's a good way to put it."

Neo lightly slammed her fist into her chair. She failed…

Penny felt strange. Seeing someone like her, a soul in a mechanical body, really die was… it was scary. Despite their robotic frames made of crafted pieces, they would die like anyone else.

The screen reformed to show a body resting beneath a silver banner. Standing next to the elevated form, Weiss had a hand resting on the table. Ren was off to the side, finding it difficult to look toward Jaune's body beneath the banner. Neo was leaning against the wall in the background.

"Oh?" Ruby blinked, "It's not over?"

Weiss took a breath. "He had the worst jokes… Even worse timing. I wanted to laugh… I really did." Weiss's hands clenched into fists, "We should've been there." She turned her head toward Neo, "This is not your fault. This… in on the head of Mercury Black. And if he thinks this is the end, he's wrong! This is just the beginning! We are going to fight him." She turned toward Ren, the strike leader and the lead of her fireteam. "You hear me?! All of us! Every Titan! Every Hunter! Every Warlock! We will descend upon the Reef like a storm and make him pay for what he's done!" Weiss turned back to Jaune's body, as if trying to hide herself after her outburst. "And then… we will mount the head of that son of a bitch on his precious throne.

Weiss closed her eyes and took a breath. In so many ways, she could understand this outburst. If someone took her friends from her… If they ever got hurt like that… She wouldn't rest until she made them pay…

After a moment of silence, Ren spoke up for the first time in a while. "No."

Weiss slowly turned back toward Ren, "What?"

"No. We are not an army, Weiss. We are not conquerors. We are Guardians. We need to keep our focus here, on the city. We need to focus on our people and their safety. The Reef was lost the moment it lost its queen. If Mercury wants a stretch god forsaken, lifeless rocks in the middle of space, then let him have it."

Weiss's anger started to boil again, "This is Jaune we're talking about! To just sit back and do nothing is…"

Ren looked her in the eyes, daring her, "Say it."

"Cowardice."

Ren's eyes fell to the body beneath the banner, "Weiss… I refuse to bury any more friends…"

A single line. A single moment. It all crashed and hurt. They'd seen Jaune die. They just witnessed his funeral of sorts. Now, they learned his team would do nothing. They could understand Ren's reasons for holding back. If the name Last City wasn't just a moniker, then they simply didn't have the resources to pursue this. It still hurt.

"You won't have to." A new voice, one unfamiliar to them all, chimed in. It was a voice that exuded power, despite a stature.

Qrow leaned forward toward his nieces, "Who the heck was that?"

Yang shrugged.

Neo blinked. She'd never heard the voice before. But, the only other person in the room was… Could it be? Could she hope?

The two turned back to Neo, who kicked off the wall. "Stay here if you have to. Mercury Black is mine."

Neo grinned. So that's what I sound like~ She'd been curious for so long. Now, she had an answer. She sounded rather nice, all things considered. The kind of voice she wished she could hear from her mouth. She didn't feel bad that she wouldn't. But at least her thoughts had a voice now.

Ren turned toward her, "You realize that we can't commit to this. If you wage this war, it's a war you'll fight alone."

Neo turned her head back for a moment, "Good." Neo walked out to begin her hunt. Seven escapees. One forsaken prince. This was her war to wage. And she would make them all pay.