Notice Me, Ruby!

Chapter 10: Sticks And Carrots

Over two weeks had passed since Ruby had given her tour that had gone horribly wrong and things had somewhat calmed down. While the redhead was keeping a good distance from her teammates and glaring at them, she wasn't completely hostile towards the three older girls either. The reason for that was the help Ruby had received from not only Ozpin, but the other teachers at Beacon as well. Since all of the school's professors were well-known Huntsmen and Huntresses, their words had a great effect on many things. Even if the teacher that had sworn to make Ruby's disastrous tour known to all other schools and Huntsmen associations did what she threatened to do, her words didn't have anywhere near the weight all of Beacon's staff did. The professors were more than aware of the problematic situation within team RWBY, so they made sure that the team leader's reputation wasn't going to be destroyed.

With her biggest worry having been taken care of, Ruby could somewhat calm down with her teammates. However, that didn't mean she wasn't angry with the older girls or that she would stop avoiding them like the plague. The WBY just could feel relieved that their young leader wasn't going to put them through hellish pain for their mistakes.

Right now, the members of team RWBY were in Glynda's combat class, waiting to be called down to a practice match. Ruby was sitting as far away from her team as possible, not willing to take any risks with her teammates. While everyone else was focused on the fight between Cardin and Nora down in the arena, Yang was focused completely on Ruby.

"What am I going to do?" the blonde asked with a sigh. "Everything I've tried so far has only backfired at me in the worst possible way and made things worse. Is there really nothing I can do anymore?"

"Well, what you could do for starters is focus on our class," Weiss said in a slightly angry tone. "Since you're not going to be putting all of us at risk with whatever dumb idea you get, you might as well try to learn something."

"Easier said than done, princess," Yang said back to her teammate along with giving her an angry glare. "The situation between me and Rubes is worse than ever before, yet you want me to waste my time watching Nora and Cardin fight? What am I supposed to learn from watching Nora hand Cardin his ass on a plate?"

"It's not good to underestimate others, Yang!" the heiress argued. "There's a chance that-"

"BREAK HIS LEGS!" Nora suddenly yelled down at the arena, cutting off the white-haired girl.

*CRUNCH!*

"OH GOD, MY LEGS!" Cardin cried out in pain.

"...Never mind. The point I'm trying to make is that you can't simply ignore your studies," Weiss continued. "I understand that your situation with Ruby weighs heavily upon you, but you can't just abandon everything else in your life for that."

"Besides, it's not like you can do anything right now, can you?" Blake added to her two teammates' conversation. "Considering what happened last time you tried something, I think it's best for you to avoid angering Ruby further. I'd say it's best to give her some time to calm down for now, before you approach her again."

"I guess you two are right," Yang said with a sad sigh. "I just can't help but feel that there might be a plan that-"

"NO," both Weiss and Blake said sternly at the same time while glaring at their blonde teammate.

"Yang, every plan and scheme you've tried so far has only backfired on you in the worst possible way! I think it's time you forget about those!" Weiss said angrily.

"...They all seemed like good ideas in the beginning."

Back down at the arena, Glynda had managed to get some medical personnel to take Cardin away. While she was somewhat upset that Nora had actually gone and broken a fellow student's legs during a practice match, she couldn't really get angry at the ginger girl. Not only were her students training in order to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, where injuries were very common, the students themselves should be prepared for the possibility of such injuries during combat, whether it was training or not. Not to mention, the blonde teacher would be lying, if she said that she didn't think that the brown-haired boy deserved what he got. Cardin's bullying was well-known not only by the students, but by the teachers as well. Sometimes, karma would come up without any proper warning.

"Alright, thank you for that skilled, although a bit brutal, display of your skills, Ms. Valkyrie," Glynda said to the ginger girl, who went to sit with her team while grinning widely. "Now, for the next match I would like to call two specific students down here. Could Ms. Rose and Ms. Nikos come here?"

Every student, with the exception of Ruby, went wide-eyed upon hearing the names their teacher had called. Pyrrha was easily the most skilled and famous student in the whole school due to being the Champion of Mistral, so having her face off against a single student seemed like ending a puppy against a full-grown lion. After all, the amazon was able to take on entire teams on her own without breaking a sweat, so this match-up seemed like a very bad idea. Ruby might be skilled, but no one considered her to be on Pyrrha's level.

"Umm... Professor Goodwitch? Are you sure you don't want our whole team down there?" Yang asked as she stood up, worried over Ruby's safety. "I mean, surely you must not mean that Ruby is going against Pyrrha on her own."

"Actually, I do want to have Ms. Rose fight against Ms. Nikos on her own," Glynda answered. "There is something I want to test out, so I've decided to have said two students go against each other."

"I-I must protest this!" the blonde girl yelled. "Having Ruby go against Pyrrha is not- OW!"

Yang's complaint was cut off by Ruby, who used her Semblance to suddenly appear next to the older girl, where she grabbed Yang's ear painfully and pulled it down, bringing it's owner with it.

"One more word out of your big mouth and I swear I'll shave your head bald. Understood?" the young team leader said in such an angry tone that it sent chills down the spines of everyone nearby. With her threat given, Ruby used her Semblance to go down to the arena and wait for her opponent.

"It seems Ms. Rose is more than willing to face off against Ms. Nikos," Glynda said with an almost invisible smirk on her face, as she was glad that her youngest student had put her most troublesome student in her place. "Now it all depends on Ms. Nikos, whether this match happens."

Pyrrha was still sitting on her seat, as her body was still frozen in shock from hearing who she was going to be fighting. It wasn't that the amazon thought of Ruby as a weak opponent. In fact, she was more than willing to admit that the scythe-wielder was quite possibly one of the strongest fighters around the whole school. However, she was still supposed to face against a girl that was two whole years younger than her. Ruby might be a prodigy that got accepted to Beacon early, but Pyrrha was still the Champion of Mistral. The amazon couldn't help but feel like her fighting against the young team leader was the same thing as bullying.

But despite how Pyrrha was seeing this fight as terribly one-sided, there was one feeling that prevented her from simply refusing the match. That feeling was pride. Ruby might have been younger and less experienced, but she was still ready to face against the most famous fighter in the whole school. If Pyrrha backed down now, how would everyone feel about it? Would they believe that the older redhead did it in order to not hurt the younger student? Or would they think she was afraid of Ruby? In the end, that was something the Champion of Mistral could not stand, and it was ultimately the one thing that helped her make a decision.

Grabbing her weapons, Pyrrha walked down to the arena, ready to face her opponent.

"Do not look down on me just because of my age," Ruby warned as she took out her scythe and got ready. "Not only will I never forgive you for that, but I'm certain you'll regret it."

"No worries. I won't do such a thing," Pyrrha said as she also got her stance ready.

All the students in the audience were holding their breaths as they waited for the match to start. Especially the other members of teams RWBY and JNPR. However, while Pyrrha's teammates were somewhat excited to see their teammate in action, Ruby's teammates were shaking with nervousness and fear, worrying over their young team leader.

The one who was the most worried was Yang, who wanted to do nothing but dash down into the arena and stop the match. If it wasn't for Ruby's threat, she would have most likely done that as well.

With both both combatants at the ready, Glynda raised her hand and brought it down, starting the match between the two prodigies.

(About two and a half minutes later.)

"I GIVE! I GIVE! UNCLE! UNCLE!" one of the two fighters screamed while furiously tapping one of their hands on the floor, signaling that they had given up.

However, while most would have expected that the girl who would be giving up to be Ruby, the truth was completely different. It was Pyrrha who was surrendering, as she had been bested by the younger redhead.

Thanks to Ruby knowing about her opponent's Semblance, she had actually decided not to rely on her weapon, which was something no one had predicted. Instead of using her scythe the way she usually did, Ruby actually threw her weapon at Pyrrha with all of her might. This move had caught the amazon completely off-guard, which prevented her from being able to avoid the oncoming weapon with her Semblance alone. With the combination of her shield and her Semblance, Pyrrha had somehow been able to block the attack.

However, that had simply been nothing but a distraction from Ruby, as she used the brief moment where her opponent wasn't looking at her to use her Semblance. With the speed of her special ability, the young team leader had quickly made her way behind Pyrrha, where she delivered a very strong punch to the older redhead's side. Pyrrha tried to strike back with her sword, but only managed to hit a couple of rose petals that were left behind by the younger girl's Semblance.

By pushing her ability to it's maximum, Ruby managed to speed around Pyrrha in such a way that the amazon couldn't properly fight back, while the young team leader kept throwing punches and kicks at her helpless opponent. While her strikes weren't the most powerful, Ruby managed to connect a lot of them at a fast rate, which quickly drained Pyrrha's Aura.

With most of her Aura gone due to the team leader's barrage of punches and kicks, the champion was left dazed and practically defenseless. Pyrrha still tried to fight back and swung her sword at her opponent, but the attack was easily dodged. It was at this moment that Ruby decided to end their sparring match by grabbing the older girl's arm and sweeping her legs off the floor, bringing Pyrrha down. With a good hold on her opponent's arm, the young team leader began to bend it in a very painful manner, causing Pyrrha to cry out from the pain.

Since her Aura and her stamina had been pretty much spent, the amazon was left with no means to put up a proper struggle anymore. At this point, Ruby could easily break her arm, if the younger girl wanted to, which led to Pyrrha surrendering.

"The winner is Ruby Rose!" Glynda declared with a proud smile on her face, happy to see how much her youngest student had improved.

All the students were in awe of what they had just witnessed, especially the members of team RWBY and team JNPR. No one could fully believe what they had just witnessed. The famous "Invincible Girl" had just been utterly defeated by a girl that was two years younger than her. Yet as impossible as it seemed, it didn't change the fact that Glynda had just announced Ruby as the winner or the fact that it was Pyrrha who was laying on the floor in defeat.

"Did... Did that just happen?" Weiss asked with wide eyes. "Did Ruby just actually beat Pyrrha in a match?"

"I think "beat" might not be a suitable term for what we just saw," Blake said to the heiress. "I think "humiliate" might be more fitting."

"Wow... Just wow," Yang said in awe, but the corners of her mouth were tilted upwards a bit in a small smile. "I-I knew Rubes was tough, but I never could have imagined THIS. Just when did she learn unarmed combat skills? I always thought that she hated them!"

Back down at the arena, both Ruby and Pyrrha were starting to make their way to their seats, but the younger girl was suddenly stopped by Glynda.

"Ms. Rose, would you mind and stay after class for a while?" the blonde teacher asked. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Of course, Professor Goodwitch," Ruby replied. "What is it about?"

"Let's talk about it once all the other students have left, alright?" Glynda said and then went to dismiss her other students, allowing them to leave.

However, while most of the other students had left, Yang had still stayed behind. Both Glynda and Ruby were staring at the blonde girl, wondering what she wanted.

"Ummm... R-Ruby? I saw your... you know... moves, during your fight with Pyrrha, and it got me thinking," Yang began to say nervously, stumbling over her words the whole time. "Would you like to go and maybe spar with me? I'd like to see how you'd do against me in an unarmed match, and maybe I could teach you some tricks or something. How about it?"

"Thanks for the offer, Yang, but I'm not in the mood for that," Ruby replied with a frown, still very upset with the older girl. "Maybe some other time."

"Oh... Okay," the brawler said in a saddened tone from having her offer rejected. "M-Maybe some other time?"

"We'll just have to wait and see if that ever happens," the redhead said sternly, clearly not happy to talk with the older girl.

Yang was about to speak up again, but was cut off by Glynda this time.

"Ms. Xiao Long, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. I have some very important business to speak about with Ms. Rose and we need some privacy for that," the witch said in a tone that left no room for an argument. "Besides, I think you might want to give Ms. Rose some space, considering some of the recent things you've done."

Seeing as there was nothing she could really do, Yang's shoulders slumped down in defeat and she walked away, leaving her team leader and teacher alone.

"So, Professor Goodwitch, what was it that you needed to talk about with me?" Ruby asked. "It's not anything bad, is it?"

"Oh, of course not! You have been doing wonderfully well in all of your classes!" Glynda said happily. "You have actually been doing so well that all of the professors of this school have taken notice of it. In fact, there might be a great opportunity for you in the near future."

"Really?" the student asked with a hint of excitement in her voice. "What is it?"

"I'm afraid that is something to be discussed later. We still would like to test you out on one little thing first," the teacher answered. "You see, while your own grades have risen tremendously and past everybody else, your teammates' grades have been dropping, especially Ms. Xiao Long's. What we want to see now is if you can fix that and prove yourself as a team leader."

"And... how do I do that?" Ruby asked while somewhat dreading the answer.

"That's simple. On Professor Port's next test, I want all of your team's members to get over 90 % of the total score. If you are able to make that happen, I promise you that there will be a great opportunity waiting for you."

"...I'll see what I can do," the redhead replied in a low tone, showing her doubts about the whole thing. 'This isn't going to end well, is it?'

Meanwhile, the rest of team RWBY were in their dorm, waiting for their leader to arrive. Weiss and Blake were sitting on the heiress' bed, looking over Yang, who was sitting on the cat faunus' bed with her head hanging low from depression. Ever since the three girls had gotten out of Goodwitch's class, the blonde girl had been in a very sad mood, which the other two girls guessed was caused by Ruby somehow.

"Yang, don't get so down, okay?" Blake said, hoping to cheer up her partner. "I know that things are... bad between you and Ruby, but you shouldn't let it get you down like this. You will have a chance of making things right with her. You just need to wait for the right opportunity. That's all."

"I know. I just that I wish I could get the opportunity sooner, you know?" Yang said with a sad sigh. "I mean, how could I miss Rubes building up her hand-to-hand combat skills like that? How did she even learn all of that? I remember trying to teach her some of my moves, but it never really clicked with her. Even then, I always imagined that I would be the first person she would go to for advice on that field. Seeing how she somehow found a way to learn without me makes me feel like she doesn't need me anymore."

"You shouldn't think like that. I'm certain she still cares about you a lot. It's just that some of things that she's been through are kind of fresh in her mind," Weiss said, trying to comfort her teammate. "Just give her some space to calm down and I'm sure you can go for it later, okay? Besides, now you have something to hopefully bond over with her."

"I get that, but I just had my event mark and totally blew it. I'm not sure if I can get another one."

There was a moment of silence as Weiss and Blake looked at each other, before turning their attention back towards Yang.

"Event mark?" both girls asked at the same time.

"Yeah! You know how in RPG's there are markers showing where the quests are?" the brawler explained. "Me getting a chance to bond over hand-to-hand combat skills with Ruby was definitely something like that! Only this time it doesn't stay there forever, like in games..."

"...You play too many video games, Yang," Weiss said with a sigh. "Anyways, you just need to be patient and wait. It's not like Ruby is going to just march through that door and give you a chance to-"

Before the heiress could finish speaking, the door to the dorm was suddenly opened by none other than Ruby. The young team leader's face was red and twisted in a frown, almost like she was angry about something.

"R-Ruby?" Yang managed to say, being the first one of the three older girls to break out of her shock. "W-What is-"

"Zip it, Yang. I've got something to say to you all and I need you to listen. Not talk. Understood?" Ruby said sternly in a tone that immediately silenced her teammates, who only nodded in response. "Alright. We all know that things have been rather difficult between us, correct? However, right now, I need all three of you for something and I am not about to take no for an answer."

The three older girls simply nodded again, afraid of possibly angering the younger girl by speaking. However, even when they were scared of Ruby, they were curious as to what she needed them for so suddenly.

"You do know that we are going to have test from Port very soon, right?" the scythe-wielder began. "Well, the thing is that I REALLY need you three to do something for me. I need all of you to study like your lives depended on it and get at least 90 % on that test. Got it?"

Weiss and Blake looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea as to why Ruby would suddenly ask something like this from, especially with everything that had been going on. It honestly didn't make sense for them, as the redhead hadn't cared about her teammates' studies at all ever since her change in attitude.

However, while the monochrome duo was wondering what this was all about, Yang's body was trembling. There was one feeling going through the blonde's body over what she just heard and that was excitement. Just moments ago, she had been worrying about Ruby not needing her, yet here they were with the younger girl saying that she needed Yang.

Well, Ruby actually needed ALL of her teammates and not just Yang, but that was a minor detail that the brawler didn't care about at the moment. The fact was that she was needed by the young team leader and Yang was not going to let this chance go to waste. Now she just needed something to truly get motivated for this and she would make sure that the WBY would all fulfill Ruby's wish.

"Now, I know that I'm asking for a lot, so I'm ready to repay your efforts, alright?" Ruby said, which made Yang's eyes light up. "Now, I know I can't get some of the things you guys really like, but I can at least get you-"

"Say no more, Rubes!" Yang suddenly yelled excitedly, surprising everyone. "I'll make sure that we'll get the test results you need, so don't worry!"

"Wha- I mean- Sure?" the redhead stumbled on her words, having been caught off-guard by the older girl's sudden response. "But for the reward, I was-"

Ruby didn't get a chance to finish, as Yang grabbed hold of both Weiss and Blake before running out of the dorm, leaving only a dust cloud behind. The young team leader could only stare at the door that was left open in silence.

"...Is this going to be alright?"

Back with the WBY, Yang was running down the hallways while dragging her two teammates behind her. Despite Weiss and Blake screaming from both pain and anger, the brawler didn't even slow down a bit. The only thing that was on her mind was her newest chance with Ruby and she was not going to miss it, no matter what she had to do.

The three girls soon got into the library, where Yang placed her two teammates on chairs at a table before running to get the books they would need. In a couple of seconds, the blonde returned with a huge pile of books that she placed on the table, before taking a seat at the table as well.

"Alright, ladies, let's get to work!" Yang declared with enthusiasm. "It's time we show Rubes what we're made of!"

Weiss and Blake gave each other a confused look, before turning their attention back to the brawler. Both girls were hunched over the table and holding different spots on their bodies that were in pain from being dragged across the floor.

"Are you saying that you put both of us through hell just so that we could have a STUDY SESSION?" Weiss asked with barely contained anger. "Have you ever heard about asking!?"

"Didn't have the time for questions! The situation is critical and we needed action!" Yang argued while grabbing one of the books and opening it. "Now each one of us needs to grab a book and get to work! We only have a week until Port's test, so we need to effectively use all the time we have!"

"...I never thought I'd see the day YOU would be excited to study," Blake said with a sigh and took one of the books for herself. "Mind telling us exactly why you're this hyped up?"

"Well, that's obvious! You remember how Ruby said we would get something for us, if we managed to get 90 % in the test, right?" the blonde asked, getting a nod from both of her teammates. "Isn't it obvious what that is? After all this time that we have been trying to get Rubes to hang out with us, she must be offering her time as our reward! This is the perfect chance for me to fix things between her and I, and I am not going to miss it!"

"How can you be sure that's what Ruby is going to give us upon accomplishing this task of hers?" Weiss asked while she started to study as well. "While she did mention a reward, we didn't actually hear what it was. You might be jumping to conclusions here."

"Oh please! What else could she be offering to us?" Yang said confidently. "Now, enough talking! Get to work, ladies!"

Weiss and Blake shared one last look, before letting out sighs and getting to work. The two girls could feel that this wasn't going to end well once again.

The three older girls of team RWBY had been working for about two hours straight, when Weiss felt the need to take a small bathroom break. She began to get up from seat, when suddenly a painfully strong grip took hold of her arm and held her in place. The heiress looked who was holding her and felt her blood run cold upon seeing Yang stare at her with angry red eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" the blonde asked in a tone that sent shivers down Weiss' spine. "Do you have any idea how much I've got riding on this test? If even one of us fails to meet Ruby's expectations, I can kiss my golden chance goodbye! What makes you think it's okay for you to leave in the middle of our study session!?"

"S-Shouldn't it be ME who demands people to stay in study sessions? How did we suddenly switch places?" the heiress managed to ask, despite being terrified of her teammate. "Besides, I'm just going to the bathroom, so I'll be back soon enough. Could you let me go?"

"Absolutely not! Every wasted second takes us further away from our goal! I can't allow a single distraction!" Yang answered sternly. "However, if you really have to go, I do have something that could help you out."

Before Weiss could ask what the brawler meant, an empty glass jar was suddenly offered to her by the taller girl. It didn't take long for the white-haired girl to realize what her teammate was suggesting.

"...Okay, first of all, why do you have that?" Weiss asked while staring at the jar with a somewhat disgusted look on her face.

"I like to carry an empty container of some sort with me at almost all times. That way I'm ready to put stuff in it for whatever prank I happen to think of," Yang answered.

"Second, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" the fencer yelled with her face red. "Are you really suggesting that I should use THAT in the middle of the library!? Who do you think I am!?"

Before the arguing could continue between the two girls, they were both hit on top of their heads with books. They turned to look at Blake, who was holding said objects in her hands and had a look of irritation on her face.

"Alright, before you two decided to destroy the library over a glass jar, mind if I step in to give you some much needed advice?" the cat faunus asked with a sigh. "Instead of using that jar, how about we are allowed to go and use the bathroom? Not only is the method you're suggesting highly disturbing, Yang, but it could also backfire on us. If any of the staff found out about it, we would get kicked out of the library, which would hinder our studies way more than a simple break ever could. Okay?"

Blake's reasoning seemed to calm down Yang somewhat and let Weiss go to the restroom. While she might not have liked it, the brawler had to allow that much of a break from studies.

It didn't take long for Weiss to return and go back to studying, which satisfied Yang. Now the blonde hoped that there would be no more interruptions in their work.

However, Yang's wish was not going to be fulfilled, as Blake felt the need to leave next. This was because the raven-haired girl hadn't eaten all that much during lunch, so she was now feeling very hungry. She was about to stand up, but was pushed back down on her seat very forcefully. Blake looked behind her to see the angry red eyes of her partner stare down at her.

"And where do you think you're going!?" Yang asked with barely contained anger. "This study session is very important to me, so you better have a good reason for leaving!"

"I-I just need to get something to eat! That's all!" the cat faunus said fearfully. "I haven't had any lunch at all today, so I'm starving! Surely you're willing to allow me go pick up something from the cafeteria, right!? It won't take long!"

"Oh, sure! You're just going to "quickly pick up something"!" the blonde said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "First you'll waste time by going to cafeteria as slowly as possible, then you'll spend a good long time looking at the menu and in the end you just order yourself a whole feast that you'll spend hours on eating! Do you really think I'll fall for that!?"

"What kind of a person do you think I am!?" Blake asked angrily. "Besides, it's true that I need food! I'm starving!"

"Alright, I'll help fix that problem of yours!" Yang said and took something out of her pocket, which she gave to her partner. "I was planning to use this later, so you better be grateful for this!"

Blake looked at what the brawler was offering to her and saw that it was a piece of candy.

"Yang, a single piece of candy is hardly going to satisfy my hunger! I need actual food!" the raven-haired girl argued.

"Well, tough luck for you then! This is all you're getting, so take it or leave it!" the blonde said while still holding the candy in front of her partner.

Blake looked at the treat that Yang was offering her with a disapproving look, not liking the idea that it would be her lunch. Unfortunately, one look into the blonde's eyes told the cat faunus that she was not going to win this argument. Yang was completely set on having her teammates fully participate this study sessions with as few interruptions as possible, so there would be no proper lunch today for Blake.

The raven-haired girl grumbled under her breath something about "dumb blondes" and grabbed the piece of candy that was offered to her. Seeing as how everything had been settled, Yang went back to her seat to study.

However, the WBY's study session was once again interrupted as Blake decided to actually eat the candy. Almost as soon as she had put the treat in her mouth, the raven-haired girl's face turned red and she started to sweat a lot. This was soon followed by Blake spitting out the candy from her mouth and then starting to cough violently, as if to get something out of her throat.

"Yang, what the hell was THAT!?" the cat faunus asked angrily as she continued to cough. "It felt like someone put a crystal of Fire Dust in my mouth! What sort of candy was that supposed to be!?"

"Extra spicy chili pepper candy. What else?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What did you think it was?"

"Oh, I don't know! How about something sweet, nice and tasty, LIKE CANDY IS SUPPOSED TO BE!?" Blake yelled at her partner. "Why would you offer that to me as a replacement for lunch!?"

"Because it was the only edible thing I had!" the blonde argued. "I'm sorry if I'm not carrying food with me on all times, but you wanted something to eat and I gave it to you! I don't see how I'm the villain, since I can eat them just fine!"

The raven-haired girl was about to jump over the table and go strangle her partner, but a hand that grabbed her arm stopped her from doing it.

"Let it go for now. It's best for us to just try and bear with it, until she allows us to leave," Weiss said, hoping to calm down her teammate. "We will save ourselves from a lot of trouble, if we just go with it for now."

As much as she hated to admit it, Blake knew the heiress had a point. Whenever Yang got into a mood like this, there was no stopping her. All they could hope was that the blonde girl wouldn't go too far.

Unfortunately, neither Weiss or Blake had any idea just how far their blonde teammate would go.

Three days later, Ruby was heading towards the library, hoping to get her hands on a couple of books that she wanted to read. Ever since she had asked her teammates to get a 90 % score on Port's next test, the redhead had been barely seeing any of the three older girls. This was something she welcomed, as it gave her more peaceful time to spend on her hobbies without the threat of being interrupted.

However, upon reaching the library, Ruby saw something that was a bit surprising. Her three teammates were all sitting around one of the tables, studying. At first, the young team leader thought about joining the trio on their study session, but decided against it when she saw the state her teammates were in. All three older girls' eyes were bloodshot and had bags underneath them, like they hadn't slept for days. The three girls also had some rather disturbing expressions on their faces, which seemed to be a mixture of exhaustion, anger, concentration and madness. The WBY overall looked very tired and unclean, like they hadn't moved from their spots for days. But the most disturbing thing that Ruby noticed were the shackles around the ankles of Weiss and Blake that attached them to their chairs.

"...Yeah, I think I'll pass on the library for today," Ruby said to herself before turning around and walking away.

Eventually, the awaited day of Port's test came and all four members of team RWBY took it. Upon completing it, the three older girls of the team collapsed from exhaustion that came from their extreme study sessions. Luckily for them, the trio only needed a couple days of rest before they were completely okay again.

After a little more time had passed, the day of Port's tests being returned came upon them. While all students were eagerly waiting to see how well they did, none were as eager as the WBY. Yang was praying in her mind that they all got at least 90 % of the score, so she could get her much awaited chance with Ruby, while Weiss and Blake hoped the same thing the blonde did, except for a different reason. They were afraid of what Yang might do, if one of them failed to get the result they needed.

As Port made his way around the classroom, handing out papers to the students they belonged to, he failed to notice the intense stares he was getting from the WBY. Only when he walked up to the three girls did he notice the way he was being stared at, and it honestly disturbed him somewhat. The trio reminded him of Beowolves that were ready to jump at their prey upon the slightest movement.

Without saying even a word, the teacher handed his three students their tests, which were quickly taken from his hand. With the delivery completed, Port made his way to the next student as fast as possible, leaving the WBY to look over their results.

"Well, I won't be the one to disappoint Ruby. I managed to get 94 %," Blake said with a sigh of relief. "How about you guys?"

"I got 96 %, so I'm good," Weiss said with a smile.

However, when they didn't hear an answer from Yang, the monochrome duo grew worried. They looked at their teammate, whose face was hidden behind her test paper, hoping to hear a positive response from her as well. After a couple of seconds of waiting, Yang turned to look at her two teammates with a smiling face and a single tear falling from her eye, while showing a paper of 91 % score.

"I did it, guys..." the blonde said happily. "I actually managed to achieve the goal set by Rubes! Do you guys know what this means!?"

Both Weiss and Blake nodded. It was time they went to collect their prize from their team leader.

Meanwhile, Ruby was looking over her own test, focusing on the things she got wrong. Even when she got a 99 % score, the redhead hoped to find out how she could improve herself.

However, Ruby's time looking over her answers was suddenly interrupted by someone tapping her on the shoulder. She turned to look who it was and saw her teammates standing there, holding up their tests for their leader to see with big smiles on their faces.

"We did it, Rubes! We all got over 90 %!" Yang said happily. "You do remember your promise with us, right?"

"I sure do," Ruby replied, somewhat surprised by how well her teammates had done. To be honest, she had not expected all three of the older girls to do so well. "I did promise a prize for you three and I'm not about to break it."

The three older girls held their breath as they waited for the prize their team leader had promised for them. It was time for them to be repaid for all the hard work they had gone through the past week. The thing they had earned through hellish study sessions. Just what could it be?

Suddenly, Ruby pulled out three lollipops out of her pocket and handed them to Yang. The blonde stared at the sugary treats with a dumbfounded expression on her face, hoping that this wasn't the reward the younger girl had promised them.

"R-Rubes... don't tell me... Are THESE our reward?" Yang asked while staring at the lollipops.

"They sure are," Ruby answered without any hesitation. "I know for a fact that all of you like candy, so I decided to get those for you three."

"What kind of a reward is this supposed to be for all the work we did!?" Weiss asked angrily. "We studied like crazy and THIS is all we get for it!? Are you insulting us or something!?"

"Well, to be perfectly fair, I never got to make any offers for the reward, as you guys took off before I could make any," the redhead said with a shrug. "At that point, I believe you guys had already agreed to the deal, so I wasn't really bound to giving you anything specific."

The three older girls wanted to deny their team leader's claim, but realized that they couldn't. Thanks to Yang dragging them to the library so suddenly, they never had a chance to strike a proper deal with Ruby. In all honesty, the scythe-wielder wasn't even really obligated to reward them in any way at all.

"Now that my end of the bargain has been fulfilled, I'm off to the library," Ruby said as she started to head towards the classroom's exit. "I've got some more studying to do and I don't want to be disturbed."

The WBY stood in stunned silence as their team leader left. It took some time before any of the three girls said anything.

"Well, that didn't go as well as planned, but I guess it wasn't all bad," Blake said to her partner, hoping to cheer her up at least a bit. The cat faunus also took the wrapping off her lollipop and put it in her mouth. "While you certainly didn't get the "chance" you were hoping for, you at least managed to keep Ruby happy. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure this is your best test result in a long while."

"...You really think that makes me feel any better?" Yang asked and turned to look at her partner. "Not only did I completely miss another great opportunity, it was all because of my own mistake. Just what am I supposed to do now?"

"I have an idea," Weiss said and walked up to the nearest wall, where she then drew a large "X" mark on it with a black marker. "I'm pretty sure you know what to do with this, Yang."

Before Blake could ask what the heiress meant, the blonde walked up to the wall and proceeded to bang her head on the mark Weiss had drawn on it.

Meanwhile, Ozpin was sitting in his office with all of the teachers around him. The headmaster was reading through reports from all of them regarding Ruby's latest progress in her studies. There was also one paper that Ozpin had read carefully through that was a petition from the teachers for something quite extraordinary.

"Are you all certain of this?" the silver-haired man asked the teachers. "You are all willing to go through with this?"

"We certainly are," Port answered with a smile on his face. "Ms. Rose has shown incredible progress, which calls for us to put her to a more challenging test. This way we can see just how skilled she truly is."

"Even you are supporting this, Glynda?" Ozpin asked from his closest associate.

"I'll admit that I had my doubts about this at first, but I have changed my mind since then," the blonde woman answered with a small smile. "Besides, what harm could there be to this? After all, we already have a perfect team ready for this."

Seeing as how none of teachers were backing down or even had any doubts, the headmaster let out a tired sigh and gave in to their request.

"Alright then. Contact team LION. Tell them that they will be having a temporary new member joining their group."

Author's notes: Sorry this took so long. This chapter turned out longer than I had expected, so it took me quite a while to get it done. However, it's here and hopefully you enjoyed it.

At first, I was going to have Ruby give her teammates tickets to a club as a prize, but I decided to go with this instead. Not only do I feel like this was funnier, but having Ruby get her hands on club tickets would raise many questions, like how she was able to get them despite her age.

Now, there are some things that need to be addressed. First, I want to address Yang's behavior that seems to have been a problem to quite a few of you. I would like to start by saying that I am in no way saying that the things she does in this story are okay in any way. They are just meant to be there to make this story more entertaining and I understand if people have a problem. However, when it comes to changing the pairing or changing things at all, that won't be happening. Not only am I fairly sure that there are people who don't want to see changes, but this is the way I personally want this story to play out. Also, when it comes to Yang (along with Weiss and Blake) realizing their mistakes and working towards making things better, that's something that will happen later. It's something reserved for when this story starts to be near it's end, so you'll have to wait for it.

Second, since I am certain that people are going to mention it in the reviews, let me just explain my reasoning for the fight between Ruby and Pyrrha. Not only was the "fight" supposed to be somewhat humorous and to show how skilled Ruby has gotten, this story is not meant to have intense and long action scenes. This chapter is already long enough without me making a huge fight scene in it.

As for what Glynda promised Ruby and the identity of team LION, those things will be shown in the next chapter. I will say one thing that I'm sure some of you have already guessed. Team LION is a team completely made by me, so they are OC's. Be prepared for that.

Until next time.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.