This is my adoption and continuation of Fenix Fireblaze's story by the same name. Unfortunately they have decided not to continue their story, but I've received permission to continue their story in their stead. They were kind enough to forward me the chapters along with several ideas. This is my spin on the story so it will deviate the further into it we go, This first chapter follows the same events as the original, with my own touch of blood and violence. Enjoy.
The night had settled over the docks, enveloping it in an oblique darkness. The sound of crunching boots echoed amongst the shipping containers as Atlas's security searched desperately for their target. The clouds shrouded the moon leaving only the harsh artificial lights to illuminate the warehouse
"I think I saw something over here, quick don't lose- argh!" one soldier said pointing towards a particular cluster of darkness, before falling over clutching his now gushing neck. The result of a homemade throwing knife becoming embedded in his throat. His partner recklessly fired off several volleys toward where he thought he'd seen the knife thrown from, hitting nothing but shipping containers. She'd already long since changed her position and was watching him from her perch directly above. It was child's play to drop down onto the fool whose focus had stupidly shifted to the state of their fallen partner.
Said partner tried to choke out a garbled warning but it was far too late to be of any use. With a single jagged slash, the man discovered he would be seeing his partner again far sooner than he'd hoped. As his world faded to black, he was struck by the sight of a woman. Her eyes stuck with him the most as he felt his life fade, they were hollow pained eyes. As he watched those eyes focused on his own and he watched those silver disks fill with a dark bilious hatred that made him shiver as he felt his eyes grow heavy and his life finally dissipate. By the time the other squads of soldiers rounded the corner to support their comrades, the two had already bled out and their target was nowhere in sight.
"If she escapes and gets out of the perimeter, we're not going to have a job come sunrise! Find her you bunch of lazy idiots!" a grizzled voice yelled as several of the soldiers stood transfixed at the sight of the two corpses. His voice seemed to break their trance, and while they were far more jumpy than before, they regained some of their previous capability.
"Where'd she go?!" One particularly young soldier said, his voice unsteady and clearly frightened. He was simply too tempting and with a muffled thump half of his head evaporated into a fine red mist. The poor fool had chosen not to wear his helmet, a fatal mistake when facing someone as dangerous as her.
Ruby flattened herself against a massive shipping container, the shadows of the warehouse thick and impenetrable to all save for the beams of light cast by the flashlights of those who thought to capture her. She held her breath as she heard another pair draw closer, their steps echoing within the contained warehouse.
"Be careful." She heard a man say. "You know as well as I do what they say the lab coats did to her. If what they says true she's gonna be a real bitch to put down."
She heard a man shiver, making a noise in accompaniment to emphasize his nervous fright. It filled her cold heart with a sort of predatory satisfaction, that was right, they weren't the hunters here, she was. they were just prey.
"I heard, she's not even human anymore."
Ruby grimaced and clenched her right hand tightly, her skin's natural glow dampened down as much as she could get it, yet still showing the faintest illumination through her thin black glove that connected to a metal armguard that extended to reach a few inches above her shoulder..
"Remind me. Why the hell are we hunting her?" The scared man asked.
"Because she's a filthy rabid dog, who's gone wild and needs to be put down once and for all." The other replied.
"Are you alright Scarlet, your vitals are spiking." Came a male voice over Ruby's earpiece.
"She's a little busy right now." Another, female voice replied. "Where are you at the moment Mr. Torchwick?"
"I Just took out a couple Atlesian Knight squads on the southern side of the docks, but there are plenty more on the way here. I've gotta run before they arrive. If you can hear me, I'll wait for you near the rendezvous point Red. Remember, it's rude to leave your date waiting for long."
"Keep nearby. Scarlet may need help extracting herself."
"Oh, don't worry tin can, this isn't my first rodeo, or any of ours for that matter."
Ruby's attention returned to her immediate situation, she was keenly aware of the two men's very heartbeats as the pair neared her, mere feet away from turning the corner and spotting her.
"I know she's some crazy huntress or shit, but you're sure we can beat her, right?"
"It depends. You know, they say the freak like her have phases like the weather. She came here for a reason, and so long as we catch her quick, she'll be weak enough for us to kill her quick and easy. After all, this armor's top of the line her gun's not going to crack this stuff." to emphasis his point the soldier rapped on his armor and it certainly sounded sturdy.
You think that'll stop me, heh, not bloody likely.
Ruby cursed in her mind as she was forced to abort the initial attack as three whol squads met before quickly departing. She had known this would be a risky operation, but she didn't have any choice in the matter. She had needed to conduct this raid, or she would die.
Ruby crouched slightly as the two men reached the corner. Just as they came around, she sprang into action, using her semblance and taking both men out with swift aura-enhanced punches to their heads. They went down with only the sound of their skulls cracking to accompany them, leaving the Red Reaper standing over the crumpled forms of the two Atlas soldiers in full armour made to take heavy dust rounds without cracking. Perhaps they should have invested as heavily into their helmets. She staggered for a moment as suddenly a wave of weakness washed over her.
"Newsflash." She muttered to the dead men as she recovered her composure. "I hurt a hell of a lot more than a bullet."
Bending over, she took a ruined helmet, and patched the comm signal into her own radio before tossing it on the ground next to the man, there were enough bodies already, trying to hide this particular pair was a pointless endeavor.
"Penny, monitor their radios. I want to know if anyone else gets too close again." Ruby said, her tone serious and clearly expecting to be obeyed without question.
"Yes Scarlet." Penny replied over the comm.
Ruby started towards the shipping containers at a dead sprint without using her semblance, stumbling a few times before leaping up several meters into the air. Jumping from crate to crate, Ruby made it to the latticework of girders on the ceiling of the warehouse, getting on top and making her way towards the window she had broken in through.
As she passed through the dark building, Ruby saw dozens of Atlas soldiers and Knight mechs all hunting desperately for her. They had a few flying drones too, but none of the soldiers thought to look up.
"They're out in full force tonight." She commented.
"They are getting quite desperate to catch you." Penny replied. "This is the third warehouse you've attacked this month."
"You know I need this." Ruby shot back, the undertone of a growl in her voice.
"They don't." Penny replied. "They don't know what you've become. Judging from their radio chatter, they have heard somewhat of what happened to you, but they have no idea what you're capable of, or the extent of your special capabilities."
"Let's keep it that way." Ruby growled, drawing Crescent Rose and firing a silenced round into a flyer that had gotten a little too close, knocking it several meters away before the round's delayed explosive triggered, showering the men below with shards of molten metal as they looked for Ruby in the wrong place once more. Just as quickly, she flipped it back onto her back with one hand, the immense weight of all the upgrades she had made over the years not bothering her in the least.
After several minutes, Ruby was nearing the window when Penny spoke again.
"Your partner got out safely, but I've detected a serious problem. They've arrived."
"Which ones?"
"The Atlas Elites, they must have discovered you were involved and came as soon as they received confirmation."
"Great. That's the absolute last thing in the world I need….."
Ruby moved faster, hoping to get out before Atlas's Elites could begin tracking her aura. It was all for naught, however. A voice rang out across the warehouse just before she reached the window and escaped into the night.
"Don't bother Ruby!" Came a voice that had so often been the quiet and collected one back in Beacon, it was now the voice one of Atlas's best commanders. "There's nowhere to hide!"
"Fire in the hole!" Came a bubbly voice, still as cheerful and hyper as she had been back at Beacon. Ruby saw the explosives strapped to the bottom of the girder too late, crying out in pain as they detonated, hurling her to the hard cement floor five floors down.
Ruby hit the ground hard, crying out in pain as her aura flared, barely able to take the hit with the weakened state it was in. Mechs swarmed her position right away, and she vaguely heard Penny yelling at her partner over the comms, telling him to hurry back and help her.
The mechs quickly restrained her, pinning her down by her arms and many just pointing guns at her as two soldiers walked towards her. They both wore modified Atlas armour, one painted in a deep, calm green and the other in bright neon pink. They looked sad as they stopped a meter away from Ruby, watching her with sorrow.
"Ruby." Ren said as he looked at her. "Why? Why do all of this?"
"I'm not Ruby." Ruby spat. "Ruby died six years ago!"
"Right." Ren acknowledged. "And you think calling yourself the Scarlet Reaper will erase who you are, who you were?"
"Looks who's talking Ren." Ruby spat, her voice tinged with fury as her left eye lit up like a mini bonfire, the light shining from beneath her hair. "You used to be the quiet, kindhearted one. Now you're a cold-hearted bastard that hunts people down and kills them for a godforsaken paycheck! You think there's anything in this world that'll let you get off for what you do, you think there's anything that'll wash the stench of blood off your hands?"
"You know that's not true!" Ren protested. "We-"
"Ren and I don't hurt people!" The usually bubbly Nora cried, her tone much more subdued than it was normally.
"You work for Atlas." Ruby said, glaring at them. "That dumps more than enough blood on your hands."
"You've got it all wrong Ruby." Ren said before Ruby cut him off.
"Call me Ruby again, and I skin you alive, understand? You lost the right to call me that a long time ago."
Ren sighed. "You've changed so much…."
"So now what?" Ruby demanded angrily. "What will you do with me? Turn me over to those MONSTERS again? You say I've changed, the only reason I changed is because I was abandoned by you, and everyone else!"
"They were never supposed to go as far as they did." Ren replied calmly and automatically. It seemed he'd prepared for this reaction "You've hurt too many people Ru - Scarlet. I can't let it continue. You're one of the most wanted people in Remnant. I have my orders, you're under arrest."
"Hahaha! Come on Ren, I don't remember you being such a cowardly little shit. You've got orders to kill me, no need to beat around the bush." Ruby's cackle turned midway into an animalistic snarl, her teeth bared in a defiant and openly manic grin. "Do you have the guts, I wonder? Do you have what it takes to kill an old friend, though I guess it makes sense. After all, you all chose to abandon me and leave me to rot all those years ago." At mention of this Ruby's smile became vicious and her words dripped with a hateful venom.
Ren and Nora's eyes both became hard and flinty. The years had not been kind to any of them, and the members of both RWBY and JNPR had all changed, mostly for the worst. Then again, The Second Great Grimm War would do that to any person, and they were no exception.
"You're too dangerous to let go, Ruby." Ren said, ignoring Ruby's abrupt struggles to escape as he said her name. "Nora and I will do whatever it takes to protect the four kingdoms. Everywhere you go, it seems, death and Grimm follow."
"In case you didn't notice, Grimm are goddamn everywhere now." Ruby shot back, her constant struggling finally rewarded with the sound of tearing metal as a mech's arms was sheared clean off and in doing so Ruby managed to free her left arm. Before she could utilize her newfound freedom however, three more mechs immediately dogpiled in and seized her, and one mech proceeded to fire several rounds into her stomach, depleting her remaining, meager, Aura to nothing and leaving her completely vulnerable to further attack.
"Just stop this Scarlet!" Ren begged her. "You know I don't want to do this, but I will if I have to!"
"Then let me go and stop interfering!" Ruby immediately shot back. "It's not you I want, but at this point I'd love to bury the hatchet, in your disgusting little skull!"
"You know I can't let you leave, it's simply not an option." Ren said, shaking his head sadly. "There's no other way it seems. men, finish this."
The human soldiers and Atlesian Knights all raised their guns and aimed for Ruby's chest as Ren and Nora looked away, disturbed at what was about to take place, but knowing that the girl they had been such good friends with in Beacon was gone. She'd spoken the truth earlier, she truly was gone.
Ruby Rose, as everyone knew, had died six years ago, on the day of her eighteenth birthday.
The soldiers all prepared to opened fire, targeting Ruby, who was rescued by the timely intervention of a massive explosion that knocked the mechs and Ruby to the ground. The explosion gave Ruby some minor burns and no doubt she'd feel the pain in the morning, but the blast saved her from being riddled with a hail of bullets. With that perspective she decided it was an overall positive development in the situation, especially when she saw who had caused it. A man in a white coat and black bowler hat strode confidently in through the now massive hole in the wall nearest to her, grunting as his aura took the impact of a few rounds from the recovering soldiers. He raised his cane and fired several explosive rounds tearing into the containers around the Atlas soldiers. The Symphony of explosions knocked them through the air like leaves in the wind set to a wondrous melody of death and destruction.
"You alright Red?" Roman Torchwick asked Ruby. his smile was as smug and annoying as ever, but his eyes told a whole other story. They were concern, fear and a whole host of other feelings in those eyes, it made her cold black husk of a heart skip a beat knowing he was worried over her safety.
"I'll be fine once I dose up." Ruby grunted, gritting her teeth as she stood, her muscles weak from withdrawal. "Penny, we'll need a ride out of here and you've got the Bullhead. Any suggestions?"
"Roman successfully stole an Atlesian Paladin 370 on his way to provide support. You should be able to use it to extract the area successfully."
Ruby gave Torchwick a weak but wry glance as he avoided the bullets and fired his own volley back, detonating yet more containers and reducing the interior of the warehouse to a burning hellscape.
"Naughty boy, stealing a battle mech and not using it immediately. You've been holding out on me"
"Well I want to risk the warranty my dear." Roman quipped as he knocked Ren and Nora down with a well-placed shot, detonating the set of barrels they'd taken cover behind. Roman barely dodged Nora's explosive reply, only forcing her back after a considerable effort on his part. "We should probably go now dear, before you have to start calling me Red too, for different reasons."
"Hit the girders, and let's get the fuck out of here." Ruby ordered Roman. To which Roman looked up and grinned
"You've got it Boss." He replied. Knocking down another group of soldiers, Roman fired several quick shots at the ceiling, slagging several sections of girders. Switching the high explosive rounds with specialized Dust rounds that were designed to eat through metallic substances. He shot several support columns and brought several of the massive metal beams crashing down, as well as bringing a huge portion of the warehouse down around them along with blocking access between the two groups it smashed several of the soldiers into a fine pulp as he turned tail and ran, following behind after his already retreating boss/partner and soon catching her due to her current injured state. Though before he departed he left a little gift behind for Atlas's surviving little pet soldiers.
Reaching the door leading out, Ruby stationed herself on one side of the massive overhead door as Roman did so with the other, no words were needed as Roman threw the door up and open and immediately dove back behind cover as bullets filled the opening, firing blindly around the corner with his cane as Ruby fired Crescent Rose, the sniper rifle's magazine switched her usual magazine to one with a glowing red strip, which signified explosive Fire Dust rounds. Yellow strips were armor piercers black was for acid and white strips were supposed to hold electric rounds.
Ruby fired until the sudden sound of an explosion could be heard,from there the bullets petered off before giving Torchwick a curt nod and ducking around the corner, bolting as fast as she could muster past various destroyed corpses that had used to be Atlas Soldiers and following Roman as he led her to a nearby alley where a Paladin was concealed in the darkness of the night. Switching her magazine back to normal armour piercing bullets with a quick command through her eye piece, Ruby blasted a particularly brave Beowolf in the head that was simply getting too close for comfort. Ruby turned to Torchwick as he looked back at her with a playful grin plastered on his face.
"Does the fine young lady wish to drive?" He asked politely, his signature smirk on his face. Even in this harsh new world, he remained the same as he had back when he had fought Ruby at Beacon, even his looks remaining relatively the same. Other than the special Dust rounds Ruby had crafted for him and being forced to refit Melodic Cudgel to allow his cane to fire the new rounds they'd created, he hadn't changed one bit in all these years. She never admit it, but there were days that his stability was the only thing keeping her sane and for some reason that never ceased to make her uncomfortable, he seemed all too aware of that fact.
"Withdrawal, jackass. You drive, I'll shoot." Ruby replied as he helped her into the back of the streamlined mech, where she got comfortable in the gunner's seat of the turret.
"Yes Ma'am." Roman said as he got into the Mech, the pod closing around him and linking his nervous system up to the metallic body.
"Where to?" Roman asked.
"Junior's." Ruby replied. "No doubt he'll pay a nice profit for this."
"And if he doesn't feel like paying top dollar?" Roman asked.
"Then there is always Adam Taurus. I'm sure our partners will be appreciative of a new mech to add to their little collection."
"Pity. I wanted to keep this one." Roman pouted.
"You can keep the next one, this one you promised we'd sell for a profit for once. Penny, did you manage to extract the full shipment?"
"Indeed I did, we currently possess an almost full cargo ship of various Dust types, I'm returning to Firebase Leviathan as we speak, I also captured several new Atlesian knights that happened to be on board at the time, is there any specific task you wished to assign to them?" Firebase Leviathan Was their central base of operations, If they'd failed this run to distract Atlas's guards, Penny would have been unable to seize the ship and transport the dust there for her later use. Even though Ruby felt the urges star, she suppressed the feelings and focused on the mission at hand. Sell the mech first, get the transfusion afterwards. Simple on paper, much harder in real life. Pulling her mind back to the task at hand, Ruby realized Penny was still waiting for her answer.
"Not for right now, just put them on general guard duty around the base, don't want any more Grimm getting too close like last time." Ruby replied.
"Affirmative!" Penny said her voice the usual chipper and upbeat.
"Roman we're heading to the club, are there going to be any fireworks I won't want to miss?"
"Just one for tonight, don't worry though, with as much dust as was still inside that place we'll be able to see it just fine from the Club.
"In that case, what're we waiting for, get moving! I could use a drink about now."
Roman nodded and started up the machine before heading off in the direction of the nightclub. He hadn't seen his old friend in a long time, it would be good to catch up with each other over drinks, with the success of the operation maybe they'd even get through it without Red killing any of the guards. Okay maybe that was expecting too much, but a man could dream.
And done. I've got some ideas as to where this story will diverge with the original that if all turns out well, I think this will turn out quite nicely. If you'd prefer to see more distinction please let me know in the reviews. Until next time.