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[RWBY] The Great Temporal Step-Sibling War!

Reader mode
digcat said:
Imagine what this would have to be like for Isabel to see all of these different injuries her son gets.
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You can see she's kinda incensed at Weena just being fascinating as she watches her son be temporally inflicted with horrible injuries that he possibly will get in the future protecting his woman of choice.

Thankfully, with there now being 11 women, they can sort of divide the expected injuries up and all 12 of them can each take 1/12 of the expected pain and just come out of it with minor scarring.
 
AJ_Talon said:
Yes and it's also a sign of something else going on.
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Let me guess, that in the Ever After there are now as many Rusted Knights as there are possible waifus for presentime Jaune and every time Jaune interacts with the waifu + child combo each Rusted Knight influence Jaune?
 
Cinder Meets with Adam New
The wilderness beyond the walls of Vale was frequently patrolled by Huntsmen, the city militia, and reconnaissance drones all meant to give the organizations responsible for the defense of civilization a good idea of what was going on out there. Yet in spite of all this wilderness surveillance there were still places one could lurk unseen if one had the right skills or insider knowledge. A particularly crafty person could even hide an entire series of illegal laboratories if they had the will and means.

Many things could be said of Doctor Merlot. Not all of them flattering, but even his most ardent critics would admit the man was crafty. He had also been a man of will and means before the great disaster, and so a collection of secret facilities dotting the lands around Vale City and Mountain Glenn had been constructed and used by the man when he had been at the height of his prestige and power.

Iridescent had been provided with precise coordinates, keys and access codes to many of these facilities with instructions to pack up supplies to be forwarded to Merlot's new labs in Evernight and permission to skim off things she and Cinder would need for their operations around Vale. They just needed to make note of what they took in the shipping manifest for Merlot's inventory purposes.

The laboratory itself was in surprisingly good condition for a more or less abandoned facility. Apparently the handful of robots Merlot had left online to deal with maintenance had been worth every cent as they had gone above and beyond what was expected of their make and model.

And so Cinder found herself in a surprisingly well stocked observation lounge watching robots scurry about a large warehouse room activating other robots that would help with moving about the actual supplies. Mercury was to her left leaning against a wall in that manor of his that looked casual but was actually ready for action at a moments notice. Neo was with Roman sitting at a small table at the edge of the room, the two of them playing an obscure card game Cinder had never heard of.

Iridescent was to Cinder's right scrolling through the laboratory's official inventory on her scroll, comparing what Merlot remembered leaving behind with what the working robots were actually finding. The lists were matching thus far, so Cinder was confident nobody had been in this particular lab since Merlot closed the doors for the last time.

Lionheart's so-called Four Emperors were down in the automated stables on the other side of the warehouse, getting real eyes on the creatures the robots had been tending to during Merlot's absence. Creatures that would be crucial for the plans Salem commanded. With them taking care of that there was little for Cinder to do besides wait, both for the four to return and report and for their partners in the White Fang to arrive to discuss their plans in person.

The Fang arrived first. Adam Taurus darkened the door to the observation lounge with his lieutenants Salamander and Banesaw behind him.

"Cinder," Adam addressed her without preamble.

"Adam." Cinder managed her most diplomatic smile back.

"The price of your silence was steep," Adam pressed on with a growl in his voice, "We received no word from you about the time travelers and had to learn of them through our own resources. By the time we learned enough details to act it was too late to get a secure message to our forces in Mount Glenn. Every operative captured is your fault."

Cinder narrowed her eyes.

"The swift military response to the explosion means they were already onto you," she hissed. "Clearly you weren't observing proper opsec. Eventually someone would have found you."

"The time travelers arrived Saturday morning. The strike happened Monday evening. That was almost three days. More than enough time for Ironwood to redeploy his forces based on an atemporal tip." Adam remonstrated as his left hand slowly clenched and unclenched. "Not enough time to move the Dust, but enough time for our brothers and sisters to slip through any surveillance. We would have twice the hands to do our work if you had spoken."

Cinder kept her gaze riveted to Adam's mask where his eyes should be, doing her best to gauge how far she could push back in the blame game without fanning the flames of his anger. It took less than a second for her to realize that as things currently stood pushing the fight further would be counterproductive and make Adam harder to control. A show of force to end the argument was tempting… but unnecessary. She simply needed to remind him how much he would lose if he went against her.

"Are the hands you still have insufficient for the work ahead of us?" Cinder calculated her tone for the maximum insinuation that she could cut him loose if his answer was no. Adam still wanted things he couldn't have without her help. It was a bit of a bluff, but Cinder was confident Adam was in no position to call it with all the resources of the hidden lab in clear view.

"We still have our best," Adam vaguely gestured to Salamander and Banesaw behind him, "But your part of our grand ambitions require manpower I can no longer spare if you remain so careless."

"Then it's a good thing our ambitions can change," Cinder answered with a convincing facade of confidence. "While the arrival of the time travelers have thoroughly disrupted our plans their presence has given us more easily exploitable opportunities to replace them."

"What kind of opportunities?" Adam demanded with what Cinder could only assume was a scowl beneath the mask on his face. Yet in spite of how half of his face was hidden and the rage in his voice Cinder could tell he was listening.

"We kidnap the time traveler," Cinder began her explanation. "Even if we find ourselves unable to utilize his power the simple possibility that we might be able to would allow us to extract all kinds of demands from Vale." A subtle shift in Adam's stance let her know that she had his attention, and so she continued; "And if the time traveler is inaccessible to us we can achieve similar results with the central figure of this paradox."

"Yes… Jaune Arc," Adam hissed the blond's name in a way Cinder found concerning. "The aspirant knight destined to gain the affections of at least one gem of the rising generation, with Menagerie's heir counted among them."

"We need him alive and unmolested," Cinder felt the need to emphasize. "As the central figure of the paradox we have no idea what would happen if he dies. On top of that his value as leverage would decrease substantially if our enemies think we're incapable of returning him in one piece."

"I know how the hostage game is played, Cinder," Adam frowned as he and his compatriots stepped further into the room and away from the door. "Nobody under my command will jump the gun and end him before he's served his purpose."

"Good," The concern Cinder felt was not completely assuaged by Adam's words, but it was the best she could expect for now.

Further conversation was forestalled as Sebastian entered the room holding a large pet carrier. Caliban marched in after him with a pair of pet carriers slung over his shoulders.

"Merlot has hundreds of these blighters squirled away here," The old hunter explained as he placed the carrier on the sturdiest looking table in the room. "All of them seem to be in good health too."

Caliban placed his carriers besides Sebastian's before opening the one on his right side without preamble. The cyborg reached inside and pulled out a peculiar looking creature of uncertain taxonomy; the thing looked like somebody had played mix and match with a turtle and a few different species of amphibian.

"What is that thing?" Salamander asked as she tried to differentiate between the animal's head and tail.

"It is an Aura Mimic," Iridescent looked up from her scroll as she launched into an impassioned explanation; "It's capable of generating aura fields around itself identical to the aura fields generated by other living things down to the last discernible detail. Doctor Merlot used them to help control some of the Grimm he was experimenting on here; these mimics could lure Grimm to the places he wanted them to go and make them attack things they wouldn't normally attack by having the mimic emulate the auras of humans and faunus."

"I see…" Adam brought a hand to his chin in thought. "That's very useful."

"We've also found where Merlot stored the big ones," Sebastian turned to Cinder. "Zhu and Thanh have already picked out the one we're going to use for our little ambush. Do you want to see it?"

"Show me," Cinder instructed as she stepped away from the lounge's window. It would be best to hammer out all the details of the plan after she had a full understanding of all the cards in her deck.

And so Sebastian and Caliban lead everyone else deeper into the facility, down several levels into a chamber large enough to fit two sports stadiums in. Along the far wall were several massive cryopods keeping several colossal Grimm hybrids frozen within labeled A through Z.

"Dear god…" Roman exclaimed in disbelief as they approached the cryopod Zhu and Thanh stood in front of and they could begin to make out features of the thing trapped within the ice. Neo gawked in a manner that made it clear she would have voiced agreement with her friend were she not mute.

There was a Beowulf's head the size of a sedan attached to the serpentine body of an appropriately sized King Taijitu. This car-sized Beowulf head was one of four, and the serpentine bodies of all four were protectively wrapped around a central core obscuring the true body of the giant hybrid. However two of the coils were opened with a gap just wide enough for the eyes of the central body to peer out into the wider chamber.

Those eyes were haunting. Unlike the eyes of a normal Grimm, Cinder could easily distinguish the sclera, irises and pupils from one another. The irises were the same blood red one would normally expect from a Grimm's eyes, but the sclera were the same obsidian black as the pupils which stood in stark contrast to the bone white skin that surrounded those eyes. Hints of a nose's bridge separated those eyes and the edges of a browline could be discerned from between the gap, making those beachball sized eyes look disturbingly human and feminine. That humanlike quality gave flavor to the contempt captured in the frozen glare, hinting at a hate born of confusion and fear instead of blind animalistic rage.

Cinder's own eyes dropped down to the nameplate bolted to the bottom of the cryopod.

It read Scylla-E.

"Magnificint, isn't she?" Sebastian asked as he looked at the massive monster with the face of a man anticipating an enjoyable challenge.

"They all are," Iridescent agreed as she gestured up and down the line.

A quick glance confirmed that the other cryopods contained near identical hybrids.

"So what do you think?" Sebastian asked her.

"...We set up every precaution," Cinder began after staring into the hybrid's frozen eyes for another long moment. "Then we thaw her out and see how controllable she actually is."

"...If she is controllable…" Adam's voice was laced with terrible awe, "Then we have a serious game changer on our hands."

"Indeed," Banesaw agreed. "And if all else fails we can smuggle her sisters into the city and let them thaw out there…"

"Merlot wants A, B, C, N, M, L, P, and X, Y, Z sent to him," Iridescent interjected. "The rest are ours to use as we see fit."

"Just the one for now," Cinder's tone made it clear that was a hard limit. "We don't touch the rest unless our first plan falls apart completely."

"Of course Lady Cinder," Iridescent agreed with a supportive smile.
 
Examinations: May and Emerald New
May and August came in next. May glanced back toward the hallway, brow slightly furrowed.

"Uh… Ruby was kinda… flying around. Should I be concerned?"

Jaune let out a slow breath. "Maybe a little…"

Weena was already leaning toward the monitors, eyes bright. "Wow… these readings are amazing…"

Jaune gave her a flat look. "You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means."

Isabel frowned at one of the displays. "Seriously, isn't there a concern about… time… radiation?"

Weena just stared at her.

"I'm a doctor, not a physicist!"

"Clearly."

Isabel made a frustrated noise and turned back to the screen. "Ugh! Well… let's see… oh dear…"

Jaune's shoulders tensed. "Breaker preserve me, what now?"

Isabel's expression had gone carefully neutral. "You look like you survived a horrific poison."

Jaune glanced at August. "Any clue what that might've been?"

August didn't hesitate. "An assassin. A Grimm Cultist. Tried to kill Mom before her coronation. Had a poisoned knife."

Jaune turned to his mother. "Do you recognize what kind of poison, Mom?" He paused. "If possible I'd like to try to build up a tolerance."

Isabel's face darkened. "Naga. Very nasty…"

May's eyes widened. "Naga Grimm?"

Jaune immediately backtracked. "…Scratch that dumb idea then. If I'm remembering right, that toxin is metal-based, which means building a tolerance would just slowly kill me."

August nodded. "Yeah. It saps all your Aura. Anyone else would have died… but Dad survived because he was protecting you, Mom."

May went bright red.

Jaune shrugged, a little self-deprecating. "Probably also because I'm the most stubborn idiot on Remnant." He looked at August again. "Any other massive traumatic injuries you can remember, buddy?"

August winced. "Ummm… you got a hole blown through your chest."

"JAUNE!" May was at his side in an instant, hands hovering.

"I'm still here, May." Jaune's voice stayed steady. "Dare I inquire as to the chain of events that resulted in aforementioned chest wound?"

Isabel raised an eyebrow. "Does… he always talk like that?"

"Sometimes," August said.

Jaune's mouth twitched. "I've noticed that using big words makes me seem calm and composed, which, when dealing with situations like this one, is a big help."

May's expression softened. "Oh… well, that's nice!"

"Never underestimate the value of seeming like you have everything completely under control," Jaune continued, "especially when that's not the case at all."

August nodded. "Yeah, you both told me that. That being a queen and her consort requires pretending you're on top of everything."

Jaune's gaze went distant for a second. "Nothing is more dangerous in an emergency than someone panicking, as the little kerfuffle you and your half-siblings got into the day you all arrived demonstrates." He refocused. "So. Ventilated torso. What happened?"

"You took a hit from Salem."

Jaune blinked. "At least it wasn't some mook."

Isabel looked grim. "Seriously, what can she do?"

"A lot," August said flatly. "She's an evil magic witch."

Jaune nodded slowly. "Did I mention what exactly she got me with?"

"A Piercing spell."

"Alright. I'll do more dodging training then." Jaune's tone stayed even. "I'm assuming somebody struck back hard after I took that hit?"

August's mouth curved. "Oh yeah. You blasted her good."

Jaune let out a quiet breath. "…I got tough when I grew up." He glanced at May, who was still close. "Anything else that you can think of, or should I start peeling your mom off of me so the next exam can start?"

May's shoulders drew in. "Do… do you not like me holding you, Jaune?"

"I do," he said immediately. "Your presence and the contact is soothing. It's just that there's four more of these exams I've got to get through today, and I know each one's going to be difficult."

May went bright red. "W-Well, um…"

August coughed, then "tripped" and shoved his mother straight into Jaune's arms.

Jaune caught her on reflex, then stared over her shoulder at his son. "…Really, August?"

"I know May is shy," Jaune continued, voice dry, "but we figured things out without you pushing it along once upon a time."

August shrugged, unrepentant. "Well, you said sometimes you have to go for it!"

"AUGUST!" May yelped.

Jaune gently extracted her from his arms, then fixed August with a look. "I didn't pick up a smoking or drinking problem, did I?"

"No, why?" August asked. Isabel added, almost absently, "Honestly, you're ridiculously healthy."

Jaune's expression was flat. "Royal healthcare system, apparently. Anyway, the reason I asked is because I'm shocked I didn't turn into an alcoholic with a kid like you."

August grinned. "Heh…"

May looked between them. "I'm—you're not that bad, are you?"

"Who did I learn from?" August asked innocently.

"Probably your uncle," Jaune said.

"No, it was totally you two."

"Us?!" May's voice jumped.

Jaune crossed his arms. "I categorically refuse to believe I could ever be such a menace."

August's smirk returned. "You snuck into Beacon with fraudulent papers and no Aura."

Jaune pointed at him. "Now listen here, you little—" He stopped. "…I… have no idea what to say after that line."

August just smirked.

May straightened. "Don't make me ground you, young man!"

August coughed.

Jaune sighed and looked back at August. "Do I suffer PTSD or something?"

August shifted. "Um, well… you do, but you get a lot better, though."

"What happened?"

"A lot… not that you talk about all of it…"

May's voice went soft. "Oh, poor Jaune… what about me?"

August glanced at his mother. "You're okay, Mom… you still have some nightmares…"

May exhaled. "…Well, we'll know what to avoid for the future."

Jaune's expression gentled. "Yeah… thanks, August. Thanks, May."

May beamed. "I know I'm not—"

"You're fine, May." Jaune's mouth twitched. "You're always fine to me… in other ways too." He pinched her bottom.

May squeaked. "Hee!"

"Enough of that, enough!" Isabel pushed both of them toward the door with practiced efficiency.

---

Emerald and Amethyst came in next.

Amethyst was already talking. "Daddy, I'm trying to use my Aura… um… any hints?"

The shift in Jaune was almost immediate. Emerald paused mid-step, an excited shiver running down her spine. Amethyst was too busy worrying about her Aura to notice.

A Vacuoan guitar strummed somewhere in the background.

Jaune smirked, confident in a way that didn't quite match the boy who'd been sitting there a moment ago. "Bien, muy bien…"

Amethyst tilted her head. "Daddy?"

Jaune stroked his chin like there should have been facial hair there. "And yet… something about this image is missing, no?"

He walked toward his daughter, scooped her up, and spun her once.

"No guards? No traps?! Why…" His voice carried a rough southern Vacuoan accent. "IT'S AS IF THEY'RE ASKING FOR THIS THIEF TO STEAL AWAY WITH THIS MOST PRECIOUS OF JEWELS!!!"

He turned toward the room. "And I am quite the thief."

A trumpet joined the guitar. Emerald went bright red. "Oh… oh my…"

Weena's eyes were huge. "Oh wow… these effects are amazing…! And so are these readings!"

Isabel stared at the ceiling. "Is no one going to question where those instrument sounds came from?"

Amethyst, still giggling in her father's arms, turned to her grandmother. "Hehe, no, no, this happens."

Isabel sighed. "Like his great uncle…"

Jaune raised an eyebrow at his daughter. "Ay, my precious little gemstone. Are you not going to ask your Papa what makes him a great thief?"

Amethyst kept giggling. "Hehe, but daddy I already know!"

"Ah, true, but they…" He gestured at everyone else. "Do not."

Amethyst snickered and decided to humor him. "Alright, daddy, what makes you the greatest thief in the world?"

Emerald's smirk was fond and bemused. "Greatest thief in the world? Isn't that a bit presumptuous?"

Jaune set Amethyst down and walked toward Emerald. "How could I not be? After all, I stole the greatest treasure in the world!"

Emerald's expression shifted. "And what would that be?"

He gently took her chin and tilted her face up. "Your heart.~"

Emerald shivered, bright red. "O-Oh… wow…" She coughed and tried for dignity. "That's not… that's not enough to butter me up!"

Jaune's grin widened. "Good…" He caught her by the waist and spun her into a dip. "I always did love a challenge.~"

"EEP! H-Hey! Quit it! Stop being… so… so hot…!"

He pulled her up against his chest. "Ah, but the fire you stoke in my heart keeps me so warm.~" He leaned in to kiss her.

"Ewww! Seriously! Stop stop stop!" Amethyst covered her face.

Jaune stopped, smiling, then laughed. "HAHA, guess we were getting a bit too carried away, no?"

Amethyst peeked through her fingers. "It's just really weird when you're young! It's worse than you being all weird and horny in my time!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you don't want another sibling?"

"DAD! I have eight!"

"HAHA, and you could have nine!"

"Oh boy…"

Isabel's voice cut in. "No children until you graduate!"

Jaune looked at his mother, bemused. Isabel sighed. "…The irony of that statement is not lost on me. Still…" She pointed at him. "Not until you graduate."

"Besides," she added, "I had Lilac after I graduated."

"Yes… less than nine months afterwards."

"It still counts!"

Jaune and Amethyst spoke at the same time. "It really doesn't."

Isabel turned back to the monitors and frowned. "Hmmm… burns. Lots of burns… I take it they're from—?"

Emerald's voice went grim. "Cinder."

Amethyst nodded. "I… yeah, if she's the warlock you talk about."

Jaune's expression softened as he looked at Emerald. "A wound, any wound, can heal. I do not regret them, but I do regret not being able to spare you the pain of seeing me with them."

Emerald's face was still red. "St-stop being so… so… you!"

He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. "I should say the same to you. For making me love you so…" He tightened his hold. "So very much.~"

Emerald's voice went breathy. "…Y-You keep that up and we'll make Amethyst early—"

"NO YOU WON'T!" Isabel snapped.

Jaune, ignoring his mother, gave Emerald's side a little squeeze. His voice was low. "Looking forward to it.~"

"Now now, enough of that!" Amethyst protested.

Jaune laughed. "Okay, okay, we'll stop… for now. There's always tonight after all.~"

Emerald made a small, flustered sound. "Hee…"

---

Written with RedDragonEmpress!
 
Last edited:
Bossman, i'm seeing some extras from space battle in index and som in extras? What's the difference
 
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