Chapter 32: "The Kelvin Incident" Pt. 5
Another day, another chapter. Feeling the love as always guys. Before I continue though I have an announcement to make: the Gift Giving time is now over, everyone in the audience now has their gifts! Thank you all so much for your time and I hope you all enjoy the chapter whenever it comes out. Now that that's over, mush reviews, mush!
Argus456: Pretty much, everyone's age is all over the place. Still doesn't make some of the stuff they see any easier. And their reactions to Raven's power is actually pretty simple (though I did enjoy your theories). It's just that in their time, Aura and Magic doesn't exist anymore, so them knowing about her Semblance would've been low (and I doubt she'd ever tell them anyway, I'd think she would not want to relive the part of her past where she could teleport/had Magic powers).
Perseus12: Thank you. Haven't watched those episodes, so while I won't make a reaction out of them, I will enjoy watching them since I loved that show when I was little.
Alexdel27: Oh, definitely. Been looking over a LOT of sci-fi ships to make up a fleet for the Arcs to have that makes sense aesthetically and for a single world to build (even spent time getting some 'old' ships so they'd be of an older design). I did have to take some creative liberties with the sizes of some of the larger ones since the Arcs wouldn't be able to create ships that big with only a single world under their belt (and said world isn't even under their full control yet).
Mr. Author-97: Yeah she is. And I am working on a chapter where there is nothing but good times. It's going to be after the Star Trek universe ends.
Skjhe: Glad you liked it. Sorry to say, but I'm not a fan of Persona. The game never appealed to me before, so I never played it; and the various gameplays I watched on YT didn't get me interested in it as a universe I'd use.
RedDragonRevan: Actually watched that one, but unfortunately I won't make a reaction of that one. I didn't really like how they butchered the Arthurian Legend, even compared it to Kingdom of Heaven for how much of a headache it was for me. I know that the directors were trying to reimagine the legend/myth, but a lot of what they did made it less like a myth being born and more them trying to make him more edgy (like their version of Excalibur and where he got it from, really sucked out all the mysticism with that one move).
Midnight Haki: She actually has twins, a boy and girl, with him. Also, this version of Ryujin will not show up in the Nexus, rather one from a possible future. So he won't have the same experiences as this one, in fact he would be about 2 when he does show up (with a sibling). I have not.
JamesGachaYT: Never watched 'Unfriended' before, and I stopped watching Transformers after the second one after being bored from watching things explode (that's really all those movies had, explosions and hot chicks; after a while, it gets predictable). As for Robocop, never watched that one either (other than parts shown in Decker Shado's review of it).
lowlysheildbeare: I haven't played that game, plus I never really got interested into the series when I tried to watch the gameplays.
WearyCurmudgeon: "…she's saying that there's no difference between her and a Roomba." I honestly laughed when I read that (instantly remembered a pic that had Chibi-Penny sitting on top of a Roomba and it was so cute!). But on a serious note, she's not just seeing small machines doing little work that would just take a few minutes, it's droids & large, automated machinery doing all the heavy lifting on all hours while the humans are lying back and shooting the breeze like a bunch of lazy butts. It's like the beginning of the Animatrix with the Machine Renaissance. She's not looking at them as AI being forced to work, at least in that scenario they'd have sentience and could strike/unionize/improve/compromise their conditions. She's seeing machines being exploited by their creators with little to no thought after being given their orders. They're like slaves, only the machines don't know they're slaves, and she knows that (I know 'slave' is a harsh word to throw around, but the dictionary definition really does summarize what machines are to Humanity). Blake's a Faunus, didn't know there was a species in Star Trek that has similar, if more extreme, traits to hers (I really don't know the lore).
YuYuhowareu: I am, though it's not high on my list.
C: Never saw that movie. Didn't even know there was a book version either, though now I'm a bit curious: Is the book better in your opinion, or the movie? Usually, when there's an adaptation to a book, the movie isn't as good or it's actually worse, so I wanna know if you think that's true here as well.
Your reviews are the lifeblood of my work, now on with the show!
Disclaimer in the prologue.
Jack scoffed, "Yeah, but not anywhere on the planet." He smirked at a frowning Raven. "Your version is rather limited to only what, 2, maybe 3 areas?" She didn't respond, only glared at the smug deity. (1)
As Raven was glaring at the god, Yang finally calmed down enough so that her team got off of her and they all went back to their seats. It helped that Glynda intervened told her to calm down or else detention for 3 months.
At the Crow Bar, earlier.
Ryujin Arc gave a grimace as he drank down the last of his sixth bottle of beer ("Well Ice Queen, at least he's not starting off strong." "He shouldn't be drinking in the first place you drunken buffoon!"). He was sitting at the counter in the moderately crowded bar with workers from the nearby shipyard beginning to file in after their shift.
Yang glared at the scene, thinking 'Alright, where's that racist prick!'
He was beginning to get a good buzz going, so he ordered a water to sober up a bit, so he'd be able to drive home safely in a couple hours. Feeling like he finished his drinks too soon, he sighed, and that got him a rumbling sigh in response from his side. He glanced over to find a large, brown-skinned alien male with a rather stretched and wrinkled face sitting hunched over next to him.
"Guess I'm not the only one with a long face here today." he muttered with a grin, getting an eye-roll from the alien, obviously used to this from those humans. Ryujin then became horrified at what he let slip.
The pun made Tai and Yang, who broke from her staring contest with a screen, laugh while everyone else who interacted/lived with them groaned.
"My baby's first pun! Quick, where the camera?!"
"Damn it, I must be more buzzed than I thought if I'm making stupid jokes like mom." he grumbled mostly to himself, getting a rumbling chuckle from the alien (Yang: "Ryu, no! That was funny!"). They began to banter quietly for a few minutes, until a large and rowdy group of Starfleet cadets in their red uniforms began to crowd into the small bar, and loud club music began playing from the jukebox.
Ryu was already annoyed from the argument with his mother, so having the bar become so crowded and noisy on the one night he wanted some quiet was trying his patience. That only lasted until he saw some beautiful women among the new crowd. He grinned, wondering if he could have some fun with a cute Starfleet cadet later. His light blue eyes picked out a cute and petite young woman with short dark red hair sitting at a table nearby, talking happily with her friend, an entrancingly beautiful woman with white hair up in a long ponytail.
Weiss and Ruby blinked, then paled as they saw Yang's son/her nephew checking them out. "Ewww."
Yang shivered in disgust. "Gross." Then she blinked. "Wait, is Rubes even my sister in this universe?"
Jack shook his head. "Nope." Yang nodded, then grimaced. "Still gross."
She looked a little too stiff and haughty for the bar scene ("Excuse me?!"), but was obviously tolerating it for her friend's sake. The rest of their friends sitting at the same table were also cute, but the two stood out easily with their beauty. He was about to stand when his eyes were drawn to a gorgeous black-haired cat Faunus that just walked in.
Now it was Blake who paled, especially when Yang turned to look at her with a glare. "You stay away from my baby, you cradle robber." Blake sputtered in response as Roman and Kali laughed.
Ghira didn't know whether to growl at the sight of a boy checking his precious kitten out, or be disgusted at the idea that said boy was his daughter's partner's son. 'Nope, definitely grossed out.'
His eyes remained locked on to her, along with many other pairs in the bar, as she moved gracefully through the crowd with a small smile. She made a quick stop at the ladies' table for a brief chat, before continuing toward the bar counter. She stood on the other side of the long-faced alien to make her order to the bartender.
"Hi, I'd like a Klabian Fire Tea, three Budweiser Classics, two Cardassian Sunrises and…" the beautiful Faunus trailed off, thinking of what to order for herself. Meanwhile, the alien was glancing over at her while Ryujin listened, blocked from her view for the moment.
"Gotta try the Slushio. It's good." the friendly bartender offered
"And the Slushio mix. Thank you." the woman decided with a thankful smile.
Kali raised an eyebrow. "Those are some very odd names for drinks. Also," she glares at her daughter, "I forbid you from drinking until you're 21."
Blake nods easily enough, "Yes mom." She didn't even like alcohol, so it wasn't like it was a huge loss for her.
Glynda looked at the girl and sighs in resignation, "Why can't my other students be responsible like her?"
Weiss looked at her favorite teacher in shock, "B-But, what about me Professor?"
The blond teacher glared at the heiress, "Remember the hole on the first day of Beacon?" She growled, remembering how she had to fix that hole. 'Classes didn't even start yet, and I was already cleaning up students' messes.'
Weiss wanted to protest, but Ruby nodded and absentmindedly said "Oh yeah, I remember. You shook an open vial of Dust in my face."
Weiss paled as Glynda's glare deepened, and her family turned to glare at her.
Blake meanwhile was glad Goodwitch didn't mention her running away from Beacon to catch Torchwick. 'I do not want my parents knowing about that.'
"Quite the list of drinks you got there. I guess they're for your friends over there, or I'd be very concerned about your liver." Ryujin finally spoke as he leaned around the alien, revealing himself with a grin. The woman glanced over briefly before ignoring him as she called after the bartender. (Nora: "Swing and a miss!")
"Oh, and a shot of Jack, straight up."
"Make that two. Her shot's on me." Ryujin called out.
"Her shot's on her." the woman denied before giving the blond man a longer look. She'd admit to herself that he was handsome and seemed harmless, but she was not in the mood for that kind of fun tonight. "Thanks, but no thanks." she said directly to Ryu, who sighed dramatically.
"Don't you want to at least know my name before you completely reject me?"
"I'm fine without it." the woman shot back with a small smile, having a bit of fun in his banter. Meanwhile, the alien stuck in between two was glancing back and forth like watching a tennis match.
Kali giggled, "Well isn't that sweet?" "MOM!"
Yang growled. "My baby's too young to be dating anyone." Meanwhile her dad and uncle were looking at her like she was crazy.
Summer was crying anime tears. "I'm too young to be a great grandma!"
All of this banter only served to make Blake even more embarrassed. 'WHY?!'
"Oh, so you're fine without it?" Ryu said with a wagging finger as if that statement was the most ridiculous thing ever, getting the woman to smirk wider.
"Ryujin Arc at your service." he offered with a grin. His mood soured slightly when he saw a slight glimmer of recognition in her eyes at the last name. (Pyrrha: "I feel your pain.")
'Looks like I'm going home solo tonight.' he thought to himself, not really wanting to have anything to do with any girl who already knew of the Arc name, but not him personally. 'Should've figured that'd be the case all things considered. Doesn't mean I can't have at least one fun chat.'
While he was thinking, a pause stretched out between the two with the long-faced alien looking distinctly uncomfortable at the silence. When Ryujin realized the woman wasn't going to say anything, he grinned mischievously.
"If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna have to make one up." he mock threatened, getting the woman to smile wider as she gave him an exasperated glare.
"It's Belladonna."
Blake stood up, "Don't give him our name!" She really didn't like this scene, especially with her mom grinning mischievously at her as her partner looked like she was a few steps away from murdering her. 'I don't want to die!'
"Belladonna? No way! That's the name I was gonna make up for you." Ryujin exclaimed in false shock, while the alien next to him was rolling his eyes so hard at the human's lame pickup technique it was a miracle they didn't pop out of his skull.
"So...Belladonna what?" Ryujin prodded with a smile, but Belladonna was firm on this.
"Just Belladonna."
"They don't have last names on your world?"
"Belladonna is my last name."
"Wait...they don't have first names then?"
Roman looked at the boy like he was an idiot. "Is he serious?"
Ryu was curious. Normally, it'd be easy to assume Belladonna was raised on Remnant, but Humans and Faunus had settled dozens of interstellar colonies over the centuries and had developed their own cultures, so he didn't want to offend her. On the other hand, he was quite sure Belladonna was just playing coy, which she proved by laughing quietly. ("Don't encourage him!")
At that point, the bartender had set down the two shots of Jack in front of them, so Ryujin grabbed his and gave a pat on the alien's back.
"You have a good one, buddy." he muttered with a smile, getting a grunt from his bar companion, as he moved around to the other side of Belladonna who quirked an eyebrow at him for the closeness.
"So, you're a cadet, and you're studying something. What's your focus?"
"Xenolinguistics. You have no idea what that means." the cadet said dismissively, ready to watch this country hick bumble around as he tries to impress her with his 'education', whether if he had the Arc name or not.
"The study of alien languages, including their morphology, phonology, and syntax." Ryujin retorted calmly as he spoke in perfect Old Mistralian, getting Belladonna to look at him in surprise. For the first time in this conversation, she was struck speechless as she faced him fully with wide eyes.
Yang took a moment out of glaring at her partner to gush at her son's genius showing. As did Tai, Qrow, Ruby, and surprisingly Raven to Robin's disbelief.
The teachers were impressed, and cursing themselves that he wasn't in their classes now.
"It means you have an extremely talented tongue." He finished with a roguish grin, this time speaking Fau, the current cultural dialect of the Faunus. The cat-eared woman blinked once, and her cheeks actually reddened a little in embarrassment at being so unfairly dismissive of this man's intelligence. However, this cute visage was brief as she recovered quickly and scoffed, before shooting him a smirk.
Yang and Tai laughed at the joke while Blake blushed like her other. 'Why?! Why can't this nightmare end?!'
Ruby and Weiss grimaced, not liking what he said.
Any feelings the teachers had were replaced with disappointment. 'That's definitely Ms. Xiao Long's son.'
"I'm actually impressed. For a moment, I thought you were a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals." she stated bluntly, and he just shrugged with a joking grin. (Nora: "Burn!")
"Well...not only." he spoke normally.
This got the beautiful raven-haired woman to laugh warmly. Quite a few male cadets in the bar didn't like the interaction going on, and her laughter was the last straw for a group of four.
Blake really wanted to be happy that this horrible nightmare was ending. But as she saw the group heading towards the two, she couldn't help but ask for a few more moments. 'Anything would be better than seeing them.'
Meanwhile, Yang zeroed in on the group. Her nostrils flared as her eyes burned red and hair glow gold.
Just as the bartender arrived to give Belladonna the rest of the drinks for her lady friends, Ryu realized his time chatting with her was just about up. He glanced over at the ladies' table, and noted the redhead and the white-haired woman staring his way. While the pretty redhead's gaze was one of shyness, it was clear that the white-haired one's glare was hostile, daring him to come over and bug them to see what'd happen ("I am most impressed by the glare baby sister." "It's like there's two Ice Queens"). He sent them a wink with a teasing smirk, making the redhead blush heavily and her friend huff in annoyance, though her cheeks pinked slightly.
Ruby leaned over her chair and barfed, while Weiss facepalmed at her other reacting like that so easily (2). Jack's bot went over to clean up the mess as the little reaper tried to forget what she just saw.
He was about to say his well-wishes to the beautiful Faunus and let her get back to her friends when a tall orange-haired boy stepped up behind the pair. He looked pissed.
"Hey, this townie isn't bothering you, right?" Cardin asked Belladonna while shooting Ryujin a threatening glare ("Stop glaring at my son before I rip your eyes out!"). Meanwhile, three of his friends stepped up behind the tall man. Ryu frowned slightly; while he was just about to cut his losses with the Starfleet ladies for the night, something about this annoying man wanted him to act like a little shit for a moment longer.
Yang stood up, and raised her fist in front of her face. "Go my son, show them the strength of your Arc/Xiao Long blood!"
Ruby covered her face in her hands as she groans in embarrassment when her mom and dad cheered Yang on.
"Beyond belief." Belladonna chuckled, then shot Cardin a warning look as she turned back to the counter to gather her drinks. "But it's nothing I can't handle." (Velvet: "Go Blake! Teach him what for!")
Ryu ignored Cardin as he displayed a suave smirk. "You could handle me. That's an invitation, by the way." (Blake: "No it's not!")
"Hey. You better mind your manners." Cardin snapped, his expression showing he was hoping to put this country hick in his place. Belladonna was shooting her fellow cadet an increasingly annoyed look for 'defending her honor' without prompting, especially with Ryujin being harmless so far in their conversation.
They didn't know why, but the man's words had really rubbed off Blake's parents the wrong way. 'Why do I feel like skewering him/hanging him from his entrails?' Wonder which one had which thoughts.
Tai felt a sense of pride. "Haha, that's my grandson!" He couldn't be prouder as he saw his boy stand up for himself with a smirk that he thought looked just like his own.
Ozpin frowned, feeling as if he should've said that. 'These feelings are starting to become rather bothersome.'
Raven and Summer meanwhile sighed, recognizing that smirk anywhere.
Blake and Velvet growled, the irony of the prick's words not lost on them. 'And what's this about defending my honor? I can kick his ass blindfolded with both arms tied behind my back.' Blake was so angry, she didn't realize how kinky her thoughts sounded.
Eve and Sienna just frowned, not liking this guy for trying to defend Blake. 'Not like she needed any protection you douche.'
'Oh great. A 'white-knight' hoping to make himself look good in front of the ladies.' Ryujin thought with an annoyed sigh ("Oh, that's why."). 'It's not like they didn't have the same hand-to-hand combat training as the men, and can kick my ass if I actually deserved it.'
"Relax, cupcake." he drawled as he patted a hand on the tall man's shoulder in a friendly way. "It was just a joke." he then turned back to the bar, dismissing Cardin and his boys entirely. That was too much for the cadets.
"Hey, farm boy!" Cardin growled as he roughly grabbed Ryujin's shoulder and pulled him around to stand face-to-face. The bar seemed to go quiet at this confrontation. "Maybe you can't count, but there are four of us, and one of you. How about you leave the ladies alone and walk out of here?"
Yang was growling at the man for touching her baby, "My baby is worth more than all four of you combined you little prick".
Saphron was glaring at the rude man, as was every other Arc. They all wished they were there to teach the asshole a lesson for trying to pick a fight with one of their own.
Indeed, Ryujin was facing down four men who seemed ready to throw down. He glanced off to the side to see a worried-looking Belladonna retreating back to her friends, keeping an eye on the confrontation. He also noted the redhead and her white-haired friend speaking rapidly on a comm while standing somewhat stiffly at attention.
'They're reporting to their commanding officer.' he thought as an idea came to him. On the one hand, he could just walk out and take a small hit to his ego for retreating quietly (Tai: "That's not going to happen."), and they'd forget he even existed after tonight. Or, since he was already in a bad mood and feeling quite vindictive, he could go out whilst leaving these cadets with a few black eyes as presents ("Now that's more like it!"). 'Way I figured, I have forty-five seconds, maybe a minute, before the officer gets here. Let's see how quickly I can piss them off enough to throw the first punch.'
Coco chuckled, "Nice plan, get the idiots in trouble and beating the crap out of them? Genius."
Yang was excited. 'That's my boy!'
The students were chatting excitably about this, a few were even wondering if they could do something similar.
Glynda, hearing this, was furious. Wanting to nip this in the bud, she immediately stood up and turned to glare at her students, rooting them in their seats and silencing them. "If any of you so much as think of doing something like this, I will make sure your punishments are cruel and unusual." As the students shivered in fear, she asked "Am I clear?" They could only nod, their voices betraying them as they tried to make themselves look small.
The children looked at Glynda with wide eyes. Most were shivering as well, clutching their equally frightened mothers. Though two in particular were not as affected.
Robin looked at the angry blonde with something akin to hero-worship, whispering "Badass" as she looked at how the others were affected, which of course earned a look of betrayal from Raven. Meanwhile, Altani took out a pen and paper from somewhere and jotted down notes on the woman's stance, glare, everything that made her look so scary. 'Maybe with this, I can finally be taken more seriously.' She thought with a look of determination. Ah, the troubles of being an eight-year-old.
"That's cute. You'll have to bring a couple more for it to be even between us." He said with the most arrogant tone ever as he patted the taller man's cheek mockingly, before once again trying to turn back to the bar counter in dismissal of the cadets. He swore he could hear a tiny 'snap' from inside the orange-haired man's head, before he was roughly grabbed again and spun into an incoming punch. He spun back around and crashed against the counter with a groan, while most of the bar's patrons shouted in surprise at the sudden violence. He certainly got his first shot. ("Now's your chance, Break his legs!")
"Stop it! He's just a civvie!" he heard Belladonna shouting at the men ganging up on him. He smirked to himself. A civvie he might be, but he was a civvie with hand-to-hand training thanks to his mother.
Yang pumped her fist up as she grinned savagely. "Beat his ass!" Her dad, sister, friends, and the other Arcs joining in. Even Raven cheered for her grandson, if only in her head. 'That man is weak. Break his spine my grandson, make your family proud.' She thought with a smirk.
"My mom hits harder than that." he mocked as he recovered and turned back to the cadets with an infuriating smirk ("You're damn right I do!"). Cardin growled again and drew back for another hit, but Ryu was ready and countered easily with a perfect right hook across the face that laid the taller man out completely flat on his back.
Ryujin popped his neck loudly, before glaring at the three still standing cadets, who now looked nervous. (Nora: "Hahaha! They look like they're gonna piss themselves!")
One rushed in, and Ryujin almost voiced his complaint at the rather predictable charge as he parried the rush of sloppy punches with his forearms, before knocking his opponent back and out with a thrust kick. The cadet crashed on a table, the beer on top spilling all over him.
Ozpin and Glynda facepalmed as James and Winter looked on with deadpanned expressions at the extent of that boy's training. Oz leaned over to Glynda and whispered, "We really need to get team CRDL better trained, that was embarrassing." Glynda sighed as she nodded, making a mental note of upping that team's training. (3)
Yang cheered as she saw her boy lay out one of Cardin's goons. Weiss blinked before narrowing her eyes, "I think that was Thrush." Ruby looked at the knocked-out cadet, and nodded. "Oh yeah, couldn't tell without the mohawk."
The other two, Dove and Sky, got smart and flanked Ryu's sides with Dove going to the right while Sky took the left.
Ryu smirked. Taking a calming breath, he tried to rush Dove with a swinging elbow, but Sky managed to trap him in a bear hug from behind. As he struggled in the hold, Cardin managed to get back on his feet after shaking off his brief daze. With a snarl, Cardin reared back for another punch to the head, but Ryu saw it coming. He leaned his head just a bit to the side, barely letting Sky take Cardin's fist instead.
With a crunch, Sky felt his world explode as he was immediately knocked out with a broken nose. This had loosened his hold, allowing Ryu some room who used it to knee a shocked Cardin in the stomach, sending the taller man back down to the floor with a groan (Yang: "And stay down, you jerk!").
Sky's unconscious body was still draped over him, so he shoved the cadet off so he could focus his attention on a now terrified Dove. Unfortunately, he forgot his surroundings at the heat of the moment, so when he shoved Sky off of him Ryu saw the body was about to crash into a shocked Belladonna who was standing at the edge of the fight.
At the last moment, Ryu grabbed the body and flung him to the side, but the momentum of doing this had unbalanced him, so in an effort to keep himself upright he'd accidentally found his hands latching onto her impressively large and firm breasts for support.
Blake yelped as Weiss and Ruby looked away. Yang and Kali broke out in laughter, finding the accidental groping of her partner/daughter to be hilarious. Ghira just growled in anger. 'Get your hands off my kitten, you punk!'
This also had the unfortunate effect of enraging Belladonna beyond reason, especially when she saw the impressed expression growing on his face ("Yang, shut up! Your son's molesting my other!" "I can't help it! HAHAHA!"). With a glare, she sent him back into the fight she was trying to stop with a reflexive hook across his handsome face.
Yang snickered, "Your other thought my son's handsome?"
Blake blushed. "I thought you didn't like the idea of my other dating him!"
Yang waved it off. "Well duh, of course I don't, but this isn't dating. It's a funny series of events that I can poke fun of." She grinned, "I mean, shouldn't you be happy that someone thinks you're hot while you're not hiding your Faunus traits?" She asked.
Blake, Ilia, and Eve glared at the blond. "I hate you." Blake said, not willing to admit that it did feel rather nice to have someone admire her for her full beauty rather than her disguise.
Meanwhile, her friends and many other patrons were shouting at the guys to stop, but their words fell on deaf ears.
Regaining consciousness Sky stood up, glaring at his friend all the while as all four cadets surrounded Ryu and charged, trying to overwhelm him with numbers. For his part, Ryu held his own pretty well for a while and it actually looked like he'd come out the victor at one point, but a lucky shot at his knee from a downed Dove got him to stumble briefly, and the four jumped on this like sharks smelling blood. Still, while he was slowly being beaten down, he fought back viciously; even breaking a beer bottle across Cardin's face at one point.
Yang grinned at the bottle smash, puffing up in pride of her son lasting so long against those four with her training. "Even if he lost, he did good being outnumbered, and all thanks to my training." She rubbed the bottom of her chin, "Hmm, maybe I should look into being a teacher."
Glynda felt a headache coming on, as if knowing where the brawler would apply. 'And knowing Oz, she'd be accepted with no issue.'
Finally, a sucker punch got him groaning face down on the floor, before hands roughly grabbed his shirt to pick him up and slam him onto an intact table face up. Cardin, now lost in blood lust, grabbed Ryujin's collar to hold him in place and began slamming punches onto the dazed civilian's face. Ryujin was too dizzy to defend himself or fight back.
The Arcs winced at the blows, vowing vengeance for their brother/nephew.
Oz and Salem scowled at this, wishing to punish those four. 'I think a few detentions with Glynda is in order.' Oz thought as Salem was leaning over to whisper to Tyrian about finding those four and teaching them a lesson on respect.
Yang growled as her son was getting punched even while he was already defeated. "Different versions or not, I'm beating CRDL's asses next time I see them."
Raven was a bit disappointed, but didn't blame Ryujin. 'After all, he wasn't trained as a warrior.' She sighed. 'Still, he managed to have those idiots bleed for their little victory.' She smirked at the cadets onscreen. 'It took you four to defeat my civvie grandson, and you still almost without that cheap shot.'
"Stop it! He's had enough!" Belladonna shrieked as she tried to hold back Cardin's arm, but he was too lost in his rage to listen. She was about to get violently physical with her fellow cadet as he reared back for another punch, his fist already covered in some of Ryujin's blood flowing freely from his nostrils (Yang : "Gonna remember that Cardin").
A piercing whistle shot through the bar like a spear. Each and every cadet stiffened at attention where they stood, feeling like an ice-cold hand was gripping each of their hearts tightly. They all knew who made that sound. Even Cardin, lost as he was in his rage, dropped Ryujin immediately and stood stiffly at attention with his eyes forward, too terrified to glance at the bar's entrance where one man stood with a stern expression on his face.
'Damn it, that took him a bit longer than a minute. At least the cadets are scared shitless; looks like they're in for a rough time.' Ryujin thought smugly, even as he was busy blinking out the stars in his vision.
The entire bar was deathly silent with the exception of the dazed blonde's occasional groaning as he laid still on the table in the center of the room.
Captain Lie Ren was appalled at the scene in front of him. When he heard the commotion over Cadet Rose's comm a minute earlier, he had been expecting a minor scuffle at best, not a full bar brawl with four of his cadets ganging up on a civilian, and the rest doing nothing to stop this.
Ruby and Weiss looked down while twiddling their thumbs in slight shame. Whitley, Tai, Summer, and Yang chuckled a bit at how the two reacted.
Ren was rather surprised at the level of fear the cadets had for his other, though Nora's heavy blush had him thinking. 'Perhaps I should act more assertive in the future. Hmm…'
James and Winter nodded in respect. 'That was very good.' The two thought as they remembered all the times where they had to stop their own soldiers from doing stupid shit like that.
No one would be escaping punishment tonight, but at least he would be somewhat lenient on Cadets Rose and Schnee for calling this in immediately, and Belladonna for trying to stop the brawl. (Ruby: "Well, that's something at least.")
"Who threw the first punch?" he demanded quietly, his tone belying his anger. His annoyance grew when none of the cadets gave up the perpetrator. He noted some of the cadets, particularly the young women, were glaring at Cardin and his boys out the corner of their eyes. While he admired this class's desire to cover for each other like a team even if they knew one of them were in the wrong, he wasn't in the mood for that today.
He glanced off to the side at the bartender, who tilted his head silently in the direction of Cardin when no one was looking. He let out a disappointed sigh, and then displayed a stony expression.
"Alright, since all of you are willing to cover for each other, each and every one of you will be standing at attention outside your rooms when we get back to the hotel. You will not move a millimeter from your spot until I personally dismiss you." he said sternly as he stepped up right in front of Cardin, glaring at him and making sure to convey to every cadet there that he already knew who the one responsible was. He had to hide his smirk when he noted more cadets glaring openly at the now sweating orange-haired man. Cardin was in for a bad time.
Nora and Pyrrha giggled as Velvet and Coco laughed at the sweating cadet. "Cardin's in so much trouble!" Nora shouts as she pointed at the screen.
Meanwhile, Ren would just dismiss the three aforementioned female cadets to bed earlier than the rest who'd be standing outside their rooms until morning. ("Thanks Ren." "Anytime Ruby.")
"All of you wait outside. Now." he ordered quietly yet firmly.
"Sir yes sir!" all cadets chorused, before they immediately began to file out. They were already grumbling at the four cadets for ruining their fun evening out; Cadet Schnee was even heard growling out "Those idiots just wouldn't listen!"
With the bar now mostly empty, Ren stepped up to the groaning blonde still on the table. He gave a curious tilt of his head as he studied the bloodied form of Ryujin Arc.
'Shit.' he thought with a hidden wince. 'I'm really glad Yang didn't come with me. My students would probably be wishing for death by now.' (Yang: "What do you mean 'probably'?")
"Are you alright, son?"
"You can whistle really loud, you know that?" Ryu slurred, still dazed. Ren just raised an eyebrow at that.
A few minutes later found a mostly recovered Ryu sitting at a table with torn pieces of napkin stuffed up his nostrils, while Ren finished helping pick up the tables and chairs overturned from the brief brawl. He had taken responsibility as the commanding officer of the trouble-making cadets and already paid for whatever irreparable damages that occurred. (Winter: "That was very responsible of you.")
He then took a seat across from Ryu, and both men gave each other a curious stare for a long silent moment.
"You look like you recognize me, son, and not from the media." the older man observed, while the younger man gave him a small nod.
"I vaguely remember you from when I was a kid, Captain Ren. You visited mom a few times in the past." he mentioned as he took a sip from his glass of water, before smirking slightly in pride. "So, she did know someone as famous as you."
"I was actually at your house tonight to catch up with my old friend over dinner when one of the cadets called me here about trouble brewing."
Ryu averted his eyes to the side in shame at one of his past assumptions being wrong. "So you did know my father personally. I thought you were just using his name to help you in your career whenever you mentioned him in interviews as your inspiration."
Ren felt a bit insulted at that, "I would never stoop so low." He would never use the fame of one of his friends, especially his brother, for something so trivial.
Ren nodded in understanding, taking no offense with that assumption. It was clear this young man had become jaded from years of hearing praises for his father.
"You really do look like your father." he observed calmly, and he got the expected reaction when the younger man's blue eyes flashed in irritation. Ryujin then lifted his empty glass high over his head and called out for an employee.
"Yo! More water for me!" he was intending to leave after this refill, already tired of this conversation.
"I was on board the Kelvin with him." Ren continued, unheeding of Ryu's irritation. "One thing I truly admired about your dad, ever since our days in the Academy, was that he didn't believe in no-win scenarios."
"He sure learned his lesson, didn't he?" Ryujin spat out bitterly as he pulled the bloody pieces of napkin out of his nostrils and gave a sniff to clear them out. Ren gave a rueful smirk at that response.
Ren frowned, "Easy young man, he sacrificed his life for us and the rest of the Kelvin. I'd call that a victory." The other heroes nodded.
"Well, it depends on how you define winning. You, your mother, and I are all still here, aren't we? He made that his condition for victory, and he 'won' in a spectacular fashion."
That made Ryujin pause for a moment as a fresh glass of water was set down in front of him. He muttered out an absentminded 'thanks' as he thought over Ren's words.
"You know...that instinct to leap while changing the rules of engagement to suit yourself as you went along… that was in his nature too. Don't think I didn't know that you're more than smart enough to walk away from that brawl, but you apparently wanted my students in trouble for some reason and timed it perfectly for me to come in and catch them red-handed." the captain stated with a smirk, which widened when Ryu's eyes flashed briefly in surprise at being read so easily.
Ren smirked, "Nice try, but you'll have to be a lot quicker than that to get one over on your uncle Ren." He said. As if to prove his pint, he absentmindedly grabbed Nora's left hand that was about to grab his arm and gave the back of it a little kiss before letting go.
"That instinct, I think it's something Starfleet needs more of." the older man said, before Ryujin burst out with an amused chuckle.
"And what makes you think that wasn't just a fluke, old man?"
"Your mother was all too happy to heap praises on you when we spoke about you." Ren admitted with a small smirk while ignoring the jab, making the younger man groan in embarrassment ("Oi, I'm your mother! It's my job to embarrass you!"). "I also looked up your file while you were drooling on the table."
Ryujin frowned, his attempt at acting 'uneducated' blown.
"Your aptitude scores are off the charts, and you're a J. Archer Alumni."
Yang and Summer squealed, "My grand/baby is so smart!"
Raven smirked as she nodded in pride.
The other Arcs cheered at their intelligent family member.
Oz and Salem puffed up a bit in pride.
"So, what is it? What's making you be the only genius-level construction worker in the farmlands?" the Captain questioned with a curious tilt of his head.
"Maybe I love it." the 'genius' shot back defensively, and the older man deadpanned.
"So your dad dies, and you settle for a less-than-ordinary life." he stated this in a tone akin to talking about the weather ("That was a low blow, Ren." "Had to be said, Nora."). That got Ryu to glare at him across the table, angered at the hurtful yet correct observation.
"Or do you feel like you were meant for something better? Something special?" Ren asked softly, making the younger man avert his eyes. He didn't want to admit those words were resonating with him.
"Enlist in Starfleet. You'll do great things there."
That was enough to get Ryujin to give out a surprised scoff. "Enlist?! You guys must be way down on your recruiting quota for the month."
"If you're even half the man your father was, then Starfleet could use you. You'll be an officer in four years, and get your own ship in eight." Ren continued. "You understand just how important the Federation is. You can make a difference out there with our peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts-"
"Are we done?" Ryujin interrupted rudely, having had enough of the conversation. A long pause stretched between the two men, before the captain spoke.
"I'm done. Just one last thing before I leave?"
Ryujin just nodded, not really giving him any attention.
"I want you to enlist in Starfleet because I want to see what you are capable of. I'm not here to make you a copy of Jaune, I want to see just who Ryujin Arc is; to see if you can rise to greater heights than what your father achieved."
Ren nodded, knowing that Jaune's son would definitely take the bait.
Whitley hummed, "Well played." He knew how it felt being in the shadows of one's father, and if someone said something like that to him, he'd be willing to do anything to prove them right. 'I wonder if this Arc fellow may just be that person.'
To hear someone other than his mother and Velvet say that, finally acknowledging him as more than a copy of his dad, made Ryu snap his intense blue eyes to lock with Ren's knowing magenta eyes. It was like the younger man was focusing his wild, immense, and untapped potential through that glare, and the older man was staring back with a cool, tempered, and calm aura.
Ren never broke eye contact as he continued. "Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved over eight hundred lives, including you and your mother." He then leaned forward, and it was all Ryujin could do to keep his eyes locked with him.
"I dare you, Ryujin Arc, to do better."
With his speech finished, Ren finally broke eye contact, and Ryujin let out a silent breath of relief. The older man then rose out of his seat and glanced down at the young Arc.
"Riverside Shipyard. Shuttle for new recruits leaves tomorrow, 0800."
Ryujin gave a small nod to show that he heard, then Ren left him to his thoughts.
Nora chuckled. "Hook, line, and sinker. Right Ren?" she asked as she looked at a smiling Ren who nodded. The two of them then looked at a pondering Pyrrha, 'Now if only Jaune was as easily tricked…'
Back at the Arc Farmhouse a short while later
A sore Ryujin was grumbling quietly as he parked his motorcycle and made his way up onto the dimly lit porch. (Roman: "Kid looks like shit.")
"So, got done wiping the bar's floor with your face, son?" a mocking female voice reached him from the side. He glanced tiredly to the side to find his smirking mother seated on the porch's large swing, bundled up comfortably in a blanket against the cool midnight air. (Yang: "Man, but that does look comfortable.")
"So you've heard." Ryujin groaned quietly as he took his shoes off and shuffled over to the swing.
"Yep. Ren came back earlier for a minute to grab his ride and told me." his mother stated as she reached up and took her lightly resisting son's face in her hands, and pulled it level with her own. She inspected it closely, finding bruises and some small lacerations, and tutted.
"They really did a number on you. I should be going over and kicking their asses for ganging up on you." she growled quietly, getting a chuckle out of her son as he sat down next to her and leaned back against the swing's backrest with his arms spread and resting on the top edge. Yang took this moment to wrap her blanket around him, and snuggled into his side for more warmth under cover.
"Aww, that's really sweet Yang!" Ruby smiled as Yang gave a side hug. "Yep! Just like old times, right Ruby?"
The mothers smiled at the sight. "Aww~." A few gushed as they remembered doing that for their children.
"Don't worry, mom. I think the good Captain has that handled." Ryujin said, grinning wide with a split upper lip. Yang rolled her eyes at the ruined visage, and the swing began to sway back and forth slowly. There was a long moment of silence as mother and son enjoyed the clear night air. (Velvet: "You know, it's moments like these that make me miss my mother. I should call her soon.")
"Mom, I'm sorry about what I said earlier, and for acting like an asshole these last few months." Ryujin apologized with a sign, and Yang nodded in acceptance.
"I really want you to be the best you can be sweetie, but I admit I've been too pushy about that lately. I'm sorry for pressuring you." she said with a sad smile.
"We have to talk. About everything." Ryujin sighed as he glanced at his mother. Seeing his expression, she knew that he'd decided on something monumental. A part of her feared what was to come, but she would fully support whatever he decided to do.
What came next were hours of crying, yelling, sadness, happiness, resolve, and finally true acceptance in the end.
Tai smiled a bit as he hugged his children. "It's always hard for your children to leave the nest." Ghira, Kali, Frigga, Odin, and Willow nodded as they hugged their own children.
Velvet sighed, "Now I really need to call my mum." Coco nodded, "Yeah, me too." The fashionista grinned, "Maybe I can introduce Jaune to my folks." She laughed as she saw Velvet glaring at her.
Sunrise
"So how'd it go with Velvet on the comm?" Yang asked as she stood on the porch in front of her son, earning a perk up from the Velvet in the audience. She had to admit her son had grown into a fine young man, and she was happy to see him finally find a direction in his life. She was a little sad that this direction would take her little boy away from her (Tai: "All you can do is lend him your support sweetie, that's what being a parent's all about.").
"We said our goodbyes, and she said that she knew I'd find my way to Starfleet one day." Ryujin replied with a grin, getting a brief laugh out of his mother as she hugged him tightly around his chest. She almost didn't want to let go at all.
"She's scary smart like that. She usually sees something in anyone that others don't." (Coco: "Yeah, she has a talent for that.")
"I also told her to take good care of you while I'm gone; not that I really needed to since she already makes you happy." Ryujin murmured into her hair as they held each other tightly. "I'll drop by every once in a while."
Yang grinned with a few tears running. "You better young man." She said as Ruby nodded.
"You do that. I love you so much, and remember that I will always be right here if you ever need a break from anything." Yang sniffled slightly as she buried her face into his chest.
"I know that now, mom. I love you too." he whispered back, his voice thick with emotion. Yang leaned back to show several small tears trailing down her cheeks as she gave him a shaky smile.
Yang leaned back to look at her son. "I'm proud of you Ryujin, and believe me your father would be too. He wouldn't have had any issue with whatever you wanted to do in your life as long as you were happy and doing your best." She brushed a strand of hair from his face. "But we both knew before you were born that you're meant for great things. I have a good feeling you'll surpass your father's fame someday soon."
Ryu nodded silently, too overcome by emotions to speak for a long moment. "T-Thanks mom. I'll call you as soon as I get settled in." He said as he gave one last hug.
"Good luck, a-and be careful out there." Yang said quietly, her voice breaking as he left her arms. He then stepped down off the porch towards his bike. Getting on, he gave one last long look back at his childhood home with his mother still standing on the porch. They gave each other one last tearful smile and a wave goodbye.
Putting his helmet on, he started the bike and slowly rolled out onto the road, forcing himself to not look back even as he heard his mom's heart-tugging sobs.
A short while later found him resting atop his bike on a dirt road close to the shipyard.
Ryu was staring up at a marvel of starship engineering rising high into the sky. He could tell this new ship under construction was going to be stunningly beautiful when it was finished. While there was still a lot left undone, the large ship almost all framing and nothing else, he easily made out the familiar saucer-like main hull found on almost every Federation starship built so far. Next was the long neck attached ventrally at the saucer's aft that led down to the large cylindrical engineering/hanger hull. Two large warp engine nacelles raised high and behind the saucer hull by their support pylons attached to the engineering hull completed the look. He easily recognized the design of this starship being built as one of the new 'Constitution' line that just begun service a few years ago.
Everyone was blown away from the beauty of the ship. Even if it was mostly framework, it was still a work of art. "Incredible." Penny said in awe.
"Man," Yang said, "Imagine what that ship would look like once it's complete." Her friends nodded, before she grinned, "You think there'll be an inbuilt bar installed?" "That's my niece."
He felt a small amount of warm fondness bubbling within him, making him smile slightly up at the ship as if he knew the two would be quite well-acquainted in the near future.
A few minutes later, and Ryujin was riding his bike through the large shipyard, bustling with many workers coming in for their morning shift. A few helpful people giving directions had him rolling to a stop in front of a large flying shuttle preparing for departure.
Just as Captain Lie Ren was directing the last of his extremely sleep-deprived cadets into the shuttle, he glanced back, almost expecting to be disappointed with seeing no sign of that troublesome blonde. Instead, he was very pleasantly surprised to find Ryujin dismounting from his motorcycle with a cocky smirk, and a fire burning behind his piercing blue eyes.
"Whoa...nice bike!" a nearby worker exclaimed with an awestruck expression as he walked by. Ryu nodded in pride, took the key out, and tossed it to the surprised worker.
"It's yours now. Where I'm going, I won't need it anymore so take good care of it." he stated as he walked past the stunned worker to Ren.
Yang sputtered at her son giving away his bike like that. Tai and Qrow blinked at this, not expecting Yang's son to do that. "Huh, didn't see that one coming."
Ruby looked at her sister with hopeful eyes, "You think you'll ever give me Bumblebee like that one day?" Yang wanted to immediately shoot that question down, 'No one touches my baby!' She really did, but her baby sister's puppy dog eyes was proving to be near impossible to deny. "W-We'll see Rubes."
"Officer in four years? I'll do it in three!" he declared with a confident smirk as he stepped past the older man into the shuttle ("Haha! That's my grandson!"). Lie Ren watched him go with a raised eyebrow, thinking the next few years were going to be interesting. He then thought back to Yang's words.
' I know he will exceed those expectations and announce to the galaxy that Ryujin Arc, not Jaune reborn, has arrived.'
"Perhaps, my friend. Perhaps." he whispered to himself with a fond smile, before stepping into the shuttle.
A moment later, the vehicle rose quickly into the air and maneuvered around to fly over the construction site. It then zipped through the sky into the horizon, taking the legacy of Jaune Arc on his first step to becoming a legend for centuries to come.
After that, the screen turned off and the orb rippled out of the screen as the lights turned back on.
The heroes were applauding as they felt this was a good sendoff to one of Jaune's children. Before they could talk about what they'd seen, a bright light interrupted them as a book was dropped off in one of the pedestals.
Curious, Yang got up and went over to it. "Wonder what this is?" As she got closer, she could see that the book was a soft brown color with the Arc symbol on the front. Raising an eyebrow, and with her friends joining her, she flipped the first page, only to see a picture of her son with a Captain's uniform on. "W-What is this?" She asked in wonder as she gently traced the picture.
Jack smiled, "That, Yang, is a book cataloging Ryu's various adventures through the galaxy." He said as Yang looked at him with wide eyes. He tilted his head a bit, "You can take a look inside if you want."
Yang nodded, and immediately lifted the book, surprised by the heaviness of it, and walked back to her seat. With a grin of anticipation, she began to read. "I wonder what my son's been up to."
As Yang was about reading, with her friends crowding around her to look as well, Adrian and Alice had finally come back from their own little adventure. Glynda, Saphron, and Terra all giggled at the large gold shirts that the two were wearing, the Starfleet insignia catching the light just right.
As everyone was distracted in one form or another, a large shadow started to appear behind them. They quickly looked back, only to be stuck dumb. "Holy shit." Coco said as she took off her sunglasses for a better look.
The shadow was large, and the lights dimmed a bit so that everyone could see what it was. It was a large ship, one that everyone recognized. Yang smiled a bit at the sight. "The Kelvin." She whispered as they all saw the once more pristine ship, its name displayed proudly on its bow.
END
And done. We've finally reached the end of this universe, hope you all liked the ending. Sorry about the lateness, had a bit of a problem regarding my schedule at work, for some reason I was listed as working for 3 days straight opening & closing, and it's not getting any better.
Anyway, while a lot of people are expecting me to post the Holiday Chapter after this one, I felt that having a lighthearted one before it would help ease everyone into the gift receiving mood. Also, given how little time I've got and my hectic schedule, I will not be posting the Holiday chapter on the 25th (kind of impossible to post that and the one I want to do at the same time). I should have it up by New Year's Day (or a day or two after) though. So I hope to see you all in the next chapter: "S'Winter".
List of current Jaune's children in the Nexus:
Neo: Lucy
Emerald: Peridot & Garnet
Vernal: Amber
Raven: Robin
Sienna: Altani
Glynda: Alice
1. The Tribe, Beacon Academy (specifically Yang), and maybe Tai if she still had feelings for him (in other universes maybe, but with a new daughter and all, most likely not).
2. Oh the irony, really reminds you of her first interaction with Neptune huh?
3. You may think I'm being too harsh on CRDL, but that team really isn't that good. Pyrrha did beat all their asses by herself. To be fair, Pyrrha's an exceptional Huntress, but she can be beaten if the team's good enough. She (as well as her team) was defeated during that food fight against team RWBY for example. RWBY is a great team too, but Pyrrha had Ren and Nora as well as her own training to help her. Even with Jaune being more of a hinderance & Ren knocked out, JNPR had a distinct advantage, and was even winning since Yang & Weiss were out by Nora, and Blake was out by Pyrrha. Back to CRDL, most of the team also ran from a fight against an Ursa, despite outnumbering it 4-1 and having full Aura. Where was all their training? Seriously, what the fuck? So yeah, I really do think they need more training.