Chapter 23 (Patreon)

“Do you have any idea what kind of threat you two were facing earlier?” I winced as Glynda stared daggers into both me and Ruby as she paced back and forth within the cramped interrogation room. “I’d assume no, seeing as how both of you engaged Roman Torchwick without any kind of plan.”

“How’d you know about that?” I raised an eyebrow, and a scalding glare was sent my way complete with a disappointed frown. Now I know why part of the fandom had the hots for this woman.

“Why, our state-of-the-art technology Remnant’s scientists and engineers worked so hard for.” Glynda gestured towards the CCTV camera observing our every move in the corner of the wall. “You play like that with me in Beacon, I’ll ensure you have an exciting four years to look forward to.”

Her riding crop smacked the desk with a loud thwack. Both Ruby and I flinched at the sudden act, with the 15-year-old girl beside me trembling like a newborn fawn.

“And as for you, little lady. If it were up to me, I’d be sending you home with a pat on the back…” Ruby looked hopeful for a moment, before it was dashed by another thwack from Glynda’s riding crop. “And a slap on the wrist, but apparently, my superior has other plans.”

Glynda slowly walked away from the desk as the door to the interrogation room opened, revealing a person who I knew would arrive because he wouldn’t dare let this opportunity go.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to be on the news a week before orientation, but I can’t say I’m surprised.” Ozpin strolled into the room, cup of steaming cocoa in one hand and a tray of cookies in the other, where Glynda had brought me and Ruby while going off on a tirade about our safety and whatnot after the whole debacle with Roman and his deranged sidekick Neo. “Hm, took my suggestion to heart, didn’t you?”

“What can I say, if I’m to be enrolled in a school full of buff teens, might as well be one.” I flexed and showed off my muscles. I wasn’t looking like a supermodel by any stretch, my build being focused on strength instead of looks, but gawd damn did feel good about myself. “Also, where’s the ginger and his ice cream sidekick?”

“If you mean Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, do not be worried.” Ozpin frowned as he placed the tray of cookies on the table before Ruby claimed her stake on the delicious treats like a rabid dog. Glynda blinked at the scene while Ozpin didn’t pay her any heed, his attention focused solely on me. “They are currently being transported to a high-profile security prison made for Huntsmen and Huntresses that went rogue. Great job on subduing them, by the way. Not many Huntsmen could’ve done what you did.”

His eyes narrowed at me, and I chuckled sheepishly a bit at the sudden pressure from the ancient man. The question was left unsaid, but I was sure that he would be asking me some very personal things at a more opportune moment.

“At any rate, I assume Glynda has already given you two a tongue lashing so I am going to make this brief.” Ozpin looked at Ruby shoveling cookies down her gullet with a smile. “Ruby Rose… Now that I’m seeing you a bit closer… You have silver eyes.”

“Uh… yes…?” Ruby stopped eating the cookies and squirmed in her seat. Ozpin might’ve already met her once before when he introduced me to her family, but I wasn’t privy to their interactions. “Why?”

“Nothing, really. Just the curiosity of an old man.” Ozpin hummed as he tapped the floor with his cane. “At any rate, I’d like to offer you a proposition.”

“A what?” Ruby tilted her head cutely, not understanding Ozpin’s old man words. To be fair, she is just a 15-year-old girl, and the English subject taught in schools - yes, the language here in Remnant is English - wasn’t that deep into learning complicated words at their level.

“How’d you like to be enrolled into Beacon?” Ruby blinked and moments later, stars formed in her eyes. Yep, Ozpin got her hook, line, and sinker. People would probably think she was a prodigy, being able to get into Beacon at the tender age of fifteen, but it was far from that. Ozpin wanted to make sure that one of the last surviving silver-eyed warriors was kept close to his base of operations. Couldn’t exactly respond immediately if a distress signal was sent from Patch, now would it?

So, the closer Ruby was to Ozpin, the better for the future of Remnant. I gotta say, if it wasn’t for his passive ass, as well as inherent fear of Salem because of one fucked up question with the Relic of Knowledge, Ozpin would be a force to be reckoned with.

He was, after all, the late King of Vale who then reincarnated into new hosts until it reached the present days.

“Boy would I!?” Ruby jumped up from her seat and I had to tug at her cape to tone down the excitement. “I mean, can I?”

“Your enthusiasm is appreciated.” Ozpin smiled as he grabbed the already empty tray (what the fuck Ruby? I wanted some of those!) and moved for the exit, Glynda Goodwitch already at his side with a strut. “The orientation starts next week, don’t be late. Also, Jack, I have high hopes for you.”

I waved the two of them off before the door closed. Me and Ruby were left alone within the room for a few moments before the door opened again, revealing Taiyang with a papa bear look on his face followed by a sweating police officer.

“Ruby! You’re okay!” The blond father immediately zoomed towards his daughter and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. “Oh, I thought the worst when I heard you were fighting with Torchwick.”

“Ow… Daaaad! Can’t breathe!!!” I had to stifle a laugh at the scene before me. It was just too damn comedic. I thought these things only happen in anime and shit… 

“Oh, sorry.” Taiyang let the poor girl go but didn’t move away from her. He then looked at me with a smile. “By the way, thanks for stepping in when my little rose here went off to be a hero.”

“Hey!” Ruby pouted and the adorable teenager made me laugh again. This continued for a short while before I addressed the man with a grin.

“No problem.” I tapped on the desk with a finger, a frown coming to grace my lips. “By the way, where’s Yang? She’s still here in Vale, right?”

“Ah, right.” Taiyang frowned and I sent my condolences to the blond spitfire. “Someone is going to get into so much trouble.”

Based on how Taiyang is looking right now, Yang isn’t gonna like what punishment he has in store for her. I mean, trashing up a club must’ve been a pain in the wallet to pay for the damages. No matter what anyone says, if a club is running and stays running for years on end, it is an officially licensed establishment by the government, even if it is a den of criminals and gangs.

Taiyang must’ve paid an exuberant amount of money stockpiled from his Huntsman days to pay for the damages. I could just see the pain in his eyes as he watched his obese wallet contract malnourishment in just a single night. I really wouldn’t want to be Yang right now.

“Anyway, can we leave now?” I asked while raising my hand. “We’ve been in this room for an hour now. Right, Ruby?”

“Y-yes!” Put on the spot, Ruby twitched as she looked at Taiyang. “Can we please go home now? I bet Zwei is getting lonely back in Patch.”

“Fine, just let me get the papers handled.” Taiyang sighed and he strode out of the room with a frown. The open door revealed a peeking Yang, who looked like a kicked puppy with how her eyes drooped. Taiyang really must not have been happy with her.

Much more so with how she ditched both Ruby and I to go looking for hints about her mother in the seedy underbelly of Vale. In fact, I could hear Taiyang’s muffled voice tearing into Yang from inside. Both Ruby and I looked at each other for a short while, before looking back at the door. It went silent for a few seconds and then the door opened, revealing Taiyang along with a Faunus police officer with a bushy tail and Yang whose head was facing down, her eyes hidden by her golden bangs.

“Alright, thanks to Professor Ozpin, you two can go home without much of a fuss, even after all of the collateral damage your fight with Torchwick and Neopolitan made.” Taiyang then looked at Yang. “You, however, have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Hey, not my fault they didn’t want to tell me what I wanted to know.” I saw her eyes, her pupils colored red as she glared at Taiyang.

“That’s because you don’t ask questions like that in the underworld.” Taiyang glared back. “What in the Dust were you thinking?”

Yang didn’t say anything back, but I was sure the blond was heavily regretting her decision, her red eyes turning into lilac, and then blue. Not because she did it, but because she was caught doing it. Well, if Yang didn’t trash the place and left, this scenario wouldn’t have happened, and honestly, she was stupid doing that, Huntress in training or not.

In the context of the show, fine. Good world-building and storytelling. In the real world? That’s literally the worst decision you could make in your entire lifetime. And then she had the gall to return during season two of the show.

That was a big yikes.

As both me and Ruby listened to Taiyang tear into Yang, the police officer came to us and gestured for us to move kindly. We followed the Faunus and exited the room, all the while Taiyang continued to rant on Yang. Pretty sure she was still going to do this again, but what can you do? Hormonal teenager bullshit is something I do not want to relive, thank you very much.

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The ride back home was subdued, with Yang going more with a slow drive rather than her heated one earlier this day. Ruby was busy regaling her tales about the fight with her sister, causing the blonde to gain a small smile, even if she was feeling like shit right now.

Taiyang was still back in Vale trying to smooth things over with the damage done to Junior’s club, the gang leader pretty much milking the man for all his worth. It’s even fucking worse because Junior has Vale council members in his pockets. How else would he be able to keep his club running at full operation for years without having the authorities bust down his front door?

Another thing different from canon. Welp, I’m gonna have to walk on eggshells around his club in the foreseeable future. And it was a prime spot to gather intel too, as long as one could pay the price, unlike blondie over here who I was holding onto to make sure I didn’t fall off to my death.

That reminds me, I still need to roll my shit and get some new perks… Meh, I’ll do it later, for now, bask in the gloriousness that was Yang’s midriff. I swear, this girl knew how to turn my buttons on with how little she wears.

“Oh right, Jack! I thought you didn’t have a speed semblance?” Ruby’s hair fluttered in the wind as Bumblebee sped through the quiet road. “I thought you were all defense?”

“My semblance is weird. Think of it as a raffle. Every now and then I get new powers.” I lied. Of course, the two of them, already acquainted with my bullshit, shrugged their shoulders and let it go. Good, not too many questions and no confusion. I liked these two because of it…

And then I remembered Nora… Oh dear god… I don’t know if I could handle her overly curious ass. I'd have to form a pact with Ren just to make sure he gets the ginger off my back.

That reminds me, what team am I going to go in? I know the rule of four people per team, but will I be the exception to that? As far as the series had shown, only three teams were known in the first year. Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Team CRDL. The only other Beacon team shown was Team CFVY, and they were second years.

There were faceless students that blended into the crowd as the main cast took their classes, so I was sure that there are more students attending then what was shown in the show, so where the fuck am I going in then?

Will it be like canon? Faceless students everywhere I go? Unimportant in the grand scheme of things? Or will ROB do something to make this world more exciting?

I don’t know, and that fucking scares me. If my inherent knowledge of the cast was caught lacking, that means a higher chance of dooming the entire goddamned planet - literally, the Brother Gods left this floating rock after all - to its destruction. That means I will be dying early in the near future, and I don’t want that. I want to live a fucking fulfilling life, and one of these days, my RNG system might give me a path to longevity, or possibly even immortality.

Hell, I could probably jump through dimensions and visit other places. Just imagining being able to jump to other fictional universes and trolling them to kingdom come sent the good kind of shivers down my spine.

But first, I need to survive, and the team placement in Beacon is one of the things I’ll need to get right. If I get grouped with a team full of useless idiots, that’s wasted potential in the making. I’ll have to ask Ozpin the best way to make use of my many talents. Also come up with a draft for the description of my semblance because once my abilities hit international news, all hell would break loose with a bunch of organizations, both legal and illegal, trying to get my ass into their group.

Plus, Salam would be able to deduce something was different about me, and if she even gets a whiff about another God being behind me, I can tell she would probably go ballistic. Maybe she would delude herself into thinking that ROB would smite her and the entire world if I died at their hands, which makes me target numero uno, even though I knew that it wouldn't happen.

ROB was too hands off for that kind of shit.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I noticed Bumblebee slowing to a crawl. Looking around, I saw that we were finally at the Bullhead station.

Ruby was the first to get off with a yawn, followed by me while I stretched my arms and legs to avoid them from falling asleep.

“Hey, you go and get the tickets. I’ll stay here watching Bumblebee.” Yang tilted her head towards the building that had people coming in and out at a rushed pace. I could guess why, seeing as the service is about to close.

“Okay.” Ruby yawned again and I followed the teen to make sure that nobody messed with her, but I doubt anybody would, seeing as her face was plastered on the local news for being able to go toe to toe with Roman fucking Torchwick… Wait a minute…

A flash of a camera got me to blink, and I looked at the source, and what I saw nearly had my jaw dropping to the floor.

“Goddayum…” I let my inner thoughts out as I salivated at the mere sight of this bunny girl who was sporting a sheepish smile. Beside her was the fashionista of the entire series in her ever-recognizable beret. But bunny girl…!

I thought her design was cool, downright sexy even when I saw her model, but 3d doesn’t even compare to the IRL counterpart. She looked like a pure maiden, shy and graceful. But underneath all that fluff was a warrior ready to be thrown into the fray.

No shade to Yang and her glorious assets along with her somewhat skimpy attire, but Velvet Scarlatina just tickled my fancy even more.

“S-sorry about that. It’s just…” Velvet hid the camera behind her back with a shy smile. “U-uh… Coco, help me…”

“What bunny girl here means to say is she wanted a picture of the famous capturer of Roman Torchwick.” Coco sighed for a bit before she grabbed the camera in Velvet’s hands. She protested, but a glare from her teammate made her back down with a pout. “I can delete it, if you want.”

“Nah, let her keep it. I ain’t selfish keeping all this face to myself.” To further accentuate the point, I put the back of my hand under my chin and made a cutesy expression. I was pretty sure it would get people to cringe at the sight, but I was mostly going for a comedic air, to which it worked.

Both Coco and Velvet chuckled at the display, which made me proud of myself.

“Ha! That’s a good one.” Coco then tossed me something from her bag which I snatched out of the air. Taking a look at it, I raised an eyebrow when I saw a card with her name and picture on it, followed by a company name. “If you need any help with choosing your clothes, just stop by. Least I could do for letting bun-bun here take a pic of you without asking.”

“Cocooooo…” Velvet pouted as her rabbit ears flopped down, a bright blush spreading across her cheeks. 

“It’s fine, really. Gotta get used to the fame, after all.” With a smile and a wave, I waved the two girls goodbye as they got on a bullhead that was probably gonna take them back to Beacon. The next term was about to start, after all. Plus, students get free board. What’s not to like?

“Jack! I got the tickets!” Ruby waved the tickets in the air, and I couldn’t help but smile at the display. Ruby was being adorable again… Must protecc!