15

Author's Note:

Below.

The quiet steady hum of the Atlas Battleship Amberheart seems far too small for how big it is. Yang walks forward with the rest of our Atlas group as we board. James is already on board, as is Winter, though her personal ship will be flying escort along with the small group of Mantas that arrived from Atlas a few days ago.

It's been 8 days since the Siege, far longer than I would have liked to get going. There is too much work to do. Then again, the rest and time to sort myself out has been nice. Not really.

Confronting my own issues has been a major pain, especially since I keep having anxiety and panic attacks. This is the price I have to pay for seeing them as people, I suppose. At least everyone is fairly refreshed.

There was another semi major Grimm attack on the 6th night, but it was easily repelled. Vale feels safe again. Ha, if only they knew. The Grimm attack was staged. Oh, it was real Grimm, and the defenders knew it was 'staged' under the idea that they were clearing out the last of the Grimm by having them run into Vale's renewed defences, but the image of Vale easily crushing the wave of Grimm gave a major boost to the general population's moral.

No children died.

Guilt has been eating at me. Not much, not since I half dumped my issues on the afterlife, as dangerous of a thought that is, but still there. I've killed people, Red Fang during the first attack, but I don't feel guilty about them. The people on the walls though? Especially those I didn't save. Why do I feel guilty about them but not the people I directly murdered?

James won't let me have a list of the dead. The people I killed through command rather than action. I think he knows.

Teams RWBY and JNPR plus Qrow sit down in the lounge/conference room. Looking at Atlas design seems so weird, so spacious and luxurious, nothing like how Earth's military vessels are built. Not that I've seen any in person, but enough Military Fiction and curious study of engineering has shown me enough to get the general idea.

Then again, most of my study and fiction is based in space, where space is a premium. Well, no, not all of it. Naval ships are half cramped too. Aircraft are too. And tanks too. Maybe it is all military craft? The smaller something is, the smaller of a target it is, and the less resources needed to build it. Also to keep it moving. Having a large empty box weighs more than a small empty box, so put everything you can in a small one to cut down on fuel.

This place though, it's got a completely different philosophy. I got information on petrol and other fossil fuels, and they have been invented. Jacques didn't even need to suppress them, they were invented decades ago. Dust is simply that much better, far more energy dense and versatile.

I think the Remnant locals were expecting some great invention or tweak to oil and coal that somehow makes it rival Dust. After all, Terra has been to their moon and taken over the world, so there must be some great power in oil that Remnant hasn't quite tapped into.

Nope. Dust is just too good. Except the whole, doesn't work outside the atmosphere thing. And the made of dead people thing, not that people really know that.

Dust and Grimm. It always comes back to those two things. Other things I looked up was how Ruby can know what sulfuric and nitric acids are, but not guncotton. Well, Whoosh now. (How did that name catch on? Oh right, Ruby's smile.)

My theory is Alchemy. On Earth, alchemy was the half mystical precursor to modern chemistry, with things like black powder and the pursuit of lead-to-gold transmutation being driving forces that made people confront and study the effects of stuff.

Here, Dust took alchemy's place, and unlike the mystical side of alchemy, it actually worked. That, and it didn't follow half the rules of physics, which would have screwed with the people researching it.

Metallurgy however is much more advance, even to Earth's standards. I've read up on glassy metals, but here they are in widespread use. Not to mention other metallurgical innovations. Metal whiskers for tensile strength, damascus-like steel, bloody nanolaminate materials, Remnant under Grimm has put a lot of energy into their materials science, and gotten pretty damm far.

I only know what nanolaminate materials are thanks to Halo, and a curious Wikipedia search to see if they were based off a real material. Yet here Remnant is, using them for a few very specific things. It's pretty expensive, considering the exact voltages and currents, the strict environments they need to be made in, and the fact that there are a lot of other options that do the same thing for cheaper so it hasn't been widely adopted.

But Nanolaminates? Gundam, that is awesome. They might not quite understand chemistry, but what they do understand is based from an almost purely metallurgic direction. And boy, does Remnant know it's metallurgy.

{Hey, we are about to lift off. What you thinking about?} Yang disrupts me from my thoughts.

{Nanolaminate materials.} She laughs.

Right, Ruby and I might have spent a few... hours... geeking out over Remnant's materials science. I didn't exactly look things up by myself. Well, I tried to, then Ruby looked over Yang's/my shoulder and suddenly I was caught in a storm of words and link to pages.

I open myself to Yang's senses and we look out the window. Seems the gang (don't call it the Yang) have left the meeting room to watch us lift off. Jaune already looks sick, but Pyrrha has her hand on his back. As well as a bin made of metal nearby, just in case.

We start to rise.

Oh, that's interesting. Smooth, perfectly smooth. I didn't really have much time or focus to think about my other rides on Remnant aircraft before, not with all the fighting, but now I realise just how smooth things are. {Very smooth, much smoother than Terra. Gravity Dust?}

Yang is grinning a bit. Did she wanted to flaunt Remnant's tech at me? That doesn't sound like her. She glances to the side. Ah, looks like Ruby wanted to flaunt Remnant's tech at me. And Weiss.

Seems I've insulted Dust and Remnant's tech one too many times. Well, two can play that game. I'll teach Pyrrha how to make diamonds next, that will show them.

"So?" Ruby asks and Weiss glares at her for a moment.

"She said it was the smoothest thing she's felt." Yang lies to them... not really, and Weiss smirks.

"Not smooth enough." Jaune really isn't looking good. "Can we go back to our room?"

"We haven't even finished taking off." Nora complains. Has she even been on an airship before? She's been on bullheads and stuff, but something as big as this? Her and Ren didn't exactly have a lot of loose cash for things like this, I don't think.

Did they even arrive at Beacon Volume 1 on an airship?

The battleship lurches slightly, and Jaune grips the railing. {Use Aura maybe?} I suggest.

{Do you think Aura can solve everything?} Yang half teases half asks me.

{Maybe..?} She sniggers. I mean, what can/can't Aura do. {I haven't even started to Paradigm Shift Aura yet.} And we are moving forward. The massive battleship flies VTOL style, lifting up via gravity Dust before launching forwards. Well, lurching forwards. {Later though. Seems Jaune needs a nice inside room to sit down and get some pampering from Pyrrha.}

As much as it will somehow make things better for Jaune, there are no windows in here. I suspect Jaune can still feel the airship shaking slightly, though it will get better once we are at cruising altitude and speed. So long as no Grimm attack, which honestly I'm expecting.

"How long?" Jaune moans.

Yang grins as kicks her feet up on the table and flicks her hands behind her head. "You've got a whole 11 hours of pampering from your lady friend, Lover boy."

Jaune doesn't look great. It'll pass, right? Wait, does his motion sickness get better by Volume 8? I remember the Landing Strategy comparison videos, but how long was he on that aircraft before they needed to leap off. There is also the Argus Express... Limited. Argus Limited. Did he get motion sick from that?

Everyone turns off their scrolls. James has assured us that this room is secure too, to my paranoid standards. "So what's the name of that ship?" Blake makes a gesture to Jaune and Pyrrha.

Whoa, Blake. Though, it might help distract Jaune from the moving room. I get a nod from Yang. "How long have you wanted to ask about shipping, Blake?" A tiny flicker of a smile on her face.

Funny how just over a week ago I was scared about the whole 'you are fictional' aspect of things. I was the one most worried about it, it seems. Especially since I came clean, too clean, with everything I know. No more surprises, and as much as it is a violation... No, I'm still not comfortable with it. Maybe they are just pretending to push past it, it's not like I can get new information. Or maybe I've distracted them with the war, there are much more important things to think about.

I sigh. "Arkos."

Nora cracks up. "Jaune and Pyrrha Arkos!" No, that's not going to be their last name when they get married, Nora. If they get married.

Pyrrha is blushing, and it is definitely distracting Jaune. I don't think he's thinking about being sick anymore. "Nora." Pyrrha tries to warn, but her blush is way too intense. "We haven't even thought about that."

How fast is their relationship progressing? "Any other ships?" Blake... Of course there are other ships.

"Blake, you know fandom. Everyone has been shipped with everyone else." But fine. "Okay, yes, there are a few popular ones." I smirk. "Though, you might recognise them."

Here we go. "Bumbleby, Freezerburn, Checkmate-"

Ruby gasps like I just just committed the gravest of sins. "Our team attack names?"

I hold up a finger. "Technically the ships came first. You named them after-"

"No! No! No! No!" Ruby denies hard.

{This is fun.} I send to Yang.

Blake comes to Ruby's defence and puts the pressure back on me. Or she's just curious. I've made mentions of the fandom before, but never really talked about it. "Who's your OTP?"

Oh come on. Not fair.

And now everyone is looking at me. {Nope.} Yang pushes me back into the spotlight the moment I try to retreat. Dammit.

I sigh. "Basically everyone loves Arkos." Blake stares at me as I try to escape. Fine. "I hate all of you. Nuts and Dolts."

Weiss groans a moment later as she realises who that pairing is. "That's so awkward."

"It's adorable!" I defend a moment later, only to pull back in embarrassment. "Come on, tell me you see it."

Ruby's face turns as red as her cloak the instant she realises that we are talking about her and Penny. She looks to Qrow for support and he, the cruel man, denies it. By laughing. Hard. I can attack that. "You think you're exempt, Qrow? Shippers are crazy."

That's when the door opens, with James and Winter walking in. Perfect. You think you can just sit there and laugh, Qrow? The door closes and I hit him. "Snowbird, IronQrow."

Yang takes over and joins the others laughing. I know there was one between James and Winter, but I can't remember it's name. It's actually pretty amazing I remembered Snowbird, considering how little I am invested in shipping. Oh look, Qrow is coughing.

"What?" And he even managed to get a word out, impressive. Not that it's all that audible over all the laughter. I nudge Yang to gesture to the spare chairs for them, Jaune is looking better, and they sit down as Qrow manages to get some more words out. You need to breath first, not try do both at the same time. "You're crazy."

Thanks Yang. "So I am. But this is the Fandom. Any fandom is like this, ask Blake." {Not to mention the really crazy ships, like Guns and Roses. That's Ruby X Crescent Rose.}

Yang looks faux-thoughtfully at Ruby. {She does really like Crescent Rose.} Ruby who is now returning to her natural red embarrassed state. Yep. That's her native state now. {Have you been reading about my sister and her weapon?}

I mentally sigh. {I read one fic where Penny gets transferred into Crescent Rose! The tags had Guns and Roses, which is the name for a band on Terra, and I got all confused what it had to do with it. So, I made the mistake of looking it up.}

{Riiight.} Yang doesn't believe me. I'm shocked, shocked I say. So much that I push control back over to Yang.

{I'm done being embarrassed. Your turn. Wake me up when we come under attack.} Yang goes a little quiet. {Sorry. I'm just expecting an attack on our way to Atlas. Too cheap not to, just in case it manages to take us down.} Yang nods and moves on, no need to brood on it.

"Hey Rubes, how much do you like Crescent Rose?" And away she goes. Can't avoid the opportunity to tease her sister, I've taken enough of that from her.

Though I might lend some assistance where I can.

There is joking, relaxed atmosphere as we fly to Atlas. I mostly hide behind Yang. I've never been good with freeform group social interaction, too much data to process. One on one I'm okay, up to 4 other members I'm withdrawn with occasional outbursts that are often out of place. This group though? Far too large for me to feel anything but stress.

To say something I first have to run it though all my internal understanding of every member's perspective to see how they might react. If it might offend them, or cause them to misread what is being said, or to make sure that the majority of the group understands the reference or concept I am trying to convey, or a bunch of other processes dependant on situation and previous interactions.

I've only got one brain. Maybe it's good, though more likely it's simply 'good' at doing the calculations I have made habits out of, but it's still a finite amount of processing power. The most expensive thing though is the interpersonal relationships between members I have to analyse and update in real time. That is, actually listen to what someone else is saying and work out how that might affect the other people.

Understand the group as a whole but understanding the complex changing mesh of conversation and ideas moving about. I long ago realised I could never do it in real time, so I don't. Instead I've been trying to do it as fast as possible and when I'm not actively processing something said, I am calculating possible future interactions ahead by one second.

If person A says something that person B doesn't like, I can, with some accuracy, work out what kind of response they are going to make before they do, and then work out the groups reaction to said response. The better I know a person, the more accurate. Not that it's ever perfectly accurate, or even mostly accurate.

Ha, not for the first time do I think that I should get into AI development.

I'm already an AI, despite my organic 'hardware'.

James wants to talk to me. But not Yang. Which means using my Semblance, something nobody is happy about. Qrow wants to talk to me, but not Yang, which means using my Semblance, something nobody is happy about.

So I stay with Yang, at least until we arrive at Atlas and Dr Polendina can check me out, make sure I'm not dying. There is a use of Transference coming up, if only to demonstrate it to Pietro for analysis, but who to is the question.

Pyrrha volunteers, only to be shot down by James and Qrow. So Qrow volunteers. Sure, they pose it as 'I have the best chance of survival with Qrow's Paradigm Shift', but I'm not convinced. Then again, I am known to have a compromised sense of self preservation.

I'm glad when the attack happens.

Though I'm worried when it turns out to be a normal level of attack for a ship and escort like this. A wild Grimm attack as opposed to one directed by Salem. Maybe. Maybe it's a feeling out attack, maybe it's a-

"Stop worrying." Qrow nudges Yang.

"I'm not." She replies.

"I know, wasn't talking to you. Alloy, your stressing out Yang." What.

{Am I? I'm not saying anything.} We didn't even go out to fight the Grimm, the escort and the fact we are in an Atlas (Now Vale's) battleship dealing with them.

{Yeah, it's because your not saying anything.} Yang points out. {You went quiet when the Grimm came and haven't said anything since.}

Oh. She passes control of the mouth to me. "Sorry. Just thought the attack would be bigger than this. Worrying about Salem making a move on us when we are vulnerable. Was that natural? Or deliberate? A test of defences?" I stop. "That kind of talking isn't helping."

Qrow leans back. "She's not an idiot and we have a full escort. It would take a lot of Grimm to take us down."

"That's what I'm worried about. Vale's new battleship along with Jaune's team disappearing over the ocean mysteriously. How that would be seen by Vale, as well as the loss of everyone on board against her." James, Qrow, Ruby, Winter and Weiss and Blake, all of team JNPR. Oh, and myself I suppose. Yang's here too, but her tactical importance isn't that high, depressingly. Hmm, Penny's recovered parts are here too.

Qrow doesn't seem all that bothered. "Not likely. If she could stop all air traffic, she would have. Especially something as big as this."

"That almost sounded like a compliment, Qrow." James snarks.

Qrow snorts. "You're hearing things."

They glance at me. "I guess I just don't know what a normal Grimm attack is."

"You haven't had the best experience, that's for sure. If there is such a thing." Qrow mutters the last part.

"How much control does she have?" I wonder aloud.

"Mettle's Atlas was unusual." James comments, the hints of regret for actions he has never done still in his voice. "So much so that we" Ozma. At least they are on speaking terms, if only on a tactical level. Qrow won't even be alone in the same room as him. "believed she must have committed significant resources towards it."

Qrow takes over. "And she doesn't know your importance."

{Hear that Yang, you're important.} I try to deflect the implied compliment at my value.

I don't get a response from Yang as Nora throws an empty soda can (Soda? Since when did I get America'd) and Ruby glares at us before telling us off. "We are still on holiday until we get there!"

Qrow looks guilty. I can't help but take the last line though. "I'm not Oz, you know that. I don't know what I'm doing."

I give control back to Yang. "Yeah, but at least you're honest." Qrow mutters before catching the full power of Ruby's Silver Eyes. "Sorry." No wonder they are a weapon, and one with more use than just against Grimm.

{So how does the cannons on this thing work?} I ask and Yang groans, passing control over to me. Ruby grins and before long we are chatting about the Dust canons, because they certainly aren't lasers with shots moving that slow.

There's something I have to do before we land, though we are still a couple of hours out. I thank Yang and take over.

I ask Pyrrha softly. "Are you going to be alright?" Here is one thing the Canon never got to cover. Pyrrha talking to Pietro about her hand in Penny's death.

Whilst there are laws and stuff about mind control/influencing, people aren't rational beings. Dr Polendina very well might blame Pyrrha for Penny, at least in part. James said that he has been informed about Emerald's part in it, but the video of Pyrrha ripping Penny apart on her own wires would leave a mark long before any rational explanation comes.

"I... I think so." She... Oh Pyrrha.

"You still blame yourself." No wonder she couldn't beat Cinder in the OT. With how emotionally distraught she was, with whatever the Aura machine did to her, as well as Amber's death.

Did Pyrrha see Amber die in the Canon like I did here?

Yang and I give her a hug. "Not your fault. Know that, even if you don't feel it."

"We're all right beside you." Yang follows up.

We let go after a moment and Pyrrha nods and smiles. Not a whole smile, but not a fake one either.

Things are going to be okay.

We are on the deck, outside, cold wind cutting through clothing and into bone. Aura is slowly dropping, but that is exactly why I asked Yang to come out here. {Hey, can I take control of your Semblance? Got another idea for a Paradigm Shift.} I ask.

I have an idea. Well. Another idea. I have a lot of ideas, but I need data to narrow down which ones are possible/easy to do. {Knock yourself out.}

I frown. {Right, I'll take control of your arm too then. Now, how do I work the shotgun..?} Yang gets the joke, even if it isn't all that funny. Just ignoring an... idiom? Common phrase? Whatever.

It was my delivery that was off. Atlas is almost visible in the distance, and that is bothering me.

I take over Semblance control and feel. It's incredibly difficult for me to really understand what is going on. Some people click with their Semblances easily, while others take years to even get basic control. Like Ruby running to walls or Weiss trying to set up complex Glyphs.

Burn isn't a very difficult Semblance to use, but it isn't easy either. It leans towards the difficult to master side of things. I could, for example, push the button (there are no buttons, it's a feeling) and turn it on, that is super easy. So easy that Yang tends to do so accidentality when she's mad. But what I'm doing?

Well, right now nothing. Just 'listening'/'feeling' charge level she has. It's not going up. That's odd. It should slowly climb as the very cold weather saps Yang's Aura. It did when I had Weiss test this back before the Siege. Unless...

Listening. Comparing.

Understanding.

.

Maybe not that last one. Not yet.

But I'm getting there.

Closer.

Focus.

Create and then implement a particular frame of mind.

{Alloy?} Yang feels it as I do. I loose focus and the 'stored damage' stops rising.

{Your Aura is falling as you 'take damage' from the weather.} I explain the hack. It's pretty simple, in concept and something I can pull of. Yang doing it though? Well she was right. Not everyone can just change how they think. I take over and let her listen. {Let me try again.}

The cold is pretty bad, with the wind chill factor amplifying Solitas' normally sub zero weather, so much so that Yang needs to use a good chunk of her Aura to hold it back. We won't be able to stay out here for long. Yet that is it's own advantage.

Stored damage under the new Paradigm Shift is rising. Fast. Yang laughs and bumps her fists together, flicker of Burn activating at a low level. {I mean, it's neat, but not that useful in a fight.}

True, as nobody wants to fight in a situation like this, though the Grimm won't care. However... {And if you get it refined enough to work for everyday things? Slight cold chill? Every footstep's impact on the ground? Tiny things that you can regenerate easily over the course of a day, or week or...}

{I could store up a massive reserve before any fight breaks out.} Yeah, grin Yang. {I'll work on it. Thanks.} So she just needs to get used to it so it doesn't hurt her.

{No problem. Now to work on my next trick...} Can I make non-physical things 'damage events' to charge her Semblance?

Grimm attack again, but not in the masses like I feared they would. Ships from Atlas come in and help clean them up, and we are treated to a nice view of Atlas and Mantle as we approach. Well, nice for some people. Jaune's motion sickness seems to be flaring up again as we slow down, as the Amberheart starts shaking just a bit more and we drop out of cruising speed.

Still, it's a wonderful sight.

Sort of.

As much as it is freaking awesome to see a real floating city, three things sit on my mind about it.

One, it's held up by black box (or completely unknown how it works) technology, that could fail at any moment for any reason and nobody would know how to fix it. Never mind the Relic possibly being used for something else.

Two, I have seen enough depictions of double cities, of the upper level being clean and advance and wealthy, while the lower level is a poverty stricken waste. Mantle might not be a hellhole, but it isn't great.

And three...

After a few minutes of gawking, Jaune has to return inside, pulling the rest of the group. Almost. James pulls Yang away towards Qrow, Winter and himself standing and still looking ahead. He and Winter will need to be on the bridge soon, but he has to ask.

Yang passes control over to me fully, so much so I can feel her no longer using her own sense. {Oh, so that's what it feels like.} I sigh. {Thanks.} The shift in stance and expression telling the others who is fronting. "Yang isn't aware right now."

It's a lot of trust, but I think she understands what it is were are going to talk about.

"How bad was it?" Winter asks. As much as she heard the story, Yang's face under my command is telling a different, far worse story.

This is the first time I have seen Atlas since it fell. I didn't really rewatch Volume 7 and 8, other than the fight scenes.

Number three why I can't just take in the beauty of the vista.

It's not a show, not a set of 3d models and voice actors crying out into microphones and animators placing props. I look down at Mantle, at the very real people there.

I think this is why I didn't want to come here. I'm still getting to grips with this new reality, and while I've made a lot of progress... I'm tempted to just shift my perspective (a Paradigm Shift, haha) and see it as fictional once again.

Smoke and steam rises from different places, and it's incredibly easy for me to imagine it as the last days of the Kingdom of Atlas.

"It's not on fire. Or a flooded crater." They can see that.

"How many made it out?" James asks. Qrow, in support of Yang who is here (Can't be me), puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Thousands. How many live here?" I reply and counter.

"More." Hundreds of thousands at least then. "Combined, 2.1 million."

The breath is out my mouth like I have been punched in the gut.

How little they saved.

How many dead.

The human mind doesn't understand math, not really. But I've played enough idle growth games to have a vague feeling. That coupled with a couple of numbers, 2.1 million and 100 thousand... Or 1 in 20. Also known as 5%

It's a massive overestimate of how many survived.

"Five percent of people survived." The human mind doesn't understand big numbers. Not really. But it can understand small numbers, like a group of one hundred people, and they're all dead but five of them. Five people stand scattered and alone in a large hall filled with corpses, something I have become intimately familiar with during the Siege of Vale.

Are my eyes tearing up? It's just a show, right? "We have to be better."

"We will." James vows.

I turn away and give back control to Yang. {Sorry about the eyes.}

Then we land.

Yang shivers a moment as we step out, the cold biting at her. "Solitas? More like solid-ice. Eh? Eh?"

"Congratulations, you managed to ruin a perfectly nice trip at the very last moment." Weiss complains affectionately as everyone else groans.

We are given rooms. Tomorrow we'll visit Pietro, today everyone just wants to sleep. 11 hours is a long flight. Especially poor Jaune. Maybe I can whip up something to help him with motion sickness, somehow.

I dream of Atlas falling.

I dream of Yang falling.

I dream of Cinder rising on a pillar of fire and laughing.

I dream of people from the wall all over again, now crushed and drowned beneath water and stone.

I dream of James collapsing, not of tiredness or a broken body, but of a broken spirit.

I dream of the outline of Watts screaming as he beats on glass, fire eating away at his body like so many I have seen suffer the same.

I dream of Jaune falling to his knees as Penny's body smiles up at him, her neck as red as his blade.

I dream of Ruby leaping off backwards as she gives up and falls to her death.

I dream of Weiss firing Gambol Shroud fruitlessly at Cinder.

I dream of Winter screaming Weiss' name.

I dream of Blake falling, her lifeline turning to ashes.

I wake up and I really don't want to be here.

How can I be traumatised by something that never happened to me? To some cartoon footage from a show?

Easy. I care for the people here.

As much as that struggling part of me hates to admit it, I do care. And with photorealistic faces and literal days of exposure, far more than the show ever gave me, my dreams have more than enough 'lifelike footage' to piece together new and terrifying nightmares.

Helplessness defined the night. A mix of watching like an audience member and trying to help like I'm really there. Stuck behind a screen unable to even be heard as I cry out.

It's the first nightmare in a very long time I haven't been able to fight.

{Yours?} Yang asks. I suppose she saw that.

{Yeah. Half accurate too.} Water rushes into the crater as Cinder flies off, laughing. Qrow screams silently on his earpiece for Ruby, Yang, anyone. {Where were you?}

Other than falling off the edge into nothing, body dissolving into golden sparks as she is disintegrated. {With you. Stuck watching.} Helpless.

{I'm sorry Yang.} You shouldn't have seen that.

She gets up, hair a slight mess. Seems we are up early, but not by much. Blake is already up and she hops off her bed. Yang gives the side of her bed a pat and she sits down next to us.

"Nightmare?" Blake speaks softly as to not wake the others. This room isn't the military dorm that team RWBY was assigned in canon, but it is a large shared room. Nobody wants to be separated from eachother just yet.

There will be enough separation later. Stupid plan to save the world.

"Alloy's." Yang explains. "I saw Atlas... falling."

{I'm so sorry.} I apologise again, but it doesn't change anything.

"I don't think she wanted to be here." I already came to that conclusion, Yang. She looks to Blake. "I saw you falling." Yang hugs Blake for support, to know that she is still there, still alive.

I retreat. I'm sorry.

Our visit is delayed. Tomorrow we visit Pietro, he is fussing over Penny right now. I doubt he'll get any sleep by the time we met him.

A couple of hours later, and Yang nudges me for my attention.

{I want to see it.}

Shit.

I don't ask if she is sure. She is sure. {okay}

I pause for a moment, find the right memories, work them into the right order. I don't ask if she is sure, but I do ask if she is ready. {Ready?}

Yang nods.

Then she watches as she dies, as Blake calls out her name while she falls, and then one by one as almost everyone else dies. One way trip being the only thing that saved them.

I might not have rewatched much of Volume 7 and 8, but the battles, this battle, I did. Several times.

Now part of me wishes I could forget.

After they're dead, I keep going. I show James shattering under Cinder's word, I show Qrow screaming for them. I show Yang the Fall of Atlas.

The Crater of a Kingdom drowning.

The memories end.

.

Silence.

.

A long silence.

.

Yang must be reeling.

.

As I wait.

{Don't show this to Ruby.} Yang pleads. Ruby, of course that is the first thing she thinks of.

Unfortunately... {I will, if she asks for it.} I'm sorry. {But I'll ask her not to first.}

Secrets destroyed them. This might break Ruby, the innocent little girl who still believes in fairytales and heroes. Who hasn't felt the world on her shoulders.

I don't need any special powers to know that Yang doesn't like my answer.

Nor do I to know I don't like her reply. {Show me everything.}

Again I gather the memories. We have time, memory transfer seems to go faster than actually watching it, something that I'll have to look into. Later, I'm ready to send them.

{Ready?} I ask.

{No.} Her tone says 'but do it anyway'.

I start at the beginning. At a grave and a girl in red.

{Now playing: RWBY}

The story of how they lost.

Watching life turn from cheerful to broken has affected Yang. Blake can tell, Ruby can tell, Weiss can tell, everyone can tell. She doesn't say what, though I expect Blake can put the pieces together and work it out.

If the events of a show can somehow deeply upset me, it has done something far worse to Yang. So much so that I am almost regretting showing her.

But she asked, and I promised to be honest to everyone who asks. Secrets broke Ozma, so I must be honest.

Even if it hurts them.

The nightmare was savage, unrelenting. People fall again and again. Everyone we care about is dead. Adam, Cinder and Salem laugh and screech, less person and more icon of an enemy.

But it's not nearly enough. I have seen this before, and last nightmare left me trapped. No more.

Yang fights back now, like I do. Something that although I am relieved about, I am worried. I've only been with her for a few days, well more a week, but still. How much of her fighting back is Yang, and how much is possible contamination from my Semblance? I don't want to be Ozma. I don't want to overwrite Yang.

Then again, when I first started fighting back, it wasn't long before I was doing it for every nightmare. The lesson was that as much as the nightmare scares me, it's power comes from fear. To not be afraid is to take away it's power. After all, it wasn't the impact that killed/woke me, it was the falling, the fear of impact.

Monsters of shadow and the feeling of being hopelessly lost are altered by simply relaxing.

Maybe Yang has learned that too.

Then again, she is a fighter. Maybe simply making the nightmare something she can punch is all it took.

Adam's shocked face when Yang punched him through the wall was pretty funny though.

An early lunch and we walk into Pietro's lab, Ruby first.

Penny, or more accurately her in-progress body consisting of half a torso and a head, hangs from an arm from the ceiling. I suppose that's one way of doing it, though I would have her on a table. Then again, I'm not bound to a chair so this would allow Pietro to walk around her or have the arm move her around for him.

A look at the rest of the lab reveals it to be very much in line with Canon, including the clean surfaces. Certainly, there are tools and parts out, but only the ones currently in use. That's what strikes me as the most weird, that this place is tidy.

Whenever I get into a project, the place quickly becomes a mess and often stays like that as I leave and come back to the project (and others) as I feel like it.

James is here too, which also strikes me as odd. As does the look he gives Qrow.

I ignore it as Pietro sees Pyrrha.

The room is suddenly tense, not a word has been spoken since we filled in but it's different now.

Pyrrha steps up. Two words are all she says. "I'm sorry."

Two words, but unlike her polite and habitual apologies, this one is filled with pain, with regret. Pyrrha blames herself. I suppose she would, after all it was a match. Penny very well could have had Emerald's Semblance and chosen to use it like Emerald, if only to scare and confuse Pyrrha.

Pyrrha is still the one who reacted with overwhelming power.

I don't blame her. Yang doesn't blame her. I don't think anyone blames her, except herself. And maybe Pietro.

He stares at her for a moment, pain fighting on his face, Pyrrha standing before the man whose daughter she killed.

He comes to a decision, exhales as he looks down, then after a moment looks back up. "Don't... Do not put me through that again."

No forgiveness. Just a warning. A promise.

"I won't." Pyrrha swears before stepping back.

The tension drops, though not completely, as people let out breaths of relief. "Is Penny going to be okay?" Ruby asks.

"She will." Steel in that, not just a confirmation, but a promise. He looks to Jaune. "I understand you might be able to help me."

Because that is why we are here. For him anyway. Pietro isn't a selfish man, but his daughter is dead. Before anything to do with me can be done, Penny has to be okay. "Uh, yes sir."

Pietro chuckles a bit at that. "You can call me Pietro." It's not directed at Pyrrha.

The Pietro of Canon had a couple of years with Penny coming back before the group met him. This Pietro hasn't had that time, he is fresh off the loss of Penny. The warm man I know him as is there, but subdued.

He also hasn't slept. That much is obvious.

"And, I believe one of you can also be of some help." He looks to Yang, and me. Us? Yang's face shows the surprise we are both feeling. Well, that's another chuckle from him. "Aura transfer isn't an exact science, despite how much I wish it were so. Having... another perspective on the matter would help immensely."

He looks at Jaune and Yang (oh, and me) and smiles. "A Semblance for transferring Aura, and a Semblance for transferring soul, as well as what very well might be the only soul without a body."

Ah. Now I see. A far wider data pool to draw from, as well as specific instances of each 'component' of the process. If he can isolate each step in the process, he can refine each step and then put them together into a far better process.

"Though I understand, Alloy was it?, has suffered her own damage." He perks up. "Well, let's get started. If you could lay down on the table, I'll get the Aura sensors set up."

An hour of tests and Jaune gives me a little boost, enough for me to make my Aura visible for a few minutes. I finally get my first look at my Aura in the reflective wall. White lines flowing across the bubble that tightly wraps Yang's body.

Or that's how it should be.

Black is my dominate colour. Hundreds, maybe thousands of tiny and large rents across the surface leaving gaps where there should be a barrier, each one bordered by a black, burned outline. Now I realise that Pietro's Aura didn't have brown patches, that was just the colour of his clothes underneath, made highly visible by the fact that it wasn't covered by the light green web of his soul.

It, like mine, was missing.

Most of the group gasp. So does Pietro. James straightens up in a reflexive action, going almost stiff. Qrow swears Grimm.

After a moment, Pietro speaks. "I thought the instruments were wrong." More mutters to himself.

I speak, thanks Yang. "Is it fixable?"

Someone wheezes, and Pietro looks half shocked for a moment. "Fixable? You... There are plants with more Aura than you."

He repeats what Qrow told me just over a week ago. "You should be dead."

In the reflection I see him wipe his face. "How do you feel?"

"Fine."

"Fine? How can you feel fine? You practically don't have a soul!" Whoa, really? Well, that's business as usual then. I wonder if my Terran origins are what is keeping me alive.

Probably not, but it would be the fact that Earth doesn't have souls as the reason I'm feeling fine. I didn't really get much exposure to the whole 'having a soul' thing, so what does it even feel like? If Aura can be unlocked by meditation, by 'feeling it out', then me, who has never even done that, wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"How did this happen?" Pietro asks. Ahh, that's classified.

Then again, he needs to know. "I can use my Host's Semblance, and fuel it with my own Aura. People were dying."

Gears turn in his head. "The Siege of Vale." He gasps again. "You're Amber Tenno." Fuck. "You were burning your soul to-"

I cut off the bloody genius. Should have given him less information. "Alloy, please. Amber is dead, Yuki is dead, and I'm not a Tenno." Not right now. Maybe never if it's as bad as everyone is making it out as.

"I'm sorry." Still, he looks at us with more respect now. I'd rather a secret than respect. "I'll need a few days to go over the data before I want to do anything that might cause more permanent damage."

"Of course."

Nightmare. Fightmare. Uhrg, thanks Yang, I swear you have contaminated me.

At least night is easy, we can fight back.

But Yang has been looking at everyone... the same way I did when I had a body, only worse. Like they're dead. Ghosts.

So she's thrown herself into training. Hard.

Right now we are in a Huntsman Gym, which is a cross between an obstacle course, a firing range, and a gym, and duelling arena at varying levels. Over there is a firing range obstacle course with hard light moving targets, while over there is a bunch of other hardlight moving targets among exercise equipment so the user has to mix some workout routine with bursts of combat. A solid arena platform with very high grade hardlight shields for Huntsmen to go all out sits off against one wall.

It's not Atlas Academy, that is still in session unlike Beacon, but it's fairly good. Well, I don't actually know that, I'm not a Huntress.

Qrow is with us, Winter and the General are back to work for now and Weiss has taken team JNPR to meet her father to 'show off her new acquisition'. Blake and Ruby are at another shop, looking to upgrade Gambol Shroud, specifically it's ribbon at Yang's request. They have a military guard with them to protect 'Miss Belladonna' though the real reason is so they can call for help as well as defend them, especially Ruby. Not that we are that far from them in case anything happens, just across the street.

No, Qrow is with us for two reasons. One practical, as Yang isn't a fully licenced Huntress yet and therefore isn't exactly allowed to use the gym without either a school licence or a registered Huntsman with her. Beacon apparently doesn't count, maybe a bit of Kingdom pride, or maybe something else. Qrow's word and credentials gets us in though.

The other reason is that Yang is beating the shit out of the sandbag.

Hearing the story is one thing. Watching it was much worse.

Especially with my memories of the show gaining more detail as I project my new understanding of what they look like onto them. Not that it's perfect, there are little glitches in my memory as there is conflicting images. I don't know what Ruby looks like when she doesn't smile.

I've been underselling it when I say she doesn't smile, and now Yang knows by how much. It's not just the lack of smile, it's the brokenness in her. The total lack of cheer and the heavy weight on her shoulders that has been crushing her slowly since Beacon fell.

The resigned way she stood at the edge, arms out, almost as if she doesn't care anymore.

Right now, Yang's fists stop hitting the bag as Qrow puts his hand on her shoulder. There are tears in her eyes, and he doesn't ask what's wrong. He just shows support for her, that he's ready to talk if she is ready.

Yang is. "She showed me." One two, one two, the bag takes more hits. "I asked her to."

One two three four five six seven. Breathe. Every one of those blows would break someone's ribcage without Aura. The sandbag is made of tougher stuff. "She. Ruby..."

Burn activates and cold charged damage is vented into a savage right punch.

The bag does not break.

The chain holding it up does, and the bag goes flying. "She wasn't smiling."

"She wasn't smiling, and I..." Yang collapses on the ground. "I hurt her."

Qrow crouches down and pulls Yang into a hug, trying to comfort her. When I said the group split up to do both, I didn't really explain how it really happened, and I focused on Nora and Ren. How hurt they were. Not Ruby and Yang, who had that same undercurrent.

This isn't the Yang who has been through all of that. Or the one that has followed bad decision after bad decision. To that Yang, it was just a small fight, really. Not even really a fight, just a disagreement.

Except there is now a part of this Yang questioning. How bad it could have been if not for Jaune and Oscar. That one day, she might be the one hurt her sister, not story Yang. Really hurt her.

That one day, she might let Ruby down.

Like the Yang that said that she doesn't trust Ruby to make the right choice.

Like the Yang that fell off the edge, and because of that Ruby follows her.

Like the Yang that watches as the world wears down on her sister, the person she loves most in the world, and isn't enough to protect her.

Like the Yang that couldn't keep Ruby smiling.

Yang stands up, her fists clenched, anger coursing though her body. Qrow steps back. "You said you had another one." I feel her eyes turning red.

Yang wants to protect Ruby, and to do that she needs to be stronger. So she comes to me for another Paradigm Shift.

{Maybe...} As horrible as this idea is, this one might just be the push she needs to go further. {but this won't be like the others. This will hurt.} I take a mental breath. {And it probably won't work.}

"Do it." If that's what it takes to protect the people she loves.

I take control, "Qrow, raise the barriers. As many targets possible, as durable as possible. Evasive and defensive only. Keep them coming." and stride into the arena.

Qrow pulls out his scroll and hits the buttons to control the hardlight projections. An Ursa forms. Then two more. Then a dozen other Grimm, all circling around us.

Qrow is frowning. I look away, take a deep breath, and then surrender control over to Yang.

{Remain silent.} Yang nods.

Now to start. {You are not strong enough. You are not fast enough. You are not tough enough.}

Semblances emerge and Evolve under stress. Not all of them, though maybe Nora was stressed out when she got lightning stuck, but many examples exist. Emerald screaming when Cinder 'died' at Haven. Ren, under constant pressure and keeping it to himself, as well as his reluctance to use the base level finally results in emotional detection. Blake's ability to grab and throw herself via a clone after Beacon on the ship to Menagerie. Jaune, either from feeling like fake or the feeling of being torn between Cardin threatening him with expulsion and his team and dream.

Yang is under stress. A lot. From Adam. From the invisible war. From Ruby now on the line of fire.

And from what I showed her. From her future self.

Her Semblance often triggers when she's mad. Emotional. {Get mad.} Yang is already angry, already seething. {Not enough. Anger isn't enough. You need Rage.}

Her hair ignites. {Power comes in response to a need, not a desire.}

Not enough. {It is up to you to create that need.}

{You are taking damage from the past, but that doesn't matter.} I dig into her memories. Summer is gone, Tai is broken, Ruby asks when Mom is coming back.

{You are taking damage from these memories, but that doesn't matter.} Blake screaming Yang's name as she falls, Ruby's half betrayed look as Yang say 'Ruby... when we came here, we said we'd follow your lead... but...'

{You are taking damage from your failures, but they don't matter.} I call up the memory of Adam cutting her down, Yang's arm goes flying as she collapses, as Blake has to step up and carry her away. I call up the old memory of Yang taking Ruby out to look for Raven, only for Grimm to attack.

Yang's fists shake with rage. {Grab that Rage, hold it, compress it. Channel it. Focus it. And understand, that none of those things matter... Because...}

Hit her. {There is only one past, and it is behind you. But there are many futures.} Not enough, in this case me. I'm not pushing her hard enough.

I send illusion after illusion of possibilities, each one a new and terrible future stitched together from real memory.

One where Ruby is the Hound. One where Salem holds Ruby over the Grimmpool, and Ruby begs to die. One where Ruby bleeds out in Yang's arms.

Yang begins shaking.

Adam stand over Ruby and Yang is too slow, too weak to protect her. One where she stands alone in front of two graves, 'Thus Kindly I Scatter' and 'The Flame the Burns Twice as Bright Burns Half as Long'. One where Ruby falls.

Fire flows outwards from her hair and down her Aura, coating her body in flames.

Not enough.

Ruby isn't the only one.

Qrow lets the Apathy kill him, bottles empty on the floor. Weiss is shown on a video, the Red Fang broadcasting their victory. Blake's head is held aloft by Adam, the word TRAITOR burned across her skin.

More.

More and more horrors flicker across her mind.

Jaune sobbing before a statue of Pyrrha. Qrow poisoned and bleeding out. Nora electrocuting herself even as her skin burns, the scent of cooked meat filling the room. Tai lays broken in bed, a puppy of Zwei nudging him and whining to no effect. Ren snaps and pushes away Jaune, desperate and lost. Pyrrha dies.

{Do you want to protect them? Or, do you NEED to protect?!}

No editing this time, instead I call up the memory. Just the words. The same ones that haunts me, but will haunt Yang so much worse. 'Whatever you wanted, I hope it was worth it.'

Ruby kills herself as she falls backwards to her death.

Yang breaks.

{Are you going to watch Ruby die,-} 'I've always got your back, sis.'

Her Semblance Shifts-

{-again?}

Yang screams.

-then Evolves.

The Grimm are not enough.

Only when they are gone does she stop screaming.

She looks at Qrow.

He steps into the sparring ring.

Yang's fist impacts his blade.

Hardlight walls shimmer as they are raised just in time for Qrow's back to hit them.

Yang is already rushing him. Blow after blow, feral and powerful. Not good enough.

{Power isn't enough. You need focus. Control.} The slightest hesitation before she pushes again.

Each blow is a little bit more refined now, a little less powerful, but still deeply feral. Rage isn't anger, it's basically uncontrollable. Still, she is getting better, slowly. A few blows carry the same level of skill as her normal, more by muscle memory than conscious effort I think. As she gets used to her new found strength, Qrow starts to fight back. Around the arena they dance, fire and steel clashing.

Fire... Hmm. We can go further. {Call your rage into your hand and throw it.}

Another impact sends Qrow backwards, but Yang does not pursue. Ragefire flares and curls up into a ball in her left hand.

Then she throws it.

Better.

{Accelerate your movements with your ragefire.} Fans of orange bloom out behind her as we rush forwards, then they thrust out behind every elbow as she punches, accelerating each blow even faster, hitting even harder.

And less controlled. Yeah, not good.

Qrow's Aura is taking hits even as he blocks with his weapon.

That's when Yang's Aura breaks.

The fire goes out the moment she collapses, hands on her knees panting.

As powerful as this is, it burns Aura like crazy. We will need to work on that. As well as getting back into that state before we can control it. Like a... Ha, Super Saiyan Yang. Or, Super SaiYang? Eh? Oh no, I'm thinking in puns.

"Yang?" Qrow asks, a little spooked.

Yang keeps panting for a few seconds before she manages to get out a word. "Yeah."

A few more second pass before Qrow helps her up and they walk to a bench, a bottle of water disappearing down Yang's throat. {One more while it's fresh. Use ragefire to fly.}

Yang gives a half chuckle in her head, completely out of breath. {You really want all of us to fly.} Another bottle of water is opened and is half emptied.

At least she is laughing, sort of. She's emotionally drained, Aura is drained, and physically drained. Most of all though, I'm glad she isn't blaming me, isn't hurt too much by me. I pushed her, hard.

Maybe too hard.

But she's laughing, and that's enough to let me relax.

{You can already fly.} I point out. {Just try flying up rather than at your target.}

Doors to the gym open with Blake and Ruby entering, weapons out. Seems we made a lot of noise. And a mess. Oh well, Qrow can pay for it. The second water bottle hits the ground, empty.

"Yang, are you alright?" Ruby rushes up and checks on Yang, only to be pulled into a hug. "Eep! Yang!"

"Whoa, what happened here?" Blake spots the damage to the arena.

Black scorch marks start and end with shattered concrete floor tiles, where there aren't entire chunks of floor ripped up. Long trenches where Qrow's feet cut through the stone as he is pushed back can be seen. I think one of the hardlight projectors is even damaged.

"Can't... Breathe..." Ruby barely gets out. Yang reduces the pressure immediately, enough to let her breathe, but doesn't let go.

"Never." Yang whispers, Yang swears, to a confused Ruby.

I have some memories of Dragonball to show Yang, I think.

An arm snakes out and pulls Blake in after a few seconds. Then Qrow too.

At least a minute passes in relative silence. Ruby, for all her confusion, realises that Yang needs her right now. Hugs are nice too.

{Thank you.} Yang says, and the last of my hesitation fades away. I pushed her, but not too hard. Or maybe too hard, but that was exactly what she wanted and needed.

I roll my eyes. {I care about them too, even if I hate to admit it.} Still. {There are futures out there where none of that happens, but it's up to us to make them happen.}

Ha. I wonder if Salem has started hearing boss music yet?

We don't talk about it until everyone gets back. I'm still privately chuckling at Qrow paying for the damages to a half shocked gym owner who was desperately trying to play down his reaction. Not many Semblances can do that, but he was trying to keep his manlyhood intact. Oh sure, that's definitely the second most destructive Semblance you've seen, totally believe you.

As much as we would like to start explaining, Weiss and JNPR aren't back yet from dealing with the Gele. Ruby was worried, but by the time Weiss and crew arrive, Yang has calmed her down. Not that Ruby was worried about Yang's physical state, but the sheer intensity of emotions from Yang scared her a bit, I think. That something has spooked Yang that much.

Weiss looks tired. The most tired of her group. Pyrrha is a close second, seems she took a decent chunk of the pressure off Weiss by playing 'The Invincible Girl'. Still, the whole group is tired, and based off the time, it seems lunch went late.

Group meeting room secured, and Yang can finally talk about it. Winter and James will have to be filled in later, we can't just call them in whenever something comes up.

{Start with flying.} I provide.

"So, I can fly now." Yang just flat announces.

Ruby fistpumps and quietly goes, "Yeeeesss!"

"That wasn't a Paradigm Shift, right?" Qrow points us in the right direction.

{Evolution, I think.} Yang echoes me. {I pushed the Paradigm Shift beyond Paradigm Shift.} Or you can call it Shift 2. 'AND THIS... IS TO GO... EVEN! FURTHER! BEYOND!'

What is the next level? How can we reach it?

"That bad?" Qrow asks Yang.

This wasn't a patient and gradual evolution like Ren's and possibly Ruby's. This was sudden, like an emotionally distraught Emerald. Now that I think of it, Cinder also unlocked her Semblance in a rage too.

"Yeah." She curls then uncurls one hand into a fist a few times, before looking at Ruby. "Alloy had a nightmare. About Atlas." Oh why did you tell them about tha- Ah, anxiety, my old nemesis. "I asked Alloy to show me what happened. That's why I've been..."

"Moody." Nora 'helpfully' provides. Oh, people are laughing, I guess it was helpful.

"Moody." Yang agrees. Ruby grips her sister's hand, reassuring her that she is still here.

"Can we see it?" Qrow and I immediately shoot down Jaune's question, and Yang begins to explain why they really shouldn't.

I might have pointed out that setting herself on fire inside isn't the best of ideas. Or without some safety gear and someone to fight it out. Yang wasn't exactly in control during her 'spar' with Qrow. She also doesn't have the Aura right now, even if she could flick it back on.

{There a show I want to... Um show you. Later though.} Dragonball. I'll get to Z after the original, it's best to have a good foundation.

Not that I'll go past the Cell arc, the main point isn't just to show her the Super Saiyan transformation, but also Goku's control over it. That the fear and uncontrollable rage of the first time on Namek gives way to something better if you work on it.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Yang is afraid she might hurt Ruby with her new Semblance somehow. As irrational as that might be.

There is also my personal pleasure in showing someone who doesn't know what a Super Saiyan is the first transformation. Nobody I know ever got the first look from the show, spoiled by the sheer popularity of it. Nobody was scared when Goku transformed, there wasn't that undercurrent that Super Saiyan might actually be a bad thing.

That is the lesson I want to show Yang. That Vegeta, the bloodthirsty, wanted that power. That Frieza, the genocidal tyrant, feared it. That Goku, when he finally snaps, can barely restrain himself from attacking in a savage frenzy, screaming for his son to run away.

And that not long afterwards, he can turn it on and off with no ill effects. That once scary power is his to control.

That as deep as the Rage is, it is Yang's power, and she would never use it to hurt Ruby.

Never.

A few days later, and we are back in Pietro's lab. Well, we have been in here on and off for a past few days, test after test being done. I've entertained Yang with Dragonball, Z, and GT. Then Super, though I'm not a fan of stupid Goku.

I explain why I wanted to show her that, that she can control it. That even though she was enraged, she wouldn't hurt the people she loved. Also that we were bored doing tests.

I do have to put up with her SaiYang puns though, so obviously I regret ever doing anything like this.

I also apologise for hurting her, but she waves it off. {You said it would hurt.}

Jaune sits on the side half yawning while Qrow in on his scroll, doing something. Not sure what, but based on the slight frown on his face I would guess it's work. Oddly, James has joined us for this latest test, this is the first time I've seen him since the first day we arrived. I understand he's busy, so much so that it makes me more curious as to why he's here.

"I'm going to need to see your Semblance in action. What did you call it?" Ah, that's why he's here, and Qrow too. Just in case something goes wrong.

"Transference." I supply and he nods. We lay down, a second table got brought in and put down beneath the sensors a few minutes ago.

Pietro nods at the name and turns to the computer. "James?" James steps forward.

James? "I thought we agreed Qrow would be hosting me."

"We reconsidered." He speaks, but doesn't elaborate.

"James, are you sure?" Pietro took my question, the bastard. "We are unsure how this will affect you."

"Do you really trust me that much?" I ask.

He strides up and lays down on the second table. "I do."

That scares me. Shakes me.

{I don't deserve this.} I mutter to myself and Yang.

{Alloy, if anything goes wrong... You can stop him.} She is recalling the memories of Atlas falling, of James breaking down and taking his Kingdom with him.

Of so many people dying.

I realise what happened. "You all talked about this behind my back." Qrow, Yang and James did anyway.

If I get stuck, I am to be James chain. They may not even allow me to jump again.

Funny, it's my Semblance, but they are the ones in control. "Fine. Jaune, I need a boost." Very in control. Not just hosts, but also when I get to use it.

Jaune buffs me and I call for him to stop when I have enough for a single use. According to Pietro, and the data recovered from Yang's scroll, my maximum Aura has gone down too.

A lot.

I might have had higher than average levels of Aura before, but now I can, at most, hold three charges. 19%, a fifth, of what I once could is now my new 100%. Which is still a lot, compared to say a plant or small animal. But I barely regenerate. I'm bleeding Aura almost as much as I can regain it.

I'm weaker than Weiss, the weakest of the group. Not that she's weak, but her total Aura reserves in the lowest. Well, maybe not Pietro.

"Ready." I surrender control to Yang.

"Ready." James confirms.

Transference.

Author's note:

The longer a fic goes on, the more difficult it becomes to write.

Mostly because I have to juggle not just two timelines (canon and the fic's) but also the character development and attitudes between each character. It's just like socialising (for me), but longer.

No wonder people tend to drop a fic or just do one shots.

Not me though, I'm going to complete this.

It might just take a while.

Anyway, that's Super SaiYang. She's not all powerful or anything, the Evolution doesn't do that. Rather it gives her a constant regeneration to her 'stored damage' and also sets her on fire.

At the cost of almost all self control and very fast Aura usage. A berserker mode, not a flat powerup. Everything all at once rather than the slower burn of her normal usage. After all: 'The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.'

Hooray for power balancing. Can't have our characters walk into Salem's lair after a full DBZ style training arc, capable of destroying planets.

'Hey Salem.'

'What?'

'Kaio-Ken.'

'Kaio-what?'

*Salem has exited the atmosphere.*