Chapter 11: The Wrath of Roses

Weiss looked at the assassin in shock along with Yang and Blake. Winter opened her eyes and looked on with confusion, Ren and Nora looked at each other as they were only able to see each other by that point. All eyes, except for JNPR, turned upon Ruby. The huntress's head was hung low, the assassin chuckled at the damage her words had inflicted, she went to turn back to Weiss, but Ruby stood up slowly. The assassin had her aim carefully placed so that she could fire off a shot directly at her head at a moment's notice. Ruby grabbed a small butter knife from the table and held it in her hands, twirling it.

"It's funny you know," her voice was barely above a whisper, it was clear she was having to strain to keep from crying. "The last thing I told her I regret to this day…and I will never get to take that back," she looked up, the assassin tightened her grip as a silvery fire seemed to light up the darkest voids of her soul…

"But I can…no… I WILL AVENGE HER!" Ruby threw the butter knife into the air, the assassin traced it on instinct.

Clink!

PPPPPPFFFFFSSSHHHHH!

The knife struck one of the newly replaced fire sprinklers and immediately water erupted forth in a heavy downpour. In her peripheral, the assassin saw the boiler flying towards her, Ruby already ducking behind the encounter, the assassin shot at the steel drum.

POW!

FWOOOSH!

THWOOM!

The boiler had exploded, boiling hot grease flew forward, coming into contact with the water which immediately caused it to burst in flames. The flaming liquid collided onto the assassin, engulfing her with a fiery hiss. "AAAAHHHH!" She screamed, her aura was to thank for not immediately getting serious burns as well as her suit which helped hold the flames at bay.

Z-z-zing!

Weakly, Pyrrha flicked her hand causing her gun to flick out of the assassins unsuspecting hands and into the flames. The flames had rolled off her and caught the nearby cabinets on fire thanks to the grease running down her suit, which did not absorb the oily substance. Smoke rolled off her shoulders in the midst of the chaos Ruby had caused, the two glared at each other as the assassin pulled out a pistol.

TWOOSH!

POW!-POW!-POW!-POW!

"DDDIIIIEEEE!" She screamed as she fired at Ruby, the bullets being outmatched by Ruby's quick and wild movements. Suddenly, Ruby tripped and spiraled out of control, the assassin took aim.

POW!

The gun flew out of her hand, the assassin looked off in confusion to see a figure emerge out of the shadows. Dr. Claymore walked forward in a crouch firing a small pistol in his hands, fully armored in his tactical suit Ruby had seen earlier. The assassin threw a knife at the professor, who dodged it with ease, but hitting him was not the goal. The assassin used his dodge to close the gap between the two making it a fight of hand to hand combat. The two fought in the dim room, now half ablaze and filled with smoke while also flooding with a powerful downpour from the sprinkler system. The two traded and blocked fists, kicks, and elbows. Ruby had stopped when Claymore entered the fray, she watched as the water poured down their suits flicking off as they whipped and twirled around each other in a deadly dance. The grease fire had significantly damaged the assassins suit, Ruby looked over to Weiss and Winter still were frozen in place and then back over to Pyrrha who had gotten up and was resting against a part of the kitchen counter that wasn't destroyed. Ruby noticed an object on the ground and slowly picked it up, "Spoon…" she said to herself.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out, she tossed the spartan a spoon. She looked at Ruby in confusion, "tag the Professor and wait for my signal!" Pyrrha looked at her apprehensively but nodded, she stuck out a thumb and took aim. She threw it and pinged him on his metallic belt, Ruby turned to Weiss and gently put a hand to her shoulder. "I need you…" Ruby said softly, Weiss wiped away her tears and looked at Winter with concern. Winter looked up to her and smiled, "…go…" she muttered weakly with a smile. Weiss stood up, her jaw clenched in determination as she grabbed Winters saber, clicking it into action. "What do you need?" A grim smile found its way to Ruby's face.

"Yellow dust and lots of it!" Ruby commanded firmly, "On my mark stab it into the water!" Weiss twisted into stance, Ruby looked over to Pyrrha and nodded as she got into position. Ruby began to speak, Patience is an extreme virtue and in the hands of a skilled warrior it can be very lethal. The memory erupting like lightning in a dark sky as she turned her gaze upon the battle once more. Claymore was locked into absolute focus on his opponent, his round house sent her stumbling back, but she regained her form and stomped the ground.

Click!

A knife sprung out from her combat boots, Claymore lept back, but not in time. "Urgh!" He grunted as a small cut began to bleed out across his chest. The assassin jumped up, ready to stab it deep into his chest. A sick smile splashed across her face as she saw the opening, Claymore looking at his mistake in mere disappointment, knowing it would probably be his last.

"NOW!" Ruby roared, Pyrrha pulled at him, a black mist encompassing his belt. The professor was slung back and out of the assassin's murderous reach. Meanwhile, Weiss plunged the saber in a downward into the pool of water. A flash of electrical tendrils greedily flew across the water's surface, the professor being hauled in the air by his belt cleared the water by mere inches. The assassins face contorted from pleasure to horror as her feet plunged into the water.

"AAARRRRAAAGGGHHH!" She shrieked in agony as electricity washed over her, causing her muscles to spasm and contort much more expressively than Pyrrha, Ruby closed her eyes and focused. Rose petals began to blow around her, Weiss glanced at her in amazement as she seemed to be caught in an unseen storm. Suddenly, Ruby seemed to simply explode forward in a shock wave of air.

BOOM! TWOOSH!

Weiss released her saber bringing the electricity to a stop as Ruby slammed her feet into the assassin, her aim and trajectory were perfect.

TWACK! CRASH!

The woman went flying backwards, straight through the kitchen window. Ruby stood up and went to chase after her, but before she could move she felt someone grip her tightly, she turned around. "Let go of me Weiss, I have to get her!" Weiss dug into her even tighter, "NO! Even if you did, you're unarmed and…and…just look at us!" She cried, Weiss's sobbing brought Ruby back from her cold rage, she looked around unclenching her fists in the process.

Team JNPR were now recovering with Jaune coming awake and Pyrrha working to free Ren and Nora. Winter had moved sometime during the fight and had begun to prop herself against a wall. "Hghn!" She groaned as she placed a hand to her ribs. Ren and Jaune limped over to her, "She's got broken ribs." Ren said lowly, he looked back at the rest of the group. They seemed to stand motionless for an eternity unsure what to do.

TWOOM! SSSWWWOOOOOOSSSHHH!

A purple energy flooded the room, slowly the debris began to tumble backwards in the direction it had come from. Time seemed to flow in reverse as mountains of debris disappeared and the room fixed itself. The smoke and midst seemed to dissipate and altogether disappear, the water on the floor flowed in reverse in one giant cloud that rapidly flew up into the sprinkler system. Ruby saw a glint in the air and realized it was the glass for the sprinkler. The last thing to be fixed was the windows which fell upward and formed into a cracked mosaic which then seamlessly merged together into a single pane.

With that the room went back to normal save for two very annoyed individuals at the entrance.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, what has happened here?" Glynda asked, she stood in the door to the hallway with Ozpin who calmly sipped from his coffee mug. Weiss went to speak, but Ruby charged forward, "WHERE WERE YOU!" Glynda looked at Ruby with a glare, "WE WERE FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES AND YOU JUST NOW SHOW UP!" Glynda's nostrils flared as her face gave way to disdain and surprise at Ruby's temper, "Ruby!" Weiss hissed at her, but Ruby either didn't hear her or didn't care. "WERE YOU TO BUSY PLAYING PATTY CAKE WITH IRONWOOD?" Glynda's mouth went open in shock and cheeks went bright red, Ozpin nearly choked on his coffee, eyes wide as he fought to keep from smiling. Ruby continued as tears began to stream down her face, "WELL WHILE YOU WERE DOING THAT WE WERE HAVING…HAVING TO…TO FIGHT THE WOMAN WHO KILLED MY MOTHER!" With that Ruby broke down, Ozpins turned to look at the red head in shock. "Why would you say that Ms. Rose?" Ruby looked up at him with tears and snot running down her face, she didn't answer, instead burying her face into Weiss's shoulder.

"She told us…" Yang said lowly, as she stood up weakly. "What happened to you guys?" Jaune asked in concern, Yang gave him a grim look, "…food…poisoning…OHHH!" She groaned before clutching her stomach. Glynda took charge, "Everyone to the infirmary! We will discuss what happened tomorrow!"

"Everyone but you two," Glynda said pointing at Weiss and doctor Claymore, the heiress let out a gulp. Slowly, she stood up with Ruby and whispered in her ear, "Ruby…I've got to go…" the only response was for Ruby to grab on tighter, Weiss looked around in desperation. Her eyes landed on Winter who pursed her lips at the sight, Wiess suddenly found herself becoming very conscious of what was going on. Pyrrha mercifully stepped into her sight and walked to her, "I've got her," she whispered. Pyrrha patted Ruby on the back and Ruby relinquished her grip. Pyrrha kept her up with an arm over the Spartans shoulder and together with the rest of the group they began the trek to the infirmary.

Glynda pulled out her scroll and made a call, "Yes, Heidi? It's me, I've got seven coming towards you with two coming up sometime later. Go ahead and prepare some beds." As she was talking, Yang and Blake walked by. Glynda paused for a second taking some considerable effort not to gag. "Also, you may want to prep a change of clothes for two of the patients…you'll know'em when you smell them." She whispered while eyeballing the bumblebee duo. With that the group went their separate ways, Ozpin looked out the window into the darkness of the early morning. He let out a sigh and grimaced, lines had been crossed and innocence had been lost tonight. He felt powerless to fix it and worse still, felt that the worst might be yet to come. "It's my fault all over again…" He turned and walked out of the room, hitting the lights with his cane.

…

The assassin looked at the light in the kitchen window until it went out. She slowly moved, her breathing was shallow and her steps were weak. She had to move slowly, Ruby's little stunt to jettison her from the room while her aura was low had left all of her ribs feeling broken and lungs feeling like they were bruised as she walked.

She chuckled though as she walked, blood pouring from her mouth and busted lips. The girl had been told the truth, now it was time to wait and see her self-destruct from it and the aftermath. She felt her aura slowly returning, she had just enough power to dissolve and float away in the night before the Atlassian guards could form a perimeter around her location. An uneasy peace resumed over the school grounds as the faintest rays of light began to shine on the horizon.