Hey guys! Welcome to my first attempt at a Reaction Fic! This is my take on it, with a slightly different premise. It'll be explained - hopefully in a good way - by the OC in the fic (who's needed for exposition purposes). Any feedback is appreciated! Any suggestions for what the characters should react to are appreciated too! However, I might not be able to have them react to it if I haven't watched or read the source, so keep that in mind. And please, try not to make suggestions that are too long, for example - don't suggest an entire anime arc - maybe just a scene from an episode. Don't suggest your own RWBY fics though, since it defeats the premise presented in this story.
NOTE: The things the RWBY characters will react to are loose adaptations of the stories being copied. So basically, the main plot points (and things that will cause a reaction) will remain, but some dialogue or actions in certain sequences might be tweaked - this is just so it's not an exact copy and paste of those scenes.
SECOND NOTE: This reaction is set after the Breach (so between V2 and V3). I stated this in the fic's description, but I had to remove it, so I'm adding it here.
Chapter 1 - An Intro to Cinema
A Cinema in-between the multiverse…
The movie theater had not been used for eons. The owner of the establishment was supposed to use the venue as a source of entertainment for people - but had put off the debut of his cinema due to procrastination. However, even his spell of laziness needed to come to an end, as the silent cinema soon exploded in a cacophony of noise.
"Oof!"
"Ow!"
"Get off me!"
"What just happened!"
"Ugh...what the hell?"
"Huh?"
That was the voice of the eight members of Teams RWBY and JNPR - the first of his guests.
The two teams were jumbled up together in a mess of limbs. After a minute or two, they managed to untangle themselves. Afterwards, they began to take notice of their surroundings.
"I don't remember there ever being a movie theater at Beacon…," Jaune said.
"That's because there isn't," Weiss replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh, do you guys think there's any popcorn here! I'd love a bucket full of it. And then some soda, which you obviously have to throw on the popcorn so it's sweet and salty…oooh! Ren! Do you reckon you can make some popcorn right now?" Nora exclaimed.
"I believe we should try to find out why we woke up here first, Nora." Ren replied calmly.
"The place seems relatively clean," Yang said as she traced her hands over the seat handles. "There's not a single trace of dust!"
"Guys! Look! There's somebody else here!" Ruby shouted out to the others. She was at the other side of the cinema, pointing towards a person at the back. The person was dressed in an incredibly bizarre manner. They wore an embroidered and elongated bomber jacket, a blanket coat, and printed trousers. Their face was blocked by a very spiky face mask that didn't look to have any holes in it. It looked like a bunch of diamonds that covered the person's features. The person was also wearing what appeared to be grey sweatpants, and a grey shirt - with a gold chain surrounding the neck. The outfit was finished with a pair of red sneakers [1].
The person was reading a newspaper and didn't seem to notice the eight students. Sensing a chance to ask the person for directions, Yang spoke up.
"Hello…can you hear us? Over here!" she said, whilst waving her hands up and down.
The person proceeded to ignore them, eventually flipping a page from the paper. The weirdly dressed individual continued to read for a few seconds, until they were once again interrupted by Yang.
"You gonna say anything?" Yang said in a louder tone, annoyed that she was ignored.
The person finally noticed them, looking away from the paper and gazing at the eight huntresses and huntsmen in training. Despite the mask not showing the person's face, all eight of them felt like the person was mad, as if the mystery person was threatening them.
The more aggressive members of the group decided to get out their weapons, Yang with Ember Celica and Nora with Magnhild. The rest of the group, seeing that tensions might boil over - reluctantly did the same.
"We don't want to fight you, just please tell us where we are, mister! Or…madam?" Ruby asked.
The person was silent for a few seconds and then spoke. Their voice was robotic and garbled, but ultimately sounded like a guy.
"You try and fight me, somebody's gonna die."
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…" Jaune whimpered.
"Oh yeah? And who will that be?" Nora asked.
"Me of course." The man said flatly.
The group's reaction was varied.
"EXCUSE ME?"
"IS THIS MAN SERIOUS?"
"...WHAT?"
"ARE YOU TRYING TO RILE ME UP?"
"There's eight of you and one of me." The man replied, before going back to read the paper.
"YOU-" Yang was about to go over and punch the man, but a hand held her back.
"Hold up there, Xiao Long," Weiss replied.
"That masked bastard's mocking us!" Yang replied.
Weiss ignored her reply and stepped forward. "Look sir, there's just a couple of things we need to know. We just need to know where we are and who you are if that's okay with you." She made sure to say it in the most genial manner possible.
The man looked away from the paper and gazed at the eight huntresses and huntsmen in training. Despite the mask not showing the person's face, all eight of them felt like the person was annoyed, as if the mystery person was inconveniencing them.
"You lot have some nerve," he replied, much to their confusion.
"It's only polite to introduce yourself before asking a question."
Does this person not know who I am?! Weiss thought. She suppressed those thoughts however to maintain a sense of civility. "Alright, fair enough. I'll go first, my name is-"
"If you must know, my name is Chrono and I'm the owner of this dear establishment. I'm 27 years old. Gemini."
Weiss took out her rapier Myrtenaster and had to be held back by Blake and Yang.
"I'll kill this buffoon! I swear!"
"Alright, calm down Ice Queen!"
"Calm down?! You wanted to kill him just a second ago!"
Amidst Yang and Weiss' bickering, Chrono continued his monologue.
"Whilst your rude behaviour makes me disinclined to accommodate your curiosity," he said whilst looking pointedly at a few members of the group, "I will say that you are all on my private property. Besides, knowing what happened to you all should be obvious since you were all somewhere else previously."
As he finished, a moment of realisation washed over the minds of the teams. Chrono couldn't have cared less and went back to reading the paper.
"So you're saying that we're not at Beacon?! Did you kidnap us?" Ruby screamed.
"Wait a second, if we were kidnapped, does that mean you're working with the White Fang and with Torchwick! Answer us!" Blake said - whilst pointing Gambol Shroud at Chrono.
Chrono looked away from the paper and gazed at the eight huntresses and huntsmen in training. Despite the mask not showing his face, all eight of them felt like Chrono was annoyed, as if the mystery person was inconveniencing them.
"CAN YOU STOP LOOKING AT US LIKE THAT?" The entire group shouted.
"What's the matter? Have you guys never heard of a running gag?" Chrono replied [2].
"THAT WAS A RUNNING GAG?"
"There's a door over there," Chrono replied. The teams looked behind them to where Chrono pointed. A door appeared.
"Wait a second, we can get out?!" Weiss shrieked.
"I swear there was no door there a second ago…" Jaune said in confusion.
Chrono chuckled at their expense. "Go ahead and open the door."
Ren obliged the masked man, wanting to leave the establishment.
As he opened the door however, another pile of bodies came from outside the door and proceeded to fall down to the floor.
"Oof!"
"Ow!"
"Get off me!"
"What just happened!"
"Don't shout too loud, I'm too hungover for this…"
"Huh?"
This turn of events somehow managed to confuse the two teams even further.
Among the pile of bodies there were people that members of the team could recognise.
"Uncle Qrow? Dad?"
"Winter?"
"Sun?"
"Professor Ozpin?"
Among the piles were several other people - ranging from their teachers, to other students, to fellow family, to even some random people they've never seen before - such as a man in a suit with greying hair and a mustache.
As all of these people got up - some of them began to recognise each other and all hell broke loose.
"OZPIN!" a large bearded man who wore green shouted. He glared at the man in question and proceeded to rip out his jacket.
The Headmaster of Beacon was still disorientated and down on the floor. Fortunately, his fellow teachers surrounded him to protect him from the enraged man that was Hazel Rainart.
As that was happening, the Branwen siblings were busy having a reunion.
"Hello brother," Raven said in a mocking manner, before her nose scrunched up. "You must be drunk again, what are the odds?"
"You must be a bitch," Qrow slurred back.
Three different voices said their hellos in Blake Belladonna. One was full of barely restrained anger, one was full of barely restrained joy, and the last was full of barely restrained shock.
Blake looked towards the source and immediately paled. Across her was Adam Taurus, her mother Kali and father Ghira, and Ilia Amitola.
Adam unsheathed his Wilt and Blush and made to attack Blake. Ilia, Kali and Ghira chased after Adam for differing reasons.
"...Arthur? You're alive?" General James Ironwood uttered in shock. Before him was the Atlesian Scientist who was supposedly dead.
Without reply, Arthur Watts pointed his revolver at the General. Said General pointed his pistols back at alarm the moment he noticed the scientist going for his weapon. Watts was also flanked by Ironwood's protege Winter Schnee and by Penny Polendina.
Meanwhile, Cinder Fall was analysing the scene. Unlike many of the others, she was not asleep when she was transported. She was too busy planning her devious tactics. Now, she's surrounded by friends and foe alike. She ordered her pawns Emerald and Mercury to remain lowkey.
All of this, and more, was happening in the span of a minute. The two teams also joined in the chaos, whether it be Yang also confronting her mother, Ruby confronting Torchwick, or Ren and Pyrrha trying to stop chaos from happening, such as when a certain scorpion faunus - Tyrian Callows - was beginning to attack a team from Beacon - CRDL.
As Chrono witnessed it happen, he sighed in exasperation. I just wanted to read my paper….
Before first blood was threatened to be spilt, Chrono's voice bellowed through the theater. "ALRIGHT, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH PEOPLE!"
The booming declaration made by Chrono was especially brutal for the faunus like Kali and Blake - who covered their cat ears at the expense of their normal ones. All eyes in the cinema have now had their attention at Chrono.
Before anyone else could speak, Chrono held one finger up. "Let me do just one thing before I answer any questions please…" he said, as he got a notepad out of nowhere. He proceeded to look at every person in the theater before looking down back at the pad. He was listing off names based on who arrived.
Almost every single name that he expected was here - Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Team SSSN, Team CFVY, Team CRDL, Penny Polendina, Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, Bartholomew Oobleck, Qrow Branwen, Taiyang Xiao-Long, James Ironwood, Winter Schnee, Roman Torchwick, Neo, Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, Adam Taurus, Ilia Amitola, The Belladonnas, Raven Branwen, Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, and Hazel Rainart.
"Hmmm…it seems that almost everyone I expected is here. I might have forgotten a few people, I'll just add them later when I remember. That being said… there is one major person that I don't see…" he murmured to himself.
This got a few people in the theater curious - there was meant to be another person?
"Okay folks, I'm just waiting for the Queen. She should be here soon."
This sent alarms to the minds of people in Ozpin's group, Cinder, Watts, Hazel, Raven, and even Tyrian. This confused everyone else.
"You know of her?"
"You worship the Goddess too?"
"There's a queen in Remnant?"
Chrono ignored them all, and after a few seconds a woman appeared in a flash and fell before her. It was the queen of the Grimm herself, Salem.
Her appearance immediately shocked almost everyone in the theater. Ozpin's eyes widened and he felt fear at the fact that many people in the theater were going to learn of his existence. Many in Salem's faction were shocked at the presence of their queen. Many who were unaware of the two factions were just shaken in fear.
"Where am I? What sort of trickery is this?" The Grimm queen demanded.
"It's fate and the Gods forcing me to do my job finally," Chrono said boredly behind her.
At the mention of Gods, Salem felt rage and used her magic on the man behind her. It immediately hit him but he looked unfazed, much to her surprise.
"Yeah…attacks don't work on me. Or…anybody else here to be honest," he said nonchalantly.
Testing this claim, Tyrian tried to stab a victim only for his weapons to go through them without harm.
"I know you all are either scared, angry, confused, or a mix of those three. To be honest I'm also not enjoying this. This is very annoying. But apparently, it appears that I'll have to do my job so that we can all part ways from here," Chrono announced.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Winter asked.
"This is a multiversal movie theater," he replied. This caused murmurs amongst the audience, and excitement amongst one particular teacher.
Doctor Oobleck sped up to Chrono and began to speak. "Are you saying that the multiverse theory is in fact correct, Mr-"
"Chrono. You can all call me Chrono," he said. "And yes, the multiverse is real. Currently, we are in between time and space. Fortunately, time in your specific universe has been paused - but unfortunately it appears that my employers want you to watch different universes - or specifically one universe in particular."
"Which universe?"
"The universe in which your entire, um, world…is a story."
For what felt like the hundredth time that day, the people in the audience were once again in disbelief.
"WE'RE A TV SHOW? OR UH, MOVIE?" Nora exclaimed.
"In one universe, the universe you guys are in is definitely real. But in this one particular universe, you are all actors and actresses who act out the events of your universe."
"Woah…that's so cool!" Ruby said with stars in her eyes.
"Yeah it kind of is, to be honest," Chrono said with a chuckle. "The universe I'm showing is basically gonna be shows and movies of your actor and actress selves playing roles! That being said - a lot of you guys have been typecast."
"Typecast?"
"It means that our actor selves have been usually cast in the same type of role in different films and shows." Surprisingly, it was not Chrono who replied, but a huntsman in training. Neptune Vasilias.
The people in the theater looked towards Chrono. "Yeah, the nerd is correct."
"Intellectual!"
"Shut up."
"I'll give an example. Jauney boy for example is usually typecast as a main character, and an archetypal hero," he said as he pointed towards Arc. The said guy in question looked towards him and mouthed 'me?'. This made Jaune feel excited, he was a hero in other universes?
"Seriously? Him?" Cardin said.
"Yep! Although in the case of your universe/story, the actor is playing a reverse role - instead of being the main hero - he's the sidekick."
Upon hearing that, Jaune immediately deflated, even more so when other people in the theater started laughing at his expense. He was going to see better versions of himself, whilst he was just stuck as himself. As just Jaune [3].
"Hey! Stop laughing!" Pyrrha said to the audience. After a bit, they did - since their lungs were starting to hurt.
"Wait, so if we're just watching our acting selves, does that mean those shows are also technically other universes too? Since you know, we're a show in that universe as well," Ilia asked.
"Yes! Nice catch, Ilia," Chrono responded. "Also I know all of your names and history since you guys are characters where I'm from."
This was unnerving for all of the people in the cinema, barring Chrono of course.
"Now, all we need to do is watch your alternate selves in this cinema until my employers are satisfied. It'll take like a few days at most, people. So just buckle up, relax and enjoy the show! Popcorn's in the room next door, along with a bathroom and other foodstuffs." The host pointed towards a door near the back left of the room.
In the span of about 10 minutes, people began to get popcorn and other snacks. The ones who didn't want any simply just chose their seats. All of the people from Beacon and those who were related to them in some ways choose to sit at the front. All of the people with Salem, or who were affiliated in some way chose to sit at the back. All of the neutrals sit in the middle.
"What kind of movie do you think we're gonna see, Ren? The weird mask guy did that Jaune-Jaune's actor usually played heroes! Oooh! Maybe we'll see Jaune be a superhero who beats up baddies!" Nora said in her usual fashion.
"I guess we'll have to see Nora." Ren replied.
"Ugh, these people from Beacon are so nice…" Emerald said.
"I know, right?" Mercury drawled.
"Quiet, you too." Cinder shut her two pawns up. "And maybe take down some notes, perhaps these shows will show some new concepts."
Maybe I should have mentioned certain things like the lack of aura in this universe. And faunus. Meh, I'll mention it when the time comes. Chrono thought as he shrugged.
The screen began to play.
And that's all for the introduction! I tried to make it a bit humorous. This fic will also not have everyone react to just Jaune only, by the way. That was one of the things that I admit can be annoying for people who want to see other types of reactions. That being said, the first reaction will be a Jaune-centric one.
[1] - Who taught Chrono how to dress? Yeezy taught him! Basically, the outfit is like the one that Kanye West wore during the Yeezus Era. I don't know why I chose this outfit for him, I just did tbh.
[2] - This is a reference to that 'running gag' scene in the One Piece Anime. It's the one in the Alabasta Arc where the Straw Hats meet Crocus in the Whale (cue confusion for people who have never seen One Piece).
[3] - I think this is the reason as to why a lot of Jaune reaction-fics don't have the man himself react to his alternate self. That being said, I think it'd be an interesting plot point to see his reactions to it and the fallout of it.
Since uploading this first chapter, I'm in the process of writing a few chapters for this fic. So it'll be a short while until I can update this fic (two weeks at the very most) - however I hope to make it weekly. Until then, just add any suggestions for a chapter!