King: The novel fell through. Not in a bad way, I just fell in love with the characters and wanted to give them the goddamn Moon and the stars. Safe to say, not a month only project. This will take more time. So, this is back on the main burner for now.

Now, for their game. The game they play is based on a Co-op card game called "Sentinels of the Multiverse." I love the game and felt (especially by the title) that it fit. That and t release of RWBY: Combat Ready... So, game night! Keep your eyes out. You might see the world to come soon~

Inspiration: None applicable, unless you include the mini characters to come.

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King was off writing some obscure thing in the theater, so the screen was alone again. Alright then~ Let's see how this one plays.

Oh no you don't!

King?!

They're getting an intermission. Make them aware.

Fine… The screen changed to show the usher version of Jaune telling them they have an intermission.

Everyone made various tracks in different directions. Yang yawned and passed by to reach the arena but paused halfway. She turned her head to find a new room had been added, "Game Room?" A grin crossed over her features and she tore off to gather her team for an old fashioned RWBY game night. Cause why not, right?

Oddly, she got a few extras to join in. Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha tagged along once Nora heard about the game.

"If you're all going to play, we need a seven-player game…" At first, Blake wasn't really into the game night thing, but it started to grow on her after a while. Though it was hard to tell by her expression.

"What about this one?" Ruby walked over with a large box. "It says you can play with as many as you want."

Weiss looked over the packaging, "Guardians of the Multiverse?"

Blake nodded her head slightly, "It does fit the theme of the area."

Yang pulled off the top and took out a piece of paper, reading it out loud. "In Guardians of the Multiverse, you and your teammates will work together to defeat a villain."

"So, a co-op game." Ren glanced into the box.

Yang kept reading, "This is a special Remnant variant. The base game uses characters from your reality."

Nora dove into the box and pulled out a deck of cards labeled [Pyrrha Nikos]. She started to look through the cards, each of which had various artworks and effects. "Woah~!"

Yang wanted to look through, but kept reading, "Extra expansions have been added to allow for different playstyles across the multiverse."

Nora giggled, "I got an idea! We all play as us, but not the version of us in the main game."

Ruby was getting excited, "That actually sounds cool. We can get a glimpse of our other selves."

Yang nodded, "Alright. First, lets figure everything else." She continued, "After selecting your characters, a villain and environment desks are selected and shuffled. These are not played by any of the players, instead just play the top card each turn. Each hero starts with a four-card hand. Each turn begins when the villain attacks, flipping the first card over to play, and then goes down the line in order. The environment plays its card last each turn. Each player's turn consists of playing one card and then using an ability. The player draws a card at the end of the turn. The heroes win by defeating the villain."

Weiss nodded, "Alright. Let's see what we've got."

Nora jumped to the box, "Hang on! I got another idea! We have someone else pick our versions!"

Yang let the gears turn, "So, I could get to pick Western Weiss for her to play?"

Blake had a small smile, "It would be an interesting twist."

Nora giggled, "Let's do this!"

Each got their variations and started to find their villain and environment. They settled on fighting against Roman Torchwick in Downtown Vale. And so, they drew their hands, but didn't get to look yet, at Nora's insistence, since the villain didn't attack yet. Roman's first card was placed showing Roman holding a red Dust crystal, [Nice try: destroy one hero ongoing or equipment cards.]

Blake looked up from the card, "Lucky we got that now and not later."

Then Roman's effect activated. At the end of the Villain Turn, Roman deals the hero with the highest HP H-1 damage.

"H-1?" Ruby looked toward Yang, who was looking through the rules.

"H is the number of Heroes in the game."

"So… 6 damage to… Yang."

"Yep." Yang's HP decreased from 35 to 29. "Our turn now. Blake's up first."

Blake picked up her cards and raised an eyebrow. "Okay…"

Yang chuckled, "Get something interesting?" She hadn't been the one to give her the deck, that was Ren, but she was intrigued.

Blake shrugged and played her card. It showed a Blake dressed to the nines with a glass of wine in hand, [Infinite Resources: Draw three cards. After this, you play an additional card].

Yang looked over the card and whistled, "So, Blake is the rich girl in this game~"

Blake drew her cards and played another showing the high society Blake backhanding a man in a black and red suit, [Back off Heathen: Deal one target 1 physical damage. If damaged this way, the target cannot deal damage until your next turn]. She added a damage to Roman with a smirk. She also had an ability to use printed on her character card. [Corporate Takeover: Discard the top card of any deck]. She removed the card from Roman's deck. She drew a card and looked to her left, "Your turn Ren."

Ren nodded and picked up his hand. He looked over the cards, glancing toward his character card. It showed a version of Ren in archer's robes with his hair tied back. To Ren, he resembled his father, with some differences, mostly the dragon tattoo on his left arm. He played a card with a scene showing an arrow embedded in a wall with a red silhouette on the other side. [Sonic Arrow: Look at the top card of any deck]. Once complete, he used his ability, [Quick Fire: Play one trick arrow]. He played a card showing Ren with a notched arrow, the arrowhead enflamed, [Dragon Nail: Deal one target 2 projectile damage and 1 fire damage]. Roman was now knocked down to 96 health.

Next was Ruby. Her version showed Ruby dressed in a blue military uniform with a pistol in hand. "Oh! Cool!" She looked over her cards and smiled. "Alright~ I'll play… this one!" The card showed Ruby looking through a sniper's scope, [Hawkeye: As long as this card remains on your field, projectile damage dealt by Ruby deals 2 extra damage]. She nodded and turned to her character card, "Now my ability, Kill Shot, normally deals 1 projectile damage, but this makes it 3 damage! Eat it Torchwick!"

"What am I doing now?" Torchwick was in the door with Neo walking in behind him. He noticed the game and picked up his character card, "Hello~ Who's this handsome devil?"

Neo looked over the game at hand.

Ruby glared toward the criminal, "What do you want, Torchwick?"

Roman chuckled, "Plenty. Right now, though, a break. Figured I'd find a deck of cards or something and play solitaire. Neo, however, seems interested in your game."

Yang and Neo glared toward one another for a while. Yang groaned, "We already started."

Nora, who didn't hold the same level of animosity as Yang, suggested, "You know… We are still on the first turn. We could probably let her in to go last."

Yang sighed, "Whatever." She turned back toward Neo, "We didn't get to pick our own decks and I don't feel like fishing to find one of you, so you get what you get." She picked out a random deck, shuffled it, and placed it in front of Neo. "Don't reveal your character or look at your hand until your turn. I can read your card effects out loud since you're going last."

Neo nodded. The two were trying their truce but working together in a game was a little out there. Roman rolled his eyes and smirked, "Welp! Have fun!" Roman moved further in to find a deck of cards.

Now, they continued their game. "My turn!" Nora revealed her character card. Nora's character showed the siren version they'd seen on the screen. "Awesome! I get space magic!" She picked up her cards and smiled. "I play this!" It showed Nora with her hand on Jaune's back, using magic for healing wounds, [Hand of Healing: Ability: heal one hero target for 3 HP]. "Let's heal Yang!"

"Nice!" Yang returned her health to 32. Not max, but better than she had.

Weiss sighed. "My turn, then." She revealed her character to show a version of Weiss dressed in more high-end looking street clothes: white tank top, black half jacket, blue pants, and heeled boots. She had her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "Well that's odd…"

Yang grinned, "I don't know. It's looks pretty good."

"Now I know it's odd."

"Hey!"

Weiss picked up her hand and looked over her options. "I guess… this one." Weiss played a card showing her standing in a massive warehouse. [Supply Chain: search your deck for one Dust card and add it to your hand]. She grabbed a card and used her ability after this. [Family Ties: Draw a card]. Two draws ended her turn.

Now it was Pyrrha's turn. She revealed her character card to show her in a dark hoodie, shorts, and tall expeditionary boots. "Interesting." She looked over her cards a part of her had to suppress a chuckle. "Okay then. I'll play this card." The card showed a Pyrrha with her shield up and blocking a Beowolf's attack. [I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!: Discard one card from your hand and deal one target 2 melee damage]. Then she was able to use her ability which read [Hand-Me-Down: return one card from your trash and add it to your hand]. Pyrrha drew another card and nodded toward Yang.

Yang revealed her own variation to find her character. This was the version of Yang in the armor and jetpack with dual blaster pistols. "Nice! I remember this one!" She picked up her hand and grinned. "Okay. Let's start with this!" She played a card showing the Yang in full, gleaming armor, [Mandalore's Best: Decrease damage dealt to Yang by 1]. "Okay! Now for my ability which deals up to two targets 1 energy damage. There's only one target, though." That was 10 damage total to Torchwick putting him at 65. Yang nodded and turned toward the last of their team. "Your turn, I guess…" She didn't like the idea of Neo sitting next to her, but at least she knew the short psychopath couldn't attack anyone.

Neo looked down to her cards and revealed her character card. It showed Jaune in full plate armor with an ornate halberd in hand. She read the mini-description that referred to him as a Lawbringer. Ironic… She picked up her hand of cards and her eyes went wide. Lawbringer?! You sure?! Eyes were on her and she blinked. Alright. You asked for it… She played a card showing Jaune with his hands wrapped around a man's throat and squeezing. [The Right to Remain Silent: Prevent one target from drawing a card during their normal draw phase]. Based on what she'd seen, she was allowed to use her ability now. [The Law Won: Force a target to discard the top card of their deck]. She knocked a card away from Roman, given that was the point of the game.

Thus, it was the environment's turn. Yang reached over to flip the top card, reaching it out loud. "Back Alley dealings. At the end of the environment turn, play the top card from the villain deck."

She picked the card, since it wasn't the normal draw, and placed it face up on the table. It showed Roman smacking his cane across Ruby's head. [Bludgeon: Deal the hero target with the lowest HP 2 melee damage]. Ren was spared the damage thanks to Blake's turn.

Ruby sunk in her chair and huffed, "As if that would ever happen."

Roman walked passed, deck of cards in hand, and lightly smacked the top of her head with his cane, "Easier than you think, Red." He left the room after that.

Roman's turn was taken away by Neo stopping his cards and Blake stopping the damage. Thus, it was Blake's turn again. She looked over her cards and decided to play one showing her with a blank expression as she stared down the version of Weiss she was using for the game. [Calm Demeanor: You take 1 less damage as long as this card remains on the field. She used her ability to force Roman to drop another card before passing the turn to Ren.

Ren looked over his options and decided to play a card that showed his version with a common arrow notched, [Sniper: Increase the damage dealt by the next trick arrow by 2]. This, coupled with his power, allowed him to increase his trick arrow's damage right now. The card showed a series of mini-arrow bouncing off of various surfaces, [Scattershot: Deal up to five targets 1 projectile damage] which was now increased to 3 damage to Roman.

Next was Ruby who played a card showing her loading a slug into a shotgun. [Tactical Reload: Draw 2 cards]. After that, she fired her ability to hit Torchwick again.

That passed the turn to Nora. She giggled and played a card showing her tattoos glowing, [Siren Blood: If this card remains on the field, you deal an extra 1 fire damage and 1 electric damage when using your Phaselock ability. Using this ability, she dealt 4 damage to Roman, knocking him down to 57.

Now it was Weiss's turn again. She looked over her cards and she felt her eye twitch.

"Something wrong, Ice Queen?" Yang grinned.

Weiss sighed and played the best card for the option. [Ice Queen? Bitch, I'm too Hot to be Ice Anything]. It showed Weiss glaring downward, her eyes glowing the darkness of her scene. [Deal 1 target 1 melee and 1 fire damage].

Yang blinked at the card and started to snicker. "Damn. We have to meet this version!"

Weiss just groaned and used her power to draw a card. "Your turn, Pyrrha].

Pyrrha looked over her cards and could help be feel… familiar, but odd. Like she'd seen something similar from another angle. She played a card showing her counterpart tripping over her shield, [Who Put That There?!: Discard 1 card in your hand and deal 1 target 2 melee damage]. Then, she was able to use her power to pick the card back up from her trash.

Yang's turn came around again. She played a card showing her activating a wrist-mounted flamethrower. [Burn!: Ability: deal up to three targets 2 fire damage]. That used up her ability and making it Neo's turn.

The silent psychopath flipped and played a card on the table. It showed the Lawbringer Jaune attacking someone with his halberd. [I Am the Law: Deal 1 target 3 melee damage].

The game played on over various rounds until they heard a voice over the intercoms. "Please return to your seats. Intermission will be ending soon."

Nora groaned, "Well that sucks. Guess the game's over."

Everyone nodded and started to put the game back in its box(es). Yang grinned, "We have to try to find something like this back home."

Ruby grinned, "Agreed~!"

With that, the teams left the room, leaving Neo alone in the room. She thought to herself about the situation. Before all of this, she'd have just tried to kill them. Unable to attack, she'd have ignored them. But she played their game. Why? What's going on with this place?