Kinda doubtful that a Magical Girl can have their Aura unlocked due to the fact that their immortal soul is currently outside their body in the form of a Soul Gem/Grief Seed because of Kyubey/Incubators wish fuckery, Monsters on the other hand should be able to considering that they do have souls and if animals can have Aura like Zwei can then there shouldn't be any reason why it shouldn't work on them.
Pretty much any of Undyne's node mates will be a perfect counter to Chara. No soul stuff here. Just a kid getting impaled on a spear or shot in the face. The only issue then is will Chara keep up the Determination in resetting or not, and how that reset interacts with the node.
Kinda doubtful that a Magical Girl can have their Aura unlocked due to the fact that their immortal soul is currently outside their body in the form of a Soul Gem/Grief Seed because of Kyubey/Incubators wish fuckery,
Or, the soul gem just gets an aura forcefield with no affect on their body. Actively useful given it's a magical girl's weak spot. It's definitely unknown territory, so it's completely up to the author if Aura Unlocking happens at all, and what happens when it comes to Aura and how it interacts with essentially Liches.
Pretty much any of Undyne's node mates will be a perfect counter to Chara. No soul stuff here. Just a kid getting impaled on a spear or shot in the face. The only issue then is will Chara keep up the Determination in resetting or not, and how that reset interacts with the node.
That would take a few significant node upgrades before they have a portal big enough to transport people through though. And of course, that necessitates they actively get along first.
Gem is the soul, so as long as the gem is on the body they can reinforce it with Aura like they do with a weapon, but easier because tge soul should be familiar with it already.
Also, externalizing the soul could have IMPLICATIONS when it comes to Grief. Possibility for aura manipulation techniques to allow for self cleansing or ejection of grief, and considering what Grief actually is, entirely like an awakened Aura will actively reject the grief from the body, flaring Aura would probably lead to black stuff evaporating off the mafical girl like she's a dead grimm
Anonymous User: My name is Pyrrha Nikos. I am a student at Beacon Academy. Kyoko: Great. That means absolutely nothing to me. Anonymous User: Genuinely?
Kinda doubtful that a Magical Girl can have their Aura unlocked due to the fact that their immortal soul is currently outside their body in the form of a Soul Gem/Grief Seed because of Kyubey/Incubators wish fuckery, Monsters on the other hand should be able to considering that they do have souls and if animals can have Aura like Zwei can then there shouldn't be any reason why it shouldn't work on them.
Aren't monsters literally souls? I mean that they're physically manifested souls, right? Wouldn't this mean that they would 100% be able to get aura but would consequently die the moment/first time their aura breaks? Not sure how the recharge aura mechanic would work for someone with a facsimile of a physical body
As usual, I find myself wishing I wasn't this work's author so I could chime in with my hot takes on the fascinating discussions going on here. Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't.
That said, can I run something by y'all?
Conference Call: The Original had power consumption percentages, used to designate how much power it took to connect to each member of the Node. That, plus a bunch of overhead that isn't explicitly mentioned but ends up in the total power calculation, ends up stressing Conference Call's node to the point of near unusability. While it's been stated in CC 'canon' (if you will) that different nodes can have different power capacities, I've decided to use Conference Call's percentages nonetheless, and generally referred to other Nodefics for power numbers—in particular, I've looked to Bad Girls Do it Better (Multicross Conference Call Spin off) | SpaceBattles by Iolande for a number from PMMM, as well as Conference Call: Interdimensional Teenage Princess Group Therapy | SpaceBattles by Masterweaver for RWBY's connection tax. They do the same thing regarding Worm, which has historically takes 8.3% of a Node's power, so I figure it's customary. By the way, I'd recommend reading both of these fics; they're both cool as hell. The rest of the numbers I came up with wholesale.
Now. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend checking it out before checking this out, because I'm about to go on a tangent that involves information found in Conference Call's end notes.
Connecting to a Homestuck—any Homestuck—draws an order of magnitude more power than most other worlds. This is because, due to the way Homestuck's time travel/timeline bullshit/canonicity works, the node had to sustain the entire existence of the timeline. Which makes at least some sense.
That said, to my knowledge, there is no explicit justification or reasoning for the other universes' node percentages.
That brings me to the discussion question of the day:
What do you think causes a universe to be easier or harder to connect to?
I'm pretty sure each of us Nodefic writers (of which I barely qualify at the moment, but bear with me) has a different answer for this. If I wanted to get the original author's intent, I could probably just go ask Pachy. But I'm both too lazy and I'm curious as to what general consensus is. So… yeah. Why does Worm draw more than Naruto? What is it about PMMM that kills so much juice? What is it about Mother of Learning that kills so little?
Hm. I suppose that a timeloop is more... stable? Due to how Homestuck works, doomed timelines are constantly sprouting and cutting off due to Time player bullshit happening on the background constantly. So not only does the Node have to connect to this tangled mess of nonsense, it has to sort out the right timeline and not flood the chat with scored of doomed Roxy clones that appear, send a message, and disappear as their timeline shorts out. That might be a nuisance.
Both Mother of Learning and Undertale are more shut and tight scenarios, I think.
I don't know Homestuck, but this reminds me of FGO's Lostbelts, wherein a timeline that was supposed to have been Pruned away and vanish has instead been pinned in place by a foreign entity.
I've never really thought about it (it doesn't really matter to the plot, it just matters that power usage starts out near 100% and has some reason it declines over time to enable new Node powers to be unlocked), but I think of it as a measure of how "weird" the universe is. The Node is trying to define a new "multiversal physics" that can support all the universes, and the more different the universes are from each other the more power it takes to connect.
(And from a Doylist view, it's harder for the author to connect those universes because they have to figure out how to reconcile the crossover elements in some way.)
So like, Mother of Learning and Naruto are ISO Standard Battle Magic and the Node can be like "eh, Mana, Chakra, same difference it's all one big magic energy field." Sure, MoL has a time loop, but it's a well-bounded one that doesn't really have cosmic implications (in fact, the fact that the time loop doesn't simulate certain things outside it is a plot point). If you integrate Worm into the setting it's another new power source and another new set of physics, but the powers are weirder and some of them have setting-wide implications (e.g., what do Contessa and the Simurgh see when the crossover happens?). PMMM is even harder because the magic system is deliberately kind of abstract and metaphorical, because it's a story about the irrationality of our childhood dreams.
And then you add Homestuck to the setting and the Node throws up its hands and says "Look, I can keep track of one person in this crossover, the rest of the cosmology is right out."
Almost every universe this node is connected to have time fuckery, except RWBY.
PMMM have Homura.
City got commercially available time loops.
Undertale got determination timelines.
Worm got Gray boy bubbles and Clockblobcker.
Best RWBY got is time dilation.
Undyne: God damnit, I got killed by a child!
Yuri: Wait, than how do you...
Kyoko: What a weakling. Serves you right, you overgrown sushi.
Undyne: Somebody reset the timeline, so I won't loose this time!
Pyrrha: They did what?
Yuri: Ah, like TT2 protocol?
test: And here I thought my power was bullshit.
It could be a power levels thing, maybe? Madoka has, well, Madoka, with her magical potential so godlike she can literally become an omnipresent god/universe-encompassing witch. Homestuck I'm sure has insane universe/multiverse-level shenanigans going on and multiple tiers of deities, at least from what I've heard of it. The settings with less power consumption tend to be more low-key, with key characters having less metaphysically fuckery at their beck and call. At least that's my impression.
Hm. I suppose that a timeloop is more... stable? Due to how Homestuck works, doomed timelines are constantly sprouting and cutting off due to Time player bullshit happening on the background constantly. So not only does the Node have to connect to this tangled mess of nonsense, it has to sort out the right timeline and not flood the chat with scored of doomed Roxy clones that appear, send a message, and disappear as their timeline shorts out. That might be a nuisance.
Both Mother of Learning and Undertale are more shut and tight scenarios, I think.
Timelines in homestuck aren't created and destroyed in the way you're thinking. They've always been there and they will (almost) always be there. Nothing changes and there is no chaos as everything in homestuck comes into being at once, timelines included. A doomed timeline isn't created when someone, usually a time player, messes up and does something wrong as they were always meant to do that action to create the doomed timeline in the first place.
Doomed timelines are actually brought into being when there's something the Alpha timeline needs but doesn't have. There isn't a single doomed timeline showed in the entirety of homestuck that hasn't added something to the Alpha timeline it wouldn't have been able to get without it existing. Whether it being extra daves to edit his behavior or act in important roles, extra aradias for their final battle or an army for the final final battle.
One of the best examples however is the Alpha timeline needing the book, written with the dying blood of every single one of the alpha trolls, so as to bring about the birth of an annoying guy. However, it still needed every single alpha troll to be healthy and hale so as to finish their game while friends/comrades. This would normally be a paradox but it's fixed with the addition of a doomed timeline where everything went to shit
The biggest show that doomed timeline don't come into being suddenly is the fact that you can, and do, meet future versions of yourself all the time and they're sometimes from doomed timelines. You then go along your path to become those future versions of yourself, hopefully not the doomed timeline version, and meet your past self. The only way this would make sense is if all versions of yourself, past/present/future, already exist and has always existed.
The best way, I've found, to think of it is to think of the homestuck universe as a book. The characters and their actions already exist and has done everything the book has written in it before you read it but when you read it you're reading the viewpoint of the character going though their timeline. This also serves to explain the ending of homestuck and, regrettably, homestuck 2 and its canon/noncaon bullshit
This also also explains John's voodoo power and why Dave is adament that John is doing something like time travel but is 100% NOT time traveling. When he uses his power he's reaching the same level as the author of the book. When the author decides to change something in what would be the past of everyone further in the story of the book he isn't time traveling to do so after all even though it changes the present for everyone. It's also why he doesn't spawn doomed timeliness as even though the Alpha timeline had been changed that's the way it's always been, from its perspective anyway.
That's been my headcannon but it pretty much seamlessly fits with homestucks narrative themes
I got waaayyyy to much into homestuck and its metaphysics in my shameful past (I say as if I don't jump into any new homestuck fanfic I see). I think, or I thought, the issue was with Roxys Void existence. Hard to connect to a Void after all. It could have also been the fact that the vast majority of Players are living Paradoxes believing their the species of whatever planet they lived on
test: hey, scarlet ModScarlet: Oh? ModScarlet: You've been quiet. test: i know. test: this is sudden bt test: can i ask u for 2 favors? test: please? ModScarlet: Uh. ModScarlet: Maybe? test: ty test: 1. can u like not call attentn to me? test: i havent rlly talked 2 people in test: long time test: want 2 just watch for now. test: need to get used to it. test: is that ok? ModScarlet: Hm. ModScarlet: You realize that you have posted things in the Node, yes? ModScarlet: I can't stop anyone from noticing that. test: i thnk most ppl mistook me for yuri. test: our txt colors r rly similar. ModScarlet: Augh, don't start. ModScarlet: How was I supposed to know that, of all the candidates on the list, I'd manage to pick entirely redheads? ModScarlet: I don't think anyone even noticed or cared! ModScarlet: So much for trying to be considerate! test: not blamin u. test: actually kinda convenient for me test: guess i shld thnk u? ModScarlet: Oh. ModScarlet: Kind of you. ModScarlet: Well, if that's what you really want. ModScarlet: Yeah, sure, I can do that. ModScarlet: As long as you are still paying attention, I can avoid calling you out. ModScarlet: I can even avoid running various public Node diagnostics if that's your preference. That could prevent you from conspicuously showing up on the power usage report. test: that wld b great, ya! test: tysm ModScarlet: You've been so polite so far, so. ModScarlet: Consider it courtesy returned, Mr./Mrs. test. test: im a girl. ModScarlet: Ms. test, then. ModScarlet: You said you had a second favor to ask? test: ya test: 2. u mentioned a list of candidates. test: and @ the start, u called us all test: "exceptional" test: what test: what does that mean?
Way Kyoko saw it, the skies of Kazamino City were kinda like a giant static lake. And she was the Magical Girl skimming the top of that lake, darting through the air and bouncing off of the tips of buildings for only the fleetest of moments. A touch of metal, of roofing, and bam! Off like a rocket to the next roof. Like a red, toothy skipping stone, one with the best view in the whole damned city. Feeling the air rush past her, ruffling her ponytail, spear trailing behind her…
There was no denying that Magical Girls took a lot of crap. But there were undeniably benefits, ones that made the job worth doing. And this… this was at the top of the list as far as those went.
Even more worth noting: paying attention to the Node as she sped from building to building… well, she didn't really. She didn't have to pay any of her valuable attention. Almost zero focus spent. It was as if reading and responding occurred entirely unconsciously.
Weird.
Node1127
Anonymous User: So… Anonymous User: Since we are all choosing to get along now, would it be alright to make small talk? Kyoko: Only if you change your name. Kyoko: Use "/name yourname", if you didn't scroll up far enough to see that. Anonymous User: Oh! Sorry! Anonymous User: I didn't. Anonymous User: /name Pyrrha Pyrrha: That is better. Pyrrha: That being said, what are you all doing right now? Pyrrha: I am sitting in History Class, at the moment. I should be paying attention to class, but… Pyrrha: Oh. I just realized that this Node takes up none of my attention span. Pyrrha: It is strange.
Kyoko chuckled. The two of them were apparently on similar wavelengths. In terms of cleverness, at least. Being reasonable and practical people? Maybe less so.
Node1127
Yuri: I am currently taking on a Canard case: exterminating a pack of somewhat mutated mice. Undyne: TRAINING! Undyne: A member of the Royal Guard always must strive to become stronger! Undyne: Which is why I'm pounding my training dummy into STUFFING! Undyne: …I don't understand why they seem to like it as much as they do. Pyrrha: Your training dummy is sentient? Kyoko: Nothing to do with getting your ass kicked, recently? Undyne: Why you little… Undyne: Hold on. Undyne: We're "getting along" now. Undyne: So, Kyoko, who I am "getting along" with… Undyne: How are you "getting along"? Undyne: What are you doing? Yuri: I'm curious what the daily life of a Magical Girl is like.
Alright. That was fair. Get a lolly, give a lolly.
Node1127
Kyoko: I'm hunting for Witches. Pyrrha: Witches? Yuri: …Are you a part of some kind of… Magical Girl inquisition? Kyoko: What? Kyoko: Witches are monsters. Kyoko: They're born from curses and prey upon humans. Kyoko: The natural prey of Magical Girls. Pyrrha: Born from curses…? Undyne: What kind of monsters? Kyoko: No two Witches are alike. But all of them inflict misery and death. Kyoko: They're attracted to sites of human suffering.
A miasmic glint. Her Soul Gem pulsed. And the location…
Node1127
Kyoko: Sites like this one.
Descent.
Node1127
Undyne: We've got no idea what you're talking about. Undyne: Care to enlighten us, "buddy"? Kyoko: It's a cemetery. Kyoko: Guess a funeral was held here recently. Kyoko: Doesn't matter. Kyoko: All that does matter is that a Witch has taken up residence here.
Kyoko had another hunch.
The additional multitasking capability provided by the Node only worked so long as she was using the Node, and only for Node things. Like, she didn't know, some kinda work-monitored internet connection. No slacking off on the Node! But that was the thing, wasn't it. Brains didn't work that way. They considered multiple thoughts at once. They combined thoughts. Couldn't just split your brain in half so cleanly. If she wanted to talk about Witches in the Node, or compare and contrast spear techniques with Undyne as they battled, that got offloaded to the Node multitasking. Cause it was Node-related.
How far did that go, she wondered? Just how much processing could she get the Node to do for her?
Node1127
Kyoko: Yuri, you said you wanted to know what my life's like? Kyoko: You're about to get a front row seat.
She dove into the Labyrinth.
Node1127
Kyoko: A Witch's Labyrinth is her domain. A small world that follows the rules of the Witch. Kyoko: A pocket dimension, if you will. Yuri: !!! Kyoko: It's always surreal. Dreamlike. Kyoko: And it usually provides hints on the nature of the Witch that created it. Kyoko: Here, I see rusty gears in the distance, churning the air with the smell of old iron. Kyoko: Ribbons, cut in the shape of gingerbread girls and hanging from nothing. Kyoko: And the Witch's Familiars. Kyoko: Looks like flocks of sparkling anime eyeballs, topping these cute black dresses. Kyoko: Little all-seeing angel choir girls. Kyoko: Oh. Familiars do whatever the Witch wants. Kyoko: What's that, exactly? Nobody knows!
What they were doing now was dying.
One foot in front of the other. Adjust footing, to the ground that feels like burlap drenched in oil. Then push. Stance. Swash. Reap the sky. Fresh air burst from each Familiar getting stabbed out of existence.
Node1127
Kyoko: I usually leave these alone unless they're directly in my way. Pyrrha: Because they're harmless? Kyoko: No. Far from it. Kyoko: Cause I'm not here to kill endless waves of Familiars. Kyoko: I'm here for the Witch. The creator of the Labyrinth. Pyrrha: I see. The Familiars will keep coming unless you remove their source. Kyoko: That's true.
That wasn't the actual reason, Kyoko couldn't help but think. And she couldn't offload the thought to the Node either. But Pyrrha Nikos was some kind of goody two shoes college student, and would probably throw a hissy fit if she knew. And since they were all supposed to be not stabbing each other… best if she kept silent for now.
She pushed forward.
Node1127
Kyoko: Witch is almost always at the center of the Labyrinth. Kyoko: Guessing it's mostly gonna be trying to smack me around with its body. Machinery's sound's getting louder. Familiars flocks are less dense. Kyoko: Some Witches prefer mental attacks. Some like projectiles. Some leave things to their Familiars. Kyoko: This ain't one of those. Kyoko: Good thing. My best matchup.
A casual piercing. Shattered another wave of Familiars.
Node1127
Yuri: Is this… dangerous for you? Yuri: You seem to be treating this with nonchalance. Kyoko: I'll say this proudly. Kyoko: Witches are incredibly dangerous. Kyoko: But I am one of the best Magical Girls in Japan. Kyoko: Short of Mami Tomoe and maybe that psycho in Hohzuki City, there's not a Magical Girl in the nation that's stronger than me. Kyoko: And short of Walpurgisnacht herself, there's not a Witch in the world that I can't handle. Undyne: There's a story there! Kyoko: Later. We've reached the door. Kyoko: The Labyrinth's innermost chamber. Pyrrha: Good luck. Kyoko: I won't need it.
Kyoko didn't use much magic in general anymore. But she checked her Soul Gem nonetheless. Barely darkened at all. Great.
She opened the door.
Node1127
Kyoko: Humanoid Witch. No eyes. No arms. Long flowing hair, like a tablecloth. Kyoko: Ornate clockwork crown, with something like a theater mask on the side. Kyoko: She towers. The size of a small house. Kyoko: Her body is a patchwork of clockwork stitching and torn cloth, leaking air. Pyrrha: Any weapons? Kyoko: Nah. Just size and bulk. Kyoko: She might be blind. She's facing me, but hasn't done anything yet. Kyoko: Maybe those Familiars were meant to be her eyes…? There aren't any around. Kyoko: Whatever.
She'd got all the time in the world to prep. So first strike should be a big one. Charging magic into her spear, doubling in size. Setting ablaze. Pinpointing the face. Preparing an exit plan in case things go wrong.
Node1127
Kyoko: A lot of Witches have misleading bodies which disguise their weak points. Kyoko: I once saw a Witch that looked like a minotaur, wielding an ax that cleaved sound. Kyoko: Killed the minotaur. But turns out the ax was the Witch the whole time, and came back for round two, screaming like a guitar at the world's worst punk concert. Kyoko: That said. Kyoko: I'm still going for the head.
Fire.
The Witch recoiled. Burned, as stitching was set aflame and cogs in her grand body were melted. Fresh air burst from her bursting seams. The opposite of smoke. Kyoko flipped away, recalling her exploded spear to hand and watching the Witch writhe. Rarely did a first strike kill a Witch, but she'd been lucky before.
Not this time. The Witch roared with the sound of boiling oil, then charged her, slithering like a massive burning snake. Surprisingly quick. Kyoko still vaulted above her easily, lashing out at her body with whiplike strikes with the segments of her spear. All ignored, as the Witch curved around herself and attempted to swallow her whole, massive stitch-mouth opening wide and revealing gear-teeth teeth. Kyoko impaled both of her sealed-shut eyes.
Node1127
Kyoko: She's not reacting to hits on her main body. Kyoko: Not the head either. Kyoko: …The crown.
She finally decided to use her magic in earnest, or what was left of it, anyways. A red lattice of chains sprung into existence, binding the Witch in place. Though she was slippery and would likely escape after mere moments, it was all the time Kyoko needed. Another magic infusion into her weapon. And an ultimate attack aimed right at the Witch's weak point. A completely unnamed ultimate attack, since calling out cringey attack names was for stupid people and babies.
It did the trick. Pierced straight through. Shattered the Labyrinth itself. The Witch's core, her Grief Seed, clinked off a headstone and fell onto a freshly-filled grave. Kyoko claimed it triumphantly, then glanced at the name.
Node1127
Kyoko: And done. Kyoko: …Aoi Masshiro, huh. Kyoko: Lotta people musta cared for you, for their grief to draw a Witch here after your death. Undyne: I couldn't see any of what just happened. Undyne: All I've got is the picture painted by your words. Undyne: And I'm a visuals kind of monster. Undyne: But… Undyne: That was still so freaking cool!!!!!! Undyne: Magical princess fighting a horrible villain! BAM! Undyne: You have got to do that again sometime! Kyoko: That's… neat…?
The hell? Wasn't she just threatening to kill her?
Whatever.
Overall, she thought that the experiment had gone pretty damned well. The goal had been to offload all of her observing and strategizing off to the Node, so that her conscious brain could focus entirely on what was actually going on, dodge attacks and projectiles, compile attacks. It'd sorta worked. Her reflexes had been a little faster, her attacks a little more effective. It was a small edge, for sure. As far as "Node-based superpowers" went, it wasn't exactly groundbreaking.
But in this world of Magical Girls, every tiny edge counted for something. Could be the difference between life and death.
She'd take it.
Janice. The repair Witch with a two-faced nature. She presents as benevolent, offering her vast skills in stitching and clockwork to fix those that are broken. But in truth, she uses those that come to her as materials, to repair her own constantly malfunctioning body. Her familiars all see through her.
Dor. The repair Witch's minion, whose duty is to serve as materials. However, they desire existence, and thus never enter the Witch's vicinity. They flit about just out of reach.
It was time. Pyrrha could put this off for no longer.
Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
Pyrrha: Hello again. Pyrrha: Is it alright if I ask some clarifying questions about the Node? ModScarlet: Shoot. Pyrrha: First of three: Is there any way to transfer my Node membership to someone else? Pyrrha: Failing that, is there any method to leave the Node entirely? ModScarlet: No. ModScarlet: Death. ModScarlet: In other Nodes, it might be possible to send invitations, but that would only allow one to add additional users. ModScarlet: It would not allow one to leave. ModScarlet: And it's a moot point besides; we don't have the Invitation Wizard Core. Pyrrha: That answers my question. Pyrrha: Second of three: I plan on introducing my Nodemates to my friends. Will there be any issues with this? ModScarlet: As long as it doesn't cause trouble for you, it shouldn't cause trouble for me. Pyrrha: Third and final: I would just like to make sure. Pyrrha: There are four people in this Node, correct? Pyrrha: It would be quite embarrassing if I forgot someone. ModScarlet: There are actually five users in this Node. Pyrrha: Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot about you, didn't I? Pyrrha: I suppose this is why I asked. ModScarlet: You'd better not forget to give your friends a glowing description of your moderator! Pyrrha: I will depict you as positively as possible while remaining true to the facts. ModScarlet: Come on, why so cagey? Pyrrha: I'm sorry. But you have not been the most reliable or trustworthy source of information so far, despite being the only one who possesses the majority of it. ModScarlet: Ouch. ModScarlet: That hurts. ModScarlet: But I'm joking, anyhow. ModScarlet: Go nuts.
Scarlet had returned some time after Kyoko's textual recounting of the Witch battle. Late enough that the Magical Girl herself had gone to sleep. Pyrrha had asked if she could ask them a question or two in private, and the Moderator had created this private channel to do just that. With reassurances in hand, she'd begun working up the courage to tell her team about the Node.
Pyrrha had been doing so for most of the day now. Funny how that courage didn't seem to come.
She'd promised herself that she would tell someone about it last night. That promise had finally come due. And her team at Beacon had been the people she most trusted, most wanted to tell.
Saying that it would be simple would be a falsehood. Explaining the concept of the strange multiversal chatroom and its "exceptional" occupants would take some time, require weathering a number of difficult questions. But it should not be nearly as difficult as it had ended up being.
Was the issue that Pyrrha was loath to disturb her teammates with her own problems, as per usual? Yes, that was likely it. Especially when they were all looking so peaceful, so content right now.
Jaune had been training with Pyrrha just an hour earlier, working on his sword arm strength and dexterity. Now, he was cooling off at his desk, part-studying for Professor Mulberry's class and part reading a superhero comic book. He'd been doing great for a boy who'd cheated his way into Beacon, had no experience when he'd come in, and in fact had to have every element of being a Huntsman—no, being a combatant on Remnant—explained to him like he was a two-year old child who'd just discovered language.
…When she laid it all out like that, it almost sounded like she hated him. No, that couldn't be further from the truth. Jaune Arc was not an idiot. He picked up on new concepts quite quickly. He worked himself to the bone, improving by leaps and bounds when working on correct guidance. He didn't complain, save for one memorable incident when he'd managed to get struck by lightning twice in rapid succession atop the dorm roof, which frankly was probably warranted.
More importantly, Jaune was kind. Beacon infiltration aside, he was effectively guileless. He was a pretty funny guy, though he'd get offended if she pointed it out. And so mind-numbingly oblivious that he'd somehow never ever heard of the name "Pyrrha Nikos". She'd never met anyone like him. And she was happy beyond happy to have chosen him as her partner.
Did any of this save him from being easily the weakest student at Beacon Academy? …Well, no one was without their faults. And that selfsame obliviousness could occasionally be quite annoying. Jaune couldn't see what was right in front of him, sometimes.
Her love life aside, Team JNPR (Juniper) did have two more students on it. Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. A pair of students that couldn't be spoken of as anything but a pair. Where one went, the other always followed. And not in the identical twin sense; rather, they both took themselves to an excess, and relied on each other to balance each other out. Seemingly, anyway. Was that rude?
Nora was the most boisterous person Pyrrha had ever known. She greeted every morning like a best friend she'd been joyfully reunited with. And she fought like every enemy's face was a best friend her warhammer needed to be forcefully reunited with. She didn't look it, but Nora was impossibly strong. Maybe even stronger than herself, under the right circumstances. Sometimes, she acted as if the rules of reality didn't apply to her. But she knew when to ground herself when it counted. As befitting a girl with the power to act as a living lightning rod.
Lie Ren, or just Ren, or Renny if your name was Nora, was the opposite. Quiet, reserved, and generally stoic. He didn't stand out, didn't try to. But the quiet rat-tat-tat-tat of his automatic pistols was one of the most reliable sounds she'd ever heard. And there was no denying that he cared for his team, Nora especially, in his own way.
The two of them were curled up on Nora's bed together, not-cuddling as a not-couple. Pyrrha wondered if that could be her, one day.
…She needed to just bite the bullet. These were good people. She trusted them. They would trust her.
"Hello, everybody. I have some news."
Good start.
"What's up, Pyrrha?"
"Something strange happened to me yesterday…"
And so Pyrrha ended up explaining what had happened to her. How the invitation to the Node had shown up in her thoughts. How she'd resisted opening it until late last night. And so on. And so forth.
"So…" Jaune summarized, "you were put into a weird interdimensional Scrolltext chat?"
"Yes."
"With a bunch of redheaded people with superpowers."
"I believe so."
"Is this why you look exhausted?"
"Do I?"
"Well, no… but I kind of got that feeling from you?" Jaune tried. "Uh. Anyway! You didn't actually tell us anything about those redheaded people? Who are they?"
She could say as much.
"Kyoko is the chattiest person here," Pyrrha started. "She's a warrior who battles monsters called Witches in someplace called Kazamino City. A 'magical girl', in her terms. She fought one just today."
Jaune gasped. "Like in the cartoons?"
Pyrrha gaped. "The… cartoons?
A grinning nod. "Yeah! You know, Magical Azure and the Five Stars? Crimson Heroine? I've always preferred comics, personally, but they're all pretty awesome! Is her personality like those?"
"Ah… maybe?" Pyrrha guessed, feeling somehow as if she was drowning on land. She didn't exactly have the time to watch television while training for the Mistral circuit. She made a mental note to do some research on these cartoons that Jaune was apparently a fan of. Maybe it could provide interesting discussion…?
Also, how to phrase this…? She didn't want to badmouth Kyoko when she wasn't present; that seemed like the behavior of a gossip. She supposed she could just tell the girl that she was about to insult her to her team, but that was rude in a completely different and far worse way. And Pyrrha wasn't exactly one for lying. Plus, she was asleep.
Eventually, she settled upon, "She's somewhat brusque and has a short temper, from what I've seen of her. But she also fights diligently to protect people. I think she's a good person at heart."
Jaune nodded sagely. "So she's like Katarhina. Not my favorite, but that sounds cool. I'd like to meet her!"
"Who else is there in your alien chatroom?" Nora eagerly asked, thankfully distracting everyone from Pyrrha's pop-cultural and social deficiencies.
"There's Undyne. She's some kind of fish monster? From an entire underground kingdom of 'monsters', which is the name of her species. She's enthusiastic. Kind of like you, Nora."
A horrifying thought struck Pyrrha at that moment. From what she could tell, calling Undyne enthusiastic was an understatement, if her chatting intensity was anything to go by. And Nora… well, she had much experience with her firsthand. She didn't know how Ren dealt with it all. If the two of them met… Pyrrha was worried they might cause some sort of muscular flexing bombastic singularity! It scared her. Truly. It worried her deep into her bones. Never must the two meet, she resolved.
She moved on, much faster, to ward off Nora's upcoming, "You should introduce me!"
"N-Next, Yuri! Yuri is the quietest among us. I… don't know that much about her, now that I am thinking about it. She lives in a world with only one City? And seems thoughtful. She rarely speaks unless she has something meaningful to say."
"Sounds like Ren!" Nora eagerly pointed out. For his part, Ren, who Pyrrha feared might have fallen asleep, simply shrugged.
She felt somewhat ashamed of the fact that she did not have more to say about the person from the City. Logically, she knew it was not her own fault that Yuri had not said more in the Node. But at the same time, she felt as if she should give each of her Nodemates equal time in her team's spotlight, Undyne aside for completely justified reasons. The fact that she simply couldn't was somewhat grating.
"Finally, there's the moderator, who started this whole project. They go by ModScarlet, and their goal is to improve 'multiverse coherency.' I'm not entirely sure what that means, honestly, and they've been somewhat frustrating to talk to."
Nora and Jaune both opened their mouths, presumably to ask more questions. But Pyrrha held up a hand to forestall them just for a little bit. "Before you or I say anything more, can you do me a favor?
"Can we please keep this just between us?"
Once again, Pyrrha was just self aware enough to know that this was probably a bad idea. She was dealing with alien forces here. Even magic, if her Node-mates were to be believed. Frankly, even though she was probably one of the best students at Beacon Academy for shouldering this burden, that did not change the fact that she was still a student. Faculty, diplomats, leaders and shakers, kings in all but name and Huntsmen storied… Any and all of them had more credibility to speak on behalf of Beacon, of Vale, of Remnant as a whole. Pyrrha, by comparison, was a mere more-competent-than-average child, even if she'd technically reached her age of majority. In a perfect world, she would hand this responsibility (and make no mistake, that was the way she viewed the Node: a responsibility) off to, say, Professor Ozpin, Headmaster Lionheart. She would barely hesitate. Her preference would have been to retain her largely normal school life, free of Witches and monsters and slightly mutated mice and the moderator's constant caginess. Wash her hands of the matter.
(She really did get the sense that there was something they weren't telling her. She just couldn't figure it out. And she was too polite to pry.)
That wasn't the world she lived in. Apparently, it wasn't the world that any of the Node users lived in. And since this onus fell solely on Pyrrha, she figured it was up to her discretion as to how she wished to deal with it. Call her selfish, but she still wanted to try and preserve that normal school life as best as possible, even if it may have been a fanciful daydream in the first place.
"I assume you would prefer it if we didn't tell Team RWBY (Ruby) about this," Ren commented.
The thought did give her pause. Much like with her own team, Team RWBY was a group of Huntresses-in-training that she would trust with her life. Both because they were good, honest people and because they could easily hold their own in a fight. In a straight duel, Pyrrha was stronger than any individual among Ruby, Weiss, Blake, or Yang. But as a team, RWBY was likely superior to JNPR as a whole.
That said… Ren was right. She didn't want them to know. They had their own issues to deal with. Yang and Weiss were both busy setting up for the annual dance in Team CFVY's stead. Blake was conducting her investigations into the White Fang. And Ruby… well, okay, Ruby probably wasn't up to anything, but Pyrrha wasn't just going to tell one member of the team.
…Pyrrha didn't want them to look at her differently. Was that too much to ask?
"Yes," she responded.
Jaune suddenly straightened, winced, and let a vague look of despair come across his face. "Ugh. I'm going to forget about this and blab, like I almost did with Blake. Guys, can you remind me if I'm about to screw up?"
Pyrrha would have reassured him, but Nora beat her to the punch. "Jaune, come on! You definitely won't forget! And that's because, if you do, I'll hit you right in the face with my hammer!"
test: hey, scarlet ModScarlet: Oh? ModScarlet: You've been quiet. test: i know. test: this is sudden bt test: can i ask u for 2 favors? test: please? ModScarlet: Uh. ModScarlet: Maybe? test: ty test: 1. can u like not call attentn to me? test: i havent rlly talked 2 people in test: long time test: want 2 just watch for now. test: need to get used to it. test: is that ok? ModScarlet: Hm. ModScarlet: You realize that you have posted things in the Node, yes? ModScarlet: I can't stop anyone from noticing that. test: i thnk most ppl mistook me for yuri. test: our txt colors r rly similar. ModScarlet: Augh, don't start. ModScarlet: How was I supposed to know that, of all the candidates on the list, I'd manage to pick entirely redheads? ModScarlet: I don't think anyone even noticed or cared! ModScarlet: So much for trying to be considerate! test: not blamin u. test: actually kinda convenient for me test: guess i shld thnk u? ModScarlet: Oh. ModScarlet: Kind of you. ModScarlet: Well, if that's what you really want. ModScarlet: Yeah, sure, I can do that. ModScarlet: As long as you are still paying attention, I can avoid calling you out. ModScarlet: I can even avoid running various public Node diagnostics if that's your preference. That could prevent you from conspicuously showing up on the power usage report. test: that wld b great, ya! test: tysm ModScarlet: You've been so polite so far, so. ModScarlet: Consider it courtesy returned, Mr./Mrs. test. test: im a girl. ModScarlet: Ms. test, then. ModScarlet: You said you had a second favor to ask? test: ya test: 2. u mentioned a list of candidates. test: and @ the start, u called us all test: "exceptional" test: what test: what does that mean?
Okay, that tells me it's definitely Emma. One, it's a girl. Sorry Dennis. Two, she's using modern day text speech.
Specifically, it's most definitely Emma right after her run in with the ABB and left her emotionally destroyed to the point she fully isolated herself from everyone, and she is thus extremely impressionable right now. Thus, it's Emma right before Sophia got her ideological claws into her.
Hopefully, when Sophia starts her crap, Emma will actually reach out to her nodemates and talk to them, but given what just happened, that explains why Emma isn't talking at all. She's basically dissociating from everything, and the only thing that forced its way in was this Node.
Also, it means that anyone she talks to on Bet about the Node? They're going to think she triggered in that alley, and this is her power.
Hopefully, when Sophia starts her crap, Emma will actually reach out to her nodemates and talk to them, but given what just happened, that explains why Emma isn't talking at all. She's basically dissociating from everything, and the only thing that forced its way in was this Node.
...Huh, I was completely unable to figure out who test could be before reaching the comments, but post-ABB pre-Sophia Emma would fit exactly. If Emma, busy watching the node, never goes searching and finds Sophia that's going to be a whole lot of butterflies.
Even if Emma never goes back to the alley, there's a chance Sophia will still reach out. She was at the alley days to weeks after it happened right when Emma decided randomly to go there one day? It's more than likely that Sophia stalked Emma rather than it being random chance. She did go out of her way to out her identity to Emma.
