HeyO! We're back! I'm really happy to see some actual thought happening in reviews, and I figured I'd acknowledge some of the things y'all pointed out.
HornetFreak—Don't worry. I'm not that stupid.
hirshja—Thinking with facts, I see. To answer both your reviews in one: a lot can happen in eleven years. I won't spoil anything here, but rest assured, there are explanations for both why Blake is now an "antagonist" and how Cinder was able to get her claws into all four Kingdoms' governments.
Nothing made sense.
Why was Blake here, trying to kill Jaune and - if he was to be believed - Ruby too? It was disturbing on several levels; at best, it spoke of division and enmity within the old group. At worst... well, Jaune told her about all the chaos and damage Cinder caused over the last eleven years; there was always the option that that extended into her group of friends. No, Ruby couldn't... wouldn't believe that her old teammate—her sister's partner would just turn traitor like that. There had to be a good reason for all of this.
Ruby looked back at the room, hearing both Jaune and Blake scream out in pain through the ringing in her own ears. Confusion wracked her mind; she'd heard an explosion but saw no blast, no fire, or debris.
A dull thud, then a loud crash resounded as someone was thrown into what sounded like a shelf, only to have everything atop it come hurtling down onto their head. A second later, Jaune stumbled out the door and began a wobbly, disoriented run towards her. He favored one leg and had a hand pressed to his left ear, from under which Ruby noted blood dripping.
Ruby tried to ask him what happened, only to receive no answer, as though he could not hear her. It clicked in her mind that Jaune had likely used one on the flash grenades she'd seen on his belt earlier. A pang of sympathy shot through her; both her friends were at ground zero to such a painful device. Flash grenades used a combination of dust and various metals to produce blinding explosions of light and ear-piercing blasts, designed to temporarily incapacitate people. Ruby knew from personal experience that, even if you screwed your eyes shut and covered your ears, it still hurt your senses something awful. And Jaune had set one off indoors and underground; that explained the blood dripping from his ear—a ruptured eardrum. Even with the aid of his considerable aura, he was going to be feeling that for weeks. With her faunus hearing and eyes' sensitivity to light enhanced far beyond that of a human, Blake likely suffered worse.
Jaune continued his unstable run down the hall, grunting and waving his sword arm for her to keep up. They entered the lobby of Dr. Love's clinic, which was really just a glorified broom closet. A single window allowed for natural sunlight to shine through the faint haze of cigarette smoke and mildew. Along with a dim lightbulb hanging on a chain, it illuminated a room that merely contained a row of five plastic folding chairs and a simple desk with an old-fashioned telephone. Jaune had mentioned needing to hide her in places that Cinder wouldn't check in each kingdom, and this place certainly didn't have the feel of one that could adequately house comatose patients. Honestly, it made her somewhat uneasy to think she'd been left in such a dumpy clinic for six months.
Jaune regained a little of his composure once he reached the exit. Leaning against the doorjamb, he retrieved a pistol from a holster on his belt, racked the slide, and passed it to Ruby.
"Hollow-point rounds," he said, panting slightly. "No added dust, twelve shots. Make 'em count."
Ruby did her own once-over of the gun. Nothing too fancy—just your average, run-of-the-mill automatic. It would do. While she preferred high caliber long rifles, she knew her way around almost any kind of firearm on the market.
Checking the safety, she asked, "What are we doing, Jaune? What's going on?"
He shook his head. "No time right now. Just do as I say, and I'll explain everything later." Jaune pulled another grenade from his belt, grabbed the door handle, and spared Ruby one final glance. "Once we're outside, I need you to stay with me, no matter what. We've only got a short way to run, but I have no idea how many guys are out there."
Ruby was slightly taken aback by the domineering nature of his voice. Jaune sounded more like a soldier on a mission than the friend she'd known years ago. Still, she nodded to show her understanding, despite not really knowing what was going on in the slightest. At her confirmation, Jaune nodded back. He then closed his eyes, pulled the pin on the flashbang with his thumb, jerked the door open, and dropped it, slamming the door closed again before the device could go off.
Through the closed door and the cement walls, the blast was still shrill and ear-piercing, and Ruby heard cries of pain and shock from the other side. She didn't know if those were from people waiting for them or just random passersby, and she didn't exactly have time to speculate. Jaune ripped the door open and dove out a second after detonation, Crocea Mors gleaming as the sun struck the bloodied steel.
Three men in a similar dress to Blake and the man who'd tried to strangle Ruby were outside. Two of them hand their hands clamped to their heads, thrashing about and screaming at the sudden loss of hearing and sight. The third man was clearly a bit more tactically sound than his companions and had likely covered his eyes to preserve at least one of his senses.
On seeing Jaune and Ruby burst through the door, he swung a pair of pistols to bear, squeezing off two shots, both of which fell dead against Jaune's aura as he flung himself at the man. In a single heavy swipe, Jaune's sword cleaved through one of the guns; at once, the man in black dropped the worthless handguard and hopped back to avoid the follow-up swing. Jaune, however, did not allow him any reprieve, closing in instantly and grabbing his collar with his free left hand. Having no idea if the attacker had his aura unlocked, he opted to slam the hilt of Crocea Mors into his temple, forehead, anywhere that might cause enough damage to knock him unconscious. Aura, while protecting the body from harm like gunshots and lacerations, can not defend against blunt force trauma—if Jaune hit hard enough, it was going to turn something off.
As Jaune finished off the first man, Ruby noted that the other two were regaining their composure. With a gasp and a prayer that she was as good a shot now as she was eleven years ago, she raised her pistol and fired swiftly. Though she had seen Jaune kill a man earlier and knew that he likely wouldn't show any mercy to these fellows either, Ruby had no intention of killing either of them. The first dropped to the ground with a sharp cry as blood sprayed from where the bullet impacted his shin; he either lacked aura or didn't have the necessary control over it to shield his legs that quickly. The second man shifted to the side, sending her shot burying into the ground behind him. Her next round fired less than a second after the first, smashing against aura and sending a tremendous amount of kinetic energy into the crook behind his knee. As he flinched and grunted in pain, he too was knocked from his feet by way of a brutally strong kick to his chest, courtesy of Jaune Arc.
Without speaking or even acknowledging their victory, Archangel swung his head for her to follow and broke into a run, leading Ruby down the rocky cliffside streets of Mistral.
Blake limped out of the tawdry clinic, wincing as the sunlight stabbed into her sensitive eyes. Her delicate ears atop her head were screeching; pain surged through her head at each and every movement she made. It had been a cheap and underhanded tactic to pull a flashbang in their engagement, but also a clever one. While she despised that she'd been caught off guard in such a trick, Blake could appreciate the sharp thinking behind it. Jaune had improved since the last time they'd crossed paths... and blades.
Stepping into the street, she sneered at the pathetic nature she found Cinder's men—weeping, groaning, and hugging themselves like children with tummy aches. Blake hated them; hated them all. She had a job to do, and extra hands made things clumsy and unpredictable. She preferred to work alone, particularly in situations like this, but no! Cinder wanted to keep an eye on her.
Blake laughed dryly at that thought as she began running in the direction Jaune and Ruby's tracks were headed. As if she needed to; Cinder had her on a short leash; they both knew it. Blake would never step out of line either... not with what was at stake.
It took less than five minutes to run from Dr. Love's clinic to the city gates. However, when they arrived, Jaune pulled Ruby off the main road and down a side street. "I need to pick something up," he'd said when she questioned why they stopped at what appeared to be a biker gang bar. They did not go in; instead, Ruby watched with some intrigue and confusion as Jaune strode down the line of motorcycles parked outside the dive. "I know I parked it here," he muttered to himself. Finally, he stopped at one that Ruby couldn't see from where she stood. "Ah-hah! There you are!"
Ruby was amazed at the gleaming yellow and orange hunk of metal that she saw as she approached. She'd thought she would never see the bike again, though, here it was. Memories of her childhood, her family, came flooding back as Ruby gazed, dumbfounded on Yang's old motorcycle. But the original sunk to the bottom of the ocean, she recalled when Blake and Yang had taken on and defeated Adam Taurus together.
"Jaune..." she said slowly, "Why do you have my sister's bike?"
"You know," he mumbled distractedly, gingerly backing the cycle away from the curb. "Sometimes, I ask myself the same question. What was I thinking, taking it? It wasn't worth the risk; one scratch and my chestnuts will be roasting on an open fire."
Well, that was unquestionably nebulous. Though Ruby didn't feel like it was worth pushing the topic further. It was a slight relief to know that Jaune was on good enough terms with Yang for her to loan him her bike. She didn't do that for just anyone—in fact, Ruby couldn't name a single person besides Yang who had ever been permitted to ride Bumblebee without her. That either showed an extreme amount of faith in Jaune on Yang's part or a suicidal level of stupidity if Jaune took it without asking.
Jaune mounted the bike and fished the keys out from his jacket's breast pocket. As he hit the ignition switch, the dull hum of city life was immediately drowned by the shrill roar of the engine's combustion. Jaune gestured for her to climb on, and she took a single step toward him, only to halt as a voice pierced above the bay of the engine.
"JAUNE!" Ruby turned to see Blake round the corner in a full sprint. Her black mask and hood were gone, offering a pure view of her furious expression.
"Ruby, get on!" Jaune called. Far be it from her to question the man. She wasn't an idiot—though she may have projected the calm exterior in their youth, Ruby knew that Blake had a temper to rival Yang and a crippling sense of dedication that was nigh-on manic when she was desperate to complete a goal.
Compared to most others, Bumblebee was a small bike, and Ruby had to hold on tight to Jaune, wrapping her arms around his torso and pressing her knees fast against the polished metal of the fender. As soon as she was secure, maybe even a little before, Jaune hit the accelerator for all it was worth, filling the air with thick black smoke from where the tires squealed against the pavement. They picked up speed rapidly, heading straight for Blake, who looked determined not to alter her own course. It was a deadly game of chicken that it seemed neither party was willing to lose.
Milliseconds before what would have been a fatal collision, the world seemed to slow to a crawl as Blake leaped into the air. In a beautiful front flip, she both drew her weapon and flung it, still holding onto the strangely durable ribbon. Gambol Shroud's blade lodged into the motorcycle's metal frame mere inches from Ruby's leg, and Ruby couldn't tell if Blake had been aiming for her and missed or if she meant to hit the bike. Either way, the ribbon added a way for Blake to pursue them, even as the cycle reached exceeding speeds.
Even though the wickedly fast turn out the city gates Jaune took, she remained tethered, smashing straight through a toll stop. However, Blake could not stay upright all the way and was dragged off her feet, behaving for all the world to see like a living trailer. She grunted and hissed and cried out in pain as they went over rocks and divets in the road, each and every one of them finding its mark somewhere on her body. Even still, Blake grit her teeth, beginning the arduous task of hauling herself toward the bike with the black silk ribbon.
"Jaune!" Ruby cried out. "She's gaining!"
Jaune spared a dangerous glance back at the angry, resolute faunus. "Shit," he muttered. "Shoot her, Ruby! Slow her down!"
Ruby had nearly forgotten the pistol in her hand. Taking care not to lose her grip on Jaune and send herself careening to her doom, she took aim and fired. Shot after shot pinged off the ground near Blake; as good of a markswoman as Ruby was, Blake was the most agile person she'd ever met—she could dodge a point-blank shot, blindfolded and hogtied. As shell casings ejected from the handgun, Ruby became increasingly aware of her dwindling ammo supply. She forced herself to slow, take a breath, and aim properly.
It hurt her to look at her target. This was Blake—a member of team RWBY and very nearly Ruby's sister-in-law, last she'd seen. Depending on how she and Yang had sorted themselves out, she might even be her sister-in-law at this point. The point was that Blake was a friend, and not one Ruby ever expected or wanted to aim a gun at.
But, a lot had happened in eleven years. So, until she was caught up and knew who she could trust, Ruby was going to fight back anyone who came at her with hostility.
The last two rounds in the magazine struck true; the first hit Blake square in the forehead; the second, her hand, the sheer force of the impact causing her to lose that fist's grip on the ribbon. Stunned and likely in severe pain, Blake became little more than an oversized ragdoll, rolling down the road, held to them by one hand and her weapon.
Finishing off where Ruby left off, Jaune lifted his foot from where it rested on the gear-shift pedal and delivered and savage kick to Gambol Shroud, ripping the blade from its sheath in Bumblebee's flank. The sword flew through the air, and as they sped away, Ruby watched with pity as Blake tumbled off the road, a tangle of pained limbs and cries.
"She's gone," Ruby sighed as she watched Blake become just a black dot in the distance. She felt the first hint of tears coming to her eyes. "What happened to everyone, Jaune?" She could only see the profile of Jaune's face, but he had the hard, resolute look of a man who had seen battle - war - and was unwilling to let his emotions out, lest they consume him.
"I'm sorry, Ruby," he said. "But, like I said, it's a different world now."
Yes. Yes, that was a motorcycle chase. No, you weren't dreaming.
We'll be seeing more of the feline later. For now, another awesome character will join the fray next chapter; get hyped!
Also, I just now realized the heavy parallels this story has to Metal Gear Solid V. That was not the intention at all, but I'm kinda okay with it, at least for this arc.