Okay, folks. This has been something I've been wanting to do for a while now. A RWBY self-insert story. I plan on this being a feature story, but I won't work on it until I finish a couple other stories I have going on. This is here to gather attention and hopefully hook your interest. It is also my attempt at writing first person, so the point of view will be from an unreliable narrator. Anyway, let me know what y'all think.

Italics: Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks

"It speaks to our larger expectation that the world should be comprehensible- that everything happens for a reason, and that we can pinpoint all of those reasons, however small they may be. But nature itself defies these expectations." -Peter Dizikes

Happiness is different for everyone. Whether it's a feeling, a hobby that they take pleasure in or being around people they love, it fills them with warmth and purpose. It helps mitigate negativity and makes us focus on the positives of life, which is something people could do a better job of doing now more than ever.

Right now, the grin was not leaving my face as I turned my car onto the on ramp and back on the interstate. Every year I waited for April to swing around because that meant the start of one of my favorite sports, and one that I played a lot when I was a kid. Baseball. Now, it may be America's favorite past time and it's overshadowed by football and labeled as boring, but to be fair, I think most of the people that say that are those that never played the game. It's a game of patience, teamwork, and skill. Whether it was stepping up to the plate or making contact with that white ball and sending it over the fence four hundred feet away, lovers of the game couldn't get enough of it.

April had started, and that meant the Milwaukee Brewers were back on my priority list to watch after work was done. This time, I burned a vacation day of work to attend the opening day game. Brewers verse the Cardinals… those butt fucking red birds. If you haven't figured it out by now, the Cardinals are the one team that drives me up the goddamn wall. They were the ones that stopped our World Series or postseason hopes every time. For a Brewers fan like me, it was a sick joke.

Not today, though. Today was different. The Brewers picked up where they left off at the end of last season and took the first game against the Cardinals. They swept San Diego earlier on the road, and now were perfect so far for the season start. Although there was a lot of baseball to be played, I was feeling good about the year.

My eyes turned back to the road and a groan left me. Traffic was backed up from people getting out of work and leaving Miller Park. A quick glance to my fuel alerted me that I would need to refill it if I wanted to make it back home. There was another exit half a mile ahead that had a gas station that I could do just that. Plus, it gave me time to wait for traffic to clear up a little.

Traffic moved at snail's pace the entire way to the exit, and it was like escaping a packed elevator the second I reached it. Freedom!

I came to a stop and looked down the road. The green roof of the gas station met my eyes and I made my way towards it.

Definitely not the nicest looking neighborhood. Graffiti was sprayed on some of buildings. Windows were boarded up and broken. And the street was practically deserted. Like something you'd see in a post-apocalyptic world or maybe Detroit. God, it would suck to live in Detroit.

The car bumped as it went up the slope and I pulled it to the nearest pump by the station. Doing another look around the area, my eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror. There were a group of three individuals that were talking, but one in particular was looking at my car. Something that I didn't like. This area wasn't the best and had lots of violence and crime, and the last thing I wanted was to be robbed.

To take measures to protect myself, I had received a concealed carry permit and took a class for it. Under my seat was a lockbox that held my pistol and holster. My car was still locked and gave me time to take the necessary steps. The holster was soon attached to my right hip and my gun loaded inside of it, just hiding under my shirt. Wallet and phone was in my pocket, and the key fob was in there as well.

I turned off my car, undid the fuel cap and locked the doors. It did not take me long to set up the pump to fuel my car. I kept a close eye on the group on the other side of the lot. All three of them were eyeing me now. If these guys thought they were getting my Charger, they had another thing coming.

Since I had time to kill, I decided to head inside the store to grab a Rockstar. I entered it a second later and nodded at the clerk behind the bar. On the other side of the store I found the coolers and quickly hurried over to them. The sooner I could get out of there, the better.

The coolers had the same layout like other gas stations I went to. Beer, water, soda, energy drinks, maybe some dairy products for a quick morning breakfast. Finding the Rockstar flavor I wanted, I pulled it out of the cooler.

Maybe I need to take a step back and chill? Sure those guys were looking at my car and I was in a bad part of town, but that did not immediately label them as criminals. That was me assuming a stereotype and the racial card, too. Chargers are nice cars, and I took pride in mine when I bought it last year. Took care of her every weekend, and it's possible those guys were admiring the amount of work and dedication towards it.

Yeah, that's it. Nothing crazy would happen. Besides, what are the odds of that happening? Pretty slim.

I shook my head and decided to shift my focus elsewhere. Maybe reviewing the highlights of the game on Youtube when it was put on later tonight? Actually, maybe I should work on some of my fanfiction stories. God knows I got a lot of them that I want to finish up so I can move on to others. I mean, I got like, what, four RWBY stories? And that's not counting the crack fiction I had planned or the self-insert story that I would probably do next, courtesy of inspiration of Le MAO.

Yeah, something more positive like that. My imagination was limitless, and I sure as hell came up with damn good story ideas. Whether or not they registered with readers and they commented on it was another story. Either way, I had my plan for the evening in place. Get home, work on my RWBY fanfiction. Volume five had wrapped up not too long ago, and like the other volumes before it, it was good.

A beep met my ears as the door to the store opened and my eyes trailed up to the circular mirror above the coolers. It had a clear view of the shop all the way back to the counter. The person that entered was the guy I spotted eyeing my car before I came inside. It may have been me being paranoid, but screw it. I call it situational awareness. Military training does that to you. Makes you focus on your surroundings, no matter how small they may be.

What caught my attention was the way the guy was fidgeting around counter. His head was turning in all directions, like he was looking for someone. This made the proverbial alarm sound in my head. I'd seen enough movies and surveillance videos to know when something was about to go down. By the look of it, he hadn't seen me, but he sure saw the clerk.

I adjusted the bill of my hat and continued to keep an eye on the mirror. As I did, I managed to lay low by squatting in front of a chip rack. Another beep sounded again and I checked the mirror. The other two that were outside had come in and gathered by the first.

No. No way. This wasn't going to happen was it?

The middle man stepped up to the counter and his hand came out a second later with a note. When the clerk took it, the guy on his left pulled out a gun and pointed it at the kid. The kid's hands immediately flew into the air and his face was pale as can be.

A chill went down my spine and I could feel my legs shaking as I remained crouched behind the racks.

"Darius, look for that other guy. He's here somewhere," said one of them.

"Fuck!" My hand flew to my hip and rested on the grip of my gun.

This was Déjà vu.

Now, let me explain something. Everyone has those dreams where they see something and then experience it some point down the road. For me, it happened frequently to the point it was scary. The biggest thing was that I never remembered the context of the dream until it was actually taking place. Right now, I was having a similar one that this very situation happened, albeit differently with the events. For instance, the guy coming to attack me wasn't a belligerent, smoke scented drunk with a gun that chased me around the counter. I wasn't in the gas station during my lunch break downtown like I usually went to for work, and there wasn't any construction outside being done by monkeys.

Laugh at that if you will, but that's the honest truth. The dream was weird, but it scared the shit out of me and woke me up in a cold sweat when it happened that night long ago. Now it was really happening.

I now had to make an important choice. I could either pull my gun and protect myself and the clerk and be in perfect grounds to do so, or I could reveal myself and hand over whatever they asked for and alert the authorities once they left.

Time was running out, but I was quick with my decision.

My gun was ready and I secured it in a stronger grip. Darius' footsteps grew louder and I could hear them at the end of the aisle. He would be in my sights in just a second.

The tall, imposing figure appeared around the corner a second later and he spotted me. He started to walk towards me and my concealed carry lessons kicked in.

The draw had to be fast and your aim true. Muscle memory came into play, and let me tell you, I practiced draws a lot during the class, but I never pulled out my gun as fast as I did there. The second it was out, the barrel as lined up for a shot at the man's chest. No need to aim down the sights from this distance.

My finger pulled the trigger twice and two loud, quick shots left my gun as it kicked up. Even though my ears were ringing from the loud shot, I could hear the distinct chime of the brass as it hit the floor.

Darius had no time to react and he staggered back as if struck by a large unseen force. He fell to the floor sprawled and completely still. If he was dead, I did not take the time to check. I had to secure the area, and I'm sure those guys wouldn't be too happy since I iced their boy.

My heart was pounding wildly in my chest and my legs still shook, but my gun was steady. I crept around the corner and darted to the next aisle. Hurried footsteps met my ears and I saw a grey blur dart for the corner Darius was at. Taking another look at the mirror confirmed my belief. The spotter went to check on Darius while the first was still at the counter with the clerk looking around for me.

If I were to move now he would see me, but I could get the jump on his friend.

"That motherfucker's over there!" I saw the white shirted one point towards the aisle I was at.

Another look at the mirror and this time the one in grey ran up the aisle I just came from. I was ready.

The thug had his gun out and it was the first thing that came into view when he flew around the corner. Two more shots echoed around the shop. One left from my gun and the other from the thug's. My hair stood on end when I felt the bullet hiss by me and smash into the tiled wall.

Like before, my shot was on point, although this one was messier. I didn't take time to aim down the sights and just fired again. It was a lucky shot. The thug was slumped against the cooler and blood stained the cracked glass behind him. My shot got him dead center in the forehead. He was dead for sure.

Only one more. I might just make it out of this in one piece. My adrenaline was still at its peak and everything felt as though it was moving slow for me. The only other time I remember it being this jacked was when I almost got in a head on crash due to black ice. All the fist fights I got into had nothing on this.

Shallow breaths escaped my nose as I stood up and kept my gun pointed down the aisle at the last thug. The fight was done.

"If you even move your hands, I will shoot you! You understand me?" I shouted at him.

My fear was blanketed by a veil of anger and authority when I shouted at the punk.

The thug looked taken aback and did not say anything. His hands were raised and he slowly crept to the door to make a break for it. Whatever got him out of here and the cops here faster was fine for me. Hopefully the clerk hit the silent alarm after I gunned down the first guy.

The adrenaline was wearing down on me and I could see my gun finally shaking. I had to follow through with my words. No warning shots if the guy tried to do anything else.

The door beeped a second later and the thug sprinted out of sight. A loud breath escaped me that I didn't even know I was holding. I lowered my arms and walked over to the clerk.

"Did you hit the alarm?" I asked him.

"Y-yeah," the teen said with a nod.

"Okay. Listen buddy, I need you to be a witness when the cops ask questions. Can you do that?"

The teen nodded again, not trusting his words.

"Jesus Christ, man. That was intense," the teen said with a shake of his head.

No kidding. I've never been deployed or in a gunfight, but I sure as hell was not looking to be in one any time soon after that. It was the most terrifying thing that I had gone through, and it could have just as easily…

"Shit!"

The teen's voice broke me from my thoughts and I quickly turned around to the door. That thug was back and had a gun pointed right for me. My gun was on him and I fired two more rounds through the glass, but he got a shot off, too.

My shots had hit him in shoulder and dropped him to the blacktop of the parking lot.

Something was wrong here…

It started as a small ache, but it was soon replaced with a sharp, intense pain. My hand went to press down on my chest where the pain was coming from. What I touched was wet, and it was all over my shirt. Another chill went down my spine when I looked down and saw my hand was crimson with blood. My blood.

I could only stare at my bloody hand, not even registering the shock my body was going into. That cold shiver that hit me was starting to take over my whole body. Everything felt so cold.

Somewhere in the midst of this I lost my footing and a blur of colors met my eyes as I fell to floor. The faint feeling of blood trickling out of the wound in my chest was frightening. From the feeling alone, it wasn't a simple wound. This got me in a vital and my heart was pumping blood out fast. Way too fast.

My breath was coming out faster now and growing raspy.

Was this really how it was going to go for me? It was likely. Out of all the ways I pictured myself dying, it wasn't getting killed by a fuckin' punk. I always thought I would kick the bucket from something like a heart attack, an illness, or even in my sleep. Not bleeding out in a shady part of Milwaukee.

Another presence was beside me. Probably the clerk. I couldn't tell because my vision had gone from blurry to dark as I began to slip into unconsciousness.

A pair of hands pressed down on my chest in an attempt to slow the bleeding, but this was a lost cause. I wasn't going to come out of this.

The only thing that entered my mind as everything else started to fade around me was my family. My mom. My dad. My little sister. Sometime tonight they were going to get a call from a sheriff's deputy. I could feel my eyes start to sting with unshed tears.

Another presence came to my left. Were the cops here now? I never heard the sirens.

In a desperate attempt to try and see who was beside me, I forced my eyes open. The blurriness welcomed me to two figures. One was the clerk, and the other looked like a man in a suit.

I'm not sure who the man was, but the clerk didn't seem to notice him.

My eyelids were heavy and my breath was almost nonexistent. Weak and tired. There was no other way to describe it. I was weak and tired and just wanted to sleep. Hopefully this was just a crazy dream and I was still in bed. Wishful thinking, but that's what I wanted it to be.

Loud wailing sirens finally met my ears and I could even see faint flashes of red and blue, but they soon faded away. Their arrival should have been a ray of hope, but it was more like a slap to the face. It shattered the illusion that this was a dream, and I was truly here about to die on the floor.

Then came the darkness.

That's the intro, folks. Like I said. I don't plan on working on this until I finish a couple other stories. Hope you all liked the start and are willing to stick around to read it.