The Multiverse in a Nutshell

"Ugh..." Blake's head was pounding as the shadows relented once more. Rather than the hallway where they'd started, the two of them had been moved to the sparring room. Rather than being geared up for battle, however, the two of them were seated at a makeshift table constructed from a trio of desks pushed together. Penn- or whatever was controlling him, was sitting across from her. It was wearing a grin from ear to ear, but the evil red eye had disappeared in favor of a soft blue glow. After a few awkward seconds, Blake decided to break the silence.

"...Penn?"

Not-Penn chuckled before offering her one of his hands. "I think we've yet to be introduced. I'm Missy's older sister. Call me UB."

Blake stared at the hand before looking back up at the person offering it. This "UB" definitely wasn't using Penn's voice, but it was still uncanny to hear a woman's voice coming out of his mouth.

"Why are you attacking me?" Blake tried to stand up, but found herself held fast by an unseen force.

"I told you, I want to play a little game with you." UB spread her hands wide in a show of false vulnerability. "This isn't an attack, it's a challenge!"

Blake fixed a glare on the stranger. "What did you do to Penn?"

UB's eyes narrowed in a way that reminded Blake of when one of her parents were angry with her.

"Better question: what did YOU do?" UB's smile changed to a terse look. "In the battle with the thoughtweaver spiders YOU led Sunset and Missy into, Penn reached his limit. As a result, he purposely thrust himself into the webbing, scattering all of his conscious thoughts so far to the corners of his mind, it made room for someone else to take the wheel." She leaned in further. "You lucked out. I COULD have just let Bendy have the lot of you, and then NOBODY would have made it out of there."

Blake blinked, shaking her head. "I-I'm sorry. I don't really remember much. I'm still trying to process all of this."

UB raised an eyebrow. "What DO you remember?"

"Last thing before my dream?" Blake took a long pause, trying to reach back to before the paradise she'd been granted a vision of. "I... remember that we went on a scouting mission. I remember looking up and seeing this... portal thing... on the roof of a cave, and then it all goes black." She rubbed at her forehead. "I think... I think I've got some echoes of memories of the time between, but it's like a dream of a dream."

UB drew back, and Blake could tell that her answer had taken the possessive spirit off-guard. The disorientating answer didn't last long, however, as UB's composure returned.

"Well, in the meantime, YOU brought mind-controlling spiders and a shapeshifting assassin to the school, which is home to the best chances we have of saving Remnant." UB gave her a glare that only amplified Blake's shame. "Isn't this true?"

"Ye-"

Ca-clack.

Her answer was cut off my the sound of something striking the surface of the table in front of her. Looking down, she spotted a small plastic cube, about the size of a baseball, sitting on the wooden surface. On instinct, she picked up the object. She could see seams along the surface, culminating in a circle across what she presumed was the top.

"And the game begins."

In a flash above them, Blake saw the screen above them, the one that usually showed the aura of sparring students, spring to life. Instead of the usual video game-esque meters showing the aura levels of the participants, it simply showed a white screen with a timer counting down.

3:00:00

She looked back at UB, who was smirking again.

"What's going on, what's that timer?"

Just as the words had left her lips, another cube appeared in front of UB, who picked it up and began to fiddle with it. Above them, the screen was divided down the middle, displaying a second timer beside the first.

2:59:30 | 00:05:00

"That's the game." In UB's hands, a piece of the box popped out. With a grin, she pressed it back into place. "The two of us will take turns asking one another questions. Along with every question, we'll each receive a puzzle box. Its complexity will reflect how difficult the question is." As she talked, her fingers glided around the cube, solving the mechanisms without even needing to look at them. "Answering the question correctly and honestly unlocks more of the mechanisms. It's impossible to solve the puzzle without giving the answer to the question, and you only have..." she shifted the cube to the palm of one hand and used the other pointed upwards at the timer.

"You only have until the time runs out to solve it?" Blake asked. In UB's hand, another button sprung up from the center of the cube. With a grin, she pressed the button with her pointing finger.

"The timer is your deadline to solve the puzzle." Immediately, the outer shell of the cube fell away, revealing a smaller cube inside. This time the puzzle was a familiar one to Blake: it was a Rubik's Cube. Without missing a beat, UB went to twist one of the layers, only to find that it wouldn't budge. After a moment's frustration, she snapped her fingers. "Right, a twofold answer! Well, they're not all going to be like this, but since you're new to this I gave you a twofer." She put the cube down on one of the corners and gave it a spin. "As for what's going on, you're playing a shadow game."

Blake felt her blood run cold.

"Sh-shadow game?"

"Yup." UB plucked the cube back up and gave it another twist. This time, the mechanism glided smoothly. With a hum of satisfaction, she began to expertly shuffle the cube. "It's a game of a mystic nature, with dark forces at play. If you lose, you'll suffer a harsh penalty game, a magical punishment."

Blake looked back down at her own cube, feeling more than a little sheepish at the fact that she hadn't done anything more with it than turn it over in her hands, so far.

"Like what?"

"Well, in this case, I think I know what YOUR punishment will be. Unfortunately, I already answered what's going on AND what the timer was." With a smirk, she slammed the now-solved cube on the table, where the pieces smashed and scattered across the surface. She pointed back up at the timer.

2:54:47 | 00:00:30

The second timer had stopped, but the first one, HER timer, was still going.

"You got a twofer because I hadn't explained the rules, yet." UB gestured to the scattered pieces of her cube, which were already dissolving into a cloud of motes of light and winking out. "So, you've got three hours to solve yours."

Blake looked back down at her cube, fidgeting with it and trying to pry at the seams with her nails. "How am I supposed to solve it if I can't even- oh."

"Oh?"

"I need to answer the question..." Blake muttered to herself. "Which was..."

"Is it true that you brought mind-controlling spiders and a shapeshifting assassin to the school?"

"Oh." Blake felt her spirits sink again. "Well... yes, I did."

She turned her attention back to the box, trying once again to push and pry at it. To her dismay, nothing about it had changed.

"Hmm..." UB seemed to almost be mocking her with her pondering frown. "Maybe try another answer?"

Blake stared at the cube. "I... didn't?"

The outline of the button on top sprung up. With more than a little perplexity, Blake pushed it back down. The outer layer pushed outwards as more pieces became moveable. With more questions than answers, Blake began to fiddle with the new aspect of the puzzle.

"But if I didn't... did Isis lie about what happened?"

"No, Isis wouldn't lie to you."

Blake had twisted all eight of the corners, offsetting them from the rest of the cube. When she did, it exposed small notches in the wood that let pegs on the inside slide free. With that, the corners on the top half of the cube swung out, causing it to unfold into triangular pieces, like the petals of a flower. The button still sat at the top, now perched atop a narrow column.

"Then..." She sat and stared at the new configuration, trying to understand. "Then I... didn't?"

Her words made the puzzle react, turning it upside down. Now inverted, it sat on the button in a way that made it look like a plant stem, and the former outside had changed colors. The outer edges of the "petals" had turned yellow, but the center was a dark brown. On closer inspection, though, she saw an inscription on one of the corners: A spider. As she stared at the new marking, the answer came to her. It was an answer she'd contemplated, but dismissed out of hand. Now, however, she was coming back around to it.

"It was... the spider that was controlling me that did it?" She reached down and tugged at the petal with the illustration. It was loose, but refused to come free.

"Hm... Is that an answer or a question?" UB mused. "Do you really believe that?"

"...no." Blake shook her head. "Even if it was the spider doing it, if I hadn't been so easily controlled, I probably could have fought back!" She looked down at the puzzle flower. "Or if I'd had my guard up when we were exploring, I could have avoided this altogether!"

"Hm..." UB glanced up at the clock. "Maybe I should have given you more time."

Blake tried to remove the spider piece again, only to find it locked in place completely, now. Blake glared at the puzzle, trying to force it open. The two of them sat in awkward silence as Blake tried and tried to force the piece out.

"Deep down, I knew something was wrong! There were signs! Somewhere, way in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't-" she choked on her words for a moment as a tidal wave of emotions forced their way up her throat. "It wasn't real... but I didn't want to come back."

Click.

Across from the spider, another petal dropped out on its own. As Blake went to pick it up, another three of the petals fell away. Before her eyes, every petal except the one with the spider on it fell away, leaving only the one petal. Looking more closely, Blake could see a hint of a red button hidden inside, with the center piece of the flower covering it like a lid, and that one petal holding that center piece in place.

That single petal was all that was standing between her and solving the puzzle.

"If you can't accept the truth, you can't speak a truthful answer!" UB moaned. "Come on, I don't want to be stuck on our first round all night!"

Blake stared at the last petal, which seemed to be mocking her.

"Was it really... not my fault? I was being mind controlled, but-"

"GAH!" UB slapped her hand against the table, startling Blake. "One more hint! Just so we can get out of the tutorial!" She leaned in close. "The thoughtweavers might put you into a dream, but they interface straight with the nervous system! It's a physical override! The dream is just to lull your mind so you don't fight back, but they'd have control either way."

Blake let the words sink in for a few seconds before reaching one more time for the piece.

"So... it's not true. The thoughtweaver spider used me, but it wasn't me who did those things."

This time, the petal moved freely, sliding out. No longer supported, the center piece clattered onto the tabletop. Blake pressed the button and the box dissolved into more of those specks of light, twinkling away. She looked up at the clock to confirm her victory, and it had indeed stopped.

02:40:12 | 00:00:30

"Finally!" UB cried.

Blake let out a long sigh of relief.

"So, now we're heading into the first REAL round." UB smirked. "You ready?"

Clack!

Both of them stared at the cube that had appeared in front of Blake, a plain brown block of wood with a button on the top. Blake smiled and tapped the button, causing her puzzle to disappear.

"Yeah, I think so." She tilted her head. "But I still have one more question about the rules. What happens if I run out of time?"

The box that appeared in front of UB was another moderately complex one, but she picked it up and began shuffling a peg through the mazes on the sides of the box without issue.

"Well, I can't keep control of Penn's body forever. It's actually REALLY strenuous, and he's going to wake back up eventually." When she made eye contact with Blake again, her red eye had appeared again, feeling as if it was staring into her soul.

"So, since I can't protect him properly without a body, if you run out of time, we'll swap. I'll take your body, and you'll be the disembodied soul."

Blake felt a heavy layer of frost cover her insides as UB pushed the peg into place and pushed it down, shattering the puzzle box in a decisive motion.

"So, I think it's my turn, but in the interest of fairness, I'll tell you the other side. If YOU manage to stump me, I have a prize for you." She reached down into Penn's pocket and slid a card face-down onto the table.

Blake nearly asked what it was, but stopped herself. Now that she knew the stakes they were playing for, she was going to have to be much, MUCH more careful with her questions.

"I... thought you were a good spirit, considering you're Missy's sister."

"Oh, I am." UB's eyes glowed. "But I'm sure you know that 'good' is subjective. I need to protect Penn to help Remnant. This is how I think I should do it." She leaned back in her chair, stretching in a way that made several loud pops and cracks. "I mean, it'll certainly make things easier for me!"

Blake opened her mouth, but was cut off as UB snapped forward, giving her a cocky grin while she leaned in on the table.

"Now, it's my turn to ask a question."

Sunset took a long, slow breath as she trudged her way back to the dorm rooms. With no sign of Penn returning tonight and Rainbow Dash still reeling from her harsh words, she'd decided it would probably be for the best if she slept in Team RWBYS's room tonight. I'm sure they'll have the hammock back up, if they even took it down, to begin with. If not, Yang and Weiss are still in that room with the medical gear, I don't think they'll mind if I steal their bed for the night.

'Man, what a night, huh?' Missy's voice whispered in her mind.

"Yeah..." Sunset rolled her eyes as she muttered under her breath. "I'm sorry you had to go back to your world again. I don't think I'll have the energy to summon you back until at least the morning."

'Better than risking me swapping sides, trust me!' Missy urged. 'Believe me, duel spirits hate mind control, too! Even if there's a bunch of cards that can make it happen, we don't like it one bit."

Sunset shuddered at the thought of facing Missy as an enemy instead of a friend. "How have we only been here for two days? It feels like it's been a YEAR since we got here..."

'Time does go faster when you're fighting for your life, I've been in enough duels to know that."

Sunset paused for a moment. "You know... I REALLY need to start playing more of the game. Not only would it help me understand you and how you think better, maybe it would help me figure out how to deal with your sister..."

'Sis? You don't need to figure anything out with her, you just need to give her a chance to warm up to you-'

"Missy?" Sunset stopped in place, focusing on directing her incredulity inwards. "With all due respect, you're CRAZY if you think she's EVER going to warm up to me! She couldn't be colder to me if we marched out into the blizzard together!"

'You're misreading her signs. The fact that she actually talked to you, let alone saved you, is a sign she's willing to give it a shot!' Missy's hopefulness was admittedly infectious. 'Think about it, until Ebott, all you got were flashes of emotion and that one time she wanted you dead in Penn's head. Tonight you two were having whole conversations!'

Sunset sighed and shook her head as she continued down the hall. "I'd hardly call it a conversation for her to stand there and just do everything in her power to ignore and curse me."

'She's abrasive, I'll admit it, but she's stressed out just as much as us, maybe more! Give it time, you'll build a rapport, find the boundaries and understand the real meanings behind her words.'

"I don't think there's hidden meanings to it, she just hates me."

'She almost lost Penn tonight, and if Isis's report is right, then the only person she can thank for saving him is SALEM. That would make anyone snippy.'

Sunset grimaced at the new wave of shame that struck her. "Yeah, remind me of my own failures tonight again, why don't you?"

'And that shame is EXACTLY what Sis is feeling about now, but ten- no, TWENTY times as bad. He's the most important person in the world to her, the ONLY one who really matters, and she couldn't do anything for him but watch!' Missy's tone softened into sympathy. 'Wouldn't you want to get mad at somebody other than yourself, too?'

Sunset hated to admit it, but she could see where Missy was coming from. If she felt this terrible when she couldn't help her friends, she couldn't imagine how bad UB must have felt when she couldn't help her beloved partner.

"Still, it's hard to imagine the two of us ever getting along..." Sunset muttered as she reached for the door of Team RWBYS's room.

'Which is why I said to just be patient. She'll come around.'

Sunset groaned inwardly as she carefully cracked open the door to the dorm room, but froze when she realized that something was very wrong.

Neither Blake nor Ruby were there, despite Blake having been unconscious and Ruby being exhausted when they'd dropped them off.

"Isis... please tell me Blake and Ruby are just on a trip to the infirmary, or something..."

"Apologies, but... I am unable to locate their scroll signals. However, recent electromagnetic interference DOES match a previously recorded phenomena."

"What's it match?" Sunset's hand traveled to her saber. She was tired, so tired she had barely been able to limp her way back to the room, but she still had plenty of fight left in her heart.

"The occurrence of a 'Shadow Game.'"

Sunset's blood ran cold and her stomach twisted in her gut. Before the word "how" had even formed in her lips, Missy's words from HER shadow game pushed themselves to the surface of her memory. A shadow game like this should only be possible if he has a millennium item, which he clearly doesn't, or if he's allied with an extremely powerful spirit...

Extremely powerful spirit...

Extremely powerful spirit...

"Oh, she didn't..." Sunset whispered.

'Oh boy... Okay, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this!'

Sunset ignored Missy's plea as she whipped her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts. In ten seconds flat, the line was ringing.

"Hey, Sunset. Look, if you're still mad-"

"Dash, I need your help."

"Where?"

There was zero pause, no hesitation at all in Rainbow's reply.

"Team RWBYS's dorm-"

There was a rush of wind and a crackle of electricity, and Rainbow Dash was standing beside her, clearly ready for anything. Aurelia was nowhere to be seen, likely left behind in the workshop.

"What's up?"

Sunset motioned to the empty beds. "Blake and Ruby are missing, and Isis says that there's a shadow game happening somewhere in the school. I think UB's gone rogue."

'She did NOT!' Missy argued. 'She wouldn't hurt our friends-'

She wouldn't hurt OUR friends? Or she wouldn't hurt HER friends?

'BOTH!'

Sunset looked down at her hand, watching it shake as she tried to settle it on her saber.

"So what's the plan?" Dash asked, pounding her fist into her palm with a crackle of blue electricity.

Sunset took a deep breath. "You can look around the school faster than me. Find them, then come get me. There's no guarantee she won't attack us, so we need to be ready for anything." Sunset tightened her grip on her saber, trying to force down the surge of nervous energy threatening to overwhelm her.

"Got it! I'll be back in a flash!" Rainbow gave a quick salute before vanishing in another gust of wind.

Yang blinked away the darkness at the corners of her vision.

"Wha- What's going on?"

When she looked up, she found herself staring at Penn. For some reason, however, her instincts were screaming that something was wrong. His eyes were glowing, one his typical blue and the other a sickly orange. As he strode up to her, his body language was completely different than before.

Fighting hand-to-hand most of the time had taught Yang to watch her opponent's movements carefully, spying hidden weaknesses and openings in their defenses. Until now, Penn's posture had always been a mix of respectful meekness and joking confidence, usually depending on whether or not he wanted the person he was talking with to like him. He'd stop at doorways to ask if he could come in, even if they were open. If he was trying to show disrespect to someone, his movements got less jilted, but he would close up a lot, doing things like folding his arms or leaning back against a wall. Either way, he almost always had his guard up in one way or another, either not to offend or to avoid getting struck back at.

Now? Now, his posture was open, relaxed, slack, and... there was a marked difference in how his body moved that seemed almost... feminine. He reached down, offering her a hand.

"Yang Xiao Long! Sorry, but Penn's not in." he pointed to his head with his free hand and grinned. "Pleasure to be meeting you, quite a pleasure! You can call me UB, I'm Missy's older sister."

Yang went to grab the offered hand, only to realize with a grimace that the hand this "UB" had reached with was the same one that Yang had lost. If she tried to take it with the most natural-feeling response, the charcoal limb would likely just break. Awkwardly twisting her other arm around, Yang took hold with her good hand and let- whoever this was- lift her to her feet.

"Uh, thanks? If you're Missy's sister..."

"Penn got into a fight he couldn't win and Shimmer was no help." UB rattled off the explanation with ease, as if talking about traffic. "So I had to take over Penn's body to bail them both out of it."

Yang looked around at where they were. It was a large, empty room with minimal lighting. Two rows of pedestals ran down the length of the room, each one holding a small statuette. None of them seemed to be any recognizable shape, but they all seemed to be made of different materials.

"Last I remember, Isis said that the fight was over and everyone was going to bed..." Yang muttered. "She didn't say how, just that we had the all-clear to go to sleep."

"Well, that's what happened." UB declared, picking up a roughly baseball-sized sphere from one pedestal. She tossed it up and down in her hand several times. "Of course, now there's a different danger out and about."

Yang's instincts were still driving her crazy, and UB's words confirmed what she'd been feeling. More importantly, however, there was another question on her mind. I was in bed, how did I get here? She turned to examine one of the statuettes more closely, noticing that it was some kind of shiny metal in the shape of a small robot with a wide head.

"That danger, of course, being ME."

Yang's head snapped around just in time to catch the tail end of UB making a throwing motion. It was only reflex that got her hands up in time to protect her head from the incoming projectile, and it still hit her with enough force to rattle her bones and send her stumbling backwards. When she finally regained her balance, Yang was almost dragged to the floor by the weight of the object in her hands.

What's this thing MADE out of?

"Are you CRAZY?" Yang's temper ignited, and she was half-tempted to hurl the metal sphere back at UB with equal force.

"Sure I am, what's your point?" UB's head tilted to the side, still infuriatingly casual after nearly taking Yang's head off. "Weren't you listening?"

Yang tightened her grip on the metal ball as UB's words sunk in. "Wait... why are YOU dangerous?"

"Because I've been watching from the shadows for a long time. TOO long." UB's eyes flashed, one orange and the other red. Yang tried not to let it get to her, but she knew from her own experience that an eye color change could be serious. She felt her aura rise up on instinct, but she tried to keep her temper in check for now. If UB had noticed the change in her posture, she wasn't showing it.

"I'm sick of watching my partner get hurt over and over." She gestured down to Penn's body, which Yang finally noticed was nursing a number of painful-looking wounds and ink-soaked stains. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Yang wondered how his body was even standing. "So, while I've got the steering wheel for a while, I'm going to make sure I get everything I want."

Yang took a deep breath and shifted the metal ball entirely to her good hand. "And... what's that? And what does it have to do with chucking a cannonball at my head?"

UB idly waved her hand. "Oh, just a few little things. A body to myself, revenge on a couple folks, Sunset Shimmer's head on a plate-"

"WHAT?"

UB rolled her eyes. "Okay, so that last one is PROBABLY gonna have to go in my letter to Santa. As for what it has to do with aforementioned cannonball..." A haunting smile crept up on Penn's possessed face, one wide and wry enough to send shivers down Yang's spine. "It's part of the game. I'm doing this the... traditional way for duel spirits. With shadow games. I'm challenging you and all your little friends to a magic game. If they win, they get a reward. If I win, I get to take what I want from them, instead. I'm already winning against Blake. Ruby's just getting started-"

Yang didn't hear the rest. She'd tossed aside the metal ball to blitz towards UB, wrapping her good hand around her throat without a thought to the fact that it was still Penn's body.

"Ruby?"

"Nuh-uh-uh!" UB didn't seem fazed at all, even if Yang had slammed into her full-force. In fact... she hadn't moved an inch. "If you want to try and stop THEIR games, you're going to have to win yours, first!"

Yang tried to tighten her grip, but UB's flesh was like iron. When she looked down at her hand, she realized why she couldn't seem to push in on her throat: her fingers hadn't even made contact. Her hand was hovering just about a centimeter above Penn's flesh, unable to push any closer no matter how hard she tried. UB grinned that cold smile again before slamming her palm against Yang's sternum. Despite having so little windup, Yang was lifted entirely off of her feet and thrown through the air. With a grunt of pain, Yang collided with the ground. Even though her aura had absorbed a majority of the force, she'd still had the wind knocked out of her lungs. Just as she was about to reach inward for her semblance, UB spoke again.

"The game is TAG!" She clapped her hands together. "You're it! The game ends when you tag me! All you have to do is touch me and you win!"

Yang gritted her teeth, biting back a flood of curses and angry remarks. She'd rushed in against an opponent she knew nothing about. AGAIN. "Why?"

"Because two-person Tag is REALLY boring. I'd rather just end it after the first-"

"WHY are you coming after US?" Yang pushed herself back up onto her feet. Her whole body was getting hotter, and she could see the coals on her arm beginning to glow red as she tried to control herself. She had been sidelined by choice since she lost her arm, but the last couple days, she'd been forcefully kept on guard duty watching after Weiss. It still hadn't been a big deal... until tonight. When she'd been forced to stay out of the fight while everyone else went to rescue Penn and Sunset. And going by how Penn looked, she'd been absent when her friends really needed her.

So by this point, if this spirit wanted to come after her friends, Yang was almost ready to thank her for the chance to get up and fight again. Still, as much as Yang had the itch to jump straight to throwing hands, she had no idea what this "spirit" was capable of. Getting a sense of her motives would be a start.

"Oh, why Team RWBY?" UB's smile faded for the first time, and a deathly seriousness settled over her demeanor. Somehow, despite Penn not being that tall, she still managed to somehow give the feeling that she was looking down on Yang as she leaned forward.

"Because you're WEAK. Easy pickings."

Yang could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. For a moment, she forgot that she was looking into the eyes of a person. For just a second, Yang felt the presence of something deep and dark, like standing in front of a deep, empty well. Even if there wasn't a risk of falling, what laid therein was... over her head. And that thing had just said that she was easy prey.

"So... one dragon to another, I'm giving you a fair chance at still being able to win this, instead of just taking what I want by tooth and claw." UB leaned back again, returning to her relaxed demeanor. "This is just like regular tag, except that you're not the ONLY one with an aura, this time!"

Yang thought back to the force that had stopped her from crushing Penn's windpipe when UB had threatened Ruby.

"If it's an aura, then I just have to wear you down, right?"

UB smirked. "Yes and no."

Yang waited, but UB didn't elaborate further, simply spreading her arms wide to invite Yang's attack. Yang gritted her teeth. "Is that all I'm getting?"

"You've gotten plenty."

Yang tightened her fists and swept her foot back, readying herself for a fight. It was a comfortable, familiar old pose, btu she couldn't let herself get complacent. Her teammates were on the line, her SISTER was on the line.

She just had to break UB's aura and tag her.

"Let's GO!"

"Ugh... my head..." Ruby murmured. Everything hurt, she felt cold, and her bed was stiff as a board. Did I kick the blanket off and wake myself up?

"Up and at 'em, kiddo."

Ruby's eyes snapped open at the sound of UB's voice. Sitting up revealed that she was, in fact, not in her bed at all, but laying across the front of a desk in a dark classroom. She'd snapped up as if she'd simply fallen asleep in class again, far from her comfy bed. UB, still in control of Penn's broken body, was leaning back in the teacher's chair and resting her heels on the desk, with the only light in the room coming from a flickering fluorescent bulb just above her head.

"Wha- What's going on?"

"I wanna play a little game." She smirked and gestured towards Ruby with a single beckoning finger. "Ruby Rose, come on down! You're the next contestant on 'The Price is Night!'"

Ruby wasn't sure what was going on, but... whatever it was, UB was clearly the one in control, here. She drowsily stumbled her way down to the front of the classroom.

"I don't understand... it's the middle of the night, what are you doing? And how did I even get here?"

"Not important." UB waved aside Ruby's worries. "You're going to have to learn to sort out the important questions from the unimportant ones if you want to be a good team leader."

Ruby narrowed her eyes, feeling irritation creeping up on her along with the weight of her eyelids. "Then what's the important question?"

"Why is a duel spirit from a game that has the power to steal souls and inflict curses challenging you to play a game?" She pulled her feet off the desk and motioned to a chair that was waiting on Ruby's side. "And what's the game?"

Ruby took a long look at UB, then tilted her head and cocked one eyebrow, not even bothering to repeat back the "important" questions. UB, who had clearly been expecting her to do so, sighed and waved Penn's hand across the desk. A pair of teacups appeared somewhere in the motion, letting off small wisps of steam.

"Drink. It's cold." UB sighed and reached for the cup in front of herself, taking a long sip. "And you're going to need your strength."

Ruby stared down at the cup for a few seconds before begrudgingly raising it to her lips. The liquid inside proved itself to be hot apple cider, tangy and overly spiced. She resisted the urge to spit the almost-sour liquid back into the cup, forcing herself to swallow it.

"The game..." UB clicked her tongue. "Coming up with one for you was tricky. You love all sorts of games, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah."

"So, I decided to go with a classic." UB raised one of her hands, which burst into violet flames. With a flick of her wrist, the fireball floated up into the air, then dropped back down again. She caught it in her other hand before repeating the motion and tossing the fireball back, now slightly larger. "Catch."

Ruby watched the fireball float back and forth a few times, growing in intensity and size until it was bright enough to light up the whole room. With another idle flick, UB sent the orb flying towards the window.

KA-BOOM!

With an explosion loud enough to make her ears ring, the projectile exploded, completely blowing out the window and sending a shockwave through the room. A moment later, the icy winds that had been kept at bay all came rushing in at once, plunging the entire room into near-zero temperatures in a heartbeat. Ruby instinctively pulled her cloak up to protect her face, turning back to UB with eyes wide with shock.

UB didn't seem to be fazed at all by the explosion or the drop in temperature, still calmly seated behind the desk and sipping her cider. Looking closely, Ruby could almost see that the snow seemed to be avoiding her, floating around and deflecting off of her, but never landing on Penn's clothes or body.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ruby had to practically scream to make herself heard over the howling winds.

"Just showing you what happens if one of us drops the ball!" UB hopped to her feet and began stretching her arms over her head, then craned Penn's body from side to side.

None of this made any sense, and Ruby's mind was racing trying to figure out what reason UB would have to turn on them like this. She mentioned that her game can curse people and steal souls...

"What's the winner get?"

UB's eyes gleamed red and blue and she flashed Ruby a giddy grin. "What do you WANT?"

Everything that UB said only made Ruby more confused. She had a million questions, but... You're going to have to learn to sort out the important questions from the unimportant ones if you want to be a good team leader...

Right now, UB, a powerful spirit, was challenging her to a game. It was obvious that she couldn't decline, but... those words, combined with her choice of seat, left Ruby thinking that UB was trying to make some kind of overly violent "teachable moment."

"I want... to know how to win!"

UB's unnaturally wide smile stretched even farther, practically splitting Penn's face in half.

"It's a Caucus Race with a twist! We run and run and run! When somebody drops the ball, the race ends and they lose!" One of her hands lit up with a fresh plume of violet flame. "Any more questions?"

Ruby weighed the circumstances. If UB wanted to teach her something, then she'd take the initiative to start the lesson mid-race. She knew the rules, it was Hot Potato but running. Whatever else is going on... I can figure it out after the game is over.

"Seems pretty clear!"

UB grinned and sprinted for the hole in the wall. One last phrase was thrown Ruby's way alongside the violet fireball before she catapulted herself backwards out the open window.

"Then let the game BEGIN!"

Forcing down the urge to dodge out of the way, Ruby caught the fireball in her hands. Thankfully, it didn't burn her. In fact, it just felt pleasantly warm and sent tingles up her arms. She could sense the power in it, even now when it was hardly bigger than a baseball. The longer it stayed in her hands, however, the more the temperature of its surface rose.

"Guess there's only one place to throw it..." Ruby whispered. A moment later, she triggered her semblance and rushed out the window and into the storm. When she reformed outside, she was struck by the realization that she was several stories in the air. Far below her, she could see a dark speck that generally resembled her target. Just as she started Rearing back, she hurled the fireball back with enough force to completely flip herself in the air as she plunged towards the ground.

"Coming at ya, UB!"

"WEISS!"

Weiss snapped up in her bed with a force that could only be provided by sheer adrenaline when Sunset came bursting into her room.

"What, what's wrong?"

Sunset rushed to her bed, which did nothing to ease Weiss's nerves.

"You're okay? Nobody's come in here?" Sunset asked as she hurriedly checked Weiss over.

"O-Of course I'm fine!" Weiss declared. "Why, what's going on? Are we under attack again?"

Sunset sighed and glanced towards the door. "Kind of..."

For the first time, Weiss noticed that Yang was gone from the room, possibly for the first time since she'd woken up. "Kind of? Sunset, what's going on? Does this have something to do with what happened earlier?"

"It's a long story, but... Penn's possessed."

There was a long pause as Weiss tried to process what Sunset had said. "...according to your stories, this wouldn't be the first time, would it?"

Sunset flinched for a second. "Okay- Yes- But this is different! It's Missy's sister, and she's MAD! She's going around challenging people to shadow games! People are going to get hurt if they lose!"

Weiss took another long pause. Perhaps it was the fact that she was still recovering from her coma, but her mind had been moving more slowly, more contemplatively, since she had woken up. She reached down to the place where Myrtenaster was leaning against the end table. She began to idly thumb at the rotating barrel of dust cartridges near the rapier's hilt.

"Sunset, calm down."

Sunset's jaw dropped in shock for a moment. "CALM-"

"Sunset!" Weiss barked her name in the same angry tone that was usually reserved for their training sessions. Thankfully, the sound of an angry teacher was enough to stop her mid-outburst. Weiss locked eyes with Sunset. "Take a deep breath. Now."

Sunset did as she was told, giving Weiss a chance to formulate her next question.

"Now, WHO is Missy's sister? And why would she be attacking US?"

"Because we let Penn get hurt, and now she wants payback!" Sunset turned and sat herself on the edge of Weiss's bed. "And I don't know WHO she is, she won't tell me because she knows it makes me miserable not to know!"

Weiss's brow furrowed. "But... that doesn't make sense. This is hardly the first time that Penn's gotten hurt, even just in Remnant!"

"Yeah, but it's the first time that she's managed to get control of his body!" Sunset countered.

"Still... I feel like we're not getting the whole picture, here." Weiss muttered. "Who is she challenging to these games?"

"So far, we're pretty sure Blake and Ruby... and, judging by the fact Yang isn't here..." Sunset trailed off. Weiss continued thinking.

"Why play games with them instead of just taking her revenge directly?"

"Because that's how their magic works, I guess?" Sunset shrugged. "I don't know, dark magic isn't my specialty, in fact I was kind of banished for even trying to-" She flinched slightly to the side, as if someone was yelling in her ear. "N-Not that DARK magic is necessarily EVIL, yes, but I think in this instance-" she flinched again.

"Why are you doing that?"

"Missy's yelling at me. She's not HERE, but she can still hear us and talk to me." Sunset sighed. "It's just her voice in my head, and she keeps trying to tell me I shouldn't be worried about her sister. That I should just let this all play out without doing anything to help them."

"Well, she IS Missy's sister. Nobody would know her better." Weiss reached out and put her hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Isn't Missy your partner? Why don't you think you can trust her about this?"

"Because she's ALWAYS enabled UB!" Sunset threw her hands in the air. "Missy plays along with her little name game, refuses to help me figure out who she is, and she always makes excuses for her behavior! I can't- I-"

"You don't think she's being honest because it's her sister."

There was a long pause of quiet between the two of them. Weiss wasn't sure, but she could imagine that Sunset and Missy were having some kind of conversation. Weiss didn't know for certain what kind of talk they were having, but Sunset's dejected look made it clear that Missy hadn't taken the comment well.

"Is... everything okay?"

Sunset took a deep breath before covering her eyes and leaning back. "I'm starting to get a headache from all this brain-talking. How does Penn keep this up twenty-four seven?"

"Practice, I'd imagine." The purposeful subject change wasn't lost on Weiss. "Listen, Sunset... partners have to TRUST each other. I can't even imagine how much more so if you're literally in each other's heads. I had to learn that the hard way with Ruby. Even if I still have reservations about her from time to time, we'd still gladly put our lives in each other's hands."

"I DO trust Missy-"

"So..." Weiss interrupted, "What kind of person do you think Penn trusts on that level? What kind of person would Missy be willing to earnestly call her sister?"

Sunset blinked several times, as if the thought was only coming to her for the first time.

"I think... you've seen her sister as this outside intruder all along, when that's not really the case." Weiss looked down at the weapon in her hands, remembering the life that had led her to push away from her family and become a huntress-in-training. "Sometimes, the people we care about really DO make bad choices about who to trust, but... I don't think Penn AND Missy are both brain-dead enough to partner with someone who's truly evil. And, even if she IS a bad person, pressing on that subject over and over again isn't going to force her out of their lives like a splinter. It's just going to feel like you're attacking a sore spot over and over until they stop letting you try to help them." She unconsciously glanced to the side as painful memories resurfaced, mostly involving an ever-present, never-empty wine glass.

"But... if she's somebody Penn and Missy both trust, why would she be attacking us?" Sunset shook her head. "And you haven't SEEN her, even just the little bits and pieces of her that I have! She's- she's this DEMON!"

"She IS one, or she LOOKS like one?" Weiss tilted her head. "I hope you haven't forgotten the lesson we learned from Blake about judging our teammates on appearances?"

Sunset opened her mouth to give a reflexive reply, only to stop herself as some kind of realization struck her. Before Weiss could ask her what conclusion she'd come to, the door to the room burst open and Rainbow Dash rushed inside.

"I found Yang and UB! They're trying to kill each other!"