King: 146 chapters of these things!

Knox: Go us~

King: Thank you all for helping us get this far. Now, for something to be said, if you thought it would stop at three, you don't know the level of trash I can be. I blew this hole wide open, I'm having fun with it.

Knox: Still not full trash?

King: Still not full trash. And remember, these are my versions of the characters. Not the canon versions. Whatever it says in canon doesn't matter. I hope you enjoy, even without my bullshit shipping.

Knox: His Bullship if you will.

King: ... I don't know if I should be annoyed or proud of you.

Inspiration: N/A (But there is a nifty reference at the end if you can find it~)

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"Okay, so what's next?" Knox chuckled and swung his feet over the side of his balcony.

The screen opened to an old town scene. An old arid, homely little place in the middle of nowhere. Simple and clearly newly built with little more than two lanes of buildings. As a tumbleweed bounced across the 'street,' the camera pulled off to show someone walking through town. Her darker skin and brown hair that curled back up to resemble a chameleon's tail gave away her identity despite wearing more common clothing than her usual infiltrator's suit.

Ilia raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure what she'd be doing in a place like that.

Yang was grinning from ear to ear, "It's like a Western! Yes!"

Ilia pulled out a piece of paper and glanced around, trying to confirm what was around her. "There it is. Supposedly." She put the paper away and continued walking. "Perry, you better be right about this."

She stepped up onto a step to a pair of old fashioned batwing doors, only for someone to come flying out through them. She glanced toward the man. He didn't match the description of the man she was looking for.

"Well, that explains why I'm there. Question is, why am I looking for this guy?" Ilia knew it was Jaune. He was supposed to show up in all of these, so it was a safe bet. But what did this version have that she needed.

She walked inside, half expecting a brawl, but all was peaceful enough. True, it was rowdy, but old tavern scenes usually were. She made her way to the bartender, but he was… less than accommodating. Ilia might pass as human, but small settlements tend to be close knit, so they were distrusting to begin with. Her 'freckles' turning a pale red in frustration probably didn't help her case around here.

"You lookin' for something little lady?" A voice called from a nearby table. It was a younger man, maybe a few years older than her, in a farmhand's gear. His red hair was even tied back, like he just got off the job.

Yang took in a sharp breath. "Oh… I can already tell where this is going."

Ilia knew she couldn't trust him, but decided to see if this could further her work. "I'm looking for someone."

"Oh yeah?" His buddy, a larger man in similar clothing with his sleeves rolled up, smirked. "Ain't we all?" He laughed at his own 'joke' before leaning back into his chair.

Ilia glanced toward the last man at the table. Unlike the other two, he was dressed in a denim shirt, vest, and jeans. He wore a pair of dark gloves and a cowboy hat with the brim covering his eyes from her sight. She could see messy blond hair under the brim behind him.

Yang clapped once before pumping her fist in victory, "Cowboy Jaune!"

Weiss sighed, annoyed by her Western-loving teammate, "Had to happen eventually."

Ilia looked toward the first man, "I'm looking for someone calling himself the Silver Sun."

The man grinned, "Now, I might know someone calling himself that. But ain't nothing free out in these parts. You got the money for it?"

Ilia's eyes narrowed. Damn it Perry! Why didn't you warn me about that?

The second man laughed, "Guess we can't be surprised. Animals can't get paychecks after all."

Ilia felt her eye twitch.

As did most of the audience.

Sienna growled, saying what many were thinking, "Racist prick."

The blonde raised his head slightly, revealing his blue eyes and confirming him to be Jaune. He didn't say anything, just looking toward Ilia.

"Something up?" The first man looked toward Jaune for a moment before following his line of sight. After a moment, he laughed, "You got a thing for animals now?"

Adam growled. He'd met too many people like those two. He hated people like them. But all he could do was sigh in frustrated anger, "And there's two of them."

Jaune didn't speak, just lowered his head and hid his eyes behind his hat again.

The first man's laugh subsided for a moment with a smir toward Ilia, "Tell you what, if you can win a hand of Tarkis Hold-'em, I'd be willing to tell you what I know. But, these ain't no freebies 'round here. You gotta put up something to play."

Nearly everyone with a conscience in the room shuddered at the implications on screen.

Ilia knew what he meant. She wouldn't risk that much on a hand of poker. But she was desperate to find the Silver Sun. "Fine."

This caught the second man off guard, "What?"

"Fine." She sat at the table, slamming her hands on the table. "All in. Deal." If glares could kill, half the town would be dead.

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn~! Look at her go!"

"I just hope she wins." Velvet shivered remembering the bet at hand.

The first man grinned, "All in, huh? Alright. Don't regret it if you lose." He dealt all four of them a hand of two cards to start. Since Ilia was 'all in,' they settled on adding five chips each for the other three to represent the game at hand, since no one could raise the pot, so to speak.

Ilia tookk her cards and flipped them around to ensure no one could see them except her. She found two Jacks staring back at her, a heart and a diamond.

"Not bad." Ironwood crossed a leg over the other's knee and sat back. "For a first hand, you could do much worse."

Ilia took some solace in that, but wouldn't feel better until she won.

The first man removed a card from the top before placing three more, face up, in the middle of the table: 7 of Diamonds, 9 of Diamonds, and the 8 of Clubs. With a pass of round, he repeated the removal before putting one card in place: 8 of Spades.

Ilia held her poker face as best she could. Two pairs! I might just get out of this after all.

Ilia practically folded her hands and prayed to any god that would listen for her to win.

King suddenly sneezed.

Ilia watched as the last card was placed on the table. The Ace of Clubs. Ilia smirked and placed her hand on the table for her two pair, Ace high.

The first man growled and threw his cards on the table. "Nothin' but crap!" His cards were revealed to be a 6 and a 3.

The second man placed his hand upright, "Had pair of 8s with a high card 10."

Ilia felt a certain satisfaction in beating those two at their game. But her eyes turned to Jaune, who had remained silent.

Jaune didn't seem too invested in anything happening, but he set his cards on the table. "Two pair." Jaune was revealed to have a Western accent like the others. His cards, however, were what concerned Ilia. "Aces and Eights." He had the Ace of Spades and the Queen of Hearts.

Ilia felt a chill up her spine, but not an altogether bad one. She didn't know quite why just yet. She didn't know anything about this Jaune. She didn't know much about the Jaune in the theater either, but context clues told her he was a good person all around. But this Jaune could well be just as racist as those two jerks.

Jaune stood, grabbed a cloak from the back of his chair, and looked toward a stunned Ilia, "I'm cashing out."

"Aw come on man~" The first man laughed, "You sure you don't want to keep going?"

"I'm done." He turned and walked off with his chips and stopped beside Ilia. "Wipe the look off your face and get moving. You bet yourself and lost. Come on." He pushed Ilia a bit toward the door to get her moving.

"He… he wouldn't actually… you know." Ruby glanced around, a bit nervous.

Ilia was stunned, but clearly didn't have a say. She was pushed out the door and forced to follow beside Jaune. She hung her head toward the ground, angry and trying to figure out how to get out of this.

But then, he did something that surprised her. "Why you lookin' for the Silver Sun?"

"What?"

"I ain't repeatin' myself."

Ilia now followed a bit more earnestly. "I need his help."

"If you're look'n for a hired gun, I can't think he'd take kindly to it."

"I don't need an assassin. I… need a bodyguard. I guess that would be the right word for it."

"What could you 'a done that you need the Silver Sun for that?"

Ilia felt her sins in the Fang pile up on her soul once she had to actually consider why she would need someone to protect her.

"How much you want to bet the Arc kid is this Silver Sun?" Qrow sat back with a sip from his flask.

Winter shook her head, "Unlikely. If anything, it would make more sense for him to be a Gold Sun."

"So, you accept the bet?"

"I refuse to be brought into your idiocy."

Ilia's eyes fell to the ground. "I don't want to get into it. All you need to know is that I used to work with terrible people. I decided to escape it all, but they won't like that I left."

"One 'a those huh?" Jaune looked out over the town before him. "Alright. I'll take you to see the Silver Sun."

Ilia was skeptical, "What's in it for you?"

Jaune suddenly stopped and raised an arm to stop Ilia.

"What's going on?"

Jaune was quiet, his eyes narrowed at nothing. His ears seemed to perk up, as he heard something. After a moment, he suddenly spun around and pulled a revolver from his belt and fired a shot. A man fell from the roof of one of the buildings soon after. His tunic and mask revealed him as White Fang.

Ilia jumped considering he'd shot a man in broad daylight.

Yang and Tai were just seeing a Western play out in front of them. And they were loving it.

Jaune kicked the, still alive, victim of his bullet. The Fang member found himself under Jaune's boot as the blond cowboy glared down toward him. "Now, you better start explaining why you've been followin' us."

The Fang member just growled, clearing glaring toward Ilia. "The traitor must be punished!"

"You mean Little Miss Technicolor over there?"

Yang tried not to snicker.

Ilia just sighed. I mean… he doesn't know my name, so…

The grunt glared back at Jaune, "I don't expect a human like you to understand."

Jaune kept a calm face, unflinching and unyielding. "I don't much care about your tone." He pointed his silver revolver at the man's head, squared to the center of his mask, "And I don't much care for that."

The grunt laughed low, "You expect me to-" He was cut off by a gunshot.

Jaune had spun around and shot over Ilia's shoulder to another grunt who was ready to attack her behind. "No. I don't. What I expect you to do, is run back to your little boss and make it clear this girl you're after is under the Silver Sun's protection. If they don't know who that is, they'll find out six feet under." Jaune swung his weapon back and pistol-whipped the man behind him, knocking him out.

Yang was having so much fun with this world so far. It was almost as fun as the world where they constantly said puns like they were the most normal things in the world.

The scene faded to reveal an old office room one might find in a sheriff's office. Granted, there was nothing to give off the idea of it being law enforcement in any way. Ilia was sitting over to the side of the room, watching Jaune as he cleaned his revolver. It had been a month since their paths crossed. In that time, true to his word, anyone that came after Ilia was shot down. After a few weeks, the White Fang numbers started to dwindle. It started to feel like Ilia was truly safe from them now. Jaune even said that the people that came after her, and she's quoting here, 'paid good money at the bounty office,' so her debt was repaid to him. She was free to leave at any time, but he also made no moves to kick her out. Considering Ilia didn't have any family left or a home to go to, she had stayed in this rickety little building, earning her keep and helping keep it in one piece.

Yang blinked before a slight grin started to form. This was prime tease material. Though, now that Jaune was actually in a relationship… relationships? It's still confusing to her. Point is that she was hesitant to poke the hornet's nest.

Ilia… was having a different yet similar realization. See, Ilia had two big facts about herself that she doesn't necessarily keep secret but never had a reason to come up. The first was that she was a hardcore romantic. She loved the idea of two people willing to take on the world if they had to. Some of her favorite stories usually included two warring factions that lower arms through one of their own falling for the other. The second was that she was actually bisexual. She would usually forgive people thinking she was a lesbian because of how hard she was crushing on Blake, but the point stood. So, seeing this was hitting buttons in her brain about what could happen. Question was, where could it go?

Ilia pulled out her scroll, happy that this place at least had decent signal. Decent, mind you. It was nowhere near as good as in one of the Kingdoms. She flipped through some news articles, finding the usual doom, gloom, and clickbait. She sighed and just put the item aside, leaning forward to place her chin in her hands as her elbows rested on her knees.

"Why you still here, anyway?" Jaune called out, not even looking up from his work.

This caught Ilia off guard a bit, "What?"

"Ain't no one going to chase you down now. You're free to leave whenever you want."

"Well, maybe I like it here. Did you ever think of that?"

"Don't need to. Ain't no one here that wants to be here."

"What about you then?" Ilia challenged.

Jaune was quiet before he placed the tools down on the desk. "This place is all I got."

Ilia's face fell to concern. She had never seen him go quiet like that. Sure, he was quiet, but his eyes seemed distant. This was was as though he wasn't here, but off somewhere she'd never known. But it was a look she knew well. It was the same look she saw in the mirror whenever she remembered her parents and how she lost them.

Jaune's head fell a bit. He hated the idea of losing anyone. Moreover, he hated the idea of being alone. He couldn't imagine a world without his family or his friends. He knew that, by the nature of these alternate worlds,, there would be versions where they were all gone. But he didn't like to think about it if he didn't have to.

"Then we've got the same answer." Ilia set her face to be more determined, but retained an empathetic comfort. "This is all I have now too."

Jaune turned to her, silently making eye contact for a while before he turned back to his work. "Suit yourself."

The moment of quiet was cut off before it could begin as the man from the poker game burst through the door. "Arc! I need a word with you."

Jaune sighed and shook his head slightly. "What is it Jeb?"

Jeb made his way to Jaune's desk, leaning over the sitting man, "Listen Arc, it was funny for the first couple days. But people been getting antsy since you let that animal stay here."

Ilia just seethed now. And it was clear to everyone how much she hated this prick.

"Animal? Did that cat from the Corner store get under my porch again?"

Ilia… was actually happy to hear him put it that way. It was obvious he knew who this Jeb guy was talking about, but Jaune didn't give him the small victory of acknowledging her to be the 'animal' in question."

"I'm talking 'bout that Faunas freeloader!"

Ilia's spirit fell a little. It was also clear that she was that, however.

"She got a name, Jeb. Been here a month. Figured you remember it by now."

Tai chuckled a bit, "Oh, he's good."

Ilia found herself glancing toward the Jaune in the audience. Even though it was unorthodox overall, he was willingly dating a Faunas. Would he be similar?

Jeb growled, "I just know your little Faunas is the one poaching my cattle! Probably for some kind o' weird Faunas ritual or something!"

This actually got Jaune to pause. "You been losing cattle?"

"Damn right I have! I ain't making your bounty money, Arc! I need those cattle to make a living!"

Jaune tapped his desk, resting his cheek on his other hand. "And you immediately think it's her?"

"This has been goin' on for a week! 'Bout the time those Fang pricks stopped. I'm thinking she thinks she's free enough to start draggin' us down to starve!"

Jaune sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jeb. I been telling you to fix up your defenses. The Grimm do still exist last I checked."

Jeb grit his teeth and spun in a huff before storming out of the building.

Blake felt a certain satisfaction in watching that jerk get frustrated like that.

Once he was gone, Ilia turned back toward Jaune, "Now what?"

Jaune sighed and fit his weapon back to a ready state. "If his cattle is disappearing, we better find out why before it spreads through town." He placed his revolver back at his side when he suddenly paused.

Ilia got worried every time he did that, "What's wrong?"

Jaune held a finger up to his lips, telling her to quiet down. He moved slowly toward the door, motioning for her to get away from direct line of sight. As he moved, he opened the door slightly from the side before a chunk was blown off.

Everyone jumped at first.

But Sienna caught on to what was happening. "That bastard. His cattle was never disappearing. It was a way to get him to leave so they can kill them both!"

"But why would he do that?" Penny asked, confused. "It seems unlikely that he would attempt to murder friend Jaune. They seemed fairly friendly at the beginning."

"Prejudices can bring out the worst in people." Ilia knew this firsthand. Ever since her time in that damned prep school.

Ilia whisper-yelled to Jaune, "What was that?!"

"T-Seven Slug Round."

"They're trying to kill us?!"

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Ain't no one here can afford T-Seven shells."

The scene transitioned outside to show A trio of White Fang in stolen, heavy Atlassian armor painted to match their personal colors. A fourth member of the unit stood nearby with Jeb in the dirt under his boot. The figure stood as a taller man with short dark hair and angry green eyes. This was White Fang Operative Fargus Gale.

"Well," Yang added, "that explains that."

Fargus grinned as he grinded his boot into Jeb's back. "That traitor dies tonight! Don't bother with niceties boys! Burn this shithole to the ground!"

"I'mma gonna ask you to not do that." Jaune had opened the door and was slowly descending from his porch level. His gun was set at his side, ready to draw at a moment's notice.

Fargus laughed, kicking Jeb's head into the dirt hard enough to knock him out. "Come out here to save your human friend?"

"Nah. Figured it was only a matter of time before someone rubbed his face into the ground."

"Then you should have stayed inside." Fargus raised a hand as the trio leveled their guns toward Jaune.

"So you can burn my home down with me in it? No thanks."

Fargus's grin never fell. It actually seemed to turn more manic for a moment as his hand flew forward to signal the firing squad. Three shots rang out over the town, but the trio were the ones to drop. As Fargus recoiled, he spun to Jaune, confused how he seemed to kill them without moving. It was then he noticed a long brown curve like a Chameleon's on the roof of the building. Ilia was on the roof with an old repeater rifle, clear modifications added for armor piercing rounds.

Yang took in a breath with a smirk, "Always have to watch the high ground!"

Ilia wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, she basically just killed three people. Presumably. Not every member of the Fang had an aura, so it was usually safe to assume they didn't. As such, rounds like that would have probably ended their lives. On the other hand, however, they had come to that town to do the same to her with Atlas T-Sevens, a shotgun designed to punch through actual armor plating. Self defense as it were.

Fargus growled but his smile returned soon after. "I bet you think you're clever."

"Hardly." Jaune just shrugged. "I just have the advantage of experience. And a partner that can handle a rifle."

Ilia raised herself up to one knee as she fired another shot. However, Fargus was one of the Fang members with an Aura and Semblance. Fargus leapt into the air like the wind itself. He kicked off the air and jumped up to the edge of the roof, gun ready and intent on finishing Ilia off quickly. Before he could, Jaune had spun around and upward to shoot up into Fargus's gun and break the mechanisms underneath.

"Holy shit!" Yang was having a field day, "This is fucking awesome!"

Tai laughed a bit, "So much so I'm going to let that one slide."

Qrow sighed with a small smile, "Glad someone's having fun."

Ilia jumped away and off the roof to gain distance. Fargus spun on his heel and threw his gun to the ground beneath him before pulling two small orbs from his chest piece. He threw them both after the gun and they burst with a Fire Dust effect. As the flames started to take on Jaune's porch, Fargus jumped back down to try to crush Jaune under his boot. The cowboy rolled away before he landed on a knee and fired three shots at the Faunas attacker. Ilia rounded the battle and fired another shot at Fargus. But, Fargus's Aura was strong and he shrugged off the attacks for now. He roared and moved to charge them, only for Jaune to fire two more shots at his forehead. Ilia slid next to Jaune and they unloaded into Fargus. Fargus tried to charge, only for his Aura to finally hit its limits. Ilia and Jaune both fired their weapons into his skull and put him down and back onto the porch step of the now burning building.

There were cheers, sure. Jaune and Ilia had just survived and it was clear that they were good people in this reality. That said, it was a little sobering about the home that was all that Jaune had was currently burning down.

The screen followed a trail of smoke to show the sky before it faded to the late evening. The camera fell downward again to show the smoldering ruins of the building with Jaune jumping off what little remained. Ilia was sitting on a log nearby with a blanket over her shoulders. She never liked the cold nights this town had.

Ilia groaned with a nod. She hated the cold with a passion. Give her a tropic/oceanic region anyday.

Jaune sighed as he sat next to her. "Pretty much everything went up."

"Well, good news is that it's just stuff, right? It can be rebuilt or replaced. We survived."

Jaune took a breath and sighed with a small smile. "Yeah. Yeah I guess you're right."

After a long silence, Ilia spoke again, "So, what now? You said no one is here that wants to be, right? We could go wherever we want now."

Jaune glanced toward her with a smirk, "We?"

Ilia realized her words and started to stammer to try to justify her choice. "It's just that the White Fang is obviously still after me! If we work together we could…"

Jaune nodded a bit, "So that's what it's like on the other side."

Ilia's freckles turned a pale pink, a sign of embarrassment.

"Calm down." Jaune chuckled a bit as he looked out over the ruins. "Truth be told, I always wanted to take my talents on the road. Hunting bounties for real instead of hoping for one to come to me. But I couldn't leave this place because my old man built that house. It was the last thing I had of either of 'em."

That just made the fact it burned down sting even more. Except for Cinder and Raven. Big shocker.

Jaune took a deep breath of the evening air before jumping up to his feet. "But they wouldn't want me 'round here moping. If you're feeling like huntin' bounties with me, I got a tip on a man named Tarkis Red. Heard of him?"

Ilia nodded, standing up, "He's a violent bandit out in the wildlands near Mistral. He's wanted for twenty counts of murder of law enforcements. The White Fang wanted to recruit him until they found out he was human."

Sienna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, thoroughly fed up with what the Fang became under her watch.

Jaune smirkked and held a hand toward her to shake, "You in? Split two ways and we'll have plenty for a good while."

Ilia smirked back and took his hand with her own. "Let's do this."

The screen snapped to a headlight with the sound of a motorcycle. A chopper cycle flew across the screen with Jaune and Ilia as they crossed the desert on their Iron Horse. The scene zoomed out over the setting sun with a Western whistle and a shot from a revolver to snap the viewing to a close.

Yang jumped up with arms flying upward in excitement, "That was awesome!"

Qrow sighed and shook his head, "You Xiao Longs and your Westerns." He had a grin, making it clear he was mostly joking with his exasperation.

Ilia sat back in her chair, still processing herself. Her mind went from the screen to the audience. She stole a glance toward the Jaune sitting nearby. She watched as he laughed with his friends, one of which included the mint haired girl that previously worked for Cinder. It was a nice reminder that second chances were possible. And, with everything going on around him… She couldn't see it, no one did, but her freckles faded to a more vibrant pink.