Welcome to the first chapter of my RWBY AU. It's going to be a Street Racer AU, with a heavy focus on both cars and characters. There's going to be a lot of changes to characters, such as ages and personalities. Ruby's point of view will be the most common, however there will be jumps to others depending on the situation. I have no plans for a pairing at the moment, however that may change as the story evolves.
In any case, strap in, start your engines, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, if I did it would be a very different show.
The distinctive sound of a flat-four engine echoed through the neighbourhood. The quiet Vale suburb unused to such sounds. The rhythmic thump of the car as it burbled along the narrow street, while loud and obnoxious to others, was soothing to the driver.
It was three in the morning on a Tuesday, and as such, the streets were empty, with only the occasional car in the distance. The dark-red Subaru, a 2004 WRX wagon, came to a stop at a set of traffic lights, the glowing red light illuminated the cabin.
A minute later, the lights flicked to green, and with a rumble, the car turned the corner and sped off towards the city.
"What have we got today?" I said to my assistant Adam as I walked into the shop, noticing a black Toyota GT86 already on one of the lifts.
"Just your standard oil and coolant change on this one." He motioned to the 86. "Then later today we've got a Skyline coming in for a turbo replacement and intercooler upgrade, and at some stage this morning we've got a Silvia coming in for a brake pad upgrade, they want to go to Bendix pads."
"Full day then, let's get started."
The service on the 86 went smoothly, the oil change and coolant replacement taking an hour at best. It was just being lowered off the lift when the Silvia rolled into the shop, its exhaust tone subtle.
From the grinding sound it made as it came to a stop, I could tell the brakes would need more than just an upgrade, a full replacement of rotors as well was almost definite. Adam climbed out of the driver's seat, holding up a hand to stop me as I opened my mouth.
"I already told them rotors would need to be done as well, they were cool with it. Slotted by the way."
"Lifesaver, if you wanna pull the 86 back into the lot I'll get this onto the lift so I can get started." He threw me a thumbs up, already walking over to the Toyota.
The first thing I noticed when I climbed into the Silvia, was that while the exterior was almost completely stock, the interior was anything but. A full five-point racing harness replaced the standard seat-belts, a roll cage wrapped around the whole interior, gauges lined the dash, everything from boost and voltage, to air/fuel ratios and oil pressure. The seats were Bride Racing, the steering wheel Nardi, even the gear knob had been replaced with a Sparco.
To say it was kitted would be an understatement. Shaking myself out of my shock, I twisted the key. A smile came unbidden to my face as I listened to the low growl of the exhaust. Slowly letting out the clutch, I edged the Silvia forwards onto the lift, wincing at the grinding that came with every touch of the brake pedal. I shut the engine off and climbed out.
The whirring of the lift filled the shop as the Silvia was lifted into the air.
I worked my way around the car, using the air impact to remove each wheel. I was about to start on the first set of brakes when Adam called out to me.
"Hey Red! Call for you!" I sighed and put down the wrench.
"You couldn't have handled it?" I asked as I entered the office. Adam shrugged as he handed me the handset.
"They asked for you specifically."
"Fine, just go finish the brakes on the Silvia, I've already gotten the wheels off for you." He nodded and left the office. I put the phone up to my ear and spoke. "Hello, this is Ruby speaking."
"Hey sis!" I winced at the yell.
"Damn it Yang, what have I said about calling me on the work phone?"
"Not to, but hey at least this time it's business." She sounded completely unapologetic, exactly like I should have expected.
"Fine, what is it?"
"Geez, no need to sound so unhappy. I'm just wanting a few small upgrades done."
"Uh-huh, and what upgrades would these be?"
"Oh nothing major, just a new turbo, exhaust, wheels, and a tune."
"Right, and why couldn't these wait until tomorrow?"
"I've had these parts sitting around for months, I thought it was about time I got them fitted. And who better than the best mechanic in Vale, who just so happens to be my little sister?" I could hear the pandering in her voice.
"There's a race tonight, isn't there?"
"N-no, why would you think that?" Got ya.
"You know we live in the same house right? I heard you talking with Uncle Qrow about it, who might I add, is not the quietest person."
"U-um, well, y-you see…"
"Just bring it all in at 4:30, I'll see what I can do."
"You're the best," her mood flipped almost instantly.
"You're also paying in-"
"Love ya, bye!" The call ended with a click.
"-full." I sighed, rubbing my temples as I placed the phone back in the cradle. As much as she annoyed me, I did love her, even if we did start to drift apart after...
I walked back out into the shop, putting the memories in the back of my mind. I had a job to do.
The Skyline rolled off the dyno and back into the main room. The roar of the exhaust a stark contrast to the subtlety of the Silvia we'd serviced earlier. 3 inches of straight through piping from the turbo back made the noise almost seem out of place on the large sedan.
The dashboard clock read 4:15, Yang would be here soon.
I drove the car out into the lot, the owner standing with Adam.
"She's all ready to go," I said as I climbed out of the car, leaving the engine running. "We managed to get a little more power out of her, maybe an extra 30kW, nothing too major but enough to give it a bit more kick."
I shook his hand, he climbed into the car, gave it a rev, and drove off. We could hear the Nissan for almost a minute after it had left.
I turned to Adam. "I know there's an hour 'til close but you can have an early day. I can handle the cleanup and paperwork." He seemed hesitant, and I knew why, there'd been a slew of car thefts recently. Some new crew calling themselves the 'White Fang' had taken it upon themselves to steal cars, using any means they could to get the keys.
"I can handle myself, and besides, Yang will be here soon." He relaxed after that, nodding his assent to an early day. He headed to his car as I walked back into the shop.
I heard his 1989 RX-7 start, the rotary engine emitting its distinct brap. A few seconds later he was out of earshot, and the workshop was silent. I closed all but one of the main doors, cleaning up the junk from the day.
I sighed when I saw the puddle of oil underneath the catcher. I really did need to buy a new one. I headed into the office to do just that, when I heard a voice call out.
"Hello? Anyone in here?" I checked the time on my watch. 4:50. Yang should have been here by now. Regardless of that, I re-entered the workshop and was greeted by a teen. He couldn't have been older than 17. Much too young to have the sort of cars we usually dealt with.
"Can I help you?" He jumped, started by my presence.
"Uh y-yeah, I've got a Supra that's been making a weird noise, I've got it in the parking lot. Would you mind coming out and having a look?" He was wringing his hands together the whole time he was speaking, almost like he was nervous about something.
I glanced at my watch again. 4:55. Where the hell was Yang?
"Sure, lead the way." I motioned for him to walk outside, while I followed close behind.
I took two steps through the garage door before something slammed into the back of my head, and everything went dark.
Yang
"God damn traffic!" I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. I should have been at Ruby's shop forty-five minutes ago, but I didn't account for the ridiculous number of cars on the road.
Finally, I reached the turn off, gratefully leaving the mess that was rush hour behind. It was only another minute or two before I was pulling into the parking lot of her shop.
Red's Mechanical and Fabrication. I'd tried to get her to name it something cooler, but she said it wasn't professional. Please, who wouldn't want to take their car to a place called Scythe Customs?
As I turned off the road, I realised I couldn't see Ruby's car anywhere. The red WRX always sat out front in the spot labelled 'Reserved.' And even though I was late, I knew she wouldn't just run off on me.
I parked beside where her car normally sat, thinking that maybe she'd just run out for a few minutes. Shrugging mentally, I switched the engine off, and climbed out of my car, heading towards the only open door.
I turned and looked more than a few times to admire her.
2005 Mitsubishi Evolution. Heavily modified for street racing, with a distinct lack of subtlety. Ruby often said that we were supposed to be enemies because of the cars we drove. I just laughed when she did.
As soon as I set foot in the workshop I gasped at what I saw. Tools were thrown all over the floor, coolant and oil spilled in huge puddles.
The drivers side window of a customer car was smashed in, glass littering the floor.
"Ruby? Ruby, where are you?" I ran into the office, drawers had been thrown open, papers littered the ground. The hook that always held the keys to Ruby's car was empty. The computer monitor was destroyed, and in the corner, crumpled against the wall, was my sister.
"Ruby!" I raced over to her, sliding the last few feet. "Ruby, come on. Wake up Rubes." I gently shook her shoulder, letting out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding as she stirred.
"Yang?" She groaned, bringing a hand up to the back of her head. "W-what happened?" When she lowered her hand it was covered in blood.
"Shit Ruby, don't move." I jumped up, racing out into the workshop and grabbing a clean cloth. It wasn't much but it would have to do. "Here, hold this against the back of your head." She nodded slowly and took the cloth from me. "What the hell happened here? Who did this?"
"I-I don't know. Someone came in, I think. They said they… they had a car in the lot. Something was wrong with it? I don't remember what happened after that." Her eyes started closing slowly. I crouched down beside her and lightly slapped her cheek.
"Come on Rubes, stay awake for me. You have camera's yeah? How do I watch them?"
"Computer. Videos save to the drive." I swore, looking up at the ruined monitor.
"Okay, hold on for two minutes." I stood and walked over to the computer. Thankfully whoever had done this hadn't damaged the box. Good for me, bad for them, I thought as I removed the hard drive from the computer. "I'm gonna get help Rubes, don't worry."
The emergency services arrived not five minutes later.
It was almost one in the morning when I was told to go home, that Ruby would be fine and I could visit her tomorrow. I pulled into my driveway as quietly as possible and switched my car off. I glanced down at the hard drive sitting on the passenger seat. I'd promised Ruby that I wouldn't look at it without her.
But nobody did this to my baby sis and got away with it.
It was past two by the time my computer whirred to life, Ruby's hard drive in place of my own. I quickly navigated through the files, searching for yesterday's date, and loading the video labelled '16-03-18 4:45pm - Outside Parking Lot.'
The video loaded, showing an empty car park save for Ruby's WRX.
At around 4:49, a white Nissan sedan pulled into the lot. The windows were tinted pitch black, and there were no plates. One person climbed out of the back seat, a blond haired boy who couldn't have been much more than 18, and glanced around nervously before walking into the shop through the garage door. As soon as he was out of frame another two people climbed out of the Nissan, a man with silver hair, and a woman with green hair and dark skin. They were holding a tyre iron and a baseball bat respectively, each had a bandana pulled up over the bottom half of their face. A few minutes passed, before the first guy came back outside, Ruby a couple of steps behind.
The thug with the tyre iron jumped forwards straight away, swinging the weapon and slamming it into the back of Ruby's head.
She dropped instantly, crumpling to the ground. I grit my teeth, grabbing tightly onto the edge of the desk.
The guy who had gone inside turned to the other two people, seeming to be yelling at them from his expression. The girl with the baseball bat waved her weapon down the street, before the blond ran off, sprinting down the street and out of frame. The remaining two went inside, dragging Ruby with them.
Almost twenty minutes passed before they came running back out of the shop, the girl a few seconds after the guy. The guy went back to the Nissan, but the girl went over to Ruby's car.
She climbed in, reversed out of the lot, and sped out of frame, the Nissan close behind.
Not even three minutes later, I saw my own car pull into the car park.
I stopped the video there, that gave me nothing. The faces were too blurry to make any features other than hair out and there was no audio for voices. I slammed my fist down onto the table, rattling the computer.
Another file caught my attention. '16-03-18 4:45pm - Inside Garage Door 2.'
I opened the file watching as Ruby wandered around, cleaning up and glancing at her wrist every so often, the wide angle catching the entire shop floor.
"Hello? Anyone in here?" I leaned forward, focussing more intently on the footage. If there was audio maybe I could catch some of what was said outside.
The two talked for a few minutes before Ruby followed the boy outside, this was it. I turned the volume up and strained my ears, wincing at the crunch of Ruby being attacked.
"Guys what the hell?" The blond haired boy yelled.
"What? You didn't expect us to keep her conscious, did you Jaune?" It was the guy, though he was speaking at a normal volume.
"Come on Merc," the girl this time. "Give him a break, he's new at this."
"I know Em, I know." There was a long pause, they could have been whispering or something. "Get out of here then."
"W-what?" Jaune stuttered, clearly not what he had been expecting.
"You heard him," Em said. "Go." There was a moment of silence before I heard footsteps retreating, Jaune running away. The guy and the girl, Merc and Em, entered the shop.
"Find the keys, take the girl with you. I'll make sure 'Red' knows what happened here." Em nodded, pulling Ruby with her into the office.
Merc stood in place for a moment, before he started destroying the shop. A growl escaped me involuntarily as I watched him cause the damage.
"Found them!" Em called as she re-entered the main shop, waving the keys to Crescent Rose, Ruby's WRX, in front of her.
"Let's get out of here then," Merc said, already running to the exit. Em followed, before she glanced up and stopped running.
"Hey Merc."
"What?" He turned and looked back. Em pointed up, directly at the camera, and he followed her line of sight. "Ah damn it, just destroy it and let's go." Em nodded, before pulling a gun and shooting the camera out.
The video cut off, leaving me sat there in shock, mouth hanging open.
She'd had a gun the whole time, she… she could have…
I didn't even want to think of it. Of what could have happened if Ruby had the chance to fight back.
I rolled back the video, pausing right before Em pulled the trigger. I zoomed in on her face, staring directly into her red eyes.
I grabbed my phone, dialling the only number I could think of that might help.
"You've reached Tai-Yang Xiao Long."
"Dad! Can you-"
"I'm currently unable to answer, please leave a message. Unless it's you Yang, you can call Qrow." I threw the phone down onto the desk and leaned back in the chair.
I sighed, I was at a dead end. Until I remembered the end of the answering message.
"Qrow!" I dove at my phone, grabbing it off the desk and punching in the number. It rang three times before he picked up.
"Yang! How'd the race go?"
"I didn't go. Liste-"
"What? But you were looking forward to it for so long!"
"Qrow, can you just-"
"I mean, I know you didn't want to run it without those new mods, but-"
"Qrow! If you would just shut up and listen! Ruby was attacked!" He was silent for a very long time.
"What? I don't think I heard you right…"
"Ruby was attacked, Qrow. In her own fucking shop! Are you at work right now?"
"Sure, why?"
"I need you to search for someone for me."
"Yang, you know I can't-"
"Please, Uncle. I don't know who else to go to for this." I heard him sigh.
"Fine, but if this comes back to bite you, you're on your own."
"You're the best! I don't know much, all I know is that she has green hair, dark skin, red eyes, and goes by 'Em.' I'll send you through a photo"
"Shit Yang, that's not a lot, but I'll see what I can do. You owe me."
"Thanks Qrow, and you've gotta find her first." I ended the call, a smirk on my face as I texted Qrow the only clear photo I had of her. Whoever she was, she was going down.
