[RWBY] A Character Arc: Jaune Arc RWBY SI BS Revised

[AJ_Talon]

"...Hey, Ruby? I need a gun."

She spun around so fast her hood nearly took out a chair. "Finally!"

I blinked. "...That bad?"

"No, no! The classics are cool." She waved a hand at Crocea Mors like it had personally offended her sense of aesthetics. "You could just use a bit more… pizazz!"

"I mean… I am the tank of my group. I'm supposed to get all the attention and get and deliver hits. And I can hit really hard…"

"Exactly! And what do tanks have?" She planted her hands on her hips, eyes bright. "A cannon!"

"Or a P90."

Ruby recoiled like I'd suggested she switch to a stick. "What?! That little pea shooter?! No! Just no! Plus a bullpup? Are you kidding me? What are you, an Atlesian?"

"It is the coolest gun, though. I love it. I mean, you have an anti-material rifle, Ruby. That's not very practical—"

"It's very practical, and it has OOMPH!" She made a fist. "You need something with oomph! Like a .44 magnum or a 12-gauge with slugs if you want close and mid-range! Something with cheap ammo, too!"

"But the P90 can saw wood in half!"

"So can a 12-gauge! With a fraction of the shots fired!"

"But it's sooo cool!"

Ruby crossed her arms. "You grew up on a farm! You're a rugged farm boy! Why wouldn't you want the shotgun?!"

"I mean, I like shotguns, but P90s are great."

"If you want an automatic, at least get an M4! Heck, even a SCAR-H!"

I leaned in and tried the look. "But Ruuuubyyyy… come onnnn… can we go shoot P90s?"

She didn't even flinch. "Jaune, I invented that look. It doesn't work on me." Hands on hips again. "We will go shoot guns, but proper guns. And you will like it, mister."

---

We went to the range.

I got a P90. It was amazing that the same gun had been developed on a totally different world: Not by the same people but still, wow. That was freaky.

Ruby stood just behind my lane with her arms crossed and a face like someone had desecrated a holy site while I put a magazine through the target and grinned like an idiot.

"It's like I dreamed~!"

The burst ripped the paper to confetti.

"Just like Wormhole X-Treme!"

"This is blasphemy," Ruby said flatly. "Horrible, terrible blasphemy."

"Oh, come on. Women do not respect men they can browbeat. And you're just… gun racist."

"I'm not gun racist! I'm just a purist. You know, like a proper gun enthusiast."

"Gun racist!"

"NUH UH! I just know what's what!"

I reloaded, still smiling. "Come on… with Teflon coating and Dust cores, these things could… slice a Beowulf in two."

"They have zero stopping power! What are you gonna do if you run out of ammo because it didn't stop a charging Ursa or something?!"

"I just use my sword. Or punch stuff. Or grenades."

"Or you use a proper gun!"

"But you barely use Crescent Rose as a proper—"

Ruby's eyes narrowed into a full glare.

I sighed. "Fine…"

"That's right!"

She's not wrong about the stopping power. She's also not going to win this one. Not today. A man has to have principles, and one of mine is that the P90 is cool.

I put another burst into the target and tried not to laugh at the way her eye twitched.