Warning: This chapter is violent. Skim the violent areas and skip to the next paragraph for plot if you do not wish to read them. This warning will only appear in applicable chapters.
Ruby woke up to the sound of knocks on the front door, Alys' arms around her chest. The moonlight shone through the window, illuminating glittering snowflakes that swirled to the ground. Gentling disentangling herself, she rolled off the bed, groping around for the first thing she found and pulling it on. Dressed in a thin white nightgown, she walked to the door, running her hands through her hair and trying to make herself presentable. Turning the knob, she opened the door and found herself staring into the barrel of an automatic shotgun, glowing blue with aura.
"Uh... Hello?"
The sound of gunfire jolted Alys awake. Wrapping a robe around herself, she ran into the front hall, arriving just in time to see Ruby flying back and smashing into the opposite wall.
"Enough." Ruby growled. Bending her knees and bracing herself against the wall, she launched herself towards the man holding the shotgun.
"Sheriff Simon?" Alys gasped.
The sheriff grunted an affirmative as he raised the shotgun to block Ruby's fist. There was a shriek of abused metal as Ruby's fist plowed through the shotgun and sent the halves flying across the room. Grabbing hold of the sheriff's shoulders, she picked him up and slammed him into the ground, forcing a grunt through his lungs and causing his aura to fizzle out and fade.
Preparing to smash him again and break his spine, Ruby lifted him off the floor, only to be stopped by a small pair of hands grabbing at her nightgown.
"Red, stop! This is the sheriff, there must have been some sort of misunderstanding, stop!"
Complying with her request, Ruby merely held him in her hands, dangling three feet off the floor.
"Misunderstanding?" the sheriff snorted. "This young lady here is Ruby Rose, one of the most wanted murderers in Vale. I'm actually surprised that you're still alive, Miss Alys."
The sheriff hit the ground with an oof as Ruby dropped him, backing away from Alys and clutching her arms in anguish. She felt her world beginning to crumble.
"W-what do you mean? That's R-Red, w-who's this Ruby you're talking about?"
The sheriff propped himself up on his elbows and looked directly at Ruby.
"I received reports from some of your coworkers that someone with black and red hair who matched the description of Ruby Rose picked you up after work yesterday. I alerted the authorities and then came here to check on you, hoping I wasn't too late."
Her teeth bared in a rictus of anger, Ruby advanced upon man the on the ground, fists clenched and shoulders hunched.
"You... I had a life, I had a love, I had a heart, and you just ruined it all!" she screamed. "WHY?"
Sheriff Simon looked a little confused, trying to comprehend what Ruby was ranting about.
Alys' face was pale and still. "Red–no, Ruby, is this true?"
Ruby looked up from the sheriff and slowly nodded. "Yes, but I'm changed now. Please, please don't run from me, Alys."
Alys' hands were at her mouth, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief.
The sheriff coughed. "You'd better give yourself up, Ruby. Even if you kill me there are still more people on the way–" Ruby walked over and slammed his head into the ground to get him to shut up.
Ruby started moving slowly towards Alys, arms open. "Alys, I loved you, still love you, and I will always love you. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen, in mind and soul. Please..."
Alys looked at her, her frightened eyes shining with tears. Ruby's heart clenched as she saw Alys' hesitation.
Her back stiffening, Ruby turned around and began walking towards the closet to grab her weapon. Her hands shook and her vision was getting blurry.
And suddenly, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. Heart stuttering, she turned around and pulled Alys up, giving her a passionate kiss.
"I love you too, Ruby," Alys gasped, tears flowing freely now. "I don't care who you are or what you are, I will always love you."
Ruby kissed her again, the taste of Alys mingling with the taste of their tears as she pressed against her.
"Come out with your hands up, weapons down. We have orders to shoot on sight. I repeat, come out with your hands up, weapons down."
"No, no, no," Alys whispered, clutching Ruby tightly. "Don't go."
Ruby took hold of her hands, looking straight into her face.
"Tell them you knew nothing about me being a murderer. Tell them you had nothing to do with me, that I was just hiding here." Gripping Alys' hands tighter, she continued. "I'll come back for you one day, promise me that you'll wait for me. No matter what, I'll come back for you."
Alys nodded and buried her head in Ruby's chest. "I promise."
"Come out, NOW. If you do not come out, we are prepared the destroy the house. You have thirty seconds." The sounds of concussion cannons being primed pierced the night.
Extricating herself from Alys' grip, Ruby gave her one last tender kiss.
"Alys, I won't be going down without a fight," Ruby comforted her.
Alys let out a small laugh and sniffled. "You're supposed to say that you'll get away safe and sound, and that you'll come back as soon as possible for me," she said with a sad smile.
Ruby grimly smiled back and pulled her weapon out of the closet.
As Ruby unfolded her scythe, the last of Alys' doubts fell away. The moonlight cast Ruby's pale features in a glow, lending her nightgown an ethereal form, contrasting with the brutal red and black scythe that she now held in her hands. She loved Ruby, despite her past and her flaws.
"Ten."
Ruby walked to the entrance and looked back.
"Nine."
Unable to resist, Alys gave her one last parting kiss, full of love and warmth.
"Eight."
"Don't let them catch you, run if you can. Live, Ruby."
"Seven."
Ruby nodded. "I'll return."
Yang, Blake, and Weiss stood with the troops outside the house.
After finding out that Beacon was sending experimental AK-210 Androids to help capture Ruby, they had requested to go along with the troops. They still felt guilty after find out that Ruby had committed murder right under their noses without the three noticing anything, and they suspected that their help would probably be needed in order to subdue Ruby. Predicting that Ruby would try to run, Weiss had gone ahead and set up five layers of glyphs in a circle around the house.
The voice over the loudspeaker droned on.
"Six. Five. Four."
A figure in white appeared in the doorway of the house. Dressed in a thin nightgown and nothing else, the snow softly rustled under her bare feet as she walked towards the ring of robots surrounding the house.
"Here she comes," Yang muttered, watching Ruby as she came closer. "Weiss, activate your barrier glyphs."
With a nearly inaudible hum, a sphere of aura sprung up around them, trapping themselves inside the area with Ruby and the androids.
Ruby found herself face to face with a glowing white barrier after dashing above and past the crowd of robots in a shower of rose petals. Slashing at the barrier, she ripped it open, only to find another layer behind it.
The first stun grenade exploded in front of her just as she turned around, her vision temporarily blinded and her head aching. Shaking herself, she dashed into the midst of the robots, waiting just long enough for them to fire their arm-mounted concussion cannons before dashing back out, sowing chaos as the robots fired at themselves. Pockets of robots exploded as Ruby dashed in and out, slicing and dicing and destroying swaths of the androids.
Seeing the number of the robots dwindle, Blake unsheathed her weapon and began swinging the sickle, preparing to do battle.
Yang tried to make one last attempt while Weiss silently watched.
Picking up a loudspeaker, Yang pleaded with Ruby. "Ruby, please turn yourself in. We don't want to hurt you."
"I want to hurt her," Blake muttered.
Ruby had been hit with a few more stun grenades and more than a few concussion cannons as she began to tire, her aura flickering. As strong as she was, the horde of robots was overwhelming, especially because they had no sense of self-preservation. However, the crowd had begun to thin as she continued fighting, giving her a fleeting sense of hope that was dashed when she heard Yang's voice.
She knew then that fleeing was impossible if her three previous teammates were present. Her arms tiring, her strength flagged as she struggled against the last few robots. Her scythe flew out of her fingers as she caught a concussion blast in her back, knocking her to the ground.
A scream came from the cottage as Alys flew out of the door, her rifle in her hands and firing wildly at the robots that were closing in on Ruby. Ruby could only watch helplessly as a robot near her turned and fired twice at the new threat. Unlike with Ruby, the robot had no orders to subdue and used explosive-Dust weapons instead of the concussion cannons.
Two holes appeared in Alys' chest, stopping her short and making her drop her weapon. Blood poured down the front of her robe as she clutched her chest and fell onto her knees, then collapsed face-down in the snow.
Ruby let out a wail of grief and misery as she watched her hopes and dreams bleed into the ground. Her loss driving her, she picked up her scythe from the ground beside her and swung it furiously, effortlessly shearing the robot in half. Full of anger, Ruby stood again, fighting with renewed strength.
Eyes filled with tears, she didn't notice the blur of Blake's sickle in the corner of her vision until it was too late. The blade sinking into her left arm, Ruby's scythe fell out of her limp fingers. Without hesitation, Ruby caught the scythe with right hand and continued swinging, clearing the last few robots around her. Then she swung her scythe at Blake's sickle, attempting to cut the ribbon it was attached to.
Blake anticipated Ruby's move and jerked the sickle out of Ruby's arm, then flung it out again, firing the gun and wrapping the ribbon around Ruby. Ruby shifted her body and managed to only get her waist tangled, then faltered when the sickle swung around and stabbed directly into her stomach.
Ruby felt the blade shift around inside her as she flew towards Blake, her adrenaline rush blocking her sense of pain and allowing her to ignore the blade embedded in her middle. Blake's eyes widened as Ruby threw her scythe towards her and then gripped the ribbon and pulled herself after it.
The red and black weapon spun in a deadly arc, heading towards Blake. With a explosion of fire and light, Yang activated her aura and deflected the scythe with her gauntlets. The scythe spun into the air and thudded into the ground next to Blake.
Ruby was suddenly next to Yang, one arm drawn back as she prepared to plunge her hand into Yang's body. With a glow of white, Weiss air-stepped in front of Yang and thrust Myrtenaster into Ruby's chest, spinning the Dust vials and sending out a line of ice to smash into Ruby and knock her away. Blake's sickle ripped out of her stomach with a sickening slurp. Weiss gasped and fell to her knees, the herculean task of keeping up the five-layered barrier while using her glyphs and Dust pushing her to exhaustion.
Ruby struggled to stay standing, one arm useless by her side and the other hand struggling to keep her insides where they belonged. A large chunk of ice was speared through her sternum. Ruby narrowed her eyes, concentrating. With an unexpected swirl of petals, Ruby disappeared and reappeared next to Blake, ripping the scythe out of the ground and swinging it at Weiss, who had her back exposed as she knelt on the ground and tried to regain her strength. Blake spun and pressed her weapon into Ruby's throat area, firing it at point-blank range just as Yang shot Ruby's leg, smashing through her thigh bone.
Ruby crumpled, unable to complete her scythe swing as she collapsed onto the ground. Blake had shattered her collarbone, the sharp fragments piercing her skin as she convulsed, her mouth in an o-shape as she soundlessly screamed. Blood poured from the entry and exit wounds on her thigh, a sure sign that her femoral artery had been ripped open.
Yang screamed at Weiss to take down her barrier as she took out a communication device and called for the hoverjet. Ruby faintly heard the gust of the propellers as she bled out. A needle pieced her arm, and Ruby felt her searing pain dull down into muted thumping. Her body, however, was not fooled as she felt her muscles continue to convulse and writhe, threatening to snap her bones. She was beginning to feel cold, and had lost all feeling in her extremities.
Ruby was a complete mess. All that remained of the white nightgown were a couple of ribbons ringing her chest and arms, the white cloth now soaked with dark red blood. Her belly was split open and her internal organs were clearly visible, the gleaming viscera reflecting the lights on the inside of the hoverjet. Blood pumped out of her throat and thigh wound, and her left arm was sliced to the bone, the pale white peeking through her skin and muscle. The slowly melting shard of ice was lodged in her chest, sealing the hole it had created and letting only a trickle of blood leak between her breasts.
Yang stood over Ruby, shouting for her to stay awake, to stay alive. Doctors swarmed her as they began sewing, plugging, and healing her wounds, some of them holding hands glowing with aura over her more serious injuries. The tide of blood refused to be stemmed, however, as each beat of Ruby's heart pulsed out a fresh spray of fluid.
Ruby opened her mouth and Yang leaned towards her, tilting her head to the side.
"I had finally found love," Ruby whispered, struggling to stay conscious. "But then you killed her, why did you kill her? She was innocent and pure and good. I loved her. I..." Her lungs failed her as the last whisper of air escaped them.
Upon hearing Ruby, Weiss had gasped and ran off towards the cottage, where the doe faunus' body lay. Yang was screaming that Ruby had stopped breathing. Ruby closed her eyes, a calm settling over her, a shroud of darkness stealing upon her mind...
Big eyes, soft lips, frail body, strong soul
She healed Ruby, healthy and whole
Her love and hope to whom she spilled
The ache in her heart completely fulfilled
Did you really think she would still murder, torture, and kill?
Note: You asked why I was going to have three consecutive faunus victims? Heh.
Also, faunus are hella cute. Mmm, Ruby definitely likes cute things.
Also, everything has a reason, as I've already planned pretty far ahead. Things link.
That being said, how is the pace of the story working out for you guys? I've got 3 Acts planned out so far, with each Act being about 30-50 chapters.
Thanks for sticking with me so far, I hope you are enjoying the story!