6/15/2018

So I wanted to get this out as quickly as possible. Right now I'm focusing on JNPR rather than RWBY, simply because there are more parallels between JNPR and the Freelancers. RWBY will get their attention, but I actually find the JNPR characters easier to write about, as they have more consistent performances and more character development. Enjoy!

Please review and comment. Beta readers appreciated.

Pyrrha Nikos shook her head in bewilderment, still processing the strange series of events that had just occurred. The other redhead, Carolina, she reminded herself, had turned back to drag the rest of her group to the preparation room.

"Focus Pyrrha, focus" she chided herself. "I have to-"

She was snapped out of her private thoughts by the sudden introduction of another armored warrior. Unlike the previous ones, this one had a less defined and more angular helmet that seemed to be less advanced. Somehow, he….he just….she really didn't want to judge, but….he just seemed dumb.

"Hello!"

Unsure of this new character, she cautiously responded in kind.

"Hello."

The two stood there, both unmoving. Pyrrha maintained her practiced body language of confidence and poise. Internally, she was awkward as hell (hell probably isn't even fire and brimstone, it's just an eternal state of unfinished conversations, staring, and embarrassment).

Caboose stood still because he did that a lot. Internally, was a void more vast and empty than the depths of space themself. In fact, there was more nothing in there than the nothing in the physical universe. Words cannot describe the emptiness that was Caboose's mind.

The pregnant pause persisted. The silence lasted a moment, then two, then three, then four. The tension and uncertainty built, an entropy of awkwardness, timidity, and discomposure that grew and grew, threatening to explode into a localized Big Bang of unease and shyness.

It was standard conversational knowledge that a conversation was a back and forth between to people, ending when they ran out of things to say. Pyrrha was waiting for a reply from the armored man, who looked like he was pretending to be a statue.

Knowing Caboose, that might very well have been the case.

Pyrrha couldn't bear the oppressive weight of silence anymore and spoke.

"Can I-"

"Hi pretty lady!"

It was usually considered faux pas to interrupt someone. Given the simplistic response and the tone it was delivered in, Pyrrha wanted to assume that the speaker was, well, mentally challenged.

"Can I help-"

"Do you want to meet Freckles?"

Pyrrha blinked again. These armored men and women seemed to be very diverse. Their armor may have been similar, but they were as different as night and day. A pervert, a no-nonsense soldier, a more aggressive clone of herself, and now, a….a rather "childish" person.

"I'm sorry, Freckles?"

"Yes. Here he is."

The blue armored man moved abruptly, proudly displaying his assault rifle.

"Oh."

Non-sequitur after non-sequitur spilled from this man's mouth. It was a common tradition that Huntsmen and Huntresses named their weapons, but she'd never heard of a name like Freckles.

"Yeah, he's really awesome," the strange man drawled, placing emphasis on the word "really", and continued to describe his weapon as a pet, "He doesn't eat much, but he likes walks, and I need to get him a ball."

"Oh."

"Do you want to say hi?"

"Sure….Hello Freckles."

Pyrrha Nikos almost became the first inhabitant of Remnant to go to space, because she swore her soul flew out of her body and onto the moon when the gun spoke to her.

"Hello. Unknown contact has been designated as friendly."

The harsh synthesized voice was alarming and unexpected. Pyrrha had to calm her racing heart down for a few moments before answering. Fortunately, the blue man didn't seem to mind to much, as he began stroking his weapon like it was some sort of tiny animal.

"Hell-hello Freckles. It's nice to meet you, I, I have to go now, I'll see you later." she replied shakily, and began trying to leave as soon as possible so as to not suffer a mental breakdown.

"Hopefully not." her mind said.

"Bye." said a human voice.

"Goodbye." said a robotic voice.

She walked briskly past her strange acquaintance and practically sprinted to the locker rooms the moment she turned the corner. What sort of person treated a dangerous weapon such as an assault rifle as pet, and stroked it? She was attacehd to Milo and Akouo, but not that attached. Next thing she knew, people would be sleeping with their deadly firearms or blades. What sort of world had she woken up in?

Ruby Rose cuddled Crescent Rose, resisting the urge to coo. Her baby was ready for action, and so was she. Weapons were better than people, especially that bratty girl with white hair.

Weiss Schnee caught sight of the Mistral Champion as she stepped into the preparation room, apparently slowing down from a sprint. Odd, she didn't take the spartan to be someone who was late; then again, there was a first time for everything.

Jaune Arc looked for his locker desperately. There was a gorgeous girl with snow-white hair that he really wanted to talk to, but finding his weapons before the initiation began. He wasn't sure what sort of test the initiation was, but it wasn't like they were going to throw him off a cliff, right? Breathe, he reminded himself. All you need is confidence.

The Reds and Blues made their way to the locker bays.

"Wait a second, where the f*ck is Caboose?"

They all froze in horror. It wasn't that Caboose couldn't take care of himself (well, he really couldn't, but Freckles could), it was just that he was a person with whom "Oops" could mean he accidentally stepped on gum or started a nuclear meltdown.

Before the crew could get too panicked at the disappearance of their most unpredictable loose-cannon, he appeared.

"Hello."

"Where were you?" asked Tucker.

"Over there."

"That's not really helpful."

Wash took over, given his role as babysitter of the Blue Team, and asked, "Caboose, when did you leave? Did you do anything, like, set someone on fire or break a precious artifact."

"Well, I just left."

"When?"

"When Carolina hit Tucker."

"And, did you do anything?"

"Oh! Right, right. I showed a lady Freckles!"

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

While Wash relaxed, reassured that they were not all going to die in a Caboose-related apocalypse, Carolina felt a sense of mounting dread when she combined the little information given by Caboose and the direction Pyrrha had gone.

"Who did you meet?"

"Ah, Carolina, you're back."

"Sh*t."

Carolina wanted to find her doppelganger and apologize, ten, no, twenty times for all the trouble they'd caused her. She seemed like a nice person, someone who didn't deserve the combination of weirdness that was Tucker's relentless perversion and Caboose mind-numbing conversation skills. To be honest, no one did.

She sighed. "Let's get to the locker rooms quickly."

"Cool, we're going the same way! Is it co-ed?"

Carolina had to restrain herself from lashing out again, finding it much harder than before. She realized that they'd all changed slightly after being transported. Wash and her were more likely to act on their emotions, as if their mental states had reverted along with their physical bodies. Tucker, was more horny and perverted than before, which she hadn't thought was possible. She had never really been too good at restraining herself, and becoming an unstable teenager with the added psychological burden of PTSD, stress, insomnia, and the other mental conditions Freelancer had so lovingly gifted her was a good thing for her already short temper.

Then again, York had liked her fiery nature, saying that it complemented her hair. If he were here, he'd probably be insufferable, a pseudo-Tucker, except far smoother and more likely to actually succeed in his endeavours.

"Except he'd dead. And it's your fault."

Carolina's ghosts just couldn't stay away, could they?

She looked forward to initiation, whatever it was. She needed to hit something.

Pyrrha checked over her weapon, deftly shifting through its forms. Her shield was as sturdy as ever. She stood up and began warming up, lightly jogging from one side of the room to the other. Afterwards, she began to stretch, swinging her legs from side to side, rotating her forearms, rolling her ankles and shoulders. As she did so, she felt eyes on her, one of which was a rather intense stare coming from a tall blonde who was eyeing her lithe form with poorly concealed desire. However, it was the white-haired and blue-eyed girl known as Weiss Schnee that got her attention as the heiress stepped foward to talk to the champion. Pyrrha recognized the practiced look the Schnee heiress wore on her face, and responded with her own fake smile. She knew that the heiress was seeking her out for association with someone famous. The champion was a stranger to Atlesian politics and power struggles, but knew that having influential acquaintances was a necessary part of social capital. Pyrrha decided to humor the heiress, though she was down that there weren't any potential friends she could make. All of the interactions, even if genuine, would be tainted in some way by her fame.

"Greetings Pyrrha, how are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Feeling excellent now that I'm in your company."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"I'm honored."

The two smiled at each other, seemingly having an enjoyable conversation. However, Weiss was internally scheming to create a school-wide power hierarchy with herself at the top. Pyrrha really was as nice as the papers said she was. The heiress really wanted to be actual friends with her, but she needed to make a good impression first.

"So, I was thinking that the two of us should team up, we'd be rather formidable as a pair."

"That sounds grand! Though, I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

"I see."

The two were interrupted by a gangly blonde, not the one who was eyeing Pyrrha earlier, that was a female with long locks. The newcomer was about to say something when a large crash startled everyone in the room.

"Caboose, god damn it what did you do!?"

"Tucker did it."

"I'M THE ONE TALKING TO YOU NOW!"

"That sounded rather expensive." Simmons added helpfully.

All heads turned toward the source of the commotion. Pyrrha noticed the strange blue one standing at the end of a line of toppled lockers. Somehow, he'd managed to knock all of them over like dominoes. There was a large dent in the one closest to him. The most observant of the huntsmen/huntresses in training were shocked: just how strong was this guy?

Pyrrha saw her teal armored counterpart shaking her head in tired agony. The two made eye contact, or she thought she did, as the narrow visor prevented direct eye contact. A look of shared exasperation passed between the two of them. In spite of herself, she began to feel better. At least she had one person to share her feelings with. Carolina might be scary, but Pyrrha had dealt with a lot of scary in both the arena and the wild. Maybe she could find friend her doppelganger, the way she hadn't been able to find a friend within herself.