Remnant Goes to the Movies 2

Disclaimer; I do not own RWBY or the movies within. Wish I did though.

Runaway

Pixelated pictures of circuit boards, accompanied by synthesized music. Interspersed in the imagery is Jaune, wearing brown-framed glasses. Circuit boards being reflected in the lenses.

"Wow. I never really saw myself as wearing glasses."

"I think you look very distinguished, Jaune."

"Aw, thanks Pyrrha." The others that know them mentally facepalm.

'When is she going to spit it out?! When is he going to get a clue?!'

The title 'RUNAWAY' appears in the middle of the screen, in front of a circuit board before Jaune's chest comes into view. A blue uniform with a Sergeant's badge on it.

"Or as a Police Sergeant." Jaune's comment gets a soft giggle from Pyrrha.

Jaune intently examines the circuit board. His attention is split between the monitor of an electronic microscope and the circuit board itself. A robotic hand reaches up to a workstation light and pulls it down, revealing a Caucasian red-haired man. Wearing Police blues himself.

Roman Torchwick can't help but be stunned.

"I'm… I'm a cop in this?! Without my hat?!"

Jaune's nameplate then comes into view as 'J. Arc'. Jaune extracts a tool from an assistant robot that wheels itself away from their workstation and into a corner just as a female voice comes over the PA.

"Sergeant Arc, Line 2232. Sergeant Arc, Line 2232, please." Sighing, Jaune puts his tool down.

"They want me."

"I got this." As Torchwick resumes work, Jaune goes to the phone and picks it up.

"Arc. What's the model? 77-99 Agricultural?" As Jaune's on the phone, the female voice comes back.

"Officer Porforio, please return to your office."

In the audience, Nolan Porforio blinks.

Section Chief James Ironwood, wearing a brown three-piece suit, enters the office. A young woman with him. Red hair, green eyes, statuesque and dressed in a Police uniform herself. Blue blouse, blue knee-length skirt and black heels. Roman's revealed to be a Sergeant himself.

"And I'm a Sergeant as well. How twisted." Ironwood and Pyrrha, however, are stunned.

"I'm… a Police Captain wearing a brown suit instead of white?"

"I'm a Police Officer as well?"

"Sure looks like it, P-Money. And you look amazing too." Pyrrha blushes at that.

"Arc…"

"What location?" Jaune is so intent on the call, he doesn't hear Section Chief Ironwood speaking to him.

"Oh." Seeing that Jaune's busy, Ironwood goes on. "This is Roman. Officer Nikos." Roman smiles widely as he shakes her hand.

"How you doing?" Pyrrha smiles widely herself as Ironwood finally gets Jaune's attention.

"That's Arc, your partner. Arc. Your new partner. Good luck with him." Jaune nods and shakes her hand.

"Hi. Jaune Arc."

"Pyrrha Nikos." During this time, Ironwood exits.

"I'm on my way." Ending the call, Jaune heads for the doorway. Roman catching it.

"Some kind of runaway, Jaune?"

"Yeah, sounds like it. Can you order us a bullhead while I take care of my partner?" Pyrrha can only be in disbelief. She'd just gotten in and she's already being chucked into the deep end.

Most of the viewers can only chuckle, with Ironwood chiming in.

"That's life for you. It's all the deep end."

"Right now?" Pyrrha's query gets a reply from Roman on both her query and Jaune's request.

"Yeah." At that, Jaune exits and Roman looks at her as he picks up a scroll, adding, "Well, that's Arc. If you wanna keep up with him, you gotta move." As Pyrrha exits, Roman speaks again. "Get me the pad, please. Need a bullhead for Arc."

Pyrrha's quickly able to catch up to Jaune as a myriad of voices sound over the PA. As they reach the equipment area, Jaune speaks again.

"You're going to need your gloves and standard Pro-Gs."

"Standard Pro-Gs?"

"What was your last assignment?" Bringing down two large black duffle bags, Jaune hands Pyrrha one.

"Traffic."

"Did you like it?" After his query, they start walking back to the bullpen.

"Well, they told me working with you is a step up from traffic."

"Maybe." Opening the door as they reach it, he asks, "You know anything about robotics and computers?"

"A little. Basics." As they reenter the bullpen, Pyrrha goes on. "I was going to be a data programmer… do we need all this stuff to catch a runaway robot?"

Before Jaune can answer, another Officer speaks up.

"Jaune, bullhead's ready for you."

"Alright, thanks, Russell. Let's go, partner."

In the audience, Russell Thrush can only blink.

"I'm a cop… on good terms with Jaune?"

Already feeling harried, Pyrrha gamely follows behind Jaune.

In a cornfield, a large insectoid is on the underside of a leaf until a large orange claw grabs it. As if sensing its impending doom, the insectoid squirms, but to no avail. For the claw maintains its grip before dropping it onto a series of shredder tumblers which quickly kill it. Elsewhere in the field, other robots are roving, scanning for pests to eliminate.

While another robot, however, is rampaging through the crops it's supposed to protect from pests. Knocking them down endlessly, ruining them.

"So that's a 'runaway', huh? Seems like fairly simple work. But… why do the Police have such a unit, anyway?" Whitley's query gets 'Racer' to pause the viewing before sighing.

"Sometimes, a 'runaway' has the potential to endanger lives inadvertently. When a 'runaway' happens, no matter the circumstances, the Police have to get involved."

"Sounds like they're very dedicated."

"They are, Miss Amitola." Sighing, 'Racer' adds, "Of course, the 'Runaway' unit is often looked down upon by some other Officers and sometimes the citizens."

"What?! Isn't it the job of the Police to 'Protect and Serve' from anything that can go wrong?! Even runaway robots?!" Ruby's silver eyes shimmer with tears as she adds, "The 'Runaway Unit' doesn't deserve derision from anyone! Not even from their own!"

"Sadly, Miss Rose… that's just how it is. Some view their jobs as glamour positions while some know the truth. Their job is simply the job. No glamour involved at all." Ruby can only scoff at them.

"Then the glamour ones are idiot jerks." With that, 'Racer' nods in agreement and resumes the viewing.

A picture of the same robot that's running amok appears in wire frame on a computer screen before Pyrrha's voice is heard again.

"Is that it?" At some point, Jaune had removed his glasses as his face comes back into view.

"Yeah. Standard Agricultural Model 77-99 pest controller. CPU's an old 80-88."

"Any armament?"

"Just a claw. It's programmed to look only for things smaller than an inch."

"Could be a problem." Jaune looks her over as she equips herself with most of the contents of the bag before he speaks again.

"You know, you may not need all that stuff. You may just have to throw a switch." Pyrrha's in disbelief at that.

"That's all?" Jaune gives her a minute shrug before responding.

"Well, you never know until you get there." Pyrrha gives him a soft smile.

"I guess you've been doing this for a while, huh?"

"Yeah, about six years. It's interesting work." Turning toward the cockpit, he asks, "Sky, how far away are we?"

Sky Lark blinks in surprise himself.

"Should be almost there. Let's have a look." Sky hits a control, causing the intense shade within the windows to fade to clarity. As Jaune breathes heavily, Sky goes on. "Right up there, Jaune." With great reluctance, Jaune turns his head to the window before leaning forward and looking out to the ground.

On the ground, he can see a group of lines through their target area. Deciding he'd seen enough, Jaune moves back from the window, breathing heavily again. Pyrrha, however, maintains observation until her eyes pick up a zig-zag in the field below.

"Well, what do you know? It's a clear runaway track in the field to the left." Turning back, she sees Jaune looking down at the floor and asks, "You okay?" Jaune looks back at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Looking back away from her, he adds, "I just don't like heights." Pyrrha smiles comfortingly toward him. Even if he can't see it.

"An old friend of mine from school has the same problem. You just take deep breaths."

"I'm fine. Sky, can you land this sucker?" Breathing again, he looks back at Pyrrha and adds, "Put on your gloves."

The audience feels themselves become excited to see how they deal with this runaway robot. Most of them, anyway, as Jacques is still finding this to be a tremendous waste of time.

The blue and white Police bullhead flies low over the field to where the farmers are waiting impatiently for them. A mix of regular human and Faunus. Turning about, it lands, allowing Jaune and Pyrrha to exit. Pyrrha wearing body armor, goggles, gloves and her duty weapon and Jaune in just his uniform. They walk toward the farmers that bombard them with complaints.

"There they are."

"They sure took long enough to get here."

"We got work to do." Jaune, in an effort to calm things down, speaks up.

"Alright, fellas, what's the problem?"

"That thing's running a zig-zag course."

"I'm not going in that field after it."

"Fuel cells will blow right up in your face."

"You go on and take a look." As Pyrrha walks into the field, Jaune turns back to them.

"Have you had it serviced?"

"Serviced regular." As Pyrrha goes deeper into the field, another farmer speaks up.

"Isn't that what you're being paid for? You skedaddle in there." Not letting his annoyance show, Jaune goes in after Pyrrha.

"Man, those farmers really are jerks. Would it kill them to be a little bit nicer? After all, Sky, Jaune and Pyrrha got out there as fast as the bullhead could possibly fly."

"Sadly, Miss Rose, that's how some people view the 'Runaway Unit'. As something to be treated with disdain." The words from 'Racer' gets her to grit her teeth.

In the field, the redhead looks right and left until she sees the runaway.

"Oh, there you are." Rushing after it, she catches up to it and grabs hold of it. She then triumphantly hefts it above her head like it's a trophy. "Yay!" Jaune rushes to her position as the robot starts sparking. Getting her attention. "Uh-oh."

"Yes, Miss Nikos. 'Uh-oh' does fit quite nicely." Ozpin's comment gets Pyrrha to smile and blush sheepishly.

Outside the cornfield, the farmers are laughing as they saw Pyrrha and the robot go back down out of sight.

"I seen that coming."

Jaune reaches Pyrrha as she gets back on her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Let's get him."

They both dash after it. The robot, however, is far ahead of them, dashing through the field and crashing through the crops. Jaune sees the robot and lunges, only to miss his mark and land on his torso. Getting back up, he and Pyrrha maintain their chase until they see and opportunity and lunge down. An explosion of sparks erupts from the cornfield. Outside it, the farmers are laughing.

"Whoa!"

"Great War II!" They see a column of white smoke rising from the field.

"I think they got it."

An exhausted, weary and soot-covered Jaune and Pyrrha carry the corpse of the defeated robot on a field litter. As they come back into view of the farmers, the farmers continue their commentary.

"I could've done the same with my .22."

"We could've blown the damn thing up." As gently as possible, Jaune and Pyrrha puts the corpse into the bed of one of the pickups before Jaune speaks again.

"It's all yours, fellas."

"Thanks a lot."

"Alrighty."

"That was… somewhat intense, 'Racer'. Are most runaways like that?"

"They tend to be, young Whitley."

Jaune and Pyrrha then start their walk back to the bullhead. With the latter speaking up.

"How long did you say you've been doing this?" Jaune gives a slight chuckle.

"I just sort of fell into it by accident. I kind of liked it, so I took some night courses in robotics, APL. That sort of thing. And all of a sudden, I just seemed to know more about it than anybody else."

"You ever wanna work the regular force?" Jaune looks back to her at that.

"This is the regular force." Looking away, he asks, "You mean working the streets? I used to do that. I had to stop."

"Because of vertigo?"

"I don't like heights. I've had it all my life." Sighing, he goes on. "Anyway, I just decided it wasn't a good idea to work the streets with that kind of fear."

"I don't know. I wouldn't think you'd run into a situation like that very often. I mean you could probably work the streets for years and…" Jaune cuts her off at that.

"I decided I'd rather do this." As they near the bullhead, Sky speaks up.

"Hey, Jaune, Weiss called."

Weiss can only blink, perplexed.

'I'm… with Jaune in this?' Looking aside at Pyrrha, and seeing her uneasy grimace, Weiss grimaces herself. 'She's not taking this well.'

"She leave a message?"

"Nope."

"Can you call her back?"

"Sure." Once all three are back in the bullhead, the aircraft lifts off of the ground and flies away. The farmers watching as the bullhead flies away.

Inside, Jaune has his headset on and flips the 'phone' switch.

"Weiss?" Smiling softly, he goes on. "I'm fine, thank you. How are you? No, whatever you wanna fix is fine. Oh, that sounds good." Pyrrha, feeling somewhat crestfallen, looks down before putting it down to being tired as Jaune continues his end of the call. "No, I don't think I'll be late. Okay, bye."

Back in the space allotted for the 'Runaway Unit', Roman grins lightly.

"I still can't believe I'm a cop that deals with malfunctioning robots." Roman facepalms as Neo lightly chuckles. "I'm so very glad you find it funny, Neo."

"Why did Jaune quit the regular force?" Pyrrha nods, intent on learning more about her partner.

"Yeah, why'd he quit, Roman?"

"What'd he tell you?"

"He told me because of vertigo, but I don't believe him." Roman sighs at that.

"Well, it's true, in a way. A few years back, Jaune was chasing this guy. Bad guy. This guy ran into a building that was under construction. Jaune freaked out, started sweating. Couldn't follow him. Guy got away."

"So a guy got away." Roman sighs again at that.

"Yeah, well, later that night, that same guy killed six people. A family up in Oniyuri." Pyrrha can't help but blink.

"But that isn't Jaune's fault."

"Yeah, I know." Pyrrha, however, goes on.

"He can't blame himself for that. Things like that happen." Roman gives a sigh before nodding.

"Yeah, well, he does. It's always on his mind. The guy that got away. That Jaune let get away. He never wants to let anything or anybody get away from him ever again."

"Is that why he's a robot expert?" Roman gives a chuckle at that.

"I think he feels a lot safer doing this work." Curious as he walks to another side of the table, he then asks, "Now, why do you do what you do?" Pyrrha smiles softly at that.

"Oh, long story. I was gonna be a dancer but I hurt my knee. Then I was gonna be a data programmer but I didn't like sitting down. Then I started to be a nurse…" As Pyrrha speaks, an alarm lightly blares before the female voice chimes up.

"Runaway 2, we have a 709 alert." Pyrrha, unaware of the call, finishes.

"…to the Police Academy."

"Runaway 2, we have a 709 alert. Runaway 2, Runaway 2, we have a 709 at Fifth and Sumter. 709 at Fifth and Sumter." Curious, Pyrrha looks back at Roman and sees he's in shock, barely keeping himself upright.

"What's a 709?" Roman gives her a grave expression before replying.

"It means people have died."

"Oh Oum!" After Ironwood exits his office, Pyrrha exits to where Jaune is walking toward.

"I'm guessing this is where things start to get dark."

Whitley's comment gets a silent nod from 'Racer' before he braces himself as best he can. Some of the others following suit. Jacques, however, is relaxed. Not caring one bit. Which gets their ire, hoping that he'll make an appearance of his own.

Minutes later, the scene is awash with lights, Police and Medical vehicles. A lone Detective is outside the house, the wails of a baby audible through the walls and windows. The Detective is revealed to be Roy Stallion as another Police siren arrives. The blue and white squad car's roof lights are red in the front and blue in the back.

Jaune then walks up to Roy, one of his old friends from his street days.

"Hey, Jaune."

"What've we got, Roy?"

"So… Jaune and I used to work the beat together. Cool."

"A model 912 cut up two people inside the house. A wife and one of her sorority sisters. Bodies are over here. They managed to run out before they died." As they walk together to where the bodies are, Jaune speaks up.

"Anything else?"

"There's a 10-month-old kid inside."

"Dead?"

"Not yet. The kid's in a crib. Maybe that's why, but it hasn't touched the kid yet." As they reach the covered bodies, Roy adds, "We gotta save that kid, Jaune."

"Tell me." Roy then leans down and slowly brings the covering up from one of the bodies. Jaune can only grimace. "What was the weapon?"

"Pathologist said it was probably an ordinary kitchen knife. We wanted to keep them here for you to see."

"We better get them out of here or they'll be on the evening news." Once Roy has put the cover back in place, the two walk away, Jaune asking, "What've you done so far?"

"Power and utilities cut, white light/sound bath."

"Sounds like a standard protocol for situations like that, 'Racer'. Does… it happen often?"

"Not very, General. But that code does exist for a reason."

"Floater?"

"Not yet."

"Can you prep one for me?"

"Right now." As Roy peels off, Jaune goes back to Pyrrha's side as she brings up the info on the car door's inner built-in console.

"What've you got on the 912?"

"It's a new domestic model. Does housework, cooks meals, answers doors. Stuff like that."

"Run on house current?"

"Batteries."

"What kind of sensors?"

"Audio and visible range. Sees and hears everything."

"Great." Looking at the diagram, he asks, "Is it standard?"

"May be modified." Roy's voice gets their attention as he goes on. "Anytime you change these things, who knows how they'll behave?" Looking back over his right shoulder, he adds, "Father's over there. Electronic engineer, name of Vasilias."

The sight of the blue-haired man in pieces on the inside is heartbreaking for most of the audience.

Jaune then looks over to where the CSI unit is and calls out.

"You got that floater yet?!"

"We're programming it now, sir." As Jaune walks over to them, a familiar brunette woman walks up to him.

"So… I'm a reporter. Interesting." Cinder's eyes are alit as Rhodes lightly chuckles, getting her to blush.

"I think you'd have made a great reporter if being a Huntress didn't work out for you." Cinder's blush goes redder before Rhodes sighs. "I'm so sorry I didn't get to you first."

"And I'm sorry I was in such a frenzy. You were… doing your job."

"Sergeant Arc, we'd like a direct feed off your floater."

"I'm sorry, Miss Fall, but that's impossible." Jaune inspects the floater camera and gives a minute nod of approval before he starts walking away. Cinder in tow.

"The public has a right to know."

"Not tonight. We got a 10-month-old baby in there. The rest of the family's been cut up pretty bad and we don't know when or if the 912 will attack the child. But if it does, I'm sure you don't want a carved-up baby on your network, do you?" Cinder smugly gives him a retort.

"I feel we can be the judge of what's newsworthy."

"Yeah, I know. Not tonight."

Crazed cackles from in the back and gentle chuckles from Rhodes gets Cinder to grit her teeth and blush even more.

"He sure told you, Cinder!"

As Jaune walks away, a disappointed Cinder looks back to the camera before speaking again.

"There you have it. The first confirmation from Sergeant Arc of the 'Runaway Squad' that there's a baby inside the house, still alive." The CSI techs power up the camera as Cinder goes on. "Police are preparing a floater camera to enter the house to locate the runaway 912 and the infant."

Ruby's eyes go wide at who one of the techs is.

"It's Penny!" The mechanical and human eyes of Penny and Pietro Polendina, respectively, go wide at the sight and Ruby's words. Pietro looks aside at his android daughter, proud smile on his face.

"That's my baby girl."

Penny and one of her fellow techs release the floater as Jaune and Roy both kneel down to the car's door console to watch the feed. Watching as the Officer at the door recede away, they quickly see thin twin trails of blood on the floor. But it's also dark in there. Too dark for Jaune's liking.

"I can't see enough. Lights on in the house, Roy."

"Hit the house lights." As the lights come on, Jaune has a better picture.

"Where's the baby?"

"In the playroom, near the back." Mulling it over, Jaune asks aside at Pyrrha.

"How big's this 912, anyway?"

"About the size of a hatbox." Jaune's eyes then spot the knife of the floor.

"Look, there." Roy chimes back in himself.

"It dropped the knife." Pyrrha offers her own words.

"Maybe the battery power's fading." Uncertain, Jaune stays calm.

"Maybe." As the floater cam turns, the signal suddenly cuts as the reports of three gunshots is heard. One of the house's windows is shattered. Jaune then asks, "You get an audio on that?" Pyrrha nods right back at him.

"Yeah, confirmed all three sounds as a .357 Magnum." The baby wails again as Jaune looks back to Roy.

"The bastard's got a gun."

"Now what?" Roy's query is valid as Jaune thinks quickly before rising to his feet.

"I'm going in."

"What do you mean you're going in? We can send a disarm robot in."

"It hit the floater, it'll hit the disarm and any minute, it's gonna decide to hit the kid." Looking back to Pyrrha, he goes on. "Look, I want light lines out here. No audio, no talk, no radio, nothing. I don't want it picking up what we're doing." Pyrrha nods as he removes his jacket before walking over to where Mr. Vasilias is.

"Mr. Vasilias?" Gently putting a hand onto the shocked man's left shoulder, Jaune tries again. "Mr. Vasilias?" Once he's gotten the man's attention, he goes on. "I'll be going in your house soon to get your baby. What modifications were made to the robot?"

"Sounds like a perfectly reasonable question." Neptune's comment gets nods from Sun Wukong, Sage Ayana and Scarlett David.

"I didn't make any modifications. I didn't touch that thing."

"Then why has it gone out of control?" Mr. Vasilias rises at that.

"Well, how should I know?! You think I should have some idea why it's doing this?! Well, why should I know?!"

"Take it easy. I'm just asking."

"Well, don't ask! I don't know!"

"Well, what about the gun?" Mr. Vasilias' eyes can't help but go wide.

"It's got a gun?"

"Yes." Mr. Vasilias' expression quickly becomes one of horror before he starts moving away. Jaune following after him.

"Oh, my Oum, he's crazy."

"Who's crazy?"

"My Oum, he's crazy."

"Who's crazy?" Highly agitated, Mr. Vasilias starts yelling.

"No television! No pictures! I won't be on television! No pictures! No television!" As Mr. Vasilias flees, covering his face, Cinder's cameraman, revealing himself to be Mercury, is talking into his headset's microphone.

Mercury can't help but kink his head to the right before shrugging it off.

"Might not have been my first pick, but it sure looks easy. And safe to do." Marcus Black, however, scoffs.

"That's what they all say, boy."

"What was his problem?" As a baffled Jaune watches the panicked/distressed man flee, he remembers he has a robot to stop and a baby to rescue as Mercury goes on. "Yeah, he was really upset. That was very hot stuff."

"Try very disturbing, Mercury."

"Bite me, Emerald." Marcus smirks before Mercury catches him smirking. "What?"

"How long have you two been dating?"

"WHAT?!" At their united shout, Cinder snickers softly before thinking.

'They sound just like an old married couple when they're like that.'

As Pyrrha helps Jaune put on a torso chain-mail suit, another man enters the scene. Caucasian with a very prominent moustache and an arrogantly flat expression on his face.

"Well now, looks like Watts has decided to grace the scene with his presence." Watts scoffs at that.

"That proves nothing, Cinder. I could just be a resident in the neighborhood and thought I'd get a good look." Scowling, he adds, "Though quite frankly I wouldn't be caught dead in such a locale." Unable to resist, Cinder chimes back in.

"What locale would you like to be caught dead in then, Watts? Just so I know." Ironwood chuckles softly, giving Cinder a thumbs-up of approval. Her accepting it with a soft smirk.

As Jaune fastens his body armor, Pyrrha helps him secure his tactical boots. Somewhat away from them, Cinder goes on with her broadcast.

"Sergeant Arc is wearing his electromagnetic scatter suit. He apparently is going in." Walking over, Mercury in tow, Cinder asks, "Sergeant Arc, what's your next move now?" Without pausing his prep work, he gives his reply.

"I really can't say."

"It looks as if you're going into the house after the robot. Is that right?" Jaune looks at her, annoyance in his eyes at her seemingly intent ignorance of robotics technology, before he speaks again.

"Miss Fall, you're broadcasting on an electromagnetic frequency that the robot reads." Cinder looks like she got kicked in the crotch at the admonition before she starts away.

"Let's get out of here, Mercury."

Following her lead, Mercury starts away. Just as the man from earlier steps closer.

More crazed laughter erupts before a gentle feminine hiss is heard.

"Enough, Tyrian."

"Yes, your Grace."

Jaune, however, strides to the house, laser pistol in hand. He gives a test shot into the ground before slowly going in. Not knowing that he has a shadow. With Cinder speaking into her microphone.

"This is very exciting. Our own Mercury Black is actually accompanying Sergeant Arc into the house for exciting live coverage of the runaway robot." Once in, Mercury turns on the camera's light.

Mercury can only groan and facepalm as he watches his other be dumbly eager for footage.

"Idiot! Even I know better than to go into an active scene when the danger's not passed! Even if I did the killing! Once the mark's dead, I'm gone! I don't stick around for documentation! Even more, if the camera's broadcasting still, with that robot reading the frequency, that robot will know who to target!"

"Indeed, boy. Indeed." Marcus' words are accompanied by a harsh hit on Mercury's back.

Jaune spots Mercury and waves him back. Only for Mercury to signal that he'll stick by him. Jaune signals again for him to withdraw. Mercury then points to the ground, getting Jaune to internally groan before moving on. Quietly, Jaune makes his way through the house. Mercury in tow.

Only for Mercury to lightly cough. A mechanical whir is heard, followed by another cry from the baby. Eager to get footage of the baby, Mercury turns his camera to where he heard the baby and starts making his way. Jaune sees him and starts after him. Only to not get far as two more gunshots are heard. More glass breaking.

Outside, Cinder and Pyrrha have concerned expressions on their faces.

The Cinder watching, however, is casual while the watching Pyrrha is concerned.

Inside, Jaune looks up and sees Mercury lying on the floor. Checking for a pulse, and finding none, he moves on upon hearing more mechanical whirring. Making his way to a nearby wall, he looks and sees the shadow of the robot, gun in claw, as it moves around in circles.

Mercury groans and facepalms again.

"I'm such a dead idiot." Emerald gently pats him on his back before lightly smirking.

"What's it like, Merc? Being dead, that is?" Mercury sighs before looking back at her.

"It isn't exactly all that's cracked up to be, Em." Marcus nods his agreement.

"It certainly isn't." Smirking once more, he then asks, "So, boy, when're you going to come to your senses and sweep this gorgeous creature of her feet?" Both go red before Mercury speaks again.

"Dad! We're not like that at all!" Emerald nods fervently in agreement. Marcus' smirk, however, widens.

Jaune still quietly makes his way through the house, going past the knife. In the far room, he sees the baby sitting upright in the crib. Crying. Slowly making his way to where the baby is, he stops when he hears a 'ka-chick' and ducks down.

Ruby, ever the gun nut, frowns.

"If the robot has a revolver, 'Racer', then why does it sound like a pump shotgun?" Giving a shrug, 'Racer' gives the reply.

"Dramatic effect, I guess. I never really got around to figuring it out. But… it's probably best to not think on it too much."

BOOM

The report of the gun, followed by wall and a painting being destroyed, causes the baby to cry even more.

Before Jaune can even move, another 'ka-chick' is heard, getting him to duck back down as another gunshot is heard. Jaune points his laser pistol around the corner and squeezes the trigger twice before lunging to the floor. Keeping himself low as possible, he slowly rises up and makes his way to a nearby doorway.

Slowly pushing the door open, he looks into the room before lunging to the floor and crawling on his belly to beside the bed. At the sound of whirring and the door opening, Jaune prepares himself. The robot fires once more and Jaune takes aim under the cover of the bed, at the robot and fires. The shot makes contact, eliciting sparks to fly from its front. Lunging to the top of the bed, he lets loose two more blasts of laser. Both making impact with its control circuits.

As the robot struggles to move, Jaune slowly makes his way to it. Reaching down once he's reached it, he pulls the power circuit out and the robot stops moving. Gun still in claw. Looking down at his fallen foe, Jaune speaks again.

"I'm coming out with the kid." He then makes his way to where the baby is and reaches down. Hefting the baby up, he softly says, "It's all right, darling."

Emerald and some of the other girls can't help but coo at how cute the baby is. Marcus' eyes get a gleam before he looks back at Mercury. Mercury noticing.

"Not. Happening. Dad. We're just… coworkers that really can't stand each other at best." Marcus lightly chortles at Mercury's maintained denial while winking at him.

"Sure you are, boy. Sure you are." Mercury can only groan in exasperation before looking back at him.

"It's payback for my killing you after you cut off my legs, isn't it?"

"Nah, I got over that after I died as it was expected of you. Nope. I just want to know that the Black family name will go on. From what I can see, she's quite a catch." Relishing Mercury and Emerald's intense blushes, Marcus goes back to watching.

Gently patting the baby on the back, he exits to the sound of applause and cheers. Outside, two female medics are present. One a brunette bunny Faunus and the other a tri-colored human.

Neopolitan and Velvet are both stunned as Roman chuckles softly.

"Never took you to be a Medical type, Neo!" Neo can only sheepishly shrug before signing.

*Never really even thought about it. But it does seem like an interesting career change.*

Jaune hands the baby to the bunny Faunus that holds the baby gently before moving toward her colleague as Roy goes into the house to allow CSI to do their preliminary work.

"Oh, Bun-Bun, you look so maternal like that."

"Coco!" Velvet's screech is accompanied by an intense blush before she looks and sees a smirking Neo that signs at her.

*Fashion girl's got a point.* Velvet can only groan before Neo signs again. *Hoping you'll get a chance for real?* Velvet goes even redder as Neo adds, *Next baby's mine to hold. Got it, Bun-Bun?*

As he starts taking off his gear, Pyrrha meets with and assists him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Here you go. Where's the Father?"

"He disappeared." Jaune can't help but be stunned by that.

"He disappeared?"

"Yeah."

"With his own kid still in there?" Pyrrha can only shake her head in befuddlement. Jaune sharing the expression.

"After two tense hours and the tragic death of a KVMA cameraman, it was finally all over when Sergeant Arc came out of the house with the child..."

A young boy, 8 years old, is watching the news, narrated by the voice of Lisa Lavender, on the television when he hears Jaune's voice.

Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha and some of the other girls start cooing at how cute the boy is.

"I'm home!" Excited, the boy gets up to greet him.

"That was great! See, they're running it again! You're on instant replay!" Jaune has a soft smile on his face as the two hug.

"Hi, guy." Releasing the hug, he goes on. "Adrian, this is Pyrrha."

"I know. You're his new partner."

"It's nice to meet you, Adrian."

Saphron, Terra and Jaune's eyes all go wide at who it is as Saphron and Terra hold their little boy close. Wide smiles on their faces. The rest of the Arc and Cotta clans following suit.

"I saw you on TV too, but you didn't go into the house." Pyrrha smiles widely as Adrian goes on. "Wow! It was neat when Dad went in there. I'll bet you wished you could go in there too, huh?" Pyrrha's slightly uneasy at that.

"Well…" Adrian, not one to be deterred, goes on as he sits at the kitchen island.

"It was pretty scary. I watched the whole thing. How come the Father ran away? Didn't he want to see his baby safe again?" Turning the television off, Jaune nods.

"We were just talking about that."

"It seems pretty funny to me, Dad. I think you oughta pick the guy up…" In the background, a black robot powers up and starts moving forward while speaking.

"When you hear the tone, the time will be 10:45…"

"…take him down to the station."

Beep

"…which is exactly one hour and 45 minutes past your bedtime."

"Aw, Weiss."

Weiss' eyes can't help but go wide in shock at that.

'I'm… a domestic robot?!' Her teammates, Adam and the members of some of the other teams snicker as Whitley and Winter blink. 'I certainly didn't see that coming.'

"This is a weeknight. Tomorrow is a school day."

"I know, Weiss, but…"

"Hey, Adrian." As Adrian looks back at him, Jaune goes on. "Weiss is right. To bed."

"Okay." Turning to Pyrrha, he adds, "Nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too, Adrian."

"Do you like sports?" Pyrrha smiles widely at him.

"Sure." Adrian smiles widely, Jaune echoing the smile, before the latter speaks again.

"Adrian, bed."

"Good night, Dad."

"Good night, son." As Adrian walks away, Pyrrha chimes back in.

"Good night, Adrian." Warmly, she adds, "He is adorable." Giving her a chuckle, Jaune goes to his fridge.

"Care for something to drink? I've juice, milk and water."

"Anything diet? Soda?"

"Nope." Weiss then starts moving forward as Jaune pours her some juice.

"I will verify that Adrian brushes his teeth. Excuse me." Once she's out of earshot, Pyrrha speaks again.

"So that's Weiss. From those phone calls, I thought Weiss was your wife."

"Sometimes she thinks she is. Or my Mother."

In the audience, Weiss can only scoff while looking teasingly over at Jaune.

"Somebody needs to watch over you, Jaune. Who knows what you'll get up to or eat if left to your own devices for too long?" Pyrrha can't help but lightly giggle at Jaune's blush.

Wanting to get it out of the way, Pyrrha jumps in.

"Do you have a wife?"

"Um… no." Pyrrha can't help but blink.

"But… what about Adrian? How'd he come about?" Jaune can only smile sadly and softly at that.

"He's actually my nephew. His… Mothers had a procedure done that allowed them to have him. They… died in a car accident when he was 6 months old."

"Oh my…" Jaune nods at that.

"They were on an anniversary date when it happened. Adrian was with me at the time."

Terra and Saphron both tear up at the thought of their precious little boy being orphaned. Their respective families tearing up as well. The tears are tempered with the knowledge that Jaune and, possibly, the rest of the Arc and Cotta families stepped in.

"What about… other relatives?" Jaune's face slightly darkens at that.

"I'm all he's got. My former sisters and parents disowned us when Saphron revealed her… inclination and I wouldn't follow along with them. Terra's family had died in a house fire ten years back."

"Oh… I'm… so sorry." Jaune has a soft smile on his face, indicating he accepts her apology.

"His first word was 'Dada'. So… for all intents and purposes, my nephew is my son." Sighing, he goes on. "But Weiss is a big help." Eager to learn more, Pyrrha changes the subject.

Terra and Saphron's eyes narrow into slits at how Jaune, the latter and Adrian had been treated by that version of the Arc clan and what'd happened to Terra's family. The Arc and Cotta clans that're watching with them following suit before Mr. Arc looks over at Saphron.

"We would never do that to you, Terra or Adrian, Saphron. I hope you know that."

"I do, Dad."

"What is she? A Series 10?" Pyrrha's query gets a soft grin from Jaune.

"No, a Series 12."

"Ooh, Series 12s are much better." Jaune nods his agreement.

"Yeah. A lot of the Series 10s were lemons." Pyrrha lightly giggles.

"My Mom had a Series 10 that kept burning all of the toast. Started all these fires."

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm not a lemon at least." Weiss' proud preening gets a mix of giggles and chuckles. Even Winter, Whitley and Adam are chuckling. Jacques, however, is having a hard time keeping a straight face. Willow and Klein right behind.

Remembering a time when Weiss was much younger and tried baking for herself. The results… were less than satisfactory to her.

"Weiss is pretty reliable." Weiss' voice them comes back to them with an advisory.

"Adrian is eating a chocolate bar. His dinner, too, was nutritionally inadequate." Jaune turns slightly back to her at that.

"What did you give him?"

"Hot dogs." Jaune can't help but be exasperated at that.

"Weiss, you can't keep giving him hot dogs." Pyrrha's having a ball at the interplay as Weiss goes on.

"It is all he would accept."

"Did he do his homework?"

"Yes. He got an 'A' in math today. Will your guest be staying for dinner?" Pyrrha's face lights up with delight.

"Me?" At her query, Jaune nods.

"You're welcome if you'd like." Weiss formally echoes him.

"You are welcome if you would like." Not wanting to be rude, Pyrrha gently declines.

"No, thank you."

"It's no trouble, really."

"It is no trouble, really."

"Weiss, I was talking to her."

"Excuse me, Sergeant." Her face bearing a wide smile, Pyrrha speaks back up.

"Actually, I better go."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, thanks for the juice." Getting up from her seat, Pyrrha starts making her way to the door.

"May I show you to the door?"

"That's okay, Weiss. I can find my way." As Jaune follows her, Pyrrha adds, "Well, see you tomorrow."

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

Robot Weiss' query gets some in the realm to snicker and the Weiss that's watching to blush and facepalm. Along with lightly snicker herself.

"Weiss, she was talking to me."

"Excuse me, Sergeant." Opening the door, Jaune looks back to Pyrrha.

"See you tomorrow." Pyrrha smiles again at that.

"Good night."

"Good night." With that, Pyrrha exits and Jaune closes the door. As he walks back to the kitchen, Weiss' voice pipes up again.

"Is that someone to be put in memory?"

"Yes. She's my new partner."

"How should she be listed?"

"As Pyrrha. Or Officer Nikos." Lifting the lid for the pot with the sauce, Jaune hears Weiss speaking again.

"Very well." Weiss moves forward before adding, "There is a power surge from Adrian's room."

"I'll take care of it." At that, Jaune puts the lid back down and goes into Adrian's room. Once in, he hears an educational program operating on a portable monitor. Easing the duvet off, he sees Adrian intently watching it. "Hey. Come on, tiger. Lights out."

"Aw, Dad." Curious, he asks, "Is she still here?"

"No, she's gone home."

"She's nice. Do you like her?"

"Well, sure, I like her. She's my partner."

"Does she have a husband?"

"I don't know."

"She didn't have a ring on." Jaune and Adrian both grin at each other at that before the former speaks again.

"You noticed, huh?"

"It wouldn't kill you to get married, you know." Jaune lightly sighs at that.

"I know, and it wouldn't kill you to go to sleep." Covering Adrian back up, he adds, "Come on, tiger."

"Hey, Dad?"

"What?"

"Were you really scared in there?"

"Sure I was."

"Was there blood and stuff like that?" Curious, Jaune looks right at him.

"Were you really scared?"

"Me? Not me."

"Not even just a little?"

"Well, a little."

"That's okay."

"But everything is fine now."

Saphron and Terra both sigh softly at how paternal Jaune is.

"That's right." Turning the light over Adrian's head off, Jaune gently strokes the boy's hair before adding, "Everything's fine. Good night, son." He then gets up and starts for the door before Adrian speaks up again.

"Dad?" Once Jaune's turned back to him, Adrian asks, "Would Weiss ever go crazy like that other robot?"

"No, never. Sleep now." Adrian smiles softly at the reassurance as Jaune closes the door. "Good night."

Back in the kitchen, Weiss goes back to her post while speaking.

"Dinner is served. This concludes the menu for today." As she moves, Jaune watches her, wondering if he told Adrian that to convince Adrian, or himself, or both, that Weiss wouldn't become a statistic. "Reminder: I have not received the menu for tomorrow."

"I really do hope I don't go crazy like that 912 did. It'd certainly kill my model's stellar reputation as very reliable."

In the lab allotted for them, Jaune, Pyrrha and Roman go over the corpse of the 912 as the daily sounds of phones, keyboards and PA voices go on. Roman opens up while pointing a tool at one of the chips.

"Son of a bitch!"

"What is it?" Jaune's query gets Roman to be somewhat excited.

"We got a nonstandard chip here." Keeping the pointed end in place, he goes on. "See that red stripe? It's not a regular commercial chip. It didn't come with the robot when it was sold." Gently prodding it, he adds, "Damn sophisticated, though. I don't know… maybe it's experimental."

"What's it do?" Pyrrha's query gets Roman to verbally shrug.

"Looks like some hard-wired instructions. I'm not sure." Jaune chimes in on that.

"So the 912 was modified." Looking up, Roman nods his agreement.

"Definitely." Pyrrha can only frown at that before speaking.

"The guy at the house said it wasn't modified." Jaune shrugs at that.

"Maybe somebody else did it and he didn't know about it." Sizzling is then heard, getting Roman to look down before his eyes go wide.

"Oh, we got a dense pack. Floor!"

"Floor!"

Without thinking twice, Jaune knocks Pyrrha down to the floor, covering her body with his just before the red-striped chip detonates in flame. Ruining what's left of the circuitry. Within his office, Ironwood scowls while looking over the daily paperwork.

"Assholes."

"Who is my other referring to? I seriously hope it's not them as they had no way of knowing what would happen." Ironwood's voice gets a nod of agreement from Winter.

"Indeed, sir."

As Roman uses a fire extinguisher on the 912's corpse, the PA's female voice sounds again.

"There is a high level of smoke in the room. Please be careful."

"Thank you, oh so very much, for that oh so very important update. You're truly on the ball." Roman sarcastically rolls his eyes and shakes his head as Neo silently giggles.

As Jaune and Pyrrha get back close to the table, Roman finishes with the extinguisher. Pyrrha taking it.

"What was that?"

"Monodichromate dense pack… the arson special." Roman looks back up at Jaune, asking, "What the hell is this all about, Jaune?"

"Monodi… what?" Roman blinks before sighing. "Whatever. As long as that me knows, that's good enough for me."

"I don't know." Roman looks back down before speaking again.

"This isn't a runaway. This is murder." As they mull over the implications, another Officer, a redheaded bull Faunus, pokes his head in.

Adam can't help but blink at the sight of him being a cop before grinning widely.

'It'd always been my dream to be in Law Enforcement.'

"Hey, Jaune, you got a call. You're gonna love it." Jaune and Pyrrha both look outward as Adam recedes.

The screen then pauses as 'Racer' looks to them.

"I think it'll be safe for you to take a refreshment break for the time being." At the nods, 'Racer' then asks, "What'd you think so far?"

"It's… words can't even begin to describe how much I'm enjoying it." Ironwood's words get nods from the others as he goes on. "Granted, young Mr. Arc is the star, but I've enjoyed my limited appearance." Qrow lightly chuckles at that before sighing and looking at 'Racer'.

"So… got any booze here?" At the query, 'Racer' can only sigh.

"I'm terribly sorry, but this is a dry theater. I heard horror stories about people sneaking booze in and generally… things get damaged."

"Ah… it's just as well. the movie, and those to come, is just too good to be ruined by booze." He gets a nod from 'Racer' before the host pops a clear plastic bottle. "What's this?"

"Root beer, Mr. Branwen. A&W, to be exact." Qrow shrugs and opens the bottle before drinking it.