Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Mmmmmrghhh!?”

It was about thirty minutes past noon. The grey clouds had crept closer to Beacon by now, smothering the atmosphere until everything turned dim and gloomy. Only a few rays of sunshine still peeked through the darkening veil. A few drops of rain were beginning to fall and the temperature was quickly dropping. It seemed Summer really was coming to an end and Remnant was finally remembering what Fall weather was supposed to look like.

But, within the halls of Beacon, it was still plenty bright. The simple dome lights hung on the ceiling cast down warm light that almost made the red carpets glow. As long as one stayed inside, they wouldn’t even notice how cold and dark it had gotten.

“I’ve been thinking we should hit the training rooms together sometime. All of us, I mean.” Ben said to nobody in particular, allowing his words to float around the barren hallway until somebody picked up on them.

Peter turned his head to look at his teammate from the corner of his eye. “Oh yeah? Why’s that? Don’t you usually train by yourself?” 

“Well, yeah, but I heard some of the other guys talking in combat class this morning and they kept going on about team attacks. Like, combining their weapons and abilities and junk. They even had names for ‘em. I started thinking, we should totally have our own special moves! I’ve already got something sweet Rex and I cooked up last time we saw each other, but I bet we could all do some pretty cool stuff if we figure out how to work together.”

Rex felt a smile stretch across his face as he remembered the time he and Ben teamed up against Alpha. “Gotta admit, that does sound pretty tight. Not to brag, but I’m kind of a master at coming up with awesome names for stuff. Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll have plenty of-”

“No way am I lettin’ a guy who thought ‘Smack Hands’ and ‘Big Fat Sword’ were cool come up with our attack names.” Not wasting a single moment, Kevin heartlessly killed Rex’s excitement . “You’d prob’ly come up with something like ‘Jupiter Smash’ or ‘Really Big Sword’."

“Hey! I was like, twelve when I came up with a lot of those names! Which doesn’t even matter, cause they’re all cool anyway!” Rex heatedly defended his precious machines, not allowing the shaggy-haired ogre to his left to talk badly about his babies. "Plus, you're not even on our team! How would you be a part of the Team JPTR combo moves?"

“Gu-mgrh! Wha-gmh!?”

“See? Jaune gets it, don’tcha boss?”

As if the muffled shouting somehow proved his point, Rex nodded his head down at their leader. He would have pointed, but both his hands were busy holding the struggling knight’s legs.

The poor student was in something of a compromising position to say the least. Frankly, he still wasn’t even sure what had happened to get him where he was now. Not long ago, he was in the cafeteria enjoying lunch with his team, when Rex and Peter suddenly pulled the others away from the table for a private conversation. When they came back shortly after, they carried out their next actions so calmly it was like they were simply doing their daily chores.

There he was, struggling to keep his tired eyes open, peacefully bringing his fork to his mouth for another delicious bite of seasoned chicken, when his world turned upside-down. Out of nowhere, Peter, standing behind him, had grabbed Jaune’s wrists and yanked him off the ground. Once his legs were in the air, Rex snatched his ankles and the pair carried him off between them. Before he was even allowed to let out a surprised yelp, Kevin slapped a hand over his mouth. While all of that was happening, Ben carefully grabbed six plates of food and balanced them on his arms, slowly bringing up the rear while his teammates carried off their leader.

It had all happened in less than a second with so much practiced ease it would have impressed an Atlesian special forces unit. Not once did his abductors show any signs of exertion or unease. Hell, as soon as the helpless boy was in their clutches, they began having a casual conversation, like nothing even happened. It was all so natural, he forgot to even struggle at first. It wasn’t until a solid ten seconds had passed that he finally realized he was being kidnapped and started struggling and shouting.

It didn’t matter. Despite their average-looking frames, Rex and Peter had death grips on his limbs, and Kevin’s large, meaty hand wasn’t budging so much as a centimeter away from his mouth.

They were too powerful. Whatever was about to happen, Jaune was completely at their mercy. Only able to look straight up, he couldn't even tell where they were at the moment on account of the ceiling looking the same in every hallway across the entire school.

“What’s happening!? Oh no, oh no no no, did they find out!? Do they know my transcripts are fake!? Are they taking me back to Ozpin to have me thrown out!? How!? How could they have found out!?”

Unable to think of any other reason for his mid-meal manhandling, Jaune fought even harder. If he was brought to the Headmaster it was all over. He desperately tried to scream even louder, to get his team to just give him a chance to explain, but Kevin still wasn’t budging. His sweaty hand remained clamped over his mouth, not slipping even a tiny bit.

“Come on, come on! There has to be some way to… wait a minute. I have sisters!”

Struck by inspiration, Jaune remembered a technique that had existed since the dawn of time, its infinitely wise creator long since forgotten in the annals of history. A powerful technique used since time immemorial by little siblings everywhere, their only weapon against the tyranny of their powerful older siblings. Preparing to execute the move that would hopefully buy him a few seconds of freedom, Jaune swished his tongue around inside his mouth a few times before he made his move.

The results were instantaneous, as always. Kevin yanked his hand away in disgust.

He glared down at their hostage, eyes filled with pure annoyance. “Did you just lick my hand, Arc!?”

Even the space pirate was no match for the unquestionable power of the extra-wet palm lick.

“GUYS!” His mouth finally free, Jaune began to plead his case before he could be muzzled again. “Guys, listen! I’m not sure what you think you saw, but I promise it’s not what it looks like! Please, before you take me to Ozpin, just give me a chance to explain!”

For the first time since they left the cafeteria, the boys stopped walking. To his left, Kevin was still angrily wiping his hand on his jeans, but he paused momentarily to shoot the younger teen a confused look. Behind him, Peter looked equally perplexed. Rex was facing away from him as he held his leader’s ankles, but he was probably also lost.

“Uh, what?” Ben padded into view on his right side, still carefully balancing several plates of food on his upper body. “Why would we take you to Ozpin?”

“Wh-huh? I-I don’t… isn’t that why you guys kidnapped me?” Jaune swept his eyes over each of his teammates in turn, hoping to glean something from one of them.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down there.” Rex suddenly turned his body around, tossing Jaune’s legs up and switching which hands were holding which ankle all at once. “Why you gotta make it sound so negative, man? We just decided you needed a break, so your awesome teammates are taking you back to our room to hang out.”

“...”

Jaune’s jaw fell open, relief and shock flooding him simultaneously. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Yo-... you kidnapped me so we could skip class!?” His voice came out as a shrill screech.

“Crap, I might’ve said too much!”

“No!” Rex vehemently denied the absolutely baseless accusation. “Seriously, stop saying that. Kidnapping’s such a strong word.”

Jaune used his head to gesture as best he could at his restrained wrists and ankles. “Then what is this!?”

Kevin chimed in from the side. “Surprise adoption. Now eat this candy and shut up.”

Reaching a hand into one of his many pockets, Kevin pulled out an unwrapped lollipop with a couple small pieces of blue lint stuck to it. Judging by the shiny film coating the green sucker, the candy had likely already been sucked on, only to be tucked away without its wrapper to be finished later.  Fear-filled eyes wide open, Jaune vigorously shook his head, not wanting that putrid biohazard anywhere near his mouth. Kevin shrugged, popping it into his own mouth before covering Jaune’s with his hand once more.

He… he didn’t even bother brushing off the lint… just popped the whole thing in his mouth all once, like an animal.

“If you lick my hand again, I’m breakin’ your face.”

“Sorry Jaune, it’ll all make sense soon.” Peter gave his leader an apologetic look from on high. “But, if I’m being honest, we’re not going to have much fun even after we get there. Sorry… again.”

It was hopeless. Jaune knew that, so he gave up. The ride continued for several more minutes as they slowly made their way to the dorm building. Kevin had just barely loosened his grip on the knight's face, at least giving him the freedom to turn his head to the side. Doors leading to classrooms and storage closets lined the walls they passed by, but not a single one was open. Any hopes he may have had of somebody on the other side seeing what was happening and coming to his rescue were dashed. Plus, hanging for so long was seriously doing a number on his wrists and ankles, so he almost felt like cheering when their room finally came into view.

Kevin took his hand off of Jaune’s mouth and unlocked the door, holding it open for the others. Once everybody was inside, he helped Ben set down all the food he was carrying.

The abducted knight was starting to think he would be strapped to a table or tied to a chair once they arrived, so it came as a welcome surprise when he was simply put down on his bed. Rex didn’t even bother checking up on him after releasing his ankles. As soon as he was free of his charge, he began ravenously devouring one of the plates Ben brought with them as if it was the first time he’d ever seen food.

The others were milling about blankly, like they were actively trying to avoid doing anything . It hardly seemed fair that the one who got kidnapped had to be the one to move things forward, but if nobody else was going to talk...

“Okay, guys, seriously, what is going on!?” Springing up from the bed, Jaune irritably demanded an explanation from his team. He was not an aggressive person by nature, and his severe exhaustion had mellowed out his already very passive behavior. But, after being picked up in the middle of eating lunch and carried across the school with no real explanation, even he was beginning to feel just a tiny bit frustrated.

Peter accepted the heated demand with a resigned nod. “Sorry Jaune. I thought about explaining beforehand, but I figured there was no way you’d agree to cut class. I talked to the others, and we agreed this was the best way to get you here. … How’re your wrists, by the way? I didn’t hold them too tight, did I?”

Jaune completely ignored the heartfelt wellness check, focusing only on what came before. “For what!?” It was very much grating on him that his question still had not been answered. “Why are we here!? Did you actually do all this just so we could hang out!?”

“I wish we were just here to hang out.” Jaune turned to their door. Ben was peeking out into the hall, making sure nobody was around. Once he was satisfied, he shut the barrier between them and the outside world, locked it, and shoved a towel - still damp from his morning shower - into the crack underneath for good measure. “Believe me, I’m not looking forward to this either. I don't think any of us are. We can all be miserable together.”

For once, Ben did not seem laid-back. His whole body was tensed up and his voice was tired, as though all the energy had drained from his spirit in the last couple seconds. Jaune’s eyes naturally fell to the bottom of their door, narrowing in on the towel shoved beneath it.

“Is… is he sound-proofing the room?” 

A chill ran down Jaune’s spine. The already weird situation just got even weirder. None of the boys who brought him here were smiling, nor did they look happy in the slightest. The only one who was even remotely animated was Rex, and that was only because he was still eating. Once his food was gone, he, too, looked rather pensive. That light-hearted mood they'd created while carrying him through the halls had vanished without a trace.

“... What’s wrong with all of you?” Jaune’s trickle of anger was swept away in a torrent of concern. He was too kind for his own good. As soon as it looked like the others were unhappy, he forgot his frustration and started to feel concerned. And, despite telling himself to snuff it out immediately, he felt the tiniest bit of hope blossom in his chest.

“... Do they… actually need my help with something?”

Nobody answered. One by one, each of the boys took up a position around the room. Kevin leaned up against the wall next to the shared desk and crossed his arms, one foot planted on the wall. Rex knelt down in the space between his and Jaune's beds, planting an elbow on one knee and resting his face in his hand. Ben lazily slumped down beside Kevin in the desk chair and Peter simply plopped down in the center of Rex’s bed.

He pointed a finger at his leader's bed, a meaningful look on his face.

“Have a seat Jaune. We really need to talk.”

“...”

He still had so many questions, but, for the sake of keeping things moving, Jaune complied. He sank into the soft mattress, unsure of who he was supposed to look at. It seemed like Peter was the one behind all this, but Rex had done a lot of the talking so far. Who exactly was the person who most required his attention? For that matter…

The blonde boy sucked in an extremely deep breath and took his time exhaling it over the course of several seconds. “Guys… I really, really need somebody to answer me already. What is going on?”

The others all shared a look amongst themselves, seemingly having a silent debate over who should be the one to speak first. Kevin absently grabbed the lollipop stick poking out of his mouth, staring blankly at the nibbled end for a few seconds before tossing the worthless stick into the trash can beside the desk.

“This was your idea, Parker.” Kevin was the first to break the smothering silence, earning himself a sigh from the youngest in the group.

“Yeah, I figured that was going to come back to me somehow.” As if he didn’t want to be there at all, Peter slowly turned his head back to Jaune, stalling for as long as possible before he had to start speaking. “... We agreed to bring you here because it’s important that you understand everything, Jaune. Everything about us, where we came from, who we are, why we’re here…” He sighed again. “... and how important you are.”

“...”

Jaune stared blankly at his partner, confusion etched all over his features. He couldn’t even begin to understand what he was talking about. What made him so special, and why did it sound like everybody but him knew it?

“Wait a second…”

And just like that, Jaune felt like screaming. In the end, he settled for slapping his face into both hands, slowly dragging them down with a prolonged, exasperated groan.

“Peter… I thought we were done with this.” Just unbelievable. This was why he was dragged here against his will? This was why his desperately needed meal was interrupted? “Look, I know that night at the station was really stressful, but you’ve gotta let this go. I did, you can too. If you really need to talk about it, we can do that another time, but we can’t just skip class to run through this again.”

Peter shook his head firmly and tried again. “Jaune, it’s not-”

“I’m trying really hard to keep my head in the game, here.” Jaune was letting his frustrations leak out again. There was an uncharacteristic edge to his voice as he cut off his partner. “As cool as it would be to just get lost in a fantasy, I can’t afford to be delusional right now. I don’t have much time left, and if I can help it-”

*SLAM*

Kevin had heard enough. He loudly slammed a hand down onto the writing desk, putting an end to Jaune’s frustrated rambling. “The only delusional one here is you, Arc. Now shut up and listen, ‘cause you ain’t leavin’ till we’re done.”

“I just-”

“You’re just shuttin’ up.”

“I-”

“No.” Kevin instantly denied the weak protests. “We’re talkin’ and you’re listenin’. Parker, go.”

Peter nodded to himself and gave Kevin a half-hearted gesture of thanks. “I know it all sounds crazy Jaune, but I can’t stress enough how important it is that you understand. I tried really hard to come up with the best possible way to… to make it all make sense, but that’s kind of impossible with this sort of thing. So, let’s just take this from the top. It’s not going to make a whole lot of sense at first, so, bear with me, okay?”

Peter took a deep breath. He could already tell this conversation wasn’t going to be fun.

“For starters, Paradox was real. I don’t really know him that well, so I’m not sure how he got in and out of the police station without getting caught, but he was real. Everything he said about us was true. We’re not too happy about the situation either, but there’s not much we can do at this point but accept it, which is why we’re trying to work with you now.”

Jaune, knowing he’d be cut off if he spoke again, listened quietly with an unhappy expression. He refused to process anything he was hearing, it was all just going in one ear and out the other. As usual, Peter was the only one talking about Paradox. He didn’t know how the younger teen had gotten the others involved, but it could only be a matter of time before one of them-

“The multiverse is a complicated place.” Jaune whipped his head around in shock, unable to believe his ears. Instead of Peter, Ben was the next one to speak. “Or… does this fall into Omniverse territory? Eh, whatever. Point is, a lot of crazy stuff can happen and it won’t always make a whole lot of sense. But, jumping from universe to universe is something I’ve got plenty of experience with, so at least that’s familiar.”

“Same here.” Kevin apathetically raised one hand before crossing his arms again.

“I’m just happy I didn’t have to meet another ‘me’ this time.” Peter sighed. “I love those guys, but they can be a lot sometimes. Especially Miguel, Wolf-Spider, and Spyder-Knight, those guys are always starting something. And don’t even get me started on Peter six-one-six, that guy’s life is somehow even more of a mess than mine.”

Rex sheepishly grinned at the others. “Well, this is my first time going to another universe, but Ben did come to mine a little under a year ago. It was pretty cool, actually. He brought a monster with him.”

Jaune had heard enough. This conversation was starting to boggle his mind. “Okay, wait, wait, stop!” He pressed a hand to the side of his head and scrunched his eyes shut. This whole one-sided conversation was giving him a headache.

“Stay calm Jaune. They could just be messing with you. You’re supposed to keep your cool, got it?”

 “Just… let’s say I don’t think all of you are crazy, and that I actually believe this. Are you telling me Paradox wasn’t just some kind of stress-induced hallucination? Everything he told us was real… including you guys coming from a different universe?”

“Different universes , actually.” Ben replied, stressing the “s” at the end with a slight grin. “Kevin and I do come from the same place, though. And like Rex said, he and I met once a while back. Other than that, we’re all from different universes.”

Peter nodded along with everything his companion said. “I’d never met any of them until that night outside the club.”

Kevin decided to cut in again. “Weren’t you listenin’ to Paradox? When he was givin’ his big speech, he talked about pullin’ us into this dimension. Pretty sure you were about to ask us about it once we got out of there. What, did you just forget the whole thing happened after we left?”

“Now that you mention it, Kev, I guess I was kind of expecting… I don’t know, more questions?” Rex fixed Jaune with an inquisitive stare. “Actually, yeah, what did happen there, boss? Did you just lose interest after we split up?”

“...”

“Oh, I’m losing it alright.”

Jaune was beginning to think he was in a dream. Or blacked out in the nurse’s office. Maybe he was chosen to take part in combat class and Weiss sent him to the ICU, where he was currently deep in a coma. How did those work, again? Were they the sort of thing where you only had to realize you were in one and you would wake up? If that was the case, why wasn’t he opening his eyes to glaring hospital lights and people dressed in medical scrubs? All he was greeted by was the same sight of four slightly scruffy teenage boys, all insisting they came from different dimensions.

Screw it, forget the coma theory. Maybe he was still in the police station. Maybe he’d passed out at the interrogation table and the past few weeks were just one really long dream.

Maybe his crippling lack of sleep had finally sent him spiralling off the deep end and he was currently sinking into madness. His tired mind was just feeding him whatever it thought sounded most ridiculous to convince him to go take a nap and restore some crucial sanity points.

Maybe he had just straight up gone cuckoo. All his stress and anxiety finally broke him and he wasn’t even in the dorm room at all. He could have been wandering through the halls, drooling and babbling like a lunatic while he hallucinated this incredibly painful conversation.

Maybe… just maybe…

... It wasn't like it didn't make sense at all. He did remember that night. He remembered how fascinated he'd been at the time, how curious Paradox had made him, and how excited he'd been to ask questions before Ruby interrupted them. Though the semi-responsible student told himself to just forget it, those emotions didn't just vanish. Even now, they were still... 

“No, no Jaune, bad! We are not entertaining this! A responsible leader would shut this down!”

“...”

“A responsible leader would shut this down!”

Maybe... just one last push to make sure, to be absolutely certain he hadn't imagined the whole thing.

“... Again, let’s say I don’t think you guys have lost it, or that I’ve lost it, or that this whole thing is just a prank.” Jaune waved his arms wildly, gesturing to each of the supposed off-worlders in turn. “If that’s the case, why? Why are you here? Why am I a part of this? Y-you still haven’t explained to me what all of this is for.”

Kevin threw his hands up in the air. “He really did forget the whole thing.” The thuggish teen huffed, his patience dwindling.

“Come on, Kev.” Ben sent a placating look to his friend. “This sort of thing can be pretty confusing the first time around.”

“Call the hospital, Tennyson. We’ve got a dementia patient who needs his meds.”

Ben sighed. He loved his best friend, but all these insults were not helping their incredibly complicated situation. “Oookay, Kevin. We get it. You can stop now.”

Kevin wasn’t listening. He only became more and more fed up as he ranted to nobody in particular. “Gotta get junior here some Exelon before he starts talking to the shadow demons in the corner. ‘Why yes, Rumpelstiltskin, I would like another shot of delusion’.” The muscular teen shook his head in disgust.

“Dude, we’ve still got plenty of time to ourselves. If we just explain everything-”

“Then what, Tennyson? He’ll hit us with another ‘let’s say I believe you’ and keep lookin’ at us like we’re crazy? How long are you three gonna tip-toe around the issue?” Kevin had had enough. He was sick and tired of the others coddling Jaune like he would break if they were a bit rough with him. Somehow, he was turning out to be the one doing most of the talking, which only made him angrier. 

“Listen up, doofus.” The shaggy-haired man thrust a finger at Jaune, who jumped slightly at the aggression in his voice. “You’ve had two weeks to think to yourself. Parker’s tried to talk to you about this already, and you just kept blowin’ ‘im off. I’m sick of you pretendin’ this has nothin’ to do with you, like you can just ignore it and leave all of this to us. If we’re stuck on this planet solvin’ all your problems for you, then you’d better pick up the slack and do your part too.”

The room had gone quiet while Kevin half-shouted at Jaune, and the silence persisted even after he was done. Glaring at the blonde and letting out heavy, angry breaths, Kevin gave the other boys a pointed look.

“Somebody else better say somethin’. If I have to keep goin’ it’s gonna get real ugly in here.”

The subtle threat was enough to get Peter to nervously clear his throat. He had been the one to start the conversation, so he would be the one to keep it pushing.

“I… wouldn’t have been as aggressive, but Kevin’s right.” The small teen opened his mouth, desperately searching for the right words, but couldn’t find them. As he tried to come up with something, he weakly raised an arm to gesture at nothing in particular, only for it to fall limply back down into his lap. “Jaune… loo-look, it’s like Kevin said, and it’s like Paradox said. We’re stuck here for the next two years, whether we like it or not. Paradox brought us here to save your world, and we can’t go home until that’s done. I don’t know how Remnant was put in danger, I don’t know when it’s supposed to need saving, I don’t know what exactly it’s in danger of, I don’t know why we have to be the ones to save it, and I thought I knew who was going to endanger it, but after our last talk with Paradox, I’m not so sure anymore. Believe me, if I could tell you more, I would. I swear I would. But, as much as I want to give you answers, I just don’t know anything more than what we were told.”

Peter looked so lifeless sitting on Rex’s bed. He was obviously not happy about anything he had just said. The way he shrunk in on himself, the way his voice became weaker over time, the way the light in his eyes seemed to dim… that kind of hopelessness was hard to fake, no matter how committed you were to a bit…

And besides all that, everything matched up. That was exactly what Jaune remembered from that night in the police station. Other dimensions, some kind of disaster, and the two years time-limit. It wasn't like he'd explicitly shared those details with anybody. The only way the boys could possibly know about it was if... was if they'd all seen the exact same thing.

It was only possible if all of that was real.

"..."

He tried. Gods knew he tried and tried and tried and tried to find any other way to explain it all, and nothing he came up with made any sense. Really, what else could there even be? His friends decided to be funny and hired a street performer to prank them, and every cop at the station just let him walk freely into the interrogation room? Paradox was some random junkie off the street who'd wandered into the station completely unimpeded and just happened to stumble into their interrogation room and rambled on about whatever nonsense he'd dreamed up? They'd all inhaled colorless, odorless nerve gas at the exact same time, hallucinated the exact same thing, and shaken off the effects at the exact same moment? Every remotely feasible explanation just got more and more ridiculous. Somehow, this whole "alternate universe meets save the world" spiel was the least insane possibility.

Still, that couldn't be. It just couldn't. Jaune wasn't... he wasn't convinced! Even if it was the least insane explanation, that didn't mean it didn't still sound like the ramblings of a bunch of lunatics. Hell, he'd been feeling pretty physically and mentally unwell recently, maybe he was also a touch insane by now. For the sake of his dwindling sanity, he held onto the assumption that this was an overly complicated prank and did his best to keep projecting the image of a calm, composed Huntsman-in-training. With faltering confidence and a pathetic excuse for a self-assured grimace, he forced himself to keep the conversation going.

“I… let’s say-” As he began speaking, Jaune caught a glimpse of Kevin glaring at him from the corner of his eye and wisely walked his sentence back. “... You’re saying the world is in danger? Not in the usual way, with the Grimm attacking people, but actually in danger of ending or something? Not only that, it’s happening in the next two years? I-I mean, come on, do you s-seriously expect me to believe that?”

“Honestly, even we don’t really know that for sure.” Rex admitted, choosing to ignore the last part of Jaune’s question. “We know what Paradox told us, and that’s about it. But, considering everything else he’s told us that turned out to be legit, I don’t see why this wouldn’t also be true.” The Mexican teen cracked a self-deprecating smile that tragically failed to meet his eyes. “A little more high-stakes than the kind of fun adventure I was asking for back home, but… what can you do?”

Ben nodded in affirmation but kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on the floor. “I’ve known Paradox for a long time. A really long time if you want to count time travel years. He can be pretty frustrating, and he won’t always tell me everything right away, but he’s never actually lied to me. When something serious is going on, Paradox makes sure I know what I need to know when I need to know it. If he says Remnant is in danger, then Remnant is in danger. Also…”

Ben looked directly at Jaune. He was obviously doing his best to look as patient and encouraging as possible. “He says you’re important. I doubt we need to focus on exactly what he said, all that dramatic stuff about centerpieces and cornerstones, but, the point is he genuinely believes that we need you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, as he suddenly felt a wave of exasperation. “Even though he can be really, really annoying sometimes, Paradox has led me down the right path more times than I can count. So, I trust him with this as well. If he says you’re important, then I believe that too.”

“Wha…”

Jaune was stunned. This was getting a little too intense for his liking. Everything was moving way too fast. In such a short amount of time, the very thing he’d been trying to ignore, the thing he’d come so close to convincing himself was all nonsense, was now coming back with a vengeance. It wasn’t just Peter anymore, everybody was on his case about this.

But that wasn’t right. That couldn’t be right! There was no way! H-he’d barely even made it into Beacon, carried through by forged transcripts that made him sound like a mediocre student and yet somehow still managed to greatly exaggerate his abilities. And, somehow, he was supposed to help save the world!?

Wait, back up, wasn’t that glossed over a little too easily!? The world was ending !? In two years!? How!? Why!? Sure, the Grimm situation had been getting slightly worse over the years, but it wasn’t anything crazy! Maybe there were some population spikes in the wilderness, but all those Grimm couldn’t have amounted to much when they hadn’t even taken down anything larger than a medium-sized village. After generations of relative balance, how could so much possibly change in just two years!? It made no sense!

It was easy to tell himself that, but Jaune soon found he wasn’t really doing a good job changing his own mind. The weight of everything he’d been told was sinking in a little too well for something that wasn’t real. There was absolutely no reason to believe any of it, but, for some reason, it was having an actual effect on him.

He couldn’t help it. He wanted to know more about this fantastical tale.

“... I... I-I don’t…” The stuttering knight kept his face relatively composed, but his weak voice came out strangled and quiet. He didn’t even know where to begin. Where was he supposed to begin!? “Just, who are you guys? You’re supposed to… sorry, we’re supposed to save the world? Do you mean we’re supposed to exterminate all the Grimm? No offense, I know you guys are strong, but, how are fou- er, five of us supposed to do what every Hunter on Remnant couldn’t? What makes yo- us , so special?”

Even the most ambitious of Hunters wouldn’t say something so naively childish as that. Not even Jaune, for all his callow dreams of being a hero, had ever seriously believed he would single-handedly wipe out the Grimm forever.

A humorless chuckle passed through the four dimension hoppers disturbingly in unison. The desperate question did breathe some life into some of them, namely the ones who were all too eager to share their greatness.

Ben was the first to stand up, dramatically brushing off his completely dust-free clothes.

“Weeeell, if you really wanna know…” Ben struck a dramatic pose and pointed a thumb at himself, smirking proudly all the while. “You’re looking at the guy who saved not just his world, not just his galaxy, not just his universe, but the entire Omniverse a dozen times over!” He then looped an arm around Kevin’s neck, pulling him closer without his consent. “And this handsome stud is my trusty sidekick, Absorbing Boy.”

“... I can always take the car back, Tennyson. I need a new ride, anyway.” Kevin growled through clenched teeth.

“... What?” Jaune could tell he was supposed to be impressed, but the impossibly grand declaration just left him feeling confused. He… actually didn’t know how to react, if he was being honest.

“And this guy right here…” Rex then jumped to his feet and adopted his own exaggerated heroic pose. “Cleansed his entire planet of a rampant virus and purified every mutated person, plant, and animal in the world. I pretty much created world peace, and that was after I turned into a god for a little while. Gave all that up though, cause I don't need almighty power to be the coolest dude in the world."

“Sounds a little dry after Ben’s whole ‘I saved the Omniverse’ thing.” In spite of his hurtful thoughts, Jaune at least tried to give Rex a smile. There were no mirrors around to reflect his image, but he was pretty sure the sorry excuse for a smile came out crooked and forced.

“I… see.”

While Jaune was busy trying to figure out what he was supposed to feel, the heroes who had already given their introductions turned expectantly to Peter. They were far more eager to hear their fellow legend’s glamorous introduction than the one who was meant to be in awe.

“... Uh…” Peter just rubbed the back of his head and flashed an embarrassed smile. “I’m just the friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.” His guilty smile grew when the others shot him betrayed looks. “I… catch criminals and look out for the little guy. That’s about it.”

“Boo!” Rex jeered derisively.

“Lame!” Ben joined in.

“Bein’ humble doesn’t make you look cool.” Kevin added, finally tearing Ben’s arm off his neck. Peter only shrugged, not even trying to defend his comparatively lackluster credentials. He knew what he was about, and if the others weren't impressed, well, what can you do?

Besides, listing off every villain he’d fought, every universe he’d traveled to, and every world-ending scheme he’d overcome would take far too long and they needed to stay on topic.

Now that everybody’s fresh introduction was over, Jaune finally decided how he wanted to feel. For the most part, he was still filled with disbelief, but also curiosity, and now a faint sense of wonder was swirling around the melting pot of emotions. Even if this was a prank, at least it was kind of entertaining.

“H-hold on. Are you telling me all of you are… you’re heroes where you come from? Like… comic-book heroes?” He couldn’t completely hold back the childish excitement he felt over such a thing. His exasperated voice was just barely colored with that excitement, much to the joy of the four heroes. Even Kevin’s lips curved into a faint ghost of a smile.

The dimension-hoppers all shared a look, then turned back to Jaune. As one, they shrugged calmly.

“Yeah.”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s what they call me in New York.”

“Long as I get paid every now and then.”

“...”

Jaune held out a hand, putting up a barrier between him and the others. He was starting to feel rather light-headed, and for once, it wasn’t because of his lack of sleep. How had his day turned out like this? Between Rex’s Dust incident and being kidnapped by his own team, everything just kept getting weirder. It was time to finally voice his true feelings, even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear.

“I-I can’t just… you want me to just accept that? You guys came from different planets-”

“Universes.” Ben “helpfully” corrected.

Jaune sucked in a breath. “Fine, whatever, ‘universes’. You guys came to Remnant from different universes, where you’re already these big, mega important heroes-”

“Again, I’m just the friendly, neighborhood-”

“Peter, please! Kevin’s right, being humble doesn’t make you cool!” Jaune frantically shouted, his voice raising so high it was practically a squeal. “A-and you all came here because Remnant is, APPARENTLY, about to end and you- sorry, we , are the only ones who can save it?! Is that everything, or did I forget a piece of the story?!”

Jaune was panting heavily like he had just finished a marathon. He was feeling a different kind of exhaustion now, a weird mixture of mental and emotional fatigue. He was praying from the depths of his soul that, any second now, his friends would start laughing and say that this whole thing was a joke. Team RWBY and Kevin’s teammates would pop out from under their beds, Scrolls pulled out and recording the whole thing. Somebody would explain the entire, convoluted plan to pull one over on the anxiety-ridden knight and they would all go back to normal after having a good laugh.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Nobody came.

The five boys were still alone in the painfully silent room.

Why couldn’t it just be unbelievable? Why couldn’t it all keep sounding like some freaky, stress-induced delusion? Why couldn't it have just been Peter refusing to let it go? Why did they go on and on, looking and sounding so serious it was actually making his confidence slip?

Why did Jaune actually sort of believe them? And why was that so scary?

“Sounds about right.” Kevin’s deadpan, annoyingly casual responses really weren’t helping at all. Jaune was starting to feel like his bed was opening into a deep pit, sucking him further and further down. At this point, he would almost welcome that, as long as it got him away from the awkwardness of it all.

The wavering knight’s last bit of resolve to stay composed was crumbling. For all his efforts, his voice was getting louder, more panicky, and he knew it. But they were waiting for a response. He couldn’t just say nothing.

“You, you can’t just ask me to accept that! I mean, why are you telling me this? If the world really is in danger, shouldn’t you go to the military, or Ozpin!? Y-yeah, if all of this is real, why haven’t you told Ozpin about any of this?”

At long last, his friends’ confidence deflated. Their faces all took on some mixture of exasperation, anger, and uncertainty. Not that Jaune wanted them unhappy or anything, but with his sanity breaking down by the second, it was comforting to see he wasn’t the only one not feeling confident right now. 

“We… planned to, at first.” Peter began hesitantly. “It seemed like the natural thing to do, especially since Paradox told all of us to find him in the first place. It’s why we all met up at Beacon to begin with. Without his instructions, we would have been scattered all over Remnant.”

Rex picked up where Peter left off. “But then, at the police station, he pretty clearly told us to not share information with Ozpin. Or, he told Ben not to share anything, I guess. We didn’t really get it, but, in the end, we agreed to not tell Ozpin anything at all. It might have been safe to tell him some stuff, but we didn’t want to take any chances. Better to say nothing than to let something important slip.”

“His next visit didn’t help too much, either.” Kevin huffed. He was obviously the most infuriated of them all by the timewalker’s cryptic warnings.

“Next… visit? You mean he came back?” Jaune swept his eyes over to Kevin, searching for an answer.

“Please say no.”

“Paradox goes wherever he wants, whenever he wants. Literally.” Ben confirmed with a resigned nod. “But yeah, Kev’s right. That next visit just gave us more questions than answers.”

Initiation Day:

“This… is exactly where you told us to go. We went where you said, met the people you mentioned, and ended up where you wanted us. I don’t think it’s illogical to say we’re in a safe space, surrounded by people who should be our allies.”

Despite already knowing where this was going, Paradox still gestured for Peter to continue, as if he was hanging on his every word.

“... If this is where we’re supposed to be… if the people around us are supposed to help us… then why the hush order?” Peter narrowed his eyes accusingly, then shook his head. “No, not that. That’s too vague. What I’m trying to say is…”

Peter paused, thinking of the best way to ask his question. Deciding to just be blunt, he leveled his gaze at Paradox, meeting his gaze evenly.

“... Why don’t you want us sharing information with Ozpin?”

Paradox squinted, his mouth set in a straight line.

Now that was a very good question.

“...” For quite a long time, the time-traveling professor said nothing. He did not know exactly how he wanted to respond. For the first time in Ben’s life, he watched in amazement as Paradox slowly considered the best possible way to answer the question. The only reason the boys didn’t rush him was because they saw this as better than blatantly refusing to answer the question. A pause at least meant he was considering it.

After what felt like hours, he finally spoke. Not to Peter, but to the boy to his left. “... Benjamin, by now you must know why I talk about ‘spoilers’ and such.”

Unsure why he was the one being singled out, Ben narrowed his eyes curiously and tilted his head to the side. “Uh… yeah? Don’t you always say something like, ‘if you are provided certain information before the time is right, it could shift the future in a direction most would find undesirable’?”

Paradox smiled warmly. Apparently, Ben’s recollection brought him some joy. “Impressive as always, Benjamin. You should feel blessed, photographic memories are quite rare, you know. But, leaving that aside…” The moment passed, and Paradox was back to frowning. “Yes, you are exactly correct.”

The timewalker often carried himself with confidence and grace. Moments like this where he deflated and showed signs of weariness were rare. The man was slightly slumped over at the table, slowly tracing a finger along its surface with no obvious pattern.

“... I want you all to know it brings me no joy withholding information from you. Were there any choice, I would gladly tell you every last thing right this very moment. But, time is not such a generous mistress. Certain events need to transpire for this world to reach its happy ending. If I tell you everything now, you will not take the same actions as you otherwise would, and everything will be ruined. Even small changes can have tremendous effects, as you should all be aware. It’s quite simple on paper, if extraordinarily frustrating in practice.”

He let out a dry, humorless chuckle. The ageless scientist looked so… blank, yet so downtrodden. The heroes gathered around him just looked on in confusion. None of them were sure if they were supposed to say something or just wait for Paradox to finish his spiel.

He continued, still slightly hanging his head. “That is also why I call them spoilers, just an old man’s poor attempt at providing some levity. Or would you prefer I say ‘if I tell you everything I know right at this very moment, time will not proceed as I have planned and this world’s people will face their extinction, as will you along with them’?”

“That’s… a little less pleasant.” Peter replied nervously, chuckling unconvincingly at his own attempt at humor.

Paradox laughed again, lifting his head to face the young hero. “I thought as much. In any case, I’ve spent quite a substantial amount of time agonizing over this. Nothing serious, just a few hundred years in a pocket timescape running through different scenarios, examining variables and potential outcomes. Eventually, I concluded it should be safe to share at least this much with you.”

Around the table, four pairs of eyes widened. Every one of the off-worlders leaned in, waiting with bated breath.

“Really!? What is it!?” Ben excitedly whisper-shouted, leaning in so close there were only a few inches between him and the professor.

“Please Benjamin, personal space.” In the blink of an eye, Paradox vanished from his seat and reappeared a few inches away, giving himself some much-needed room at the table. “I admit, I was being rather dramatic that night at the station. In my haste to deliver my message and leave, I fear I gave you the wrong idea about our dear Ozpin. So, I would like to take this opportunity to alleviate some of your fears.”

Paradox cleared his throat, making sure all eyes were on him.

“Though you should avoid sharing too much with Ozpin, I want you to know that you can trust him. I assure you he does want the same thing as us; that is, a peaceful future for all of Remnant. However, he may not have the right idea if he learns too much about you so soon. Already, he is beginning to put some of the pieces together and keeping a careful eye on you. No doubt, he will soon begin testing you to find out exactly what makes you tick.”

Aaaand confusion was still rampant. What Paradox was telling them made no sense, his statements clashing with each other in the world’s worst stalemate. Logically, they could not both be true.

“Wait, if he wants the same thing as us, why shouldn’t we try to talk to him? Wouldn’t it be better to clear up any misunderstandings now before something bad happens?” For the life of him, Peter could not understand the thought-process behind the nonsensical warning.

“Ozpin is, by his own account, a foolish man. He has been protecting Remnant for a very, very long time, and he is very, very tired. To his credit, he does try to keep an open mind and look at everything objectively, but even he can make mistakes. For the time being, you should avoid telling him of what you saw and heard in the Grimm lands. As for your true origins, it’s best to keep those secret for now. Instead, you should leave him to ponder over Benjamin in peace.”

“Me?” The verdant hero was confused. “Why does he care about m-… it’s grandma Vera, isn’t it?”

Paradox smiled. “You would be correct. Magic has not been common on Remnant for quite a long time, so those who recognize it can pick out traces quite easily.”

“That’s the second time now.” Ben groaned quietly. His grandmother was just so… even when she wasn’t around, all she did was cause him trouble. “So, Ozpin can sense magic? Does that mean he’s like-”

“That aside,” Paradox smoothly interrupted Ben’s question. “I would like to repeat one final time that you can trust Ozpin. Your goals are the same, even if it may not always seem that way. He may not always tell you everything, he may cling to some very important secrets, but never doubt that he is an ally. Sharing the truth will not earn you his ire. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm sure if you opened a dialogue with him, you boys would easily be able to convince him that you are on his side. And therein lies the problem.” Paradox let out a huff, letting a rare flash of annoyance shine through his composed demeanor. “If Ozpin understood your mission and your capabilities, measures would be taken, and you would be assigned... tasks, tasks that would take you beyond Beacon. And, for the time being, your presence at the academy is absolutely imperative. Our dear Headmaster needs to be clueless until the time is right. For now, that is all I can tell you."

The boys leaned back, processing what they had just been told. If they were understanding right, Ozpin was trustworthy, they could consider him an ally. But, if they explained exactly who they were, the situation would change and they would be sent away from the academy? In any case, wouldn't completing missions be more helpful than standing around waiting? What could possibly be so important about Beacon that just being too far away from it for too long could derail Paradox's perfect future?

As usual, the time-traveler's warnings were annoyingly cryptic and only succeeded in giving the boys more questions. His arbitrary restrictions only he could possibly understand in their entirety were possibly the most frustrating things in the entire multiverse. Seriously, this was one of many reasons Peter genuinely loathed time travel from the bottom of his heart. It was always, always more trouble than it was worth.

Desperate to take hold of just one small victory, the heroes all focused on the same piece of information: even if they couldn't tell him everything, they could at least be sure that Ozpin was a true comrade. Maybe one day, they would get to fully take advantage of that fact.

“Is it just Ozpin?” Rex asked. “Can we talk to anybody else about this stuff?”

Paradox considered him carefully for a moment before he spoke. “... Ozpin is the most important player in the game at the moment, and the only one with the authority to send you away from Beacon. If you so desire, share whatever you wish with the others. Ms. Rose, Mr. Xiong, even Ms. Goodwitch if you feel so inclined. As long as you feel supremely confident the information will not make its way back to Ozpin, I have no complaints. As of this moment, I have yet to foresee any negative consequences arise from doing so.”

… Okay. That was a little better than a total gag order. At least they wouldn’t have to completely hide who they were from everybody. Though, before they could reach that point, there would need to be a certain degree of trust between them and… whoever else. There was no telling who was close to Ozpin, how many people he was connected to, or who projected a persona that did not match who they were inside.

So, then, the name of the game was trust. Got it.

The four teens turned over all this information in their heads. They nodded quietly to themselves, carefully considering who, if anybody, would be able to keep their secrets close. If they couldn’t tell anybody today, then maybe, hopefully, they could share who they were someday. At least then they would have more people to be open with.

Paradox gently clapped his hands together, producing a quiet smacking noise just loud enough to grab everybody’s attention. “If that’s all, then I would like to say one more thing before I leave you.” He had returned to his usual stoic self, and was giving all his chosen heroes an encouraging grin slightly marred by regret. “I want all of you to know that I am truly sorry for your current predicament. I did seek out alternative options to resolve Remnant’s crisis before I even thought to get all of you involved. That’s precisely why I sent him here not long ago.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “‘Him’?” You sayin’ we got backup waitin’ somewhere?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Paradox quickly denied the inquiry. “When I first discovered Remnant’s predicament and began thinking up plans to save it, I happened upon this individual. He certainly possessed the power to save this world, if only he would do what was necessary. Unfortunately, he is a cold, callous, greedy creature with little to no regard for anybody but himself.”

Peter found himself wondering if the timewalker was actually fully sane. Nothing he was saying made it sound like this guy should have been trusted to save a ham sandwich, let alone an entire world. Based on the expressions of his companions, they were all thinking the exact same thing, as anybody with common sense would.

The scientist chuckled heartily to himself, as if recalling a humorous memory. “And yet, I concluded there was no harm in trying. There was roughly a point-zero-zero-zero-seven-nine percent chance that he would actually help Remnant. Normally, I would have abandoned any plans to recruit him by that point and searched for another method. But, amazingly, even if that incredible, one in a trillion jackpot did not happen, I realized his failure would not actually leave Remnant in a worse state than it was before his arrival. Even in the most awful scenario, this world as a whole would not be any worse off, not in any meaningful way that I could foresee. So, I decided to gamble a bit and invited him to make an attempt to save Remnant.”

“And… he didn’t?” Rex pressed the subject curiously, wanting to hear how the story ended..

Paradox sighed wearily. “No. No he did not. To his credit, he did deal some damage to the enemy’s forces, but nothing permanent. However, the damage he caused delayed certain events from taking place by a few weeks, so it wasn’t all for nothing. Once it became clear he was not going to do what I needed him to do, what Remnant needed him to do, I sent him home as early as possible. Fortunately, there was a perfect window to do so without creating any ripples, and that was precisely when it was safe to pull all of you in. I had to scramble a bit to make everything line up, but I succeeded in the end.

“So you traded us for him? Who was this guy?” Ben leaned forward. This mystery man was sounding more and more interesting by the second.

“Not important. All you need to know is that he is no longer here. Although, I may owe you an apology in the future, Peter. There is a chance his failure could cause you in particular some grief.”

“Me? Why?” Peter was caught off guard by the preemptive apology.

Not that it really mattered, because there wasn’t any further elaboration. Paradox pulled a gold pocket watch from his lab coat and popped the cover open. He stared at the time for a second before putting it away.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more. Now, I really must be going. There’s still so much to do before I can rest. Do enjoy your stay in Remnant, boys. It’s not every day you get the opportunity to vacation in another universe.” Paradox approached the nearest wall and ran a hand down one of the decorative pillars. “… Besides, this place won’t be so peaceful for much longer” he added in a quiet, saddened tone.

Without warning, Paradox disappeared. In a flash, he was there and then he was gone. While Peter and Rex looked around, confused, Ben and Kevin sighed. Yup, that was their Paradox. Always showing up and leaving at a moment’s notice with no regard for anybody else.

“To be honest, I am a little surprised. He usually doesn’t tell us so much all at once.” Ben mused to himself.

“Figures the one time he feels like chattin’, he just leaves us with even more questions.” Kevin growled quietly. “... Forget the video game tournament. I need to sleep.”

“Good call. I could definitely use some shut-eye right now.” Rex quickly agreed. He all but jumped out of his seat and walked away with his hands shoved in his pockets, not even waiting for the others. He was half-stomping as he went, as though there was more weight in his feet than usual.

Peter numbly rubbed at his eyes, also feeling tired for a number of reasons. “Is your friend always so frustrating?”

“”Yes.”” Ben and Kevin replied without hesitation.

Present:

The band of heroes carefully explained everything they’d discussed with Paradox while Jaune was busy calling his parents. Once they were sure they’d covered everything important, they finally stopped, giving Jaune time to think before they continued. 

Though, really, he didn’t know how they expected him to react. For the thousandth time since he’d been forcibly dragged back to their dorm, Jaune found himself wondering what he was supposed to do.

“Just…don’t panic, I guess? Not much else to do at this point, is there?”

 Jaune opened his mouth uncertainly, only feeling half-ready to keep the conversation going. “So, if I’m understanding this right… you’re saying we can’t even trust Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon himself?”

“Whoa, hold on there.” Ben hurriedly jumped in before Jaune could jump to any more conclusions. “Paradox didn’t say we couldn’t trust him, just that we can’t tell him everything yet. Sooner or later, we should be able to share everything we know.”

“And when will that be?” Jaune demanded weakly. Ben looked away from him,not wanting to admit he couldn't answer the question.

“Uh… eventually?” He offered sheepishly. Jaune just sighed and went back to thinking over everything he’d been told. It was honestly amazing how every time he thought they’d reach the peak of absurdity, something else was thrown into the mix that boggled his mind even further.

“And what about this mystery man? You guys all sound like you’re really strong, and this guy was apparently powerful enough to potentially solve everything himself. If even he couldn’t do it, what are we supposed to do?”

Frankly, Jaune didn’t even know why he was still asking questions. All of this still sounded insane to him. He was pretty sure he didn’t believe any of it… probably. By now, it was mostly curiosity keeping his mouth moving.

“To be fair, Paradox didn’t say he necessarily failed.” Peter patiently pointed out. “I guess he just didn’t do what he was supposed to, so Paradox sent him home and brought us in instead. It’s possible power isn’t the most important factor, but rather a willingness to do what’s required of us. Paradox did say this guy was pretty self-centered, so maybe he just didn’t want to help Remnant. That, and, whatever he did is apparently going to cause me trouble in the future, which I still don’t fully understand.” Peter briefly paused and mused quietly to himself. “How would I be affected by his actions, and why is it just me?”

“Are you actually asking me? How am I supposed to know? This is your story.”

Jaune was starting to feel antsy just sitting on his bed. He was always the kind of guy to prefer a soft, cushiony surface over a hard, firm one. But, in this one instance, he actually wished for the opposite. Sinking slightly into his plush bed was making him feel rather unbalanced, which wasn’t doing the sick feeling in his stomach any good. Come to think of it, when had he started feeling sick? For that matter, what had even caused him to feel nauseous in the first place? As far as he could tell, the feeling had just appeared out of nowhere.

“Wow. You know, this is all really cool. I mean that, I do. But, just for the record, I still think you guys are skipping over this whole ‘save the world’ thing a little too easily. Shouldn’t that be, I don’t know, something to actually worry about?”

It was actually one of the few things keeping him from fully buying into the insane story. What kind of person could just casually say “by the way, the entire world is going to end in less than two years” and not be the slightest bit bothered by that? Their attitudes were lacking in that department.

As usual, he did not receive a satisfactory answer. The boys all just shrugged in perfect sync with each other.

“Save the world enough times and it kinda loses the ‘wow’ factor, you feel me? Disarm enough bombs, destroy enough invasion fleets, kick out enough galactic fugitives, and sooner or later, you’ve seen everything. Saving the world from shadow monsters… meh, been there, done that. This isn’t some life-changing adventure, it’s just a casual Tuesday.” Ben explained it as if he were calmly talking about his day at school. “... Well, a lot of casual Tuesdays. Y’know, since we’ll be stuck here a while. That’s… kind of taking the fun out of all this.”

"..."

"..."

The other boys awkwardly rubbed the backs of their heads or averted their eyes to stare at the ceiling. Ben's half-hearted complaint seemed to have some kind of effect on them, putting them in an even worse mood than before.

“...” Jaune just stared for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and sat up. “What am I supposed to add here? I know you don’t want to hear this,” Kevin inhaled deeply through his nose, already knowing what was coming. “but let’s just assume I actually believe you.  I can’t understand any of this. You’re all saying you’re these legendary heroes where you come from, so why can’t you do this yourselves? What do you need me for? Even if I am an… Honors Student, like you, I’m still just a student. Wouldn’t it be better if you teamed up with an actual Hunter? Or the military?”

After all they had done to convince him that they were sent from parallel universes to save Remnant from some encroaching threat, Jaune expected some kind of argument justifying why they needed him specifically. It was the only thing he still couldn’t understand at all. There had to be some sort of reason why he was so important to them, right? Something they had yet to share with him, like a prophecy claiming he was destined for greatness. Didn’t most heroic legends start with one of those?

The answer he received was yet another collective shrug.

“Maybe, maybe not. I’ve got no clue, jefe.” Rex responded the only way he could. If he had to be real, there was nothing else he could have said. “It’s not like I’ve known you that long, so I can’t say for sure if you’re the best option or not. Even now that we’re on the same team, I barely see you.”

“Geh!” Jaune let out a stifled grunt, but held onto his composure. Rex may not have known it, but he had inflicted some damage on his leader with that statement.

Ben spoke up next. “I’m with Rex. I can’t really be sure when I don’t know you that well. Even when we were super out of it, I’m pretty sure I only saw you for a few minutes every day.”

“... Mm-hm.” Jaune slowly nodded, biting his tongue.

Peter gave Ben and Rex a scathing look. “What happened to everything you said about trusting Paradox? If you’re so sure that Paradox is always right, then it shouldn’t matter if we rarely see Jaune. Your man said he was the right guy for the job, so he’s the right guy for the job. I don’t need to spend every day with him to know he can do this.”

“...” Jaune hung his head low, unable to respond.

It… wasn’t like they were wrong… at all. He’d heard other teams conversing over the past week, discussing training plans and scheduling group study sessions. Like proper teams, they worked together and all helped each other to succeed. Jaune had done plenty of work on his own, but he couldn’t recall a single time he’d gone out of his way to do anything major with his own team. The closest he’d come to it was that day after the others went to Vale. Sure, he planned for them to study, but, after seeing how down they looked, he gave them the day off and studied by himself anyway.

That made for a grand total of zero training sessions, zero study groups, and… no important discussions among them. Oh, but he’d spent plenty of time studying on his own. An oppressive sensation of guilt was beginning to settle over the golden-haired teen.

“...”

“Some leader you are.”

He couldn’t tell them everything. No matter what, they couldn’t know every little detail. What would they think of their captain lying his way into school? But, if he was going to call himself a leader, there had to be some level of honesty between them. Even stretching the truth was better than nothing, at least then there would be some truth.

"... I'm sorry." Jaune leaned his body forward in something akin to a bow, though his seated position made it look rather awkward. "I… I live pretty far from any big cities. I did well in school back home, but everything's different here. It's all so much more complicated than anything I've ever had to do. I was doing great back home, but here? … I've been working really hard to catch up with everybody else, and I didn't want to bother you guys with that. It's my problem, not yours. A leader shouldn't have to beg his team to help him fix his problems, I’m supposed to be there for you. I… thought it'd be better if I just took care of it on my own, but I didn't realize I was ignoring all of you in the process. If it feels like I've been avoiding you, then, I'm sorry. I swear, that's not what I was trying to do."

Ben, Peter, and Rex all looked at each other, thrown off by the sudden apology. They hadn’t been fishing for anything of the sort, so it came as something of a surprise when their leader began pouring his heart out. Kevin, though, didn’t care in the slightest, and was already opening his mouth to steer the conversation back to more important matters. But, before he could speak, Peter held a hand out in his direction, silently urging him to wait.

“Jaune, I know it can be kind of embarrassing having to ask for help, but it’s not as big a deal as you think. Everybody needs help, nobody can do everything by themselves.”

Jaune slowly raised his head to look Peter in the eyes. He seemed surprised that his partner wasn’t upset with him.

“What?”

“I used to ask my friends to help me with my work all the time.” Rex shrugged indifferently. “Wasn’t a big deal. They helped me with the boring stuff, and I helped out when they needed me to smash some monsters. Not like asking for help made me weaker, I still took down plenty of freaks every day.”

“I-I know that, it’s just-”

“Don’t tell me you’ve been avoiding us because you’re embarrassed about your homework marks.” Ben almost laughed at his leader. “Dude, I put in the bare minimum in every single class. I’ve been a C student for as long as I can remember! You think I’ll laugh at you because of some bad grades? Well, maybe if you pull a couple F’s, but I doubt you’re that far behind.”

“...”

“It’s not that simple. It never was.”

In two days time, a week would have passed since the first day of Beacon. By then, the repairs back home would almost be complete. At best, there were only two weeks left before his parents arrived to take him away. There was no time to be a failure, not even one single second.

He needed to be better.

He needed to prove he belonged there.

He had to make sure that when his parents arrived, he was not just a good student, but a fantastic student. The kind who stood head and shoulders above their peers, whose success was never in question. Students like that never had to get on their knees and beg anybody to help them, so how could he?

Peter watched Jaune sit in silence, seemingly deep in thought.

“... Hey, I’m still pretty new to Remnant, but I’ve done plenty of reading since I got here. Not like there was much else to do while I waited for the term to start. I could always help you study, you know.” That got a faint reaction. Jaune’s head lightly tilted in Peter’s direction, a grateful yet displeased look in his eyes.

“Why?” There wasn’t a single shred of pleasure in that question, only pure confusion.

“Why not? Aren’t teammates supposed to help each other?” Peter hummed quietly to himself, tapping a finger against his chin in thought. “Tomorrow’s Friday, right? It would suck to spend hours studying right after being in class all day, so how about we do some review after our tests on Saturday? The day will end earlier than usual, and it’s not like they’re important tests, so there’s no need to kill yourself prepping for them tomorrow. It might actually be good for you to take a break.”

“Wha-? But… I need to-”

“No, you don’t.” Ben could already tell what his leader was about to say and shut it down right away. “Listen to Peter, dude. You’ve been killing yourself ever since school started with all this studying. For once, take a day off tomorrow. Read some comics, play some video games, do anything besides study. The books’ll still be there on Saturday.” Seeing he wasn’t convincing his leader, Ben sighed and made a disgusted face. “Ugh, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but… I’ll tell you what, if you take tomorrow off, I’ll also join you guys on Saturday. Sounds good, right?”

“I…”

“I’ll even force Rex to join. We can have a big, team JPTR-style study session.”

“Que!? Why am I a part of this!?” Rex dragged a hand down his face and moaned pitifully. “Man, spending my Saturday studying? Hah, fine, if that’s what it takes to get you to take a break. You look like you’re about to pass out on your feet. But if I catch you studying tomorrow, I’m not coming.”

“...”

Jaune didn’t feel right about it. He still didn’t think it was okay to ask somebody else to help him with the absolute basics. It would be humiliating, not to mention how much attention it would draw to him. What kind of Beacon student was as lacking in knowledge as he was?

… Then again, they seemed to buy his cover story. And they all seemed like good people, if a touch loony. Even if he was found out, the others wouldn’t sell him out, would they? Furthermore, since they were all on his team, they could study right there in their room, with no fear of somebody else catching them going over the basics of the basics.

… It was a tempting offer.

“... I’ll think about it.” Jaune muttered so quietly, he barely made any noise at all.

“What’s that? I couldn’t quite hear you.” Ben leaned in close, making a show of cupping a hand around his ear.

“... I’ll consider it.”

“Speak up, jefe! We can’t tell what you’re saying!” Rex leaned in beside his partner, also cupping an ear. Both boys were grinning ear to ear, knowing they’d already won.

“I SAID MAYBE! I’LL THINK ABOUT TAKING A BREAK FROM STUDYING TOMORROW IF IT MEANS WE’LL WORK TOGETHER ON SATURDAY!” Jaune shouted, his cheeks dyed red from embarrassment. “If… if that’s what it’ll take for us to work together… then I’ll consider taking the day off.”

“I need… to do something with my team, something leader-like.”

The red and green pair raised the hands that were cupped around their ears and clapped Jaune on his shoulders at the same time. The blonde boy jolted in surprise, not expecting the pair of slaps.

“Remember, no studying at all tomorrow, or we’re not showing up.” Rex stated this as if he was reading off a legal contract.

“We’ll be watching, so don’t try to pull a fast one.” Ben warned ominously. “I’m looking for any excuse to avoid spending my day studying, so you better believe I’m not letting anything slide.”

“... Got it. I’ll keep that in mind… if I take your offer. Arc’s promise.” Jaune found himself smiling faintly, sweatdrop notwithstanding.

Patting their leader one more time for good measure, Ben and Rex turned around and sauntered back to their seats. Neither of them were looking forward to Saturday in the slightest, but sacrifices had to be made to keep Jaune from killing himself. The poor guy was so obviously exhausted, and they were getting tired of their leader walking around looking like he was on one HP. As much as they would love to have the weekend free, they couldn’t help but hope that Jaune would take them up on their offer and treat himself to a rest day.

“If you’re done settin’ up a play-date, can we get back to business?” Kevin was once again questioning why he, the one who least wanted to be there, was the only one staying on topic. Why was he always the one who had to get things back on track? “There’s still plenty to talk about, and the apology ain’t gettin’ you out of it.”

Jaune wilted. He really thought he’d gotten away from the painful conversation of the past. The last thing he wanted to do at this point was return to it after he finally escaped. After all that, he still couldn’t fully pin down why the discussion made him so uncomfortable, it just did.

“Do… do we have to?” He asked pitifully.

Kevin didn’t care one bit for his sorrow. “Yes. You think I wanna be here any more than you? The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

It was plain to see how miserable Jaune was. The poor blonde looked like he would start crying at any second. Peter sent his heart out to his partner, but he knew Kevin was right. This was the best possible opportunity to talk without being interrupted, and they couldn’t let it go to waste. There was no telling when or if a similar opportunity would present itself unless they shoved more Dust down Rex’s throat.

“Sorry Jaune, there’s still one more thing.” Ben apologized regretfully. “I know you probably still think we’re just trying to mess with you, but I promise all of this is real. Let’s just get this over with, and then we can go our separate ways until dinner. Deal?”

“... Sure. Say what you have to.” Jaune just wanted this to be over. He could bear the discomfort for a little while longer if it meant the conversation would finally end. “What’s left?”

Peter quickly cleared his throat before kicking things off one final time. “Paradox made things a little complicated when he started talking about ‘powerful beings’ or whatever. But, before that, I was pretty sure I understood what we were dealing with. I’ll let Ben tell you since he’s the one who actually met her.”

Ben began explaining every last thing he saw during his time in the Grimm lands, while Kevin offered the occasional clarification. They quickly recounted everything, from their arrival, to the massive castle, to the Grimm queen herself in shockingly well-recollected detail.

By the time they were done, Jaune was left in yet another state of shock.

“Grimm… queen? You’re saying the Grimm have a leader!?” He couldn’t contain his amazement. This went against everything he’d ever learned about the shadowy monsters that plagued Remnant.

“Oh, they’ve got a leader alright, and she did a real number on us.” Kevin tenderly touched his chest, rubbing the spot he’d been zapped in. “Nothin’ we did stopped her. I snapped her neck and she just shook it off. Ben froze her in a block of ice and she was out in ten seconds flat.”

“It was obvious we wouldn’t be able to stop her if she could just keep getting up, so we got out of there.” Ben looked down, recalling something the pale woman had said. “Weird thing is, she kept asking if we were sent by the gods to stop her. The whole time we were fighting she just kept ranting about how much they wanted to see her miserable, along with somebody named Ozma.”

Peter nodded along quietly. “I remember you saying something about the gods before. She asked if they had returned, right?”

“Yeah, though I’m not sure why they left in the first place.”

“Hmm.” Peter hummed in thought. It felt like they were trying to piece together a mystery here. One by one, he hung up all the bits and pieces of information on a make-believe corkboard. Imaginary lines of string connected all the little details, making it easier for the young genius to sort through it all.

Salem sensed magic on Ben, and Paradox claimed Ozpin was able to do the same thing. By that logic, he likely was already onto at least one of them. There may have been a connection there, but it was impossible to say for sure without knowing exactly how rare magic-users were on Remnant. Ozma’s name sounded pretty close to Ozpin’s, too. Salem sounded like she had been around for a long, long time, so maybe Ozma was an ancestor of his? Again, that was only speculation, not something he could prove in any way. For now, he felt comfortable assuming there was some kind of connection, but he couldn’t say for sure what it was.

Then there were these gods. During his time in Remnant, he’d noticed many of the people tended to refer to these gods, but not once had he heard any specific names or spotted any churches or shrines. He would need to study up on Remnant’s religions, there could be something important there.

Unfortunately, it was all just guesswork and possibilities in the end. No actual answers presented themselves in any obvious way.

"Hm. Ben, what do you-" Peter turned back to his teammate, but trailed off when he got a good look at him. The hero was pressing a hand to his heart and taking several deep breaths, like he was trying to psych himself up for something.

"Ben? You okay?" Rex had also noticed his partner's concerning behavior and shot him a worried look.

Without saying a word, Ben stood up from the desk chair and walked to the center of the room. He leaned against the dresser between Rex and Jaune’s beds, making sure everybody could see him clearly.

“Last thing, let’s get this over with. You all better listen up, because I really don’t want to have to talk about this twice.” Ben let out a pained sigh. Whatever he was going to talk about, it was clearly not a pleasant memory.

“If we’re taking this chance to go over everything important, then you guys need to know about what happened on Initiation day.” The verdant hero groaned and dragged a hand down his face. Every fiber of his being was against broaching this topic, but he persisted. This was far too important to keep to himself. "... After I transformed."

Initiation Day:

Ben was falling out of the sky, dozens of Grimm waiting below to tear him apart as soon as he landed. In the face of his impending doom, he felt no fear. As if they sensed this, the monsters seemed to lose interest in him and went back to advancing towards Rex. He could only smile as he plummeted back down to Remnant, not even minding the wind violently buffeting his face.

The cocky hero was done playing around. He pulled up the Omnitrix’s holographic display and spun the playlist wheel around, revealing the incomplete circle composed of violent, demonic looking icons. He felt a slight chill run up his spine as his finger tapped the wolf icon, but he assumed that was just excitement. Even though he had never assumed the transformation before, it was immediately obvious that its power would be immense. All that remained was to slam down the code cylinder and his transformation would be complete.

“Get ready Rex, cause it’s Hero Time!”

He slapped the black and green cylinder down and disappeared in a flash of emerald light. The joyous hero could hardly contain his excitement, his mind running a mile a minute trying to imagine what his new form would look like before he finished changing. He had chosen the wolf, so maybe it would be like Blitzwolfer. Or, based on how the creature he scanned ran around on all fours, it would be closer to WildMutt. Either way, he couldn’t wait to see himself in his brand new form.

With how the transformation was going so far, he wasn’t disappointed. That millisecond of change dragged on for what felt like an eternity. He could feel his body multiply in size until his mass increased by over a hundredfold. His limbs all grew thicker and longer while his fingers and toes elongated into razor-sharp claws. Ben’s jaw expanded into a long snout full of sharp teeth, and every one of his senses grew hundreds of times sharper. He felt as if he could smell every scent in the entire forest and pick out any one he pleased at any given time. Even though they were miles apart, he could clearly smell Peter and Kevin on the other side of the Emerald Forest. Not only that, every little change in scent, every minute little difference based on the way they moved, Ben could almost swear he was “seeing” them as they hiked through the trees.

The thick, black fur that grew from his body did not make him feel any warmer or colder, almost like it wasn’t there at all. The same could be said for the white and red armor plating that sprouted from his skin. Actually, they barely even felt like they were there. Their weight was so incredibly slight, they may as well have been made of air. Yet, even though he had no actual way of knowing for sure, Ben felt supremely confident that they would protect him from nearly anything.

When he finally fell out of the sky, the ensuing impact shook the ground and totally crushed any Grimm unfortunate enough to be directly underneath him. The nearby trees trembled when they were struck by the shockwave Ben’s earth-shattering cannonball created and a few even bent in place. Without meaning to, he had converted dozens of the massive trees into recreations of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Everything about this form felt powerful. Every twitch of his muscles when he so much as shifted his weight, every slight gust of wind he created just by turning his head, the sheer aura of strength the transformation let off would have caused a lesser man to faint on the spot. Even just releasing a breath from his mouth was enough to push the smaller Grimm beneath the enormous creature off balance. They scrambled around in a panic, desperately trying to support themselves before they lost their footing completely.

“Oh yeah, I can already tell this thing’s going to be fun to use.” Ben was hurrying to come up with a name for the creature before the moment passed. Should he keep it simple and call it something like “Devil Dog”, or was he feeling more creative this time around? It had been so long since he’d assumed a brand new transformation, his naming skills had gotten rusty. In the past, he would have had something in the blink of an eye. Now, he was totally drawing a blank.

“Ben! Quit taking a nap and pay attention!”

Rex’s shout snapped the intimidating wolf monster out of its daze. While he was busy spacing out, a rather large change had occurred around them.

For starters, every single Grimm with even a scrap of bone armor had booked it out of there as fast as they possibly could. The nightmarish creatures were stumbling over themselves to escape Ben’s presence without a moment's delay. The larger Grimm were even tearing through the smaller ones in their path to get away even faster, leaving a quickly vanishing trail of pitch-black blood in their wake as they ran full-tilt into the trees.

On the other end of the spectrum, the smallest Grimm without a single plate of armor covering them only seemed to get more aggressive. They growled hatefully at the impostor who had joined their ranks and all began to swarm in, their red eyes flooded with nothing but malice. It was as if the massive Beowolf’s very existence was an insult to them. Rex was forgotten entirely at the drop of a hat. In fact, he was being pushed around by all the Grimm forcefully shoving past him to reach their new target. All that mattered now was that this newcomer was torn to shreds immediately, as violently and painfully as possible.

Ben was slightly worried as the mob of Grimm began latching onto his body before he could make a move, climbing all over to try and tear him apart from any open gap in his armor. That worried feeling disappeared almost as soon as it came. Despite the dozens of Grimm clawing at his fur through the tiny gaps between each bony plate, he was not in any kind of pain. The young Grimm were too weak to do any kind of damage to their target. If anything, it felt like he was being gently rubbed all over. It was actually pretty nice, especially when the points of their claws dragged across the rough skin under his fur, pulled taught by the bulging muscles underneath.

The titanic wolf opened its maw and let out a long, airy chuckle. Oddly enough, it sounded like two completely different people were making the same noise at the same time. Rex noticed one sounded nearly exactly like Ben, while the other couldn’t be any further from that. Its voice was low, heavy, and raspy, like a grizzly bear that had been granted the gift of speech after smoking a pack a day for ten years. Thankfully for small mercies, Ben's voice was ever so slightly louder than its dark echo.

“You like the new look, Rex? Figured it was time I tried something different.” As grateful as he was for the backup, Rex couldn’t help but shiver as his friend spoke to him. There was something about the way he sounded that made his spine tingle. Whatever the opposite of “scratching the itch” was, this was it. That disturbing voice somehow perfectly hit every point to make him feel incredibly uncomfortable on an instinctual level. Every harsh syllable made his hair stand on end and caused goosebumps to sprout up along his skin.

“Y-yeah, it’s really cool. Not terrifying at all.” He took a few steps away from the creature that seemed to be smiling beneath its mask of bone and offered a shaky thumbs-up for good measure. For all his experience fighting EVOs over the years, this creature felt different on a fundamental level. It was as if there was a dark wave coming off its body, forcing him to feel real, genuine fear just by being in its presence. Looking down, Rex realized his legs were actually shaking.

“Knew you’d love it. Let me just take care of these guys real quick and we can get back to looking for our Relics.” Turning his attention back to the unwelcome parasites clinging to his body, Ben let out an excited growl. He raised a massive paw upwards, six-meter long claws extended. In a flash, chunks of Grimm went flying away from his body, their flesh torn asunder as though they were made of paper. Those blood-red claws did not snag in the slightest as they cleaved through Grimm after Grimm, spraying ink-colored blood and mangled body parts everywhere. Rex recoiled in disgust as some of the viscera splashed onto him, glaring as best he could at his teammate until the last of it finally dissipated into dust.

All the while the massacre continued, the beasts made no moves to defend themselves. Young Grimm, not being developed enough to experience any more than basic emotional responses, already had little to no sense of self-preservation. Still, the way they completely ignored their comrades' deaths and went right on furiously attempting to tear Ben apart was… off-putting. They truly did not care in the slightest what happened to them if only they could inflict one, just one injury on the monster that had earned their ire merely by committing the sin of existing in their presence.

“This thing rocks! They can't hurt me at all!” Ben gleefully raised an arm again, preparing to slice apart even more of the hairy hitch-hikers that attached themselves to him. “If this is just the wolf, I can’t wait to see what the others… the… others…”

The towering arm remained suspended in the air. Instead of attacking, Ben froze. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. Beneath the solid armor plating, his jet-black fur was standing on end. He suddenly felt on edge, like there was something dangerous nearby.

But why did he feel that way?

What was out there?

All the large Grimm had run away and he could not smell any more approaching, so what was it that put every cell in his body on high alert?

Ben shook his head. It was nothing. If there was anything around, he would have known what and where it was by now. Shoving the uneasy feeling into the back of  his mind, he went through with his halted attack, showering the forest floor with even more disintegrating Grimm remains. But, that was all. Immediately after completing the motion, Ben found he could hardly move a muscle to kill the last of the monsters clinging to him.

He should have had energy to spare, but his limbs had begun to feel heavy, like something was dragging them down. His muscles ached and his skin felt like it was being pulled tighter and tighter. Ben began taking deep, heavy breaths as the air was forced out of his lungs. After less than a minute of effortlessly cutting down Grimm, he felt totally winded.

“Wh…y? There’s no way I’m done, not this soon! I can still fight, I can keep going!” Ben howled defiantly in his own mind. If his body did not want to respond to his commands he would force it to. He willed his heavy limbs to move, slamming his claws into the earth. No way was Ben Tennyson calling for a time-out this easily.

“... Oh? How interesting.” Upon hearing that haunting whisper, Ben stiffened up, the fur covering his body standing on end. He knew that voice. “I certainly did not expect this from you. Hm, what else will you show me?”

That horrible voice. Lilting, ghostly, like he was hearing it in a dream. It carried through the air and dug straight into his brain, more oppressive and painful than any physical attack. Somehow, it sounded like it was coming from every direction all at once, both far away and right next to him.

“... Salem.” Ben growled coldly. The remaining Grimm clinging to his body were pushed to the back of his mind. A far more important threat had just made itself known.

“That witch lady you mentioned before? Where!?” Barely twenty feet away, Rex reacted to his partner’s words with surprise. He raised his chainsaw arm and looked all around, not wanting to be caught off guard.

“Great question. Where are you, and why are you here? I figured you'd hate being somewhere with this much natural sunlight.” The green-eyed Beowolf turned all around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the alabaster-skinned witch whose voice was rattling around inside his skull. He found nothing but rocks and trees. The Emerald Forest was empty.

“You waste your time. I am not here, child, not even in spirit.” Salem sounded almost bored as she continued to speak to Ben from some unseen place. Yet, underneath that boredom, there was a restrained curiosity. Despite her feigned apathy, even she seemed interested in what the young man had become.

“What are you talking about? Are you trying to tell me this is all in my head? That… that I’m hallucinating, or something? How? How are you doing this!?” Ben continued whipping his body in every direction. He didn’t like the idea of the demoness being unseen in his presence. Just the thought made his skin crawl.

His body started to feel cold, like an imaginary wind was chilling his flesh. The sounds of the forest quieted just enough to be noticeable, but every other sensation remained the same. What was the witch doing to him?

“Indeed, how?” Her voice did not change much, but even Salem seemed confused by what was happening. “I possess a link to every Grimm on Remnant, but nothing quite like this. A Seer is capable of showing the world from their perspective, but you, you have taken things even further still.”

“Where are you!? Stop hiding and come out!” Ben was tired of this game. Not caring how dizzy he was making himself, he continued spinning around in search of a trace of the whispering witch. The Grimm latched onto him were nearly shaken loose by his wild, jerky movements. When they inevitably righted themselves, they carried right on with their hopeless attack, not disheartened in the slightest by their lack of success thus far.

“Be still.” Finally, Ben spotted his target, but not in any sort of physical sense. That coldly whispered command sounded close, much closer than anything the witch had said previously, as if she had whispered it directly into his ear. Accompanying that spine-tingling command, he saw something in the very back of his mind, a still, photo-like image of Salem pointing a finger downwards like she was telling a dog to heel.

The results were immediate. All at once, Ben’s body froze. It happened so quickly, nothing about it could have been called natural. Rather, it was like he had suddenly been frozen inside an invisible block of ice.

“Crap! I’m stuck!” The transformed teen knew in that very moment, he was completely helpless. Despite his best efforts, he could not so much as twitch an ear anymore. He was well and truly immobilized. Even his mouth was stuck, preventing him from calling Rex for help.

And still, Salem existed nowhere except in Ben’s head. He didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like he had a clear image of her in his brain, like a slideshow projecting through his mind. An image of her raising an arm, then narrowing her eyes, then dozens upon dozens of images passing in seconds to simulate every movement of her mouth as she spoke.

“... In all my years, never have I shared such a profound connection with any one Grimm specimen. I see what you see, hear what you hear, feel what you feel. The lush forest, the singing birds, the wind against our skin, it’s as though I am walking there with you. No, as though you and I are one and the same, contained within the same body.”

“She really is in my head!? Come on, think Ben, think! How can you get out of this!?”

“You cannot.” If Ben could still move his body, he would have stiffened up at the cold whisper. Again, he swore he could see Salem in the back of his mind, even clearer than the last time. For the first time since they’d met, the woman was smiling. It was an ugly, crooked smile that fit her wicked persona perfectly. 

“You… you can hear my thoughts? Then why can’t I hear yours!?”

“Please. Do not mistake our positions as equal.” Salem extended one finger and sharply jerked it downwards. Ben felt his lower body sink to the forest floor. He was no longer merely holding still, he was sitting down like a good little dog. “We are not partners, we are not equal benefactors. You are now just another Grimm, and I am your queen.”

The mental image continued to become clearer. Instead of still pictures, Ben could plainly see Salem moving around inside a dark space with no noticeable details. The lone witch was all that there was, all that there needed to be. 

“Your mind… it is quite a fascinating place. So many interesting thoughts and memories. It appears I misjudged you, you truly are not a servant of the gods. You were forced into this, trapped on Remnant by a meddlesome timewalker. You, and four others, yes?”

“...!” Ben’s panicked thoughts slammed to a halt. She… she could see all of that!? He wasn’t even thinking about the others at the time! Was his entire mind left wide open for the Grimm Queen to dig through as she pleased!?

In his mind, he could see Salem offer a pitying frown. “Such an unfortunate fate. Tricked by a being who thinks himself above you, forced to fulfill his wishes in his stead. To be manipulated by an arrogant higher power, how very… human.” Salem hummed quietly to herself, suddenly appearing thoughtful. Some part of her almost appeared… compassionate!? If it weren’t for the ghostly pale skin criss-crossed with inky black veins, the expression on Salem’s face might have looked comforting, like a mother’s kind smile. “How remarkably similar to my own fate. Perhaps you should reconsider your loyalties. We just might be of benefit to each other.”

If Ben had the ability to do so, he would have cracked up laughing instantly. All things considered, he decided the effect was the same. Salem probably knew exactly how felt even if he couldn’t show it, as disturbing as that thought was.

“You want me to just give up and join you? You really think I’m that stupid, that I’d ditch my friends just like that?”

The meager traces of gentleness on Salem’s face vanished, replaced by immense distaste. “I had hoped you would be more aware of your situation. This was not a request, it was a final offer of mercy, born of sympathy for one so similar to myself. Had you agreed, I may have left you your freedom. But, if you are determined to resist, then you will remain nothing but a tool.”

There was a frightening level of finality in that statement. “You can’t just-”

“Do not assume to command me. From this moment forward, you are my sl-”

“Ben! How many times do I have to yell before you answer me?!” Salem let out a quiet growl as a new voice interrupted her. Glaring through Ben’s eyes, she got a good look at Rex, who was now flying in front of his, no, their face with the help of his mechashift jet-pack. “I’ve been screaming for the past five minutes! Did you actually fall asleep in there?”

“...” Salem closed her eyes and uttered a quiet, annoyed snarl. “I do not like being interrupted. Crush him.”

“No-!”

“Yesssss, my queen.”

Ben’s brain shut down, all his thoughts coming to a stop. He hadn’t said those words, he hadn’t even thought them. That was somebody else, somebody with a deep, raspy voice, just like the one that echoed his own words before Salem commandeered his body.

“REX! RUN!”

His desperate shouts were not spoken aloud. Ben was not in control of his own mouth anymore. He could only watch, horrified, as his arm was raised and swung at breakneck speed towards his friend.

“NO!”

By some miracle, Rex managed to dodge the sneak attack. He dived under the arm sweeping his way, but the huge gust of wind created by the high-speed attack threw his body back down to the ground. He smashed violently into the dirt, his jet-pack’s wings breaking apart on impact and spraying soil and scrap metal everywhere. The injured boy hurriedly crawled backwards to put distance between himself and his attacker, fear showing in his eyes.

“Knock it off! You can’t just use my body to-”

“If only I could put an end to your incessant barking as well.” Salem released a resigned sigh, as though she had accepted there was no silencing her brain buddy. “Although, I must admit, tearing apart one child is a waste of time. I wish to see what else this Grimm is capable of.”

The pale woman paused, a thoughtful look on her face perfectly clear to Ben in his mindscape. By this point, the image of the ancient witch was so clear in his subconscious it was like he was watching a live video feed of her standing in a dark room. That curious look on her face… was she digging through more of his memories, even at that very moment!?

“Hm… Initiation is it? Another feeble attempt to raise a generation of warriors against me. So cruel, sending more children to fight a war you know they have no chance of winning. Has your heart finally gone cold, I wonder? Or will you still feel sorrow when I tear them apart?” Whoever the cruel woman was speaking to, it was clearly not her newest prisoner.

If Ben’s body was his own, his blood would have frozen in his veins. He could already feel his body moving, turning away from Rex, away from Beacon Cliff, and facing a random patch of trees. Or, he would have called it random were it not for his incomparably powerful nose. With his boosted sense of smell that could put a Vulpimancer to shame, he could tell that, miles away in the direction he was now facing, was the largest concentration of students in the entire forest.

And, if he had realized that, if he was thinking about that, then Salem knew it too. He could see her venomous smile grow as his thoughts reached her.

If he… if what he had become was allowed to reach those students, it would be a bloodbath. That couldn’t happen. No matter what, his Beowolf form could not be allowed to move one inch until he figured out how to transform back to normal.

There was still time. His arms were being raised, taking slow, heavy steps that left small craters in the ground. Ben silently screamed, willing his body to stop with every fiber of his being.

“Perfect. Those will allow you to show me your abilities. Beacon students make for a far better performance test than newborns.” Salem stared with eyes that did not belong to her into the trees, her own glowing red orbs filled with heartless indifference as she spoke about the examinees like they were lab rats. “I am eager to see what my new tool is capable of. Go, kill them a-”

“”NO!!”” Two furious voices screamed in perfect unison, neither one overpowering the other. The sudden scream prompted Salem to raise an eyebrow curiously. Ben’s heavy limbs fell down again, but this time, the crimson claws dug into the earth, anchoring them in place. “"I won’t!!””

Salem stared, amazed. For the first time, she fully allowed her disbelief to show on her face. She… had been resisted. This boy actually acted against her commands while in Grimm form. How? She alone held dominion over the Grimm. She alone was their queen!

“... What are you, child?” Ben knew by now what that inquisitive look meant. Through methods he did not yet understand, Salem was digging through his mind, searching for any clue that would tell her how he was resisting her control. Days, months, maybe even years of memories were spied on in seconds, not a single private detail left alone. All the while, he could not catch even a meager glimpse of her mind. That treasure trove of information was locked up tight, hidden from his prying eyes.

And that was fine. If she was busy digging through his memories, maybe she would have a harder time monitoring his present thoughts. The nervous hero racked his brain for a way out while continuing his self-immobilizing gambit. Even then, Salem was still pushing him to keep moving. If she wasn’t slipping, then neither could he.

Something. Anything. Appealing to Salem was useless, and Ben did not have enough control of his body to reach for the Omnitrix. Just holding still was taking everything he had. There had to be something else, some other escape route. As crazy as it sounded, Ben almost wished he could be Alien X instead. At least then there was a third personality to appeal to instead of one almighty overlord arbitrarily deciding everything, leaving him to fight for scraps of control. No such conveniences existed in this case.

… Unless…

A thought came to Ben. It was a crazy thought, but at this point, he had no reason to not put all his faith in one of those. It was a better plan than sitting around, drawing blank after blank. Insanity was better than emptiness.

Before Salem had made herself known, before she had commandeered his body, there was already something else there. When he spoke, there was another voice speaking at the same time, and that same voice spoke all on its own after being commanded by Salem, only to join him again when he fought for control. There was a third person with them, but who!? Who could it be!?

… Oh.

“It... It has to be the Grimm itself.” Ben realized. If his body was his to fully control, his eyes would have widened with shock. “Of course! It’s so obvious! It was a Grimm I scanned, so obviously its DNA is here too! But, wait… they’re magic, I shouldn’t have even been able to scan it in the first place! Which means… maybe the rules are different! Come on Ben, think! You’re running out of time!”

Salem was still busy searching Ben’s mind for an idea of how he could resist her. While she searched, her commands did not cease. The urge to move, to run, to find every student in the forest and shred them to ribbons was growing stronger and stronger. Ben felt his hulking body begin to sweat as his firmly planted paws shook in place.

Behind him, he could hear Rex shouting angrily, but he was too focused to pick out a single word. He wasn’t even sure how much time had passed. Was he standing there for a few seconds? A few minutes? Had hours already passed?

“Until she started giving the orders, everything was fine. Salem is connected to every Grimm, so it should have already been waiting for her commands. Isn’t that how they work, they all just do what she tells them to? If that’s the case, I shouldn’t have been able to do a thing, even before she made herself known and started giving orders. Then, what does that… wait. I think I got it.”

A lightbulb went off in Ben’s brain. He had a new idea, one so insane he hesitated to even suggest he was onto something. Regardless, despite his concerns, he was confident in his newest theory, a feeling that only grew stronger when the look on Salem’s face faltered. She had known something he didn’t, “had” being the key word. The hero-turned-detective was on the right track, and she knew it.

“It’s also a Grimm, so it’s connected to her by design. But, I scanned it, I transformed into it, I injected its essence into mine. The Omnitrix modified it, coded it just for me. It’s part Salem… but it’s also part… me. … And I would never do this. I’d never even dream of it. … That’s it. We’re done here, Salem. I’m taking control back. Nobody drives my body but me.”

In the space in the back of his mind, the dark void where Salem stood alone, Ben saw another shape begin to take place right beside her. From the shadows, a writhing mass was slowly illuminated until he could pick out every grotesque detail. Floating beside its queen was a pulsating, black and red clump of viscera, shaped only vaguely like a human heart. It thumped rhythmically, briefly glowing whenever it filled with blood. Despite appearing as a humble organ, attached to nothing at all, Ben got the distinct impression it was very much alive and feeling everything around it.

“Grimm are just creatures of emotion, they only act on impulse. But, it's that thing’s body we’re borrowing. It’s waiting for exact orders, and we’re the ones who give them. Peh, just my luck Salem has the unfair advantage.”

So, this was to be a game of tug of war then. Ben’s ungodly willpower vs. Salem’s intrinsic dominion over the Grimm. The ghostly woman had abandoned looking for a solution in Ben’s memories and devoted all of her attention to controlling the body they shared. An expression of genuine, undistilled rage decorated her pale face. The sheer audacity of this human boy stealing control of the Grimm from her had made her absolutely livid.

“You dare… you dare wrest control of my Grimm from me!? Child, who do you think you are!?” Salem’s once dignified voice carried nothing but heartfelt contempt. To say she was displeased with Ben would have been the understatement of the millenia.

“Seethe all you want, you cranky old bat.” Ben felt himself sweat even harder as their battle for control intensified. From an outside perspective, there was merely an exceptionally large Beowolf sitting still on the ground with its tongue hanging out of its open mouth, eyes blank. On the inside, two beings of considerable power were warring over the demonic superweapon. “This… is my body… and nobody… is taking it… away from me!”

“”Re-Rex!!”” Human and beast shouted together at the only one who could do something about this situation. Tense, adrenaline-filled seconds passed by in silence until, finally, the sound of an engine filled Ben’s ears. Rex was flying in front of him again, albeit much more apprehensively than last time. One of his arms was morphed into the Slam Cannon, a chunk of rock already loaded and ready to be fired in case his friend tried any other sudden attacks.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, amigo. What’s with the friendly fire?” Judging by his trembling voice and the sweaty sheen covering his face, Rex was very clearly still terrified, much more so than he had been previously. Was continued exposure to the demonic Beowolf increasing his sense of fear, or was its horrifying aura just growing stronger the longer it was allowed to exist?

Ben’s washing machine-sized eyes narrowed at Rex. While he still had the upper hand, he needed to say something important. The massive werewolf’s mouth slowly cracked open, dangerously close to snapping back shut as Salem tried to keep them silent. In his mind, Ben only grit his teeth even harder. He had come this far, no way was he stopping now.

“”Omnitrix!! On my chest!! Press it, now!! Change me back, RIGHT NOW !!”” Ben’s voice melded with the Beowolf’s into a unified, desperate plea. It was absolutely imperative Rex take action immediately. There wasn’t time for questions.

“You… you absolute fool. Has your desperation made you lose your mind?” Salem spoke up again just to taunt Ben. She appeared to have gotten her emotions under control, her voice having lost much of its fury. Even still, there was an obvious ocean of malice hidden just under the splash of composure. “I have seen your memories, I know how your device works. Your friend cannot save you simply by pressing the hourglass.”

"That's the problem with people your age, Sally. You should focus more on the present instead of getting lost in ancient history. You can keep me from hitting the Omnitrix all you want, but you can’t control my mind, or my desires. I want Rex to deactivate the watch, so I’ll let him deactivate the watch. You lost, Salem.”

Salem did not audibly respond to Ben’s jeering. Through their shared eyes, she could see Rex was hesitating. His forcibly growing fear was getting the better of him, and, in his moment of terror, he pointed his cannon directly at Ben. Logically, he knew it was the sensible thing to do. After being attacked once already, anybody would think twice about actively approaching their aggressor. 

But, logical or not, this was not an action without consequence. Glowing emerald eyes stared down the barrel of the handheld cannon. As the gargantuan Grimm came to understand exactly what it was looking at, its lips were split by a furious snarl.

The Grimm were creatures of instinct and emotion, and this being was no different. Ben and Salem were necessary for the finer details of free thought, but the creature’s lizard brain was more than capable of understanding a potential danger. It witnessed the threat of violence, processed the intent behind it, and responded with nothing but anger.

Ben’s control slipped. It was no longer him and Salem fighting for control of the Grimm. Now, the beast itself wanted in on the action, desiring nothing more than to strike back at the being who dared to threaten it. Losing the last dregs of his control instantly, Ben felt his claws rip out of the earth, spraying soil and rocks everywhere. Time slowed down as the twin tools of death streaked towards his friend at a speed far too fast for him to dodge.

In less than a second, Rex would be dead.

The unsettling thought hit Ben like a freight train. All thoughts, all plans, all emotion left him. At that very moment, absolutely nothing registered in his brain except stopping that from happening .

“R… RRAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!” With a soul-shaking scream, Ben put every spare ounce of willpower he could muster into forcing his arms back down. Against the combined desires of Salem and the Beowolf, his desires would not be pushed aside. Anybody who dared challenge Ben Tennyson to a battle of wills would soon find they had picked an unwinnable battle.

Were he in his human form, Ben would likely have burst hundreds of blood vessels from the physical and mental strain. Right before the Beowolf’s sweeping claws could split Rex in half, they swerved downwards, just missing his legs by a couple inches before the blood-red murder tools were again buried in the dirt. On reflex, the Mexican boy fired the rock held within the Slam cannon. The powerful projectile simply bounced harmlessly off his attacker’s bone helmet, not even leaving a scratch.

Even though the danger was past, Ben kept pushing. Every last ounce of fight he had in him was forced out as he furiously ordered the Grimm over and over to stay right where it was. His commands had grown so powerful, the beast could not even hear its mother anymore. There was only Ben, and nothing else.

“You…” Salem let out a breath filled with faint amazement. Not only had the human boy managed to tear control away from her and her subject, but something else was beginning to happen. The Grimm queen began huffing, her breaths growing loud and angry. Whatever was going on, it was dredging up a level of anger not even Vilgax could hope to match.

“Impossible. D-don’t say things like that, don’t give me hope.” In the midst of his struggle, Ben heard yet another new voice. It belonged to a woman, a young one by the sound of it. It was mostly unfamiliar, but something about it caused an itch in his brain, like he should have recognized it.

He could see something, too. Through somebody else’s eyes, presumably belonging to the woman who had spoken earlier, he could see a young man standing in a stone doorframe. He wore gleaming armor befitting a knight, its silver color a stark contrast to his tanned skin and dark-brown hair.

“It is the truth, my lady.” The knight took a bow, humbly lowering his head before the woman whose eyes Ben was borrowing. “I am here to take you away from this place.”

“Ben’s” eyes became blurry with tears. “Then… you are the one I have been waiting for? If so, then, please, tell me your name.”

The knight raised his head, a kind smile on his handsome face. “Of course, my lady. I am Sir Ozma, of the kingdom of-.”

“ENOUGH!” With Salem’s enraged scream, Ben was forcibly ejected from the memory. The room, the knight, all of it faded into darkness, leaving only the present. The Salem in his mind’s eye was shaking with rage, her eyes glowing a more furious shade of red than ever. All of her pitch-black veins were bulging out of her skin and visibly twitching with every powerful beat of her hateful heart. The ancient witch was so unimaginably livid, Ben could swear he was feeling her anger hitting him like a tidal wave of negativity. Even though they were both seeing through the Beowolf’s eyes and could not technically look at each other, he intrinsically understood that her venomous glare was for him and him alone.

“What… what was tha-”

“I will tear them apart. Every. Last. One.” Salem’s voice dripped with poison potent enough to decimate the entire world. “Every last student in this forest will die today, by your hands.”

Ben’s willpower meant nothing anymore. Salem’s unyielding fury only served to strengthen her conviction. The boy’s desires were thrown to the wayside as the Beowolf tore its claws from the earth and took another swing at Rex. He was ready this time and managed to fly above the attack, readying himself for a second strike that never came. The behemoth Grimm took off sprinting into the trees, easily knocking down any wooden spire its body came into contact with.

“Wha-! W-wait, what was all that!? Was that… was that you!?” Ben’s mind was reeling. Had he finally taken a look into Salem’s mind, just like she had done to him? What was that place? And, Ozma… she had said that name before. When he and Kevin were at her castle, she said something about being at war with him. So, he was still alive, then?

“Gah! Focus, Ben! That’s not the most important thing right now!”

“GGGGRRRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!” A ferocious, blood-curdling roar tore the imprisoned hero back to reality. The unsettlingly powerful howl triggered something primal within him, a natural response he had no control over.

It was official, he was afraid of himself.

The Beowolf was tearing through the forest, hungrily charging towards the cluster of smells a couple of miles away. Any tree in its path was either toppled or torn straight out of the ground and sent flying by the unstoppable demon's powerful arms. As it ran, the young Grimm that clung to its body even then began climbing onto its face, hoping to inflict some kind of damage by going for its vulnerable eyes. Before they even got the chance, the Beowolf snatched them in its claws and threw them carelessly into the sky, not breaking stride for a single moment.

Ben fought as hard as he could, trying his best to force a single one of his desires back into the Beowolf’s mind, but it wasn’t working. Salem’s incandescent demand for blood had lit a fire in the beast. Her rage coupled with her intrinsic command over all Grimmkind was too strong to overcome. It was no longer a question of willpower. Salem had the power to simply pull a switch and assume all control.

And still, Ben fought. He couldn’t just give up. He was Ben Tennyson, the savior of his universe, of the entire Omniverse! He refused to lose so easily to a mere witch, to his own flesh!
As he protested with all his might, he could almost feel his body moving. Not the one he and Salem shared, but his body, as if it were physically trapped inside the Beowolf. He sent command after command, each one different than the last.

“Stop!”

“Turn around!”

“Change targets!”

With every command, it was like the bond between him and the demonic pair weakened. He could feel his own body strain and creak from within, as though it was acting as an ineffective roadblock the Beowolf had to cross in order to move. His very mind was being damaged as he resisted the unyielding command. It was like he was being physically forced out of their unholy union, only to be locked in place by the confines of the Beowolf’s flesh.

He watched the world move in slow motion as the Grimm smashed through the last of the trees before it, skidding to a halt in a grassy clearing. On the other side, he could see a large crowd of people gazing up at him with fear in their eyes. In mere seconds, they would be killed, killed by him.

“No… I WON’T LET YOU!” Nothing mattered, nothing but stopping that from happening. Ben didn’t care if the strain caused his brain to explode, he would not be the cause of all those deaths. 

But, taking back control from the Beowolf was impossible, that much was obvious. So, Ben did the only thing he could do, the one action he had yet to take, the one unproven theory he had not tested.

If the Beowolf could not be manipulated, if Salem had turned their mental war into an unbreakable system of ruler and servant, then all he could do was declare war on her kingdom once more. For the battle of wills to begin anew, he needed to attack not the subject, but the queen herself.

Salem could not be allowed to whisper in the Grimm’s ear any longer.

“If I can’t tell him what to do, then neither can you! We’ll both be prisoners together, stuck here while he calls the shots! So, just shut your mouth, and wait there patiently! Ben’s rebellious mind roared, pushing his brain-neighbors’ control out of the Grimm’s putrid heart. Whether she liked it or not, it was going to be pure. As pure as a dark creature’s heart possibly could be.

In his mind’s eye, Ben saw the witch falter. Sweat was forming on her brow, her open mouth revealed tightly grit teeth, and the veins around her eyes were popping out from strain. At the same time, he felt the Grimm’s desires slip away. It no longer sought to tear the students before it into ribbons. It merely stayed where it was, enjoying the feeling of the breeze on its skin.

As it carelessly glanced down, the beast noticed the last of the Grimm still hatefully and ineffectively tearing at its flesh. The creature responded emotionally to the external threat, and set about butchering the creatures, the human teenagers already forgotten,

“You cannot… fight me forever. I will… I will make you suffer.” Salem’s voice was strained. If the look on her face was anything to go by, she was feeling real, physical pain, just like Ben. Both of them felt like they were being crushed as they fought each other, their desires, their “bodies” pushing against the Beowolf’s as it did only what it pleased.

“Give… it… a rest! I’m not letting you give him any more commands! We’re both… just going to sit here together. We’ll both… be trapped in here… until my friends let me out!” Ben fought the pain and bit back at the pale demon. He was so close now. Rex had to be on his way, ready to make good on the instructions he had received.

Any second now… any… second now, he would be free. Just a little longer, and everything would be fine.

“Oi, Tennyson! Weren’t you yellin’ at me for bein’ too violent with these things before? Hurry up and change back, I’ve gotta slug your stupid face for freakin’ me out!” Ben felt nothing but horror when he heard Kevin’s familiar voice shouting at him.

“No, not yet, we’re so close!” It was all he could do to keep Salem from actively ordering the Beowolf to commit murder. If he tried to take control back himself, everything would spiral out of control. The trapped hero could only wait, horrified, as the Grimm slowly turned around to face the one who had yelled at it.

To his immense relief, the creature did not attack immediately. Despite Kevin’s heated shout, he was not actively displaying hostility. At least, not yet. The Beowolf did not respond with violence, instead tilting its head like a curious dog at the new stimuli. It did, however, let out a low, warning growl. The human boy was familiar to Ben, but the massive Grimm did not recognize him at all, and so treated the unfamiliar being with caution.

Through glimmering eyes, Ben finally got a good look at the rest of the group and found he recognized almost all of them. Besides Kevin, Peter and Jaune were also there, and Rex was dusting himself off after an apparent crash-landing nearby. Even Ren, Nora, and Ruby and her sister were there, as were a few girls he did not recognize. In short, everybody he absolutely did not want anywhere near him was assembled.

“Actually, no, this is good! Rex can explain, tell them what to do! As long as nobody tries to fight me, this’ll all be over soon!”

Unfortunately, in his hopeful excitement, Ben completely forgot the personality of his best friend. His best friend who did not like being growled at.

“What, this one can’t talk either. What is it with your dog aliens and not havin’ a language to speak? Whatever, just change back so I can deck you already.” Kevin shouted up at him crossly, frustration evident in his voice.

“... No…”

The Beowolf was growling even louder now. Kevin had not attacked it yet, but the threat of violence coupled with the clear hostility in his voice were raising alarm bells in its lizard brain.

“MOVE!” Ben knew his friend could not hear him, but he shouted anyway as the demonic werewolf dived towards him. He almost cheered when Peter fired a sticky string at his friend’s back and pulled him to safety just before he was cleaved in two.

“Oh my God, thank you! Kevin, please, please stop yelling and just back off!

Kevin did not back off. It was his turn to get angry and scream at “Ben” for attacking him. Ben’s heart sank even further as the Beowolf jumped straight at the group of teens, who, thank everything, all dodged out of the way. He soared harmlessly into the stone structure behind them, smashing it apart and sending the ancient structure tumbling off the cliff just behind it.

“You cannot last forever. Your focus… will waver eventually.” Salem huffed tiredly, her exhausted expression betraying how difficult her battle with Ben really was. Her eyes drifted for only a moment, her mind lingering elsewhere. Her eyes flashed dangerously. Something was going on in that sadistic brain of hers, and Ben already knew it couldn’t be anything good. But, his pride would not allow him to shy away from whatever she was about to pull.

“Gimme… your best shot! I’m not letting go, no matter what you throw at me!”

“SCREEEEEEE!”

From their new position on the cliff’s edge, Ben could see a black shape approaching from the horizon. It looked like a massive Raven, cloaked in the telltale bone armor worn by all mature Grimm. The creature did not look like it was approaching of its own free will. In fact, it looked like it would rather be literally anywhere else and was fighting to turn around and leave.

Its wingbeats were infrequent and jerky, like a heart skipping every other beat. Its head continuously jerked around, only to be snapped back forward like an invisible giant had forcibly grabbed it. Something was obviously forcing the airplane-sized raven to return against its will.

“What? Is that supposed to scare me… make me lose focus? No dice, Salem. I’m locked in, your crappy distraction isn’t about to change that.”

The porcelain-skinned sorceress said nothing, but her angry growl made her emotions clear.

Ben barely flinched as the ginormous avian Grimm fired a volley of razor-sharp feathers at their shared body. He did not falter in the slightest as the twenty-foot projectiles snapped against their armor, nor did he feel an ounce of fear when the second volley came. His heroic heart did not despair or jump for joy when the third volley came, and the Beowolf effortlessly killed the creature by throwing back one of its own feathers. The laser-focused teen felt nothing at all as the Grimm’s vanishing body fell from the sky, its skull pierced clean through.

“Give it up already, will you? I’m not giving the reins back, not on your life.” Ben waited patiently as his friends’ shouted conversation made the Beowolf slowly turn around. With nobody attacking anymore, it beheld them curiously, not a drop of thought behind its actions. It felt only a strange interest in the hairless apes chattering nearby, barely understanding a single word they said. It took a gentle step forward, sniffing at the non-hostile beings.

Ben’s heart almost, almost skipped a beat when the girl in white raised her weapon in an attempt to put something in between them. That split-second of fear proved to be unfounded when Jaune immediately sprang into action, slapping the tip of her blade into the ground. Evidently, he had deduced the key to avoiding the abnormal Grimm’s ire and was doing everything in his power to keep things peaceful. If it were possible at the moment, Ben could have kissed the guy for preventing imminent disaster.

The Beowolf padded closer and closer, wanting to understand the humans that had invoked its curiosity. All the while Salem fought and fought to command it to attack, only for Ben to force her control back out.

“...” The witch was completely silent.

“What’s the matter, nothing to say?” Fully understanding it was an awful idea, Ben couldn’t help but taunt his brain buddy. “Take this one on the chin, and get used to losing. With us around, you’ll be feeling that a whole lot more by the time we’re done.”

Salem’s ruby-red eyes glinted. The irksome human interfering with her control had gone from an insignificant ant barely worth a passing glance to an infuriating little rat deserving of her most painful torture methods in less than an hour. Every last word out of his mouth grated on her dwindling temper, made her feel more anger than she had in over a century. All of this after he dared to invade her mind as though they were equals. All of this, after he saw…

No.

She would not fall to his level.

The aggravating teen boy wanted her angry. He wanted her seething, miserable, and lost, just like those damnable gods. She refused to give him what he wanted. Her breathing relaxed, the black veins around her eyes relaxed, and her creaking teeth experienced some much needed relief after being forced together for the better part of ten minutes.

“... You may escape this day, but I will not mourn this loss. After all, you will return to me. We will meet each other again like this, I am certain.”

For the first time in a while, Ben felt like laughing. “You actually think I’m stupid enough to transform back into this thing? After this, I’m never even looking at its icon again, same goes for all your other pets I scanned.”

Salem smirked evilly. “And when your current power fails you? I have seen your arrival through your own eyes, I know your power is not what it used to be. Your current strength will fail you, your borrowed power will not see your goals through to the end. Try your hardest, struggle and fight to reach the end, and when your best is not enough, you will come right back to me. This, I know.”

Ben’s already awful mood soured even more at the grinning witch’s ominous promise. She sounded so sure of herself, it was as though she had already seen the future.

“If you are so certain of your victory, then very well. Enjoy it. I will fight no more. After all, there will be another time, another opportunity.” Salem leaned back on one foot in the dark space she occupied in Ben’s mind, her predatory grin growing even wider. “If you truly intend to taste victory, I would advise paying attention to what lies before you.”

Realizing he had spent far too long focusing on the devil in his mind, Ben diverted his attention to the outside world. While the Beowolf sat patiently, Jaune had begun walking forward, his eyes resting firmly on the Omnitrix.

Remembering his plan to leave the door unlocked, so to speak, Ben waited with bated breath for the blonde boy to get closer. When he was growled at, the knight sheathed his sword and approached at an even slower pace. Despite the show of goodwill, the Beowolf was growing restless now. There were limits to the curiosity of a wild animal. Observing from a distance was one thing, but any beast would grow uneasy if an unfamiliar presence were to approach. It began growling once more, its paws already raising to defend itself. 

Despite the perfect opportunity, Salem did nothing. As she promised, she merely stood back and watched. As if she could feel Ben’s attention returning to her, she smiled coldly, the warm emotion in the false gesture of kindness not reaching her glowing eyes.

“She knows I can’t fight her, but she’ll still just wait? In that case… nothing better to do. Gotta risk it! Please let this work!”

No longer feeling any pushback from the evil woman, Ben abandoned his labor of forcing her out and returned to directly commanding the Grimm itself. As per his orders, the beast's paws remained stuck to the ground as Jaune continued to approach.

It was not a simple matter. Just because Salem was gone did not mean he could do as he pleased. Perhaps the Grimm had grown into itself more as it was left to make its own decisions, or perhaps it merely needed time to come out fully. Either way, it was not allowing Ben to control it entirely. Its animal instincts were screaming at it to lash out at the boy coming dangerously close to it. Ben had traded Salem’s forceful commands for a wild creature's natural response to an unfamiliar being.

He had actually hoped to make the beast hit the Omnitrix on its own, but, not understanding why it would do such a thing, the simple-minded Grimm refused. It was all Ben could do just to tell it to hold still, and even that basic command was coming dangerously close to being disobeyed. After fighting Salem for so long, his mind had been swallowed by fatigue. He could not control the Grimm as well as before, and the last dregs of control he did have were rapidly slipping away.

Even worse, Jaune had stopped moving. Maybe out of fear, maybe out of something else, he paused just a couple feet in front of Ben. As the tense seconds ticked by in silence, Ben could feel the Beowolf’s claws sliding out of the dirt. It was going to attack at any second.

“I can’t stop it anymore. Gotta… gotta do something else!”

Gathering up the final bit of mental fortitude he had left, Ben tightened his death grip around the Grimm’s consciousness and forced out a short, simple command.

“”Hurry up..”” The off-putting dual-voice of his Grimm form growled the orders lowly, just barely loud enough to be heard. The two voices were just barely out of sync, giving the words an odd, echoing quality.

Jaune, apparently not hearing him properly, looked confused by the unfamiliar voice. Cursing internally, Ben repeated the command, feeling the Beowolf slipping free of his control with every passing moment.

“”Hurry… up..””

Jaune’s face contorted, shock taking over his features. He clearly could not believe what had just happened, could not process what his mind told him was impossible.

“You… just talked.” The young man spoke with an incredulous tone. Any other day, any other time, Ben would have been happy to laugh at his dumbfounded face. But there was no leeway for that, not this day, not this time. Never wanting to scream more in his life, he tried one final time to get the message across.

“”Hurry… UP!!”” His voice hiked up in volume, both sides reflecting a different emotion. The human side sounded desperate, pleading, while the Grimm side sounded hungry and demanding. “”Press… it.. No… more!!””

At long last, Jaune sprung back into action at the precise moment the last of Ben’s control slipped away. His exhausted brain could not control the Beowolf’s animalistic urges any longer. Jaune dived directly at the Omnitrix, his body passing under swiping claws as it soared toward the target.

In the final moment before he freed Ben from his prison, Salem hummed mirthfully to herself.

“Farewell, Benjamin Tennyson. I will see you again soon.”

Present:

“Let me tell you something, that was the least fun I’ve ever had coming out of a transformation.” Ben shuddered, hating every second of his retelling of events. There was a reason he had waited so long to share it with anybody. This was the first time everybody was gathered in one place and in the right head-space to sort through the information. Good thing too, because there was no way in hell he would be telling this story twice. “I felt like my whole body got left in a hydraulic press. I’m still surprised I only got a bloody nose and a messed up stomach. I felt like crap for hours after that.”

The other boys sat quietly, taking in every last detail in silence. Nothing about Ben’s story sounded enjoyable in the slightest, but at least there was a veritable treasure trove of information contained within. Peter had even busted out a pad of paper and started taking notes at some point to make sure he didn’t forget anything.

“A tan-skinned man with dark-brown hair, dressed like a knight, named Ozma.” Peter hummed quietly at the short entry in his notes. Ben finding that memory of the mysterious man introducing himself had stirred a visceral reaction in Salem. She had her moments of rage, her episodes of emotional outburst, but this was the only time she completely radiated with anger, and over something seemingly mundane no less.

Peter thought back to what Kevin had told them during their first night at Beacon, before the term began. He muttered what he'd been told under his breath. “‘Tell me, have the gods returned? Do they bore… of watching my war with Ozma?’” Nobody would speak like that unless they were still fighting a war with somebody, which could obviously only happen if that person were still alive. Still something felt strangely off about all this. Peter had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was missing some important detail.

Beside his brief description of Ozma, Peter wrote down “Alive???” and drew a circle around the word.

“I don’t blame you for not wanting to talk about it. I hated even being near that thing.” Rex shuddered as he recalled his exposure to the nightmarish Beowolf. “Just being close by was like… like it was forcing me to be afraid of it. No matter how hard I tried to stay calm, I just couldn’t help but shake whenever I looked into its eyes. It wasn’t too bad at first, but the longer I was around it, the stronger the feeling got. I was actually kind of glad when you ran away from me. Before you put distance between us… woof, I felt like I'd lose my mind if I was around you much longer.”

Kevin held a hand to his chin in thought. “I wanna know why you were suddenly able to take a look at her brain just like that. Did she leave the door unlocked, or somethin’?”

Ben shrugged cluelessly. “No idea. I just kind of figured she wasn’t prepared for it. She was so sure I wouldn’t be able to stand on her level, that when I suddenly started fighting back, she wasn’t prepared to lock me out. After she blew up on me for accidentally finding the memory of that Ozma guy, I was totally shut out. Which… I guess would mean I could have done the same thing.” The verdant hero hung his head in his hands, thoroughly disappointed in himself. “Somehow, she knew exactly what I found, but I still have no idea what she looked at other than the stuff she told me about. Who knows how much she’s seen, how much she knows about me, and you, and…”

Ben sighed dejectedly and tapped the Omnitrix’s face plate. He would definitely need to reapply the security locks, just in case she ordered her Grimm to try and steal the device.

Wait, she had seen his memories, which meant… ugh, she knew all his passwords. Ben groaned, knowing he was going to have to make new passkeys for everything. He had always been a “use the same code for everything” kind of guy, too. Coming up with something different would totally throw him off.

"That's a good point." Peter huffed, still staring at his notepad. "She definitely knows about Paradox, based on what she said to you. Guess that means there's no shot at a surprise attack. If she knows about him, she almost definitely saw us in your memories too."

Jaune just kept quiet, not knowing what he could possibly add to the conversation. Of everything he had heard today, somehow this was the most believable. It certainly provided an explanation for Ben’s unnaturally hostile behavior on Initiation day.

It just… it figured the most believable thing was the most terrifying thing. Just… if he really thought about it, what else did that story confirm!? The Grimm had an actual ruler, a ruler his teammate had met!? Not only that, she had controlled him once already and seemed supremely confident she would have an opportunity to do so again in the future!?

“...”

This was becoming too much. He was feeling dizzy, and the room was spinning. Jaune’s poor, sleep-deprived heart couldn’t handle all of this anymore.

The dazed knight shakily rose to his feet. The sudden motion attracted the attention of the other boys in the room. They all looked at him curiously, puzzled by his simple action.

“Are… are we done?” Jaune’s voice was shaky and his eyes were unfocused. A loose, faltering smile was on his face. He looked like he was losing his mind. As he spoke, he dizzily wandered over to his bed and limply picked up his sword with shaky hands. “If we are… I’d really like to leave now.”

Kevin grunted, clearly annoyed. “Listen, Arc, you can’t just keep runnin’ away from-”

“Go ahead.”

“... Parker…” Kevin growled at the younger boy, danger evident in his tone. Peter did not even spare him a glance, his eyes resting firmly on his partner.

“Before you go, can I just say one last thing?” Jaune said nothing, but he also didn’t move towards the door. Peter accepted this as an answer and sighed. “I just want to say one last time that I’m sorry about all of this. I know it’s so, so much to just drop on you out of nowhere, and if Paradox didn’t tell us we needed you, I swear I wouldn’t have dragged you into this. But, because it’s so important…” Peter paused, like what he was about to say physically hurt him. “... Because it’s so important, I… can’t let you leave it alone anymore. If we really do need you, then this can’t be left alone. Go ahead, take all the time you need to calm down, but… just understand this problem will still be here when you get back And so will we. So will I. … I’m sorry, Jaune. I really am.”

Jaune nodded numbly. "... Okay. I understand." He pulled the towel out from underneath the door and gripped the knob. But, instead of turning it, he hesitated. The leader of Team JPTR held position, his eyes stubbornly glued to the door. The others silently stared at him, confused by his sudden stop.

"... I understand now." Jaune muttered so quietly they almost couldn’t hear him. Both hands tightened, producing a faint creaking sound from both the doorknob and his scabbard. "I don't… I don’t think you're pranking me anymore. Not after all that. And don't worry, I won't tell anybody." He still did not turn around, but the knight did finally open the door.

He said one final thing before leaving, his voice utterly devoid of emotion. "... I believe you."

Jaune stepped out into the hall, sword in hand, and shut the door behind him. Peter could hear his partner's footsteps in the halls, starting out at a calm, collected pace before quickly speeding up into a desperate sprint. In seconds, the sound of his footfalls disappeared completely.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, he sighed. His fingers tapped on the pad of paper in his lap over and over, faster and faster, producing a louder sound every time. This continued for only a few more seconds before he suddenly pushed off the bed and, with an angry shout, hurled the notepad at the wall. It made a dull, slapping noise on impact. The collision cracked apart the spine of the pad and sent sheets of paper flying around the room. The others jumped back, shocked by their kind-hearted teammate's sudden outburst.

Peter stood stock still with his back to the others, arms hanging in front of him. His shoulders shook with every heavy breath, as though he had just run a marathon. Just when Rex was about to say something, the young hero pressed a hand to his face and let out a dejected groan.

“... This isn’t fair to him.”

“... Yeah.” Ben nodded in reluctant agreement, guilt nagging at his conscience. One of the sheets of paper landed on the ground in front of him. It was a written account of Peter's earlier statement regarding their enemy's knowledge of their group. Salem's name was circled, an arrow connecting her to Paradox, and several more arrows going from Paradox's name to each of theirs. Jaune's name was double-circled, and 'keep him safe' was written in the margins nearby.

“...” Peter briefly looked up at the ceiling, staring at nothing, before turning his gaze to Ben.  He inhaled loudly and raised a finger before opening his mouth, then paused. His mouth snapped shut and the finger fell down to his side as he quickly averted his eyes. “He was just a normal guy before we showed up, and now, suddenly, we’re telling him he has to be a hero, that he has to help us save the world. Not only that, it sounds like the people of this world don't even know the Grimm have a leader, and now he's one of who knows how many people to have that information, and if all that wasn't enough," Peter jerked a finger at the paper on the ground in front of Ben. "he probably has a target on his back now. I can’t even imagine how stressful this must be. I don't know about you guys, but even I didn't have to deal with stakes this high right out of the gate. I… I need you to tell me something, Ben.”

Ben caught the insistence in Peter’s voice. This was obviously very important to him, so he answered without a trace of jokiness.  “Okay. What is it?”

“You’ve known Paradox for a long time. You said he always tells you what you need to know, and that he’s never lied to you. So, just tell me one last time… are you absolutely certain he hasn’t made a mistake, that we need Jaune to save Remnant?”

“... Paradox can be pretty unserious sometimes, and crack some pretty bad jokes to try to lift the mood.” Ben rubbed the back of his head, looking back on every interaction he’d ever had with the billion-year-old scientist. “But, he doesn’t just make stuff up, especially not something this important. I’m not sure how he’s supposed to help, but Paradox wouldn’t tell us we need Jaune if we could do this ourselves.”

“... Right.” Peter accepted the answer with resigned distaste, like he already knew it was coming. He didn't like any of this. No, that was an understatement, he hated all of it. He was practically forcing Jaune to get with the program at an unfairly fast pace. But, if it was truly necessary, then what other choice did he have?

It was beginning to dawn on the displaced hero just how rarely he had felt genuinely happy since coming to Remnant.

“Suppose I owe Kreide and the Belladonnas some thanks. At least they gave me some good memories of this place.”

He glanced at his Scroll. Sixth period had ended just a few minutes ago. All the students would be milling about Beacon by now, free from their classes at last.

“Well then, I’m out.” Taking a minute to gather all his scattered notes, Peter shoved the crumpled sheets in his pocket and began walking to the door. “I guess we covered everything, all that’s left is sorting through it all. If you guys need me, I’ll be in the library. I have... a lot of stuff I need to research.”

Peter left. Rex stared at the closed door for a moment before he, too, stood up. Before he left, he put a hand on Ben’s shoulder, offering his friend a comforting smile.

“I’m not mad at you, hermano. You weren’t yourself, I know that. Believe it or not, you’re not the first friend I’ve had who turned into a monster and tried to kill me. With my luck, you probably won’t be the last.” Patting Ben’s shoulder one last time for good measure, he left the room, leaving Ben and Kevin alone.

“... You gonna be okay, Tennyson?” Kevin ran a hand through his flowing hair. He was nowhere near happy with how they had left things, but at least it was all out there now, even if he felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. He wasn't blind, Jaune was obviously heavily affected by all this, but what was he supposed to do, not talk about it? ... It wasn't like he wanted the guy to panic, it was just... an unavoidable circumstance. One or way or another, at least everybody was definitely thinking of the mission now.

“I don’t know, Kev.” Ben was looking out their window with a far-off look in his eyes. “... Salem seems so sure I’ll transform into a Grimm again, almost like she was promising it. And, what she said about the Omnitrix… I can’t help but think, what if she’s right?”

Ben popped open his watch’s scroll wheel, eyes listlessly scrolling over the meager pickings. “... What if the rest don’t come back, what if what I’ve got isn’t enough? I’m missing so many of my heavy hitters, all my guys that are good against magic, and only a few of my favorites are left. And what if it freezes up again the next time I have to fight a new Grimm and nobody’s there to help? Am I just supposed to get killed while it begs me for a high-quality scan?”

He closed the scroll wheel, too deep in thought to continue examining the ten icons displayed on it. “I can’t become one of those things, not again. She let me go last time, there’s no telling if I’ll be that lucky again. I don’t… I don’t know if I can trust the Omnitrix to get me through this.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow at the bold statement. “So, what then? You just gonna fight without it? Take on the Grimm with your bare hands like you’re some kinda super soldier?”

Ben managed a light chuckle at his friend’s dry retort. “I wouldn’t be fighting with my bare hands, for the record. Even I don’t want to take on shadow monsters with my fists if I don’t have to.” Despite his casual dismissal of the suggestion, there was still a thoughtful look on the hero’s face. “But, it might not be a bad idea to learn more, anyway. If I really can’t trust the Omnitrix, then I need to start training myself again. I’ve got some experience fighting with weapons, but not enough.”

“What, you want me to teach you to fight?”

“No thanks.” Ben turned down the offer without a second thought. “I don’t need to know how to punch really hard, I need… I need to learn how to kill Grimm on my own, like everyone else here does. Just in case the Omnitrix really isn’t enough, I at least want to have some faith in myself. And I think I know who I want to ask for help.”

Ben jumped to his feet, a noticeable air of excitement around him. It was completely at odds with the miserable aura he had been giving off not long ago. “I’ll see you later, Kev. You planning on working on your new car till dinner?”

“‘Course.” Kevin confirmed with a nod. “I’m workin’ from scratch here. If I don’t get started soon, I’ll never get my baby back.”

As luck would have it, the boys had seen for themselves last weekend that there were parking spaces around Beacon Academy. Not just that, but even full garages joined to the many workshops throughout the school. Most were occupied by vehicles other students had received permission to park on school grounds, but there were still a few left available. Ben had taken one to store his own car, while Kevin reserved the one beside it in advance for the car he was planning to build. Anybody else would have been daunted by the arduous task of building an entire car from scratch, but not Kevin. The master mechanic had scrapped and rebuilt his poor car so many times over the years, he could put together an entire vehicle in no time flat, provided he had the right parts. His personal best was seventeen days to put together a muscle car from nothing, and he was feeling like breaking records while he was on Remnant.

“Have fun, then. And don’t forget to eat dinner. Seriously, I mean it. You always skip meals when you’re doing car stuff.”

“Get outta here Tennyson. If I wanted someone to nag me, I’d visit my step-dad.” Kevin waved his friend out with a light smile. If he wanted to work for seventeen hours straight on his car with no bathroom breaks, that was exactly what he was going to do. History had proved he could last for longer, if need be.

As he went to follow Ben out of the room, a thought struck Kevin.

"Wasn't Parker supposed to unlock somethin' for us? ... Whatever, I'll worry about it tomorrow."

Blake:

“I’m still not entirely sure where you’re going with this.”

Blake was walking with Weiss through the halls of Beacon. Ruby and Yang had split away from them right after the bell rang, claiming they had somewhere to be. For the time being, she was alone with the heiress.

Even though they were teammates, Blake still didn’t really feel close to the white-haired girl. Her attitude was getting slightly better, but it was still off-putting at times. Plus, their latest conversation left the quiet girl feeling more unsure of her surroundings than she had in a long time.

“Don’t get me wrong, I agree that something is off about those five, I just don’t understand what you think it is.” Blake spoke off-handedly to her teammate, who was back to turning over Peter’s Dust-free battery in her hands. “Take Rex. It’s obviously weird that he can seemingly transform his body without using a Semblance. But, how is he doing it then? Are you suggesting he’s a robot?”

Weiss let out an annoyed scoff. “I already told you I don’t know. I barely even feel confident I’m not just making connections that aren’t there. I have no idea what the truth could be, I just know it’s not what we’re being told. And I believe you do too.”

Blake turned away, not allowing the rich girl to see her eyes. “Well, that much is obvious. There are just too many strange things going on to pass them off as nothing.” Blake’s amber orbs flickered over to the battery in Weiss’ hand. “I glossed over it so easily at the time. I guess I didn’t really consider how amazing what Peter did actually was. He… he did it so casually, so easily. It should have been some big, incredible thing, but he made it look like nothing.”

“Hrm.” Weiss made a small, meaningless noise, though Blake got the feeling she agreed. Peter’s casual behavior during his invention process was at least partially to blame for their easy acceptance of his creation, but they still couldn’t help but feel disappointed in themselves for not asking more questions at the time.

They passed through a corridor with large windows lining the walls. Here, the girls could clearly see how overcast the sky had become. Dark grey clouds completely filled the sky, not letting a speck of sunlight through. Rain was pouring down ceaselessly, battering noisily against the glass. So much of it was coming down, the grounds may very well have been flooded if Beacon wasn’t perched beside a cliff. The incredible amount of water draining off the edge of one of the visible landing pads looked like a miniature waterfall. Some poor soul in Vale was probably furious about the deluge of water pouring directly onto their house while their lucky neighbors only had to deal with the rain.

“I just don’t know how to proceed. I’m not a detective, nor am I a military officer. I have no experience digging up hidden secrets, and I certainly don’t feel comfortable snooping around our classmates’ personal effects for clues. I have no idea how I can learn more.”

“... You could always just ask Peter.” Blake offered the simple solution like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Weiss scoffed at her teammate, humor lighting up her features.

“You make it sound so simple. ‘Oh, Peter, would you mind divulging all of your deepest secrets to me, even though we’ve only known each other for a single week?’” The heiress shook her head in annoyance. Blake chose not to take it personally, knowing her teammate wasn’t upset with her. “Besides, his entire team disappeared after the incident this morning. How am I supposed to find him?”

“Turn around.”

Blake had stopped walking a short while ago without Weiss noticing. When the heiress finally looked back to see what had given her teammate pause, her heart just about jumped into her throat. Walking up to them at that moment was the very man they had been talking about, dressed in his filthy, torn-up clothes as usual.

“Wh-wh-what!? What should I say!? How do I even begin to ask about this!?” Weiss frantically whisper-shouted into Blake’s ear, hoping she had an answer to this problem.

Blake did not have the patience to mind her concerns. “Hi, Peter.” She called out to the boy all on her own, drawing his gaze over to them. A smile grew on his face when he noticed them. The extra-young Beacon student pushed his way through the crowd of students, their proper uniforms only making his ragged civilian clothes stand out even more.

“Hey guys. How was class?”

Blake side-eyed Weiss. Her teammate was still stressing out over finding the right words and hadn’t even turned to face Peter yet. The golden-eyed girl groaned. She was going to have to do all the talking, wasn’t she? Wasn’t finding answers to their questions Weiss’ idea in the first place?

“Fine, as usual. Though, I couldn’t help but notice a certain team was gone for the second half of the day.” She kept her tone as neutral as possible, but there was an obvious edge to her words. Peter seemed to pick up on it and sucked in a breath, his smile faltering.

“Yeeeaaahhh. See, Rex started feeling pretty sick midway through lunch. We took him back to the nurse and she told us to take him back to our room to rest. Didn’t really feel right to leave him on his own, so we all stuck around until he felt better.

Blake nodded. There were some questionable details if she really wanted to dig into the explanation, but it didn’t sound completely unbelievable. “All of you? Even Kevin? He has his own team, doesn’t he? Why stick around for somebody who isn’t even part of it?”

“Well, we’ve all known each other since before we started at Beacon. Kevin wanted to be there for Rex too. Guy looks tough, but he’s really just a big Teddy bear once you get to know him.” Peter replied easily.

“Again, nothing totally unreasonable there. Hm, this might take longer than I thought.”

“I see. In that case, please let Rex know I’m glad he’s alright.” Blake passed along her message while thinking of her next question. She was already tired of doing all the talking. “By the way, Peter, Weiss and I were just talking about you. She’s just dying to know more about that battery you made for us, aren’t you Weiss?”

The high-class student stiffened up at the sudden attention, but still managed to squeak out a reply. “Y-yes, that’s right! I have m-many things I’d like to ask you about this device!” She thrust the battery directly in front of Peter’s face. For his part, the teen did not flinch in the slightest at the object being pushed an inch in front of his nose. If anything, seeing it only made him happier.

“Ah, so you do still have it. Sure, I can answer questions if you’ve got ‘em, but do you mind if we walk at the same time? I was on my way to the library before I saw you guys.”

The conversation continued on the move. Blake lagged behind a bit as Weiss pestered Peter with all sorts of questions. Apparently, she just needed a push. Now that she had gotten started, the pretty girl’s usual assertive attitude was back in full force. She was peppering the poor boy with so many questions, he was barely finishing his answers before a new inquiry was tossed his way.

Unfortunately for their unsatisfied curiosity, most of his answers to those questions did not reveal much. When asked where he learned to make the battery, he claimed to have taught himself from a book. When asked what book it was and where he had gotten it, Peter said it was some generic lab book and he didn’t fully remember where he had gotten it, but it was either collecting dust in his attic or he had found it in a dumpster near his apartment.

The only response from the entire mobile interrogation session that wasn’t completely unhelpful was his reply to the question of what else he had made. Peter excitedly recounted many of his past inventions, from science assignments to personal projects done for his own amusement. Many of the inventions he described certainly sounded unique, and plenty of them weren’t familiar to either of the girls.

“I haven’t made anything in a long time, mostly because inspiration hasn’t come knocking. But, I think I want to try and get back into inventing now that school’s in full swing. Maybe I’ll try and make something that can help other people and not just stuff for myself.”

Blake slightly perked up at that, the bow atop her head twitching a little. “That’s rather specific for not having any ideas. Is there any particular reason for that?”

“Not… really.” Peter gave her a look full of mixed emotions. “Last weekend, when I was in Vale, I ended up going downtown to visit a friend’s store. He kept telling me how bad the area was, and when I was heading back, a homeless kid tried to mug me. The whole place just seemed so dead compared to the rest of Vale. I’m willing to bet he wasn’t the only kid living like that in the area. I don't have unlimited cash to throw around, but Beacon’s got plenty of workshops, and a whole bunch of parts to work with. If I can’t buy stuff, maybe I can build something that’ll make life easier next time I’m down there.”

“It’s… a nice thought, but that can’t really be helped.” Blake chimed in. “Downtown Vale was never the nicest area, but once the city-wide crime spree started, it only got worse. There are a lot more homeless kids now than there were a few months ago.”

Peter fixed his classmate with a puzzled look. “Sorry, since what started?”

“It’s on every local channel. Don’t you watch the news?”

“Not… recently. This is the first I’ve heard about a crime spree. What exactly is going on?”

“He’s being oddly serious for once.” Blake mused to herself, noting her classmate’s earnest expression. She hadn’t expected a reaction like this when she mentioned Vale’s predicament.

“What does this have to do with anything?” Weiss asked, slightly annoyed they were drifting away from the original topic. Much to her growing displeasure, she was ignored by both her classmates now that they’d found a more interesting topic to discuss.

Blake pulled out her Scroll and tapped away at the screen, scrolling through bookmarked pages until she found the one she was looking for. The quiet Huntress handed the device over to Peter, who began scrolling through the extensive news article published through the Vale council itself.

“It started with Dust store robberies,” Blake explained patiently while Peter read through the report “all around the city, with no clear pattern. It would be nice if that was all, but after so many back-to-back robberies, plenty of criminals around the city felt safe being bolder than usual. Hard to be afraid of getting caught when the police have let the same gang do as they please for months on end. The Dust robberies are still going on, and crime around the city is on the rise along with them. Like I said, there’s plenty more homeless kids now than there were before all this started.”

The dark-haired girl crossed her arms and huffed, her face unreadable. “Or so that’s what the reports say. I don’t get out much, so it’s not like I’ve personally seen much of any of this.”

Peter nodded along with her explanation. Everything Blake said matched up with the article he’d just finished. Handing the Scroll back to its owner, he paused for a moment to process what he’d been told.

“When we went last weekend, it seemed pretty peaceful for a city that’s supposed to be experiencing a crime wave. Up until that kid tried to mug me, nothing seemed off at all. I don’t think I even saw any cops patrolling the streets. Not that I think you’re lying, but if there really is a big crime wave going on, why doesn’t it sound like anyone’s doing anything about it?” Peter gave Blake a confused look. “Sure, there’s cops on the job, but we’ve got a school full of monster-slaying warriors right next to Vale. I don’t know, I sort of figured they’d maybe slide some extra credit projects our way. Like, go out and help the cops catch some criminals and we get good marks in exchange, or something like that.”

Weiss almost rolled her eyes at the naive idea before finally cutting into the conversation. “While I understand where you’re coming from, that’s not typically how these academies work. Older students are often sent out on culling missions and the like, but first-years, especially ones in their first week will rarely be sent on any missions. Besides, if there really is a gang of hooligans knocking over Vale, the authorities have likely requisitioned professional Hunters already.”

Peter did not look very convinced. “You sure? The report I just read said this has been going on for a few months now, and it's only getting worse. If something was going to be done, wouldn’t it have been done by now? I just don’t see why they can’t-”

*Brng!* *Brng!*

Peter was interrupted by the shrill ringing of a Scroll, his Scroll.

“Oh, sorry, hold that thought.” Offering an apologetic smile, Peter pulled the Scroll from his pocket and opened it up. The caller’s face and name was on full display on the holographic screen. Blake’s eyes flicked down out of split-second curiosity and her heart skipped several beats when she saw for herself who was calling. If the familiar black hair, golden eyes, and an unmistakable pair of pierced cat ears weren’t enough for her, the caller’s name sealed the deal:

Kali Belladonna

Sputtering wildly, she immediately stopped walking and put space between herself and the others. “Uh, I just remembered I have an assignment from Professor Peach that I need to do! Right now! I-I’ll see you later!”

Blake turned on her heel and dashed away before anyone could question her behavior. She made it around the nearest corner and pressed her back against the wall, her heart hammering in her throat. The sight of that person on Peter’s scroll had thrown her brain completely out of whack. The quiet girl hadn't gone far and did not feel winded, but couldn't stop herself from taking deep breath after deep breath.

“Why is she calling him!? How does he have her number!? What is going on!?”

Her mind was running a mile a minute. It was all she could do to get away before she said something she shouldn’t. There wasn’t much space between her and Peter, only about thirty feet. Blake carefully peered around the corner, checking to make sure he and Weiss were still in the same place. Indeed, the two of them had not moved, but they were just far enough away to be out of earshot.

“...”

She couldn’t let this go. Weighing her options, Blake decided to take a risk. Looking around to make sure nobody was nearby, she slightly loosened the bow on her head, just enough to alleviate some of the pressure on her skull. Once the soft material was pushed to the side, a single black cat ear popped out from underneath. It twitched up and down a few times, as if it was drinking in its newfound freedom.

“... never seen her speak so quickly. Or show so much emotion.” Weiss was staring in the direction her teammate had gone, wonder written all over her face. Her voice was suddenly much easier to hear than it had been a few seconds ago.

Peter merely shrugged. “Hey, urgent assignment, totally forgot about it right before the deadline? Been there, not fun. When you gotta go, you gotta go.”

As if he had forgotten his Scroll was ringing, Peter’s eyes snapped back down to the handheld device. Blake’s breath hitched as he tapped a finger on the screen, accepting the call.

“PETER!” As soon as the call was picked up, a loud female voice yelled her classmate's name. Peter lost his grip on the Scroll and fumbled with it for a bit before finally grasping it firmly in both hands. “You are in so much trouble, young man! I told you two calls per week! I only got one last week! One!”

“S-sorry, I was just really busy. I promise I won’t miss a call again, Kali.” Peter folded instantly, apologizing profusely to the woman on the other end of the Scroll call. It was like watching somebody getting chewed out by his mother.

Kali laughed joyously. It was obvious she wasn’t really angry and only wished to get a rise out of the boy. “Oh, Peter, I’ll hold you to that. So, tell me, how are you doing at Beacon? Have you ma- wait a moment. What is that you’re wearing!?”

A faint blush appeared on Peter’s cheeks as he tried to discreetly tilt the Scroll away from his body. “My… clothes.”

“They’re filthy! Those… those are the same clothes you were wearing when you came to Menagerie! Why aren’t you wearing one of the outfits I bought you!?”

“Clothes… I bought you?” Blake narrowed her eyes. Just what was the relationship between Peter and Kali?

Beside the lanky boy, Weiss was staring at him with just as much confusion as Blake. The Faunus woman whose face was on his Scroll did not look anything like him, so she couldn’t be his mother. After all, Peter was human, wasn’t he?

Peter shrank in on himself. “I, uh… I lost them in Vale.” His voice was weak. He couldn't even crack a smile as he admitted his mistake.

“...”

“... Please don’t ask. It’s a really long story.”

“... I see…” Kali considered the information for only one second before her peppy demeanor returned. “Well, it’s not a big deal. I’ll just send you some more Lien so you can buy more clothes. Oh, Beacon doesn’t give their students allowances, do they? No, no, no, you can’t properly experience Vale without cash to burn. I’ll wire you a little extra, just in case.

Anybody else would have been thrilled to be offered free money, but Peter just moaned like he was being threatened.

“Kali, please, no. After the last call, my teammates already crack jokes about you being my sugar mommy. Please, I’m begging you, do not send me any-”

“One-thousand Lien received from: Kali Belladonna” An electronic voice robotically read off an alert, invoking another hopeless whine from the boy.

“Noooo! You’ve already given me so much, I can’t ask for more.”

“Oh hush. Just consider it a congratulations gift for making it into Beacon.” Kali waved off his concerns with ease, as if she hadn’t just given away an exorbitant amount of cash.

“No! No, I can’t take this! Thank you, but I’m sending it back!” Peter tapped away at his Scroll, hurriedly returning the money he was sent through the same app Kali used to gift it.

And not even five seconds later…

“Two-thousand Lien received from: Kali Belladonna”

“KALI!” Peter screamed like he was being murdered. The handful of students wandering through the halls all stopped to give him bewildered looks. All he could do was nervously wave at them, earning himself several eye rolls before they kept moving.

“I can do this all day, Peter.” Kali was calmly examining her nails with a smirk on her face. “I have a lot of money to give away.”

“What is happening!?” Blake’s eyes were growing wider and wider the longer the conversation went on.

“Did he say ‘sugar mommy’ earlier!?” Weiss was afraid to say anything, lest she be brought into the strange conversation.

Peter looked like he was about to cry. “F-fine, I’ll take it! Just, please stop sending me money! I’ll never be able to pay you back at this rate!”

Kali laughed triumphantly. “I thought so.” The Faunus woman’s expression softened, the teasing grin making way for a warm, motherly smile. “So, how are you settling in at Beacon? Have you made any friends? Are your classes going well? Are your teammates kind to you?”

Peter did his best to calm his crying heart and just respond to the perfectly normal questions. “Y-yeah, to all of the above. Beacon’s a pretty easy place to get used to, and the classes aren’t too bad. My teammates are all really cool… minus the sugar mommy wisecracks.” He muttered the last part to himself, but Kali’s extra-sensitive cat ears picked up on it anyway. The culprit behind his ridicule snickered into her hand, which Peter promptly ignored. “And yeah, I’ve made new friends. Actually, I’m with a friend now… I think. This is Weiss.”

“Ooh, show me, show me!”

Peter turned the Scroll to the side, allowing Kali to see his silent companion. The heiress, completely thrown off by the strange interaction, barely managed a polite wave and a strained smile.

“H-hello, ma’am. It’s very nice to meet you.”

It was difficult to tell from so far away, but Blake noticed Weiss’ eyes were focused on the top of Peter’s scroll, the part where Kali’s ears were. The rich girl was staring a little too hard at the obvious Faunus trait, an unreadable glint in her eyes.

For her part, Kali did not seem to notice where Weiss’ eyes were focused. The mature woman clapped her hands together happily. She looked positively thrilled to be meeting one of Peter’s friends.

“Oh, you’re such a beautiful girl. Why, Peter, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“I’m ignoring you.” Peter turned away, refusing to give the teasing Faunus woman the embarrassed look he knew she was fishing for.

“No, I mean it in a good way!” Kali chuckled gleefully and turned back to Weiss. “You be kind to him now, alright? He’s a sweet boy, he deserves that much, at least.”

“I… will keep that in mind.” Weiss replied, her strained smile becoming even more forced.

“Thank you. Anyway, Peter, I can’t talk for very long. I would have waited for Ghira to come home before I called, but he’ll most likely be gone until morning. The local White Fang cell has been keeping him busy all day.”

Blake and Weiss snapped to attention at the same time. The odd call had just taken an interesting turn.

Peter cocked his head to the side. “You mean Ilia and the others?” 

Blake couldn’t believe this. Every new sentence just filled her head with even more questions. Not only did Peter know Kali and Ghira, but Ilia too?!

Kali nodded, her smile gone. Now, she only looked tired. “Yes. They’re trying again to get him to assist in their plans. That’s actually why I called you. Apparently, they’re hoping Ghira will provide support for an upcoming operation in Vale. Since Beacon is so close to the city, I wanted to warn you just in case something happens. Tell all your friends, if you can. I have no idea what’s going on, but it sounds like a big deal. You should avoid going into Vale as much as possible.”

Peter took on a grim expression. He bit his lip, pondering Kali’s warning. “... I see. Thank you, Kali.”

“Of course.” The cat-eared woman winked at the boy. “We Faunus have to look out for each other, after all. Ugh, I’d love to talk more, but I really do have to be going now. Please, Peter, promise you’ll stay out of Vale unless you absolutely have to go there.”

Peter stared blankly at his Scroll for several seconds before responding. “... Okay. I won’t leave Beacon unless it’s important.”

“That’s all I ask. Call me again soon, okay? Remember mister, two calls per week! I expect another in the next two days!”

The humble hero chuckled good-heartedly. “I know, I know. Good-bye Kali.” He ended the call and put his Scroll back into his pocket. “Oof, I love Kali, but she can be a lot sometimes. What am I supposed to do with two-thousand Lien?”

Still hiding around the corner, Blake slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. So much information had hit her all at once, she barely knew where to begin.

“Peter… knows mom. Mom cares about him enough to send him money and tell him about White Fang politics. Does he know dad too? He has to, she even said she wanted to get him on the call. And, the White Fang…”

Blake was having trouble wrapping her head around everything she had heard. How was it possible that Rex eating half a vial of fire Dust wasn’t the most outrageous thing to happen today?

“... You’re… a Faunus?” Blake’s ear’s pricked. Still seated on the floor, she turned her body to peer around the corner one last time.

Weiss was staring at Peter, her expression unreadable. Peter seemed unbothered by the question, if a little confused.

“Yeah? Have I not mentioned that to you?” Weiss shook her head. “Oh. Well, didn’t you see me web Kevin at Initiation?”

“I… thought it was some kind of device. I didn’t realize that string… came out of you.” The rich girl’s eyes dropped to look at Peter’s arms. She finally spotted the patches on his wrist where, presumably, the web-like substance he’d used to pull the older boy to safety had come from.

“... You okay?” Peter asked. Weiss was staring a little too hard, and it was weird seeing her so quiet after their rapid-fire Q&A session.

“... Fine, thank you.” Her response was curt and to the point. Weiss was giving Peter a different look from before, but he was too oblivious to tell what it was. “I… also have homework that I need to do. Thank you for answering all my questions.”

The girl politely curtsied and walked away, leaving Peter alone.

“Ah, wait. Before you go, do you think I could get my battery back? Weiss?” It was unclear if the heiress could not hear him or if he was being ignored. Either way, she kept walking away without a word. Peter sighed. “I really am never getting that battery back. Ugh, whatever, I’ll make more. I need to get to the library.”

Blake watched Peter slink away. She couldn’t help but notice he looked much less happy than he had when she and Weiss were around. He seemed more exhausted, more contemplative… more beaten down.

The boy reached a crossroads in the hallway, the library in plain sight dead ahead. But, instead of continuing forward, he hesitated. Unable to see his face from where she was, Blake only saw Peter raise a hand to scratch the side of his head a few times before his shoulders slumped forward, as though he'd let out a heavy sigh. Then, he turned down a different hall and disappeared around the corner, suddenly moving much faster than before.

“...”

Blake wished the last ten minutes never happened. She already had enough questions to begin with, and now she had even more. The two most important of them all were playing on repeat in her mind.

“What are the White Fang planning in Vale… and how is Peter connected to them?”

Her mother wouldn’t have called to deliver a warning unless the unassuming boy had something to do with the White Fang in the past. Something big was happening soon, and her best chance at figuring out what was to uncover more about Peter himself.

Blake stood up and tightened the bow on her head, hiding the black cat ear underneath the smooth fabric.

“Looks like Weiss was right after all. I do need to learn more.”

As she turned to leave, her sharp eyes caught on something just strange enough to make her pause. Through the second floor window, she had a clear view of the roof of the dorm building. The quiet girl narrowed her eyes, staring intently to make sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her.

“... I swear there’s something wrong with him. Is this some kind of intensive training? I can’t imagine anything good coming from that. It looks more like he’s just trying to punish himself.”

Shaking her head in distaste, Blake abandoned the curious sight.

Atop the dorm building, a familiar mop of yellow hair had glinted in the dim light. Its owner was wildly swinging a sword at invisible targets, as if he were fighting off ghosts. The lanky young man wore no armor or even a coat, his thin school uniform the only thing protecting him from the torrential rain and frigid air. 

No matter how you looked at it, his actions made no sense. Swinging haphazardly at imaginary opponents barely counted as training, and doing so in such awful conditions would do nothing but hurt him. She wouldn’t be surprised if her classmate came to class with a cold tomorrow. The minds of Beacon’s so-called Honors Students truly were enigmas, and Jaune exemplified that sentiment most of all.

Not that most of that bothered her. The bulk of the strange scene was shrugged off as the actions of an idiot trying too hard to excel. Although, there was one little detail that stuck with Blake as she made her way to the library.

“It was hard to tell from so far away, but was he glaring at something? I suppose it’s to be expected from somebody in those conditions, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone look so miserable.”

Blake shrugged. She didn’t have time to focus on two people at once. She had already decided Peter was the strangest thing in her life at the moment, so he would be the one receiving her attention. Somebody else could handle his partner. Maybe she could talk Yang into watching him.

“... No, she’ll either slack off and forget or try too hard to be friendly with him and blow her cover. Hah, fine, I’ll deal with him after I get answers from Peter.”

Blake was too busy musing to herself to notice a classmate of hers coming around the corner and raising a hand in greeting. The red-haired girl lowered it awkwardly when the greeting was not returned and kept walking, only to stop shortly after when the odd sight outside the window caught her attention as well. She watched for a few seconds before sighing deeply and turning away.

“... -ter.”

Blake’s ribbon twitched subtly as a muffled whisper reached her ears.

“Hm? Did somebody say something?”