SUPRISE UPDATE

Chapter 10: Upgrade

SDC Manor, Hideout

Weiss woke up in the morning, finding herself looking up at a steel ceiling instead of the usual sky blue snowflake. She immediately recalled the events of the previous night, the explosions, rattling of machine guns, and the burning. The others are already awake, going to the restroom or brushing their teeth. Klein was making Whitley's bed, bags under his eyes as everyone went around preparing to leave the shelter. When the family walk outside, they notice that there are multiple plumes of smoke outside, the closest one right in front of them.

Schnee Manor was not completely razed down, but a few areas were in need of desperate repair, and looked like nothing but a prayer was keeping it together at the impact zone. Most of the fire has gone out, but a few areas we're still smoking and had to be contained to prevent it from spreading. Once white and spotless walls were charred, marred, and blackened, smoke rising from the middle of the Manor. Officers scrambled to the family, asking if they were alright, only appeased when Jacques told them they hid in their hideout and avoided the worst of the attack, others were not so lucky. The hit and run that the White Fang had done had not been as precise as the Fang had hoped, only a few industrial targets were hit by suicidal bullhead drivers, and the majority of the missiles had hit residential areas. A Faunus woman cried out for help as people rushed to remove a piece of a coffee shop that had trapped her, a boy stumbled around, wailing as he searched for his mother. A lone Atlesian flag stood in the middle of the carnage, flag waving proudly amid the chaos below. Fortunately for Atlas, the most of the other districts got away with light damage and small fires, with the Richer part of Atlas taking the most amount of damage. People ran around handing out flyers and newspapers, clamoring for people to read about the attack, even if they had recently experienced themselves. Most people busied themselves in the cleanup effort, either their own home or places that had people trapped.

The Schnees now stood inside their home, looking in awe at the damage inflicted upon the house by pieces of the ramming bullhead. A large engine crushed their grand piano, keys lying everywhere in the room like spent shells. They wasted no time searching for their most prized possessions, hoping that some of their best memories were not tainted by the burning night. Winter uncovered her two dual swords, shining in the metal box, bright as ever against the lights of her room. She carefully laid them back into the box, and went for the storage compartment of the mansion. She opened up a box, titled "Myrtenaster," covered in ornate silver bands and the Schnee snowflake. This world, the world of Remnant, was dangerous, and it was cruel as it was dangerous. Winter knew that Weiss was in great danger of being targeted, since she was one of the heirs to the corporation. She went up to her father and mother, and they nodded solemnly, they had hoped to give this to Weiss at a later age, but the recent events have shown just how vulnerable they were. It was time for Weiss to receive her weapon, Myrtenaster, a slim silver rapier with a revolver-like mechanism capable of storing dust, forged by one of the finest blacksmiths in Atlas. Winter gently beckoned Weiss back into a more intact part of their home. She knelt down, and opened up the box in front of her stunned sister. Weiss slowly picked up the rapier, flinching when her hands touched the cold handle, warming up for the first time in a few years. She put it back into the box, which her sister had put down, and embraced her.

White Fang HQ, Mistral

Sienna shouted out orders as Faunus milled around like ants, packing equipment into bullheads and trucks. Sienna knew that it was only a matter of time before the humans from Atlas would come, hell-bent on destroying the White Fang. Chances were that the Atlesian Council were not aware of the splinter cell, and the actions of said splinter cell would be traced to them. The other reason they packed up was because of the obvious trail some of the traitors had left that lead straight towards their base, and it was probably already picked up. What could not be carried away was burnt down, removing all evidence of the fang being at this mountainous stronghold. They left, destroying all trails of themselves and running off, retreating into the darkness as the sounds of warships were heard in the distance. Sienna looked on in sorrow from her bullhead. The organization's schedule was all off and bouncing off the wall from because of this betrayal, now they represented the will of the Faunus across the world.

Xiao Long/Rose Household

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Ruby's body started glowing a crimson red, and she cheered as she felt the power radiating throughout her body. In the corner of her HUD she saw a new marker appeared, labeled "Aura." There was another victory in the family, though it would be more fitting to be called a pyrrhic victory due to the fact that another portion of their backyard's plants were reduced to ash, especially the rare Pyrrhana Plant. The kids had been play-fighting in the backyard again, until Ruby accidentally let loose with a vicious elbow to the stomach, the fist also grabed a few strands of hair. Yang's Aura protected her from any actually permanent damage, but she was ticked off. She brought he hands up and practically roared, and it wasn't until Ruby started hosing down the plants with her attached Ice Dust cannon arm did she notice that she had sprouted flames. However, with Ruby distracted, she got a cheap shot off and knocked Ruby's head deep into the ground, and followed up with her best recreation of a suplex she saw on TV. Long story short, they were messing around, Ruby hit Yang and damaged her glorious main, and she erupted. When Tai came over she tried her best to convince him that the squirming Ruby with her head driven in the ground was in fact a new plant, and that the backyard was totally not in flames. She looked back to see Tai cradling his head, somewhat dead inside.

Qrow chose this moment to appear, with Blake sitting on his shoulders. He had decided to bring Blake to see some of Tai's famed flower beds. They looked at the mostly pristine garden, with a corner either covered in ice dust courtesy of Ruby's Ice Dust Cannon, or black ash. They looked to their right and saw Ruby and Yang apologizing while consoling Tai, who was sitting on the ground with an unreadable look on his face. The man turned and saw Qrow, and narrowed his eyes as he halfheartedly growled at him:

"Qrow, when we took that bet years ago, you must have done something fierce to your semblance, was this part of your plan too, Branwen?"

"Ehh, nope, but it sure is fun as hell to watch. Besides, I teach at signal, and Yang is giving me enough hell for me to get my own flask with Yang labeled on it, good grief."

The group decided to head in the house in the time being, and gathered at the couch. Tai sat in the middle, with a much heavier Ruby in his lap. Qrow and Yang took their places beside him, with Blake resting on Qrow's lap. Tai opened the TV, and switched to the Vale News Channel. Lisa Lavender took up the screen, with Attack on Atlas by White Fang emblazoned on the bottom of the TV screen. A collective gasp was heard as Lisa began talking:

"At around 11:00 PM Atlesian Standard Time, the White Fang, a once peaceful activist group, has gone rogue. About 2 months after they blew up a Faunus civilian at the gates of SDC Manor, they have gone and made a full scale attack on Atlas!

Fortunately, the Radar of the Atlesian Military command base detected them beforehand, and the terrorist's cloaking ran out halfway on their way to Atlas. The attackers were fended off, losing 129 confirmed vehicles and 5000 personnel. The Richer part of Atlas was hit the worst, resulting in around 400,000 lien in damage, and 400 wounded. There have been no confirmed deaths yet."

The TV then began showing pictures of the incident. Blake looked uneasily at the screen. She looked to her left and saw an urn at the windowsill, with the name RUBY ROSE inscribed on it. She then looked back at the person whose name it belonged to and her family, thanking the gods that they were decent people, and that she wasn't being pummeled onto the ground.

Ruby looked at the carnage, ears flicking with unease at the smoke and destruction being displayed. Her left hand unconsciously twitches, and her eyes grow wider with each new scene. The others began to notice this, and envelope the distraught girl with a group hug, all except Blake.

Blake looked away at the family, too afraid to join the hug, lest she give Ruby some bad things to think about. She knew Ruby was no longer fully human, the floating and limb detachment spelling android in every way possible, urn on the windowsill being the ultimate confirmation. Tears started falling down, and she tried to stop them but before she knew she was wailing, and then she felt a hug. Looking up with tearful eyes, she saw Tai, blonde hair blocking out the ceiling light. Another yellow head popped up behind him, this time with lilac eyes instead of blue. Qrow joined up with the two, plopping an uneasy Ruby right beside her.

Ruby, unsure of how to proceed, decided to give Blake a hug, a slow and unsteady hug, but one nonetheless. Blake flinched, still crying, but slowly put her arms around Ruby. Ruby started to cry a little herself, although no tears came out. Blake had never looked closely to realize the full extent of Ruby's change. But now she could clearly see the lines that ran around her shoulder and neck, which was anything but natural. Ruby also did not smell like any Faunus, her scent carried a sharp and metallic tang instead of the usual scent of flesh. She realized that she had been caught staring when Ruby shifted back and started looking at her. Ruby suddenly understood what Blake was staring at, the places where her cybernetics linked up together.

"Is everything robotic?"

"Yes…"

"How does that work?"

"I don't know, it was kinda weird. I was talking to my mom in a grassy field," Blake winced, realizing that Ruby probably died for a moment, "but then I wake up as some sort of ball, and I eventually connected everything." Ruby finished, with a smile.

"Well Ruby, I'm sorry, end I'm glad you're okay-HRRK" Yang appeared behind them and squeezed them together in a tight hug.

Qrow and Tai looked down as the scroll on the coffee table rang. Tai picked up, and immediately frowned, signaling Qrow to go upstairs:

"Well kids, it's time to get ready for the night, please help Blake navigate our house, it's quite large after all."

A collective groan came in three different pitches, but the kids complied nonetheless. They quickly cleaned up the coffee table and went upstairs to shower.

Tai began to talk to the caller, which happened to be Jacques Schnee:

"Hello Jacques how are faring? I was about to call you."

"The manor has a bullhead shaped hole in it, but most of the other rooms still have operating AC, and none of us got hurt, we'll be fine."

"Thank the stars… so what is it you need Jackaboy?" A groan was heard from the other end of the phone, with some giggling that sounded like his children.

"Why must you keep remembering the most cheesiest of nicknames? I called you for help."

"Is something wrong, I mean besides the manor being wrecked and all?"

"It's our security, Our house may be equipped with state of the art droids and cameras, but that is not enough to prevent a skilled assassin from sneaking in and murdering everyone."

"So you want to hire a friend over to help guard you."

"Precisely."

"That… is a good idea, though it means we might have to get a babysitter for Ruby, you and I both know how that would end for said babysitter. Ruby was already crazy, but now she's crazy with superhuman strength and gun arms, not to mention invisibility.

"Hmm, would bringing Ruby to Schnee Manor work? Weiss could use the company, especially since Winter and her instructor will be doing a survival lesson in Vacuo."

"Normally I would say no to that, bringing a 6 year old to work, but Ruby is anything but normal, and is practically immortal, so I guess we could make that work, as long as you're willing to sacrifice a couch or two."

"A couch is very little compared to what we could lose without your help. Thank you so much Tai, I know that you will keep our family safe."

"Anything for an old friend, Jackaboy."

"Uuuugh, well goodbye Tai."

"GoodTai to you too."

*Click*

Tai chuckled as the flustered businessman hung up, putting the scroll on it's charger.

A line I could've put in, but did not to keep the story somewhat serious:

"Was this part of your plan too Qrowjo?"

Also, i realized that school does not start in Spring, so i changed it to fall in the first chapter, which works cause Ruby's canon birthday is October 31st. I also fixed a slight repeat mistake in Ch 2