Gamer4 in. Sometimes, you just wake up in the middle of the night and decide to do something stupid. Sometimes, that stupid idea is to take a chapter of your React Fic, remove the reactions, and post it as its own story. Sometimes, that story is a RWBY-flavored 2007 movie called Hot Rod from the Lonely Island. Sometimes, you proceed to waffle on and on in the opening notes about what a dumb idea this is. Sometimes, you end up doing it anyways. Either way, hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Monty Oum, Hot Rod to The Lonely Island.
Jaune Arc, Superstar
Chapter I
One Big Jump
"Speed," Jaune muttered to himself, pulling on a pair of gloves. "Power... grace. The ultimate virtues of the ultimate stuntman."
He pulled on a helmet, donning a yellow cape with ARC emblazoned across in large red letters. He added a large, fake blond moustache to his upper lip, and smiled.
He climbed aboard his trusty motorcycle and tapped his ear, activating the bud there. "Yang, did you reinforce the takeoff ramp?"
"Nah- sorry, didn't have the time," Yang replied apologetically.
He tightened his helmet. "Well, an Arc is nothing if not brave."
He raised his hands in a rock and roll gesture, causing the stadium around him to go wild as he prepared for the biggest jump of his life. He glanced around at all his adoring fans, and smiled at the music that had begun at his gesture:
"All aboard, hahahaha!
Ay, ay ay ay ay ay!
Crazy,
But that's how it goes!
Millions of people,
Living as fooooooeees!
Maybe,
It's not too late,
To learn how to love,
And forget how to haaaaaate!"
Jaune sat astride his bike at the top of the ramp, bracing himself for the descent. "Spirit... of the great eagle," he muttered to himself, an image of an eagle appearing above his head. He took a deep breath and kicked off down the ramp as the song's chorus began.
"Mental wounds,
Not healing!
Living life's
A bitter shame!
I'm going off the rails on a-"
The song cut out as the illusion disappeared- Jaune was actually riding a moped along a simple suburban road towards a basic wooden ramp, attempting to jump over a mail truck and land on an equally basic ramp on the other side. The only spectators he had were his friends Ruby, Yang, Ren and Nora- they were the only ones to watch as the ramp broke from lack of reinforcement and sent him smashing into the landing ramp facefirst.
"Oh, shit!" Yang yelped, leaping to her feet- the four raced to Jaune's side.
"Jaune! Jaune!" Ruby squealed.
"Fearless leader, are you okay?" Nora asked desperately.
"Fine... I'm fine..." Jaune grumbled as he pulled himself to the feet, pausing only to throw up a bit on the pavement. "...Aside from that, I'm fine."
He did seem to recover quickly- he needed Ren to help him to his feet, but after a bit of staggering, he was able to make it back to his moped without too much trouble.
Rock music continued to play in his head as he rode down the road. Along the way, he performed some amazing stunts like... riding his moped down some stairs and hopping over a curb.
As he continued down the road, he first tried riding without his hands on the bars for a few feet, before slowly pulling himself up and standing on the seat with one foot, carefully maintaining his balance for another few feet. Further along, he glanced behind him to spy a group of cyclists behind him. He smirked, then turned around and sat backwards on his moped, raising his arms dramatically.
Finally, the group pulled over to see what this weirdo was doing- he reached into a bag and produced several flyers, handing them around. "Jumping the pool tomorrow," he grinned. "Two hundred lien each- it's gonna be amazing!"
They looked at the flyers-
Extrodinary Stuntman
Jaune Arc
Public Pool
200 Lein
It seemed as though the original print had read 20 lien, but an extra zero had been added in brown crayon.
They looked up to see him standing in one place, circling the moped around himself, kicking up a small cloud of dirt.
He finally stopped and turned to grin at them. "Just a sample!"
The music in his head only stopped as he stopped at an outdoor food court, where he found a seat along with his friends from earlier- Ruby, Yang, Ren, and Nora. They gathered around, watching as Nora fed Jaune jelly beans from a bag, his eyes closed. She smirked as she threw a white one with yellow spots into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, then snapped his fingers. "Popcorn."
Nora and Yang grinned, Ruby's eyes sparkled, and Ren allowed himself a small smile. "Well done as ever, Jaune."
Nora picked out a purple one and fed it to him. He chewed, a look of confusion on his face. "Licorice...?"
The others glanced at each other, their expressions saying 'We finally got him,' until he grinned, smacking the table. "Psych! Very Berry!"
Nora and Yang burst out laughing as Ren took the bag of candy.
Ruby beamed. "That's so cool, Jaune!"
"Welp," Yang rose to her feet, clapping her hands together, "I gotta take a dump. Be right back!"
As Yang made her way to the restrooms, the lady currently running the stand, wearing a nametag identifying her as Emerald Sustrai, called out, "Sloth Queen, order for Sloth Queen."
"Oh, that's me!" Nora beamed, jumping up and hurrying to get her food.
Emerald rolled her eyes. "Why 'Sloth Queen?'"
"Uh, because sloths are awesome, duh," Nora rolled her eyes.
Emerald looked at her through half lids. "You are so weird."
"Damn right!" Noroa whooped as she took her food back to the table.
However, she'd hardly gotten back to her seat when Yang had returned with a large paper bag in hand. "What's up, losers? Guess who just found a bag of fireworks in the women's room? Wanna light 'em up?"
"Aw, yeah!" Everyone got to their feet and headed to a corner of the small lot, where Yang grabbed a bottle and used it to stand a rocket upright. She lit it up, and everyone stood back.
The fuse ran out... and where it entered, a small *phut* sound was heard as a puff of smoke and a few stray sparks flew out.
"..."
XXXX
Once they'd finished eating, Jaune returned to his moped, Ruby climbing on behind and wrapping her arms around him as he steered them back towards the house they were living in, owned by one Blake Belladonna and shared with her and a singular Weiss Schnee. Blake was a kind soul, taking in those who had nowhere else to go- though she may have bitten off more than she could chew with her more recent tenants.
They disembarked in the front yard and headed in, Jaune closing the door before Ruby could enter. "Ah- dangit, Jaune!"
On the inside, Blake was sitting in an armchair, flipping through a book. "Hey, Blake!" came a call from above. "You seen my shoulder pads?"
"Kitchen table," Blake said monotonously, flipping another page.
A minute later, Jaune came down the stairs with his shoulder pads, hip pads, knee pads, and all sorts of other padding on as well. And his fake moustache. Ruby cornered him on the landing, but instead of being upset, she seemed worried. "Jaune, maybe you shouldn't fight Weiss today. I mean, you've got the jump tomorrow-"
Jaune interrupted. "It's alright, Rubes, I'm gonna win this time."
"Why do you have to fight all the time?" Ruby implored. "Why do you have to beat her?"
"Ruby, you two have been friends since middle school," Jaune pointed out. "You already have her respect. I just met her in college- I have to earn it."
Seeing that she still looked somewhat off-put, he placed a hand on her shoulder- wrapped up in a thick boxing glove. In something of a chant, he said, "Ruby Rose protect me..."
Ruby gave a small smile and stood on her tiptoes to place her hand on his shoulder in kind. "Ruby Rose protect you!"
They each placed a fist in an open palm- Jaune doing the best he could under the circumstances- and bowed to each other. "Hai!"
With Ruby's blessing, Jaune headed into the basement, where Weiss was working out with a heavy exercise ball. Jaune reached up one last time to adjust his headgear before going for a sneak attack. Before he could do any such thing, Weiss had turned, thrown the ball into his chest, and taken advantage of the ensuing stagger to sweep his legs out from under him.
"A sneak attack, Arc?" Weiss scoffed. "You sink lower every day." When he didn't answer, she scoffed. "Alright, on your feet," she ordered, picking up a pair of long wooden staffs and tossing one to Jaune just as he clambered back up.
"What're these?" Jaune asked, examining it.
"Bo staffs, you dunce," Weiss explained, looking hers over. "Ren pointed me to them- they're supposed to be very deadly."
"Bo staffs, huh?" Jaune pondered, looking his over- giving Weiss ample time to swing at his legs and knock him into a nearby sofa. He remained there as she struck him repeatedly.
"YOU... ARE... PATHETIC!" she roared.
"I give up! I give up, I surrender!" Jaune called.
Weiss scoffed again, turning around- just in time for Jaune to jump up and attack from behind. Weiss quickly dodged to the side, causing him to smash into a shelf of porcelain curios, which rained down on him from above.
"Play the victim, and you will be the victim," she chastised from above.
"Neat, Weiss, very neat," Jaune nodded as he forced himself back to his feet. "Almost as neat as a... Falcon Punch!"
He delivered a painfully obvious feint, pretending to go for a punch and instead going for a very weak-looking kick that Weiss as able to grab and drop him back to the ground.
Up above, Blake continued flicking through her book- she was well-practiced to tuning out the thuds and crashes coming from below. She heard the sound of shattering china and sighed. "Gonna have to replace that cat again..."
Jaune pulled himself to his feet and remained in a defensive stance. Taking this in, Weiss turned to taunting. "I'm going to knock that stupid moustache off your face."
She rushed, and Jaune was able to dodge, but not counter. "All great men have moustaches!"
"Sure," Weiss agreed, "but real men actually grow them!"
Jaune seemed truly stung. "You know I have a hormone disorder!"
Out of anger, he rushed in, allowing Weiss to effortlessly parry and knock him back to the ground, where she knelt down on his chest. "Victory is mine... again."
Jaune grunted. "You'll see, Weiss. One of these days, I'm gonna punch you so hard in the face it breaks your neck. Then you'll respect me!"
Weiss snorted. "I'll believe that when I see it, you dunce." She pulled the false moustache from his lip and placed it across his forehead, forming a unibrow. "Now go take out the garbage."
Jaune groaned, but = loped upstairs and took the garbage towards the bin, then, after a moment's consideration, ran at it, attempting to deposite the garbage and hurdle the bin at the same time. The bin fell over and Jaune landed in the bush on the other side, only narrowly avoiding dumping the garbage all over himself. Looking up, he saw that the bag was at least halfway in the bin, and smiled. "Nailed it."
As he pulled himself to his feet and righted the bin, ensuring the garbage was kept safely inside, he heard a voice behind him. "Jaune?"
He jumped as he turned to see their neighbor Pyrrha Nikos on the other side of the fence. "Oh! Pyrrha!"
"Hello again!" Pyrrha smiled, waving. "How are things?"
"Oh- great! Super great!" Jaune quickly declared. "You, uh... look different from high school."
"Well, it has been a while," Pyrrha smiled gently, brushing at a couple strands of hair. "You look... pretty much the same!"
"Thanks!" Jaune wasn't sure if it was meant as a compliment, but decided to take it as one.
"And you're still doing your stunts," Pyrrha observed the scrapes he'd received from the failed jump earlier. "Pursuing your dreams... that's wonderful, Jaune."
"Absolutely," Jaune nodded. "Actually..."
He reached into his pocket and produced a rather crumpled flyer, handing it over. "Check this out!"
Pyrrha took it and looked it over. "Oh, you're jumping the pool? Wow!"
"Yup, I'm going out there and making it happen," Jaune nodded happily, trying not to seem too smug. "You should come."
"I may just," Pyrrha nodded, folding the flyer.
"Sweet," Jaune nodded.
For a while, they sat there in a semi-awkward silence, until a yipping sound came from Pyrrha's house. "Oh, that's Echo- I should go feed her," Pyrrha said quickly. "It was nice seeing you again, Jaune!"
"Yeah, you too," Jaune agreed as she turned back towards her house. Almost under his breath, he added, "You look pretty..."
"What?" Pyrrha asked, turning around.
Jaune looked panicked. He raised his voice and said, "I said 'You look shitty!' Good night, Pyrrha!" He turned and rushed back into his house.
Pyrrha, however, seemed to have some idea what he'd actually said- a small smile made its way onto her face as she turned back to her porch.
Jaune, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to die as he entered his room, decorated with all sorts of cycling paraphernalia. He collapsed into his bed, reaching to his bedside table and producing a picture of his late father. Tall, broad-shouldered, and bald as an egg, an arm around Jaune's childhood hero, Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Stuntman. Scrawled across the bottom were the words, The impossible is possible- all you have to do is make it so! His father was even circled with an arrow pointing at him reading Dad.
"Hey, Pops," Jaune greeted. "It's... it's me, Jaune. I really wish you were still alive. You could tell me how proud you are of me, that you respect me, and we'd go out and do stunts and grow moustaches together. You may have died an anonymous stuntman, but don't worry- I'm carrying on your legacy. You live in me." His voice broke a little. "I... I miss you, Daddy-"
The door opened, and Ruby stepped in. "Hey, Jaune, have you seen my-"
Jaune turned to her and screamed "GET OUT!"
Ruby, startled, backed away and closed the door as quick as she could.
XXXX
The next day found Jaune and his friends congregating around a brightly-lit pool, where someone's boombox was loudly playing out,
"Well, she got her daddy's car
And she cruised through the hamburger stand, now!
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man, now!
And with the radio blasting,
She goes cruising just as fast as she can, now!
And she'll have fun, fun, fun
'Till her Daddy takes the T-Bird away!
(Fun, fun, fun,
'Til her daddy takes the T-Bird away!)
Nora and Ren were going around, instructing people to get out of the pool with their megaphones.
"Everyone out of the pool, if you would," Ren was saying. "Please, we're doing a jump."
"It's gonna be awesome!" Nora was cheering. "C'mon, you're gonna wanna see this!"
Yang was going around the pool, laying down some tape. Oddly, she was wearing a floaty around her waist and arms. She glanced at Jaune as she passed by, preparing on his moped. "Everything's regulation this time, VB! Made sure to reinforce the ramps this time."
"Good, good," Jaune nodded, looking around. "You seen Rubes?"
"Oh- she texted me earlier," Yang recalled. "She's not gonna be turning up today."
"What?" Jaune asked, surprised. "But she's the team manager!"
"I know, right?" Yang agreed. "Not like her to bail on us like this."
Ren, meanwhile, was having some trouble with one last straggler. "C'mon, Sun, out of the pool."
"No can do, Ren!" Sun, a well-muscled young man with blond hair and a monkey tail, shook his head with a wide smile.
"Come on, Sun!" Nora came to help. "You're being a tool!"
"There is no tool in this pool," Sun denied. "Tell ya what- I'll get out right away if you let me join your crew!"
Ren sighed heavily. "We've been over this, Sun. You can't join the crew- you don't do anything."
Far from seeming offended, Sun pushed himself halfway out of the water, in the cockiest pose he could muster while being nowhere near solid ground. "Oh, don't I?"
In what seemed a split second, Sun had taken the boombox and changed the music to hip-hop. He put his hands behind his head, and began to... thrust his pelvis. Over and over again.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Ren raised the megaphone back to his mouth as if to say something, but seemed at a loss for words. Nora raised her own megaphone, but her voice seemed to die in her throat.
Sun shifted, placing one hand on his hip and thrusting harder.
"..."
Yang drifted over, tilting her head, but seemed just as speechless as the others.
"..."
"You like what you see?" Sun grinned.
Yang glanced at Renora, and raised a hand, swiping it across her throat. Renora nodded at her and turned to shake their heads at Sun.
At the pool's other end, Jaune was examining the ramp when Pyrrha appeared. "Jaune!" she greeted with a smile.
"Oh, hey, Pyrrha!" Jaune smiled back. "Here for the jump?"
"That's the plan," Pyrrha nodded happily. She looked over the ramps herself. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Nah, I think my crew's got everything under control," Jaune shook his head, glancing back at the team- Yang had just pushed a nine-year-old into the pool, now being fished out by Ren.
"I see... well, good luck," Pyrrha wished him.
"Don't worry," Jaune smiled, pulling out his moustache and putting it on. "I've done this before."
Pyrrha smiled and backed off, allowing him to steer his moped to the starting point.
He went up a small hill, to help gain momentum by the time he hit the ramp. He took stock of the situation. Small audience, but he'd surely see bigger soon enough. He looked to his crew- he was getting smiles and thumbs up from Yang, Ren, Nora... and Sun.
Jaune took a deep breath. "Spirit animal... fox." He looked to the side and, in his mind's eye, saw a fox prancing through the snow... in summer.
On the other side was a smiling, waving Pyrrha. Something caught in his throat. "Dear God, don't let me embarrass myself in front of Pyrrha," he whispered.
He kicked off, raced down the hill, up the ramp... and flipped into the water halfway.
"Oh, shit!" Yang called.
XXXX
Jaune was still sopping wet all over as he wheeled his moped home. He dropped it in the front yard and headed right in. "Hey, Rubes, I'm back," he muttered listlessly. "You missed the jump... totally nailed it..."
His voice trailed off when he entered the living room and saw a sight that chilled him. Weiss was slumped over on the sofa- a crying Ruby had her arms wrapped around her, while Blake watched sadly from a nearby chair. Weiss seemed pretty listless herself, weakly running a hand through Ruby's hair.
Blake looked up. "Oh- Jaune! You're back- good."
"What's going on?" Jaune asked. "Some sort of... interactive theater?"
"No... Weiss is sick. Very sick," Blake explained sadly.
"What? Since when?" Jaune asked, shocked.
"For two years now. It's her heart- there's something wrong with it. Her only hope is a transplant, but we don't have that kind of money, not since her parents cut her off." Blake pulled Jaune into a hug. "She... doesn't have much time left."
Jaune seemed truly taken aback. "No... no way!"
"We'd have told you sooner," Blake continued, "but we knew how upset you'd be."
"So... so you just decided to leave me and Ruby in the dark?" Jaune asked, eyes wide with betrayal.
"Oh, no, we told Ruby," Blake said quickly. "We... we just weren't sure that you could handle it."
"I... I can handle it..." Jaune insisted, his voice breaking.
He looked over to Weiss, who was holding Ruby close. "I love you, Rubes," she whispered.
"I love you, too, Weiss!" Ruby cried through a face full of tears.
"When I go, I want you to-" Weiss started, but she faltered when Jaune rushed in, shoving Ruby out of the way with a yelp.
"Don't do it, Weiss, don't die!"
Weiss took a deep breath. "No good whining about it, Arc, my time's up."
"But I still need to kick your ass!" Jaune objected. "How can I do that if you're dead?!"
"Well, I guess I'll die still the champion," Weiss shrugged.
"No, I'm not letting it end like that," Jaune denied. He pulled a collapsible baton out from... somewhere. "Let's go, right now. One more for the road."
Weiss snorted. "Will that make you feel like a big man? I've got one foot in the grave, what would beating me now prove?"
Jaune lowered the baton, seemingly seeing the logic in her words. "But... all I want is to earn your respect!"
"Should have thought of that before failing in every regard your entire life," Weiss crossed her arms.
Jaune growled. "I hate you so much... I just wanna smash your face in!"
"Tell it to my corpse," Weiss waved aside.
Jaune looked around, clearly searching for any straw to cling to. "You said... what if you got that transplant?"
Weiss snorted again. "Yeah, a five-million lien transplant. I forgot how much money you have lying around, Arc."
"I don't!"
"Of course you don't!" Weiss declared. "You're just a dunce living through Blake's charity! You don't even have a job- you're too busy goofing around on that stupid moped!"
"You're wrong, Weiss- I'm more than that!" Jaune insisted. "I'm not a dunce- I'm a man! I'm gonna find a way to get you better, then I'm gonna beat you to death!"
"You couldn't beat a drum," Weiss scoffed.
Jaune screamed, lashing out with the baton and smashing a nearby lamp.
"Jaune!" Blake interjected warningly.
Jaune had already thrown the baton away. He rushed to the door. "I need to go to my quiet place!"
XXXX
Jaune rushed into the forest, only slowing as he entered a clearing of felled trees. A somber song was playing in his mind, and he found himself singing along.
"The day the door is closed,
The echoes fill your soul.
They won't say which way to go,
Just 'Trust your heart.'
And find you're here for
Opening another door...
I'm not sure anymore...
It's just so hard..."
Abruptly, the music picked up, becoming more of a rock riff, as Jaune reached up and clutched at the sides of his head. He leapt across the clearing and punched a tree, before grabbing a bottle of whiskey and a cigarette- he took a puff from the cigarette and downed it with a swig of alcohol before settling into a dance to the music.
"Voices in my head
Tell me they know best!
They got me on the edge,
They're pushing, pushing, they're pushing!
I know they've got a plan,
But the ball's in my hands!
This time, it's man-to-man,
I'm driving, fightin', inside a
World that's upside down,
And spinning faster!
What do I do now,
Without you?!"
Jaune climbed up on a log, utilizing a pair of handles fastened to it to twirl his legs around, managing to avoid his own hands, creating some truly interesting dance moves.
"I don't know
Where to go-
What's the right thing?
I want my own thing,
So bad I'm gonna scream!
I can't choose,
So confused,
What's it all mean?
I want my own dream
So bad I'm gonna scream!"
He leapt up and began kicking at the trees.
"I'm kicking down these walls!
I gotta make 'em fall!
Just break through them all,
I'm pushing, crushing!
I'm gonna fight to find myself-
Me, and no one else!
Which way, I can't tell,
I'm searching, searching,
But can't find the
The road I should take,
Should I turn right or left? It's
Like nothing works
Without you!"
As he continued his dance, the world seemed to tilt around him, causing him to twirl up in the sky and back to the ground.
"I don't know
Where to go,
What's the right thing?
I want my own thing
So bad I'm gonna scream!
I can't choose,
So confused,
What's it all mean?
I want my own dream,
So bad I'm gonna- SHIT!"
He'd taken a particularly wild leap, causing him to trip over a log and down a nearby hill. Down he fell, slamming into the ground repeatedly. "Ouch! Oof! Ah! Back! Elbow! Shoulders!"
Further and further hetumbled down the hill, breaking through bushes and narrowly avoiding large boulders that would likely have broken a few bones.
The forest was large, and beautiful, the perfect scene for playing Peer Gynt's Morning Mood. Birds tweeted as they built their nests, a deer sauntered by, and a warren of rabbits sprinted away when they heard Jaune's screaming as he tumbled over the edge of a cliff.
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he finally landed on the ground, merging into a somersault that continued depositing him downhill. He rolled for several feet before returning to his previous tumbling motion, past trees, animals, and bushes.
At last- at long last- he sprawled out, breathless, in a ditch at the side of a paved road. He struggled to get his breathing under control, struggling not to move until he assessed the damage. He didn't seem to have broken anything.
Slowly, he raised his head, gazing up at a billboard on the road's side. Something clicked deep inside of him, and he broke into an unexpected smile.
The billboard was taken over with the image of a couple skydiving, emblazoned with the words,
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE ONE BIG JUMP?
"That's it..." he muttered as he began struggling to get back to his feet.
XXXX
The next day, the crew gathered in Blake's backyard. Yang was slapping high fives with Ren and Nora, back and forth, while Ruby cheered her on. Nora was grinning, while Ren was casually drinking some tea, his hand raised for Yang's perusal without any care.
"Uhn, uhn, uhn, uhn, uhn, uhn, uhn!" Yang grunted as she continued high fiving them each in turn, before raising her hands in apparent victory. "And that is how it's done!"
"Way to go, Yang!" Nora cheered.
"Yes... amazing," Ren agreed offhandedly, turning the page of his book with a numb hand.
Finally, Jaune appeared, circling around the house. "Alright- thanks for coming, guys. As you all know, Ruby and I recently found out that Weiss is on her deathbed. I needed to think last night, so I galloped off, into a wooded glen." He turned around, looking thoughtful. "After punch-dancing out my rage and suffering an... extremely long, very painful fall... I realized... what I must do."
He dramtatically turned to face the others. "We're gonna raise the money to save Weiss's life!"
Yang took a long drink from a beer at her side. "Well, I'm on board, but how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
"One big jump, ladies and gentelmen, one big jump," Jaune grinned. "The biggest jump this town's ever seen. We're gonna jump fifteen buses."
"Let's not get too crazy, Jaune," Yang interjected quickly. "That's almost as many as the Ultimate Stuntman jumped."
"Actually, Yang, it's one more than the Ultimate Stuntman," Jaune smirked. "I know. I checked. Online." As he continued, Nora quietly pulled her chair back and stood up. "Now, if we're gonna do this, I've gotta be in top physical form, and- Sorry, Nora, am I boring you?"
"Oh, no, of course not!" Nora quickly shook her head. "I just looked at my watch, and... I'm late for work. At the ice rink. Is... is that a problem?"
"Yes!" Jaune nodded fervently.
XXXX
Jaune, Ruby, Yang, and Ren were standing behind the counter at the ice rink. Ren and Ruby were helping Nora go over the skate rentals, while Yang sat off to the side, eating a snowcone as Jaune stood in the center, hands on his hips as he boldly explained his strategy.
"As I was saying, this jump demands that I be in top physical condition! I've already drafted a list of exercises that will take me to the next level!"
XXXX
They were in a back room, where Nora seemed to be taking inventory. "Once training is complete, we'll need lien to fund the jump itself."
XXXX
Nora was running maintainance on the skeeball machines. "By my estimations, we'll need around five hundred thousand lien."
XXXX
Back to the rental counter. "That will include bus rentals, ramp construction, team hats and wristbands, and nine hundred lien per diem for each crew member."
Yang grinned as she tossed a ball down the skeeball ramp. "Now you're talking!"
XXXX
The crew all rode on a zamboni being piloted by Nora around the rink. "We'll have to raise that money fast! We'll do some small-scale stuntwork at birthday parties! Escape tricks, fire-breathing, anything to keep the rugrats happy!"
XXXX
"Also, we're gonna have to organize a lot of shopping carts. Go through some trash for cans and newspapers to sleep on," explained a homeless man with auburn hair and a missing tooth as Nora took care of the rink's garbage and Ruby took notes. There was a homeless man with auburn hair and a missing tooth going on as Ruby took notes.
A door behind them opened, and Jaune leaned out. "Hey! What are you guys doing?"
There was an awkward silence. "That's... that's Jaune," Nora explained.
XXXX
Finally, they were inside, up in the bleachers overlooking the rink. "Once we've got the money," Jaune continued, "we'll use it to put on the bus jump, raise five million lien, and save Weiss's life. Who's with me?!"
Wordlessly (they were all drinking slurpees,) Ruby, Yang, Ren and Nora all raised their hands.
Jaune grinned. "Well, let's celebrate."
XXXX
Their celebration took the form of moving back to the backroom and popping some bubble wrap.
XXXX
Consider this an experiment with this type of thing. What better way to test it out than with a goofy story like this one? Whether you read the YAM version first or found this one fresh, I hope you enjoyed- I'll keep this version updated alongside the YAM version, and we'll see how it goes. Until next time, don't you dare go hollow- Gamer4 out.