A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first fanfiction I've ever wrote (and also my debut of this website w). This AU is taken place in a futuristic/post-apocalypse of an oppressive regime (to which I also got inspired from a game called Freedom Wars)! I plan to incorporate the majority of the characters of RWBY that will be parallel to this AU, so stay tuned!

Thanks to my friends betaflower and reeves3 for beta-reading my work! C:

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

One million years.

One million years to life in prison in the desolate continent of Vytal in year VT 102XXX.

Ever since the epidemic of overpopulation that happened throughout Vytal, the Schnee Association only had one rule to establish and maintain- arrest all who may be in suspicion of any criminal activities they committed. It didn't matter how petty or severe the crime may be, they'll still be sentenced for one million years.

Living itself is a sin.

In one occurrence it happened to two sisters. Short, velvet hair contrasted the wild, blonde hair cascading down the back of a stunning beauty. A pair of silver eyes, still retaining a child-like innocence, glanced at lilac eyes in confirmation. Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long fully intended to trespass and scavenge an abandoned Dust shop.

The sun was setting behind the once tall buildings, leaving open cracks and broken windows for rays of sunshine to come through. Many of the foundations had been eroded due to heavy participation and lack of quality control for constant maintenance. Few buildings could withstand such circumstances.

It was a perfect setting for those who planned to discreetly sneak through the barren streets.

Tiny screws were scattered across and had fallen between cracks of a cemented sidewalk as Ruby assembled and placed her crafted circuit disruptor into a control panel. Yang was on a lookout from a nearby area in case of any unexpected onlookers passing by. Inside the panel was the main source of an intricate surveillance camera system surrounded the shop, and they had no plans to get caught any time soon.

After some last minute tweaking of the disruptor, Ruby placed her multi-tool into the back pouch and pressed the start button.

Click.

A sequence of codes appeared on screen from the disruptor, bypassing its way through the firewalls. It took less than thirty seconds before the time duration of the device appeared.

Beep. Five minutes. It was a window of opportunity she and her sister had to take.

Ruby gave Yang a signal to re-join her before they headed off to the back of the shop. Yang popped the vent off with her bare hands before taking a lead to crawl through the air duct, followed by Ruby. It was dark, dingy, and dusty inside- no signs of previous break-in entries before them.

"Ugh, it's dark in here." Yang commented. "Bring me some light will ya, sis?"

Flick. "Bring your own next time, Yang." Ruby handed over a flashlight, deadpanned.

"Haha, sorry 'bout that." Yang grabbed the flashlight and continued to crawl into the duct with proper vision.

A few moments later, Yang stopped her tracks and found an exit point. She quickly instructed Ruby to stay back as she began to lift her leg up.

Bash! Bash! WHAM! Yang's mighty kicks led the vent skidded across the floor and crashed into a section of a crumbling concrete wall, leaving an opening for Yang and Ruby to crawl out of the duct.

The once vibrant Dust shop filled with various Dust ores and powder displays was now vacant with rubble and empty, large vials. There was, however, parts and different Dusts were lying around to be salvaged.

This was good news. Yang cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath before kneeling down to the bottom shelves and started to scavenge. It was Ruby's turn to look out for Yang. After all, time was ticking and she knew they had little room to rest before taking off into the night.

"Yang, are you done yet? We don't have much time!" Ruby whined.

"Don't worry, sis. I got this."

With that said, Yang collected and carefully placed small quantities of highly explosive Dust and salvageable parts into her satchel. Most of the places that were abandoned on the surface had been cleaned out from previous scavengers, leaving little to no leftovers. It was frustrating although those greedy bastards usually ended up getting caught by patrolling androids of the Association.

What was their charge? Trespassing and a one million year sentence to slap onto their foreheads.

A sigh escaped from Ruby's lips. All that time, how could anyone be able to live with that?

"Hey sis, you okay?"

Ruby took a moment to shake off her drifting thoughts before looking up at her sister and nodded.

"I'm fine, Yang. Got what we need?" She asked.

Yang showed the satchel with Dusts and parts inside. "Yep! Let's get back before they show up."

Oh, that's right. They were violating two of the protocols the Association systematized for its people: trespass a place with surveillance and going up to the surface past curfew. Their home currently resided in the undergrounds of Vale, a shell of what was formerly known as a city of hope and prosperity. Historically, Vale was the place of opportunities for those that sought wealth, success and freedom. It appealed to people throughout Vytal to the point where many would take their chances to make a living there.

It was also the time when the overpopulation epidemic started to occur.

At first, the constant rise of new residences forced many people to move underground to save space. The Schnee Association proposed a plan for the new citizens to be settled with their just built homes as soon as possible within the next few months made possible by the amount of funds and profits the Association obtained from partnerships and Dust distributions.

The months passed and yet no word came back.

Citizens wondered what was going on up on the surface and decided to see what was going on. Many went out in small groups at a time, leaving the rest to stay put.

The groups never came back.

Eventually, the silence had been broken with blaring speakers systematically telling their citizens to come up to the surface to surrender themselves for "the greater good"-living a life sentence of one million years.

What was the reason of the life sentence? Many wouldn't know, except those that were ambitious enough to find out the truth behind the epidemic.

Ruby was one of those exceptions.

"Hello~ Earth to sis~ Are you lost in your thoughts again?"

Ruby blinked for a moment before a hand smothered her face.

"Mmmfph! Yang I'm so sorry I didn't mean to get lost into my own thoughts again I mean- -"

Yang pulled her hand back and chuckled. "It's fine. I'm concerned about you but we'll have more things to worry about if you keep your head in the clouds."

As if on cue, two pairs of footsteps were heard, echoing into the empty lot outside the shop. It sounded firm, precised, and uniform.

Both pair of eyes widened at each other, surprised and horrified of the situation they got themselves into.

"Oh, crap! They're here!? But they're not supposed to be around at this time!" Yang groaned.

"We need to hide, quickly!" By instinct, Ruby and Yang dove behind a counter for cover. They were close to an air vent, which led to the back of the building and a getaway exit to their underground home.

"Okay, now that we're here, we need to blind them with our "smoke screen". You've got some with you right, Yang?"

Yang quickly patted her pouch.

"…I only have one left." She uttered.

"Are you kidding me!? Why now!" Ruby shrieked in frustration.

"Ruby! They can hear you from here-"

"Intruders, identify yourself!"

[To be continued...]

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