Let's turn someone into a baby! That'll be a thing, right?
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. It belongs to Rooster Teeth and the late and great Monty Oum.
The final class of the day was Dust 101 with Professor Glynda Goodwitch. As of right now, the students were participating in an end of semester assignment:
Applying the knowledge they have gained and creating their own Dust. They had most of the class to concoct their own mix and then present it to the teacher for analysis.
Team RWBY had unanimously decided to create a mix that would make Dust that works similar to a smoke machine, since it was the safest.
Nora Valkyrie of Team JNPR wanted to make a kind of Dust that makes everything taste like pancakes, but the idea was quickly shot down by Lie Ren. Instead, they went for a fireworks Dust, despite Jaune Arc's internal concerns about setting the class on fire.
Kuro Arc himself had a beaker of a green colored Dust, which somewhat caught Glynda's attention due to the luminous glow to it. When it came time for her to assess, she went to Kuro first.
"Mr. Arc…" she grabbed his attention. The spiky haired archer quickly turned on his heel to face her as she approached his desk. "…please explain what this mix is supposed to do." The class also gave him their full attention, making him flush.
"I'm working on a special kind of Dust that can revive dead trees after natural decay or human intervention. I chipped in a little bit of my aura for added effect." During his explanation, he didn't notice resident scythe master Ruby Rose and fiery brawler Yang Xiao Long coming to take a closer look.
"Why'd you make a kind like that?" Yang asked and Kuro shrugged.
"Beats me. I just did the first thing that came to me."
"Regardless, originality is a promising start." Glynda praised him. "But there is also the matter of testing it to see if it will have the desired effect." she then quickly made a mark on her Scroll for calculating Kuro's grade.
…And then, the accident happened.
A fly made its way into the room and was seemingly attracted to the glow of Kuro's Dust mix and flew around it. Kuro tried swatting the bug away while being careful not to knock over the beaker. Unfortunately, the fly was quick and dodged each attempt like a ninja…
…and it landed on Ruby's nose. Her nose started to twitch and she started taking brief breaths of air: the universal sign of a sneeze coming on. Weiss Schnee seemingly teleported and placed a finger under her leader's nose, stopping her from sneezing.
"Thanks, Weiss!" Ruby expressed her gratitude.
"Hn." the heiress merely replied. However, the fly was smart and went for Weiss, landing on her nose and making her sneeze instead. When she did, it made Ruby jump and that made her accidentally knock over Kuro's experiment.
"Well, damn…" was Kuro's last words as he was enveloped in a thick, green cloud of Dust. Everyone who was around Kuro dispersed as to not get caught in the cloud.
"Well, this presents a problem…" Glynda says calmly albeit with a hint of well-hidden concern in her voice.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorryyyyy!" Ruby panicked while trying to fan off the Dust. When the smoke cleared, there was a collective gasp from the entire room sans Glynda's utterance of "Oh, my…"
"Waaaaaahh! Uwaaaahhh! Aaaaaaauuuwwwaa!"
Sitting on the floor was Kuro, but he was mysteriously changed into a baby boy. His spiky black hair and red scarf were present, but the latter was much too big for him. He wore a black and red onesie like Jaune's as he was crying his eyes out. Blake Belladonna of Team RWBY and Team JNPR crowded around the crying infant, their reactions varied. The RBY of RWBY had their cheeks turn bright red while the "W" felt slight guilt at her slip up and increased hatred for insects for causing it. Nora was gushing at how cute baby Kuro was and tried to glomp him, if it were not for Jaune and Ren holding her back and Pyrrha had trouble comprehending what the hell she was looking at. Eventually, Ruby lifted baby Kuro into her arms, which made him immediately stop crying and look at her with natural curiosity.
"Apparently, exposure to human subjects causes age regression. In other words, it turns humans into babies as opposed to crop regeneration."
"I know I wouldn't mind being a baby again." one student commented.
"Would you mind a detention?"
"No… I mean, yes…"
"Then please keep the unnecessary comments to a minimum."
"Yes, ma'am…"
"Quite the predicament you are all in this time…" Headmaster Ozpin says bemusedly as Teams RWBY and JNPR had informed them of the Dust mishap.
"Is there any way we can change him back, Headmaster?" Jaune asked.
"I am not the creator of the Dust mix. As such, I do not know how long the effects will last. I choose to remain the optimist and say that it will dissolve with time, but that is just basic conjecture."
"Huh?" Nora tilted her head at the foreign word.
"He's just guessing." Ren translated for her. "What about Kuro's grade for the assignment? Will he have to do it again?"
"Kuro had succeeded in creating a legitimate Dust mix, but did not get a chance to… properly demonstrate its effects." Glynda said.
"Why not count this as demonstrating its effects?" Blake piped in.
"Explain, Miss Belladonna."
"Kuro created some Dust, as you said. And he had explained its effects on plant life, but not the effects on humans. He just happened to be his own guinea pig for demonstrating it, which was the final part of the grade."
"Her point does hold some merit, Miss Goodwitch." Glynda sighed, already used to her superior's ways of finding loopholes.
"…Very well. Please make sure to notify Kuro once he returns to his original self." she could not help but smile when Kuro, who was currently in Pyrrha's arms, cooed softly which elicited a few "Aw's."
"Which brings us to your next 'assignment.' Well, I would not count it as an assignment, more along the lines of a…joint mission. That mission being to care for the baby boy currently in Miss Nikos's arms until he re-ages." Ozpin decided. The eight teens knew there was no point arguing and each gave signs of affirmation. "Very well. You are all dismissed."
Teams RWBY and JNPR were honestly a little bit unnerved about raising a baby. It wasn't like they had any experience with toddlers to begin with (although, Yang did have the whole "motherly overprotectiveness" part down packed).
"Do you guys think he even knows who were are anymore. Like, have his memories gone down along with his age?" Jaune raised a fairly good point.
"That is pretty justifiable. Also, is probably the most likely case." Ren analyzed as he walked up to the dozing baby Kuro. "He does seem quite comfortable around us, and I do notice the sudden lack of a child's natural curiosity whenever he looks at us. I'm leaning towards him actually remembering us."
"Is there a way we can truly tell?" Weiss asked as she scrutinized the boy.
"Let's see…" Ren bent down closer to Kuro and placed a hand onto his tiny head, making him open his big, blue eyes in a bit of surprise.
"Kuro, who am I?" the amazingly calm baby stared at the large man in front of him before struggling to form a coherent response.
"Eiii… Auuu… En… En! En!" he couldn't pronounce his "r's" at this age.
"Well, that pretty much sealed it. Also, awww~" Jaune offered and everyone followed his example.
"Now that that's outta the way, who's gonna watch Hedgehog first?" Yang rose the obvious question. No one could even answer as Blake has somehow taken Kuro out of Pyrrha's grasp, eyes twinkling behind her usual stoic gaze. Yang smirked mischievously. "Kitty's found her mouse, I see."
Everyone ignored that last statement. Blake just went into her room with the now sleeping infant. Nora muttered something about unfairness while Ren reassured her off getting some time with the baby. Team RWBY retreated to their dorm room, being excused from classes to care for Kuro. Blake was already laying in her bed, rocking the baby in her arms while gently running her finger along his chubby cheek.
"Well, now that Blake has 'volunteered' us for daycare… which one out of all of us has had experience with babies?" Weiss asked.
"Uh, hello? You've got an older sister on your team!" Yang pointed to herself with pride.
"We're only two years apart!" Ruby exclaimed indignantly.
"Well, at least we have that…" the frosty one muttered as they prepared for probably the weirdest adventure they have had yet.
Anyways, favorite, follow, and review please! I'll see you byoutiful sons of guns next time!
~ Peace!
