Ruby sat at the edge of the forest staring up at the Team RWBY memorial statue on the edge of the cliff. The setting sun placed a particularly beautiful beam of warm red and orange on the bronze. The statue was so enchanting. Yang had her arms wrapped around Weiss on her left side and Ruby on the right. She had a comically wide grin on her face matching Ruby's while Weiss had a soft smile to accompany her always prim and proper demeanor. Blake stood off to Weiss's left with a book in hand and the start of a smile adorning her countenance. It was a true work of art, the work of someone who really knew Team RWBY because no one less could have captured their very natures in this immortal statue. If she didn't know better, it looked like they had just returned from a mission and were standing by the cliff as they always did.

As the sun dropped closer to the horizon, the faces of the statue seemed to fade to a more gaunt look with the shadows cast by every small detail like their brow ridge and their noses. As the sun disappeared, the life from the once vibrant looking statue too disappeared. Ruby waited for the white lights below the statue to illuminate it once more as they did every night but they didn't come on. Ruby furrowed her brow and began thinking if they had forgotten or had simply stopped caring. The thought alone riled her and made her blood boil. But as she fumed, a red tinted beam shined on the memorial instead.

Ruby sighed. She had just finished one assignment and now she had another one. The frequent missions were getting a little exhausting. She stood up and began walking toward the park once more to receive her assignment.

She stayed in hiding at the edge of the forest, scouting for any potential threats before grabbing the envelope. When the coast was clear she put on her greatest burst of speed, flashing into existence for a fraction of a second to snag the envelope before vanishing again only to reappear in the forest. She took the white paper to a moonlit clearing deep inside the forest before reading it.

Bartholomew Oobleck, 46. Expert in human/Faunus relations and Remnant history. Adept in close quarters combat as well as long range projectile combat. Professor at Beacon Academy.

Ruby's blood really began to boil. What could Oobleck possibly have done to warrant his assassination? He believed in the good of humanity. That's why he tried to avoid conflict and decided to teach instead of becoming a huntsman. That's why Ruby wanted Oobleck to be her mentor. Maybe this was a test. Maybe they knew her identity and were seeing the lengths she would go to conceal her identity.

Well no longer. Ruby cleansed herself of any sins as soon as she began taking missions from someone else. Her targets' blood was on their hands, not hers. They chose to kill him, not her. And Ruby would not forgive Ozpin for this one. She was beginning to accept the deaths of her teammates but this was the last straw. Specifically asking for one of his own to be killed was unforgivable and Ruby would make Ozpin suffer for it.

—

Oobleck unlocked the door to his one-bedroom apartment with a small click. Walking to the other side of the living room, he placed his bag on his work desk before taking his hat off and placing it on a hook along with his cane. The darkness didn't bother him since he had been living there ever since he started teaching at Beacon and he knew his way around without ever having to turn on any lights. Yet even so, light was a source of comfort and it was only natural for him to turn on the lamp in the living room. What greeted him was horrifying yet pleasantly surprising.

Ruby sat nonchalantly on his living room couch with her massive sniper rifle trained on his head. Despite their familiarity, Ruby kept her face hidden by her hood. "Professor Oobleck. It's been far too long."

"Ruby Rose. I must be honest. I'm a little hurt you never came to visit. I see you've donned your mother's garb."

Ruby looked down at her white cloak and laughed a little without lifting her finger from the trigger. "Oh this? Yeah I guess it does look a little similar to her's doesn't it. I think of it more as a reminder."

"Of your mother?"

"No I came to terms with that. It's a reminder not to forget my team. It's a promise to keep their memory living on because you only die when nobody is alive to remember you."

She saw that Oobleck was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the small living room. "Please sit, Professor. That desk chair looks quite comfy."

Oobleck noted the irony in her command. He was being offered a seat in his own home. But he wasn't in a position to argue so he slowly walked over to the desk chair and sat down as the barrel of Crescent Rose followed him along.

"So it's true then. You visited your team's memorial on the cliff."

"The legend of the ghost of Ruby Rose must live on, I suppose."

"You were my best student, Ruby. I knew you would survive that mission."

Ruby clenched her free hand. Oobleck knew he struck a nerve.

"WELL THE REST OF MY TEAM DIDN'T!"

Another unsettling silence settled upon the room.

"Ruby, I can help you. Beacon provides trauma support and therapy for situations just like this."

"There are no situations like this. My sister died in that fight. My team was my family and my family was sent on a suicide mission. I refuse 'trauma support' from the people that caused the trauma in the first place."

"You can't honestly believe that Ozpin, Qrow, and Ironwood would send you all on a mission they knew you couldn't handle."

"We were soldiers to them, Professor. Pawns making a run for the other side of the board. They may not have known that it would be our final mission but they sure as hell knew it was going to happen eventually. They were just going to keep pushing us until we broke."

Oobleck remained silent, only lifting his hand slowly to push his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. Ruby knew that pushing his glasses up was his way of conceding a point. She pulled the bolt on her rifle back and pushed it forward to lock a bullet in the chamber, a long practiced motion and the mark of imminent death. Oobleck stopped his hand where it was and slowly let it down again.

"Let's cut the shit, professor," she said in her soft and calm voice. "Ozpin put a hit out on you."

Oobleck raised his eyebrows, visibly surprised.

"Now why would he want his colleague and friend dead?" Ruby asked rhetorically. Understanding dawned on Oobleck's face.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, as if suddenly receiving a revelation. "I know. Ozpin thinks that if I don't kill you then it will confirm my identity. I must be Ruby Rose because I mercilessly assassinated countless other but for some reason, I wouldn't take the life of Bartholomew Oobleck. Oh oh or maybe he wants everyone dead just like Team RWBY. The Oobleck Memorial." She shook her head. "Nah. It doesn't really flow."

"I know you, Ruby. You would never kill me no matter the cost." He was desperate now, grasping at straws to keep his life. His weapon was across the room and there was no way to take on Ruby even with his weapon. His only hope now was the power of persuasion. Or the power of the bluff. "I don't want to hurt you Ruby. So just put your precious weapon down for a minute.

"Ah you see, Professor? You knew the old Ruby Rose. I've changed. Losing three of your best friends tends to do that. Turns your heart to stone and all that other poetic crap. I really don't care about much anymore. And don't even try bluffing. Your thermos is by the door. I could be there before you even think about getting up."

Oobleck gulped in fear now. "The most I can say is I'm sorry. Nothing I can say or do will bring back Weiss, Blake, or Yang. But I can be your friend and I can comfort you. I can even conceal your identity if that is what you wish. Just please stop killing. You're better than this."

"No no no." Ruby shook her head vigorously. "You've got it all wrong. I'm not guilty of these murders. Ozpin is the one that put the hit on you. 1 million lien. Can you believe it? That's all you're worth to Beacon. But I digress. Ozpin is the one killing all these people and Ozpin will be the one to kill you. He is the one that is about to kill my friend. I'm just the hand by which he does it. I hope his conscience can bear the weight because mine is most definitely clean."

With that, she pulled the trigger. The loud bang of the shot was deafening to anyone within 1000 feet. Hundreds of fragments of Oobleck's head were splattered on the wall behind him.

Ruby sighed. "Such a pity. I really liked him."

She strolled over to the desk, picked up a clean notepad from a desk drawer and used Oobleck's blood to write a message with her finger. She tore the page out and placed it neatly on Oobleck's lap before picking up the bullet cartridge and disappearing into the night.