Oh look another thing by me! I really should concentrate on one thing at a time, but my brain isn't exactly the best when it comes to solo focus. I'm sorry! Either way this was one thing I wanted to do for a while. This won't end up as a harem fic, but there is going to be a few separate Poly ships. I won't be including anyone else, other than perhaps the individuals from the world being reacted to from time to time.
Well I hope you enjoy!
"Oh crap… this is bad, this is really bad…" Fingers tapped away at a large keyboard, in an attempt to fix a very vital mistake, "I'm not going to make it in time!" The finely dressed boy with a head of crimson continued to type away till a booming eruption caught his attention in the main room. "No! No no no this is bad!"
In another room, several bodies lay on the floor, their forms still and unmoving. Till one of the blonde ones began to stir, "Ow…" One Yang Xiao Long groaned as she attempted to stir, though she found herself unable to move, buried underneath a swath of bodies. "Am I dead?" She eyed the room which… which looked like a theater room. She shivered, the thought of her being eternally locked in a theater did not sit well with her. "Oh gods it is the bad place! I'm going to be forced to watch love drama's for the rest of eternity aren't I?!"
"Nnngh, Yang shut up…" Yang paused, no… she pushed upwards with inhuman strength forcing the pile of whatever was on top of her off. As she managed to free herself from her restraints she suddenly realized something. She wasn't the only one in the bad place! There was Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Jaune! Oh and Emerald was there, whatever. They were all here! She felt tears begin to stream down her cheeks as she stared in horror.
"Nooooo! Why are you all in the bad place!"
"Yaaaang shut up!" Ruby shifted in her stunned state, then she stopped. "Yang!" Her body burst into hundreds of rose petals as she suddenly slammed into her elder sister. "You're alright!"
"No! I'm not alright! We're not alright! We're all in the bad please! Why are you here?"
"Ba… bad place? What are you talking about?" Ruby stared at her sister in confusion, her silver eyes blinking now and then as she stared blankly for a moment.
"We all died and ended up in the bad place Ruby!"
Ruby was going to reply till a few groans caught their attention. The remainder of their friends began to stir, "What happened?" Blake rose first, her ears perking as her golden eyes shimmered. The moment she caught sight of Yang she was gone, only a ghost of her self remained as she used her semblance to boost herself forward.
"Oomph!"
"Yang!" She tackled her girlfriend to the ground, pushing into her with as much force as she could muster.
"Noooo! Why is everyone in the bad place?!"
Nora held Jaune tightly in her arms, along with Ren and Oscar who also refused to let him go. "You're okay! You're okay!"
"He...hey guys…" Worry filled her as she glanced at him. He sounded so… dead inside. She hadn't heard him sound this bad since then…
Though moment's later Nora eyed everyone else, in one quick pink blur she pulled all of their currently vacated friends into a swift powerful hug. "NORA!" Weiss squeaked out as best as she could. Though she didn't actually mind the current affection, they all really needed it.
"You're all okay!"
A few sniffles came out of the others, Weiss herself unable to hold back the tears of relief that they were all together at least. "Yeah." Everyone was currently locked into the group hug, at least till.
"Guys, where's Penny?" Ruby asked as she stared at the room around.
Everyone noticed the way that Jaune and Weiss flinched, neither of them were willing to look at Ruby.
"And where are we?" Emerald finally spoke up, as if realizing something was wrong and trying to deflect the attention.
Weiss watched as Jaune looked at her, she took her time but nodded. "Ruby." He spoke first, "Penny… she's…"
A door suddenly opened as two figures stepped on through. "Right here friend Jaune." The first voice coming from a rather feminine looking young man who appeared no older than them.
Then came the following, "Salutations!" All eyes fell upon the red headed duo in front of them. Weiss and Jaune stared star struck, though Jaune himself moved back a little. Something Nora noticed as she watched her leader carefully. What really caught Nora off guard was that Weiss shifted over towards Jaune and grabbed his hand. A look of concern flooded over her features.
The others noticed this too, "What's… what's going on?" Oscar felt confused, but he knew something was wrong. 'This is odd indeed…' Ozpin was also confused.
"Yeah- something is off." Ruby followed up, concern showing in her silver eyes. "Weiss, Jaune?" She turned back towards Penny who looked away shame prevalent in her own eyes.
"Guys?" Yang spoke out as well, finally maybe possibly over the fear of the underworld.
"I can answer that." The redheaded boy spoke as he took a few steps forward. "I'm Naga, I assist in this multiversal theatre."
"Multive…" Ren spoke first, "As in the Multiverse theory?"
"That's the one!" Naga flashed a toothy grin as he snapped his fingers.
"The what now?" Nora was now incredibly confused, but still concerned.
"I'll explain it in a bit, we have another guest we have to wait on, you all showed up… earlier than I had thought." This didn't sit well with any of them as they all stared at him suspiciously. "It's fine I promise! Just uhm." He snapped his fingers again and the lights turned on, revealing the actual theatre, though it was called one it was actually pretty small. There were just enough seats for them, plus a few more as if they were expecting other guests.
"And." Suddenly the light flashed blinding everyone for a brief moment.
"Agh!" All of them fell to the floor, the previous events they experienced began to seep into their minds. They saw everyone's point of views, it wasn't long before tears flooded into their eyes.
"What… what was that?!" Ruby jumped upwards, her eyes swollen red. She looked at Penny, then at Jaune, then back to Penny. Both of them unable to meet her vision, both obviously ashamed but at the same time firm in what had to happen.
"What was that…" Yang said, anger clear in her voice as she clenched her fist.
Everyone turned towards Naga, who started to make slow but apparent backtracks when met with the dangerous gazes thrown his way. "Okay, so like I said just gotta wait on someone before I can start explaining! But uh, that was just the memories of what had happened to ya'll." He paused when he saw Nora clench her fist and move in his direction. "I figured it'd be easier to show you guys!"
Suddenly the door opened again as one more figure made their way through. A tall young woman, with emerald eyes and crimson hair. "Hello again." The voice said calmly.
Jaune broke the silence, "P...Pyrrha!" In a flash Jaune, Ren, and Nora dog piled her, tackling the surprised redhead to the floor. "Pyrrha! You're alive!" Jaune found himself unable to hold back his tears. His arms wrapped around the redheaded spartan tightly refusing to let go.
"Pyrrha!" Nora held onto her sister for dear life, hoping this wasn't actually a dream.
Despite himself, Ren also held on tightly. He'd just recently accepted his emotions, and seeing an old friend return to them pushed him further than he had expected. "I missed you guys so much." She pulled into their embrace.
It didn't take long for the rest of their friends, short of Oscar, Penny, and Emerald to join in.
Penny for what it mattered wasn't bothered by the appearance of Pyrrha. She didn't blame her for what had happened. If she had held grudges then she would have blamed Emerald more so. But it just wasn't worth it, though. "Excuse me. Mr. Naga?"
The red headed young man turned towards Penny. "Yes?"
"Who exactly are you?" This got everyone's attention, now that they thought about it, he still hadn't given them an explanation.
"Ah just uh, common worker if you will. One of several that happen to work in this theater." He paused as he began to tap the underside of his chin. "I'm sure you'll meet the others, though some don't talk a lot."
"Okay, but what exactly is here?" Emerald asked, still suspicious of the stranger.
"Oh right, explanations! So then… things have gone to shit in Remnant, as I'm sure you've all experienced." He didn't wait for a reaction, even if they all agreed, "So my boss, who you prolly won't meet. Wanted to rectify some things…" There was a moment before Oscar raised his hand.
"How can I help you?"
"What do you mean by rectify things?"
"Okay so rectify things isn't the right word? I misused it! Apologies, just… hopefully some things can be changed." He paused as he looked away in embarrassment . "Ah well, so, as you know this is a multiversal theater. But well… okay so hear me out." He paused making sure to take a few steps away just to be safe. "My boss is setting some things up, he's going to be reversing time a bit, to when you all." He pointed to everyone but Oscar. "Were back in Beacon hopefully with everything you've learned and with how much 'more' you all are now you'll be able to hopefully alter some things." Then he pointed at Oscar, "And I'm sure the two of you will be able to work something out."
The following pause was agonizingly long. So much so that their current host was beginning to get just a tad frustrated. "Ya'll can say something, you know that right?" His shoe tapped against the ground.
"Sorry it's just that it's taking a while to sink in…" Ruby was somehow the least skeptical of the group. Not that Naga could really blame them. Who would honestly believe the nonsense he was spouting.
"Right well then! Ya'll don't really get much of a choice." He snapped his fingers as all of them suddenly popped into several cushioned seats. "I'm sure ya'll have many many questions! But I don't have time!" They sure did, but none of them had a chance to answer as they all grabbed their stomachs, even the currently human Penny, the little teleportation trip flipped their stomachs upside down.
"Brothers that was… uuuuugh!" Jaune was doing his best not to throw up, being the one with the weakest stomach. Thankfully both Pyrrha and Weiss who were on either side of him were rubbing his back gently.
Nora was the first to recover, "Okay… okay but why a theater?" She was running her hands across Ren's back.
"Oh crud right! So, multiverse, different universes with all of you." He snapped his fingers as the screen flickered on. "Ya'll will be watching different universes starring the four of you!" He pointed at the screen as different versions of JNPR flash across it. A Ren with glasses paired with a Nora in a large white sweater and long purple dress, a Jaune in a grey hoodie and glasses paired with a younger looking Weiss. Then children versions of the four of them. A Nora paired with a Pyrrha and what looked like a female more muscular Jaune as well as Ciel Soleil in derby gear. A Pyrrha with ragged clothing, in broken armor bearing a vicious look upon her face. Then a Ruby in a Pumpkin Pete's outfit surrounded by a Jaune with his hair slicked back and that female looking Jaune from earlier, and finally the members of JNPR dressed in various super apparel, Jaune in a long white cloak, Nora in a pink jester like outfit and ren in a spikey frog like uniform, finally Pyrrha in a Magical girl version of her normal outfit with a black rabbit on her shoulder. The Rabbit however glanced there way, his eyes skewing a bit as if he could see them.
"Whoa… what in the world was that." Ruby sat there in brief shock, though a sudden burst of excitement popped.
"Those were several of the universes we'll be watching." Naga spoke with a smile on his face, prepping his glasses back into place. "You may even get the chance to meet them." He waited for the commotion to settle down before another person decided to ask a question. Yang's hand snapped upwards, "So, they're pretty awesome I get that, but why not us?"
Naga shrugged, "No idea honestly, ya'll will appear from time to time so I wouldn't sweat it too much."
Yang took that well enough, but then Penny raised her hand. "Yes Penny?"
"Stranger Naga, will meals be provided?" Penny patted her belly, "Since becoming human I have… experienced many things… one of which I believe is called hunger?"
"Yeah! I demand food!" Nora jumped up, now that the shock and initial fears they felt had passed they all were apparently hungry.
"Oh uhm…" Before he could answer a sudden ringing sound came from behind the double sided doors. "Gimme just a moment…" Naga quickly disappeared behind them, and soon another voice started to come from the other side.
"What? What do you mean I have to… but… ugh fiiiine!" Blake's ears perked as she had the best hearing amongst the group.
Blake noted the strange voice, it was a bit softer than Naga's, "That's not Naga."
"Look, you're the only one of us that can cook."
"But there's like ten of them!"
"Eleven."
"Eleven! That's a lot of people! And they're huntsmen, they're basically bottomless pits!"
"Just… it won't be that bad! Just do it okay!" Soon after the doors swung open as Naga made his way back in. His glasses slightly disheveled, and his hair frazzled, his lips contorted into a frown.
"What… what was that about?" Emerald despite being as shocked as the others still opted to voice her… concerns.
"Nothing, just… talking with a coworker." Turning back towards Penny he smiled, "Yes Penny, there will be meals and refreshments. Just write down your orders on the tablets in front of you." Everyone eyed the machines which suddenly appeared in front of them. "And our 'chef' will work on getting them to you."
Once everyone completed their orders, "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!" Was suddenly heard from behind the doors.
"Perfect." Naga smiled to himself as the others gave him dubious looks. "What? He'll be fine. Now to start the viewing." Once more he snapped his fingers as the room went dark and the screen began to flash before an image started to show.
Lil JNPR!
"Lil JNPR?" Pyrrha tilted her head to the side as she stared at the title on screen.
But her thoughts were soon interrupted by Nora. "Gasp! Is that the one with little us?!" Who was hopping up and down as her excitement began to build.
"Wait, the little kid one?" Yang smirked as she began to rub her hands together in excitement. She just knew this was going to be good!
Jaune wasn't sure what to make of the scene in front of him.
"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" EVERYONE jumped in surprise as Nora's excitement hit a fever pitch. She was practically hopping up and down as she stared at the little leader on the screen. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" Her turquoise eyes snapped towards the currently Jaune in front of her who was doing his best not to look at anyone. "YOU WERE SO CYUUUTE!"
"What?! But!" Jaune's face was practically glowing at this point. "I uhm I'm not that cute!"
"Nu uh!" Nora poked his cheek, "You're adorable! Right?!" She turned around to all of their friends who were smiling at him mischievously. Even Emerald couldn't help herself as she nodded alongside the rest.
*Click* His eyes fell to his left, Weiss currently had her scroll out snapping a quick picture. "Why!?"
"Oh no reason." He felt horror dawn on him as she turned towards Pyrrha. "I'll send you a copy whenever we get out of here."
"Thank you." His partner smiled at the Schnee heiress, though everyone missed the surprise in her tone.
Pyrrha hadn't gotten used to Weiss being so… warm? It… it really had been a long time since she'd seen them all. She would need to consider that for later.
His parents had left Saphron in charge while they were gone on a mission. Them randomly leaving was something he was used to, but what he didn't expect was for them to return with two children, both girls(?).
Nora suddenly quieted down, she'd long come to terms with the past having recently decided to move on for herself. But seeing herself as a child? Seeing her and Ren no doubt not long after Kuroyuri? "Nora." She came too as she felt a firm hand grasp hers. She came face to face with Ren, a soft smile on his face telling her that everything would be alright. Her heart swooned as he pressed his lips against hers, "Everything is alright."
"You're right." She nodded her head vigorously.
"Are they finally together-together?" Pyrrha couldn't help but question Jaune, her head gently pressed against his.
Jaune's smile told her everything she needed to know, "Mmm, looks like it." A small jolt hit her when she felt his hand wrap around hers.
She was ecstatic to be back, to be able to see her friends, to try again, but she'd missed so much. There was so much she needed to catch up on.
The short pause ended when Emerald spoke up, "So are we going to ignore the fact that Jaune thought both of them were girls?"
The awkwardness was swept away in one swift moment as laughter bounced from wall to wall. Even Naga who had stayed silent couldn't help but snicker at the sudden realization.
"Really Jaune?" Ren eyed him with a playful glare.
"What! I'm sorry, okay! I'm like seven there!" He also turned away as the merriment grew louder. Though, from the smirk on his face it was obvious enough that he was taking everything with a grain of salt.
Inside he was crying, he already had 7 sisters, he didn't need two more.
"Right… I forgot how many sisters you had…" Ruby shivered at the thought of having MORE Yang's. She loved her sister but… but well having more than one would have been frightening.
"Ruby my dear sister!" Yang who was finally over her initial shock pressed her hand towards her chest. "You make it sound as if you're ashamed of me!"
"What!? No! I'd never be ashamed, I swear!" Blake and Weiss couldn't help but roll their eyes pleasantly at their teammates' antics, neither of them were sure what was going on but they were sure everyone felt it by now. Their moods had been lifted, they felt a sense of relief that none of them had been allowed to feel for quite some time now.
Though, that thought stopped when he realized they were shaking. He took a deep breath and shivered, they had to be no older than 8, the same as him. But they looked so... defeated. It hurt watching them, so much so that in his own confusion he ran up to both of them and wrapped his lanky arms around them.
There was but a moment of silence, not before a sudden "Oomph!" bounced off the walls of the theater. The screen paused as all eyes fell to the source of the sound. Jaune was currently on the floor, Nora was currently on top of him, her arms wrapped around him pulling him into a bone crushing hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
He obviously felt embarrassed as a light pink dusted his cheeks but he smiled nonetheless. "Of course Nora, we're family as it is." He pulled her into a hug, after but a moment she released him. And then he found the hand outstretched before him, Ren's hand in fact. Taking it he allowed himself to be pulled up, but was suddenly pulled into another hug.
"Thank you." Ren meant it, he knew that this Jaune and the one on screen weren't the same, but he knew that his brother would do the same thing.
"Of course." Jaune's face was practically glowing crimson at this point, yet he simply accepted his friends' gratitude. The following silence that ensued was interrupted when a nearly silent sniff caught everyone's attention.
Yang was bowled over, her eyes shut tight. "Yang?" Ruby called out to her, placing a gentle hand on her sister's shoulder.
"So-sorry… it's just so sweet." The golden dragon couldn't look anyone in the eye. "I know it's sad and all, but… it's nice." Her head shifted to the left when she felt an arm tug at her. Eyeing Blake she sniffed once more, only to smile. "This… this is really nice, I think we needed this." No one else said anything, but everyone agreed. The members of JNR went back to their seats, though not before Pyrrha got up, pulling all three members into a hug, in which everyone returned.
Admittedly they were both taller than him, he was small for his age, but he was sure that he'd grow in time. Both of them shivered in response to his touch, unsure of why this unknown child suddenly approached them only to wrap them both in his small arms. He didn't know himself either if he was being honest.
"You guys must have been through a lot…" Pyrrha quietly spoke to herself, though just loud enough for the others to hear her.
Nora and Ren turned towards one another, "It was an ordeal." Ren spoke, and for the first time in a long time did so confidently. "We've moved past it, with the help of friends." They eyed Jaune and Ruby, both of which smiled back remembering their battle in Kuroyuri.
"Still, I must say, little Jaune is quite sweet." The Snow White Ex-Heiress responded, humming to herself as she shifted back into her seat. This caught Pyrrha's attention for a brief moment, though she figured she'd stow it later, everything was so different from how she remembered it.
Turning to his parents he stared quietly waiting for an answer, his mother finally gave way.
"Weiss is right! You were so adorable Jaune!" Ruby was practically bouncing up and down, getting confirmations from several of their friends.
"Were? Please, I'm always adorable!" Jaune placed his hand on his chest, puffing his chest out in pride, why not have fun while they were here right? This got quite a few giggles from the others, Yang was right they really did need this.
"Jaune, these are Nora and Lie." She paused, as she noticed the way that Lie responded to his name, "Ren... his name is Ren." She corrected herself, noticing that the boy calmed after.
Everyone flinched, no one had ever brought it up, but it was well recognized by their group that Ren didn't like being referred to by his given name, just his family name. The young boy let out an oddly content sigh as Nora's hand squeezed his. Everything was alright.
This piqued Jaune's interest, it was a boy! Turning to his dad who looked like he wanted to say something.
What started out a small giggle soon erupted into a mirthful laugh spreading through everyone within the theater. "Is this going to be a thing with you Jaune?" Blake's voice was playful, especially as a mirthful chuckle roared through her throat.
"Hey now! Look, I know what you want to say but it's not my fault okay!" The young blonde attempted to defend himself. Turning towards the two members to his right and left he begged for help, "Weiss, Pyrrha back me up please!"
Though when his only response was the duo turning their heads the other way and chuckling to themselves he knew that this wasn't something he was going to win. Rolling his eyes he plopped back onto his seat, "I bet you all would have made the same mistake!"
"Uh huh, suuuure we would have Jaune."
He cursed Oscar under his breath, but suddenly relented.
Then a surprising voice joined in the joyful laughter, "So this is what it means to enjoy oneself!" Everyone turned towards Penny, the now human girl smiled brightly. After a few more minutes everyone turned their attention back towards the screen.
"Due to... unfortunate circumstances, they'll be living with us going forward. They'll be your new sister and brother, Jaune."
Before the awkward silence could fill the room, Nora hopped up, "No way! Are we actually going to be family?!" Her bright smile practically illuminated the room around them. Turning towards Ren she couldn't contain her joy. "Ren! We're Arc's!"
Ren nodded his head, "So it seems." Though his joy was far more contained than Nora's it was no less expressive. To truly be part of a family… At least when they were so young, it felt nice.
"You guys will always be my family." Their eyes locked at Jaune, who bashfully turned away, a red hue creeping up his neck. Both members resisted the urge to jump him again, instead opting to sit down and let the show continue.
Jaune blinked, so he was sorta right, they were going to be siblings, while he wanted to jump for joy about getting a brother. He decided that it could wait, for some reason he just wanted to hug them. All he knew was that he wanted to hold them.
The screen faded to black as the lights came back on. "That was… that was something else." Blake allowed herself to absorb what they'd just seen. "Does that mean we'll be watching more of these in the future?"
"That is correct!" Everyone nearly jumped at Naga's sudden interruption.
"Oh brothers, I forgot you were there!" Emerald was rocking back and forth, having nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Ah uh, sorry about that… I felt it was better to let you all enjoy yourselves." He smiled their way, enjoying their youthful joy. "But yeah, you'll be watching a few different worlds. I can't promise if they'll be in order, it kind of just happens." He turned back towards them, fixing his glasses, "Some may not be as bright as others, so keep that in mind." This got the group to grumble, "I just want you to remember, you are you, and whoever is on the screen is them." He paused a moment before breathing, "Everyone makes mistakes."
After a moment the group nodded, "Right… that…" Yang wanted to say something else, but kept herself quiet for now. None of them were sure how they could respond to that.
"Just let it be a lesson on what not to do, you're all getting a second chance anyways." He stood up, opening the door that led out, "Either way, they won't be for a while that I can promise. And-"
There was a loud thump as a large cart filled with food made its way in followed by a pink haired rabbit faunus. "Your food is ready."