Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The steady sound was accompanied by a soft light. Blue eyes opened slowly to survey their surroundings. There was a memory, falling, falling. A vanishing girl. A red tornado. And falling, fading… the red tornado… why did it scare her so much? Was she running from it? Falling from it? It always came back to falling. What was she falling from? What was she running from? She knew it was important she remember. She had to tell someone, ask someone. Her sister, what did she want to tell her sister? Something about the red tornado? And then she was falling again.
"Oh my, get the doctor, she's awake!"
Halfway across the world and deeper into the night brewed the storm promised by the calm that ever-precedes it.
Midnight. Reaper was making her way to Ozpin's office. Her black scroll buzzed earlier to tell her the override key to the elevator. Tonight she would finish her mission. Tonight, she would be gone. By morning, her friends would learn the truth. How will they react?
Weiss is definitely going to be pissed.
Blake will probably be angry too. She ran away from criminals, worked hard to redeem herself. What must she think of us?
And Velvet…
…
We're gunna break her heart.
What do you care!
You care. I'm just a voice, a guest in your scrambled noggin… we could stay.
Betray Neo and Torchwick?
Not-betray your old friends.
It's too late for us. We've already lied to them, betrayed them. They'll never trust us again. Are we supposed to lie about who we are for the rest of our life? What we've done? And I thought you wanted Neo?
Haha Yeah, that girl is a fun time. Let's go, we got a job to do.
Reaper opened the door to the elevator and typed the passkey quickly. She didn't want to be here a second longer than she had to. Now in full 'Reaper' mode, she felt uneasy within the bounds of Beacon. The doors slid open to an empty office. She had made it this far on luck alone, and it seemed to be holding out. She sat herself at Ozpin's desk and booted his computer. It didn't take long to use his log in to access the system she was looking for, except…
Are the files already gone? How? Are we too late or something?
"Hello, Ruby." Ozpin's voice sounded from the corner of the office. "Or do you prefer Reaper?"
Reaper jumped up from the chair, looking for options. There was no way she could beat Ozpin in a fight, not even with the Red Haze. She needed to escape. But the files…
"Looking for this?" Ozpin stepped forward and held up a memory data drive. "Incriminating files on one Don Palette?"
"How long have you known?" Reaper asked him.
"Not long. You're very good, and I was trusting. Someone alerted me that I may have a spy. It didn't take me long to investigate your new name." Ozpin explained. "I didn't know for sure until just now that you were after these files."
That's a hell of a guess.
"That's a hell of a guess." Reaper told Ozpin.
"Ruby, why are you doing this?" He asked.
"That's not my name."
"Why are you doing this?" He repeated.
We all have to do something.
"We all have to do something. It's too late for me to be a hero. Heroes only exist in fairy tales." Reaper answered.
"It's never too late to change. You've proved that once already. You can again."
You know our name. Not what we've done to earn it.
"You know my name. You don't know what I've done to earn it." Reaper told Ozpin.
"You mean Mercury, Emerald? Winter?"
Don't forget the Fang bastards.
"Others too. I couldn't control myself…"
"I believe that you couldn't. I also believe in second chances." Ozpin held out the data drive. "The way I see it, you have a choice. Take your second chance. Tell the truth to your friends. You may find them more forgiving than you believe possible."
It's a trick.
"Why would you offer me this?" Reaper asked seriously.
"I told you. I believe in second chances. I want to help you redeem yourself, reclaim yourself." Ozpin explained.
He's serious…
He can't be.
But he is… we could return to Beacon… maybe someday we can reclaim our friends trust…
At least be honest with yourself. There's only one reason you're fighting your survival instincts and even considering this.
Velvet…
Ozpin watched as Ruby, or rather Reaper as she called herself now, thought things over. The longer she took the more hopeful he became. Perhaps she would really change her mind…
Reaper felt her black scroll go off in her pocket. Keeping one eye on Ozpin, she slowly pulled it out to check.
'The sister is awake. You're compromised. Get the hell out of there.'
Winter!
Crap…
It really is too late now… maybe if we told Weiss first… she is not going to be happy.
You're right.
"What's my other option?" Reaper asked Ozpin.
Ozpin's disappointment shone in his eyes, though it was quickly replaced by determination. "I'll give you the drive and let you go."
Reaper was astounded. "Just like that? You'll give it to me?"
"In return for a favor." Ozpin clarified.
"What kind of favor?"
"I don't know yet."
That's a dangerous kind of favor.
"That's a dangerous thing to accept." Reaper resisted.
"Do you really have a choice?" Ozpin asked.
Reaper mulled things over for barely a second before holding her hand out. Ozpin tossed the drive. As if her fist closing around the device was its cue, thunder clapped outside, followed by a heavy rain hammering the windows. Ozpin found the change in weather almost humorous, like in a movie, using a thunderstorm to show the downturn in the story. He may have chuckled if he wasn't watching Ruby suffer that downturn.
Rather than risk the elevator, Reaper stepped backward, opened the window, and let herself fall backward through it. She unfolded Crescent Rose on the way down and buried it into the side of the building to slow her descent. Landing safely, she raised her hood and walked away, her back to Beacon, to her past. Her mission was over. Ahead she saw Neo shimmer into existence. Halfway to the multi-colored girl, shouting behind her made her stop.
"Ruby Rose!"
Reaper turned to see Weiss and Velvet running toward her. The heiress held her scroll in one hand and her weapon in the other. Even through the rain, the sniper's eyes could see Winter's contact on an active call. Velvet simply looked frightened.
"That's not my name." Reaper told her.
"Then what do I call you? Ally? Partner? Friend!?" Weiss continued shouting.
"It's clear to me you already have an answer." Reaper responded.
Weiss raised Myrtenaster, pointing the tip at her old friend.
"I don't want to fight you, Weiss."
"Just tell me it's not true… tell me you didn't hurt Winter…" Weiss's tears were lost among the raindrops.
Reaper's eyes fell. "I regret it, just so you know. Yang's semblance, the Red Haze… it took over. I was glad when I heard I didn't kill her."
Velvet's eyes widened. "Ruby…"
"What about Mercury? Emerald?" Weiss interjected. "They were slaughtered. They weren't given a chance!"
They got what they deserved.
Reaper's fists tensed. "They got what they deserved." Weiss's grip on Myrtenaster tightened in response. "I don't want to fight you Weiss…" Reaper continued, unfolding Crescent Rose, "but I will."
Weiss charged, accelerating herself with her glyphs. The tip of her rapier stuck Reaper, only for the image to shatter, Neo smirking behind it. The real Reaper struck Weiss from the side, launching her across the courtyard. Reaper didn't want to do this, but she couldn't let Weiss follow her. Crescent Rose dragged on the ground behind her as she walked to her old partner. Weiss got back to her feet and readied herself.
Reaper fired her weapon, using the air Dust rounds to add momentum and send her weapon's back spear towards Weiss as a sort of javelin throw. The heiress easily blocked it with a shielding glyph, only for Reaper to flash in front of her and snatch the scythe out of the air, bringing the curved blade down on her head. Weiss barely blocked the follow up attack with Myrtenaster. Her old partner was unfazed, spinning and slashing with her weapon, and Weiss frantically attempted to avoid damage.
As their battle waged, Neo approached Velvet, a vicious smirk adorning her face. This bunny has the audacity to try and play with my Reaper? I'll show her where that gets her. Velvet readied herself for a fight, summoning a copy of Coco's Gatling Gun from her weapon and opening fire. Neo artfully dodged the rounds as she closed the distance.
Across the courtyard, Weiss was fighting a losing battle. The rain and her overpowering emotions were ruining her fighting style. Reaper was able to stay calm, her sadness at fighting her friend canceling out any anger the battle caused. Weiss was launched into the air, and Reaper propelled herself after her with the air rounds. Reaching the heiress's height, one quick slash brought the white girl back to earth. A final pull of Crescent Rose's trigger sent Reaper into a buzz-saw spin, ending with the blade buried in the ground inches from the Weiss's midsection. A punch to the jaw took the last of the heiress's strength and knocked her out cold.
Velvet wasn't faring much better in her own battle. Neo danced, spun, and flipped her way around all of the rabbit girl's attacks, and she was quickly running out of saved constructs. Velvet was forced to summon her final weapon copy, an unnecessarily large sniper-scythe. Neo was momentarily surprised by its appearance, but ultimately unfazed. After watching Reaper for months, she recognized this girl copying her fighting style as well as her weapon. Once Crescent Rose failed her, Velvet knew she couldn't do much else.
Neo used the crooked handle of her umbrella to pull Velvet down into a crouching position. From there, the multi-colored girl rolled over the rabbit girl's back, catching her bicep with the umbrella handle along the way. Bringing the umbrella, and consequently Velvet's arm, down hard over her shoulder, Neo felt the girl's humerus snap as she threw the rabbit against the wall of the building. Velvet's scream brought Reaper's attention in time for the scythe master to see Neo draw her sword and aim to pierce the faunus's heart.
The multi-colored girl thrust her blade forward only to meet unexpected resistance in the form of the real Creacent Rose's blade. Reaper had flashed over just in time to save Velvet's life. Reaper pushed the sword aside and stepped close to Neo, glaring at the girl with increasingly red eyes.
"Go home, Neo. I'll see you when I get back under." Neo's only response was to give the scythe girl a glare of her own and gesture madly at Velvet. "Go. Home. I'm not going to repeat myself again." Reaper injected a lot more power into her voice, frightening Vlevet. Neo turned on her heel and vanished in a flash of light.
"Ruby…" Velvet reached out with her good arm.
Reaper turned to her old girlfriend. "That's not my name. Not anymore."
"Then… what do I call you…?" the faunus asked.
"Reaper." The answer that came from the girl's mouth was the one Velvet was afraid of. Memories of a story she was told not too long ago surfaced in her mind.
"Why… why are you doing this?" She had to ask. She had to know.
"Because it's all I can do." Reaper replied as she checked Velvet's arm. "Your old girlfriend screwed up, Velv. Screwed up big time. I have to do what I have to do, to survive. Hell, I've even managed to thrive a little. Hold on, this is gunna hurt…" Reaper twisted Velvet's arm to set the bone in its proper place. "There, it should heal like it never happened."
"You can still come back, love…" Velvet pleaded.
Reaper stood and turned her back. "No I can't. Don't you get it? 'Ruby' is gone."
"I don't believe that, Ruby." The rabbit faunus grabbed the girls shoulder and turned her back around. "You're still you, somewhere in there. We can help you, save you!"
"Who's 'we'? I put Weiss's sister in a coma! I manipulated all of you! I was sent here to steal files from Ozpin's office! I have betrayed everybody! Maybe you want to forgive Ruby, but I'm not Ruby! Even if I was, I doubt the others would want to do anything other than lock me up like the criminal I now am! It's too late for me… And if Ruby does still exist somewhere in here, that only makes things worse."
"Worse?"
Reaper looked up, staring straight into Velvet's eyes. "I've done things, Velv. Hell, I've killed people. And as much as I fear to admit it, I kind of enjoyed it. If I am still Ruby, then that little girl is corrupted. Defiled, even. Inside and out."
"Defiled?" Velvet was puzzled at Reaper's choice of words.
Reaper was unable to look her in the eye anymore. "That girl, Neo… a few times now. Once while I was here, in a cave in the Emerald Forest." Velvet's heart sank at the implication of Reaper's confession, and the hurt showed on her face. "It's not like she means anything to me. The sex, it calms Yang's semblance, the Red Haze. I use her. We use each other. Even though I still-" the scythe master cut off her next remark, clenching her fists. "That's the person I am now, Velv… I'm sorry."
"Even though you still what?" Velvet asked, her heart rising into her throat.
If you answer that question, it will only make it harder for her to move on.
"Nothing, Velvet. Don't worry about it." Reaper replied.
"No, Reaper, you owe me this. I have to know." Velvet forced the words through her tightening throat and watering eyes.
Don't do it.
"You don't want to know." The scythe master insisted.
"I think I do!"
Don't!
"Even though I still love you!" Reaper shouted, her own eyes coming to tears.
God damn it, girl. That's the last time I try to help you.
"That's the fucked-up person I am now!" Reaper continued. "I still love you! I think about you every day! And I give myself willingly to this… psychopath! To calm the Red Haze, and yes, to have a little fun, because I can never be with you again! I can't touch you like that, with a killer's hands… There's no saving me, Velvet…"
"Ruby…" Ruby still existed, of that Velvet was sure. Trapped in a prison of her own growing madness. She had to find a way to get her girlfriend back. Reaper had other ideas. A few parting gifts for her last conversation with the love of her life. She unclipped her red cloak and tossed it at Velvet. For a brief second, all the rabbit girl could see was red fabric. Suddenly, she was on the ground with a new, stinging pain above her eye.
Reaper had struck Velvet with the backside of Crescent Rose, dropping the weapon in the process. Before losing consciousness, Velvet heard Reaper's parting words. "I'm sorry Velvet. I can't risk you following me. I'll miss you… I love you… goodnight, and goodbye."
A few blocks from Beacon, The Voice spoke up.
You seem like you could use a pick-me-up.
"Don't beat around the bush with me, I know you mean Neo."
It's almost like you know me!
Once Reaper got back underground, Neo was awaiting her. It seemed Neo was about to do something, either texting or charades or one of her other voice substitutes. Before she had a chance, Reaper was already dragging the multi-colored to her master bedroom.