The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

....To the Same Pitiful Fate.

It was a shorter flight than Blake expected to Mountain Glenn. She could guess it was about an hour before they finally flew through a wide hole in an empty street, depositing them in a massive underground cavern. Her "rescuer" had sat quietly across from her, constantly fiddling with a tablet and whispering to a small robot perched on his shoulder. When they landed, he had waved away the rest of the guards and grabbed her roughly by the handcuffs keeping her hands behind her back.

"I'll take care of the prisoner. You all focus on unloading this dust!" He pointed to the robotic dragon on his shoulder, which flew itself high into the air. "Isis is going to monitor the shipments, just to make sure everything goes right where it belongs. We don't need any thievery among thieves, now do we?"

The rest of the guards shot each other uncertain looks, but simply shrugged and seemed to enjoy having less work to do. As they walked away from the airship, Blake finally got a good look at the full breadth of their operation.

They were in some kind of underground settlement, filled with run-down looking buildings and a massive subway system. The stolen dust was being loaded onto the cars of a huge train, along with enough weapons to supply a small army.

"I don't get it... we're so far out of Vale, how is any of this going to do any good?" she whispered.

"Good? Nothing good about it..." he muttered in return. "But they're planning to use the train as a battering ram into Vale's underground. They've got men, weapons, and by the time they get there, those dust bombs will have attracted enough Grimm to overrun half the city."

Blake shook her head, hardly able to believe it. "Bringing in an army of Grimm? Working with humans? They've only gotten worse since I left..."

"It's not all their fault. They've got some pretty harsh masters cracking the whips over their heads. I think you might know one of them?"

Blake felt a shiver run down her spine. "Adam... I thought he'd never find me."

"He's early. He shouldn't have shown up until the end of the Vytal Festival- hold on." Penn shook his head as they rounded a corner and passed a group of masked workers. Blake felt an elbow press into her spine, forcing her to stumble forward. "Quit staring, kid! You're a prisoner, not a tourist!"

Blake turned back and gave him a glare, but his full-face mask didn't give any sign that he cared what she thought. Once the workers were gone, he leaned in to whisper into her ear. "Sorry, gotta keep up appearances. I finally earned my way here, can't screw it up now..."

"I understand, just watch the elbow, would you? And why would you want to be HERE?"

"Because they're months ahead of schedule! This wasn't supposed to be ready until almost the end of your second semester, but this last shipment of dust is everything they need!" he hissed. "If someone doesn't stop it soon, there might not be a chance to!"

"And WHO was responsible for helping them GET that dust?"

"Okay, look, part of being a double agent is actually WORKING for both sides!" he hissed. "And once you're out of here, I can get back to work negating the help I've given them!"

"Wait, what if you get caught? They'll-"

"Probably do unspeakable things to me, yes," he whispered. "Especially Adam. Still better than getting caught by the person who chased me here."

Blake looked around her again, now feeling the tension in the air of a coiled serpent ready to strike. "We have to stop them."

"Working on it..."

Blake stopped walking, straightening her posture. "No, we have to stop them NOW!"

"Don't you think your inability to listen to and trust your team has caused enough trouble for one night?"

THAT stung more than she expected.

"Do you know what was SUPPOSED to happen, Blake Belladonna? Because I can tell you, if you want..." his voice dropped low, deathly serious. "The first time Yang Xiao Long and Adam Taurus encountered one another, it was over in one strike. Yang lost an arm and was deeply traumatized. Do you know WHY that didn't happen tonight?" He paused there, but Blake couldn't think of a response. "Because Sunset Shimmer knew how to find you. Because I told her where to find you! She KNEW going to the docks was dangerous because I told her, and she brought the people who love and care for you along to protect you together. And you managed to even screw THAT up by still leaping into the fray without thinking! Sunset nearly DIED at Adam's hands, and I was too busy fighting YOU to protect her!"

Blake felt every word stack another ten pound weight on her head, crushing her spirit a little more.

"So forgive me if I don't trust your judgement over an entire month's worth of planning on my part."

They continued their walk across the compound in silence for a while after that. Finally, a question rose up in Blake's mind more urgent than her guilt.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Around the edges, where nobody can see us. Officially, I've never been here before. However... I stashed a vehicle in the tunnels these tracks go down about a week ago. Isis can drive it here to pick you up once we're far enough into the train tunnel to let you go without being seen." He sighed. "You're going to have to punch me or something, give me a real shiner of a black eye to convince them you overpowered me and escaped."

"That's it? I'm just going to run away again?"

"Yes." He made the statement with a sense of finality. "You were nearly responsible for Sunset's death. If you knew what I've done to keep her safe in the past..." he sighed, the heavy kind of sigh weighed down by regret. "...you'd be much more frightened than you are right now."

Blake paused to think on that. "She worries about YOU just as much, you know."

"Maybe. Doubt it." For someone who had been so talkative up until now, the response was surprisingly tight-lipped.

"Why would you doubt it? She asks Isis about you all the time, she's always telling us that she would trust you with her life!"

"Because I'm a top-tier worrier. If Sunset was as worried as I am, we'd collapse into a black hole of worry and never let the other one out of our sight again." He let a short pause fall before beginning to speak again.

At last, they reached a large tunnel in the wall, where the train tracks disappeared into darkness. Together, they walked into the dark, and Blake felt the cuffs holding her hands slip away. Now that she was free, she gave them a quick rub before turning around to face her captor. He had taken his mask off in the dark and was looking blindly ahead, but she could see him just fine.

"You know, I used to be terrified of the dark when I was a kid..." he chuckled to himself as the two of them continued through the dark, now walking side by side. "I was always worried that there was some thing out there, just waiting to sink its fangs into me the moment I stopped being able to see... Guess I had an overactive imagination."

"You don't seem too worried now."

He shook his head, smiling. "I shared a room with my brother. I'd ask him to tell me stories. I changed that overactive imagination from a threat into a tool. Eventually, I stopped being afraid of what was in the dark, it was just a screen where fantasies could play out. A warm blanket closing in around me. Even when he didn't tell me stories any more, I liked the dark because it wrapped me up in itself, like a hug. I turned the monster into my friend."

"That's... very creative."

He shrugged. "Everything's a matter of perspective, I guess. Things are as scary as you make them." He took a deep breath, made the motion of blindly checking his watch, and came to a stop. "This is where we part ways..." he muttered, reaching into his jacket. A moment later, Gambol Shroud was back in Blake's hands. It was such a comfort, feeling her weapon back in her hands. He squinted slightly, peering past her and down the tunnel. "I think I can see the headlights coming. You ready to give me your 'goodbye present?'"

Blake had to admit, as much as she had been willing and eager to fight him back at the docks, knowing the truth made it a lot harder for her to hit the guy. "What'll happen to you? Think they'll buy it?"

"Long as you make it believable enough, sure." He shrugged, still staring blankly ahead. "You think I should put the mask back on so you can break it? That would look pretty cool." Blake turned and glanced over her shoulder, beginning to see the first hints of the headlights he had mentioned. When she turned back, however, she nearly screamed.

Penn was still staring ahead as if nothing was wrong... and Adam was standing just behind him, the blade of his sword hovering just above his throat. He raised a single finger to his lips, ordering her to stay silent.

"Blake? I can't really see, but you gasped. Is breaking a mask some kind of social faux pas? Did I say something insulting?"

Blake swallowed her fear, staring straight into Adam's visor, watching for any signs of his next move. "N-No, I just- I just remembered what you said about not having your aura unlocked. I can't hit you too hard, or you'll get really hurt. Doesn't that mean you could have died back at the docks?"

He shrugged, blissfully unaware. "I've gotten pretty good with my shields, Isis has been drilling me with them for weeks! I was pretty confident I could stop anything lethal."

Blake saw Adam raise an eyebrow, bringing the blade closer to his skin, and Blake shook her head, silently pleading for his life. She tightened her grip on Gambol Shroud, readying herself for a fight. Adam responded with a smile. They both knew HE was in control of the situation, and he was relishing in it. Even in this small moment, he was squeezing every ounce of pleasure he could from watching her squirm. The car was coming quickly, and it wouldn't be long before even a human's limited vision would be plenty to see the sword just beneath his chin. Their time was limited, which meant someone would have to act soon.

Her escape was over before it had begun, but there was still good that could come out of this. Blake was going to have one chance to save his life.

Blake didn't like her semblance, what it represented. It was just an extension of how she had faced her problems for a long time: running away. She could create a double of herself that would last for an instant, while her true self escaped with a burst of speed. But it wasn't JUST for escaping... not any more.

Blake activated her semblance, using the boost to slip inside Adam's defenses and bat away his sword with her own. Her body collided with Penn's, knocking roughly to the side. There was a flash of light and sparks as the two blades ground against one another.

"Hey! I wasn't rea-"

"RUN!" Blake shouted as the sparks from Adam's sword illuminated his scowling face. He leaned forward, staring into her even through the mask and striking fear into her soul.

"Traitors protecting traitors..."

"HOLY SH-"

"GET OUT OF HERE! I'll hold him- GAH!" Blake grunted as Adam used his other hand to grab his sheathe and bash her across the face, knocking her to the ground.

Adam advanced on her slowly, ignoring as Penn blindly deployed both of his shields and began to swing at the darkness. "All this time, and THIS is the cause you found to fight for? What happened to US, Blake? What happened to OUR cause?" He brought his sword down on top of her, forcing her to counter him from the ground as they once again locked blades. "We were going to light the fires of revolution together!"

"I wanted equality! You want humanity ground under your heel! It was never OUR cause, it was only YOURS!"

Adam broke the contact this time, stepping back to casually dodge a blind attack from Penn, who clumsily stumbled past. He had been good with his shields when he could see, but without being able to connect with his target he was simply flinging around heavy hunks of metal on his arms. When he spun around and fired his guns, Adam blocked it with the blade of his sword, which glowed along with his hair as his semblance absorbed the energy of the blows.

"Wanted? Past tense? And what is it you want now, Blake? To run away again?"

Another three shots came from Penn, each one blocked and absorbed again.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, you r-slash-niceguys creepazoid!"

She did. She did want to turn and run. To just disappear into the dark and get as far from him as she could. She could feel her knees shaking, her hands sweating. She was terrified. But there was more on the line. Penn was out here risking his life and everything he had been working for to save her. Even just a short glance showed that he was afraid. His head was snapping rapidly back and forth at even the slightest sound, both of his shields were pulled in tight to protect him, limiting his movement overall. She couldn't just leave him to die. Not like this.

Things are as scary as you make them...

Blake took a deep breath, steadied her hand, and widened her stance.

"All I want, Adam... Is for you to leave me alone."

Somehow, that actually managed to get a chuckle out of Penn, who shook his head with a smile. "Five seasons early..." he muttered.

Adam, meanwhile, slid his sword back into its sheath and became very still. Blake's heart skipped a beat as energy began to crackle around him and the glow of his hair grew bright. He was getting ready to release the energy he'd been building up.

"You've been living with humans so long, it's like you've forgotten who you even are. You're NOT one of them! And if I have to remind you of that fact, then I WILL!"

"NO!"

He drew his sword and slashed it towards Penn, sending out an arc of energy that ripped through the air, tearing apart anything in its path. It crashed straight into him in an explosive blast, kicking up a cloud of smoke in the tunnel that left all of them equally blinded.

The car was getting close, now illuminating the smoke from behind, and Blake was filled with dread as she couldn't make him out in the smoke... until a new shadow was cast.

It was a huge rectangle, as big as an entire person. As the smoke cleared, she realized it was a tower shield, taller than she was and wide enough to easily hide an entire person, dark blue with a pair of yellow lines down the center that made it look like an open road. The paint was marred by a deep gash into the metal where Adam's blow had struck, but the shiled had held fast. Two pairs of gun barrels poked out from either side, swiveling wildly for a moment before all turning to face backwards. There was the nearly-deafening sound of four guns firing at once, and the shield rocketed forward, slamming into Adam and sending him flying back out of the tunnel. From this side, Blake could see Penn, unharmed with both arms holding up his two-part shield.

"Y-you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay, thanks to you getting him riled up enough to make a mistake!" He turned and gave her a sly wink. "He really counts too much on that one attack, doesn't he?" He gave a yank on his shield-bound gauntlets, only to be met with the sound of grinding gears and several pops of breaking motors. He paused, then groaned and pulled his hands out of the gauntlets, leaving the shield standing on its own. "Then again, I'm one to talk, aren't I? Looks like combining the shields was my last trick..."

"Hmmm... I suppose it WAS, wasn't it?" a sinister voice hummed from behind the car. Blake didn't recognize it, but if the sudden pallor on his face was anything to go by, it wasn't good. A slender figure stepped up into the light, standing on the car's roof. She gestured with one of her hands, summoning a jet of flame above her palm. He stepped back, hands trembling as he blindly reached for his shield without turning around. Once he had it in his hands, he spun it around in front of them both, blocking them off from view. The woman didn't even press an attack, leaving them alone as they prepared for the battle. He pressed a small rectangular object into her hands. He took a deep, shuddering breath, tears in his eyes.

"Who is-"

"It doesn't matter." He shook his head and reached up to cover her mouth. "My fight, not yours. Blake, Isis will take you home... NOW!"

There was a screech of tires as the car surged forward. In the same instant, the guns on Penn's shield fired, rocketing it forward and up towards the woman. Even in the midst of a backflip off of the top of the car, she easily batted aside the massive shield, landing on her feet with a smirk.

Blake had many questions, but all of them had to wait until she had avoided being run over by the car currently barreling towards her. She barely managed to jump up into the air, landing on the windshield with a crunch of broken glass. She was out of energy, and her aura did little to stop the sheer force that shook her down to her bones as the car forcefully brought her up to the same speed. She was still trying to get the breath back in her lungs as the entire world swiveled around her, then pressed her deeper into the sagging windshield as the car pushed itself to full acceleration. By the time she had managed to sit up enough to see around her again, the battlefield was already fading into a distant cacophony of gunshots and explosions. Turning her head, she realized that the car was completely empty inside, with no driver.

"Blake Belladonna, please face the device forward. My mapping of the underground passages only goes so far, I will need to be able to see twists or or obstacles. This vehicle has no external cameras or other such sensors."

"ISIS?" Blake stared at the source of the voice: Penn's gift. It was just like Sunset's weird scroll: opaque and solid, but capable of the same tasks. "YOU'RE DRIVING?"

"Affirmative."

"TURN AROUND! Penn's still back there!"

"You are not in fighting condition. Tonight's events have taken a heavy toll on you physically. I predict a three percent chance of survival if you were to return to the battle."

"What about PENN?" Blake's question was met with an uncharacteristic pause of thought from the AI that lasted several seconds.

"...I am certain that he has some form of plan."

"That's IT?" Blake could scarcely believe her ears. "He's going to die! Turn around right now!" She slammed her fist on the hood to drive the point home.

"He instructed me to return you safely home. I will do so."

"UGH, forget it, I'll do it myself!" Blake kicked at the windshield, driving one of the corners inside and peeling it away from where it was mounted. A few more kicks and there was an opening wide enough for her to climb inside and seat herself behind the steering wheel. She grabbed hold and pulled it, only to find it pulling against her, refusing to budge so much as an inch. She took hold with both hands, groaning with effort as she tried again, but it remained locked in place.

"Based on data from your training sessions, I project that you will not be able to overcome the lock on the steering column."

"Why won't you turn back? I thought you were supposed to protect people!"

"Affirmative. However, I was forced to choose between your safety and Penn's. He made the choice for me, which is an exercise of his free will. I can only have faith that there was a reason for doing so."

"But... why would he do that?"

There was another long pause as Isis seemed to take extra time calculating her response.

"Perhaps it is because he believes Team RWBYS is fated to save this world. Now please, face the camera forward before we crash, we are passing the boundaries of my map."

Save... the world?

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The car! The gorram car! Penn cursed himself as he stared at Cinder. She found the car and it led her right to me!

"Now then... nothing to run away in this time..." she hummed with a smile as she walked forward.

She shrugged off Immovable and Implacable like they were made of styrofoam! He instinctively raised his hands up in front of him, slipping into his best approximation of a boxing stance. He'd never taken a boxing lesson in his life. Still, watching ROCKY a dozen times has to count for something, right?

"Nowhere to hide, either." She chuckled her herself. "Right now, with Roman's help, Mercury and Emerald are going through your rooms both here and in Vale, turning over every little thing you've hidden in them. They'll find your little toy. Meanwhile, I have you all to myself."

Okay that's hot- NO! NOT THE TIME! This is SO NOT the time! I need information, I need to get her talking about something USEFUL!

"H-how did you find me?" he could barely force the words out of his mouth. He continued stepping back to match her walking forward, keeping the distance between them as constant as he could.

"Oh, we didn't have to! You outed yourself so eagerly..." she chuckled and gestured around them. "Mountain Glenn. I TOLD Torchwick our enemies would flock here, hoping to stop us before we could begin. When you asked to come here, it was all the confirmation he needed to call me and tell me he'd found you!"

"Mountain Glenn... was a trap?" Penn's entire thought process ground to a halt, even shocking him into stopping his retreat for a moment. "But- the train! The plan! The bombs! Even the White Fang! They were all-"

"Just the way they were supposed to be? All according to the plan?" Cinder smiled wider, a sight that was only made more disturbing by the fact that their only light source was the flame in her hand. "Just a little early, just enough to fill you with fear and urgency, make you sloppy?"

Even with the sweltering heat beginning to fill the tunnel, Penn felt his blood run cold.

It was a trap for me.

"Mountain Glenn was a honey pot, a fly trap to draw in anyone who somehow already knew our plans. Even with only the bare minimum needed to keep up appearances, I thought it was absurd to dedicate so many resources to a trap for what seemed impossible, but..." she waved her hands to the sides. "Clearly it paid off. Even now, every scrap of dust and weaponry is being evacuated with our troops before the police can make it here. By the time they arrive, it will all be gone, with hardly a trace we were ever here."

The police. Penn's fallback plan. He had been dropping "anonymous tips" for nearly a week, always just enough for Roman to barely stay a single step ahead of them. Last night, it had culminated in a detailed description of the Mountain Glenn operation, and he had instructed Isis to send the coordinates as soon as they had landed.

"H-How..." was the only word to breathlessly escape his lips. "You KNEW I knew! That's... impossible..."

"You poor boy... You have NO IDEA what's possible." Cinder's flame snuffed out, plunging them both into darkness. This time, Penn knew there WAS something waiting to snatch him in the dark. The inky blackness wrapped itself around him as it always had, but it was no protection from what was hiding inside.

And it terrified him.

"You can't stop destiny."

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"Why did you have to park so FAR?"

"This was the closest entrance to the underground tunnels where the airship could be landed without causing a commotion or attracting Grimm."

Sunset and Yang both rolled their eyes as Weiss asked her question for the third time.

"Did you ever think about not running in heels all the time, princess?" Yang asked.

"What, you think I own a pair of tennis shoes?" Weiss sounded offended at the mere implication.

Ruby had run ahead, wasting no time in trying to scout out any signs of Blake or the place she had been taken.

She's got to be okay, right? Isis said Penn was going to get her out of there!

"AND HOOOPE SHIIIINES ETERNAAAAL!"

Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone began to ring, and she was already pressing it to her ear before the second line of the chorus could start. "Hello? Penn?"

"Negative. A situation has arisen, Sunset Shimmer."

"Is it him?" Yang leaned in, eyes wide. "Is Blake okay?"

"Ask him to put her on, I want to talk to her!" Weiss added, pressing even further on Sunset's personal space. She shook her head, switching the phone to speaker.

"It's Isis. What kind of 'situation,' Isis?"

"It would appear that, in recalling the Oldsmobile to deliver Blake to safety, we- I led Cinder Fall directly to Penn. He is currently fighting for his life against her, I strongly implore you all make haste."

"WHAT? He got caught?" Sunset gasped and shoved her phone back into her pocket before redoubling her pace. Yang and Weiss soon caught up to her, all three breaking into a sprint down the tunnel.

"What about Blake?" Weiss asked.

Isis said something, but her voice was muffled by Sunset's pocket. Thankfully, their answer came moments later in the form of Sylvia appearing in the distance. In just a few seconds, they had closed the distance to one another, revealing Blake sitting in the driver's seat and Ruby perched on the roof with her scythe pointed backwards to cover their escape. The car skidded to a stop just in time to avoid hitting them, and everyone rushed forward to check on their lost teammate. Ruby, of course, was the first to rush in for a relieved hug, but Blake quickly peeled her team leader off of her.

"Guys, we have to go back! Sunset's friend, he got caught by the White Fang, they know he's a traitor!" she cried breathlessly, already tugging on the steering wheel to turn the car back around. She had a large bruise forming on one side of her face and was covered in cuts (presumably from the glass) and bruises. Her clothes were dirty and torn in places, and she seemed completely out of breath. "They're gonna kill him, I know it! We have to save him!"

The car itself looked to be in sorry shape. The inside was filled with pieces of glass and the windshield had been caved in by a suspiciously person-sized crater. There were scratches and burn marks all along the sides, as if someone had gotten bored with a blowtorch and a set of knives and decided to use it as a sketchbook. Sylvia's been through Tartarus and back...

"Blake, are YOU okay?" Weiss asked, her voice filled with a disconcerting amount of concern.

"It doesn't matter! I'll be fine once Isis turns this jalopy around!" She gave a vain tug on the steering wheel.

"The repair drone has joined the battle. I can display a live feed while you all enter the vehicle."

"Okay, let's go!" Sunset sprinted around to the passenger-side door and jumped inside at her normal place. After a few seconds of staring at her teammates, she gestured to the back seats. "COME ON!"

"Sunset... we can't take on the White Fang by ourselves..." Weiss whispered.

"WHAT?" Sunset and Blake shouted in unison.

"Look, I don't want to say it, but... we kinda got our butts handed to us once tonight..." Yang rubbed at the back of her head.

"We HAVE to!"

Silence fell as the two opposing sides stared at one another. Blake looked up at the roof, her cat ears pressed back against her head. "Ruby? Please..."

There was a beat, then the sound of her scythe folding back down as she hopped off the roof. Her silver eyes were locked into a gaze of steely determination. "Blake's right. He's risking his life to save our teammate. We need to go, but we need a plan. Isis? You said you had a live feed?"

"Affirmative."

For the first time, Sunset noticed that Blake was gripping Penn's phone in one hand. She held it up for everyone to see the image displayed on the small screen.

It was Penn, in a tunnel identical to the one they were currently in. There were small spots of fire burning all over the ground, and a woman in a red dress advancing on him as he tried to hide behind a half-melted shield. She was moving leisurely, taking her time and seeming to hardly exert herself with the effort. The last remaining gun barrel on his shield vainly fired at her, the bullets being deflected with her bare hand. He turned to run, only for a wall of flames to spring up behind him, cutting off his chances of escape.

It was at this point that the camera swooped in on the woman, and just as it was about to reach her Sunset could hear the crackling of a taser being charged. She reached out with one hand, not even needing to look to snatch up Isis's drone. There was a whine, the crackling of flames, and the feed was reduced to static.

"Signal lost..."

"PENN!"

Ruby, Yang, and Weiss all glanced at one another. Blake looked shattered, her eyes wide and tear-filled.

"It would appear that this was a trap formulated specifically with his forewarning ability in mind. His opponents knew that he knew their plans, and adjusted accordingly to facilitate his capture."

Sunset couldn't believe it. She couldn't.

Penn was too smart to get trapped. He was the guy who knew. He had trap cards, backup plans, he knew what was going to happen before it happened! There was no way he'd been outmaneuvered... right?

"This is my fault..." Blake whispered.

Sunset shook her head. "He didn't even want to stop here, so I enrolled at Beacon so we'd stay. It's not your fault... it's mine."

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It hit Missy like a punch to the gut: despair. Her entire world spun for a second, disrupting her balance and sending her plummeting from her spot in the hallway rafters. Just as she was about to collide face-first with the ground, a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her, stopping her fall short. A wave of nausea came next, and she only barely managed to direct the spray away from her ghostly savior as her body shuddered and shook. Finally, she felt a series of cold shivers began to rack her body.

"T-thanks, Alucard..." she muttered.

Something had happened. Something soul-crushing. Missy wasn't sure what, but something had shaken Sunset's soul to her core. She knew from prior experiences that the feeling would pass as she acclimated, but the raw emotion had come so suddenly, it had been massive a shock to her system.

"Something... something's wrong... REALLY wrong..."

Author's Note:

I just realized this chapter is being published in the Ides of March....

Huh.

Funny how things work out.

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Aiet,bad ending.

[everydaygamer]

10128881
I admit I'm behind so I don't know how you have handled RWBY but in my opinion, when it come to these kinds of Mega Crossover stories, you should generally stay away from any series you aren't personally a fan of because if its something you don't like you fall into the risk of characters turning into mouthpieces for your opinions or worse having things devolve into bashing. Either way, you risk alienating the readers who are fans.

Of course, if you don't care about pissing people off then go ahead and have at it, it's your story, after all, the only one who has to enjoy it, in the end, is you.

I'll admit though the main reason I've fallen behind was because of you stating that you hate RWBY so as a fan I felt it was a good idea to step away for a while.

[Pennington Inkwell]

10131755
Nah, I knew that I had bias, so I'm mostly sticking with the same period in the show that I enjoyed the most. I'm using a few elements from later in the series, and I made sure to catch up on the entire series just to make sure I was being accurate (as far as it's been uploaded to Youtube, anyway).

I don't hate RWBY, really. I think people are right when they say it gets better again after Volume 4, I just don't necessarily like the new direction it took. I still think the worldbuilding and characters are fantastic! I've been trying to keep a close eye on myself to make sure I'm not letting my feelings dictate too much of what happens, but if I genuinely hated RWBY, I wouldn't write about it. That's why this story will probably never cross with Dragon Ball, I genuinely dislike that series as a whole, and I couldn't write it faithfully in any way.

If I do start using a franchise as a soap box or a punching bag, I'll be counting on readers like you to help me recognize it and get back to just telling a good story!

[Blue68]

In the words of a 'remarkable' man:"Now zat zey know our plan, zey will plan around our plan, and so ve shall in turn plan around ze plan that zey are planning around our plan!"

Lets hope Penn can pull a cannon out of his 'magic satchel'

[Boltstrike58]

Here comes the hurricane.

[Raistlin]

10128881

Damn, I knew Penn was punching above his weight this time, but it HURTS when Cinder shows how over his head he actually was.

Still doesn't feel like a Diabolus Ex Machina, since both Cinder and her liege are canny enough to anticipate to such level. So good job.

[Boltstrike58]

10132635
That doesn't bode well for whenever we figure out exactly what went wrong.

[MariusIoannesP]

"All I want, Adam... Is for you to leave me alone."

Somehow, that actually managed to get a chuckle out of Penn, who shook his head with a smile. "Five seasons early..." he muttered.

Indeed.

It's pretty crazy the villains' accelerating their plan from the end of Volume 2 solely for the purpose of capturing Penn.

Couldn't help imagine that in Cinder's fight with Penn, she was shrouded in shadows the same way she appears throughout Volume 1.

[MariusIoannesP]

Additional thought:

"...Meanwhile, I have you all to myself."

Okay that's hot- NO! NOT THE TIME!

Well, Cinder is voiced by Jessica Nigri...