"We received a new subject today.

Normally, I wouldn't remark on such a common occurrence but this one seems... different somehow.

For one thing, he's not obviously visually distinct from regular humanity. Most of the other subjects we have encountered and documented up until this point have had some feature or behaviour that has distinguished them from other people. But not this one. Had he not told us what he knew, we would have probably missed him.

The strangest thing is he volunteered to be here. Found the base using his power, so he says, and wanted to help out. We've yet to test anything about him so we can't be sure if he's telling the truth just yet. He seemed sincere enough when security locked the handcuffs around him.

While we set up the tests, the subject requested literature. Specifically, historical literature. The last supply run brought in several new additions to the Library for the longer term staff and I thought there was no harm in passing over a single book. None of the documented cases so far have required any implements to use their gifts so I doubt he's trying to escape.

At least, not yet. The first round of tests are scheduled for tomorrow.

When I handed him the book, one of the "Marvels of Remnant" series, he laughed. A full belly laugh. I asked him why he found it so funny.

"This was how I found you." He said. He just kept grinning after that.

We'll see how long that lasts."

From the Recovered Pages of Professor Argen's Journal.


Clack. Clack. Clack.

The cane hitting the floor echoed louder than any raised voice could have. An almost indescribable aura of authority surrounded the man as he walked up to the group of teens.

"Well?"

Ruby looked over at Jaune. Before he could speak, Ruby launched in. "I think it's a good idea!"

His head turned slowly towards her. "Oh, Miss Rose? Why do you think that?"

"Because… Because you wouldn't want me here if you just wanted to see about my abilities. You could have easily just called me out of class and tested me and then sent me back without revealing this place." Seeing a slight nod, Ruby continued. "The best way for me to train this… thing is to do so in an active environment. By fighting bad guys, I get experience in both fighting people and my ability!"

Professor Ozpin maintained his still gaze on the shorter girl. His face remained carefully neutral. "And what do I do if you fail?" He clacked his cane against the ground in frustration. "Mr Arc works for the Prism Foundation as do Mr Ren and Miss Valkyrie. I can easily explain and divert attention away from any potential problems they have. For the most part at least...

"But you, Miss Rose, are a Huntress in training to the outside world. Your actions and your behaviours outside of your Hunting duties are scrutinised by people at every imaginable level. If you are caught, it is entirely possible that I will not be able to help you. The consequences of any failures would be on your shoulders alone."

"Professor." Ruby started, a resolve in her eyes. "I can help people. You've already dragged me into working with Jaune and his "team." Why not let us train together now instead of later? I assume-"

"You assume much, Miss Rose." The stony face and expression stared back at her until Ozpin let out a sigh. "But, you make an interesting point."

"Very well. Miss Rose can go patrolling with you, Mr Arc-"

"Woo!"

"-And Mr Ren, and Miss Valkyrie, and Miss Nikos when she finishes her missions and her business in school. You will rotate who you go out on patrol with, Miss Rose. If you are to work with Jaune and his team, you will learn to work with all of them. Am I understood?"

At the collected group's nod, Ozpin continued. "Good. The disguise protocol will also be in effect. Miss Rose, you will have to leave Crescent Rose at Beacon before you can go on patrol."

"What?! But how am I supposed to fight!" Ruby protested. "My hand to hand skills are good but I'm so much better with my baby in my hands!"

"It's too easily linked back to you." Ren pointed out. "We all have to do it except Nora. And even she has particular rules about that-"

"Stupid no striking fools with lightning." Nora grumbled.

"Trust me. When it comes to the types of people we come up against, your scythe would be overkill. Besides, it's all part of the practice." Ren nodded as he patted Nora on the back.

"But what about Jaune!" Ruby said, desperately clinging onto her beloved weapon. "When I met him, he had his sword and shield out!"

"Wasn't on patrol." Jaune stated. "I was there to meet you. I'd hoped to catch you in the store and then those goons interfered."

"You fought goons?!" Nora cried excitedly. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Later?" Jaune said, gesturing to the crowd staring at them.

"I'm sure, Mr Arc, that you will explain everything else. Do be sure to see the Quartermaster here for new combat gear, all of you." The Professor tapped his cane gently on the ground and began to walk off.

"Professor!" Ruby called out.

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

She paused for a moment. "Thank you."

"Simply show me that you are taking this seriously and that will be thanks enough." His tone was at odds with his face. The neutrality of one clashed with the slight hint of happiness of the other. The clacking of the cane against the steel floor filled her ears as a small smile came to her face.

"C'mon," said Jaune. "We've got to get measured for new clothes. Might as well join us."


"Does it have to be so… dark?" Her voice was slightly muffled by the thin fabric that was acting as her mask. She looked down at her sleek leather jacket. She could feel the weight of the armored sections in the hood and torso press upon her like they did in her regular gear. She felt her combat boots flex against her feet as she rolled her toes together. The slight red threads that criss crossed the entire ensemble were the only concession to Ruby's normal sense of fashion.

That and the combat skirt. Some habits never die.

"Preaching to the choir, sister. I talked about getting some bright pink and they were all like 'No, that's not stealthy!' and I was like 'I'm not stealthy! I throw lightning at fools!'"

"About that…" Ruby said, her new uniform flowing in the evening wind. "Are you… y'know, like me?"

"Hm?" Nora said. "Oh! You mean like a Marvel! Nah."

"So what are you then?" Ruby asked before her thoughts mentally clapped slowly at her poor choice of phrasing.

"Badass, that's what." Nora laughed. "You remember the rules?"

"No being seen if possible. No intervention if we find an established operation. Stick to singles or pairs committing crimes. Radio base in case of possible major threats. Any Grimm in the city are free to engage. I miss anything?"

"Nope! You think you can make that jump over there?" Nora pointed to a building about fifty feet away.

"Probably. Bit of a run up-"

"Think you could make it without Aura?" Nora's grin was as much a challenge as her words were.

"But-But!"

"You've been training for nearly a week. Jaune thinks you're ready and everyone back at base agrees. You know how to activate it, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then go for it!" With a mighty slap on the back, Ruby found herself sprinting towards the edge. Her boots crunched against the rough surface of the roof while the wind rushed through her hair.

The world slowed as it had seemingly hundreds of times before. Her feet didn't slow down any but she could feel that same lurching sensation in her stomach. That same awkward rush that pushed her faster and faster towards the edge and the ground and-

Leap!

Her legs sprang her slight frame into the air. Ten, twenty, thirty feet straight up, it felt like. She looked around for a brief second and saw the start of Nora's eyes widening in what she hoped was surprise and not fear.

She turned back. As rapid as her ascent into the night sky was, her descent came even quicker. Ruby could see that she was gonna land-

SLAM.

Owwww.

Nora followed behind her, floating over using her hammer. "Haha! Nice! Full marks for the launch but poor show on the landing!"

Ruby picked herself up from the ground gently rubbing her lower back. "At least I made it without some stupid hammer!"

"Yep! Magnhild is pretty awesome!"

I can feel the smug coming off you… Ruby thought bitterly.

"That'll probably be the only exciting thing that happens tonight. Welcome to Boresville, Rubes."

"Huh? But I thought-"

"Don't get me wrong, there are nights where we get to kick butt up and down the streets. But it's only like one or two people at most. And they're all so easy!"

"That's a good thing, right?"

"I guess…" Nora sagged to sit down. "You ready for tomorrow?"

"Yep!" Ruby smiled. "It's so exciting! Finding out who our partners are gonna be, team assignments…" She hopped a little. She turned her head toward Nora, questions plain as day on her face. "Do you-"

"Know anything? Nope. Ozpin wouldn't tell us anything and all of the other Prism staff at the base at Beacon aren't Huntsmen. You heard anything?"

"Yang said something about "mud wrestling" but when I asked her what that was, she just laughed. I haven't really talked to anyone else besides you, Ren and Jaune." Ruby shrugged.

"Ah…" Nora's face hinted a shade of red before she shook her head. "It'll probably be something simple like names out of a hat. Y'know, something really random." She paused before she looked at Ruby again. "You talked to your sister about your Marvel thing yet?"

Ruby's head dropped. "No. There's just no good time. With her trying to find out how I got into Beacon so soon, I just think that mentioning it will cause more questions."

Nora shrugged. "Eh. It's your freaky weird power. You do you."

The two continued leap from building to building. The still night air was punctuated with the occasional sound of bodies crunching against rooftops and a young girl's voice quashing any sounds of "Ow!"

Eventually, that girl asked a question. "Hey, what's going on with Jaune and Weiss?"

"Jaune wouldn't tell you, huh? Kept saying he would but avoids it somehow?" Ruby nodded. "Yep. He doesn't like to admit what happened there to anybody."

"Didn't he assault her or something? The way she went off at him before the Headmaster's speech…" Ruby shook her head.

"No." Nora's eyes locked directly with Ruby's. "Jaune was trying to save her, no doubt about it."

"She seems to think so."

"She's annoyed that her last performance got interrupted. She didn't see the sniper in the crowd or the ammunition she was using. Jaune had to leap from the balcony and dive straight into her. Took a bullet in the ribs and then managed to get her to safety. Just because her father got all snippy with him doesn't give her the right to."

"That can't be it…" Ruby's mind raced around, riffling through facts and potential theories before a light bulb sprung to life above her head. "What was Jaune doing there?"

"Don't know. Jaune said he was a fan of her music. Does that matter?"

"Did he have any time alone with her later?"

"Are you suggesting-!" Nora grasped her hammer and glared at the younger girl.

"No! No! Just… Jaune got me here, right? He approached me and got me into this team, right?" At Nora's nod, Ruby continued. "So what if he made the same offer to her? What if she didn't want anyone to know about what she could do? I know I don't."

"You think Weiss Schnee, a girl who was watched by scores of adoring fans not to mention thousands of guards, is a Marvel and nobody knows about it?"

"I think that Jaune isn't a fan of her music, certainly."

"Hmm… Let me think about that." Nora tapped her hammer against her black sneakers. "Certainly been quiet enough tonight for chatting-"

A low scream tore up from a nearby street.

"Then again, maybe not." Nora said as they both sprinted towards the noise. Leaping from rooftop to street level, they quickly caught sight of the screamer.

An older man leaned against the front window of what Ruby assumed to be his store. In large calligraphy above him were the words "All is Dust." To his left, stalking out the front door, were numerous men and women of a variety of different sizes and shapes. The only thing that marked them as a group were the pale white and violent red masks they all wore. Standing over the man on the floor was a larger woman with a greatsword.

Said sword was currently trying to bury itself in the wall through the storekeeper. Ruby looked over at her patrol partner and found her crouched over with her fists clenched against her hammer.

"C'mon." Nora said, muscles tightening. "You in?"

Ruby nodded and shot forth in a mighty leap. With a slight twist in mid air, she collided feet first with one of the larger goons, sending him spiraling off down the street and scattering the Dust he'd been carrying all over the street.

"What the-!" Shouted the large swordwielder, pulling the blade out of the old man. "Get them!"

At her cry, the mask wearing contingent all drew an array of melee weapons and advanced menacingly on the new threat that had dared to interfere with their raid.

C'mon. Ruby though, dancing her feet and holding her guard up just like Yang had taught her. Bring it.

A lunging two person assault began the dance of carnage as Ruby sprung back and crouched down, letting the mace and hammer swing right over her. Feeling that lurching feeling, Ruby let it flow over her and forced herself forwards.

A single instant later, her fists met their faces in a flurry of blows that sent them and some of their teeth crashing against the ground.

"Hooo-ah!" She cried, holding out a challenging hand.

The greatsword wielder just shouted at the crew again. "C'mon you morons! She's just one-"

The hammer crashed right down next to her, sending the woman flying in the opposite direction as Nora quickly landed on it and spun around the pole, scattering the goons that were closest. A mighty leap forced the hammer off of the ground and a mighty smash collided with one poor goon straight in the face.

He hit the ground and went still. Nora's bright blue eyes issued a challenge to all the other fools in the area as Ruby just held her stance.

The larger woman, her muscles rippling through her body armor, dashed off in one direction as the group rushed off with their stolen loot in another.

"You take the big one!" Nora shouted. "I can round up these morons. Meet back here!" Like the lightning bolt on the hilt of her hammer, Nora blazed ahead and began swatting the large group of fools one by one.

They didn't stand a chance.

By the time Nora had finished explaining, the supposed leader of the robbers had already made it round a corner. Ruby desperately reached out for her speed once more, expecting that lurching feeling to come over her and -

Nothing? She thought. C'mon!

Using her own natural speed, Ruby gave chase. Leaping over knocked over trash cans and dodging the odd object thrown at her, Ruby eventually laid a hand on her prey and-

WHAM.

"Roman wasn't lying when he talked about the do-gooders in town." She mocked, planting a boot into Ruby's prone form. "You just stay down." Ruby noticed out of the corner of her eye that the woman had placed a hand to her ear. "Mr Torchwick? Yeah, we got another one. Nah, no scythe on this one…"

It continued on in this way as Ruby clutched at her chest. Her Aura was rapidly trying to fix the damage; she could feel it running through her.

Ugh… How'd she hit me so hard? Even with Aura…

"Well," The giant woman said, drawing out the word like she might a a sword. "You're outta luck. Boss says I can get rid of you without too much trouble from the cops. What with you being dressed up all sneaky."

The sword cut through the air.

Ruby felt the knot in her stomach grow, the lurching feeling came back, and she just grinned.

Alright!

She leapt up, fist balled up, and launched a punch straight into the jaw of her opponent. She imagined a flaming arc following her fist as her momentum pushed her higher into the air.

She landed. Her opponent landed a couple of moments later with a dull thump.

"Woo! Take that!" Ruby hopped into the air.

It only took her a few seconds to rush back to the store with the heavy muscles of her would have been opponent in tow. What greeted her was a sight to behold.

"Did you have to stack them up?" Ruby said.

"Hey, they tried to touch the hammer." Nora said. "Nobody. Touches. The hammer." She looked over at Ruby's hauled companion. "She out?"

"Yeah. Mentioned a name before I super punched her into the air. Ever heard of someone called 'Roman Torchwick?' or I guess it could be Torchwick Roman…"

"No…" Nora said. "It could be an alias? Better report it back at base. For now, you got those ties?"

As they began tying up the criminal element they had spent almost minutes on taking down, Ruby noticed something.

"Where'd she go!"

"Who?"

"The leader! She was right here!"

A faint tapping of boot on concrete caught her attention.

"There!" She dashed around the corner and found the alleyway she was looking at annoyingly empty. "How'd she get away so fast?!"

"We'll report it back at base." Nora said, finishing up the ties on the last goon. "For now, be happy that we caught these guys quick."

Ruby sighed. "But-"

"Nope!" Nora had a huge grin on her face. "None of that! Be happy!"

The hammer clenched in her hands seemed to lighten Ruby's mood very quickly.


(Betaed by rwbyfan5!

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