Well here we are, Chapter 26! We're nearing the end of this story, as things start to go very sideways! Thank you all who've stuck with this for so long and are enjoying this story. And thanks to all you lovely reviewers with such kind words. So as to avoid spoilers, I will say very little here, save that quite a few of you did in fact catch onto part of my plan here. At least for the beginning. So, without further ado, here you are!
Disclaimer-I don't own RWBY or its characters.
Blake's legs couldn't hold her up anymore. She fell to her knees, hands shaking, eyes wide as she stared at the dying flames. The cylinder of flame had blasted clean from one building into another, leaving a gaping, molten hole in both building's walls. Blake's voice wouldn't work anymore, unable to comprehend what she had seen. Her heart felt like it had been incinerated away with that fiery blast she had just witnessed, and the last view she had of Yang's golden hair disappearing into the inferno. Weiss' hands were over her mouth, horror written across her face, glancing back and forth between Blake and the spot where Yang had once stood. Desperately trying to control herself, she glanced over at Ruby, terrified to see how Ruby was taking it. Weiss' jaw dropped when she saw Ruby's expression.
Ruby was standing there, with a confused look on her face as she looked at Blake, eyebrow arched. Weiss just gaped at Ruby for a moment, before opening her mouth. "Ruby? Aren't you…upset?"
Ruby looked taken aback at the question. "Why would I be upset?"
Blake's own pain dropped off her as she rounded on Ruby, leaping to her feet, fury in her eyes. "Don't you even care about your sister?!"
Weiss stepped forward, moving to intercept Blake before she could do something she'd regret, but froze at Ruby's nonchalant giggle. "Wait, is that what you're upset about? Psh. Guys, Yang is fine. She's fireproof!" Blake's jaw dropped as Weiss blinked. Ruby cocked her head at them. "You guys didn't know that? I mean, c'mon guys, she sets herself on fire all the time! Yeah, shrapnel and shockwaves can hurt her, but her aura protects her from those. That was pretty much all fire though. Looked like some kind of burn dust to me." Blake felt her heart beat again, hope rising inside her as Ruby flitted over to the hole in the wall, rose petals floating behind her. Peering down into the hole in the wall the flames had impacted, Ruby narrowed her eyes.
"Yang! Get up! Blake is worried sick about you! You forgot to tell them about being fireproof!"
Blake's entire being was suffused with joy when she heard the reply from within, Yang's voice sounding unsure. "Umm…I can't."
Ruby sighed exasperatedly. "Oh don't give me that Yang, just get out here! That's an order!" A sigh was heard from within the building, before a rumbling sounded as a small cloud of dust flew out of the building. A hand came from within, gripping the wall, as Yang levered herself out of the building. A very, very naked Yang, her other hand gripping her hair and trying (and failing) to use it as some sort of covering. Blake had just started walking towards the building, when she froze in place, eyes wide, face blazing into a blush as she stared at her completely nude girlfriend. Yang's face was lit up in a blush herself as she kept looking at the ground, even as Ruby stomped her foot and rolled her eyes in a manner reminiscent of Weiss. "Oh geez Yang, you didn't even think to shield your clothes?" Yang shrugged shyly.
"Well…I was worried about Blake!" As Ruby began lecturing Yang, Yang glared at Ruby and snapped back at her, the two sisters bickering. Blake heard none of it, white noise playing in her ears as all the blood in her brain drained completely from it. An elbow in her side made her snap her head around to see Weiss, the blush on the heiress' face completely at odd with her smirk.
"Breathe, Belladonna."
Blake glared, about to snap back at Weiss, when a stray angry growl from Ruby made both girls look back towards the sisters, just in time to get a visual of Ruby stripping off her corset and skirt, revealing a dark red tank top and black shorts underneath them. Before either girl could react, the red-head had ripped those off and thrown them at Yang. Standing in her underwear, as Yang held the two items Ruby had tossed at her, the sister's continued their argument, leaving the monochrome duo in the back flabbergasted. Blake coughed, giving Weiss a sidelong glance.
"You are one lucky girl, Schnee."
Weiss nodded, meeting Blake's side glance with one of her own. "Same to you." The two girls stood in silence for a moment, still gazing at the two sisters, before Weiss leaned over slightly towards Blake. "Is this wrong?"
Blake shrugged. "Why would it be?"
Weiss coughed, her blush increasing. "Well…I'm not looking at only Ruby."
Blake smiled slightly as she hunched her shoulders down and muttered. "I'm not looking only at Yang." The silence extended for a brief moment, before Blake spoke up again. "Well, you know what Yang would say." Weiss' questioning glance encouraged Blake to continue, the faunus smirking. "We just have a healthy appreciation for the female form!" Weiss giggled loudly, the sound of her laugh finally breaking into the two sister's argument. A brief moment occured where Ruby and Yang glanced at their partners, back at each other, then at themselves , before they simultaneously made an eep sound and began struggling to get back into their clothes. As they managed to fully cover themselves, Blake and Weiss sighed deeply in unison, smirks on their faces at the dark red blush both Ruby and Yang had painted on their faces. As the four girls finally reunited, Weiss spoke up.
"You know Yang, you could just call for your locker. We keep spare uniforms in our lockers." Ruby's blush deepened as Yang smacked her forehead. Blake calmly handed Yang her scroll, who quickly input the numbers to launch her locker, before handing it back. Blake put it in her pocket, standing still for a brief moment, before lunging forward unexpectedly, gripping Yang in a hug so tight Yang felt her ribs crack. Blake spoke, voice muffled at her head was currently buried in Yang's shoulder.
"Never scare me like that again, ok?"
Yang struggled to take a breath, before giving up and nodding, wrapping her arms around Blake and stroking her hair. Blake released Yang, but glared at her, making Yang chuckle nervously as she glanced around for support. Seeing a similar glare on Weiss' face, and already knowing Ruby was not happy with her, Yang quickly realized she was on her own. "Look, I meant to bring up the whole fireproof thing, but I kept forgetting about it! It's not like I go around and regularly end up getting caught in massive fire blasts!" A cough from Ruby and an unamused glare made Yang curse under her breath. "Ok, not since I got to Beacon!" Ruby's expression relented slightly, just in time for Yang's locked to smash down a few yards from them. Yang strode over to it as the other three girls turned away, although Blake did so reluctantly as Yang quickly threw on her spare combat uniform, throwing Ruby's under clothes into her locker, figuring Ruby wouldn't want to change again. As she walked back to the group, she was cut off by a series of massive explosions ripping through the city once more, plumes of flame shooting up in the distance, looking for all the world like a traveling wave as they burst in sequence. With how far they had gotten from the blast zones, they avoided the shockwave, but the burst of warm air and the screams of the citizenry being carried on the same air reached them easily enough. The worries about Yang had made them forget momentarily what had caused this whole situation, but it quickly came rushing back into their minds.
Before they could fully react, the sounds of Bullhead's above made them glance up to see countless airships deploying Atlesian soldiers across the city. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they could handle such a situation better than team RWBY could. They were huntresses, not bomb specialists. As soldiers landed around them, Ruby waved a greeting, but her smile froze as the soldiers instantly pointed their guns at the girls. Blinking, Ruby slowly held her hands up, her team mirroring her gesture as more soldiers surrounded the four girls.
A bright orange bob of hair strode into the midst of the soldiers, walking straight towards Ruby. Ruby smiled at the sight of Penny, letting her hands down and breathing easier.
"Hey Penny! Do you know what's going on here?" Penny strode straight up to Ruby, a smile plastered on her face, but she spoke not a word. As Ruby looked closer at Penny, she realized Penny's eyes were blank, unfocused. The normal brilliant emerald color was dull and muted, with no recognition showing in them. Ruby cocked her head, speaking slowly and worriedly. "Penny?"
Penny slammed her open hand into Ruby's chest, sending her flying back into the soldiers, smashing through them as she was thrown into a wall, her back cracking as she hit it. She arched her back in pain as she coughed, a tiny amount of blood coming out of her mouth. For a brief second, everything was frozen, before Yang burst into flame and tried to run towards Ruby. She was forced to stop as soldiers leapt into her path, guns blazing, making her jump backwards and dodge.
Weiss readied Myrtenaster and went to swing at Penny, but the orange haired girl simply leapt up and over her, dashing towards Ruby even as her backpack opened, the blades flinging out and spinning behind her, deflecting all the bullets coming in a hail from Blake's Gambol Shroud. The solders closed ranks immediately, going on the offensive to the three surrounded girls who could only watch helplessly as Penny closed in on Ruby.
Ruby leapt up onto the roof of the building she had hit, deploying Crescent Rose just in time to deflect two of Penny's swords, frantically backing off as Penny kept charging at her, spinning in place as the blades formed into a wheel shape, rattling off against the metal handle of Crescent Rose. Ruby had to pour on her speed as best she could to dodge the multiple blades swinging at her from every angle imaginable, eyes wide.
"Penny! Stop this! I'm your friend! Whatever is wrong, we can work it out!" Ruby was cut off from continuing by a hail of bullets smashing into her back, pitching her forward and throwing off her defenses. The red-head's eyes went wide as Penny's spinning blades came screaming towards her, catching her across her midriff and cutting deep into her skin, making her hiss in pain as she back flipped away. Holding one hand over her abdomen, she winced as she lifted her hand up to see the blood dripping from her hand. She had little time to wonder though, as Penny's swords came back in, forcing her to activate her semblance, quickly leaping onto another rooftop. The welcome sight of Bullheads from Beacon, and other hunter teams jumping down to help her team with the soldiers made her grin for a second, before she had to duck again.
Although Ruby was faster than Penny by a wide margin, the way Penny's blades could operate entirely independently of each other and of Penny made it nearly impossible for Ruby to actually escape. Every time she thought she had some distance, a blade would be in front of her, forcing her to stop and deflect it. She kept pleading with Penny, trying to get her to stop, and swore she saw Penny stop for brief moments before continuing the pursuit. She raked her mind for a way to stop, desperation making her thoughts race.
An immense explosion from the city threw her off, the shockwave impacting her mid leap, sending her careening to the side. Before she landed, Penny's incredibly strong arms grabbed her, one locked around her throat, the other crushing the hand holding Crescent Rose, forcing her to drop her beloved scythe as Penny began squeezing, lifting the other hand up to grasp Ruby's throat as well. Ruby kicked out, trying to break the hold, but all she succeeded in doing was hurting her foot. Ruby glanced over, seeing her team and team JNPR in the courtyard of the CCT, barely holding off waves upon waves of soldiers, even as she glimpsed the massive forms of Atlesian Paladin's moving in. Darkness began to creep in on her vision as her breath fell short, feeling the pressure from Penny's hand beginning to steal her senses from her. Looking down tearfully into Penny's blank eyes, she tried desperately to speak, her voice hoarse.
"Penny! You're not a robot! You're a person! Plea-" Ruby felt her pleas cut off, but suddenly, the pressure on her throat eased for a brief second as Penny's eyes lit up momentarily, the orange haired girl blinking. One hand left Ruby's throat, gripping onto Penny's head near her ear, the robotic girl squeezing her eyes shut. Ruby's heart soared as she heard Penny's voice growl out.
"Ruby, I…I can't! It's…it's too loud! It's too loud!" Penny's eyes dimmed again as her hand shot back to Ruby's throat, the pressure growing quicker. Ruby tried to think, before a desperate plan made its way into her mind. Glancing at where Penny had placed her hand before, Ruby glimpsed a tiny metal rod slightly sticking out, right beneath Penny's ear. As quickly as she could, Ruby stretched out her trembling hand and grabbed at Penny's ear, trying to grip the rod. Her hand scrabbled uselessly for a moment before she grabbed it, and with all the strength left in her body as the darkness closed in on her, she ripped it off, a metallic screeching sounding as a small piece of Penny's ear came with it, leaving glowing exposed wiring sparking fitfully in the air. Ruby felt the pressure on her throat cease, felt herself being laid down gently.
Ruby gulped in air, trying to stay awake as she felt the darkness in her vision slowly clearing, the roaring noise in her ears receding into the background. She could hear a voice calling for her, shaking her slightly, and she opened her eyes to see Penny above her, her eyes lit up once more as she looked down worriedly at Ruby. "Ruby! Please Ruby, wake up! I'm so sorry, please, wake up! Please be ok friend, please!" Ruby patted Penny's hand that lay on her chest, nodding at Penny, trying to calm her down. She cleared her throat, wincing as it felt like needles were stuck in it, before speaking hoarsely.
"What happened?"
Penny shook her head. "I do not know, friend Ruby. I was merely sitting down when this signal hit me. I felt my parameters being reconfigured by the signal, and my programming was insufficient to prevent the reconfiguring. I believe the same has occurred to the Atlesian troops. I have self-will, but that device you removed is designed to be able to override it. The soldiers do not. The only way to shut them down is to stop the signal."
Ruby nodded, trying to keep up with Penny. "Do you know where the signal is coming from?"
Penny nodded, pointing at the CCT overlooking the courtyard nearby. "The tower. The signal is from the tower." Ruby's eyes narrowed as she tried to get to her feet, leading to Penny gently pushing her back. "Friend Ruby, you are wounded. I have wounded you. You must rest." Ruby shook her head no.
"I can't Penny. We have to do something. Help me up, please?"
Penny looked down at Ruby, the sadness apparent in her eyes, before nodding. Reaching down, Penny lifted Ruby to her feet, steadying her as Ruby stumbled slightly. Ruby winced again, looking around to see Crescent Rose lying on the ground nearby. Stumbling over to it, with Penny glued to her side, arms out wide ready to catch Ruby if she fell, the red-head sighed as she realized her right hand could barely grip her scythe, the bones in her hand fractured by Penny's crushing grip. Focusing her aura on it, she felt them slowly begin to knit back together as she lifted her scythe up with her left, glad her dominant hand was still fully functional. Looking down into the courtyard, Ruby could see that multiple hunter teams, including her own, JNPR, CFVY, and CRDL were battling the soldiers, but were slowly being driven into the alleyways and roads that led away from the CCT.
Ruby dropped off the building, landing near the back of the lines as Penny fell beside her. Weiss' eyes lit up as she saw Ruby unharmed, but she immediately pointed Myrtenaster towards Penny even as Ruby raised her hands and waved her off frantically. Looking over at Penny, Ruby spoke.
"Penny, we need time to come up with a plan. Can you keep the soldiers off us for a bit?"
Penny nodded. "Of course Friend Ruby. I am combat ready!" She saluted with a massive grin as Ruby chuckled.
"Yeah, I've noticed." Penny's expression fell slightly, before she straightened up and sent her blades flying into the gathered soldiers, clearing room for Ruby to dash up to her team. Seeing that most of the teams were too far for Ruby to reach with her voice, she yanked out her scroll and activated the emergency leader channel that all team leader's had access to.
"This is Ruby Rose team RWBY. The Atlesian soldier's programming has been overwritten by a signal originating from the CCT. We have got to get there and shut it down quickly!" A chorus of affirmatives came from her scroll as team leaders across the courtyard received her message. Ruby smiled at her team as they breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her, but a scream from behind them caught their attention.
Spinning around, Ruby's eyes widened as she saw a small girl running towards her, soldier's lumbering behind her. Ruby's body acted on its own, her semblance exploding into action as she blurred towards the child. Time seemed to slow down for her in that moment, as she saw the soldier raise its gun. 'Faster faster faster faster faster faster!' Ruby chanted in her head, all sound cut off as she moved faster than she had ever moved in her life. She clearly saw the muzzle flash, saw the bullet spiraling through the air towards the child. Slowly, as she closed in on the child, she raised Crescent Rose one handed and took aim, begging her aim to be steady as she fired, not having time to line her shot up.
Ruby watched as her bullet flew through the air, able to see the whirling paths of air it cut through as it moved towards the one fired by the soldier. She watched as her bullet passed over the shoulder of the little girl, the young brunette's eyes wide open in fear, mouth open in a silent scream. The world was silent and still to Ruby, everything so slow she swore she could see the very air itself. Her bullet missed the soldier's by the tiniest margin, continuing on and burying itself in the ground. Ruby dropped her scythe, arms outstretched, reaching out to try to grasp the child, desperate to save her.
Time caught up to Ruby as she grabbed the girl in the same moment the bullet hit, ripping through the child's back and straight out the front, smashing into Ruby's aura where it was stopped. Ruby rolled on the ground, the child wrapped in her arms, feeling the wetness of her blood soaking the front of her corset, even as the sounds of battle returned. Ruby felt more than noticed the flames of Yang blazing past her, ripping apart the soldiers who had been chasing the child, even as Ruby sat helplessly holding the girl in her arms, looking down into the blue eyes staring lifelessly up at her. A hand on her shoulder made her look up, seeing Weiss looking down at her, a tear falling from the older girl's eye as she looked at Ruby.
"Weiss! Freeze her! Like Azure showed you! Do the freeze time thing!" Ruby shouted, desperate. Weiss shook her head slowly, solemnly.
"It's too late."
Ruby shook her head rapidly, refusing to believe it. "NO! Please, Weiss! Help her!" Weiss looked at a loss, but Yang stepped in, kneeling next to Ruby, even as Blake and Pyrrha from JNPR closed in around them, blocking the soldiers from reaching them.
Yang placed her hand softly over Ruby's. "Rubes…we can't do anything for her. She didn't have an aura like we do. I'm sorry." Ruby stared deep into Yang's still blazing red eyes, blinking back tears, before lowering her head. Her shoulders shook for a brief moment, before they went still. Ever so slowly, Ruby lay the girl down, gently placing her hands over her chest. Lifting her now bloodstained hands up, Ruby grabbed the edge of her hood and lifted it up, covering her head entirely. Reaching back, the red-head grasped the hilt of Crescent Rose, dragging it up as she rose to her feet, head still lowered, face blocked by her hood. Ruby's voice was a whisper, colder than an artic blizzard, as she spoke only two words.
"Break them."