Author's Note:
Thanks to RayvenShade for making a funny comment that I used as a joke in this chapter.
Before finishing this chapter, I was casually watching the Game Awards. Master Chief in Fortnite yeah yeah yeah, pretty cool but eh whatever. Then Sarge and Grif show up. That's amazing.
Also after this chapter, gonna play some Cyberpunk. Problems be damned I love CD Projekt Red.
Cover Art: Cruz7808
Check my profile for polls and planned fics!
Review, point out mistakes, and flame!
Chapter 44- New and Improved
"Whatever happened to Carolina must not have been too damaging. Because Sigma still went through with his plan to have Maine implant more A.I." Jaune commented.
"Would Sigma even care?" Blake asked.
"I don't think he would want his.. tool damaged." Jaune grimaced at the word 'tool.'
"The Director allowed Sigma to do that to him." Pyrrha growled, "Poor Maine, and poor Carolina."
"Well to be fair, Carolina's the one who asked for both." Yang pointed out. "He was going to give the two A.I's to Wash and South."
"I thought you said he allowed it because he saw it as a good experiment?" Weiss raised an eyebrow at Yang.
"I also acted like a cartoon villain, I was kidding." Yang shrugged with a smile.
"I wasn't." Pyrrha crossed her arms, "It seemed in line with his goals. Why else would he allow it?"
"Because Carolina clearly wasn't going to give up." Yang shrugged, "She wanted two A.I. so he let her have two A.I. Every time he's around Tex he gets angry, he basically got mad and said 'fine.'"
Pyrrha pondered her words, "He has become explosive in the past whenever she was mentioned."
"Yeah the Director isn't a mustache twirling villain. Doing bad things because he's bad." Ruby commented. "I hate all the stuff he does but in the end he just wants his wife back." She looked down.
Yang nodded, "He does a lot of bad things, but this one's on Carolina. Except what happened to Wash and South still isn't her fault. Even if indirectly what happened to them happened because she took those A.I."
"Carolina is only focusing on beating Tex, she doesn't care about taking the A.I. away from Wash and South." Ruby added.
"She probably didn't consider them." Pyrrha closed her eyes and sighed.
"Wash could have had Eta, and South probably would have had Iota." Blake commented.
"What do you think would have happened to them." Nora asked.
"Hm I think for Wash it's obvious he wouldn't have learned what the Director did from Epsilon. As for South, she might not have left her brother to die. With her own A.I. she would have no reason to be jealous of him." Ren explained.
Ruby scowled, "She only loved her brother when they were equals, she's a bad sister. She said they were always grouped together and that she hated it. But once he did better than her she let him die to save herself. Even though he almost sacrificed himself to save her."
"Took the words right out of my mouth sis." Yang nodded.
"I still wonder what would have happened to Wash, his trauma is a defining piece of his character." Blake explained. "Though what happened to his friends had to have contributed to his pain too. But without Epsilon's knowledge, he may have continued to Ally with the Director.. maybe."
"It would be interesting to see how things could be." Ren pondered.
"Nope." Ruby shook her head, "Remember what Church said? Things are the way they are. They can't be any worse and they can't be any better. So get used to it nancy."
"None of us are Nancy." Nora chimed in.
Blake chuckled and turned to Ruby, "Church's quote seems a little pessimistic for you."
Ruby nodded, "Well Church meant it that way, but I kind of like to think about it as a positive thing. Things can't be any different right now. So instead of thinking about how things could be different now, do something to make things better in the future."
Blake chuckled, "That is absolutely not what Church intended, but I like your interpretation."
"New and Improved" appeared on the screen with the theme.
Weiss's eyes widened, "I wonder if Lopez actually did repair himself like Sarge said he could."
"Let's see." Jaune said as he hit play.
Scene opens with agents York, Washington, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the Freelancer locker room. South paces angrily in the background.
South Dakota: "What?! This is bullshit!"
"Not a surprising reaction." Blake commented.
"MOTHER OF INVENTION LOCKER ROOM. MANY YEARS AGO…" appeared on the screen.
North Dakota: "South, calm down!"
South: "Calm down?! That's easy for you to say; you already have an A.I. Who the fuck is she to take away our place?!"
Cut to Wash standing by his open locker.
Washington's locker contains a skateboard with a Rooster Teeth logo (similar to Theta's), pink and white towels, shampoo, pictures of Loki, (his cat) a plate of toast, and a rubber duck. It also contains an apple, a banana, and several energy drink cans with curly straws in them.
Jaune quickly paused, "Look at his locker, that's so cool! He has a skateboard like Theta's."
"That logo." Weiss chuckled. "At first I thought it was ridiculous, but I like it. It's.. unorthodox."
"Aww look at the cat!" Ruby pointed.
Yang snorted, "Wash has a cat."
"Don't start." Blake sighed.
Yang turned to Blake, confused. "What- oh! Ha! No I just thought it was funny that Wash had a cat."
"Oh." Blake chuckled, "I think it's cute, the cat and the fact that he has or had one."
"Look at all the food he has in there too." Nora pointed, "He has more curly straws!" She gasped.
"That's awesome!" Ruby added her own gasp, "He has a rubber ducky!"
Blake snorted when her eyes landed on the bath toy, "I don't know what to make of that."
"I think it means that Wash takes awesome baths." Nora crossed her arms with a smirk.
"Yeah." Jaune agreed wholeheartedly, "I like his towels."
"Hm, he has pink towels too." Ren added.
Washington: "Our turn will come. They've already put me back on the list for…"
South approaches him, forcing him down on a bench.
South: "What?! Ugh!"
South kicks over the bench adjacent to Wash in frustration.
York: "You ever notice every time you open your mouth you make things worse?"
Washington: "Sorry…"
"Poor Wash." Ruby winced.
South: "And two A.I.?! Why is she so special!? What's so special about either of them?!"
Enraged, South punches Texas' locker open, causing the name tag to fall off.
"She has a habit of hitting things when she's mad." Ren commented.
Tex walks in behind her.
Tex: "Pick it up."
"Oh are they going to fight!" Yang gasped.
"Oh I hope so." Nora begged. "And I hope it's one sided too."
"That's a given." Yang chuckled.
York: "What're you doing in here? You never come in here."
Tex: "I've come for Carolina."
"That sounds ominous." Ruby commented.
"What do you think she wants with her?" Jaune asked. "To fight?"
"Maybe.." Yang shrugged, "Maybe she wants to talk?"
"About what though?" Ruby asked.
"Their rivalry, the director, C.T." Yang suggested, "It can be anything. Maybe she even wants to apologize."
Tex turns back to South.
Tex: "Pick it up."
The two angrily glare at each other for a brief moment before South picks up a half of the name tag that reads "Tex". She shoves it into Tex's chest.
Yang gasped, "Is that why everyone calls her Tex?"
"An interesting origin to her nickname." Ren commented.
South walks out of the room angrily punching a wall on her way out.
North: "I...I should probably uh...I better go."
North stands up and quickly leaves.
"North, always the good brother." Ruby sighed.
"I guess giving her space hasn't worked." Yang shook her head. "I feel bad for him, he loves his sister unconditionally."
"Yeah and she's just so mean." Ruby sympathized.
Tex: "Where is she?"
York: "Look, Texas, I don't know if you're looking for a fight, or whatever it is you want, but now is not the time. Carolina just went into surgery. We don't know when she'll be out so we're headed over to recovery to wait for her."
As York is speaking, Tex walks over to her locker and finds a dog tag. She picks it up and briefly stares at it.
York and Wash walk up behind Tex.
Washington: "Yeah, Recovery One."
"That feels like fan service." Jaune chuckled.
Blake nodded, "I love the Recovery One mini-series, it was very well done. It was the perfect introduction to Wash's character."
York: "Maybe you should come with us."
There is a brief pause as Tex continues to look at the dog tag.
York: "Let's go. You coming, Texas?"
Tex: "Yeah, go on York, I'm right behind you."
York and Wash leave as Tex watches them go. She looks at the dog tag one last time and pockets it inside her armor, then closes the locker door.
"Hm I have a feeling that she's having doubts about project freelancer." Blake commented.
"Yeah me too." Yang nodded, "It's the way she looked at the dog tags."
"As if she's thinking about leaving." Blake nodded with her.
Cut to the Blue base at Valhalla where Tucker and Caboose are seen talking.
OUTPOST 17-B: VALHALLA. PRESENT DAY...
Tucker: "This is the awesome new base? Looks the same as the shitty old base to me."
"Their new base is cool! They have light thingies shooting out the top." Ruby shouted.
"And the cannon thing that throws uou across the canyon." Nora added.
Jaune grimaced, "I'm glad Professor Ozpin doesn't have that kind of technology."
Caboose: "Oh! You are gonna love it here! You know, it's like our home away from home, that we can't ever get away from."
Tucker: "So, let me get this straight, it's just two bases, in the middle of a box canyon."
Caboose: "Yes. But on one side, instead of a wall, there's an endless supply of water."
"You know if this was an actual war, the reds would have a huge disadvantage. The blues could poison the water that flows to the reds." Jaune commented.
"I guess it's a good thing their entire war is a lie." Pyrrha frowned.
Tucker: "Wow. You guys really know how to upgrade. Lemme guess; I bet this time, we've got a tank with eight pedals instead of six."
Caboose: "Aw, don't be silly, we don't have a tank."
"No Sheila 2.0." Nora pouted.
"Well Tucker can sleep easy knowing he won't be blown up." Jaune chuckled.
"Wash is the real one in danger, he replaced Church." Blake pointed out.
Pyrrha shook her head, "But Church is in Carolina now, I'd say Carolina is in the most danger of friendly fire."
"I think they're all in danger of friendly fire." Ruby giggled.
Cut to the crashed Pelican. Washington walks out from behind it and over to the front where Carolina is investigating.
Carolina: "All right, what have you got?"
Washington: "Not much, a few shell casings, a dog tag…"
"Wash found Tex's dog tag that she just took from her locker. That dog tag is important." Blake noted.
"Nice catch." Jaune complimented.
Carolina: "I was talking to Church..."
Washington: "Oh, sorry, I-"
Church appears on the windshield of the Pelican, blocking Washington.
Blake frowned, "Hm, she's shunning Wash."
"Pft whaat? I wouldn't read into it that much, they're just showing that she trusts Church." Ruby waved Blake's observation off.
Blake shook her head, she knew she was right. "No, Church blocked Wash from view, it's a small detail but it has meaning."
Ruby gave Yang a look, Yang shrugged. Ruby turned back to Blake, "Ok, well you're the foreshadowing expert! So you would know."
Blake grinned, "Thanks."
Church: "Hey, whats up? Somebody call me?"
Carolina: "Yea, find anything yet?"
Church: "Oh, not yet, but the onboard computer program is an old friend of mine; she's doing her best to help me out."
"Good ole Sheila, I miss her." Yang sighed, "She was funny."
"Target locked." Ruby mimicked in a robotic voice.
"Firing main cannon!" Nora added in a loud shout.
Carolina: "Good. Keep it up."
Church vanishes.
Carolina: "Wash, is there a reason you're just standing there doing nothing? Get back to it."
Ruby's mouth fell open, "Why is she being so mean to Wash now?"
Blake shrugged, "That I don't know."
"Weird." Jaune commented.
Pyrrha rubbed her chin, "I don't think there's a specific reason."
"Me neither." Blake drummed her fingers on her knee.
"She's still being mean." Ruby scowled.
Washington: "Umm, right...yes sir, boss."
Washington turns and walks away.
Carolina: "Can't keep your secrets forever, Texas. Not from me... never from me."
Cut to the surgery room on board the Mother of Invention. Carolina lies on an operating table as two doctors prepare to implant her A.I.
"MOTHER OF INVENTION MEDICAL LAB. MANY YEARS AGO…" appeared on the screen.
The group leaned forward, focusing intently on the screen.
The artificial gravity is disengaged and Carolina begins floating. One of the doctors holds her steady while the other one brings over a tray and picks up a shot. He gives Carolina the shot and proceeds to implant the first of her two A.I.
"Why does she need surgery?" Ruby asked, "Can't they just.. implant the A.I. whenever?"
Blake nodded, "South was able to take Delta without surgery."
"Caboose too." Pyrrha added.
"And Church and Omega could literally possess people." Nora added. "And so could Tex! Maybe? She could possess Lopez."
"It's confusing." Ruby complained, "Maybe what happened with South and Caboose is just a plot Hole?"
"Another? Well if it is then I don't mind it. I've gotten used to them." Weiss squirmed in her seat.
"Maybe it's not a plot hole." Jaune suggested, "Maybe they're just implanting safely, but it can be done anytime."
"That would make sense, most of the plot holes in this show stem from the Blood Gulch Chronicles. From the start of season six however, new information has been fairly consistent." Ren explained.
"It has been, the show only improves over time." Weiss straightened herself.
Cut to the Recovery room. Carolina is lying asleep on a bed while Wyoming sits on a chair next to her. York, helmetless, walks in with Wash and sits down. In the background, Maine can be seen sitting on another bed while being examined by a doctor.
"So this is recovery one?" Nora asked.
Jaune nodded, "I wonder if it's just a reference to what Wash will become. Or if recovery one actually changed from a recovery room to Wash's callsign."
"Who cares about the room?" Yang asked, "Look at who's sitting by Carolina." She pointed at Wyoming.
"Wyoming?" Weiss pulled up her nose. "What's he doing there?"
"He was worried about her." Blake's eyes widened, "He gave her a weird look last episode. I didn't know what it meant until now."
"He's not a mustache twirling villain either, or at least not yet." Ruby giggled.
"Him and O'Malley were definitely cartoon villains." Jaune laughed.
Washington: "How's the patient?"
Wyoming: "Should be coming around any moment."
York looks over at Maine.
York: "What's he in for?"
Washington: "Probably for all the headaches he's been having."
Cut to Maine growling as he rubs his helmeted head.
"I have no doubt that Sigma is causing his headaches." Blake commented.
"I wonder if he knows that it's Sigma causing them." Weiss added.
Washington: "Did you ever get them after you got Delta?"
York: "At first, they went away pretty quick though. The other side effects were way worse."
Washington: "What other side effects?"
York: "You know, bleeding from the eyes,"
"Ouch." Jaune grimaced.
"Is he sure that wasn't just from his eye injury?" Yang absentmindedly rubbed her eyes.
"Why do my eyes hurt now?" Ruby winced. "That's so gross."
York: "ringing ears... inverted penis…"
Yang snorted, "Wasn't expecting that!"
Ruby choked, "Me neither!"
Nora laughed "Wait is that a thing?" She asked, turning to Jaune and Ren.
"I hope not." Jaune stared off into space with absent horror.
"No." Ren shook his head.
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "Play the episode please."
Washington: "Inverted what?!"
York: "Dude, I'm just fucking with you, ok? Couple of headaches, that's it."
Washington: "So what's different about Maine then?"
"Sigma." Pyrrha answered.
Carolina begins to wake up.
York: "Hey! She's awake!"
York stands over her.
York: "How you feeling, champ?"
Carolina awakens and suddenly sits up.
Carolina: "I want a match. Right... now."
The episode cuts to black.
"She's determined, I'll admit that." Pyrrha sighed.
"More like obsessed." Yang countered.
QUESTION: What do you guys think about how I write YANG? Good, bad? In character? Annoying? Does she add to the reactions? Etc.
Guys I know I write the characters well, you all have beaten that into my head. Thanks by the way, I'm glad I write them well. I'm confident with how I write the characters. BUT I still want to know about any lingering problems or pet peeves.
