Author's Note:
RESPONSE: Jalen Johnson pointed something pretty funny out. I have a hard time writing Jaune unlike so many other authors who can nail his character. I don't know if that's a testament to Jaune being sort of a blank slate(Emphasis on sort of, I know he is not a blank slate) that can be appropriated into many different versions of himself without being OOC or just a testament to Jaune's character simply being hard to write for me.
Guest, you're right I do write Ren as Turniphaters Ren. I need to tone down on the analyzing.
I think a rewatch of RWBY seasons 1-3 is in order so I can get a better take on the characters.
Cover Art: Cruz7808
Review, point out mistakes, and flame.
Story got deleted on FFN, should be up on Quotev, and Archive too. Get's posted on Wattpad first.
For cool fanart and art in general check out my sister's art page on insta: Artist . Joanna (No spaces) or twt: ArtistJoanna
S8E9- Backup Plans
Jaune chuckled nervously, "Well you won't have to wait long."
"Backup Plans" appears on the screen with the theme.
Jaune grinned, "A good backup plan is always important."
"Why do you need backup plans?" Nora asked, "So far your first plans always work the first time."
"Only because all of you are incredible fighters." Jaune explained.
"Awe thanks!" Nora grinned.
"Jaune I've seen you grow as a leader, without you're guidance our talent would mean little." Pyrrha explained.
"Ha! Your talent would mean little!" Nora laughed.
Ren pursed his lips, "I agree with Nora, you're a champion, even without us your talent is put to great use. You know how to fight very well."
Pyrrha gave a polite smile, "Thank you Ren, honored as I am I still need all of you to fight at my best."
Weiss gave a nearly silent "hmpf" and a chuckle but otherwise remained silent.
Fade in to Wash and the Meta staring directly at the screen.
Washington: "Alright Meta, get ready, FIRE!" Wash tosses a grenade, and the Meta fires one.
Ruby, Nora, and Pyrrha gasped.
"I expected them to fight the aliens but not so quickly." Weiss shook her head.
Washington: "Huh, well that actually seemed to work."
"Cold." Blake commented. "I wish I could say Washington changed a lot, but he only gave up his morals."
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.
"From season six to now, Washington has kept his calm demeanor, sense of humor, etcetera. He has only changed in his morals, where in season six he was fighting to avenge his friends and now he only fights to save himself." Blake explained.
Pyrrha nodded, "You could say he's become very jaded."
Blake nodded, "Exactly."
"I don't understand how someone can be that cruel though." Jaune frowned, "He killed Donut and Lopez in cold blood like it was nothing."
"He snapped in a way." Blake explained, "He has gone through a lot, and after it all. He's tired of it, so now he's willing to do whatever he can to escape it."
Jaune shook his head, "Fine fine, anyway let's keep watching."
Cut to show Doc standing amidst a pile of rubble that used to be his wall.
Doc: "... Ow!"
A feeling of relief touched everyone in varying degrees.
"Oh, they only fired at Doc." Nora grinned.
"You like the aliens more than Doc?" Ruby asked.
Nora shrugged, "They're funny."
Washington: "Doc, how do you feel?"
Doc: "Uh okay I guess, all things considered- hey does anybody know where we can find a good medic?"
Weiss's face fell, "I thought he was one of the semi smart ones."
Washington: "I don't get paid enough for this."
Blake began to laugh to herself.
Wash wanders off, and the Meta slowly follows
Doc: "Geeze, tough room."
Weiss sighed, "Good, he was joking."
"Don't want too many dumb characters." Yang laughed.
"I'd say most of them are not dumb, they simply have many negative personality traits." Ren commented.
Cut to the Reds inside the facility
Grif: "I told you that stupid plan wouldn't work."
"If it didn't work how did they get in?" Nota scratched her head.
"There's always more than one way into a secure area." Blake commented.
Simmons: "That's because you said your name was Agent Pluto!"
Sarge: "Heh, luckily we had the old contingency plan to fall back on."
Grif: "Sarge-hhh, shotgun in the face is not a contingency plan. I keep telling you that."
Nora snorted, "Shotgun in the face, nice."
Yang nodded, "I agree, Nora honestly I could picture you using a shotgun."
"Ehhhhh" Nora dragged out, "Maybe, but not explosive enough."
Yang frowned, "You've seen me use these babies right?" Yang cocked her gauntlets to emphasize her point, "All rounds are explosive and if I throw enough kinetic energy into it I can launch these rounds like a missile."
Nora nodded, "I see what you mean, I could picture you with a hammer."
Yang laughed, "Yeah I can too, that would really knock someone's teeth out."
"We should try out each others weapons one day!" Nora grinned.
Yang nodded, "That sounds great! We can spar."
"Ohh ohh ohh! Can I be ref!" Ruby begged.
Yang laughed and nodded, "Sure why not, Ren wanna take a bet?"
Ren nodded, "I believe it's obvious who I'm betting on."
"Better be me!" Nora growled before grinning, "Aw of course it's me!"
Yang nodded, "And I'll bet on myself."
Ren chuckled, "Sarge said something once, one who represents themself has a fool for a lawyer, I think that quote a-"
"Sarge isn't that formal." Nora pointed out.
Ren paused a moment before continuing, "I think that quote applies here, one who bets on themselves is making a fools bet."
"Well who else am I supposed to bet on?" Yang asked, "Nora? Only a fool bets against themselves."
Ren chuckled, "Fair point, after this season?"
Nora and Yang nodded.
"Well if you two are set in this... let's say training spar." Weiss shook her head, "There are rules to work out."
"Aww c'mon we can do that later, after this season." Nora waved a hand.
Weiss nodded as Ruby grinned slowly next to her. "Aww thanks CoRef."
"No."
"Yes!"
Jaune chuckled and hit play.
Cut to a face-shotgunned FILSS outside the base on the tree
FILSS: "(Garbled)Hhhhhhllo, this is a private facility. Hello, this is a private facility."
"Poor FILSS" Ruby commented.
"She shouldn't be based on that monitor right?" Jaune asked.
Ruby shrugged, "Probably not."
Back to the reds
Sarge: "Don't be so quick to judge, Grif. Shotgun in the face can be applied in a variety of tough situations. For instance, watch how quickly it cures insubordination."
Shawn cocks his shotgun, aiming it directly at Grif's head.
"Wouldn't a commander killing his own troops be insubordination?" Ruby asked looking at Weiss.
Weiss frowned, "Yes, unless the commander has no one else above themselves."
Caboose: "Oh no!"
*Crash and breaking sounds*
Pyrrha chuckled, "Guess they released whatever or whoever was in there."
Ruby gasped, "What if it's another Church! But not just an empty shell!"
"Another Church? How?" Yang asked.
"Like a copy." Ruby explained, "Wait-"
"You can't copy an A.I." Ren explained.
Ruby nodded, "Ugh yeah I forgot, but maybe right? I mean that room is full of Church's!"
"I still think it relates to Washington somehow." Blake commented.
"And I'm betting on it on your behalf." Ren added.
Blake chuckled, "Thank you."
"You guys already know my theory." Yang grinned. "Whatever it is, it relates to Tex."
Simmons: "What was that?"
Sarge: "It came from down here. Come on."
Cut to one of the aliens drawing something in the sand for Wash
"What's it doing." Nora squinted.
"Can't tell." Blake frowned.
Washington: "I don't like this."
Doc: "Look, I talked to them. They're gonna draw us a map and show us where Epsilon went. After that you can let me go."
"Let him go? Doc would be a loose end." Blake commented.
"I doubt he's a very dangerous loose end." Weiss commented.
"I don't think Washington is one to leave that up to chance." Blake explained.
Washington: "You sure that's what he's doing?"
Doc: "Well, my Alien to English is a little rusty. I would suggest we get one of those translator balls, but we got enough jerks around here already."
Yang sighed, "I miss Andy."
"Me too." Nora sighed as well.
"Well you two are alone in that." Weiss chuckled.
Meta: *growls*
Washington: "I agree. We should just kill most of them, the last one left alive will talk."
Blake and Pyrrha grimaced.
Doc: "Wash, you just can't kill everybody you meet."
Washington: "Why not?"
"Ignoring the obvious moral reasons, he'll get jailed or killed himself." Weiss commented.
Doc: "Uh... well now you're putting me on the spot, I don't really have an answer for that, just seems like a bad idea though. Karma?"
Alien: "Rarh. Blarggh."
Doc: "Hey, he's done drawing the map."
Alien: "Rr-rarrar, hunrarrar unhunrarrarrar."
Cut to show "Humens suk" with a stick figure of a human and an arrow designating said human "Shisno"
Nora burst out laughing, "Aww I love the aliens! Now Washington is going to kill them."
Pyrrha shook her head laughing, "I hope he doesn't, those aliens are so lovable."
"The Shisno got me" Yang said as she cracked up.
"Did you hear the alien's laugh?" Ruby chuckled.
More laughter from Yang as she nodded. Blake chuckled, "I agree, Humens do suck."
"Racist." Yang shot back.
"Shisno." Blake retorted with a laugh.
Doc: "What does it say? What does it say?"
"Yeah Wash, what does it say." Nora snorted.
Jaune chuckled, "Oh... this is not going to be good."
Washington: "It says peace talks have broken down. Now we do it our way."
The Meta turns and begins firing on the Aliens.
Doc: "Woah!"
Everyone grimaced.
"And just like that, the mood is killed." Blake commented.
Nora sighed, "It was still funny, before the shooting."
Cut to Caboose by the closed door.
Church: "Just hold still. No don't go-"
*Crash!*
"Whatever's in there, Church is losing control of it." Ruby commented.
FILSS: "I sense things are not going well."
Caboose: "Yes please just keep the door shut, thank you that's fine."
FILSS: "I am sorry, but if the Director requests the door to be opened, I am required to comply."
The reds walk up.
"We better not get another cliffhanger." Blake grumbled, "I want to see what's behind that door. This episode."
"Why does it matter? We're going to watch the next episode right after." Yang asked.
"Because if this was a normal show, I would have to wait a week between episodes." Blake explained, she turned away as Yang made a confused motion, looking around at everyone else.
Caboose: "Just keep the door shut."
Grif: "Caboose, is that you?"
Church: "Stop! Don't move, don't move, don't-"
*Crash!*
Church: "Hrhhh."
Caboose: "Oh! Oh hello everyone!"
Church: "Stop!"
"This reminds me of last season when Caboose was hiding church." Jaune commented.
Caboose: "Yes. Everyone who wasn't here before is now here now. Hello."
"Tucker still hasn't gotten there." Jaune commented.
Sarge: "What're you up to, Blue."
Caboose: "Me? Oh nothing. I'm not hiding anything behind this door."
"Smooth." Yang chuckled.
Church: "Uh, I wouldn't pick that up it looks expensive-"
*Crash!*
"Whatever's in there is destroying everything." Ren commented.
"Come on, be Tex be Tex be Tex." Yang begged.
Simmons: "Euh, I think he's lying."
"That couldn't be more obvious." Blake shook her head.
Grif: "What was your first clue?"
Sarge: "Let us see what's in there."
Caboose: "In here? Oh. Nothing is in here. Um, well this probably isn't even a door, either. It's, probably-"
The door shakes with a bang
Ruby shied away from the screen instinctively. "Whatever or whoever's behind there is strong."
Sarge: "What the heck was that?"
Caboose: "Oh that was me. Uh, I said this isn't a door, I said it's a gong ."
"Gong? Like those loud things they hit to signal a battle starting?" Nora asked.
Ren nodded and Nora's face lit up, "Ohh! Yang can we get one of those?"
"Get?" Weiss asked, "Probably not."
Nora sagged.
Yang shot Weiss a smirk, "We can just hook up someone's scroll to a speaker and play the noise."
Nora huffed, "Not very authentic, but fine. The battle is what matters most!" She grinned.
Grif: "A gong , what the hell is a-"
Another bang dents the door outwards
Caboose: "A gong."
Part of the lock gets pushed out from the inside
"That door isn't going to hold." Yang commented.
Caboose: "I'm just going to walk over this way, now, excuse me. Yes, thank you. Pardon me, coming through."
Caboose walks right past the Reds and continues walking through the base as the door continues to thump
Caboose: "Yes excuse me, yes pardon me. Excuse me, yes thank you. Pardon me, coming through. Yes excuse me, yes pardon me."
"... how... polite?" Pyrrha said, almost as if asking a question.
"If I were the reds I would leave." Jaune commented.
"Sarge is going to order them to attack!" Nora grinned.
Jaune nodded, "Yeah probably, so it would be smart to get behind the walls out of sight from whatever's breaking through, and hit them from behind."
"... I think he's going to hit it straight on." Nora frowned, "Your plan is probably better though."
Now that he's gone... the door continues being bent out from behind.
Grif: "Um, Sarge, what's the plan here?"
Nora cringed, "I like Sarge's head on strategy's but Jaune is better with plans."
Jaune chuckled, "It's fine, if I was Sarge I would order everyone to retreat."
Sarge: "Men, we have a perfect ambush scenario."
Jaune nodded, "I agree."
Simmons: "I agree. Unless wait, are we the ambushers or, the ambushees. Hey, can you ambush something that's trying to beat its way through metal plating to get to you?"
Yang cackled, "Good question."
Sarge: "Okay, first, we just wait for the door to open-"
"Here it comes!" Yang grinned, "Let's see who's right."
"Yes lets." Blake grinned.
The door is slowly crumbled, a light swings and shuts off as the door is being broken down.
"Whatever this is, it's terrifying." Ruby commented.
"That swinging light is such a nice touch." Blake added.
Ruby gave her a quizzical look, but the banging on the screen caught her attention.
*guitar theme*
The Door shoots off the hinges over top of them. The reds stand up in animation.
Grif: "Door's open."
Everyone leaned forward in anticipation.
Sarge: "What the- hh?"
The screen cuts to reveal Tex, standing in a very badass after punch pose.
Yang gasped in joy.
Tex put's a fist in her other hand and cracks her neck, an audible robotic whirl is heard.
Tex: "Okay. So who's first?"
Cut to black as a guitar theme plays out.
Yang began smacking Blake on the arm excitedly.
"O-ow! Hey! Yang! What!" Blake shouted.
Yang jumping in her seat grinned, "Tex is back! She's back! I knew it!"
Blake groaned, "I see that she's back! you're acting like Ruby"
Ruby laughed but then frowned, "Hey!"
Yang shrugged, "I'm happy."
Ruby groaned, "ugh, I was hoping for another Church. But Tex is back so... yay!" she grinned.
Blake sighed too, "I really thought it would be Washington related, but I guess this makes sense."
Ren nodded, "Now that she's back I wonder how?"
Yang shook her head, "Who cares how?"
"I do." Blake chuckled, "I'm happy she's back too though."
Weiss nodded, "One of you had a theory about Tex right?"
"Tex is another A.I. that was tortured just like Alpha and was split into fragments. This could be Tex's memories. Tex's version of Epsilon." Jaune explained and guessed.
Yang pursed her lips, "Makes sense, but didn't the director only get one A.I.?"
"That doesn't stop others from getting A.I." Jaune pointed out.
"But that's because they were fragments." Ren counter pointed.
Yang shrugged, "Start the episode already."
Nora nodded, "More animation! More animation!"
Yang nodded, "Tex is going to kick their asses."
Jaune chuckled and nodded, "Ok ok."
I love RWBY but I've never liked how Grimm were done in the show. The Grimm are never a threat, there is never any weight to a Grimm attack. Even in season 4, watching them fight the Nuckelavee which is the best example of Grimm done well, there was no weight to it. The Grimm are about fear, but there is never any fear that something bad will happen with the Grimm. I feel like the Grimm could have been done better. The Nuckelavee, Apathy, Seer, and Grimm Dragon from S3 before it got killed instantly were great, they caused a feeling of uneasiness and fear.
If a Beowolf is near a group of civilians I know absolutely nothing will happen, Grimm attacks can happen and instantly Huntsmen clear it up, there's no challenge. It's almost to where I wonder why they ever have problems expanding. So in the end, if I could change the Grimm, I would make them scarier and with more weight to them.
If you could change the Grimm in any way, how would you do it?