THE THREE STOOGES (RUBY + WEISS +PENNY) - PREVIEW

“Oh come on, do you still believe in that?”

“Of course, I am, Addy! You won’t understand even if I tell you!”

“Doesn’t that makes you a simp?”

“Absolutely!” “Absolutely!”

Three friends debated inside the house in the early summer night, sipping their drinks and eating their cookies as they enjoyed talking about their beloved stories and characters. John, Adams and Ross had been doing this for a long time, their bond as nerds meant they share the same experience ever since elementary.

However, tonight, they might over-talk about a certain subject, which led to a more heated debate.

“I’m sorry, but Ruby is better with Penny than she ever did with Weiss!” John spoke out, trying to talk sense into his friends as he tried to justify his opinion, “Don’t you guys see how healthy her relationship with Penny is? I really want to like Weiss, but she acts like a complete jerk to her in the first few seasons!

“And that’s what character development is, you know!” Adams striked back. “Weiss was a precocious princess during her start. It’s Ruby’s stubbornness and pure-hearted optimism that broke her out of their shell.”

“Doesn’t seem that way to me. I don’t see her swinging closer to Ruby than she did with Blake.”

“I don’t know man. Ruby does hook up with Weiss a little more than I thought.” sslluuurrrpppp…

“See?!”

“Ross doesn’t give a fuck about ships! Why should you listen to him?!”

“I’m just saying, you guys are too hard on this,” Ross stated. It’s true. For since they were in high school, John and Adams are always avid fans of the web series RWBY, a popular anime series published by RT. Years since, they both have always discussed the series, its characters and its story with a certain amount of passion that Ross simply has no part in. Now? They’re debating which ships are better.

“Ross, you need to help me out here, man! Which one is better? Nuts and Dolts or White Rose?!”

“Yeah, you never have a choice in this! Aren’t all of us RWBY fans?!”

“But I never said that….” he sighed. There would never be an end to their argument. What started as a quick question from him about Penny as they were playing video games at his house snowballed into the same kind of argument he heard a hundred times. He has been accustomed to the loudmouthed nature of both of them, but it’s still tiring to hear them argue on such an inconsequential issue, “Alright, you know what you guys need?”

“Hmmmmm?” they both close in towards him, curious about their friend’s answer.

“You guys, you should really imagine being in their shoes. Do you really think they would act the way you think it would work?” He took another sip from his milkshake. “All of them are friends with each other, maybe you guys should reframe it from their perspectives instead.”

“Ahhh……you’re no fun.” John sulked, leaning back to his seat as his energy is sapped away. Adams reacted the same, finally stopping from his constant barrage with a newfound sense of fatigue. “Seriously, you’re always a mood-downer.”

“Can’t help it.” He shakes his milkshake mug, which is now empty of all content. “Ah….it’s empty now. I thought to drink this as we played, but you guys argued so long…”

This time, both John and Adams grew a little sorry for their friend and Ross in particular tried to comfort him, “Um, Ross, sorry for that mate. You know how this all works out. Uhhhh, how about you take my turn now? I promise we won’t waste your time again.”

“Promise me that.” “Definitely.” “Me too.”

With a nod of understanding, they step aside from their current position and instead, return to their previous gaming session with a little relief to Ross's mind. This is what he wanted after all. Just a pleasurable night with his friends, with nothing to disturb that. Besides, they’re going to have a nice weekend tomorrow, so he has to make this as peaceful as he can. Nothing should go wrong anymore.

“Up, up, down, middle, X-ah! Damnit, I’ve trained myself for weeks!” Ross can hear the desperation of Adams rant. In quick succession, he managed to beat Adams in his own game 3-1 which he’s rather proud of. Adams whined over his loss under his breath and leaned by the couch as the turn switched to John now. “Don’t worry~ You’ll have your next time, teehee!”

John replaced Adams as the new player, eager to tear him down after the humiliating defeat, “This is for not taking my side, Ross! If I win, then you’ll treat me for dinner tomorrow!” He paid no heed to his threats, assured in his own victory as well. “Then if you lose, you have treat me for lunch and dinner, along with snacks as well!”

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

Ross began to give his all into this round.  No way he's gonna lose, after all of the time spent learning every tricks and moves of his avatar on the internet.

He took a fast glance on his friend as he formulates a plan inside his head. With his distressed expression and glued eyes to the screen, he is more than sure he has distracted John's mind far away from the conversation earlier. He don't really care about the winning after all, simply that his friends got together in the end.

Satisfied, he looked back to the game, focused entirely to beat his ass. But, before so, a thought nagged in his mind.

Is John's hair ever been dyed?

An absurd question, one that he would not be thinking if something is different in his observation. John is never the kind of to be into makeup after all. He looked back at John, and the details proved him weirdly correct. From what was an entirely brunette head, he could clearly see black strands are appearing on the edges of his hair.

He must have been dreaming. Ross blinks his eyes again only to be met with a darker shade of black adorning his friends hair even more. The delay is enough to confuse the man, whose lack of attention to his avatar gives way for John to gain an advantage over him.

"Yaaaaayyyy!" Ross celebrated, overjoyed as he beat Ross's avatar with relative ease. "Now you gotta treat me some Horton's tomorrow! How's that for your "higher ground" smugness, eh?!"

"Ummm….John, I-I think…" He doesn't know how to say it. "Adam, hey. You see it too, right?"

Adam, who's preoccupied herself with lax surf through TikTok, took moments before responding to him, struggling to understand what he's trying to say, "Uh, Ross! Umm…mind asking me again?"

By that point, both Ross and John are perplexed watching Adam. "Guys….why are you watching me?"

It only took a second before Ross answered his bewilderment, "Dude…..your hair's turning white."

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Even more questions are popping out in his mind. "Like that's even possi-" he tried to ridicule them before straightening his hair and saw the proof of a white strand jutting out of his hair. "Uh, what the fuck?"

"Yeah, I've been telling youm" Ross couldn't believe it. Just a second ago, his hair are as black as it could. Seeing the black hair quickly morphing to a whiter complexion perplexed the poor young man who's just seen the same on his friend.

"Uh, well, you can say the same thing for yourself!" Adams, in his confusion, pointing out to Ross instead. "Your hair's been brown as an almond nut! Since when was your hair ginger?!"

"WHAA-" Ross touched his hair again, surprised to see his normally brunette hair has also changed colors, opting to a more ginger-like tone quite unlike his other friends. "I swear to God, my hair's been normal until now! What the hell happened?!"

"You ask me!"

"Alright, let us all calm down…." John came into control, ordering both of them to stand down to a more relaxed atmosphere. "Uh, I do not know what's happening to all of us, but we're going getting this panicked. It is just hair, right?" He sat back down, caressing his oncoming jet black hair that's now entirely spreading to all sections of his hair. ,"Are we dreaming?"

But Ross has a different idea. "I don't think so." Gaining back his calm demeanor, he tried to rationalise the event inside his head. " I mean, even if we can pinch each other's cheek, I don't think it'll solve this weird thing. I'm sorry guys, but this doesn't make sense at all." None of this is. Just a few moments ago, they're all just playing video games and then they're all freaking out over seeing each other's hair is turning a different color. How could he even began? Some super fast prankster or a genetic disorder? Any answer makes him sounds like a madman.

"So, what are we supposed to do now? Call someone?" Adams suggested an idea, touching his hair with a curious mindset. "Oh wow, my hair's getting fluffier for no reason."