Chp. 3: News Reaction
June 11, 2020
The next day, Watson was on the sofa with his laptop on his lap, watching videos of the attacks that had occurred yesterday. He turned on a video several White Fang soldiers and Neo-Nazis gunning down civilians running in the street.
"What the hell is this?" Watson asked himself.
He clicked onto a different video showing a couple of Merlot Androids and several Grimm trying to attack a group of people. Watson took a closer look at the people that are fighting off the androids and Grimm. He widened his eyes in shock and excitement upon recognizing most of them. It was Teams RWBY, JNPR (Juniper), and CFVY (Coffee), and Qrow Branwen and Ilia Amitola.
"Oh my god! It's them! It's really them! They're actually real!" Watson exclaimed.
He then looked at the other two teams fighting alongside the others; Teams GRMA (Grimace) and CFDT (Confederate).
"But who the heck are the other eight?" Watson asked.
He hears a knock at the front door and gets up from the sofa. He walks over to the door and opens it to find Yara.
"Yara? What are you doing here?" Watson asked.
"I came here to check up on how you were doing," Yara answered.
"Fine. Fine. Just watching videos of the attacks from yesterday on my laptop," Watson said. "Do you want to come in?"
"Sure," Yara answered.
She walks inside the house and walks up to the sofa and sits down. Watson closes the door and walks up to Yara and sits down next to her. He grabbed his laptop and sat it on his lap.
"How bad is it?" Yara asked.
"Over two million people were killed in the attacks from what I could find so far," Watson asked.
"Oh, god," Yara gasped.
"Anyway, there's more. I was watching this video of the characters from RWBY fighting Grimm in this neighborhood," Watson said.
He plays the video and he and Yara then both start to watch it. The video showed Amber activating her Fall Maiden powers and creating four cyclones, sucking all the Grimm and androids inside them. The cyclone moved toward each other, merging into a large tornado. Coco transforms Gianduja to her minigun and with her semblance now activated, she begins shooting at the last remaining Grimm and androids, completely obliterating them all. Amber deactivates her Fall Maiden powers and the tornado disappears.
"And this is real?" Yara asked.
"It's all authentic," Watson answered.
"I've been looking a little bit into RWBY and watched a few episodes last night. But I don't know some of these other characters in this video," Yara said.
"Yeah, the other eight I don't know who they are. They have never appeared on the show. Not even once," Watson said.
"Well that's something to look up," Yara said.
"I have a feeling it ain't over. And I believe it's just starting," Watson said.
"Of course it is. A fictional show is now reality. People are gonna ask questions about it. Cockbite is also going to have a field day with this," Yara said.
"Rooster Teeth," Watson corrected.
"Whatever," Yara said.
A moment of silence had passed and then Yara then spoke.
"So Watson, do you have any other friends other than Lucas?" she asked.
"Nope. I get told to fuck off when I try to... fit in with the others," Watson answered.
"Oh. I'm sorry," Yara said.
"It's fine. I'm used to it," Watson said.
A knock when then heard at the front door catching Watson and Yara's attention. Watson got up from the sofa and set his laptop aside and walks over to the door. He opens the door and finds a panting Lucas with his hands on his knees.
"Lucas? What's going on?" Watson asked.
"You... You've got to check out... what's happening in America right now," Lucas said as he was panting.
Lucas walked inside as Watson closed the door. They both walk into the living room and Lucas notices Yara sitting on the sofa.
"Oh. Hey there, Yara. I didn't know you were here," he said.
The two boys approached the sofa and sat next to Yara. Lucas took the laptop and sat it on his lap. He then type some on the laptop and the screen then showed a live stream video of United States National Guard and the Knoxville Police Department in a shootout with the White Fang, Neo-Nazis, The Crown, Salem's faction, and the Creatures of Grimm. Accompanying the soldiers and police were Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, GRMA, and CFDT, and Qrow, Amber, Cade, Oscar Pine, and Professor Ozpin.
"The city of Knoxville has now become a war zone as a shootout between the National Guard along with the Knoxville Police Department and the black creatures and the terrorists that have attacked yesterday is currently in progress. Aiding the National Guard and police are several armed individuals, consisting mostly of teens, with strange abilities that you would normally see out of comics and superhero entertainment," a news anchor reported.
Watson and Yara watched the live feed with stunned expressions on their faces.
"Oh. My. God," Yara said.
"I have seen so many awesome things in my life, but this takes the cake," Watson said.
Yara looks at Watson with a raised eyebrow.
"Not the attacks and battle. I mean about The many characters of RWBY in one spot on Earth," Watson quickly said.
"And those eight other kids are there too," Yara said.
"I tried to find out what I could on those eight other teens with RWBY and apparently they're not from Remnant at all," Lucas said.
"What? But If they aren't from Remnant, then who are they?" Watson asked.
"They're names are Jacob Gordon, Richard Hugo, Kelly McFoley, Allen Knight, Britney Connor, Robert Franklin, Rebecca Dawson, and Kendra Tanner. And they all are residents of Knoxville apparently. That's all I could find on them for now," Lucas explained.
"If they're Americans, then how did they get their aura unlocked?" Yara asked.
"Maybe the media will tell us later on in the mere future," Lucas answered.
"In the meantime, let's keep watching this," Yara said.
An hour had passed and Watson, Lucas, and Yara had been watching the battle that had been going on in America. Eventually, they watched as Salem and her allies got defeated and got hauled away to be locked away.
"It's over now," Lucas said.
"It's pretty satisfying to see them get knocked down a peg or two. Especially Cinder," Watson said.
"So what happens now?" Yara asked.
"I guess they all move on from this," Lucas answered with a shrug.
"I don't know about that. I feel like something may be off about this," Watson said.
"Wait, what's that?" Yara asked, pointing at the screen.
They all turned to watch the live feed on Watson's laptop as it showed the environment shaking before it all started to fade out in a flash of light. Before anyone could say anything they felt a tremor all around them.
"What is this?!" Lucas asked.
As everything shook around them, the environment around them started to glow. Everything was engulfed by the light as Watson, Yara, and Lucas covered their eyes and then everything went silent. A moment later, the light died away and Watson, Lucas, and Yara opened their eyes.
"What... the fuck just happened?" Yara asked.
"I... don't know, but I'm sure the media will tell us later tonight," Lucas answered.
Lucas stood upon from the sofa and walked over to the front door.
"I'll see you later, Watson," Lucas said.
"Later," Watson said with a wave.
Lucas opens the front door and walks out, closing it behind him. Yara turned her head to face Watson.
"I guess I should go. I'll see you around," Yara said as she stood up from the sofa.
"Yeah. You too," Watson said.
Yara walks over to the front door and opens it. She looked at Watson for a brief moment before walking out and closing the door behind her. Watson sighed and looked back down at his laptop.
"I wonder if she and I will be more than friends one day. We seem to be friends now. That's a start," he said to himself.
Later at night, Watson is on his bed with his laptop on his lap looking up information on today and yesterday's attacks. He clicks on to a news feed, showing several different mugshots, including Adam Taurus, Tyrian Callows, Doctor Arthur Watts, Corsac Albain, Trifa, and a sketch drawing of Salem.
"Many terrorist that were behind the attacks from yesterday of June 10th were caught and arrested today during a battle that had occurred in Knoxville, including those who led the attacks. The people you see before you are those that have been taken into custody," a news anchor reported.
"Ha! Eat shit, Mommy Salami!" Watson exclaimed.
The screen changed, now showing three mugshots of Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, and Hazel Rainart.
"The three terrorists here had aided in stopping their now former allies but have also been detained do to aiding in yesterday's attacks," the news anchor said.
"I didn't expect those three to turn on Salem," Watson asked.
The screen changed again now showing a sketch drawing of Cinder Fall.
"One of the leading conspirators known as Cinder Fall had been hospitalized from her extensive wounds and is currently comatose. Doctors report that she had been tested positive for COVID-19 and due to this along with her injuries, it is very likely that she may not live to stand trial," the news anchor said.
"She won't be missed," Watson said as he took a glass of water from his nightstand and began to drink from it.
"In other news, satellite images have captured five new land masses across the globe that have appeared right after the worldwide earthquake and flashing," the news anchor explained.
As the news anchor spoke, the screen changed showing Earth's continents and Remnant's continents on the same map. Watson spits out the water in his mouth and stares at the screen on his laptop.
"Huh?!" he exclaimed.
