The Great Achievement Race
A/N:Be sure to check out my AU poll, guys. This takes place about a month or so before chapter one.
Ruby Rose had a plan.
Granted, it wasn't the best plan, but any plan was better than no plan.
Of course, they say no plan survives contact with the enemy, and Ruby would have to agree, having experienced that firsthand nearly every time he attacked a Grimm.
However, no mere Grimm had ever demolished a plan with such clean precision as this.
She forced herself to put more into the puppy-dog eyes, but Weiss had evidently been taking lessons from Yang.
"No, Ruby. Now quit staring at me."
"Aw, Weiss, come on! We need you!"
Blue eyes glared into silver, and Ruby inwardly praised herself for not flinching.
"No" Weiss said slowly, "You do not need me. You need anyone who can hold a controller. I don't have to be involved with that childish game, so I won't be.
"But Weiss, I only need like, three more, and then I'll have them all! Don't you want to beat Jaune?"
Weiss crossed her arms. "I can beat Jaune in any number of more important things. I see no reason to take this away from him as well. And just saying I could beat Jaune is not going to make me agree to everything, you know."
Ruby sighed, and her eyes left Weiss' "Worth a shot. Alright, plan B."
Rose petals erupted into being, and Ruby was gone.
Elsewhere
Jaune Arc had a plan.
It was the best plan.
He paced back and forth in the room, then turned to address the team.
"Okay guys, as you might have noticed, Ruby and I have been in fierce competition the last few days."
Pyrrha's head looked up from her magazine. "You have?"
Nora took off her headphones. "What, you guys finally realize there's co-op only achievements?"
"Co-op?"
Three sets of eyes looked at Pyrrha. She scratched the back of her head. "Uh... what ?"
Her teammates sighed in unison, and rolled their eyes.
"A-anyway! Ruby is winning at the moment, but she has to convince Weiss to play with the team, so they can get the last three co-op achievements she needs. Meanwhile, I have five I need to get, but they can be gotten in co-op as well as solo-play."
Nora cleared her throat. "You know, she might not get Weiss to help her. If she says no enough, she might give up, and ask someone who'll say yes. Like, someone she knows who is definitely interested in her-" Nora coughed."In playing the game with her."
Jaune chuckled. "This is Ruby we're talking about. Who else would she even ask?"
"Oh, you know, I'm sure there's someone who'd say yes. Ruby has a lot of friends, after all, and sometimes friends want more than to be friends. Sometimes they really want to play the game together, but one of them just doesn't really notice."
Pyrrha buried herself in her magazine. Nora was laying the subtext on a bit thick here. Surely-
She jumped when Jaune caught her eye. Did he finally figure it out? She'd kiss Nora if that-
Jaune was surreptitiously motioning towards Ren, and mouthing 'I told you so.'
She was going to kill that boy.
Jaune said, edged away from Pyrrha. She looked madder than he thought he'd ever seen her. Did she have a crush on Ren too? If so, her and Nora would have to work that out. He definitely wasn't qualified.
"A-anyway!" He said when he noticed Pyrrha reaching towards Mìlo. "I think we can all agree that Ruby's too focused on teamwork and trying to make team RWBY into the best team here to really think of asking anyone other than Weiss. Which is our main advantage! We can work on improving our skills while they're still trying to convince Weiss!"
Nora snorted. "We're gonna need it. Isn't one of them to beat the campaign on the hardest difficulty with four people?"
"Well... yeah. It's not going to be easy, but if it was it wouldn't be worth it, would it?"
Nora smiled. "Right! And, lucky for you, I'm pretty good. Right, Ren?"
Ren grunted noncommittally.
Nora beamed. He's just mad cause I always beat him. He's not that bad either, though."
"Great!" Jaune turned to Pyrrha. "What about you?"
Pyrrha sighed internally. "I... have no idea what you guys are talking about."
"It's cool, P, Jaune can teach you. Right, Jaune?"
"Y-"
"Cool! Ren, lets go get lunch at that new place!" Nora grabbed Ren's arm and dashed out of the room.
Jaune stared at the door for a moment, then turned to Pyrrha. "Well, uh... there's not really much I can show you. How about I tell you the basics?"
His stomach growled.
"Over lunch?" He said, smiling.
Pyrrha nodded and stood up, following Jaune out of the room as he began an explanation on the game.
Elsewhere
Blake was quietly reading in the library, and tossing around ideas in her head for getting into the Restricted Wing.
Basically, she was enjoying a rare quiet day. Which of course, meant that she was due to be interrupted any minute now.
Rose petals came into being around her, and Ruby was suddenly standing in front of her.
"Blake! I need your help!"
She raised an eyebrow at her leader.
"One of the achievements needs four people, and-"
"I'll help, but only if I can finish this book first."
Ruby flashed her a grateful smile. "You're the best, Blake! Now, I just have to convince Yang and Weiss..."
Blake sighed. "Get Yang to convince Weiss."
Ruby's eyes widened. "Why didn't I think of that?"
Blake smirked. "It was probably too simple."
Ruby stuck her tongue out, and disappeared, rose petals drifting everywhere. Including, Blake noticed with a snarl, in her drink.
"That was intentional." She muttered.
Elsewhere
Yang stepped off the shuttle, an armload of bags clear evidence of how she'd spent her day. She'd managed to get some groceries, some shoes, a new outfit, and other essentials. All in all, it was a pretty productive day.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted, appearing in front of her sister.
Yang, of course, was used to this by now, and hardly jumped. "What?" She continued walking to their room, and Ruby followed her.
"I need four-"
"Yeah, I'll help out. You already get the other two players?"
Ruby smiled, and pulled her sister into a hug. "You're the best."
Yang smiled back. "Thanks. I try really hard. So, who's gonna be playing?"
"Oh, right. Can you talk Weiss into it? Blake already said yes, and she sad you'd be able to convince her."
"Sure thing, sis." They walked up to the door, and Yang handed Ruby some bags while she fumbled for her scroll.
Ruby, of course, immediately began looking through Yang's purchases.
"Uh, Yang?"
"Yeah?"
"Why'd you get an outfit like Goodwitch's?"
Yang snatched the bag from her, leaving Ruby holding said outfit. "I thought it, uh... looked good. Obviously."
"Huh." Ruby looked at said outfit. "I think it might be kinda tight on you, Yang. I think it might, uh... not have enough room up top."
"Oh, it'll be fine... gotcha!" Yang said, as she finally managed to open the door.
Weiss looked up from her book, and stared at the outfit in Ruby's hand.
Yang winked at her. "Anyway Ruby, I'll try it on later. But for right now, why don't you go grab some lunch? I'll, uh... talk to Weiss about that while you're gone, okay?"
Weiss looked up upon hearing her name, but quickly went back to staring.
Ruby handed Yang the clothes, and left the room. She smiled to herself as she closed the door. Yang would definitely be able to convince Weiss. Now, all she had to do was actually get the achievements.
Jaune was totally losing this bet.