A/N: "Kept you waiting, huh?" - Snake (Metal Gear Series)
Well here we go everyone, the beginning of Volume 1's conclusion. So sorry you all had to wait an extra month for this chapter but setbacks can and will happen in life, all we can do is make the best of it. But enough about that, you guys want to get to the actual chapter so I'll make this Review and Response brief.
Chr1sXIII says and asks, "I like this story so far. Question: will Manami achieve Ultra instinct in future chapters, say like Volume 3? If not, it's cool, it's kinda overpowered."
Me: Thanks dude. As for Ultra Instinct, well... I will say this; Ultra instinct will eventually show up but not as early as Volume 3. "How will it show up? When will it appear? Who will achieve it?" For those questions, I have a few ideas in mind for when and how but as for who will achieve it... well that's for me to know and for you readers to find out.
TheHolyBlade says and asks, "I like it. Will Goku and Vegeta make an appearance, or anyone else in the DB universe for that matter?"
Me: Thanks. And this exact chapter and many future chapters will answer that for me.
Bloodwitch Raven asks, "Things are gonna go down hill for Manami, isn't (it)..."
Me: *Laughs Maniacally*
Recent Update log:
11/30/17 - N/A
8/16/18 - minor fixes and opening sequence added.
Now I've kept you guys waiting long enough, go on and enjoy the chapter folks.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs, plotline, and concepts for the story. The rights of both RWBY and anything Dragon Ball (Z, GT, Super) related, including the music that I suggest listening to, go to their respective owners and so on.
[Music Start – "This Will be the Day" RWBY Volume 1 OST - Performed by Casey Lee Williams]
As the theme starts to build up to the first lyrics, several words appeared in a black background, stating:
Dragon of Beacon presents
Shortly after, the words and the black background faded to show a figure with a red cape and hood on a cliffside with the full moon above the person; their cape billowing in the wind and as it did, the end of their cape had rose petals flying out of it. The next shot revealed the figure to be a girl who was wearing black and red clothing beneath the hood and was kneeling in front of a gravestone.
They see you as small and helpless
They see you as just a child
As the lyrics began, the girl soon looked up to see that behind the grave was a figure wearing a white hood and cape whose billowing cape was turning into rose petals at the end and another girl with long raven colored hair, wearing a white shirt underneath her simple blue Gi with a matching blue skirt. However it was soon revealed that there was no one underneath the white hood and cape as if there was a ghost while the girl in blue was merely transparent.
Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild
The white hood and cape then faded away into rose petals while the girl in blue simply disappeared, floating past the girl in the red hood who continued to look at where the figures were. The final shot showed that the moon was also turning into rose petals before the screen went white.
Prepare for your greatest moment
On the first "Prepare", the red-hooded girl then dashed across the screen in a blur leaving behind rose petals, which in turn revealed the title of the series.
Dragon Ball RWBYverse
Prepare for your finest hour
On the second "prepare", the title faded away to show Weiss, who was currently under a spotlight.
The dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flower
The scene quickly changed to show Blake on a tree branch somewhere in the Forest of Forever Fall. Moments later she vanished but in her place was a white outline of a mask very familiar to her; once more the scene changed to show Yang looking at an image on her scroll before she looks up in determination. She was then seen revving up her motorcycle, Bumblebee, doing a quick 180 and leaving in hurry as she does a wheelie, leaving behind tire smoke causing the screen to fade to white.
We are lightning
As the next set of lyrics begin, a Nevermore flies over an army of various Grimm before the scene changes again on the lyric "lightning" to reveal Roman Torchwick with a bunch of black suited henchmen behind him before the scene caught fire as it faded away.
Straying from the thunder
We go through the fire to reveal a woman in red dress whose face is hidden by shadows with her Amber eyes clearly visible; she was flanked by four silhouettes. One was a young man, another a young woman, while another was of a taller muscular man, and the last being another young woman with some kind of staff.
Miracles of ancient wonder
The scene changed once more to reveal that the first girl from earlier was Ruby who was currently flanked by Weiss, Blake, and Yang and all of them were surrounded by Grimm while a large sphere of darkness hovered above them.
This will be the day we've waited for
As the first part of the chorus begins, Ruby turned around before she moved to block some kind of attack; the sphere of darkness crashed down from above, causing a powerful shockwave and forcing Weiss, Blake and Yang to dodge and move toward Ruby. The four quickly recovered before the girl in the blue Gi joined them, revealing herself to be Manami Aoi, as she dropped down from above and dashed toward the incoming darkness with the four girls quickly joining her.
This will be the day we open up the door
The scene then changed once again, showing a large statue in the middle of a courtyard which depicts a Huntsman and Huntress with a young man with blonde hair wearing some armor looking up at the statue.
I don't wanna hear your absolution
The young man was soon revealed to be Jaune before a hand was then placed on his shoulder before he looked to his left to see Pyrrha.
Hope you're ready for a revolution
The scene reveals Ren and Nora standing next to him before it changed once again.
Welcome to a world of new solutions
Welcome to a world of bloody evolution
The next scene started to pan out to reveal Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch on the bow of a transport class airship joined by Manami Aoi who is leaning on the safety rail.
In time
The shot then fades to show a black background with Ruby and her red rose emblem behind her, followed by Weiss brandishing her rapier, Myrtenaster, with her elegant snowflake emblem behind her.
Your heart will open minds
Next was Blake preparing to unsheathe her weapon, Gambol Shroud, with her black flower emblem behind her.
A story will be told
She was quickly followed by Yang and her burning heart emblem, finishing off with Manami opening her eyes as she stops meditating with her emblem of a blue four-star dragon ball behind her.
And victory is in a simple soul
The scene changes one last time to show the entrance of Beacon Academy with Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch in front of the doors; the camera pans outward to Jaune sheepishly scratching his head, Pyrrha with her weapon Miló on her shoulder, Nora being her carefree self with Ren close by. Yang was shown to be standing confidently and winking, Blake on guard with her hand on the handle on Gambol Shroud, and Weiss standing with her hand on Myrtenaster's guard. The final shot is of Ruby twirling Crescent Rose and Manami twirling her sword, R-Blade, before slamming it into the ground fading into a black background; in between the two girls and their weapons was once again the title of the series before completely fading to black.
Dragon Ball RWBYverse
[Music End]
Headmaster's Office, Beacon Academy, the night of the Forever Fall incident
The room was silent, as silent as it could be with the gears above the occupants constantly in motion. Ozpin sat in his chair with Glynda by his side while Manami stood to the right of his desk with Teams RWBY and JNPR a few feet away. Weiss, Blake, and JNPR had just finished listening to Manami's story and to say that they are shocked is putting it mildly; Ruby and Yang were also shocked but only because of how powerful their sister truly is. They were all taking a few moments to process this new information, but when they did, Blake calmly said, "So correct me if I'm wrong, you're an alien, a Saiyan to be specific, and you've only found out about it four years ago?"
Manami nodded before Ren continued where Blake left off, "And Saiyans are a warrior race that grows noticeably stronger with each battle they fight?"
Another nod from Manami before Jaune adds in, "And in the past four years, you've been whisked away to save another universe's history, in a literal sense where you actually time traveled?"
Once again, another nod as Weiss says her piece, "And the power that you displayed was not that of your soul, but that of your Ki or life energy?"
Manami sighed as she answered, "Yep that's pretty much the gist of it; I don't expect the six of you to believe me, but how else would you explain everything I've done? From my ability to fly to fighting hand-to-hand with powerful Grimm to firing energy blast from my hands."
Nora spoke up at this, "She does have a point; it's not like we have another explanation or so."
Everyone, with the exception of Ozpin, Manami, and Ren, looked at Nora like she had something growing on her face. The hammer-wielding huntress-in-training looked to her peers and asked, "What?"
Manami spoke up before anyone can say anything to Nora, "Guys, she's actually much more mature than she lets on, I've noticed that the day I stopped Cardin from harassing Velvet; it was when she said that you guys had no more questions, but it was really to let me have some time to myself."
Six members of both teams were about to reply to that when Ren added solemnly, "She's right guys, Nora is much more mature than she shows; I have traveled with her for a long time and if you've seen what we've been through, you would understand her a bit more. But enough about Nora, we're here because of Manami."
Everyone simply nodded at his words, before getting back to the matter at hand.
Manami asked of them, "So, any questions that you would like to ask that aren't already answered?"
Weiss voiced the one question most of them had, "If you're a Saiyan and you get stronger with each battle you fight, then what is the limit of a Saiyan's potential?"
The future warrior winced slightly at the question before giving a light chuckle, saying, "Starting off with the hard questions already huh? Very well, but I warn you it is not an answer to be taken lightly."
"Why?" Blake asked.
Yang answered for her, "Because the potential of a Saiyan is limitless."
Everyone, except Ruby, Manami, Ozpin and Glynda turned to the blonde and shouted, "WHAT!?"
"L-limitless!?" Pyrrha muttered.
Turning back to the Saiyan in question, Ren asked, "You're saying that you just keep growing stronger with nothing stopping you?"
"If I find a way to break my current limits, yes."
Jaune started, "Wait I thought that a Saiyan's power is limitless?"
"Jaune, Yang said that a Saiyan's potential is limitless, not that they had limitless power, there's a difference," Manami corrected him.
Jaune pondered her words for a moment before saying, "I see what you're saying."
Blake then noticed something as she states, "You know I'm surprised that both Ruby and Yang are calm about this, well more than us anyways, I mean I expected the professors to know about this but…"
Ruby then answers, "You guys, Yang and I are Ana's sisters, we've known about her power for a while now, in fact even our family knows about it; but while we've known most of what she told us just now, we didn't know her full strength, she was kinda vague back then."
Manami shook her head as she stated, "Well I didn't want to freak you out at the time Ruby, you did just find out I'm powerful enough to obliterate Remnant with a single Ki blast after all."
Blake, Weiss, and JNPR turned to Manami when she said that; faces full of shock and slight fear. Nora chuckled nervously as she asked, "Y-you're joking… r-right?"
They all saw the Saiyan shake her head stoically. Manami saw this and explained, "Remember my 'Final Flash' technique back against that Ancient Ursa Major? That was me using my full power which had far more power than what is required to destroy Remnant. At minimum I would have to use… well let's just say a very small fraction of a single percent of my power."
Ozpin, Glynda, Yang, and Ruby felt a sense of Déjà vu when they saw the pale faces of Weiss, Blake, and the members of JNPR. Knowing that this is already becoming too much for the six, Manami cast a knowing glance at Ozpin who knew what the silent message was. The Headmaster turned back to his students and said, "I know this was a large amount of information dropped on you tonight so we will give you time to process it, however know that this information is confidential and should not be shared with others unless told otherwise."
The six students nodded at the request in understanding before they were dismissed. Ozpin, Glynda, and Manami watched as they filed into the elevator; when doors had closed and the elevator was sent down, Glynda asked Manami, "Why didn't you tell them about your transformation?"
Manami sighed before she turned to her professor/colleague and answered, "They already had too much information dropped on them, I doubt they could handle my being able to use a transformation that makes me even more powerful. Besides, you already know that Yang and Ruby has knowledge about the Super Saiyan state."
"But they don't know the full extent of the state, do they?" Ozpin asked.
Manami sighed, "No, but I'll tell them, all of them, the true power of a Super Saiyan when it is the right time. Besides there's something that we need to discuss…"
Ozpin and Glynda shared a knowing look, before Ozpin said, "I assume it would be about the Super Grimm attacks?"
Manami nodded before saying, "Yes; there were three instances of attacks all of them near Vale. More so, each time the Super Grimm had grown in power."
Glynda acknowledged this while Ozpin asked one thing, "How much of a power jump?"
Manami grimly stated, "Let's just say that in the first Super Grimm attack I wasn't even trying; now, I'm forced to use 100% of my power and the special technique to boot. What this means is that someone has the knowledge to empower the Grimm the same way the Time Breakers have and by extension, likely has knowledge about the multiverse."
Both the professors grew a bit pale; during a few meetings these past few months, Manami had answered more of their questions giving them more information about the multiverse. When they learned about the fusion of the two strongest Saiyans and how powerful he was in base form, they were frightened at the fusion's power; however, learning exactly how much stronger Manami is made them deathly pale. So, to say that they were worried learning that someone was making the Grimm strong enough to challenge Manami and force her to use the Kaio-ken is the understatement of the century.
"That is troubling indeed," Ozpin said before asking for advice, knowing that this is Manami's territory, "So what is our next move?"
"For now, we wait," The Saiyan answered, "We have no clues to who's responsible; in the mean time I'll be training."
"May I ask what for?" Glynda asked.
The Saiyan answered, "For something that I should've learned a long time ago. If anything pops up, I'll meet with you two again to discuss our next move."
Ozpin and Glynda nodded; with that Manami took take her leave called up the elevator. Once she left, Glynda asked Ozpin, "Should we tell her?"
Oz sighed, "I think we should tell her in the next meeting, if things are going the way I think they are then we will need to change up our strategy; we can't be too careful because if the person Manami described is possibly working with Salem, that means we need to let her in on the secret as soon as possible…"
Glynda acknowledged this request and decided to leave Ozpin to his duties as headmaster. However, Ozpin had one thought, "I just hope it isn't too late…"
Salem's Meeting Room, Castle of the Grimm Queen, The Grimmlands
It had been a few days since Salem confronted Demigra about his activities in Vale. When it happened, Demigra fully explained his actions to Salem without hesitation. To say that she was angry was the understatement of the century and Salem is always calm no matter what happens; normally she would shrug off a threat to her plans, but with someone like Manami Aoi, the person who bested Demigra, her plans have been affected extremely in all aspects and to her that is unacceptable. So here they are, the two deliberating on what will their next move be while their four associates are completing their tasks.
"Now that we're all much calmer than we were a few days ago, tell me what do you suggest we do about this Saiyan?" Salem inquired.
The former demon god thought a bit about where he should begin before he answered, "We continue as planned, but we proceed with extreme caution and with several changes to the plan so that it can survive an encounter with Manami Aoi.
"I see, just what do you have in mind?" The Grimm Queen further questioned.
"Using the Golden Scroll of Space and Time, I'll simply create a clone of deadly warriors from Universe 7 and have them hold off the Saiyan this time around," Demigra answered smugly as he held up said Scroll before banishing his smirk and added, "but to throw Manami Aoi off my trail, I'll have our two newest associates create the clones in my place until otherwise."
Salem eyes narrowed at this and asked, "And who are these associates, Demigra?"
The doors flew opened to reveal two cloaked figures as the former demon god answered, "Them."
Salem's eyes slightly widened as she recognized them due to Demigra's brief description of his history that was given 4 years ago, but her reaction quickly turned into a smirk as she realized what Demigra was thinking. So, she simply asked, "Anything else you would like to add?"
The former demon god shook his head and said, "For now, Nyx will continue monitoring my spy network. The only things that has changed is that she will now answer to both you and me when it comes to matters involving Manami Aoi and that our new associates will meet with Ms. Fall. If we are to succeed, it would be best to warn our allies that we must tread lightly with our next moves because those with Ki control can sense the nature of a person's Ki; this means they can detect threats before they even get close. The first step to our success, however, begins with your training."
Salem raised her brow at that, "Training?"
"Your Ki control is adequate, but a master can suppress, condense, and unleash their power all at once. I will teach you everything I know, but once that is done, you will need to continue to train on your own to keep growing stronger; knowledge is power but it can only take you so far. As you are now, you are already leagues above Manami Aoi, but she will eventually catch up. Your training will slow the closure of the power gap, but it will not stop it due to the Saiyan's genetic advantage. This means we must speed up our progress to take the relics."
Salem nodded before smiling and asked, "When do we begin?"
Chapter 9: Blake's Haunted Past! The Stray.
Present Day - Friday: Near the Docks, Vale
It had been a few weeks since Manami revealed what she was to the whole of RWBY and JNPR. She was expecting the others to keep their distance, instead they treated Manami no differently than they had before; they just much more respect for the future warrior. As for CRDL, they were suspended from any extracurricular activities until the break; on top of that, they had two hours detention with Ms. Goodwitch and Manami after school hours for pretty much the remainder of the semester. Over time, they had learned their lesson and gained discipline because of their time with Manami and Glynda; Manami even taught them a few things about martial arts should they ever be disarmed. On her free time however, the Hero of Tokitoki City was training in the gravity chamber of her ship; pushing herself to learn how to transform instinctively and not through rage. For today however, Manami was visiting the docks with Team RWBY, as per Weiss's suggestion. As the team was talking about the Vytal Festival, Manami had been thinking of the Super Grimm attacks, replaying each fight in her head to see if there was anything that could give her a clue to who is responsible with no results whatsoever. Manami was finally brought back to reality when she smelled a familiar scent when they reached the docks and heard Ruby say, "Ugh, they smell like fish!"
"I've heard that the students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And as a representative at Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom," Weiss answered though her excited tone was a bit disturbing to Manami and she had no idea why.
Blake then translated to her teammates and Manami, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."
To which Weiss retorts, "You can't prove that!"
Manami shook her head, pinches the bridge of her nose, and says, "We don't have to Weiss, you just gave it away right now by saying that."
"Woah!" the four heard Ruby say, before turning to her seeing that she saw something of interest. When they back tracked to see what she was looking at they saw a shop that was broken into; the left window was shattered and the front doors were busted down. The five got a closer to see what happened and saw two detectives working the case; one was writing down something on his datapad, while the other was inspecting the crime scene. Ruby asked one of them, "What happened here?"
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week," The bearded detective answered as he looked up from his pad before he turned to check his partner, muttering, "This place is turning into a jungle."
Yang sighed, "That's terrible."
"They left all the money again," someone shouted, prompting the others to look towards the conversation; the first detective stated, "Just doesn't make a lick 'o sense. Who needs that much dust?"
His partner asks, "I don't know."
"You thinking the uh, White Fang?" The first detective asked.
"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough for this shit," his partner answered.
Multiple things were going through Manami's head after seeing the crime scene and hearing the conversation, but she couldn't get very far in thought when she heard Weiss say, "Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."
The Saiyan felt Blake's Ki fluctuate a bit as the raven-haired girl asked, "What's your problem?"
Weiss turned to her and answered, "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus," Blake stated with a bit of passion laced in her tone, albeit subtly.
"Misguided!? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss rebutted.
Blake retorted with slight irritation, "Well then they're very misguided! Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."
"Blakes got a point," Ruby stated, garnering the attention of her team and Manami. Continuing on, "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago… Maybe it was him?"
Manami thought that calmed things down a little, but Weiss then states, "That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
Yang tried to diffuse the building tension by saying, "That's not necessarily true."
"And Weiss, if that was true, what would that make Velvet?" Manami asked.
Weiss was about to say something, but then the five of them heard, "Hey! Stop that Faunus!"
They all ran back to the docks to see that, on a ship, a blonde, blue-eyed monkey Faunus was running away from two sailors. The Faunus was a teenage boy who was wearing two red wrist bracers over black fingerless gloves and an open loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying his muscular physique. He also wears blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt. He wears white bandages on his legs and has a chain hanging from the belt loop on the right side of his pants. He sports black and yellow sneakers and wears a black cord with a round pendant bearing a monkey emblem. The boy hopped onto the railing, turned to his pursuers and said jovially, "Thanks for the ride guys!"
He then jumped off onto the docks, ran for a lamppost, jumped up before catching the arm of the lamp with his tail, hanging upside down. The sailors from before jeered at him, yelling, "You no-good stow-away!"
The Faunus in question was peeling a banana, probably one that he stole on the ship, he rebuts, "Hey! A "no-good" stow-away would've been caught. I'm a great stow-away."
Suddenly a rock passes by his head. The Faunus looked down to see two police detectives; the bearded one demanded "Hey! Get down from there this instant."
Unfortunately for the detective, he only received a banana peel to the face. The Monkey Faunus flipped back on top of the lamppost and started laughing mischievously before jumping over the detectives and started running with the cops in pursuit. He eventually passed by Manami and Team RWBY; the latter of which, thanks to her training in Tokitoki and Conton City, noticed the boy wink at Blake, who was a bit surprised. Yang took this opportunity to joke at what happened, "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition… and there it goes."
Weiss raised a finger and announced, "Quick! We have to observe him!"
Weiss, Ruby, and Yang immediately ran after him, while Blake took a few moments to process what happened before she followed them; Manami took a bit longer, however. The reason is because she was memorizing the feel of the Monkey Faunus's Ki signature so she can keep tabs on him; after all she can sense trouble from miles away, literally. She had a gut feeling that the mischievous monkey would get into many kinds of trouble. Keeping her Ki sense on the Faunus she ran after RWBY; when she caught up she saw that they had stopped chasing the Faunus for two reasons: Weiss ran into someone, causing her to fall, and the mischievous Monkey Faunus had "escaped." Right now, RWBY were kinda weirded out because the person that Weiss ran into was acting… awkward to say the least. Said person was a girl who had short, rather curly orange hair with a small ahoge on top that came down to her chin, and she wore a pink bow on the back of her head. She also had bright green eyes, light skin and freckles. She wore a whitish-gray old-fashioned blouse with short gray feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. The girl still lying down on the floor acting as if she and RWBY were having a normal conversation. Yang then asked her, "Do you want to get up?"
A few seconds passed before the awkward girl answered, "Yes."
She then proceeded to do a *Kip-up, prompting the girls of RWBY to take one step back. The girl finally introduced herself, "My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
The red reaper introduced herself, "Hi Penny, I'm Ruby."
"I'm Weiss," greets the Schnee heiress
Which was followed by the ninja of the team simply saying, "Blake"
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" The Buxom Blonde asked, which earned her an elbow-tap to her side, quickly reminding her to introduce herself, "Oh I'm Yang."
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said once more.
"You already said that," Weiss pointed out.
"So, I did!" It was then Ruby asked, "Hey where's Ana?"
"I'm right here," The Saiyan announced walking up to them before introducing herself, "Hey there, I'm Manami, but my friends and family call me Ana."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ana," Penny greeted.
"Well girls, I think we've had enough 'excitement' in Vale today, should we head back?"
"Yep," Yang and Ruby answered, followed by Blake who said, "Sure."
Weiss just nodded before turning back to Penny and stated as she left with everyone, "Well, sorry for running into you."
Ruby waved goodbye and said, "Take care, friend!"
RWBY and Manami walked in silence for a few moments before Yang states, "She was… weird."
To this Manami rhetorically asked, "Aren't we all socially weird in our own ways?"
"Point taken," Yang said.
"Now. Where did that Faunus riffraff run off to?" Weiss asked no one in particular. The whole group stopped when they saw that someone was in front of them… it was Penny, who asked "What did you call me?"
Currently, a confused Weiss was looking back and forth between where they last saw Penny and where she is now; hell, even Manami was baffled because she didn't even sense Penny move… Manami thought, "Wait a minute…"
As Manami tried to sense Penny's Ki signature, Yang stated, "Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me."
"No not you," Penny said to Yang before she maneuvered between the girls and walked up to Ruby saying, "You!"
Ruby squeaked, "Me!? I-I don't know, I—what I—um, uh…"
"You called me 'friend.'" Penny filled in before she asked Am I really your friend?"
"Um…" Ruby muttered as she looked to her team to see them signaling "no" while Manami merely shrugged. Ruby looked back at Penny and said, "Yeah sure. Why not?"
When she said that, Manami looked to the subsequent members of RWBY and saw that their eyes were as wide as dinner plates before they face-faulted, their legs twitching in the air ever-so slightly; Manami was pretty sure she heard a gong go off in the background the same time this happened. However, while this was going on, she gave up on trying to sense Penny's Ki. Manami was now on guard, thinking, "If I can't sense her Ki that would mean… Okay assuming she is, there's only one question: 'Is she friend or foe?'"
The Saiyan of Remnant was brought out of her thoughts when Penny cheered with delight, "Sen-sational!"
As Weiss, Blake, and Yang, were getting back up, Penny continued on, "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"
"Ooh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked her partner.
To which Weiss answered as-a-matter-of-factly, "No, she seems 'far' more coordinated."
"So, Penny, what're you doing in Vale?" Manami asked curiously, hiding her question's true intent.
Penny jovially answered, "I'm here to fight in the tournament."
"Wait… you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked with surprise.
Penny announced as she saluted, "I'm combat ready!"
It was here Manami gave her the benefit of the doubt thinking, "So she's both friend and foe. Interesting."
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part," Weiss pointed out.
"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake snarked.
The Schnee Heiress crossed her arms as she proudly stated, "It's a 'combat skirt.'"
Ruby then sped to her side, crossed her arms, and added, "Yeah!"
Then the two gave each other a low-five before Weiss realized something, saying, "Wait a minute."
Wiess approached Penny and asked as she grabbed the girl's shoulders, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion?"
As the Ice Queen asked this, Blake's features twisted to show anger. Manami noticed this and thought, "Oh gods damnit, not again!"
Confused, Penny asked, "The who?"
Weiss then irritably semi-shouted, "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"
"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake exploded, attracting the attention of the Schnee heiress, and goes on to rant, "Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!"
Weiss being Weiss, she remarks, "Oh I'm sorry. Would you like to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as lamppost?"
"Stop it!" Blake demanded.
"Stop what?" Weiss asked with irritation before continuing her argument, "He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."
"Okay that's it!" Manami thought as stepped between the Ice Queen and the usually Silent Bookworm, "That's enough! This argument is getting out of hand so allow me to put this to rest."
Manami turned to the Schnee heiress before she pointed out, "Weiss, while you are correct that the Monkey Faunus was breaking the law, that doesn't justify the racist views you are giving. Judging a person based on their race is unfair and you know it; in fact, you are only adding fuel to the fire that is the White Fang. Would you like it if you were judge based on actions that are not your own?"
Blake was smirked when she saw that Weiss slumped her head in defeat, but that smirk quickly dissipated as Manami turned to Blake and added, "And Blake, I know what you're implying right now: yes, the White Fang are very misguided, but that doesn't excuse the casualties that they racked up. I know I can't say much because of… 'my time away from the kingdoms,' but I know that crimes will always be crimes; the raids, the assaults…, the murders, try as you might, there's no way change the nature of the groups actions, no matter how you try to justify it."
Both of Blake and Weiss contemplated the words as Manami said with finality, "Both sides are at fault, I suggest the two of you stop trying to place the blame on one side."
Manami walked away but not before Yang asked, "Where are you going, Ana?"
The Saiyan stopped, and turned to Yang to reveal that her eyes are teal; Ruby also notices the change. Manami says cryptically, "To cool off; after all, when I'm angry, it's as if I 'transform' into someone else."
They all watched as she left, contemplating what she said last. To others they thought it was just an expression, Yang and Ruby however, understood what she meant by that; if she had gotten too angry, Manami would have accidentally transformed into a Super Saiyan and it is topics such as the White Fang and Racism that push the Saiyan this far. Manami saw the history of the Universe 7 Saiyans and how other arrogant pricks saw them as a lesser race, calling them "barbaric monkeys" and other colorful names behind their backs. So, while she does have an understanding for the Faunus are going through, she sees the members of the White Fang as terrorists, well those that have no remorse for their actions anyways; those that are redeemable, Manami would spare them and give them a choice. That's what she told her sisters anyways when they asked about sensitive topics. A few moments passed before Penny asked, "So what are we doing now?"
Yang sighed at how socially awkward this girl is. After a few more moments of silence, Team RWBY decided that they would head home saying goodbye to Penny. As for Manami, she decided to spend time looking for a certain someone…
A few minutes later, Elsewhere in Vale…
Currently, Manami was floating over a rooftop near the marketplace. Why? Because apparently the Monkey Faunus had stolen, albeit discreetly, a few bananas. Thanks to her heightened hearing, The Saiyan could hear what the boy was muttering to himself, although he was talking as if he was having a normal conversation. The Monkey Faunus said, "Well Sun, not a bad first impression on the locals. Didn't get caught by the cops and met a beautiful kitten along the way, at least that's what I assume she is if she's a Faunus."
Manami took this as a cue to reveal herself to the boy; she quickly descended, landing in a few feet in front of the Monkey Faunus and startled him. The Saiyan quickly announced, "That kitten you're talking about happens to be a friend, choose your next words about her carefully… Sun."
The now named Sun, quickly got to his feet and into a stance one that was both ready to fight or run. He quickly says, "A few questions I gotta ask. One: Who are you? Two: how do you know my name? And three: how did you find me?"
Manami answers stoically, "In that order? My name is Manami Aoi, friends call me Ana and I know your name because you were talking to yourself a bit loudly. As for how I found you, well that's my secret."
Sun didn't drop his guard, not yet, he need to ask her one last question, "Are you here to turn me in?"
A few moments pass as Manami stared at Sun stoically; Sun was about ready to make his move when the Saiyan, sighed before giving him a warm smile and announced, "Nope!"
Sun almost face-faulted right then and there, almost. He finally dropped his guard as he asks, "So what are you here for?"
"A favor," Manami answers.
The Monkey Faunus raised an eyebrow at this, "What kind of favor?"
Manami smiled at his question, "This should make things easier for me should everything go according to plan."
Beacon Academy Dorms, Later…
Night has finally settled in as Manami was walking back to her room; unfortunately, though it was muffled, another argument between Weiss and Blake was in progress. Manami thought as she got closer to RWBY's room, "Oum and Kami preserve me, these two are still at it."
Thanks to her status as a part time faculty member, she had access to all the student dorm rooms; so, when she reached RWBY's room, she opened it quietly so she can listen without interrupting.
Weiss stated, "I don't understand why this is causing such a problem."
"That is the problem!" Blake retorts.
"You do realize that you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you?" Weiss reminds Blake before adding, "The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."
"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake rebutted, to which Manami closed her eyes as she internally cringed at how wrong she is. She herself defeated Demigra, the face of pure evil, when he tried to destroy the Time Nest in order to create his own timeline and saved her friend, Akane, so she could defeat Mira and Towa. Hell, she could even name several instances of pure evil from Universe 7's history, such as Frieza who laughed as he destroyed Planet Vegeta, Cell who absorbed far too many innocents just to achieve "perfection", and Kid Buu who was literally pure evil incarnate. Manami returned to reality when she heard Weiss yell, "I'm a victim!"
Manami up to see Weiss walk to the window as she said, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?"
The Schnee heiress placed her hands on the bookshelf staring into the night, answering, "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War. As in actual bloodshed."
As Manami listened, she had a gut feel as to what Weiss was trying to say. The girl in question continued, "My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust… stolen. And every day, my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood."
Everyone in the room if they were paying attention, would see that Weiss was clenching her fist to the point where one would see white. Manami knows what she means, after all both of them experienced things no child should go through, they just experienced them on different scales, and that is putting it mildly. Ruby tried to comfort her partner but Weiss turned back to Blake and shouted, "No!"
This made Ruby jump a bit and Weiss walked back up to Blake and yelled venomously, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang!? It's because they're a bunch of liars! Thieves! And Murderers!"
At this point Blake snapped, not thinking about what she was going to say next, "Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"
Silence; everyone froze as they processed what Blake had said. The now-revealed Faunus quickly replayed what she had said before; realizing her mistake, she panicked and ran past Manami to who-knows-where. Ruby yelled after her, "Blake! Wait! Come back!"
Everyone quickly looked at Weiss, who had a frown, before they felt like the air had gotten several tens of degrees colder. The remaining three turned to Manami, whose eyes were teal. Manami was angry, almost at her snapping point; so much so that it was taking a lot of her willpower not to transform and take her anger out on Weiss. The Ice Queen saw this and whimpered, "A-Ana? A-Are you o-ok-"
"Don't finish that question when you already know the answer," Manami snapped and Weiss jumped a bit at the counselor's response; all the Schnee heiress could do was listen to the lecture that she was about to receive. Manami continued, "To say that I'm disappointed with you, Weiss, is putting it very mildly. Yes, you did have valid points in your argument, but the way you presented them leaves much to be desired. Now that Blake is revealed to be a Faunus, all I can see in that argument was a fight between two people who were hurt on both sides of your so-called 'war.'"
Weiss tried to justify her actions, "But-!"
"'But' nothing Weiss!" Manami bit back, and continued, "She might have been a member of the White Fang, keyword: might. But that doesn't justify you verbally lashing out at Blake like that. Both of you have personal problems between your races but if you can't put aside your personal differences and swallow your pride right now as huntresses-in-training then you might as well drop out of Beacon Academy!"
"What!?" Weiss shouted.
"You heard me! Right now, with what I've seen, Jaune's a better person and huntsman-in-training than you right now; after all, you did hear what he said to Cardin a few weeks ago right?"
Weiss's initial reaction was to huff and cross her arms in pride, but after she thought back to what Jaune said that day in the Forest of Forever Fall, Weiss began to realize her mistakes… mistakes that far too glaring to ignore. And because of them, she had driven one of her teammates away. Manami sighed as she turned to leave, but not before she said one more thing to Weiss, "Think on what has transpired, Weiss, and of how you could have done better."
As Manami took her leave, Ruby asked, "Wait! Where are you going!?"
The Saiyan stopped and answered without looking back, "To find Blake and it would be best if I went alone. Please let Ozpin know of what has happened and that I'm taking care of it, but how long it will take? I'm not sure."
With that, Manami had left RWBY's dorm, quickly locking on to Blake's Ki signature; once she had, Manami noticed that the signature of a certain Mischievous Monkey was also nearby. Manami smiled a bit as something finally went well; she thought, "Well it looks like things are finally going well. Time to set my plan in motion…"
Meanwhile at a hideout somewhere in Vale…
Roman Torchwick was pacing in the "office" of his warehouse; the reason being that he received word of reinforcements from an associate of his. As he paced, he wondered who the reinforcements were and when they would arrive. He soon got his answer when the door opened to reveal a new… partner. The man had red eyes as well as deep purple skin and tail with several white, armored carapaces on his arms, shins, chest, shoulders, and head; the carapace on the man's head was adorned with some kind of dark blue gem. Roman looked at the new arrival and asked dryly, "And what, as well as who, are you supposed to be?"
The man chuckled as he introduced himself, "My name is Cooler and what I am is of no importance, just know that I as well as my subordinates are here on the request of our 'mutual friend'…"
*Kip-up: Basically another name for a "pop-up/Chinese Get-up"
A/N: Oh yeah... Cooler's here and he brought back up, whoever they are. However, I will say that Cooler's subordinates are NOT his Armored Squadron, even though I wanted to include them. I didn't include the Armored Squadron because... I haven't played Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2 in a while nor have I watched Cooler's Revenge since many years back. So they won't be here in my story for a while, if ever, out of fear that I may end up ruining them or messing something up.
On a not so high note, I know that I promised to release two chapters at the end of the month but college is the pain train that keeps on chugging, so the last chapter of the Volume 1 arc is delayed. Ugh... I know. I hate it when have to delay it too. Luckily the delay won't be too long, a week at most because ever since I saw the latest Dragon Ball Super episodes, and subsequently listening to a YouTuber's Epic Rock cover of "Ultimate Battle/Ultra Instinct Theme" on an endless loop, I just went into overdrive. So it won't be a very long delay.
That being said, let me know what you guys thought, whether it's a compliment or a constructive criticism; I do take your reviews into consideration. I'll see you guys again in a few days or a week at the latest.
Next chapter: History's Cold Reminder! Black and White.