Certainly has been a while, hasn't it?
I got the idea for this one shot after spamming my Saturday away during the /r/RWBY weekly 'Whose Line is it Anyway?' thread. The basis for this story comes from the user SentientHam, as well as the user Levive, who had enough interest in this story to be made. Also a huge thanks to my friend Karm for taking the time to read this over.
Took me longer than I wanted, but two days isn't so bad, right?
Enjoy!
Yang Xiao Long was a young huntress of many things. At least she thought so. She was a fighter, a prankster, a loving person. She had many things and people that she loved very much, her family, her friends, her team. But there was something more precious to her... Well, maybe not more precious than her family, but equally as precious.
Her bike, Bumblebee.
She and her father Taiyang had worked on building that speed demon when she turned sixteen and was able to drive for the first time. When she was young her and her friends used to go to an arcade in Patch and she would spend all day breaking the top score on every separate motorcycle game. It was something she loved doing as a kid that transferred well into her young adult life. When Tai agreed to help build her a motorcycle she was beyond ecstatic, knowing full well just how much she would enjoy it.
In fact, Yang's record at that arcade has stood the test of time for almost three years. It is the toughest motorcycle racing game the building has and she holds the record on the toughest course on the toughest difficulty with a three-minute and two-seconds run, with a few milliseconds on top of it. She tried her hardest to beat that score, but even with all of the shortcuts and the fastest bike ever unlocked on the game, she deemed it impossible and always has.
Until she received a call one fateful day...
"What do you mean my records been broken?!" Yang shouted unbelievingly into her scroll. One of Ruby's friends had called her, albeit reluctantly, to inform her of the news. "It's impossible to beat that record!"
"I don't know what to say!" He replied, "The guys came back last night from their arcade run and told me that someone named Burnt Rubber', only spelled poorly, with a time of three minutes even. He even took a picture!"
The blonde took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. She sighed heavily and opened her lilac eyes as she paced through her empty dorm. Luckily, her teammates were out doing their own thing right now, but that wasn't her concern right now. Her long standing and legendary record at one of her favorite childhood hangouts was broken, and she had to find out how and by whom?
"Alright, buddy..." She called, almost accusingly, "I want that picture. I want to see with my own eyes. Only then will I believe you."
The young man on the other end- one of Ruby's friends since the first grade, in fact- chuckled as he sighed, "Fine then. See for yourself." Yang's scroll buzzed a moment later, causing her to remove it from her ear and examine the photo that was just sent to her.
And she couldn't believe her eyes.
The young man was right, in second place was Yang's name, 'Little Biker Dragon', and just above that was 'BuRnT rUbBeR'... Man, he wasn't joking about that spelling...
"I DON'T THINK SO!" She shouted, her lilac eyes now burned with the red ht intensity of the sun as her friend could be heard snickering, shocked, yet not really surprised. "I'M COMING THERE RIGHT NOW TO BEAT THIS GUY DOWN!"
"And I won't be waiting!" The young man said with a nervous chuckle, "I'm not getting in the way of this pain train! Have fun."
Yang tore the scroll away from her ear, threw her jacket on as Ruby walked back into the dorm, coming to check on her sister. Pyrrha called her a moment before about some screaming from within RWBY's dorm, so being the good leader that she was Ruby wanted to check up on her team. Only to find an enraged sister, storming out of the dorm. "Hey Yang, I-"
"Move." She was shucked aside easily, silver eyes blinking blankly as she tried to figure out what in the world is happening. Yang quickly stomped down the hall and into the elevator, but the doors didn't close as a flurry of Rose Petals fell within the small box. Yang almost scowled down at her sister, who starred an equally determined glare into her own red eyes. "Ruby, this doesn't involve you."
"It does now." She responded, keeping her hand on the right door to prevent the elevator from closing. "You don't just push me aside without a reason, and I'm here to stop you from doing something stupid. Now, what's wro-" She was cut off when a force grabbed the collar of her corset on swiftly pulled her inward, finally allowing the elevator to close and descend. "Yang!"
"We're going to Patch." The eldest replied simply. Her eyes still glowed red, though her voice wasn't as strained. Ruby had an effect on her sister, one that easily calmed her down. Though Yang couldn't be cooled so easily today. When Ruby raised one eyebrow quizzically, Yang further explained, "Something terrible happened and needs to be solved."
Silver eyes went wide with horror as Ruby expected the worst. "Wait, what happened? Is someone hurt? Is it dad? Is it Qrow?"
"Wha-? No! It's worse than that."
"Is someone dead?"
The elevator dinged as the doors opened, finally allowing the irate brawler to walk out and into the world, the midday sun shining down on the sisters as they walked towards the terminal to Vale. It was Saturday and the sisters, nay, the team had no plans. At least they didn't.
"No, Ruby, everyone we know is fine."
The cloaked reaper stopped walking as she tried to think just what could be the matter? If nobody is hurt or worse... Than what's the problem? "Yang? Wait up!"
When she caught up, she was met by more silence. At least Yang was far more physically calm now than a few minutes ago. She was still moving at a pace that gave Ruby trouble keeping up. Ruby got sick of this very quickly, and in another flurry of rose petals jumped in front of Yang, causing her to stop in her tracks once again and glare daggers into familiar silver orbs. "Listen." Ruby said rather sharply, "If you want to go home for something, fine. But know that I'm coming with you and I need to know what we're going for and for how long. We owe it to our partners to tell them, Yang."
A mixture of lilac and red eyes closed as the brawler's head fell back, a deep sigh filling the early fall air as some students passed them by, not noticing their existence in the walkway. "Fine. You text Weiss or something and I'll explain why we're going back. We'll be home before midnight, by the way." Yang marched past her sister, causing the younger to ball her hands into fists for a moment at the attitude she was just given. She cast aside her own frustration however as she turned to catch up to her sister, who was still giving her the silent treatment.
All of this caused Ruby to worry more and more about why Yang was acting this way and just what had happened?
It took the sisters a little over a half an hour to get to Patch from Vale, considering buying a sky ferry ticket was a hassle in itself. Despite that, however, they were still able to get one in a swift manor, as well as inform their team of their departure. Though both Blake and Weiss were confused, Ruby assured them that she would explain when they got back that night.
The doors opened and Yang swiftly departed, forcing her sister to run through the throng of people in order to catch up. Yang hadn't said a word during that trip, which confused and infuriated Ruby at the same time. All she wanted was an explanation as to what happened. But no...
Yang's foul mood was all she was met with.
She followed at a swift pace, wandering the familiar streets of Patch with a confusing sense of duty. She had returned every now and again, having a meal with her father or her old friends whenever she could find an excuse to get away from her team and Beacon as a whole, which meant she wasn't so surprised to see a few features, like a new store here and there or a road under construction.
"Yang." She called, causing her sister to stop in front of a restaurant, "We're in Patch and you still haven't told me just what's wrong?"
The blonde brawler took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping as a lone cloud blocked the sun's rays. She owed it to her sister, who came this far with her even though she didn't have to. Ruby was as stubborn as she was gutsy.
Still, this didn't mean that Yang couldn't have a little fun...
The blonde smirked as she looked back to the young reaper behind her, "All will be explained in due time, baby sis." Ruby squinted her eyes in an attempt to examine Yang more thoroughly, but the brawler began to walk away before Ruby had a chance. The cloaked girl shook her head and jogged ahead once again, trying to catch up with her slightly less irate than before sibling.
Luckily, though, they didn't walk for long as Yang stopped before a familiar building. "Here we are..." She silently said to herself. Ruby looked up at the sign on top, and recognized the arcade that she and her friends spent time in during their childhood days.
"Wait... What?"
Yang glanced at her sister again, this time no smile accompanied her face, "This really didn't involve you, ya know..." Ruby, now more confused than ever, turned and crossed her arms in front of her chest, silently asking for an explanation. Yang knew this face... It was Ruby's leader face. It was the face she made when she wasn't very pleased...
It was the same face Summer made when one of the two kids' childish antics went too far...
Despite the face, Yang knew it was time to come clean. "Alright, so you know how I have the record in this place on that motorcycle racing game, right?" The youngest nodded slowly. "And you know how proud I am of it, right." Another nod, this time more succinct than the last. "Well... One of your friends called me earlier and told me that somebody..." She braced herself to admit this, "Somebody had beaten my record. And now I'm here to reclaim it."
Ruby stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide in disbelief as both Yang stopped one building over at the front of the arcade. The reaper's frustration boiled over. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" She yelled as she approached her sister, a look of anger in her eyes that rivaled the aforementioned brawler's, "You drag me all across the straight from Beacon, letting me believe that something serious happened to one of our friends, when the problem was your dumb record!?"
"Hey!" Lilac eyes turned red as Yang fired back, "I don't insult your records!"
"Hello! Records are made to be broken, Yang!" Ruby argued, "You can't get so mad when someone better comes along!"
"I don't think you realize this, Ruby, but I'm a proud girl who enjoys being at the top! And when somebody beats my record I want a shot to reclaim it! Is that so bad? Is that so wrong?!"
Silver eyes blinked as Ruby huffed. Yang's logic was solid, but this still didn't leave her sibling very happy. "And in your prideful spite you had me worried, dragging me here only to let me know that this was the problem?" Yang shamefully rubbed her arm, understanding where her sister was coming from, "You had me worried! Why couldn't you have just told me earlier? I would have helped! I wouldn't be so mad, now!"
"I dunno..." The brawler shrugged, "I guess I got so mad when I found out my record had been broken that I wasn't thinking... You know how I can get, sis... Very possessive of what I have."
"Right, of both possessions and people." The comment was as comedic as it was accusing. Yang blushed as she and Ruby stood in front of the arcade, a light breeze was the only thing making a noise. At least, until the reaper sighed first, "Listen. I'm not very happy that you dragged me across the straight here and making me worry so badly, but I understand. I'll help, but when I say it's time to leave, then there will be no arguing, understood?"
Yang nodded, understanding that she would be in the dog house for a good week, maybe two. "I promise next time I won't overdue it..." Ruby nodded in thanks as both siblings walked inside one of their favorite childhood hangouts. This place was a great way to relax after a long day of testing, or if the weather outside wasn't as cooperative.
When they approached the machine, the records had begun to scroll, and had just reset. From the fifth seat to the second, it was Little Biker Dragon, Yang's nickname. And number one, with a time of three minutes even, was BuRnT rUbBeR.
"I don't believe it..." Ruby said in astoundment. She was there when Yang broke the record the first time, and it was an intense moment for a child... Now, however...
"I didn't either." Yang admitted, "But that doesn't matter. All I want to know is who this guy is and beat his time."
"Wait... You don't know who that is?"
Yang blinked, examining her sister's incredulous stare with one of her own, "What do you mean? Do you know?" Her lilac eyes went wide, hopeful that Ruby had some information.
"So you're saying you have no idea...?" Yang shook her head, causing the reaper to sigh and chuckle, "Yes, I think I have a feeling... But, I won't tell you to keep him safe, understand?"
"Him? A guy?" Ruby nodded, causing Yang to smile, "Oh, this'll be fun. I'll beat his record, then kick his ass until he's crying like a little girl!" She inserted a token into the machine and cracked her knuckles, allowing the games graphics to take over. She knew exactly what combo to pick, she remembered exactly what she had used before and hoped that her skills on the road would work in a virtual world. "Let's do this!"
Ruby nodded as she backed away slowly, pulling her scroll out of her pocket, "Yeah, go Yang!" She cheered, slowly disappearing into the rather empty arcade as she dialed one familiar number. Though she wasn't going to call this man... No, that would blow his cover and leave him in a world of hurt, even if he was Yang's instructor...
'You are such a butt!' She typed, awaiting a response patiently while watching her sister's race progress. A ding from her scroll alerted her back to it, however.
'What' Was all she got as a retort.
'I know what you did to Yang's game.'
'What do you mean?'
'You don't need to play dumb. She may not see that dumb pun you made but I can read you two like a book. Burnt Rubber? Really?'
Ruby could swear she heard his laughter all the way from his house. 'Oh my god, I've been found out! What did Yang do? Is she mad?'
The reaper began to giggle as she took a picture, watching as Yang unfortunately wiped out in a ditch, causing her to punch the handles. She sent the picture with a text Take a look.
And what she got was priceless.
'HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO WAY!'
'Seriously, you are so mean!'
It was a while before he texted back, and Yang had started her second race, as the first one didn't end in her favor. Both time and placement wise. "You okay, sis?" Ruby asked as her sister stopped to take a break.
"Yeah, I'm good." The brawler admitted, "I just need to get back into this. It's a lot different than real world driving, you know?"
"No... No I don't..."
"Oh yeah." The blonde chuckled, "Sorry."
Before Ruby could realize it Yang had started the next race, the same combination and the same map. Once again, she stepped away to not stay in her sister's peripheral vision and distract her. The best thing to do was leave Yang in the zone and soon, hopefully, they can go home happy.
Another ding, however, brought her back to her scroll...
'So what did she do? How mad is she? I gotta know!'
She knew that giving him a response, truthful or not, would egg him to do worse and dignify his actions, causing a war of sorts. And despite her frustration over Yang's attitude, she kinda wanted to see a back and forth battle between the two...
Kinda...
'She wasn't happy and she tossed me aside like a rag doll when I tried to stop her. She was a hate train on her way back here and she didn't say a word until we got to the arcade...' A curse could be heard as Ruby hit send, indicating that Yang had once again missed her mark. Almost instantly, though, Ruby got a response.
'Wait, she threw you? Like, into a wall or something? Are you okay?'
'I'm texting you, aren't I? I'm here with her, right?'
'That's not the point, hun...'
It's okay. I'm gonna put her in the corner when we get back to Beacon. But next time, when you do something like this, let me know so I can brace the dorm for the firestorm that is YOUR DAUGHTER!'
She clicked her scroll's screen black and rejoined Yang, now somehow on her fourth race and... Actually doing better. "So how long do you think you're going to be?"
Yang shrugged the question off, "Well, I'm getting back into it... Shouldn't be too long." She could hear Ruby's scroll ding and turned back, all the while driving through the virtual street without looking, almost like muscle memory... "Who's that?"
"Nobody, Yang." Ruby lied. Only this time Yang was too distracted to see past this fib and Ruby was able to get away with it. "Also, the moment you ask me for money is the moment we leave, got it?"
The brawler waved her sister off and smirked, "I've got my card, sis. I'll be fine!"
"Shoot!" Yang declared as she pounded her fist into the console of the bike, dropping her head in defeat. She had managed to beat her own record and now stood just under a second off of BuRnT rUbBeR, with three minutes and point eight seconds... But it just wasn't enough. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, sis... I'm hitting every power up, doing every shortcut... I don't get it..."
Ruby rubbed the back of her head as she stood by, unknowing of what she should do. She could reason with her sister and try to talk her out of another round, but that would never work. She could also egg Yang on, but that might only bring more pain... Instead, she stood back and stayed silent.
"Got any ideas, dear leader?"
Now she's gotta say something. "Uh, well... Maybe have a different combo? Like, maybe a different bike, or something? It's that or we go home and try again later..."
"Screw that!" Yang boldly declared, "We leave when I beat this guy!"
"Or when I say... In case you forgot."
"But you love me and you won't say until I beat him... Right?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, causing Yang to dejectedly sigh. "Fine, I get it. I just need another two rounds... Maybe you're right, maybe there is another combo..."
"That's the spirit!" Ruby declared as her scroll once again dinged, causing Yang to turn and examine her sister rather accusingly.
"Alright, you've been texting somebody a lot, here... What's going on?"
"Uh, nothing?" Ruby tried to keep her lie hidden, though Yang had already known that the reaper knew the knowledge of her target... "I'm texting someone, is all..."
"Is that someone 'Burnt Rubber'?" Ruby couldn't help but smile at the name, "Aha! You are working for him!"
"No!" She defended, "It's just that's such a corny name... And you seriously don't know who it is?" Yang shrugged with a raised eyebrow, "Oh my god, you two are one of the same... Go back to your game, Yang, I actually want to enjoy my Saturday with our teammates."
The blonde shook her head as Ruby walked away, her scroll in her hands sending a message of some kind...
And Yang knew exactly who she was texting...
Weiss sat at the desk of the dorm, a paper in front of her and a notebook at the side with a pencil in her hand. She sighed, rather annoyed by the day's events as Blake sat at her own bed with a book in hand, almost a signature picture of the two within their dorm. The only thing missing was two sisters, gone for Patch for some sort of emergency that their respective partners still knew nothing about!
"Would it kill her to text me back, already?!" Weiss huffed, checking her scroll again and finding nothing. No notification, no message, just her wallpaper.
"Maybe they're on their way back." Blake reasoned, "They may not have time to text while wandering through the crowds."
"They always find a way, Blake..." The faunus shrugged it off and went back to her book, but the alabaster teammate didn't stop there. Weiss rose from her seat and paced about the room as the sun began to set outside. "What I really want to know is what was the emergency and how bad was it? All I want to know is if they'll be going back and forth from school to Patch every day, or it's worse than that?" Again, Blake shrugged, letting the heiress go on, though not really paying attention. "Well you're just a big help, aren't you?"
"No, Weiss. Because I know our teammates well enough to not question their antics until they return. So leave them be until they get back and I'm sure Ruby will tell us all about it as she promised."
Weiss huffed and turned away, "Fine. But I still want to know what was so important."
As she sat down and went back to her studies, Blake couldn't help but hear two sets of feet walking through the hall, her cat ears twitching beneath her bow which was enough of a distraction to take her away from the climax of her current novel. "Maybe you can ask them now..."
Weiss looked up as the dorm room door opened, revealing two familiar partners as they walked in, though one had a smile and the other had a scowl. "Well it's about time!" Weiss chastised as the sisters walked in, though stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ruby's hand gripping Yang's sleeve, and her scowl only deepened with the sudden rise in volume.
"Corner. Now." Ruby ordered as she pushed her sister, who had a smile big enough to light up the room. "When I figure out what I'm going to do to you about this is when you can leave."
Weiss and Blake eyed each other as Yang took her seat, proudly one might add. Ruby hung up her cloak and sat down at the desk next to Weiss' table, shaking her head all the while. The silence between the two sisters was odd enough, but Ruby's tone of voice made the mystery run deeper. "So..." The alabaster heiress said, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah." Ruby said, stopping the blonde from responding. "Everything's fine now. Nothing to worry about."
Again, Blake and Weiss eyed each other curiously, then went back to their leader who sat back in her chair. "So... What happened on Patch?"
"I won." Yang proudly declared, only to get snapped at by the reaper across the room.
"You're not allowed to say a word, missy." Ruby said easily with a snap of her fingers. "Turns out the big emergency was her record on a game being broken."
"No way..."
"Yup." Ruby glared daggers at her sister as Weiss and Blake blinked, stunned and surprised, as well as astounded by the revelation. "So she drags me all the way from school to Patch to watch her get her record back by almost a tenth of a second... Barely a tenth of a second..."
"Hey, in my defense you didn't have to come along."
"What did I just say?"
Weiss intervened before an argument broke out between the two. "Enough!" She called, "Yang has a point, Ruby, you didn't have to go with her..."
"She didn't tell me why she was so mad until we got to Patch, though." Ruby explained, "All she did was throw me aside and say it didn't involve me while stomping away. For all I knew somebody had just dont one of the few things that you never, ever do to make her mad and I had to stop her from committing murder."
Both the heiress and faunus looked back to Yang, who maintained eye contact with the wall and sat proudly still. "That wasn't nice, Yang." Blake chided, finally putting her book down.
The brawler shrugged it off, "Doesn't matter. I got my record back. Now all I have to do is figure out just who took it in the first place." She eyed her sister across the room with a rather sinister smile, "And I know just who to interrogate."
Ruby shook her head and sighed, annoyed and frustrated beyond all reasonability. It took so long to drag Yang away, and the first moment she got she took. The way Yang was celebrating on the way back, the reaper didn't know if she enjoyed the silent and determined Yang or the happy and relieved one...
"You can forget it, Yang." Ruby declared, "You have your title and that's all. I'm leaving his name a mystery so that you have a hobby." Yang rolled her lilac eyes and shook her head, "But the next time he does break your record again, Yang, just let us know that you're going back to Patch and why... And please say why! I don't want to be that worried again!"
"Fine, I promise."
"Good." Ruby checked the time on her scroll, and the clock struck seven, "Now if you don't mind I haven't had a bite to eat since breakfast, so I'm gonna go get dinner. Anyone want in?"
Blake nodded as Weiss shrugged, "I already ate... But why not?"
"Yeah! I could go for food, too!"
Ruby once again snapped her fingers at Yang, "Nope! You don't get to leave until I get back! I don't care what you do in here, but you can't leave!"
"What the-?! That's so-!"
"That's your punishment." Weiss quipped, "Leader's orders." The trio walked out of the dorm, leaving Yang in their dust. As they did, Ruby let out a relieved sigh and rubbed her face with both of her hands, trying to keep herself awake. "Not a good day, huh?"
"You could say that again." She agreed as they stepped into the elevator. "What's worse is I know who broke her record and I know he'll do it again, just because he can..."
"Oh?" Blake inquired intriguingly, "And who is the perpetrator of this most heinous crime?"
A small smirk grew on their leaders face as she leaned back against the wall of the small box, that smirk eventually breaking into a chuckle, then full out laughter. Weiss and Blake couldn't help but smile at this, despite not yet knowing the information.
"It's our dad." She finally admitted after calming herself down, "I knew the moment I saw that name he made for himself. He and Yang are a lot alike, and of course he had to make a stupid pun like 'Burnt Rubber' as his nickname..."
"Wow." Weiss chuckled, "I guess it runs in the family..."
Silver eyes blinked as they examined icy-blue orbs, trying to figure out if her partner was implying something, or just making a comment. "Maybe not the whole family..."
Before Yang realized it all of her team had left, leaving her in their dust. She looked around the room, stunned silence overtaking her until she eventually sighed. Despite being on Ruby's bad side for a while, she felt oddly vindicated in once again claiming her title. "Whatever." She said easily, kicking her feet up on the windowsill, "It's still good to be the queen."
She had her thoughts to herself for a while, her conscious clear of any disruptions now that she has exactly what she wanted. She wasn't wrong when she had snapped at Ruby earlier, she was very possessive and even though some records were made to be broken, that one was one se was way too proud of to give up. She was really starting to enjoy her quiet time, until her scroll began to ring once again, and a familiar name once again filled the screen.
"No..."
IT'S A NEVER ENDING STORY!
So yeah, Taiyang is the perp and Yang has no clue. It's a battle of time now!
Hope you all enjoyed, this was kind of a way for me to get back into writing, now that I'm getting a bit more free time I can dedicate a little more time to what I need to do, and admittedly I've been away from my work for a long while. It's still going along and I should begin posting my actual series some time at the end of next month, all the while posting a few more one shots here and there.
Here's to a start of something better! Tell me what you think, but keep in mind that this is my first in a few months, so I might be out of it a little.
Thanks for reading!
Until Next Time.