King: This one's a bit different, but I think it was bound to happen eventually.

Knox: Nothing is set in any canon. Also, I leave you to imagine some of this. A few have hints but I don't want to get too overt. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

King: Also! Pyrrha versus Velvet. I flipped a coin and Velvet won. Also, I added some references and dropped a story hint. Hope you enjoy the chapter~

Inspiration: N/A

/\

Knox appeared with a firework effect, "World number 100, baby!"

Blake sputtered for a moment, "One hundred?!"

Yang blinked, falling back in her chair, "We've seen a hundred of these things?"

Knox nodded, "Well… team RWBY and three fourths of JNPR have."

King popped in this time, "If you count the mini review world, which I do, we have played 99 different realities. This shall be world 100. To celebrate, this one will be a bit different."

"All we can tell you is… If you went back right now. You didn't see this reality."

"You didn't get this explanation."

"You left after 99."

"Alright." King and Knox disappeared soon after.

Jaune looked around, "What do you think that means?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "I'm not sure."

The screen opened to show a Beowolf running through a forest area. After a moment, it slowed down and started to sniff about the area. There was something nearby… A human. It moved through the brush, eventually stopping by a bush near the trails the humans would use.

Then, the camera moved in to focus on the bush. After a moment, a pair of gleaming silver eyes burst open at the Grimm's approach.

"What the heck?!" Ruby shouted, seeing the eyes so similar to her own just suddenly appear like that.

"Must be another initiation." Yang leaned back, kicking her feet up on the chair in front of her.

"But then, what was the speech about before?" Jaune was hung up on that. "What would make it different? We've seen some like that, right?"

The human hidden in the brush jumped up and away from the Grimm. As the beast watched its target leap into the air, it didn't notice the thin wire left behind. As the Grimm stepped onto the wire, a survivalist's ax fell from the trees and embedded its blade into the creature's head.

Yang grinned, "Dang, Ruby~! Look at you go!"

Ruby turned to her sister, a little confused, "What makes you think that was me?"

"The eyes…" No one else had silver eyes after all, so it was a good guess in the circumstances.

"Okay, good point."

As the creature collapsed and began to dissipate, the human fell to the ground again and retrieved the ax. Now unhidden, the figure was shown to be a young man dressed in a cape shaped to appear like leaves. His hood came complete with a mask to match the cape, allowing him to hide among the forest floor. Beneath his cape was a black and green, simplistic gothic shirt, pants, and boots. It all focused on range of movement as well as remaining hidden in the leaves.

"So far so normal…" Blake remarked. It wasn't the first time they've seen versions of the opposite gender for them. "So why the warning before?"

Tai looked over the young man in the cape, thinking to himself in silence until, "I… don't think that's Ruby."

Yang shrugged, "It was Ross, right?"

Qrow rolled his eyes, "Rosso."

Tai shook his head quickly before returning his attention to the screen, "No. There's something else… Something I can't quite explain. But I don't think that's a version of Ruby."

Jaune thought back before hitting the solution, "It's the future!"

Everyone turned to him, skeptical of his answer, but willing to hear him out.

"Think about it! King and Knox said 'if we went back before seeing this.' If that's the case, Ruby would still be Ruby. So," he pointed to the young man on the screen, "why is there a guy with silver eyes?"

Qrow blinked before starting to snicker to himself, "So, Tai! How does it feel to be a grandfather?"

Tai nearly had a heart attack, but shook it off, "Not funny, Qrow. If this is the future, that's fine… As long as it's far into the future…"

Yang and Ruby rolled their eyes, but also agreed with him. They'd considered having families in the future, but they had obligations now that had to be taken care of first.

The young man placed his ax away in his belt. "Now… north." He checked the trees for the moss to gather his bearings. "Alright. Let's get moving." He started to run off through the forest toward the northern edge.

Beacon's initiation brought in some of the world's most promising huntsmen and huntresses for training. It was the greatest challenge they would experience until they attend Beacon itself. This was the challenge now faced by the next generation, like Alister Rose.

Alister flicked his cape to the side to show a grappling hook, which he used to climb the nearby tree and start to move through the interconnecting branches.

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Qrow grinned for a moment, before growing a little concerned, "How's he going to find a partner?"

Ozpin sighed, "He wouldn't be the first to try to fight the odds and select a partner rather than leaving it to chance."

Alister moved slowly, not to disturb the leaves and draw attention. For now, he had to reach the ruins. He knew he had to find a partner eventually, but he also didn't want to get dragged down. He refused to leave something that important to chance. It might have worked for his mother and her team, but not for him.

Weiss sighed, remembering having a similar outlook. But life chose a different path and she was paired with Ruby, eventually joining team RWBY. And, she admitted it was the best thing that had happened to her.

As he walked, he found a pair walking on the ground beneath him. Pairs are already forming. If I'm not careful, I'll end up with someone that I can't work with. He moved a little faster to the north. But, this ended up causing him to lose to the power of fate.

Someone noticed the leaves rustling and slammed into the tree. Alister gripped the branches, trying his hardest to stay in the canopy. But the force was too great, and he fell out of the leaves and onto the ground. If not for his aura, that would have left a significant bruise, possibly a broken bone.

Standing above him was a woman in light armor over a hoodie and a pair of thick jeans. The armor consisted of a breastplate, gauntlets, and boots. She had bright orange hair and pale pink eyes. She currently had a sword pointed toward the man in the cape and a shield kept close to her side. Once she realized he wasn't a Grimm, she jumped a bit in place, "Oh my gosh! I'm really sorry! Are you alright?"

Eyes turned toward team JNPR. This wasn't too surprising since the girl on screen looked like Nora, with Ren's eyes, and dressed like Jaune. It was interesting, to say the least, but ended up needing more questions to be asked.

Alister brushed himself off, sighing. He glanced around and didn't find any partner by her side. So, he didn't have a choice now. "Hey. I'm Alister." He held his hand up toward her.

The girl smiled and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you! I'm Freya Ren!"

Yang snickered for a moment before taking a breath. "Okay. That part is explained. Nora and Ren's kid. Question is, what's with the gear?"

Nora and Ren were still considering the dating aspect of their relationship. Seeing their possible daughter was a little jarring as a result of how recent this decision was.

The camera panned up through the leaves and off to the cliffs. The camera moved to show the back of the man standing over the forest. He was dressed in a long brown and green coat, his dark hair styled, but still a bit messy. He looked over a holographic screen connected to several cameras around the forest. However, they also saw his ID signature in the corner labeled [Headmaster O. Pine].

Oscar blinked in surprise seeing his name on that screen. "Wait… what?"

Ozpin thought for a moment, before nodding. "I suppose this makes a certain sense… I can't be headmaster forever…" It was useless, but he preferred to keep what secrets he had.

"Looks like another pair was formed." A woman walked up next to him, dressed in a familiar red hooded cape and gothic dress.

Ruby gasped even harder than before, causing her to go into a coughing fit. "Oh my gosh! I look so cool!"

Yang chuckled, "You don't look that much different. Just… older."

Tai beamed with a sense of pride, "And apparently working with the Headmaster of Beacon."

Oscar turned to Ruby, "Oh yeah? Who's the lucky pair this time?"

Ruby swiped a window from her scroll, as it reappeared on his screen, "Walter Schnee and Sanzang Wukong."

The two pictures showed two young men. One had white hair and blue eyes, dressed in a white coat. The other was a blonde with gold eyes, adorned in something similar to a monastic robe.

Sun blinked once the name was mentioned. But, after a moment, he slowly started to smile, "I would name my kid after him…" It was clear he was speaking softly to himself, but he was loud enough to be heard by those immediately around him.

Blake turned to Sun, a bit confused, "Who is he that you would name your son after him?"

Sun caught on to the fact he spoke that out loud but waved if off for a moment. "I'll explain it in an intermission."

Weiss could see a lot of similarities between Walter and herself, in contrast to her siblings. Which would explain why he was named after her grandfather.

Oscar laughed a little. "Are we getting a team RWBY 2.0?"

Ruby pretended to think for a moment before grinning. "Nope." She moved another window to his screen. "Alister ended up paired with Freya."

Oscar looked over the scene replaying before him. "Huh… She reminds me of Jaune. Isn't she Ren and Nora's child?"

Yang clapped her hands once before gesturing to the screen, "Thank you! What's with that?"

Ruby just shrugged. "Yeah. According to Nora, she developed a sort of hero worship. She modelled her fighting style after Jaune and the rest just followed suit."

Yang tried to hold back a chuckle now, but it passed in time. She sat back and grinned, "Jaune must be pretty impressive if he's got a fangirl."

Blake thought for a moment before her own thin smile appeared, "It could be something a little different. I would think that their team would remain at least somewhat close."

Nora hopped up and brought her team into a group hug, "We are the best team! We'll be together forever!"

Blake nodded, "Right. So, Freya might look up to Jaune because she's known him since she was born."

Ren let out a single chuckle, "I could see that."

Jaune, however, couldn't, "But why me?"

Nora didn't miss a beat answering that, "Because you are our fearless leader!"

A small ping grabbed Ruby's attention. She moved a few icons on her scroll as she spoke, "That's the last of them. And it's the twins, Shang Xiao Long and Fei Xiao Long."

Yang was a little surprised, but ultimately thought they sounded pretty cool. It was still a little weird thinking that those two were her kids. Or, at least, they could be.

There were a few in the audience that still wanted to know what a few more of the next generation were like. In particular, three members of the audience. Velvet and Pyrrha were secretly hoping they were the one married to Jaune. As for Jaune, he was just curious to see his future family.

The camera moved along to show a duo of blonds running out into a forest clearing. One male, the other female, both resembling Yang. The boy was dressed in a long bronze coat and pants, with a pair of gauntlets over his sleeves. His symbol was a fireball in a similar pattern to his mother's. The girl was dressed similarly to Yang, just with a color swap from yellow to sky blue. Her symbol deviated to resemble a burning pair of wings.

The boy looked around to find the ruins. He quickly tapped his sister's shoulder, "Fei! Check it out! We made it!"

Fei patted her chest, over her heart, "Oh thank goodness."

The two walked up to find the remaining relics, all chess pieces.

Shang eyed the pieces, "I guess mom was right. They really don't change things up that much."

Ozpin sighed, "We generally make sure that our selection method isn't discussed with anyone before they attempt initiation, Ms. Xiao Long…"

Yang held up her hands defensively, "Hey! I didn't know!"

Fei, instead, looked around, "This seems too easy."

Shang just laughed it off, "You worry too much. Besides," he picked up one of the white knight pieces, "we got our relic and we're on a team." He tossed the relic in hand for a moment, "You think Al found a partner yet?"

"You know he hates it when you call him that."

"How's he going to know?"

A pair of arms in black and green wrapped around Shang's neck and the attacker's legs wrapped around his torso. Alister had jumped onto his cousin's back and was choking him out for the crime of calling him Al.

Qrow burst out laughing at the scene.

Yang just jumped at the sudden appearance of her future nephew a he choked out her future son. Yeah, this was weird. Even by the Theater's usual levels.

Freya was freaking out at the sudden scene, but Fei held her back. The female twin simply shook her head, "Give 'em a minute."

Shang fell to a knee, losing his breath. After a moment, he tapped out, "I give! I give!"

Alister released his strangle hold and stood up normally again.

Fei sighed, turning to Freya, "They get like this a lot. Just… don't call him Al or he'll choke you out for it."

Freya chuckled nervously, "Good to know." She turned around and looked at the remaining relics. "Okay… How about the Knight?"

Alister helped Shang back to his feet, "That works."

Ruby swung her fist into the air, "Aw yeah! Best team!" Team RWBY was formed using the white knight pieces after all, so she was bias.

Nora cheered as well. Sure, her daughter wasn't the Princess of the Castle, but she seemed to like being the knight, so it was fine.

A loud roar put them all on guard. A massive Ursa Major walked through the forest line, followed by a group of smaller Ursa at its back. There were dozens of these Grimm encircling the group.

As the Grimm approached, each of the prospective students drew their weapons. Shang used gauntlets similar to his mother's. Fei didn't have gauntlets, instead she had a pair of bracelets with Dust crystals. As she snapped her hands to the side, the Dust activated to release fire around her hands.

Yang was amazed at the sight before her, and it was very clear to everyone around her, "Holy crap! That's so awesome! How does that work?! Can I do something like that?!"

Alister, obviously, used a folding hand ax. Freya had her sword and larger shield. One thing they didn't notice before was that her shield had a series of spikes along the upper edge of the frame, pointing outward.

Ruby nodded, "Okay, so she has a sword catcher on her shield. That makes sense."

Fei looked around at the Grimm as they started to move around, "Anyone have any ideas?"

Freya watched them move before pointing toward the Major, "The Major is ordering the others around. If we can get it out of the way, we can disrupt the others."

"That'll still leave," Alister paused a moment as his eyes darted around, "30 Ursa Grimm around us. They don't exactly need orders for that."

Shang grinned, "Oh come on! 31 versus 4? We can take that!"

"I'd prefer we had better odds. We won't get out of this without taking some serious hits. That'll make getting back to the cliffs in time that much harder."

Sun started to laugh to himself, "10 lien says someone shows up to help them in the next minute."

Yang turned toward him, "You're on! They don't need that help!"

"YEHAHAHAHA!" A strange voice rang out over the clearing. A man flew out from the tree line and onto an Ursa's back with a curved cutlass being run through its back. The new face was a young man with white hair in a matching, navy inspired coat. As he pulled the sword from the Grimm, he hoped off and revealed himself to be Walter Schnee.

Weiss wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. Her future son had just suddenly leapt into the fray like a madman. "What on Remnant is he doing?!"

As this happened, Yang groaned as she handed Sun 10 lien.

Walter laughed and rolled toward the group, "Finally! I get to really let loose!"

Another Ursa had charged up behind him with a raised claw.

Weiss slammed her hands on her chair, "GET OUT OF THERE!"

This sudden outburst from the 'Ice Queen' surprised the Beacon group.

But the attack never came. A glowing, ethereal hand was holding onto the beast. Then another, and another, and another. Soon, the creature was lifted off the ground by a set of ten glowing arms to reveal Sanzang Wukong at the center of the glowing arms, his own hands set similarly to a prayer.

Sun let out an amazed chuckle, "Now that… is cool." It reminded him of his own semblance with his ethereal clones, but just the arms.

Kali placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head in thought, "Hmm… He rather reminds me of Gira back when we first met."

Blake turned to her mother, surprised, then back to the screen. She… had to admit it was similar to the old pictures of her father…

Yang grinned, "You don't think…?"

Sanzang bowed his head, "Go now in peace." His body was glowing slightly and the Grimm recoiled in pain, disappearing soon after.

Yang snickered, "More like… go in pieces~!"

Tai started to laugh with his daughter before giving her a high five.

Everyone else just kind of groaned at the pun. All but one, anyway. And for once, it wasn't Cinder.

Sun was sitting with his hands together in his lap, fingers laced between each other as his grip tightened a bit. Not in a bad way, but rather out of a sense of nostalgia. He couldn't help it seeing his future son and how he acted.

Sanzang slowly walked to meet the group, putting the odds at 30 to 6.

Shang chuckled, "Awesome. Gang's all here." He punched out an Ursa that tried to capitalize.

Fei combo-ed with her brother, lighting the creature on fire with a burning, open-palm strike. "You happy with these odds, Alister?"

Alister swung his ax into an Ursa's neck and pushed it away, "It's better." He jumped over Shang to bury his ax into the Grimm about to strike him. "But still not good."

Freya charged around to block an attack with her shield. She grinned and slid to the side for a moment, swinging her shield around to push the spikes into the Grimm's torso. It tried to fight back, scrambling to save itself, but Freya stabbed the Ursa through the head from the side.

Jaune watched the scene before going into his thinking state, "That would actually be pretty helpful… But the shield would need to be larger…"

Freya smacked the dying Ursa aside and took a breath from behind her shield. "Okay! How many left?!" She looked around for a count but didn't have the time. She had to bring her shield up again to block another attack.

As Alister jumped off another Ursa, he took a position at Freya's back. "24 fresh, one heavily injured, and one Major."

"We need to get rid of that Major!" Freya pushed the Grimm back before bashing it in the face with her shield. "Anyone have any range?!"

Walter grinned before pulling a pistol from his belt. He fired a Dust infused shell into the Ursa that burst, igniting several of the Ursa. "How's that for range?!"

Fei nodded and widened her stance. She channeled her aura into her hands before punching the air in front of her, sending a small fist-shaped fireball toward an Ursa.

Yang gasped, "Holy…! That's so cool!"

Weiss turned to her teammate, a little confused, "Um… Isn't that just like your shotgun?"

"Well, yeah. But she doesn't have gauntlets or shotguns. She just… punched fire out of her hands!"

Freya moved to block another attack meant for Fei, "Keep firing and keep them back! We need to pressure the group and get an opening to the Major!"

The Major tilted its head, seeming to laugh. It let out a roar and the minor Ursa group charged together in a wave. 20 massive bear-like creatures would overrun them in seconds unless they got a miracle.

Enter one miracle. A metallic orb struck a rock and bounced up directly in front of the Major. The creature looked down to see a spherical object, seemingly made of gold and silver, with a bit of smoke coming out from a small hole on top. After a pause, the orb began to brightly glow before erupting in an explosion way too large for its small size.

Ruby jumped at the scene, "What the heck?! How is that even possible? That was way too large an explosion for such a small grenade!"

Penny thought for a moment before nodding, "It is likely compressed Dust. Using a crystal in place of standard materials for grenades would create similar effects."

Velvet's head tilted slightly, something stuck in her mind, "But… where did it come from?"

The Major was knocked back, its mask cracked. As it tried to roar again, a rifle shouted over the clearing and its head exploded into mist as the tree behind it found itself with a gaping hole at the same level. The camera swung around to show the end of the rifle, still smoking from the barrel. It moved around until they finally saw the approaching duo: one male and one female.

The girl had chocolate-brown hair, a red beret, dressed in what could be considered fashionable combat gear, and a pair of mirrored sunglasses. She was wielding a large machine gun with a drum feed, not to be confused with her mother's chain/mini gun.

Coco went so far as to remove her glasses to see the girl on screen. It was impossible not to see the similarities between herself and the girl on screen right now. "Well… Nice to know I passed on my best traits~"

The boy was revealed to be the one wielding the rifle. He was a platinum blonde faunas with rabbit ears. He was dressed in light armor over a white and bronze coat, his golden symbol popping against the fabric as dual arcs with a heart underneath the two.

Velvet was celebrating internally. There were too many clues pointing to this being the son of herself and Jaune.

Pyrrha… had the opposite reaction. A part of her broke for a moment, but something in the back of her mind reminded her, this was a possible future. And, on top of that, it was a future that wasn't actually theirs. King and Knox said that this world was if they never say this reality. The fact that they did means it can change. This might just be the kick in the head she needs to get her act together and ask Jaune out.

But Velvet wasn't going to go down without a fight. She was going to make sure this happens. Sparks few between the two a moment, but that was just Knox being dramatic. There was no actual lightning.

The young man's rifle was a bolt action, Arcadian Direct Dust (DD) heavy rifle. Etched into the side of the stock was a running rabbit with a banner underneath reading, [Caerbannog].

Jaune blinked before nodding, "What kind of name is that?"

Coco chuckled, "Don't know. It kind of sounds like a killer rabbit or something."

Freya pushed off an Ursa as she turned to the duo, waving to the boy, "Arthur!"

Arthur grinned and glanced to his new partner, "Moka? Anything you'd like to say?" He aimed his gun toward the Ursa pack.

Moka cracked her neck and dropped to one knee, a small barricade forming from a handbag placed on her belt. "Sing for me baby~" Her gun unleashed a torrent of rounds into the half of the Grimm to the immediate left, allowing the six in the center to escape the circle and group up with their new friends.

Coco smiled seeing her daughter mow down Grimm, "Yeah! Go get 'em, girl! Show them who's boss!"

Sanzang used his semblance to create hands to place on everyone's shoulders to get their attention, it was the easiest way to do so. "It would be best for us to retreat for the moment. This fighting will only draw more Grimm."

Walter nodded, "Better listen to him. He has this weird knack for this stuff."

Arthur shot down another Ursa, a rustling of the brush catching his eye on the other side of the clearing. "Yeah. Let's move!"

Moka retracted her barrier and the eight teenagers made for the forest and back south to the cliff face. The camera moved up toward the sky to show it growing dark. When the camera returned to the ground, it showed the eight teens climb up over the side of the cliff and reaching Oscar and Ruby.

Ruby clapped for the group, "Congrats. You're all the last students to finish the test~"

Glynda couldn't help but let out a snicker. The look on the future parents' faces was too funny and the future Ruby's semi-condescending grin just pulled it all together.

None of Ruby's friends could believe she could act like that, so it was interesting to say the least.

The eight didn't care. Just collapsing in relief. Except Sanzang, who just bowed to the teachers in thanks. He was a very calm child.

Oscar's screen retraced into a standard scroll, "Don't get too comfortable. You have to walk back." He placed his scroll away and grinned down toward the students, "But… you all did very well. I would like to welcome you to Beacon Academy."

The students started to celebrate amongst themselves. This was easily the biggest moment in their lives. Then, it all crashed when the scrolls of the teachers before them let out a piercing alarm. Ruby and Oscar glanced toward each other, shock on their faces for a moment before nodding. Oscar turned to the group of students, "Everyone! Get back to the school!"

"Sir?" Shang had picked himself up and was now helping his sister. "What do you…"

"NOW!"

Oscar's shout made all the students jolt upright and run off toward the school grounds.

Everyone in the room had a fairly similar jumping moment. Oscar obviously wasn't the most vocal individuals, evidenced by the fact that they almost tend to forget he's there. But what really got them was the suddenness of the alarms.

"What's going on?" Ruby turned to the other teachers, believing it to be something they might know. Like, it was something set for all teachers already.

But, the only answer she received from Ozpin was, "I don't know. However, it is obviously not good."

As the students ran off, Ruby hit a button on her scroll and nodded to Oscar. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

Ruby moved so fast that she became a blur of rose petals enveloping them both. When the petals fell, they were gone and the shared blur was moving off into the forest. The blur moved between the trees at a blinding speed.

Ruby was starry eyed seeing this. She'd never been able to bring someone else along at her speed. Then again, she also never really tried. She can carry someone, not anyone too heavy but still! It can be done.

The blur dropped off Oscar before flipped over to his side, Ruby reappearing in a flurry of petals. His eyes were closed, his semblance reaching over the forest. This ability was called Sixth Sense, allowing him to sense the danger around him at a more precise level that the usual aura effects.

Port laughed to himself, "That would certainly come in handy."

Oscar's eyes opened again, "He's noticed us."

A shuffling of the brush put both of them on edge. Ruby drew her scythe from her back as it snapped into form. It resembled the current Crescent Rose, just with a sleeker form and blade. It still looked very mechanical, but more futuristic (Given the timeline, it better). Oscar grabbed a folded weapon from his coat. It snapped into the form of a short hunting rifle with a bayonet at the barrel.

Ruby turned to Oscar, the weapon raising an important question. "Can you fight?"

Oscar just shrugged, "Not really? I mean… I'm an okay shot since I needed to keep my families crops safe from vermin. But that's about it."

"Vermin?"

"Small animals that try to eat our crops. We grow enough to survive, so we can't really spare anything."

The rustling bushes started to spread apart. A humanoid creature stepped through the forest, its body a sickening black with red veins. A solid white mask hung over its face, smooth as a marble without any features. Bone white shards struck out from its back.

Ruby sunk a bit in her chair, "What the heck is that thing?"

Ozpin had seen many things. Many horrifying creatures form and die out. But this… "I don't know." Those of his inner circle knew this was a bad thing. A creature he didn't know, even after his many lives, was unheard of.

The creature before them was Merlot's most horrifying experiment, Test Subject Balor.

Port's laughter died, replaced by a low growl, "Merlot…"

Balor was a new Grimm formed in Merlot's lab, born in the body of a human as it ate away to replace the living corpse.

That mental image caused Jaune to lurch forward, almost vomiting all over the floor. The only thing stopping him was the fact that he didn't actually see it.

Cinder was amazed by the sight. She'd have to speak with this Merlot fellow.

Balor noticed the two and its head tilted a little too far than a human neck would allow. This creature wasn't like any of the other Grimm because of one major factor, it can think. A Grimm with a human brain. And that led it back to see these two again. It knew when to escape and who to attack. And its target was the silver eyed girl that could kill its kin. Though its mask was unmoving, it let out a roar fueled by its intent to kill.

That shriek sent a chill down their spines. It was truly inhuman, despite its supposed origin. This beast was unlike any other they'd ever known.

Ruby's eyes seemed to glow for a moment, but they soon returned to normal. "Damn… Worth a shot." Her silver eyes would normally allow her to shut down any Grimm in her path and turn them to stone.

Ruby's eyes seemed like shining silver stars, "No way! I can really do that?! It wasn't just some weird quirk in the other reality?!"

Ozpin figured it was best to let this out in the open. "With training, you can. Silver eyes are often compared to mirrors that reflect the light of hope within a person's soul. With the need to protect others and the will to stand in kindness, you can push away the darkness of the Grimm."

"Woah~"

"However," Ozpin's continuation snapped Ruby out of her excitement, "Should your soul falter, you'll be as vulnerable to the beasts as the rest of us. Those with silver eyes will train for their entire lives and only scratch the surface of their abilities. What's more, if your mind faulters, this power will be lost to you. Remember this."

However, its power only works on Grimm. The body beneath, infused within the Grimm, was human. Her silver eyes would be unable to help her here. But Ruby just smiled. She didn't need her eye hack for this. She was more than ready for Balor this time. When the creature tried to jump her, she seemed to disappear into a flurry of petals. Balor, now off balance, wasn't prepared for Oscar to swing the butt of his rifle like a club into its jaw (or lack thereof). Oscar allowed his swing to continue over his shoulder and jammed the bayonet into the Grimm's chest. Balor, unlike other Grimm, bled. Balor tried to raise a hand and slash at the headmaster, but said huntsman fired his rifle to push the Grimm away.

Port's eyebrow raised slightly. "It's odd to see a Grimm actually bleed. But… considering…" The fact that there was once a human under all that maliciousness was still staggering.

Oscar was just amazed seeing himself so capable in a fight against a Grimm.

Ruby spun around the moment landing a heavy slash into the Grimm's back, causing it to release a splattering of black blood.

Balor leapt away from the two. It was a decent fighter, smarter than its kin. But it was still a shambling corpse. It groaned and looked between the two. It wanted death, but not its own. It turned and started to run in the opposite direction.

Ruby grinned seeing this. "Not happening. We were ready today."

Balor then found a heavily armored fist into its face, its mask cracking slightly. Balor was tossed back into the small clearing by a golden gauntlet wielded by the pun-fueled blonde brawler.

Yang was grinning seeing her future self, "Awesome! Kick that thing's ass!"

Yang was dressed fairly similarly to the version in the audience, with a few differences. Yang now wore a pair of jeans with her boots instead of the shorts and asymmetrical stockings. She also had a golden dragon tattoo running down her right arm. "That was for Tipo Village."

Balor shook its head, the crack starting to spread slightly. It tried to stand again, only for its hand to grab something rounded and metallic. It looked down to find a small grenade blinking before exploding into a pink cloud.

Nora was nearby, laughing. She now wore a form fitting leather chest plate over her white shirt, a pink heart stained onto the leather. She still had her skirt and boots, but now they had a little more in the way of armor. Her shins were now covered by metal plating and her skirt had an upper layer of light plating.

Nora cheered seeing her future self. She had to admit it was probably a good idea to add a bit of armor, and she did like this design.

Balor shook itself out of a stupor and its mask cracked even further across its lower face. The mask snapped in two, giving the creature a mouth. As it let out an unfettered roar, the piercing scream was loud enough and powerful enough to force the huntsmen to flinch in pain.

And the audience had to cover their ears at its cry.

Yang tried to yell to her friends and family, "What the hell was that?!"

Tai, however, couldn't hear her, "What?!"

No one really could. Their ears were ringing to no end thanks to the Balor's scream. It died down, but it was something they didn't want to go through again.

Balor used this moment of pain to escape into the forest.

"Damn it!" Oscar shouted in frustration, "He's getting away!" This put the populous and the students at risk, depending on which way he goes. "Would he risk going to the school or the city?"

Ruby, Yang, and Nora gathered together, awaiting the headmaster's orders.

Oscar turned to the three, "Alright! Move in groups of two. Balor's still out there and he'll be more than happy to try to pick us off. One melee, one range. Nora, you and I are heading for the school. Ruby! Take Yang to Vale! Top speed!"

Ruby turned to her sister, "Ready?"

Yang stretched her arms and back quickly before nodding. "Let's go."

Ruby grabbed her sister's arm and the two disappeared fast enough that Ruby didn't even leave rose petals in her wake.

Ruby was bouncing in her chair now, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! I can get even faster! I so have to train that more when we get back!"

Oscar and Nora ran off toward the cliff and to the school. The camera moved along to show a black spot rising up the cliff. Balor had chosen its target.

Ren tapped his chair in thought for a moment, "A thought occurs. All of these are supposed to involve Jaune in some way. We've seen versions where he was absent, but there was a medium to communicate through."

Knox addressing you, kind readers: See 'The Last Word'.

Ren continued, "And though we've seen someone who is likely his son, where is he specifically?" This was a concerning aspect. Balor was made from a human body, and they've seen worlds where such bait and switches have happened… So, it was a valid question.

Balor leapt over the side of the cliff, groaning in pain as his black blood splattered across the grass. Balor had to move quickly. Though his wounds were healing, the huntsmen won't let him simply escape.

Speaking of…

"You've got some nerve to get near Beacon." Standing between Balor and his escape route was Jaune Arc, Grand Prince of Arcadia. Standing now in full white and gold plate armor. Everything about the man exuded a sense of power, but also kindness.

Balor had a brain, but he was by no means wise. He didn't know or care who this was. What was important was that he was alone. Balor started to opened his new mouth, only to find Crocea Mors rammed into his mouth, cutting its tongue out. Only, the blade was a blue framework of hard light dust.

Those who had yet to see this weapon system before were in shock. This seemed to come out of no where and made no sense to those viewers. However, Coco and Velvet grinned, more than well aware of what was happening.

Velvet jumped into frame and the blade dissipated. Her box-like weapon's projector shut down again and she stood beside Jaune. She was dressed in a long white coat with golden accenting over her usual brown attire. She seemed more confident, an outlook born through a life as a huntress and as the current Princess of Arcadia.

Velvet was beyond happy. Married to Jaune in the future, confident, it was a like a dream~

Okay… Pyrrha finally had to admit that she needed to get her act together when they get back.

Velvet recreated the sword, this time with a shield. The two stood side by side as a wall that Balor couldn't break, and he knew that. Balor made to run back to the forest, but an explosion down in the ravine bought Nora and Oscar in to cut him off. Balor was cut off again. Its roar won't save it now that its mouth was filling with its blood. This… angered the creature. Not the common rage of the Grimm, but the true and unyielding pain of human emotion. Balor began to grow as its own negativity fueled it. It pushed through the drowning of its blood and roared, allowing it to escape again.

Oscar growled to himself, "That's getting old fast…"

The camera hung on the sky for a while, watching the sun set and the stars begin to shine in the night sky. The camera fell again to show the new students gathering together, mingling amongst themselves.

Neptune sat back in his chair, "I wonder what the teams were called."

Sun shrugged.

Off to the distance, Jaune was watching the new generation.

But his attention was needed elsewhere. "Jaune? You there?"

He turned back to see Ruby standing in front of him, "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's fine. But I wanted to say thank you for coming on such short notice. I know you and Velvet are usually pretty bust these days."

"Hey! Don't worry about it. All part of the job, right?"

"Right…" Ruby sighed and looked out over the teens. "I kind of wish you guys could stay. That we could get everyone together like old times."

The students weren't sure how to take that. They always thought they'd be a team, together forever, but this is hard to believe that they would split up. The adults knew the reality, though. That they have a job and that job will often lead to different paths. What's important is to relish when those paths converge now and then.

Jaune sighed, "Yeah. I know what you mean. But everyone has their own stuff to deal with. Blake running Menagerie…"

Blake went stiff. She never considered taking over for her father, but there she was as a leader. It wasn't the future she'd have envisioned.

"… Weiss with the SDC…"

Weiss nodded. In contrast to Blake, this was exactly the future she envisioned.

"But!" Jaune still smiled, a calming visage in a somber moment, "That doesn't mean we can't find a day to get everyone together."

Ruby nodded with a smile. "New topic, where do you think Balor got to?"

Jaune's smile faded and he took on a serious look. "I don't know. But we need to be ready for it.

The scene faded again to show the Grimm stumbling through a clear field beyond the kingdom. It opened its mouth, a shriek now unable to form.

Tai sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I don't think my ears could take another one of those screams."

Balor saw a Beowolf nearby, a small wolf without a pack. The humans would kill it soon, no doubt. But there was something in Balor's mind that made it approach the wolf. The screen cut to black with the sound of flesh tearing. And soon, a solid red eye formed in the center. Balor was growing.

With that, the reality ended. The future wasn't set and this, as well, was still untold.

"Did…" Port was stunned still at the implication, "Did it just… eat the Beowolf?"

"But… how?" Oobleck's glasses slipped down his nose.

"I don't know." Ozpin's face was grim. "But we can ensure it doesn't come into existence."

The teachers nodded to one another. When they returned, more resources would be dedicated to hunting down Merlot and stopping his twisted experiments.