Chelli and Apta have been on many adventures together. This time they have a former punk rocker and a former housewife, both of whom have the first name of Nana, with them. All four themselves soon crash-land in a place known as Remnant, beset by war against the villainous Salem, a dark twisted magical witch who wants the world to suffer for everything she'd been through. In the process, Blake, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss, will meet these four women, leading to a confluence of ideas, as they realize that they may have more in common than they thought...
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang made their way out of the Ever After. Soon thereafter, they had begun preparations to fight Salem, gathering people across Remnant. None of them would have ever guessed that a morally ambiguous space archaeologist, her techy girlfriend, her robot companion, a former punk rocker, and a divorcee from an abusive man, would appear one day, upending their lives. It all began one day when a guard saw something strange through his scopes. It was a peculiar sighting: a flying craft falling from the sky. As it so happened, Yang was patrolling one of the watchtowers. She wanted to ensure that the city defenses could hold against the Grimm.
"Miss Xiao Long," the guard started to say, "Some kind of ship is... coming down from the clouds." Yang prepared herself. Was it a Grimm? Was it another one of Salem's plans? Did she want to bomb humans? Anything at this point, was on the table. "Can you describe it for me?" she asked calmly. The guard told her the ship was greyish and had the name DARLA ANGEL painted on the side. Yang found this very odd. She looked through the scopes itself. It didn't look like any of the technology Atlas had ever used, pioneered by General Ironwood. He had become a dictator, claiming he needed to enact extreme measures to stop Salem. It had led him and the four girls, who fashioned their team with the name "RWBY," to take opposite sides. If only they had worked together, then they could have defeated Salem, dealing her a deadly blow. Unfortunately, their division ensured her victory.
Yang pulled out her scroll and started typing a message to her younger sister Ruby, her girlfriend Blake, and her friend Weiss. "There's a weird ship above the city. We need to decide what to do," she wrote. She proceeded to send a photo of the ship as shown on the guard's scopes. She smiled in response to him. She began to climb down the tower. This information traveled instantly to her other team members thanks to the repaired communications towers they had constructed although it could still be a bit wonky. "Thank you for the information, mister," she said. The guard nodded. She jumped down from the tower, her trademark yellow hair moving along with her, as her fierce purple eyes looked ahead. In one leap, she made her way to the ground. Her sister Ruby rushed over, speeding over to her in her quick pace, like roses had gone everywhere. She was really worried. "What is that ship, Yang? I'm scared."
After everything Ruby had been through in the Ever After, including her attempt to end her own life, Yang worked to make sure her sister knew that she was supported. She had gone through traumatic situations too. Ruby was in an even more precarious position since she'd been pushed into the leadership role of Team RWBY at such a young age. Yang felt bad for her. She constantly asked her if she was okay. She tried to make sure she wasn't taking on too much. "I know, Ruby, I am too. Just know if you ever need anything, I will be here for you." Ruby hugged her sister. She couldn't ask for anyone better to be her sister. She really couldn't. She was glad Yang was there.
Blake and Weiss came soon thereafter. "What's the situation?" Weiss asked. Blake ran over to her partner. She held her hand tightly and looked up at her. Yang didn't mind this. After so much time together, they finally had a chance to be romantic with one another. However, they didn't want to be super open about it. After all, they'd already kissed each other in front of everyone. Mostly, they did it behind closed doors, as to say, because they didn't want to be a bother. What was about to happen next would bust that wide open. Just then, sirens started going off. An automated message began playing: "This is not a drill. Please report to the designated shelter immediately."
This mysterious ship had reached a certain altitude. It seemed like the craft might crash into the city. Blake and Yang jumped into the cockpit of a nearby one-person retrofitted ship. It had been created from the parts left behind from the destruction of Atlas. They'd dragged to the city, which sat on the Anima landmass, and within the Kingdom of Mistral. The ship took off. Blake used one of the specially made handles, she had been incorporated at her insistace into these craft for this very purpose. With Blake holding on for dear life, Yang approached the Darla Angel. "This is Yang Xiao Long. Please respond. Please identify yourself," she stated through the ship-to-ship communicator. What she heard back caught her a little off guard. She heard laughter, concerning her even more. She could tell that a woman was replying to her, not a man.
"This is Captain Aphra of the Darla Angel. I'm sorry, I was doing the aardvark with my beautiful, amazing, talented partner, the one-and-only Entrapta...one thing came to another and we started out descent..." She heard another voice, of a woman speaking in a broken language. Perhaps this wasn't her native language or something. She was laughing a bit, but sounded terrified. "I was trying to rock out to everything...and now...we are gonna die!" Another person chimed in. "I just got together with this woman again, after so many years...we were going to start new life away from a bunch of awful men, but now we can't! Please help us!" Yang scratched her head. More possibly lesbian drama.
Yang had no idea what these women were talking about. She could tell they weren't working for Salem. If they were, they would have attacked by now. Gliding through the air like a princess in her simple, and elegant, outfit Weiss used her six-shooter rapier to conjure a glyph which held back the ship, slowing the craft's descent. The pressure was too much and she could barely hold it. Ruby stood on a nearby hill, directing the entire operation. She was ready to jump in once the Darla Angel got close enough, standing in her heavy-duty boots. Weiss firmly held her hand for support, giving her the extra strength to keep going. Her glyph helped, but it wasn't enough on its own.
Even so, her magic pushed the ship in the right direction, causing it to start heading into an open clearing. Yang heard a crackle in her communicator. "Thanks so much, especially to that lady with the beautiful white dress...I'll love to meet a cutie like that whenever this ship lands." Weiss was on the line and heard all of this. Ruby remained quiet. Blake and Yang laughed. They couldn't believe this woman. She stamped her foot. "I'm not cute, you hear!" she hollered. Chelli, with help from Apta, guided the spacecraft to the ground, where it skidded onto the ground, and stopped. Yang maneuvered the small craft nearby, and jumped out, with Blake joining her. Weiss and Ruby came not long after, with Ruby darting ahead, holding her friend in a princess carry, with a blush across her friend's face. She didn't want to be moved there like this!
Chelli and Apta jumped out, joined by two other women. One of them wore a pink dress, which was covered with tiny white polka-dots, and blonde hair. The other woman had on punky outfit, complete with a black leather choker, complete with spikes, plus black leather coverings on her arms, also outfitted with spikes, and a classic Vivienne Westwood ring. She topped this off with her raven-colored hair, which had streaks of blond throughout it. She had a distinctive look. Her left arm was wrapped around the first woman's right arm. Her shapely long black fingernails showed she meant business. Blake especially was drawn to her, especially her long, lush eyelashes, her multiple piercings on her left ear, her purple eyeshadow, and black mascara. She accidentally started staring at her brown eyes. She had to look away before Yang noticed.
"What a pleasure to meet you all," Chelli began, almost bowing. "I am the illustrious, well-regarded, and respected archaeologist Chelli Lona Aphra, with a doctorate from an accredited university." She pulled Apta close and grinned. Her partner obliged. "And this is my girlfriend, the amazing Entrapta. I like to call her Apta instead...it's so much cuter." The other woman smiled. Her lavender prehensile hair wrapped around her arm. As they stepped forward together, Apta pointed to the two women behind them. "And these two women, they hitched a ride from us. They both have the first name of Nana...one was a punk rocker and the other was..." She was cut off by Hachi. She growled a little. She was new to this. Even so, she didn't want to ruin their introduction to new people.
"Our first names are the same, but Nana is my lover and she is mine, all mine," she declared, stamping her foot down. Yang rolled her eyes. Women who love women could be so passionate. She didn't really have much room to talk herself. After all, she had a deep romantic connection with Blake, who had once been a secretive, introverted girl. She had changed over the years. She huffed. "So, what, you came here for...sightseeing? If you can't tell, we're in the middle of a war here with a witch named Salem! We don't have time for this!" Blake tried to calm her down, acting more cautious. Chelli sighed. She had guessed something like this was going on. They had scanned the planet before the crash landing and found some strange creatures on the planet, some kind of monster. They didn't know they were called Grimm. The scans indicated that their numbers were overwhelming.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware...I don't even know who Salem is...," Chelli admitted. She didn't reach for her blaster or anything, because she could tell that this woman would utterly crush her. She hoped this didn't go badly. Nana Osaki spoke next. Hachi just called her "Nana," but she was also known as Nana O. This was done to distinguish from the other Nana (i.e. Hachi), whose full name was Nana Komatsu. "What you need is some punk rock...you really do." Weiss, who had grown up in a very privileged environment in Atlas, and had become prim and proper, shook her head. She looked at Nana like she was speaking a foreign language. She had no idea what she was talking about. None at all. "Punk...rock?...can you show me?" she asked, genuinely curious. No one had expected Weiss would say that. Something about this woman drew her in.
What happened next made Yang nervous. Ruby ran up beside Weiss and came close to Nana. "Hi, so I'm Ruby and that is Weiss and Blake," pointing to them. She continued. "Can you show me too? I'm really curious about that...instrument you have on your back." It had been hard to see at first, but she had a black strap around her chest and on the back side was a guitar in a case. Nana smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to." Yang didn't want to put up with any of this. She didn't want to hold her sister back, but she also would not tolerate anyone hurting her. She would protect her no matter what "If you even lay a finger on my sister...you will live to regret it," she declared, smashing her prosthetic arm and regular arm together, as she cocked her head. Blake stroked Yang's head, in an attempt to get her to not fight with these guests. She whispered in her ear. "It's okay, sweetie. Ruby will be fine. That woman looks tough, but I don't think she'd hurt a fly...she'll be fine." Yang backed down.
Ruby led the group into the town. Chelli pressing a button on a controller she took out of her pocket, concealing their ship. They'd bring these visitors to their makeshift living quarters. In no time at all, they made their way there, despite the strange looks from town residents, who thought that Nana, Hachi, Chelli, and Apta looked suspicious, which they weren't fully wrong about. Once inside, the group divided, traveling into separate rooms. The first group was led by Ruby and Weiss. They showed the two Nanas to their room. The second group was led by Yang and Blake. They went into another room, followed by Chelli and Apta. They were a little concerned about what might happen next. Blake reassured Yang that her sister would be fine. She worried about her much more than in the past.
Yang looked Chelli in the eyes, firmly and directly, scaring her a bit. "So why'd you come here again?" The woman rolled her eyes. This again? Hadn't she already told her? She laughed uneasily, attempting to explain herself. "I already told you, but if you must know, I'm traveling across the galaxy. At least I'm not running from bounty hunters, fighting space pirates, hitting on some hot female officer, or dealing with a bunch of Gem women." She then looked at Yang's arm, and Blake's sword. She started blabbing again. "Oh and there was this one woman who apparently had control of all the elements, you know, earth, wind, fire, and air...calling herself the Avatar or something like that. She was a real catch. Unfortunately, she had a hot babe as her partner...Oh well. Sometimes beautiful people are taken."
Yang didn't care about any of that, but Blake was curious about that last women. She gathered her courage and decided to ask, even surprising her partner with her boldness. "She could control all those elements?...how? Did she use Dust? That's how all our weapons work here. It's essential for civilized life and gaining an edge against the Grimm." Chelli shrugged. She had no idea what Dust was, but it seemed like it was important. She didn't know the dangerous, backbreaking work of mining it, nor how it was inert if it left the atmosphere of Remnant. However, she'd probably still try to take some for herself and sell it on some market, claiming it was a long-lost commodity to get some cash.
"She could use her hands. She could conjure fire, water, create an earthen wall, or float on air. Her name was Korra and she had this power-up or something she called the Avatar State. She was a real badass. I guess it's no surprise that her partner was some woman who owned a military company or whatever. That damn Asami Sato," she said, gritting her teeth. Yang didn't care about all these people Chelli kept mentioning, but the fact that someone could conjure something with their hands, it kind of sounded like an aura, the energy of living souls, a way that someone can sustain hits from bullets or strikes from swords. Specifically, it made her think of a semblance, a manifestation of one's aura, almost akin to a superpower of sorts, which can vary wildly depending on the person.
"So, I guess that 'Avatar State' who are talking about was like Korra's semblance?" Yang posed. Blake nodded her head. They seemed to understand each other a bit more now. Chelli laughed. "I don't know what that is, but I have this." She pulled out her blaster from her holster, putting it on the ground. Yang and Blake were fascinated. Apta shook her head. She was not sure if she wanted to play a sort of "whose weapon is better" contest. The two women decided to play along. Blake put down her sword named Gambol Shroud. It was a scythe which could take various forms. Chelli noticed, at first that it had a hilt like a gun, and guessed it could move easily when she was fighting. Yang took off her gauntlets, which allowed her to enhance her semblance. "If you ever get me angry, I'll just double back whatever you send my way." When this was activated, she could take damage, absorbing kinetic energy, fitting with her original hotheaded nature, which changed over time, and her eyes glowed red, while her hair shimmered like a flaming halo. Apta shrugged. She didn't like playing this sort of game.
She sat down on the floor and turned her hair into a fist. "My hair is my weapon. I can control it, turn it into a fist, or anything...It allows me to pick up my dear Chelli so easily," she said, as she picked her up, holding her in her arms. Chelli looked up at her adoringly and almost began to blush. This was so damn embarrassing! Yang wouldn't let herself be one-upped, so she did the same, grabbing a hold of Blake, putting her into her arms. Blake cried out. "Yang! What are you doing?" Yang only smiled back at her. She couldn't get enough of her. She teased. "My sweet Blake, my wonderful cat-woman, she likes a strong woman too, just like you, Ms. Captain." They put each other's partners down. Perhaps in this way, they had more commonalities than they originally thought. After the blushing from Chelli and Blake subsided, the latter asked something which she hoped would get them closer.
"So where'd you two meet?" Blake asked. Apta chuckled. She was totally fine with telling this story. "Me and my former friends were going to the city of Partelia on the planet of Acoslight, and I saw her for the first time. She was running from this no-good bounty hunters and I was drawn to her almost immediately." She stopped for a second, then kept going. "...and we got even closer... that night, it was a hop on, hop off situation, if you catch my drift." Chelli then added, "it was amazing. We had such a wild time together... and we've been together ever since." Yang raised her hand. Chelli motioned that Yang could go ahead. "So, if I'm getting this right, you two had sex, your first night?" Chelli and Apta nodded. Blake and Yang were surprised. They'd spent so long getting to know each other, the two girls almost felt insulted. How could you do something that intimate with someone you had just met?
"Oh...okay," Blake said. She tried to change the subject, to pivot toward something else. Not even Yang and Blake had done it yet because they'd always been too exhausted. Perhaps they should change that. "Anyway, me and Yang met in the academy...and from the beginning, there was an intensity inside of me, like a candle was burning brightly." Yang hadn't heard it that way before, but she was glad that Blake was opening up a little more. Chelli laughed. "Yeah, I went to the academy too, to get my totally, 100% legitimate doctorate...I had a bunch of partners there, whether Susina, Sana, Pho... it was a real mess, but those exes are still around in the universe somewhere." Blake and Yang anxiously laughed, not sure how they should respond, and wondering why she said that about her doctorate. Could it maybe be fake or something? They'd never got a chance to complete their education because Beacon was destroyed by the Grimm, so they had little room to judge themselves.
"It's okay. At least her exes are nice...they took care of some bad people for her, like some no-good space pirates or my former friends. They really betrayed my trust." It almost made her angry thinking about it. Chelli hugged her, as she started to cry. She hadn't mentioned it since then and Chelli didn't want to bring it up. Blake or Yang didn't know the whole circumstances, and perhaps if they had, they might have thought differently about Chelli and Apta leaving behind Glimmer, Adora, Catra, and Bow on Mars, but in this moment they could sympathize. Women who love women have to stick together.
"I totally get that," Yang began. Blake finished her thought. "Yeah, there was this guy named General Ironwood. He was the leader of this military-industrial kingdom named Atlas. It seemed like he was helping us, but he kept playing into the hands of that damn Salem, and then he suppressed the people." Yang shook her head. "Yeah, I kinda actually hope he is dead, to be perfectly honest." Blake didn't expect that out of her partner. She was a bit horrified. "Yang, how can you say that? He's a human being!" Yang growled, her eyes starting to turn red and her hair starting to glow. She smashed her fist into the ground. "He's a human, but he's garbage! He's an awful man...I'm glad he gave me this prosthetic arm...but he almost got us all killed...can't you be…" she said, while Blake turned her toward her, kissing her on the mouth. This immediately caused her to calm down, as she hadn't expected it, with her eyes and hair no longer glowing. Yang was flabbergasted. Blake sighed.
"Sweetie, I agree with you that Ironwood is terrible. He did awful things. But, he deserves to stand trial, for all of his crimes to be exposed to everyone. That's what I want for him, not death." Yang realized she was right. She said, softly, "you are right, my sweet Blake," while huffing. "Kissing me like that wasn't fair! I got to show them my semblance, so you need to do the same." Blake accepted her challenge. She remained sitting and concentrated. She made several clones of herself. Chelli and Apta were amazed. Now, this was some serious power. After this, they all continued chattering about their adventures, the danger of the Grimm, and everything else.
In the other room, Weiss looked at the two Nanas closely. "You know, lady, that red lipstick you have, is really distracting," she remarked, annoyed it was taking away from the red color of her friend, possibly for now. Nana laughed. She'd heard something like that before. Her fleshy and bottom-heavy lips changed into a smile. "It's supposed to be flashy. That's what punk rock means," she boasted, not really sure exactly what she was saying. Ruby didn't feel the same way. Instead, she wondered how these two women got together, as they seemed like an odd pair. "So, how'd you two get together?" Her question echoed what Blake said in another room, but she didn't know that.
Hachi chirped happily. "Oh it was like fate! I met her on a train to Tokyo...and it stopped and I fell onto her...and I was drawn to her almost immediately...we chatted for so many hours...as the snow was falling outside." She added, almost solemnly, "we ended up getting an apartment together, but men kept pulling us apart...if it wasn't for the captain and her girlfriend...I'd still be the same place, alone, crying to sleep...wondering when the hurt would end." She couldn't believe she was admitting this to a stranger, to two women she'd just met! Ruby tried to remain talkative, even though she was still a bit socially awkward, even after all this time. She remained optimistic, despite internalizing her grief, which she felt forced to do, something which her sister, and other friends in Team RWBY helped her with, even as they struggled from their own trauma. "...at least you could meet again."
The two Nana and Hachi grinned. Weiss huffed. She put down her six-shooter rapier-of-sorts, almost with pride. "Well, well, well. You might know this 'punk rock' thing, miss Nana, but you don't have anything like the Myrtenaster, my beautiful sword...do you?" They shook their heads from side to side. Ruby jumped in, to her surprise. "Oh, she is so graceful when she uses it. She looks like a ballerina and she can used her semblance and weapons at the same time. It so amazing." Weiss blushed a little, but easily composed herself again. Almost by accident, she started to talk about her friend, "well, my Ruby, she has a high-caliber scythe which can become a rifle...and she can dart around a room, leaving lovely roses behind. It's so majestic." Hachi and Nana could tell that these two women had some sort of romantic feelings between them, even if they weren't openly admitting it.
Ruby was more than happy to talk about her special weapon. "Yes, Crescent Rose is wonderful. It can fire rounds of ammunition infused with dust." She stopped herself when Weiss's words sunk in. "Wait, what did you mean by 'My Ruby'?...we haven't..." Weiss interrupted, wanting to save face and not upset a girl that she had feelings for, but hadn't confessed to them. It was only recently that she had realized how deeply in love she was with her. She had known for a long time, but she'd buried it, until now, when it came out. "Oh, I just mean that you are such a dear friend to me." Ruby didn't understand the difference, but she made an offer to Nana and Hachi. "Do you want to see my semblance?"
The two Nanas nodded. Ruby proceeded to moved around the room at almost supersonic speed, with rose petals left in her wake. She could use to zoom from place to place, before the enemy could strike back, but she couldn't rely on it forever. Hachi was amazed and to her surprise, Nana was as well. She put a rose in Hachi's hair, causing her to blush profusely, then kiss Nana on the cheek. "Thank you." Ruby and Weiss looked at each other. They realized how much these two women loved each other, even though they didn't know their whole story. Weiss decided to go for it, and did the same, planting a smooch on Ruby's cheek, catching her off guard. "This is for being so nice to me." Ruby didn't know what to say. Nana decided to break it to her. It might be her place, but she thought she had to. "Ruby, I think you should know that Weiss definitely has a crush on you, a big one." Weiss's face became extremely red, as her friend looked at her closely. She chuckled. She was taking this well.
"I know. I suspected as much." Weiss was surprised. She looked a bit nervous. She looked a bit down. "I don't think deserve that...after everything that happened...I…" she said, as she started to cry. Weiss held her hand tightly and whispered in her ear. Nana and Hachi kind of felt like they shouldn't be there, as this was a private moment. "It's okay, Ruby," she said softly, "...you deserve all the love you can get...if you want to start a romantic relationship with me, it won't change anything between us, I promise you," she said. She then added, "please just think about it. No matter what you choose, I'll always be there for you." Ruby responded back. "Okay, Weiss." Everything seemed to be tied up neatly. As sun set, Chelli, Apta, Blake, and Yang soon fell asleep in one room, while Ruby, Weiss, Nana, and Hachi did the same in another. They were all so tired. The night went on without incident.
The next morning, Yang and Blake helped Apta and Chelli work on repairs to the ship, so they could leave. "Are you sure you really want to leave?" Blake asked, almost feeling a connection to the two women now, her cat tail moving from side to side and her cat-ears perking up. Chelli sighed. Part of her wanted to stay, but another part knew the danger of being in one place for too long. What if the Empire came here? What if they coming here was all her fault? She didn't want that. She couldn't tell them that, at least not directly. She came up with an excuse. "We have to find this android woman. She'd named Rouge Redstar...on another planet named Earth Mach II." Blake and Yang weren't sure who she was talking about, but it seemed important enough. In a few hours, all the repairs had been done.
As they walked back to the makeshift headquarters for Team RWBY, Chelli and Apta had an announcement. They came into the main living quarters. "We are going to be leaving to find Rouge Redstar." Apta turned to Nana and Hachi. "Do you want to come with us?" They both looked at her and Chelli. This would be hard for them to say. It had been a tough decision. Breathing deeply, they spoke in unison. "We'd like to stay." Apta and Chelli were dumbfounded but did not want to go against their decisions. Apta threw interstellar communication devices to them which she had stashed in her pocket, half-expecting this might happen. "If that's what you want," Chelli said. She shook each of their hands. "I'll miss you both," she said. They nodded and smiled in response. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Nana, and Hachi all followed them out to the Darla Angel. "See you around!" Yang declared.
Apta passed out more devices, so that Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all had one as well. As they got into their ship, they waved to everyone, bidding them adieu. The spacecraft suddenly started to take off at an incredible speed. Chelli spoke into the communicator that Apta handed to her. "It was a pleasure meeting you all. Hope to see you all soon! We'll never forget you!" she shouted, as she pulled a lever and the ship zapped through hyperspace. They were gone, off to Earth Mach II. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Nana, and Hachi remained on the planet surface. While what happened next to Apta and Chelli remained unwritten, wild adventures awaited them, including encountering two feisty women.