Welcome to Chapter 3.
This chapter will feature our Agent and Ruby, spending some time together before they go to Beacon.
Though Yang won't like The Agent being there..
Well, For now.
The girl and Ruby were dragged to a small room, Mostly Ruby dragging the girl all the way over.
She wouldn't just move by herself!
On the bright side, Ruby met a real huntress!
She was so excited that she almost forgot that she was in trouble.
Oh, Dad and Yang was going to kill her if they knew.
Anyway, After she and the girl finally sat down, The Huntress from before came in and glared at the both of them with an intensive gaze.
Ruby shrank in her chair, mostly from fear.
On the other hand, The girl didn't seem to care at all as she leaned back in the chair.
I hope you two realize that your actions tonight will NOT be taken lightly, Young ladies." The scary huntress lectured, And Ruby began to feel smaller every single time she swung that Riding Crop around.
"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back..."
Ruby slightly relaxed and put her hands on the table once again.
"And a slap on the wrist!"
Ruby yelped and pulled her hands back as the Riding Crop struck the table.
Ruby whimpered as she looked at the girl for some sort of help.
The girl did nothing but look at her with pity in her eyes.
Her whimpering grew intense.
The girl finally crumbled to Ruby's signature Puppy look, And whispered something to her as she gave Ruby a soft pat on the shoulder.
"You'll be fine."
Ruby had expected her voice to sound lighter, Not that low and deep.
Still, encouragement was encouragement.
"Ahem."
The huntress drew the attention back to herself and continued; "But, There is someone who would like to meet you both."
After that, Ruby's heart skipped a beat.
How could she not get so excited and surprised? The man who walked through the door with a mug and a plate of cookies in his hand was Ozpin, The Headmaster of Beacon Academy.
"Ruby Rose.. You, have silver eyes."
Ruby was sort of confused why he mentioned her eye color, But she was excited nontheless.
"So, where did you learn to do this?" Ozpin had questioned after he put down the plate, Gesturing towards the Screen that was showing a footage from before, Ruby taking down a bunch of crooks.
"A-At Signal." Ruby had replied, reaching her hands towards the plate that was placed infront of her, But stopping to look at the girl from before.
Ruby was silently looking at her, questioning if she wanted the cookies.
"I'll have the leftovers."
That was all Ruby needed.
"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" Ozpin asked as Ruby devoured the cookies.
"Well, One teacher in particular." Ruby had replied after she cleaned off the crumbs on her mouth, Thinking about a certain alcohol-addicted Huntsman.
The Agent was starting to get bored, But listened to the conversation closely.
Any more information for this place could be good, And she also wondered if this Ruby girl would leave her any cookies.
Anyway, she turned back to the conversation.
"Well, I want to be a Huntress." Ruby had replied to the man's words.
"You want to slay monsters?" The man had replied to Ruby, Curiosity and intrest in the girl's dream clearly showing.
"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left in Signal, Then I want to apply to Beacon! You know, My sister is also starting there this year, And she's also trying to become a Huntress! and I also want to, because I wanna help people just like my parents taught me to, So I decided that I might as well, You know, Make a career out of it!"
Now she was sort of impressed, This Ruby girl's pure heart and intentions clearly showed.
"I mean, The Police are cool and alright, But Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much cooler and more romantic, Gosh! You know?!" Her excitement showed in her words.
"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.
"You're Professor Ozpin, The Headmaster of Beacon." Ruby had replied with barely hidden excitement.
Oh, so that was his name.
"Hello."
"Nice to finally meet you."
"Do you wish to come to my school?" Ozpin had asked.
"More than anything." Ruby said out loud.
Ozpin silently shared glances with the other woman in the room, Then turned back to Ruby.
"Well, Okay."
"Are you serious?!"
Two things happened.
Ruby had shouted out loud and almost damaged her eardrums.
Then, she also flipped the plate of cookies into the air in the process of throwing her arms in the air.
"Oh no!" Ruby had shouted as she saw three cookies float up in the air.
This was her prime chance to secure one of the treats.
The Agent had snatched the plate and a cookie out of the air, Quickly hiding the cookie in her pocket.
Thankfully, the rest of the cookies were caught with that "Magic" by the Huntress.
"Be more careful, Little buddy." The Agent had whispered to her as she handed Ruby back the plate, who smiled back at her.
"Thanks."
"Anyway..." Ozpin had cut them off just like that Huntress had, Drawing their attention back to him.
"Moving on, You're good to go, Ruby."
"The initiation starts three days later, so don't be late."
"Got it!"
Ruby looked sad as she needed to go, but whispered something to The Agent.
"I'll wait for you outside."
The Agent nodded back at her.
After Ruby had left, The Agent munched on the cookie she had stolen from Ruby, which she felt sorry for.
But it was way too good to resist.
"Now, We have you." Ozpin said out loud after sighing.
"Who are you?" He had asked, trying to get some anwsers out of her.
Not today, She wasn't going to spill out any information, Not just yet.
She stayed silent, And Ozpin continued; "We searched for anyone who match your data inside our database."
"Your fingerprints were not even on our database." Ozpin said, His lips making a frown.
"So, tell us. Who are you?"
The Agent stayed silent once again.
"..Very well, I will have you know that we are clear to eliminate anyone who is considered a public threat to all of us."
Ozpin had just threatened her, And it looked she was out of choices to make.
"Fine, you win."
The Agent had sighed, preparing the fake story she had made up.
"My name is Caroline, You can just call me Carol if you want."
"I was trained by a Private Military Company, And the recent accident lead me here."
It was a half-truth, But reasonable enough.
"Oh, and what PMC group would that be?" Ozpin had asked.
"The Black Tusk."
It was one of the most bullshit things she had ever pulled off.
Everybody knew what The Black Tusks were, They even had tried to blow up The White House.
Or, A certain Wyvern did.
And they did not look like her.
"We have never heard of anything like that."
What? The Agent was confused.
"Bullshit, The Company is worldwide, And we're known by almost everyone that's still alive."
At least it was like that in D.C and New York.
Ozpin seemed to have felt discomforted by her harsh language, But had replied nontheless.
"I am speaking the truth, Carol."
"There are no widely known PMC groups that are called The Black Tusk in this world."
Her head began to hurt.
"I'm..."
"I need fresh air, I'll be back soon."
"Wait!"
The huntress had called out for her, But she ignored her.
She put her hand on her forehead and stood up, It was aching and she needed fresh air.
As she opened the door and bolted out, she was assaulted by the smell of rose petals.
"Oh, Carol, are you done?"
Ruby had asked out loud, and she flinched as she called her by the name.
"Did you eavesdrop on us, Ruby?"
Ruby let out a cute "eep", feeling ashamed being caught red-handed.
"Sorry!"
"..It's fine, you didn't hear anything important."
"So.. do you mind showing me those.. Guns you used before?"
Ruby had sheepishly asked her, Making her smile.
"Sure, I don't see why not."
"Wow, those guns are cool! They don't transform into anything, But the names you gave it are so nice!"
Ruby had shouted with stars in her eyes, Clearly excited from seeing her guns.
She beamed as she examined one of her fancier looking guns, The CMMG Banshee.
Caroline had the Chameleon, The color-changing Assault Rifle, But she was too lazy to take it out of her bag.
Ruby surely would like to see it, But her laziness won her over.
She watched Ruby as she checked out how the Banshee chambered the rounds, Smile never leaving her face.
"Can I shoot it later?"
"..No as of the moment."
Ruby's smile died down, but returned a moment later.
"So, where are you going after tonight?"
Huh, that was actually a good question.
What was she going to do now?
She ran away from her only chance at requesting for help, To only end up on an empty street with Ruby.
She realized that she had nowhere to go.
"..Carol?" Ruby had worriedly asked her.
"..I don't know, I have nowhere to go."
She replied, an empty gaze following after.
"Oh, do you want to, uh.. Stay over at my house then?"
"I'm sure you and my sister would enjoy it too."
She blinked, usually nobody gave her any help like that.
"..Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I totally want to help a friend in distress!" Ruby had cheerfully replied.
They had met like what, an hour ago?
And she already considered her a friend.
The thought warmed her heart, even if it was only slightly.
"..Thanks, Ruby."
"Anytime, Carol!" She had smiled right back at her.
She wanted to smile, too.
"Anyway, are you coming or not? Yang must be worried sick!"
Ruby's call made her walk again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
And that moment, she had realized the Moon in the sky was broken to pieces.
She was shocked, And her feet did not move another inch.
"Huh? Carol, What's wrong? Why are you staring at the Moon?"
She barely managed to reply with "Nothing."
Ruby's Household
Safehouse unlocked.
The trip to Ruby's house went fairly well.
They had arrived fairly quickly, and Ruby's blonde sister, Yang, Had welcomed her with open arms.
Aside from the fact, Of course, She threatened to blow her knees off if she tried anything.
"While I thank you for saving my sister, I still don't trust you for anything."
"Try doing anything to her, And it's your head."
"Do you really think I would take a gunshot and an explosion just to save her if I wanted to hurt her?"
"If I truly wanted to harm her, It would have been already done, and she shouldn't be here."
Except from that, It was a peaceful night.
Apparently their father was out of town, So she could stay until the Initiation.
But the first thing she needed to do, was to connect ISAC and ANNA to a working network.
She was currently awkwardly standing in the living room, Searching for something that was connected to any sort of internet.
Then, an idea came to her head.
The "Scrolls", Basically a High-tech cellphone they used were connected to a sort of Internet, And if she could get one for a second, ISAC and ANNA could gain access to the Network, restoring her S.H.D Watch to it's full function.
The problem was how.
Well, It was easy.
She bribed Ruby by giving her one of the Chocolate bags she kept inside her backpack, And also promising her to show her the other guns later.
She agreed to the terms easily.
So that explains why she was holding a scroll and tapping on her reddish orange glowing watch, Letting ISAC and ANNA take place inside the Network.
She also had installed far too many firewalls on it that it seemed like overkill, But better safe than sorry.
"Thanks." She mumbled as she handed Ruby her scroll back, who took it as she munched on the chocolate.
"You're- mmm.. welcome."
Ruby said as she swallowed the chocolate and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Why would you not have a Scroll anyway? You should have it unless you're from the Badlands, And that rarely happens.."
Ruby asked as she swung her legs on the couch, eager to start a conversation.
"Oh, that thief had cracked mine beyond repair, While my shield took the blow, The force I took was still a lot."
Ruby let out a "ooh" as she bought the lie.
"That was a really cool shield though, Does it have a name on it like some of your guns?"
She had honestly replied this time.
"No, but it's called a Crusader Shield. I've just grown into the name, And I actually like how it sounds."
She wouldn't figure out anything from the name, so she decided to give her the name.
As she silently tapped on the hidden watch, absorbing knowledge from the Network, She had managed to figure out a few things.
First, This place was called Remnant.
Second, The moon was shattered.
Third, She wasn't on Earth anymore.
The fact that falling into the deepest hole she saw ever before took her to another planet or something, Made no sense to her.
But it was a situation she had to deal with, And she was trying to as of the moment.
She needed to get her mind off the troubles.
So to distract herself from the planet she was on, She looked up for weapons in this planet.
Huh, She realized that those unknown energy signatures were from things called Dust, Being the one that thief had thrown at her.
Those things were quite potent and had.. Well, Magical capabilities.
Imagine being able to freeze someone by shooting them, That's so cool!
An idea popped inside her head, A blueprint for something potent.
Something powerful, A weapon.
"Hey, Ruby." She called over to Ruby who was currently busy watching comics on the couch.
"What is it, Carol?"
"You mind going out to buy some Dust with me? I'm not exactly rich, and I could use the help."
"Oh, Sure!"
Ruby, being excitable as she always were, ran into her room to pick up some plastic cards.
Lien, if she remembered correctly.
She finished up uploading the energy signature from Dust to the system of ISAC and ANNA as a target for her scanner pulse.
Thankfully, noone thought her as a freak or something for having an orange glowing watch on her wrist.
As ISAC and ANNA was done setting up too, Her SHD technology now roared to life, Including her HUD lenses and Fixer Drones.
She was noticed that she could use them now, And the Radar system was restored as well.
She stood up as Ruby eagerly waited for her from the front door.
It was time to go shopping.
Ruby had quite literally dragged her around quite a few shops, Letting her use some of Ruby's Lien to buy Dust.
She felt sorry to use them, though.
Anyway, After they were finished with stocking up on Dust, They were about to head back home.
Until Carol had seen a face that she had seen before.
It was Ozpin, Watching her from a nearby Cafe.
While Ruby had no idea Ozpin was watching her, Caroline's Gaze was fixed on him, And so was his.
Ozpin gave her a gesture to come closer.
"Ruby, I've got to use the bathroom, Mind if we use that Cafe for a moment?"
"Oh, Yeah! I can stock up on some Cookies too."
Ruby seemed to buy the excuse, So she headed towards the Cafe.
"Order some Coffee for me too, Anything cold is fine."
She had requested before she moved away from Ruby, who was too busy reading the menu to see who Carol was headed to.
"Ah, so we meet again."
"Ozpin."
"Caroline."
"So, while your.. Friend, is busy getting her orders, Do you mind if we settle some.. Unfinished business?"
Ozpin had asked her, and she replied.
"I need some time to talk with Ruby before that happens."
"Take your time, Then." Ozpin had replied, And she nodded.
"Wait here, And I'll tell Ruby some sort of an excuse."
Ozpin nodded as he sipped the coffee in his mug.
Carol had to walk back towards Ruby, Who was busy chowing down on some cookies.
"Hey, I need to take a walk and maybe get some fresh air, Look around the city."
"So do you mind if I stay out a little while longer? You can go home early."
Ruby had a concerned gaze as she stared at her face.
"But what if you get lost? We'd have to waste so much time looking for you, And Yang would be mad!"
Carol gave her a reassuring smile as she gave her a soft pat on the shoulder.
"I'll be fine, I just need to stroll around for a minute, That's all."
"Besides, I'm your friend, am I not?"
"Maybe I'll bring back even more cookies when I come back?"
Carol suggested, Her long brown hair almost hiding her surprisingly red eyes with traces of orange from view as she gave Ruby a smile.
"Fine, But you have to come back safe and sound!"
Ruby had smiled back at her, Reminding her of cheerful children who lived at the Campus.
She was too innocent, But her heart and intentions were pure.
And she wanted to keep that protected, Just like this world.
She may have failed to save her world, But maybe this one, She could try and save it before it fell.
She would try.
That was her sworn duty.
"Alright, Ozpin. What did you want to talk about?"
Said Caroline as she sat down on a chair, Staring at his face.
"You, Of course."
"We still don't have any idea who you are, Or where you are from."
Ozpin had said, And Caroline nodded.
"My name is Caroline, That's all you need to know."
"I'm not around from this.. Place, As you may call it."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow at that.
"Vale?"
"..Hmm, Try something bigger, Starts with a 'R'."
Ozpin blinked.
"You cannot be serious."
"I am serious, Ozpin. It's the only explanation I can give."
Ozpin sighed, It looked like she was not lying.
"Do you want some evidence? Maybe the picture of a Whole, Unbroken moon, How would you like that?"
"Or a video of me trying to engage a group of dangerous terrorists trying to take over-"
"That's enough." Ozpin cut her off.
"Asides from your.. Extraordinary background, Your heroism was indeed remarkable, Ms. Caroline."
Ozpin had mentioned her actions from yesterday, Trying to defend Ruby.
If it weren't for the Huntress blocking the explosion, It would have wounded her, She had to admit.
"I'm flattered, But where does this lead to?"
Carol just had to question that.
"You see, Our world is at a continuous siege from the creatures of Grimm."
"I am aware, I had some time soaking up info."
"Good, Very good. Now, I am going to give you a choice."
A choice? That sounded like a recruitment question.
After all, She had been asked the same question when she was recruited for The Division, Years ago.
"You can help me defend Vale, Defend this-"
"I'll do it." Caroline replied.
"That's what I signed up for when I got recruited for this job anyway, And they all probably think that I'm dead."
"And If this is some sort of a crazy afterlife, What's stopping me from doing what I want?"
Ozpin certainly did not expect that, Especially from her.
It had looked like learning about this world, And spending time around Ruby had slightly changed her mind.
"Good, We begin our Initiation in two days, And you will be taking part in it as our.. Let's say Assistant."
"Since you are too old to become one of our students, Instead you will keep your eyes on them, Guide them."
"But, you're not a Professor now, Are you?"
She blinked, That was definitely a better idea than her becoming a student at Beacon.
She hated schools more than anything.
"And you will be assisting most teachers either handle the children, Or help teach them."
"You seem to have some experience in.. Hand to hand combat."
"The children may better themselves as you teach them."
"And while you're doing all these, I will be paying you in some degree."
That sounded okay, Teach some kids and earn money.
"Wait, What about real missions?" Caroline asked him.
"Hmm?"
"I'm talking about missions, You know, Go in an area, Kill stuff, Get out?"
"Ah, Yes."
"Of course, You will be going out on field assignments, But not alone."
She did not like what she heard, She worked best alone.
"You will be bringing few groups of students to come with you, To learn from you, Of course."
"And because of that, You will be given a special assignment once Initiation starts."
Great, what was it now? Take down some giant criminal groups with children behind her?
"You will venture out into the Emerald Forest, Unseen, But together with the students."
"You will be protecting them from afar, Only when necessary."
Oh, She could use her Hunting M44 for that.
"Alright, Anything else?"
Ozpin handed her a few cards of Lien, And what looked like a Scroll.
"Take these, It will certainly help you get used to Vale."
"Oh, Thanks. I appreciate it." Carol said as she examined the scroll.
"Well, If that's all.. I'll be going for now."
"I will see you soon, Assistant."
Caroline gave him a smirk as she exited the Cafe.
But before she could that, Ozpin had stopped her.
"There is one thing that I have almost forgotten, Come here, If you will."
After a quick shopping trip, And a talk with a certain Headmaster, She was stocked on all sorts of Dust to try and craft things with, And also relieved of some sort.
Ozpin had "Unlocked her Aura", Which she had no idea what it was before she looked it up using the SHD Watch.
Apparently it was a manifestation of her soul, To protect her body from harm...
Bullshit, But the SHD tech was already caculating her Aura Levels and was displaying it on her lens.
Damn ISAC and ANNA, Always doing things she didn't want to..
Great, Now she had some kind of a Magic Barrier.
Aside from that, She had a few ideas running through her head as she sat on the seat infront of a Crafting Bench Ruby's household had.
How convenient.
Ruby watched over her shoulder as she pulled out a Motor Rapel device, Few vials of Lightning Dust, And a hook from the backpack.
A few skillful movements and some welding later, She held up a new and improved tool for her to use.
It was a Grappling Hook, Charged by the Lightning Dust to fire and then reel back in without much problem.
She made it where she could eject the vials to slap in a new vial just like a magazine, For conveniency.
Then it was time to move onto her shield.
She had swapped out the battery to a Lightning Dust enhanced ones, And also installed a new module on it.
Inspired by some of those Riot shields Rikers had used, She put a blinding device on the shield, And also a tough yet transparent plate for her to safely aim behind.
Satisfied by her day's work, She cleaned off some sweat off her forehead, And raised the tools she had enhanced.
"Nice, these should be useful."
"Thank you for letting me use the bench, Ruby."
"No problem!" Ruby happily said as she admired Carol's handiwork.
"Anyway, What time is it?" Carol had asked Ruby, Having spent a lot of time crafting weapons and gadgets that didn't look sketchy.
"Hold on... Oh no, It's almost bedtime!"
"Then you should go to bed." Carol chuckled as Ruby panicked as if it was the end of the world.
"But it's so unfair! Why do you and Yang get to stay up longer than me?" Ruby pouted as she shouted out.
"Because we're older." Carol had simply replied.
"You're barely taller than me, You jerk!"
Carol simply chuckled at Ruby's cute outrage, Seemingly enjoying it.
"Ugh, I'm going to go to sleep, I'm tired because I tried to convince you to make things right!"
Ruby had left the room with Caroline chuckling, She had some more time, She guessed.
Now, It was time for a real upgrade.
Hello! Thank you for reading Chapter 3, Carefully Edited Lies!
The Agent lies to Ozpin as if she was one of the Black Tusk members, But finds out that she's in a diffrent world.
Well, She even gave him a name! But is it real?
Originally, She was going to hide her identity as a Division Agent, But figures out that also doesn't exist here.
What is she going to do in a world where it's only up to her to maintain the Legacy of The Division?
Or is she going to break the Chain, And openly take down criminals?
We don't know, But there's one thing we do know.
She got shocked quite a bit from that, Huh?
Anyway, She spent some time with Ruby and I think she's fine for now.
Her talk with Ozpin also seems to have relieved her from the stress.
Ruby's cheerful behaviour makes everything better.
Since Carol will be crafting off-screen, I will be putting what she managed to craft here:
Upgraded Fixer Drone (Shock Dust, Now able to revive an Agent and last longer.)
Elemental Dust Launcher (Swappable between Dusts or an Enhanced Healing Canister.)
Flash Shield (Modified Crusader Shield, Gravity Dust Infused to make it lightweight, So equippable with any primary weapons while remaining in Full-body protection. Also has functions to blind somebody who gets too close for comfort.)
Enhanced Holographic Decoy (Modified to Last longer, And rigged with a Fire Dust detonator.)
Enhanced Repair Trap (Gravity Dust Infused to make it lighter, Contains much more traps and is able to be thrown further.)
That's it for what our Agent upgraded today.
And again, Thank you for stopping by to read!