[RWBY] The Great Temporal Step-Sibling War!

[QuestOverlord]

Say, didn't this discussion already happen?

Also, just realized, that isn't going to work out how they think, since judging by the time Jaune amped her in the Cinder timeline, it totally destroyed the Grimm bug inside her and will probably return the maiden powers to Amber.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Say, didn't this discussion already happen?

Also, just realized, that isn't going to work out how they think, since judging by the time Jaune amped her in the Cinder timeline, it totally destroyed the Grimm bug inside her and will probably return the maiden powers to Amber.

Click to shrink...

Goddammit we did use it. Great. I have to write more, ugh. It's getting harder to keep track of things.

 

[QuestOverlord]

Goddammit we did use it. Great. I have to write more, ugh. It's getting harder to keep track of things.

Click to shrink...

lol, if you need another Beta, I'd be glad to help out.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Jaune sat on the examination table in the medical wing, shirtless and already wired up to half a dozen machines. Isabel frowned at the blood-pressure cuff on his right arm, adjusting it for the third time in as many minutes.

"Mom?"

"One moment, Jaune." She tapped the display. "I've readjusted this band three times and it's still dropping your blood pressure to nothing."

"What?"

"It's like your arm doesn't exist to this stupid sensor." Isabel sighed and began unstrapping it. "It'll hold for a few seconds, then drop to nothing. Here, let me move it to your other arm."

Jaune watched her work. "Weird… this isn't like X-Ray and Vav at all. Maybe Professor Paradox?"

"Probably one of those terrible episodes with the Thirteenth," Isabel muttered.

"Or a good one with the Eleventh?"

Isabel shook her head.

"It's a bit convoluted for his story arcs."

Jaune gave her a deadpan look. Isabel shrugged.

"Comparatively."

She continued the exam carefully, noting every anomaly. After a moment she shook her head. "I… may need to take this to Doctor Weena."

The door burst open.

"HELLO!"

"GAH!"

Weena Nebogipfel stood in the doorway, already carrying an armful of additional equipment. She beamed at them both.

"Sorry, Jaune—we haven't really been properly introduced outside of that party, have we?" She stuck out a hand.

Jaune shook it carefully. "Doctor, it's good to meet you… hope you can shed some light on whatever's going on with me."

"That is my hope as well!" Weena began strapping more sensors onto him with cheerful efficiency. "I wish we'd done this sooner, but I had to look after my son and examine him."

Jaune's expression turned increasingly deadpan as wires multiplied across his chest and arms. He'd barely exchanged a few words with Moses on Sunday; part of him still wanted a real conversation, but this didn't seem like the moment.

Weena stepped back, studying the readouts. "Now, after receiving some information from my son, I have a hypothesis of my own. Alright—for this first test I need Julian and Ruby to come inside."

"Say what?" Jaune's hands immediately went up to cover his nipples.

Isabel raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I think the results you're getting are temporal fluctuations of Jaune's body," Weena explained. "We'll get a better baseline for him if we have baselines from all the timelines."

Isabel looked at her son. "Jaune?"

"Well… um… if it's to figure this out, sure?"

"Well… as long as I'm here to supervise every experiment of yours."

Isabel called them in. The moment Ruby and Julian stepped through the doorway, the erratic readings on Jaune's monitors began to settle—except for one. His right hand now registered as artificial.

Ruby stared. "Sooo… I'm supposed to stare at Jaune topless? For science?"

"Mom…" Julian muttered.

Ruby grinned. "I'm… fine with that."

"Ruby!"

"We've already kissed, Jaune. A couple times." She tilted her head. "And I've seen you without your shirt. Way better than the bunny onesie."

Isabel's eyes narrowed. "You still have that?"

Jaune groaned. "Look, Lilac made it for me. I wasn't gonna leave it behind."

Weena was already scribbling notes. "Hmm, this is fascinating. From what I saw earlier while looking through your mother's notes, you were in what I can assume was a temporal flux. Although physically you looked the same, on what we should say… a different temporal axis, your body was reflecting the changes from Julian's timeline."

Isabel swallowed. "Is that why I can't see anything from Jaune's arm? What happened in…" She glanced at Julian. "What happened in your timeline?"

Julian grimaced. "Well, I never got the full story… but basically Mom and Dad were fighting against some dude and Jaune took the blow meant for her. Dad lost his hand but managed to drive him back, and Mom made a replacement for him."

Jaune looked down at his right arm. Something flickered across his eyes—not quite a memory, not quite his own.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked quietly.

When he spoke again, his voice was steadier. More certain. He looked at Julian and reached out to cup his cheek.

"Son, what I did, I did because I love your mother. And I would do it again, for her, for you or any of your siblings. Because that is how much I love you." His thumb brushed under Julian's eye. "My little sunshine…"

Julian's eyes went bright. "Dad…"

He hugged him tightly. Jaune held him for a moment, then blinked and shook his head, the strange certainty fading.

"Now… normal Julian? Are you alright? What happened?"

Julian nodded against his shoulder. "Yeah, just… guess I found myself missing home a lot."

Weena's eyes were wide. "Fascinating! I must share these results with Ozpin!" She studied the monitors. The tension that had been visible in the readings earlier had eased. "Jaune, you certainly are a special young man, aren't you?"

"Uh… thanks?"

Isabel crossed her arms. "What did you find out?"

"Hm? Oh, well, in layman's terms, the timelines have sort of… relaxed a little bit." Weena gestured at the displays. "Jaune is a major focal point. I would even say that he, alongside Moses, are the anchors for everything—but Jaune might also be serving as a relief valve for a pressurized system. I saw a large temporal spike when his little moment happened, which overall reduced the 'pressure' we're seeing."

Jaune blinked. "Oh… so that's good?"

"Welllll… yes and no." Weena tilted her head. "It's probably only a temporary relaxation as the universe is trying to reconcile twelve timelines all at once. And of course, there's the possibility that, using the pressure analogy, the relief valve could fail—"

"WHAT." Jaune, Ruby, Julian, and Isabel all said it at once.

"But that seems like a low-probability course," Weena continued brightly. "Anyway! You, Jaune Arc, are very much the lynchpin of this entire scenario. Anything we can do to reduce the strain will help in the long run."

Jaune's shoulders slumped. "Great…"

Isabel exhaled. "Alright, well… I've completed your initial baseline. Ruby and Julian, please go to those separate curtains so that I can take yours as well."

They moved. Isabel worked quickly and efficiently. After a few minutes she nodded.

"Alright, I'm not seeing anything crazy from you two. Pretty healthy overall… though I wonder if it's worth it to tell you two to cut down on the sugar."

Ruby and Julian both blushed and looked away.

Weena was still studying Jaune's readouts. "That said… it's also worth noting, Jaune, that I've kept you and Moses apart because of how unstable things are temporally. For all we know, if you two touch, the entire universe might collapse! Isn't it exciting?!"

Jaune stared at her. "I, uh, wouldn't exactly say that myself, Doc."

"Well, terrible, but also wonderfully exciting in terms of SCIENCE!"

They could hear the capitalization.

Isabel finished with Ruby and Julian and gestured toward the door. "Alright… well. Let's move on then. Can we get Weiss and Nicholas next? Might as well go by teams."

Ruby perked up. "But Mother Isabel… there's a lot more I want to learn! I love engineering!"

Isabel's expression softened, just a little. "Oh, don't worry, Ruby. We'll have plenty more time together. But I really need to get everyone's vitals."

Ruby pouted.

"Oh, fine…" She snuck in to steal a kiss from Jaune. "Mwah!"

"Ah! Ruby" Jaune flushed. Ruby grinned.

"What? Our date's tonight! I need to practice kissing!"

"There's more than kissing when it comes to dates," Julian deadpanned. Ruby flushed.

"Um, I'm not sure we're ready for that-"

"MOM!" Julian groaned.

"OUT!" Isabel growled. The two speedsters vanished out the door.

---

There we go! We're now back on track and big thanks to @LuxEterna for helping to write it!

 

[digcat]

There we go! We're now back on track and big thanks to @LuxEterna for helping to write it!

Click to shrink...

For as much as everyone worried about Blake taking things to far to fast Ruby might be the one that needs watching most.

 

[Gur40]

LOVING how the timelines and paradox are being discussed and the difference are effecting both Jaune and the Girls, would love to a shot scene of Ruby asking Julian everything he can remember of who took Jaune arm and then organize a meeting on a hit list of everyone who mutilated Jaune in the timelines with the other wives
One of the things i like about RWBY is in a fight Ruby and Jaune always go for the kill shot and don't hesitate in the fight, only outside of fights were others are do they discuses other methods but the second some one goes for the kill they WILL kill them

I really want that to be why Iridescent dies, she banking on an all loving hero but Ruby was trained by Qrow and Jaune raised by royals, you kill or die on the battlefield and talk off it and that is why they win

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Ruby and Julian stepped out. A moment later Weiss and Nicholas walked in.

Nicholas grinned. "Hello, Father. How's it goin'?"

Weiss's greeting was more reserved. "Jaune."

"Hey guys. I'm doing alright, all things considered."

Weiss shot a glare at Ruby as the younger girl left. Ruby just smirked back and vanished in a swirl of petals.

Weena waved them in. "Weiss, Nicholas—it's good to meet you two as well."

"Doctor," they both answered.

Weiss folded her arms. "What do you need us for?"

Isabel adjusted one of the monitors. "Well, we're doing everyone's physical checkups, but we're noticing odd… anomalies with Jaune's baseline."

Nicholas and Weiss both looked at him. Jaune waved them off.

"It's okay, I'm okay, it's just…"

"We believe that Jaune is being affected by proximity to the different timeline anchor points—the alternate wives and children," Weena explained. "And that what amounts to 'leakby' has been appearing. For example, just now with Ruby and Julian, we didn't get any readings from his right arm because it didn't exist in that timeline."

Weiss's expression tightened. "Oh dear…"

Isabel turned to Nicholas. "Is there anything you can tell us about your timeline that might affect our physical readings for Jaune?"

Nicholas shifted. "Um, well… he uh, he had a lot of injuries during the war… and um, lost Grandpa…" He hesitated. "Apparently he suffered a lot of internal injuries from taking so much punishment for others…"

Weiss and Isabel both turned and glared at Jaune.

Jaune shrank back a little, then shrugged. "Am I guilty if I haven't done it?"

"Yet," Isabel and Weiss said in unison.

Weiss studied him. "You did get enough sleep, right? You're no good to anyone if you're not taking care of yourself, dolt."

Something shifted in Jaune's eyes. His voice came out a little deeper, warmer, as he smiled at her.

"Love you too, Mein Engel. But I'm resting, don't worry." He glanced at Nicholas. "Nicholas… how are you doing, son? I know you've been working very hard. I'm so very proud of you, Spätzchen."

The effect faded. Jaune blinked. Weiss was bright red and sputtering. Nicholas looked at him softly.

Weena's eyes lit up. "Fascinating. It looks like certain phrases are the trigger, not just the proximity itself."

Weiss could barely form words. "You—I—wha—?!"

Jaune looked lost. "What'd I say?"

Isabel was smirking at Weiss. "Oh, don't worry about it. Weiss, it seems like certain phrases and proximity to Jaune is triggering what Dr. Weena calls temporal leakby. Basically the attributes of your timeline coming through our Jaune." Her grin widened. "How sweet."

Weiss was still flushed, but there was something pleased under the embarrassment. Nicholas's voice was quiet.

"You haven't called me that since I was a kid… I missed it a bit."

Jaune frowned. "Called you what?"

"Spätzchen… means sparrow. Used to run around a lot as a kid."

"…Spätzchen. Nice."

Weiss found her voice again. "When did you learn Allomenian?"

Jaune blinked, searching his memory. "When uh… when I found out you were from Atlas…"

"You learned Allomenian to try and woo me, huh?"

Nicholas shrugged. "Well, you're fluent in it when I'm born."

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, but also I thought that well… it might make you feel more at home."

Weiss's expression softened. "…I appreciate it."

Isabel huffed. "Hmph. I trained him in Hellene and Quitalan. He never uses it."

"Only Pyrrha speaks it, Mom!"

"Those are the foundational languages of our entire modern world, Jaune!"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "And yet you never picked up on her feelings for you when she would mutter in Hellenic around you?"

Jaune looked genuinely confused. "W-Well, she was muttering…?"

Weiss groaned. "Ugh! You really are a dolt, aren't you? I…" She flushed again. "S-Sorry… I'm trying to get better…"

Nicholas grinned. "Aunt Ruby says you were a total tsundere… like Granny was!"

"I was not!" Isabel snapped.

Jaune tilted his head. "Mom, you punched Dad through a wall and after I saw you kissing him better."

Isabel went still. "You saw that!?"

"And don't get me started on the arguments you two would have that would end up traumatizing us as kids when you two decided to 'make up.'"

Isabel turned bright red. Weena glanced between them.

"I see why he might gravitate towards Miss Schnee."

"WHAT?!" Weiss yelped.

Isabel cleared her throat, still pink. "Alright, that's it for your baseline. I'm slightly worried about this timeline. Physically you're doing okay, but I do see elevated baseline cortisol levels. As well as… other biomarkers for PTSD."

Jaune exhaled. "Well… let's hope that this time around it doesn't go too bad."

Isabel hummed disapprovingly, then moved on. "Alright, well, we have everything we need for now. Can you get Blake to come in here?"

"Of course, Doctor."

Weiss and Nicholas left. Outside, Ruby zipped over the moment Blake and the twins headed in.

"Did you guys have a freaky moment with Jaune about the future? I was telling them all about it."

Weiss raised a brow. A devious idea formed. She gave an exaggerated romantic sigh and smiled.

"He said he loved me."

"WHAT!?"

Pyrrha's smile turned twitchy. "Weisssss…"

Yang's eyes narrowed. "Does our friendship have to end with me pounding your face into a pizza pie crust?!"

Ruby huffed. "That's not fair, he said he loved me too! He even lost his arm for me!"

Yang blinked. "Wait, what?"

Arslan's expression was almost serene. "In my future he lost a leg. He used it to beat a Grimm to death for me. I find this very romantic."

"Mother!" Petra protested.

"What? Would I not tell you the story?"

"Yes, but your descriptions of it became far more disturbing over time."

Arguments started to bubble up in the hallway, muffled by the door as Blake stepped inside.

 

[Ardrianian]

Since, temporally, he is both on Remnant and the Ever After, maybe being close to his kids is triangulating the time lines to that particular quantum frequency and causing feedback, manifested by Jaune expressing those effects from each timeline... interesting.