A Place of Particular Concern

Chibi kitchen...

Scene cuts to the Chibi kitchen and lounge area. Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black sit on a couch, leaning away from Zwei who is staring at them from the opposite end. Cinder Fall talks heatedly at Neo, who's sitting on the armchair. The camera pans from them to Team RWBY and Jared standing in front of the kitchen island.

"Well, looks like the end of the year dance was a success." Yang said.

"Nailed it!" Ruby said, happily.

"Hey, that's my line!" Yang said.

"I'll still never get over that dance. Ever." Jared said, looking between Ruby and Yang. "I wonder what will come next for me?"

"Maybe you could stay here with us?" Ruby asked.

"For how long?"

"As long as you want."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Yang said, smirking.

Sun Wukong enters and walks up to Blake from inside the lounge.

"Uh, hey, Blake." Sun said.

Studio cheers. Sun strikes a pose that shows off his abs.

"Hello, Sun." Blake said.

"You know, I got two tickets to the gun show if you want to join me on the dance floor." Sun said.

Studio claps and catcalls a bit.

"That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard. OK." Blake said.

Studio awws and cheers.

Neptune Vasilias enters and stands between them.

"Wait! I want to go to a gun show. You promised the next free time you had we'd get to hang out. Just us guys! Keeping it real. What's more awesome and manly than a gun show?" Neptune asked, striking a non-manly pose.

Studio giggles a bit.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Sun said, angrily.

"A gun show as in showing off the weapon? Or the one that's on your body?" Jared asked.

"The second one!"

Neptune grabs Sun by the arm and drags him away.

"Oh, no. I'm not taking no for an answer." Neptune said.

Studio laughter.

"Well, Blake, you win some; you lose some." Yang said.

"Hey, wasn't Team JNPR supposed to be here with the cake?" Weiss asked.

"They were?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I told Nora to bring cake."

"Nora?" Yang asked.

"Oh no..." Jared said, his eyes widening.

"You don't think..." Yang, Ruby, and Jared said, echoing each other as they make eye contact.

At the archway, Neptune is staring at a wall of pancakes.

"Hey, didn't there used to be an exit here?" Neptune said, pulling at a pancake.

"No, don't!" Yang, Ruby, and Jared said, at the same time.

The pancakes crash into the room, bringing Team JNPR with them. The studio cheers and laughs continually through Nora's first line. Nora hops down off the top.

"Ha ha ha! I know you said cake, Weiss, but you didn't say what kind!" Nora said, happily.

"Mind if we borrow your scythe to cut up and serve some slices?" Ren asked.

"OK, but be careful. Remember..." Ruby said, winking at the camera. "...it's also a gun!"

"I guess you could say that we were armed and ready for something to eat." Jared said, smiling.

Loud studio laughter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming out tonight!" Ruby said, looking at the loud studio cheering. "Give it up for our wonderful cast!"

The camera swings around and the cheering studio audience is revealed to be the SAO survivors, the former companions of the Doctor, the nine Symphogear wielders, Magical Girls from the cities of Mitakihara and Kamihama, the Sailor Guardians, members of HoloLive, members of Nijisanji, the Maple Tree guild, The Tohsaka sisters with Shirou Emiya, and the Time Space Administrative Bureau.

"The wonderful cast that has been around for the entirety of this fan fiction book possible." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "It wouldn't have been possible without them. Even for watching the entirety of the first season of What If...? with them."

The camera pans out to show the set, with all the actors in a line and waving. Roman Torchwick enters through the now pancake-less open door, Neo right beside him. The Shopkeep stands on the end, wearing a Beowolf costume with the head off.

"We want to thank our producers, the five people behind the cameras here! We want to thank ou...our sponsors for making this possible!" Ruby said. "Oh, the Vale Kingdom Quartet, everyone! We love you all; we hope you've had fun! And we'll see you next season! Whenever that might be in the real world for the second spin off fan fiction book! Thank you, good night!"

"Guys, it's time." Jared said, looking at the chibi versions of his friends. River then appeared with her vortex manipulator and she looked at her best friend. "River, do you know where they are at?"

"Yes. They are where they fell. I will bring you to Ruby." River said, as Jared placed his hand on her vortex manipulator and the two teleported away from the RWBY Chibi world.

Ever After...

Directly in front of Ruby, sits a tropical albeit equally strange forest. The palm trees form odd bulbous shapes, some wrap around each other while others appear to be two or three trees stacked together. The tree in the center, however, is enormous towering over the distance. It stands so tall that only the bottom section of its canopy is visible as the rest. A flock of large birds burst out from the top of the forest, drawing Ruby's attention to a not quite as distant cliff edge on the other side of the forest.

Ruby stares at the giant tree and walks towards the forest. She then spots Jared appearing in front of her with River Song, the fanboy is at a loss for words to see his best friend alive.

"Ruby." Jared said, walking up to Ruby for a hug. "Thank you River."

"Don't mention it." River said, teleporting away in a flash of blue light. "I will see you again in the future or the past."

"How long has it been for you?" Ruby asked, as she continued to progress through the forest with Jared.

"Months." Jared said, while he and Ruby squeezed through a group of trees into a clearing. "I'm sorry for arriving a bit late."

"No. You arrived around the same time as me." Ruby said, while an oddly-colored bird screams as they enter the clearing. "What adventure were you on?"

"I saw mine and the Doctor's grave." Jared said, as he and Ruby saw the giant tree again in the distance, before proceeding forward and squeezing through another group of trees. "As if Pandora's Box couldn't be more annoying."

"Pandora's Box? Do you mean the Pandorica?" Ruby asked Jared, while she is in an odd sense of deja vu, she squeezes into the same clearing again, confusing the silver eyed girl but not her best friend. "Did you encounter Pandora?"

"Yeah. She was annoying." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand.

The bird from before screams again and starts to babble nonsense.

"Come on." Ruby said, as Jared is standing behind her. "We should find the others."

Ruby and Jared look up to the giant tree again, realizing they are not getting any closer.

"Yeah." Jared said, looking at Ruby. "You know, there is this girl I knew for years. Her name was Clara Oswald. She felt like a combination of you, Weiss, Blake, and Yang."

Ruby and Jared proceed forward again, with the two passing by a mouse sleeping on a large seashell.

"Clara Oswald?" Ruby asked, while Jared let go of her hand. "How long have you known her?"

"A while." Jared said, frowning.

Ruby and Jared squeeze through the same trees again, and the bird flies away this time.

"You replaced us with her." Ruby said, grunting in  frustration as she walked forward again with Jared. "Why did you do that?"

At this point, the mouse has woken up, Jared lets go of Ruby's hand as he and the mouse watches Ruby go through the same thing again and again.

"Hi there." Jared said, looking down at the mouse. "You're adorable."

"Thank you." The mouse said, looking up at Jared. "How can you understand me?"

"It's a long story."

Ruby looks up at the tree one more time, before going off to lean and sit at the base of a nearby palm tree.

"It's okay, Little Red." Jared said, while he approached Ruby who is curling  up and starts to sob, causing some thunder to sound and raindrops to fall. "We'll find them."

"What if we don't?" Ruby asked, and she then notices the mouse trying to pull a sprout out of the ground, but to no avail. "What if we don't find the others?"

"We will. I know we will." Jared said, picking up the mouse and pulling out the vegetable with ease. "Whoa. I love new places."

The vegetable is actually made out of cheese.

"So Clara is like us." Ruby said, staring at the vegetable in confusion with Jared before taking it from her best friend and handing it over to the mouse who wants to eat it. "Do you like her?"

"Yeah." Jared said and Ruby smiles as the mouse eats its food. "I do. She recently found a job as a teacher."

"That's nice." Ruby said, frowning again. "Now if only you could help us..."

The mouse then looks to Ruby and Jared, gulping its food, "I could try."

Ruby stares at the mouse wide-eyed for a moment, before suddenly screaming out, startling the mouse as well.

"Why are you yelling?!" The mouse exclaimed.

"I. Uh. Because. You. Oh! You're..." Ruby said, stammering.

"Did you wanna share? Oh, I guess it's only fair..." The mouse said, looking up at Ruby.

"No, that's-- that's alright. Uh, I guess, uh... I've just never really spoken to, uh... a mouse before?"

"Hmm, well, I guess I've never spoken to a... you before. What are the two of you?"

"Oh, uh, we're human." Ruby said, while the mouse tilts their head. "A boy and girl?" The mouse tilts their head lower. "A Huntsman and Huntress?"

"Ruby, you're complicating things." Jared said, while the mouse tilts  their head the third time. "Why do I have a feeling I'm in Wonderland? And why does that tree remind me of Yggdrasil?"

"That's a lot of things. And what is a Wonderland and Yggdrasil?" The mouse asked, looking between Ruby and Jared.

"It's nothing."

"I'm..." Ruby said, letting out a sigh. "I'm Ruby Rose and this is Jared Shay."

"And to Ruby Rose and Jared Shay are...your purposes?" The mouse asked.

"No. No, those are our names. Do you have a name?" Ruby asked, looking down at the mouse.

"I'm still young, so...not yet." The mouse said.

"You know how I like calling you Little Red, right? After Little Red Riding Hood." Jared said, happily.

"Yeah." Ruby said, pointing to her chin in thought. "How about I call you... Little, for now. Would that be alright?"

"Hm, how does one... Little?" Little asked, while Ruby giggles a bit before frowning again. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"We're... uh, have you seen other people? Humans, like us." Ruby said.

"Exactly like you two?"

"No. They don't look exactly like us." Jared said, while Ruby puts Little down, who hops off her hand carrying the cheese. "I mean, we're similar in species. But we're a little different."

"I'm sure it'll make sense eventually." Little said.

"Um... one would have long, blonde hair, the other has... well, uh uh... cat ears." Ruby said, making a motion imitating cat ears.

Little yelps, hiding behind the cheese.

"Ruby! Tom and Jerry!" Jared said, crossing his arms. "Have you seriously forgotten that one? A cat goes after a mouse."

"Sorry! I-- I should've known. I've seen plenty of cartoons like the one Jared just mentioned." Ruby said, as Jared is looking down at Little.

"Well, I've never seen anyone who does, or doesn't, look like the two of you." Little said, stepping out from behind the cheese. "But, maybe someone in my village has. They're always out foraging, you know, since we need food and stuff." Ruby and Jared sigh in relief. "Speaking of which... a few more of these wouldn't hurt!"

"I guess this is a little cheesy." Jared said, as Little points to more of the cheese sprouts planted in the ground. "Let's do it, Ruby."

Elsewhere...

"You really think it's around here somewhere?" Blake asked.

"I wouldn't exactly say I'm certain about anything at the moment..." Weiss said.

Weiss and Blake are seen walking together in the forest.

"Gambol Shroud fell after you and Ruby, but before I did. And we found each other, so... what is this place?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know. None of my guesses really make sense." Blake said, looking behind her, seeing a vine moving on a tree.

"Blake..." Weiss said, while the two turn to face each other. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"I'm really glad you are too." Blake said, smiling and lowering her head in thought. "And if we are, then that means Yang, Ruby, and Jared might be." Weiss smiles before turning away with a frown. "Weiss... can you... what happened after we fell?"

Weiss pauses for a bit, sighing, "We should focus on finding everyone else first."

Blake looks down, frowning, before hearing Weiss yell out.

"I think I see something!" Weiss said, happily.

Blake proceeds forward to join Weiss. They find the katana part of Gambol Shroud entangled in thorny vines.

"I guess it could've been worse..." Blake said.

"Well, good news, I'm low on Dust." Weiss said.

"That wasn't an invitation, Weiss."

"Sorry."

The two girls proceed to work on trying to get the katana out of the vines. Blake tries to pull, but to no avail. Weiss then tries to slash through it with Myrtenaster, but the vines immediately grow back, causing Weiss to groan in frustration. Blake then tries to reach for it by leveraging herself from a palm tree. Weiss is seen cheering Blake on.

"Yeah! Woo!" Weiss said, excitedly.

Blake's hand barely touches her katana, but suddenly the vines sprout out towards her.

"Huh?" Weiss asked.

The vines start to head toward Weiss too, and the two are ensnared in the vines. Suddenly, a swarm of mice emerge, cheering. They stop in front of the trapped Huntresses.

"The trap has been sprung!" Mouse #2 said.

The mice tribe leader is then seen running up the vines.

"Justice befalls our prey!" The mouse leader said while the mice tribe cheered.

"Are they... talking? Like those creatures we see while with the Doctor and Jared?" Weiss asked.

"Not what I'm worried about right now!" Blake said, writing in the vines.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Jared continue through the forest, hearing the noise of the mice tribe.

"You look older." Ruby said, while Little is snoring on her shoulder. "I am not saying it is a bad thing."

"I know." Jared said, looking down at Little. "He is rather cute."

"Little? Yeah." Ruby said, while she sticks her tongue out in disgust. "Little. Are you drooling on me?"

Ruby and Jared then stop, seeing Weiss and Blake tied up in vines to wood surrounded by the mice tribe.

"And on this day, we were not the prey, but the hunters!" The mouse leader said, happily.

The mice tribe cheers again. Ruby and Jared stare in bewilderment at the sight, with the silver eyed girl nudging her shoulder to wake Little up.

"What's going on?" Little asked, noticing the commotion. "Oh, hey, it's your cat friend."

"Weiss and Blake." Jared said, as Little yelps again. "Catch him!"

"Okay." Ruby said, catching Little in her hands, and the mice tribe noticed them.

"New adversaries approach! We must liberate our kin!" The mouse leader said, as the mice tribe cheered again.

Some time later, the mice tribe listen to Little's first encounter with Ruby and Jared.

"I didn't know what to do because she looked sad. He didn't look sad but was there for her. But the three of us talked, and she seemed less sad. Then he pulled the cheese out of the ground on his own!" Little said, happily.

The mice tribe gasp in surprise. A white mouse with red eyes faints. The Mouse Leader runs towards Blake, who is now free from the vines. She kneels down to speak to them.

"You have our sincerest apologies! Please understand that our kind is a bit skeptical of cats...and snakes...and cats." The mouse leader said, looking at Blake.

"We understand. If...we could ask, have you seen anyone else who looks like us? Long, blonde hair, looks kinda scary but isn't?" Blake asked.

"But could be if she wanted to." Weiss said.

Ruby and Jared chuckle sheepishly.

"Did you meet anyone besides Clara?" Ruby asked, looking at Jared.

The Mouse Leader shakes its head.

"I met an angel named Pit. He was a servant to the Goddess of Light, Palutena." Jared said, smiling. "Not the Goddess of Light from Remnant. Just another, um..."

Blake stands up to rejoin Ruby, Weiss, and Jared.

"Thanks anyway..." Ruby said, saddened as she walks to Weiss and Blake with Jared. "Before all of... this, Jared and I were trying to go to that cliff over there." She points to said cliff. "I figured going to higher ground and getting our bearings would be good."

"Sounds like the best option for now." Weiss said.

"It does." Jared said, nodding his head.

"If you wanna go to the cliff, I can help with that." Little said, scurrying up Blake.

"You can?"

"I can." Little said, and Blake gets startled after it climbs up to her shoulder.  "I don't have anything to do yet."

"Yet?" Ruby asked.

"I can be your trusty guide." Little said.

Little is shown snoring in Ruby's hood. Ruby smiles at them.

"Or..." Weiss said, while she is trying to swat away an insect with rocking horse legs. "I guess we could figure it out ourselves."

"At least they got us to this path. We need to hurry. Yang's been down here the longest and we still haven't found her." Blake said.

"Weiss, Jared, I was wondering... if you fell, then are there others down here too? What happened?" Ruby asked, looking between Weiss and Jared.

Weiss is silent for a moment. "I don't know if anyone else fell, no. I think we should find Yang, if she's even down here. Then we can go over everything."

"I just--" Ruby said.

"I know, Ruby." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "I know, Little Red."

Suddenly, the four hear a roar in the distance. They run up to the top of the cliff and notice a strange, purple, masked creature twitching.

"Seeking... Searching... Scouring... Stalking... Searching... Scouring... Stalking..." The Jabberwalker said, while Little gasps and hides in Ruby's cloak. The creature hears them. "Detecting... Listening..."

The Jabberwalker turns its head. Blake, Weiss, and Jared draw their weapons with the fanboy letting go of Ruby's hand.

"Um, where's Crescent Rose?" Jared asked, looking over at Ruby's back.

"I don't know." Ruby said, trying to reach behind her, but Crescent Rose is still missing. "I couldn't find it."

They keep their distance as the creature faces them. It then proceeds to charge forward.

"DANGER! DEATH!" The Jabberwalker said, while Blake jumped forward. "BITE! RIP! TEAR!"

The Jabberwalker swipes its claw at Blake, but she blocks it with Gambol Shroud. Weiss runs forward to assist, but stops suddenly.

"I said I wasn't done with you yet!" Yang said, angrily.

The large rock is thrown at the Jabberwalker, who jumps away from Blake after the rock hits them. Yang heavily pants and looks up, her prosthetic arm is missing. Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jared surround the Jabberwalker.

"Recede... Retreat... Wait... Return." The Jabberwalker said, making their retreat as it jumps high to the next cliff and disappears into the forest.

Weiss and Blake run after the Jabberwalker. Yang pants heavily and ends up kneeling, exhausted. Ruby and Jared runs towards Yang.

"Yang! I–" Ruby said, sadly.

"Dammit! You two weren't supposed to be here..." Yang said, frowning.

Ruby kneels down next to Yang.

"If you thought we wouldn't come for you, then you must've forgotten who raised me." Ruby said, while Yang sighs. "What happened to your arm?"

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you..." Yang said.

"Why not? You seem trustworthy." Little said.

"Uh, Ruby? What is that?" Yang asked, staring at Little wide-eyed.

Yang suddenly gets tackled by Blake and Jared to the ground. Blakes and Jared embraces Yang in relief.

"Yang..." Blake said.

"Oh Yang, I missed you so much..." Jared said, letting out a lot of tears.

"I missed you too." Yang said, embracing Blake and Jared back. "How's traveling with the Doctor?"

"It's been interesting..."

"I sort of thought you'd be a little happier to see us." Weiss said, looking at Yang.

"I am... It's just... It must have gone pretty bad, huh?" Yang asked.

Ruby, Blake, and Jared look at Yang. Blake looks back at Ruby and Jared before they turn to see Weiss beginning to break down in tears.

"Weiss..." Ruby said.

"I... Everything happened so fast. No one came back from Vacuo to help... And Penny! She-- Jaune tried to help, but... she sacrificed herself!" Weiss said, tearfully.

"Jaune had to...I think he had to kill Penny..." Jared said, letting out a lot more tears. "Just so... Cinder doesn't get the Winter Maiden's..."

Jared's voice becomes as inaudible as Weiss' voice for Ruby.

Ruby, wide-eyed, listens to Weiss and Jared of what happened, their words slowly being muted out as they continue speaking, but suddenly ends up passing out until she hits the ground.

"Ruby?!" Yang and Jared exclaimed.

"I have a pillow." Jared said, taking a pillow out of his pocket. "I know, bigger on the inside."

"Yeah..." Yang said, placing the pillow under Ruby's head as she watched her sister fall backward towards the ground. "Oh Ruby..."

Sometime later, Ruby starts to wake up. Ruby could hear Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Jared discussing their current situation. It's raining again.

"So, we have no idea what happened to the Relic? Or what happened to everyone in Vacuo? Or where Neo is?" Yang asked.

"Maybe everyone else made it?" Blake asked.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling." Weiss said.

"Same. Especially after I went over to Trenzalore." Jared said, frowning. "I wasn't supposed to be there yet. Yet I was."

Little is fanning Ruby with a small piece of grass as Ruby regains her consciousness.

"Neo's here too." Ruby said.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yang asked, looking at Ruby.

Ruby doesn't immediately answer, "She attacked me when we were falling."

"Okay." Blake said, sighing before standing up. "Ruby's weapon is still missing. Yang's arm was stolen. Jared went to his grave with the Doctor while we were here. I think we focus on getting everything back, then we can figure out exactly how to get out of here... Wherever here is..."

Suddenly, the rain stops and rays shine on Blake.

"I don't know where we are." Jared said, looking at Blake. "This place looks like something out of a video game or a fairy tale."

Blake walks towards the source of light.

"But, what if we can't leave? Or, what if--" Weiss said.

"What if we're dead?" Yang asked, skipping a beat. "Until you all found me, I thought for sure I was."

"No, I don't think we're dead. I know how it sounds, but..." Blake said, pushing away the vines a little, she looked to the giant tree in the center of the land. "I think we're in a fairy tale."

Peeking over the hill, the giant tree is surrounded by many other unusual environments: a red forest with a red castle, an area of creamy dessert and sweets, a forest with giant colorful mushrooms, among other things.