King: 4 MILLION BABY!

Knox: Holy shit! Really?!

King: Yep! We hit 4 million after the last chapter. And we're still going strong.

Knox: Kind of.

King: A lot's going on in life and that takes precedence. Anyway, enough about that. Let's get this intermission going. I hope you all enjoy.

Inspiration: Intermission (but a few references can be found here and there).

/\

As everyone left, the two fireballs floated alone.

Knox waited a minute before, "Okay, they're gone."

Knox's fire started to burst and expand before solidifying. Knox was now a human teen with golden hair and eyes, his circlet resting under his bangs. He wore a yellow vest and dark pants. He folded his legs as if he was sitting in midair, which he was, and crossed his arms, "So… when do you think we should show these off?"

King's fire followed a similar course, forming a young man with glowing purple hair, his eyes the same golden color Knox had. He wore a long purple coat with yellow pants and black boots. He floated in the air by standing with his arms behind his back in contrast Knox, "For now, we'll stick with what we have. It's easier to move around and pop back explain things in our suppressed forms." King waved his hand and pulled up a magical circle from the screen. He started to tinker with the circle with his fingers, having more finesse using hands than he had as a ball of fire.

"Alright." Knox leaned back to lie in the air, "You're the boss." As King continued to tinker with the magic, Knox thought something over. Perhaps this was a good enough time to bring it up. "Hey King?"

"Hmm?"

"Something's been bugging me. What are we?"

King didn't look up from the magical circle, "Like our species or in a metaphysical sense?"

"No. Like… what are we to each other? I mean, you created me using magic and the screen's internal tech. Am I your creation? Son? What should I call you?"

King sighed. "I don't know. I also don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, you're Knox. I'm King. That's all that matters." King's eyes went wide for a second before narrowing on something in the magic, "Hmm… Something's wrong."

"What's up?" Knox leaned back to spin back around in the air to sit up again.

"Our… uninvited guests left gaps in the theater's dimensional barrier. That's how a possession led to the twins arriving soon after."

"What does it mean?"

"It means… Our dimension is bleeding. Bleeding into other realities."

Knox looked over to King in concern, "Like… theirs?"

"Exactly."

"So… is that a bad thing? I mean, we could drop in whenever we want anyway. So what if the theater shows up there?"

King swiped the magical circle away and sighed, "I'd prefer it if that didn't happen. It would be hard to explain when the world's god… gods? Whatever. It would be hard to explain us to them."

"But aren't the Brothers still their gods? Like in the Prime timeline?"

"That's where the split happened. The old world, the one with the Brothers, is the main point. The Prime timeline follows the reality where their position is never truly filled. My timelines are where I take over."

"Time… lines? Plural?"

King waved his hand at the screen a series of realities appeared before them. Some were very similar to each other. Some were drastically different, with people and situations Knox didn't recognize. In a couple of them, the people had pastel colored skin! What's with that? "That's why I have this little pocket reality. To watch over and influence all of these realities at once. But that's not important right now." Another swipe and the realities faded away. "Right now, we have some patching to do."

Knox shot up and saluted, "Yes sir!"

As they returned to fires and flew off, another hole in the barrier appeared.

\/

We find team JNPR walking through the hallway with a disappointed Nora. Their unofficial sister team, RWBY, had decided to spend the intermission in the arena for some team training.

Nora groaned as she walked among her team, "I really wanted to get our teams together for that multiverse game."

Ren comforted his childhood friend, "Perhaps we can play one as a team. Now that we're all here."

Nora perked up in an instant, "Oh yeah~! You're right!"

Jaune was, understandably confused, "That what game?"

Pyrrha explained it since Nora ran off excitedly, "A card-based game where we all work together to fight a villain."

"Oh. That sounds pretty fun actually."

They arrived at the game room and found Nora shuffling through the games. Nora lifted a massive box from the shelf over her head, "Found it!"

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Did it get larger?"

"Yep." Nora almost fell backward from the size of the box, thankfully caught by her teammates before she could. "There's a lot more stuff in this one!"

Jaune's eyes were drawn to a card on the side, "Guardians of the Multiverse: Beyond the Void. In this expanded game, you can fight as new heroes against terrifying villains making their debuts. A new addition also adds new heroic versions of previous villains. But be careful, because your friends have also returned in new villainous forms. Good luck out there." Jaune flipped the card over to see if there was more but found it blank. "Huh. That sounds pretty cool."

Nora perked up, "Right?!" He placed the box to the side of the table. "So, let's play!"

"What are we playing?" The group jumped and spun around to find the red headed robot standing behind them. Penny waved to the group, "Hello friends."

Everyone calmed back down after a moment, realizing who it was. Jaune was the first to speak up again, "Hi. You're… Penny, right?"

"That is correct." Penny sounded cheery as always.

Nora popped up between the group and Penny, "Um… Don't take this the wrong way, but why aren't you hanging out with Ruby? She's your friend and," Nore motioned between the robot and his team, "we never met before."

"I know that. But I saw you get excited over the prospect of a board game and wanted to investigate. I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's fine." Jaune moved to the table and opened the box, "I don't see why you can't play. The more the merrier, right?"

Nora smiled, "Obviously! This game is about being a team and working together anyway!" She started to sift through the cards. "Okay! I'm thinking we all get random decks this time. We might get to play a full game." No one argued the point, so Nora handed out the decks, "Remember! Don't look until your first turn!"

The turn order was set to run as Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune, then Penny to allow the two new players to see how the game is played. And with it, they began the game. Their opponent showed a version of Blake dressed in a white kimono with her sleeves tied back. She was kneeling with a paintbrush in hand over an open canvas scroll. The card was labeled as [Blake Belladonna: The Painter].

Nora's face shifted to something more determined, "Okay! Looks like we're fighting Blake this time."

Ren thought back to the card from before, "This must have been what it meant by old friends being villains."

"Doesn't look like much." Jaune picked up the accompanying card, "This card cannot be targeted by hero or environment effects or damaged as long as this side is face up. At the end of the villain turn, if five or more Painting cards are in the villain trash, flip this card over."

Pyrrha looked at the card over his shoulder, "Okay, so we need to remove these Painting cards?"

"Looks like it."

Blake the Painter took the first turn, playing a card. It showed Blake snapping her brush with one hand, [It's Not Good Enough: destroy on Painting card on the field. If a Painting is destroyed this way, reveal cards from the top of the deck until another is found and play it].

Pyrrha smiled a bit, "Looks lie we got lucky again."

Blake's ability, however, allowed her to play another card at the end of her turn. The new card showed a red ink outline painting of Ruby with her scythe, [The Innocence (HP 10): At the end of the villain turn, deal the Hero target with the highest HP 2 melee damage]. However, since Blake's turn was already over, no damage was dealt.

Jaune looked down at the card, "Oh! I get it. These are the Painting cards."

"Ooh!" Nora looked down to her deck and removed the top to show her character. Nora was playing as a version of herself dressed in a school uniform with a tan sweater vest, electricity surging around her, [Nora Valkyrie: The Human Railgun]. "That looks so cool!" Nora giggled and looked through her hand. "I'll play… THIS ONE!" She played a card showing her cracking her knuckles with electricity running around her fists, [Electric Current: Increase damage dealt by this card by 1]. "Now! I use my power, Rail Gun, to deal 2 electric damage to that Painting."

Next it was Ren's turn. He flipped over his card to show Coco, the version they were all familiar with at that. He picked up his cards and played his first card showing Coco relaxing against her standing weapon with a coffee cup in hand, [Break Time: Power: Heal 1 target 2 damage]. "I'll play that for later." With that played, he used his ability to deal 3 targets 1 damage, ultimately only hurting the Innocence for 1 point.

Thus, Pyrrha was next. "Okay." She picked up her card, showing her in something she never expected to see. It was a version of her dressed in a semi-transparent body suit over most of her body, her chest covered in the darker fabric, gold circlet, armor and fabric draped over her waist, and a cape over her shoulders. Really, it looked more like a bikini with a suit covering the rest of her body, [Pyrrha Nikos: The Dark Hex].

Nora chuckled a little, "That's an interesting look for you Pyrrha."

Pyrrha took a breath and sighed. She looked at her hand and didn't fare better. Her face went red in embarrassment for a moment. She groaned a little and played her card, showing her version biting her thumb with an angered look, [No One Gets Between Me and My Beloved! Target one villain target and deal 1 mystic damage. If that target still has 5 or more HP, it cannot damage any heroes in play]. "I'll select the Innocence, since Blake can't hurt us."

"Blake can't what?" The people at the table looked up to find half of team RWBY, missing Weiss and Blake. Yang looked at the game and had an exaggerated look of hurt, "You're playing the game without us?"

Nora shot up in her chair, pointing an accusatory finger, "You went off to train as a team! We decided to play a game as one!"

Ruby waved to her red headed robot friend, "Hi Penny."

Penny waved back to her, "Hello friend Ruby."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "As a team, huh?"

Nora huffed, falling back into her chair, "She joined after. Now, we want to try to finish this game. So, Pyrrha still has to use a power."

The champion looked over her card again, [Hex: Discard the top card of any deck]. "Okay. I'll discard from the villain deck."

Yang looked down at the cards in question as her sister took a seat next to Penny to help her. Yang picked up the discarded card that showed a white ink painting of Weiss on a black background, "The Pride, huh? Fitting."

Jaune nodded, "Alright. That's one. Four more in the trash area and we can deal damage." He flipped his card to a version of himself dressed in opulent purples and golds. Gemstone were embedded into his robed clothing and he gestured as if to show off the grandeur around him. Jaune leaned over to read the card, "Jaune, the Emperor Reborn."

Nora jumped up and ran to look over his shoulder, "Woah! That looks so cool."

Yang looked over the other shoulder, "A bit much if you ask me."

Jaune groaned, "Can I play my card without you over my shoulders?" After they both apologized and backed up, He looked over his hand and selected his card. It showed a creature that was very bulky, both in fat and muscle, dressed in similar colors of combat gear to fit its body with a kite shield made of energy. [Loyalist Phalanx (HP 5): Decrease damage to all hero targets by 1. Decrease damage dealt to Jaune, the Emperor Reborn, by 2]. "Okay. Next I use my power, Royal Power, to draw a card." After that, he drew the card for the end of his turn.

Penny nodded, "Okay. It is my turn, correct?"

Ruby smiled, "Yep!"

Penny flipped her card to show her character for the game. Penny was to play as a version of someone that looked an awful lot like Blake. However, this person was male and didn't possess cat ears. He stood in night colored robes and light armor. The card was labeled [Gira Belladonna].

Yang and Ruby looked from the card, then each other, and back to the card. Yang blinked in surprise, "So, Blake's dad is a card?"

Ruby nodded, "Do you think that's actually him or another version from another world?"

Penny looked over her hand and ran over her options. "Okay then. I select this card." She played a card that showed a wakizashi in Gira's hand with a small droplet forming on the tip of the blade, [A Little Poison Goes a Long Way: All damage dealt by this Hero is irreducible]. "Then, I use my power, called From Shadows, to deal the Innocence 1 damage."

Nora grinned and bounced in her chair. "Alright! Now, the environment."

They were revealed to be fighting in a place called, [Shirokiba Castle, seat of the White Fang]. The card drawn showed a White Fang member with a rifle shooting something off the card, [Target Practice: Increase damage dealt by Environment cards by 1]. But no environment cards were played, so the turn passed and the game continued.

\/

As the game was played in the game room, Blake made her way to the common lounge. She found her target and walked over to him. "Hey Sun."

Sun looked up toward her and smiled, "Sup?"

Blake took the seat in front of him with her usual Blake look. "I wanted to hear the story of Sanzang. Why is he so important to you?"

Sun's smile changed. It wasn't his usual bright smile, but instead more nostalgic, lost in his own thoughts. "Alright. I did say I'd tell you at the intermission." Sun took a deep breath before beginning his story. "Okay. So, you remember how I'm from Vacuo, a den of thieves and 'scoundrels'?

Blake nodded.

"Well, it's mostly true. The usual exceptions exist. The huntsmen, the VWE, some police. But they all usually have one thing in common. They're busy. Too busy to actually help anyone that isn't in trouble at that exact moment. There's too much going on that they can't help someone starving in the street or the kids that can't find their ways to schools. I… I was one of those kids."

Blake's fist tightened a bit. "What happened?"

"If you're asking if I'm an orphan or something, I'm not. I got parents back home in Vacuo. Though, we don't exactly stay in touch. They're not exactly the best parents…" Sun took a breath and sighed. "Left me without much in the way of role models, you know? It stayed that way for years until I met Sanzang."

"I take it he was a huntsman? That's why you want to be one?"

"Kind of. Sanzang was a huntsman, but he stopped when he arrived in Vacuo. By the time I met him, he was just a civilian and a teacher. And probably the best thing to ever happen to the kingdom. He tried to help from the bottom up, teaching the kids that can't go to school. Teaching people to read, young or old. But you're right that he's why I want to be a huntsman."

Blake tapped her heel on the ground a bit, almost anxious to hear this story. It was rare for Sun to be serious or to seem to look up to someone like this. "He sounds… almost unreal."

Sun nodded. "Most people think that. Never holds a grudge, rarely gets angry, quick to forgive. It's crazy to think about it, but he's real. I wanted to be just like him, to grow up to be a teacher."

Blake started to laugh. "You? A teacher?"

Sun took that pretty well, "I bet I'd have been a great teacher!" He laughed it off, but returned to his story, "But when I told Sanzang, he told me something that stuck with me. That to be him is to be a failure. Someone who chose a path he wasn't suited for, only to find it too late. He told me not to follow in his footsteps, that I should do what I want to. What I can do. In the end, that was being a huntsman."

Blake let out a breath and nodded slowly. "That certainly explains why you'd name your child after him."

"To be honest with you, I never thought about that until we saw that world. But yeah."

Blake and Sun spent the rest of the intermission just talking.

\/

Weiss made her way through the library to find something to occupy the rest of her time. She eventually found something odd. There was someone there she didn't recognize. A man, based on his build, dressed in a long pink coat. His blonde hair was long and curled up into full circles around his shoulders. He was looking through a book and turned a page before returning it. He walked around a corner and out of sight. Weiss tried to case him down and confront this strange figure, only to find him having disappeared. She looked around, but all she found was a flag she didn't recognize. It had red and white stripes and a section of blue in the upper left corner with white stars arranged within the blue.

Weiss picked up the cloth, confused. "Where in the world?"

\/

We return to the game being played. Five Paintings have been defeated: The Innocence (Ruby), The Pride (Weiss), the Champion (Pyrrha), the Guardian (Jaune), and the Assassin (Mercury). This flipped the Blake villain card to show her white attire covered in inky paint of various colors. Now able to be damaged, she remained with 17 health points remaining.

It returned to the villain's turn and Blake played her card, [Art of Darkness: reveal cards from the villain deck until you reveal 2 Painting cards and put them into play. Discard all others.] Two Paintings were then found as revealed as a pink Nora and a green Ren labelled as [The Storm] and [The Silence], respectively.

Now flipped, Blake's end of turn effect is to deal the Hero target with the highest HP H-1 damage (so 4 damage). This happened to be Jaune at that moment with 16 HP. Next, the Paintings attacked. The Silence dealt 2 melee damage to the Hero with the lowest HP (a minion played by Jaune with 3 HP) and the Storm dealt 2 lightning damage to the Hero with the highest HP (now Ren with 14).

Yang looked over the field so far. "Alright. What's the game plan now?"

Nora looked over her cards and smirked, "I'll play this card!" Nora slammed her card onto the table to show the group. It depicted the version of Nora flipping a coin in her hand with an electric spark around her hand, [Prep Time: Increase electrical damage dealt by this character by 2]. "So when I attack this time, I deal 4 damage! I'll hit Blake to knock her down to 16!"

Ren nodded, "I'll play this," [Dust This Bitch!].

Yang snickered a bit, recognizing the inherent pun in there.

[Deal up to 3 targets 2 Fire damage]. Ren added 2 damage markers to all three villain targets. "Alright. Your turn Pyrrha."

Pyrrha nodded, still a bit embarrassed by her deck. "Okay. I'll pick… this one." The card showed a strange device resembling a gyroscope of some kind, [Master Seal: Increase all damage dealt by this target by 1]. She nodded and used another card she'd played previously, that showed her other version wielding a purple and black book [Nosferatu: Power: Deal 1 target 3 damage and heal this Hero by half the damage dealt rounded down]. She used the power to deal 4 damage total and heal 2.

Jaune's turn again. Only difference was that his field was unlike the others. "Okay. Let's go through all of these." He possessed minion cards that had abilities to play when his turn started.

First was a beast, something of a dog combined with a lizard of some kind. It was armored over its face and neck with spikes at the back of its head, [Loyalist Warbeast: Deal the villain target with the lowest HP 2 melee damage]. This knocked the Silence down to half. Next was called the [Loyalist Legionary]. It dealt 1 damage to the non-hero target with the highest HP, hitting Blake again. Finally, there was the [Loyalist Colossus] which dealt the villain targets with the highest HP 3 damage and dealing 2 more targets 1 damage.

With that over, Jaune picked through his cards and grinned, "I'll play my Psionic Burst card, dealing 3 targets 2 damage." This knocked out the Silence and put the Storm on its last point. "Next, I'll use my Emperor's Boon to increase Penny's damage by 2 for the turn."

Penny looked at her hand again, "Okay. Then I play this card." The card showed the younger Gira with a small string of firecrackers, [Distraction Techniques: Increase all damage this turn by 1]. "Next, I use my power to deal 1 damage, boosted up by my card and 2 more thanks to friend Jaune. Dealing 4 damage and knocking the villain to zero."

Nora shot up with her hands in the air, "WE DID IT!"

Jaune fell back in his chair, "That was pretty fun."

"Pyrrha nodded, "It really was."

The PA system pinged to get their attentions. "The intermission is coming to an end in two minutes. Please return to your seats in the main theater. Thank you."

After putting the game away, everyone stood again to make their ways to the theater, chatting about little things along the walk.