RWBY: WHAT IF!?

ROOSTER TEETH

VOLUME 1 CHAPTER 1

WHAT IF TEAM STRQ NEVER BROKE UP

Light God : "Space..., Time..., Reality..., Light..., And Darkness. All not a linear path. Journey with me into the multiverse and ponder the question... WHAT IF!?

Light God : "Before there was team RWBY, there was team STRQ. But this team ended in tragedy, for two years after Yang Xiao Long's birth, her mother Raven Branwen left her family without notice. Then, Taiyang Xiao Long had a second daughter with fellow teammate, Summer Rose. The child was named Ruby Rose. Then, once again, the tragic loss of Summer Rose, this time resulting in her death. But what if these tragedies could be avoided, and thus never happen?

Raven: "Tai, let's have a small wedding, just team STRQ and our friends from Beacon."

Tai: "That's a great idea! And we can get my friend, the Shop Keep, to be the Justice of the Peace."

Raven: "You have a friend...just named Shop Keep?"

Tai: "Well, yeah. He doesn't give his name out to anyone, so we just took to calling him Shop Keep."

Raven: "And...he's a Justice of the Peace, as well as a Shop Keep?"

Tai: "Sure. Why not? I mean, we've dealt with weirder things before."

Summer bursts in, overjoyed hearing about Raven and Tai's wedding, while Qrow stumbles in drunk.

Summer: "You're getting married already? I've been planning this my whole life! Well, not my whole life. That would be weird. But a large part of it anyway! Oh, yeah!"

Qrow: "Easy, Summer, they're not married yet, just engaged."

Summer: "Yeah, but that means they're gonna get married. I have it all planned out."

Raven: "Were you two spying on us?" She puts her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Tai: "Woah, chill babe, no need to hurt them. They're just trying to help, but still not cool for spying on us."

Qrow: "To be (burp) fair, I was dragged here against my will."

Raven: "Look Summer, I know you have a lot of ideas and to be fair some might be salvageable. But I want a small wedding, just us four and our friends from Beacon. Got it, Summer?"

Summer: "Well, won't you need a dress?"

Raven: "Actually, I'm shopping for a wedding kimono."

Summer: "Well, can I help you pick one out?" she said, giving Raven puppy dog eyes.

Raven: "I can't say no to that face."

Light God narrating: "As Summer and Raven shop for a kimono, Tai and Qrow go digging through Qrows old trunk of suits. They find their perfect clothes and send out invitations to their friends from Beacon Academy."

Qrow: "Listen up, Tai. My sister may want a small wedding but, knowing her, she'll want it to be a traditional Branwen ceremony. You'll each forge a Bowie knife with an engraving: yours says honor, hers says valor. During the ceremony, you'll exchange the knives. Got it?"

Tai: "I'm ready. Let's do this."

A few days later, their friends are gathered to witness the union. Tai stands at the alter, waiting for his blushing bride. As the wedding music plays, Raven comes down the aisle wearing her wedding kimono. Tai's friend, the Shop Keep, officiates the ceremony to make sure it's legal, as Branwen ceremonies are not recognized in Vale. After the exchange of the knives, the couple are recognized as husband and wife. Raven throws her bouquet of flowers and Summer catches it.

Qrow: "Let's get smashed!" And the drinking and partying commences.

Light God narrating: "Some time later, their "sunny little dragon" Yang Xiao Long was born..."

Raven, calling a team meeting: "I think it's time we took Salem off the board and I have a plan..."

Qrow: "(burp) What's the plan, Sis?"

Raven: "It's Summer. It's always been Summer. With her silver eyes, we can finally be rid of Salem once and for all."

Summer: "That's why the legendary huntress the Grimm Reaper died: 'cause Salem is scared of silver eyed warriors."

Light God narrating: "With the team meeting adjourned and everyone in agreement, they head off into the Void to confront Salem. But when they get to the Void, there may be a little surprise waiting for them."

Later, in the Void...

Light God narrating: "Salem is sitting on her throne in her castle. She senses through the dark crystals of the Void the team known as STRQ approaching stealthfully. Or so they think..."

Salem: "So, Team STRQ thinks they can approach me and ambush me? They will learn that they are sadly mistaken. My Grimm, arise! Go and destroy Team STRQ and defend your Goddess!"

Raven, sensing an ambush, approaches the Grimm ready to display a new Maiden power. Activating her Maiden power and funneling it through her sword, The Omen, she rapidly slices through time and space, exploding Grimm with each slice! She puts her sword back in its sheath and says, "Judgement Cut End. This shall be your grave!"

Raven, exhausted, drops to her knees. The Judgement Cut End took all her energy, because it is a move she had not yet perfected. Tai rushes to her side, worried about her.

Tai: "Raven, are you ok? Can you continue to fight?"

Raven: "There is no other choice. I will continue this fight, for our family!"

Qrow: "Let's not forget, Summer has to charge up her silver eyes. The three of us need to stall for time, while Summer charges and then activates her silver eyes. Let's keep moving."

As they're walking up to Salem's castle, then through the corridors, Qrow asks his sister Raven, "How many of those Judgement Cut Ends do you have left? We may need one."

Raven: "I can only perform it once a day, so that was it. Luckily, Salem will not be expecting us, as I destroyed all her crystals. She can't see us coming."

Qrow: "Dammit! Looks like my bad luck semblance acted up again."

Raven: "Not necessarily. That move was not perfected, which is why I can only use it once a day. It requires a lot of Maiden magic."

Tai, to Qrow: "And who knows? Your semblance might actually come in handy fighting Salem."

Qrow, mumbling: "Or get one of us killed..."

Summer: "Just about charged. If you can stall Salem when we get to her, I should be ready in about 5 to 10 minutes."

Finally, they come upon Salem in her throne room, sipping on a glass of wine mixed with blood. Leisurely, she glances at the group and muses, "So, you made it through my army of Grimm. Interesting."

Qrow, transforming his Harbinger sword into a shotgun, blasts the glass out of Salem's hand, shattering it to pieces. He says, "On your feet, witch!"

Salem: "You wish to die that badly? So be it. I'll grant you your final request."

Tai: "It won't be us to die today, Salem!" He gets into a fighting stance.

Salem: "You should know by now, it's harder to kill me than you might think."

Raven vanishes and appears behind Salem, slicing off Salem's head. She says, "You talk too much."

Salem's body walks over to her decapitated head, picks it up, and places it back atop her body. The head reattaches itself, as if nothing had happened.

Salem taunts Raven: "I told you...not that easy."

Tai rushes in with a pummeling flurry of punches, breaking every bone in Salem's body.

An audible crack, then snap, show that Salem's body is healing itself once again.

Qrow jumps in, his shotgun turned now into a scythe, swinging at Salem's body, ripping it apart as it tries to heal.

Raven's eyes catch fire with Maiden energy, as she says to her brother, "Getting serious, are we?" She then encases Salem's body in a tomb of ice, freezing it and preventing the healing process...temporarily.

The team takes the few minutes of reprieve to regroup and rest before the next assault.

Qrow: "Summer, how's it going? Are you almost ready?"

Summer: "Hold off just a little bit longer. One more assault and I'll be ready."

With a loud CRASH, Salem breaks out of the ice! For a moment, her whereabouts are unknown, due to an icy mist settling throughout the room. As the mist clears, Salem seems to have vanished!

Raven: "Where are you, Salem? Show yourself, coward!"

Salem: "I'm...HERE!" she exclaims, as she appears behind Raven. She grabs Raven by the hair, dragging her across the floor. She kicks her into the air several times, then grabs her by the leg and does what Hulk did to Loki in the Avengers movie (ie: "puny God").

Just then, Qrow scoops Salem off of Raven using a hook-like grab with his scythe, similar to what Dante does to a demon in DmC: Devil May Cry. Qrow tosses her into the throne, demolishing it and also damaging Salem.

Tai: "Any moment now, Summer!"

Suddenly, the room fills with light. Summer activates her silver eyes. At the same time, a silver glow appears around her stomach, emitting a chaos blast-type energy beam toward Salem. Summer's silver eyes blast Salem at the same time, doubling the power of the silver eye energy. When the silver energy makes contact with Salem, it petrifies her into stone.

Raven gets up and uses the remainder of her Maiden power to do a Judgement Cut, shattering Salem and scattering the atoms of her stone body across time and space.

Team STRQ raise their fists and stand triumphant against the immortal terror that was Salem! Battered and bruised, but overjoyed in their moods, the team exits the Void victorious.

Light God narrating: "Even the most uphill battles can be won and even the most undefeatable opponents can be vanquished. Now, Summer reveals that she was pregnant the entire time and that is how they were able to defeat Salem. The child is also a silver eyed warrior and, though not fully developed, she was able to add her strength to her mother's and give them the victory."

Qrow: "I'm going to be a Dad!"

Tai: "We need to get back to our daughter, too. Congratulations, Qrow and Summer!"

Light God: "Things are different in this version of events. Which experiment do you prefer...? We may see Team STRQ and their children again but for now, this is the end."