DJ appeared and looked to them all, looking a little embarrassed, "So it seems I have lost the next Universe's... as well as some others that I was meant to show you"
"How do you lose a universe?" Mercury asked
"Do you know how many Universe's there are?" DJ asked with a glare
"um... no"
DJ nodded, "Then shut up, it's easy to lose track of them," He said "Now, do you remember the Universe where Jaune tried to attack the Dark brother?" He asked
They all remembered that one as Adam was captain and they were all mostly soul reapers.
"Yeah, the one where Adam got wrecked and so did Jaune right?" Yang said
DJ nodded, "Well, we'll be returning to that universe, but this way before the fight with them, and right now, the Captains and old members of the 13 court guard squad will be facing one of the deadliest people, Ex-Captain Salem"
"Wait! you mean that Salem was once a captain of the soul Society!?" Ironwood asked asked
DJ nodded, "though if you thought she was strong, this version of her is much stronger"
This caught everyone's attention, as well as Salem. Who was very powerful in her own right already in her universe, so how was this version of her much stronger?
"This Salem is the leader of the Espada" DJ said "Speaking of which, before we begin, I think I should show you who will be participating in this fight, as well as who is still alive on her side"
The screen flashed on and on the screen was Sun, He wore a black Hiyori under a white captain's coat. In his Hands was a sword or Zanpakto as they called it in this Univers
"This is Captain Sun Wukong, Current Captain of Squad 7"
Next an Image of Ilia appeared, she wore a similar outfit to Sun, but she had two long braids in her hair and her middle finger had a lard stinger-like blade attached to it, currently she also only had one arm.
"This is Captain of squad 2, Ilia Amitola"
Next was an Image of Qrow, he only wore a black Hiyori, and in his hands were two blades that resembled Scimitars, his hair was tied back and he had a bit of facial hair on his face.
"This is Captain of Squad 8, Qrow Branwen" DJ said "And before you ask, he lost his captains coat"
Next, An Image of Winter Schnee appeared, she had ice wings behind her and she also wore the same outfit similar to the previous three
"This is Captain Winter Schnee of Squad 10"
Next, an Image of Scarlet appeared, however, he wore fancy clothing like a pianist would wear.
"Scarlet David, Ex-Captain of Squad 3, now a Vizard"
"Vizard?" Neptune asked
"Oh Right, Vizards, are Ex-Soul Reapers that Salem turned into half-hallows, they are able to use hollowfication as a means of powerup's, Jaune himself is also a Vizard" DJ said
Next an Image of Yatsuhashi appeared, he wore a green jumpsuit and he also had a sword.
"Yatsuhashi Daichi, Ex-Captain of the 7th division and Also a Vizard"
Next, an Image of Raven appeared, she wore a highschoolers uniform in her hands was a large spear.
"Raven Branwen, Ex-lieutenant to Captain Qrow and also a Vizard"
Qrow smiled, "Looks like I'm captain material!" He said smugly
Raven was just annoyed, wanted to fight her brother to prove that she was better then him for some reason.
Next up was an Image of Mercury Black, he wore an orange dress suit with a dark purple tie, black slacks and in his hands was also a Zanpakto
"This is Mercury Black, Ex-Captain of the 5th Divison and Leader of the Vizards" DJ said "And now, its time to introduce the villains
An Image of Salem appeared, he had a calm smirk on his face and he wore white robes, her hair was short and slicked back with one strand not and on her face.
"Salem, Ex-Captain of the 5th Division and Leader of the Espada. I should also tell you that her Zanpakto, Kyoka Suigetsu, allows her to have complete hypnosis over anyone who sees it drawn" DJ said
Then, an Image of Ren appeared, he wore similar robes to Salem and he looked calm and had a grin on his face.
RWBY, Pyrrha, Oscar, and most of all, Nora was shocked to see Ren be on the side of the villain, even Ren himself felt a little angry and sick that his other self would work with a villain.
"Lie Ren, Ex-Captain of the Squad 3 and Salem's right-hand man" DJ said "Now that we have introductions out of the way, let's begin"
The Screen lit up and the feet of people appeared and they all stood in front of Jaune, who wore a black gi, and looked fully healed and had his black Katana in front of him, ready to strike. The Captains and Vizards that were mentioned before appeared in front of him
"Jaune..." Winter said, "we will all protect you"
"I should mention that Jaune is immune to Salem's Zanpakto ability," DJ said "Which means he's their only person who can safely see if somethings up"
"So he's the trump card huh?" Cinder said "Wise indeed to keep him save then"
"Indeed, but can he fight Salem alone?" Watts asked
Salem looked at them all and smiled, "You really thought that because you had me outnumbered that you would win? Think again" She said
Just then, Salem vanished and appeared right in front of Sun with her sword raised high, "here is what power is"
Sun acted quickly and using his Bankai, a giant form that looked similar to a Samurai appeared with a massive sword and blocked the attack of Salem. However, with a single strike, She cut through the sword and then sliced the figure as well, causing both it and Sun to bleed.
Everyone was shocked to see Salem cut through a giant sword like it was butter.
Sun recovered and tried to strike Salem with his broken sword with a right swing, only to have it blocked. Salem smiled before slicing Sun across his chest and causing him to fall backward. (Insert "Bleach: OST Treachery")
"No way!" Sun cried
"is he ok!?" Blake and Neptune asked
Scarlet and Yatsuhashi charged at Salem as well while she wasn't looking at them, with a golden whip, Scarlet launched it at Salem, only for her to grab it and pull on it.
From afar, Ren stood on a building and looked at the fight. 'Now you see... others don't fear captain Salem, just because she can use her Kyoka Suigetsu to destroy them' Ren said to himself 'Yes, Kyoka Suigetsu power is terrifying, but fearing it alone wouldn't have been enough to subjugate all those who would rather die than obey'
Scarlet was pulled and when he was close to Nine,
'there was only one reason while all those powerful Espada were able to function as a group, in spite of their wildly different personality's and uniquely individual motives...' Ren said
Salem sliced Scarlet's chest and blood gushed out of the wound as he fell while Salem still held onto his whip.
'it's because Captain Salem, is strength itself' Ren said 'Her power, speed, and precision, all exceed that of a normal soul reaper, she has no equal'
Everyone was in shock as the scene played out, what's even worse, was that the bodies of both Scarlet and Sun fell limply to the ground. Blake and Neptune were concerned about Sun and Scarlet.
'you can attempt to safeguard against his Kyoka Suigetsu all you want, but you could never prepare enough' Kaminari said 'even if you put your heads together, he will out-think you, take all the precautions against unfortunate happenings, like the sky falling or the earth splitting, but I can assure you, there's really no use in trying'
"The way that your other self is wording it Ren, definitely makes it sound like Salem really is stronger than these captains or Vizards, as well as any person in our world," Weiss said "and with that ability of her sword to have complete hypnosis, no doubt he could even trick anyone and get away with it"
'Create all the elaborate plans you want, but his superior powers will undue any of your schemes' Ren finished
Yatsuhashi charged at her but Salem wrapped him up using Scarlet's whip and pulled him forward, when he was close, She slashed Yatsuhashi across the stomach before dropping both him and the whip. Just then, from behind, Raven, wearing a white mask with an X-like shape in front of it, charged at her with her spear, but with a simple turn to her left, Salem dodged the attack and with one slash of her sword, it was cut in half.
"Huh!?" Raven cried
"A Hollowfication... I told you, you're all just failed experiments" Salem told her
A slash appeared on Raven's back and she fell along with her spear. Salem turned back to her and smiled
"Have you forgotten that I rule over the Arrancars? Mock Arrancars like you should never try an attack me" Salem told Raven
Jaune stood in fear as he watched the fight in front of him, remembering just how fast Nine had defeated four powerful Soul Reapers.
Salem turned around and was about to go for her next target, but her sword as well as her hand that was holding it was frozen in place by ice. Salem looked in shock as this happened and failed to notice the attack from Ilia, who had stabbed her in the chest with her Finger Stinger. A small Butterfly symbol appeared and she pulled it back just as he turned to Salem
"Nigeki Kessatsu" Ilia said
She then went for a second strike and with a strong thrust, she hit her target.
"Nigeki Kessatsu?" Salem asked
"No way! How is she still alive! She was hit!" Ruby cried
Ilia looked shocked as she looked to see that Salem had grabbed her hand and looked at her.
"What an amusing technique," Salem said "But it's not good enough"
"...What!?" Ilia asked in shock
"A soul reaper battle requires spirit energy, I can easily stop you silly power by accessing my own spirit energy," Salem said
Salem's sword hand then busted out of the ice and she raised her sword and was about to go for a strike, however, a black sword stabbed through the left side of her body, and Salem glared and looked behind her
"How careless of you" Came the voice of Qrow as he slowly came out of Salem's shadow "Your form left a shadow in the ice," He said smugly
"Qrow... You Bastard!" Salem cried
"Nice going Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed
From afar, Winter stood with her sword in hand, "It's all over Salem!" She declared
"Get her Sister!" Weiss cheered
Winter charged at Salem, but she saw her coming, "you really are Naive, you recklessly charge in when you see a chance at victory, you act on impulse and that is your biggest weakness Captain Schnee" Salem said
However, Salem then noticed Mercury's Shikai was activated and knew what it meant, all her senses were inverted.
"No... it's the other way around!" Salem said in a panic
Salem went to turn, but it was too late as Winter stabbed her in the chest. Salem grabbed onto the blade but Winter just pushed it deeper and then Salem's arm went limp.
Far from the battle, inside small glowing cube force field, a knocked out Nora and Weiss lay on the ground, while Neptune and Sage looked in amazement.
"They did it!" Neptune declared
"they sure did," Sage said
the barrier let down and from another part of the city Cardin and Sage looked amazed as well at the sight of Salem's defeat
slowly both Nora and Weiss woke up
"Hey Sage, now we got something to celebrate! We won! so try putting a smile on your face!" Neptune said
"R-Right" Sage said with an awkward smile
"Alright! they won!" Ruby and Nora declared
"We sure showed her!" Yang said
"Hell yeah, we did!" Sun said
"At least I was able to help," Mercury said with a sigh but he smirked
"Something feels off..." Coco said
"Huh?" Velvet asked, "what do you mean?"
"This Salem was able to control powerful beings that were able to be on the level of captains, not to mention he himself cut down three captains and one Lieutenant... yet she was beaten so easily? Doesn't make sense" Coco said
"Well, they all worked together and were able to catch her off guard, so it was no doubt they were able to beat him" Pyrrha chimed in
Just then, Weiss suddenly rose up and Sage looked too her, she then stood up and began to walk away.
"Um... Weiss?" Neptune called out
"How bout that? we finally turned things around" Mercury declared with a smile "Didn't we... Ren?"
From afar atop a broken building, Ren stood, yet his face still looked the same as he smiled.
"Uh, Guys... why is evil Ren still smiling like that?" Ruby asked
When Coco and the others heard this, everyone stopped celebrating the victory their other-selves had accomplished and looked to the screen. Coco then felt her mind go off and it yelled that this was far from over.
Jaune still looked in fear as he saw the battle, frozen in shock
"W-Why does he still look like that?" Nora asked "We won... right?"
Coco thought about it for a second, and then it hit her, 'Kyoka Suigetsu... complete hypnosis... all five senses! OH NO!'
"Hey Guys..." Jaune said with a shaken tone "Hold on! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING!?" Jaune cried
The eyes of Winter, Qrow, Ilia, and Mercury widened as the scene suddenly became clearer and the person they stabbed wasn't Salem... but was Weiss instead
"Weiss...?" Winter asked with a horrified
"But how!?" Mercury cried in shock
"What!?" Yang cried in shock
"Wh-When did she...!?" Winter asked with a shaken tone
"Kyoka Suigetsu" Coco said
"What!?" Blake asked
"Kyoka Suigetsu's ability allows for complete hypnosis... which means all five of a person's sense, which means no matter what, even if you were blind, or deaf, you'd still be under her control," Coco said
"But when did she use it!?" Mercury asked
Mercury then turned to Sage and Neptune and they turned back as wee, only for them to be attacked and knocked out. The figure that they thought was Weiss turned out to be Salem. She looked to Mercury and smiled with her calm attitude
Mercury glared at her, "When did you do it!?" he asked
"A good question... so when did I do it?" Salem replied "My Kyoka Suigetsu's power is complete hypnosis, so I have the ability to alter your perception of what's real, it's so overpowering it can control all five of your sense and can lead people to hallucinate all sorts of strange things"
"Shut up I know that!" Mercury cried "I'm asking you whenyou used your Kyoka Suigetsu!?"
Salem smiled, "So here's a question for you..." She began "now consider this, at what time did you think I wasn't using my Kyoka Suigetsu?"
Mercury's eyes widened
"That means...!" Coco cried
"That bitch! SHE PLAYED US FROM THE START!" Yang cried
Slowly, Winter lowered down as she held Weiss in her arms, her eyes almost lifeless.
"W-Winter... why?" Weiss asked as blood fell from her mouth
Winter on-screen looked to her in shock, confusion, sadness, and then suddenly, anger rose up into her.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Winter yelled in anger
Winter then charged at Salem with anger on her face as the other three looked in shock at what she was doing
"Captain! Control yourself!" Qrow cried
However, it was already too late, as she was nearing Salem.
"You've left yourself wide open" Nine stated
(Bleach OST: Stand up be Strong)
With a single slice, Salem managed to cut off Winter's left arm and ice wing.
Weiss gasped
Ilia then charged at her and the Music began to pick up. Once again, with a single slice, blood had shot out from her back as she fell from the shock and pain.
"Ilia no!" Blake cried
"Ilia!" Sun cried
"~Stand up be strong! Know Right from Wrong!~"
Both Qrow and Mercury charged at Salem, but when Mercury went for a strike to the back of er neck, a light shield appeared and blocked the attack and pushed him back
"~Whatever else! Believe yourself!~"
Qrow was still charging with his two Scimitars in hand at Salem, but when he went for a strike, he missed and with two slices, Salem cut him in the front and back as he fell from the shock as well.
"Uncle Qrow" Ruby cried
"Damn it" Tai cried
"That Bitch!" Yang cried
Raven gasped as she saw her brother cut down
"~Stand up be strong! Know Right from Wrong!~"
Mercury then went for another attack, Only to see Salem suddenly start shaking from side to side, throwing him off, and Salem slashed him across his left side.
"Merc no!" Emerald cried
"~Stand up be strong! Know Right from Wrong!~ Whatever else! Believe yourself!~"
The four fell from the sky, and before falling completely, Winter took a look back at Salem and glared at the Woman, "D-Damn it!" She cried
"It seemed that what this Version of Mr. Ren said was true..." Ozpin said sadly "This Salem... is stronger than any of us..."
And with that, Jaune looked at the scene in horror as he saw the four be defeated, then Salem turned her attention to Jaune and smiled and the screen froze, and the words "To be Continued" appeared below her face...
DJ appeared again and the screen feezed and began to move forward
"W-What are you doing?" Winter asked
"Skipping ahead a bit, what happens next is a bit hard to explain, but I will tell you this, Salem has fused with a thing called the Hogyoku, a small orb which allows its master/wielder to do anything that they desire," DJ said "In Salem's case, she wants to go beyond the boundaries of Hallow and Soul Reaper, and become powerful enough to defeat the Soul King"
"Soul... King?" They all asked
DJ smiled, "Another time, For now, I'll be skipping ahead to the near end of the fight between Salem and Soul Society"
As the screen turned on, Salem stared down at a group of people. Her appearance looked different, the whites of her eyes were purple and her iris was now white, her hair also grew much longer and the clothing now looking almost like it was another layer of skin. Salem's Zanpakuto also looked like it was fused to his hand. Meanwhile, A group consisting of Velvet, Coco, Sky, Whitely, Dr. Oobleck, and finally Marrow, stared back at him in fear as none of their previous attacks worked.
"Oh! We're in here!" Coco said
"Hopefully we don't get cut up like the others," Velvet said
Suddenly From behind Salem, Ren landed and he had that signature smile on his face. "Well hello Captain Salem," He said "I have returned"
Salem looked back at him with a smile on her face
"What's going on now? Do you think that guys here to save us?" Asked Coco
"From the looks of things... I wouldn't bet on it" Whitely said
Velvet glared a bit, "the last thing this guy's gonna do is help us" She said
"Ah man, this is bad!" Sky Cried
"So your back" Salem said "What happened to the woman?"
A Flashback showed Ren attack Nora with his Zanpaktou as her eyes widened in shock and the scene went white.
"I killed her," Ren said with a smile
Ren was still a bit frozen in shock, he never really thought that he would be a bad guy. He never really expected to see such a cold-blooded version of himself that would kill... Nora. It made him sick to his stomach.
Salem smiled and looked up to the clouds, "Indeed... her spirit energy has disappeared, I'm surprised" Salem said "You knew her so well, I got the feeling you might show her mercy and let her live" Salem said with a smile
"Me? Show Mercy?" Ren asked, his smile still present on his face. "I don't have any of that, and I let you know that the very first time I met you," Ren told him
He walked closer to Salem as he talked, "I am a Snake, my skin and blood are cold, I have no heart" he said "I slither, looking for pray with the tip of my tongue, I swallow everything whole, that's the sort of creature I am"
Salem smiled, "I'm tired of them," she said looking at the group in the front "Catching mice is so boring"
"what will you do with them after you kill them?" Ren asked her
"I'll hang their bodies on the outskirts of town where they'll be easily seen and then I'll get to work on creating the Oken" Salem said
Most of them the arms of their chairs in anger, hearing what she would do to them
"Wait what's the Oken?" Velvet asked
"A Key that can take one to the Soul King's Palace," DJ said
"Sounds good to me," Ren said. Ren then put his hand on Salem's Blade "Since that's the case, I'll take care of killing them... it'll be so much fun"
Salem then looked at Ren's hand as it held the tip of her blade. "Ren...?" Salem asked
Before anything could be done though, white blade-like energy shot through Ren's sleeve and into the chest of Salem
"Wait what!?" Tyrian cried
"Why did he do that!?" Cinder cried
"Should that really matter, I mean, he stabbed her right?" Mercury asked
"But why? why turn on Salem with how powerful she is now?" Emerald asked
Salem looked shocked as he looked back at Ren, the sword was still in her chest, and the blade itself looked like it extended.
"there's only one way to avoid the power of your Kyoka Suigetsu, and that's to touch its blade" Ren stated "But it must be done before its powerful influence can put one under hypnosis, it took me decades of gaining your trust, just to get that simple fact out of you"
"To be completely honest, the way to stop the Ability is very hard, after all, no ones could figure that out," Winter said
"True, after all, the last thing you expect to do in order to stop someone's ability is to touch a sword" Weiss agreed
"But still, what's the reason for this Ren to turncoat?" Blake asked
"Maybe he was working for the Soul reapers?" Yang said
Ren's blade then retracted and blood seeped out of Salem's chest and Ren stood there with a smile on his face, "In all 13 court guard squads, not a single person was aware of that" Ren said "The only one who can kill you, Captain Salem... is me"
"I knew that," Salem said calmly "I brought you here with me knowing exactly what your objective was because I was interested in what technique you would use to try and kill me, but I'm disappointed in you Ren, did you honestly think you could kill me with something like this?" Salem asked
"No of course not" Ren replied with a smile "When my sword extends and contracts it turns to dust for just an instant, Also..." Ren rose his blade and pointed at the middle of his blade, showing that a small middle piece of Ren's sword was missing, "Inside the blade, there's a powerful poison that dissolves and destroys cells rapidly" Ren said
Salem looked in shock
Ren smiled, "From the look on your face I see you understand," Red said "When I was pulling my sword back out of your chest, I left a fragment of my blade inside of your heart"
"You see, that tiny chunk of metal didn't turn to dust" Ren finished
"REN!" Salem said with a glare
"If you want to say something, I suggest you say it quickly, but no matter what you say... you're going to die" Ren then put his fingers on Salem's chest and smiled while Salem could only glare at him with anger, "Kill him... Kamishini no Yari" Ren said
"Ren! Damn you!" Salem seethed
Suddenly another flashback was shown, this time, a younger Ren looked at a Soul Reaper handing Salem a red orb, and Salem took it and smiled.
"I wonder why they showed us that?" Ruby asked
"Maybe this Ren turned coat in order to get that Hogyoku thingy," Nora said
"Maybe..." Blake said
A Large hole then opened up in the middle of Salem's chest and there it was, a small blue orb, the Hogyoku, in her chest. Ren went to grab it, but Salem tried to stop him, however, Ren jumped back with the Hogyoku in hand, and Salem's eyes widened and she began to fall backward. Ren flashed stepped out of there and was taking the Hogyoku with him.
Suddenly, the body of Salem rose up and purple energy began to surround her and she cried out loud and the ground shook. Meanwhile, Ren was far enough, but he felt the spirit energy of Ren and he was shocked. A Large purple pillar of energy shot up and could be seen from afar and all over the city.
"How the hell can she survive all of this shit!?" Yang cried
when the Energy disappeared, Salem was revealed again, this time she had a purple eye in the middle of her forehead, and behind her looked like two butterfly wings, the hole in her chest was still present and her hair grew much longer. "I always win Ren, and that Hogyoku that you took... still belongs to me," Salem said
suddenly, the Hogyoku began to glow in Ren's hand and he looked startled as he was confused by it all, "What the hell is happening!?" Ren cried, Just then, a blinding light appeared behind Ren and he turned only to see Salem looking down at him.
Another flashback came and a young Ren watched as Salem admired the Hogyoku in her hands. 'that's her' the young Ren thought 'she's in charge, she's the boss'
The flashback ended and it returned to the present, as Salem looked down at Ren, and with one strike across the chest, Salem cut Ren and his blood had spattered out...
"Ren!" Pyrrha cried
Nora gasped as she saw the scene happen
"No!" Oscar cried
Ren was falling backward and for the first time, his eyes open to reveal his bright pink eyes. 'If you were to turn into a snake tomorrow and began devouring humans, and from the same mouth you devoured humans, you cried out to me, "I Love You!" Would I still be able to say "I Love You," the same way I do today?' Ren asked no one in particular
Meanwhile, atop a roof, A pair of bright blue eyes opened and Nora woke up and she gasped out for air before taking a deep breath, she breathed in and out rapidly, before her breathing began to calm
Everyone in the audience was stunned, The other Ren said that he had killed this Nora, but here she was alive.
"wait, so if he didn't kill her, then does that mean... that he was working undercover this whole time?" Yang said
DJ then Appeared, "No, you see he had to trick everyone, Ren had been working alone in secret against Salem"
"What for?" Pyrrha asked
DJ smiled, "For Revenge... and for love," DJ said
"I know this feeling... it's Hakufuku" Nora said
Back with Ren and Salem, the Hogyoku began to reform in Salem's chest and she looked at Ren with a blank expression.
"I had already discovered the answer known as the Hogyoku, even before Oscar Pine found it" Salem told Ren "In looking at the results of Oscar Pine's experiments, I knew his Hogyoku wasn't complete either"
Then, Ren tried to go for the Hogyoku once again
"that's when I decided to take his Hogyoku and give it over to mine, and in doing that... I gain something"
Salem then grabbed his arm and ripped it off with one clean pull and Just then Salem rose her blade and shoved it through Ren's chest.
"NO!" Nora cried
"Evolution requires fear," Salem told Ren "The fear that in one's present state, one can die and disappear at any moment, thank you Ren... I now have become a being that transcends the power that of Hallows and Soul Reapers"
Meanwhile, Back with Velvet, Coco, Sky, Whitely, , and Marrow, they were near a building only for the alleyway next to it to burst and the building fall. They looked there they saw the body of Ren lying against a broken piece of the building and Salem herself walked out as well. Just then, the other began to fall, due to the immense spiritual energy of Salem.
"We can fall just from her letting out her energy... that's some OP shit," Coco said
"tell me about it," Velvet said
As Ren lied down, his mind once again flashed back. The scene now showed a young Ren and a Young Nora in the desert. Nora noticed that Ren was wearing a Soul reaper Uniform
"hey, is that a soul reaper uniform? where'd you get that?" Nora asked
"I've made up my mind," Ren said "I'm going to become a soul reaper," He told her
It flashed back to the present and from atop another building, Nora looked down only to see the body of Ren, Her eyes became frantic, "REN!" She cried as she jumped down to him
Ren, who was still alive looked up to her as blood dripped from his mouth. 'in the end... I failed and was unable to take back what was taken from you... Nora' Ren thought 'I'm glad... that I apologized to you'
Nora was now atop of him and looked down as she saw his body, Ren couldn't talk and he was slowly dying, but he felt the tears of Nora as they fell on her face.
"Ren! Ren please!" Nora begged,
However, there was no response, and Nora began to sob and weep for the man she had loved. Salem watched the scene and tiring from it, She gripped her sword and was ready to kill Nora and everyone else.
However, Before she could even do anything with her blade, a figure landed on the ground behind Salem and she slowly turned around to see just who had arrived. When she turned around, she was met with none other than Jaune Arc.
However, he looked taller, his hair was a bit longer and it even covered his left eye. His black Hiyori was ripped exposing a bit of his chest. His right arm had a small chain wrapped around it that was connected to his sword, which also looked fused to a black cloth that also looked fused to Jaune's hand. Holding a figure on his left shoulder, who turned out to be a blonde man with a beard, this was Ron Arc, Father of Jaune. Jaune looked at Salem, and there was no fear present in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Velvet, Coco, Sky, Whitely, Dr. Oobleck, and Marrow, were in the same place as they were, Salem still stood in front of a crying Nora and a dying Ren.
"is t-that really Jaune!? Look at him...He even looks taller!?" Sky cried, "also, his hair looks grown out! Seriously!"
"Jaune looks way different indeed," Ren said
"Talk about the tail-end of puberty hitting you like a train!" Emerald said "still though... He looks hella hot!"
"Oh yeah~! Mama likes~!" Yang agreed
Winter just shook her head in agreement.
Velvet just looked at Jaune in amazement and utter shock.
Jaune slowly put down Ron onto the ground and looked at him with a soft smile, "thanks... Dad" Jaune said, he then closed his eyes and began to sense someone and the screen showed a small medical hospital. Jaune smiled as he had sensed what he wanted. "That's good, Saphron, Terra, and Adrian are ok"
Jaune then turned to his friends as they looked back at him, "Velvet... Coco... Sky... Whitely... Dr. Oobleck... Marvin"
"It's Marrow! If ya can't remember people's names just say so!" Marrow cried in anger
"Everyone just stay where you are... Stay where you are and don't move" Jaune told them
"H-Huh? What do you mean by that?" Sky asked
Velvet just looked in utter terror as she saw Jaune standing right next to Salem, 'this... This is wrong!' Velvet thought to herself
"What does she mean?" Ruby asked
She looked to Salem, 'from this chick, I can feel her overwhelming power... But from Jaune... I can't feel a thing!'Velvet cried
"What!? That's impossible, Jaune should be on the same level as Salem right!?" Yang asked
"Maybe not?" Neptune chimed in "Maybe it's like one of those anime battles where the character slowly gets strong while the Villain just beats him down"
"Jaune Arc?" Salem asked
Jaune turned to look at Salem
"are you really Jaune Arc?" She asked again
Jaune looked at her "what do you mean by that?" Jaune asked with a bored face and tone.
"Well if you really are him then I'd say... your disappointing" Salem told him, "I don't feel a thing... You have no spiritual energy, even if you were suppressing your energy, I would still be able to sense it, you have failed to evolve, you let the final chance that I gave you slip away... What a waste of time" Salem finished
Meanwhile, Ren's bright Pink eyes opened for a split second and got a look at Jaune. Jaune looked at Jaune's dark blue eyes and saw how stern and strong they had become, but most importantly, they showed no fear.
'I can see... Your eyes have more power in them... That's good... Your at a level now, where I can die... and leave the rest... to you...' Ren said to himself, and with those final thoughts, Ren closed his eyes and took one last breath before finally dying.
Some sniffles and tears could be heard throughout the theater as they watched the scene play out but none cried more than RWBY and NPP. As they had watched their fellow friend die.
"Regrettable for you-"
"Salem" Jaune interrupted "let's not do this here... I'd rather we fought somewhere else," Jaune told her
"An impregnate suggestion, only someone with the power to give me a real challenge has the right to make such a request," Salem said, "There's no need to worry, I will not destroy Vale city, you will-"
but before Salem could even finish taking, Jaune just grabbed Salem by her face and he jumped into the sky with Salem in hand. Literally.
"Holy shit!" Mercury cried
"No Way!" Cinder said in shock
"Impossible!" Tyrian cried
"What kind of power does he have if he's able to shoot up in that air with Salem literally in the palm of his hand!?" Ironwood cried out in amazement
"whatever it is, it seems that he might have quite the advantage after all" Ozpin said
"yes, quite so that he even moved faster than this version of me could react" Salem Agreed
Both Jaune and Salem were far away from Vale city and they were now in a mountain range. Once there, Jaune then threw Salem to the ground as he watched from the air as Salem crashed into the ground and had made a crater where she was thrown.
Salem slowly got up and put her hand to her face in shock, "how did he...!? Impossible... No one could have done this to me!" Salem said with shock
As she got up and out of the crater, Jaune had landed on the ground and looked at her, "Now let's do this Salem" Jaune told her as he had his Katana in his hand still wrapped around in the Black cloth
Salem looked back at Jaune and then she recomposed herself and her look of calmness returned.
"I'll end this... in an instant" Jaune stated
"End this? In an instant?" Salem repeated, Salem looked at Jaune and she quickly figured out how he was able to touch her, "oh, I see... It's all become quite clear to me... I now know why I didn't sense your energy, you discarded it" Salem said
"What!? Why would he discard his Spiritual energy!?" Weiss cried "If it's really spiritual energy that determines the outcome of a fight like Salem stated before, then why to discard his own energy and fight Salem now!?"
"Maybe it's like giving up power in order to gain a higher understanding of something," Sun said
Neptune nodded in agreement "Sometimes in anime, a character will have to realize that a certain power can't be obtained by them naturally, so they either discard or sacrifice something in order for that power to be given to them"
"But this isn't a Shonan Anime and there is no way a Universe follow some Anime Rule" Blake stated
"I don't know how you did it, but it seems like you used up all of your spiritual energy and converted it into your physical strength," Salem said "arm strength, leg strength, your strong grip, the power of your running and throwing, so in exchange for your drastic improvement of everyone if your physical abilities, you chose to discard your remaining spirit energy, you've given up fighting against my spirit energy with your energy" Salem finished.
"Ok, I retract my statement," Blake said
Jaune just looked at him with a bored expression still on his face, "are you done?" Jaune asked Salem
Salem then disappeared like she did when he was searching for Ren. Jaune looked around for where Salem might strike, suddenly, Salem appeared behind Jaune and her sword was raised ready to go for a killing blow, but as the sword was coming at Jaune, he turned around and blocked the attack with his own sword. The two blades clashed and when the two blades separated the force of their movements destroyed a mountain!
Salem charged at him again, but Jaune kept blocking her attacks. This time, Jaune disappeared and reappeared on a nearby cliff to gain some distance.
Salem looked up to him and smiled, "Did you really think I wouldn't be able to predict your moves!?" Salem asked
Jaune looked up above to see Salem coming at him with her sword. She crashed into the ground where Jaune was standing and the force destroyed the ground. Jaune now stood in a cloud of dust but once again from behind him, Salem appeared ready to strike, but Jaune turned and blocked the attack once again.
Salem looked at Jaune as their blades clashed, "it seemed both you and I have achieved what I would call the truest form of the Zonpakto" Salem said, she then looked to Jaune's arm where his sword was held, the Black cloth covered his and completely and it seemed merged with the sword itself, "both of our sword hands are fused with our Zonpakto" Salem said
She then backed up a little and looked back to Jaune with a smile "However, if I so wished it, I could shatter your Zonpakto with a single swing of mine!" Salem declared as She pulled her blade back and it glowed with purple energy around it and with a mighty swing, Salem swung her blade at the Blonde haired teen.
"why isn't he moving!?" Cinder cried
"Does that idiot think he can take the blow!?" Watts cried
Jaune, however, seemed unfazed, instead of dodging the attack, he lifted up his hand and grabbed Salem's blade between his fingers and thumb. The swing of Salem's blade had done 10X more damage than her first swing as the terrain behind Jaune was completely obliterated but the ground he stood on did not seem to be affected and once again, neither was he.
'Impossible! He caught it! I could understand moving out of the way, although with my blade coming at him at such a speed, he shouldn't even be able to do that!' Salem told herself
"Was it really such a mind-blowing thing to you?" Jaune asked
Salem looked at him with shock
"Yes, I did catch your sword" Jaune stated, "does that scare you? That something you can't comprehend happened right before your eyes? And you couldn't stop it?" He asked
Salem jumped back and looked at Jaune with a bit of a glare, "something I can't comprehend or stop you say? Don't talk as if you've already won this fight! What happened was a mere moment where your physical power exceeded mine, miracles like that do tend to happen from time to time, but I am a being who even surpasses the miraculous!" Salem stated
Suddenly, dark purple energy surrounded Salem and she looked at Jaune with a large glare as she raised her left hand in the air.
"Prepare to feel your own powerlessness!" Salem stated "HADO #90! KUROHITSUGI!"
Suddenly, a large black box began to form around and build up around Jaune, who still seemed unfazed by whatever power Salem was unleashing.
"A full incantation Kurohitsugi performed by one who transcends both hallow and soul reaper, its power unleashes enough gravity to warp time and space! The lines of which you can never even comprehend!" Salem stated with a wicked smile
"PERISH! JAUNE ARC!" Salem cried
However, Jaune was unfazed and he just simply pulled his hand back, and with one slap across the black box, Jaune had shattered and broke the Spell. Not only shocking the theater but shocking the other Salem herself.
"Oh my god..." Watts said in shock
"J-Just how powerful is this version of Jaune?" Velvet asked
Jaune stood there and looked at Nine with his bored expression, "You still haven't figured it out have you?" He asked Salem "The power I have is greater than the power you possess"
Salem just looked at him with shock and confusion.
"Now it's my turn... Salem" Jaune stated
With a quick jump, he launched himself at Salem, and with a quick swing of his blade, Jaune managed to land an upward blow on Salem, cutting her and causing her to bleed. However, Salem quickly disappeared in a shimmer of light before reappearing on a cliff looking down on Jaune with an angry expression.
"What an odd reaction" Jaune stated
Salem looked at him with a glare, her anger seething.
"When I backed away from you in our last battle you stopped and asked me why... So now I'll ask you the same question" Jaune said "Salem... Why did you back away just now?"
"so you think you're stronger than me because you caught my sword! you think you are stronger in power, do you!? I bet you're equally pleased that you put a scar in my body!?" Salem cried with anger "DON'T BE SO FULL OF YOURSELF HUMAN!" Nine yelled
Suddenly, a surge of power radiated off of her and the black crystal in her forehead snapped and broke apart to reveal a sort of eye. The white of it was black and the iris and pupil were completely white. Salem had become unresponsive and blood leaked from the spot where the crystal was. Salem groaned as the eye in her forehead began to move rapidly as if it was looking for something, it blinked a few times before cracks began to form around Salem's face, and then, another burst of purple energy exploded from her body and a beam of purple energy shot up into the sky.
Jaune just watched and was still unfazed by whatever was going on with Salem. Salem cried out in pain and she grabbed her face, only for it to split right down the middle and make way for what appeared to be a new face. The face itself was black, the eyes were completely white, and rows of sharp white teeth were shown.
Blood pooled out from the body of Salem and leathery wings popped out from the back. The wings were a bit similar to that of a bat, but each place where a bone would be for a wing, there was a long tendril with a mouth similar to Salem's new face
"Oh god! Kill it with fire!" Ruby and Nora cried
"Oh yes, this is an inexcusable breach, isn't it, Hogiyoku?" Salem stated, her voice sounding distorted "I and my power, shouldn't allow a human to get the better of me!" She cried
Suddenly, Salem sent a large fiery blast at Jaune, and Jaune tried to block it with his hand but when the blast hit his arm, it exploded with a tremendous amount of force, causing a mushroom cloud to form and the force behind the blast spread and even reached Velvet and the others, who were thankfully not being blown away by felt the force behind it.
Velvet looked at the blast and began to worry, 'Jaune...' she said to herself
A pillar of fire was shown and Salem looked at it, "I see, you managed to survive my attack with very little damage Salem said
There, in the middle of the fire pillar was Jaune, however, his left arm was burned red
"However, that left arm is no longer usable" Salem stated
Salem then flew over to Jaune and grabbed him by the throat and pulls him out of the fire pillar and Salem held Jaune as her wings also surrounded the boy and the mouths on her wings shot blue energy from their mouths which surrounded Salem and formed a ring of blue energy before it formed into a large white halo around the two.
"I have to give you credit," Salem said as she looked at Jaune, "for one brief moment, you broke the boundary between hallow and soul reaper to become a transcended being! But that power is no more! It has completely dissipated! And not a trace of it remains!" Salem cried
"Now this doesn't look good for Jaune," Sun said
"He'll find a way out if it! I'm sure of it!" Velvet said
Jaune didn't answer her as his hair covered his eyes and Salem grew angry and she squeezed her hand around his neck tighter, "What do you have to say, Jaune Arc!?" Salem asked
Finally, Jaune looked at Salem, his expression still unfazed by Salem and her actions, "is this the best you can do?" Jaune asked
Jaune then broke free from Salem's grasp using his sword and the force blew away the halo that surrounded him and also blew back Salem.
"Salem... Let's finish this... All this rambling you do... It's beginning to annoy me" Jaune said
Jaune then raised his sword up in the hair and brought it down and pointed it directly at Salem. Jaune then set his left hand on his other arm and looked at Salem, with the same bored expression he had been wearing the whole fight.
"Prepare yourself... I'll show you my final Getsuga Tenshou," Jaune said
Suddenly, a burst of Black and Blue energy surround Jaune and his appearance changed. His black Gi now ripped away showing his muscular figure and a Yellow cloth wrapped around his mouth and then finally his body. His hair grew longer like, but it was no longer a blonde, instead, it was pure Black and it flowed behind him, his eyes changed from blue to red. Black energy flowed up around him as he stared down at Salem.
"Wow! The Kid looks like he could be our younger sibling" Qrow said
"Or one of our offspring," Raven said
It was hearing those words, made Vernal think about the possible kids she could have with Jaune, wondering what traits they would have. Most of the females who knew Jaune well also thought about what their kids would look like except for Ruby, Weiss, and Emerald as they had already seen their possible kids with Jaune.
"What is this!? What is that form he is taking!?" Salem asked with a distorted and confused voice
'I get it now Crocea Mors, the reason you didn't want me having this power... If I use this... I will lose all of my soul reaper powers...' Jaune told himself
Everyone was in shock as they now knew the real cost of Jaune using such a power, which was that he would lose his soul-reaper powers.
Salem looked at Jaune's new form with a shocked expression and that's when she still realized something,
'I still can't sense his spirit energy!' Salem cried 'No... No this can't be! A 2nd-dimensional being can interact with a 3rd-dimensional being! Just like a hollow and soul reaper can detect my spirit energy unless I brought it down to their awareness! Which means...!'
Salem looked in horror as she finally figured it out and he looked to Jaune in anger.
"Wait... What did she figure out?" Ruby asked
It was here that both Ozpin and Salem had figured it out. Knowing why this Salem was so angry.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOO!" Salem cried "IT'S ABSURD! A MERE HUMAN CAN'T SURPASS ME! IT COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE!" Salem cried in anger
Jaune just looked at him and from the mist, a sword shape formed in his hand and he raised it up.
"Mugetsu" Jaune stated
Jaune brought down the mist blade and a large wave of black energy followed the path of the blade and directly at Salem. The black wave of energy split Salem right down the middle as she stared in horror.
With that, the fight was over and the wave of Black energy disappeared and Jaune looked down. The mask on his face and the cloth around his body began to break and fade away in pieces. Jaune slowly landed on his feet to the ground.
"What did Salem figure out though?" Ruby asked
Ozpin smiled, "Well, as she said herself, from the very beginning she couldn't sense Jaune's spirit energy, and while we all heard this we all forgot a certain factor"
"Which is what sir?" Weiss asked
"Salem herself said that a hollow or soul reaper couldn't sense her powers unless she brought it down to their level... So when she still couldn't sense Jaune's spirit energy despite his changing form, she realized that she was wrong about her assumption on Jaune discarding his Spirit energy for physical strength... Jaune did no such thing, the reason Salem couldn't sense Jaune's spirit energy was that Jaune didn't bring it to Salem's level" Ozpin said said
"Hold up, if what you're saying is true, then that means the from the very beginning..." Neptune began
"He was stronger than Salem from the very beginning," Ozpin said with a smile