No Such Thing as Destiny

Chapter Two

Hammer Time

That night, Ruby had a dream that all the professors at Beacon had been replaced by Grimm, and Professor Beowolf required them to learn how to dance in preparation for the final exam. She woke up more determined than ever to do whatever it took to save the future.

"Alright, girls!" Ruby said, jumping out of bed. "Your beauty sleep ends now! Because today is the day we show the world that we're not going to let it do whatever it wants! Today is the day we rewrite history!"

"What time is it?" Weiss groaned. She looked at a clock on her nightstand, then buried her head under her pillow.

"Laziness won't save the future, Weiss! Blake! If I remember correctly, you're going to infiltrate a White Fang recruitment meeting."

Blake yawned, stretched, and rolled over. "Yeah, okay."

"And then you get attacked by a giant robot. Any questions?"

"No, no, I'm … hmm."

"Good! Then you lure it away from their base, and then all four of us ambush that bucket of bolts and hit it with everything we got! After that, Roman Torchwick is going to climb out of it and this girl with different colored eyes and pigtails is going to appear out of nowhere and help him escape, but here's the twist. Are you listening?" Her audience waited in rapt silence save for the occasional snore. "We don't let them! Sound good?"

Yang rolled over. "Hey, since you're already up, do you want the first shower?"

Ruby looked at her team. They were so overwhelmed at their duties, they couldn't even get out of bed. "Okay," she said, grabbing her towel and proceeding toward the bathroom. "But if any of you figure something out for the last part of the plan, let me know, because Umbrella Girl is tough."

WWW

Between breakfast, classes, lunch, and more classes, it was mid afternoon before they had the chance to execute plan Save the Future, Part One.

"Alright, team! Does everyone know their parts?"

"I'm going to infiltrate a White Fang recruitment meeting," Blake said. "And everyone else is going to be waiting outside just in case I need backup."

"When you need backup," Ruby said. "Roman Torchwick is going to recognize you after revealing a secret White Fang base in the … south west, was it? I think so, and then he's going to come after you in a stolen Atlesian Paladin. You're going to lead him away from his support, and then the rest of us are going to join you and capture him. Got it?"

"You are making far too many assumptions about our enemy's tactics, resources, and abilities," Weiss said.

Ruby held her arms out. "I'm from the future, remember? I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this at least twenty times already."

"At least," Weiss agreed. "So when are we going to stop treating this time travel thing like a game and start treating it like a condition?"

"This isn't a game. This is real!"

She sighed. "Whatever. Now, since the recruitment meeting doesn't start until dark, I believe my time would be better spent looking into Schnee Dust thefts in this area."

"And while that's going on," Yang said, "I think I might check out a nightclub I got banned from awhile back. Best case scenario I'll get a new lead, worst case, I'll get a warm up."

"Sounds great!" Sun said, hanging upside-down from a tree outside their window. "Let's do this!"

"Hey, Sun," Ruby said.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss demanded.

"He's coming with us," Ruby said.

"You invited him?"

Ruby laughed. "Of course I didn't, silly! What would be the point? He was going to come along anyway." She turned back to Sun. "Did you bring Neptune?"

His face fell. "Seriously? He was supposed to be a surprise."

"Can I come in now?" Neptune said from outside the window.

"Sure," Ruby said. "And Sun? You can't surprise me. I'm from the future."

He frowned. "There's an inside joke here that I'm not getting."

"You're not alone," Blake said.

"Lovely," Weiss said as Neptune climbed in through the window. "Why don't we just bring everyone along with us?"

Ruby paused. "You know what? That's a really good idea!" This wasn't just a Team RWBY problem, this was the future! Everyone had a stake in it.

Weiss sighed. "I was being facetious."

"Then you'll just have to hold it until we're done."

"What?"

"Sun, you're going with Blake to the White Fang meeting. Neptune, you're with me to back them up when things go south."

"Um, I'm not sure you need two people just to wait outside a meeting," Weiss said. "Maybe Neptune should go with me instead?"

Neptune winked at her, but Ruby just laughed. "Come on, you're making a phone call. I think you can handle that all by yourself."

"Well, of course, but … never mind."

"Alright everyone! Move out!"

Ruby and Neptune were the last ones out. "So, this may be a bit sudden," Neptune said. "But your friend, Weiss, is she single?"

Ruby laughed. "Of course not."

"Figures."

"There are four of us." Why did he even ask? He just met their team.

Neptune blinked. "Now, did you mean that in the same I meant that, or are you just being facetious?"

"No, I already went, but thanks for asking."

"Um …"

"But speaking of pit stops, there's one more thing we need to do." She knocked on Team JNPR's door. "Hey, Jaune, you in there?"

Jaune stuck his head out the door. "Huh? Oh, hey, Ruby. And new guy."

Neptune nodded. "Hey."

"So, we're all heading out to end all organized crime in Vale and possibly save the future in the process," Ruby said. "Wanna come with?"

Jaune looked over his shoulder. "Um, I'll check with my team, but it sounds kind of reckless."

"Okay," Ruby said. "Go over it with your team, but just so you know, Weiss will be there …"

"Oh."

"We'll be making the world a better place …"

Behind him, Pyrrha looked up.

"And there will be a giant robot Nora could hit with a hammer."

"Hammer time!" Nora called out.

"So go ahead and put it to a vote."

Ren frowned. "This still sounds very unwise."

"Yeah, I know," Jaune said. "But I think we should discuss this." He turned back to Ruby. "I'll get back to you."

WWW

That night, Ruby and Neptune waited outside the marked warehouse that Blake and Sun had infiltrated, as silent as the grave. At least, as silent as Ruby intended on being when dead.

"Oh, we're doing a stake out! This is so cool! Admittedly, it would be more fun if there was steak in the stake out, but still, this is so cool!" She was going to have a lot of fun as a ghost.

"I take it you've never actually staked anything out before," Neptune said.

Her eyes widened. "Have you?"

"Yup. It was the most boring forty-eight hours of my life. Sun and I took turns staring out a window until someone else took over."

"Forty-eight hours? That's like, two days! But don't worry, any second now, a giant robot is going to come crashing out of that building, and all this waiting will pay off."

"Yeah, but that's the thing about stake outs. You never know what's going to happen. For all we know, Sun and Blake might go entirely unnoticed."

"For all we know? For all you know. I know better, because I am from the future."

"Right. And that means what, exactly?"

"It means that it will be robot time right about … any second now … wait for it …" Her scroll let out a buzz, making her jump. It was a message from Jaune. "Ooh, Team JNPR is coming. Okay, when they get here, there's going to be a girl in a pink skirt and a big hammer."

"Okay," Neptune said. "I like this so far."

"And I need you to electrocute her."

"What? But why?"

"Trust me on this," Ruby relied. "I'm from the future."

"But how did you even know I could do that?"

"Future."

"But–"

Glass shattered in the distance as Blake and Sun jumped out a window, and then concrete shattered as an Atlesian Paladin burst out through the wall behind them.

WWW

"I don't believe it!"

"Run faster!"

"It's a giant robot, just like she said!"

"Hence, running!"

"But how did she know?"

"Like I said! I'm from the–"

"Don't say it!"

"But I am!"

"Don't mean to interrupt, but didn't you have backup planned?"

"Weiss is on her way, and Yang just told me she's parking Bumblebee."

"Parking what?"

"Her bike."

"What? We're running for our lives, and she's worried about her bike?"

"Well, you can see what that thing is doing to cars! It's tossing them around like pillows! Bumblebee wouldn't stand a chance!"

"Hey guys! What did I miss?"

"Yang! Oh, just the giant robot. It's still chasing us. We should probably do something about that. Also, Sun wants to wreck Bumblebee."

"He what?"

"Hey, that is not what I–"

"Watch it, Sunshine, mess with my bike and I will end you."

"Look! Weiss is here! Over here, Weiss!"

"I saw you. The trail of devastation was hard to miss. And, oh my goodness, there's actually a robot."

"I told you there would be."

"Hmph. This proves nothing."

"But now that we're all here, it's time to fight back! Freezerburn, now!"

WWW

Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR, successor to a line of generations of heroes, was slowing his team down. The blinking light on his scroll representing Ruby's GPS signal was no longer running away, but it wasn't getting any closer either.

"Go on ahead," he said, panting. "I'll catch up."

"We're not leaving you," Pyrrha said. "We're a team."

"We're out of time! Team RWBY stopped running, which means they're fighting, which means they need back up."

"Perhaps we should hail a taxi?" Ren suggested.

"I didn't bring any money," Nora said. "Ooh! Let's hijack one! I'm pretty sure it's legal in an emergency."

"I'm not sure–" Pyrrha started, but Jaune interrupted her.

"You're right!"

"Oh dear," Ren said.

"Perfect!"

"But we're not going to do anything crazy," Jaune said.

"Aw."

"We're going to jump on top of the next truck that passes us by."

They were on the side of the highway with headlights blazing past them, faster than they could run and in the direction they were going. Jaune had been improving steadily since he had started training with Pyrrha, but he still wasn't sure if he could make the jump. Oh well. In a worst case scenario, he'd bounce off the side of the truck, fall into the road, and end up smeared against the pavement before his friends could pull him out of the way.

Okay, the worst case scenario was pretty bad, but it might not happen.

A bright yellow semi-truck came racing up behind them in their closest lane. Well, there was no time like the present to toy with death. "Now!"

Team JNPR took off at a run, and one by one they jumped. Jaune didn't know if it was adrenaline or what, but when he jumped for the truck, he had never felt lighter and his fingers barely made it over the edge of the frame. The sudden tug nearly ripped his arms out of his sockets, but he held on.

For about half a second.

"Got you!" Pyrrha's hand came out of nowhere, grabbing onto his wrist and pulling him on board.

He climbed to his feet, but when the wind threatened to blow him off, he fell back into a crouch. At this rate they'd arrive at the fight in a matter of minutes … and then they'd have to jump off. Oh, crap! They were going to have to jump off! Well, in a worst case scenario, he wouldn't activate his Aura in time, sprain his ankle, and be a sitting duck for the rest of the fight.

"Are we there yet?" Nora asked.

"No, Nora," Ren said. "We have not yet arrived."

"Oh. How about now?"

"Still no."

Okay, he could do this. Even without Aura, if he rolled right he'd be fine, even if he was jumping off a moving truck … going fifty miles an hour. Now, why did he think this was a better idea than staying home and sparring with Pyrrha?

Oh, right. Weiss.

Well, he did say that he was going to get a date for the upcoming dance even if it killed him. In retrospect, that was a bad choice of words.

Just as he reached into his pocket to check their ETA, the truck slowed to a stop. Traffic. No, gridlock. Up ahead, a series of car accidents covered every lane on the highway.

"Woah!" Nora said, grinning wildly. "Do you think Ruby's robot did that?"

According to his scroll, they were in about the right spot. "Looks like it." On one hand, they were about to face something that could juggle automobiles, but on the other, Jaune could dismount a stationary vehicle. He'd take it.

After that, it was a short jog to the sounds of battle.

Below them on an intersecting road, Team RWBY and two other guys faced off against an Atlesian Paladin. "Checkmate!" Ruby called out, and Weiss and Blake charged forward, double teaming the machine. Weiss drew a time dilation glyph under Blake, speeding her up enough to counter the Paladin's missile barrage.

"Wow, they have team attacks?" Jaune said. "And they even have cool names, too! Why don't we have those?"

"You are our leader, Jaune," Ren reminded him.

"Oh, right."

"Jaune!" Ruby called out from below. "You made it!" She turned to a boy with blue hair next to her. "Neptune, now!"

"Now what?"

She pointed at Team JNPR. "Hammer girl! Electrocute her!"

"Aren't they on our side?"

"Yes! That's why you need to electrocute her."

"I don't know about this."

"Trust me! Yang, toss him up there, would you?"

"Sure thing, Sis!"

"But–" His protest was cut off as Yang grabbed him, shot herself into the air, and threw him up to the next level, where he landed gracefully on his feet. He looked at Nora apologetically and turned his gun into a spear. "This is not how I usually introduce myself to a pretty girl."

Lightning arced from the end of his weapon and he pressed it against Nora. She inhaled sharply as electricity shot through her, empowering her.

"Oh, wow!" she gasped. "I think I'm going to name you Battery!"

"Do you mean that as the legal term, or …?"

Nora's Semblance allowed her to absorb electrical energy, but how did Ruby know that? Oh well, Nora must have mentioned it sometime. And that meant that it was Team JNPR's time to shine.

"Pyrrha, hold the robot as still as you can," Jaune said. "Nora? Smash."

"Finally!" She hefted Magnhild over her head and jumped off the edge. Pyrrha closed her eyes and focused, her own Semblance covering the Paladin in a black penumbra until Nora's hammer collided with it, shattering it into pieces.

A man in a white suit and a feathered hat emerged from the wreckage. "Oh, great," he muttered. "I just had that suit–"

"Ice Flower!" Ruby fired her sniper rifle through one of Weiss's white glyphs, freezing the man in a block of ice.

"Well, that was easy," Blake said.

"I know," Yang said. "I kind of wish there were a few more, just to make it a challenge."

Jaune looked down and made the jump to their level. It wasn't that much of a fall–okay, thirty feet was more than he was comfortable with, but he had been practicing and he landed in a roll, so he didn't even sprain an ankle. Ren and Pyrrha dropped down after him.

Was this the best time to flirt with Weiss? No, he could flirt later. Now was the time to look cool. "Glad we could help, even if we didn't get here until the last minute."

"Don't let your guard down yet," Ruby warned. "Any second now, Umbrella Girl is going to come out of nowhere and disappear with him."

Jaune looked around. It was dark and the shadows could hide anything, but he couldn't see anyone. "Who?"

"Umbrella girl," Ruby said again. "That's what happened last time we defeated Torchwick's mecha."

Torchwick? Jaune had heard that name on the news before, something about organized crime and Dust heists. "You've done this before?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "No, Ruby just think's she's from the future."

"Well, I am! How else could I have known about all this?"

Ren frowned thoughtfully. "Time travel still seems unlikely. There must be a more logical explanation."

"Yeah," Nora agreed. "Maybe Ruby's just really, really, really, really smart."

Ren hesitated. "So, time travel. Quite an impressive Semblance. Can you use it consistently, or was it a one time thing?"

"So far I've only been able to use it once," Ruby replied. She looked around. "Umbrella Girl's not showing up. We must have scared her off. Well, there's nothing left to do but turn him over to the proper authorities." She pulled out her scroll and began to dial. "The future is looking bright."

"You know," Ren said, "if you really are from the future, you should be cautious of butterfly effects."

"Hello?" she said on her scroll. "Hey, I'd like to report the capture of one Roman Torchwick. No, this is not a prank, it's a citizen's arrest. Also, do you still hand out tee shirts for that? Yes, I can hold." She looked up. "Sorry, what? Butterflies? Ha! It's going to take more than a few butterflies to get in my way!"

No one responded as Ruby resumed her call. Was now the right time to make a move on Weiss? He could walk up next to her, compliment her on her fighting style and maybe … and she was chatting merrily with the guy with blue hair. Oh, that jerk.

"So," the blond guy with a tail said. "I saw a noodle stand on the way here. Anyone else hungry?"

"We should probably wait until the police get here," Pyrrha said. "And while we're waiting, should we carve some air holes into that icecube? Because that Torchwick fellow is turning blue."

"Oh, he's just cold," Ruby said. "He'll be fine."

WWW

Cinder could have hired one of the many seamstresses in Vale to sew Dust into her ballroom gown, but this was something she preferred to do herself.

"Team CRDL won't make it to the singles round," she decided, sitting on her bed. "Who's next?"

"JNPR," Mercury said, lounging on the floor. "Their leader's a bad joke. Either Ozpin knows something we don't, or he appointed Jaune Arc out of pity." Cinder had never met the headmaster, but from what Salem had told her, it was probably both. He had a bleeding heart and a mind with more webs than a horde of spiders. "The only one who stands out is Pyrrha Nikos."

"She had her face on a cereal box for a while," Emerald said. "A regular paragon."

It was never too early to gather information, and was all too often far too late. Most of the competitors were yet to arrive to the Vytal Festival, but the "friendly competition" gave her the excuse to investigate the future guardians. Less fortunately, it made the Huntsmen in training hold their secrets that much closer.

"Look into her," she decided.

"Then there's RWBY," Mercury said. "They're all … above what passes for average around here, but none of them stand out when they're together. They might make it to the singles, but they won't get far."

Mercury was a good fighter, but that was all he was. He didn't have the head for this work. Fortunately, all he needed to do was leave the thinking to her.

"What about the girl with the scythe?" Cinder asked. "And I don't mean just her combat abilities."

"The rest of her team seems as gullible and stupid as everyone else," Emerald said. "But whenever we pass in the hallway, Ruby looks at me like I just murdered all her closest friends."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Did you?"

"No."

"You're sure of this?"

"Yes! We haven't killed anyone since we got here," Emerald said. "Besides the book seller, but no one saw us, I swear."

If it had been that simple, law enforcement would have bothered them by now, and Emerald and Mercury knew how to clean up their own messes. "But she's suspicious of us," Cinder mused. Suspicious didn't even cover it. The girl pointed her weapon at them when she recognized Cinder's team, and she did recognize them. Cinder could think of two explanations for that, and neither of them were good.

"She's seen us before," Cinder decided, "or at least she's been given an excellent description. Look into her. I want to know how much she knows and how she knows it. She might just be paranoid and crazy, but we can't risk it."

Just then her scroll buzzed with a message from Neo. Cinder read it and frowned.

"Bad news?" Mercury asked.

"It's Roman," she said. "He was just captured, right after one of his new toys broke."

"How tragic," Emerald said. "Well, easy come, easy go. Do you think he'll talk?"

Cinder shook her head. "He'll talk alright. I doubt he has the capacity for silence, but he's not fool enough to say anything." That did leave the problem of finding a replacement. Neo didn't have the charisma for the position, so she was out. Cinder had better things to do, and Emerald and Mercury needed to continue their investigations. Adam, maybe? Cinder finished the message and smiled.

"What is it?"

"Neo was kind enough to send us a picture of Roman's captors," Cinder said. "And you won't believe who it was."

WWW

A/n Have you seen the episode in the Simpsons where Homer turns a toaster into a time machine, goes back in time, and tries really hard not to change anything and then comes back to a future ruled by Ned Flanders or one where no one knows what a doughnut is, and then he gives up, goes back, and smashes everything he can and the future turns out to be (mostly) normal? That's pretty much Ruby's plan right now, because really, what are a few butterflies going to do?

I'm guessing that while Neo would be willing to fight three people at once (as long as one of them isn't Raven), ten might make her hesitate. Of course, I'm just guessing here because all I know about her abilities are that they lie somewhere between Yang and Yang's scary mother.

Also, I used to think that Yang's bike was called the Yangmobile, but it turns out that it's called Bumblebee. Thank you Ralyx for pointing that out. Between the bike, the ship name, and the team attack things could get confusing, so I'll be sure to specify which one, unless Yang and Blake are on the motorcycle together performing the team attack, in which case Bumblebee would be referring to all three.

Thank you Magery for editing this, and thank you everyone who left a review for leaving a review. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to leave them. That's what that big box is for at the bottom of the page. And who knows? I might even reply.