King: I'm comin' for your pinkies... Nah, I'm kidding. Just wanted to say that given the subject today~ Any who... 1000+ followers~! This is so awesome! So, yeah. Hope you enjoy the chapter today~

Inspiration: Dead by Daylight

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King popped in again. "Okay! So, I've got good news and bad news."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Start with the bad news. Give us something to look forward to."

"Good point! So! Bad news is the previous world scrambled a few things behind the scenes. If the screen could curl up in a ball, it would rock back and forth muttering the word vines."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "So… the good news is an intermission?"

"Nope~ I've been working on a few things in the back and set up a dimensional archiving system! Now, we can revisit reality variations we've seen before. But, that required a bit of work on both of our parts, so I'm going to show a moment that should make it feel better~"

Yang grinned, "Cool."

Raven, however, scoffed. "You treat that thing like a child. Better to assert and make it listen than cave to it."

King was silent, floating in place. "I want to say something, but it's not my place to say it. Tai?"

Tai's eye was twitching. He had something to say, but he wasn't about to get into it with everyone around.

After a while, King sighed. "Alright. But yeah, I'm going to play one from a world with a happy ending; by the screen's standards, anyway. So… be warned. Hopefully, it's not too weird." His disappeared again and started the next world.

A white screen gave away to a campfire site with team RWBY sitting around it. Each was going through a pack with various items in each. As each finished their prep work, a check mark appeared over their heads.

Yang grinned with a raised brow, "So, another video game?"

Ruby tilted her head, "What? Like, camping simulator?"

Cinder was losing patience and seriously considered following Adam out the door.

Ruby leaned back, propped up by her arms, "So, who's the killer this time?"

This got Cinder to pause in her seat. Maybe she'll stick around. Get some new ideas.

Tai chuckled, "So it's a horror game."

Weiss crossed her arms in thought. "We don't know yet. Nora may have been the one to challenge us, but she did so for her team. It's possible anyone from JNPR could be our opponent."

Blake tossed a flashlight in hand. "So, what can we expect?"

Weiss pulled up a poster showing a madwoman Nora licking a hammerhead, "First is Nora who plays as a Bludgeon, like Yang. Straightforward and powerful, complete with a charge attack that knocks you down in one hit."

Nora chuckled seeing her poster, "That looks funny!"

Blake pulled another flier showing a ghostly Ren with a dagger in hand. "And Ren plays the Phantom. Stealthy and dangerous. He can turn invisible but can't attack while doing so. Problem is, he's skilled enough at the character that he can manage the timing well enough that it becomes a non-issue."

Nora was starry eyed, "Ninja Ren~!"

Ren smiled and rolled his eyes.

Weiss nodded. "Thankfully, Blake is just as skilled and can call out any possible dangers. The problem is Pyrrha." Weiss pulled out a poster with a pale-skinned version of Pyrrha in a Spartan helmet. "She plays as the Gladiator. Longer range but minimal area of effect. She can also block the flashlight's blinding effects with her shield."

Ruby turned toward Weiss, "What about Jaune?"

Weiss shrugged. "No data. If he plays the game, its not on this version. If I had to guess, he'll play one of the easier options. Bludgeon, Reaper, or Trapper."

Yang groaned, "So, it'll probably be Pyrrha, since Nora challenged our team as a whole. She'll set us up for the worst possible fight, i.e. a playstyle we don't use or know very well. But joke's on them." Yang's grin started to spread to the others, "If Pyrrha really is our opponent, we can fight back."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY CAN FIGHT BACK?!"

The scene snapped to show three fourths of team JNPR sitting in their dorm room, Nora standing and shaking a now dizzy Pyrrha.

Nora's head tilted toward Ren, "Shouldn't we have already figured out who was going in?"

Ren shrugged, "It's either a late realization or this is a deliberate shift in time to show a thematic moment given the phrases just said."

The interdimensional Salem giggled, "It's likely going to explain why Jaune is going to be their opponent."

Yang nodded slowly, picking up speed after a moment, "That makes sense."

Jaune walked in with a sandwich in his mouth. He looked between his teammates as he finished off his snack. "Um… Did I miss something?"

Ren sighed, "Nora challenged team RWBY to a game of Murdered by Morning. Problem is, RWBY has been playing as long as we have, so they know all of our strategies and play styles…"

Nora jumped over and grabbed Jaune by his shoulders, "Please, Jaune! Tell me you play the game and that you're really good! We need this win!"

"Yeah. But I haven't played anyone new since the Wildlands update."

"That's fine! Just plug in and play!"

Yang chuckled, "So, it's us versus Jaune? We've got this."

Nora hopped up and pointed toward Yang, "Just you watch, Xiao Long! Our fearless leader will totally kick your butts!"

This divided the groups in half depending on who their rooting for. RWBY, Neptune, Sun, Tai, Qrow, the Belladonnas, Seinna, and Ilia (in secret) and Port threw their hats in in favor of the RWBY on screen. Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Velvet, Coco Glynda, Oobleck, Ozpin, Oscar, and Salem stated for Jaune. Raven and Cinder scoffed, but even the villainous sets were not immune to the dividing.

"I'm telling you, Red and her little friends are annoyingly tough." Roman leaned back in his chair, 'arguing' his case to Neo, who voted for Jaune.

Mercury nodded, "Still, four against one against someone that hasn't played in a while? Guy's doomed."

Emerald rolled her eyes. She agreed, but she'll root for Jaune just to spite Mercury.

The screen returned to team RWBY as a text box popped up saying [Dead_of_Knight] appeared.

Yang started to snicker, "Guess it's Jaune, then."

Yang started to go into a laughing fit. She really hoped she had nothing to do with that name.

Yang cracked her knuckles as a checkmark appeared next to his name. "Here we go~"

Mercury placed his hands behind his head as he leaned back, "So, what do think we'll get for this one?"

Emerald thought for a moment, "Based on the information we gathered, likely a knight based character."

The world went white before the team was dropped into an old churchyard with a Western theme.

Tai smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well now~"

Ruby groaned. "Aw man…"

Qrow chuckled at his niece's misery. "What? Don't like Westerns?"

Ruby sighed and leaned her head back, "I had to live with two Western nuts for most of my life…"

Weiss looked around for a moment. "Alright. Which map is this?"

Blake found a sign and read it aloud, "Hangman's Gulch?"

Yang smacked her fist against an open palm, "Oh! I remember that one! It was in the Wildland's update. A lot of hiding places in the church and a few extra items strewn about the map. I also remember that its trapdoor has to be one of the gravesites. It's a weird map, but a predictable one. Question is, what Killer did he pick that would make him comfortable with a map like this?"

Her answer appeared as a tumbleweed passed by them all. It was an odd sight, but one that kept their attention long enough not to notice the shadow growing behind them. "Draw." The voice was a very heavy and sunken version of Jaune's. The group turned to see a shambling corpse dressed in Western attire, complete with black Stetson, rusted spurs, and a revolver in his hand.

This sent a chill up most of their spines. The sight was unnerving, to say the least.

Jaune struck Ruby with the butt of his pistol, causing the group to scatter in teams of two. Jaune watched them run off, the gears in his head turning for how to win.

Yang and Ruby ran for a good ways before hiding in the church. Ruby was injured, so one more hit would knock her down. Yang moved to patch her little sister's wounds. Said younger sister was freaking out, "What the heck was that?!"

Yang's eyes narrowed, "The Ghoul. He was released with the Wildlands. Good news is, he's easy to avoid if you know what you're looking for. He attacks with his pistol and if he hits you twice, instead of knocking you down, you get a skill check. Fail, and he kills you on the spot. The more times you get knocked down, the harder it is to dodge him."

A tumbleweed passed by again as Jaune stormed into the church, pistol-whipping Yang. "You can't hide from me."

"How did he find us?!" Yang was ticked seeing herself get knocked back like that.

Nora was grinning from ear to ear. "Because he's our fearless leader!"

Pyrrha nodded, "He is rather observant in combat and good at analyzing."

Weiss sighed, "His issue is putting it into practice."

Yang tried to move quickly, only to hear a striking sound behind her. "Ruby! Watch the…!" She froze seeing Jaune with a knife in his off hand as Ruby fell to the ground. "What the…"

Jaune turned his head toward Yang. He placed the knife away and used said hand to pick Ruby up off the ground and over his shoulder. He walked off with her in tow. Yang ran off after him just in time to see him place Ruby on a meat hook through her shoulder.

Ruby winced, "Yikes…"

Jaune walked off, giving Yang the chance to get Ruby down from the hook. "Damn it. He's running the knife."

Ruby looked up toward her sister, "The what?"

"One of the Ghoul's perks. He can replace his speed up option with a knife to use to knock us down normally instead of a quickdraw."

"Now, why would I do that?" Jaune was on them again. He knocked Ruby down again with the knife and ran after Yang to strike her with the revolver. Thus began the skill check.

Yang watched as the ring appeared and showed her save zone. She watched the line form and start to round the ring. She pressed her check as it approached the save area… and was off by a millimeter. [Check Failed]. "DAMN IT!" She was silenced when a gunshot rang out and a hole the size of a golf ball appeared in her head.

Yang roared in annoyance. "Crap!"

Nora giggled, "One down! Three to go!"

Ruby was wide eyed on the ground. She looked up to see Jaune grabbing a rope from his belt. "So, back on the hook?"

Jaune shook his head and tossed half the rope over a tree branch.

Ruby chuckled nervously, "You sure?"

Jaune looked down toward her, "Pretty sure, Ruby. I have a special perk that ensures I can just kill you off without risking Weiss or Blake coming back to save you from the hook. So long as you've already been on the hook once and I knock you down again, I can just finish you off."

"With a lasso?"

Jaune wrapped a loop in his, "It's not a lasso."

Ruby took in a sharp breath and rubbed her neck, more than well aware of what he was implying.

Tai chuckled nervously, "At least he's sticking to theme."

The screen moved to show Weiss and Blake fixing a generator. They heard the gunshot and looked to their Head's Up Display. "Yang and Ruby are down."

Blake growled a bit, "Damn it."

"We need to get moving sooner rather than later. Three more generators and we should…"

Jaune was above them with a glowing eye. He struck Weiss, forcing the two to run off. Unlike the sisters, they ran off in separate directions out of fear. That, or out of strategy. Only one of them has to make it out to win the bet. Jaune's eyes narrowed and he smirked. He already had a plan for this.

Nora erupted in laughter, "I told you! Our awesome leader already has a plan to beat you guys!"

Yang kicked up onto her seat and glare-smiled toward Nora, "Just you watch! Weiss and Blake will figure out a way to beat Vomit Boy!"

Jaune gave chase toward Weiss. Blake wasn't injured and was the more observant of the two. In a way, the greater danger, but she worked best in a team. If he can corner her alone, she'd be out of her usual options. And she did get away, he had a trump card~

Weiss ran through the churchyard, hiding in a small tool shed. She looked out the window, checking to see if Jaune had followed her. To her horror, she didn't find Jaune, but Ruby suspended from a tree. The audience, however, only saw the shadowy reflection on her window.

Roman recoiled a bit, "That's just gruesome."

Neo nodded.

"The fact we only see a shadow may actually make it worse…"

The camera pulled back to show Yang and Ruby as ghosts, looking at the suspended body. Yang crossed her arms, "Now that's just uncalled for…"

"It's about to get worse." Ruby pointed toward Jaune approaching Weiss's shed.

"And we can't warn her as spectators…"

"Nope…"

"She's injured."

"Yep."

"She's going to die."

"…UCK!" Weiss appeared next to them in a fit of anger.

"Missed the check?"

"Shut it, Xiao Long."

The scene got a few chuckles out of the audience members. It was just a funny scene in a dark humor kind of way. It helped that it was all a videogame and not a real event.

Yang lounged in place as a ghost. "Think Blake found the trapdoor now that she's on her own?"

Weiss looked toward the hanging corpse. "I kind of hope not."

"What do you mean?"

"Jaune is running the knife and the noose. But he gets a third perk. He's playing this character like a pro, so he probably has the Last Draw perk."

Yang's face fell for a moment, "Shit… A Lawman…"

Ruby looked between the two, confused, "Is that bad?"

"He's running the Lawman build for the Ghoul. He has the knife, supplements with the noose, and has a last attempt if the last survivor tries to use the trapdoor. They have a skill check to survive a draw. If they fail, they die. The save area is really generous. Problem is, if you don't expect it and mash the buttons…"

The screen changed to show Blake running along the graveyard. The trapdoor was open and in sight. She jumped to reach the escape, missing the check as soon as it arrived. The world went slow motion as the screen swapped to Jaune. He spun around and pointed his pistol toward the graveyard. One pull of the trigger later and the bullet flew through the area, threading the needle that is the crumbling church, and directly into Blake. Blake fell to the ground as the game ended.

[Killer Wins]

Half the theater erupted in cheers for Jaune's win. The other half groaned.

Yang sprung to Blake's defense, "How is a skill like that fair?!"

Oobleck took a sip form his mug and explained, "The safe area for the 'skill check' constituted nearly half of the circle. If she had been paying attention for it instead of mashing the buttons, she could escape easily."

Port nodded, "The skill is likely used against the novice or the desperate. It stated that Ms. Bellabonna was best in a team. It's likely, after she was alone, she would become more desperate to escape. It's a natural response. Even just to win a game."

Nora let out a jovial laugh, "Eat it Yang!"

Yang grinned, "You think that counted for us?! That wasn't us. You want to go?"

"Bring it!"

Ren and Blake had to reangle their partners back before they started a dumb string of competitions.

All the while, King just laughed at their antics.