War for Ruby
Chapter 25: Halloween Warfare
It was October and Beacon was getting ready for Halloween. A handful of students and teachers were making preparations for a big party to celebrate the festival, while others were preparing their costumes or making plans for that day. Vale itself was getting prepared as well, with people decorating their houses and getting candy ready for tick or treaters. Even Ozpin himself was getting a costume ready for the party that was going to be held.
However, not everyone was making their preparations with joy and happiness. A group of three girls known as the WBY was locked in another argument over their team leader, Ruby Rose.
The trio of girls were arguing over which one of them gets Ruby to participate in an activity they had planned for her for Halloween. Yang wanted to take the redhead trick or treating, Weiss wanted to take her to the party and Blake wanted to take her to a book store, where a famous horror author would be reading his newest story for an audience.
''I'm telling you two, I know Ruby the best!'' Yang yelled at her teammates. ''She loves all sorts of sugary sweets, so she'll definitely want to go trick or treating!''
''Ruby is not a child anymore, Yang! I'm sure her tastes have changed!'' Weiss argued. ''On the other hand, the party I want to take her to is perfect for her! I can just imagine her dancing to the music with me!''
''She is not the kind of person who likes parties, princess! She is like me and doesn't like noisy and crowded parties!'' Blake yelled at the heiress. ''My plan is something that she'll definitely enjoy! As a fellow friend of books, I'm certain that she'll like my book store plan!''
''In your dreams, tuna-breath!'' both Yang and Weiss yelled at the same time.
''WOULD YOU PLEASE LET THAT GO ALREADY!?''
Unknown to the WBY, there was a drone flying just outside their window. It had a camera and a microphone on it, so the three girls' argument was getting fully recorded by the people spying on them. These spies were none other than their rivals, the WGC, who were currently watching and listening to the WBY's argument in Glynda's office.
''It's surprising how well their team works together, considering all the arguing they do,'' Glynda said as she watched their rivals bicker like small children. ''It must be thanks to Ruby.''
''Get closer, Winter,'' Cinder told her ally. ''I think we might otherwise miss important details.''
''And I think you should shut your mouth and let me drive!'' Winter yelled angrily at the raven-haired woman. ''Do you have any idea how much this thing cost!? I'm not going to risk them noticing us and destroying it!''
''So what? It took only like 10% of your allowance,'' Glynda stated blankly.
''No it didn't!'' the soldier argued back. When she got blank stares from her two allies, she muttered, ''It was 11%...''
''Alright, so we all think we know what Ruby would want to do on Halloween, right? How about we have her try all of them?'' Yang's voice could be heard saying through the monitor, catching the WGC's attention.
''What do you mean?'' Weiss asked.
''I say that we each take her to our Halloween activity and see which one she likes the best. I'll first take her trick or treating, then you can take her to the party and then Blake takes her to that book store thing.''
The WGC turned to look at each other with big smiles on their faces. It seemed like an opportunity had fallen on them to win Ruby from their rivals.
''Are you two thinking what I'm thinking?'' Winter asked her two comrades.
''Certainly!'' Glynda replied cheerfully. ''We'll take part in their little activities as well and defeat them in their own game!''
''I can't wait to see the looks on their faces, when we steal Ruby right under their noses!'' Cinder said gleefully.
Winter started to fly the drone away from team RWBY's dorm and back to them. They had learned everything they needed to know and the soldier didn't want to risk the drone getting damaged. However, just as she turned the machine around, a crow flew towards it and crashed into it, bringing it to the ground.
''NO!'' Winter screamed, horrified by how her spy tool had been damaged. ''Goddamn bird! Why did it have to go kamikaze on my drone!?''
''Relax, Winter. I'm sure it hasn't been badly damaged. We can probably fix it, once we go get it back,'' Cinder said in an attempt at comforting her comrade.
Just when the three women were about to leave, they noticed something on the monitor. A certain unshaven man was walking towards the downed drone, while muttering angrily about stupid toys taking up airspace.
''Is that...?'' Winter began to ask, recognizing the man. ''What is he-''
The WGC's faces turned to horrified expressions, when they saw the man raise up his leg in order to stomp the machine he had just crashed into. He brought his foot down and destroyed the microphone on the drone, causing a loud screeching sound to echo through the office, hurting the WGC's ears.
A couple of days later, it was Halloween in Beacon. The WBY were waiting very excitedly for their beloved team leader to come back to the dorm, so they could get their day started. They even had a costume prepared for the redheaded girl that they were dying to see her wear. Once Ruby entered the dorm, the three older girls were upon her in an instance.
''Ruby! Are you ready to spend Halloween with your favorite teammates!?'' Yang asked excitedly, while she, Weiss and Blake stared at their team leader with big smiles on their faces.
Ruby was a bit taken aback by the way her teammates suddenly appeared in front of her, but she managed to reply, ''Sorry, guys, but I've been too busy with schoolwork to really prepare for Halloween. I don't even have a costume.''
''That's alright! We have a costume prepared just for you!'' Blake said happily and gave a brown paper bag to the younger girl. ''Go put it on in the bathroom. I can guarantee that you'll like it.''
Ruby decided to humor her friends and went to the bathroom to put the costume on. The WBY waited impatiently on the outside, hoping to see their beloved leader in her costume as soon as possible. After a while, Ruby's voice could be heard from the bathroom as she finished putting on her costume.
''Ummm... Guys? I don't think that I can wear this outfit,'' the redhead's voice called out from the bathroom.
''W-Why not?'' Weiss asked, afraid that their plan had failed.
''Well, the skirt is too short for starters,'' Ruby answered. The three older girls could hear how embarrassed she was and could just imagine how badly she was blushing.
''Come on, Rubes! We worked so hard on that costume!'' Yang whined. ''You have to at least let us see it!''
The redhead sighed and said, ''Alright. I'm coming out.''
Once Ruby stepped out of the bathroom, the WBY's hearts stopped for a second upon seeing their leader in the costume they had prepared for her. Ruby was wearing a maid's dress with a very short skirt that she kept pulling down to cover herself, complete with a white apron and headpiece. However, she was also wearing red boots that wrestlers wore and red MMA gloves on her hands. To top it all off, she also had a pair of black cat ears on her head and a tail coming from her back.
The costume was a result of the WBY arguing among themselves over what Ruby should wear for Halloween. Weiss wanted her to dress up as a maid, Blake wanted her as a cat and Yang wanted her to be something ''badass and sexy.'' The end result was the outfit Ruby was wearing now. The maid clothing came from Weiss, the cat stuff from Blake and the wrestler things from Yang.
While Ruby was trying to effortlessly pull the skirt on her dress down to cover herself, she started to suddenly hear the sound of pictures being taken. She looked up and saw her teammates with their Scrolls out, taking pictures of her while their noses were bleeding.
''Guys, stop that!'' Ruby squeaked while trying to futilely cover herself up.
''Can't help it, Rubes,'' Yang said while taking pictures. ''You're just looking too good.''
''Yes. We can't help it that we want to take pictures of you,'' Weiss said.
''We need to save this moment and put these in our special archives,'' Blake added.
''...For some reason I don't like that last bit at all,'' the redhead said while her teammates continued taking pictures. ''What is this costume even supposed to be?''
''Badass kitty combat maid!'' the WBY announced in unison.
After the WBY had taken enough pictures and put on their costumes, Ruby was taken on her first part of Halloween fun with Yang. The redhead was still wearing the same costume that her teammates had provided her with, except she was also wearing her cloak to provide extra protection. The blonde was wearing her own costume, which was a yellow Power Rangers outfit. She also had a yellow motorcycle helmet, which had been painted to fit her costume, and plastic daggers strapped to her hips.
''So what exactly are we going to be doing?'' Ruby asked the older girl.
''We are going to take part in the greatest Halloween tradition there is,'' Yang said cheerfully and pulled out plastic bags from nowhere. ''We are going trick or treating!''
The redhead gave the blonde a questioning look and said, ''Are you sure we should be doing that? I mean, I like candy and all, but aren't we a bit too old for that?''
Yang pulled the younger girl into a one-armed hug and said in a comforting tone, ''You're never too old to have fun or candy. Now let's go trick or treating!''
The two girls were making their way to the Bullheads, when they heard someone running up from behind and calling for Ruby. They turned around to see Cinder running up to them.
''Ruby, wait up a bit!'' the raven-haired woman called out as she ran towards the two girls. She was wearing a black Catwoman outfit with a black mask over her eyes and had a plastic bag with her. ''Can I-?''
Cinder's words died in her throat when she noticed Ruby's outfit. At first she simply stared at the redheaded girl with wide eyes. Then her face turned red and blood started to drip from her nose. The villainess then quickly took out her Scroll and took a picture of the girl in front of her, causing her to let out an embarrassed squeak.
''Cinder! Why did you have to do that!?'' Ruby whined as she tried to cover herself with her arms.
''It was for a good reason, I swear,'' Cinder replied dreamily as she sent the picture to her allies.
Inside Glynda's office, both Winter and Glynda were putting on their costumes. The two women wanted to make sure that Ruby would be enthralled by how good they looked on Halloween.
''I must say, the way we agreed on each one's positions went much easier than I expected,'' Glynda said while putting on some make up. ''I'm surprised that neither one of you wanted to take the party.''
''Oh, please. The last thing I want to get involved with is a room full of teenagers that are trying to dance to horrible, loud music, while they each take turns spiking the drinks,'' Winter said while putting the finishing touches on her costume. ''Besides, reading horror stories is something I enjoy. While I usually read horror comics, I'm sure that books will work too.''
''I suppose that's true. But I wonder why Cinder wanted to go trick or treating so badly?'' the blonde teacher wondered.
Before the soldier could answer, both women heard their Scrolls let out a sound that told them they got a new message. They took them out and looked at the message, only for them to get massive nosebleeds immediately. Cinder's picture of Ruby in her Halloween costume was something they would treasure from that point on.
''I have to say that I'm surprised you wanted to go trick or treating with us,'' Ruby said as she, Yang and Cinder made their way towards the Bullheads. ''Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with you coming along. It's just that you don't really seem the type.''
''Yeah... Real surprising,'' Yang said as she glared at the raven-haired woman, fully knowing why one of her enemies was tagging along.
''Why, I just thought it would be a fun little activity to take part in! And what better way to enjoy it than being accompanied by a friend?'' Cinder replied, which Yang didn't believe while Ruby did. The blonde was certain that the villainess was there only to sabotage her plans and to get closer with Ruby.
However, there was another side to this. While it was true that Cinder wanted to get closer with Ruby, she had another reason to going trick or treating. The raven-haired woman wanted to take part in the activity itself. For as long as she could remember, Cinder had always seen children go trick or treating for free candy. Unfortunately, she herself had never had the chance to take part in this activity. She had always wished that she could try it out for herself as it seemed like a lot of fun. Not to mention, Cinder loved candy quite a lot.
In other words, today would the perfect day for her, as she would get to spend time with her beloved Ruby, take part in an activity that she had always wanted to try and she would get free candy.
'This is the BEST!' Cinder thought to herself happily as she, Ruby and Yang got on a Bullhead.
Once they had arrived in Vale, the trio of trick or treaters readied themselves for their candy collecting. Cinder looked especially excited as she looked at Ruby and Yang with the biggest smile on her face.
''So, how do we start?'' the raven-haired woman asked her companions. ''Are there some special preparations that we need to do or anything like that?''
''No need for anything like that. We just go to a house, ring their doorbell and say trick or treat when they open the door,'' Ruby answered as she led the way to the first house.
''Seriously, have you never gone trick or treating before?'' Yang asked as she glared at Cinder. ''It's such a simple thing to do and you don't know about it?''
''Oh, of course I do!'' the villainess said. ''I just didn't want to go and ruin your possible plans or anything like that!''
The trio got to the first house on their little trick or treating adventure. Ruby rang the doorbell and after a while an old woman opened the door while holding a bowl of candy.
''Trick or treat!'' the three ladies said happily in unison and held up their bags for the candy.
The old woman looked at the three ladies with a smile and said, ''Oh, what a lovely bunch of trick or treaters I have here today!'' She then looked at Cinder and added, ''It's especially nice to see someone looking after their younger sisters while they're having fun.''
While Yang was snickering, the raven-haired woman seemed a little offended by the comment. She decided to clear up the misunderstanding the old lady seemed to have.
''I think you're a bit mistaken there. I am not their sister. In fact, one of these two is my girlfriend,'' Cinder said with a small, smug smile. Her words caused Yang to turn red with anger, while Ruby just looked confused.
''Oh, I see! The blonde lady is your younger girlfriend, while the little redhead is her sister! You're accompanying them on their little journey! How nice of you!'' the old lady said, thinking that she had finally figured it out.
However, the old lady's comment just caused Yang and Cinder to pale and look horrified. The thought of them dating each other made the two ladies feel like throwing up.
''N-No... That's not-'' Cinder began to mumble her explanation, but was soon cut off by certain redhead.
''Cinder, Yang, how could you two!?'' Ruby yelled at her two companions, who turned to stare at her with wide eyes. ''What about Blake and Glynda!? How can you two just cheat on them like that!?''
''...I don't know which misunderstanding is worse,'' Yang said to which Cinder agreed.
Once the two older ladies of the trio had managed to explain things to Ruby, they were back on trick or treating. They continued doing this for some time, until they came from their last house.
''I got chocolate with almonds in it!'' Yang said happily as she held up her prize.
''I got some jelly beans,'' Ruby said with a smile as she looked into her bag. ''What about you, Cinder?''
''...I got a rock,'' the villainess said sadly as she held up said object.
While the blonde was snickering again, the redhead looked at her friend with sympathy and said, ''That's too bad. Shame that your run had to end on a bad note like that.''
''W-What!? We are ending this already!?'' Cinder asked, shocked that the activity would end right now.
''Yeah. I promised to get Rubes to the party they're having at Beacon,'' Yang explained. ''What's the matter? Sad that your loot is so small?''
True to the blonde's words, the raven-haired woman had gotten the least amount of candy out of the three of them. Yang had gotten the most with Ruby second. While the redhead did get a good amount of candy, there were some that saw her outfit as too provocative and refused to give her anything. It was only thanks to her pleading that Yang didn't beat them up. However, Cinder got less candy than either of them. It seemed like a lot of people saw her as too old to be trick or treating and wouldn't give her anything. This left the villainess quite sad.
''No. It's not that. I guess I just thought that this would go better,'' Cinder said sadly, causing Ruby to become concerned of her.
''Cinder? Is something wrong?'' the redhead asked as she walked up to the raven-haired woman. ''Please tell me if something is bothering you.''
Cinder took one look at Ruby's concerned silver eyes and all of her resistance broke. With a heavy sigh, she decided to explain herself.
''The thing is, this was my first time going trick or treating. I had always seen how much fun it was and wanted to try it for myself. Unfortunately, I was never able to go and do that. I wished that for one time I could enjoy myself while trying it out,'' the raven-haired woman answered while trying to hold back her tears.
Both Ruby and Yang were shocked by what they heard. While Yang saw Cinder as her enemy in her fight over Ruby, she couldn't help but feel bad for her. Some of the blonde's favorite childhood moments were of Halloween and it saddened her to hear that Cinder didn't have anything like them.
Ruby looked down at her bag of candy with a thoughtful look on her face, before she suddenly walked up to Cinder and dumped all of her candy into the raven-haired woman's bag. Both Yang and Cinder were shocked by this sudden act from the young redhead.
''R-Ruby!? What are you-!?'' the villainess began to ask, but was quickly cut off by Ruby.
''You know, when I really think about it, it was not the candy that made trick or treating so much fun. It was more about hanging out with Yang and having fun doing it. We had big smiles on our faces as we went from door to door and celebrated over our loot. So to see one of my friends so sad after such an activity breaks my heart,'' the young team leader explained before she suddenly hugged Cinder. ''I know it's not much, but I hope this makes it better for you. The only thing I want is for my friends to be happy and that's it.''
Cinder could only cry tears of happiness as she returned Ruby's hug. Meanwhile, Yang stared at them with envy.
Once the trio of ladies had gotten back to Beacon, Cinder soon left the other two and headed towards her own dorm. With Ruby and Yang left alone, the blonde decided to make her own move.
''Ruby, that was very nice of you what you did back there,'' Yang said, catching the younger girl's attention. ''I want you to share my candy.''
''Yang, there's no need for that. You should enjoy it, since you worked for it,'' Ruby said with a smile.
''It's not because of the candy that I wanted to do this!'' the blonde suddenly yelled, shocking the redhead. ''I wanted to go trick or treating with you because I share such dear memories of it with you! Planning our route, collecting the candy and trading candy with you at home! All of these are precious memories that I hold dear in my heart! I just wanted to make more of them with you...''
''Yang?''
Said girl was staring sadly at the ground, her blonde locks covering her eyes. But even with her eyes covered, one could tell she was sad, as her tears could be seen falling to the ground.
''Our lives have been... busy lately. I know that you have your duties as a student and as our team leader, but I would like to spend more time with you between just the two of us. At one point, I was pretty much your only friend around. And while I'm happy that you have new friends, I would like you to remember me as well. Sometimes I feel like you have replaced-''
The rest of Yang's sad speech were cut off by Ruby hugging her as tightly as she could. The older girl was surprised by this, but she returned the gesture.
''Yang, I could never replace you,'' the redhead said softly. ''You're such a big part of my life that I could never replace you with anything. There isn't a single person in this world whose opinion doesn't matter to me as much as your does. I look up to you even more than Uncle Qrow. So please, if you need me, just say so. I'll be there for you, like you've been for me.''
The two girls pulled away from the hug and smiled at each other. Yang was glad to hear how much she mattered to Ruby. It meant more to her than anything in the world.
''Thanks, Rubes,'' the blonde said softly. ''Before you go to the party, could you give me a quick kiss? Just for good luck.''
''Sure!'' the redhead said happily and kissed the older girl's cheek. She then started to make her way towards the party. ''I'll be going now! I'll see you later!''
''Have fun! Once you get back, well share the candy I got!'' Yang said while waving at Ruby.
''Okay, but I'm calling dibs on the chocolates with almonds!''
''Not fair! That's my favorite!'' the older girl said in a mock hurt tone while laughing. She then headed to her team's dorm while thinking, 'Best Halloween ever.'
Back with Cinder, the raven-haired woman was having a hard time eating the candy she had. The problem was that she saw most of it as a gift from Ruby, which made it difficult for her to make herself eat it. She almost felt like she should put it on an altar or something.
''Ooooh! I want to, but I can't! Maybe just one... No! I must not! But it's so sweet...'' Cinder rambled to herself while sitting on her bed with the big bag of candy on her lap.
''Do we even want to know?'' Mercury asked Emerald, while the two watched Cinder have her ''dilemma.''
''I think we should just get something to read while listening to music on our Scrolls. That way we can ignore this,'' the green-haired girl answered.
The silver-haired boy nodded and they were soon doing what Emerald suggested. Both were listening to music while reading something. Mercury had a comic book and the thief had one of her novels, and both were happy to not hear Cinder's ramblings.
A bit later, Ruby found herself standing in front of the entrance to Beacon's great hall. It was the same place Ozpin held his speech when she first got there, so there was enough room for a party. The redhead was waiting for Weiss to show up, who was going to be her partner for this event. While she was waiting, she was forced to hear people whistle and ''admire'' her outfit. This caused Ruby to blush quite heavily, as she was not used to that kind of attention.
After what felt like an eternity to the young team leader, she heard her partner calling for her. She turned to look into the direction of the sound and saw Weiss running towards her in her own outfit. The heiress was wearing a white queen's outfit. Ruby couldn't help but imagine that if Yang had been there, she would have said that Weiss upgraded from ice princess to ice queen.
''Sorry I'm a bit late,'' Weiss said while catching her breath. ''My outfit took a while, so I hope you didn't wait for long.''
''No problem, Weiss. I didn't have to wait long,'' Ruby said with a smile. ''However, if there was a problem, it would be-''
''Hey, Rose! Nice outfit! Real sexy!'' a male student called out with a whistle.
''...that.''
Seeing someone make such lewd remarks at her beloved leader caused Weiss to burn with rage. She decided to punish the fool that dared do such a thing and pulled a small red canister of Dust from her dress. She then threw it with all her might at her target, causing him to get blown away from a small explosion.
While Ruby and everybody else around them stared at Weiss with wide eyes, the heiress herself had a satisfied smile on her face. She wasn't bothered by the attention she was getting at the moment. All that mattered to her was that Ruby had been protected and the villain that had made her feel uncomfortable had been punished.
''Now, how about we go enjoy the party?'' Weiss asked as she took Ruby's hand. ''There will be a special musical act which I want you to see.''
The redhead could only nod as she was still shocked over what the heiress just did. The two girls went inside the hall and saw just how much had been prepared for the party. The whole place was full of people in different costumes and the hall was decorated in all sorts of Halloween-themed things. There was a stage set up for a band to play and a very large buffet of drinks and food.
Ruby noticed that a few of their friends were there as well. Jaune and Pyrrha were apparently doing some sort of a theme thing together, with one of them dressed as a princess and the other one as a knight. The only thing was that the boy was the princess, which Ruby was certain was because of Pyrrha, given how excited she was while Jaune was embarrassed. Ren was dressed as a samurai, while Nora was Santa Claus for some reason. The ginger's choice in costume raised a lot of eyebrows. Team SSSN was dressed up as the members of the Achieve Men and team CFVY seemed to only have two members attending the party, Coco and Velvet. The fashionista and the rabbit faunus were dressed as two secret agents, with black suits and sunglasses.
Weiss took Ruby to the middle of the hall, where there were people listening to the music and dancing. She turned to look at the younger girl with a bright smile and said, ''Wait here and look at the stage. I've got something special planned for you.''
The redhead did as she was told and stayed there while the heiress left. It didn't take long until she saw Weiss get up on the stage. The white-haired girl walked up to the microphone and started speaking.
''I would like to dedicate this song to someone very special to me. Someone who changed me for the better,'' Weiss said before music started playing. She then started to sing, which captivated everyone in the audience.
However, there was one person that was not listening to the song and it was Ruby. The redhead tried to listen to her partner's singing at first, but then she started noticing things that disturbed her greatly. First she noticed that a large number of people seemed to be dressed up as her. These people were the members of the Ruby fan club, who decided to show their dedication to their idol by dressing up as her. Add the fact that many of them were giving Ruby all sorts of ''looks'' and you could see why the redhead was disturbed by this greatly.
The second thing that Ruby noticed was a small group of people putting something in the drinks. She even saw someone drink it and their behavior seemed to change dramatically. It was especially bad with the Ruby fan club members, whose looks on the redhead became even more disturbing.
Ruby knew that she was supposed to be there for Weiss, as she had promised her friend that she would be there. However, with the way things were going, she needed to get out. By pushing her Semblance to it's fullest, Ruby ran away from the party, hoping that she could make it up to Weiss someway.
Meanwhile, Weiss had just finished her song and the crowd was applauding her greatly. She stepped down from the stage, expecting to see Ruby walk up to her and praise her skills. Unfortunately she didn't see her partner anywhere. She looked for her, but was unable to find the redheaded girl anywhere.
While Weiss was looking for her partner, there was sudden commotion at the entrance to the hall. The heiress turned to look at it and her eyes went wide at what she saw. Glynda Goodwitch was there, in her own costume. The blonde teacher had was dressed as a vampire with her outfit consisting of a long black dress that showed her legs, black high-heeled boots, fingerless gloves that went past her elbows and a red cape. Glynda also had her hair down, was wearing contact lenses that turned her eyes red instead of her normal glasses and a pair of plastic fangs in her mouth.
The teacher walked around with some extra sway in her hips, which caused a lot of people to turn and stare at her. However, she was not there to impress all of these people. She was there to impress a certain young redhead.
Glynda spotted a familiar red cloak in the sea of people and smirked. She started to make her way towards her target, completely certain that she would get what she wanted.
''And what do we have here?'' the teacher said in a seductive voice as she got behind the girl, put her hand on her shoulder and started to turn her around. ''Looks like I caught myself a-''
The rest of Glynda's words died in her throat as she finally turned the girl around and saw that it was not Ruby. Instead, it was some girl with bright pink hair and big glasses that was definitely not her beloved student. The blonde woman looked around herself and noticed just how many people were dressed like Ruby for the party.
''What the-? How-? Why!?'' Glynda sputtered as she looked around trying to find the real Ruby.
Meanwhile, Weiss was smirking at the teacher's failure at finding her partner. She then noticed someone sitting on a couch that had been brought there, away from the commotion with their back turned towards everything. This person was also wearing a red cloak similar to Ruby's. The heiress was certain that this was the real Ruby as the redhead was so shy that she would try to stay away from people at a party. Weiss started to make her way to this person, thinking that her victory was certain.
''You know, I hope you at least watched my performance, Ruby,'' the heiress said once she reached the person with the red cloak.
''I'm not Ruby, Weiss,'' the person answered in a rather masculine tone, surprising the white-haired girl.
''W-What?''
The person that Weiss thought was Ruby turned around to reveal his identity as none other than Yatsuhashi from team CFVY. The large man was wearing an outfit similar to Ruby's.
''Before you ask, no I'm not part of the Ruby fan club. I'm just a person with tastes that might seem weird to you and I just happen to admire your team's leader quite a bit, like many others. I just thought I'd show that along with my other side,'' Yatsuhashi explained before turning away from the stunned heiress.
Both Weiss and Glynda spent the rest of that night looking for Ruby, who had already left.
In another part of Beacon, Ruby walking as far away from the party as she could. While she regretted leaving Weiss behind, the sight of all those people dressed up as herself was too scary for her. Right now, the young redhead just wanted to get away from those people.
''Ms. Rose, what are you doing here?'' Winter's voice called out to Ruby, making her stop. ''I thought that you would be at the party.''
''Well, I was there, but-'' the redhead began to say, but stopped once she noticed the outfit the soldier was wearing. Winter was wearing a white suit with a red vest under her jacket and a black tie. She also had plastic horns on her forehead and a devil's tail on her back.
''I see that you like my costume,'' the white-haired woman said with a chuckle as she walked up to Ruby. ''Now, since you're not at the party anymore, how about we go have fun for ourselves? There's this bookstore that has a certain event I'm sure you'll like.''
''I... ummm... That sounds nice,'' the young team leader managed to say.
''Splendid!'' Winter said cheerfully and grabbed Ruby's arm. ''Let's not waste any time and-''
''Ruby? Where are you going?'' Blake's voice called out, making both Ruby and Winter turn to look at her. Once the two saw her, their eyes went wide. The cat faunus was wearing an oversized cat outfit, similar to the outfits theme park mascots wear. Blake had her head sticking from the outfit, which made her look ridiculous as it made the costume look even larger.
''M-Ms. Belladonna. How nice t-to see you,'' Winter managed to say while holding back her laughter. ''T-That's quite the outfit you have there. Are you sure it's not too large for you?''
Blake was about to answer, but was cut off by a red blur tackling her into a hug.
''Oh my gosh, Blake, you're so cute!'' Ruby said as she hugged her teammate as tight as she could. ''You're so fluffy and soft and just adorable! I love your costume!''
The cat faunus returned the hug and smirked at Winter. This had been her plan all along. She knew that Ruby would find her outfit cute and wouldn't be able to resist hugging her. Blake was certain that everyone else would try something that was more along the lines of sexy, which would make her outfit stand out in Ruby's mind.
Winter grumbled in jealousy as she could only watch one of her rivals get hugged by the girl she loved.
The trio of ladies were soon on their way to the bookstore. During their trip there, Winter and Blake kept competing for Ruby's attention with the cat faunus clearly winning. While the white-haired woman was clearly the one with the more sexier outfit, she was also somewhat intimidating to the young redhead. On the other hand, the cat faunus' outfit was more ''safe'' to Ruby, which made it easier for her to cling onto. Winter could only look on with jealousy as Blake got practically all of Ruby's attention.
The three ladies eventually made it to the bookstore, where they had set up chairs in front of a stage. The trio took their seats with Winter sitting to Ruby's left and Blake to her right. Eventually the lights were turned off with the exception of the stage and a man walked up there. He had a chair there where he sat on and he pulled out a microphone to speak to the crowd.
''Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to our Halloween night of frights,'' the man began as he got his book ready. There was some smoke coming up and scary music playing to create the perfect atmosphere for the event. ''Let us begin our tale, The Man Who Cried Grimm.''
As soon as the man began reading, Ruby was captivated by the story. However, her companions were not concentrated on the story at all. Instead, they were staring at the young redhead sitting between them. Both of them were waiting for Ruby to get scared by the story and go to either of them for comfort.
''Ms. Rose,'' Winter whispered to the young team leader. ''If you get scared at all, do not hesitate to go to me for comfort.''
''Oh, thank you for the offer, but-''
''I think Ruby would prefer going to me for that,'' Blake whispered back, cutting off Ruby's response. ''After all, she knows she can trust me and I'm much more comfortable to hug.''
''Ummm... While I'm not denying what you said, I really don't-''
''And just how would you be more comfortable than me?'' Winter whispered angrily as she glared at Blake. ''After all, I am a high-ranking officer in the Atlesian military and a lot more skilled Huntress than you. I'm certain that Ms. Rose would be much safer in my care.''
''Seriously you two, there's no need-''
''While you might be more experienced than me, I don't think that would guarantee her feeling of safety,'' the cat faunus said with anger clear in her voice. ''You see, I'm one of her teammates and she knows she can trust me. On the other hand, the Schnee name isn't exactly the most trustworthy these days.''
''Hey, there's no need for-''
''Are you perhaps implying that I'm like my father?'' the soldier practically growled out. ''I'll have you know that I am nothing like him. Don't you ever dare even think I'm like that.''
''The corrupt family aside, you're still part of Remnant's biggest corrupt force. Or are all those news about bribed military officials and stories about the military's war crimes not true?''
''Why you little-!''
Before either Blake or Winter could throw the first punch, both ladies were grabbed by the back of their outfits and pulled away from each other. They were lifted up by two large, muscular men that were providing security for the event.
''Would one of you mind and tell why you two are actively ruining everybody's time here?'' the man holding Winter asked. Both the soldier and the cat faunus looked around themselves and noticed that the crowd and the man reading his book were currently glaring at them, obviously not pleased with how they were acting.
''She started it!'' both Blake and Winter yelled at the same time while pointing at each other.
Ruby let out a sigh and said, ''How about we just leave and let everybody else enjoy the story? I'm sorry about the commotion we caused.''
A bit later, the three ladies were heading back towards Beacon with Ruby leading and the older ladies following her. Blake and Winter were glaring at each other as they were walking. Both of them blamed each other for getting kicked out of the bookstore and were not willing to admit their own fault in the whole matter.
''I must say that none of this would have happened if Ms. Belladonna had not started the whole fight,'' Winter said. ''If she had not started her baseless accusations, we would still be there, enjoying a good horror story.''
''This was my fault?'' Blake asked angrily. ''I'm pretty sure that if you hadn't overreacted at certain facts, we wouldn't have been kicked out. I'd say that you're the one to blame for this.''
Before the two arguing ladies could take their argument any further, Ruby stomped over to them angrily and glared at them. Both Blake and Winter were actually scared by the look they were getting from the redhead.
''Do you want to know who I blame!? I blame both of you! If neither of you two had started acting like complete children, we might not have gotten kicked out! I don't know why you two were even arguing, but I know that it certainly was not worth all that! How about you two do me a favor and stay away from me!?'' Ruby yelled angrily at her companions before walking away angrily, leaving behind two shocked ladies.
''...How about we agree that we are both to blame and try to get past this whole incident?'' Winter asked Blake.
''Sounds good enough,'' the cat faunus answered.
Once Ruby got back to her team's dorm room, Yang turned to look at her from her bed. The blonde was sitting on her bed, looking through the candy she got while trick or treating.
''Hi, Rubes! You got here early,'' Yang said with a smile. ''How was the rest of your Halloween?''
''Well, I have to say that the time I spent with you and Cinder went good. However, the day just kept getting worse with time,'' Ruby answered in a grumpy tone. ''I get to see things that disturbed me and angered me, so I've certainly had my fill of Halloween.''
''That's unfortunate. Would you like to talk about it?'' the blonde asked in a concerned tone.
''To be honest, I just want to go to bed and hopefully forget that this whole holiday even exists,'' the redhead answered as she went to bed. ''Goodnight.''
Author's notes: Finally! It's done! This chapter was a real monster to do and I'm glad it's finally done. Hope it was good to you guys.
I was originally going to have Ruby go trick or treating with the WBY and then go to a party with the WGC. However, THB4 suggested that I should try something a bit different with it and this is the result of that. Thanks to him for the suggestion.
Also, the part with Yatsuhashi was done just for fun. If it offended anybody in any way, I offer you my deepest of apologies. I was just doing it as a joke and not as an attempt to offend anyone.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.