Chapter Text
"What do you mean byfun?" Whitley asked, unable to resist the urge to do so.
"You needn't worry, it's completely harmless." Riaze assured them. "It's something that'll give you all a small inside look into the future of this story, its characters, and how they'll fare in this game they play." Riaze told them.
"A peek into the future of this world?" Ozpin repeated.
"Like what kind?" James asked.
"And how will it be shown exactly?" Blake also asked.
"It's not too cheesy, is it?" Roman asked with a suspecting tone.
"I'll answer Roman's question first, because admittedly… it IS somewhat cheesy. It's a musical number that shows clips of what will appear in this world, including characters, powers, and even how they'll be portrayed." Riaze told them.
"A musical number?" All of Team RWBY repeated incredulously.
"That seems a bit unorthodox." Leonardo commented.
"It does sound enjoyable to me, admittedly." Neo admitted.
"Still sounds cheesy." Roman muttered.
"See for yourselves and feel free to comment on it as it goes." Riaze told them as he snapped the fingers on his paw-like hands as the screen lit up.
Opening - Ultimate Unbalance
Japanese kanji appeared on the screen in a rhythm as music played in the background. More appeared until it showed on-screen the title of the anime in Japanese characters, translating to…
BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll max Out My Defense
"What the…?" James muttered as everyone was confused by the hodgepodge of words on-screen.
"What's with the extravagant proclamation?" Harriet asked.
Elm looked at the words and thought back to Maple herself, until it clicked in her head. "Oh, I GET IT, it's a phrase of some kind reflecting Maple's thoughts!" Elm answered.
"That's correct, Elm." Riaze answered. "This is what my master labeled this universe under as a way to easily identify what this world's contents are at a first glance without looking into it." Riaze told them.
"Why'd it have to be so ridiculously long, though?" Nora asked.
"Well, for simplicity's sake, many who've also seen this call it BOFURI, so feel free to call it as such." Riaze told them.
"Okay, BOFURI it is then." Ruby stated as the majority of people in the room nodded.
Everything is special everyday in this world
Sparkle, exciting, it's full of dreams
Maple was seen looking through the window of an equipment shop with Sally walking up to her while she marveled at them. Sally shrugged in response as Maple awkwardly scratched the back of her head, Sally then took off running with Maple slowly trudging behind her.
"Hey, that looks like Risa!" Oscar pointed out.
"And she's got some sweet fashion taste, love the coat and its sleek look." Coco complemented.
"Yeah, she looks incredible." Sun added.
"I wonder if I can get something like that." Blake mused as she looked at how sleek the outfit looked.
"At least we know that Risa will be able to join Maple eventually, it would be quite weird if she didn't after all this effort Maple put into the game." Winter stated.
"Effort is right..." Qrow muttered.
It's an actual adventure, it's no fun to go the normal way
But girls don't like to get hurt
Iz and Kuromu were seen in a bar drinking and lifting boxes respectively, as soon Kasumi showed up and drew her blade as leaves fell around her. Mai and Yui soon appeared as well, holding hammers over their heads, and Kanade was holding her cube-like staff above her hands as it disassembled into smaller cubic fragments.
"Hey, there are Iz and Kuromu." Marrow noted. "Guess they'll play a bigger part in this universe as well." Marrow theorized.
"Wise of you to theorize that from a single look at this." Riaze complimented him.
Adam was shocked as the katana-wielding girl appeared on-screen. "Who's the human girl with the katana?" Adam asked out of curiosity.
"Her name is Kasumi, she's a samurai that will eventually be an ally to Maple."Riaze answered.
"Well, I admit, she does look like she knows her way around the katana, I suppose." Adam begrudgingly admitted.
Every Faunus that knew Adam well enough looked at him incredulously as he simply sighed at them. "Look, it might just be a game of some kind, but I get the feeling she's competent with a katana, and you've got to be in order to use it without slipping up." Adam said in his defense.
Then the sight of the Mai and Yui came up as Nora's eyes sparkled. "Woah, two hammer users! And they're so adorable too." She commented with a smile on her face.
"They must be twins of some kind given how they look so identical to one another." Pyrrha noted.
"These two are Mai and Yui, and in the future of this world from now, they are hammer users."Riaze told them.
"Awwww, even their names are adorable." Nora cooed, oblivious to Riaze wiping a drop of sweat off his brow.
'Just you wait, hammer girl.'Riaze thought to himself.
Then Kanade showed up with her staff and everyone was confused by the weapon itself. "Ummmm… what kind of cube is that?" Yang couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know much about it myself admittedly, as info on it is fairly limited, but Kanade, the one who wields it apparently stated in the future that it's a staff."Riaze answered.
"THAT is a staff?" Cinder asked, hardly believing it.
"Yes, and believe it or not, it's an incredibly rare kind of staff as well."Riaze told her.
Willow nodded. "With how the staff itself looks and is classified, I can't say I'm surprised." Willow admitted.
VR makes possible a dimension transfer of beats
Beyond this goggle, it is surrounded with lights
Let's jump another world
Mii showed up with a determined look on her face alongside her allies, as Frederica, and three other characters stood behind her. Maple then put on her helmet as she entered the game as was seen spinning around joyfully in a field of grass and winds passing by before she looked to her companions. Syrup, Oboro, and Dorazou then appeared in a stack before leaping close to the screen.
"Wow…" Ozpin said in awe. "These are all characters that play some kind of role in this story?" Ozpin wondered.
"They've certainly got the character, that guy in the prismic armor really gives off a gallant vibe and we don't even know much about him yet." Ruby admitted.
"I won't deny that." Leo admitted.
When they got to the part where Maple was spinning the field, Tai sighed with a smile. "Gotta hand it to her. That kid sure knows how to make the most of a virtual reality."
"Yeah, makes you wonder what fun we could have in such a reality." Yang muttered.
Some of the girls gushed at the sight of the three pet-like animals appearing on screen. "Awwwww… that turtle and the fox are so cute." Ruby cooed with hearts in her eyes.
"They can have pets in this game!" Qrow asked.
"Yep, they thought of effectively everything in this VR game, except for player power balance." Riaze said, awkwardly in the case of the last part of that sentence as he scratched the side of his head.
"I wonder if that case could apply to those pets as well." Hazel wondered aloud before thinking about something inward. 'Heh, I bet Gretchen would love to see those little ones as well.'he thought before looking at Team RWBY and saw their faces, reminding him of his sister and frowning inside before he focused on the screen again.
My childhood dream, a heroine I imaged in the sky
We take a small step to open a new page of the book
A large clown-themed monster appeared in a closed cave area as Sally, Kuromu, and Kasumi stood ready to fight it, Kuromu blocking an attack from is with his shield as he took a slash at it, Iz and Kanade providing support with a series of bombs and laser beams from floating books, a massive explosion occurring as a result with Kasumi and Sally coming to attack as well, doing so with a spin and flip respectively.
"Wow, they're fighting a monster nearly ten-times bigger than them, and they're doing so well." Sun muttered in awe.
"Amazing…" Oscar said before increasing his volume. "These guys are amazing!" Oscar said with excitement.
"Indeed they are, I wonder what they'll be capable of in the future of this little story." Sienna wondered aloud.
"They certainly are a lot stronger than most Huntsmen, not many people are able to block AND attack things that huge at once." James commented on seeing Kuromu do just that.
"And they seem much braver, considering this thing isn't more terrifying than the Grimm, even if there are no such beings in their world normally." Ghira added, seeing how that part of the musical number had wrapped up.
In a special and miraculous encounter, all our memories are valuable
A minority angel attracts a miracle
Ultimate unbalance
Mai and Yui staggered at the attack of flames from Mii as she launched a large fireball at the two of them, only for Maple to cut in and take the attack fullforce, Maple then had a set of angel wings and a halo on her as she conjured up a trio of hydra heads from her shortsword. Mai, Yui, and Maple appeared in front of their treehouse guild and dashed towards their friends waiting in front of it, only for Maple to trip and land on her face as the others laughed in amusem*nt, with Maple herself smiling with them.
"Looks as though those two and that fire-wielding lady will be friend and foe respectively to Maple." Ozpin noted.
"And Maple just took the attack head-on without a scratch or singe on her." Tai commented with a hand on top of his head.
When they saw Maple have the angel wings and halo and the hydra heads at the same time, everyone was shocked at the fact.
"Woah… Angelic Maple…" Neptune commented.
"She's gonna take the title 'guardian angel' to a whole new level." Blake admitted.
"And those hydra heads must be a result of her… eating the hydra from earlier to the point of defeating it." Glynda theorized.
"I have GOT to wonder how powerful Maple is gonna be by the time we're done with this?" Weiss couldn't help but say out loud.
(End Music)
When the whole musical number ended, many of the people were laughing along with the sigh of Maple tripping on her face and her smiling it off as a couple of others were clapping at how the music sounded.
"Well now, looks like this whole thing is gonna be a lot of fun." Nora said.
"I admit, the music was nice, if a bit over-the-top in its whimsiness." Adam commented.
"I think it paints a good picture as to what this world is gonna be about, a fun time adventuring with friends and having fun." Ozpin said, admitting his thoughts.
"And that's the big twist about this one. That's what this story is all about."Riaze said as he got everyone's attention.
"Believe me when I say this, but there are a lot more horrifying and death-filled stories than what this one is gonna be. But because that's the case, my master opted to show you this story as a way to ease you into the over-the-top powers and stories that the multiverse has in store. This is the first story in the multiverse you're watching, because there is no other story that could fit the bill better in his eyes."Riaze told them before going silent.
Everyone was silent as well as Ruby spoke up. "So… when exactly do we get back to watching the main parts of the story?" The silver-eyed Huntress-In-Training asked as Riaze raised his hand up and snapped his fingers.
"Right now."He answered as the screen brightened up again.
