Ruby Rose sat on the bus, blindfolded, her arms crossed over her chest. She had been pouting through it from the moment Jaune had asked her to go with him and put it on.
"Are we there yet?" Ruby asked.
"Almost," Jaune said reassuringly, squeezing her hand. Ruby sighed heavily.
"I mean, I'm glad you're taking me out somewhere. Especially given your fiances," Ruby grumbled.
"Fake fiances," Jaune sighed. Ruby scowled.
"Don't seem so fake to me," she grumbled. Jaune sighed. The bus finally came to a stop, and Jaune took her hand.
"I know, I know, "Jaune said, "It's a big mess. I don't know why everyone's gone crazy."
"UGH!" Ruby huffed, stomping her foot even as they went down the steps, "You're so unfair, you know?"
"Unfair?" Jaune asked, confused. Ruby huffed as they stood on a street, the sounds of traffic and pedestrian traffic filling her ears.
"Yeah! You-You stupid super Aura badass family line harem having jerk! I'm your best friend and you just keep doing all this stupid junk! Even Granny paid more attention to Yang over me cause you're engaged! So whatever you're doing to win me back had better be super, super good-!"
Jaune pulled her blindfold off. Ruby stared at the large sign before her.
FORT CELLIWIG: VALEAN DEFENSE FORCE BASE
Underneath this was:
WELCOMES THE REMNANT ARMAMENT EXPOSITION OF VALE
Ruby looked over: The gates to the base were open, the guards checking a wave of people of all shapes and sizes walking in. Kids laughing happily with their parents, soldiers, teenagers… And beyond the gates, the base. Full of military aircraft, vehicles, and stands full of weapons.
Ruby slowly turned back to Jaune. He smiled and handed over a ticket badge. He held up his own.
"Full weekend passes," Jaune said with a grin. Ruby gaped, slowly taking the badge into her trembling hands. "Just us together. What do you say, Crater Face?"
Ruby sucked in a deep breath… And then squealed.
"HEEEEE! JAUNE!" She hugged him tightly, her arms tight around his neck. "I LOVE YOU!"
"URK! Heh… I love you too, Ruby," Jaune said, hugging her back happily. "Let's go!"
- - -
The Remnant Armaments Exhibition—RemArms—sprawled across Fort Celliwig, a cacophony of gleaming metal, whirring servos, and the sharp tang of Dust-infused fuel hanging in the air. Towering mechs loomed beside sleek fighters, their hulls reflecting the midday sun, while booths showcased mechashift weapons that gleamed with advanced technology—angular, robust, with glowing Dust conduits. Ruby Rose was a whirlwind of excitement, practically vibrating as she dragged Jaune Arc through the crowds, her silver eyes wide enough to rival a truck's headlights.
"GASP!" Ruby squealed, skidding to a halt before a massive vehicle. "It's the new Kalvis Motors M-77A2 Chimera tank with full Dust grenade launchers and advanced cannon!" She practically crawled up the side of the hull to the bemusement of the troops near it. She was nearly drooling. "And the Vasagus MG-90 120mm Electric Dust-Accelerated Smoothbore Cannon! With the new Vasagus SR-445 Multipurpose Tank Round!"
"Easy Ruby, easy," Jaune managed, tugging gently on her cape at the looks from the tank crew. Ruby scanned around, and her silver eyes widened even more.
She teleported in a burst of rose petals across the crowded boulevard, into a hangar. Jaune hurried after her. He entered the hangar just in time to hear her cry: "THE VFS-47C TEMPEST VIPER FIGHTER!"
She was practically glomming at the sleek, angular strike fighter's side, ogling its reinforced cockpit and variable geometry wings.
Jaune, trailing behind in his worn hoodie, scratched his head. "Yep. That's a… fifth-gen fighter? Right?"
"UGH! Fourth-gen, Jaune! You're so frustrating sometimes!" Ruby huffed, hands on hips. She immediately darted to the head mechanic, bombarding him with questions about thrust vectors and Dust propulsion. Stuff way over Jaune's head, but he watched her impress the mechanics and talk more to her about the avionics and weapons.
Minutes later, she bounced back, beaming, and threw her arms around Jaune. "I'm sorry, Jaune. I'll teach you all about the differences!"
"Thanks," Jaune chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Maybe it'll give me a leg up next year for Weapons Maintenance class."
"YEAH! Ooh! Ooh! The mechashift weapons section! Let's go! Let's go!" Ruby grabbed his arm, dragging him toward a booth glittering with collapsible rifles and plasma-forged blades. Her grin was contagious, even if he couldn't keep up with her tech talk. He was very glad to see it on her face again.
Suddenly, two voices purred in his ears, and Jaune felt the unmistakable jab of something—potentially weapons—into his back.
"How fitting, Jaune Arc!" one voice teased.
"That you should die with a smile on your face~!" the other cooed.
Ruby turned back and gasped at the two cloaked, hooded figures, "Jaune!"
Ruby was already going for Crescent Rose… But Jaune didn't flinch, recognizing the voices instantly. "Oh, hey girls." He deadpanned.
The hooded figures groaned, pulling off their cloaks to reveal twin girls with Jaune's blonde hair and blue eyes. One had green highlights in her spiky hair. The other had orange highlights in her no less wild mane.
"Phooey," Green pouted.
"You had to spoil it! You couldn't have pretended for a bit?!" Orange whined.
"I mean, not when there's multiple million lien around," Jaune said, gesturing to the high-tech gear all around them. He smiled and nodded to Ruby. "After all, I owe this little lady a good time, and I gave my word."
Ruby lit up. "Oh! You're his sisters!"
Green huffed. "Ugh. The other ones spoiled the reveal."
"Yeah," Orange sulked.
"Oh no! Nonono! Nobody else appeared by pretending to hold Jaune up!" Ruby said, waving her hands.
Orange perked up. "Hm. There's that. I'm Coral!"
"I'm Verdy," Green added, grinning.
Jaune, who'd scored RemArms tickets through them, smirked. "Say, I don't suppose you could… I dunno, show us around? Maybe what you've been working on?"
Best Buddy Points and Cool Big Brother Points in one big brain move! Arc, you're a damned genius! he thought.
"We were gonna!" Coral chirped.
"Come on!" Verdy grabbed Ruby's arm, leading her to the Radian Militia Booth—a proud display for Arc Armaments, Inc., stacked with polished rifles, mechashift swords, and a prototype hoverbike bristling with Dust cannons.
"We work on and fix all the weapons for the Radian Militia!" Coral boasted.
"And the vehicles and gear," Verdy added.
Ruby's eyes sparkled, diving into a technical rant about recoil dampeners. Jaune stepped back, knowing she'd be occupied. Those Best Buddy Points are ripe for Cool Fake Fiancé Points with Yang.
Not that he was looking to get more points with Yang… Or was he? Geez… This entire thing was getting complicated.
"So, weren't you working on a glider? That one-man flying wing thing?" Jaune asked.
"Yes!" Coral cheered. She walked over to the large, green, bat-wing shaped vehicle standing on some elaborate aluminum tube mountings. "Ta-da!"
"Wow!" Ruby gasped. She immediately began zipping around it, examining it from every angle. "Let me guess, ten gyros and a fully integrated IMU system for stabilization? With cameras to aid in orientation on these two arrays on the front?"
Coral and Verdy's eyes widened, impressed.
"Exactly!" Coral said cheerfully. She pointed at the sensor arrays on the front of the glider, which looked like the mouthparts of a manta ray, "Splitting them in half like this helps with pitch, and matching the arrays behind helps with the rest of the flight dynamics!"
"Yeah, but you still have to be crazy to fly it," Jaune pointed out, "You guys crashed it every time you flew, right?"
"We did fix that part!" Coral insisted.
"And it now flies great!" Verdy added happily.
Verdy sighed. "But Caboose asked, 'Won't flying on it just make you more exposed to weapons fire?'" Verdy huffed and shook her head. "He was so cool about everything up til that point!"
"She was sooo mad," Coral giggled. "Ranted at Caboose for so long. 'Out, am I?!'"
"It's so unfair! It's so cool!" Verdy whined.
"Good," Jaune said. "I saw the flight suits—Mom and Dad would've never allowed it." The twins glared at him, but he smiled unapologetically.
Ruby nodded, then frowned. "Still, you are really vulnerable on it. I can see it as a light recon vehicle, but why so many bulky weapons? And the primary intercooler is way too exposed! One shot would take it out!"
"Why wouldn't you want weapons on it?!" Verdy gasped.
Ruby's mouth opened to answer before looking confused, then appalled. "You're right! Why wouldn't I want weapons on it? Silly me!" Ruby bonked her head, sticking out her tongue.
"And the intercooler is not too exposed!" Coral insisted. "We even have some air scoops to help with the heat exchange!"
"Yeah, but even so, if it gets hit, the whole turbojet system would overheat and you'd just crash like a rock!" Ruby protested.
"The trick is to NOT get hit!" Verdy insisted.
"I suppose that would be the trick," Jaune deadpanned.
"Can I try it?" Ruby asked happily.
"We're… Not legally allowed to let anyone fly it," Verdy winced.
"Which sucks," Coral sighed. She grinned.
"Of course once we get the chance-"
"No! No, no," Jaune ordered, wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulders, "Keep her out of it."
"But Jaune!" Ruby whined.
"I was their test dummy," Jaune said flatly.
"You were fine!" The twins said in concert.
"... Mostly," Verdy muttered.
"Mom was mad," Coral sighed. "Okay fine! We won't make Ruby be our crash test dummy."
Ruby turned on the big puppy-dog-eyes, absolutely crestfallen.
Jaune smiled gently. "Well… They'd definitely let you work on it until it could work, right?"
Ruby looked over at the twins. They grinned.
"We would!" They said in synch.
"Yay!" Ruby cheered.
The twins walked over on either side of Jaune, their grins wide and shiny.
"Oh! Jaune! We got you a surprise~!" Verdy chirped.
"A super surprise!" Coral added.
Jaune narrowed his eyes, suspicious. They got their pranking out of their systems… I hope.
"…Sure."
"What is it?" Ruby asked, bouncing.
"That would spoil the surprise!" Verdy said. "But… if you want to try it out, you can do it next."
"Totally!" Coral agreed.
"Next?" Ruby blinked.
"He is our brother," Coral said.
"Yeah. And we want to make some things up to him!" Verdy added.
"Especially since he ran out on us," Coral muttered.
He… had done that, hadn't he? Jaune winced.
"I mean… for like a month, we didn't know if you were alive or dead, Jaune," Verdy said quietly.
"…Yeah, sorry, guys," Jaune said, rubbing his neck. "In my defense, would anyone have let me just walk out of Radian for Beacon?"
"We could've, big bro," Verdy said softly.
"In a heartbeat," Coral added. "We love Mom, we really do… but everyone's so scared of standing up to her and telling her when she's wrong."
"Yeah… she is pretty intimidating," Jaune admitted.
"Oh… she's why you weren't… um…?" Ruby asked, eyes wide. Jaune slowly nodded.
"Yeah."
Coral clapped. "So! Coral! Verdy! What exactly have you brought here?"
The twins grinned wickedly.
- - -
Fifteen minutes later, Jaune-now in a snug flight suit-was strapped into the backseat of a Tempest Viper taxiing onto the runway. Kara "Stardoe" Trace, a cocky pilot with wild brown hair, grinned over her shoulder.
"You okay back there, Jauney?"
"No!" Jaune yelped in his helmet, gripping the seat and checked his harness for the umpteenth time.
"Well, you'll probably change your mind in the next few seconds!" Kara laughed. The Viper surged forward, slamming Jaune with 7 gees-his Aura barely cushioning the crush-as it rocketed skyward, breaking Mach 1 with a sonic boom that rattled the fairgrounds. Crowds below cheered, awed.
"My… brains… are going… into… my feet…" Jaune groaned, fighting nausea.
"Now comes the fun part!" Kara cackled, barrel-rolling into a dive.
"HURK!" Jaune's lunch threatened to revolt.
She pulled up, skimming five hundred feet over the crowd, then climbed steeply again. Jaune clung to the straps, praying they held.
Last time… LAST TIME I EVER TRUST MY SISTERS!
- - -
On the ground, Ruby watched, green with envy. "Ooooooh! Darn it, Jaune! I'm next!"
"Later, later!" Verdy said, plopping Ruby onto a bench. "Right now, we want to get to know you!"
"Yeah!" Coral handed her a fancy store-bought cookie—not chocolate chip, but decent.
Ruby nibbled suspiciously. "Well… I'm always interested in learning about Jaune's crazy family."
"Oh?" Verdy leaned in.
"Really?" Coral smirked.
"How much?" Verdy pressed.
"Well… what have you got?" Ruby countered, eyes narrowing.
"Oh, no, no, no… it's more what we want from you, Ruby Rose," Verdy said slyly.
"Your sister said Jaune was engaged to her!" Coral accused.
"And then Nana Arturia told us you were engaged to him!" Verdy added.
"And Lilac said this Blake girl was engaged to him!" Coral continued.
"And then this crazy red haired woman yelled he was engaged to this Pyrrha Nikos girl and fought Papa!" Verdy finished.
"And afterwards she had tea with us, and showed us her armor, so that was great," Coral gushed.
"True, it was very pretty cool," Verdy sighed happily. Coral turned her glare to Ruby, soon copied by her twin.
"So… who is his real fiancé, huh?" Coral demanded.
"Tell us!" Verdy insisted.
Ruby blinked and coughed. "Well, I think Blake just wanted a safe out because of her parents, and claimed Jaune. Like, her aunt came by and asked awkward questions about her personal life, so she said she was Jaune's fiancé. And um… Well, Yang claimed Jaune was her fiance because our Granny is really, REALLY scary-Though honestly I think it's the only way she'd ever get a boyfriend. And Pyrrha, well, she's kind of got this crush on Jaune and her aunt is really overbearing-"
"We know," Coral commented, "Also violent."
"And well… He… He's my first real friend and um, ya know," Ruby blushed, "I-I didn't say anything officially but maybe Nana misunderstood me…?"
Verdy gaped, leaning in, sensing juicy gossip. "Wait… so you're all lying?"
"You DON'T want to marry our brother?" Coral gaped.
"Well… I didn't say that. Ruby tapped her fingers bashfully, her face as red as her hood. "Well… not right away."
She cleared her throat.
"Say… I don't suppose you could help me… persuade Jaune to think about me?" Ruby ventured. "My Pappy said to eat high-carb food to make my boobs bigger… or my hips… or my butt. I haven't seen any size increase yet. But I could use some help from the inside."
"Sure thing!" Verdy chirped.
"Though we're gonna be assessing—" Coral started.
"The other brides too," Verdy finished.
"And taking bribes," Coral added.
"Don't tell her that!" Verdy hissed.
"Ah! B-bribes!" Ruby wailed. "Oh no, if Weiss gets interested, I'm sunk! Look, I don't have money, but—but I love him! I—! We're best buddies! I want to be best buddies forever!" She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Verdy and Coral hugged her tight, patting her back.
"Aw… she's so cute!" Verdy cooed.
"Okay, Ruby! We'll help you marry Jaune!" Coral declared.
"If… you help us build weapons with ALL the guns!" Verdy added.
"R-Really?" Ruby sniffed, wiping her eyes. "You mean it?"
"Totally!" Coral said.
"Absolutely!" Verdy nodded.
Jaune staggered back towards them from the runway, still in his flight suit, looking ill.
"I have regrets, and I will be sharing them with you," he said, glaring at his sisters before leaning on his knees and dry-heaving.
"HAHA! Great job, kiddo! He only puked twice!" Kara laughed, slapping him on the back.
The impact made Jaune's eyes go large. "HURK!"
"Three times!" Kara corrected, grinning.
Ruby leapt up. "Best in-laws ever!"