"In the year 845," Oscar narrated, "the Colossal Titan and Armoured Titan appeared out of nowhere. Instantly, the walls were shattered, along with the illusory peace of everyday life. Thus, driven by a century of hunger, the Titans descended upon humanity once again."
"Stop!" Ruby yelled. The Smiling Titan chomped down on Summer Jaeger.
"Humanity abandoned Wall Maria. They lost a fifth of their population, and a third of their territory, as human activity was pushed back to Wall Rose."
[opening theme plays]
The Night of the Closing Ceremony/Humanity's Comeback, Part 2
[Year 850: Two Years After Enlistment]
Rain poured into a forest, soaking everything beneath it. The trainees ran through the muddy path, wearing cloaks and carrying large packs. Oobleck kept pace beside them on a horse. "You're slow! Run, you shitheads!"
"This brings back memories," Winter mused.
Oobleck looked back. "What's wrong, Pine? You're falling behind! Is it too hard for you? Do you want to be the only one who puts down his equipment? If this was a real mission, you'd be Titan food already!" He galloped ahead of the panting trainee.
"Dammit!" Oscar gasped.
"Give it to me!" Jaune took Oscar's pack to relieve him. "You'll end up dropping out this way! We're being graded on today's training!"
Team JNPR smiled at the actions of their leader's counterpart.
While the teachers could understand the sentiment, they did not quite agree with it. "You may think Mr Arc did a noble thing, but in helping Mr Pine pass, the instructors will not have an accurate assessment of his abilities and help grade him accordingly. This could result in them passing an unfit soldier, compromising their ranks." Glynda lectured the students sternly.
They silently grumbled but couldn't fault the logic in her words.
"But you'll get points marked off too if you're caught!"
"Then do your best so they won't find out! Don't make me change my mind."
Oobleck sneakily observed their exchange.
"Oh shit, he noticed," Yang swore quietly, hoping they wouldn't get into too much trouble.
Jaune Arc. He possesses great mental and physical fortitude. His comrades trust him deeply.
His friends nodded along with Oobleck's words.
"I'd rather die than live as a burden!" Oscar declared, snatching his pack from Jaune and running ahead.
Óscar silently cheered his counterpart on.
Oscar Pine. While he lacks in physical strength, he makes up for it with extraordinary academic aptitude.
"Is he evaluating them?" Weiss picked up on what was happening. The students sat up straight, eager to see what the instructor had to say about their counterparts--and how similar they were to each other.
In a forest, trainees are cutting up dummy Titans. Weiss, Ren and Sun flew through the air with 3D gear. They descended on a dummy making cuts along its nape. Sun's cut was shallower than the others. The screen pauses on an image of the three trainees.
Weiss Leonhart. While her fighting skills are outstanding, she doesn't work well as part of a team. A lone wolf.
"Leonhart?" Blake cocked an eyebrow at the last name.
"Her last name in this world, I guess," Yang shrugged.
Could it be...? Ozpin remembered an old acquaintance of his. I wonder how he's doing now?
Weiss was more focused on her assessment. No different from how I started when I first arrived at Beacon. She's more like me than I assumed. Although it appears the years of training with other recruits have not brought her out of her shell as they did with me.
"Still an Ice Queen in another world, huh?" Ruby playfully nudged her partner's side.
Lie Ren. He is highly talented, but he lacks assertiveness.
"Yes to the first part, no to the latter," Jaune said.
Nora and Pyrrha nodded along. "Our Ren may be introverted, but he is the furthest thing from timid," Pyrrha added in.
Coco grinned. "He handles Nora on a day-to-day basis. It's kinda a must."
The students laughed. Nora gave a mock-pout while Ren patted her head, a small smile on his face.
Sun Wukong. His 3D control skills are top class, but his overly blunt personality causes friction with others.
Sun gave a resigned sigh. "I figured that'd be brought up."
Neptune slapped him encouragingly on his back. "Hey, at least your 3D skills are nothing to scoff at!"
"I can't fight like them. I need to find my own Titan first!" Sun expertly manoeuvred through the trees, searching for other dummies. I will get accepted into the Military Police! He found a dummy Titan.
"Thanks, Sun!" Yatsuhashi interrupted, passing him. "I knew following you would work!"
"Cheater! Find your own dummy!" Sun shook his fists in mock rage at Yatsuhashi. The huge teen merely grinned at him.
He moved to cut its nape but someone hacked a chunk before him.
"I did it! Hooray!" Nora cheered, propelling herself upwards.
Nora Valkyrie. She's talented at operating unconventionally, but that mentality makes her unfit for organized activity.
"Just like our Nora," Ren chuckled.
"My teamwork is fantastic, thank you very much!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
Yatsuhashi Daichi. He's skilled at executing sharp turns, but his mind is nowhere sharp enough.
They all chuckled. Velvet patted his head, her body shaking with barely concealed laughter while Coco laughed uproariously.
"Here they come!" One of the helpers said. The other pulled a lever, setting up two Titan dummies.
Pyrrha zipped past, cutting the two in a second.
Their eyes widened in surprise at her speed and skill.
"Damn, girl! You're fast!" Yang whistled, impressed by the redhead's speed.
Pyrrha gave an embarrassed smile when her teammates joined in complimenting her skills.
"She is highly skilled," said Glynda. "Unnaturally so, if I might add." The other staff members nodded along with her statement.
Ruby trailed behind her, making her cut. It was noticeably smaller than Pyrrha's. Damn! Shallower than Pyrrha again!
Pyrrha Ackerman.
Pyrrha perked up when her name was called although she was caught off-guard by the different last name.
Her performance is exemplary in every subject. It's no overstatement to say she's an unmatched, unprecedented genius.
Oobleck's assessment of the girl wasn't much of a surprise. Their Pyrrha was famously known as the "Invincible Girl" so it wasn't too much of a stretch to believe that her counterpart would be any different. Besides, her feats so far implied she was far from an ordinary girl.
I expected just as much, Cinder thought. She displayed unnatural strength and speed for a girl her age. The young woman remembered how easily young Pyrrha tossed young Ruby into a wall with one hand. Unless Jaeger has some superhuman means of closing the gap between them, Ackerman will always be the better student.
Ruby Jaeger. While she lacks any outstanding talents, she improved her grades through outstanding diligence. In addition, she possesses an exceptional sense of purpose.
Ruby was a bit bummed out that she didn't have any noteworthy skills but preened when he praised her determination.
With that, the evaluations ended.
At the training grounds, the trainees were testing their hand-to-hand combat abilities. Jaune charged at Ruby who flipped him and threw him to the ground.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, man." Ruby apologized. "I suck at holding back." She extended a hand to him, pulling him off the ground.
Some chuckles were heard when Ruby flipped Jaune.
"At least your counterpart's hand-to-hand skills aren't as atrocious as yours," Yang said.
"Hey!" Her sister yelled defensively.
"You play the bad guy next." Jaune held out the wooden dagger to Ruby, but she hesitated to take it. "What's wrong?"
"I just don't see the point of training like this." She took the dagger and lifted it to her face. "It's not like soldiers fight other humans. Plus, only a fool would go bare-handed against an armed opponent."
A blurred image of a young Ruby standing over a corpse with a spear embedded in it is shown on the screen.
They jolted in surprise. The image appeared for a split second but they were trained to make split-second analyses and decisions in battle so they caught the image.
"Whoa!" Yang yelled.
"What the hell...?" Cardin muttered, eyes wide.
That looked like a body Pyrrha thought. Did she kill someone?
"D-Did she kill someone?" Weiss stuttered.
"Maybe she stumbled onto the corpses..."Blake didn't sound like she believed her own words.
Ruby could scarcely believe her eyes. She gaped at the screen.
"What the hell happened?" Sun asked.
"Well clearly we're not getting any answers from the TV," Roman interjected. "If it was important enough, they'd have focused on it."
"That's irresponsible thinking," Jaune scolded her. "We're soldiers. There are times we can't back down, no matter how hopeless the situation.
"We can't always be sure who or what we're up against," he continued, as other trainees continued to spar, "so we master artillery and hand-to-hand combat too. That's our responsibility as soldiers."
Ozpin nodded in approval. "Wise words, Mr Arc. The same applies to Huntsmen and Huntresses as well. Do your utmost best to be prepared for any circumstance."
"He makes for a fine soldier," Ironwood said.
Jaune preened at their praise of his counterpart.
"Would ya look at that?" Jaune said.
Jaune and Ruby watched Weiss walk by.
"Oh, it's Weiss," Ruby said. "The officers never notice her sneaking off like that."
"Guess your counterpart isn't as much of a stickler for rules as you, Ice Princess," Yang grinned slyly.
Weiss huffed and stayed silent, unable to form a comeback.
"Hey, Ruby. Let's teach that slacker a lesson. We'll show her how true soldiers ought to behave."
"Huh?"
"Huh?" The sentiment is echoed by Jaune in confusion.
Looking around as she was walking, Weiss almost ran into Jaune. She stopped and looked up at him. "You looking for a headbutt from the instructor? If you don't wanna get any shorter, I suggest you recall your first day here and get serious."
"What are you talking about?" Ruby walked up to them and noticed Weiss' murderous expression.
Weiss glared dangerously at their Jaune as well. The young man shrunk fearfully and hid behind Pyrrha.
Ruby shivered in fear. That glare had been turned on her more times than she cared to count in the early days of team RWBY. Poor Jaune just made himself the subject of her ire. She did not envy him one bit.
"Never would have expected Ms Schnee of all people to slack off during studies," Glynda noted. A different reality, different people, she mused.
She's pissed. I've always thought she wore a scary face, but that's nothing compared to right now thought Ruby, fearfully.
"Alright!" Jaune came up behind Ruby and grabbed her shoulders. "Let's get moving, Ruby."
"Me?!"
"Traitor!" Ruby shook her fists at him. "Man up and face her yourself!"
Weiss shifted into her fighting stance. She slightly moved her right leg back, placing most of her weight on it, front leg lightly on the ground, and hands raised to cover her face.
"Weiss, you know what to do, right? Here I come!" Ruby charged at her. Weiss kicked her right leg, downing her instantly.
The students flinched at the quick but brutal takedown.
"Going for the legs, throwing off her balance and putting her down for the count," Emerald noted. "Smart."
Nora laughed, muttering something involving "breaking" and "legs". Ren shivered beside her.
"Wh-What? She kicked me in the leg?" Ruby tried to get up but fell back down in pain, grabbing at her leg.
"Can I go now?" Weiss asked in a bored tone.
"No," Jaune said, hands on his hips. "It's not over until she lets go of the dagger."
Weiss sighed in irritation and turned back to Ruby.
Ruby quickly got to her feet. "Wait, Weiss! We're supposed to do it the way—" She yelled before Weiss swept her legs, resulting in the redhead falling with her behind in the air.
"Oh come one!" the redhead whined. "Couldn't you go easier on me?"
"Your opponent wouldn't make it easier on you in the real world," Weiss said.
The blonde girl walked to Jaune and passed the dagger to him. "Here. Now it's your turn to attack me."
"I don't—" Jaune began hesitantly. Ruby interrupted him.
"Do it, Jaune," She said, still on the ground. "You're gonna teach her the responsibility of being a soldier, right?"
They laughed at her silly position on the ground.
Jaune calmed himself. "Yeah. Sometimes a soldier can't back down. Like right now!" He charged at her.
"You go, other me!" Jaune wholeheartedly cheered himself on.
He was immediately knocked down.
More laughter ensued while Jaune sulked. Pyrrha rubbed his back comfortingly, unable to hold back some of her laughter.
"Your technique is incredible. Who taught you to fight?" Ruby asked.
"My father."
"I wonder who my father is in this world. Since I have no connection to the Schnee name..." the white-haired girl mused.
"Your father could—"
"Who cares?" Weiss interrupted. "Doing this is pointless."
"You mean this training?"
"Knowing hand-to-hand combat is an important skill to have," Winter said. "Considering that you're all training to be soldiers, it is more paramount when facing human opponents."
"But wouldn't they be fighting Titans most of the time?" Sun asked.
"Not everyone would go on to fight Titans. Based on what we've been shown, there appears to be another branch of the military that resides in the Interior, which I'm guessing is Wall Sina." Qrow explained. "Your counterpart is deadset on avoiding conflict with the Titans so I highly doubt the Military Police sees much, if any, combat with Titans."
"Anti-personnel techniques don't factor into our scores." Sun was shown slacking off. "So people just take it easy until it's over."
"The right to join the Military Police and live in the Interior is only granted to the top scoring 10 graduates."
"Wait, what?" Yang asked in confusion. "The highest scoring graduates are the only ones allowed to get away from Titans? That seems backwards to me."
The others realized that she had a point. The system did not make any sense whatsoever.
"The people who bother participating in this are either stupidly serious like you..." Neptune sparred with another trainee while Velvet took on Pyrrha.
"...or seriously stupid." Oobleck walked up to Nora and Yatsuhashi who were goofing off.
"Crap, it's the instructor!" Their fun ended when Oobleck squeezed Yatsuhashi's head.
Team CFVY laughed at Yatsuhashi.
Weiss moved to attack her, dagger at her throat. "Why in this world are people most capable of opposing the Titans the only ones given the privilege of avoiding them entirely? How do you think it got to be such a farce?"
"Wouldn't it make more sense for the top ten to be placed in the Scouts?" Penny asked. "Placing their most skilled members on the corps that actively engages Titans in combat will result in better odds and higher efficiency against the Titans."
"Those who don't make the MP are essentially fodder," Ironwood said, clenching his fists at the absurdity of the idea. "From what we've seen, the Garrison doesn't do much outside of wall maintenance and mounting cannons. The Survey Corps return battered and beaten because the highly trained members are in another branch."
The teachers could hardly believe the inefficiency of the system. Who came up with it?
"Who knows?" Ruby yanked her arm and almost had the upper hand.
She crouched and swept her leg under Ruby's, knocking her to the ground again. She straddled her chest, Ruby barely holding back the dagger from her throat. "Maybe it's just human nature?" Weiss got off her. "Point is, I can't even pretend to be stupid enough to play soldier in this insane world."
"Then you're not fit to be a soldier," Jaune said as she walked past him.
I was so obsessed with getting stronger that I didn't notice. It's such an obvious contradiction Ruby thought. They're just improving their Titan-killing skills so they have a chance to get further away from them.
"It's just natural," Oscar said, later that night at the mess hall. "Before the fall of Wall Maria, only a few soldiers of the Survey Corps utilized the 3D Maneuver Gear." His friend's attention was elsewhere though.
"You should rev it up hard, but just for a second," Sun said in the background.
"With limited usage or information, the entire practice will naturally fall into decline..." Oscar continued.
"Using inertia that way, you can minimize gas consumption," Sun advised Neptune.
Ruby and Winter noted down that piece of information.
"You make it sound so simple," Neptune said.
"Sure it's not something anyone could master," his eyes fell on Pyrrha eating her dinner. He continued speaking. "But it's still worth remembering if you're trying to get into the Military Police."
"It'd be great if I could get in... There's no higher honour than working near the king." Neptune raised his mug to take a drink.
"C'mon, Neptune!" Sun smacked his back, making him spill his drink over his face. "Stop being such a goody-goody and just tell the truth. You want to join the Military Police so you can live a simple, comfortable life within the Interior!"
Sun still felt uneasy that his counterpart had a selfish motivation for joining the Military.
"No, I want to—"
"So Interior life is simple and comfortable?" Ruby interrupted. "Five years ago, this place was also part of the Interior."
Yang sighed. "Did no one ever tell her not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?"
Ruby shrugged helplessly.
"What's your point, Ruby?"
She took a swig of her drink. "Sun, you're such a simpleton, you'd be comfortable wherever you go." Sun's right eye twitched in annoyance. Jaune and Yatsuhashi were snickering.
The viewers chuckled. Sun's eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"She's looking for a fight right now," Weiss said. "It's like she switched personalities with Yang."
"Hey!"
"Damn you..."
"Don't you think it's crazy," Ruby began. "Learning how to kill Titans just to run away from them?"
"You bring that up now? This farce should be kept going for my sake if nothing else!"
Ruby stood up angrily. "You damn bastard!"
Cinder sighed at the scene, already annoyed with the petty rivalry between the two.
"This is going to sound hypocritical coming from me, but Ruby needs to learn how to chill," Yang said with a deadpan. Her teammates snorted in amusement at the irony.
"Fuck off and face reality!" Sun yelled back, also standing. Ruby grabbed his collar, ready to start a fight.
"Ruby, stop it!" Oscar tried to stop them.
Pyrrha stood to break up the fight. "Stop this," she said, pulling Ruby's hand off Sun's collar. The two stared at each other in front of Sun till Ruby relented, looking away. Pyrrha still held her hand.
It was Sun's turn to grab Ruby's collar. "Dammit, you asshole!"
"You should work on that jealousy, bro," Neptune grinned at him.
"Fuck you, man."
Ironwood could barely keep from rolling his eyes, already tired of the teenage drama. A glance at his colleagues told him that Glynda and Oobleck looked indifferent towards the scene. Probably because they're used to seeing students behave like this all the time. Ozpin, Port and surprisingly, Winter, were the only ones who looked amused.
"Fuck you! I backed off!"
"Who cares! I'm so jealous!"
"Did he seriously just admit it?" Roman raised an eyebrow.
"He truly has no shame," Cardin said.
Salem was simply amused.
"What the hell are you even talking about?!" Suddenly, it hit her. The other trainees were staring at them. I see... He's just blowing off steam, just like I did back then.
"How did she miss the jealousy bit?" Velvet asked.
Yang chortled. "Ruby and romance don't go well together."
"Hey! I understand romance, you know?" The small girl replied defensively. "I've read some of Blake's books!"
"WHAT?!" The cat Faunus yelled, face going red in embarrassment. Yang only laughed harder. "I don't think you should be using those as reference material for romance, Rubes," the buxom blonde said.
But not this time. She broke Sun's hold on her, grabbing his arm. I'll use my skills to resolve the situation! Weiss' eyes widened as her signature technique was used to sweep Sun off his feet.
She copied a technique after seeing it being used in a few measly fights Oobleck thought. Not bad.
Sun sat up from the floor. "That hurt... What the hell was that?!"
"That was a move I learned while you were slacking off," Ruby answered. "If you think the reality is just living comfortable and following your whims, can you seriously dare to call yourself a soldier?"
Everyone was silent, waiting to see what would happen next.
The door creaked open a bit to reveal Oobleck, looking slightly unhinged.
The students felt a chill go down their spines.
"Holy shit..." Coco shuddered. "That's creepy."
"I thought I just heard some kind of loud noise. Someone care to enlighten me as to what's going on?"
No one spoke up. Sun and Ruby quietly returned to their seats. Pyrrha raised her hand and said in a monotone, "Nora just ripped a giant fart, sir."
The room erupted with laughter. The suddenness of her answer and the monotone voice made it funnier. Nora turned red in embarrassment.
Nora was horrified. "You again?" The trainees trembled as they tried to muffle their laughter. "Learn some self-control!" Oobleck covered his nose as he left.
Nora pouted and mock-glared at Pyrrha. The redhead barely noticed her stare and was trying to contain her laughter.
Pyrrha gave the poor girl bread to quiet her down as the two rivals glared at each other.
"Oh man, that was hilarious," Cardin said, trying to get his breathing back under control.
Jaune grinned. "I know, right."
"I needed that breath of fresh air," Coco said.
"Hardy har har, laugh it up, will you?" Nora sulked, still pouting.
Ren rubbed her head in apology but the big smile on his face gave away his amusement.
"Thus, the 218 trainees made it to graduation."
"Give your hearts!"
"Yes, sir!"
"For you trainees graduating today, three paths now open before you: You can be stationed at the walls and defend the cities as members of the Garrison! You can put your lives on the line to fight the Titans in their territory as members of the Survey Corps! And you can serve the King by controlling the crowds and protecting order as members of the Military Police! Of course, only ten people with top scores we announced earlier are allowed into the Military Police!"
The top ten stood side-by-side in order of their ranking: Pyrrha, Jaune, Ren, Weiss, Ruby, Sun, Neptune, Yatsuhashi, Nora and Velvet.
"Woohoo!" Nora and Ruby cheered. "We made the top ten!"
"Congratulations on your success, Friend Ruby!" Penny said.
Sun and Neptune hugged each other and joined in their celebration. Yang and Blake congratulated their teammates.
"Looks like we all made it, huh?" Ren smiled at the rest of team JNPR, who reciprocated his smile.
"Congratulations, students," Ozpin said, feeling proud of their counterparts.
Finally, we made it this far. Now it'll be our turn to devour the Titans! Ruby vowed.
Top 10 trainees by the score from the 104th class (Part 1)
10. Velvet Lenz
9. Nora Valkyrie
8. Yatsuhashi Daichi
7. Neptune Vasilias
6. Sun Wukong
Top 10 trainees by the score from the 104th class (Part 2)
5. Ruby Jaeger
4. Weiss Leonhart
3. Lie Ren
2. Jaune Arc
Top of the class: Pyrrha Ackerman
Yang smirked, unsurprised. "Of course, Pyrrha was top of the class." Said girl was proud of her placement.
Jaune could scarcely believe his position in the top ten. "I made second place?!" He asked at the same time Weiss asked, "I ranked below that dolt?!"
"At least you made it to the top five," Yang shrugged.
Coco and Fox congratulated their teammates on their ranking.
All the trainees were celebrating in the mess hall, later that night.
"I did it!" Yatsuhashi grinned. "I'm in the Military Police now!"
"We'll never have to worry about food again!" Nora cheered.
"It appears the only trainees who will be joining the Scouts among their top ten will be Jaeger and Ackerman," Glynda stated. "Although I'm unsure about Ms Scarlatina's choice."
The students frowned at that. Most of them knew their counterparts only worked hard for their ranking so they could avoid the Titans entirely.
Sun sulked in his seat. "Why was I ranked below Ruby? That bastard...!" He took a deep swig from his mug.
"You don't wanna join the Military Police, Ruby? Are you serious?" Thomas asked.
"But you've got one of the top 10 scores!" Samuel added.
"I've been dead-set on my goal since the very beginning. I didn't train to live comfortably within the Interior. I worked this hard so I could fight the Titans."
"They lived together for three years and they still doubt her conviction to fight Titans?" Salem scoffed.
"She's pretty much made up her mind to do so," Yatsuhashi said, exasperated.
"But you can't possibly win!" The bushy-haired blonde blurted out, making the entire hall go silent and stare at them.
"You know full well..." he continued despite the stares. "You know just how many have been eaten by them. We've lost more than twenty percent of the population already. Humanity doesn't stand a chance against them."
His sudden burst of pessimism dampened the general mood that was still on a high from their graduation.
"So?"
"Huh?"
"You're just giving up because you think we can't win?" she asked.
"Well..."
"It's true. We've suffered only defeats so far. That's because we hardly knew anything about them! We can't defeat them using sheer numbers. We may have lost, but the knowledge we obtained from those battles is our guiding beacon of hope. Yet you'd discard the tactical progress bought by hundreds of thousands of sacrifices, to serve yourself on a silver platter. You've gotta be kidding me!"
She clenched her fists. "I'll kill every last one of them and break free of these walls! That is my dream! Humanity hasn't lost everything yet!" Ruby gritted her teeth, then left with tearful eyes.
The silence that permeated the theatre as a result of her speech was thick. The sound of enthusiastic clapping snapped their heads in Port's direction.
"Wonderful, Ms Jaeger! Wonderful!" He praised.
"That was truly a wonderful speech," Ozpin said, grinning.
"Perhaps Ms Rose should be the one giving speeches to student hopefuls and officials alike," Ironwood said.
Ruby ducked her head down, her cheeks flushed red from all the attention.
"Wait, Ruby!" Her friends chased after her.
Go outside the walls, if you're so keen on it. I'm going to the Military Police. Sun thought angrily.
Sitting on the stairs outside, Ruby wiped her face clean.
"Ruby," Oscar said as he and Pyrrha approached her, "can we talk about your dream?"
"Yeah. After all, I got it from you. Breaking free of the walls and all that..."
"I'm going to enlist in the Survey Corps!" Oscar declared.
"Is he for real?" No one expected the timid boy to enlist in the Corps with the highest mortality rate.
Even Oscar was surprised by his counterpart's decision.
"Are you for real, Oscar?! You're our top theoretician! Put that to better use!"
"He probably doesn't want to abandon the family he has left," Oscar explained. "I know I wouldn't."
"I won't be a burden. Even if it costs me my life."
Jaune could empathize with the feeling, being the weakest member of Team JNPR.
"I'm going to join the Survey Corps too," Pyrrha said.
"No surprise why," Cardin said.
Ruby turned to her in surprise. "You got the top score, didn't you? Go to the Military Police!"
"I'll go to the Military Police if you do. If you go to the Garrisons, so will I. You'll die an early death if I'm not there for you."
"Talk about being over-protective," Coco said. Pyrrha could only sigh at her counterpart's behaviour.
Yang flinched when she saw some similarities between herself and onscreen Pyrrha. "I'm not that bad, am I?" she murmured to herself.
Ruby heard her question but chose not to answer.
The shorter girl turned away, grumbling. "I never asked for that."
"I don't want to lose what's left of my family," she said. The scene ended with them looking up at the stars beyond the walls.
That makes sense, I guess Yang thought.
"They're here! The main force of the Survey Corps is here!"
Many eyebrows were raised at the happiness displayed on Survey Corp's behalf.
"Commander James! Kick the Titan asses for me!" Said commander marched forward on his horse.
"Looks like you got promoted to Commander of the Scouts. Congratulations, James." Ozpin congratulated his friend.
James was just as proud of his counterpart for the promotion.
"Hey, check it out. It's Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby pointed to the screen where Glynda rode alongside the Scouts.
Glynda was amazed to see herself onscreen but composed herself.
"So you joined up with the Scouts," Qrow muttered. "Not bad."
The crowd—trio included—watched them with bright eyes. "Look! There's Captain Neo! They say she alone counts for an entire brigade!"
Roman and Neo jerked up immediately. "CAPTAIN Neo?!" Roman asked, dumbfounded.
The two Neos looked more or less the same with some differences. Onscreen Neo had red hair in a shade similar to Torchwick's but still had the white streak on the right side. Her eyes also retained their heterochromatic look and she was wearing the standard military uniform with the Wings of Freedom stitched on.
Neo stared at her onscreen counterpart. Of all places she expected to see herself, the Military was not one of them.
Roman eyed Neo's counterpart, noting the similarities between her hair and his. "Survey Corps, huh?" he nudged his partner in amusement.
She looked less than thrilled with all the praise. "Tsk... Can they shut up?" she grumbled.
Roman was downright flabbergasted now. The others on the villain side weren't faring any better.
"Y-Yo-You talked?" Roman asked, openmouthed. "You talked?!" He yelled.
The mute was in the same position as him. It had been so long since she'd heard her voice.
"They look completely different from five years ago," Ruby smiled. "People are supporting the Survey Corps now."
"It's cheering everyone up. Nothing bad happened in the past few years," Hannah said.
"The artillery has been improved as well. That Colossal Titan won't come again, right?" Franz said.
"Are they so overconfident—or naive—that they believe just because there was peace for five years, the Colossal or Armoured Titans wouldn't show up again?" Weiss asked incredulously.
"Perhaps their recent successful streak is the reason for their confidence?" Yang shrugged weakly in response.
"Overconfidence breeds carelessness," Ren stated.
"Yeah." Hannah agreed.
Cinder rolled her eyes. "Wishful thinking."
"How can you be so naive, you old married couple?!" Ruby questioned.
The two blushed nervously. "Don't call us a couple!" Hannah said, waving her hand at him. "Don't be so hasty, Ruby."
They were pulled out of their conversation by a new, but familiar voice. "Hey, you there." They turned in the direction to see a familiar face. "Qrow!"
"Huh, so I'm still alive and kicking," the drunkard said. The last time he saw himself, he was injured and facing a horde of Titans.
He walked up to them, another soldier trailing behind him. "You guys graduated yesterday, right?" He asked. "I can't believe they let you kids through." The trio smiled at him.
"I heard they made a drunkard like you Captain of a Garrison," Ruby shot back at him, still smiling.
"Congrats, Drunckle Qrow!" the sisters cheered.
The man was so floored by the discovery that he got a promotion to register what they called him.
Winter cocked an eyebrow. "He really changed after the fall of Wall Maria."
"Touche!" he flicked her forehead playfully. His face became solemn. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your mother," he apologized again.
Ruby was surprised by the apology. "It's not your fault," she replied calmly. "We're no longer ignorant. We won't let that sort of tragedy happen again. We will defeat the Titans," she vowed.
She matured over the three years. At least she's not shouting everyone's heads off like before, Salem thought.
Qrow watched as she ran off. Should I be happy or not that she's grown into a woman? Don't go dying now, kid.
On the wall, the newly graduated trainees were performing maintenance work. "What?" Ruby gaped. "You're enlisting in the Survey Corps? Yatsuhashi! You were going on and on about joining the Military Police!"
"Yeah, I know. But..."
Mina chimed in. "Seems like he was listening to your speech yesterday."
"Huh?"
"Shut up! This is my own decision!" Yatsuhashi turned away from cleaning a cannon, looking flustered.
"You're telling me all it took to change their life goals and join a branch with the highest mortality rate was an admittedly inspirational speech?" Hazel asked, bewildered.
"Don't be so shy about it," Thomas said, joining the conversation. "You're not the only one."
"Thomas... Are you serious..." she said in a disbelieving tone.
"Sounds about right," Emerald replied.
"Maybe Ms Rose should be giving the speeches instead of us," Ozpin said to his deputy. Glynda scoffed good-naturedly at the mental image.
"Um, guys... I borrowed some meat from the officers' morning rations," Nora revealed a huge slab of meat hidden in her jacket.
They were stupefied by her... Bravery? Stupidity? They weren't sure. "Nora! You wanna get solitary confinement?!"
"You're crazy!"
"Real idiocy's scary..."
Many in the audience couldn't help agreeing with the accusations.
"She's a nutcase, that's for sure," Cardin gawked.
Ren shook his head at his best friend's antics. Never change, Nora.
"Let's split it up together later. We'll slice it up and eat it with bread." Nora drooled, cheeks red. She let out a guttural sound in delight.
Roman tried and failed to pretend not to be grossed out by the sound she made. "Didn't even know such a sound was possible for humans."
"Put it back!"
"Yeah! Meat is a luxury now that we've lost so much land!"
"Don't worry about it." Nora moved to put the meat in a wooden box. "Once we retake the land, we can raise cattle and sheep again."
Samuel gulped. "I'll take some of that meat!"
"Me too, so save my part!" Yatsuhashi said.
"That goes for me too," Mina smiled.
"Guys..." Ruby trailed off.
"What do you say, Ruby?" Samuel asked. "They'll find us out if we don't get back to work."
"It's still a while before lunch," Mina walked off to continue her work.
Five years have passed since then Ruby thought, looking over Trost. Humanity's finally regaining its dignity. We can win! The wind picked up. Humanity's counterattack begins now!
"She jinxed it." Cinder deadpanned.
Lightning struck. The Colossal's face appeared behind Ruby. The trainees were frozen in shock for a few seconds.
They were frozen in shock as well. It took some seconds for their brains to register that the Colossal Titan was indeed behind Ruby and their eyes weren't deceiving them.
"WHAT?!"
"How--?" Jaune tried and failed to articulate his words.
Steam blew and the gate exploded, debris and wind destroying nearby structures designed to contain the rubble in case the wall was broken again. The trainees on the wall were knocked off by the steam as well. Ow! Hot! Ruby and the others quickly deployed their 3D gear, latching unto the wall. The hell?!
Unluckily for him, Samuel was knocked out. "Samuel!" Yatsuhashi yelled.
Nora detached her hooks and went after him. "Nora!" Mina called after her.
She shot out a hook that embedded itself in his leg and one into the wall, stopping his plummet. "Samuel! Don't move!"
Nora breathed out a sigh of relief when her counterpart saved Samuel.
They all flinched at the boy's sudden stop.
"The whiplash from that sudden stop should have scrambled his insides," Blake grimaced.
"How is he still alive then?" Oscar questioned.
"Part of their training must've required them to prepare for sudden stops or turns," Penny explained, recalling glimpses of the 3D gear in action.
"That was close." Ruby gasped when she saw the hole where the gate was.
Thomas stuttered fearfully. "The gate's...broken..."
"The Titans will get in again!" Yatsuhashi panicked.
Ruby flashbacked to watching her mother get eaten by the Smiling Titan. "I'll kill them all! Every single one of them!" she resolved.
"Every... fucking... one..." Ruby snapped out of her daze, resolve now back in full force. "Mounted Cannon Maintenance Squad 4!" She drew her blades. "Prepare for battle! The target's right in front of us! It's the Colossal Titan!" She swung up. "This is our chance! Don't let it slip away!"
"Hey, hey, hey, what the hell is she doing?" Yang asked, worried about her sister spiking. "Please tell me she's not doing what I think she is!"
"Living up to all her boasting over the years," Weiss replied, her mouth agape.
She twirled in midair, landing in a crouch and glared up at the Colossal Titan, steam billowing around them. "Hello there. It's been five years."
To be continued...
"She charged at it with zero hesitation," Glynda said in amazement.
Qrow was torn between pride for his niece's bravery and fear for her safety.
Yang tightly gripped her sister's hand, fear for her safety flooding every nerve in her body.
"Let's move to the next episode already!" Nora yelled out, anxious to know what happens.
"I agree. C'mon Blahk, let's do this!"
"Alright, alright. Jeez."
A/N: And here's the update! I planned on posting earlier but a school function came up that kept me busy. I had typed out the transcripts the day after posting the previous chapter and all that was left were the reactions.
So... Neo as Levi. How many of you saw that coming? Fun fact: I did not come up with this casting. One of the reviews gave me the idea for it and it makes sense for two reasons; they're both damn short and they both had criminal mentors who took them in/taught them to fight. I know most were expecting Blake or Winter but sorry to disappoint you. Someone wanted it to be Adam for some reason... However, I already have plans for all these characters.
Another casting replacement I made was Hange - Glynda. I didn't add Hange in the transcripts but in the episode, she was riding alongside Levi as the Scouts were cheered on.
Levi Ackerman - Neo Ackerman
Hange Zoe - Glynda Goodwitch
