To LoamyCoffee's Chapter 55 Review, I already have something in mind for when Yang finds out next-chapter; before or immediately-after their fight wasn't a good time to add that brand of salt to that particular wound. And Jack isn't as much a magnet for sex as he is, someone who goes out and has the "opportunity" to have sex; though his power and confidence certainly help. Kinda like how She-Hulk in the Marvel comics has a bit of a "list" because she actually puts herself "out there". From a narrative standpoint it probably helped that her outside matched how she felt on the inside, but I feel like that would probably need a whole dissertation that's been done to death before on Youtube.
Also, as Jack said to Weiss, Faunus view sex far-differently than Humans do; RWBY canon did… barely anything to show what "Faunus Culture" was like beyond facing "racial discrimination" (which is NOT A CULTURE, by the way!), hence why I mixed the deities of Final Fantasy XIII into their lore. I'm especially proud of the fact that I made it so most Faunus worship Hallowed Pulse, while Jack and Arthur are outliers who worship Divine Etro and Fell Lindzei respectively.
Certainly better than the "God of Animals" from the RWBY supplementary materials. And to anyone who's been paying attention, I think it'll go without saying that Jack would consider "The Shallow Sea" to be viiiiolently racist. Like, seriously, just… Ugh, I can't even beyond all this…
As for their Chapter 56 Review, yes, it always bugged the hell out of me that if Yang just paid for the info instead of just strong-arming it out of him, Junior would've told her far sooner. Like, the biggest "Information Broker" I can recall outside of RWBY is the Shadow Broker from Mass Effect, and it's all about finances. If people think they can extort info out of you, that just wastes time and money.
Jack's fight with Yang was a ton of fun to write not only because I finally got to use that epic snippet from TeamFourStar's Dragonball Z Abridged, but because for the first time in a long while I got to show Jack cutting loose. I was half-tempted to have him use kick-based fighting, but I feel like that was too "on the nose", too "elegant"; to really drive the point home, Jack needed to be a little crude and a little savage to deliver the message- "You aren't ready."
Taiyang's been fun to write for too, since in RWBY Canon we barely (read: never) got to see Tai visit them at Beacon. Having him comfort Yang after she killed for the first time in "Chapter 19: World of Remnant: Airships" was pivotal in her character development, and I'm a little disappointed that she just… brushed off that she killed a guy in Canon. Sure, Adam was a bit of a nutcase toward the end instead of the "charismatic freedom-fighter" I thought he was going to be, but if she can be traumatized for losing her Arm and Beacon besides, actually kill-killing a guy should've done… something.
I'm also quite satisfied writing for Weiss. It was always going to be the plan for Jack to get a Harem, but I wanted there to be more nuance than "Harems are Legal and thus Perfectly Cosher" like in straight Naruto fanfics back when I actively read those.
And yes, the Vytal Festival will be a hell of a wild ride. Part of what inspired the trend to focus more on Techniques in Giant-Slayer was the fact that Ren and Blake both used abilities outside their Semblances and "forcefield"; Ren's "Aura Palm" against the King Taijitu and Blake's "Sword Beams" against the Atlesian Paladin. Jack and by extension a few others would be too-smart to fall for Cinder's same tricks as from the Canon, so look forward to some real mind-fuckery down the line~
To grx1318's Review, yes, the "Circle of Man" is still going to be a thing, Jack just hasn't had the opportunity to hunt them down, and now that Teams RWBBY and JNPR have a little blood on their hands, they'll actually be useful in that eventuality instead of just holding Jack back. An uncooperative ally in that circumstance is as-bad-as if not worse than an enemy.
As for the "spiritual possession" angle I worked into the Ruby of Grief (final Fantasy XIII ref.), I intend to have Dr. Stein bring up a similar point, since unlike RWBY, in Soul Eater there's actually more explanation for how Aura works in this universe than it being "invisible magic".
As for Jacques, yes "THE LOST CHAPTER" was meant to establish the identity of Jack's tormentor from his adolescence, but I don't think I really implied, let alone inferred, that he was a member of the Circle of Man. Not all Racists are KKK/Neo Nazis, but all KKK/Neo Nazis are Racists. And I think Ozpin himself contemplated that the Circle of Man doesn't have any major ties to Salem; people are perfectly capable of being evil "all on their own".
It's what always bugged me about the RWBY Canon in that regard. Humans wanted to consolidate the Faunus to an Australia-like continent in what's essentially a Penal Colony, yet we never see any organized anti-Faunus groups in parallel to the later pro-violent White Fang movement. Hence, why I made the Circle of Man blatant KKK expys.
Anywho, on with the show.
*NEW WORLD*
"So… you nervous?" Yang asked as they got dressed.
"A little?" Ruby asked as she fretted with her uniform for the hundredth time.
"Ruby, what's there to be nervous about?" Weiss asked as she looked down at her Plasmology textbook. "According to all the theoretics of it, your… ahem, intimate link with Arthur should make achieving Soul Resonance a breeze."
"Yeah, but it's with an audience…" Ruby gulped. "That and… it's just a reminder that tomorrow, I'll still be here… and he won't be… *Sniff*"
"Awwww, Rubyyyy…" Yang sighed as she hugged her sister. "C'mon Team, let's all bring it in. Our mascot needs us!"
"Mascot?" Ruby blinked as Jack came in and dragged Blake along, Yang snaking an arm and dragging Weiss into the group hug as well. " . . . A little warm, but not too bad."
"Well, think of it this way, Ruby. Once you master Soru and learn to combine it with your Semblance, you'll be able to super-speed your way to him whenever you want. Doubly-so when you master Geppou. No mountain, field, or river'll be able to keep you apart."
"Only you could make non-Semblance super-speed and double-jumping sound so mundane," Weiss hummed Jack's way, hugging him more than Ruby, actually.
"It's a gift," he shrugged. "Now come on, Arthur should've gotten off the first shuttle here, so let's go meet him at the cafeteria."
"Or we could always go on ahead and give the two of you a little… aloooone time~" Yang cooed batting her eyelashes.
"Ruby, don't you dare have sexual congress in this room. Go to town and rent one like the other sexually-active member of our team."
"You can say my name, Weiss, I won't be offended."
"I choose not to acknowledge that you can find a sexual partner so-easily and then come back to Beacon like nothing happened."
"Are we still going to go and get breakfast, or are we going to continue debating forms of government all morning?" Blake deadpanned.
"I vote anarchy."
"Jack, you can't vote anarchy!" she deadpanned.
"Military dictatorship," Weiss said jokingly.
"Matriarchy~" Yang grinned, completely serious.
"Oh! How about malarkey?" Ruby suggested.
"Ruby, that's not a type of government. It just means meaningless talk and nonsense," Blake stated.
*NEW WORLD*
. . . . . .
. . .
Malarkey won.
*NEW WORLD*
"ARTHUUUUR! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Ruby beamed excitedly as she ran into his arms like something from a rom-com.
"Ruby! Mm! I missed you too!" the Rabbit Faunus hummed as he spun her around. "You ready for class today?"
"I'm a little nervous…" Ruby bashfully admitted.
"Me too, but getting to see you again's a good tradeoff," he grinned, showing off his teeth.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ruby smiled. "Come on! Let's get breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day!" she cried dragging him off.
"I recorded all of that~" Yang cooed, Scroll held up.
"On a purely academic level, I'm intrigued to see how their Soul Resonance will act," Weiss hummed thoughtfully, the sight of her cousin so-happy giving her a gooey center.
"We won't be any good to anyone without breakfast, though," Blake hummed, Jack nodding in agreement as they followed after the two.
*NEW WORLD*
"No sweets?" Yang asked looking between Arthur and Ruby's trays.
"I can make better," Arthur shrugged as he tossed down a once-bitten cookie, glancing over at Ruby who woofed down a pile of pancakes and bacon before diving into the pile of cookies she'd thrown onto the side.
*Nom-nom*Nom-nom*Nom-nom*No- "AAAAUUUGH!"
"What!? Ruby, what's wrong?!" Yang cried as the red-head suddenly shot up out of her seat.
"OH GOD! THE COOKIES! THE COOKIES EXPLODED INTO SNAAAKES!" Ruby screamed as she wigged out.
"Jack, what did you do to my girlfriend?!" Arthur cried as the little red-head started running around the room like headless poultry.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" Jack asked as Ruby made a scene.
"You're the only one who didn't wig out just now."
"Oh my god you really did hypnotize her…" Yang said slack jawed.
"So thaaat's why you've been standing on my bed and whispering into Ruby's ear with a metronome in your hands every night…" Weiss deadpanned.
"Wait, you mean she's really hypnotized?!" Nora gasped between awe and shock.
"Where the heck did you learn that?" Jaune gasped incredulously.
"Remember that crime I didn't commit?" Jack posited.
"The on you got sent to prison over?" Ren groused.
"Wait, do you mean you learned how to hypnotize people in prison?" Pyrrha blinked.
"Amongst other things."
"I thought you were just talking out of your ass," Blake hummed.
"Blake. I literally, never lie."
"I don't know what's more-frightening. The fact that he's actually telling the truth, or the fact that he can lie so-convincingly," Weiss hummed as Ruby made another pass.
" . . . So how long's she gonna be hypnotized?" Nora inquired as some not-in-the-loop thought there were legitimately snakes.
"It'll wear off in a minute."
"What'd she do to set it off?" Pyrrha inquired.
"She tried to eat a fourth cookie in one day."
"She haaaas been worrying over her waistline…" Blake conceded.
"What kind of metronome did you use?"
"Really? That's your takeaway?" Weiss deadpanned Ren's way.
"Yes. Yes, it is."
" . . . Fair enough," the heiress conceded as she conjured a Glyph on Ruby's next pass, the girl running headlong into it and knocking herself out with an- "OOF!"
*NEW WORLD*
Morning wackiness aside, as the students waited for Dr. Stein to show up, with or without his office chair, the various gathered Teams chattered excitedly over the coming week off. Some talked about missions, some talked about homework and then missions, and some talked about hobbies.
By now it was no big secret that Ozpin had set this up so his students would have an added competitive edge in the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament. Of course, it was also an open secret at this point that the Academy hosting the VFT all did the exact same thing, eschewing the normal school schedule. It was easy to send students into the field early when the ruling Council had such a huge venue "on the horizon", as the opportunity in each Kingdom only came every eight years. However, when the other Kingdoms were part of the "Away Team", it seemed more important that the students all learn "the fundamentals" so that, even if they lost out to Teams from the other Kingdoms, their academics wouldn't be hurt in the long run.
That Jack Braxton himself was a "teen mercenary" made him a valuable commodity, especially now, so Teams RWBBY and JNPR were already the expected headliners of the festival. Team CRDL's leader had reached out to Jack for advice, but wanted his team to remain self-sufficient outside of picking his brain for tidbits from an actual working man. Team DIRT on the other hand, once Ruby let certain aspects of the originals' conduct "slip", had lost favor relatively quickly within the student body. They were still talked-to by the like-minded, but it was never openly, and thus, no real victory. Worse yet, Timber, who was their strongest number, was stronger than the other three put together, and their own hierarchy had been disrupted by his sudden inclusion. It'd be a while before they were able to go out on missions without killing one another.
Not that Ruby or Arthur in particular cared about such frivolities. The two lovebirds were just enjoying one another's company, threading fingers together behind the desks and giggling at nothing in particular.
"Yes, yes, I know you're all excited for the upcoming week off, but you've still got today to get through," Dr. Stein hummed as he came into the room, bereft of rolling chair. Trailing in behind him was the busty Dr. Magdanus who immediately drew eyes from most of the room; and it wasn't because of the complicated-looking apparatus that looked like the result of a drunken tech-orgy.
"Oh, don't mind me~" the busty doctor swooned. "Just, collecting some plasmological data~"
"Ruby, I see I brought your soulmate in."
"D-Don't just say it like that!" Ruby squeaked as tittering surrounded them caused hers and Arthur's faces to flush red.
"Well, how would you classify it?"
Ruby leafed through her textbook at petal-scattering speeds, but didn't have anything to add.
"Anyway, Dr. Magdanus and I will need time to properly calibrate this scanner, so the rest of you can come forward at your own discretion and try to at least synchronize. Learning to achieve Resonance, let alone honing it into something usable outside a classroom, will come later."
"Sooo…" Arthur hummed as a pair of second-years came forward. "You keeping up with your studies?"
"Y-Yeah. Weiss is a real stickler though," Ruby pouted.
"Well, she wouldn't be my cousin if she were a stickler for the rules," Arthur hummed as he looked over. "Well, some of them anyway," he hummed watching the Schnee heiress thread fingers with Jack and try to 'feel out' his Aura, Yang offering unhelpful advice like a backseat driver.
"Honestly, it's like one of my uncle's inappropriate stories," Ruby hummed as she eyed Jack, Weiss, and Yang speculatively. "Not that I mind. If they're happy, I'm happy for them. It's not like any of their naysayers are the ones going out there and fighting monsters."
"Yeah, that's usually what it comes down to," Arthur hummed. "It only makes sense, though. The working caste keeps civilization running, but without the warrior caste pushing back the darkness, the whole thing falls apart, so there's always a hierarchy."
"And since you're the one who can get people their interweb access, I guess you're pretty high up the ladder~" Ruby giggled.
"I suppose," Arthur hummed as he took out what looked like a soda can, but was actually one of his little robots, and started tinkering behind a thin panel. "So what all has Jack been teaching you?"
"Well, he's been teaching me the what, but when it comes to the 'how'…" Ruby hummed. "When he started flash-stepping and air-walking, I thought he might've had multiple Semblances, but he assured me it was all like the One-Inch Punch; just a matter of pushing your body to its limit. Like parkour, or any other skill you train to master."
"Well, from a Plasmalogical standpoint, in order to have multiple Semblances, you'd have to be pretty messed up in the head," Arthur hummed as he idly leafed through Ruby's textbook between fits of tinkering, the two shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Oof, yeah, I mean… Imagine if there was someone that could just… steal Semblances out there," she shivered.
"They'd have to be a real piece of shit if that was their superpower," Arthur nodded.
*NEW WORLD*
"Hmmmmmm… Very good. Very good indeed," Dr. Stein hummed as Jack and Weiss' soul wavelengths drew closer together, a lightish-red Glyph flickering into existence beneath them. "You've definitely improved since you first started, but given both of your control is already exceptional, I shouldn't be surprised."
"Th-Thank you… doctor…" Weiss panted as she and Jack stopped 'passing the ball', a fatigue washing over her as their interlaced fingers separated.
"Remember, while it's going to be difficult for the two of you to reach resonance, that's true for anyone who aren't siblings," Veronica hummed thoughtfully. "Logically, twins would have the easiest time of it, but due to those same similarities, the payoff is far lesser; like how red and blue can make 'purple' but maroon and burgundy just make a 'slightly darker red'. Just take your time and you'll be a force to be reckoned with."
"Thank you doctor. And doctor."
"Professor. You're only a 'doctor' if you don't teach," Stein corrected. "Ruby, do you want to come up next-What're you doing?"
"Just trying to put an image to the process," Ruby said as she and Arthur stared intently at a Newton's Cradle, the chrome balls on the far ends painted red and blue respectively. " . . . Okay, I think we're ready. Arthur, you think we're ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be," the Faunus nodded as they stepped down to the front of the room, Veronica setting up the apparatus she'd brought in and pointing some kind of sensor at the two of them.
"You may begin when ready," Dr. Stein hummed as he took a seat and drew out a notepad.
*Sniiiiiiiiff* "Okay, let's do this," Ruby said holding out her hand like anyone who ever shook a person's hand ever held their hand out.
"I'm right behind you," Arthur nodded as he too extended his hand, the two going web-to-web before closing their fingers together. Eyes closing as they tuned everything else around them out, the same polite silence that had been extended to all the other pairings washed over them.
In Ruby's mind, she imagined the two of them as they were, covered in colored fire, the red of her own 'self' washing over Arthur's body. In his mind in turn, as he felt Ruby's 'warmth' slide over him, he added a bit of his own 'self' to it before passing it back. The process repeating itself, to everyone else, a sudden energy began to fill the air as Ruby's cloak and Arthur's coat rippled in an unseen wind. From Dr. Stein's point of view, the two were surrounded by growing "hitodma" of soul power, the border separating them thinning out like two soap bubbles pressed together. For Dr. Magdanus, while for the other pairings the "energy flow" was more like syrup sloshed back and forth in a channel, for the two younger teens before her, it was more like water, the two Soul Wavelengths melding together with greater ease.
The building energy between the two causing neck hairs to stand on end, Dr. Stein's eyes went wide as Ruby and Arthur's spiritual projections suddenly combined into an even larger "bubble" of soul power with a pair of flame-tipped rabbit ears and gleaming silver eyes.
"LET'S GO! SOUL RESONANCE!" the two suddenly shouted as a surge of energy exploded off of them.
"HIT THE DECK!" Jack shouted as he dragged Weiss and Yang behind the desks, Pyrrha taking Jaune and Ren dragging away Nora who looked way too invested in what was about to happen.
*NEW WORLD*
"Now see, isn't this better?" Elisa asked as she and her friend walked down the promenade.
"Hm, I suppose…" Glynda hummed unenthusiastically.
"Come on, Glyn, you need to lighten up a little. It wouldn't do for Vincent's mom to have wrinkles before he gives her grandkids, now would it~?"
"U-Urk! I'm not his mom!" Glynda blushed.
"And yet you've got no problem dressing him up like a doll and letting him call you 'mom'," Elisa grinned. "I mean, really, the 'Mom Energy' is rolling off of you in waves. Your fan clubs have only gotten bigger since then~"
"Ugh…" Glynda groaned at Elisa's lovely giggle, her furtive mind going to her celebrity status.
In a world without Grimm and bandits and monsters, she'd just be another schoolteacher, probably under-paid and under-appreciated, maybe objectified by students of the opposite or even the same gender. But as such a world did not exist as long as… she… existed, Huntsmen and Huntresses alike would have a form of celebrity status rivaling if not eclipsing actors and artists.
It didn't help that the more-ostentatiously one dressed, the more-likely they were to be hired for high-profile jobs. Some Hunters even had settlements named after them, like Whitechapel, and if they could grow into population centers, it usually meant a statue and a retirement home. While the Capitals were still major population centers, and large-scale expansion efforts like Mount Glenn and Oniyuri had ended in abject failure, it wasn't impossible for new settlements on a smaller scale to be founded. In fact in recent decades, settlements had begun to form in clusters so that the Grimm's attention would be divided away from a single target; so that allies would always be nearby and there wasn't too much "wealth" concentrated in one place.
Ultimately, it was a matter of maintaining them. Something easier said than done when you had not only Grimm to worry about, but Bandits as well; people who willingly chose to take from others what they could earn themselves, "just because".
It's why any form of media portraying Bandits as "the good guys" went largely suppressed, so as not to give the populace any romanticized ideas about them. True, there was underground media to that effect distributed through the Undernet, but that was largely counteracted by the fact that children's cartoons reliably portrayed Bandits as unredeemable in weekly battles. "Jobbers" for the Heroes to fight between major story arc climaxes.
"Hoh? Thinking heavy thoughts again?"
"Something like that…" Glynda sighed, realizing she'd let her thoughts get away from her. " . . . Do I really seem like a 'mom' to you?"
"Yeah! I haven't seen you this happy since-"
"Don't! Just… don't…" the blond trailed off somberly.
"Ah, sorry. Still though, it's been years since then. Maybe if you tried talking to him-"
"I'm fine where I am now. And he's fine where he is. Besides, he has his mother to worry about and-"
"Didn't you hear? Ruth passed away a little while ago."
"What? When? How?!" Glynda gasped.
"Breast cancer, I'm afraid. The mob had been swapping out medicine from distributors for fakes and having them sell it off as the real thing. Nobody found out until it was too late, especially with that huge scandal about police corruption."
"Ah yes… Them…"
It surprised literally no-one that the police had grown corrupt in recent years.
What had come as a shock was that their wickedness had festered for so-long, and grown so-deep that the Grimm had risked their fleeting existence to bore their way into Vale's beating heart, and wiped out Police Headquarters with a flesh-eating carpet of Vermin. Vermin in of themselves were the lowest of the low, E-Class or more-colloquially known as "F-Class" Grimm that anyone with a broom or a pitchfork could dispatch. That a Vermin Lord had been able to germinate had come as a shock to researchers, but if raw negative emotion was beginning to crystallize in the real world, if it could be used to turn ordinary Grimm into "real monsters"…
Perhaps this was a new weapon in her arsenal? Another salvo in the never-ending war?
Then again, wickedness could ferment all by itself independent of her guiding hand…
The Faunus Rights Revolution, otherwise known as the "Faunus War", was testament to that. Even decades later, children were born that carried the scars of their forebearers.
Like a certain "problem child" who at-present wasn't hers to deal with…
"Which mob was it?" Glynda asked, pulling her thoughts to the present.
"The Irish, but it seems like someone wiped them out?"
"Oh? One of the Hunters the Vale Council finally paid for?"
"That's what they're claiming, but that they won't give out any names makes me think it's a Vigilante."
"Well, vigilantism is a consequence of failings in the legal system," Glynda sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Hey, Glyn, none of that, you hear?" Elisa chastised. "You're all caught up on your work and nothing's been destroyed today, so just take a calming breath and reeeeel-"
*CRA-A-A-A-A-A-ASH!*
"Glynda… I'm going to ask you very, very nicely… Do not… turn around."
"Elisa, it's okay, I'm not a delinquent high schooler anymore. I'm calm. I'm calm… I'm not calm! I'M NOT CALM AT ALL! WHAT JUST HAPP-"
*NEW WORLD*
"HWAAAAUUUUUGH!"
"Oof, sounds like someone's pissed…" Yang winced as a guttural inhuman cry sounded from outside.
"Maybe it's whoever has to clean up after this?" Blake suggested.
"HOLY CATS! WHAT A RUSH!" Ruby cried, eyes snapped open, her hair spikier and choppier, her silver eyes shimmering.
"EVERYTHING TASTES LIKE METAL! AND COCONUT!" Arthur cried as cyan-colored circuit-like lines ran below his skin. "OH, WOW, YEAH!"
"SO UM… WHAT NOW?!" Ruby asked, feeling like the first time she'd ever had a sugar high, times twenty.
"WHY ARE WE YELLING!?"
"Um… Try using your Semblance," Dr. Stein suggested.
"WHICH ON-"
The next moment their two bodies coalesced into a single mass like when Ruby used her Semblance, except instead of a torrent of rose petals the two became a swirling comet of pixelated cyan light that shot up into the security camera in the corner of the room before vanishing.
" . . . "
" . . . "
" . . . "
"Um… What just happened?" Blake asked after a long moment.
"I have zero 'takeaway' for that," Yang deadpanned.
" . . . Nope, I got nothing," Weiss shrugged.
*NEW WORLD*
"OH MY GOSH SO MANY COLORS!" Ruby screamed as she and Arthur shot through a kaleidoscopic torrent of noise and color.
"I STILL DON'T KNOW WHY WE ARE YELLING!" Arthur cried, the two having no godly idea where they were going before everything suddenly went white and they shot into a glass window with a loud *THUMP*
The two causing a soft *squeeeeeeeak* to sound as they slid to the ground, the two rubbing their heads, it was only when they came off their high and they stopped seeing kaleidoscopic colors that they finally realized-
"WHY ARE YOU WEARING MY CLOTHES?!" Ruby shouted at Arthur who was wearing her clothes.
"HOW ARE YOU WEARING MY CLOTHES!?" Arthur shouted back at Ruby who was wearing his clothes.
"AAUGH!"
"AAAAUUGH!"
"AAAAAAUUUGH!"
*NEW WORLD*
"And that's what happened," Ruby summarized once they made their way back to class after embarrassingly making their way into one of the CCT's co-ed bathrooms and swapping clothes.
"So did the 'Data Dash' make you swap aaaall your clothes~?" Veronica grinned causing the two to blush scarlet.
"Really? That's your takeaway?" Dr. Stein deadpanned.
"Oh my gosh, it's just like the time uncle Qrow wore a skirt!" Yang gasped.
"What was your uncle doing that he was wearing a skirt?" Weiss asked incredulously.
"How long you think her hair's gonna stand up like that?" Nora inquired aloud.
"And that's your takeaway?" Ren inquired.
*NEW WORLD*
"So you two basically went through the grid, like that movie The Grid?" Yang asked as they made their way to their next class.
"Yeah, but I have no idea what made us fly out of that monitor in particular…" Arthur deadpanned, still blushing at the fact that he had quite literally gotten into Ruby's panties.
"Yeah, I mean, shouldn't we have flown into the monitoring room that camera was connected to…?" Ruby asked, still blushing at the fact that she had quite literally gotten into Arthur's pants.
The most-awkward part for the two of them was listening to one another pulling their panties/boxers off their respective bodies.
Well, that and finding their respective undergarments were still slightly warm.
"Still, for it to have been a combination of your Semblances, that means yours must've been data-based," Weiss hummed at her cousin.
"Mine's pretty similar to Velvet's, but with some differences, obviously," Arthur hummed.
"Seriously, though, how long is her hair going to stand up like that?" Nora asked pointing at Ruby's spiky and choppy hair.
"Hey, don't tamp it down! I don't have enough pictures yet!" Yang cried snapping pics with her Scroll.
"Yang, stop it, I look weird!" Ruby squeaked.
"I think it's cute. You look like the lead in a JRPG," Arthur hummed appreciatively causing the red-head to drop her hands.
"Y-You really think so?" she asked brushing her bangs away from her face.
"Totally."
"W-Well if you like it, I guess I can keep it…"
"So cuuuuute~!" Yang squealed adorably.
*NEW WORLD*
Since Arthur's visitor pass covered the entire day, Team RWBBY decided to let Arthur tag along for their remaining classes. Next was obviously Lilith's Advanced Dust Manipulation, and with a week-plus of possible missions coming up, the first part of the lesson was a repeat of the safety briefings for the usage and handling-of Dust in its myriad of forms. After being assigned some bookwork, the various Teams were given a stipend of Dust to play around with.
"You know, with how much you piss people off, I'm surprised no-one had an 'accident' aimed in your general direction," Arthur hummed Jack's way.
"Yeah, well, the haters know that if their one shot didn't kill me, I'd kill them."
"Dark," Jaune hummed.
"I volunteered to help hide the bodies~" Nora beamed eagerly.
"What makes you think there'd be more than one?" Arthur asked.
"There's always more than one," Jack hummed.
"Fair," Arthur nodded. "Well, since it's 'magical gun range time', I might as well collect some field data," he said drawing what looked like a cigarette case from his white coat, only it was filled with bullets for his Amazing Grace.
"I love it when you whip out your piece~" Ruby swooned at the sight of his revolver.
"Giggidy~" Nora giggled lewdly.
"Ruby, please be mindful of what you are saying," Weiss sighed.
Only reason she was less irate was because Jack had hijacked Ruby's brain into making her fourth cookie of the day explode into snakes.
And boy was that a sentence to internally monologue…
"So what do they do?" Yang asked eyeing the rounds, the case inlaid with bits of circuitry while the tip was glowing green ever-so-slightly.
"I can channel my Semblance into them before they're fired, change the shape of the projectile mid-flight after a time delay," he said emptying the cylinder of normal rounds and slotting his special round in.
"That sounds like using a different gun with extra steps," Yang hummed as he flicked his wrist and snapped the cylinder in place.
The Rabbit Faunus whipping his arm out toward a dummy, cyan circuit-like lines ran up his arm, through the grip, and into the cylinder before he fired. A streak of cyan light streaking out of the Amazing Grace, mid-flight a wireframe in the shape of a clenched fist blossomed around it, impacting the dummy with the force of a small vehicular collision. Suffice it to say, the sight and sound of fake limbs scattering in all directions stopped everyone in their place for several seconds.
" . . . I retract my previous statement," Yang blinked as Arthur set his gun aside and scribbled down notes.
*NEW WORLD*
"So are all my fourth cookie attempts going to explode into snakes, or was my first try some kind of warning?" Ruby asked aloud, people in the mess hall tittering in her wake.
"From here on, anything you identify as a 'cookie' will explode into snakes until tomorrow morning."
"Sooooo what you're saying is, I should switch to cupcakes~"
"Ruby, that was most-assuredly not what he was saying," Weiss chastised.
"You could try, but then I'd have to use your other trigger phrase," Jack hummed plainly.
"Buh-Wha- How many hypnotic suggestions did you put in here?!" Ruby cried running her fingers through her still-spiky hair.
"Enough to help trim that waistline you've been complaining over."
"Ja-Jack, don't say that in front of my boyfriend!" Ruby squawked with a red face.
"I'd love you all the same even if you had a muffin top," Arthur hummed helpfully.
"Well I wouldn't! And by that I mean I wouldn't love myself. Not that I wouldn't still love you if you had a muffin top," Ruby blathered. " . . . Come to think of it, how come you aren't fluffy? You work in a swanky bakery!"
"Uuuum… Self-restraint?" the Faunus blinked.
"Uuuuuuugh…" Ruby whimpered like a kicked puppy, her spiky hair choosing that moment to droop.
"By the way, Jaune?" Arthur hummed.
"Hm? Yes?"
"Since I'm going into business with your parents, if you ever want any Candroids, give me a ring."
"Whoa, hold up, hold the phone!" Yang said holding up her hands. "Business? With Vomit Boy's parents?"
"Hey!"
"When did this happen?" Yang continued unperturbed.
"My designs happened to catch Amy's eye on visitor's day. A couple days later she came by the bakery, asked for a demo, and then we just… went into business together. I design, she programs, Arc Industries manufactures and distributes, and I get money off every sale."
"Ah, so you didn't take a lump sum then," Ren hummed.
"I was tempted, but my uncle convinced me otherwise," Arthur replied as he took a soda can, this one red with silver accents, and tossed it over. Jaune giving it a once-over, popped the top before it leapt out of his hand and turned into some kind of hawk. "Press your Scroll to its back and it'll transfer the control scheme. Actually using it… that's on you."
"Hey, why don't I get one?" Ruby pouted.
"You already have the green one," Arthur hummed.
"What about the blue one?" Yang asked.
"Still working on the capacitors."
"Do they come in black?" Blake asked.
"You can paint them whatever color you want. The default color is just for marketing," Weiss hummed.
"How do you know that?" Ruby blinked.
"I don't. I just guessed," the heiress hummed
"She isn't completely wrong," Arthur nodded. "Just don't paint all of it red or it'll look tacky."
"Black does go with everything."
"How long've you been holding onto that pun?" Yang pouted.
"S'not a pun. It's a fact."
*NEW WORLD*
Roland's final class for the week was lecture instead of practical, and while this wasn't anything unusual, he seemed insistent that they "save their energy". Whether it was for the last class of the day or the week of potential missions to come… was actually answered quite soon because when Brick announced that he'd gotten them a "sparring partner" for the day-
*BOOM!*
"OH YEAH!" a hulking figure in Crusader Armor whooped as he crashed through a non-load-bearing wall in all his gunmetal-colored glory.
"You want us to fight a god-damned mecha!?" Jaune cried as Reinhardt loomed over them.
"Powered armor. Is big difference," the hulking armor-clad figure corrected.
"What difference?" Jaune scoffed.
"Mecha have chairs. Power armor you wear," Weiss answered matter-of-factly like a proverb.
"Oh, and you can't use superpowers either. Gotta do this old-school~" Brick grinned as he plopped himself down on the bleachers, which groaned under his weight before he flicked off the cap on a beer bottle with his thumb and slammed it down. "Jack! Pop a squat, let the kids have their fun!"
"Why?"
"Because if you're holding their hands for this, they won't learn anything."
"A perfectly valid point."
"Teachers pet…" Weiss chuffed, if only because she'd never be able to become as such for this instructor.
Honestly, she thought Port winking at the students was unprofessional, but Brick had him beat in behavior unbecoming of a Beacon instructor.
"How're we supposed to beat a super-suit with our bare hands!?" Dominic cried, whereas Terrence looked excited by the challenge.
"Fine. Fine. All you gotta do is knock him on his ass," Brick shrugged as he tossed Jack a beer. "Extra credit to whoever does the deed!"
"Ruby! And also Team Ruby! Don't embarrass me down there, you hear?" Jack called out in his version of a motivational speech as he held the bottle up by the neck and chopped off the bottom.
"Says the guy drinking in the middle of the day…" Blake deadpanned as the Faunus drank from his 'goblet'.
"Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere in the world~" Yang grinned.
"So that's why you were eyeballing the rum cake so hard…" Ruby hummed thoughtfully.
"Yang, most of the alcohol cooks off during the baking process."
"Most, not 'all'."
"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO THIS!" Reinhardt whooped as he banged his fists together, the loud *CLANG!* like a mid-sized vehicular impact.
The sound did not inspire confidence…
*NEW WORLD*
The "sparring match" to come was like trying to roll a bank truck with pool noodles and BB guns. Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and DIRT had all brought their weapons to bare, but between trying not to attack one another by mistake and the Crusader Armor's military-grade plating, they were barely putting a dent in that thing. If they had their Semblances it'd be a completely different story, but at the moment they were just thankful Reinhardt wasn't sporting his big fucking hammer.
"Oh god, it's like that tutorial boss from Grimm Souls all over again!" Ruby cried as the Crusader sent her sniper/scythe reeling with a finger-flick.
Which might as well've been a mule kick with how-thick those fingers were.
"Could really use some extra muscle right about now!" Blake called out.
"I'm on medical leave!" Jack called out.
"Convenient…" Weiss scoffed half-heartedly.
"UUUUUGH!" Nora cried as her Magnhild, like Ruby's Crescent Rose, was finger-flicked. "Dangit, how're we supposed to beat this guy?! Guy's built like a brick house!"
"More like a concrete house…" Jaune muttered.
" . . . It's a math problem," Arthur muttered aloud. "Yang, get the big guy on Jack's old Team and send him my way. When Ruby and I give the signal, scream-"
*NEW WORLD*
"RUSH THE NEW GUY!" Yang hollered at the top of her lungs, the avalanche of teen bodies starting with the bulk of Team RWBY, followed by the whole of JNPR, with CRDL and finally the bulk of DIRT throwing their weight in, in sequence.
Reinhardt, moving to steady himself found his footing compromised, Ruby and Arthur bracing themselves against the Crusader's right calf, Terrence on the left. A moment later and the wave crashed on him, the three teens howling as they braced their weight against armored legs before they rolled free and clear.
"TIMBERRRRRRR!" Terrence called out as the giant finally tipped over with a massive- *CRASH!* -as his back-mounted rocket engine speared through the gym floor.
"WOO-HOO! WE DID IT!" Yang whooped.
" . . . OH NO! I HAVE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP!" Reinhardt cried, looking for all the world like a turtle that'd been flipped over.
"SOMEONE GET THE WINCH!" Brick shouted.
"BRIIIIIIIIICK!" a familiar feminine voice howled.
"OH NO! CHILDREN! RUN! SAVE YOURSEEELVES!" Reinhardt cried out as a familiar wave of feminine murderous intent washed toward them through the gaping hole he'd made. " . . . AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, SAVE ME!" he cried as the first stragglers started to flee.
"Hit the eject button, doofus!" Ruby cried as she threw Arthur over her shoulder and ran for it.
"Oh. Right," the man nodded, an unseen series of commands triggered inside his powered armor causing the chest plates to open up like a flower.
"Isn't the captain supposed to go down with his ship?" Yang asked from the hallway.
"Not for power armor!" the hulking man replied as he scarpered off, only to belly flop on the wooden floor.
"REINHAAAARDT!" Glynda howled from the new doorway, hair rising like tendrils, feminine fury oozing out of her like pea soup and riding crop in hand.
"OH GOD! I'M HAVING A FLASHBACK!" Reinhardt cried as he was telekinetically dragged away from freedom like something from a horror movie.
"It's a noble sacrifice you're making here!" Yang called out.
"We'll always remember you!" Brick added.
"Start by remembering me now!" Reinhardt cried as he held onto his powered armor's hand for dear life, legs flailing like a man over a cliff.
"How about I remember you now...!" Glynda growled as Brick was yanked from his hiding place by an unseen hand. The two hulking men grasping desperately to their precarious perch, the two holding on for dear life actually dragged it towards Glynda, a vein in her forehead throbbing.
"Whoa, Glynda's jacked...!" Yang awed.
"Fangirl later, leave now."
"Hey, Blake, watch the hair!" Yang cried as she was hauled away.
*NEW WORLD*
"Ruby? Did we just leave that man to die?" Arthur asked worriedly, class having let out early, probably.
"What, Glynda? Nawwwww. She's harmless," Ruby waved playfully. " . . . I think."
"Wow. What a ringing endorsement," Arthur deadpanned.
*CRASH!*
"OH GOD! MY BONES!" Reinhardt cried in the distance.
"YOUR BONES?! WHAT ABOUT MY BONES!?" Brick returned, also from the distance.
"I am filled with confidence," the younger Faunus continued.
"Just keep walking and we're free and clear," Weiss said grabbing her cousin's wrist and banking left to break line of sight.
"Well… I guess that's one way to end a Friday…" Jaune hummed.
"Yeah," Jack nodded. " . . . We should probably bounce sooner, rather than later."
"Seconded!" Nora seconded.
*NEW WORLD*
When I was setting the new power curve for the world of RWBY in Giant-Slayer, what I most looked forward to was introducing [Soul Resonance] from Soul Eater; a personal favorite of mine I own in full paperback. Lots of anime use the "friendship is magic" troupe to the point that it's like beating a dead mule, but in Soul Eater there was always a little more "technicality" to it that I rarely ever saw in RWBY; like the time Ren used a "Force Palm" kinda attack on a King Taijitu when his Semblance is something completely different, or when Blake used an "Air Slash" on all those missiles when that has nothing to do with her "Shadow Clones".
And while those familiar with SE will know about the "electric guitar & speaker" metaphor, what inspired me to have Ruby & Arthur to use a "Newton's Cradle" as their visual metaphor to get them in the right headspace, came from when I started re-watching Mythbusters in full; in particular, the episode where they made a Newton's Cradle with wrecking balls.
Spoiler: The principle doesn't flawlessly scale up.
There's another subtle reference snuck in there, but I'll see if anyone can get at it in the Reviews section.
Next up are two Arcs running parallel to one another I've been looking forward to for a while. The "JJNPR Arc" giving us a chance to see Team JNPR in full in a way Canon didn't give us, and the "Nightmare Arc" inspired by RWBY: Ice Queendom, which in my personal opinion had some strong Persona 5 vibes from a narrative standpoint. There's been lots of buildup to both, and if I hit a hot streak, I might try for double-releases, so I hope to see you in the Review Colum or on the Discord.
