King: We're back. And this is going to be a fun one...

Knox: No kidding.

King: Well... I hope you enjoy the chapter. Now, let's get this going.

Knox: So it begins. he mission to create peace...

Inspiration: Naruto

/\

The next world was set to start, and it was… something.

The story opened to a large city of pipes and steel, placed in a perpetual rainstorm.

"How would that be possible?" Port raised an eyebrow. "There are locations with extended rainy seasons, but never 'perpetual' as it says here."

The scene fell upon Ozpin walking through the streets in a hooded poncho.

Ozpin took another sip from his mug. "This should be interesting."

Ozpin was on a mission in this area, known as the Village Hidden in the Rain. Very appropriate, but hardly creative. He walked through the city, looking around to find his targets. He expected them to try to hide in shadows, but he found them out in the open. Two men with metal headbands showing four vertical lines slashed through the center horizontally. Ozpin started to follow them to their hideout. It was time to smoke out the leader of the Akatsuki.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "That's a new one."

Yang turned to the feline faunas, "What does it mean?"

"Depends on how you write it." Gira was the first to explain. "In short form, it means daybreak. Broken in two, it means red moon."

"So, probably a criminal thing?"

"Most likely." Roman leaned back in his chair. "Plenty of organizations out there with dumb names."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, and he followed the two men. After a while, he reached a section of town without anyone else around. In a single swift motion, he knocked both men out and dragged them off for an interrogation. The two men woke up in an old warehouse with Ozpin looked down to them. He eyed the men and glared, "Alright. Save us all some time and start talking. Where's your leader?"

One of the men started to chuckle before bursting out into completely laughter. "Our Lord is everywhere. This is the might of our god and his angel~!"

The second man smirked and tilted his head, revealing a strangely designed tattoo on his neck. "And we're happy to give our lives for his will, Ozpin." The tattoo started to hiss before his body erupted like a living bomb.

Everyone jumped. And this time, it really was everyone. Even Cinder was surprised at the man suddenly exploding like that. It was bone chilling.

When the smoke cleared, both men were ashes and a large grey ball of hair spiking out like a barrier of needles. In fact, it was a barrier, protecting Ozpin before his hair returned to normal.

Yang was interested now. "Woah! How did he do that?! Was that his semblance or can anyone learn it?!"

This got a chuckle out of her team and family.

Ozpin sighed. "So much for that." His attention was caught when the downpour around him had ceased. He looked around, confused. The Rain Village is supposed to have rain falling 24/7 during the raining season like today. So why had it stopped. Then, a small paper crane flew down slowly next to him. His eyes narrowed, and he looked up toward the sky.

Above him was a woman with bright red hair. Her body was seemingly made of paper squares stacked into the form of a body. A pair of bright white paper wings kept her in the sky. She was dressed in a long black robe with red clouds adorned around it. Her green eyes were filled with apathy for the man below her.

Nora gasped. "Woah! Check it out Pyrrha! You're like an angel!"

"A paper angel, apparently." Ren glanced to the champion and back to the screen.

His glare changed to concerned confusion, "Pyrrha? What are you…?" Before he could finish, Pyrrha raised an arm and a swarm of paper squares flew off toward Ozpin. As he ducked underneath the swarm, a piece came close to his head and cut a few strands from his hair. If he had waited even a fraction of a second, there was a real possibility of the paper embedding in his body like knives.

Yang turned to Ruby, "Can that happen?"

"In theory." Ruby shrugged. In theory anything can become a weapon if thrown or propelled with enough force. "But the paper is also flying on its own, so I don't know how."

Ozpin slammed his hand on the floor and it folded in to allow him to drop into the lower floor. Pyrrha just watched and allowed him to escape into the lower floor.

Ozpin ran through the pipe-covered hall. "Why is she here? If she is, then Jaune and Neo should be as well.

Neo raised an eyebrow. She was a part of this one as well?

Ozpin was pulled out of his thoughts seeing a man at the end of the hall. He was a tall man with dark hair and a strawberry pink ponytail. He dressed in the same black cloak with red clouds. He also had a multitude of piercings on his face.

Now Neo was just surprised. She saw the world where their genders were flipped, but never saw her own counterpart. Was this him?

Ozpin slid to a halt. "What the…" The hair was similar to Neo's but the man's face was too familiar. A flashback showed the same man with his normal red hair. The picture faded to the current scene. "You're supposed to be dead. I killed you!" It was during a mission to protect a village in the area. The man was a rouge ninja and a dangerous threat. He was dealt with. So why was he here?

Then, Ozpin saw the man's eyes. The entire surface was a light purple with black rings radiating out from the pupil.

"Those are some crazy eyes." Roman leaned back in his chair. "Gives me the creeps."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed. First he's dead, and he has the Rinnegan? What's going on here?

"Rinni-what?" Nora looked around, but got no answer.

The man stared off toward Ozpin. "I didn't think they'd send you to find me."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "You're the leader of the Akatsuki?"

Yang grinned, "Final boss already?"

"I am Pain. We are god."

We? Ozpin suddenly found the floor shattering apart as a hand reached up to grab him. He was able to avoid the attempt, but the man continued and came up from the floor.

Glynda adjusted her glasses, "Impressive reflexes as always."

Ozpin grinned and took a sip from his mug. Then, he looed down at the liquid. "But what did he mean by 'we'?"

The new man was bald, but possessed the same coat, piercings (though in a different pattern, including spikes out from the top of his head), and eyes.

Ozpin growled, "What the hell is going on? Why do you have those eyes?" One of them was weird enough, but two of them? Then there was the man that actually had hair. It was Neo's hair color and Jaune's eyes…

Jaune blinked a moment. "My… eyes? Seriously?"

Neo raised an eyebrow. So this wasn't her male version… Then who was he and why did he have her hair style?

The man with the ponytail started to make various signs with his hands.

Now it was Blake's turn to be a bit surprised. "What the?"

Ilia turned to her old friend, "What is it?"

"Those hand signs." She lightly smacked her head, "I remember this… what was it?"

Gira nodded, "The Kuji-in. A group of syllables and hand signs designed for meditation. They're actually rather helpful for dealing with stress."

Blake turned to her father, surprised. "That's what it was. But… isn't that used for ninjutsu?"

He just shrugged, "I learned them when I was young. And they've proven very helpful."

Sun glanced to the large man with his hands behind his head, "Think you could teach those to me? I've been meaning to branch out into new methods."

This genuinely surprised all his associated except Neptune. Blake slowly turned toward Sun, "You meditate?"

Sun just grinned and nodded. "Yep! It's part of my semblance training. Now it's more of a habit."

The ponytailed man slammed his hand on the floor. Black symbols spread out as the camera swapped to the outside of the building. After a moment of calm silence, the side of the building erupted as a giant multi-headed dog ripped through the concrete wall. The dog also had piercings and the purple eyes.

Blake and Kali went into panic mode and hid behind Gira.

Ozpin was flying through the air and spun around to stand on the side of a nearby building. He made similar symbols before slamming his hand on the wall. As the dog charged forward, a two-pronged spear appeared from the side and the camera snapped back to show a giant toad in a kimono wielding the weapon.

Yang started to laugh, "What the heck?" Seriously, giant toads in kimonos? This was getting weird.

Ozpin made another set of hand signs as the bald man jumped from the original building. His legs gave way to rockets, allowing him to fly through the air toward Ozpin. Oz took in a deep breath as he approached. Fire Style: Emerald Inferno! He loosed a breath and a bright green fire flowed out from his mouth toward his attacker.

Ozpin paused just as he was about to take a sip from his mug. He'd never thought of seeing any magical abilities anymore. The summoning before, he couldn't do that. The emerald fire? That used to be a signature skill of one Ozma. So… that got the reaction.

The attacker just flew through the fire and popped up from within. His body was mechanized, and his hand had shifted into a cannon. Ozpin was just able to dodge the energy attack that ripped into the wall beneath(?) him. Ozpin spun around in slow motion, the camera zooming in on his hand as a sphere of energy formed. It was like a miniature windstorm in the palm of his hand. He slammed the orb into the man's back and against the wall. The mechanized being ripped apart, pieces falling to the ground below.

Penny felt a shiver run up her spine. Not from the scene per se… Which was strange. But that there was something else. Something everyone else couldn't quite see.

Ozpin growled and looked back up to the supposed leader. The man just made another hand sign, striking the floor again. In a puff of smoke, another man with brown and pink hair appeared next to him. This man was taller and with long, straight hair flowing down over his back with twin strands framing his face and down his body.

Ozpin landed on a balcony and thought of his next plan of action, only to have a beam of energy rip through the supports and force him to the ground below. As he fell, he noticed the mechanical man was perfectly fine again. Another man like the others, but with much shorter hair, was next to him, "What the…" The straight-haired man was suddenly next to him with a hand on his chest. As the man's hand pulled away, a transparent copy of Ozpin started to pull out with him. Ozpin was saved when the toad slammed his spear onto the ground and caused the man to lose his connection. Ozpin took in a deep breath and placed a hand on his chest. That one… that one was dangerous. He had the power to rip the very soul from his target.

Qrow had to spit take hearing that. Third in his life. All of them here… To be able to rip out a person's soul? What the hell was this world?

Ozpin slammed a foot on the ground and a large sword appeared from a puff of smoke. "Okay… four on one. Might actually be a challenge. Might…" He took in another breath and unleashed another green inferno. Unlike before, another man appeared and absorbed the attack before it could do damage to his comrades. When Ozpin's attack ended, he scoffed, "Five. Five against one. Considering your opponent, you might need more." After all, Ozpin was the legendary Emerald Sage of the Hidden Leaf. One of the greatest shinobi to ever live.

Ruby gasped, "They are ninjas!"

Blake was back in her seat again, "Crappy ninja. Hardly all that stealthy."

"Then how about six?"

Ozpin's eyes widened, and his blood ran cold. He spun around to find Neo, dressed like the others, pierced, and with those eyes.

Neo felt a shiver run up her spine. Her counterpart was legitimately terrifying. She wasn't any taller. She wasn't any larger. The piercings just looked overboard. No. None of that got to her. What did, however, was her expression and the way she was standing. She was blank. More like a puppet than a human.

All six of the Neapolitan haired humans jumped into formation next to one another. All six people had the same eyes.

Ozpin's face fell a bit. "Neo… Why do you have Jaune's eyes? Did you take them for power?"

Ruby almost threw up at the idea of exchanging eyeballs. That just sounds wrong!

Neo's expression was blank. "Neo… Neo died long ago, my old master. I am Pain. We are god."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed. Had Neo really gone that far off the deep end? The Rinnegan was said to be the most powerful ability in the world, giving the wielder powers similar to those of gods. She wouldn't be the first to go mad with power like that.

Neo groaned. She wasn't like that… right?

Two of the Pains, the bald man and the straight-haired one, charged forward. Meanwhile, the others took up positions in a formation, each utilizing an ability. The ponytailed man summoned another creature, a giant rhino. The toad from before then had to fight the rhino off. One of them set up in the back while the fifth set himself to defend the two (ponytail and the guy in the back) behind him. Then, there was Neo, who simply raised a hand toward Ozpin. Ozpin felt his body lurch forward as the bald man tried to swing a rocket assisted punch at him. Oz was able to avoid it, but just barely. He slammed another orb into the mechanized man and tossed his body away. The next two tried to attack together, but he ducked back and swung his blade into one's gut and kick the other in tandem. Two more dead, he swung them off and prepared for another attack.

Ruby went starry eyed. "Woah! Professor Ozpin is totally kicking butt!

Ozpin spun around, but the mechanized man was back in his face with a wide grin.

"What the…" Weiss blinked in shock. "Okay! He broke apart twice! How is he still alive?"

Ozpin was just as shocked and jumped away from another swipe, but a bladed arm was able to scrape his chest. He slid back and tried to get some distance, but from this position, he saw something odd. The two dead versions were being lifted off the ground by the man in the back of the group. A large head rose up from the ground and ate both men. When its mouth opened again, both men were back to normal.

"Oh come on!" Nora roared at the screen, "That's cheating!"

Neo sped forward and a black spire protruded from her hand like a sword. Ozpin was able to block the attack, but another one of the men attacked with a similar spire. He was able to grab the man's wrist and prevent the attack, but four of the six were acting together in the assault. A little too well. He threw the two off and jumped away from an attack. When was struck, his body puffed into smoke. He had hidden himself and left a shadow clone behind.

Ruby chuckled, "It's like Blake's semblance!"

Blake nodded. It was fairly similar so far.

As the six looked around to find him, Ozpin rose up from the shadow of one of the men with weapon ready. As he swung, the target jumped to avoid the blade. Ozpin's eyes widened in shock, given that the man should have had no idea he was there. But the action was too well timed to say otherwise. No one warned him. None of them even spoke. Come to think of it, all six acted too well together without saying a word. It's almost like they shared a mind. Then, he remembered the two off to the side. They were watching the battle. No reaction of speech, in mind or out loud, could match that timing. They didn't just share eyes, they shared sight.

Roman almost lost his cigar from his lips. "How can… How the hell?"

Neo wasn't sure if she could even imagine how much that would mess up her head. Six people's worth of vison? How weird is that?

Damn it. Ozpin looked between all six, deciding it might be best to escape for the time being. He slammed his hands together. Sage Art: Emerald Palace! Brilliant green crystals erupted from the ground around Ozpin. The gems were powerful and able to hold back most attacks, but this was a secondary effect. Even if they broke in, Ozpin was too well hidden within the palace.

"Woah!" Ruby was starry eyed again, "That's so cool!"

"More of a wizard than a ninja…" Blake was a little bitter.

Neo remained apathetic. "Bring him to me…"

The other five began to break through the gems. The camera followed the man with the ponytail. As he looked around, Ozpin's reflection would occasionally appear in the crystals. The man would spin to the crystal, but lower his stance seeing it was a reflection. The man turned, and saw a giant visage of Ozpin's head. It took a breath and blew on the man, causing the ponytailed man to start to turn bright green before being sealed as an emerald statue.

Glynda glanced toward Ozpin for a moment. She'd noticed his preferences for emerald-colored items. It was his favorite gem. But this world was going overboard.

The man-turned-emerald was actually still alive. In reality, he was sealed within an illusion. Ozpin was standing next to the man's unconscious body. He created a crystal around the man, sealing the body away.

Emerald felt a certain admiration for this man now. She would definitely prefer if she could create illusions that powerful.

Ozpin looked over the man in the crystal. There was no mistaking it, this was the man he'd already killed in the past. It's likely the others were too. But… if that was the case… The crystal behind him started to crack to Neo's outstretched hand. Ozpin spun around and got ready to fight, but Neo trust both hands to either side. Almighty Push! The camera returned to the outside of the castle of gems to see it burst apart. Neo stood in the center of the blast radius as Ozpin and emerald crystals flew off away from her.

Neo felt a shiver run up her spine. Was this inferring that she was dead too? Then… what was going on?

"Hang on a sec." Jaune looked around. "Didn't he say I was supposed to be in all of these?"

"Hey! Yeah!" Nora huffed, "Where's our fearless leader?"

Ozpin was pushed off what ground he had and ended up in the river. Or rather, on. He spun around and landed on the water's surface like it was any other solid surface.

Oobleck was breaking down, "How is that possible?! To be able to stand atop the water's surface like it was the ground! How is this happening?!"

Ozpin growled and looked up toward the five remaining figures again. The man with the ponytail was sealed away and not going anywhere. If he could keep that up, he might be able to defeat them all.

Neo growled and held her hand up to the sky. Her hand dropped, and a blast of air pressure ripped through the river and slammed into Ozpin with a vengeance. The Emerald Sage decided to try to bring Neo and her cohorts down. The camera zoomed in on his right cheek as emerald marks started to appear on his skin, forming a line down his cheek and another that wrapped from his eye and around his face. When the camera zoomed out again, they saw Ozpin standing tall again, his body a bit altered to be less like himself. This was the Sage Mode. It wasn't perfect, but it still increased his chakra output and physical stamina.

Neo scoffed and gestured for the others to begin their attacks. The mechanical man and the straight-haired man charged forward toward Ozpin. But now, Ozpin was better acclimated to the world around him. The mechanical man slammed his hand onto Ozpin's jaw, but he remained unmoving. One perk of the Emerald Sage Mode was extremely high defenses. He was slow as hell, but he didn't take damage. His counter attack strategy was take a hit and grab the opponent. From there he would breath emerald fire directly into their face. But, his mechanical opponent needed a different strategy. This time, when he spit out on the mechanized man, he covered the man in oil.

Nora shivered, "That's so wrong!"

Ren raised an eyebrow, seeing what was going to happen.

Ozpin slammed his teeth together and fire came out from his nose, lighting the mechanized man on fire. Now, super-heated, Ozpin unleashed a high-pressure water stream from his mouth, causing the mechanized man to shatter from the extreme temperature drop. But there was also the man that could pull away his soul. His usual strategy wouldn't work. He spun around and unleashed a wave of oil onto the water. A moment later, he ignited the oil and burned his opponent. When the others came to attack him, the man that can revive the others was able to slip in and bring the mechanical man back.

The mechanical man 'cracked' his neck and grinned. He charged forward, now aware of Ozpin's defenses, and created a black spire in his hand. He stuck the spire into Jaune's back shoulder, barely breaking the surface of his skin thanks to a rocket boost.

Ozpin jumped away, creating more hand signs. Fine. Try this then. Sage Art! Emerald Hellfire! Before his ability could activate, his body rocked, and the world went dark behind him. A pair of purple eyes appearing in the darkness behind him.

Everyone went cold. The eyes were freaky as it is, but there was something else going on making them worse. The look in the eyes… It was hard to explain, but it scared them.

When the world returned to normal, the mechanical version was in Ozpin's face and grabbed his collar, tossing him into the air. The four others, not including Neo, started to assault the Sage in the air. Whatever that was before, it was disrupting Ozpin's Sage abilities. The four in the air all drew one of those black spikes and reared back over him. The camera zoomed in n four locations as the four spikes slammed into Ozpin's back, all them landing on a small bolder in the river.

Glynda felt her heart stop seeing that. She'd known Ozpin for most of her life, the two were very close. And this? Seeing this hurt her to no end.

When the smoke cleared, Ozpin was seen pinned to the ground by the spikes with Neo looking down at him. She remained unmoved at the scene of her former teacher laying on the ground, impaled four times over. "You were once my inspiration. You told me that we could yet have peace by coming together."

Ozpin's ears perked. That wasn't Neo. He never told her that. She truly was as much a puppet as the others.

"But now I know the truth. Humanity will only be at peace when they understand what it means to be hurt. To be broken." She held her hand out and down toward him. "They will know peace. And I will rule in might as their god." The bolder erupted into pieces and Ozpin was forced into the water.

He had no more energy. No way to swim up and save himself. Ozpin smirked to himself. The camera flashed back to his hand during Neo's monologue. He had formed a small emerald crystal with a code hidden inside. It disappeared just before Neo's attack and to his allies in the Leaf Village.

[The real one is not among them.]

Jaune was starting to figure out what was going on. Why they all had (apparently) his eyes…

The camera pulled up to the sky before rising up to see Pyrrha in a dark room. "Master Ozpin is dead…"

"It is unfortunate…" Jaune's voice rang out from the background. "Our old teacher was a good man. Even if he would wish to stand against us." They heard loud thumps as Jaune spoke. "We will hold a moment of silence for his loss… But our mission remains. If humans are live in peace, they must be united in empathy. To do this, they must have a uniting force. They must know fear."

The scene changed to show a young Jaune, bangs covering his eyes, as the Leaf ninja attacked his home. His family died in the Second Great Shinobi War. It was the day he first unleashed his rage through the power of his Rinnegan.

Jaune felt sick. The thought of his family being killed did not sit right. But it sickened him further that he saw the logic behind his counterpart's logic.

The scene returned to show the back of a throne or something similar. "They must know loss."

The new flashback showed Neo with a large blade embedded in her back, having died to protect Jaune, who was never one for combat. Jaune, Neo, and Pyrrha were all orphaned and came together as a trio of friends in a war-torn world. They day she died, he erupted again in hate. He vowed vengeance before his mind returned to Ozpin's teachings about the importance of peace. He vowed to bring peace the same way he came together with Pyrrha and Neo. He would make all of humanity have the same horrible experience.

Nora and Ren turned to each other hearing that. The two didn't want to even begin to think about what they would do if that happened to the other.

Neo was also an orphan, and thus understood the pain. But she pushed that feeling down to make others hurt instead. But… ever since she arrived here, she was losing that sadistic need. Now? Now she knew the hell this version went through and the hell he was willing to create. She glanced at the actual version in her world in a sense of concern.

The camera returned to Jaune, body crippled and nearly skeletal. The throne allowed him to move and control his Six Paths, the lead of which included Neo's former body. His eyes held the original Rinnegan, looking out to the world around him with contempt. The score swelled beneath the scene. A haunting choir chanting, making Jaune truly seem like a god of this world. "They must know pain…"