King: Time for another intermission.

Knox: Thank goodness! I need a break.

King: Right. Anyway, something... interesting is going to happen this time. And, depending on what you all think, there might just be a roster mix up again.

Knox: Wait, really? I thought you said we weren't doing that anymore.

King: Yeah, well... We've been at this for 119 chapters. I need insirations and new ideas now and then. And I think an audience boost might help. Plus side, it'll give me more room to work with for my... secondary project.

Knox: Ominous.

King: Anyway, we hope you enjoy the chapter.

Inspiration: N/A

/\

It was time once again for an intermission. Many in the audience went off to relax, including one Qrow Braunwen. Qrow cracked his neck and had started to make his way to the bar. In one of the empty hallways of the theater, he glanced at the series of doors. There were plenty of weird doors to rooms he'd never seen, but one caught his eye more than the others.

[Raven's Respite]

Qrow raised an eyebrow and curiosity got the better of him. He opened the door and stepped inside to see what this was all about. His eyes went wide as he found himself in the middle of his old Tribe's campsite. "Well… this is different."

"You don't know the half of it."

Qrow jumped and spun around toward the voice. Sitting on the elevated step of the chief tent was his sister Raven with her armor removed. She sat in her usual black attire and a blank expression on her face. To Qrow, the fact that she wasn't in armor was a telling fact. Raven had become paranoid enough to never be seen without it, even among her supposedly trusted Tribe. "Raven?" Qrow stepped forward slightly, "What are you doing here? Or are you even really here?"

Raven growled, "It's me, Qrow. No tricks."

"Then how are you here? I thought you left a while back to go home."

"I thought I did too. But I've been told that something his holding me back from really returning to the Tribe. I've been stuck here ever since."

Qrow thought back to how long that had been, "On your own?"

"At first I couldn't tell. The camp was full of our Tribesmen, but something always felt off. After a while, I stopped delegating and planned to leave, only to find out the camp is surrounded by a field of some kind, but only for me. That's when I got suspicious. It was confirmed when I tried to use my portals with no effect. So, either you and Tai were dead, or I hadn't really returned, given the fireball said time wouldn't move with everyone here."

Qrow nodded, following the logic behind that sentiment. "And you've just been stuck here ever since?"

Raven nodded, leaning back to brace herself against the perch and look to the sky, false as it may be. "It's been… enlightening, actually."

"Really? How?"

"For one thing, I hadn't noticed anything was wrong. No matter that I spent all this time with the Tribe, I couldn't tell they weren't real here. In the end, don't think I ever gave the Tribe any attention."

Qrow sighed. A part of him had a feeling that things would end up that way. "And?"

"And…" Raven took a deep breath, "and I don't know. I have a lot to think about I guess."

"Fair enough." He reached into his pocket and leaned his flask toward her, offering her a drink. When Raven shook her head, he opened it and took a long drink. When he finished his drink from his flask, he lowered the bottle away with a sigh. "Ray…"

"Don't start, Qrow. I'm not going back to Ozpin's little world of secrets."

Qrow sighed with a groan, "Ray, I'm not asking you to. I was going to say that it's nice to see you now and then. And I bet Tai and Yang would feel the same if you bothered to get your act together."

That pissed Raven off, making her stand to glare down toward her brother, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Her tone just brought Qrow into the irritation, "You know damn well what I mean. Getting your head out of your ass and admitting that you're afraid!"

Raven slammed her foot onto the ground, stepping toward him and ready to attack, but Qrow's damned semblance ensured the wood of the platform beneath her snapped and caused her to stumble to keep her balance. Raven tried to save face, glaring toward Qrow, "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Salem."

"That's different. Salem is beyond anything we've ever experienced much less faced."

Qrow nodded, "Fair enough," but his face said he wasn't done, "And what about Tai?"

Raven pulled her leg out of the platform, turning to Qrow like he was crazy, "What? I've never been afraid of Tai. I'm stronger than…"

"That's just it, isn't it?" Qrow interrupted, "That's why you ran away. Not to test your daughter to find the strength to find you like the Tribe would, but because you were afraid of what you would become. You were afraid domestic life raising a child would make you weak! You were afraid because you actually cared about someone other than yourself for once in your life!"

Raven finally got around his semblance's defenses and punched Qrow across the jaw. "You don't know anything!"

Qrow, however, didn't fight back. Just rubbing his cheek, "I know plenty about you, Ray. Just like you know why I drink and what shit we've gone through." Qrow stepped down from the platform and started to walk off to the camouflaged entrance to the theater, "Take care of yourself Raven. It's what you're good at." There wasn't any venom behind that. It was somber, if any emotion could be attributed to it at all. Qrow left the 'room,' leaving Raven alone again.

\/

Meanwhile, the students had gone to the arena for a bit of training. They learned that the arena had a bot fighting mode to let them train without needing to rely on just one-on-one spars. That said, they have since discovered a special mode on the operation console that read [Boss mode]. According to Neptune, who actually bothered to read the accompanying manual, it allowed them to face a single, stronger opponent randomly selected throughout the multiverse.

A mode Yang was more than happy to try out. She now stood in the middle of the arena, bouncing from one foot to the other to psych herself up, "Come on! Let's get this going!"

"Hang on a second!" Neptune was at the controls, slowly looking everything over. "There's a lot going on here. Let's see… Okay. We can set up an opponent from our reality or a totally random one. We can also fight in the standard arena or a set field."

Yang was getting annoyed now, "Just hit random!"

"Fine!" Neptune prepared the settings and smacked the button to start the opponent's loading.

A set of small pillars rose up from the ground and creating a cylinder of energy. A message from King played to accompany the loading, "Attention! This is a prerecorded message to explain something important. Your opponent will act exactly as their base. This means they will fight, and sometimes banter, like the original version. Keep this in mind and prepare for battle!"

Yang grinned, waiting for the opponent's form to fully form. "Bring it on."

The pillar finished forming the body within and began to squeeze toward the center. As it reached a part of the body, it would constrict and wrap tightly around the form until the body was fully revealed in a sort of silhouette. After a moment, the glowing effect popped away to finally reveal her opponent.

Standing opposite her was the spitting image of the man she'd since come to know as Adam Taurus. However, this Adam was dressed in a black button up shirt and pants coupled with a white vest. His face was uncovered, but the left side of his face was wrapped up in bandages.

Blake groaned a bit seeing him at first, but sighed in relief upon seeing the variation, "Okay. It's not our Adam."

Ruby glanced over to Blake, "What do you mean? Is that Adam guy really that strong?"

"If that was the Adam I knew, Yang wouldn't stand a chance. He'd probably slice right through her aura and likely lop off her arm, if she's lucky."

Ruby gulped, now also happy that wasn't the same Adam.

Adam cracked his joints, as if to prepare for the match. "Right. It's Yang, right? Yang Xiao Long?"

Yan blinked, expecting a bit more hostility given what she saw with the version she met. But she got passed the surprise and grinned, "Yep." She lowered her stance and brought her fists up for the fight, "Ready when you are."

A hologram above them started to count down before a loud tone rang out to signal the beginning of the match.

Yang fired a shell to send herself flying toward Adam to punch him in the gut. Adam flew back from the impact and added power from the shotgun gauntlet. He spun around midair to land back on his feet and skid across the arena.

Adam let out a quick laugh and relaxed his muscles. "That was fast. Okay!" Adam grinned as he swung his arm to the side and pulled back his sleeve to reveal a set of bracers on either arm. With a snap, they expanded to form with a pair of hard light blades extending forward from his wrist.

Yang's face also formed a grin. It was clear this was going to be a good fight.

Adam swung his arms like blades, because they were at the moment, rather than as a blunt force strike like Yang's punches. Each motion was more precise than Yang's, but that gave her a larger margin of error to dodge the attacks. In contrast, Yang's movements were wider and blunt, but that made her more predictable to a fighter like this Adam. Ducks, dips, dodges, and dives became the common sight of their combat. It took a solid two minutes before a second hit was made; a solid kick from Adam into Yang's side. With the score tied 1 to 1, they returned to their attempts to break it. Five minutes since the beginning of the match and neither made a solid blow. The timer on the match rang out and signaled a forced end of the fight. Aura evaluations gave Yang the win thanks to her harder hit compared to Adam's. With the fight ended, the false Adam was broken down as a hard light construct and disappeared.

Yang returned to her friends and sighed, "I can't believe how that had to end. It was only five minutes!"

Neptune looked through the manual again, "Apparently, it's a regulation set for intermissions."

Yang then remembered they were inherently on a time limit and sighed, "Okay, fair enough."

\/

Roman had decided to spend the time in the bar. He was enjoying a good drink as Qrow stomped in and slammed into his seat. Roman couldn't help but let out a quick chuckle, "Damn. What's got you that mad?"

Qrow huffed and ordered his drink before answering, "Just… an old family issue."

"Gotcha." Roman chose to let that one end. He knew better than to get involved in other people's lives.

After a moment, Neo entered the bar and sat next to Roman. She leaned forward, saw Qrow, and looked back to Roman with a raised brow.

Roman just shrugged, "You'd be surprised the kind of friends you can make over a stiff drink."

Qrow's turn to raise a brow, "You can understand what she's thinking?"

"Yep. I've known Neo for a long time now."

"Hmm." Qrow took a long sip from his drink, "I have to admit that's pretty interesting. Being able to talk without saying a word."

"It's more that I know what she'll say and just respond to that."

"That must be quite the story."

"No kidding." Roman sat back on his barstool and grinned, "So get this…"

\/

Ironwood walked the halls of the theater. He'd heard about the various rooms and their strange properties, but he was never sure enough to enter one. He'd spent most of his time with the other teachers in the lounge. This time, however, he chose to walk the halls. It was rather boring for the moment, but he wasn't actually expecting anything to happen. But happen something did.

One of the doors slowly opened in front of him. Ironwood was instantly halted and on alert. He could feel the effects of the Theater keeping them from being hostile, but he was still on edge now. Seconds passed and no one moved from the room. This just made Ironwood's nerves scream at him. But a trained soldier wasn't so quick to let them force their will over him. He slowly stepped toward the door and glanced inside.

The room within reminded him of a smaller version the Atlas Military's library, complete with hologram section markers. The walls were filled with books and tomes of every kind, though less comprehensive since it was a single room compared to a full, multi-level library. What really caught his attention, however, was a table set in the center of the room. More specifically, what was on the table. A map of Remnant was sprawled over the cold steel of the table, small markers placed onto the canvas map to mark the Kingdoms and the larger settlements. Small figures showed everything from the Grimm surrounding them to the defenses holding them back. Some figures were human groupings, and each was distinct and labeled with their affiliations. He recognized it as a strategy map, something used to plan out movements and help commanders visualize their ideas before going into combat.

What unnerved him, however, was accurate it was. Every detail was in place between known bandit positions to his own soldier. Even a glance toward the miniature figures showed too many details in their design. These weren't just place holders to represent abstract ranks, these represented actual people. A part of him knew this was likely part of King and/or Knox's work with the theater, which was why he didn't dare actually touch it in case something would actually happen to their world.

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "Why would he need this?"

"I don't." The sudden sound of King's voice from the doorway caused Ironwood to jump and turn toward the glowing purple fireball as he floated into the room. "Not anymore, anyway. My task is already complete. Your timeline has diverged from a serious hit and your futures are forever changed. You could all leave and I'd be satisfied in my work."

"Then… why are we still here?"

King was silent a moment, the air hanging on the next answer. "Simple. I'm not forcing you to leave. You're all allowed to remain as long as you wish. Though, I also admit some… personal meddling to see how far I can take these changes."

This just confused the general even more, "What on Remnant does that mean?"

"Maybe you'll see. Maybe you won't. Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, know would it?" King flickered away and out the door again.

Ironwood glanced back to the table for a moment before following the master of the theater out of the room. "This place just gets more and more confusing."

\/

Up in the library, Mercury was being confronted by Emerald on a pretty important subject. Mercury tried to brush her off, but she wasn't having it. There was no avoiding her this time.

Mercury groaned and glared down toward her, "This is about what I said a few intermissions ago, isn't it? About what I'm doing when we get back."

Emerald tried her best to match his glare. She held her own, but Mercury's was a life of anger and suffering, so he had a major advantage. "I want to know exactly how you think you'll get away from Cinder? You have to know we'll find you again."

"I'll figure that out when I get there. I'm not living under Cinder's heel anymore. I'd suggest you do the same, but I don't think you have it in you."

"You shut your mouth! I owe Cinder everything!"

Mercury's glare morphed into a face she'd never seen on him before. One that she instantly grew to hate. Paining his features could only be called pity.

Emerald's blood was boiling over seeing that, "You turn your back on Cinder, and you will die! Do you hear me?! I'll kill you myself!"

"I doubt you can. You're a thief, a street rat!"

That outburst and choice of words made Emerald take a step back.

"I'm a trained assassin. My father taught me to kill without ever needing my semblance. I hated that bastard, but I can give him that much. The only threat you pose is running off to tell Cinder." Mercury took a moment to take breath, calming his nerves. "When we get back, there's every reason to leave our cover in Beacon. They know what we're up to and Roman will sell us out in a heartbeat now. When that happens… don't leave."

Emerald's eyes widened, "W-what?"

"When Cinder is forced to retreat, don't leave. I'm going my own way when it all falls apart. But you're better off throwing yourself at their mercy. You obviously need a place to belong and they believe in all that friendship and togetherness crap, living like a family. That's what you really want isn't it?"

Emerald wanted to smack him, but the fact that she wasn't was telling. More to her than it was to him.

"Thought so." Mercury brushed passed her, pausing after a moment, "If I had to suggest which one to latch onto, I'd pick the Arc kid. Out of all of them, that family of his might just have the resources to keep Cinder out of your life for good. You'd be better off. But hey, what do I know?" With that, he finally walked off, leaving her alone among the stacks of books.

Emerald was left stunned for a while. She didn't know exactly how long, but the silence was maddening. She slowly turned back toward the library's exit; Mercury being long gone by that point. Left alone, her mind was replaying the events over and over again. Every word he said was a loop in her mind. Her interactions with Cinder and everything they meant, or the lack thereof. There was no escaping these thoughts now, so she had to make a choice: to stand beside Cinder or to forsake the one she thought saved her.

Her thoughts were ripped away when the intercom rang for them to return once more. But Emerald knew she had to make this decision soon.