Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with RWBY, Rooster Teeth, The Flash, or DC Comics and their parent company Warner Bros. If any of them try to sue me, I will burn this to the ground.
Third-Person Pov:
Y/n is sitting across from Ruby and flipping through a comic book. Weiss holds up two tablecloths, each a different yet similar shade of white. "I need your help deciding which color we'll use to decorate," she says to Ruby.
"Um, aren't they both the same?" Ruby asks in confusion.
Weiss sighs in frustration. "I don't know why I asked," she says.
"Pick the lighter shade. It'll fit better with the rest of the decorations and the lighting at the dance," Y/n says after he flips a page. "Sure, it will be a pain to clean, but that's what you get when you use a white tablecloth," he says with a playful smirk.
Weiss looks at Y/n, who looks at her and shrugs before returning to reading his comic. Weiss walks away to continue setting up for the dance. Yang walks past her and sets a speaker down near Y/n and Ruby with an audible thump.
"So, have you guys picked your outfits for the dance yet?" Yang asks.
"I'm sticking with something simple," Y/n says. "And by that, I mean I'll just wear my school uniform, maybe switch out the neck tie with a bow tie and maybe a different vest too."
Ruby sighs, "Who cares? What's the point if Blake's not going?"
"Don't worry, she's going," Yang says.
"You sure? Because she's even more anti-social and moody," Y/n bluntly says as he flips to another page in his comic.
"Oh, don't worry, Red, she'll be going," Yang says.
"Well, if that's the case, I'll be on my way and take care of some things," Y/n says as he gets out of his chair and leaves the room.
Y/n Pov:
I make my way to one of Beacon's training rooms and raise the hood on my jacket so that it's covering my face and people don't freak out when they see me. 'I need to get my semblance under control. Two uses, and both required intense rage to function. And that's not mentioning how people look at me after my first use of it. I can take people looking at me with distrust, anger, hate, annoyance, and envy. But fear... I don't want people to be afraid of me. I don't want them to look at me the way they look at Him. I just want to go home.' I pull the hood down further and shove my hands into my pockets. Unfortunately, as I walk to the training rooms, I can't tune out people whispering around me. How I'm dangerous, a liability, destined to become a rogue huntsman, wondering maybe that's why I'm not on anyone's team.
I make it to an empty training room and see that I have an hour before someone will show up. I take off my jacket and wrap the sleeves around my waist. I close my eyes and activate my aura before trying to focus on what I felt when using my semblance besides the overwhelming rage. I take some deep breaths to help me focus. I can feel my heartbeat, slow, steady, and powerful. The air vibrating around me as the nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide bounce off each other. And the gentle warmth of my aura surrounding me like a blanket or a hug from my parents. I take a deep breath and focus on the warmth and try directing it to my hand, then condensing it until it's burning hot. I feel the heat intensify and open my eyes to see a flame hovering above the palm of my hand. It's about the size of a baseball. I feel a smile spread across my face, and I think the flame looks slightly larger and brighter for a split second.
"This is so cool," I say as I move my hand around, the flame traveling with it. 'I wonder.' I look at one of the training dummies in the room and back at the fireball in my hand. I move my arm like I'm pushing something away, but the flame still stays in the palm of my hand. 'Maybe a throwing motion.' I change my stance so it's more in line with something a pitcher would use. 'Here goes.' I move my arm like I'm throwing a baseball, but nope, the flame does not leave my hand. I try a few more times, but nothing happens. I can't throw fire. I close my hand and let the flow of my aura return to normal.
'Well, no one's gonna be here for another,' I check the time on my scroll, 'Fifteen minutes!' I take a deep breath and calm down. I look at one of the punching bags in the room, "Might as well put that time to good use." I walk over to it and start with a few light jabs. I use aura to gradually increase the force of my punches until the bag swings high in the air with each strike. I let loose a final punch, and a small puff of flames shoots out from my fist. I look at my hand again with wide eyes. "Awesome," I say before I put my jacket back on and leave the room before whoever reserved the place can show up.
With testing my semblance now off my to-do list, I start heading to the forge to finally address another issue of mine. It takes a while, but I make it there after checking the campus map downloaded onto my scroll more than once. I find an empty workbench with a holographic display. I fiddle around a bit on it and find a 3D modeling software. I play around with the software for a bit until I can get the hang of it. 'Now, what am I going to use? Maybe gauntlets that use gravity dust to amp up my strikes? Or maybe switch out the gravity dust for fire and put an exhaust vent near the elbow so the flames can escape and propel my arm faster. What if I mixed both ideas? Use the flames as the primary method and the gravity system as a secondary, along with the option to activate them simultaneously for an even greater boost if the need ever arises. Maybe I could modify the boots I jacked from Mercury to enhance my kicks too? No, redesigning the existing firing system and adding a new one would take too long. It'd be easier to make a new set. Well, all-or-nothing, I guess.'
"What'cha doing?" I hear someone ask, and I totally, definitely, absolutely don't back away and scream like a five-year-old girl on a roller coaster.
I look at Ruby in shock, "Why are you here?"
Ruby lets out a long sigh. "I'm bummed out, and working on Cresent Rose helps me cheer up," she says.
"I see," I say before I look back on my designs. "Hey Ruby, you want to help me work on my new weapons?"
"Yes!" Ruby shouts before she clears her throat. "So, what are you working on?"
"A set of gauntlets, and maybe some boots," I scratch the back of my head, "the only problem is, I can't seem to decide what method to use so that my strikes have more power. One idea I had was to use gravity dust. Another idea was to use fire dust and exhaust vents on my forearms, as well as behind my calves and on the sides of them, with the side vents facing the opposite direction of the rear vents. And my final idea was to use both methods so that I could have more power to use if the need arises." I scratch my chin. "Of course, integrating both propulsion systems would likely result in my potential weapons being unable to fully compact for easier carrying. But greater power over convenience is a fair trade-off."
Ruby tilts her head in confusion. "Yeah, but you used a short sword and revolver combination. Why change your weapon preference completely?"
"Those weapons were never really mine," I say. "Hand me downs," I add.
"Well, that makes sense. Those guns of yours were common side arms for officers in the Valean Army during the Great War," Ruby tilts her head again. "I think their color meant what rank the officer held, along with what was stamped onto the side of the blades."
"Neat," I say. "But as much as I liked those weapons, guns aren't my style. I prefer a more," I pause, "direct approach."
"Not a problem," Ruby says, "As a Huntsman, your weapon is supposed to be an extension of yourself. So, let me see what you've been working on." I move to the side to let Ruby take a look at the plans I made. Ruby hums, "Not bad," she says. "You even made separate files for your ideas on the propulsion systems and the base of the gauntlets and boots," Ruby says as she thoroughly examines each of my designs. "I'd go with the two-factor propulsion system."
"Think we can get started on the prototypes anytime soon?" I ask.
"Oh yeah, these designs are ready to go. I think most of the parts are here too. And whatever isn't, we can pick up tomorrow before the dance."
"I see. Well, let's get started," I say.
"Yep," Ruby says.
We both quickly begin to work on my future weapons. It's a time-consuming task, but we eventually manage to create gauntlets and greaves. After a few close calls that nearly ended with singed-off eyebrows. And by some miracle, without my scroll going off with an alert about some kind of crime.
"So, you ready to test 'em out?" Ruby asks as we start walking to a training room.
I put on the gauntlets. Prototypes whose sole purpose is to be proof of concept, not to look pretty, but with some nudging from Ruby, I polished them to a mirror finish and added some detailing. I clench my fists. Somehow, the weight of the gauntlets feels reassuring and foreboding at the same time.
"Yeah, I just hope I got the fuel-to-air ratio right. Otherwise, I'll either dislocate my shoulders, or I'll just throw a regular punch. And that's just with the wrong ratios. That's not including the gravity dust, or if the whole thing blows up and burns my arms to a crisp and crushes them to a pulp," I look back at Ruby, who has an uneasy look on her face. "But with the two of us working on these babies, I doubt the worst case will happen," I say with a smile and a thumbs-up.
"Of course, with your designs and our combined mechanical skills, these gauntlets and greaves will be perfect. Well, maybe not as perfect as Cresent Rose," Ruby says as she cradles her weapon.
"Well, only one way to find out," I say as we enter a training room. I sit on a nearby bench and put on the greaves. "You may want to take a step back," I warn. I get into a boxing stance and focus on my breathing before activating my aura. The warmth in my chest feels different than usual. It still carries that reassuring feeling, but it also has something else, something I can't place yet. 'Here goes nothing.' I take another deep breath.
Third-person Pov:
Y/n dashes forward and delivers a right hook before performing an uppercut with his left arm. Bursts of flame shoot out from his elbows and propel his arms at great speed. Y/n laughs like a little kid testing out a brand new Nerf Gun while on a sugar rush with zero adult supervision. "It works," he says before performing a rapid-fire barrage of punches. Then Y/n starts weaving around like he's dodging an opponent's strikes before he performs what would be a punch to a kidney. Y/n follows up and performs a left cross that sends him flying across the room after the flames suddenly become more intense.
Y/n pries himself off the wall, "Whoo!" Y/n shouts as he stands back up.
"Oh gosh, are you okay?" Ruby asks after she rushes over to Y/n.
Y/n looks at Ruby and tilts his head. "Okay? I feel like I'm on top of the world with these gauntlets!" Y/n shouts. He grins and sprints back to the center of the room.
"Now, what about the boots?" Y/n mutters to himself as he performs a heel kick and uses the momentum to twist and spring into the air before performing another kick. As Y/n lands, he leans forward slightly and performs a front flip before he brings his leg down to the ground. Blazing arcs follow his movements the entire time. Once both feet are back on the ground, Y/n goes into another heel kick and uses his momentum to twist and kick in mid-air again before he lands and dashes forward and unleashes a lightning-fast barrage of kicks while launching small fireballs each time his leg fully extends. Y/n then uses the updraft created by his greaves to backflip high into the air and perform another kick. Y/n finishes testing his weapons' ignition system with a stylish and hard-hitting combination of kicks.
"So, how are they?" Ruby asks.
"They're perfect," Y/n says with a toothy grin. "Time to test out the gravity function," Y/n says as he gets into a kickboxing stance.
He unleashes a left cross, followed by a right uppercut, and ends with a heel kick. "Hmm." Y/n performs a left cross, a right uppercut, and stops before he balances on one leg and performs a rapid-fire barrage of kicks before ending his combo with a right cross. Y/n jumps into the air and performs a front flip that ends with him slamming his heel into the ground. Next, Y/n performs an uppercut that sends him ten feet in the air. Y/n decides to conclude the test with a swift and heavy chain of kicks. The pulses of energy send him into the air, and he performs several more kicks in mid-air.
"These will do just fine," Y/n says as he clenches his fists again. He looks back at Ruby. "Thanks for the help, Ruby. It means a lot," Y/n says with a bright smile.
"Happy to help," Ruby says with an equally bright smile.
"I'll see you later," Y/n says.
"Later," Ruby says.
Y/n walks back to his dorm and takes off his gauntlets and greaves before lying down on his bed and closing his eyes.
Y/n Pov:
'Wake up!' I hear a distant and distorted voice shout.
I open my eyes to see a void filled with nothing, not even light.
"What the hell? Where am I?"
'On your left!' The voice says before I feel a sharp pain in my jaw. 'Right!' A kick to the ribs.
"Show yourself," I shout before I take a swing of my own. But I hit nothing.
'If you insist,' the voice playfully says.
Suddenly my vision is filled with light, and after a second or two, I see myself. But with bone-white skin, hair and clothes. Even the eyes aren't right. The white of them is pitch black.
"What are you?" I ask the figure as I look around. Central City Park? And now that I notice, I'm right in front of dad's statue. Only with high winds, rain, thunder, and lightning all around. Except for about ten feet around the statue. Hell, the sun is shining brightly off the metal.
'Me? Well, there's the spoiler answer, the theoretic answer, the fun answer, and the obvious answer.'
"A pain in the ass is what you are," I say. "And what's with the color scheme?"
The figure sighs and crosses its arms. 'Not important right now. What is important is what kind of hero you want to be, Y/n. Because for all your talk of being a symbol of hope, about being the hero who would endure endless suffering so that no one else has to. You have fears that hold you back from being that hero, like dying alone because you outlived everyone you ever loved. Or losing control of your powers and hurting someone,' my doppelganger hangs his head low. 'And above all, you're afraid of disappointing the League, your grandparents, your mom and dad, and everyone else who ever decided to put in the time to guide and support you on your journey. Be that in training you or simply giving you a pat on the back and a kick in the ass whenever you needed one.' Not-me suddenly looks at me. The fire in his eyes reignited. 'So I'll ask you one more time. What kind of hero do you want to be, Y/n Garrick? The one who fights not for glory or remembrance for his deeds but for what is right? The hero who breaks his bones a thousand times and will break them a thousand more if need be? The one who falls down ten thousand times and gets back up ten thousand and one times? The one who inspires the next generation to be the best version of themselves? The knight in torn armor who will charge into danger without any regard for his safety? Because if it's all of the above. Well, I only have one thing to say.'
As my double goes to speak, he's struck by lightning. When the light fades, he regains the color in his hair, his eyes go back to normal, his skin isn't whiter than a piece of copy paper, and his clothes change into a black and silver version of my suit, minus the goggles. He also gains twenty pounds of muscle, two inches in height, and enough years to the point he looks twenty-five. "It will never be easy. But in the end, it will all be worth it."
"And how do I become that hero?" I ask.
"Well, you're already on your way to becoming that hero, Y/n," my double says before he smirks and puts a hand on my shoulder. "But if you really do want my advice, stop trying to be like your father. You're not him, you're not your grandfather, and you're not Barry either, so stop trying to be like them. Be yourself." My double bonks me on the head. "And stop sulking about what's already happened and constantly worrying about what might happen. Focus on what is and enjoy it before you're old and gray. Your old man didn't sacrifice himself so that you could keep moping when no one is watching. He did it so that you could live your life," he says before he turns and walks away from me.
"Hey, wait, I still have more questions!" I shout as I extend my arm.
"And you'll find the answers yourself in due time," my doppelganger says without looking back.
I try to speak, but lightning strikes me before I can say another word.
Third-Person Pov:
Y/n shoots up in his bed and looks around to make sure he's at Beacon and not some dreamscape. He stands up and looks out the window, and catches a glimpse of the sun setting. No thunderclouds, no rain, no wind, and no lightning.
"What the hell was that dream?" Y/n asks himself as he stares at his hand. "Live my life and be myself, huh? Guess I haven't really been doing that as well as I thought I was. Well, no time like the present." Y/n says before he smiles, but it isn't like the grins and smiles he flashes around RWBY, JNPR, and Velvet, but a wide ear-to-ear grin he hasn't had on his face since Zoom broke his spine and forced him to bury an empty coffin.
"Attention nearby units the silent alarm at " Y/n gets into his suit and races into Vale with that same smile on his face as he listens to the rest of the alert.
A/n: And so another chapter is done.