Wow, it's been quite a while hasn't it? First off, I'm sorry about the long wait. I was transferred to the graveyard shift at work, and let me tell you, it meant lots of suffering. LOTS OF SUFFERING. Anyway, here have a chapter.
Taiyang Xiao Long always thought that he was the type of man who could go with the flow. HE could deal with almost anything that could happen (forgetting that once incident with R-, er, Her, which he really could not forget. But then again, could you blame him? Woman up and left.). However, this situation was odd even for him.
He thought that this would be a normal day, a bit tiring maybe, with all the missions Team STQ had to take these past few weeks, but certainly nothing out of the ordinary. But then he, his wife, and his best friend were abducted by these weird Entities and now they were watching the future. Yeah, that got weird really quickly.
Tai might not understand everything yet, but there was something the Huntsman was sure of. He was going to change this future. He hated it. It sucked. There was no way he was going to allow his Summer, the best woman ever, to die. He was going to keep his family together, even if it meant fighting the whole damn world. Try him, he was ready.
Speaking of that, their whole strange group was currently at the (recently materialized) dining room, eating their fill of the food that the Entities had provided. Tai had to admit, these guys knew how to make food. The roast chicken that he was eating was amazing. As reluctant as he was to admit it…it was better than Summer's cooking (Not that he was going to say that out loud!).
Taiyang looked up from his chicken for a moment to look at the rest of their group. His wife sat to his right, laughing slightly and trying to get Adam to eat his vegetables. Tai couldn't help but smile. The boy had been through a lot (things that made Tai want to go out and punch a lot of racist idiots) and he was glad that the boy (and his friend, Blake) would finally get a shot at a normal childhood. Besides, he'd be lying if he said he didn't want a son to teach the Xiao Long Moves to (Ladies love it!). Not that he'd tell Summer that. He didn't want to spend a month on the couch. Anyway, he was pretty sure Ruby would love to have older siblings. She'd accept a new brother and sister, no problem. Yang on the other hand, might get jealous. He'd have to talk to her…
On his left was Qrow, debating with Thorin about which type of beer was better. Tai rolled his eyes. He might have drunk a few times, but he wasn't the near constant alcoholic vacuum cleaner that his friend was.
Directly across from Tai was the Beacon Head, Ozpin, deep in conversation with Mei and Patroklos about something or other. The Prof was someone Tai respected greatly, but he also worried about the older man a lot. That much responsibility on one guy must weigh him down a lot. As for Mei and Pat? Tai liked them well enough, but he didn't really know them.
The last two members of their watching party, Jeanne and Willow were quietly eating. Tai like Jeanne a lot, but Willow was something else entirely. She was…well, she was a bitch, frankly. Then again, her obvious care for her daughter kept her from being all bad.
At that moment, it seemed everyone had mostly finished eating and Ozpin cleared his throat and spoke.
"Alright everyone, as soon as we finish our meals, we shall rest for a few minutes and resume watching."
There was a murmur of acknowledgement, and Thorin said loudly "We'll still keep the beer though, yes?"
Qrow nodded in agreement, and Tai snorted. Qrow promptly chucked a piece of chicken at him which Tai caught with his mouth.
Summer giggled, amused. Willow on the other hand, looked disgusted.
+++++++++++++++++++++Linebreak+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Half an hour later, Tai and the rest were back in the viewing room making themselves comfortable (or in Tai and Qrow's case, fighting over a seat. Tai won.). As soon as everyone was seated, they looked at the odd floating screen and waited for the next vision to start.
Tai was seated on one of the couches, with Adam in between him and Summer. He tapped his new son on the shoulder and smiled at him when he turned.
"How are you doing, Adam?" Tai asked.
"…I'm fine, er, Mister Xiao Long." The boy replied, a bit hesitantly, looking down on the floor.
Tai lifted his face so that he would look at him. "Oy. Call me Dad."
"And call me Mom." Summer commented from Adam's other side.
Adam blushed a deep red but managed to nod. Then, he promptly looked at the screen, pretending to be in total concentration.
Summer laughed, leaned over and whispered to her husband. "He's adorable, isn't he?"
"I don't think he'd appreciate you calling him that, though." Tai replied with a grin and Summer laughed again.
At that moment, the screen and came to life and everyone focused their attention on it.
A quote fades in: "Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one sided and easily processed. Yet every misshapen spark's unseen beauty is greater than its would be judgement."
"Co-"Tai began to speak, only to get interrupted by an annoyed Willow.
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
Chuckling, Tai raised his hands in mock surrender and opened his mouth to speak again. Immediately, Willow cut him off again.
"And not one word about your mother's sayings, too!"
Tai blinked. Qrow laughed. Summer giggled. The disgruntled blonde glared at his teammates and pouted.
"You're both traitors."
They both laughed at him yet again.
"….And he's supposed to be my mature male role model?" Adam commented innocently, a small grin on his face.
Qrow promptly choked on his own laughter and high fived the kid while Tai crossed his arms and grunted. Kid just got adopted and was already taking potshots at him! Then again, it was great that he felt comfortable enough to joke around with them.
Smiling, Tai ruffled the boy's hair, ignoring his cries of protest. Summer smiled happily at her new son while Jeanne nodded in approval.
"That's so sweet."
"I wish I had a son. Then again, my little Nora is already stronger and more amazing than any other child." Thorin commented, taking a sip of his beer.
"Ren is as close to being your son anyway, Thorin." Mei pointed out.
Thorin nodded eagerly. "Too true, too true! Although I think it's more accurate to call him a son-in-law!"
Tai was vaguely curious about what that meant but decided to wait until the vision was over until he asked.
Yang is shown riding her motorcycle through the streets of Vale. She eventually stops in front of a club that's blasting music.
Tai stood straight up, recognizing the girl on the motorcycle. Oh, for Dust's sake! Seeing one daughter be endangered was hard enough, but BOTH of them in one day?! Why?! Why does the future seem to be completely terrible for his family?! Did these Entities have a personal grudge against them or something?!
"FUCKING HELL-!" Tai snarled in frustration.
Beside him, Summer had gasped and put a hand to her mouth. It seemed she was just as terrified for their daughter as he was.
Qrow, of course, had recognized his niece. He reached over and patted both on the shoulder.
'She'll be fine, you two. And it's not like this is guaranteed to happen, right?" Qrow's voice was a lot gentler than what they were used to.
Tai swallowed the lump in his throat, nodded gratefully at Qrow and took his wife's hand. He had to be strong. For Summer. He needed to look solid. He didn't want her to worry about him on top of everything else!
"D-dad, M-mom? Who is she?" Adam asked, noticeably stumbling on the first two words. Still, hearing him call them that made Tai feel a lot better, and from the corner of his eyes he saw Summer smile.
"Our eldest daughter. Your sister." Summer replied, wrapping an arm around Adam.
"…Oh." Adam grunted, sounding a bit disappointed.
"What's wrong, Adam?" asked Summer, looking confused.
"Please don't ask!" Tai immediately said, having a shrewd idea what Adam was thinking. The kid was nearing puberty after all. He did not want to deal with that just now!
Summer just looked confused, but Qrow and Patroklos seemed to get it. The former giving out a huge sigh and the latter scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Thorin was grinning suggestively. Tai chucked a pillow at him.
"Are you calm now, Tai, Summer? It would do well for you to remember that the future is not set in stone. Rest assured that we will try to make it better." Ozpin said.
Summer nodded. "We're fine."
"Er, on a lighter note…that looks like a quality motorcycle. It seems…Atlesian in make, I think. I bet that it could go…." Patroklos trailed off when he saw everyone staring at him.
Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, Patroklos mumbled in apology. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit of a vehicle fan…I get carried away?"
Tai grinned. It was actually good that Pat decided to distract them. Stopped him from thinking dark thoughts. Kept him calm. "That's fine, dude. It is a good bike. Although I'm not sure how to feel about my daughter riding one of those screaming metal death traps."
Summer sighed. "I do sort of agree with you, but if Yang can prove that she can handle it…."
Willow snorted. "I'd never let either of my daughters ride that barbaric machine!"
"Mom, can I have one?!" Adam immediately asked.
"…..Maybe when you're older." Summer conceded with a frown.
"Can I have one?" asked Tai, giving his wife his best pleading expression. Summer was unimpressed.
"No. You'd destroy Vale. And weren't you the one who wasn't keen on Yang riding one?"
"…..Well, that's different?" Tai said, pouting, while Qrow snickered in the background.
"Don't worry, dad. I'll let you take mine out." Adam said, nodding with all the sagely wisdom and kingly confidence of a ten year old.
"I knew I liked this kid!" laughed Tai, high fiving his son.
"I'm having second thoughts on that bike, Adam."
"But mooooooooooooooom!"
"Good grief, it hasn't been a day and Tai's already a bad influence on the kid!" commented a disgruntled Qrow.
"I'm a great role model!"
"I'll let you borrow my bikes, Mister Tai…" Patroklos offered.
"Awesome!"
"CAN WE GET BACK TO WATCHING NOW?!" yelled Willow angrily.
She eventually stops in front of a club that's blasting music. As she walks through the club, she sees Roman Torchwick ending a conversation with Junior. She makes her way to the bar where Junior stands.
"YANG XIAO LONG, WHY ARE YOU IN A CLUB?! I forbid you! You get out of there right this second, young lady!" snapped Tai, glaring at the screen.
"You're yelling at a recording, you idiot!" Qrow yelled at him, whacking him on the back of his head. Tai grumbled and crossed his arms, still frowning.
"If she does this in this timeline, she's grounded until she's thirty!" Summer said, also frowning.
"It looks like a dangerous place…"Jeanne commented worriedly, looking at the suspicious looking bar on the screen.
"That place should be shut down." Willow agreed.
"What's wrong with the club? It looks like a fun place!" Thorin protested.
"Yeah! Let the girl drink as much as she wants! It's one of life's great pleasures!"Qrow agreed, nodding enthusiastically.
"Shut up, Qrow, this is probably you're fault!" Tai snapped.
"Why are you blaming me?!"
"Because you're you!"
Yang: Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas.
Junior: Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?
"That better be non-alcoholic. And she better stay far away from that man. He looks really sleazy." Summer commented.
"If he tries anything, I'll kick his ass." grunted Tai.
"Non-alcoholic? There are drinks like that? Have I been duped?" asked Thorin, genuinely bewildered and staring at his beer as if he was wondering if that was one of said non-alcoholic drinks.
'Yes, Thorin. Don't worry, that is legitimate beer." Mei responded patiently.
Yang (giggles): Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?
Junior: So you know who I am. You got a name, sweetheart?
"If he's hitting on her, I'm going to rip his arms off." Tai announced, strangely calm.
"Get in line, I'm going to get to him first." Summer seethed.
"Mom, Dad, you're kinda scary." commented Adam.
"Parents are protective of their children. It's part of the job description." Jeanne said smiling, Summer and Willow nodding in agreement.
"Besides, Yang is far too young for a boyfriend, let alone that asshole. She should be careful about relationships." Tai said firmly.
He then noticed that Qrow and Summer were looking at him with extreme disbelief in their expressions,
"What?" he asked, blinking in confusion. Why were they staring at him? He didn't say anything wrong, right?"
"….You're a gigantic hypocrite, Tai." grunted Qrow.
"WHAT DID I SAY?!"
Ozpin seemed to be holding back his laughter. It seemed the headmaster was remembering the..stories…that circulated about Taiyang's time in Beacon.
Yang: Yes, Junior, I've got several. But instead of sweetheart, you can just call me sir.
She grabs his groin and squeezes it painfully causing Junior to cry out in pain comically.
The entire male population of the room winced in pain and Willow smirked. Tai recovered first and made a sound that was halfway between a proud laugh and a terrified whimper.
"Go, Yang?"
"She got that from Rae. Remember the time she-?" Summer asked, an uncertain expression on her face.
"As if I could forget! No need to remind me, thank you!" Tai interrupted, his voice rising an octave. Holy crap, Raven was scary when she's mad!
"Rae?" asked Patroklos curiously.
"My sister." Qrow answered for the married couple, who were now both looking awkward.
She brings her scroll up to his face, showing him a picture.
Yang: Tell me where I can find her and I'll let you go.
Junior (straining): I've never seen her before, I swear!
Yang: Excuse me?
Junior (straining): I swear, sir!
Tai almost yelled in surprise. That picture….why did Yang have it? And why was his daughter looking for her? Did Yang find out? Argh, this vision was giving him lots of questions and he didn't like it one bit!
He looked at Qrow and Summer, both looking troubled as well.
"Who is she…?" asked Patroklos.
"None of us know." Ozpin answered suddenly.
Patroklos nodded, and Tai looked gratefully at the old headmaster. Those past wounds did not need to be revisited…
Yang: Excuse me?
Junior (straining): I swear, sir!
Junior's henchmen begin to gather around.
Yang: Hmm, looks like we have an audience. This must kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward...
Junior (straining): Listen, blondie sir. If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now!
She lets go and Junior sighs in relief.
Junior: You'll pay for that!
He puts on his sunglasses and walks away from her. Yang follows closely behind.
Yang: Oh Junior, I was just playing with you! Don't be so sensitive! Come on, lets kiss and make up, okay?
Junior stops and turns around.
Junior: Huh? Uh, okay.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Tai demanded, standing up in parental outrage and alarming Adam so much that he promptly clung to Summer's arm.
"Tai, you're scaring Adam!" Summer admonished.
"SIT DOWN YOU IDIOT!" yelled Qrow.
"WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?!" That was Thorin.
"SHUT UP!" Willow.
As he leans in, she punches him in the face sending him flying across the room. The surrounding henchmen respond by charging at Yang, who deploys Ember Celica and jumps up into the air only to slam a fiery punch into the ground, sending a ripple through the dance floor that knocks the incoming henchmen off their feet.
"MY SISTER IS AWESOME!" cheered Adam, rising to his feet and jumping up and down wildly.
"OH YEAH SHE IS!" Tai yelled just as enthusiastically, jumping up and down as well, all dignity forgotten.
Willow looked affronted. Especially when Thorin yanked Patroklos up from his eat and promptly joined in.
Summer only shook her head, smiling. "My boys…."
As the henchmen get up, Yang charges at one, jumping into the air and performing a somersault kick on her first victim. She then turns around and uppercuts a second one, following it up with a spinning kick that sends another two tumbling away.
As the rest charge at her, Yang shoots at the first one in front of her and kicks behind her at another. Another henchman swings at her from behind, but she sweeps his legs out from under him and punches him up into the air, only to slam him into the ground. She then takes a couple steps toward an oncoming henchman to jump up and launch herself off of him, allowing her to deliver a flying punch to another henchman. This is quickly followed by her rushing forward as she dispatches yet another nearby opponent. As the fallen henchman collapses, he lands on the henchman behind him, sending him stumbling back. He attempts to block the oncoming punch from Yang, but to no avail, as Yang simply breaks straight through her opponent's guard before delivering an uppercut.
She then notices several more assailants approaching from behind and fires a shot, using the recoil to send her flying towards yet another group of enemies. She elbows the first henchman and kicks him away while another attempts to swing at her, but is promptly blocked and shot in the face. Yang then swings around under his arm and punches him once more. This is followed by another spin as she kicks, punches, and kicks him again, with the final hit sending him flying backwards through a glass pillar.
Yang turns around to see the final henchman charge and swing at her. She promptly blocks the blow and punches his chin, stunning him and allowing her to follow up with a flurry of blows that conclude with an uppercut that launches him into the air. Yang then delivers a final punch that sends him flying back.
Upon clearing the dance floor, she spots the DJ pulling out a machine gun before firing down at her from his booth. Yang charges towards the booth, dashing from side to side in order to avoid the incoming fire. Once close enough, she jumps up, firing her shotgun-gauntlets at the floor for additional propulsion. As she lands, she places a hand on the mixing desk before swinging her legs around, kicking the DJ in the face. This sends him stumbling back. Yang then spins and lands with her back facing him, only to fire once more to elbow him in the face. She then slams his face into the table, picks him up, and launches him off by firing. He lands at Melanie and Miltiades Malachite's feet, unconscious, with his "helmet" rolling away.
"Another skilled Huntress. It seems that Mister tai and Miss Summer's children are both naturally gifted." Patroklos commented, impressed.
"Indeed, and it seemed young Yang has inherited her father's fast-paced fighting style." Ozpin added.
"SHE FIGHTS LIKE ME!"
"DAD, TEACH ME HOW TO PUNCH ALL THE THINGS!"
"OF COURSE, SON!"
Summer laughed, shaking her head. She looked at her husband and son fondly. "Yes, yes, I'm happy for you, but I am a bit disappointed that neither Ruby nor Yang took after my fighting style."
"You can teach Blake!" Adam immediately replied.
"If she accepts, why not?"
Miltia: Melanie, who is this girl?
Melanie: I dunno Miltia but we should teach her a lesson.
'Ugh. Valley Girls." Qrow grunted in disgust.
"That was a long time ago, Qrow. Let it go." Tai said, smirking at his best friend. That particular mission still brought him to tears of laughter. The look on Qrow's face…
"Shut up, Tai."
"Dad, what are you talking about?" Adam asked curiously.
'Don't ask, kid." Qrow grumbled, glaring at Tai.
Yang jumps from the podium, unleashing a barrage of shell-shots in mid-air at the Malachite Sisters, which they evade by backflipping away. After recomposing, the sisters charge at Yang as she lands on the dance floor, continuing her barrage. As the sisters split to opposing sides, with Yang focusing her barrage on Melanie, they begin their counterattack, with Melanie dodging and deflecting Yang's bullets while Miltia takes a swipe at Yang from behind.
Ducking to avoid Miltia's strike at the last second, Yang turns and fires at her, only to have Miltia jump to avoid it as Melanie lands behind Yang and retaliates with a heel-kick. Yang blocks the kick with her gauntlets forcing herself back a distance away from the sisters.
Yang quickly grounds herself and fires a round at them, which Melanie deflects with a frontflip heel-kick off into a pillar. Miltia quickly closes in on Yang and delivers a couple of swipes that Yang defends against, only to have Melanie follow up with a series of jump-kicks while Yang is off-balanced. Blocking each attack, Yang quickly fires a round in response, which Melanie ducks to avoid. Miltia swoops in with a downwards swipe while Melanie sweeps Yang's right leg and finishes with a series of kicks that make contact, launching Yang across the stage.
Yang rolls and quickly regains her footing, firing both gauntlets to propel her back across the stage and landing a hard right punch onto Melanie's face, knocking her down. While Melanie lies stunned on the floor, Yang confronts Miltia in close-range melee combat, with Yang firing rounds with each punch thrown and Miltia defending with her claws. However, Yang overwhelms her with a low kick, a series of boosted body shots, and a final round from Ember Celica, blasting Miltia off the stage.
Melanie finally recovers from Yang's punch just in time to see her sister get flung into a pillar overhead. Yang confronts her by firing off a round at close-range, which Melanie again avoids by backflipping. After avoiding another round into the ground, Melanie retaliates with an upward leg swipe before kicking a third round point-blank in order to deflect it. Both Yang and Melanie resort to close-range melee combat, with Yang throwing boosted punches and blocking with her gauntlets while Melanie kicks and swipes as she defends with the blades of her boots. A hard side-kick pushes Yang away as each take a second of reprieve before Melanie closes in on Yang.
Feinting with her boots to keep Yang off-balanced, Melanie shifts herself along the stage, forcing Yang to back-step continuously. This leaves Yang unable to ground herself while defending against Melanie's feints and kicks. A longer series of kicks from Melanie allows Yang to finally ground herself, spin to dodge Melanie's last kick while retracting Ember Celica, and land a body blow with her left elbow. Yang quickly grabs Melanie's right arm and uses it to twist and spin the rest of Melanie's body, using the built-up momentum to land a final devastating jump-kick to Melanie's face. The current fight ends, and another begins.
"Nice. I saw some mistakes, but nothing major. Plus, she's still getting blindsided by kick attacks. I should teach her how to counter those." Tai said thoughtfully. He had been meticulously studying how his daughter fought. It wasn't just vanity, after all. One's fighting skills let them survive as a Hunter. Yang needed to be the best she could be out there.
"I love how you suddenly encourage Yang's fighting when you found out she had your style." Summer said dryly.
Tai shrugged. "Hey, we're changing this future anyway. This isn't going to happen. Still, I'm going to train her anyway. Better safe than sorry, after all."
Summer nodded. "Good point."
The holograms in the club suddenly turn off and a spotlight shines on Junior as he brings out his Bazooka.
Junior: You're gonna pay for this.
"Break his stupid face, Yang!" Tai cheered, glaring at the sleazy man in front of his daughter. Really, if he wasn't stuck here, he'd hunt the man down himself. Perving on his underaged girl? What kind of sicko did that?!
"Calm down, man!" snapped Qrow.
"I think he's rather justified in his anger." Willow commented, much to Tai's surprise. Did Schnee just take his side?
Junior fires off a stream of rockets from his weapon's bazooka form, and Yang backflips and siderolls to dodge several. Upon righting herself, Yang then destroys several more incoming rockets with well-placed shots from Ember Celica.
Advancing, Junior changes his weapon to its bat form and strikes at Yang multiple times, with the latter managing to defend and block all but one, causing her to recoil and stumble. This gives Junior an opening to hit her in the face, sending her flying backwards into a glass structure.
"Shit!" snarled Tai, worry for his daughter and anger at Junior flaring up inside him. Summer noticed and immediately took his hand in hers, rubbing it soothingly.
"She'll be fine. You trained her well." Ozpin said, smiling reassuringly.
"Yes, the children in these visions always stay safe, right? Your daughter won't be hurt…" Jeanne said, also smiling reassuringly.
"Hmmph. The girl won't lose to that ape." Willow said confidently and once more Tai was surprised. So the woman could be nice!
Yang pushes herself to her feet, her hair ablaze and shining gold. She then slams her fists together, creating a minor shockwave, before dashing forward. Junior arms his rocket launcher and starts firing wildly, each shot missing as Yang sidesteps and evades them. She quickly closes the gap between them, dodging a strike from Junior before laying into him, landing seven punches, each amplified by her weaponry. The final punch sends Junior flying back, his weapon broken in two, one piece of it in one hand, a lock of Yang's hair in the other.
"That's her Semblance? I wonder what it is?" Patroklos observed, looking closer at the screen.
"Looks to me like it boosted her power! Haha! A true warrior's Semblance!" Thorin replied excitedly.
"Well, whatever it is, Junior is dead meat. Yang hates having her hair messed with." Tai commented with a smirk. Yeah. His little girl was strong. She'll get out of this okay! She wasn't going to get hurt! He had to believe in her!
The sight enrages Yang, who promptly engulfs herself in a huge explosion of fire, which shatters the dance floor. She then charges Junior at an astonishing speed, landing one final blow square in the jaw, which sends him flying through a window into the street, incapacitated, effectively ending the fight.
Tai let out a sigh of relief. The fight was over. He wouldn't have to worry about Yang any more. But still….she was looking for Raven? What did that mean? And in this future with Summer…gone…maybe he was as well? It disturbed him, quite frankly, what this future had in store for his family.
He needed to find a way to change this. Whatever it takes.
He flies out the window, landing in front of Ruby. Yang comes outside shortly after.
Ruby: Yang? Is that you?
Yang: Oh! Hey sis!
Ruby: What are you doing here?
Yang sighs before the screen cuts to black.
Yang: (Sighs) It's a long story.
The RWBY title pans from the left of the screen before unveiling all four characters: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. The screen changes to a black background with a flaming effect on the botton edge and the announcement to "SEE THE PREMIERE at RTX 2013: AUGUST, TX JULY 5-7" appears before the screen fades to black.
"Ruby! Oh, that's your other sister, Adam. You'll meet her soon." Summer said, smiling at her son, who smiled back.
"Yeah, it was a long story." Tai muttered.
So that was another vision, huh? It was frustrating that they still knew almost nothing about this future…except for the parts that really sucked. Still, his resolve was firm. For his family. For his family.
He would do whatever it takes.