Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY (property of Rooster Teeth) nor The Incredible Hulk (property of Universal Studios).
The screen began by showing an aerial view of a couple of buildings encased in a sea of trees and forests with a town a small distance away.
CULVER UNIVERSITY - VIRGINIA
Ren immediately perked up at the name of the place, "Hey, isn't that..." He asked.
He didn't finish, as Katana was already sensing the incoming question, "Nice work noticing this Ren. Yes, this is Culver University, where the experiment took place..." She said, then continued in a somber tone, "...and the Hulk was born." She finished.
"Coming back to where it all began. That's a big thing in a lot of movies." Pyrrha stated. [1]
Banner is seen looking around while pretending to read what appears to be the school's newspaper. After a while, and confirming that he wouldn't be recognized with the number of people present, he folded the paper and made his way into the campus.
DAYS WITHOUT INCIDENT - 17
The scene then changed to an overview of the building's main entrance, where it was shown to be host to a security check point, one that would only allow authorized personnel into the building proper, be they student and/or staff. As he made his way in, Banner noticed the check point and, once he saw that the only way inside was to either belong there or with permission from someone on the inside, he decided to leave before they recognized him as someone suspicious.
"Seeing as he is currently wanted by just about everyone in the government, it's understandable why he would stay clear of anything that might draw attention to himself." Winter calmly analyzed.
"The same holds true here." Blake agreed, remembering how she either had to avoid or take down a few guards during her time in the White Fang.
"I'd hate to imagine having to sneak around and stay out of sight for the rest of my life." Ruby said, feeling sorry for Bruce.
He was then seen outside, making his way out of the campus, 'till he saw something that caught his attention. After a moment of self-debate, he then proceeded to check it out.
Said something was then revealed to be a building, probably part of the campus. He hid behind a tree for a moment to steel himself, and after a while he went in. A nearby directory revealed that the building in question was actually the university's Biological Science department, and as Banner approached the sign, he focused on an name in particular: Dr. ELIZABETH ROSS.
Upon seeing this, many in the audience developed looks of shock, especially when it came to the name they had grown quite familiar with. "Ross? As in General Ross, Ross!?" Jaune asked, trying to see if he wasn't the only one seeing this.
Apparently, he wasn't, "So the man had family here, that's interesting." Ozpin observed.
"But now, all that's left it to figure out what their relationship is." Glynda further elaborated.
After waiting for a while, he finally saw her, shoulder-length brown hair and a white-frilled dress, leaving the building and chatting with her friends with a cup of coffee in her hands like the incident from a couple of years ago didn't happen.
Upon seeing her, many were surprised to see a familiar face. "She's the girl from the beginning who was injured in the experiment that created the Hulk!" Weiss realized.
"And she was in the hospital when Ross and Bruce were arguing." Penny added.
"She has to be his daughter or something. The way he was so mad at Bruce, that can only be a father's overprotective nature. You do anything to hurt their baby, they'll make your life hell." Qrow said. The fear and guilt of possibly hurting his nieces with his semblance was a big reason he stayed away, but the black eye he got from Tai after one of Ruby's baby chairs snapped when he was visiting was another strong incentive to keep his distance.
He followed her to a bench in the campus park, where she just sat there like she was waiting for someone. He remained a fair distance away, contemplating on whether or not he should approach her and how. After a while, she looked up and smiled like she was greeting an old friend, believing that he had been found he tried to leave, only to later notice that the smile wasn't for him, but rather for a man who approached her. A few moments later the two kissed, revealing him to be her current boyfriend. As the two of them left, Bruce just stood there watching as they walked hand in hand, leaving him with a pained expression, knowing that she had moved on from both the accident and from him. After a few more seconds, he turned around and left as well.
After seeing this, many in the audience adopted sad and sympathetic looks. Their hearts going to the man. "So, she managed to move on from the incident and, apparently, from him as well." Ozpin somberly stated, giving the man a look of sympathy, knowing just what he was going through, even experienced it multiple times.
Blake also looked at the scene somberly, while also noting that, despite it being different, there were some similarities between what Banner was going through and what she had yet to do. [2]
The scene then changes to that of a local dinner - Stanley's Pizza Parlor - on the verge of closing for the night as the owner, an elderly man, said his farewells to the last leaving customers before closing. Just as he was closing, Banner got his attention, and upon seeing just who it was at his door, the elder man's expression became that of recognition and shock.
"Good to know that there's at least ONE person who knows him." Velvet got out, thankful that the man at the very least seemed to have a friend to turn to at the moment.
"Just too bad it's a pizza guy instead of a guy with a nice Atlesian (Italian) place." Coco said.
"I hardly think that matters to Mr. Banner right now, Miss Adel." Glynda told her.
"Stan, I give you my word, whatever you've heard about me, it's not true." Explained Banner as the two were seen sitting in the kitchen, with a small cup of coffee and a small meal being taken out for the wanderer.
"Oh, I know it. I always knew it. I mean, you know how I felt about you two." Stan assured Banner, who then adopted a pained, yet understanding look at the end.
"While it is good to know that there is at the very least a few people who haven't been deceived by Ross's lies, it still hurts to be reminded of what you've lost and can never regain." Qrow got out, knowing full well what he had to trade-in in favor of keeping his family safe from his old semblance.
"Yeah! Don't be one of Ross' sheep! Down with the sheep herder!" Nora declared.
"I mean... I guess it's a good message?" Jaune said uncertainly.
Stan noticed this, "Have you talked to her?"
"No. She doesn't know that I'm here." Banner answered, getting a look and nod of understanding from Stan.
"Even though you should tell her. She deserves to know if she cares about you even half as much as you care for her." Weiss admonished.
"Eh. I bet dear old Daddy has her under watch 24/7 in case Bruce ever showed up." Yang grumbled.
"And even if he didn't, he doesn't trust himself to not change into the Hulk and hurt her." Pyrrha reminded them sadly.
"She's with somebody?" he asked.
"Yeah, he's a head shrink. They say he's one of the best. But a really nice guy." Stan explained.
"Impressive." Winter said.
"I think you mean boring." Ruby groaned.
"Now, now, Ruby. Being a therapist is a noble and often very lucrative career." Penny stated.
"And many soldiers and Huntsmen/Huntresses alike often need it if their career goes on long enough." Ironwood added.
"But do you think it could be a trick? Maybe Ross is making this shrink see her to try and convince her to turn on Bruce?" Blake questioned. Between listening to some of Nora's crazy stories and some of her more "out there" books, she'd become a bit of a conspiracy nut. [3]
Though subdued, Banner nodded in understanding, "Good, that's good."
Not liking the look of pain on his old acquaintance, Stan offered, "Bruce, what can I do to help you."
He accepted the gesture, "I could use a bed for a few nights."
Stan shrugged it off like it was no big deal, "You can have the spare room upstairs."
"This Stan seems to be an excellent friend." Penny said with a smile.
"Yeah. We definitely need more guys like him. Not like those punks from the factory." Ruby said bitterly.
"Easy, kiddo. Everyone's a bit of a jerk at some point in their lives." Qrow told her. [4]
"That'd be so great." Responded a thankful Banner, before he adopted a look of contemplation, "There is one other thing."
"What could he have planned, I wonder?" Glynda wondered.
"Likely a plan where he could see Miss Ross without arousing too much suspicion." Ozpin guessed.
"And it already seems like he has the perfect cover." Ren said, realizing what Bruce's plan might be.
The scene changed to the next morning to the sight of the students mingling about, then focused on the image of Banner on a bicycle dressed as a delivery boy for the pizzeria, with actual pizzas for extra effect.
Upon seeing this, the audience's reactions were mixed: the children, baring Penny and Blake, were floored by the fact that this was the plan that Bruce had come up with while the adults, while some were a bit skeptical, weren't all that surprised and even thought that it was a good idea.
"Are you kidding me!? THAT's his plan!?" Exclaimed a shocked Weiss, not believing that a man as brilliant as Bruce Banner would choose this method of sneaking in when he could've thought up of a better one.
"Outburst aside, while I agree that such a method is rather 'tactless', it does have a small probability of working." Winter gave her two cents, a thought that was shared by both the Ozluminati and Blake.
Still a bit unsure, Ruby leaned into Penny, "Is that true?"
The peppy gynoid then confirmed, "It is as Specialist Schnee said, though the overall chances of such a method change depending on the guard in place. Making it an estimated 50-50% probability."
Hearing this, Yang went over to her partner, "Hey, is that true?"
Blake just turned to her with a smirk, "You'd be surprised how far a good outfit and warm food can take you." [5]
The scene then showed Banner making his way to the security checkpoint for the building he was trying to get inside yesterday, once he had the guard's attention, he then proceeded with his plan.
"Hey, pal. I got a delivery on five." he got into character.
The guard just gave him a side glace, "I don't think there's anybody up there." he responded.
"Oh, man. I'm gonna catch hell if I don't collect. You got to let me try." Banner 'pleaded'.
"Looks like this is one of 'impassable walls' that just won't budge." Jaune got out, getting a sigh of disappointment from the rest of the younger folk.
The military presence in the room, while disappointed that Banner wouldn't get what he came for, felt a great deal of pride for the officer who dutifully performed his duty.
Seeing as the guard wasn't gonna let up, he then 'thought' of something, "I'll tell you what. I got an extra medium. Take it on the house." He then offered the guard a pizza. The guard took it and, after inspecting the offered food, he gestured for Banner to proceed.
Relieved that the guard had accepted the bribe, he sighed, "You are the man."
They grasped their hands, "God bless you, brother." he got out with a smile before letting Banner inside. Once he left, the guard then proceeded to enjoy his free pizza.
"UNACCEPTABE!" roared an angry Ironwood, disappointed that the guard was bought so easily with nothing but a pizza. "If that had been a terrorist or something, then you'd have put everyone in the building, perhaps even the whole campus, in danger for something that you could've gotten yourself on your break!"
"Completely deplorable behavior." Winter agreed with the general.
Despite this, however, the children found it to be quite funny, with a few of them even finding themselves in the mood for pizza, which they were eating right now.
He was soon inside the building, walking steadily across a hallway. As he looked across a row of windows, he saw what looked to be a computer room. As he passed a column, the scene transcended into a flashback of the experiment. The memory played until the start of the accident, once it had reached that part Banner found himself back in the present, overlooking the computer room and its one inhabitant.
Seeing this, everyone adopted a serious, yet somber atmosphere, knowing what would come next.
"And now, the moment of truth." Said Ren.
"If he finds the data he's been looking for, then he'll be one step closer to finding a cure." Continued Pyhrra.
"And once he's been cured…" started Blake.
"He'll return to the woman and start over in peace." Finished Velvet.
Soon everyone began to pay the screen their outmost attention.
Now inside the computer room, he used a computer to log in using Elizabeth's account, only sparing his roommate, who was bought off like the guard with pizza, a glance.
This got a few chuckles and giggles in from the kids, and some adults (mostly Qrow), while the rest just groaned, wondering if a box of pizza is really all it took to bribe someone. They quickly regained themselves and focused on the screen.
One inside the system he tried to look for the files in the experiment 'GAMMA PULSE', only to find that the data was not there. Confused, he tried again, this time he tried looking for himself 'B* BANNER', only to get the same result.
When the audience saw this, many of the younger folk were confused, while the adults understood the situation immediately.
"Wait, why is there no data on anything?" Ruby asked in a confused manner.
"Yeah, I mean, for a flaky nerd, he's not that bad. There should be at least some info on him at least." Coco argued in agreement.
"You're right, I mean this WAS his school. Right?" Yang asked. Trying to make some sense of what's happening.
"It's a cover up." Winter started, getting the attention of the younger audience, "Like the general said before, even if it ended in failure, the fact remains that what happened in this area was what could at best be considered a covert military experiment, one that was supposed to remain off the books and outside of public eyes."
"Even if Banner's 'accident' hadn't happened, the fact remains that such a secretive military operation would've never been allowed to catch public attention. So, after the accident, and just like the papers at the beginning stated, they cleansed everything of anything that could be traced back to them and had the media pass it along as a school project going wrong." Ironwood continued.
"And, seeing as Banner was also involved in the experiment, they decided to wipe his data as well, while keeping the truth of his 'roommate' a secret so as to not cause a panic, or draw attention." Ozpin finished.
Once he had confirmed that all data related to the accident had been wiped clean, which he kind-of expected, he stopped looking and opened up an encrypted chat session with Mr. Blue.
- Mr. Green! How goes the search?
MR. GREEN - The data is gone.
- Without it...
- I cannot help.
Banner simply made a gesture like he was already used to getting such a response, despite it hurting.
Seeing this, the atmosphere around the audience grew more somber.
"There must be another way. There has to be. That's what my father says." Penny stated.
"Sometimes, the hard truth is that there simply isn't." Ren told the gynoid.
"But we can always keep trying. Maybe if he actually met this Mr. Blue, they could work something out." Jaune theorized, desperately thinking how to help this man on screen.
- So, what now?
MR. GREEN - I've got to keep moving.
The scene then changed to Banner in the spare room that Stan had lent him, getting himself ready to leave town as soon as he was able. As he was making his way to the door, he stopped to look at himself in the mirror, only to give a small sigh and turn the lamp off before leaving.
"Poor Bruce. His last option's gone." Ruby said, tearing up and hugging Penny.
"I can't even begin to think of what I'd do if I lost as much as he had, or if I had nothing left like that." Blake said, horrified.
"Something will work out for him in the end. It has to." Yang said.
Stan was then shown making his way to the door to deal with a customer, "We're pretty well closed here, folks. I'm sorry."
Only to be greeted by the sight of Elizabeth and her boyfriend, "Oh, come on, Stan. It's Friday night."
"Oh, kids. I've got nothing but marinara now." He tried to politely get them to leave.
"Jeez, I can understand staying out and wanting to party, but come on! The guy's closed and wants to go home. Find another place to eat!" Coco complained.
"But maybe this is her chance to meet back up with Bruce!" Pyrrha said.
"Yeah! Love must find a way!" Nora cheered.
"Oh, but I got to have a Mister Pink, please." Elizabeth pleaded.
"She worked through dinner again, of course." Her boyfriend explained.
"I may have been guilty of that once or twice." Winter admitted.
"I as well." Glynda nodded, blushing as she admitted it.
"I always urge you to take a break and get a meal, Schnee. I'm worried I'll have to start making that an order." Ironwood said.
"I tell Glynda the same thing. I even offer to take her out to dinner or buy her a meal, but she refuses." Ozpin said.
"But even if he's not lying about only having Marinara, then there's no reason to come here. She needs food, not a drink." Weiss criticized.
After glancing at the kitchen, and a moment of self-debate, he gave in and allowed them to stay.
Banner had just arrived in the kitchen and was looking for Stan as the man in question was getting ready to tend to the young couple while they were busy telling each other stories.
"And he... I go, 'So, yeah, I mean, where were you? I can't... I don't know where you were, Cecil.' And he goes, 'Not where you been at.' I thought, 'Oh, my God.' I just felt so awful." as he told the story and adopted a gesture of shame and embarrassment, Elizabeth just laughed, finding it to be quite humorous.
When Banner poked his head out the kitchen door, she immediately recognized him and tuned everything out. When the guy righted his head to continue the story, she moved to try and get a closer look, only to see him gone.
"No! What are you doing, Bruce! This was your chance!" Jaune cried out.
"Are you really one to talk about that?" Blake questioned.
"But you know, I understand she wanted to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but it's quite rude to just tune someone out when they're talking to you." Ren stated.
"Really? That's what you're worried about, Ren?" Jaune asked.
With everything still tuned out, she got up and began to make her way to the door, confused and worried her boyfriend followed her. She came out the back door at an alley, just as the cloud rumbled, letting people know that it would rain soon. "Bruce?" she got out, like she was hoping that she wasn't seeing things.
The scene zoomed out as she looked in the distance, to reveal Banner hiding behind a dumpster, trying his best not to get spotted by her again. "Betty? What's going on?" the boyfriend asked in a worried voice once he caught up. After a few seconds of 'fruitless' searching they both went back inside, with Banner looking down and sighing, in a rather painful mixture of both relieve and misery over being so close to the woman that he loved.
"You can SEE how conflicted he is. He wants to be with her, but he doesn't want to hurt her again." Velvet said.
"Sometimes you've gotta take risks, man. That's what makes life worth living." Coco stated. [6]
Once back inside, she made he way to Stan to get some answers.
"Betty..." he began, only for her to stop him.
"Just tell me if I saw what I think I saw." she pleaded with him in a steady voice, but her eyes and face said that she needed to know.
Stan looked conflicted, "I don't know what to say."
"Please, just tell me the truth." she pleaded once again, this time with need laced in her voice.
"Please tell her, Stan. She deserves the truth." Pyrrha pleaded.
"She may be one of the few people left who can truly help him." Penny said.
Winter realized something. "You're right, Penny. You likely meant emotionally, but clearly, Betty was also part of this project, so perhaps she has copies of the incident and all their files!" She declared.
"Okay, now they REALLY need to see each other!" Nora declared.
After a few second of consideration, he made his decision.
Though obscured in darkness, the scene then changed to show Banner walking by the side of the street as it was pouring down everywhere, the man himself not even having a hoodie to protect himself from the rain. He tried to hitchhike himself a ride, only to be ignored.
"Oh, come on! So much has gone wrong for this guy! Let something go his way for once!" Yang complained.
"It's not fair." Blake agreed.
"Life rarely is, sadly." Ozpin said.
A car then came closer to him and pulled over just a few feet away. The car was revealed to be Betty's, who looked like she was trying convince herself that it wasn't a dream she was having. She got out to get a better view, not minding the rain like it wasn't there.
"They've finally seen each other. After all this time." Glynda said.
"Go to her, Banner. Don't waste this opportunity." Ironwood encouraged.
"It feels weird agreeing with you, but when you're right, you're right, Jimmy." Qrow said, raising his soda as the general raised his flask. "Go get her, Tiger." Qrow then said to the screen.
"No, that's for someone else." Katana said, confusing everyone except Vein, who high-fived her. [7]
Banner turned, also wanting to believe that the rain wasn't making him see things. Once it was confirmed that they were indeed who they thought they were, they ran towards one another to embrace in a tight hug. "Don't go. Don't go." She pleaded, like she was afraid that he'd disappear again.
"Yay! They're finally reuniting!" Ruby cheered.
"Her father would not be happy about this." Weiss said with a small smirk. Anything that had to do with defying horrible fathers, she was a fan of.
"Eh, she's better off, anyway. That guy seemed like a total tool." Coco criticized Betty's girlfriend.
They stayed there for a while, the rain not bothering them a bit. After a while, they separated, "I want you to come with me now." she ordered. "Please, come with me." she then pleaded. "Please." The scene then ended after they gave each other another long hug.
Once the screen went black, Katana turned to the audience, "So, what do you think?"
She was answered with half of the kids sniffing, trying hard not to cry, and the other half shedding small tears of happiness.
"THAT WAS BEAUTIFULL!" Nora let the flood gates open, she then hugged an equally moved Ruby who was also crying anime waterfall like tears.
"It really was, Nora." Pyrrha agreed, shedding a few small tears. "It really was."
"If only things like this happened more frequently, and in real life." Blake also agreed, she too shed tears while hoping something similar would happen to her.
"Those two definitely deserve to be together." said Velvet, doing much better than her juniors despite the fact that she too had waterfalls coming out of her eyes.
"Indeed, after what could be considered years of torment and failure, this was definitely a well deserved reprieve for Banner." Ozpin agreed with his students, knowing just what the scientist was going through. The rest of the adults agreed with him, they too moved by the recent scene, though held their emotions quite better than their younger counterparts.
Vein, after being quiet since this started, adopted a look of longing, "Maybe I should pay my family a visit? What about Kat?"
"Yeah, same here. I really miss the kids." she agreed, also thinking of spending some time with her family.
Their conversation, however, was overheard by the others, getting them to forget about the movie and focus on them. The two noticed the stares and looked at the audience, many of them were starring them with incredulity, while the rest were gawking with their mouths open (Nora, RWBY, even Weiss, Coco, who's glasses dropped without her notice, and Jaune).
"What?" they asked.
"YOU'RE MARRIED!?" exploded everyone.
"YOU HAVE KIDS!?" shouted Yang and Blake, not believing that someone as young looking as Katana would be a mother.
"Yes, I am, to both." Katana responded, as though it was as simple as breathing.
"Same goes for me." Was Vein's rather flippant reply, surprising not only the audience, but also Katana.
"And why didn't you tell me about this?" she asked.
"Because you didn't ask." came the same flippant response. [8]
They were all taken aback by this, especially the adults. Their two hosts looked to be no older than their early 20's at the least, so to hear that they were married as well as parents shocked them quite a bit. None of them knew what to do.
Well, almost everyone.
"Do you have any pictures?" asked Nora.
"NORA!" her team and RWBY along with Velvet were taken aback by how brazen she was. The adults were the same, despite the fact that EVERYONE was curious as to the type of people that would even consider dating their hosts, let alone marry and sire kids with them.
After a moment of thought, Katana responded, "As a matter of fact, we do actually." This got everyone's attention, especially when she let out a sigh of disappointment. "However, as much as we'd love to talk about our love live," she then turned and gave a certain blonde an angry glare, "along with other's love live, I'm afraid that we can't right now."
This got everyone to groan in disappointment, with a few sporting small blushes, and a certain blonde to look confused as to why she gave him a rather angry look.
Before anything else could be said, however, Vein decided to give them a bone, "Don't worry about it, the schedule's a bit tight at the moment so please understand. However, once we're finished with the movie, we'll show you the pictures. OK?"
This got immediate results, as everyone perked up at this. The kids were quite excited to learn more about their hosts, while the adults, though a bit more reserved than their younger counterparts, were also curious as to the lives of the transdimensional duo.
Once everyone calmed down and straightened themselves in their seats, Katana then continued the movie.
Sorry that it took so long to finish this and will get to work on the next chapter as soon as possible. The reason for not going over our respective lovers is due to there simply not being enough time to go over them, but will be discussed at the end. A/S
[1] It's true.
[2] For those who've seen the show, you know what (and who) she means.
[3] If you read as many books as she has, and spent enough time with the people she usually hangs around with, then just about ANYONE would become a conspiracy nut.
[4] You and I both know just how right he is.
[5] You and I both know just how frequently that little bribe has worked.
[6] Amen to that Coco, Amen.
[7] Small Marvel reference.
[8] It's our OC's, we can do as we please.
Sorry that this has taken a while, and also sorry about the lack of jazz here, Family Game Night yesterday took a turn south and we're trying to patch things up. Don't worry I'll try to update as soon as possible.
In the mean time, the last poll ended with:
1st - RWBY/Final Fantasy VX
2nd - RWBY watches Grown Ups
3rd - Familiar of Zero/Fairy Tail
4th - RWBY/Max Steel
These will be the 4 stories that'll pay close attention to along with my first one and a few others that I took interest in, be they of my creation or as favors to a friend or two. I'll need some help with the Max Steel one, so any volunteers are appreciated.
A new poll was created concerning a certain prince who's canon life was essentially screwed to hell, as such the majority of my focus will center around his world and making sure that he gets the happy ending he deserved. As such if you have any interest and/or desire to help him, please consult the poll, it'll be open for two weeks starting now.
See you next time, this is Vein, signing off.