2,129Hello there, writing a story here. I can't remember if I ever used this thing for anything outside of commenting a couple of times on other people's stories. But here we are! I wanted to try my hand at react stories, like the ones that inspired this one such as Into the Arc-hive by animegamer89 and Arcs of the Multiverse King-Mac-11. So yeah, here's me dipping my foot in.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, not the RWBY (Who is owned by Roster Teeth) or whatever other piece of media that is shown here.
Within the confines of a single screen cinema, it was quiet save for a single being. Said being was an old man in a single grey jump suit. On it was the name "Jaune". He was whistling to himself as he was sweeping the floor of the theater. There was barely any dirt or dust, after all there was rarely a visitor here. The last one that had arrived was the one he had was a cameraman, who was confused and yet not at the same time. Of course Jaune was annoyed at the man for intruding unannounced, but he could tell the cameraman was a bit outside of his jurisdiction but that's fine. The cameraman said he'd give him some videos, seeing as he understood the feeling of having no purpose.
And for that, Jaune was thankful. After all what was a cinema without any movies?
Now if only he could gets some guests to arrive...
Jaune suddenly felt the building shake and looked about the red walled screening room. "Oh my," he said looking about. "That's not good." That was when he heard a commotion from beyond the double doors. "Not good at all."
Turning on his foot, Jaune headed towards the door. As he passed through the set of doors, his janitor uniform and broom vanished. In its place was a dark red suit jacket with black lapels, a black tie over a white shirt and slacks and leather dress shoes. His graying blonde hair going from its crazy main to a slicked back and gelled in an instant.
The lobby of his theater had a counter for confections. Popcorn was being popped, candy all on display, various drinks on tap, as well as a fully equipped kitchen hidden away behind a wall, all of that behind the counter. However what set this place apart from most theaters was the view outside. Beyond the windows of his building was the vast expanse of the multiverse.
Yes multiverse.
The Chronicle Theatre, Jaune Arc Branch, stood in one in a place where countless dimensions and worlds met. Letting Jaune watch a multitude of worlds at once. However it seemed like he was tasked with viewing the lives of a single person, Jaune Arc and all his incarnations. Why him? Well this Jaune didn't know but he tended to call himself something else for ease of thought to himself. Of course Jaune was perfectly happy, watching the various other versions of himself acting out their lives.
The darker ones were terrible really but the good ones were so uplifting. That's why he can't ever tear himself away or ever find himself bored with his job. The countless ways things can happen were all so riveting and Jaune was proud.
Of course he did see that cameraman in almost all those worlds after their deal. He too was a Jaune after all. And with how the cameraman worked, he Jaune was able to watch even more versions of himself! More intense scenes, more drama, more comedy! Ah he could never got enough of that.
Back to the matter at hand.
On the carpeted floor of his lobby were a few people he got to know all too well. Six teenage girls and a single teenage boy were all crumpled on the floor. All of them were groaning in pain.
"I was right. This is not good," Jaune said to himself. He waved his hand over his nametag, changing it from Jaune to what he liked to call himself, "The Curator." He approached the group of teenagers and cleared his throat. "Team RWBY and Team JNPR, I presume?"
The group of teens blinked and looked at the man standing before them. Ruby Rose was the first one to fix herself standing up and dusting herself. The fifteen, almost sixteen, year old looked around. "Ah yeah, how do you know who we are?" she asked curiously. Her silver eyes were darting around the place, taking in her surroundings, the girl had to stop when her eyes gazed out the window into the swirling chaos that was the multiverse.
"Ruby, how many times do I have to say not to speak to strangers," Weiss Schnee said with a huff. Everyone else was finally standing up and looking about.
"More than a hundred that's for sure," Yang Xiao Long snorted. The busty brawler was also looking about but still cautious of the Curator before her. Next to her Blake Belladonna was on guard but was indeed curious as her namesake.
"RENNY LOOK! THE OUTSIDE IS SO PRETTY!" a loud voice echoed in the hall. Standing at the large window was Nora Valkyrie, having dragged along Lie Ren with her.
"I see that Nora. I am curious as to what that is though," Ren replied. HIs pink eyes turned towards the old man watching them.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you," Pyrrha Nikos told the Curator with shy frown. "It seems like we're a little confused as to where we are at the moment."
"Ah that's fine," the Curator told her with a wave of his hand. "You are in one of near infinite Chronicle Theatres. I am the Curator of the place. Mind if I ask where you guys were previously. It's rare for people to appear in my home."
"Chronicle Theatre? I have never heard of that chain before," Weiss told him, crossing her arms.
"I would be surprised if you did, I mean those who have tend to be...displaced..." the Curator replied. His previous guests were also people who were misplaced. He let them rest and relax here until they found their home or the purpose. And by that he meant they found their home dimensions.
"Mr. Curator! What is that outside?" Nora asked as she ran towards him eagerly. It was at this point the Curator saw that Pyrrha was looking about. His own blue eyes looked about and frowned. Ah yes, something was missing from this scene.
"That Ms. Valkyrie..."
"Nora!"
"Ah yes, Nora. That Nora is the multiverse." Her eyes widen as she turned towards the window again with a look of glee on her face.
"Renny! Did you hear that!"
"I did," Ren replied. "Although I find that hard to believe."
"I agree." Blake said finally speaking for the first time. "How can that swirling light be the multiverse?"
"It's not the entire multiverse, just a slice of it. The one I watch," Curator said with a smile. "I understand you're apprehensions." As he said that, everyone was slowly going tense except for Nora. As they reached for their weapons, the Curator snapped his fingers and they all disappeared. "Ah ah. I prefer to not have violence in my home."
"My baby!" Ruby shouted looking about for Crescent Rose. "What did you do to my baby!?"
"I put your weapons away for now, as have sealed your...Semblance and Aura? Is that what you have?" The way he said it made the teens confused.
"Yes." Weiss said as she tried to summon up a Glyph. She felt her Aura flare for just a second only to stop. Next to her Blake tried to sneak about and also felt a drain around her body. "What else would we have."
"Magic, superpowers, some sort of super suit," the Curator said with a shrug. "But that does narrow down you coming from...still an infinite number of realities." The Curator suddenly raised his hand and caught a punch from Yang, who tried to surprise him. Suddenly she was placed in a bubble of energy and started to float.
"W-Woah!" Yang shouted as she tried to move but the bubble kept moving higher at, well, at a snail's pace. "What this?"
"Magic bubble prison," the older Jaune replied. "I can put all of you in one but I'm being amicable here, so please no violence. Am I clear?" Yang nodded her head. This caused the bubble to float down and land before going away with a small pop.
"So why are we here?" Ruby asked, some fear in her voice.
"That's a question I'd like answered myself." The man looked from one person to the next. "Do any of you remember what happened?"
"Well first we went on this huge bullhead about thirty times the size of a normal one!" Nora started to recount.
"It was a regular bullhead," Ren explained.
"And we went to a dust mine being invaded by like a thousand grimm!"
"It was a pack of beowolves and a couple ursa."
"And then we went fighting deep in the mines, being all badass!"
"That part was true."
"And..." Nora stopped for a moment and blushed. "Uh...I sort of messed up." That caused everyone to look at Nora.
"We were doing our work well in our section of the mine until we heard some rumbling," Ruby said with some worry. "Was what you did the reason it was shaking?"
"Yeah...I may have had...shot a few grenade rounds when Jauney said not to." Nora laughed. "It may have hit some raw gravity dust cyrstals and..."
"Everything went dark after that. We awoke here." Ren finished for his friend.
"Guys," Pyrrha spoke again for the second time. "Have any of you seen Jaune?" At the redhead's word both groups finally notice the lack of blonde. The Curator frowned. His counterpart did not appear with the others so he was sure something was amiss.
"None of us saw him," Yang said, getting affirmatives from the rest of team RWBY.
"What are you guys talking about? He's right there," Nora said obviously confused before pointing at the owner of the building.
"Nora that's obviously not the dolt," Weiss scoffed.
"Oh no she's right," the Curator said without missing a beat. The group looked at him and he held his hand up. "I'm not your Jaune, but I am a Jaune."
"Uhh...can you repeat that again, pretty please?" Ruby asked, her face was scrunched up in confusion. Yang also looked confused as did Nora although she seemed confident that she was right.
"I am a version of Jaune Arc, one who was to watch and chronicle my various other selves. In this case in the form of movies, hence my home is a movie theatre." The Curator moved his hand around. "For over...huh, it seems I can't remember how long I've been doing it now. For a very long time, I've watched and made videos of the numerous Jaunes in the multiverse. That is my purpose. So Nora is indeed right, that I am Jaune, but not your Jaune." This time everyone seemed to understand.
"See! What did I tell you, Jaune is right here!" Nora cheered.
"Okay, let's say we believe you. That there is in fact there is a multiverse," Blake said with a nod. "Where does that put our Jaune Arc?"
"That's the million lien question now isn't it?" The Curator said. "You said a dust explosion hit you guys. So if that truly is the case, and you were forced into some sort of dimensional warp hole due to the gravity dust imploding in on itself, as I assume as it did, that means your Jaune is in another universe."
"Well go get him," Nora demanded. "And then you can send us back." That caused the older Jaune to frown, worrying more than a few people. "Um. Why are you frowning old Jaune-Jaune?"
"Well you see, I can't teleport you home until your home appears on screen," the Curator replied sheepishly.
"You mean we're stuck here until you find our home through your movies?" Yang said in surprise. "What about our home? Our families!?"
"Our school lives!" Weiss said.
"Oh man, dad is going to kill me," Ruby mumbled. Blake nodded her head.
"And what of Jaune? What happens to him?" Pyrrha asked, with Nora and Ren nodding along with her.
"First things first, you don't have to worry about your world," the Curator said. "We exist out of space and time. So to us days may go by, but at most a minute or so will have passed in your world. As for the second thing, we can just pluck your Jaune out of the universe he is in when we find him." That caused team JNPR and Ruby to sigh in relief.
"So what will we doing until then?" Yang asked. "Just chill out and relax here?"
"That's what the others did before you yes. They even watched movies and ate food." The Curator pointed at the concession and then a door that lead to the kitchen. "We also have a bathroom and shower room for both men and women, separated of course. And lastly the chairs in the room can switch into beds to sleep and rest in."
The two groups looked at each other and began to whisper amongst themselves. Meanwhile, the Curator moved behind the counter and waited for them to come with an answer. Of course they can choose to be brats, but they are stuck here until their universe does pass by. He hoped they were just willing to just watch. After all its a hobby he enjoyed.
After what felt like five minutes, the group approached him and the man smiled. "So what will it be?" he asked with a grin.
"Well seeing as we're left with nothing to do we'll follow along your rules," Ruby admitted. "Besides it would be fun to watch how our other selves are with their Jaunes!"
"Right! I want to see Jaune Jaune and his bizarre adventures!" Nora shouted.
"And maybe P-Money here would have a good guess as how to bag our resident knight," Yang teased the redhead. The champion blushed and sputtered some words causing the others to laugh.
"Well why don't you just choose some snacks and go into the theatre room." The groups put in their orders and they were magically presented the snacks, popcorn and drinks and entered the other room. They took their seats as the Curator picked up an odd looking Scroll. "Hello."
"I'm a little busy at the moment," another Jaune's voice replied. In the distance explosions and blasts could be heard.
"Yes. It seems we have a sort of situation. A Jaune is in the wrong universe."
"And? How's that my problem?" The Curator rolled his eyes as he heard some sort of announcement before a bigger explosion.
"You and I both know what happens if someone spends too much time outside of their dimension. That poor version of us may just cease to exist. And his friends here are worried. I would like for you to look for him."
"Fine fine," the voice replied.
"Thank you. I don't know which universe he came from just yet or which he is in but-"
"I get the gist of it. I'll search for him," the other Jaune sighed. "It is my job to protect the multiverse after all."
"Thank you Cameraman," The Curator said with a smile. He heard a scoff on the other side of the phone.
"That's a nickname Nora would make up. I'll be on my way then." The Cameraman hung up and the Curator did as well. Grabbing his own snacks, he went to the projector booth. There was a singular projector attached to millions of various rainbow strings all feeding into it.
"Now, let's see what the people are going to see first..."
So please leave a review. I will gladly take any constructive criticism. I am after all just starting off. Also please leave more than a suggestion when you review. And I know there wasn't much RWBY reaction but this is me establishing the world and why they need to watch.
