Chapter 3: Meet the Other Team

A few minutes later, at the gun show

Metal clanged on metal, shots rang out, and incoherent screams about "poop trains" filled the air of the Pandoran bazaar. Strictly speaking, it was more of a market than a gun show, but given the nature of Pandora, most people were there for the guns. A certain unlikely duo, a young man and woman, stood at one of the shops. The young man was a tall, scraggly blonde with blue eyes equipped with little more than an armored hoodie and jeans. On his back was an old Jakobs rifle, almost completely unremarkable save for its refurbished condition and the mark of a family crest, signifying its status as a family heirloom. The young woman, only a bit shorter, had long bright red hair in a ponytail that logically should have worked against her in a fight. Her green eyes scrutinized the collection of wares on the table in front of her before yanking the blonde to look with her. "How does that look for you, Jaune?" The woman asked, pointing to the Pangolin brand turtle shield

"Actually really good, thanks Pyrrha." The blonde replied, examining the faded out instruction label of the shield"

"HEY! YOU GONNA PAY FOR THAT OR WHAT?!" a distant voice, probably the shopkeeper, yelled.

"STRIP THE WOUND! SALT THE FLESH! NYA HAHAHAHHAHAA" and a disturbingly wet thud sound was the reply. The duo turned to the sound only to see a dead shopkeep and a masked psycho giving them a thumbs up.

"Oh. Uhhh, thanks? I guess" Jaune said to no one in particular, placing the shield on his belt and activating it. Offended by the lack of acknowledgment, the psycho then threw his buzzaxe at Jaune only for it to ricochet off his newly equipped shield. Undeterred by the setback, the psycho then rushed forward in an attempt to head-butt Jaune before receiving a bullet right between the eyes and crumpling onto the table, splattering blood onto Jaune's face

"Oh, I'm sorry" Pyrrha said, apologizing for getting blood on Jaune before putting her old Atlas rifle back in her pack. "Not to be rude, but you don't exactly look like you're here for a vault" Pyrrha remarked carefully.

"I am though, adventuring is a family tradition. Also I may sort of have student loans. Like, a lot of student loans" Jaune replied, partially grateful at Pyrrha accompanying her on his journey and partially intimidated by her… well…. everything. Now there was no surprise as to why she was so famous. Even the cereal boxes back on Eden-6 featured her, but he hadn't made the connection until he actually met her, or when she met him, to be more accurate. After she saved him from a stare-down with a bullymong, Jaune jokingly asked if they could travel together. What he didn't expect was Pyrrha enthusiastically accepting the invitation. Here he was, practically a nobody, the family's black sheep on the galaxy's black sheep planet with nothing but the clothes on his back, his ECHO communicator and his family's rifle, (he hadn't even packed extra ammo!) and then Pyrrha, the famous (or infamous depending on who you ask) "Invincible Girl" decided he was a good enough partner to travel with. There was a catch to this, no way that he could have lucked out this hard. But for now, he would appreciate his good fortune until something comes up, whatever it will be, he's sure he and Pyrrha can handle it.

On another side of the marketplace, another duo, also a young man and woman stood. The man was the taller one with long black hair with a pink streak in a worn green shirt that had definitely come from off planet, and plain white pants. The woman was quite a bit shorter, as was her ginger hair. She wore what looked like cobbled together armor and a pink "combat skirt", as she called it. The woman was currently face to face with one of the shopkeepers with a too wide smile that could have either been from genuine happiness or sadistic glee while the young man watched behind her without expression.

"What, but-WE HAD A DEAL!" the panicky shopkeeper screamed

"Yes, had a deal. It's so rude to hide things from your clients, naughty naughty. Speakin' of that deal, remember what I said when we were leaving?" She turned to the silent man behind and silently asked for his approval.

"Yes Nora, you can break his legs, but that's it" the man in green responded with a sigh

"Thanks, Ren!" was the last thing the shopkeeper heard before he felt the intense pain of a condition commonly known as "hammer to the knees".

"You know there are cleaner ways to do this, right Nora?" Ren asked, not really expecting a real answer.

"Yeah… but this is so much fun! Besides the bounty only said "alive", he's pretty alive! …Right? C'mon big guy, helloooooo? Yoo-hoo, anyone home?" Nora replied as she began to shake the shopkeeper, who had passed out from shock. "I'm sure he's fine, let's go!"

"Okay Nora" was all the response Ren was willing to give. Nora was great to have around, and they've been thick as thieves since, well, ever, but he wished that violence wasn't so fun for her. It made conversations with the town sheriffs a little awkward.

As both the duos planned to exit the market, they realized a major problem: they were both lost. With no clue on where the exit was, they eventually ran into each other, literally.

"Hey watch where you're going!" Jaune yelled without thinking. "Ooh! Ren! Can I? Can I?" shouted as she pulled out her hammer.

At the sight of the hammer, Jaune's attitude pulled a complete one eighty. "I uhh we, whoops! We didn't mean any trouble we swear! Please don't do what I think you're going to do I like my kneecaps"

"You heard him Nora" Ren insisted firmly, indirectly acknowledging Jaune's pleas for mercy

"Aww" Nora deflated

"We don't have any jobs right now, do you mind if we accompany you two?" Pyrrha asked, pulling the same thing Jaune did. The other duo seemed decent enough, even if the girl, Nora, she thinks she was called, was a tad bloodthirsty.

"Oooh! That's even better! We can be a team, like all the other super famous vault hunters were! Oh but we need a name, what are your names, you two?" Nora inquired exuberantly

"Jaune" "and Pyrrha" they replied, not in a mood to add anything else.

"Hmm, let me think. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren. J, N, P, R, JNPR. We can be team Juniper!" Nora announced, as if announcing the opening of a vault.

"Team JNPR, that actually sounds nice, we're in" Pyrrha answered back, smiling warmly.

"So do you two know how to get out of this market brawl whatever-this-thing-is?" Jaune asked, looking around fearfully

"Uhhh, no actually. We're lost too" came Ren's terse reply.

"Well we can at least stick together" Pyrrha decided for the newly formed team JNPR.

They would wander the market for a little bit longer before running into another group of people, and again, they literally ran into each other.

END OF CHAPTER 3