RWBY REDUX: VOLUME 1

by Jack.M.Pike

In this AU reboot of the original series, aspiring huntress Ruby Rose is faced with balancing her aspirations against the expectations of the world around her as she gains admittance to Beacon Academy. Meanwhile, the rising tide of crime and political unrest within the city state of Vale leads those in charge to take desperate measures to keep the peace.

6. Episode 6: Main Course

Episode 6: Main Course

EXT. STREETS OF VALE - DAY

Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss are walking down the sun baked streets of Vale. Ahead of them is a diner, the front door of which bears a sign labeled "No faunus allowed" with a variety of paw and hoof print insignias around the text.

WEISS

(snidely)

"Oh gee, would you look at that."

RUBY

"I thought you said that this place had great reviews, Weiss?"

INT. BEACON DORMS - EARLIER

Weiss opens a review site on her scroll, and after checking that no-one is looking she sorts by "faunus not permitted" with a smug grin on her face.

EXT. STREETS OF VALE - PRESENT

WEISS

"Huh, they must not have advertised the policy on the website."

YANG

"Well, it looks like we're finding somewhere else to eat then."

WEISS

"No need to be so hasty, we can still eat here."

RUBY

"Weiss!"

WEISS

"What!?"

RUBY

"I think we should find a place where all of us can eat."

BLAKE

"It's no biggie, I have something for this kind of thing."

Blake produces a beanie cap from her bag and places it on her head, covering the feline ears discreetly. Ruby gets stars in her eyes. Yang sighs in relief.

WEISS

(with contained disgust)

"Oh...wow...would you look at that. Problem solved I guess."

INT. DINER - DAY

The four girls have seated themselves in a booth next to a window at the back of the diner, a collection of plates in front of them. Ruby's plate is loaded with dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, which she picks away at idly. Yang's plate is loaded with a massive stack of pancakes, eggs, and breakfast meats which she voraciously has torn into. Weiss has a plate of crepes before her, which she politely eats in small bites. Blake has a simple plate of french toast, which she takes bites of during breaks in conversation.

RUBY

"So what made you decide to come to beacon, Weiss? If you don't mind me asking."

WEISS

"Well every Schnee in living memory has attended Atlas. I felt that it was time to break the trend."

BLAKE

"Is that your way of saying that you're trying to spite your father?"

Ruby and Yang both pause mid bite, Weiss gasps.

BLAKE

"What? I'm just stating the obvious."

WEISS

"How could you call such bold assumptions of my home life a statement of the obvious?"

BLAKE

"I think you've been pretty clear thus far that you aren't terribly happy being the face of the Schnee Dust Company, and we all know that wasn't your decision."

WEISS

(flushed with anger)

"Well since you're so willing to volunteer my motivations, how about you tell us why it is you ran away from that decrepit little island of yours!"

YANG

(hushed)

"Weiss!"

RUBY

"Not so loud!"

WEISS

"What!?"

BLAKE

"It isn't easy to get a higher education in Menagerie."

There's a beat of silence as everyone processes Blake's statement.

WEISS

"I beg your pardon?"

BLAKE

"That's the reason. Menagerie doesn't have a very good path to higher education, so I had to leave. Vale is, despite the obvious exceptions such as this establishment, one of the more progressive city states in Vale; It also happens to house one of the most prestigious institutes to higher learning in Remnant, so I choose to come here."

WEISS

"Oh...I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't expect a legitimate answer."

BLAKE

"Well you got one; Happy?"

WEISS

"Not really."

RUBY

"Do you miss it?"

BLAKE

"Hm?"

RUBY

"Menagerie, do you miss it? It must be hard going to school so far from your home."

BLAKE

"I miss parts of it. I wish my family could've come with me."

YANG

"Why couldn't they come with?"

BLAKE

"Oh...you know...work stuff."

YANG

(doubtful)

"I see."

RUBY

"So what is Menagerie like? I've only heard rumors about it. Is it as hot as they say?"

BLAKE

"Hotter than you can imagine, especially during the dry season. I fried an egg on the sidewalk once."

WEISS

"That sounds absolutely disgusting."

BLAKE

"It was terrible."

YANG

"What did you do in Menagerie, if you don't mind me asking?"

BLAKE

"Oh, uh...I worked for a youth shelter. I helped take care of runaway kids while we found them homes, or until they were able to take care of themselves. The latter happens a lot more frequently than the former."

There's a moment of silence.

YANG

(sheepish)

"That's...very noble of you. But I meant what do you do for fun?"

BLAKE

"Oh! Right, of course. Uh...I read a lot. Books are cheap, you can get a lot of entertainment out of them for the money. But that's enough about me, why did you two decide to enroll at Beacon?"

RUBY

"Well, Beacon is a big huntsman academy, and our whole family is made up of huntsmen."

YANG

"We pretty much just decided to keep the family business alive, especially after...well you'd have to talk to Qrow about that."

WEISS

"Carrying on the family business, I suppose I can respect that."

Ruby and Yang roll their eyes.

We move across the diner, away from the idle conversation of the students, and find another group in a different booth. Emerald, Mercury, and Neo have just finished their own brunch, and are getting ready to leave.

MERCURY

(laying cash on the table)

"You girls ready for the big move?"

EMERALD

"I'd be a lot more ready if you hadn't insisted on going to this stupid diner."

MERCURY

"What? We might not ever be able to come back here. Besides, they make Neo's favorite food."

Mercury gestures to the mostly empty plate of dino nuggets on the table. Neo nods in agreement with Mercury, and Emerald sighs.

EMERALD

"You two are such children."

INT. VALE GENERAL HOSPITAL MORGUE - DAY

We see a set of slabs in the middle of a morgue, upon which are the bodies of Junior and his goons. Qrow and Winter stand over Junior's corpse, while Xander and Nero stand by the door.

QROW

"Looks like man-made injuries, probably by a sword, plus the one gunshot to the head. Somebody double tapped these guys to make sure they were extra dead. I would assume this was a professional's work. What I don't understand is how this is related to the robberies."

WINTER

(flipping through a report)

"You didn't watch the CCTV footage of Ruby's little stunt, did you?"

QROW

"Of course I did."

WINTER

"Were you sober?"

QROW

"It was a celebratory occasion."

WINTER

"Well, if you were sober you would note that these are the bowler hat goons that were responsible for that little escapade. Them suddenly turning up dead, along with their boss here, is certainly relevant to the investigation."

QROW

"I see. So you think that this was some sort of punishment for screwing up the job?"

WINTER

(putting the report down)

"Precisely. But these boys were found in their car at the edge of Vale, with all these wounds on them; And not a single drop of blood in the vehicle, so we're led to assume that they were moved there post mortem. Pinning their death to a location isn't exactly an easy task in this scenario."

QROW

"So we need to find out where these guys were last seen alive."

The pair turn to look at Xander and Nero, who can be heard quietly bickering off screen. The latter is playing games on his scroll, while the former looms over his shoulder.

XANDER

"Don't stand in the orange, healer is too far away to help you."

NERO

"Stop backseating, you big idiot. I've cleared this dungeon before, I know what I'm doing."

XANDER

"Then why you keep standing in AOEs!?"

NERO

(mocking Xander's accent)

"Then why you keep standing in AOE's?"

XANDER

"There's no need to be hurtful, bitch!"

NERO

"I'm trying to complete this armor set for my samurai, for which I need to focus!"

WINTER (o.s)

"Boys!"

NERO AND XANDER

"What!?"

Winter and Qrow stare at Xander and Nero, gesturing at the corpses on the slabs.

WINTER

"We are in the middle of a serious investigation!"

NERO

"And?"

QROW

"An investigation that you're supposed to be a part of."

XANDER

"Goons are dead. I can't get information out of dead goons."

Nero steps forward and snatches up the report.

WINTER

"There's nothing of use in there, I've already checked."

NERO

"I'm sure you did, but you said you wanted my help, so I'm helping."

WINTER

(exasperated)

"By all means then, have a look."

Winter and Qrow exchange bemused looks as Nero combs through the report.

Nero pulls a handful of slips of paper from the folder.

NERO

"What are these?"

WINTER

"Those are parking tickets."

Qrow snatches the tickets from Nero's hand and looks them over.

QROW

"These are all from the same location, within a 12 hour period of the estimated time of death."

NERO

(surprised)

"Oh, well that's something I guess."

Nero walks off, returning to the game on his scroll.

WINTER

"Wait, what!?"

QROW

"Did you not read the parking tickets, Winter?"

WINTER

"These are career criminals, I thought traffic violations would be a given!"

QROW

"Do you see any other notes of traffic violations in the report, or did you just assume because they're known criminals that they break every law all the time?"

Winter flushes and puffs her cheeks. She turns sharply and begins to storm out of the room.

WINTER

(grabbing Nero by the collar)

"Come on!"

Winter pulls Nero out of the room, Xander and Qrow follow.

EXT. BEACON COURTYARD - AFTERNOON

Yang is walking down the path through the courtyard to the center of the square. As she approaches the fountain at the center she spots Pyrrah, also by herself, approaching from the other side of the square. Yang quickly turns to leave.

PYRRAH (o.s)

"I see you, Yang."

Yang sighs, stopping in her tracks and turning around. Pyrrah rounds the fountain to confront her.

PYRRAH (cont.)

"We need to have a discussion."

YANG

"About what exactly?"

PYRRAH

"You still owe Jaune an apology."

YANG

"Why? He already forgave me and moved on like an adult, I don't owe him jack."

PYRRAH

"You and I both know that's not how this works, Yang."

YANG

"I don't have time for this shit."

Yang moves to step past Pyrrah, but Pyrrah steps into her path.

PYRRAH

"I don't think you understand, you're going to apologize."

YANG

"No, I don't think I will."

PYRRAH

"Then you leave me no choice. I challenge you to a bare knuckle boxing match at 5 pm in the arena. If I win, you have to apologize."

YANG

"If I win, you have to drop it."

PYRRAH

"Fine."

YANG

"Fine."

The two girls turn away from each other and storm off in a huff. Yang cracks her knuckles.

INT. WAREHOUSE - EVENING

Torchwick stands atop the ramp leading into the cargo bay of a freight helicopter, white fang underlings surging around him hurriedly loading cargo into the massive vehicle.

In the warehouse below: Emerald, Mercury, and Neo are directing underlings around the warehouse.

Off screen the sound of hardbass and screeching tires approaches rapidly. Torchwick looks to the trio of minions on the warehouse floor, who turn their attention to the door.

The sounds of tire screeching stop, and the music crescendos as the doors to the vehicle open outside the warehouse, before the engine and radio turn off.

Everyone in the warehouse readies their weapons. The door slides open. The task force walks into the open threshold.

QROW

(to Xander)

"I'm never letting you drive again."

NERO

"I told you it was a bad idea to give Xander the keys."

XANDER

"What, I am good driver."

WINTER

"No, no you aren't."

The four huntsmen collectively look into the open warehouse, locking eyes with the crowd of armed criminals in front of the helicopter on the other open end of the room.

TORCHWICK

"Hello there. Is there any chance that I can get the four of you to turn around and forget that you saw any of this?"

The four huntsmen look at each other, then look back at Torchwick.

QROW

"Not a chance in hell, pal."

TORCHWICK

"Understandable, die."

The crowd of white fang, including the trio of minions, charge at the task force with weapons raised high. The taskforce raises their own weapons in kind and meets the charge. Xander meets Mercury in hand to hand combat. Nero charges into the crowd of white fang underlings. Winter locks blades with Neo. Qrow squares off with Emerald.

Mercury confidently charges into melee with Xander, opening the fight with a series of flying kicks and leg sweeps. Xander manages to parry the vast majority of these attacks, dodging the rest.

XANDER

(swatting an attack aside)

"Is this all you have, little man!?"

Mercury's confident grin sours as the fight goes on and his attacks grow more vicious, he fires his shotgun boots wildly as he presses the offense. Xander remains rigidly on the defensive.

XANDER

"Finally, some spirit!"

Nero wades through the crowd of underlings, sheathed katana in hand, parrying and riposting every attack that comes his way. He is making quick work of the untrained thugs with his eyes locked on Torchwick at the top of the ramp, who stares down at him with mild interest.

NERO

(gesturing at the pile of unconscious goons)

"You know you could make this a lot easier for all of us if you just gave up."

TORCHWICK

"Oh but what's the fun in that? Besides, I have a delivery to make!"

Torchwick presses a button on a remote, the engines of the helicopter begin to warm up. Nero sighs and charges up the ramp.

Meanwhile Winter and Neo are in the midst of a proper duel; Each of their moves against the other is elegant and precise, their fight is more of a deadly dance than a meeting of raw force. Both of them appear to be in their element, though a bead of sweat begins to run down Neo's brow and her eyes dart about nervously as the engagement begins to drag.

Qrow and Emerald's fight has taken on a more abstract form, as we see from his perspective that the warehouse has grown dark and misty. He turns slowly, his sword pointed forward, awaiting a sneak attack. From time to time, one of Emerald's blades slices out from the mist, only to be expertly blocked by Qrow.

QROW

"I can do this all day, kid. You've gotta come out some time."

The only response he receives is another strike from the mist.

INT. BEACON ACADEMY ARENA - EVENING

The arena is a clean, regal room with a large half-circle of benches raised above the empty fighting pit at the center. The stands are empty, Yang and Pyrrah are the only occupants of the room. Both girls have changed into light training gear for the fight, including wrappings for their wrists and ankles.

YANG

"You sure you don't want to invite any spectators, miss wonder athlete? Or are you afraid of them seeing you get your ass kicked?"

PYRRAH

"I don't need an audience. This is a matter of honor, not a competition."

YANG

"Suit yourself then."

The two girls square up and circle each other for a moment, before simultaneously throwing the first punch.

INT/EXT. WAREHOUSE - SAME

Nero and Torchwick are locked in a duel on the roof of the warehouse, sword clashing with cane over and over as they test each other's defenses. Torchwick makes liberal use of the gun built into the cane, pushing Nero back when he gets too close for comfort.

Qrow stalks his way through a shadowy version of the warehouse as Emerald visibly struggles to evade him. The two clashing and disengaging from each other repeatedly, each outburst of violence creating cracks in the illusion.

Winter is engaged in battle with multiple copies of Neo, shattering them with precise strikes from her sword as the true Neo strains to stay out of reach.

Xander is now on the offensive, bashing around a battered and bruised Mercury like a ragdoll. Mercury struggles to stand and face the large man, who has hardly a scratch on him.

XANDER

"You put up good fight; But it's over now, yield."

MERCURY

(panting)

"Not as long as I'm still kicking!"

Mercury launches and overhead kick towards Xander's head.

XANDER

"As you wish."

Xander grabs Mercury by the legs and slams him into the ground, before jumping into the air and stomping down with his full weight into Mercury's shins.

INT. BEACON ACADEMY ARENA - SAME

Yang takes a punch to the jaw from Pyrrah, launching her back across the arena floor. She rolls and slides onto her feet, recovering from the blow well enough to stay in the fight; But she is in no state to keep up the energy for long, as the relatively intact Pyrrah charges forward to press the advantage.

PYRRAH

"You ready to quit yet!?"

YANG

(spitting blood)

"In your dreams, princess!"

Yang catches the next punch, pushing Pyrrah back and letting loose a flurry of her own blows. Pyrrah is the more skilled combatant, dodging or blocking most of Yang's assault and countering with painful strikes.

Yang gets knocked to the ground once more, this time landing on her face.

PYRRAH

"Honestly, is this all you've got? Why did you bother even coming here if you can't handle a little scrap like this? You should just pack your bags and go back to being a delivery girl at this rate."

Yang pounds a fist on the floor of the arena, the surface cracking slightly as she does so. Pyrrah raises an eyebrow. Yang's hair begins to glow as she stands up, a low rumble fills the air as she tenses her frame. Pyrrah's eyes widen as she retakes her stance. Yang lets out a cry and charges back into the fight.

INT/EXT. WAREHOUSE - SAME

On the rooftop, Nero and Torchwick both freeze when they hear Mercury scream in pain. Torchwick recovers only slightly faster, blasting the roof under Nero's feet and launching him backward.

TORCHWICK

"I believe that's my cue to leave! See you around!"

Torchwick leaps down from the rooftop to the helicopter below. Nero begins to make chase, but a ringing from his scroll stops him. On the screen is simply the name "wife to be". He groans, stops running, and answers the phone.

In the warehouse below, Winter shatters an illusory Neo, panting as she does so, and looks around to find the real one, she's no-where in sight.

Qrow goes to engage a fleeing Emerald, who has scooped up Mercury, but is blocked as she drops an illusory wall in his path.

Emerald leaps onto the helicopter platform just as it begins to take off, Neo helps lay the injured Mercury flat on the floor.

INT. BEACON ACADEMY ARENA - SAME

Pyrrah narrowly dodges an attack from Yang that launches the latter several meters forward from the sheer momentum. Yang spins around as she skids across the floor, launching herself back in Pyrrah's direction with a leap and slamming down with both fists. Pyrrah raises up both hands to block the blow. The impact causes a wave of energy to flood out into the arena, and the floor under Pyrrah's feet cracks from the force. Pyrrah's aura shimmers, then fades, and a look of alarm washes over her face.

YANG

"Take it back!"

Yang jumps into the air once again, landing a few feet away before charging toward Pyrrah once more. Pyrrah takes in a breath. Yang raises a fist to strike, a halo of energy forming in front of her attack.

Yang throws the punch, but Pyrrah dodges to the right. Pyrrah then grabs Yang by the hip and shoulder in the same movement, sweeps her legs from under her, and uses the momentum of the punch to throw Yang face first into the floor.

Yang strikes the floor with such speed and force that her head bounces off the solid surface, knocking her out, and her unconscious body goes tumbling and skidding across the arena.

Pyrrah lets out her breath before jogging across the arena to check on Yang.

INT. OZPIN'S OFFICE - NIGHT

Ozpin sits at his desk sipping his evening tea and reading by the light of his desk lamp. The door buzzes, and Ozpin flips a switch at his desk.

OZPIN

"Come in, general."

The doors open. Enter IRONWOOD, early 40's, tall, dressed in his formal military attire. He marches toward Ozpin's desk.

IRONWOOD

"Oz, it's good to see you out of the robes for once."

OZPIN

"The same goes to you, James. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you this evening?"

IRONWOOD

"I came on behalf of the other members of the council who were curious about the goings on of the taskforce."

OZPIN

"Ah, a business visit. I should have expected as much. Well, I have said before and I'll say again, the taskforce's investigation is well underway as we speak. They're making great progress, I'd dare to say they're a dream team."

At this moment, a disheveled Winter bursts through the door, face flushed and stumbling as she stomps toward Ozpin's desk.

OZPIN

"Oh dear."

WINTER

(saluting badly)

"General Ironwood, sir."

IRONWOOD

"At ease, soldier. You look like hell, do I need to get you a cup of coffee?"

WINTER

(pointing to Ozpin)

"You."

OZPIN

"Oh boy."

WINTER

"I need to have a word with you."

IRONWOOD

(raising an eyebrow to Ozpin)

"Should I come back later?"

WINTER

(ignoring Ironwood)

"I don't know what sort of backwater shit-hole you hired those second-rate hooligans with third-rate manners from, but you need to send them back!"

OZPIN

"What's got you so worked up? I thought the mission went well."

WINTER

"That absolute cretin Xander played with his food for the entire battle while Qrow and I were pinned down by rogue huntresses! And Nero, he answered his phone while the ringleader got away! He cost us our chance to end this right then and there!"

Ironwood, thoroughly tuned out at this point, allowed his gaze to sweep around the office. He caught a glint of light in the corner of the ceiling.

WINTER

"And don't get me started on Xander's driving!"

IRONWOOD

"Oz, did you install a new security system?"

Winter stops her tirade to regard the general.

OZPIN

"What do you mean?"

Ironwood points to the glint of a camera lens in the corner of the ceiling, Ozpin and Winter's eyes widen in unison.

INT. BEACON DORMITORY ATTIC - SAME

The desk is still cluttered with equipment and trash, the chair that Cinder once sat in spins slowly in place, and the shocked trio in Ozpin's office is in full display on the screen. Ironwood draws his pistol and shoots the camera, the display turns to static.

End of Episode 6