Knox: Et iterum incipit...

King: I don't speak Latin.

Knox: It begins again...

King: Right... Point being, in this reality, Jaune speaks exclusively in Latin. Now, it's Google Translated Latin, so I don't know how accurate it is to day to day speech. But it's the best I have.

Knox: No one's going to know what he's saying.

King: It's more authentic that way.

Knox: Hmm~ ...

Inspiration: For Honor's Centurion (RWBY)

/\

The next world opened to show Ruby making her way through the Emerald Forest. It was a Ruby of a different stripe, having swapped her hood for a long red scarf. Another interesting sight was the pair of wolf ears atop her head.

Tai chuckled, "Never thought I'd see you without your hood."

Ruby pouted, but it faded to a chuckle.

Blake blinked a bit. She'd never thought she'd see a faunas Ruby, but it was very possible. But a wolf? She didn't know why, but she felt there was a sense of irony there.

"Ruby…" Her partner Blake was following behind her, dressed in a black long sleeve jacket, purple crop top, white pants, and black boots. She still had her cat ears and walked around without a bow. "Why are we out here again?"

Yang grinned. "So, there's a mix up. Blake and Ruby are partners."

Weiss considered if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, Ruby was a total dolt at times. On the other… Yang. She'll stick with the weapon nut.

"I told you already. There's something out here. I saw it just before we met. A sword sticking out of the ground!"

Yang chuckled a little. "It would be for a weapon."

"Seriously? A sword? How is that this important?"

"Because it was pointing up! Something is holding it there!"

Blake blinked for a moment. "Okay, fair enough. That is a little weird."

Ruby searched through the forest for the blade. "It's here somewhere…" After a while, she looked at the distance, "There!" She ran over to a gladius blade sticking up from the ground.

Ruby felt an odd sense of familiarity with the blade. "Hang on a sec…"

Tai leaned toward his youngest child, "What's up?"

"That sword has the same metal as Jaune's sword, Crocea Mors. It's pretty rare to find these days, being heavier and more difficult to work than the alloys formed since…"

"So, at the very least, it's an old sword. Possibly related to your friends…"

Ruby dug into the ground to see what she could find. But… when she did, she jumped back with a scream.

Blake ran over and looked to what spooked her teammate.

Under the ground and holding the handle of the blade, encased in crystal, was an armored hand.

Ruby and Blake looked toward one another, and the screen faded into a later time. Now, the entirety of team RWBY, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were on site. Due to an unfortunate accident during the initiation, there was an odd number of students, so Pyrrha never found a partner.

Qrow groaned, "Hate those stories…"

Pyrrha felt a shiver run up her spine. Was Jaune the casualty?

Weiss was dressed in Atlassian combat gear. She just preferred the style when in combat. "This is certainly odd."

Winter chuckled, "Quite the attire, Weiss."

Weiss said nothing. She looked up to Winter, but still preferred her more elegant attire to the militaristic gear on screen.

Yang was significantly more subdued, resembling the attire of the Ruby in the audience, complete with long golden hood. She leaned next to the crystal. "It kind of looks like Dust…"

Ren, dressed in a green qipao with black pants, crossed his arms, "But how did that happen?"

Nora, dressed in full leather and iron of the northern fjords, crouched down and flicked the Dust. "Kind of weird…"

Pyrrha looked pretty much the same. "But this does leave a few questions. Why are we all out here?"

Ruby placed her hands on her waist and grinned, "We're going to dig him up~"

Oobleck was getting a little excited, "What kind of event caused this? Who is in the Dust crystal?!"

Weiss hung her head a bit. "Of course that's why… Alright. Let's get this over with." Even after only a few weeks, Weiss had become accustomed to her team leader's eccentricities.

It took a while, but they dug out the crystalized body. Within the dust was a man covered head to toe in armor. His helmet had its own stoic face covering his own. His chest plate just looked like a metal chest. He looked the part of an old era field commander.

Blake chuckled. "Combat skirts on guys… That's a new one."

"Combat skirts!" Ruby chuckled, raising her hand to the air. She got a high five from Weiss and Nora as well.

The Dust seemed to shake for half a second, causing Blake to jump back. "Woah! What the…?"

The Dust cracked and everyone had to jump back in a group. The Dust began to glow on top of the shaking.

Weiss yelled out to the group, "HIT THE DIRT!"

The Dust burst, and the screen filled with light. When they could see again, the man in the crystal was lying on the ground.

Mercury crossed his legs and kicked up to relax. "Wake me up when something worth seeing happens." He closed his eyes and dozed off.

The teams gathered around the body. Nora going so far as poke him with a stick.

Qrow chuckled, "Really?"

The body, despite it all, stirred.

Everyone jumped back again. Weiss was freaking out, "But… How can he… What?!"

The body got up, his helmet falling off, revealing his blonde hair and sapphire eyes.

"Jaune was the guy in the Dust?" Coco raised an eyebrow.

Oobleck, however, had something else on mind. "How is he still alive?! Incredible! He was perfectly preserved and even sustained for who knows how long!"

Jaune looked around, confused. "Úbi sum?"

Ruby's head tilted, "What did he say?" She turned around to Ozpin.

Ozpin placed a hand on his chin in thought. "It's similar to languages we know, but it sounds different. I think he's asking where he is."

"What did he say?" Nora peaked over Ruby's shoulder.

Jaune heard her and jumped to his feet, blade in hand and at the ready. "Quis es?!"

Ruby held her hands out, trying to calm the man out of time. "It's okay… No one is going to hurt you."

"Quid?"

Ren stepped in behind Ruby, "I think communication may have broken down."

Ren shrugged, "Was ever there to be able to break down?"

This got a snicker out of Nora and a few of the others.

"Quid agis?! Latine loqui!"

Eventually, they were able to calm Jaune down and took him back to Beacon. Not so fortunately, they were soon observed by nearby Grimm. The howl of a Beowolf got all of them on guard and weapons drawn.

Ruby used a short sword with a magnum hand cannon, used in tandem.

Ruby was torn. No Crescent Rose and no cool mech-shifts, but still good weapons…

Weiss drew an item from her belt and spun it around into a large-bladed shovel. She utilized a dust-enhanced multitool.

Weiss groaned, not liking her alternative.

Blake swung a collapsible staff from her back and held it at the ready.

Sun snickered seeing the stance, very similar to his own.

Blake saw the similarities as well but didn't say anything.

Yang flung her cape back a bit with both hands and gauntlets formed onto her hands.

Yang grinned, "Nice~"

Nora drew a large war hammer while Ren drew a guandao spear.

Nora giggled at the scene, rather enjoying the combined style they had.

Pyrrha drew the same weapon and shield the version in the audience possessed.

Pyrrha was a little disappointed, since everyone else got another weapon or style.

Ruby called out to the teams, "Thirteen Beowolves, two Alpha! Keep together. The minis will try to rush us, but the Alphas will wait until we're tired!"

Jaune laughed at the scene. "Et per hanc provocationem? Hoc nihil est!" Jaune roared and his ancient semblance flowed over the team and the Grimm. Any without souls were forced into a state of fear. He laughed seeing the mini Beowolves back off.

The Beacon teams were just in shock, watching this man out of time treating these creatures like they were nothing. They were stunned into a stillness, but the Beowolves didn't move in toward them.

"That semblance would certainly come in handy." Ren nodded slowly with arms crossed.

Jaune laughed and pointed his weapon toward one of the Alpha Beowolves. "Primo te esse."

The Beowolf roared toward him and charged toward Jaune. Jaune ducked the attack and stabbed the wolf through the chest. The Centurion pushed the body back and pinned the beast to the ground with the blade.

Jaune laughed and released his weapon as the beast tried to get back up. Jaune was treating this like a sport, "Est quia omnia?" He held his hand forward with fingers curled and thumb out to the side. After a moment, the thumb shot downward and he kicked the beast's head hard enough to snap its neck. Jaune pulled his weapon out from the beast and laughed.

Yang whistled, impressed, "Damn! Vomit Boy's pretty good."

Knox appeared again. "But we can't understand him… We need a translator~"

King appeared, paused, and sighed. "No."

"Come on…"

"No."

"Please~ please, please, please, please…"

"You're acting like a child."

"I was born today!"

Nora propped herself up on the chair in front of her, "What's he talking about?"

King shook his 'head,' "He wants to bring Jaune here now. But he also promised we weren't going to bring anyone else in…"

Knox floated around the regal fireball, "Oh, come on! They're here to react to this stuff, right? Who better to react to this stuff than the guy centered in each world?"

King groaned, "You know what? Fine. But someone has to leave first…"

"Aw… What?!"

"That's my ruling!"

"Alright…" Both fires, and the audience, turned to Raven, who had stood up. "This was getting boring anyway. Do whatever you want." Raven turned and left the theater.

Yang scoffed to herself, "Good riddance…"

Knox gasped, his fire flying up to create a smiley face.

King sighed. "Alright… Go figure…" He took a deep breath and spit out a white and golden bubble. After a moment, it popped and Jaune Arc fell to the floor.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha, her team, Velvet, and team RWBY, ran over to the blonde on the ground.

Jaune clutched his head, "Where… What's going on?"

King floated in front of Jaune, "Explanations first…"

(Knox with French accent: One Explanation Later~)

Jaune had taken a seat with his team, at the end of the group. By twist of fate, he was seated between Pyrrha and Velvet. He nodded and looked up toward the flame, "Wow… That's a lot to take in…"

"You have no idea…" King took a deep breath. "Alright! Everyone ready again? Okay? Good! Back to it!" King and Knox disappeared and the world can return to normal.

Jaune looked up to his still paused counterpart. "That's… supposed to be me?"

Nora grinned and leaned forward to face her team leader, "Cool, huh~?"

The world could move again and Jaune spit onto the disappearing form of the Alpha Beowolf. "Infirma…"

Jaune's body went stiff, "Exspectare quid?"

All eyes turned to Jaune. Ruby acted as the voice of the group in this case. "Wait… You can understand him? And speak the language?"

"Um… Yeah… My dad kind of beat that into my skull. It was like a family language back before the war. We've stuck with it as a second language ever since."

"Awesome! You can tell us what he's saying!"

Jaune turned back to the group from Beacon, "Haec omnia terrent vobis?" (These things scare you?) Jaune laughed and slammed his blade against his opposite bracer. "Imperii viribus ante vos bestias." (You beasts are nothing before the might of the empire.)

The weaker wolves began to become desperate, throwing themselves against the Beacon students.

Ruby was a picture of grace and power, her blade twirling like a windstorm as her firearm shot into anything beyond the blade.

Ruby was starry eyed seeing that, "Woah~!"

Weiss was more efficient, but brutal. She ripped a Beowolf's head off with her shovel and swung it with a fire dust fueled power, turning it into a burning grenade to smack into another.

Weiss winced seeing her fighting style.

Blake moved like a shaolin fighter. Not a master, mind, but definitely trained.

Blake nodded. It wasn't a style she usually expected to see her using, but she didn't complain either.

Yang was very similar with her fighting style. The primary difference was her carbon-weave cape occasionally used as a shield.

Ruby gasped. "Woah! That's genius! How do you make it?! I have to know!"

Yang burst into laughter at Ruby's antics.

Ren and Nora moved in tandem, long used to one another's fighting styles. When Nora would swing high from the right, Ren would swipe low from the left. They were a perfect combo.

Nora and Ren smiled at the scene. They were a good combo, but now they wanted to be even better.

Pyrrha swung a Beowolf off and spun around as the remaining Alpha charged her. She blocked a heavy hit, but Alphas were notorious for being smarter and moved to bite her over her shield. She leaned back to avoid it, but this put her off balance just enough for the creature to capitalize. Before it could, however, a gladius was buried in its back and struck Pyrrha's shield.

Jaune jumped onto the creature's back and pulled the blade out again before plunging it in again several times. One last stabbing had Jaune pull the blade out with a roar.

Jaune jumped a bit. "It's really weird seeing myself on the screen like that…"

"You have no idea…" Nora deadpanned, in her own Nora way.

"What?"

"We've seen a bunch of these so far. You've been a lot of crazy things in each of them."

Ren nodded, "Some better than others."

Jaune stood as the teens finished off the rest of the Beowolves. "Nec quicquam." (Not bad at all.) Jaune wavered a bit. A relic of the old era, Jaune wasn't on the same level as the newer generations.

"Wait, what?" Jaune was just confused now.

Pyrrha explained it for him, "In this reality, you were sealed in a giant Dust crystal. It's why you only speak that language."

"Huh…"

Jaune let out a hardy laugh. "Et eruditus est mihi in vobis!" (You must tell me where you trained!)

This was far from the weirdest day to come for the teens. But it's where this round would end.