Gamer4 in. Okay, new game plan- I know how to handle the reader's choice events now. Details in end-notes, be sure to read... unless you don't care. I don't know, if you really don't give a smeg, you can just skip 'em. I... I'd recommend reading it though. I like it when people read my stuff...
Disclaimer: Until such a time as I get a new cover, you'll be seeing Emil from Nier Automata as my avatar and- by extension- this story's generic cover. I already disclaimed Automata- no need to repeat.
Episode VIII
Xiao Long Automata
Birth in the Desert
Ruby blinked. "Wait, aren't you gonna go off and do something random, give us a chance to go over the last world before we start this one?"
"Should I?" Crazy paused before plugging the DVD in.
"I mean, you always have before," Pyrrha pointed out.
"Are you saying... I'm getting predictable?" Crazy asked in befuddlement.
"Crazy, you've been predictable for ten years," George provided.
Crazy glanced around, pouting. "Well, phooey on you! I'm gonna plug this world in right now to not be predictable, HA!"
"Saw that coming a mile away," Weiss rolled her eyes as the disc went in.
The screen began to show what seemed like a presentation, centering on a large circle clearly labeled Earth, a smaller circle orbiting, labeled Moon.
"5012 AD," a voice narrated. "The year mankind's glorious history came to a sudden end when the world was invaded by aliens from beyond the stars."
"Ozpin's narrating again?" Jaune wondered.
"That's weird, there was no narrator last time," Yang commented, tilting her head.
"Last time?"
"Oh, we've seen this universe before!" Ruby explained brightly. "You and Weiss are a pair of kick-butt androids fighting to take earth back from evil machines!"
"W...Weiss... and me?" Jaune asked, flabbergasted.
"Don't read too much into it, Arc, it's another universe," Weiss reminded.
"Right... of... of course..."
"The aliens unleashed an army of mechanical lifeforms that very nearly annihilated human civilization." To demonstrate, a cluster of icons labeled 'Aliens' approached Earth and sent another cluster labeled 'machines' towards it. "99.4 percent of humanity was eliminated in the war that followed- the remainder fled to the surface of the moon." A rocketship appeared, traveling from once circle to the other.
"Nine... ninety nine point four percent?" Pyrrha gasped, completely taken aback by the scale of the destruction the aliens had wrought.
"Holy dust!" Blake muttered, eyes wide- even in the worst days of human-faunus relations, things had never gotten anywhere near that bad! The war must have made the faunus revolution seem like a water gun fight!
The diagrams all disappeared. "5204 AD- Ozpin, a lead scientist on the Council of Humanity, put together special unit of androids, YoRHa, to launch a counter-attack." Where the diagram had been was a picture of Ozpin, looking up and off-screen in a rather inspirational pose. "This special unit, Ozpin knew, was humanity's greatest hope to reclaim their homeland."
"Wait, the voice is Ozpin's, but... Ozpin lived thousands of years before now?" Ruby tilted her head as she attempted to put the pieces together.
"It's not him anymore," Crazy shook his head. "An AI that happens to have his voice. Kennit?"
"Kennit?" Ruby asked. "What's that mean?"
"It's his way of asking if you understand," George rolled his eyes, slapping Crazy upside the head (OW!)
"However, now, even after thirteen large-scale assaults, we have yet to truly eliminate the threat." The camera pulled back to reveal a chamber full of androids watching the screen- above them all, a tall man with dark hair, graying at the edges, several marks on him from the wars he had presumably been through.
"General Ironwood?" Weiss gasped.
"Who?" Nora asked quickly.
"The general of the Atlesian army- I didn't expect to see him getting involved in these!"
"My friends, you might be surprised how many people you see getting caught up in these worlds," Crazy mused as he took a long drink of soda.
Ozpin's voice continued. "And now, there is you- the modern-day YoRHa forces, stronger than anything that has come before. It is you that will break this stalemate once and for all. You are the ultimate weapons- you must end this war."
The voice paused as a logo appeared- YoRHa: GLORY TO MANKIND.
"Understood, sir!" Ironwood nodded, placing an arm over his chest in salute. "Glory to mankind!"
All the other androids in the room mimicked the salute. "Glory to mankind!"
Ozpin's voice came back one last time, agreeingly. "Glory... to mankind."
Blake felt a shiver up her spine. "You alright there, Blakey?" Yang asked.
"It... it reminds me of... y'know..."
"The White Fang?" Crazy asked, earning a glare from everyone else. "What? Someone has to be the blunt douchebag, and if it's me, you guys won't need to get mad at each other!"
George rolled his eyes and threw Nala at him.
"AHHHHH! SHE'S GOT MY HEEEEEEAAAAAAAD!"
The screen was black, but white text began to roll across it. 2B, can you hear me? I'm starting your boost sequence.
"2B? What's that?" Jaune asked curiously.
"Oh, that's Weiss's actual name!" Nora rattled off. "The androids just get the letter and number for their name, then get to choose a name of their own!"
"...Okay..."
"And I think I can guess who's trying to talk with her!" Yang smirked, waggling her eyebrows.
Weiss blushed, but Jaune only quirked a brow.
Alright, let's check your brightness settings first...
The screen slowly brightened until they saw a vast interface- they couldn't even begin to comprehend all of it, but it seemed to satisfy the scrolling text.
Good. Let's go through the other adjustments, shall we?
"Well, if this is what the Ice Queen's mind looks like, no wonder she's such a stick in the mud."
"Oh, quiet, you!"
Oh- I should let you know that this process is being recorded for posterity. Let's look at your voice recognition settings next. You're set to mute, that's why I have to talk to you like this. Go ahead and adjust it until you can hear me, okay?
The interface shifted to a scale of sorts gauging how sensitive Weiss's hearing was. She began to make adjustments.
Slowly, a voice came into focus- "2B, are you there? 2B?"
"Do I really need this dolt to make all these adjustments for me?" Weiss asked scathingly.
"He's just rolling you outta bed!" Nora objected. "Just like Ren does for me!"
"I refuse to believe this is exactly what Ren does to wake you in the morning."
"No, it's rather more difficult," Ren agreed.
"I hear you, 9S. Your voice is... soothing, somehow."
Jaws dropped- even Jaune, who was able to take the voice and deduce who '9S' was. "You... y-y-youuuuu..." Pyrrha forced out.
"I would never!"
"I mean, he did kinda sacrifice his memory to save you," Ruby reminded her.
"I did what?" Jaune asked, taken aback.
"Okay, enough of this," Crazy groaned. He leapt to his feet and slammed his head against Jaune's- they both fell away, groaning. "Okay... you're up to speed."
"Yeah... I think I..."
"Wow, you can do that?" Ruby asked, eyes gleaming. "I wanna learn stuff!"
"You're not headbutting my sister," Yang interrupted, crossing her arms. "No matter how much she begs, understand?"
"Un... understood..."
9S was about as flustered as the other Jaune. "Oh, uh... th-thank you! Er... that's the... uh, the last of the settings!"
Yang laughed. "Forgot to mention, VB, we got together and decided this version of you is the closest to the real thing, personality wise."
"Oh... that's... that's good..." Jaune was busy fighting down a blush of his own.
"Yup, that's everything- oh, wait, do you have self-destruct enabled?"
"I do."
"Oh, good- that's the only other thing. I guess we're good to go!"
"Self... self-destruct?" Nora asked hesitantly. "We don't need a repeat of last time, Crazy!"
"It's just a precaution!" Crazy said quickly. "They only have it activated in case it's the only way they can finish the mission- of course they never want to use it!"
"They better not," Yang growled threateningly, cracking her knuckles.
The screen disappeared, finally returning to the real world, where 2B- Weiss- was climbing out of her bed. "Good to go?"
"Commander Ironwood wants to speak to us," Jaune explained. "He has a new mission for us, I think."
"Very well," Weiss nodded, donning her blindfold-shaped visor. "Let's go."
They entered the rest of the bunker, shaped mainly like a large donut in space.
"Mmm... tasty," Nora grinned.
"Not a type of donut you can eat, Nora," Ren pointed out.
They circled around until they found the very chamber where Ironwood and the other soldiers had just watched the presentation- Ironwood was right in the middle. "Ah, 2B- 9S. I'm glad you've come."
"You have a mission for us, sir?" Weiss wasted no time getting to the point.
"Yes," Ironwood nodded. "You both worked together well during your previous deployment- we'll be deploying you together again. Thanks to your actions, we now have access to those city ruins- the Resistance has already set up a base there."
"The Resistance?" Pyrrha wondered.
"The first army of androids sent to fight the machines," Crazy quickly addressed. "They're not as elite as YoRHa, but they're not under YoRHa's direct command, either. They're more like an... allied force."
"I'd like you to make contact with them and learn whatever you can."
"Understood," Weiss bowed her head.
"Before you go," Ironwood raised a hand, "a brief word- I won't deny the effectiveness of self-destructing to complete a mission, but I'd like to remind you that, vast though our resources are, they are still limited. Remember that self-destructing must always be a last resort."
"Of course, sir," Weiss and Jaune both agreed.
"Very well. Carry on."
"Oh, good," Ruby smiled. "They don't encourage it- I was kinda worried about that."
Jaune smiled as he followed 2B out the door. "So, you and me again, huh, 2B- or Weiss? Mind if I call you Weiss?"
Weiss grunted noncommitally, which Jaune seemed to take for assent. "Is it true? Did we really work together well last time?"
Another grunt.
Pyrrha glanced down at her feet. "It must be hard for her to remember... especially since he doesn't."
Jaune seemed to sense her discomfort as well. "I'm sorry... the truth is, I wish I remembered as much as you do."
"You did well," Weiss decided. "You did what you had to do to complete the mission- as any YoRHa soldier should."
Jaune smiled sadly at the roundabout praise.
"Oh, Weissy, cool down, you keep going like this, you'll be banging behind the bushes in no time!" Yang attempted to lift the mood.
Weiss turned violently red. "Oh, shut up, you brute!"
Jaune turned away pointedly, cheeks flushing.
Suddenly, they were back on board their flight units, tearing over the very ground that had opened their last glimpse onto this world.
"Oh, I hope we don't get a repeat of last time!" Ruby whimpered.
"I don't believe that's going to happen," Ren assured her. "The laser was a weapon of the goliaths, was it not? It has all but been disabled."
"POW! RIGHT IN THE KISSER!" Nora celebrated the deaths of the machines that had caused her friends such suffering.
Indeed, the landing went far more smoothly this time- there was a pitiful show of resistance from the machines, absolutely nothing they couldn't take out with their flight units alone before they landed on a bridge outside the abandoned factory. They disembarked, and the flight units took off without them.
Weiss stepped to the edge of the bridge as Jaune took a look around. "So... this is where it happened, huh? I really wish I could remember..."
On the edge of the bridge was a rapier, plunged into the ground. She reached out and picked it up.
"Your sword?" Jaune wondered, turning to see what she was doing. "Didn't you already have one?"
"Yes, but... this one is special," Weiss explained under her breath, re-sheathing it.
Jaune smiled, but didn't ask.
"Yup! Weapons are special!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Even if you could get a new weapon made right away, you'd still like Myrtenaster, right, Weiss?"
Weiss said nothing, short of feeling around for her rapier in question- but, of course, all their weapons were still in their lockers back at Beacon.
"Pod," Weiss ordered abruptly, "lead us to the Resistance Base."
"Affirmative," agreed the Pod bearing Ren's voice and- arguably- personality. "Follow."
Ren took off, and Weiss and Jaune followed.
It wasn't long before they were in the heart of the city ruins- countless skeletal buildings rising up towards the sky over a vast, desolate landscape. There was music, clearly for the audience helped emphasize the feeling of emptiness. Nature was attempting to reclaim the area, clearly, as skyscrapers warred against vines and trees to continue standing- a battle they were clearly losing.
"Wow..." Nora whispered, even her eyes somewhat watery. "I... I know that this was supposed to be after the apocalypse, n' all, but... I didn't realize just... just how..."
She strayed off and didn't finish her sentence, nor did she need to- they were all feeling the same.
Weiss and Jaune, however, paid no mind, running across the ground and destroying a few stray machines in their way as they headed towards the city's northwest corner, where the land had contoured into a small waterfall. Just over it, through an overhang of crumbling concrete, was an enclosure containing several more androids.
Only a couple seemed to react to their presence- the rest continued to bustle around, doing whatever tasks they had for the day.
One of them, wearing a large mask as if to blend in with the machines, greeted them. "Ah, you're from YoRHa, aren't you?"
"That's us!" Jaune grinned. "Could you take us to whoever's in charge?"
"That'd be Kali, right over there!" the masked android pointed towards a female android bent over a desk filled with various papers.
Blake sputtered. "Wh-wh- Kali?"
"That name mean somethin' to ya, Kit-Kat?" Yang asked.
"That's... that's my mother!"
Everyone turned, surprised, to watch as
Jaune and Weiss moved towards the woman- she was tall, with amber eyes and relatively short dark hair. There were some faint lines on her face indicating that she smiled quite a bit, but no cat ears.
"Is she not a faunus?" Weiss wondered.
"No, she is... I guess we should chalk this one up to a different world," Blake decided.
"She looks nice," Jaune smiled.
"She... she was- is," Blake continued to fumble through her words, clearly shaken by this development. "I... I don't know..."
"Anything you want to talk about?" Yang asked, placing a gentle arm around her.
"...Not here... not now."
The others still looked concerned, but granted her her requested space.
"You're Kali?" Weiss asked, wasting no time. "The leader of this camp?"
"Oh, yes, that I am," Kali smiled up at them as they approached. "You must be from YoRHa, am I right?"
"That we are!" Jaune bowed slightly. "She's 2B- or Weiss. I'm 9S, but you can call me Jaune."
"Weiss and Jaune," Kali repeated. "Yes... those are fine names."
"Have you noticed any odd machine activity since setting up camp?" Weiss, as ever, skipped straight through the pleasantries.
"It wouldn't kill ya to be a little more social, y'know," Yang pointed out.
"Yang, we're fighting for the future of the world," Weiss pointed out. "Should we really be stopping for small talk at every opportunity?"
Yang shrugged but said nothing else.
"Our scouts have reported a great deal of machine activity in the desert," Kali noted. "You have support pods?"
"Affirmative."
Before Weiss or Jaune could even answer, a pod appeared from behind each, hovering in front of Kali gently.
"There something you wanted to give us, lady?" Jaune's pod asked, in a tone far removed from the one with Ren's voice.
"Wait, Nora's my pod?" Jaune asked, surprised.
"Sounds just like me!" Nora grinned. "Oh, does this mean I can fire my lazah too, Renny?"
Ren thought about it, and shrugged. "I would presume so..."
"Oh! Oh! Even better, maybe I can make myself pancakes!"
"Er, actually," Crazy put in, "there... there are no pancakes in this world. Androids and pods don't have to eat, I mean."
Nora paused, staring at him in horror. She let out a squeal that rose in volume and pitch. "NoooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"
Ren lightly chopped the side of her neck, and she crumpled into sleep on his lap. "Nora go night-night," she muttered.
"Perhaps it would be best to keep details like that to yourself from now on," Ren advised.
"Heheh... yeah..."
Kali smiled in amusement. "Oh, I've not seen a pod like you before."
"Nor should you now," Weiss crossed her arms in disapproval. "Such pods should be turned in to high command for examination."
"I'm not gonna do that," Jaune shook his head. "Chew me out if you want, Weiss, I like her like this."
"BOOM! That's real friendship right there, right, Renny?" The Nora-pod floated down and delivered a fistbump to Jaune, which he happily reciprocated.
"As you like it, Nora," Pod-Ren seemed to shrug.
"Yeah, no need to be such a stick-in-the-mud, Weiss!" Yang agreed wholeheartedly. "What's wrong with them actually having a personality? No offense, Ren."
"None taken... I think."
Weiss opened her mouth, then closed it- she found herself opposed to her counterpart's opinion, after all.
"You are a delight," Kali smiled warmly. "Very well, transferring data now." She turned to a small terminal on her desk and hit a few buttons. "The desert is on the south end of the city. If I may, I'd recommend riding a moose or boar- they seem to have perfected the art of desert-travel."
"Boar?" Nora asked, perking up as suddenly as she'd collapse. "Did someone say we could ride a boar?"
"Kali seems to believe that would be the fastest way across the desert," Ren filled her in.
"Oohhhhh... like, the Woman in Red fled across the desert, and Renny followed?" Nora asked brightly.
"...I doubt this is the same desert from that universe, Nora," Ren shook his head.
"Thank you for the advice," Weiss nodded. "We will take it under advisement. Come, 9S." She turned and strode out of the camp with Jaune on her heels, looking somewhat put out.
"Y'know," he commented as they returned to the city ruins, "you can call me by my chosen name, too. It's totally fine by me."
"9S is sufficient for now," Weiss brushed him aside almost immediately.
"That's... cold," Jaune muttered, feeling hurt on his own counterpart's behalf.
"Yeah, she said basically the same thing before, but I was kinda hoping she might have warmed up to him after what happened," Ruby provided.
Weiss held her tongue- if she knew herself as well as she hoped she did, she thought she detected a more ulterior motive for refusing to use 9S's chosen name.
Weiss paused as they passed a boar sniffing at the ground. "I don't suppose you've ridden boars before?"
"Actually, I have!" Jaune explained brightly, eager to be of assistance. "First, we take out some bait..."
He produced a small pouch from the satchel over his shoulder, and held it out. As an android, Weiss could smell nothing, but it seemed to catch the large pig's interest. It lumbered over, until Jaune turned the pouch over and emptied some seeds onto the ground. The boar snorted and began to feed. Jaune smiled, beckoning Weiss over- as the boar finished, they mounted it, one leg on each side. For a human, it would have been rather uncomfortable, but androids had no muscles to stretch and scream.
"Ahhhhh, I wanna ride a boar, Renny! It's so cute!" Nora squealed.
"Perhaps we can try it when we return," Ren shrugged- it would be far from the craziest venture Nora had dragged him on.
The boar moved just as quickly as Kali had told them, tearing across the city at a speed even the fastest androids would be unable to match. Controlling it was the hardest part, but Jaune seemed to be as adept at it as he'd promised. They quickly rode south, where the hardened concrete gave way to sandy dunes, the buildings to harsh cliffs, and eventually, to nothing at all, leaving them tearing across a vast nothingness.
"That's... definitely not the desert Ren chased Cinder across," Pyrrha nodded. "That was flat hardpan, not... dunes."
"I'm burning up just looking at it," Jaune noted, feeling some sweat start to build up.
"Indeed," Weiss agreed, looking rather distastefully at the vast, arid land. She'd been raised in a city surrounded by icy tundra- the endless rolling dunes under a harsh, baking sun seemed entirely alien to her.
Blake pondered, "I wonder if Sun might not be more accustomed to something like this."
Abruptly, Jaune leapt off of the boar, Weiss not far behind. "Alright, the machines Kali told us about should be somewhere around here..."
The sand began to boil and roll around them, finally bursting, an entire army of machines springing from the ground.
"Classic," Yang noted.
"Wait," Ruby noted, peering closely at the screen. "Don't these machines look a little... different to you?"
The machines were wearing an odd form of clothing- robes and masks- as they attacked the androids in their midst. Not only that, but they were speaking, in a bizarre, tinned, monotone voice. "Androids... must not... continue..."
Nobody had to speak- Weiss did it for them.
"They're... talking."
"It doesn't mean anything!" Jaune assured her. "There's no thought behind their words- just random noise!"
"I'm not so sure," Blake noted, biting her lip. "They're talking and wearing clothes?"
"I have a bad feeling about this," Weiss agreed.
The androids launched into battle immediately, both moving with remarkable grace, their pods flying around and blasting anything they missed.
The tone of the machine's words began to change.
"Androids... scary... pain..."
Ruby began to shudder- Yang placed a hand on her shoulder and fought not to show the concern on her own face.
"9S..."
"It doesn't mean anything!" Jaune repeated. "Think about it- if they were afraid, why would they be fighting us instead of running away?!"
Weiss nodded and continued her assault.
"Ren... something's wrong here," Nora whimpered, huddling up in Ren's arms.
Jaune and Pyrrha did not speak, but drew closer together.
At last, there was only one machine left- seeing all that had happened, it let out a close approximation of a scream. "Run! Run! Androids! Scary! Mercy!"
The audience continued to watch on tenterhooks, torn between rooting for Jaune and Weiss and secretly hoping that this last little machine escaped.
"We can't let it go!" Weiss yelled, chasing after it.
"Keep on it!" Jaune agreed. "Maybe it'll lead us to the rest of them!"
They pursued it down another great dune and into more ruins covered in sand. At one point, they crossed through a playground that must have been beloved by children before, but was now as empty and desolate as everything else.
Ruby shuddered again. "I... the aliens... and the machines did all this, right? Then why do I feel so sorry for that machine?"
"Sometimes, things are a little more complicated than black and white," Blake muttered. "It's perfectly normal to have some compassion for your enemies, Ruby... it shows you're still human."
Crazy twitched noticeably, glancing pointedly- almost sadly- at his hands, folded in his lap.
At last, the machine ducked into a small tunnel that led to a vast, underground chamber, a few cracks in the ceiling serving as the only form of light.
Jaune and Weiss paused, shocked as they gazed into the pit before them- it was full of machines. More to the point, however, was what they were doing.
Several machines had smaller ones in their arms, rocking them like a mother would an infant- an analogy absolutely lost on the androids looking down from above. Others were using a cradle, whispering in those tinny voices, "Good boy... pretty boy..."
Most horrifying, however, were the actions of the grand majority of the machines within the pit- they were gathered into couples, grinding their waist areas against each other, attempting to lie on each other, or going at it from behind. The androids did recognize this- they held knowledge of copulation, even if they didn't ever need to do it themselves.
"My God!" Pyrrha gasped, hands over her mouth. "What is this?"
"It's like they're trying to imitate human intimacy," Ren speculated- even he sounded taken aback.
"Not knowing why, but doing it anyways," Blake agreed, eyes wide. Weiss's eyes were twitching with mixed horror and disgust.
"But why?"
"I don't understand," the Weiss onscreen mimicked her counterpart's confusion. "What are they doing?"
"Who knows," Jaune shrugged. "For now, let's focus on destroying them."
They leapt down, and attacked.
The audience couldn't help noticing that the machines on the ground did not attempt to fight until the androids had struck first.
And they hardly put up a fight even then- the troops above had been rather ineffective, but the machines in the pit were pathetic, barely able to defend themselves at all as Myrtenaster and Crocea Mors rent them asunder.
At last, one of them let out a call: "This... cannot... continue."
One by one, other machines began to pick it up, chanting it even as they were sliced apart. "This... cannot continue! This cannot continue! This cannot continue! THIS CANNOT CONTINUE!"
Soon, the entire chamber rang with their cries, prompting the audience to cover their ears. "THIS CANNOT CONTINUE! THIS CANNOT CONTINUE! THIS CANNOT CONTINUE! THIS CANNOT CONTINUE!"
And suddenly, they all stopped moving, then rushed to the side of the chamber, climbing on top of each other to slowly form two large pillars at either side. Jaune and Weiss, taken aback by this odd behavior, finally halted in their assault.
More and more machines appeared, from other tunnels, from above, and from the very ground below, climbing over each other. Slowly, the pillars began to reach out towards one another, finally meeting in the middle, congregating into a large, twisted orb of metal.
"I don't like this... I don't like this at all."
Nobody was sure who'd said it- they were all thinking it.
A light seemed to shine through the giant cluster, until it finally split apart, the machines seeming to fall apart or recede as a giant drop of what practically seemed liquid light collapsed onto the ground, where it pulled in, slowly forming into a humanoid shape.
"An android?" Weiss asked, taken aback.
"No," Jaune shook his head as he scanned it. "No, that's a machine!"
"An...droids..." the machine groaned as it rose to its feet.
Team RWBY gasped- its leader in particular. "Torchwick?!" Ruby yelped.
"That guy again?!" Nora snarled. "He's in for another leg-breaking!"
Indeed, the machine that had just been born perfectly resembled Roman Torchwick, standing tall with a mop of bright red hair. His bangs covered one eye, the other seemed to have guyliner built into it over a green iris. They could tell nothing about his clothes because, as far as they could tell, such clothes didn't exist.
Yang instinctively moved to cover her sister's eyes. "I won't have my sister corrupted!"
"I don't think you need to worry about that," Ren chipped in. "He doesn't have any... anything below the waist."
Yang looked closer, and slowly removed her hands- sure enough, this version of Torchwick was as smooth as a doll down there.
"I'm not a child anymore!" Ruby pouted.
"How- what is this?" Weiss asked, taken aback.
"Forget how they did this- let's focus on destroying it!" Jaune called.
It was hard to tell whether Torchwick recognized this threat or not- he simply tilted his head as they rushed at him with their swords, pods blazing. Slowly, he smirked before moving quickly, dodging through them and attacking from behind. "Swords... dodge. Bullets... deflect."
"He's learning already!" Jaune called. "We need to finish this quick!"
"The machines created Torchwick as their ace in the hole?" Weiss gawked.
"Looks like it," Yang muttered, glaring. Even if he was technically a newborn, she refused to feel pity for him.
Especially with that smirk that remained on his face as he continued to fight- it began to seem almost as if he was only humoring them as he dodged their strikes and swatted aside the bullets being fired by Ren and Nora.
"Enough of this! Weiss! I'm gonna try and hack him!" Jaune called. An orb appeared between his hands and began firing beams at Torchwick. The machine seemed surprised, eyes widening as he came to a brief halt- brief, but just long enough for Weiss to take advantage, springing and running him through with her sword.
"BAM! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Yang grinned. "Torchwick didn't stand a chance!"
Weiss looked more skeptical. "I wouldn't be too sure..."
Torchwick's eyes remained wide as he moved back, the sword sliding out of him as Weiss watched, trying to determine if he were actually finished or not.
Moving slowly, painfully, Torchwick reached into the wound Weiss left, grabbed hold of something, and pulled it out- another orb of light, this one significantly smaller than what had birthed him. He collapsed to the ground, as did the light, which rose up, forming into yet another android-like machine, equally naked, and equally familiar to Team RWBY.
"Hey, I know that girl!" Yang snarled, smashing her fists together. "She's the one that pummeled me on the train!"
"You're sure?" Ruby asked, surprised.
"I could never forget!"
"A truly intimidating foe," Weiss smirked. "I can see why she gave you so much trouble."
"You're one to-" Yang paused. "Wait... haven't we had this conversation before?"
Weiss's smirk disappeared. "Yes... it does sound familiar, now that you mention it."
"I'm sure you're just imagining things!" Crazy brushed aside quickly.
"I think I've seen her before, too," Blake commented, looking closer. "...Neo. Her name's Neo. She was under the bridges when we fought the paladin."
"Oh, yeah, I remember!" Ruby snapped her fingers, then blushed. "She's a little more... free now, though..."
Indeed, just like Torchwick, Neo wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing- but similarly, there wasn't much to cover up. Nothing on her crotch, no nipples on her breasts.
Nevertheless, they'd recognize that multicolored hair anywhere, and when she opened her eyes, they were very heterochromic as they formed into her trademark smirk. She opened her mouth, and a loud screech escaped, causing the very ground to tremble.
"Weiss!" Jaune yelped. "The vibration's bringing this place down! We need to run!"
Weiss looked reluctant, but followed the order, following Jaune as he led them up the paths surrounding the pit and into a tunnel to escape.
The last thing they saw before the screen cut to black was Neo kneeling down and lifting Torchwick's unconscious form into her arms, bridal-style. His eyes flickered open, and together, the two of them smirked up at where the androids had vanished, even as the chamber collapsed around them.
A long silence fell. "Well... that was... something," Yang noted.
"I'm not sure I want to go back to that world anymore," Ruby shuddered. "There's something... wrong with it."
"Yeah," Jaune agreed. "Something's just... off."
"Well, I don't know about taking it off the schedule altogether," Crazy shrugged, "but I guess we can move it down the line a bit. Next time, I'm thinking we can go back to the world starring Ren- don't want Jaune to get overwhelmed, now!"
"The world starring Ren?" Jaune asked. "What's that all about?"
"I'll let you guys fill him in!" Crazy decided. "I'm off to help Georgie oversee a world of his own!"
George sighed. "I've been working on it..."
"And now we're going to work on it together!" Crazy grinned, grabbing him from behind and frog-marching him out the door amidst several protests. The guests stared after them until they were gone.
"Yes... that's about normal around here," Weiss sighed in response to Jaune's unanswered question.
XXXX
Speaking of unanswered questions, I'm sure you're wondering how we're going to be handling Reader's Choice from now on! If not... you're free to go, this isn't required reading. Anyways, my new plan is that, once we reach a certain number of reviews, we'll have a reader's choice! What is that number, you ask? Well... I'm not gonna tell you. I don't want people abusing the system, you see... but the number will be steady! And once we reach it, it'll be time for another poll!
"But Crazy/Gamer4!" I hear you say, "What if nobody votes for my idea?" Well, I have an answer for you, too! Below, you will find enclosed 4 clues for 4 different universes we'll see in this story moving forward- if you are able to guess every single one of them correctly, you get your idea included for free! F-R-E-E, that spells FREE! (Only one person, though- if multiple people solve all the clues, the first one gets the free pick.) This will be in addition to a chapter that's voted on, so there is no downside to making a guess! You have until voting time to guess these clues- I'll address incorrect guesses, and might provide additional clues if given a good enough reason, but otherwise, these clues will be all you get! Enough yammering, these clues are:
1. A rather serious story in which a Captain Trips.
2. A more light-hearted story, 3,000,000 years in the making, in which Jaune finds himself all alone- more or less.
3. Yang would do anything to protect her sister- even touch a book!
4. Five years ago, Weiss, Jaune and Sun stood as teammates- but not today.
With that, I gotta go. Until next time, please R&R, guesses, suggestions, and constructive criticism embraced, Gamer4 out!