Hey everyone, it's acw28 here with something new!

So I'm not exactly sure whether to call this a story, an anthology, or just a writing experiment; all I know is that I've had this idea in my head for a few days and felt like I should get it out into the world ASAP.

So just a bit of background for those who found this story through my profile. I'm a pretty big fan of this game called Enter the Gungeon. It's a bullet hell roguelike, which basically means that you dodge a lot of enemy fire while the rooms, enemies, and power ups you encounter are completely randomized, even the boss of each level! It's an incredibly fun game, which makes it bittersweet that its final update came out today. While I'm excited to see the new weapons and items, and to fight the new secret bosses, I can't help but feel sad that this tale is ending. The game is filled with plenty of references to books, movies, videogames, and just about every aspect of pop culture. That got me thinking how various characters from a few of my favorite series would fair in the game.

So, this is my attempt to showcase just that. For each chapter, I'll be highlighting a different character, what guns and items they'd bring into the Gungeon (I'll try not to make anyone too overpowered), what synergies they'd introduce to the environment, what they'd unlock, and most importantly how they'd accomplish the game's final objective, killing the past.

I've got a few idea for characters I want to feature, but feel free to leave suggestions in reviews. With that, let's move onto the story.

Disclaimer: I own a copy of Enter the Gungeon, but not the copyright; neither do I own any other franchise featured in this story.

Character: Ruby Rose - The leader of Team RWBY. While once an eager student, Ruby found her duty to save the world thrusted upon her shoulders much sooner than expected. Despite the courage displayed by herself and her friends, the final battle was lost. With few escaping alive, Ruby sought ways to continue the fight, eventually learning of the Gungeon and the fabled Gun that could kill the past...

Appearance: Volume 4 outfit (default), Volume 1-3 outfit (kill the past), Prom dress (complete a blessed run), Slayer outfit (complete Boss Rush), Beacon Uniform (complete Challenge Mode), Pajamas (complete Tubro mode), young Maria Calavera (complete Rainbow Mode).

Starting weapon(s): Crescent Rose - "It's also a gun!" Lovingly crafted by its wielder, this high caliber weapon formally had the ability to transform into an intimidating scythe. Unfortunately, countless battles and the lack of spare parts makes this feat currently impossible, much to the sorrow of its creator. Effects: Infinite ammo, high recoil and knockback, does not crack secret walls. Semi-automatic.

Starting Item(s): Red Hood - "Thus kindly, I scatter" A memento of better times, the hood was given as a gift and has kept its wearer safe through many battles. Effects: Active item, dramatically decreases enemy and bullet speed for a short time, recharges after a considerable time.

Unlocks: Zwei - "Cute Puppy!" A faithful corgi companion, this pup is never far from his master's side, especially in battle. Effects: Passive item, charges at enemies and deals damage; can be fired upon to ignite which dramatically increases speed and adds burn damage to enemies.

Synergies(s): "Like meeting new people, but better!" - Crescent Rose and Huntsman: Crescent Rose changes appearance to a Scythe-Sniper, player swings weapon upon reload, deals melee damage to enemies and destroys bullets; Huntsman appearance changes to have duel blades on the stock, shots deal explosive damage.

"Dust" - Crescent Rose and Shock Rounds, Explosive Rounds, Irradiated Lead, Hot Lead, and/or Frost Bullets: all shots have the corresponding effect but severely limit magazine size.

As she approached the chest, Ruby couldn't help but feel like this moment was bittersweet. If she was honest, the former leader of Team RWBY would miss this place, sure the guns didn't transform like she was used to but it was so fun finding the ones that had their own powers, like the pistol that let her turn invisible! But as wonderous as this place could be, it was time to go home.

It had been a long journey. After many battles and sacrifices, Ruby, her friends, and her family had been prepared to for the final climatic battle to decide the fate of Remnant. They were confident that they would triumph against Salem, they were wrong. Of those who followed Ruby into the immortal witch's castle, only a handful escaped with her. While humanity was left in shambles, Ruby wasn't satisfied with winning the war any more, she wanted to save everyone.

Thus her quest began. With all her free time spent between battles scouring any books she could find, Ruby eventually found her answer. In the unpublished notes of Doctor Oobleck, Ruby learned of a forgotten legend, of the gun that could kill the past. With the mission in her head, Ruby left her friends to find the weapon that would win this war once and for all. A week of wandering Salem's lands later, and Ruby found a cave. She could not tell how long she spent in the darkness, but eventually she came upon a large cavern bathed in a haunting blue light that emanated from a large temple with a skull faced entrance. Inside the Huntress found a couple of ghosts, a rather knowledgeable drunk, a number of shops without wares, and a few beings demanding something called Hegemony Credits for their services. Initially Ruby ignored all of them, solely focused on her self-appointed task.

It had been a challenge. This place, this gungeon, had a strange effect on Ruby. Her Aura was gone, but her Semblance became stronger than ever, even if her ability to use it became very limited. Her beloved Crescent Rose, long since crippled due to a lack of spare parts, had no shortage of ammo. Even better, the few times Ruby chanced upon a shotgun vaguely resembling Professor Port's, her sniper rifle had fixed itself to her preferred form. Yet there were also drawbacks, for one many stood between her and her goal, and they were armed as well.

Ruby couldn't explain it, but while she could survive a shot to the chest if she were grazed six times it proved fatal. She'd died many times, much more than she'd like to admit. But to Ruby that pain was worth it if she could save her loved ones.

And now here she was. Back on the first floor she'd defeated the thugs Shades and Smiley before moving on to face the dreaded Ammoconda on the next floor. The Treadnaught proved to be of little challenge, while the High Priest proved to almost be the end of her. Once the Huntress finally made it the High Dragun, Ruby eagerly met its challenge. The battle was hard fought on both sides, but in the end the beast could not stand up to the young woman's determination. With a final shot to the heart, Ruby emerged the victor and was allowed passage to the gungeon's final chamber.

Now done reminiscing, Ruby looked at the fabled weapon. The gun that could kill the past looked like an ordinary revolver, save for the long barrel that curved upward and back towards the shooter. Loading the specially made bullet that she'd been given by the Blacksmith of the fifth floor, Ruby said to herself, "Well not the first time I've looked down the barrel of a gun, first time I held it though." Steadying herself, Ruby took a deep breath before reassuring herself, "If this doesn't work, you'll just wake back up in the Breach and try again."

She closed her eyes.

She pulled the trigger.

She heard a bang.

Before opening her eyes, Ruby could already tell something had changed. For one it was how she held Crescent Rose. In its gun form, her creation had a pistol grip but right now she knew she was holding the weapon by its shaft, meaning it was in scythe form. Opening her eyes revealed that she was standing in Salem's throne room, the place of her greatest failure. And sitting in her seat, barely even paying attention to her was the leader of the Grimm, Salem.

"So," the immortal witch began, "this is Oz's last hope? His honest soul that would strike me down?"

Ruby already knew how this battle was going to play out. She'd attack relentlessly and actually nearly defeat Salem, only for Tyrian to come from his fight and support his goddess. Eventually Ruby would run out of Dust shots and be forced to flee after the insane Faunus managed to catch her blade between his gauntlets and break it. While she'd be able to escape from Salem's domain, she'd soon learn what the defeat had costed.

Ruby knew all of this, so instead of rushing into she held up a finger and said, "Just wait one minute, I'll be right back!" Before the queen of the Grimm could reply, Ruby was already rushing out of the throne room with the aid of her Semblance. It was time to save her family.

She found her father first. Taiyang Xiao Long had just landed a heavy blow against Tyrian, but was unaware of the stinger about to pierce his stomach. It was a bit of an odd angle, but Ruby managed to once more sever the poisonous appendage before rushing off again. She found her Uncle Qrow locking blades against Cinder. Taking half a millisecond to wonder how the evil Fall Maiden had continued to stay alive, Ruby quickly pulled her swords down, leaving her completely open to whatever attack her uncle would unleash. Weiss had somehow been matched against Hazel Reinhardt, and while she knew her BBF could summon a Grimm of her own to handle the man, that'd leave the Schnee with no Aura, so Ruby settled for throwing the misguided man off the cliff so her friend could conserve energy. Last was Yang and Blake facing off against Mercury and Emerald. Four quick shots later and the assassin was missing his robotic legs while the thief lost her pistols, leaving Ruby's sister and her partner at a distinct advantage.

With all that done in the span of a few seconds, Ruby rushed back to the throne room. Although out of breath and extremely exhausted, she couldn't help but smile. She'd managed to save everyone, now it was time to finish the fight. With her breath back, the young woman glared at Salem, ready to end things.

For her part, Salem continued to appear uninterested, with a board flick of her wrist she sent a black ball of energy at Ruby, that the Huntress easily dodged before retaliating. As she ran, the Huntress emptied her clip into Salem. Although the ageless woman didn't give any indication, Ruby knew she'd caused some damage. The Grimm woman seemed to realize this as well as the neck attack was a grand sweeping of her arm that caused a line of black energy to materialize and speed forward. Not wanting to get hit, Ruby dodge rolled over the attack before ejecting the empty clip and reloading a fresh magazine into the gun to continue firing.

Although she continued to do damage, Ruby knew Salem was more annoyed than hurt. Eventually the woman stood up from her chair, brought her arms inward before flinging them outward to release more balls of energy. Quickly Ruby moved to one of the few free areas of the room, continuing to fire on Salem as she went. Suddenly Salem brought her arms back before leaning forward and clapping her hands together, sending all the dark energy surging forward. With not enough time to dodge roll, Ruby swung her scythe forward, cutting through the attack and allowing the dark energy to dissipate.

With the brief lull in the battle, Ruby smirked at seeing Salem heavily breathing. Now it was the witch's turn to glare as she stated, "Enough of these games. You, just like all of Oz's plans, are doomed to fail." With a snap of her fingers, the woman summoned two of her monsters.

"Oh, come one!" Ruby complained at seeing the winged Beringels, "That is so unfair. Those things are way too OP even without wings!" Predictably, the Grimm responded by attacking. Although the pair rushed the Huntress with a speedy divebomb, Ruby was use to dodging the much faster, and much more annoying, Gripmasters and Tarnishers of the Gungeon and was easily able to sidestep the attacks. Not wanting to be distracted by the pair of Grimm, Ruby pressed her advantage, rushing towards the pair and in two quick slices, shredded their wings. As the gorilla like Grimm cried out in pain, Ruby finished them off with two point blank rounds to the head. With the minions defeated, Rub shifted her attention back to the master.

Unfortunately Salem had not been ideal. It was the loud scream that gave Ruby enough warning to start running. It appeared the mistress of Grimm was done with balls and waves of destructive power and was now focusing a beam of dark energy through her hands in an attempt to defeat Ruby. Running around the circular room clockwise, Ruby began to spiral towards the center, towards Salem. This, however, presented a problem of the attack's speed increasing as Ruby drew nearer.

Reaching into her ammo pouch, the Huntress was relieved to feel two blanks. 'I'm going to have to time this just right.' Ruby psyched herself up to what would either win her the battle, or cost her another journey through the Gungeon. Halfway to Salem, Ruby crushed the first blank, momentarily dissolving the beam into thin air. However seconds later the beam returned, at which point Ruby crushed the second blank before stopping and charging straight to Salem. She was a fourth of the way to the witch before the beam came back. Ruby responded with slash after slash from her scythe. After what seemed like an eternity, Ruby hit her target.

With a smirk, Ruby stood victorious over Salem, the mistress of Grimm being pinned to her throne with Crescent Rose stabbed through her chest and into the chair.

Coughing up some of her black blood, Salem commented, "You should have aimed for the head."

"Why? So you could reform and go through all this again?" Ruby asked. "No, instead I want to show you something." Ruby cleared her mind before focusing on her desire to protect her friends and family. She recalled seeing the bodies of her father, his skin an unnaturally pale color, her uncle, littered with stab wounds, and what was left of Yang, Weiss, and Blake once the Grimm were through with them. She remembered her journey into the Gungeon and all the deaths she'd endured to ensure this fate did not come to pass.

A bright light filled her vision. Once Ruby could see again, she saw what was left of Salem, turned into a stone statue, much like what happened whenever Ruby defeated the Gorgun. With Crescent Rose imbedded in the stone, Ruby fired off a round to free her weapon. This resulted in the women-turned-statue crumbling and littering the floor.

Once more smirking, Ruby asked aloud, "How's that for a happily ever after?"

Before she could do anything else, Ruby heard the sound of a gunshot before seeing darkness.

Opening her eyes, Ruby was disappointed to find herself back in the Breach. Releasing a huff, the young woman made to stand up, only for something new to catch her eye. Folded neatly beside her was a black shirt and black combat skirt with red trim. 'Hey, this looks like my old clothes.' Reaching towards the fabric, Ruby was rewarded with a bright flash. Once she regained her vision, Ruby found herself wearing her old outfit while her usual clothes were neatly folded to the side. Chalking it up to the magic of the Gungeon, Ruby marched onward to find answers.

As expected, the ghost of Ser Manuel was asleep while Blocker's was gone, no doubt back in the lower levels of the Gungeon causing mischief. That was fine, while Manuel shared practical knowledge, right now she needed to know more about the lore of the place. As such, Ruby approached the Drunkard and kicked his foot to wake him up.

Upon noticing the young woman's change in appearance, the blue skinned, reptile like man asked, "Defeat your past did ya? And yet you remain here. Funny how that works."

"So then you know how I can go back home?" Ruby challenged.

"I do, but you can't, not yet." As Ruby was about to demand an explanation, the Drunkard stated, "You defeated your personal foe and almost all the Gungeon held, take pride in that. Many don't make it that far."

"Almost?" Ruby asked, latching onto the key piece of information.

Releasing a sigh, the Drunkard explained, "Deep below the Forge lies a sixth chamber, Bullet Hell. Here resides the master of the Gungeon, The Lich."

"How do I get there." Ruby demanded, eager to concur this last challenge.

"You can't." The Drunkard explained as he shook his head, "Only the Lich chooses when the pathway is open." Grabbing one of the many bottles beside himself, the man finished, "Give it two or three more Gungeoners conquering their pasts, then the Lich will be frustrated enough to attempt to see to things himself."

Ruby opened her mouth to ask how the man could know something like that, only to find the Drunkard fast asleep. Huffing in annoyance, Ruby stomped away in frustration at finding no help. She had defeated her past and saved everyone, but now the Huntress was trapped here for the foreseeable future.

'Hopefully some more people come soon.' Ruby thought to herself as she looked around the Breach, searching for something to occupy her time. 'Maybe I'll go ahead and give Boss Rush a try while I wait.'

I hoped everyone enjoyed Ruby Rose's journey into the Gungeon. As far as the unlockable skins, yes I know in the game you only get one, but I figured if you're attempting a challenge, you might as well get a prize. I also know that synergizes don't appear for starting weapons, but this is just me having fun.

So, who will be next to enter the Gungeon? I have a few characters in mind, but feel free to share your suggestions in the reviews and I'll see if I can try my hand at a few.

But for now, I'm acw28 saying, "until next update."