Yet Another Xenoverse

by gamer4

Twin worlds built on the backs of titans, dying worlds rent apart by endless war, and epic odysseys through space for mankind's future... all this and more as Teams RWBY, JNPR, and even others react to the cult classic Xeno series! Spin-off from Yet Another Multiverse, taking place after chapter 58. Cover art by EmiDaWeird. No non-Xeno requests, please!

36. TVH: Leviathan

Gamer4 in. This one's gonna be pretty long- it was a two-parter in its original story, but due to a few different factors, I've decided to combine them here. Heads up, we will be treading into some darker territory this episode- nothing M-worthy, but a little more ruthless than what you might have seen if you were previously Blade-only. That said, back to business.

Episode XXXV

The Voyage Home

The Leviathan

"Alright, back to the 'main team,'" Vanessa announced. "Oh, we're heading into some darker territory, so anyone of a weaker constitution may want to step out."

There was a long moment of silence, during which nobody moved. Vanessa's gaze crossed over to Jack. "I was talking about you."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm good to go!"

"If you say so..."

The dock colony Nerima was, in essence, a large space station, a synthetic moon orbiting around the planet Mistral. It was about the size of a small town, complete with various facilities, including various shops, a hospital ward, and, of course, a garage.

"Alright, Sun, bring her in," Qrow instructed.

"Oh, right, they need to get the ship fixed after a certain somebody wrecked it," Neptune laughed, glancing at his leader.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to hand Ruby over to those freaks at U-TIC?" Sun challenged.

"Well, no, that doesn't sound fun either," Neptune admitted.

"Why Nerima?" Neptune asked. "There were some closer docks."

"I know a guy here, might get a good discount," Qrow shrugged, swigging from his flask. "Put me on the tannoy."

"Roger that."

"What's a tannoy?" Yang tilted her head.

"It's what they call overhead speakers in western Atlas," Weiss sighed. "Can we at least pass over things we should know outside of these worlds?"

"Ah!" Cardin grunted as Ruby continued to run her hands over him, a soft glow coming from the Medica ether she was using. "Is it supposed to hurt like a bi-"

"Language," Blake grunted from the corner- she hadn't left Ruby's side since their arrival the previous 'day.'

"As she shouldn't, if she's going to be healing the known realian-eater," Blake scowled, crossing her arms.

"Oh, he'd better not hurt her!" Yang smashed her knuckles together.

Cardin glared at her- he'd been reluctant to allow them in his room at all, but after he'd started coughing up blood, he'd finally surrendered to the realian's offer of medical assistance.

"I'm resetting three ribs," Ruby informed him chirpily. "It's... not gonna be painless."

"Oof, I'd feel bad for the bastard if I didn't know what he did," Qrow winced.

"I... don't know," Velvet bit her lip. "Seeing him in this much pain..."

"You are the one who should be feeling the least for him," Coco said sternly.

"I know, but..."

A speaker overhead crackled into life, and Qrow's voice sounded through the room. "Ladies and germs, we are arriving at the Nerima Docking Colony. If you wanna get some shore leave before the last leg to New Vale, now's the time to do it. Repeat, if you wanna see something other than the inside of this ship for a change, now's the time to do it."

"Oh, we're there?" Ruby's eyes lit up. "I heard they have some of the best natural hot springs!"

"Hmm... somehow, I doubt that," Blake smiled gently. "It's a synthetic colony, Ruby."

Ruby blinked. "Oh. Right. Well, they're still supposed to be really relaxing!"

Blake chuckled. "I'll go speak to the Captain."

"Oh, boy, the hot springs," Jaune groaned. "We all know what that means..."

"A collection of unfunny accidental perversion moments and rampant abuse of the male members of the crew?" Pyrrha guessed.

"Yup..."

"Well, they're all adults, perhaps they'll handle things a little better," Ren suggested hopefully.

She headed out, as Ruby looked to Cardin. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Cardin flexed an arm. "I'll be fine, runt."

Ruby seemed to take no insult. "Alright! I'll go see if Jaune and Pyrrha wanna come!"

As she turned around, Cardin grunted out, "Kid... why are you so keen on helping me, anyway? You know I'm a soldier, don't ya? You realize how many realians I killed during the Fall of Beacon? Didn't you see... didn't you see this?" He ran a finger along the hardened skin that marked him as a flesh eater.

Ruby directed a sad smile in his direction. "I... wasn't really awake yet during the Fall of Beacon, but I know all about it... everyone was struggling to do whatever they had to to survive. There... weren't really any good guys or bad guys, just... chaos. But... you can't trick me- I'm an observational realian, remember?"

"Trick her?" Blake wondered aloud, clearly caught off guard.

"...Trick you?" Cardin asked, equally so.

Ruby took in the marking. "That's not from eating realians, is it? It's from-"

"That's enough," Cardin interrupted, clutching a hand into a fist. Ruby didn't flinch- he clearly wasn't about to hit her. Rather, he seemed on the verge of tears. "Stop it."

"Wait, he... didn't eat any realians?" Nora blinked. "I thought that was the only way for him to get that scar-lookin' thing."

"Now that I think about it, that's not quite what we were told," Ren recalled. "Specifically, we were told the deformation was caused by humans imbibing realian tissue."

"Doesn't that mean eating it?" Yang was clearly still confused. "And didn't he confess to it?"

"Well, no, imbibing just means to take it in somehow," Ozpin corrected. "Using eyedrops is technically 'imbibing' them, and I'm certain you wouldn't drink them."

"Unless you're Nora, of course," Pyrrha groaned.

"And he never confessed to it," Blake chipped in, flipping through her notes. "Jaune accused him, to which he said 'Is that what you think?'"

"All that being the case... what really did happen?" Velvet finally gave voice to the question on everyone's mind.

Ruby blinked- it was her turn to be taken aback. "Er... sorry?"

"Get out of here. Go enjoy your bath, you... you freak." There was no bite in the insult- he seemed to be saying whatever he thought would get her out of there fastest. She winced, turned, and hurried out.

Blake was just outside. "Was it... something I said?" Ruby asked sadly.

"...I think he has issues of his own to work out," Blake speculated. "Come on, let's see about those springs."

"No kidding," Tai crossed his arms, bemused.

Jaune and Pyrrha were in PENNY's maintenance room, typing away on their computers, attempting to penetrate her black box- her absolute core, from which all of her directives and actions stemmed. Unfortunately, it had been developed almost entirely by Coco Adel, leaving it a true black box in terms of nobody else truly understanding what it contained or how it functioned.

"So, can you give us any advice, Coco?" Ruby asked.

"Wrong Coco," Coco laughed. "I don't know anything about computer engineering."

Pyrrha leaned back, making a motion as if wiping sweat from her brow. "Coco really knew what she was doing... we might not be able to crack this until we get to Headquarters, Chief."

Jaune's eye was twitching in agitation. "No... I need to know... how this could happen..."

"Ladies and germs, we are arriving at the Nerima Docking Colony. If you wanna get some shore leave before the last leg to New Vale, now's the time to do it. Repeat, if you wanna see something other than the inside of this ship for a change, now's the time to do it."

A second later, ren entered, a small smile on his face. "Have you been to Nerima before? They have some lovely springs- or hot tubs, I suppose. Would you like to disembark and relax a bit?"

Pyrrha returned his smile right away. "That sounds lovely. Would you like to come, Jaune?"

Jaune shook his head, his typing increasing in fury. "I... I need to figure this out..."

"I admire your drive," Ironwood commended, "but burning yourself out will do no good either."

"So my team keeps telling me," Jaune nodded his agreement.

He looked up when ren placed a hand on his shoulder. "Whenever I'm having difficulty with a task, it sometimes help to take a break and return with a fresh mind. What do you say?"

Somehow, ren's touch alone was enough to help sooth Jaune's agitation a little. "I... I guess a little relaxation wouldn't be bad..."

"I see... he'll listen to ren, but not me..." Pyrrha pouted.

"Well, Ren's semblance is to calm people down," Nora pointed out. "Maybe he did that?"

"Do semblances even exist in this world?" Ghira asked of Vanessa.

"I plead the fifth," she mumbled.

He pulled himself to his feet and had hardly taken a step out the door when a young realian slammed into him, beaming and screaming, "We're gonna visit the hot springs!"

Tai laughed. "Just glad to see her enjoying herself..."

In the end, it was those five that headed out to the springs- Jaune, Pyrrha, ren, Ruby, and Blake. Hazel wouldn't come out of his room, they didn't bother asking Cardin, and the captain, pilot, and navigator were going to oversee the ship's repairs. "I need to see what they're doing to my baby," as Sun said.

"If I had a ship, I'd want to see it in top shape!" Sun nodded approvingly.

The springs- which, as Blake and ren had correctly identified, were essentially glorified hot tubs- were divided into two sections, men and women- they split up accordingly.

On the women's side, Pyrrha and Ruby were happy to slide into the water, while Blake took a seat on the side.

"Come on in, Blake!" Ruby cheered. "The water feels greeeeaaaat!"

Blake smiled the gentle smile that, thus far, only Ruby had proved capable of coaxing from her. "My body... doesn't really agree with water," she explained, flexing her mechanical arm.

"My... such a shame," Blake coughed.

"Oh, but you never did like baths, did you?" Kali cooed. "It was always quick showers with you- you really hated-"

"MOM! NOT IN FRONT OF THE SUPERVILLAINS!"

Ruby pouted for a moment, then brightened. "Alright- when we get to New Vale, we can get you some new parts that are more water-resistant, and come back!"

It wasn't often that a human picked up on something a realian missed, but this was one such instance- Ruby missed the slight wince Blake performed, but Pyrrha certainly didn't. She didn't know much about the two- they'd only just met, after all- but she already found herself feeling very protective of Ruby, and Blake hardly seemed like a bad person by any stretch.

"Stupid other..." Tai growled.

She quickly cleared her throat and piped up. "So, Ruby, do you have any other plans for when you get to New Vale? Have you been there before?"

"No," Ruby shook her head, allowing herself to be distracted. "I was born on Old Vale, but I was mostly raised on Fifth Vytal."

"Well, I've spent quite a bit of time on New Vale," Pyrrha smiled. "It's where Sector's Headquarters, after all. Perhaps Jaune and I can show you around when we land?"

"Sure!" Ruby smiled. "We... have some other stuff to do first, but after that...?"

She cast one eye towards Blake, who shrugged. "It's hardly my decision, but... I don't see why it should be a problem."

"Well, there you go!" Pyrrha smiled. "When we touch down and you do... whatever it is you need to do, I'll take you around and show you the sights."

Ruby's glowing eyes was more than enough for her.

"Are you gonna make her an honerary sister?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, I did that a ways back," Yang reclined.

"That was an interesting day," Pyrrha giggled.

On the other side, Jaune and ren were leaning against the edge of their tub, gazing up at the ceiling mostly wordlessly.

"Well, they're not trying to get some eye candy, at the very least," Raven crossed her arms.

"Of course not! They're not like that!" Nora came to her boys' defense. "Ren doesn't look at anyone in the bath except me!"

"...You tell them, Nora," Ren sighed.

"Are you feeling better now, Jaune?" ren finally asked.

"Honestly, yeah, I do," Jaune conceded, raising his hands to cup the back of his head.

ren looked over, smiling. "Say... have you ever experienced deja vu?"

"The feeling that I've experienced something before?" Jaune asked. "I mean, I guess so- hasn't everyone?"

ren nodded. "I believe it's rather common, yes. I bring it up because... I've felt it very strongly over the past couple days- ever since you and PENNY came on board. The second I saw you, I felt as though... as though I'd seen you before."

"He's been acting as though he directly knows him and PENNY," Winter recalled. "Particularly unusual, considering that PENNY was almost literally born yesterday."

"We've certainly been wondering about that," Pyrrha agreed.

"I would certainly not mind another friend!" Penny chirped up.

"...Very well," Ren agreed.

"Just don't get too friendly, got it?" Nora met her gaze sternly.

"I will ask you what you mean at a later time!"

Jaune thought for a moment. "I mean... I guess it's possible. I've only really lived on the Vales my whole life, but working in Sector means I do a lot of travel."

ren laughed, leaning his head against his hand. "Yes... I suppose it's possible. It's just too bad we never really got to talk- sparse though it's been thus far, I've truly enjoyed our time together." He looked up at the roof again- it was hard to have open-air springs on a space station. "I almost feel as if... I was born to meet you..."

"What was that?" Jaune asked, glancing over.

ren closed his eyes. "It's... nothing."

Nora gasped. "Oh, no... it's the dreaded boy love!"

"I don't think that's quite what he-" Ren started.

"But what do I do? I can't attack Fearless Leader!"

"Hmm... it is very interesting..." Blake was scribbling furiously away in her little black notebook.

"Blake, put that down!" Ren demanded. "Yang, stop her!"

"Er... sure..." Yang gave a half-hearted attempt to pull Blake's notebook away. "Sorry, Ren, done all I can do."

"You're risking your fingers, Belladonna!" Nora cried- Blake very quickly stowed the notebook away and raised her hands in surrender.

Cardin spent some time throwing a ball up in the air and catching it, but the amusement of such a mundane activity quickly lost its luster- he rose to his feet and headed to the bridge, where he found Qrow, Sun and Neptune. "They just about done with these repairs?"

"Couple more hours," Qrow waved aside. "...You seen Tiny around anywhere?"

"Hazel or the runt?"

Qrow side-eyed him. "Hazel."

"He stopped by my cabin a little while ago- sounds like he's gonna try and charter his own flight outta here. I plan on sticking around 'til New Vale."

A shadow crossed over Qrow's eyes. "He didn't go out in his uniform, did he?"

Cardin blinked, thinking back. "Well... it's not like we really have any other clothes-"

"Ahhh... shit," Qrow swore, breaking out his scroll. A second later, Jaune's face appeared- he seemed to have taken his scroll with him even to the springs.

"Is something wrong?" he asked right away.

"Looks like Hazel's decided to take a walk around here in his uniform," Qrow explained.

"Is that... bad?"

Qrow sighed. "Look, this place just finished demilitarizing after the Great War- a lot of people haven't forgotten how brutal the army was back then."

"I see... so it would be like an Atlesian soldier marching right into the heart of Menagerie," Winter crossed her arms.

"That... would be quite unwise," Ghira reluctantly admitted.

Jaune paled- and though he couldn't see it, Cardin did, too. Perhaps he'd dodged a bullet by not setting out. If these people were still remembering the Great War- the intergalactic conflict that had ended fifteen years ago with the Fall of Beacon...

"You said this place was safe!" Cardin hissed.

"For civilians, it is," Qrow shot back. "Look, you're already out there, aintcha? Take a look around, make sure the galoot isn't getting himself into too much trouble."

"Right," Jaune nodded quickly.

Qrow ended the call and looked to Sun and Neptune. "You two go out and look for him too, alright? Sure wouldn't send a good message if one of our passengers died en route."

"Heart of gold, Branwen," Winter narrowed her eyes.

"Ah, he's putting on a front, but he's really concerned, I can tell," Tai grinned.

"Best keep quiet if you wanna keep your lips, Tai," Qrow slugged some more whiskey.

It was a cold remark, but they sensed the underlying concern- they nodded and hurried out of the ship as quickly as they could.

Jaune ended the call and turned to inform ren- only to find him already out of the water and fully dressed. "Wow, you move fast."

"A skill acquired after years of cleaning up my partner's messes," Ren agreed.

"Might I suggest grabbing Blake before we begin our search?" ren offered. "It certainly couldn't hurt to have a cyborg backing us up."

Jaune nodded and hurried to the wall separating the two sides. "Blake- Blake, can you hear me?"

"Well, if there's going to be misunderstandings, this is where it'll happen," Blake assessed.

A moment of silence, then they heard her voice. "What is it?"

"Sounds like Hazel's in trouble- do you mind helping us find him?"

Another moment, then- "Very well. I'll meet you in the lobby. Ruby, stay here with Pyrrha."

"But-"

"No buts. If he needs your help, he can get it on the ship. Stay here."

"Okaaayyyy..."

Jaune got dressed as quickly as he could, and he and ren hurried into the lobby to find Blake waiting for them. Judging by her perfectly dry hair, she hadn't gone in the water at all. "We'd best not waste any time," she said, immediately taking charge as they left the facility.

"Good, thanks- I hate those cliches," Jaune sighed in relief.

Neptune ended up being the one to find Hazel- he wasn't the easiest person in the world to miss, after all. He was stomping towards the other end of the colony- being followed none-too-discretely by a group that looked very concerningly like a gang, all glaring daggers at the large man. Neptune wanted to call out and warn him, but didn't want to accidentally make the situation worse than it was- he followed discretely behind.

"A good call, actually," Coco praised. "Try approaching too early, you might panic them into attacking."

"Heheh... thanks," Neptune sheepishly slicked his hair back.

Finally, they accosted him, one of them leaping out in front of the giant. "Hey, you with the military?"

"That I am," Hazel agreed. "Please, stand aside, I'm on official business-"

"Oooohhhh, official business, is it?" asked a snide voice from behind. "Well, shoulda thought of that before you walked across the territory of the Dancing Spartans, shouldn't you?"

Hazel looked around, seeing the weapons being drawn. "...I don't want any trouble-"

"Well, trouble just found you," snarled what seemed to be the leader, before lifting his bar and smacking him across the skull. Hazel grunted as he collapsed to the ground, and the others leapt in, kicking and beating him as hard as they could.

"Okay, now you can jump in."

Neptune panicked- he couldn't take on all of these guys alone, he had to go get help.

"Eh... sorry?"

"Getting yourself killed would have been worse," Raven pointed out.

"No way, are you actually backing somebody else up for once?" Qrow gave an exaggerated gasp. He got the usual finger in response.

As he turned and ran, he missed Hazel's eyes dulling, transforming to an almost muted brown. More startlingly, particularly to the group currently busy beating him to a pulp, was the symbol that seemed to emerge from his forehead- a white X. It stood out, glowing brightly, as he abruptly rose to his feet, throwing aside those working to hold him down as if they were mere insects.

"That... is not good," Ozpin gave a nervous sip of his coffee. "He's one of the strongest people in Remnant at the best of times. If he goes berserk..."

Jaune, ren, and Blake were just coming to an intersection when Neptune appeared, looking incredibly frazzled. "Down- down a Commander, they're beating up the alley!"

"Neptune, calm down," Blake instructed. "Where is he?"

Neptune took several deep breaths, and motioned for them to follow, turning on his heel and taking off at a sprint. They all matched his pace until he led them to a pile of unconscious bodies.

"What the hell...?"Jaune asked, eyes widening- several of them were laying in puddles of their own blood.

"...Honestly, that's not as bad as I expected," Ozpin coughed.

"Hazel isn't here," ren observed.

Blake knelt over them. "Hmm... they're all breathing- they're still alive. Neptune, call an ambulance."

"Right!" Neptune nodded, pulling out his scroll and quickly dialing the colony's emergency number.

Blake looked around. "...I'm detecting a large heat signature moving back towards Serenity. I think it's likely that it's Hazel."

"Right," ren nodded. "Blake, Jaune, you go back and find him. I'll stay here with Neptune and wait for the medics."

Blake and Jaune nodded in the affirmative and took off back for the ship.

"That wasn't exactly a normal 'him going berserk,'" Qrow noticed. "His eyes actually looked less alive, and that X on his forehead..."

"We're coming up on those answers soon enough," Tom assured them.

They finally located Hazel in PENNY's maintenance room- the robot had been awoken by all the commotion, and was currently sitting on the opposite end of the room, watching as a damp-haired Ruby struggled to convince Hazel to allow her to heal him. Cardin was there, looking concerned for his commander, but not contributing much otherwise.

"Come on, just let me use a little medica-" Ruby wheedled.

"It's nothing," Hazel brushed her aside, ignoring the black eye and stab wound just beneath his chest. "I'm not really hurt."

"He may not be lying," Ozpin suggested. "Our Hazel's semblance is literally to not feel pain."

"Which again begs the question of if semblances exist in this world," Kali considered.

"Well, there are certain disorders that turn off pain receptors even without semblances..." Saphron mused.

"You might as well let her do it, Commander," Cardin grunted. "Runt won't take no for an answer."

"Ruby?" Blake asked as she entered. "I thought I told you to stay at the springs."

"My fault," Pyrrha stepped in. "She didn't want to just stay there, so I suggested we come back to the ship."

Blake hesitated a moment, then shook her head. "I suppose that's fine."

"Even she can tell Pyrrha wouldn't hurt anyone," Jaune laughed.

"He won't let me heal him!" Ruby pouted, pointing childishly at the behemoth.

"I have a much higher pain tolerance than most," Hazel grunted. "I just need some rest- I'll be fine. I'm... not a big fan of nanosurgery."

"One of those 'natural care' types, huh?" Jaune asked, crossing his arms, unwittingly finding himself once more reminded of Saphron.

"Not... not as such," Hazel shook his head slowly.

"Probably just played too much Metal Gear," Ruby nodded sagely.

"Nanomachines, son!" Jaune quoted, earning a giggle from his fellow leader.

Blake glanced between the two- Ruby was unmistakably crestfallen, perhaps believing Hazel did not wish to be treated by a realian. Based on her own observations, however, whatever his reasons were, they had nothing to do with Ruby herself. She cleared her throat. "Ruby, do you mind looking me over? I haven't had a tune-up since before Shangri-La- I could use a tune-up."

"Good call, Blakey- we might get you some social skills yet," Yang smirked.

Ruby looked up, smiling at the thought of being of assistance, and followed her over to the maintenance bed usually used by PENNY, and leaving Hazel to Jaune.

"So, Commander, what happened?" he asked.

"I... allowed myself to be cornered... not one of my prouder moments, I must say. Fortunately, they started fighting amongst themselves, and I used the chance to escape."

Jaune looked closely. It sounded like a lie- a feeble one, at that- but Hazel said it with such certainty that it seemed impossible that he wasn't telling the actual truth. Besides, what would be the point of lying anyways? They knew that the punks had attacked first, he'd have been perfectly justified in defending himself, albeit in a rather brutal fashion...

"Yeah, why lie about that?" Nora agreed. "Even Renny will let me off if it's obvious the other guy attacked first!"

"Hmm... it's in a fashion different from ours, but it seems this Hazel has some mental issues of his own," Ozpin speculated.

Blake lay herself down on the bed, watching as Ruby moved to the console at its side and began typing furiously away. "It looks like all systems are operating within normal parameters," she said.

"Well... I'm behind on my regular maintenance," Blake shrugged. "This body is over a hundred years old by now."

"So odd to think of our girl being older than the two of us combined..." Kali blinked.

"I'm not seeing anything wrong," Ruby shook her head, looking her over again. "Then again, maybe Jaune would be better for this? He's an actual scientist, and all..."

She trailed off as Blake gently shook her head. "Is... do you not like Jaune?" she asked slowly.

"Kinda tricky to get her to like anyone," Ruby giggled nervously.

"It's not that I don't like him," Blake assured her. "It's... promise not to laugh, alright?"

"Of course not!" Ruby shook her head quickly.

"Well... even after a hundred years, I'm still embarrassed by the idea of a young man working on me. Maybe I'm just... embarrassed of this patchwork body of mine."

"Oh, my dear girl!" Kali fawned.

"Shoulda thought of that before you pumped yourself full of lead," Neo smirked, only to falter when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see a large, bearded man glaring down at her.

"Care to repeat that little comment?" Ghira growled.

"No sir, sorry sir, I'll never speak out of line again sir!" Neo gulped.

To her surprise, Ruby looked downcast again. "But... but you're okay with me because I'm not a human?"

Blake laughed a little. "No, that's not it at all, Ruby. I'm okay with you because... because I can see the purity of your heart."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Blake."

Neither of them noticed the look being directed at them by Hazel- an odd look halfway between sad and envious. He abruptly rose to his feet, showing off the bandaging he'd already applied to his injuries, and left the room.

"Aw, I'm starting to feel bad for the big lug!" Nora pouted.

"Oh, we're just getting started," Tom's eyes widened.

Blake and Ruby turned their heads, joining Cardin and Jaune in watching his departure. "...There's something up with him," Cardin commented. "He hasn't been acting right, ever since we came aboard."

"Man, even Cardin's noticing," Yang scratched agitatedly at the back of her head.

Hazel was struggling to walk as he headed towards his room- his legs were steadily coming to feel more and more like jelly. Memories were flashing through his mind again.

He saw Ms. Marchie standing over him, wearing that smirk that was so characteristic of her.

He saw Mandy, her nose wrinkled as if something disgusting was directly underneath.

He saw Adam, standing over him and extending his hand.

He saw the gnosis that had so nearly killed him... felt his legs turning to salt, saved only at the very last second.

"Uh, who were those first two?" Ruby raised a finger.

"Nobody any of you would recognize," Jack assured them.

He pulled a bottle of pills from a pocket and dry-swallowed two. His legs regained some feeling, but he still found himself slumped against the wall. He couldn't see it, but his eyes had once again gone dull, the glowing X standing out brightly on his forehead.

"That thing... is hardly giving me fuzzy feelings," Velvet shuddered.

Qrow looked around as Neptune and ren stepped onto the bridge- to his surprise, PENNY was right behind them. "Little lady woke up from her nap, huh?"

"My maintenance bed is currently being utilized by Blake," PENNY informed him. "With no other options available to me, I have decided to observe operations on the bridge."

"Eh, have it your way," Qrow waved aside. "So, you find Tiny okay?"

"He was hurt, but he's resting," ren informed- the others had filled him in on what he'd missed in the maintenance room. "If the repairs are complete, I believe we are good to take off again."

"Sounds good to me," Qrow nodded. "Sooner we land on New Vale, sooner things can go back to normal. Sun, hit it."

"Aye aye!" Sun beamed.

The Serenity gently pulled out of the docks and departed from the colony roughly three hours after landing. From there, it wasn't far to the next gate and back into hyperspace.

"And wouldn't it be nice if they could cover the rest of that distance without any more struggle?" Qrow rolled his eyes.

"Not a chance," Tai agreed hopelessly.

With the help of the pills, Hazel was finally able to struggle his way back into his room, where he collapsed onto his bed and attempted to sleep. But even in sleep, he couldn't escape the swirling memories- memories of blood and sin...

He sat bolt upright, sweating. Water. He needed some water.

The halls were dim- the ship was once again simulating night time- but it was no problem to him as he made his way towards the dining hall, where there was a water cooler. He filled a large cup and was in the process of drinking deeply when a burst of pain wracked his body. He fell to the ground, and the cup fell from his hand.

No- the cup fell through his hand. He hadn't lost his grip- his hand, as he saw before his own wide, horrified eyes, had become transparent, and the cup had simply passed right through.

"What sort of affliction is that?!" Winter stared, aghast.

"I've certainly never seen anything of the like," Ironwood shook his head.

He closed his eyes, struggling to focus, reaching again for his pills. His hand seemed to maintain its stability, helping to bring the pills up to his lips-

The ship suddenly shook violently, knocking the bottle and the pills within from his hand, spilling across the floor. He leaned back against the wall, breathing deeply, struggling to stave off a pain far deeper than any he'd ever experienced.

"Now I feel even worse for him!" Nora threw up her hands. "He's a mole! I shouldn't be feeling sorry for a mole!"

"Don't discount your pity so quickly," Ren advised. "Such things prove your humanity."

Jaune, too, was having trouble sleeping. He was back to analyzing code that he'd taken from PENNY's processors, and he'd now fallen asleep at the terminal, only to find himself once more dreaming about the graveyard.

The girl in pink was there again, but she seemed alone this time- no boy lurking in a distant fog, no great golden monolith- it was just him and the girl, standing amongst the tombs.

She opened her mouth, and to his own astonishment, he was able to hear her this time- her voice was high-pitched, a voice that sounded to him as though it would normally be filled with joy, but was, at this moment, solemn... somber.

"It's not your fault, Jaune. It was too late- there's nothing you could have done."

"Nora sounding unhappy... never a good sign," Ren crossed his arms.

"I don't think I've ever seen her without a smile- even when she's angry!" Jaune thought back.

"It's... been a while," Nora agreed uncomfortably.

"What... what do you mean?" he asked.

It didn't seem like she ignored the question- rather, it seemed like she'd heard another question entirely- she smiled sadly. "Well... you were there for him at the end, at least. I think that comfort counts for something. He's finally able to rest... to have the peace he could never have in life..."

"That's... really ominous!" Sun nodded, wide-eyed.

Then, he, too, was awoken by the shaking of the ship.

He dashed into the corridor and hurried up to the bridge, which was quickly filled by everyone on the ship except for Hazel Rainart.

"What the hell is going on, old man?" Cardin demanded. "Don't tell me we have another hyperspace battle on our hands!"

"Negative," PENNY denied. "We are being accosted, but not by other ships."

Neptune was frantic as he looked from one screen to another. "I've never seen anything like this before- there's something latching onto us! It's forcing us out of hyperspace!"

"Pulled out of- is that even possible?" Saphron gasped.

"Clearly, it is- it's happening right now, isn't it?" Raven pointed out scathingly.

"What the hell has the power to do that?" Qrow demanded.

Ruby gasped- everyone turned to her to find that her silver eyes were suddenly brightly glowing. Everyone was so fixated on this, and the natural conclusion, that they failed to notice Jaune's crystal blue eyes lighting up as well- even Jaune himself failed to notice.

"Is Jaune a realian as well?" Penny wondered.

"I... well, we've never received any sign of it," Pyrrha stammered, uncertain of what to say herself. "You'd think someone would have brought it up by now!"

"I'm afraid it's gonna be much longer before that one gets explained," Vanessa sighed.

Pyrrha's face looked as though her heart was sinking. "...Gnosis..."

Far before its time, they found their column coming to an end, spitting them back out into normal space- in the worst possible situation. There was an army of gnosis surrounding them, almost as large as that which had destroyed the Discovery. From their perspective, however, aboard a far smaller ship, it seemed even larger.

"Da-da-da, we're dead," Neptune threw up his arms.

"Not if my other has anything to say about it!" Penny declared confidently.

Everyone's eyes widened. "Mary, mother of God..." Qrow gaped.

"...We're dead..." Neptune whimpered. "So very... very dead."

Jaune forced himself back to reality. "PENNY, wide-range Grey Effect!"

"Affirmative."

Her visor clamped down, and a great wave rolled forth, wider than an entire solar system, forcibly pulling the entire army of gnosis fully into reality.

"Amazing!" Ruby's eyes were sparkling despite the dire circumstances. "Even with an amplifier, I couldn't go nearly that far!"

"Even in another world... even in a situation like this... she finds the energy to fangirl over weapons," Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah, that evens the odds a little," Cardin growled. "Now, how do you plan to actually fight them all without any AGWS?"

Abruptly, the ship jerked, almost knocking several of them from their feet. "You got a plan, Sun?" Qrow asked.

"That's not me, Captain!" Sun raised his hands.

Neptune's fingers flew across his terminal. "No... it's a gravity well! We're being pulled towards something!"

Everyone looked out amongst the army- until they spotted exactly what they were being pulled towards.

It was another gnosis, to no real surprise. What was a surprise was the sheer size of the beast. It was one of the whale-shaped gnosis, but far larger than any gnosis any of them had ever seen- easily the size of an entire planet, floating directly towards them- and dragging them towards it.

"Ooh, it's a big ol' fish!" Sun whooped.

It was hard to tell if they'd even touch it- there were so many other gnosis flying around, unable to enter the ship without the ability to phase, but certainly capable of jostling them around. Jaune found himself being thrown off his feet, smacking his head on the ground- the last thing he saw was ren rising to his feet, spreading his hands, some sort of green energy spreading, forming around them like a shield...

Then he knew no more.

"Another talent, I'm sure," Yang crossed her arms.

"Hey, hey, no suspecting renny! We've been over this!" Nora quickly stuck up for him.

When he eventually awoke, it was in a place unlike any he'd ever seen before. He wasn't aboard the Serenity, that much was immediately clear. It was a vast chamber, the floor, walls, and ceiling (almost too distant to make out) all comprised of some viscous, gelatinous substance. It was solid enough to take his weight, but beyond that, he couldn't do much more to identify it.

"I... don't suppose they're in Vacuo again?" Ruby giggled nervously.

"No... though I do think they're in the belly of a whale..." Blake shuddered.

He looked quickly around and found, to his relief, that he was not alone- Blake, Ruby, ren, Pyrrha and PENNY were all there as well. Blake and ren were helping Ruby and Pyrrha to their feet, while PENNY seemed to be running her own analysis of the environment.

"The others! Where're the boys and Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked urgently.

"Where... are we?" Pyrrha asked, rubbing her head in a way that indicated to Jaune she'd been knocked unconscious too.

"It's difficult to say," ren shook his head. "The ship was being pulled towards that enormous gnosis... I remember a bright light, then..."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Wait... this feeling..."

She looked at the ground beneath her, then the walls. "Could it be... we were swallowed by the gnosis?"

"I believe this is, indeed, the case," PENNY contributed. "We are in the approximate center of the giant gnosis that pulled Serenity towards it. I gauge this gnosis to be roughly 16,000 kilometers in diameter. The only gnosis of this size on record is known as the Leviathan. It was also present during the destruction of the Discovery."

"I was afraid of that," Blake whispered.

"Hmm... it seems we've entered the belly of the whale... so to speak," ren commented thoughtfully.

"And I already said that!" she cried.

Ruby looked around. "The gnosis outside... I don't think they're moving. They're... dormant."

"What about Serenity?" Jaune asked urgently. "The others! What happened to them?"

"Well... if we survived, I believe that increases the odds that they did as well," Blake assessed.

PENNY blinked. "My sensors are picking up an energy signal- I believe it is the Serenity. Furthermore, near it... it is faint, but I believe I am sensing the presence of the zohar that was previously aboard the Discovery."

"You mean the copy?" Qrow challenged.

"Zohar?" Jaune repeated. "That... that monolith from the hangar?"

"Then again, it's not like they have any idea what any of that is to begin with," Tai noted fairly.

Blake didn't seem interested in the monolith. "What is the Serenity's position?"

"Approximately ten kilometers from our current position."

"ren..." Pyrrha whispered. "I... don't suppose you could destroy this gnosis, too?"

"I... probably could," ren nodded. "But at this size, it would take quite some time to dissipate... and then we'd be left in open space without protection. Do you mind?"

Pyrrha blanched. "I mind."

"Huh, that's a question I'd have expected from Jaune," Yang blinked.

"That is not something I was going to ask," Jaune remained defiant.

"Well, doesn't sound like we have much of a choice," Jaune commented. "Ten kilometers isn't too far- looks like we're walking."

PENNY took the lead, setting off in the direction from which she sensed the Serenity's signal.

"Ten kilometers- barely a warm-up for the Atlesian military," Winter couldn't help boasting.

"What about after one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups-" Yang started.

"We're not here to compare training regimens!" Ruby cut her off quickly.

Hazel had passed out alone, and woke up alone. He rose unsteadily to his feet and looked out over an enormous cliffside, overlooking what looked like an entire city. He felt the walls and floors, and immediately deduced what the others had. "Inside... inside a gnosis?" he pondered. He looked closer at the city, and paled.

Great, tall buildings reaching towards the sky- a great number of nuclear power plants, practicing fusion to meet the needs of an entire planet... he knew that skyline anywhere.

"That's the place he got the drive from the chick in black- the one that drove PENNY insane!" Nora recognized.

"Not just that... it's Chorus- the planet that disappeared!" Blake exclaimed, flipping through her notes again.

"No... it's not possible... this must... this must be a dream..."

He took a step forward, and found himself stumbling and slipping down the cliffside, finally landing, sprawled out at the city's edge. He closed his eyes, and for a moment, saw the city as it had once been, bustling with life. He rose to his feet, and thought he saw a young girl moving ahead of him- a young girl he remembered all too well.

"It... it can't be... Gretchen?"

"Gretchen?" Qrow leaned forward.

"His sister," Ozpin recalled. "She died during a training exercise at Beacon- it's caused a deep hatred for me in Hazel. I believe it's why he joined Salem's counsel."

"Wait, let me get this straight," Weiss raised her hands, looking flabbergasted. "His sister dies- presumably at the hands of a grimm-" (Ozpin nodded in agreement) "-so he turns against the people fighting the grimm and joins the woman who controls them to help kill more people?"

"That... is about the truth of the matter, yes," Salem, of all people, agreed.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"Yes... he was depressingly easy to manipulate," Salem heaved a sigh. "I feel he must have been dropped on his head multiple times as a child."

"Of course, that's no guarantee of how things are here... I hope," Ren found himself matching the Lady of Darkness's sigh.

He broke into a jog, moving through the streets towards her- but she disappeared- as did all the others, leaving only a simple black, wooden door, standing freely in the middle of a once- busy street. Three letters were inscribed upon it: 101.

His hand shook violently as he slowly reached towards the brass knob. He turned it, opening the door that opened upon a violent hellscape- the battleground upon which he had been raised. This wasn't Chorus... this was the battlefield of the Great War that he and his beloved sister Gretchen had been genetically engineered to fight in.

Child soldiers, the final act of desperation on the part of the Federation's shadier side, and made entirely possible through the Life Recycling Act Robyn Hill had forced through.

Hazel was all Gretchen had had to cling to in that hell, and she him. But after the war... in their desperation, she'd turned to that man... a man whose name still filled him with a blind fury... Sabat...

"No! No, I don't want to remember this!"

Gretchen, hanging from a ceiling, tears down her face...

The fury as he set out to find Sabat, finally killing him with his own hands...

"No! Stop it- stop it!"

"Talk about Metal Gear..." Jaune stared, open-mouthed and horrified. "Child soldiers, unable to reintegrate... stabbed in the back by the man who offered to help them..."

"At least he directed his anger at the person who actually got her killed in this world." Whitley sounded cold, but he was clearly shaking as well.

"I... if the same thing happened to Jaune, I don't know that I could..." Saphron stuttered.

The visions of Gretchen and Sabat finally ended- he found himself sitting on the defendant's seat in a vast courtroom. The death of a man so influential as Sabat was not going to go unpunished, after all, no matter that he had driven a simple genetic clone to suicide. Even his defense attorney had floundered for a way to protect him.

"Information on this man and his genetic brothers and sisters was largely destroyed during the war, but from what I see before me, I can see him as nothing other than a victim of the Life Recycling Act. He was born to fight- he knows nothing else. Capital punishment was abandoned with Lost Vytal- I see no reason to bring it back now."

Then, she had stood- Lady Marchie, that sadistic grin of hers firmly in place. "I believe I can think of another way for him to repay his debt to society. Nothing teaches discipline and respect, after all, like brain-erasing drugs."

Blake's ears flattened. "I... don't like her."

"Don't have to be a faunus to pick up on her aura," Neptune agreed, shivering.

"Very well," the Judge agreed. "This court hereby sentences the defendant, Hazel Rainart, to undergo Level 8 Reconditioning."

"With this," Marchie smiled, "the old you will cease to exist... but it also marks the birth of a brand new world for you!"

So he'd been forced through the 'Marchie Procedure,' as it was known- pumped full of nanomachines to destroy his personality- should it ever show signs of resurfacing, the sign of his pennance would shine upon his head- the roman numeral VIII, showing he'd undergone Level 8 reconditioning.

"Monstrous..." Ironwood's knuckles were white with his own horror.

"That's something I'd expect from the Schnees," Adam growled.

Torchwick didn't say anything- he was too busy shaking. He couldn't say why, but something about the whole situation was sending a greater chill up his spine than anything they'd seen so far.

"Wait- but it's not VIII that appears on his forehead!" Weiss realized. "Doesn't that mean- oh, my!"

The process was torturous. He recalled being strapped to a chair, screaming as it happened. "Stop! Please, stop, I beg you!"

"STOP!" he cried, momentarily bringing himself back to reality. He was not at war with Gretchen, he was not standing over Sabat's body, and he was most certainly not in that chamber with Marchie. They were all gone now- now, he needed to find the Serenity- he needed to find his way back to Adam. Adam would know what to do, Adam would be able to fix all of this, as he always did...

"I do find myself wondering again why a human has such faith in me," Adam muttered.

He took off, staggering down the street, struggling to shut all his memories away, where they belonged.

"Not the best of ideas," Ren shook his head. "I... don't have time for a lecture on Jungian psychology, but just repressing it is not a good idea."

The biology of the gnosis, as Jaune was quickly discovering, was not at all analogous to the biology of any other creature he'd ever seen. There were no internal organs here- ren had described their current predicament as 'the belly of the beast,' but they did not seem to be in any sort of belly. Rather, it seemed they had awoken within a series of tunnels and caves through which they now trudged in their efforts to find a way out.

The worst came when a four-legged creature came bounding towards them, its head a cone that tapered into a spike, long claws reaching out for them, roaring inhumanly.

"Gnosis inside a gnosis!" Neptune threw his arms in the air. "Why wouldn't there be?!"

"Watch out!" Jaune yelped, seeing that it was going directly for Pyrrha. He tackled her out of the way, only to find himself in its line of sight instead. Before it could attack him, however, what appeared to be a barrier of green energy appeared between the two of them- it hit the barrier and bounced back harmlessly.

Jaune heard a grunt and saw ren holding out his hands, seemingly maintaining the barrier. "Wha-"

"Stay back!" Blake roared, unsheathing the sword in her mechanical arm- but before she had the chance to use it, PENNY had already shifted her own arm into a cannon and blasted the foul creature away. "...I suppose that works, as well."

"So... ren has the same powers as Raven?" Jaune wondered.

"That's not my semblance at all!" Raven protested.

"Oh- not you, it's from a show- Teen Titans."

"A much cooler Raven," Yang couldn't help biting.

"And yes, those powers do seem quite similar," Ren agreed with Jaune's original point.

"There are gnosis in the gnosis?" Pyrrha gaped.

"Well, we have seen the gnosis using these larger whale-types as ships, of a sort," ren nodded. "Are you and Jaune okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Pyrrha nodded, accepting his offered hand up. "But... what was that you did? You... just made a barrier of energy, out of nowhere?" She eyed him up and down. "Let me guess... it's just something you can do?"

ren shrugged. "Sorry... I wish I had more answers for you."

"..." Yang narrowed her eyes, but dared not say anything lest Nora get mad again.

Jaune's eyes, however, had fallen on something else altogether. "Guys, look at this..."

He guided them forward, towards something that would normally be no cause for alarm- it was only the context that caused the wide eyes that fell upon it. After all, it was merely a roadsign, helpfully informing them that the Chorus Spaceport was thirteen kilometers to the north. Of course, this information would likely be more helpful if they were actually on Chorus.

"That... doesn't look like part of a gnosis," Pyrrha commented.

ren looked around. "It's not the only one- look."

Nearby was a large billboard advertising the upcoming Achieve Men concert, dated two years prior.

"What is this?" Ruby asked, eyes wide.

"Did this gnosis eat Chorus?" Sun wondered.

"No," Neptune shook his head. "We saw what happened to Chorus, remember? It didn't get eaten, it... wait, you're kidding me!"

"What... what?!"

"I... don't even want to say it, in case I'm wrong."

"They're not... coming out of the wall..." Jaune observed uncomfortably. "It's more like... like they're part of the wall itself..."

"...Though I really don't think I am."

"I have located the exit to this system of tunnels," PENNY announced, beckoning them towards what seemed to be the mouth.

They followed her, and found that the cavern they were exiting stood at the edge of a vast city, consisting of conical buildings, many of which seemed to be nuclear power plants.

"I... I know this city!" Jaune gaped. "We saw pictures of it on board the Discovery- this is the capital of Chorus! But... that's not possible..."

He and Pyrrha exchanged bewildered looks, and they were hardly alone.

"Chief, this shouldn't..."

"I know, but..." Jaune looked back at the city. "PENNY, when was the first sighting of the Leviathan?"

"Roughly eighteen months ago."

They didn't want to believe it, but everything seemed to fall too perfectly into place.

"You mean... somehow... this gnosis is Chorus?"

"OOOOHHHH, I wanted to be wrong!" Neptune panicked.

"But that... how could an entire planet become a gnosis?!" Pyrrha gaped.

"Somehow... through the use of that fake zohar," Blake trembled.

Melanie and Miltia had once more been left in charge of the Myrtenaster's bridge. Abruptly, one of the terminals began beeping- the realian manning it turned to the sisters. "We're receiving a signal from deep space!"

"What is it?" Melanie asked.

"It's resonating with Sector D!"

Melanie and Miltia looked at each other- within a second, Miltia had her scroll out and was contacting Iris.

"What is it?" the white-haired girl asked.

"There's a signal coming from deep space- resonating with Sector D," Miltia repeated.

"Sector- you think it's the last emulator?" Iris asked urgently.

"I'd consider that a strong possibility, yes," Melanie nodded.

"Chart a course for it," Iris instructed immediately. "I'm on my way. If it's in deep space, there will most likely be gnosis surrounding it- prepare for battle. We may have to play the hero."

"Yes, Weiss to the rescue!" Ruby pumped a fist. "And then we'll just need Yang to- oh, right..." She suddenly looked down sullenly.

"We'd better find out what happened to me soon," Yang growled.

"Hey, I still really don't get what's going on with me," Nora pointed out.

"Roger," the sisters nodded, relaying the captain's orders.

"Well, if anyone finds themselves between the gnosis and their prey..." Miltia mused ominously.

"God have mercy on their souls," Melanie agreed. "If there's anyone there... hold out, just a while longer."

"Maybe... I misjudged those two," Yang begrudgingly admitted.

"Tends to happen when you punch first and ask questions later," Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Goddammit!"

Qrow, Sun, Neptune, and Cardin had disembarked the Serenity with a rifle each and were currently working to hold back any gnosis that came near. As Cardin finished off the latest wave, he turned furiously to Qrow. "This is pointless- we should just get back on the ship and go!"

"Well, regardless of what he did or didn't do to any realians, he's still happy to ditch you," Coco frowned.

"He's the smartest one on that damn ship," Raven fired back.

"Hey, not without the others," Sun shook his head as he reloaded.

"Not like we could leave them behind if we wanted," Qrow pointed out, indicating the parts of Serenity that had been bonded to- almost absorbed by- the gnosis surrounding them. "We're gonna need ren to clear that up. My guess is, wherever he is, he's got the others with 'im."

"And of course, he'd never leave without his favorite niece!" Ruby preened.

Qrow met her gaze with a smirk. "...Nope."

"We don't even know if they're still alive!" Cardin pointed out furiously.

"Well, sounds to me like you'd better start praying 'cause we're not getting out without 'em," Neptune grunted as he shifted his aim.

"Ditching them would not be cool," Neptune agreed.

Jaune and the others descended down the hill into the city- the buildings' gnosification had transformed it into a labyrinth, forcing them to weave in and out of the ruined structures to make their way forward, always trusting PENNY's sensors to guide their way.

"I... I still can't believe it," Jaune whispered as they moved through the devastation. "I... thought Chorus's disappearance had something to do with gnosis, but... for it to have become one..."

"This is beyond anything I've ever seen," Pyrrha agreed.

"I'm no expert on the gnosis," Blake shook her head. "They're very recent from my perspective- they've only existed the last fifteen years or so."

"Since... the Fall of Beacon?" Ozpin asked in resignation.

"That does match the timeline," Blake confirmed.

"I've heard stories akin to this," ren admitted, "but... nothing on this scale..."

"I... don't like this place..." Ruby muttered, walking as closely to Blake as she could. "It's... sad."

Blake put a hand on her shoulder, but said nothing.

PENNY looked up and activated her cannon, indicating she'd sensed more approaching gnosis. From the buildings around them came the strangest specimens yet- they were barrel-shaped, tapering off at either end. Tentacles sprouted from both bottom and tom in a star formation that they alternatively used to locomote or even to fly towards them like a torpedo.

"Elder things?!" Blake and Whitley gasped in unison, then looked at each other in surprise.

"Elder what now?" Ruby asked, baffled.

"It's... a long story," Blake quickly brushed aside- Whitley quickly looked away.

Ruby and ren went on the defensive- ren didn't dare attempt his touch-killing maneuver, lest he accidentally dissipate the Leviathan that was, ironically enough, the only thing keeping them alive. Instead, he used his time and energy summoning and maintaining barriers to protect the others. Ruby crouched behind Blake, waiting to heal any damage done, while Blake and PENNY led their primary offense with their cannons, and Jaune provided support with his MWS. He'd doubted Neon before, but it had increasingly become his instinct to grab it the second things started looking bad. He supposed he owed her an apology for that doubt now.

"Sorry, crazy roller-skate cat lady," Jaune chuckled sheepishly.

Hazel continued his stagger through the ruins of the city, hands over his head as he attempted to shut out the memories. However, he could still hear blood flowing through his ears, creating a pulse that reminded him of a steadily beating heart. The heart grew louder and louder, reminding him of an ancient story he'd once read. Louder and louder, until he could tell the sound was not within his ears.

"'You should have seen me... you would have seen my eyes grow wide and cold with fear,'" Blake quoted quietly.

He stood before the entrance to his apartment, sighing. He knew the conversation coming up with his dear wife, Mandy Lee, was going to be anything but pleasant, but it was something that had to be done.

"Married? I thought he was brainwashed or something," Tai looked confused.

"I've been sayin' for years that those two go hand in hand," Qrow chuckled.

"Unless you find the right person," Ghira grunted, happily taking Kali's hand.

He opened the door to see her in the kitchen, smiling as she talked to an unknown person on the other end of the line. Her smile vanished the second she lay eyes on him. "...Just a moment, I'll call you back."

She hung up and crossed her arms. "Well? What are you looking at like a sick puppy?"

"She does not strike me as the right person," Kali frowned.

He held up the message he'd received. "Mandy... what's the meaning of this? Why would you apply for a cloning procedure- why can't we simply have a child of our own?"

"A child with you?" Mandy sneered. "What could possibly be less appealing? You think I want my children to be tainted by the garbage you call genes? Surely even you don't want the swill you call DNA to continue on? They can pump you full of all the nanotech they want, they'll never be able to make you more than what you are."

"Yeah... I'm guessing even Raven was a better wife," Qrow agreed.

Something stirred in the back of Hazel's mind- memories that the machines had been intended to suppress. "This is... this ismy fault?"

Mandy let out a scoff of laughter. "You haven't changed at all, have you, you brute? I suppose it's true what they say- you can't polish shit."

Hazel was taken aback. "If... if that's how you feel... why did you marry me?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a permit for cloning?" Mandy asked, forcefully taking the message of approval from his hand. "To be able to leave behind my legacy without letting myself be tainted by filth like you? Sweety, I'm not your wife, I'm your caretaker. And believe me, once I don't need you anymore, it's back out onto the streets where you belong. If I ever need real stimulation, I already have this."

She produced an Encephelon headset, the ultimate tool for virtual reality, and threw it into his face. He hardly seemed to notice- he was stunned beyond belief already. She pulled out her scroll and flipped her hair. "Now, be a dear and take your medicine, won't you? I'm the one who'll be held responsible if you don't."

"Ren, can I break her legs?" Nora growled.

"I suspect she's already been... broken," Ren scowled.

She recommenced her call, oblivious to Hazel's absolute motionlessness. His eyes had become dull, and the glowing numeral VIII was standing out brightly on his forehead.

Wordlessly, he began taking step after step towards her. It wasn't a conscious effort to step on and destroy the headset she'd thrown at him- he neither noticed nor cared. He was reaching out to her... he could feel her in his hands...

The next thing he knew, he was back in the courtroom.

"In accordance with Federation Law, the defendant will now undergo Level 9 Personality Reconditioning. As of now, defendant 24601's human rights are revoked- he will now be treated purely as an asset of the Federation."

"Yup- he didn't bother with the legs- went straight for the neck," Coco adjusted her sunglasses. "Can't say I feel too bad for her."

Marchie had been delighted to put him through her procedure again, now engraving his forehead with the numeral IX.

"I... I've heard many things in Heaven... I've seen many things in Hell..." Hazel choked out as he practically dragged himself out of the memory. "But that vulture's eye... of a cold pale blue... it's the eyes of the Devil herself."

"Way she's actin', I can't blame him for seein' her that way," Yang agreed through narrowed eyes.

"But he's still on nine... something else must have happened after this..." Weiss chewed on her nails.

Where had he heard those words before? The story he'd been recalling? He didn't think so- it hadn't been verse. A poem based on it? That sounded more likely.

"Allan Parson's Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination," Jack nodded approvingly. "Look it up when you've got the time, and thank me later."

He rose to his feet, and found himself on a very familiar street- a street he had no more desire to remember than anything else he'd seen today.

Staggering down the street, not in much better shape than he was now, simply running an errand for the company to which he now belonged...

There was the girl. He'd normally have paid her no mind, but she stirred something in his memory... she resembled somebody he'd once known...

He staggered towards her- she looked up at him in surprise.

"...Gretchen?" he choked out- he hardly knew where the name was coming from.

"Mommy said not to talk to people like you," the girl said. "She said people like you are

Garbage.

Garbage.

Garbage.

GARBAGE.

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He had no firm memories of what had happened to the girl... but based on what happened next, he was able to guess.

"He... I don't know what to..." Ruby stammered out.

"He needed help... help that nobody was willing to offer," Blake crossed her arms. "I don't know who to blame... but now children are paying the price."

When he next came to, Marchie was standing over him, smiling that wicked smile of his. "I don't think I've ever seen a psyche this persistent," she was noting. "No matter- this is a wonderful chance to test out Level Ten!"

His blood ran cold- he remembered everything... everything he'd been through, everything he'd done. And this witch was going to take it all from him all over again. No... he wouldn't live in this... in this eternal recurrence any longer.

"Stop it... Stop it... STOP IIIIIIIIIT!"

He pulled against his restraints with everything he had.

"That's no use, you know," Marchie had smirked as she turned towards him. "Those bindings are- are- oh, my God!"

Be it through strength or sheer force of will, he broke free, and a second later, Marchie's horrified face lay lifeless on the floor. He tore his way out of the building, sparing no thought for anyone who stood in his way. It was only when he finally made it outside that he collapsed, wordlessly, onto his knees, where he remained for the next several hours. Rain poured down upon him... everyone around him was dead. He was alone for the first time in so long... but now he had nothing. There was nothing for him at all.

"I don't think I feel bad for her, either," Ruby admitted.

"Even a saint's patience may be tested..." Ren reflected, still white with horror at it all.

He hardly noticed the arrival of the ship overhead- the footsteps as a man approached, his boots clacking against the concrete.

"Hmm... I must admit, when I was informed that this entire facility had been slaughtered by one man, this isn't quite what I had in mind... I envisioned a mighty warrior, not this sad stray."

Hazel slowly looked up and took in the man. He was tall, with crimson hair, from the front of which protruded a pair of bull horns. His eyes were concealed behind a steel visor with three scarlet slits allowing for vision. He wore a black longcoat over his uniform, and a lengthy katana at his side. His arms were crossed as he scowled down at the man he'd apparently come to see.

"Heard there was a strong man, came to recruit him," Torchwick surmised. "Things are startin' to come together."

Hazel glowered, then lunged.

The man dodged, almost effortlessly, delivering a quick strike to the back of his neck.

"Hmm... a life recycling variant. Yes, that explains a lot."

Hazel rolled over, staring up at the sky, where the rain had just begun to clear.

"Reality... is cruel, isn't it?" the man- who he'd swiftly come to recognize as Commander Adam Taurus- pondered as he drew closer. "Though... the only reality you know is cruelty and pain."

He knelt down, extending a hand, and in that moment, the sun perfectly fell behind him, bestowing him a halo through the dark clouds around him.

"Share your pain with me, and with me alone."

"So that's why he's so loyal..." Saphron almost whispered. "He was the first person to treat him as... well, a person."

"Pure manipulation, I would guess..." Ironwood looked sadly down. "Still, better than anything he'd been shown before."

"Or perhaps affection for a fellow victim of subjugation," Adam grunted, though deep down, he was still surprised his other would have such empathy for a human regardless.

At long last, the group stood before a large tower, reaching almost all the way to the top of the vast cavern they'd found themselves in. Its original appearance was impossible to tell- it had been too thoroughly consumed by the gnosis, leaving only a set of doors before them.

"Why does that look... so familiar?" Jaune pondered.

"I think... the architecture of this building is similar to Beacon on Old Vale," ren speculated. "It's difficult to say, though. It seems to be in the center of the cavern- I wonder if that indicates a special importance to the gnosis?"

"I'm not sure how much ground we'll gain trying to apply human logic to gnosis," Pyrrha shook her head.

Blake looked down to find Ruby gently tugging at her arm. "We... we're not going to end up like that, are we?"

"No," Blake assured her. "We'll get out before that happens."

"Right," Jaune nodded his agreement. "PENNY, are you still reading the Serenity?"

"Negative," PENNY denied, sending a jolt through the hearts of those around her. "The gnosis' magnetic and gravitational fields have become unstable this close to the center. However, the last known coordinates indicate a location approximately three hundred meters below our current position."

"Do you think we can get there through the tower?" Ruby asked. "Maybe there's an elevator or something?"

"We could certainly have devised a worse plan," ren smiled gently. "PENNY, would you like to take the lead?"

"Would an elevator still be functional after a year and a half of disuse?" Penny wondered.

"It shouldn't... but these worlds have surprised us before," Blake shrugged.

Hazel was on his last legs as he dragged himself through an underground tunnel. "I... I know this place..." He was far past trying to shut out the memories. He fully understood they would continue coming, whether he wanted them to or not.

The Zohar Emulator had been erected in the central square of Chorus's capital. Hazel looked down on a ship from above- the Chateau knew very well just how dangerous these artifacts could be.

He opened a video call with Adam. "Commander Taurus," he bowed his head. "Preparations for the link experiment are complete. Commencement in sixty minutes."

"Excellent," Adam praised.

"If I may ask, why did you assign me this task?"

"A test of loyalty," Adam explained. "To truly fulfill your role within the Chateau, you must cast aside your bonds to your previous life. Are you having second thoughts?"

"I'd be shocked if he did," Tai grunted. "Probably can't wait to ditch this place."

"Absolutely not," Hazel responded immediately. "They are of no relevance to the Chateau... of no consequence to me."

Adam scanned Hazel's eyes, but seemed to detect no lie. "Well said, Rainart," he nodded. "Contact me once the experiment is concluded."

Hazel nodded, and ended the call.

"Still... so many innocent people..." Velvet remembered sadly.

He looked out one last time, his last chance to see the planet before the experiment truly began.

His breath caught in his throat- far below, he thought he could see Mandy Lee, standing by the girl.

He firmly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the apparitions were gone. He did not look down again as his ship took him out of the atmosphere.

"Even after all that, he still feels guilty, somewhere deep down..." Ruby almost shed a tear.

At last, he forced himself out of his memories again, looking up to find himself in front of one giant door.

"That door... looks pretty ominous," Yang couldn't help noticing.

Right in the center of what must have once been a lobby, there was an elevator. "Is it operational?" Blake asked concernedly.

PENNY oberved it closely. "Yes, it is."

"After two years without any maintenance?" Jaune asked, surprised.

"I believe it became operational very recently," PENNY supplied. "It is receiving power from a rather unorthodox source."

"Unorthodox?" Pyrrha asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"...Unknown."

"The fake zohar?" Sun guessed.

"Can't think of anything else," Neptune agreed.

"It seems to me we have two choices- take it or find another way," Blake pointed out. "I'm certain there are stairs around, or a ladder, if we don't trust the elevator's power."

Jaune hesitated. "PENNY... is it safe?"

"I estimate a ninety-seven percent probability that the elevator will safely deliver us to our desired destination."

Jaune shrugged, and pressed the call button. A moment later, the doors slid open, revealing the only space they had seen thus far that wasn't contaminated by the gnosification. He stepped on- Pyrrha and PENNY both followed. Blake and Ruby followed, ren bringing up the rear- it was a little cramped between the six of them. The elevator descended quickly, but not so quickly that they felt threatened at any point before the doors slid open, allowing them into yet another vast chamber.

"Always happy to be of service!" Penny eagerly saluted.

"You've been doing well, Penny," Ironwood flashed her a paternal smile.

It was dark, full of machines that had succumbed to the corruption, leaving only a set of stairs leading to what seemed almost a stage- and the object above it. It was, as PENNY had said, the very golden monolith that the Discovery had picked up during their investigation. It was easily identifiable by the letter Omega imprinted into its face as it hovered slightly above the ground.

"So that's... the Zohar?" Jaune repeated the terminology he'd heard PENNY use earlier.

"No, the fake, we've been over this," Whitley sighed heavily.

Speaking of PENNY, she suddenly pushed her way to the front of the group. "We must move quickly," she said.

"PENNY?" Jaune asked. "PENNY, you'd better not be going off on your own again!"

PENNY ignored him, standing still as she gazed up at the monolith. "This is the gnosis that captured the emulator at the site."

"Emulator?" Jaune repeated. "So... whatever this Zohar thing is... this isn't the real one?"

"Correct."

"You'd better-" Neo started.

"PENNY, how do you know all this? I know I didn't put any of this into your databanks- you, Pyrrha?"

"Not as far as I remember," Pyrrha agreed.

"Oh- yes, thank you," Neo blinked.

"You... you two... you... created that... that thing... and you don't even know about... the Zohar?"

Everyone spun to see Hazel Rainart staggering out from behind platform. He was ghost-white, trembling, his eyes jaundiced.

"Commander Rainart!" Jaune gasped. "Are you okay?" He looked around. "Ruby, quick, he needs help!"

"Right!" Ruby began moving forward, , but stopped when they all saw him begin to fade- within a second, he had the same transparency as the gnosis.

"Wha- Commander?" Jaune didn't know what to do but stand there, stunned.

"Escape?" Hazel grunted. "There is no escape... no escape!"

"Um... nobody mentioned escaping," Ruby pointed out.

"I fear he is beyond such reasoning now," Ren bit his lip.

He looked around him, swatting as if surrounded by invisible insects. "STOP IT! GO AWAY! I ADMIT IT! I ADMIT IT- I'M THE ONE WHO DESTROYED CHORUS! ALL THOSE PEOPLES' BLOOD IS ON MY HANDS!"

He held out his hands towards the stunned group, tears flowing from his eyes. "LOOK AT THEM! DO YOU SEE IT? DO YOU SEE THE BLOOD?! ALL THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE- GNOSIS!"

"Hazel!" ren spoke up urgently, moving forward, holding his hands up placatingly. "Hazel, stay with us-"

"When Renny starts panicking, it doesn't mean anything good!" Nora joined Weiss in chewing on her nails.

"Chew your own nails, you brute!"

Hazel held his arms wide. "HEAR MY CONFESSION! SET ME FREE FROM THIS LIVING DEATH!"

As if in response, orbs of a dark grey light seemed to appear, as if from nowhere- perhaps from the monolith. They flew towards Hazel, entering his body and vanishing.

"What's happening?!" Pyrrha asked, horrified.

"All scans read negative," PENNY commented.

"Then... then what are we seeing?" Jaune reiterated, aghast.

ren seemed more desperate. "Hazel! Hazel, listen to my voice, you need to calm down!"

"He seems to understand something the others don't," Penny noticed.

"And he's tryin' ta keep it from happening!" Nora yelped.

Hazel reared back, and punched ren across the room with a fist that was growing in size, changing- it seemed as though it was covered in a dark, coarse hair. The monolith was growing brightly, but Hazel was paying it no mind, his body twisting and warping.

"He... he... a gnosis?" Ruby had no idea how to respond- her sensors told her plainly what was in front of them, but she struggled to understand how it could be.

"People... can become gnosis?" Ironwood gasped, taken aback.

Finally, the thing that had been Hazel fell to the ground, letting out a roar. It was an enormous beast rippling with muscle. It was mostly humanoid, but its legs became more bovine, until they ended with hooves. Its head was that of an enormous bull, with the upper half of a bull's torso extending out behind. In place of a snout, there was a skull.

"This is horrifying, yeah..." Yang's heart was racing, "but that design is also kinda metal as hell."

Blake's fist was clenching. "It... it's just like before..."

Visions flashed before her eyes of what she'd seen before- a monolith, glowing over the pulpit of a church... and that woman standing before it, her arms spread wide as she delivered her twisted sermon.

"B...Blake?"

Ruby's frightened squeak forced Blake back to the present- with the large beast clearly intent on killing them all. "Ruby, help ren. Jaune, Pyrrha, stay back- PENNY, with me."

"A flash from her past?" Kali immediately perked up.

"A hint as to why she... did what she did?" Ghira also leaned forward.

"Unfortunately, I think she is correct that they need to focus on the present right now." Ozpin was guzzling his coffee now.

"Affirmative," PENNY nodded, extending an arm that transformed into a blade.

"But... PENNY- that... that's Hazel! That's the commander!" Jaune objected.

"Not anymore," Blake shook her head, moving forward, summoning her launcher into her good hand while unsheathing the blade within her other.

Ruby hurried to ren, who was already pulling himself up. "Mystic powers, grant me a miracle!" she chanted, filling him with her healing light.

"Thank you, Ruby," he smiled as he rose to his feet. "You... may want to look away."

"I... no, I need to see this," Ruby finally decided.

He rushed forward, raising his hands and summoning a barrier that narrowly deflected one of the great beast's strikes just before it would have hit Blake. She turned and leapt up onto the arm, digging her blade in and aiming her launcher at the beast's head and opening fire.

It only seemed to get angrier, swatting at her with its other arm- until PENNY dug her sword into it, dragging it down and causing as much damage as possible.

It screamed, and spun to shake them off- they both landed deftly on their feet as ren rushed in, striking at its chest with an open palm. More of that green energy crackled forth, sending a shock through the creature, but clearly not enough to make it disappear.

"Can you pin it down?" he called as he began ducking and weaving. "If I can make sure I'm only touching him, I should be able to stop him!"

Blake had no idea what he was talking about, but PENNY called out an affirmation. Once again, she leapt up and drove her sword into the fist, driving it all the way through to the ground beneath. Deciding to follow suit, Blake used her launcher to draw the beast's attention and used her blade to pin its other arm as well.

The beast roared in fury as ren approached it- there was no anger or fear in his eyes, only a pronounced sadness. "Poor, lost soul... may you be reborn anew."

"Gotta get that self-righteous bullshit in there somewhere," Raven scoffed. Nobody chastised her- it wasn't clear that anybody even heard her.

He stepped up onto one of the arms and pulled off a glove before reaching out and gently caressing the beast's face.

The effect was immediate- the beast ceased its struggling, immediately calmed. From the point he had touched, just as before, it began to dissolve. It spread down both arms and its torso, until at last, it was gone.

As was Hazel Rainart.

"Is it just me..." Velvet asked tentatively, "or did he seem... relieved, at the end there?"

"It's not... just you," Jaune shook his head- he thought very much that he'd seen the same.

Blake and PENNY stowed away their weapons and turned to the others. Blake hurried to Ruby's side, ren and PENNY to Jaune and Pyrrha. All three looked horrified.

Jaune was on his knees, eyes and mouth wide with horror.

"J...Jaune?" Ruby stuttered out.

"Where... where did he go?" Jaune forced out, still failing to comprehend the evidence of his own senses.

ren's look of sadness had not disappeared- did not disappear even as he knelt at Jaune's side. "Jaune," he whispered.

"ren!" Jaune turned and clung to him as if he was the only thing in the world. "ren... what happened? Where is he? What... what have we done?"

ren gently placed his hands around Jaune's shoulders. "Jaune... the truth... isn't always a pleasant thing to know."

"How true..." Ozpin little more than whispered to himself.

Ruby looked up to Blake, who was fighting to keep her face still. "Blake... what happened?"

"I wish... I could tell you," Blake muttered, placing a gentle hand on the realian's back.

"Chief..." Pyrrha felt powerless, forced once again to watch Jaune suffer while she could do nothing about it.

"ren... are we all going to... to end up like him?" Jaune asked.

"No," ren assured him gently. "We're still here, aren't we? We're still here- none of us have turned... and I don't believe we will. Here... stand up."

He placed an arm under Jaune's and helped to hoist him to his feet.

"Yes... I don't understand exactly why it happened, but it doesn't seem to be an effect of being inside the gnosis," Penny assessed.

"Little comfort though that is..." Blake mumbled.

PENNY looked around. "We are near to the Serenity," she announced. "We ought to board as soon as we are able."

The rest of the group, shaking, followed her to a door opposite of the one they'd entered. They opened it to find another tunnel, which, after about a kilometer, emptied out into another cavern- where the Serenity stood, still being defended by Qrow, Sun, Neptune, and Cardin.

"Well, it's about damn time you showed up!" Qrow called. "C'mon, hurry on board! ren, we're gonna need a little assistance digging her out."

ren nodded solemnly as everyone else boarded. Cardin grunted, and was on his way in when he heard Qrow- "Say, where'd Tiny go?"

Jaune, one foot on the ship already, froze, tears threatening to start spilling from his eyes.

ren met Qrow's gaze as steadily as he could. "He... won't be joining us."

Qrow's eyes widened, but he seemed to accept it relatively quickly. "Well... we won't spit in his face by dying here. C'mon."

"Credit where it's due- well done keeping a cool head in a time like this," Winter grudgingly acknowledged.

"There's a reason for my medicine of choice, Ice Queen," Qrow muttered, downing another full flask.

ren nodded, kneeling down next to the ship. He removed his glove and ran his hand along the ground. The second it began to dissipate, he hurried back onto the ship, which quickly slammed shut behind him.

Serenity was free within seconds- a minute later, Sun located a gap that allowed them to steer out of there- back into the sea of gnosis waiting on the other side.

"Crap... forgot about these goons," Qrow grumbled, taking a swig from his flask. "Better floor it, Sun."

"What, you thought my plan was to sit around here all day?" Sun scoffed. "No, thanks."

"Out of the frying pan and into the microwave," Sun sighed heavily.

"Fire," Neptune corrected. "It's 'out of the frying pan and into the fire.'"

"Shut up, don't be a nerd..."

He picked up as much speed as he could, tearing off across the void- but the sea of gnosis was unrelenting.

"I'm not sure this is a problem we can just run away from," Neptune fretted. "We've got half the gnosis in the universe riding our tails!"

No sooner had he said that than a barrage of photon torpedoes rained down upon the gnosis, wiping out entire swathes.

"The hell?" Qrow asked, surprised.

Neptune, who'd just been looking like he was ready to fill out his will, now looked as though Christmas had come early. "IT'S THE MYRTENASTER! WE'RE SAVED!"

"Weiss to the rescue!" Ruby cheered.

"I do believe we picked the proper coordinates," Iris nodded from her captain's seat. "So, whose skin do we have the pleasure of saving today?"

"Registration confirmed- it's the Serenity," Melanie confirmed.

"Qrow, is it?" Iris scoffed. "What has that man dragged us into this time? This is leagues out of his projected course!"

"Oh, right, I'm technically working for the Ice Queens," Qrow remembered.

"I suppose your other must have some merit to remain in my employ," Winter sniped.

She took a deep breath. "I suppose it hardly matters- we can't exactly leave him to die. All guns target the gnosis! Cut open an escape path for the Serenity and annihilate the enemy!"

A second later, every gun the Myrtenaster had was firing, and entire waves of gnosis were being destroyed, creating quite the fireworks show.

"I imagine even my other considers this a sight for sore eyes," Qrow retaliated half-heartedly.

Sun let out a low whistle. "Impressive as ever, Young Mistress!"

"It's not going to be enough," Jaune said gravely. "These things have destroyed entire fleets before."

"Not including the Myrtenaster, they haven't," Neptune grinned.

"It does look like the equivalent of a dreadnought," Ironwood nodded.

Miltia, however, seemed to take Jaune's view. "This is no good, Young Mistress, there are too many of them. We're still low on ammo from the battle with U-TIC."

Iris sighed. "I always have had a problem with remembering to reload... if it weren't for that, this would be nothing."

"That's something I'd expect from-"

"From Yang, yes, we get it!" Weiss interrupted.

"Reinforcements coming from five-o-clock," Melanie reported. "We're being boxed in."

"Maybe we should consider sending up a white flag?" Miltia asked wryly.

"That's... one plan." Iris bit her lip, not quite hard enough to draw blood, but rather close.

"Who's gonna save you all now?" Neo asked with a smirk.

"These bastards are coordinated," Sun grunted. "They've got one team swarming the Myrtenaster, another chasing us. Hate to say it, Cap, but they're faster and more maneuverable- we can only outrun 'em for so long."

"Any plans, Captain?" Cardin asked coldly.

Qrow sighed. "Yup, the old standby- get as drunk as we can so we can at least go out with a smile."

"That's more what I expect from this one," Winter groaned.

"Lady, if you've got a better idea, I'm achin' at the bit to hear it," Qrow rolled his eyes.

Jaune shook his head. "No, there has to be a way- PENNY, can you- where's PENNY?"

Everyone spun around, noticing for the first time that PENNY was nowhere to be found.

"I'd like to put my faith in her, but... I'm not sure what even she can do," Ruby muttered hopelessly.

She was moving through the ship as fast as she could, moving towards an elevator that would take her through to a hatch on the ship's roof. Once she stood on it, she allowed it to carry her upwards, the upper hatch sliding open to permit her egress.

"It appears she is willing to try regardless!" Penny beamed at her other.

"What the- Hatch Seventeen is open!" Neptune reported. "Casting to monitor!"

A screen appeared, showing PENNY from the back as she made her ascent.

"PENNY!" Jaune yelled. "PENNY, what are you doing? Get back here! There are too many, even for you!"

"Jaune..."

PENNY's eyes had been closed, but at Jaune's calls, they flicked open, revealing a shift in color from scarlet to a deep, emerald green.

"That- strange, her eyes are red in this world. Seeing her with her normal eye color is somehow odd," Ironwood considered.

"Why would her eyes change color in the first place?" Winter pondered. Unspoken, they two communicated- she has no such function.

"Will feeling pain... make me complete?"

"Uh... what?" Yang stared. "Is she going emo?"

"I don't think that's it," Blake shook her head severely.

"What?" Jaune asked, cupping an ear. "What did you say?"

"The air's too thin!" Neptune fretted. "We can't hear her!"

The elevator deposited her at the top of the ship, allowing her to step forward, magnetizing her feet to keep herself rooted as she faced the army of gnosis.

"What's your plan, PENNY, what's your plan?" It was Ruby's turn to start chewing through her nails.

"The emulators are increasing their output!" reported one of the realian pilots. "The inhibitors can't contain them anymore!"

"What the hell, what the hell?" Iris's fretting was letting her own inhibitors loose. "This is not the time for them to be acting up! Get those inhibitors functioning again!"

"I'd say it's weird to hear the princess cursing," Yang gulped, "but considering what we've seen those things do before..."

"They're rejecting all commands!" the pilot fretted. "I... I don't know what's going to happen!"

"PENNY?" Ruby sat up straight. "Is it PENNY resonating with them?"

PENNY stood her ground against all the approaching gnosis, and finally made her move. With the energy she was tapping into, she opened up the front of her stomach. A bright light shone from within. From her back emerged a spiralling crystal of energy, almost in the shape of a flower. She held out her hands, and a colossal beam of light poured from the opening, disintegrating every gnosis that it touched, pulling the fragments towards her, absorbing them into her. She turned, destroying a third of their assailants within seconds. In less than a minute, they were all gone.

With everyone's safety confirmed, she lowered her hands- the light all disappeared, the opening closed again, and with a final blink, her eyes had returned to their natural scarlet.

...

...

...

"What the actual fuck?" Torchwick stared. "We've seen our share of deus ex machina bullshit, but that is some deus... ex... machina... bullshit."

"I'm guessing everyone else is as caught off guard as we are," Qrow took a long, slow drink.

"And she couldn't have done that during their initial attack?" Raven scoffed.

"Because the other emulators weren't there to draw on," Ozpin assessed. "Whatever she did, it seems that they were key to it. It's not something she could have done on her own."

Iris blinked. "Well... that was... a thing." It truly spoke volumes that this was the only way she knew to describe what had just transpired.

"She's even taking my lines!" Yang wailed.

The bridge of the Serenity was silent for a full minute. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Qrow that finally broke this silence. He chuckled, and downed the rest of his flask. "Well, hell's bells, that wasn't so bad."

"Chief... that... did that really just happen?" Pyrrha finally asked after a moment of opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish.

"I... she... it's like she... absorbed all the gnosis..." Jaune was only able to summon a basic summation of what they'd just witnessed. "I... we never... how could she... that was... impossible."

"Then I'll thank her for it even more," Qrow brushed aside. "Who gives a shit if it was impossible- we're alive, ain't we? I'll buy her a whole oil rig when we land."

"Never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth," Qrow shrugged.

"I would certainly like to know a little more about what happened... but for now, yes, all we have is that it is somehow tied to the emulators," Ozpin considered.

"Hey, uh, Captain?" Neptune piped up. "The Young Mistress is buzzing us."

"Hm?" Qrow looked around. "Oh, right- patch her through."

A screen quickly appeared with a young woman with long white hair, but Jaune had no eyes for her- he was still looking at PENNY.

This... this isn't the PENNY I built. Coco... is this your hand at work? Is this the PENNY you envisioned?

"No idea," Coco shrugged. "Hell, if you wannna tell me my other was that awesome, I'm not gonna complain."

Once negotiations were complete to bring the Serenity on board, Iris looked out into the distance, spying a glint of gold. "You see that, Melanie? Miltia?"

"Yes... we see it, Young Mistress," Melanie agreed.

"You know what to do?"

"Of course. We will store it in Sector D immediately."

"Good. If the records are right, that's all of them. Once we it and the Serenity aboard, set a course for the Foundation."

"Wait, how did I not notice that?!" Adam suddenly roared. "The Schnees have all the emulators?!"

"They do," Vanessa confirmed. "In the interest of answering some of your questions... we'll keep going here a little longer."

XXXX

And so we shall. I think one more episode of Voyage Home before I'm ready to go back to Shambhala. If you'd like to see that return happen quicker, I'm always accepting reviews- it's nice to see people favoriting and following, but reviews are my real fuel, and things happen slower when I'm cut off. Until next time, don't you dare go hollow- Gamer4 out.