War for Ruby
Chapter 36: Switching Places (Part 3)
Winter Schnee was running through the halls of Beacon with a pale face, like she had just seen a ghost. She was heading towards team RWBY's dorm, hoping to find Yang Xiao Long there. The white-haired woman needed to know why Qrow Branwen had suddenly changed so dramatically and the best source for answers should be the man's niece.
On her way to the dorm, Winter encountered Cinder Fall, who seemed to be just as freaked out, if not more than she herself was. The raven-haired woman's eyes were wide, her face was pale and she kept muttering ''it can't be real'' to herself over and over again. Seeing her comrade like this concerned Winter greatly, as she knew Cinder to be a fearless person. There should only be a few things in the entire existence that could spook her like this.
''Cinder, what has gotten you so scared?'' the white-haired woman asked. ''You look like you've seen the devil himself or something.''
''I would actually prefer that over what I've seen,'' the villainess answered. ''What I've just seen shook me to the very core of my soul. The world doesn't make any sense to me anymore.''
Before Winter could ask what Cinder was talking about, the two women had to stop upon sensing something. Neither of the women knew what it was at first, only that it scared them. However, both soon realized that it was rage. Pure and unadulterated rage. Someone was VERY angry and they could feel it.
Winter and Cinder didn't need to wait for long, until they found out what the source for this terrifying phenomenon was. They could sense the rage coming closer to them, accompanied by the sound of footsteps. While the two women wanted to simply turn around and run away, they couldn't. Both were so frozen with fear that all they could do was stand and wait until whatever it was came to them. Much to their confusion, they soon saw Glynda stomping towards them. The blonde teacher had a look of absolute fury on her face as she walked towards her two comrades.
Once Glynda walked past the other two members of the WGC, the two women let out sighs of relief. Even though they knew the witch wasn't always in the best of moods, they had never even imagined that she could get this angry. Winter and Cinder were thankful that they had not been the ones to get their comrade so upset.
''Hi, Glynda,'' Winter carefully called out to her comrade, hoping that she didn't accidentally turn the teacher's anger towards herself. ''What has gotten you in such a bad mood?''
Glynda didn't respond with words. She simply pulled a picture out of her pocket and handed it to the other two members of the WGC. The two women looked at it and were surprised to see the blonde witch in the picture with her arms around none other than Yang Xiao Long. And judging by the expressions on their faces, both ladies were having a good time.
''Wow, Glynda, good for you. I guess now that you have her as your girlfriend, you can let one of us-'' Cinder said in a joking manner, only to get smashed to the ceiling by the angry teacher's Semblance. The villainess then fell to the floor with a loud crash and groaned in pain.
''So I take it that you're also heading towards team RWBY's dorm to get some answers, correct?'' Winter asked while sweating nervously over what just happened. Again, Glynda didn't answer with words and just nodded, too angry to speak. ''Good. We were heading there ourselves, as we have also encountered some strange things here. Let's go together, shall we?''
The blonde teacher let out a low growl and started to continue on her way with the white-haired woman soon following after her. Both women also completely forgot about their group's third member, who was left laying on the floor.
''Hey... Is no one going to help me?'' the villainess asked in a pained voice.
Eventually, the whole WGC was heading towards team RWBY's dorm together. Each of the three women were hoping to find answers to their current situation and the strange things they had encountered. It didn't take long until they reached their destination and they were knocking on the door. Soon the door opened to reveal Weiss on the other side.
''Hello, sister,'' Winter greeted the younger Schnee. ''My friends and I have some questions and we believe that your team could answer them.''
''Could it wait a bit?'' Weiss asked in a slightly irritated voice. ''We are kind of in the middle of something important here and-''
''NO! THIS ABSOLUTELY CAN'T WAIT!'' Glynda suddenly roared angrily as forced her way to the dorm and pulled out the picture of herself and Yang. ''I NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW WHY THIS WAS IN MY OFFICE AND-!''
The teacher's angry rant was quickly stopped by Blake, who hit her over the head and shushed her.
''Be quiet! Can't you see that you're scaring Ruby!?'' the cat faunus scolded Glynda and pointed at said redheaded girl. True to her words, the young team leader was looking at the three newcomers with wide and terrified eyes, as she clung onto Yang like her life depended on it.
''Ms. Rose?'' Glynda called out to Ruby, shocked by the girl's reaction to seeing her. ''I'm sorry if I was a bit loud, but there's no need to be afraid. After all, it's me, Glynda. You don't need to fear me.''
The blonde teacher walked up to her scared student and reached towards her, hoping that she could do something to calm her down. However, this only served to further scare the girl, who buried her face against Yang and clung harder to her.
''Shhh. Ruby, it's okay. She won't harm you. Shhh,'' the blonde girl whispered to the younger girl in an attempt to calm her before glaring at Glynda. ''Back off, Goodwitch! Can't you see that she's scared of you!?''
''I... I just don't understand,'' the blonde witch said in a shocked voice. ''Why is she so scared of me? I haven't done anything bad to her.''
''You haven't. It's just that someone who resembles you a lot has,'' Weiss answered.
''What do you mean by that?'' Winter asked.
''I think that your little experiment might have gone wrong, sister.''
While the WBY were explaining their current situation to their rivals, the WBY and WGC from the other world had just made their way into Beacon. The six ladies were chatting with each other, completely unaware that they were in a different world. As they were walking around, they heard a familiar voice calling for them.
''Hey, guys!'' Ruby called out, causing the six ladies to turn to look at her. The redhead was running towards them while waving, not knowing that they weren't the people she knew. ''I've been waiting for you guys! When did you get back!?''
''Great. It's the brat,'' Yang grumbled angrily. ''Why is she coming towards us? Haven't we taught her not to annoy us?''
''Well, sweetie, maybe you need to teach her a bit more thoroughly,'' Glynda said. ''Some people just don't learn until you beat the lesson to every inch of their bodies.''
''Come on, do you have to?'' Cinder asked, not being a real fan of violence. ''I know you don't like her at all, but can't you do it any other way?''
''Cinder, sometimes you just have to do things that you don't like in order to get the results you want,'' Blake said while already cracking her knuckles. ''Although, we do enjoy doing this.''
''Yeah. Let's teach that sorry brat not to get on our nerves ever again!'' Weiss stated with an evil grin.
''You go, sis!'' Winter cheered.
Ruby made her way to the six ladies. not knowing the danger she was in. For all she knew, these were her teammates and friends, who had just returned from their trip to an Atlesian military research station.
''So, what were you guys doing?'' the redhead asked with an excited smile on her face. ''Did you get to try out new weapons or-''
''Whatever we do on our free time is none of your business,'' Weiss suddenly said in an angry tone, interrupting the younger girl. ''You should stop sticking your nose into what doesn't concern you.''
''Oh... I'm sorry,'' Ruby said in a sad tone, slightly shocked by how angry her partner was at her. ''I didn't mean to be a pain, I just wanted to-''
''You didn't want to be a pain? Guess what? You are a pain!'' Blake yelled. ''You're an immature brat who should just keep her mouth shut!''
''I-I didn't know I was that bad, but-''
''Well, you are!'' Glynda added. ''I honestly don't know why anyone even tolerates you here! Why you ever got accepted is an eternal mystery to me!''
''Okay, I get it. You're upset with me. No need to go overboard with it. I'll just-''
''And we have decided to put you in your place once and for all! We are going to teach you something that you'll never forget!'' Yang shouted as she raised her fist. ''Here's lesson number one!''
The blonde threw a punch with all of her might and it hit Ruby's right cheek. Normally this would lead to the redhead getting hurt very badly. However, these weren't normal circumstances anymore. After all, while this Yang might have been stronger than your average person, she didn't have any Aura. On the other hand, this Ruby had Aura, which defended her against the blow. And a normal person punching a Huntsman or a Huntress with Aura was like hitting a boulder with your bare fist. In other words, not a good idea.
''OUCH!'' Yang screamed in pain as she held her hand. ''Son of a-! What the hell!?''
''Honey, what's wrong!?'' Glynda asked, worried over her girlfriend.
''Yang, what happened!?'' Weiss asked in shock. She had seen her teammate punch the redhead countless of times and this had never happened.
''I don't get it! I just punched her like I usually do and now I feel like my hand has been shattered!'' Yang explained while holding her damaged body part. ''It was like I was punching a statue made out of stone or something!''
Before any of the six ladies could say or do anything more, they were stopped as they all felt something. A feeling of pure dread and terror spread through their bodies as they slowly turned to look at Ruby, who was standing still and holding her bruised cheek. While her Aura might have protected her from any serious damage, the punch still hurt her quite a bit.
The WBY and WGC felt their hearts stop for a moment once they saw the look in Ruby's eyes. It was a look that promised nothing but pain and terror.
''You six,'' the young team leader called out to the older ladies.
''Y-Yes?'' the six asked in fear, only to feel their bodies freeze from horror as Ruby suddenly pulled out her scythe.
''Pray for your lives.''
Back in the alternate world with the real WBY and WGC, the six ladies were in the middle of calming down Ruby by essentially pampering her, when they all suddenly felt cold chills run down their spines at the same time. None of them knew what caused this, only that they all felt like the grim reaper himself had just touched their backs.
''Did any of you feel that just now?'' Yang asked while rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself.
''Y-Yeah. it was so.. cold and... terrifying,'' Cinder answered.
''What in the world was it?'' Weiss asked.
''Whatever it was, I pray that I don't have to meet it,'' Glynda stated to which the WBY and the other two WGC members agreed to.
Back in the Remnant we know, Ruby had just finished dealing the most painful punishment she could to her teammates and the other WGC. The six older ladies were currently piled on top of each other with every one of their bodies covered in bad scratches and bruises and they were all groaning in pain.
''Let this be a lesson to you all,'' Ruby said sternly as she put away her scythe. ''Never EVER anger me like this or I'll make this feel like the most pleasant thing in the world. Understood?''
The WBY and WGC could only nod as tears of fear and pain fell from their eyes. Once she had received their answer, Ruby turned around and started to make her way to the library, hoping to get rid of her bad mood with a good book. While she left, the six ladies did their best to get up from the ground, so they could run away from the redheaded monster that had just put them through hell.
Back in alternate Remnant, Weiss had just finished explaining the situation to the WGC. The three women had first been shocked over finding out where they had just gone. Winter had been especially shocked, since this had been her experiment, after all. However, that shock was soon replaced with pure fury, once they learned how Ruby was being treated in this world. The WGC were downright furious that someone could even consider harming the lovely redhead, even if those people were their alternate selves from this world.
''How dare they?! HOW DARE THEY!?'' Cinder yelled angrily. ''For the sin of even harming a single hair on Ruby's head, those scumbags should face the wrath of hell itself!''
''I agree!'' Glynda stated with her riding crop pulled out. ''We need to find them now and make them pay for what they have done!''
''It's settled then,'' Winter said with a growl. ''We shall find those wretches and punish them for the crimes they have committed.''
''Stop that, you idiots!'' Weiss suddenly yelled, causing the WGC to stop. ''I know that you guys are angry and we are too! However, there isn't much that we can really do! If we start acting up, we would only cause more problems! Right now, we need to focus on getting back to our world!''
''How can you say that?'' Glynda said in a shocked voice. ''How can you think about going back to our world when Ms. Rose is suffering here!?''
''As much as we hate it, we have to leave,'' Blake said sadly. ''We have our responsibilities there that we can't just abandon. Not to mention, there are people there that are waiting for our return. Like OUR Ruby.''
Upon hearing the cat faunus' explanation, the WGC went silent. What Blake had just said was completely true. There were things in their own world that they needed to take care of and people who needed them. Winter had her position in the Atlesian military that she couldn't just abandon, and Glynda not only had her job as a teacher, but her duties with Ozpin, as well. No matter how much they disliked it, they had to go back.
However, one of the three women didn't actually see it that way.
''Well, I'm staying,'' Cinder suddenly said and walked up to Ruby. She took the young redhead from Yang, lifted her up and hugged her as tightly as she could. ''Unlike you people, I absolutely cannot leave her here to suffer. You go and do whatever you want, I'll stay here and give her the life she deserves.''
Before Winter, Glynda or the WBY could protest the villainess' choice, Ruby spoke up.
''You can't do that, Cinder,'' the redhead said, surprising everyone in the room. ''You can't abandon everything you have just for my sake. I know that you are worried about me, but I am more worried about you. If you stay here, you might end up regretting it in the long run.''
''B-But Ruby... I can't just-'' Cinder began to argue, but was cut off by the girl in her arms.
''You can. And you need to,'' Ruby said before looking at everyone in the room. ''You are all amazing people with great lives ahead of you in your world. I would never be able to live with myself, if I were the reason any of you had to abandon them. You need to go back, not just for the sake of others, but also for yourselves and for me.''
''Are you sure about this, Ruby?'' Weiss asked. ''If even one of us stayed here, you would be safe forever. No one could harm you anymore.''
''I cannot put my safety above the needs of others. And I need to stand on my own, too,'' the redhead answered. ''I am grateful that I got to meet you all. You have shown me that there is a chance even for someone like me to find happiness and love, which is something that I can't take from others. Having any of you stay here would mean that others would lose that love and joy you bring to them, and I can't be the person to do that to them.''
''Maybe we could take you with us,'' Yang suggested. ''We could bring you to our world and away from this hell you're living in. Please?''
''No. We can't do that,'' Ruby said. ''Much like your place is in your world, my place is here. Meeting you has taught me that I need to face my problems and not just run away from them. All of you have given me the strength to do this and I will always be grateful for that. I don't want to run or hide anymore. I want to face my world with my own strength from now on.''
Upon hearing the young redhead's speech and seeing the determination in her eyes, the WBY and the WGC knew that none of them could change her mind. They would have to go and leave her behind. Despite feeling proud of Ruby for the courage and willpower she was showing, their hearts were broken with sadness through knowing just what kind of a life they would be leaving her to face.
The WBY and the WGC could only do one thing. They all went to hug Ruby in order to show much they truly loved her.
''The me from your world is very fortunate for having all of you in her life,'' Ruby said as a couple of tears escaped her eyes. ''Please take care of her.''
The six older ladies could only nod as tears fell from their eyes. None of them wanted to leave the young redhead, but they had to. And that crushed their hearts.
The group hug was suddenly interrupted by a strange glow that came from the other side of the window. All the people in the room walked up to the window to see what was going on and saw a strange, blue portal on the ground just under them.
''What is that?'' Yang asked.
''I think that's our ticket home,'' Winter answered. ''I'm guessing that the researchers at the SDC must have fixed the teleporter and are now opening a portal for us to go home.''
''Then this is it,'' Ruby said with a small smile. ''Now is the time for you to go where you belong and return to the people who need you. I hope that everything goes alright with you all.''
Before the WBY and the WGC left, they all turned to Ruby one last time to give her a hug and a kiss and tell her their last goodbyes. Most of them simply told her to take care, except Yang and Glynda, who told Ruby to ''give hell'' to their alternate selves and to not bow down to them.
The last one to say goodbye to the redhead was Cinder, who had serious trouble with it. As much as she tried, the words died in her throat as she tried to simply say ''goodbye'' to the girl in front of her.
''You can still change your mind,'' the raven-haired woman finally managed to say. ''I can still stay here with you and make sure that-''
Cinder's proposal was stopped by a finger on her lips by Ruby. The redhead gave the villainess a sad smile and shook her head.
''As great as that sounds, we both know that we can't do that,'' Ruby said. ''You have your own place. I have mine. We can't change that. There are just too many things that would go wrong if we did.''
Upon seeing that she couldn't change the redhead's mind, Cinder pulled the girl into a strong hug and kissed her on the lips with as much passion as she could. She wanted to leave Ruby with one last happy memory that she could carry with herself for the rest of her life.
The other five ladies watched Cinder with envy as none of them had kissed Ruby on the lips. Not in this world or in their own. As much as they wanted to pry the villainess off the redhead, they knew that they couldn't. They couldn't ruin this moment out of their petty envy, as this was one of the few moments of true happiness that this Ruby had most likely ever experienced in her life.
Cinder eventually pulled away, leaving a stunned Ruby. The raven-haired woman then turned around and started to walk up to the window again, so that she could jump to the portal and go home.
''You better find happiness here, Ruby,'' Cinder whispered as tears fell from her eyes and she jumped from the window and into the portal with the others soon following after her. Once they had all gone through it, the portal closed up, shutting down the connection between the two worlds.
Now that Ruby was all alone, she let a couple of tears fall from her eyes. Truth be told, she wanted these visitors from another world to stay. However, she knew that it wouldn't be right and that it shouldn't happen. They all had their own places in their respective worlds and they shouldn't go and change that.
The redhead closed the window to her dorm and walked out of the room. She decided to go take a walk and hopefully clear her head from what had just happened.
Back with the WBY and the WGC, the two groups had made their way through the portal and back to their own world. Their trip between realities had gone so well that they had actually managed to go where they started, the SDC research station. The six ladies were surrounded by researchers who were cheering over the safe return of their test subjects.
''Ms. Schnee, how wonderful to see that you are all okay!'' one of the researchers said happily as he ran up to the group. ''We were worried that we might never see any of you again!''
''I am also glad that things worked out in the end,'' the white-haired woman said. ''Do you have any idea what caused all of this?''
''We are still trying to figure out the exact details, but one of our main computers was destroyed while the teleportation was starting,'' the researcher explained. ''Because of that, a lot of the settings that had been made got switched up, causing our experiment to not go according to our plans.''
''Keep looking into this. I want the exact reasons for this to be found, so we can be better prepared next time we attempt this,'' Winter ordered.
''Understood. There's one more thing, though. Whatever it is that caused this accident, seems to have changed the nature of our teleporter. We looked at some of the readings we got and it seems that not only were we sending something, we were also receiving something.''
''What do you mean by that?''
''I mean that not only were you sent to your destination, but we also accidentally pulled something from that same place you went to.''
''Any idea what was pulled out from there and where it went?''
''I'm afraid not. Our equipment was so damaged that we couldn't locate where the teleportations occurred. All we know is that whatever we got from that place has most likely gone back there when we got you here.''
Winter looked down in thought. Even if things had been returned to normal, she couldn't help but feel that something bad had happened.
''Hey, we still get our little Ruby dolls, right!?'' Yang suddenly yelled. ''I mean, we did take part in your science project and everything, so I think we deserve our reward! It wasn't our fault that things didn't go the way you wanted!''
The white-haired woman let out a frustrated sigh while the others voiced the agreement with Yang.
Once the WBY, Glynda and Cinder had gotten their rewards, the group of six ladies was on it's way back to Beacon. Since the research station was in Vale, it wasn't a long trip for them to get back. In just about an hour, the group was back in Beacon.
''It's good to be home,'' Weiss said with a smile. ''It almost feels like what we just went through was nothing but a dream.''
''Yeah, it really does,'' Yang agreed. The blonde then noticed a certain redhead in the distance. ''Hey, it's Ruby!''
The other ladies turned to look where Yang was pointing and saw the girl they all loved. With big smiles on their faces, they all started to run towards the young team leader. Even though they had not been separated from her for a long time, it felt like an eternity after the little trip they took.
Both the WBY and the WGC were happily waving and calling Ruby's name in order to get her attention. However, they soon stopped in their tracks once the redhead turned to look at them with the most furious glare they had ever seen on her face. There was also a dark, murderous aura around the little scythe-wielder, which caused the six ladies to tremble in fear.
''R-Ruby? Is everything okay?'' Yang asked fearfully.
''You dare ask that after what you did!?'' Ruby said with fury dripping from her voice. She then pulled out her scythe and said, ''Guess I need to remind you six!''
The WBY and the WGC ran and screamed in terror as the furious redhead chased after them.
Back in the alternate reality, Ruby was walking in Beacon's front yard, lost in thought. She was thinking about what she would do now. The young girl had decided to start standing up for herself from now on, but that still left a big problem. How would she deal with her abusers? They wouldn't take her new way of life well.
Ruby was broken out of her thoughts as she noticed her teammates, Winter, Glynda and Cinder walk towards her. For some reason, all six ladies were covered in bruises and were struggling to stay up. Even though their current state confused Ruby, she was still going to tell them that she would no longer let them push her around.
With her mind made up, the redhead walked towards the group of six with resolve in her steps.
''H-Hey!'' Ruby called out to her tormentors, gaining their attention. She was glaring at them and had her hands in fists as she readied herself to what she was about to say.
However, the redhead didn't notice that the six older ladies were actually terrified of her. They were still unaware of what had actually happened and thought that they were in for another beating.
''I-I'm not going to-!'' Ruby began to say, but her bullies suddenly bowed down to the ground, like she was a queen or something.
''PLEASE FORGIVE US!'' the six ladies pleaded at the same time, confusing Ruby.
''Huh? Wha-?''
''We swear that we will never hurt you again!'' Weiss yelled.
''So please don't hurt us!'' Yang pleaded.
''Uhhhh... Okay?'' Ruby said, unsure of what was going on.
True to their word, the six ladies had stopped bullying Ruby entirely. Not only did they stop hurting her, but they also stopped doing every other mean thing they had ever done to the redhead. Ruby's teammates had even given her a proper bed to sleep in.
However, it didn't take long until things changed, but not for the worse. Now that the six ladies weren't actively hating Ruby, they soon started to notice how nice the girl actually was. It didn't take long until they actually befriended her and started spending time with her. It seemed like Ruby had finally found happiness, but she didn't know just how far things with her would go.
About two months later, Ruby was sitting in the cafeteria with her six new friends, except she wasn't sitting on a chair and the six ladies weren't just friends anymore.
''Awww, Ruby's just so cute!'' Glynda cooed while she had said girl sitting on her lap and she was hugging her. ''She is like the best teddy bear one could ask for!''
''Glynda, can I hold her, too?'' Yang asked as she sat next to the teacher and was stroking Ruby's head. ''I want to have her sit on my lap, as well!''
''No, next is my turn,'' Weiss said.
''No, the next turn's mine,'' Winter argued.
''When do I get my turn?'' Cinder asked.
''Your turn is after mine,'' Blake answered.
Ruby let out a sigh while the six older ladies started arguing over who gets to hold her next. While the six ladies never got into any big fights, it was still tiresome to the redhead to have them argue over things like who gets to hold her next or walk next to her and so on. After they had stopped bullying her, the six had quickly changed from friends to her lovers. To say the least, Ruby had been quite shocked when her six former bullies had suddenly walked up to her and asked her to become their mutual girlfriend. Not knowing what she should do, the redhead just said ''yes'' and had soon become the center of their attention from that point on. It was like all the torment had suddenly changed into pampering or something.
Despite her occasional frustration with how her new girlfriends liked to pamper her, Ruby was still happy. After all, not only did she have six great girlfriends, but they never fought with each other. The redhead could only wonder if her alternate counterpart from the other world lived her life like this.
Little did she know how different things were in that other world, especially when it came to Ruby Rose.
Author's notes: I am so glad this is finally done. While this was a fun idea to play with, it was still a bit frustrating to work with, since it essentially had two copies of each in it for me to work with.
Anyways, with this story arc done, we are another step closer to the end of this story. While I am not completely sure, I'd say that there are only five or six chapters left and then this story is over. And three of those chapters are for the finale.
Hope you guys liked this chapter and will check out the next one when it comes out.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.