Hey there, this is a short intermission chapter. Made it since I was busy these past few days with family stuff. I need to learn to dance something in a few weeks, who knew? Also a break from the craziness my mind is making.
saito: Oh man that first one is a good idea. But he'd probably fuse with something else. I do have a Digimon in mind though.
TheAwesomeSweden: It would be but I have a vision of where I want this story to go now and that won't fit in sadly.
Pepsi-Percy: I uh...was planning on doing that eventually with Jaune as Hans haha.
Lizard King: Never saw it.
Man of Azure: Zi-O is a Kamen Rider season. It was a wishy-washy season concerning somethings but that and a comic book storyline that happened last year are the inspirations to my plot. Also...MIA NO! Someone did Phoenix Wright recently if I recall, I'd like to not redo that one just yet.
MechaDragon99: Oh look...a falling space station.
UnlawfulGentleman: I haven't seen Trigun. I tried to get into it but I think something about it threw me off.
Gadget916: I'm thinking about a person who laughs for my batman chapter to be Jaune.
OnePiece99: I answered that before. I have seen them a long time ago. So that one is maybe.
Lord of Memory: Animegamer96 did that in his, with Jaune vs Wiess. Go check it out.
ludens45: How the heck did you review twice in one chapter?
OmaZi-O: You mean...Hazama right? Lol. Ragna Jaune has been in my mind a few times.
SoNNeikO: I know for sure someone did that? I can't remember which one though. Now I feel bad for not remembering.
Guest: Yes I did. The idea of the multiverse is the infinite possibilities are there. So yes there are universes were Bumblebee and Whiterose happens. While Jaune is the central figure of this multiverse, that doesn't mean he has to get with everyone all the time. He was also weak cuz comedy, that's all.
DarkParzival: Sif is there to replace Woz, Hei is Geiz and Summer Schnee is Tsukuyomi.
the Composcreator: Nope! Crossovers in a reaction fic is hard haha.
This chapter is brought to you by a writing mistake in the last one and me having odd mind changes in the last few days. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Toriko.
Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, took a moment to collect herself. She didn't want to step out and show that she was crying after all!
She now knew that her guy best friend and crush, Jaune Arc, was no longer lost to the multiverse. That was a good thing! They didn't need to hunt for him anymore. The only problem was...well he was captured by an evil older him! One who had nefarious plans!
The two people she saw being able to warp reality and teleport between dimensions seemed unable to do anything to get to that universe. That meant, in Ruby's mind, that evil old Jaune was stronger than either of them! And since those two were stronger than her, all Ruby could do was keep watching and hope nothing bad has happened to her friend because of that meanie.
So she had to put on a brave face and make sure no one knew anything was wrong. So the fifteen-year-old took a deep breath and exited the theater room.
Only to stop as the room over went from the cinema lobby to a small restaurant. "Uh..." Ruby stutters as she looks at the place.
Everyone was sitting with their families or coworkers. Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood were at one table. Yang, Qrow and her dad were at a table. Weiss was sitting with Penny and Winter. The Belladonna's had their table. Lastly, JNPR was seated together as well.
"Hey!" the Chef called out. "Take a seat where ever. I'm holding a lottery to see what menu I'll end up using." The concession stand was transformed into an open kitchen, letting them see the version of Jaune smiling at them. This one was older, probably only twenty or so. He was dressed rather casually if that uniform was anything to go by. However, she could see that he was ripped. There were muscles under the shirt and on those arms.
Ruby took a quick look around, looking to everyone writing on a piece of paper, being collected by the Curator himself in a bowl. His face was neutral after all the whole thing in the other room. So instead of joining her family, she took a seat at the counter and smiled at the Chef.
"Hi Jaune," Ruby said kicking her feet.
"Ruby Rose," he grinned as he leaned his hands on the counter. "You look just like my version, just...shorter. How old are you?"
"Fifteen," the girl grinned. For some reason, speaking to a Jaune put her at ease. "How about in your world? How old are we? Are we...friends?" The blonde laughed at her scared face and reached over and ruffled her hair, causing her to giggle.
"You do the same in my world," the Chef replied. "And to be clear, I am twenty-five. You're twenty-three. And I wouldn't exactly call us friends." Ruby paused and Jaune laughed. "I'm your best friend and your chef and sometimes more if need be."
Silver eyes seemed to glow at the thought. "Personal chef?" she asked.
"Yeah. While I do work as one of the head chefs for the Grand Beacon Hotel and my own Arc Family Diner, I'm also the personal chef of the Four Heavenly Queens." the chef said that with a hint of pride. "Or should I say, team RWBY here."
"You cook for us?" Ruby seemed even more excited at the thought of that.
"Yeah. All of you are so picky with your foods," he laughed making Ruby blush. "And I mean all of you!" the Chef shouts. "Yang, Blake, and Weiss. Do you know how hard it was making your full course? Over 100 adventures and you still can't decide what you want to eat."
"Sh-shut it you!" Weiss stutters. "What would you know what I eat?"
"You like to eat elegant dishes. Ones that usually require utensils and then it has to be prepared nicely. Oh and not too many calories. Despite your stature, you're watching your weight." Yang grinned as Weiss spluttered her response. "Oh don't you grin."
"Oh yeah and why is that Vomit Boy?" Yang countered.
"Huh, that's a new one. It's usually Food Boy," the Chef commented. Shaking his head he smiled. "You love spice. The spicier the better. Despite that, you also love things made into cute arrangements." Yang's grin left her face as her uncle and father laughed, Ruby giggled too. His eyes then landed on Blake "Honestly you were the simplest. Tuna. I should have guessed but come on."
"I will not deny that," Blake answered plainly. "I love what I love." Her parents grinned as they hugged their daughter.
The Curator walked over and handed the Chef the bowl with names. The younger version of Jaune was about to reach into it but stopped. "Why don't you pick the name Ruby?"
"Okay!" Ruby reached in and pulled out Nora's name. "Nora!"
"Yay! What do I win?" the bomber asked.
"What you win," the Chef says as he goes to the fridge and starts taking out food. "I'm going to make your full course menu. We'll yours and Ren's. You guys are a combo after all."
"A combo?" Ren asked, suddenly interested. Pyrrha was too. Honestly, everyone was. This was the first time they got to speak to a person from another world.
"Yeah. A chef and a gourmet hunter who have teamed up and share their full course. Usually best friends but in your case," the Chef grinned, "husband and wife." Nora matched the grin and Ren, thanks to not having his Semblance, blushed. "I was the sous chef at their wedding since they trust me implicitly."
"Congratulations you two," Pyrrha teased both her teammates.
"Thank you!" Nora laughs.
"Y-yeah." Ren blushed.
"May I ask what sort of world you come from?" Ozpin asked the version of Jaune before them who set about making food. Thanks to the Curator he seemed to be working faster than normal.
"My world is specifically called the Gourmet Universe," he replied. Ruby and Nora were watching over the counter wondering what he was making. Soon Penny and Yang joined too after smelling it. It smelled like freshly baked bread.
"Gourmet?" Glynda asked. "Is it based on food?"
"The entire economy and socio-economic situation of the entire universe is based on food," the chef laughed as he put a tray of dough into the oven. "Almost everything is edible and the world is usually colorful and bright."
"That's an odd world then," Taiyang said. "Is there any Grimm?"
"What's a Grimm, and can I eat it?" the Chef asked as he was preparing something else. Meanwhile, he put several cups on a tray and the Curator started giving water and alcohol to those who are old enough and specialized drinks for others.
"Grimm are beings created from the malevolence of the world, that feed off of negative emotions," Ironwood replied as he drank some whiskey.
"Huh, maybe? I mean I haven't explored the entire universe yet. Weiss is making sure everything is set first and our group can't go to the next world until then. And that princess still won't admit my food tastes good." The blonde rolled his eyes before pushing a strawberry sunrise before Yang who's eyes lit up.
"Finally!" she yelled. She took a sip and her eyes widen. "Holy crap. What's in this and how can I get it in my home."
"You can't. Those are made from Pop-up Strawberries, Helios Oranges and some tequila made from Ascended Agave."
"Okay you're just making those things up to discourage me," Yang said as she took another sip. "It like the flavor is exploding in my mouth."
"Exactly how the version of you I know loves it." the Chef smiled as he placed a strawberry milkshake before Ruby and Penny. Nora pouted as she was given a cola which, while refreshing, was not what she wanted.
"Hey what about me? Where's my special drink?" Nora asked. Jaune "booped" her nose and smiled.
"Ah, this is your Full Course, Nora. That means your drink is special. So please just wait okay, I'm sure you'll love it." The bomber didn't look pleased but nodded for now. "Why don't you go sit down back at your tables, the first dish is almost ready."
"Okay!" Nora hopped back as did Yang and Penny, leaving Ruby once again with him alone. From the oven, the Chef pulls out a large tray full of croissants and placing them on plates with some sort of spread he had made as he spoke.
"Here's the hors d'oeurves, Sourestdough Croissants with Yggdrassil maple butter." the Curator warped them in front of the people and the Chef personally placed one in front of Ruby. She gave him a look and the Chef laughed as if he understood. "Don't worry. Just spread some of the butter on it. It will taste amazing Ruby."
"Fine," she sighed. Taking a knife she spread it onto the bread and tentatively took a bite. It was a rather hard and slightly sour taste at first, but once her tongue hit the butter, her eyes widened. "It's sour but the sweetness brings it back to something that I can eat!" Ruby then looked at him. "Why is this the first item?" The Chef just pointed at the JNPR table.
Ruby looked over and saw Nora and Ren pause in their eating. They took a look at each other before looking at the Chef. "This tastes like the first thing we ate after we were attacked by Grimm all those years ago," Ren said taking another bite.
"Y-yeah," Nora replied eating with more gusto now.
"In my universe, you said the same thing. Except it was because of some beast. You, Nora, and I hunted it down before your wedding," the Chef told them. The older version of Jaune was already plating food for the next thing to eat. "And this one is from Nora's favorite beans."
Dish after dish, Nora and Ren were like they were going down memory lane. Soup, fish, meat, salad. Those four dishes were placed before them in quick succession, each one bringing out memories Ren and Nora had almost forgotten. As they ate they held hands. The soup was made from Nora's favorite beans that "exploded like grenades!" making it explode with flavor in her mouth. The fish dish was one Ren's choice, made into a tuna melt, made to calm people down. The meat dish was some odd floating bacon wrapped around chicken. And the salad was a literal golden potato hash browns that shimmered in the light.
Each one had the people eating happy and talking.
Ruby meanwhile was focused on the Jaune before her. It wasn't her Jaune, but the way he acted, the way he moved...it was so similar. It made her heart ache more knowing that her own is missing. Before she can go into a sad place, the lights dimmed down as the Chef! Jaune placed a dish in front of her.
"Pancakes?" the reaper asked a she looked at the dish before her. It was a stack of almost black pancakes with a glittering golden syrup next to it.
"The main dish," the Chef laughed. "Be sure to pour the syrup or else it won't taste good."
"Are you sure you just didn't burn them?" Nora glared at the man who shrugged.
"Go on, I have two more things to finish." As he said that, he made sure to take Ruby's tiny pitcher of syrup and pour it on for her. The entire stack then changed. The pancakes, once black, started to glow. Various colors glowed from the stack making it look like the stars above.
"So pretty," Penny shouted from her spot. "What is this?"
"Pancakes made from Nebula Wheat and Nova Syrup. It mimics the stars in the sky. A perfect balance, like how Ren likes it." Nora, from she was sitting, was smiling as she held onto Ren's hand. The two were reminiscing, about the days under the stars. As they traveled on their own, before Beacon, before friends. And this, this was like those nights but much more calming. Ren and Nora shared a look before taking a piece and feeding each other.
"Cute ain't it?" the Chef said smiling at the scene.
"Yeah. Maybe this is the push they needed to get together you know," the reaper replied as she ate her dish. "You know...you remind me a lot of our Jaune."
"Oh?" the Chef said as he placed bowls on the counter.
"Yeah. Kind, a bit of a dork, and know how to make people smile even if you don't mean to." Ruby savored the dish and the Chef laughed.
"Do I now? Make sense since that's how I am normally. You have to understand one thing, Ruby," he said as he stopped mixing something. "Every Jaune, every one of us, are all similar. Deep down all of us have the same ideologies and thought processes. The only reason why some of us would have gone bad is because of those things being betrayed, either by ourselves or by others. The reason I feel like your Jaune is because, in a sense, I was him at some point. Does that make sense?"
Ruby pouted, trying to wrap her head around the idea before nodding. "It makes sense."
"After all, in my universe and I'm sure all others, you'll always be Ruby right?" Ruby nodded as the older Jaune smiled. He rang a bell and the Curator teleported the next dish to everyone. The Chef placed a bowl of ice cream that looked like a tree before her. "It's Yggdrasil Maple Crunch Ice Cream."
"You keep saying that," Nora said. "What is that?"
"The world tree, one of the biggest and oldest trees in my world. Owned by your family. It's one of your favorite ingredients." The Chef looked nostalgic. "Of course we, as in us and the four girls and that champion girl Nora is friends with had to retake it from dozens of tree monsters, but god that was fun."
"That sounds like quite the story," Blake said wiping her lips of syrup. Pyrrha frowned. Hearing that he wasn't friends with her in that world made her sad.
As they ate the dessert, the Chef made a fizzy drink that seemed to glow pink. He was sure to place one in front of Ruby as he did. "And the last item on the menu. Blitz Cola. It peach flavored and it energizes the people in it. Made from the tree that Nora and Ren grew together." Everyone drank it as Ruby drank it too.
"And with that, my job is done," The chef said as he smiled at them.
"I got to say, your world seems great," Taiyang replied as he drank the soda. "It seems rather nice."
"Trust me it's a dangerous world where I came from," the Chef replied as he leaned against the counter. "Millions of monstrous beasts, dangerous lands, and evil people to fight. In the end, though, I'm in love with the place I came from. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
A dimensional wall appeared and the Cameraman did as well. "You guys done with dinner? Cuz your wives are getting crabby," the Curator said to the Chef who blushed.
"Wives?" Qrow asked, looking confused. "I don't see any rings on your finger bub." The Chef laughed nervously. He reached down and undid the white cloth on his wrist. On it was a silver bracelet with four rings on it. It had a diamond, an onyx, a ruby, and a topaz gemstone, one in each ring. Ruby's eyes were trapped onto the bracelet as were the other members of RWBY. Each one of the rings had their colors on it.
"I told them I didn't want rings, it would get in the way of cooking," he laughed. "So I made a bracelet and wear them like this. I hide it so they're not stolen. Yeah...I'm married to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang in my world."
"Oh my god," Ghira said before collapsing. The thought of his daughter, being in a harem made his head spin. Kali thankfully caught him and smiled. Taiyang gave him a thumbs up, seeing as he had a life similar to that. Ironwood and Qrow looked oddly jealous at the idea of having four wives and Ozpin just raised his mug. Glynda coughed and blushed as did Winter, the very idea of sharing a man beyond them. Penny seemed confused but was happy for her friends!
Nora whooped and hollered, while Ren just raised an eyebrow. Pyrrha was taking it hard, bemoaning the fact that she wasn't part of that family. Blake's face was flushed, remembering a scene from one of her books. Weiss looked scandalized. Yang...also fainted. She could not get her mind wrapped around the idea of sharing Jaune with anyone, let alone being with him. Ruby, meanwhile, was busy looking at the ring close by to her.
If all versions of Jaune were like her best friend at some point, that meant she had a chance. And that meant the stronger versions of him must be like her own Jaune! If...If they can survive the harshness of the world they came from, she had to believe that her Jaune could too.
The Chef bid them farewell as he walked into the dimensional portal. Only for it fade and another appears as two figures stepped out. One was a monkey Faunus holding a case of beer and the other was a blue-haired teen. They blinked as they felt they suddenly felt a little weaker but surprised to see their friends. "Uh...hi?" Neptune said confused.
"We brought beer?" Sun continued the train of thought looking around. "Dude, I thought this was our room."
"Well, it isn't!" Neptune hissed back as they looked around.
"Welcome Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasillias. Please go greet your friends they will tell you all about what is happening," the Curator explained as he looked at the Cameraman who shrugged. As the duo went to greet Blake and Weiss, the two Jaunes spoke.
"I'm surprised you brought them here," the Curator mumbled.
"Honestly, I was aiming for a few girls but hey this is fine. I think I'm going to go get those villains next, maybe Raven," the Cameraman stated. "Once I collect all of them step two comes into play."
"Indeed, searching for their version of us. I did get a request though." The Cameraman said nothing but motioned for him to continue. "Do you think you can find a Summer who is missing her own family?" The Cameraman looked at the Curator.
"You want me to mess with a world? Have you gone mad?"
"No. No. I mean one from a dying world. One where it will collapse naturally." The Cameraman rubbed his forehead.
"I can do that. It will be easy but...you know what that means right? This story will change, their lives will change. We won't know if it's better or worse."
"I know but..." The Curator looked at Ruby. "I gave her my word that we'll get one." The Cameraman groaned.
"God, you're such a bleeding heart for a night omnipotent being." The man in magenta threw his hands up. "Fine. But if shit hits the fan, you are going to be the one handling it not me."
"That's all I can ask." The two nodded at each other as the Cameraman teleported again.
The Curator stood for a moment before ushering everyone back into their seats and got into the projection booth. A world needed to be shown after all.
So since there are no actual reactions here, I think I can speed through one next time. Probably out by tomorrow around midnight pacific time if I'm right about my guess. It will be based on a manwha next.