-Last Time-
As soon as the last finger went down, Ruby went completely still, her hands falling limp to her sides and pupils dilating so large that her silver irises were almost gone. When this happened, Nora immediately ran over to Naruto and pulled him behind a weight rack while Ren did the same with Pyrrha.
The moment after that…
…total chaos was unleashed.
…
"For a very simple reason, Torchwick," The woman said as her left eye seemed to catch fire. "It's no longer going to be a heist anymore…
…It's going to be a trap."
-And Now-
"What the hell happened here?" Taiyang asked with a raised eyebrow as he exited the bullhead with Yang still draped over his shoulder and Zwei by his side.
"That's a good fucking question." 479er said, irritation bleeding into her voice as she stepped out of the ship and took in the scene as well. Almost every single bullhead in the docking bay had been completely dismantled, their parts strewn about the area with reckless abandon, with the only exception being Winter's personal aircraft.
Not only that, but lines of fire and scorched ground were randomly scrawled amongst the mechanical carnage. All in all, the place looked more like a black-market chop shop then a bullhead dock.
Grabbing a piece of an engine exhaust duct that was lying nearby, 479er walked over to one of the piles of machine parts. "Son of a fucking bitch! I'm getting tired of all this shit! I swear if I ever find the find the bastards responsible for this damn mess, I'll-" The pilot went into a long, and very disturbingly detailed rant as she started reassembling the aircrafts.
'She has a mouth worse than Qrow and a buzzed Raven combined.' Taiyang thought with a nervous sweatdrop as he and his dog quietly backed away from the raving woman. 'I don't even know what half of those words mean, nor do I want t-huh?'
The older blond stopped mid-thought as he spotted something odd by beside one of the dying fire trails that he was passing. Crouching, he reached out and grasped what he'd seen before standing back up and looking it over curiously.
'Rose petals?' They were burnt pretty badly and shriveled by the heat, but they were definitely the remains of the flower of love. 'Why would these be here?' Taiyang asked himself while glancing over the bay again, his eyes drifting across the entire area before settling back on 479er when she gave a scream of outrage.
"Are you fucking kidding me!? Where the hell are the primary rotator joints?! And the Oum damn micro dust power coils?!" The pilot demanded as she dug through one large pile of parts after another in a rage.
Swearing that he could see a black aura slowly rising from the woman's body, Taiyang was about to continue his 'strategic retreat' when the metaphoric lightbulb suddenly lit up in his head. 'Wait a second. Expertly dismantled machinery, scorched rose petals, missing parts…'
"Ah shit," The man palmed his face as a heavy sigh escaped his lips. "Ruby's on a sugar high."
-Meanwhile, Beacon Training Room-
"We are going to be in so much trouble," Ren muttered dully as he stared at the smoking hole in the wall that used to be the doorway. In the distance, he could hear unintelligible yells and shouts of surprise alongside various crashes and loud banging. "…Again."
"Oh relax Renny, it won't be that bad," Nora said, draping her arm over her best friend's shoulders and pulling him close with one arm while the other her scroll with the camera running. "Now shush, I don't want to miss anything."
Despite the situation, Ren couldn't help but smirk slightly at the orangette's actions before turning his attention to the sparring mat. On said mat, Pyrrha and Naruto were sitting cross-legged in front of each-other, with the redheaded huntress-in-training holding the young boy's hands.
Both had their eyes were locked on each-other as a red glow gently pulsed around their bodies in sync. At first glance, the aura surrounding the both of them seemed identical, but on closer inspection the glow around Pyrrha was a pure scarlet, whereas Naruto's was an odd blending of dark orange and deep vermillion.
What the pair was doing was a beginner level exercise where a teacher (Pyrrha in this case) would connect their aura with the student's (Naruto), and then use this connection to make both go through periodic surges. This in turn, would allow the student to gradually develop an intimate understanding for both using and manipulating their own aura.
It was a tried-and-true method that most starting academies and tutors used after their students had their aura unlocked. The only downside was that after a person reached a certain age, generally around 13-15, the technique couldn't be used on them as their bodies would automatically reject the foreign aura. Hence why their team leader Jaune had to struggle with figuring it out all by himself.
However, as he gazed at the pair, Ren couldn't help but notice something off. "Is Pyrrha alright?"
"Well, now that you mention it," Nora said with a thoughtful hum before closing her scroll and walking up to the two. "She is looking a bit pale… and sweaty… and shaky." That was an understatement, the sweat was practically pouring off the girl's head, her eyes were empty and unfocused, and her arms were trembling badly. 'Why does she look so tired? Its only been five minutes.'
Switching her attention to Naruto, Nora's concern grew as she saw the blankness within his eyes as well. However, just as she was about to try and get either of their attention, the hyper girl paused as the aura around Naruto started flaring up erratically. "Oh, that can't be go-"
Nora was cut off midsentence as the faunus child's aura exploded outwards, sending her flying backwards in a flash of light. Acting fast, Ren leapt to the side and caught his partner/best friend mid-air, the force sending them both skidding back several inches.
"Thanks Ren," Nora grunted as she sat up in the quiet teens arms, before feeling her jaw hit the floor as she took in the sight in front of them. "…whoa."
In the spot where Pyrrha and Naruto had been, a dome of violently spiraling orange and red aura now sat. Nora was enraptured by what she saw, not even noticing as the lights all around them fritzed out and exploded. She could feel the power emitting from that half-sphere as it washed over her like a tidal wave.
However, just as quickly as the little lightshow started, it ended as the dome started to wobble inconsistently before bursting like a soap bubble. The excess aura rapidly spread outwards and dissipated, leaving behind an awestruck, collapsed, heavily breathing redhead and a confused looking blonde-redhead.
Naturally, as soon as she recovered from her shock Nora practically teleported to Naruto, scooped him up into her arms, and began looking him over from head to toe while repeatedly asking if he was alright. At the same time, Ren went over to their exhausted looking teammate and helped her up onto her feet. "You alright?"
"I… am actually… not sure." Pyrrha panted out as she leaned against the quiet boy's shoulder for support. "His aura… it's so… so powerful, so overwhelming. I've never felt… anything like it before."
"No kidding," Ren muttered as he shot a glance at Naruto as the boy snuggled into Nora's embrace. "Just when I thought all the surprises are over, the little guy goes and proves me wrong."
"Well… he certainly takes after his mother then… doesn't he?" Pyrrha asked with a weak smile.
"That he does," Ren agreed with a good-natured sigh before turning towards the exit. "Nora, let's go. Pyrrha looks like she's going to pass out any second. We'll tell Glynda what happened after we get her to dorms."
"Oh, good idea. Let's go to my room then, it's closer and it's Naruto's bedtime anyway." Nora said, her point being emphasized when Naruto yawned deeply and his head drooped into the crook of her neck.
Not waiting for an answer, the young orangette shot out the destroyed doorway with her precious cargo, leaving Ren and Pyrrha behind with exasperated expressions. "Where does she get… all that energy?" Pyrrha asked as they slowly followed after the girl.
"Syrup, lots and lots of syrup."
"…Naturally," Nothing else was said between the duo, mostly cause Pyrrha had finally passed out and Ren had to put all his focus on hauling the surprisingly heavy girl all the way back to dorms. Because of this, he missed the pair of eyes watching from the shadows with a mad gleam as he walked.
'That's it brats, lead me to my prey'
-Back with Taiyang-
'Sheesh, this is worse than when Ruby had her first cup of coffee when she was ten.' Yang thought as she led her father to her dorm, having recovered partially from her shock at the man's unexpected arrival and follow-up declaration, just enough to walk and think on her own.
Scorch marks covered the floor, walls, and even some parts of the ceiling, with small patches of fire still alight here and there. Every form of technology they'd come across, whether it be the locking mechanisms on the doors, the elevators, or a simple lamp, had been taken apart just like the bullheads at the bay. Finally, small chunks of cookies, puddles of milk, and strawberries stems were littered all over the place.
'We might actually get suspended this time.' The busty blonde thought with a grimace as she stepped over an unconscious janitor. 'Of course, that's nothing compared to what I have to deal with now.' She thought while looking back at her father with a sigh.
He no longer had Big Bertha ready to fire at any second, instead having it strapped to his back where he could quickly draw it out if needed. After she had snapped out of her shock, she had tried to clear up the HUGE misunderstanding with some success. While Taiyang still firmly believed that Naruto was her kid, Yang had managed to convince him to give her a chance to prove otherwise.
She wanted to head straight for Ozpin's office to do just that, but right now she had to find her sister and stop her before she did something truly crazy, like dismantling the school itself or building a giant ray gun again…
Don't ask.
When they finally arrived at the right hallway though, it was to yet another very peculiar (aka hilarious) sight.
"Break already you Oum damned hunk of wood!" One Blake Belladonna yelled as she furiously sliced at her dorm's front door with her weapon, Gambol Shroud, and its sheath with wild abandon while Weiss stood next to her using her glyphs to boost the raven-haired girl's blows. The reason for this was clear, the scroll scanner on the door having been dismantled like everything else thus preventing the duo from opening it normally.
What wasn't clear was why the former was stark naked and dripping wet while the latter was only wearing her underwear and a shredded nightgown that covered jack. Not only that, but several items from their room were scattered across the floor, such as books, toothbrushes, and even one of the nightstands.
"Hey guys, didn't know I'd bee seeing a full moon tonight, let alone two. What's the occasion?" Yang asked with a chuckle, unable to resist cracking a joke. However, her humor quickly turned to nervousness as her and her sister's partners turned towards her with faces of rage and embarrassment.
Abandoning their assault on the door, the exposed duo marched up to the bodacious blonde and got right up in her face. "You want to know the occasion?" Weiss asked rhetorically as she grabbed Yang's collar pulled her down to eye level. "Well you see, our beloved captain, your sister, just came rocketing through our room like a deranged missile while I was changing-"
"-and I was showering-"
"-tore up our room looking for sweets and electronics-"
"-drank my entire supply of sweet tea-"
"-stole all my fire dust-"
"-took apart my vi-*cough* scroll-"
"-ruined another of my nightgowns-"
"-THEN DRAGGED US OUT HERE AND LEFT!" The two screamed simultaneously before letting Yang go, slapping her across either cheek, then returning to trying to tear the door down, leaving the blonde to stumble back as her hands shot up to her throbbing cheeks and ringing ears.
By the time Yang managed to collect herself and get back up, Weiss and Blake had finally succeeded and had quickly rushed inside. Rubbing her reddening cheeks gingerly, Yang winced slightly as they throbbed in pain.
"Owww, I'll admit, walked right into that one." She grumbled while mentally berating herself for not activating her aura in time, having been too baffled by her teammates' actions to react in time. "You know, I could have used a little help there, dad."
Not getting a response, she turned around to see what was wrong, only to sweatdrop when she saw the older blonde all the way on the other end of the hall, his eyes clamped tightly shut, and his hands held out in a prayer position. 'Please don't kill me Summer! Please don't kill me Summer!' Beside his leg, Zwei was huddled into a ball with his paws covering his eyes.
Palming her face at her father's actions, Yang walked over and shook Zwei to give him the all clear before reaching over to Taiyang and grabbing him by the collar and dragging him along as she went into her room where a now dressed and still pissed Blake and Weiss stood. Their anger swiftly changed to confusion (and slight fear for Blake) when they saw the man and dog accompanying the busty blonde.
"Blake, Weiss, say hello to my dad, Taiyang and our dog, Zwei." Yang said while looking around the room. Not seeing her little sister anywhere, she promptly turned around and headed back out. "Zwei, find Ruby."
"Woof!" Zwei barked affirmatively before taking the lead as he sniffed the air.
"Wait for us!" Weiss called out as she and Blake hurried to catch up.
"We'd like to have some… words with Ruby." Blake said ominously while wringing her weapon's ribbon in her hands.
A minute or so after they left, the door opposite to Team RWBY's dorm opened and Jaune's head peeked out and groggily looked around. "What the heck happened out here?" He wondered aloud as he took in the destruction. He had just fallen asleep when the sound of Weiss and some other girl yelling at someone woke him up.
After a few moments of not seeing anyone or anything happen though, the scraggly blonde shrugged and was about to head back to bed when he saw a book sitting a few inches from his door. Picking it up, his expression suddenly perked up as a smile crossed his lips as he read the title: A Man with Two Souls.
"Sweet! I love this book." He said, flipping the book open as he closed the door.
Not even a second after he did so, did Nora and Ren rounded the corner at the far end of the hall with their respective passengers and entered into the former's dorm after she jimmied the lock with a small shock. "Where are Winter and Penny?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow as he set Pyrrha down on the nearest bed.
"Down in Winter's ship most likely. Penny is supposed to be getting a new software update, and someone needed to be there to make sure it uploads properly. They'll most likely be gone the whole night." Nora said as she gently pried a now sleeping Naruto's tails off of herself.
"Ah, so that's the real you wanted to bring Pyrrha here." Ren said as it dawned on him. "You don't want to leave Naruto all by himself."
"Well duh, there is no way I'm leaving my little boy by himself while those people are here… especially after I saw her with them." Nora muttered while setting Naruto down next to Pyrrha, whom he immediately latched onto.
"Her?" Ren asked, having barely heard what the orangette has said.
"I'll explain once we get to Professor Ozpin's office," Nora said after tucking the two sleepers in and giving Naruto a kiss on the forehead. Grabbing her friend's arm, she all but dragged out the door. "But I think I found the cause for Naruto's… episode."
-Beacon Academy Forge and Workshop-
Taiyang, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Zwei had dumbstruck expressions on their faces as they stared at what was before them.
"How is this physically possible?" Blake asked.
"I don't know, but it's going to give me nightmares for weeks." Weiss said with a shiver.
Taiyang said nothing, opting to just stand where he was just outside the worksop and watch as his youngest daughter mix a vat of molten metal in the forge, hammer out a slab of heated metal at the anvil, operate a belt sander, program a laser engraver, use the soldering iron, sort through a massive pile of random junk, snacking on an equally large pile of sweet foods and drinks, and several other things…
…at the same time.
In other words, instead of finding one Ruby, they had found at least at a dozen or so.
"Whatever Ruby took must have one hell of a kick, she's never moved even remotely this fast before." Yang muttered as her eyes flicked from one cloaked girl to another. "Man, we're going to need to do some serious shoe shopping after this."
"Your sister is moving fast enough to be in twenty places at once, and your worried about shoe shopping?" Weiss asked blankly.
"Well yeah, do you know how much friction resistant combat boots cost?" Yang asked back, effectively shutting the white-haired teen up. "Besides, I'm sure Ruby will be fine, at least until she crashes."
"What is she even building anyway?" Blake asked while trying to get a closer look at the middle most Ruby as the girl assembled the parts that her speed duplicates made before stuffing the finished items into a box. However, before she could take more than two steps, the ribbon wearing girl was yanked back by Taiyang.
"Whoa there, do you have a death wish or something?" He asked as he let her go, causing Blake, Yang, and Weiss to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I'm just getting a closer look." The cat faunus said, her eyebrow rising even higher when Taiyang shook his head in exasperation. "What's the problem with that?"
"Just watch," The older blonde said as he pulled a buckshot round out of his ammo belt and tossed it into the room. Blake open her mouth to ask what he was doing…
*Screech*
…before snapping it back shut as the round was suddenly torn to shreds in mid-air.
"What the hell was that?" Yang asked as she watched the remains of the round swirl around the room.
"That my little dragon, would be centrifugal force." As soon as he said this, the metaphoric lightbulb went off in Blake and Weiss's heads and they palmed their faces.
"Cen-what now?" Yang on the other hand…
"Do you ever pay attention in class?" Weiss asked, before a tic mark formed on her forehead when Yang gave a so-so gesture with her hand.
Deciding to cut in before the Schnee heiress had an aneurysm, Blake cleared her throat. "Ruby's moving through the room so fast that her sheer momentum allows her to bulldoze through almost everything in her path without noticing. Just look at the floor."
"Oh? ….Oooooooh, like a straw in a hurricane." Yang said as she followed her partner's advice and finally noticed the shallow trenches that had been dug into the marble tiling, before her eyes suddenly went wide, "Wait, wouldn't that mean that when Ruby starts crashing, that she'll start-"
*Screeeee-crack* "… …Mmph (Ouchie)."
"…literally crashing." Yang finished with a wince as a red blur suddenly smashed into the wall and all the Ruby duplicates popped out of existence. This left just the singular cloak wearing girl embedded several inches into vertical surface.
Yang and Taiyang were by Ruby's side in the blink of an eye, carefully pulling her free and checking if she was alright. Thankfully, other than mild friction burns on her now bare feet (The only remnants of her boots and socks being the smoking upper calf section), she was fine. Proven further when her eyes flew open and she shot up with a wide smile.
"Daddy!" She cried happily while throwing her arms around the blond man. "Whatareyoudoinghere!? Didyoumissme!? OhwaitIgottoshowyousomethingreallycool!" Zipping back across the room at a high, but clearly slower than earlier, speed towards where she had been assembling stuff and grabbing the box.
Zooming back at an even slowly speed and looking a bit winded now, she plopped the box down in front of both blondes and pulled open the flaps. "Ta-da!"
Eyes widening at what they saw, Yang reacted first by reaching inside and pulling out a pair of familiar looking yellow and black bracelets. Comparing them to the pair currently around her wrists, she found that, other than being several sizes smaller, the new pair were completely identical. "Ruby, are these…"
"Mini Ember Celica, yep!" Ruby said with grin, having seemingly calmed down to normal, though her breathing was moderately haggard. Reaching into the box as well, she showed off a red and black metal contraption. "I also made a mini Cresent Rose!" Activating the device in her hands, it quickly unfolded to show an exact miniature replica of her iconic weapon. "In fact, I made one of all our friends' weapons."
"You what?" Weiss demanded as she, Blake, and Zwei joined the trio, the white-haired teen taking the lead as she dug around inside the box and sure enough found the copies of her and Winter's weapons.
'Part of me wants to ask why she made these, but the other part says that it'll bring me nothing but a headache.' Blake thought while comparing her weapon's duplicate to the original, and quickly noticing an odd difference. Placing a finger against the side of the copy's blade, she gently pressed down on it causing the blade to bend from the pressure before springing back up when she stopped.
"The blade's made of rubber?" She accidentally thought aloud, getting the other's attention.
"Well duh, do you think I would give… Naruto actual weapons?" Ruby asked, wobbling a little as sweat started pouring from her forehead.
"Oh, well I guess that makes-Wait, these are for Naruto?" Yang cut herself off midsentence as what her sister said fully registered, her head jerking back up towards Ruby alongside everyone else in the room.
"Yep… Nora asked me to make them so that she could find out… which type of weapon Naruto would be best suited for when… he's older." The cloaked girl said as she stumbled around almost drunkenly until her father grabbed her shoulders to hold her steady. "She wanted it done… in three days… but I managed it… in three hours… wooooo."
"Well that definitely sounds like something Nora would do," Weiss said with Blake and Yang nodding in agreement. "Though she probably wanted them to be fully functional, huh?" She asked, only to blink in surprise when Ruby shook her head in negative.
"Nah… she was very clear… had to be entirely child safe… she even gave me …the idea for the firing mechanisms." Ruby said while cocking the mini Crescent Rose and aiming it at the wall she'd ran into. Pulling the trigger, there was a soft popping sound before a small splotch of red paint splattered the inside of the indent, right where her head had been.
"Okay, that's actually pretty cool." Yang admitted.
"Thanks… now if you'll excuse me… now seems like… a wonderful time… for a…Zzzzzzzz," Ruby couldn't finish her sentence as her sugar and caffeine high came to a complete crash and she conked out in Taiyang's arms.
Said man adjusted his hold so that his daughter was held in the more comfortable bridal carry before turning his attention to his other daughter and her two friends. "Okay, now that that is all over with, we can get back to the reason I'm here. Unless there's something else that conveniently pops up."
*Boom!*
Everyone froze as a large explosion could be heard in the distance, before everyone but the older blonde rushed outside to see what happened. Sighing for the Oum only knows how many time that day, Taiyang looked down to the dog still at his side and said, "You know, I could practically feel that coming just as the words left my mouth."
"…Woof."
"Don't patronize me."
"Oh Oum! That's Naruto and Nora's room!"
-End Chapter-
-Omake: Wabbit Season Part Three: Ctrl-Alt-I-
C. Weiss was sitting at the desk in her team's dorm, doing a quick double checked of some assignments that were due tomorrow, she had to maintain her perfect 4.0 grade point average after all.
She had just finished proof-reading the last page of a report on the thirteen key vulnerable points on a Beringrel when she heard the door open and looked back to see a tired looking C. Blake walk in.
"Do I even want to know?" C. Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at the various spots of white and green powder on her teammate's clothes and face.
"No," C. Blake stated as she went straight to the bathroom and washing her face off. Deciding to take her word for it, the Schnee heiress simply nodded before going back to her assignments.
After she finished scrubbing the cat-nip laced itching powder off her face and using a lint roller to get the spots off her clothes, C. Blake headed over to her and Yang's bunkbed.
*Pop*
However, just as she was passing by C. Weiss, an eraser sitting on the desk suddenly burst open, releasing a thick cloud of smoke that completely blinded the two girls.
*Cough* "W-what the hell?!" C. Weiss's voice yelled out between fits of coughing. "What's going *cough* on?!"
"That's what I'd like to know!" C. Blake yelled back.
"I swear, if this is another one of yang's stupid jokes I'm going to- EEEK!" *Thud*
"Weiss!? Weiss are you alright!?"
"Yeah, I fell out of my chair."
"Okay, hold still. I'm going to try and find the windoOOAAA!" *Thump*
"Ow! What the hell Blake!"
"Oh I'm sorry Weiss, BUT I CAN'T SEE SHIT!"
"Fair enough, then at least let go of my blouse."
"I'm not even touching your blouse."
"Yes, you are! I can feel you pulling on it!"
"No, I'm not my arms are nowhere near you-OI! Let go of my stocking!"
"Now look who's throwing around false accusations! If you haven't noticed my hands are a bit busy!"
"That's it! You want to go?! Then let's go!"
*Crash* *Bang* *Thud* *Smack*
"Ew! Did you just spit in my hair!?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing!"
"Oh please! Like I'd degrade myself to such a childish act!"
"Would it kill you to stop acting all high and mighty!"
*Bang* *Smack* *Slap* *Chomp*
"Ow! Really Blake?! Biting?!"
"All's fair in love and war!?
"Alright then! Try see how you like a purple nurple!"
"A purple whAAAAAAH! YOU BITCH!"
"ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR!"
This continued for several minutes, with a variety of both creative and not so creative insults were flung around. It wasn't until the smoke had died down enough for the pair to see again that they finally stopped.
The two girls previously overwhelming anger was almost instantly replaced with shock as they got a good look at each-other. This wasn't from seeing the slight bruises and small scratches they had inflicted during their spat, nor was it guilt or shame from how they had acted.
It was due to the fact that their appearances had somehow been swapped around.
C. Blake was now wearing a stark white dress, battle skirt, heels, and jacket with light blue undertones, red highlights on the coat, and the Schnee symbol blazoned on the back. On the other hand, C. Weiss was now in a black coattail jacket with a white undershirt, white shorts, black and purple stockings, and black boots.
Hell, even their hair color and styles had been switched, with the faunus girl having her hair now dyed blinding white and done up in sided ponytail and the Schnee heiress's dyed pitch black and having a large black ribbon atop her head.
So lost in the shock of their 'new' looks, neither of them noticed the pair of playful red eyes peeking in from the window for a few moments before ducking out of sight.
-End Omake-