King: So... Hi again. Before we get off on any ideas, I'm still working on the novel. I blame Blizzard for pulling me in for this one... But, on the way, I seem to also put a large chunk into that writing... I think this 'dumping ground' of writing is finally doing what it was intended to. Go figure. So, I'll be writing both in tandem. It will take longer for each of these to come out as a result, but if it's helping me write that novel, I'm not about to complain. Keep being awesome and glad to be back. Sooner than I expected, but in a good way~

Inspiration: Overwatch

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Curtains opened once more, sooner than they expected.

King reappeared, "Alright! Round… 53? No, there were intermissions… 51! Alright! Let's get into this and have some real fun." He disappeared again as the screen formed.

The screen opened to show a colorful jukebox. The camera zoomed in to show it cycling to a record. The machinery selected the vinyl and placed it to play. The needle moved to the edge and the song started to play. It was a slow country track about outlaws or a shootout waiting to happen. As the song played, the camera moved to show an old diner area, a scene lingering to show a clock with hands marking six minutes before noon. The angle shifted to an apple pie sitting atop a plate.

Nora grumbled, "Now I'm hungry."

Yang grinned, "So, another western world?"

Tai nodded, "Nice."

A gloved hand came in from the side with a fork and cut into the pie, causing juices to run down onto the dish. The camera then showed a coffee cup next to a strange looking computer chip, or at least that was what they thought it was. The gloved hand came in and grabbed the mug, revealing its coaster was a postcard for a place called Route 66.

Coco bit down on her thumb, "Damn, now I'm hungry…"

The clock appeared again to show as the time ticked to 11:55. As it did, the camera returned to the pie. Out the window next to the man and his pie, they could see a train approaching on elevated rails. The gloved hand was about to cut into the pie again when an off-screen explosion ripped apart the train. Cars from the train fell near the diner, barely missing the structure and falling down the cliff slightly.

Blake felt a shiver run up her spine. She remembered her attack on the Schnee transport train. True, she'd never gone so far as to blow up the rails and/or train, especially not a train carrying dust of all things. But she'd seen too many others do so in the White Fang. At first, it was just to derail the cars and steal the cargo. Then, it was to take hostages. She didn't want to think about how bad it's gotten since.

The hand paused before cutting into the pie again when the explosion went off. They didn't hear it but could almost feel a sigh in that silence. The fork then cut into the pie for one last bite. The man behind the pie stood up and grabbed the chip, his hat, and his gun belt with holstered revolver. The door opened with a ringing bell and they could see his silhouette in the smoke. He wore the standard western hat with a wrap poncho and they could swear he had chaps and the boots.

The screen went white to transition outside, showing the wreckage of the train, a few cars still hanging from the destroyed tracks. Below this, various people, dressed in a sort of biker western combo, were picking through the cars on the ground and loading crates onto a large hovercart.

Winter glared toward the screen. "A planned assault to steal military weapons."

Ironwood sighed, thoroughly disappointed by the situation.

The camera moved to show one of the bandits picking though one of the crates and holding up a belt of grenades. They could hear spurred footsteps approaching from off screen until a shadow covered the man. A throat clearing got the man's attention, making him see exactly who was there. His eyes went wide and he scrambled off out of the smoke, "Weiss! We got a problem!"

Yang burst out into laughter. "Seriously? The Ice Queen is the bandit leader?"

Weiss groaned, "Would you stop calling me that!"

The screen now showed Weiss, dressed in a long, sleeveless black coat complete with western motif underneath and in headwear. Her white hair was cut short, a preferable option considering her line of work. As she turned toward the camera, they saw she wore a bandana over the lower half of her face.

Yang never stopped laughing, "Oh my gods! This is both awesome and hilarious."

The camera snapped to the smoke as a figure walked through. The camera tracked from his boots and up his body. Some of his more interesting pieces were a belt buckle reading [BAMF], his robotic left arm, and a cigar in his mouth.

Roman chuckled, "Ah! Another man of class."

Weiss removed her bandana, "Jaune Arc. Been a while. You promised you'd write."

"Sorry 'bout that." Jaune pulled out a lighter and lit his cigar. As he exhaled some smoke he looked up toward her, finally revealing his full face. Sure enough, it was Jaune Arc, just older and more rugged. This Jaune had a full beard and his hair a touch longer, draping down from his hat. As Jaune let out a smoky breath, he winked toward Weiss, "Been kind of busy."

Chills went up the spines of Pyrrha and Velvet. This version of Jaune even sounded like the dashing cowboy. Sure, neither were fans of westerns or anything like that, but you don't need to be a fan to know what a western heartthrob would sound like.

Yang chuckled at the scene, "Guess Ice Queen and Vomit Boy go back in this version."

Weiss just sighed, starting to give up on the idea of getting people to stop calling her that.

Weiss placed her lever-action rifle over her shoulder, "We're pretty busy ourselves. So, it's awful convenient you showing up today."

Jaune removed his cigar and held it in his robotic hand, "Yeah. You never were one to shy away from a good tip."

"Hey! We worked hard for this score. You best move on now."

"All I want," he pointed using his cigar, "is that crate. You can keep the rest."

Coco raised an eyebrow, "So… Not a sheriff type, just out for his own?"

Weiss tapped a large rounded crate with her gun, "This crate?" She looked toward her 'mustachioed' omnic assistant, "Klein. Open it."

Weiss blinked in confusion, "Klein?"

Yang glanced toward the heiress, "Someone you know?"

"He's our butler back in Atlas, though he's not that tall. He was probably the only thing keeping me from ending up like Whitely. He was caring and always there when I needed him."

"Isn't that his job?"

"His job would be to follow my instructions and do as I ask. But, that was never necessary. He always did what whatever he could to help me be smarter, better… kinder, than my family."

As it opened, some form of smoke or mist came up from the opening, but the audience couldn't see what was inside. "Well, well… Now you got my attention." Weiss turned back toward Jaune, "What is it?"

"That's none of your business."

"On the contrary." Weiss stepped down from the hovercart, "Way I see it, it's very much our business."

Ruby snickered, "Okay. I have to admit, it's kind of funny hearing Weiss talk like that."

Weiss rolled her eyes and groaned.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Weiss." He replaced his cigar in his mouth.

Weiss cocked her gun, "Apparently, it does." Her gang started to surround Jaune with weapons ready. Even her assistant Klein pulled up a road sign, wielding it like a club. The scene moved from camera angle to camera angle, showing different perspectives in that moment. As one scene placed itself looking passed Jaune's side, a tumbleweed bounced through the scene. Throughout the scene, no one moved.

Ruby tapped her heel on the floor, "Why isn't anyone doing anything?"

Yang smiled and shook her head, "Ruby… It's called building tension. Not everything needs to be fast and flashy."

"I know that! It just doesn't make sense in a fight!"

"Maybe not how we fight."

One moment showed the face of the robotic Klein as a bead of a light brown fluid fell down his head.

"How does a robot sweat?" Yang crossed her arms in thought.

Penny turned toward the brawler, "I am not certain that robotic individuals can sweat. It would most likely be a leak, but it is strange to be only a single droplet."

Qrow finished off another swig from his drink before speaking, "Kid… When you got brought here, we literally saw you get assembled. We know you're a robot."

"You do?"

Ironwood growled. He hoped everyone would just think it was a weird trick like how they all arrived form bubbles and lightning bursts. Apparently, this was the one time they took it at face value.

The screen showed Jaune and Weiss glaring toward each other from either side. The tension mounted and about to burst at the tiniest provocation. The screen then showed the top of the clock from before reading 11:59. A couple ticks later and the hands met.

Tai and Yang grinned. It was a major cliché, but it was one they didn't mind. The showdown at High Noon.

As the chime rang out, Weiss and a thug to her side tried to fire toward Jaune, only to have the cowboy duck to the right and fire a shot into the masked thug's shoulder. The impact pushed him into Weiss, who tossed him off in anger. Jaune paused a moment to toss a flashbang toward Weiss and Klein to get them out of the fighting for a moment. With those two thoroughly blinded, Jaune rolled through the incoming fire and shot toward a pair of bandits. The bullet severed a cable between them and released one of the hanging train cars from its perch. As the car swung down, the cabling wrapped around one of the bandits and dragged him up to the sky. The remaining thug ducked under the swinging train.

Mercury groaned, "I figured he'd get hit by the train. Weak…"

An Omnic sniper tried to aim down toward Jaune through the chaos, but the suspended bandit kept swinging into view yelling, "Don't shoot!" The sniper's scope finally found Jaune as he spun to shoot the would-be sharp shooter off his perch.

Weiss was finally able to see again and tried to shoot Jaune, but found her shots missing behind falling boulders knocked loose by his earlier attack. She saw Jaune jump to the side and fire three shots straight at her. She grabbed her hat and tried to duck but was saved by Klein using his roadside weapon as a shield for her. "Klein! Do something!"

The robotic assistant slammed his sign back into the ground, tilted his little bowler hat forward, and held out his arm as a set of six heavy guns started to open fire in pairs.

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! The firepower he packs into just one arm is insane! Then again, he's a big robot, but still!"

Jaune ducked behind a large boulder and tossed away his cigar as he reloaded his gun. "Looks like Klein got some upgrades."

The camera moved back to show Weiss as her gang started to gather around her again, "Smoke him out 'a there!" They all started to fire on Jaune's position, hoping to get him out from cover, but he didn't move. The camera moved back to Jaune, who finished reloading as the sharpshooter got up and shook his head. He pointed his rifle only for Jaune to headshot him without looking.

Yang pumped her fist in excitement. "Nice! This is so awesome!"

Nora leaned over the back of her chair to place herself over the blonde's shoulder, "Didn't you call another version a showoff for doing that?"

"Yeah. Difference is, that Jaune was a cocky guy with style focused fighting style. This version is focusing on ending the fight as soon as he can."

"Last chance Arc!" Weiss shot at the side of the boulder and put a large chip in the stone. "Toss out your weapon!"

Jaune looked in front of himself to find a belt of grenades dropped by the first bandit. "Alright, Weiss. Here it comes!"

Tai took in a sharp breath, "Please tell me he's about to do what I think he is."

Ironwood rolled his eyes, "Hard not to tell what he's doing. He'll toss the grenades and they'll be caught in the explosion or forced out of position, allowing him to gain the upper hand."

Yang chuckled, "You've clearly never seen a western."

The grenades flew up from behind the rock.

Weiss's face went pale, "Oh! Sh-!"

Jaune moved out from his cover and fired three shots, each striking a grenade, and causing the mass of explosives to detonate. As the explosion ripped through the area, the camera moved behind Jaune as he spun his gun, placing it back in his holster. The shockwave moved through and made his poncho fly up as the smoke covered the scene.

Silence. Awe struck by the scene that played out, no one could fin the words for that. Except Nora, who was way too energetic for her own good, "THAT WAS AMAZING!"

The screen faded back to show Weiss waking up, her hands bound to the hovercart from before. "What?"

The camera pulled back to show as Jaune placed Klein's head on a circle of ropes to keep him from falling off. "Sorry 'bout that Klein." Jaune placed the robot's hat back on his head, tilting it the way he liked it. "No hard feelings."

"Arc! The hell do you think you're doing?!"

Jaune tipped his hat and pressed a button on the cart. "Say hi to the gang for me."

As the cart moved back to their base on the opposite side of the nearby town, they could hear Weiss shouting after him, "Arc! I will not be ignored! I'll rebuild Klein! Then I'll come back and have him rip off your other arm!"

Yang chuckled, "No hard feelings, eh Ice Queen?"

Weiss groaned, "Shut up…"

Once they were gone, Jaune made his way to the rounded crate and opened it again.

Ruby was getting excited, "Maybe we'll get to see what's inside."

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Why are you so excited by that? I get that it's a mystery, but…"

"Blake. That was a military train, based off all the weapons and explosives Weiss was picking from the wreckage. If that crate is so different, it must be something experimental or too crazy for normal storage!"

Ironwood shrugged, "She has a point."

As the crate opened, Jaune pulled out the small chip from before. He placed it onto a similar slot and it seemed to fuse into the metal around it. The camera zoomed in close to show a pair of holographic eyes open. Eye's looked up slightly and they heard a giggle. "Hey there, cowboy."

Heads turned toward Yang and then back to the screen. Her voice, or rather a slightly robotized version of it, was responsible for that.

Yang's excitement from the fight before fell off to curiosity. "So, that's supposed to be me? Wait… why was I in a crate…?"

Jaune took off his hat with one hand, "Welcome back, partner." He offered his hand to Yang.

A sleek, very futuristic, robotic hand placed atop his cybernetic limb. Yang stood up once more, her pointed legs hovering above the ground. Now they could see the whole form, a beautifully designed and structured robot complete with magnetic joints that allowed the body to form without direct connections. Her face was a golden hologram while the rest of her body was a sleek white. "How long have I been gone?"

Ruby, who was used to more mechanical looking robots from Atlas or Penny, was dumbfounded. "Woah…"

Penny nodded, "I agree, friend Ruby."

"Far too long."

Yang turned to Jaune and grabbed his cybernetic hand with both of hers on either side, "What happened?"

"That's a story for another time. I got a call. They're getting the band back together. They want me, but really… they need you." Jaune placed his hat back on his head and started to walk off.

"Jaune! What are you going to do?"

Jaune chuckled and turned back to her, "I've got some unfinished business to attend to." Jaune hopped on a nearby white hovercycle. As he turned the key, it revealed [WEISS] was written on the key's accompanying leather. "Say hi to the monkey for me!"

"Monkey?"

A few pairs of eyes, Neptune and team RWBY, turned toward Sun for split second.

"Scientist… Whatever!" With that, Jaune drove off down the streets and along the route, making tracks with Weiss's personal cycle. The screen closed with a whip crack.

Yang blinked and turned toward Ren, "Ren, you have a hobby in movies, right?"

"More the set up and filming. Why?"

"You study from a lot of films?"

"Had to somehow."

"Good. Futuristic westerns. How many are there?"

"I can get you a list."