The creatures of Grimm were being funnelled into a kill box with Yang in the middle of it, Weiss had made sure of that. Two ice walls forced them straight at the woman who's entire body glowed with her Semblance active. Every punch she threw, a Grimm would explode, filling the area in the inky black dissipation. The air was filled with bullets screaming as they flew from a chorus of rifles. Weiss watched as Yang caught a Sabyr by its massive teeth, pulled them from its jaw, and stabbed it in the head with the broken teeth.
But for every Grimm that was killed, two more took its place.
The specialist saw Grimm starting to climb over her ice walls and crawling on the facades of the buildings around them to get around Yang. Luckily for her, the gunners saw this happening and began to open fire on them. They were starting to be pushed back, but the horde surged forward when the need to reload started happening. Rushing forward, Weiss watched as a Beowolf managed to reach the top of the ice wall and descend onto Yang, only to be impaled by Weiss's rapier. Spinning in place, she stabbed the ground and created a glyph in front of her, summoning a line of flaming orbs to be sent out into the horde to thin their numbers.
A shadow passed over Yang as Blake appeared next to her, her weapons in her hands as she dodged and countered with ease, filling in Yang's blind spots. Her amber eyes were glowing against her dark hair from the combat booster that was injected into her. Jumping into position on Yang's other side, the three of them danced around each other, covering each other's backs and supporting when they failed. A strange sense of nostalgia overcame Weiss, just like when she was fighting with Ruby in Ritrr, fighting against the coming hordes of Grimm and the spider-woman-Grimm. How easily they all fall back into seamless teamwork when they were together.
Risking a glimpse back, she saw more people were being flown out, leaving them without as much backup. Out of the thirty-something people that were there, about a dozen were left. "We need to back up!" Weiss shouted over the noise as she spun the chambers on Myrtenaster and summoned a glyph in front of Yang. Without saying anything, the woman screamed as she threw her fist into the middle of it, activating the glyph and changing a standard shell into a fireball that consumed everything down the street.
Using this time, the three of them turned and raced back to the mashup of soldiers to form a better defensive circle around the last group as they were momentarily left without an evacuation ship. They just needed to hold on for just a little bit longer. Everyone took up a semi-circular formation and began to fire into the encroaching swarm of nightmares. Ducking back, Weiss concentrated on her summons and brought her knight back, making sure he was big enough to draw the Grimm's attention. Stepping over the firing line, it swung it's massive blade and cleaved through the horde, giving them some respite as the last two ships touched down behind them.
Without stopping, everyone continued to fire back into the Grimm while boarding the airships. Weiss made sure Yang and Blake got onto the one with her team while the rest loaded up and flew back to the Mantle of Responsibility. When they were high enough off the ground, Weiss released control of her knight and watched as his white ashes were scattered across the ocean of black and hate. Yang fell onto her back, her arms spread out as she struggled to catch her breath while Blake took a seat on one of the benches and began to unwrap the blood-stained ribbon from her hand.
When it was free, Weiss could see the large, ugly scar that ran from the middle of her hand to the space between her middle and ring knuckle. The new scar was tinted a deep purple from her Aura, not unlike Weiss's own light blue scars that crossed her own body. Blake tested her fingers and moved her hand around; Weiss could tell it was still a bit sore, but at least it was not an open wound anymore. Weiss's team of shock troopers all began to move around the Bullhead, two of them set up in turrets on either side of the Bullhead while others started to reload and patch themselves up.
Weiss watched as the medic moved between Yang and Blake, pressing another dose of combat booster to their arms and filling their bodies with the compound again. Weiss accepted another treatment as well. She could feel her wounds healing and her Aura returning within seconds on the injection. "Damn, what is in that stuff?" Yang asked as she hopped back up to her feet like she did not just finish killing several hundred Grimm in a half hour.
"A medical cocktail of morphine, Aura stimulant and few other things I can't pronounce," the medic said as he moved on and walked into the cockpit to grab another first aid kit. "You will need to get the foam out of you, though, when we get onto the ship. It stops the bleeding, but it has a nasty habit of infecting the wound it's in without proper care."
"Wait," Blake spoke up as she came forward, "Did you say Aura stimulant?"
"Yes, it's one of the main ingredients in the combat boosters, why?" Weiss asked as Yang came in close, so they did not have to yell over the rush of wind and the Bullhead engines.
"That's what Ruby has been injecting into herself,"
"What?" Weiss turned to face Blake, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, she told me what it was when I walked in on her in the act,"
Weiss thought back to their night in the desert, to the angry red lines and inside of her elbow covered in scabs and scars. Pieces began to fall into place as Weiss's mind began to race with thoughts and ideas of what happened to Ruby Rose. "How did she get it? The SDC is manufacturing it for the Atlesian army, there should be no way Ruby could get her hands on it!"
"It's a war, Weiss. She found a way," Blake said, "We need to be more careful when we get to her."
"Leave it to me," Yang chimed in, her lavender eyes glowing as the drug coursed through her veins, "I'll be able to bring her back to us."
Weiss and Blake shared a look, "Yang," Weiss began but was cut off when the older sister took a step towards her.
"I can get to her, Weiss, I know I can."
"She's changed. This war has changed her. She called herself a monster the last time I saw her. We need to be careful."
"I can get through to her, we just need to find her." Yang walked to the opening and looked out on the carnage below. Dozens of Bullheads all flying in the air. Some of them were heading towards the Mantle of Responsibility while others were simply leaving, heading to Mistrali rendezvous spots. Weiss and Blake joined Yang at the opening and looked across the destroyed city. How were they supposed to find one person in all of this? Before Weiss could dwell on this impossible task further, everyone was blinded by a flash of brilliant light coming from the ground nearby.
"What the hell was that?" Yang shouted as the light died down. When it was gone, everyone was staring at the aftermath. The colossal Grimm that was destroying the city was nothing more than stone. All the Grimm that had been storming the streets had become statues in their death. The exact same thing happened at Beacon with the Wyvern on top of the tower.
"That's Ruby!" Weiss shouted as she pointed to the are,. "Take us down close by, don't get near her, we don't want to scare her off." The Bullhead landed on the street far enough away from the building. Everyone rushed off and began to take positions around the building Ruby was on top of. Everyone looked at the statues that were once Grimm everywhere.
"What the hell happened here?" Yang asked as she pushed one of them over and watched as it shattered when it hit the ground.
"I don't know, but it happened at Beacon too," Weiss watched as the shock troopers split up into their groups and got ready for an attack. While they ascended the stairs, Weiss's heart pounded in her chest. Yang looked nervous, and Blake looked scared out of her mind. Just before they reached the roof access door, Weiss heard the other team speak into the earpiece.
"Target in sight, we've got a clear shot on the Red Death."
Weiss had to stop herself from yelling into the comms. "We're not here to kill her! We're here to save her!"
"Are you fucking with me right now?" Reseda whisper yelled at Weiss from behind, "You want to save that monster?"
"That monster is my sister," Yang turned and got in the shock trooper's face and was ready to throw the first punch when three more rifles were pointed in Yang's face. Blake had taken her weapon out and aimed it at Resdea. Weiss had to step in to stop a firefight from breaking out in the stairwell.
"The war is over, Resdea! We're here to save people, and that's what we're doing. Don't like it, go back to the ship," The woman just mumbled something and pulled her weapon back, the rest following her example. "Good, now stay here. We're going out and bringing her back." Weiss clipped her weapon onto her belt and waited for the rest of team RWBY to do the same before quietly opening the door and walking out into the open.
"Ruby," She heard a voice. It sounded so familiar, like she had once forgotten it. Turning around from the ledge, Ruby saw three coloured blobs standing in front of her. White, Yellow and Black. Her eyes struggled to focus, something pulled her to them, and something pulled her away. She had to blink a few times, putting strength back into focusing her eyes until everything came into focus. Weiss stood next to the other colours, her hands reaching out to her, trying to coax her back.
"Weiss is the enemy," The Red Death's voice entered her mind. Weiss is part of Atlas, and Atlas was the enemy. Ruby lifted Crescent rose up and took aim at her enemy.
"Ruby, wait!" Weiss yelled out, "The war is over!"
Ruby paused with her weapon in her hands. The war was over? "Really?"
"Yes!" Weiss pleaded with her.
"She's lying," The Red Death told her.
"She's not lying!" Blake stepped forward, standing next to her, "Atlas is retreating and surrendering to Vale, you won, Ruby."
"I won?" Her weapon fell to her side, her arms giving up holding the weight of her killing tool. With the war over, she was done killing. Done fighting.
"It's time to come home, Rubes," the last colour took shape, and Yang walked towards her. How long had it been since she saw her? Something felt wrong with Yang, an imbalance, but Ruby could not put her finger on it. "Zwei misses you, he'll be happy to see you."
Home, back on Patch. She could almost smell the pine trees and the ocean from here. The warmth of the morning sun as it came through her bedroom window. Her father calling for her from the kitchen downstairs. "It'll be nice to see dad again," Ruby said, remembering her father and his warm smiles. Yang gave a sharp breath and cleared her throat.
"He's waiting for you too, we got dinner ready and everything." Her voice shook and tears fell from her eyes. She held her hand out to her and Ruby looked at the black and silver of her fingers and struggled to figure out if that was normal or not. "Come home, Ruby." Her voice was soft, begging for her to come with her.
Ruby was hungry, and dinner sounded so good right now. She took a step towards Yang, her sister, and saw something flash in the distance. After so many years of living on the battlefield, Ruby knew what the glare of a sniper scope looked like. Jerking her head back, she heard the shot and felt the bullet skip across her forehead just above her eye, and she fell to the ground.
Everyone was shouting, screaming at each other. The bullet rattled Ruby's brain, and everything sounded muted. Her gut twisted and tried to empty itself, but nothing came up, only stomach acid and spit graced the roof as she gagged. Her eyes were unfocused as she felt something drip down her face. With a shaky hand, she wiped her face and looked at her hand.
Her blood was red.
Her blood was red.
She stared at it, she felt the wound weeping down her skin, but she could only stare at the red blood coming from her own body.
Her blood was red.
Why would it be any colour other than red?
Red was beautiful.
Red was pure.
Red was the colour of the world.
Her blood was red.
She looked up and saw her. The Red Death was standing before her; her crimson cape flowing out behind her like angel wings, her abyssal eyes with silver halos wept for her pain. Black rolled down her pale cheeks, mixing with the blood that always ran down the right half of her face. Her top was stained with blood. All that was white was now red.
Her blood was red.
"I'm sorry," she said to her, "I tried to warn you. No one wants you anymore but me." She crouched down and cupped Ruby's face.
Her blood was red.
"They don't care about you. They lie and betray you like before and this time was no different. Shhh, no more anger," the Red Death said, pushing Ruby's hair out of her face to reveal the crimson painting her, "No more hate. I will take it from you like I always have. This is my gift to you." Ruby watched as she stood back up and looked up to the sky and raised her hands to greet it. Looking back at her own hand, her blood remained on her flesh.
Her blood was red.
Red like Roses.
The shot echoed through the silence and Ruby dropped to the ground.
"RUBY!" Everyone shouted as they tried to race to her but was stopped with more bullets entered the space around them.
"No one fucking move or she pops!"
Weiss turned around and saw Reseda standing with the rest of the shock troopers, their weapons all pointed towards the group. "What the fuck are you doing, Resdea!" Weiss screamed.
"What the fuck am I doing? I'm keeping Atlas safe!" She whipped her helmet off and threw it on the ground. "Everything I've done was to keep my kingdom safe from people like you." The soldiers spread out, making sure their firing lines did not cross. "Despite my orders, I was going to let you live. I know you could do great things for Atlas, but trying to save the Red Death? That's a step too far."
"That's my fucking sister!" Yang screamed at her.
"Your fucking sister has killed hundreds of people!" Resdea's aim moved from Weiss to Yang. "You haven't seen what she can do, I have. I have the scars to prove it." No one moved, the only sound came from Ruby, breathing and mumbling to herself as she struggled to stand. Weiss watched Resdea's eyes shift over to her as she shook her head. "You could have joined us, Schnee. We could have united the world under a single banner, but you'll just die like the rest."
Weiss could not believe what she had just heard. How many cultists did Watts have in his hand? Before Weiss could say anything, she heard a laugh. It was wet and hysterical. Slowly, all attention was dragged away from the argument, and all eyes landed on Ruby as she pushed herself onto shaking legs, laughing like a fool.
"You were right," she called out, "You were always right, no one is here for me. All they ever do is betray me. I'm sorry, mom, I failed you. I failed everyone." She picked her weapon off the ground and turned around to face everyone. Weiss could see blood running down the right half of her face from the wound she got from the sniper. "There's nothing left but to paint..." She moved her weapon from her left hand to her right, and Weiss watched something change, like a switch being flicked.
Her eyes focused instantly, and she stood a little straighter. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, showing the steel resolve behind them. She flicked her wrist and the weapon extended into the scythe before she took a deep breath. "And I will paint this world-" Her voice sounded different, deeper with some gravel in it. She felt Blake's hand on her sleeve, pulling her back.
"-Red like Roses."
Come, bloody angel
Break off your chains, and look what I've found in the dirt
Pale battered body, seems like she was struggling
Something is wrong with this world
"Bloody Angel"
-Avatar
A/N: Bloody Angel from Avatar is one of my favourite songs of all time, give it a try!
as always, Big thanks to StreetAngelJ for his hard work in editing and proofreading.
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