The world of Remnant, a land of mystery, history, and more battles then you shake a stick at. It is also home to people called Hunters! Hunters are trained to fight off the dark creatures of Grimm and the occasional power-mad person. Now at this moment, within this world, lay four sleeping girls. Each dreaming big and each dream bold, here they lie resting after a long day in the cold.
Knock Knock Knock Knock!
With the sound of knocking on their door, the fearless leader gets up with a-
*Yawn*
Well, I was hoping for a roar but that rhymes too. Ruby climbed down from her bunk bed and went to answer the door, trying her level best to ignore the faint morning glow just behind the window curtains.
'Aw man, it's the weekend and I have to get up early! If this is Jaune, then I'm stealing his share of Ren's breakfast pancakes.' Ruby grumbled in her mind as she finally went to open the door. The sight that greeted her wasn't one that she was expecting in that there was no one at the door. Ruby sighed and went to close the door before spotting the swishing of a tail.
"A fox? How'd you get all the way up here little guy?" Ruby bent down to get a better look at the animal, it had snow white fur and a black tipped tail... Why was a set of letters strapped onto it's back? The fox then reached around and grabbed one of the letters off it's back before offering it to Ruby.
"Uh… Thanks I guess?" Ruby grimaced as she wiped off the small bit of fox drool from the letter before opening it. Inside were four movie tickets and a note.
"Dear Team RWBY, My name is Kis… Kisch… Uh… I think I'll just skip the name." Ruby clear her throat before continuing.
"I've recently set up a cinema and I would be so terribly pleased if you could come visit for a session. Once all the other invites have arrived, I'll contact you again. Fond regards… Kis something something." Ruby looked back at the carrier fox who used its tail to salute and walked on over to JNPR's door before using its tail to knock.
"Weird… but I guess it must be someone who saw us fight off the Grimm from the train." Ruby walked back into her dorm room and, in a moment of mischief and not wanting to be bored for the next few hours, she flung open the curtains and sang.
"Good morning~!" The simultaneous groans she got from her teammates made her snicker a bit.
Ozpin wasn't having the best of mornings. For one, he had to do more paperwork than usual because of a training accident. For two, James and Glynda had to put up with an in-person follow up report from Qrow because he helped cause the accident. And for three, a fox with a letter strapped to it's back had somehow made its way up the elevator and into his office.
Honestly, if the post office was this good at getting mail to people, then maybe he should just post a bomb to Salem and see how that goes. Putting the thought away for later, Ozpin got up and walked over to the small animal.
"Hello, I'm guessing this letter is addressed to me?" Ozpin watched as the fox nodded and reached back for the letter.
"My goodness, the post office most certainly has you well trained. Ah, thank you." Ozpin took the letter and wiped the small amount of drool off. Inside were four tickets and a note.
"Dear Professor Ozpin,
It is to my great delight that I send you and your cohorts this free trip to my newly built cinema. I understand the stress of managing a position of power and thought an enlightening and thought provoking movie might help you in your endeavours. Once all tickets have arrived, I shall contact you again.
Fond regrades, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg."
For a while Ozpin just reread the note in silence. It was little things about the note that set off some alarm bells, mostly the fact that whoever wrote it seemed to know a bit more than they should about him. A little sigh escaped his lips as Ozpin looked back at the fox.
"I'm guessing you're not actually part of the Vale post office then." The fox yipped in confirmation. Well, there goes that plan to defeat the greatest evil with mail. Shame, would've been an amazing PR boost for the Vale postal service. The sound of his elevator moving meant he only had a few seconds of silence left.
The fox looked at him before walking next his desk and sitting down.
"One more problem to the pile I suppose." Ozpin sat down at his desk just as the elevator door opened. Standing there were Glynda, James, and Qrow… who was taunting one Winter Schnee. Ozpin restrained himself from allowing an eyeroll. Good grief.
Jaune rubbed the sleep out of his of his eyes, as Ren set down a bunch of tickets onto his bedside table.
"Morning Ren, what'cha got there?" Jaune got up to stretch before doing anything else. Ren merely hummed before responding.
"We've been invited to a newly built cinema. It doesn't have an address and I'm not sure how we're going to be contacted again." Ren put down the note before looking back Jaune.
"Hey, at least it's something to do today. Plus if we've gotten tickets, then Ruby's team will probably have gotten some as well." Ren nodded at that and went back to getting dressed. At least it's something to do… Oh, they have no idea…
One hour later
"Hey guys! Did you get some tickets too?" Jaune wasn't surprised when Ruby said yes. The young Reaper held up her ticket like it was a fancy glass, deciding to play along. Jaune held up his ticket and the two pretended to klink them together.
"Classy." Blake said with an unenthused tone, Ruby pretend to be insulted while Jaune just started shooting the breeze with the rest of his friends
Ozpin felt his head throb as Winter and Qrow continued their bickering and by the look of things, James and Glyda shared in his pain.
"I thought we discussed this before Ice Queen, I was going to take the afternoon to train with my nieces and their team. I even sent you a message on your Scroll about this!"
"Enough! I understand that the two of you want to spend time with your respective families but nearly starting another fight is unacceptable. Winter while I can understand how Qrow can be irritating, the fact that you respond to his taunts so intensely tells me you need to take some serious time to reflect. Qrow, you know what you did and you know why it's wrong." Glynda watched as Winter actually looked ashamed while Qrow simply shrugged. James walked over to Winter with a look of understanding and disappointment.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off, relax and enjoy the city. Goodness knows we could all use a day like that recently." That got a look of concern from from his subordinate.
"Are you sure sir? If anything, you and Professor Ozpin look like you could do with a day of rest, much more than me if you'll forgive the observation." Winter didn't need to look too hard to see the beginnings of exhaustion appear on Ironwood and Ozpin. The bags under their eyes weren't noticeable in a crowd but in a close space like this. There was no hiding it.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea actually. I for one feel a little overworked lately." The attention shifted towards Ozpin, with both Glyda and Qrow sending him especially concerned looks.
"You must be worse off than I thought if you're actually admitting it Oz." Crow didn't bother to hide his concern with a quip like usual. Ozpin sent him a grateful look before holding up the movie tickets.
"You're not wrong Qrow but, there is something I would like to do today that would technically be work." Ozpin watched as everyone's interest increased.
"It's also why I think you should have a day to yourself Winter, we're all much more prone to mistakes when unduly stressed. An investigation into a mystery Cinema sounds much more pleasant then a day of council paperwork. Wouldn't you agree James?" The two friends shared a small smile.
"Then you'll need your number one scout on the scene as well, no reason to take chances right?" Qrow said with a playful smirk, Glynda rolled her eyes but there wasn't the usual frustration that went with it.
"And I suppose that I should accompany you three, least you start another incident, international or otherwise." Glyda allowed herself a small indulgent smile.
"Well then I suppose I shall follow your lead and take a day to enjoy myself. I hear Vale has some spectacular coffee shops, maybe I'll enjoy trying out the blends." Winter walked over to the elevator, did a quick salute and closed the elevator door. Everyone turned to Ozpin who held up the four tickets. The moment everyone had a ticket, the room exploded into a kaleidscope of colours.
This same event occurred in the Beacon dorm halls. What a day they had ahead of them~!
~Meanwhile in the Cinema~
"Ah! The guests of honor will be arriving soon. I didn't think that fox would be able to pull it off. I had better bring over my guests." The well dressed, if haggard looking, man turned around to look at his personally designed summoning circle. Floating gems and ethereal lines made up a good deal of it. The man held out a hand as a glass like substance appeared above his hand.
"A dash of Zero, a sprinkle from the Grand, and of course! A drop of Night!" The man said as he tugged and pulled the glass like shard, causing different shapes and colours to appear within the object. A shark like grin appeared on his face as the man dropped the strange shard into the circle.
"At least we're not the involved targets this time." A young woman complained as she inspected her new uniform.
"I'm a little concerned that we're starting to considered being kidnapped and strong armed into work 'Not Involved'" A young man complained as he tried to loosen his vest.
"Quiet you two, it's starting!" The three watched as the gems began to light up and spin, it began to pick up enough speed that a small whirlwind was created. Eventually, shadows began to raise in the light until… BOOM!
"Always with the explosions, can't you try a summoning that doesn't involve property damage!" The young woman sent the haggard man a unamused look, which he pointedly ignored. Instead he stared down the confused but deadly looks the recently summoned crowd were giving him.
"Welcome everyone, to the Big M Cinema! Everyone gathered here will be give complimentary food and drinks for the marathon ahead." The man smiled as the crowd's look of confusion increased… and the sound of hand meeting face happening behind him. Everyone's attention was once again shifted as a second explosion went off in the next room over.
"Don't mind that, it's just the other guests arriving. Now let me lay out some ground rules that cannot be broken… By you guests, I don't really have to play by the same rules. Now that I think about it, neither do my students. The ones right behind me, in the uniforms." The pair swore as the attention shifted to them slightly.
"Rule number one! No fighting in the cinema. To enforce this rule, we have a bounded field activated so that any fisticuffs, spars, or other ways to get physically injured are going to give you a headache that not even Battle Continuation will ignore." One of the crowd members snarled in dissatisfaction before grumbling something too quiet to make out.
"Rule number two! No mobile devices are allowed on during viewings, or if you must leave them on. Please turn your device to silent. Also, no recording! That is my job." This rule got confused looks and mumbles from the crowd this time. Honestly, it's like they've never been to a cinema before
"And rule number three! Please clean up any mess you make in the cinema. While my two staff members are handy at keeping the place nice. They do have limits,- Which if broken! -will affect their ability to cook your food." This rule got a small sigh of relief from the pair behind him.
"Now the session is about to begin, Gilgamesh. We have special seating just for you so you won't complain throughout the movie." The now identified gold dressed man frowned, looking torn between being upset and satisfied. At least, that was before he was yanked away by some rather fancy chains.
"Everyone else, please meet the other guests in the lobby behind me. When the movie is ready to play, one of our lovely staff here will show you to your seats." The moment he finished talking, the room seemed to stretch! Before snapping back into place with a few new faces and a much different decor.
The room now looked much more like a cinema, with high ceilings that held banners and posters for the movies being show at the moment. The carpet was colourful and garish but had clear to see paths for anyone to follow. The walls were painted a dark red and were aligned with large TV screens showing trailers and clips of what must have been the movies. Off the in the corners of the room where food dispensers, games, one bar, and a lone coffee stand. Finally, there was the men and women's toilets… Plus a door that said for 'Gold Kings Only'.
"Wow." The white haired woman who said that was surrounded by two people. One was a man with sharp features and cold eyes, the other was a rather beautiful blond women in a full business suit.
"Kiritsugu! Is this what Cinema usually look like? Because if so then I'm slightly sad you never showed me any pictures." The women pouted at the now identified Kiritsugu, who didn't look too bothered by this fact.
"Sorry Iri, I haven't really be to too many cinema's myself so I didn't think you'd be too interested in them." Kiritsugu said as his eyes scanned the faces in the crowd and more importantly, an exit. This task of his was put on hold as a silver haired man dressed in green started walking towards him.
"Hello my name is Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy. And if you're looking for an exit, then I hope your search goes much better than ours did." Ozpin held out a hand to Kiritsugu, who stared at the gesture for perhaps bit longer than most would consider polite. Before giving him a single firm handshake.
"Did you find any ventilation in the bathrooms?" Kiritsugu asked with a almost empty voice. Ozpin raised an eyebrow at this before shaking his head.
"Sadly no, the area seems to be getting continus fresh air but we can't seem to find a source that would allow any sort of wind to flow inside." Ozpin watched as he suddenly became a non-factor in Kiritsugu's eyes.
'I'll have to keep an eye on this one, he reminds me a bit too much of who I was when I just began fighting Salem. Although…' Ozpin let his eyes wander over to the man in the religious clothes. Why not simply identify him as a priest, because he did not wear his symbol of faith with any measure of pride. Everything about the man screamed 'Habit' rather than 'Choice'. His eyes however... Such empty dark eyes.
'I truly hope I'm wrong about this man but… I can't help but feel the beginnings of something terrible from him.' Ozpin shuddered in his mind but continued to try and make small talk with the other "Guests".
"Oh my gosh! What is that?!" Ozpin smiled at the Ruby's excitement over the weapons being shown to her.
"This? This is Gae Bolg little lady, it's not too hard to tell it's something special right?" The tall man in blue shared in Ruby's excited smile.
"Are you kidding? I don't even need to hold it to tell it's perfectly weighted! Oh! Oh! What's with all these engravings on it? Wouldn't these make holding it awkward or easier to slip from your hands?" Ruby looked just about ready to snatch the spear for herself at any second. About 10 meters back, a white-haired girl yelled "Ruby, get back here! You don't know what he has put that thing in!" The man in blue didn't seem to mind though. The teenagers surrounding the speaker, however, gave her strange looks.
"For normal engravings, yeah, that'd be a problem but these are runes little lady. Taught to me by my teacher and applied by yours truly!" Ruby's and Ozpin's eyes widened at this.
"Oh right! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you." Ruby fidgeted as she tried to play off her embarrassment. The man just let out a hearty laugh as he offered Ruby a hand to shake.
"A pleasure to meet you Miss Rose, I am Cu Chulainn." Cu watched as Ruby gave him an awkward hand shake before going quiet. This got an eyebrow raise out of the great warrior.
"Hey where'd all that energy go little lady? I was hoping to continue discussing weapons with you." Cu held back a disappointed sigh, what had happened?
"Sorry, it's just my friends have been helping with all this "Socializing" stuff. So when I realized I didn't know your name. I panicked and clammed up." Ruby tried not to sway side to side as she said this but some nervous ticks are hard to break okay? To Cu's credit, he didn't look at her any differently then when they were talking about Gae Bolg. Which did wonders for pulling Ruby back into the flow of conversation.
Off to the side of the group stood a hooded woman who watched the conversation play out, getting a read on the woman seemed impossible to read at the moment but that didn't stop her from being spotted by Ruby and Cu. Who walked on over to the hooded woman with a sense of casual confidence that made Ruby a little jealous.
"Well if it isn't Caster. Or since the Holy Grail is over now, would you mind if I used your true name?" Cu asked with little to no hostility but Ruby could feel there was a bit of a history here and she suddenly regretted following Cu over here. Caster pursed her lips in what might have been thought, it could also be distaste, at what Cu said before pulling down her hood.
The sight surprised Ruby a little, despite wearing a hood the entire time. Caster's hair looked like it had just come out of a salon!
'That's just not fair!' Ruby thought as she remember all the times she pulled her hood down only for someone to tell her to fix up her hair.
"I suppose the need for concealing my name is a bit redundant now. Hello again Cu, and it's a pleasure to meet you Ruby Rose. My name is Medea, I look forward to getting to know you." Medea smiled warmly at Ruby and offered her a hand to shake. Before Ruby could return the gesture, Cu grabbed her hand.
"Hey hey! Don't think I can't sense that spell you just prepared witch." Cu leveled a glare at the witch that would turn a lesser person to mush. Ruby just looked between the two with some confusion, Spells? Witch? Ruby felt she was sorely lacking some context.
*Dingling*
Everyone turned to the sound of the chiming and found the women from before holding a white bell. She curtised with a strained smile before speaking in a… Well let's be polite and say annoyed tone of voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your first session of today will be playing soon. If you could please follow me to your seating, that would be wonderful. Also!" The young lady fired off three bolts of black energy that struck the heads of Cu, a man with white hair, and Zelretch.
"Please save all questions and general mucking about for the breaks between the sessions." The young woman wore a bone chilling smile, and even though her eyes were shut. The gathered guests felt like she was still watching their every little twitch.
"Follow me and I'll show you to your seats." The young woman started to guide the group up a set of stairs and down hall until they arrived at a lavish sky blue door that stood in total contrast to the red theme of the building. The door opened to reveal a rather large room with an even larger screen.
Everyone followed the young woman down the isles to the middle row. Sitting at the end of the row was the man in gold who's seat looked more like stone tablet then anything else. Despite this, he looked far more content then he did before. Once everyone was seated, the young woman bow and walked away.
The screen lit up with a countdown
5
4
3
2
1
RWBY felt their jaws drop when they saw a perfect look alike for their team leader and friend walking on screen. Ruby herself felt like pulling her hood up as she could feel the stares of the other guest being directed at her. A reassuring hand from Yang stopped her from doing so.
The screen showed Ruby wondering the outskirts beacon humming a happy tune, oblivious to murmurs of her team's match and equally oblivious to the food stain from the noodle stand. Pulling out her scroll, Ruby looked at the group chat she with her team and frown slightly.
Yang was asking where She and Weiss were, Ruby quickly typed a reply back about Weiss meeting up with her own big sister before mentioning that she was going to do some quick weapon maintenance before heading over to plan the victory party.
Blake texted something to the group chat but before Ruby could read it, she noticed a short petite blond woman. Who was looking about with a worried expression.
'She must be lost, just like I was on my first day here.' Ruby put her scroll away and walked up to the woman.
"Um, excuse me Miss." The woman turn around to Ruby, surprise written on her face.
The same blonde woman found her eyes widening involuntarly as it was her on the screen.
"Yes?"
"Are you looking for the Bullhead to the coliseum? It's just a few turns down that way." Ruby pointed, while giving the woman an understanding look. The woman gave Ruby a raised eyebrow in response to this.
'Huh, that's pretty close to the look Miss Goodwitch gives Yang and Nora sometimes. Are they sisters? Nah, couldn't be'
"Actually, I'm looking for the headmaster's office." The answer frooze Ruby in the same way a child froze with their hand in a cookie jar.
"I have actually been looking for quite a while but there doesn't seem to be any maps around here-"
The sound of weapons clashing caused both of them to look for the source. The two arrived at the source at the noise where a huge crowd had gathered, Ruby and the women pushed past the crowd where they eventually found Weiss.
"What's going on?" Ruby sent her partner a worried look.
"Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister." Weiss looked back at the battle in concern.
"Oh no! Who would do such a thhhhat's my uncle!" Ruby screamed as she looked at the battle.
"What?"
"Kick her butt uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheered!
"Teach him respect Winter!" Weiss cheered with some slightly awkwardness. The blonde woman behind them just frowned at the display.
As the fight went on. The guests from Remnant frowned, this was a near one for one recreation of what had happened just a few days ago. The guests from earth however had fairly different reactions, with most of the servants cheering as the fight progressed. Kiritsugu just frowned at the casual display of violence.
The fight seemed to reaching a final climax as Winter and Qrow charged each other. Only for a blur of person to appear before them and thrust out her palms to the two of them. The two hunters easily flipped away and eyed the newcomer with some degree of incredulity.
"Enough of this foolishness! You are both huntsmen yet you behave like children!" The woman admonished the two. Qrow just raised an eyebrow while Winter stammered between confusion and anger.
"Who, who are yo-"
"Schnee!" Whatever Winter might have about to ask was quickly replaced with tripdation and disappointment. She turned around and saluted.
"Sir!" Behind her was Ironwood, Goodwitch, and Ozpin.
"What's going on here?" Ironwood demanded.
Winter tried to explain the situation to her favour but one quick comment from Qrow made her realise that the fight, was in fact, started by her. The crowd seemed to grow bigger at this until a calm yet commanding voice rang out.
"Now, now everyone." Ozpin paused as he scanned the crowd, his eyes only momentarily widening before going back to his usual composed look.
"There is another fight going on right next door with much better seats. And popcorn." At this small declaration, the gathered crowd began to disperse.
Ozpin felt a ball of nervous energy well up inside of him. The events shown on the film were eerily accurate. If this kept up, he may have to have a long talk with both Team RWBY and JNPR. He looked at his comrades in arms with concern and found his worries were shared. He looked back up to the screen as a small sheen of sweat started to gather on his hands.
After waving to her friend Penny, Ruby quickly latched herself onto her uncle's arm.
"Uncle Qrow!" Said Uncle winced slightly as his niece yelled into his ear.
"Hi." Ruby said much more quietly as she just hung from her uncle's lanky arm.
After the two engaged in their usual family greeting before Ruby was put down. Then Ozpin called out Qrow's name but without it's usual friendly warmth. Qrow quickly said his goodbyes and started to walk away. As Ruby watched her uncle walk over to Ozpin, she remembered the blond woman from before.
Ruby dashed over to the blonde woman and called out to her. Catching her off guard for a moment.
"That's Professor Ozpin right over there. He'll probably be able to talk to you once he's down scolding Uncle Qrow." The blonde woman quickly looked over to the Professor before looking back at Ruby.
"Thank you Miss…"
"Ruby, Ruby Rose." Ruby chirped, earning a smile from the blonde woman.
"It's good to meet you, Ruby Rose." The woman quickly shook Ruby's hand before placing a hand on her chest.
"You have the thanks of Arturia A-" Ruby's eyes went wide as she interrupted the regal woman.
"Oh no! He's getting away! You have to go before you loss him!" Arturia quickly nodded before taking off after the headmaster. Weiss walked over to her partner with a look of confusion about her.
"I now understand where your reckless comes from." Ruby just smiled at the small jab and shot back with.
"Oh, you're just mad he whooped butt."
"That was a DRAW at best. Or would have been if that woman hadn't intervened." That caused both girl to take on thoughtful looks.
"Who was the woman?"
"She's probably here to enter the tournament." Ruby answered with some certainty.
"Impossible. No student would dare to get in between two fully trained huntsmen like that."
The two went into thoughtful silence before Ruby's face lit up in panic.
"Yang!" The scene panned away as Weiss gave chase to her partner.
As the new scene appeared, Ozpin suddenly felt grateful for this chance encounter. The boy's thoughts were audible during the scene. Those thoughts being that he knew Qrow, and if he knew Qrow, then they'd find the spy hidden in Beacon.
Mercury ran into his dorm room, revealing Emerald, and Cinder. Before he could spot his concerns to his boss. A new voice announced itself.
"Well, isn't this interesting."
Kirei felt his heart speed as a very different version of him appeared on screen. Unlike everyone else, he didn't focus on the dialog being shared. He was focusing on the one detail that was present on his character throughout the entire scene. He was smiling in constant joy… And it made him shuddered in fear, and as much as he would deny it, anticipation.
The scene seemed to coming to an end as Kirei pulled out a Scroll.
"There has been an interesting development, Saber has just walked into Beacon."
The screen cut to black as an ominous feeling was left in the air. The young woman from before walked into the room with small tray of food on hand.
"Thank you for watching and welcome to the first break for this long, long movie." The gathered crowd couldn't but feel nervous but that… is for another time.
~Part One! Watched!~
Okay! Let's make this quick! I'm alive again, I'll try and post chapters to my stories fortnightly! And this bright idea came from Nerf585's challenge while the story being used came from TheMaster4444! Check both of them out while I try and juggle my projects!
Also! Also! This was Beta'd by Bobobo77! They be on Discord. Now let me collapse! Bye!
