Chapter Fifteen
SAL-U-TATIONS
It had been 2 weeks since the last time they had seen Nora… oh and also since they had saved all the worlds or as Weiss kept telling her the 'Realms' and while Ruby would admit that it did sound a lot cooler than worlds she wasn't going to say it out loud because then Weiss would hear her, she already got enough satisfaction from her calling it Magic with a capital M.
Back to the main point, it had been 2 weeks since they had last seen Nora, and other than a few acts of criminals kidnapping, stealing and in car chases there was nothing that really required all of them to go out and stop, that would simply be far to excessive and they instead just stuck to simple rotations and working in pairs to go out when needed. Currently Ruby was in her laboratory, she was working very happily on 2 things right now, one was her new armour, going to be her most advanced so far and able to come to her in multiple parts when summoned, each part being able to also mould onto any figure it needed to and be in tune with their brain waves, she had adjusted the communicators to work in conjunction with this in case she needed to give Ren a gauntlet he could fire it without having to get her to control it.
The second thing she was working on was a body for PENNY, her dear friend and greatest creation to date, she was everything that Ruby was proud of and she wanted her first friend to be able to stand with them and to fight alongside them, her previous idea for an Iron Reaper Legion had been shut down by the group after she brought the idea up, Jaune made a compelling point that having them everywhere would make people uneasy, they were supposed to be a small group of trust worthy people, if they left it up to machines they would be concerned with logic and not ethics. The counter argument was that PENNY was technically a machine and Jaune then agreed and said that PENNY also had years to develop a personality, learn from Ruby, look after her. He finished by saying that PENNY was more human than some of the people he had met and that she was a brain without a body.
The others were slightly torn about the 2 sides, Ren understood where Ruby was coming from but sided with Jaune because he said Beacon tried this idea before and it didn't work out well at all, Pyrrha sided with Jaune straight away and said the collective had the idea and practiced it and they once left a passenger ship without fuel stranded so they could divert all resources of the outpost to saving one political leader while they were stranded, the results did not over shadow the means in this case.
Blake was in favour of having others around the world to help with protection but instead said that they should have allies that were either faunus or human and have them working together, expand the rooster they already had because without Nora they were lacking in power, and while she acknowledged that was not all that Nora brought to the table, they could not deny she was a void not easily filled.
Yang got where Ruby was coming from but after the story from Pyrrha she was instantly swayed over to being against it, she made it clear that this was not any lack of faith in Ruby and her abilities, but if these machines were then to respond to threats, how long before they decided that Yang getting too angry and out of control was a threat and turned on her. Once this was brought up the others all said again this was not against Ruby's abilities, if anyone could make an army of robots and control them it would be Ruby, they just said it shouldn't happen.
Weiss agreed with Ruby, saying that having some people to look out for the civilians while they worked would be beneficial as it was mostly Weiss who focused on making sure they were all protected and she focused on playing support for their team, although once she heard Blake's idea of bringing in more people she then changed her view of it all, but said they really needed to vet and interview all who would join the team so they got the right personalities and this then lead to a new debate between them all.
Ruby took all of this on and thought about it and then called a meeting the next day. "What kind of leader would I be if I didn't listen to my team, I have scrapped the idea and filed it away, I'm not getting rid of it completely but I won't do it, instead I am proposing that instead of PENNY running the legion; PENNY joins the team."
A silence followed as everyone looked at each other and then Blake spoke up. "Um Ruby, pretty sure PENNY out ranks all of us as your second in command, she was already on the team."
PENNY'S voice then rang out around the room. "Thank you Blake, I consider it all of our team though, because it has my friends on it."
"I'm happy with that, everyone else in favour of changing the name to PENNY'S Bit-"
"Yang jar." Ren interrupted as he pointed to the swear jar that was next to Pyrrha, she was the responsible one that looked after it as she never swore, even Jaune dropped one once as he was hit by the car yesterday when he went on patrol, something Yang was not letting him forget anytime soon.
"Damn, Blake can you spot me for this one?" The queen rolled her eyes and tossed a Lien coin in the jar while giving Yang a heated glare who looked apologetic, although not exactly too sorry to not stare at Blake in her workout outfit.
"What I am saying is that I build an android body for PENNY, and then she joins the team physically, with all of us living here we don't need her around the house and she is not anywhere other than my computer at STRQ, so if she is out there with us then she can help, she can learn what it is to be human."
"Well this is certainly better than the alternative you gave us yesterday, I'm in favour of it, perhaps even teaching her some Magic tricks might open her mind up further." Weiss said as Ruby pouted, and that is how she had ended up here right now, in her laboratory working on an android body and after one week she had made some excellent strides, she had asked Blake if she could have some of the precious material to help create PENNY'S body and Blake had said she could, one of the provisions was that STRQ were to hire a good friend of hers Ilia as Ruby's assistant, since the incident with Adam, Ilia had been lost and unsure in the world and she needed something to work for, so Ruby met with her and showed her around the place, and even showed her around the mansion saying that they could make up a room for her somewhere as there would no doubt be space somewhere for her, Weiss had joined her and Blake for the tour and was intent on asking Ilia many questions, in-fact now that she thought about it Weiss seemed to take the lead on the conversation very well and most of the time Ruby and Blake were just watching them speak.
Huh, oh well, since she had taken a look at the files and Ruby's workload she had been a great help and had organised a lot, Blake then after hearing how the first few days were going said that after a trip home she would bring back some of the material, on the other condition that Ruby would not try to duplicate it, which she also promised, she knew the risks of messing with this element even the scans she had of Jaune's shield which was the element in its strongest form showed that any attempt to recreate it would only lead to disaster.
This was when PENNY's voice called out to her, Ruby even detected a slight nervousness to it. "Ruby are you sure this is the best thing to do? Perhaps we can be working on a solution for your pains-"
"NO! This is even more important! Well it's more up to you really, I just thought you might be interested in what it would be like to walk, to fly and to do human stuff, other than occasionally turn on the kitchen lights and bring up a holomap. This will give you a chance to do your own things that you want to do." Ruby explained as she continued working and then paused as she didn't get an immediate reply. "You can say you don't want this, if you are comfortable just being a voice you do not need to have a body… I will admit to being selfish in wanting to hug my best friend."
PENNY then spoke up after a few more moments. "I too wish to be able to hug, might I make a suggestion as to the design; I would like to be a red head, I think that colour would suit me the best."
Ruby grinned widely as she then scrapped the idea she previously had and then brought out a few different styles of hair. "Well pick a style and then we can work on the colour, anything for my friend."
Meanwhile in a different room of the mansion Ren and Weiss were enjoying the peace and quiet of the mansion as they sipped on their tea, they often had it with Blake as well because they all liked to have a simply time away from the loud explosions and jokes that their teammates often did, The 3 of them did consider inviting Pyrrha in to the group however they all did reason that maybe they should leave someone sensible to watch over the others unless they got to active, they couldn't always reign in the enthusiasm of Yang, Nora and Ruby, it was a full time job after all.
"This Chai Green Tea is very lovely Ren." Weiss noted as she took another sip of the warm liquid with an approving look directed at her friend, she opted to sit cross-legged on a cushion while Ren often knelt down on the carpet and held the cup with both of his hands.
"Thank you, Blake recommended it to me after she realised that she would not be able to make this little get together when heading back to her kingdom, she said she would also bring back a drink from there for us to try as well." Ren explained as he breathed in the scent and then took a sip.
"So long as it is not another one of your health smoothies, I do not understand how Jaune can stomach those but not sit through a Bullhead flight."
"Clearly he enjoys them."
"Ren nobody enjoys them, they survive them."
Ren smiled slightly and then a comfortable silence came over the 2 once again, only broken when Weiss' scroll beeped signalling that she had a message and she abandoned all pretence of trying to look dignified and relaxed, instead looking like someone who just got a text from their crush and not the master magician that she really was.
Looking at the scroll Ren observed that her cheeks took on a slightly pink tint and she had a small carefree smile go out across her face and he raised an eyebrow and choose not to comment on it, but that is not how Weiss saw it as when she placed her scroll down she noticed the look Ren was giving her and instantly grew defensive and slightly embarrassed. "What? It was… important."
Ren smiled behind his mug and said in response. "And I assume it is just a good friend of yours?"
"I don't know what you are implying between myself and Ilia, I only wish to make her feel welcome and prove that as a Schnee I do not hate Faunus, and since my brother has taken over the company many things have changed."
Ren could not believe that Weiss fell for it so easily. "Who said anything about Ilia?"
"I-I-I-I um, you, gah YOU TRICKED ME!" The outburst hit her a second later and she slapped a hand over her mouth and then said in a more reasonable voice after a cough. "Ahem, I mean; you have played some serious mind games here Ren and I will return the favour of asking about Nora now."
"I miss her." Ren said after a few moments. "But I know this is important to her, figuring out who she really is, what she is meant to do, not what she is supposed to do. She is the best pancake eater in the galaxy, a marvellous warrior… and she is a good friend, the best I have ever had and I can't wait to see her again to tell her how much she means to me."
"I never had you pegged as the romantic type; Blake maybe at first before we discovered what she really liked to read and cancelled the book club, although the memory of it still scares me to this day, but not you." Weiss said honestly, the book club idea came before this tea one, herself, Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha had met to pick a book to read and then discuss and Blake pulled rank by being a queen and then there was that… FILTH, Weiss had been shocked, Jaune had gone white, Pyrrha had turned red and Blake had been more intense than she was fighting against Adam. It was their first and last meeting and they made a pact to never tell Yang about a single thing that happened.
"I guess maybe it is romantic, but in the same way it is not. It's comfort, it's protection, it's care. I doubt I will actually be allowed to have a romance, her being a goddess that will still be here in 10,000 years and me who would be lucky to live past 70. I just don't think it would work out that well is all, but at least we would both know how I feel."
"And would you be happy?"
"I think it very much depends on her answer, but either way I am sure I can find a way to be happy." Ren answered the burning question on his mind with a serious look as Weiss nodded.
"Good, I will not have one of my friends and teammates being unhappy."
"I think Ruby is unhappy with the hour you drag her outside for and also the hour you make her do exercise."
"True, but have you considered the very important fact that – she needs to get over it?"
That actually managed to make Ren laugh out loud and Weiss joined him, it might not be the quiet club anymore but it was certainly peaceful.
Jaune moaned and groaned from his position on the floor and Pyrrha was shooting him concerned and scarred glances, constantly fidgeting in her seat, unable to sit still while he was obviously in such visible distress and discomfort on the floor.
Blake was being put off from the noises as she was flying and Yang just rolled her eyes at the behaviour of the Captain, glad that the bucket was indeed on the flight and that he had it clenched in between his legs, ready for when he inevitably threw up. It did seem that his attempt at lying down was providing him with a certain amount of relief and he had not yet emptied his toast from this morning.
"Coming in to my airspace right now." Blake announced as she got a relieved sigh from Pyrrha and a moan from Jaune, she suspected that it was a moan of appreciation, and then she had a little mischievous thought and decided to act on it. "Why Captain I never imagined this being the situation where I get a moan from you, although in the other one you are indeed lying down."
Jaune moaned louder at the teasing and Pyrrha turned bright red like her hair, not really an achievement but the look on Yangs face was enough for Blake as she simultaneously went jealous and then devious as she got an idea of her own. "Strange I think this is exactly how I imagined that Pyrrha would like it."
Said woman was now matching a tomato in every way but the size of her as she began to almost break her neck by shaking her head side to side to rid herself of the thoughts in her head.
The Bullhead landed on a platform near the sea and as the 4 of them stepped out, one of them falling to the floor and praising solid ground, they all took in the lovely sea breeze and the smell of sea salt that came through the air, that was also when Blake noticed the lined up group of her council and some of her soldiers behind her as well as a number of faunus that were excited to see their queen returned home, and so she stepped forward to give a speech for her welcome back, Yang had hauled Jaune to his feet so as not to completely look like a fool.
"Greetings everyone, I am honoured to have so many of you here to welcome me back home. I know I have not been here for the early days of my rule but I trust the council has acted well in my absence. Over the next few weeks I will be catching up and I will be taking a forward approach to my leadership, I have much to tell about the rest of the world. Most importantly I hope that you welcome my friends here like you have welcomed me back home, they are trust worthy and they are some of the best people I know." Blake turned to then look each of the 3 in their eyes. "I am happy to have you here."
Yang smiled and then sided up to Blake and gave her a friendly punch on the shoulder and wrapped an arm around her afterwards, un aware that every soldier then tensed up and levelled their spears at her back. "Aww, and I can't wait to see you in a cool crown, I'm going to take so many pictures for the others."
Blake rolled her eyes and shrugged off Yang's arm in good nature as the blond chuckled to herself, she then gestured for a scientist from the lab to come forward and they did so with a bow. "Would you please accompany Captain Arc and take him and his shield pieces to the laboratory, it is need of some repair."
Jaune gave the scientist a grateful smile and also held out his hand in a greeting, the faunus looked first at the queen and then at the Captain before he settled on the hand and then reached out cautiously to shake it.
"Of course, follow me with your things hu-"
"His name is Jaune." Blake cut in before the scientist could finish the word and he seemed to freeze up and Jaune then brushed it off with an easy going smile to try and break through Blake's hard look upon the scientist.
"Yep that's me, what is your name doctor?" Jaune put in all the charisma he had, the stuff that had helped him lead men and reassure prisoners of war he was there to save them and he thought he saw the scientist ease up a little.
"Dr Roger Scarlatina."
"A doctor and a captain walking together, if we had a vicar this would be an interesting joke." Jaune said with a smile that Pyrrha gave him and Yang had a little chuckle, Blake didn't show much of a reaction except a quick tilt of her lips and then she was stoic again as she turned away and then moved to her council, Yang deciding to follow her and Pyrrha deciding to stick with him as Dr Roger then lead them through the kingdom.
As they walked Jaune couldn't help marvel at the structures and how relaxed everyone seemed to be, the market stalls at the docks were like something out of the fantasy books he used to read back when he was a child and the main city was a scientific wonder, this was what they told him all those years ago the future would look like, Ruby would be eating her heart out but she was staying behind to create PENNY a body, something Jaune was originally uneasy of because of her original idea about a legion of metal, but now learning it would just be PENNY was a more relaxing thought, she was indeed more human than some he had met before.
Jaune and Pyrrha were also being escorted by a group of Blake's soldiers and looking at them Jaune was honestly very impressed, they carried themselves with dignity and strength, their very presence commanded respect and Jaune felt himself stand a little straighter as he walked with them, Pyrrha likewise was impressed by her surroundings and by the people they came across, they all looked so relaxed, their gazes might turn a little hard when they spotted her or Jaune but in fairness they were strangers here so it was warranted.
"This place is beautiful." Pyrrha said out loud, not particularly speaking to anyone but also directing it at Jaune and the doctor they were following.
"I agree, this kingdom is a marvel, comparable to some artwork I have seen." Jaune admitted and the doctor turned to them slightly with a strange look on his face.
"What surprised that Faunus could make something so beautiful?" His words had a sting to them and Jaune felt a little taken back, but Pyrrha meanwhile didn't either notice or she was content to just overlook it.
"I have seen things here that even my people several galaxies away could not create." She admitted as the doctor then just look confused as he regarded her with cautious eyes, he then turned to Jaune as if to ask if she was making fun of him but Pyrrha answered for me. "I was raised on a planet called Sparta, it is millions of miles away and while it is far more technologically advanced than this planet, it has all but lost its beauty and instead feelings are something of an artificial weakness that many of my fellow species have removed from them."
"You are an alien?" The doctor asked, his face looked on in amazement as though he had made an amazing discovery, which to be fair he had as Pyrrha was pretty awesome, at least in Jaune's humble opinion.
"Half an alien and half a human, although I am happy to call this planet and it's people my home, you all seem more welcoming than my own." Pyrrha admitted, as Roger then turned to Jaune with an astonished gaze.
"Are you an alien as well?"
"Me? Oh no, I'm from Remnant just like you Dr Roger, just from a lot longer ago is all, I was frozen in ice for more than 50ish years, still not so sure on the whole timeline if I am being honest, this is exactly the world that they advertised to me back then though, never thought I would live to see it however… it's beautiful beyond words." Jaune was open and honest as he looked both around him and then into Dr Roger's eyes, they had stopped in the middle of the street to observe each other and also their surroundings, Jaune was holding the case that had all his shield parts inside of it but his other hand had gestured both around the market area and then towards where the centre of the kingdom lay.
"Thank you Captain Jaune, and you too, may I welcome you to Remnant and to Menagerie." Pyrrha smiled back at him, this was when Jaune noticed off in the corner of his eyes a tall and muscular woman with rabbit ears atop her head and a large sword on her back, she wore the queens guard uniform and when she noticed Jaune an evil and mischievous smile broke across her face, the 2 guards that were accompanying them straightened up instantly and saluted when she arrived in-front of them all.
"Hello there blondie, back for another wrestle are you? No archer to save you this time though." She eyed him up and down and Pyrrha did not like the way they trailed over him as she stood a little straighter, although the strong looking woman barely paid her a glance.
"Um I am sorry about that, but speaking honestly ma'am, you were trying to kill me."
"Oh I don't judge, but if you would prefer a more relaxed fight next time, a simple wrestle then I am all for it." Her voice had become a purr despite her faunus traits not showing that she was a cat in any shape or form, as she closed in though a sharp clearing of the throat caused her to back up. "Daaadd!" She seemed to whine, although Pyrrha didn't feel like giving her any mercy.
"Miriko, we are going to the lab and you remember you are still banned after what happened with your sister."
"Hey she turned out alright didn't she? And now she is away in the mountains doing all that meditating stuff and being all zen, believing in dragons and what not."
"That is my point, after the accident she was never the same, so you are banned; please this way you two and forgive my daughter."
"Uh I was more hoping that she would forgive me for hurting her." Jaune tried to say but she stopped him with a finger to the lips and the leaned in close to his ear.
"I'm a big girl, I can take a little punishment." She whispered, but then Jaune was pulled away from her as she looked upon the redhaired woman next to him who pushed him after her dad, the look in her eyes clearly saying 'back off'.
As they entered into a lab they were going down a lot of steps, it was a long walk from the market which was mostly filled with Jaune and Pyrrha telling Roger about both their time and also about their experiences, he seemed far more interested in Pyrrha which Jaune could relate to, he was interested to learn a lot about her as well as she was now a new member of the team and he was excited to see how they would progress together.
"Well Jaune here we are, now why don't you open up that case and we can see what we are working on here." Roger had warmed up to them considerably over the course of their journey and was very comfortable calling them by their names and looking them in the eyes, Jaune understood that he stood taller than everyone else, as did Pyrrha for the most part and since they both exercised a lot they had very visible muscles that could intimidate people so he was not offended by any of it.
He placed the case on the table and then opened it up to reveal what was inside and it broke his heart all over again, in the moment when Roman had shattered it Jaune felt something in himself break as well, but he had to push on and complete the fight, he would mourn the loss of his dearest friend and companion later in his own way. It truly was a part of him that he held dear, it had been with him through a lot and Jaune was sad to see it hurt.
"Oh my, that is some sever damage." Roger said as he picked through the pieces and then laid them all out with Jaune's help into the correct shape. "This is a very unusual thing to happen, especially with this level of the material in its raw form. Might I ask who managed to do this?"
"The trickster god Roman, powered up by the force of Valkyrie." Jaune answered as his eyes never left the broken double crescent insignia painted on the shield.
"Right… no further questions, we should be able to sonically weld it back together piece by piece, but it will take a least 2 weeks to ensure it is properly done without the risk of it breaking again."
"Please just whatever you are able to do is enough, this beautiful thing and I have been through a lot together and I wouldn't want to part with her so soon."
Pyrrha gave him a little look and asked in a small teasing tone. "Should I be concerned with your love for such an inanimate object?"
"Well she always comes back to me, hard not to love something that does that." Jaune replied with a smile as Pyrrha gave her own in return, this was the moment when Blake and Yang walked in with some more members of the queens guard as well as some other people that looked to be highly political, possibly members of this council Blake had spoken about. All the occupants in the room bowing low to their queen and Jaune and Pyrrha then moved to awkwardly bow but Blake stopped them.
"My friends, you bow to no-one." The normal Blake they had around the mansion was so much different from the Blake they had in-front of them right now, the change was enough to make them speechless. "Any hope for your shield Jaune."
"Yes it looks like it, thank you again… your majesty." He said with a smile, the edge of teasing in his voice and Blake gave him a look and pointed at his face in a vague threat.
"Don't make me have you executed." And Jaune just smiled back at her sharing a grin with Yang as she moved past them and focused on Roger.
"Doctor I request something unique, I would like to have some of the material in its more fine form, something that could be easy for a novice to manipulate." To which Roger waved at another scientist who ran to go and collect what the queen requested.
"Might I ask what this is for your majesty?" The curiosity of a scientist would never be stopped.
"You may, it is for Ruby Rose of the Hunters to use to create an android body for her A.I." Roger stilled as did the council.
"An outsider? And a human at that?" Cried one member of the council as Blake turned to her and said passively.
"Sienna, it is a debt I am repaying to her and a promise she will be keeping as well."
"Have you forgotten that STRQ has been the weapons that Adam has used for years to fight us and divide us?"
"No I haven't, but Ruby did not supply him those weapons, they were stollen from her and she worked hard to reclaim many of them, and she is a friend and my team leader, I trust her judgement."
"And what if you are wrong?"
Blake was quiet for a moment at this, they had all spoken about this if Ruby didn't keep her word, she agreed that she would need to be stopped and then said that they should come up with a way to stop her if she went too far and was the first to vote in favour of any contingencies against her, everyone else reluctantly agreed. "If your queen is wrong then we will all put a stop to Ruby, together."
Jaune spoke up, his voice taking on a weight to it, everyone in the room had agreed afterwards that in the event that Ruby did need to be stopped, if she could not be talked down by Yang, Jaune or the rest of the team then they would take her down and Jaune would take charge of the team until she came back around, they would not give up on her.
"Take no offence human, but how can we trust one of your kind with the material of ours?"
"Because a long time ago your past king Ghira, Blake's father, trusted me with my shield after I saved his life. And Blake is trusting Ruby with it after Ruby helped save her life."
"And my sister might be a lot of things, but above all she values the trust that others put in her with their life's work, she won't miss use it." Yang had complete and utter faith in Ruby, she would up hold her end of the deal.
"We even had a magician forge a contract between the 2 of us, Ruby would not break that." The word contract carried an unspeakable weight to it and the 4 heroes instantly stiffened at the word, they had all been in the room when Weiss cast the spell, the terms of which were that Ruby would not try to synthesise the material, use it for anything else or put it in her own armour.
"I must advise against this my queen, you cannot trust the humans, they have nefarious intent." Sienna said as she pointed at Jaune then Yang and then Pyrrha.
"I'm an alien."
"Technically I'm a dust reactor."
"I'm mostly a science experiment as well, out of all of us Blake is the closest to human there is in this group of the team." Jaune said, although that seemed to be the wrong thing to say judging from the look on Sienna's face so he back peddled and decided he was going to be quiet right now.
"Ruby won't let me down, she hasn't so far and I trust her." Blake had now moved so that she was exclusively facing Sienna, the staring contest between the 2 a great one.
"And what do we get in return out of this deal then, your majesty?" While the word had some venom behind it Blake smiled at the question as though she was waiting for it.
"I thought you would never ask, Ruby Rose is not only the smartest person on the planet, a great hero, an influential figure or a good friend, she is also one of the richest and most caring about future investments, not only did she accept Ilia into her company and as a position of trust within her business I also asked that she purchase several areas for redevelopment around several of the kingdoms, to create communities for more people to live in."
"For Faunus to live in?"
"No, for all people, the mixing of culture is what will push us forward to new heights, to new discoveries, to new and better ways of thinking; there will be chances to go into Ruby's company and develop lifesaving life-saving treatments, improve ways of living, advance transportation, develop new food solutions. Put short the possibilities are endless, and this is from working together with just one human, imagine what could happen when working with more of them and them working with us."
"Blake… this is a dream that will not come true no matter what you try."
"It will, because I am not the only one doing all they can, the rest of my friends are helping, Ruby and I spoke with the head of Beacon Ozpin and he is on board, other members to the Vale kingdom council, companies that will join us in Vale, people are on board to help out, to make everyone feel safer… if the recent alien attacks have proved anything it is that our problems with each other on this planet are way too small to bother about, we have been shown that we are not alone out there so we need to act like we are not alone here." Blake's speech was so passionate and caring that the scientists, the queens guard and the other members of the council were all moved by it, Sienna looked like she was about to say something and then thought on it for a moment.
"I-I have my reservations, but I can't deny the passion you put in your words. However I reserve my right to remain sceptical."
"And I respect those thoughts you might have, to ease your mind perhaps you can join me in a talk with Ruby, you can hear it from her side and she and I can answer any questions you might have." Blake offered as Sienna nodded in agreement.
"I will have many."
"And I expect nothing less from you, thank you Dr Roger, Jaune and Pyrrha will be heading back to Vale to deliver this to Ruby and Yang will be staying here with me, I hope you 2 have a safe journey back… especially you Pyrrha, a few have cleaned the Bullhead and replaced the bucket."
Jaune looked slightly ashamed as Pyrrha eyed him almost in a teasing warning, meanwhile Yang rolled her eyes and then leaned into one of the queens guard and whispered loudly for everyone to hear. "Their first proper date and he is gonna be throwing up the whole time, wow."
Smash cut and Yang was waving goodbye to the Bullhead as Blake stood next to her in a more dignified manor, keeping composed but still observing the Bullhead leaving the landing platform, her scientist had loaded up the material and then Jaune had made sure it was not going to move around the area, he seemed reluctant to leave until Yang promised that she would visit his shield and take good care of it.
This seemed to calm him down and Pyrrha and Blake shared a look, what struck Blake as odd was that Miriko was there to say goodbye to them and what confused her even more was the different expressions that several people wore on their faces because of this, Jaune looked very shy, Pyrrha looked nearly murderous and Miriko was leering heavily at Jaune and naturally Yang was understandably amused by her presence and the effect it was having on Pyrrha. It did not take a genius to see that the alien warrior had it bad for the man out of time.
"So now it's just a beautiful kingdom for the next few weeks… and all of your deadly and well trained bodyguards, and the council; you know the more I speak the less and less romantic it sounds." Yang points out, her foot-in-mouth disease coming to the fore-front of the moment.
"Who says this is a romantic thing we are going to be having?" Blake asked, hoping to have caught Yang out.
"Whoa us? Who said us, I was talking about me and my time relaxing in this kingdom. What were you thinking of Blake? Something naughty?" Yang teased as Blake rolled her eyes, and turned with a gesture of come on to her teammate as the 2 then headed back through the market, it was going to be a long couple of weeks.
Meanwhile on the Bullhead Jaune sat hunched over as he had his eyes shut very tightly, he had chosen to sit in his usual spot at the back as Pyrrha was in the pilot seat, occasionally looking back at him in worry. Jaune could feel it all rumbling in his stomach and then he felt someone rubbing his back and it calmed down the churning. "Pyrrha?"
"Um I-I thought this would help you stay calm?" She offered nervously as Jaune gave a pained grin, well less pained than he usually was when he was flying.
"It is helping, I tell you, if we were meant to fly we would have been given wings."
"You say this to one of your teammates that can fly?"
"Well your technically an alien aren't you? So you don't quite count."
"Ruby then?"
"If her mother could have strapped a jet pack onto herself and flown she would of, Ruby is no different."
There was a moment of silence between them as Pyrrha kept rubbing his back as he felt more and more comfortable on the Bullhead, before Pyrrha spoke up again to ask a question that had been on her mind since learning that Jaune Arc was back. "What was it like coming out of the ice?"
"Terrifying." Jaune answers instantly, no hesitation and he does not elaborate, Pyrrha can feel the relaxed back suddenly tense up under her touch and she slows her rubbing slightly.
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault, I… I just, I'm ashamed of how I felt so scared. I felt fear in battle, I felt fear in all of our fights, but I push through it… but that moment of terror, of complete panic. That was different, I had lost everyone and it's like I didn't even get to see it, they just passed me by."
"I'm here for you Jaune, like you are here for me if you need to talk more. That's what friends do after all."
"Heh, friends with a little green man."
"Um what?"
"Sorry, Tai and Qrow used to say aliens were these little green men, guess they were wrong." Jaune then opened his eyes and looked at her. "They look like angels."
Pyrrha flushed slightly as Jaune then closed his eyes and groaned as there was a bit of turbulence. "You still owe me that chocolate you know, what do you say we go and get it, t-tomorrow perhaps?"
"Whatever you want, although I do need to make a stop along the way, just want to visit someone, at the veterans centre in Vale."
"Okay, I'm up for it, we can make a day of it."
Ren, Weiss and Ruby all sat around the table in the meeting room as a hologram of several different people were brought up on the table and then Ren spoke up. "Ever since the talk we had where we brought up recruiting more members I've been listening and watching the news and getting together some possible candidates, I think we would all have to vote them in but this is a good chance here for us to at least consider some options, and Jaune and Pyrrha are due to arrive any minute now so soon we will have 6 members here to discuss about this."
There was a moment of silence as Weiss did the maths and then looked at Ren with a raised eyebrow. "Um that would make 5."
"Oh your counting PENNY." Ruby mentioned as she continued to work on some schematics with half her attention at the same time while listening to the little meeting, Ren then gave her a nod as Weiss then had a look of understanding.
"Naturally, forgive me PENNY, once you have a form it will be harder to forget about you."
"No offence take friend Weiss, I shall project a holographic head in Nora's chair, I hope she does not mind." And there was a floating head of a girl with wide green eyes and long red hair, she even had a pink bow in her hair as well and a dash of freckles across her face.
"That's better." Weiss said as she then turned her attention to the floating people on the table. "Who do we have first then Ren?"
"Ruby and I have already met him, the Monkey King from Vacuo, he is strong, fast, and seems to travel around using some sort of custom vines that shoot from his wrists, BEACON worked for years to try to uncover his identity and turned up nothing, but he is good at what he does."
"He had a cool suit style." Ruby commented as she looked at him. "He also worked quite well with us in our team up, he focused more on getting people out of the way, so some help for you there Weiss."
"Next up; there is another 2 in Vacuo as well, a bullet proof man named Yatsuhashi Dachi and then there is another who fights crime in a more… brutal fashion, he calls himself The Fox and he beats criminals to a pulp, he hasn't killed anyone yet but he has put more than a few into the hospital for extended periods of time."
"What do you think these 2 would add to the team?" Weiss asks.
"Versatility if nothing else, Yatsuhashi hides nothing and can take the heavy fire to a degree and The Fox has been able to evade criminal families after him and law enforcement as well."
"It's the law enforcement that worries me the most." Ruby pointed out.
"If we judged everyone on their worst mistakes then we never would have allowed any of us to join now would we?" Jaune's voice rung out from the entrance as he and Pyrrha walked in.
"YOUR BACK! DID YOU GET THE THING? DIDYOUDIDYOU?!" Ruby cried out excitedly as she ran and hugged the both of them instantly.
"Yes we did, we just dropped it off in your lab." Pyrrha said as she gave Weiss and Ren a polite smile and then looked at the holograms. "What is this all for?"
"New recruits, thought we would get started ahead of the game." Ren explained as the 2 then took a seat and Ruby was bouncing around the table.
"Can I go and create Penny now, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssseee?"
"Knock yourself out, this isn't the vote just information." Ren offered, the smirk on his face plain to see as the others all found her enthusiasm to be infectious and they could not stop the smiles on their own faces as their leader leaves the room to create their next member of the team.
"Sorry to interrupt Ren, where were we?" Jaune asks as he looks at the profiles of The Fox and Yatsuhashi, more of his gaze going to The Fox.
"With these 2 I think you said it the best, if we were to judge anyone on their worst mistakes then there would not be The Hunters, I shall table them for a different time. Next up we have-"
"Coco Adel?" Weiss cut in with a confused look.
"You know her?" Pyrrha asks curiously, the woman face looked familiar to her as well but she couldn't quite place it.
"Yes, she is a fashion model and designer in Mistral, made a few dresses for myself back when I was part of the SDC before I left to become a doctor."
"You must have been young because you were a doctor for a few years weren't you, and studying for it as well-"
"I worked for my company while I did my studying, it wasn't difficult, I just didn't sleep. But Coco designed a few of the dresses I wore, as well as my sister and mother."
"She is also able to leap tall buildings." Ren pointed out as they watched a video where she launched herself into the air and onto a rooftop.
"Oh, like Yang?" Jaune said as he watched it on repeat.
"Not quite, whatever was done to her was not the same, she does not give off the same energy read outs as Yang does, nor does it appear it is an enhancement similar to yours Jaune as her body has not under gone any growth of large muscles, in short it is unconfirmed what has happened to her."
"Does she want to be a hero?" Weiss asked in a bit of disbelief, sure the few times she had met Coco the woman was confident, extremely so, like higher than Nora level of confidence, but the want to help people was a rare thing these days.
"She has a bit of moonlighting as a private detective."
"One for later, who else?" Jaune said as he looked hopeful for another applicant.
"That's all I can find for now as possible ones." Ren admitted as the profiles all floated next to each other, although the image of The Fox was in complete darkness and the hint of a mask was there.
"Then I would like to offer up a name; Oscar Pine." Jaune said as everyone looked at him in curiosity, nobody knew who that was. "Um PENNY could you please bring up everything you know about him."
"There are 4 different Oscar Pine's in Vale and then there are the other territories and the other kingdoms to consider as well, I will have to ask you to be a tad more specific."
"He works at the Vet centre here in Vale, served sometime in the military."
Ding
A profile appeared of a smiling face, he was in some tactical trousers and a lightweight shirt, he had goggles on his head and what appeared to be a parachute attached to his back and he was standing arm in arm with another man. "That's him."
"Which one?"
"The one on the right. I met him while ago, he is kind, all the good traits are there and I think he could be a good help to us."
"Um are you sure Jaune, these reports say he left the military and has not been active for a while, not even a peep out of him."
"We aren't just looking for fighters, we are looking for teammates, like-minded people who want to make the world a better place; Oscar Pine is one of those people."
"Very well I'll put him on the list, anyone else or is this meeting adjourned?" Ren asked the other 3 as Pyrrha shook her head politely and Weiss said no.
"Good work Ren, perhaps tomorrow after a rest we can work up strategies on how best we can approach them and who should as well, for now though I think you have done above and beyond my friend." Jaune said with a smile on his face as Ren returned it.
"Thank you, needed something to get my mind off of Nora." He admitted as he took a seat and the others all then leaned in for a more personal conversation.
"You know she will be okay right? I have memories of fighting some of the toughest in the galaxy and Nora is leagues above them." Pyrrha assured with a warm smile.
"It's not that I doubt her strength, far from it, I just worry. That's it, I just worry, no reason to it."
"There doesn't need to be a reason Ren, it is perfectly natural." Weiss said as she leaned back in her chair, the times that she would worry about some of her patients coming to her mind, they would often say don't get attached but sometimes you did and Weiss didn't see those attachments as a weakness, they were a strength for her to push through the hardest of moments.
"Thank you for understanding my friends, now I believe we should try to convince our beloved leader to get some sleep, she can science in the morning.
Line break
Ruby struggled against the energy bindings as she stared at the clock, it was 8'oclock! Weiss should be awake now and she should be released from these bonds!
It had taken the combined might of all of her friends to pull her away from her work bench to make sure that she got some sleep and then they had pinned her to her own bed and Weiss had done some of her stupid 'Magic' and she was confined to it, forced to sleep! This was outrageous!
The door opened and Weiss stood there with a mug of warm milk and a plate of cookies.
This was brilliant!
"Good you are awake, you will have this and then it will be an hour outside in fresh air before you are allowed to do any tinkering in you workshop."
"Aw but I'm so close and PENNY needs me to create Penny 2.0" Ruby whined, she was so close and soon she would be able to hug her oldest friend and her current greatest creation to date.
"PENNY has been working on designs all night, she has chosen what she would like her appearance to look like and she said she wished it to be a surprise for you, you adding of the Material of Blakes was the final step that she required, now it is up to her to upload her consciousness and put the finishing touches on her own form." Weiss explained as she removed the binding spell from Ruby who was moving like a rocket and had gulped down the mug of warm milk, fresh from the microwave and was currently stuffing 4 cookies in her mouth at once.
"Okay but no exercise!" Ruby bargained.
Weiss then turned to her with a soft look. "Ruby, we both know the real reason you are putting so much work into Penny, but you need to think about yourself as well, the team can help you, we can help you and keep you a-"
"Weiss." Her voice was so serious that the magician stopped talking and just looked into the eyes of her friend. "I know what I am doing, and I know that this next thing needs to be done more than anything, the team will need this to help them."
"If you say so." Weiss offers quietly and Ruby takes her hand and the two stand and walk out of the room.
"I do, I have something in mind, but I need other things to happen first, I need to cement something truly good into the world before I focus on myself. I did that once and built weapons of mass destruction, never again."
"Okay, but you are exercising at the very least."
"I will be complaining though." As she followed her good friend down the steps and outside into the blinding sunlight, then she spotted Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha all stood there in work out gear and Ruby realised this was a trap. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She cried out dramatically for the amusement of the others as Weiss watched her go and then a sad smile took on her face, the results of that medical exam still heavy in her mind.
ONE HOUR LATER
Ruby collapsed on the ground face down, her nose was breathing in the scents of the grass and the dirt and her heart was pounding in her ears, very faintly she could hear Jaune in the background asking if she was okay and if she needed a glass of water, or of Ren's smoothie, neither of those options were particularly appealing to her at all, what she needed, what she craved in her soul after the intense exercise that they inflicted upon her-
-seriously he was a soldier enhanced to the peak of human fitness, beyond it by a margin of 4 according to her parents notes, Pyrrha was a literally AMAZON from history, sure she could fly and bend steel and shoot those photon blasts from her hand, but she was an AMAZON FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Or maybe that was just how her alien race trained.
And Ren, Ruby thought she might get a bit of relief from Ren but no, the guy didn't once complain at all in the face of all the pain, he was not bothered at all by the way that Pyrrha or Jaune were both still doing the press ups long after she had finished, or after he had finished either, he was only normal like her and he didn't once seem like this was hell on earth.
And what was Weiss doing I hear you ask? Well she was jogging! Yes it keeps you healthy but at what cost? She was doing laps on the trail around the mansion that Jaune and Blake ran together and yes she was sweaty and a bit red in the face, but she still said that an hour of exercise was good for you, the nerve of her so called friends, all of them!
So NO! Ruby did not need water, she did not need one of those smoothies that even Pyrrha, the most polite person apparently in the whole galaxy would not stomach down when it was offered to her, (she had tried when she saw Jaune drink one) no what Ruby desired more than anything in the world right now was-
"Sal-u-tations friend Ruby, I have a fresh cup of coffee with a side of extra milk and cookies right here for you!"
-there it was and there she was.
Ruby and the others beheld PENNY in her form and they all stood in awe of her, she had long flowing ginger hair that travelled down to the mid back, in the hair she had a black bow which then had pink highlights around the edges of it, her eyes were both a brilliant colour of green, almost like the grass and they were also so bright as well, she had a small dash of freckles surrounding her cheeks and a mouth that seemed to want to pull into a smile at every opportunity, she was the same height as Ruby when the genius finally pulled herself off the ground and she was wearing black boots up to her thighs with a green energy line running down them and a nice white top with green skirt combination.
She was so perfectly PENNY that Ruby felt a tear fall from her face as she swept her friend up in a hug as the machine girl dropped the coffee, milk and cookies in surprise, Ruby didn't even care about what happened to them.
"This is what I need." Ruby mumbled into her neck as PENNY then moved her own arms around Ruby and returned the hug.
Once the 2 of them had bonded for a moment they released and Jaune stepped forward. "Well it is nice to finally meet you PENNY."
"Oh it's just Penny, no need for all the capitals, just the one, like with names and the word Magic."
"Penny, I love you." Weiss then said as she felt the android wrap her arms around her and hug her tightly, just as she switched over to Jaune, then Ren and then Pyrrha and then back to Ruby.
Training would have to wait it would seem.