I was originally planning to include the argument that killed the team in Carmine's timeline, but I seem to be unable to properly portray the intended level of hostility and malice in the words they would have used. But I feel like it's better this way; you guys can imagine it for yourselves. There's a lot of POV shifts ahead, just an FYI.
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Remnant-5815
(Carmine's World)
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(Almost a decade ago…)
How could everything have gone so wrong?
It was supposed to be the happiest day in Velvet's life. Ruby Rose had finally asked for her hand in marriage, and the love-struck Faunus couldn't say YES fast enough; as far as she was concerned, she and Ruby were destined to be together forever! They were so happy about it that Ruby instantly rushed off to tell the rest of her team – of all the people in her life, Ruby wanted her big sister to hear the news first.
Ruby ended up running out of the room in tears. Velvet was simply furious.
That was the day team RWBY officially disbanded. They'd barely spoken to each other since.
Ruby's health saw a sharp decline after that; two days after, Velvet learned that Ruby was unable to sleep at all. When she did, she simply repeated that horrid argument again and again… and again… and again. If she had to endure that even one more time, Ruby would simply break.
It all came to a head on the third night; Velvet would never forget the scene as long as she lived.
The Faunus was pulled out of a dead sleep by a sudden onslaught of fear, panic, and utter misery that pummeled her mind through the emotional bond she shared with Ruby. It was coming from the lab. She staggered out of bed and quickly made her way towards her fiance, running on pure adrenaline, fearing the worst – which, at that time, was nothing more than finding Ruby getting attacked by a faceless mugger or something.
When she got to the lab, that idea went out the window. The place was a wreck: tables flipped, broken glass everywhere, busted lights and broken chairs littering the place like confetti. Ruby sat alone in a corner, on the floor, trembling and weeping.
Velvet's heart shattered as she carefully made her way over, trying not to cut her feet on the glass, and embraced the terrified girl right there. Ruby looked up at her with the most haunted look on her face Velvet had ever seen, clutching the Faunus like her life depended on it and muttering something in a voice too low for even her to understand. Whatever had happened, it was enough to reduce the formerly bright and bubbly redhead to a shell of her former self. Her emotions radiated pure emptiness.
Broken.
And then Velvet spotted a single, most horrible detail: a few feet away, laying on the tile floor and gleaming in the moonlight, was a razor blade. The edge glistened with fresh blood.
At that same moment, she noticed a warm dampness spreading from the place Ruby's wrists were pressing against her.
Velvet's stomach dropped as her hands shook. She'd almost been FAR too late!
As she sat in the darkness of their shattered lab, holding her shattered and broken fiance, Velvet Scarlatina gently forced her Aura into Ruby's wounds to heal them while also instinctively tweaking the girl's emotions to calm her down. Neither of them moved again until the sun came up.
In the stillness of those moments, Velvet quietly vowed to never leave Ruby Rose… til death do they part.
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Every so often, Velvet Scarlatina-Rose would still see the faint scars left behind from that night. She always gave a shudder at the sight of them; the memory was still too strong.
"You don't need to worry about me, Velvs… go on, get out of here. I know you're worried about the kid," the bespectacled woman said with a smile.
"I do worry about you. All the time," the Faunus replied with a frown.
Her wife's smile became a grin. "And that's one of the things I love about you," she cooed. "But seriously, I'll be fine. All the action's going on outside anyway."
Velvet gave the woman a long, hard stare before sighing, "…Just don't do anything stupid, OK?" She planted a quick kiss on her lips before collecting Yang and heading for the door. Along the way, she passed the newest Ruby whose face was half-covered by her hood and said, "Keep an eye on her, will you?"
"Of course, love," the soft-spoken Ruby Grace answered, "That's what I'm here for."
Once they were out in the hallway, Yang seemed troubled. "I don't like that one," she muttered once they were far enough away. "She…she smiles too much."
Velvet chuckled. "And that's a problem? Come on, silly… let's get you checked out, then see if anything in my clinic survived that blast."
"Aren't you worried about Blake? And Rose?"
"Yang, I worry about everyone. More than you could ever know."
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Carmine always made sure to watch whenever Velvet walked away (It was quite the view, even when she had her lab coat on). Once she and Ruby Grace were alone in the lab, however, she returned her attention to the camera feeds.
Rose was doing battle with a new young woman in a spandex bodysuit (which had a spider-like emblem on the chest for some reason) while Blake was hanging back with a fearful look on her face. Snow was still making her way towards them, though not as fast as she'd like – for those unfamiliar with the campus, it was still easy to get turned around. Still, soon it would be two-on-one. Much better odds.
The feed from the clinic's camera went to fuzz right after that blast. Velvet could hardly sit still after that.
"So…," Ruby Grace said in a low voice, "…that was your wife, eh? She seemed rather…graceful."
"I know she's easy on the eyes, but do behave yourself; she's spoken for."
"No worries there, love."
There was a lull in the conversation as Carmine kept her gaze locked on the combat outside. Rose was obviously outmatched by the spider-girl, so it was only a matter of time before it was all over.
"…What'll you do with Rose when it's over?" Another quiet question.
"Dunno," Carmine shrugged, "I'd say she has a lot of questions to answer, but first we just need to get her subdued."
"Will you kill her?"
"Heavens, no! She's far too important to the structural integrity of her world; I wouldn't dream of it!"
"Even though she tried to kill Blake?"
"If she faces any punishment, it's not my place to decide what that will be. I'm just trying to-"
Another window appeared on the monitor, indicating an incoming audio message from an external source. Carmine's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the message's origin.
"Then Rose is compromised," Ruby Grace said with an ominous tone. "Phase 1 is a failure; proceeding to phase 2. No hard feelings, love…"
The Mad Scientist finally pulled her attention away from the console at the sound of metal brushing past leather; a blade leaving a sheath. She turned to look…just as a lethally sharp knife was hurled through the air, heading right towards her face at blinding speed.
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Chapter 45:
"The Good, The Bad, And The Ruby"
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Blake had been involved in several battles by this point, many of them quite intense. She'd also witnessed a few battles in her time, a few involving Adam, that would have overwhelmed her if she'd tried to take part.
The fight before her now, however, was a step beyond even that. 'Intense' wasn't the right word; this was closer to crazy.
"You seem a bit angry," the new girl said as she lightly bounced around the courtyard while literally dodging bullets. "I can recommend a few good councilors. You know I've always found it's best to talk about your problems-"
"Will you shut up and hold still already?!"
Blake had never seen such a one-sided fight before; Rose couldn't even touch this newcomer, let alone do any damage. More than a few times Blake observed the girl seemingly predict where the next bullets would strike, easily getting herself out of the way. She also shot out more of those white strings to swing around, which she apparently referred to as 'webbing.' That made sense considering her spider motif.
The spider-girl paused – while standing sideways on a flat wall – and clearly grinned beneath her full-face mask. Those eyepieces were full of mirth. "You didn't say please.~"
If Rose wasn't on such a murder bender, Blake would have found the battle funny.
As the spider-girl jumped into melee range and continued toying with Rose, Blake strongly considered ducking out to check on Rosey; The Faunus had passed out after using her silver eyes again, and she'd been in the room when Rose's grenade went off, so Blake had good reason to be worried about her.
Which, of course, led her to think about Rose and make herself upset all over again. Seriously, why was that girl acting like this? Why?!
"Okay, I think I've warmed up enough," the new girl said without sounding the least bit out of breath, "Whaddya say we get this over with?"
Rose, who was very much out of breath, stepped back with a look of pure rage on her face and growled, "I agree." The buff teen pulled a small bottle of…something purple (it was hard to tell exactly what it was for the distance)…from her belt pouch and downed the stuff inside in one gulp.
The spider-girl muttered "Aw, fudge-nuggets."
The fight quickly shifted into insanity mode. Rose suddenly attacked with alarming speed, landing a blow on the new girl's head that sent her flying across the courtyard; she skidded to a stop right next to where Blake was standing, groaning where she lay.
Blake beheld the sight of Rose, silver eyes blazing and muscles rippling, as she began her approach. "Now be a good kitty," she snarled, "and give up this-"
A flash of blue light was the only warning as Rose was instantly engulfed in a block of ice.
Snow had arrived. Blake was ready to collapse with relief. And exhaustion; it felt like everything was happening at once.
"That won't hold her for long," the former Schnee said calmly as she joined Blake and the new girl. "We need to take her down. Any ideas?"
Blake remembered how Rose reacted when Rosey tried to calm them down. "She's not in her right mind. Please don't hurt her."
The spider-girl staggered to her feet and gave her head a hard shake. "Ow," she stated very matter-of-factly.
"You alright?" Snow asked.
"…Oh, hey Kara! Yeah, I'm alright...but taking down a Juicer without hurting them is easier said than done, you know…?"
"A 'Juicer' …?" Blake wondered aloud.
"That stuff she drank. It acts like a power booster. But you should know about that better than anyone, Arryn."
"Excuse me," Snow interrupted, "but I think you've mistaken us for someone else. My name is Snow Rosewood and this is Blake Belladonna."
Those eye pieces actually blinked as the girl processed her words. "Oh!" she said after a pause, "Sorry, my bad! You look exactly the same."
Crack. The ice was starting to give way.
Snow and the spider-girl took a ready stance as Blake stepped back. She knew she needed to fight, but… she simply couldn't. She couldn't lift her blade against Rose, not even to save her life. She just wanted to run. To run, and run, and run, and just…get away from it all.
But if she did, someone might die today. She'd never live with herself if that happened.
Then, out of nowhere, words from the past echoed through her head…words spoken ages ago, yet seemingly only yesterday: (There will come a time, soon, when you need to …subdue someone without killing them. Someone important to you. Use this on them… but don't let anyone know you have it. Keep it well-hidden.)
The taser! That little… Rain knew that Rose would snap!
More cracking, like small explosions. Any second now…
"If you guys can keep her still, I can take her down," Blake said with renewed courage, keeping the tiny device hidden on her palm. Hopefully it wouldn't simply fall off from how sweaty her palms were getting.
Snow turned, clearly to ask how the cat Faunus intended to pull it off, but stopped once her eyes met Blake's. A feeling of trust passed between them, and Snow nodded, "…OK then. Good luck."
The rest of the fight went by so fast that Blake wondered if she imagined most of it.
As soon as Rose busted free of the ice, Snow shot a fireball at her. Rose went to hit it away, but more webbing stopped her arm from behind. The fireball hit her in the face. She yanked the webbing, sending the spider-girl hurling through the air – but she used more webs to redirect herself into a wide arc that led her right back to Rose, with a foot to the face in a hard kick. Another glyph trapped Rose's legs as spider-girl started punching, but Rose grabbed her wrists and pushed, breaking free of the glyphs and trapping the spider in a bear hug from behind. The spider-girl suddenly, and very quickly, enlarged herself to over 20 feet tall in an instant, breaking free of the hold before rapidly shrinking back to normal and swinging away. Snow barely blinked at the sight before covering the ground under Rose with a sheet of ice, but Rose quickly saw it and punched, shattering the ice all at once. Spider-girl darted forward to try again, Rose swung, but then the spider…shrank, suddenly dropping to about a foot tall and darting between Rose's legs before shooting back up and putting Rose in a half-nelson hold.
What the hell…? Who was this girl?
"Blake! Now!" Snow cried from nearby.
Blake hesitated for half a second… and that was all the time Rose needed to sweep her leg backwards and free herself. She spotted Blake, who was suddenly very afraid, and lunged forward with open hands. Time seemed to slow down as the cat Faunus watched her doom approaching, silver eyes full of murder.
However, Rose never made it that far.
BAM! ! !
Seemingly from absolutely nowhere, something powerful slammed into her head from the side, sending the buff teen sailing into the far wall of one of the buildings. Rose did not move right away.
Blake beheld a Ruby Rose with only one bloodshot eye, dressed for battle, wobbling a little on her feet while glaring at the unmoving form of Rose and growling. "For the love of fuck, WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY? How THE FUCK am I supposed to get any goddamn fucking sleep with all this fucking racket around here?!"
Looks like 'Crimson Thorne' was finally awake. And very punchy.
As the dust settled following that rather startling finish, the spider-girl piped up "Welp… that works, too."
Crimson redirected her glare at the spandex-wearing teen, who then leaped behind Blake for cover with a light whimper.
A few moments later, Rose began to stir. Blake quickly ran over and used the tiny device; Rose convulsed quietly, then went still again. She still had a pulse, but she was finally down. And all it took was a small army.
Some minutes later, Velvet and Rosey came out to see them all. Rosey actually ran up and gave the still-wobbling form of Crimson a big hug, and the two of them conversed quietly for a bit. Velvet worked with the spider-girl to get Rose properly tied up and secured in a safe room. A number of robots soon came out to clean up the mess they'd left behind.
All at once, Velvet's ears shot straight up on her head. The woman almost shouted, "Dammit! I let my guard down for five minutes…!" before sprinting off towards the lab.
Blake felt her stomach drop again as she, along with Snow, Rosey and Crimson, ran to follow. Could she honestly handle anything else?
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Based on Velvet's mood, Snow expected to walk into the middle of a fight. Instead, they found the aftermath.
Carmine stood near the far wall, out of breath and looking ragged. Ruby Grace stood calmly in the middle of some sort of force-field prison. A new Ruby stood nearby, breathing hard and holding herself up with her weapon. Snow quickly noticed this new Ruby's hair – it was long and flowing, with numerous roses tied into it's length. Very pretty.
All over the floor lay fragments of throwing knives, all broken in pieces. Some were still steaming from being sliced.
Velvet barged in first, glaring at everyone and demanding to know what happened.
"If not for her," Carmine pointed at the newest Ruby, "I'd be dead. Ruby Grace just tried to kill me."
All eyes turned to regard the hooded Ruby with open suspicion and anger. The girl continued smiling calmly, even from within her prison. "Bravo for making it through, love. Well done. My targets rarely ever survive."
"Targets?!" Velvet suddenly shouted. "You mean you kill people?!"
Ruby Grace feigned shock, still smiling, "You mean… I didn't tell you? Oh. I'm so naughty…~"
Velvet looked ready to start breaking things when Snow stepped in to calm her down. It was strange to be sure, but the girl must have had a good reason for doing it.
The long-haired Ruby spoke next, saying, "I got here just in the nick of time, and even shot the first knife out of the air. First time I ever did that, too. After that I tried to defend, but Hood was able to hide in the shadows and wore me down quick. I had to use my cloak as a distraction to draw her out, and Glasses put up the force field right then."
This caused Blake to ask, "Your cloak? How would that help?"
"The noise threw her off. Because she's blind."
For some reason, this news was more startling than the idea that Ruby Grace had tried to kill one of them. Blind? Was it possible?
Ruby Grace sighed from her prison, but now Snow noticed that she never actually looked at anybody – her eyes remained pointing straight ahead. "Just met me, and you already figured it out. I'll be sure to remember you, my dear."
Snow stepped forward, hoping she might diffuse the rising tensions. "If I may ask…why? Why attack us? We are not your enemy."
Ruby Grace turned her face towards Snow, then her smile grew into a sneer. "You just keep thinking that, love… it makes my job so much easier." She then pressed a button on a device hidden on her wrist which caused her prison to fill with a familiar blue-green light, bright enough to blind everyone for a moment.
When the light faded, Ruby Grace was gone.
"DAMMIT!" Carmine pounded the console in frustration. "She had her own transport device. Shit! That must have been how she got in here in the first place. I knew I should have shielded this whole lab from the beginning! I knew it! This is how mistakes happen and people get hurt, idiot!"
While Carmine was busy cursing herself, Snow watched as the rest of the people in the lab got their first good look at each other. Crimson and Rosey didn't seem to mind much, but Spider and the long-haired Ruby were quite wide-eyed at seeing other versions of themselves. Velvet, now calm after the issue with the assassin, looked at the interactions with a smile.
To Snow, it was like watching two of Mari's groups of friends meeting each other for the first time. A bit odd, but heartwarming to see.
The girl in spandex, who elected to hang upside-down from the ceiling by a thin white string, said, "My name's Lindsay Rose, but you can call me Spider. Or Spider-Girl. Or Spider-whatever-you-want, I'm not picky. I've only been doing this gig for two months, so I don't even have a good name yet." She pulled off her mask, revealing the face of Ruby Rose. As expected.
"But how are you doing…" Snow gestured to all of her, "…that?"
Spider-Ruby considered for a moment, then said, "Does it mean anything to you if I said 'bitten by a genetically engineered super-spider' …?"
"Not a thing."
"…Dang it."
Crimson spoke up next, saying, "All you need to know about me izzat I come from a bad future. Really bad. Like, End of the world, robots-killing-anything-that-moves bad. Also, just fuckin' call me Crimson."
Spider-Ruby carefully asked, "…Is that why you only need half a pair of glasses?"
"…Kid," the one-eyed woman said with a deadly glare that dropped the temperature of the room, "…that is one story you don't want to hear. Understood?"
"…yes, ma'am," came the meek response.
The long-haired Ruby sighed and said, "While my story isn't as glamorous as that, I will say that after a certain… incident… my team broke up. Me and Weiss stuck together for a bit, but we haven't seen Blake for almost a year. Yang ran off on her own."
From where she stood, Snow clearly saw Carmine flinch from the console.
Yang said, "What do we call you, then? Just Ruby is already taken."
She scratched her chin, brushing aside the long feather used to bind her cloak, "I don't really have anything unique to pull a nickname from."
Snow glanced at the roses tied into her hair and said, "How about… HF? For Hair Flowers? No other Ruby I know of has a trait like that."
"Not the most eloquent option, but I like it. HF Ruby it is," she smiled warmly at Snow, seemingly happy with the name.
Carmine chose that moment to interject, "Snow, Blake and Yang… I have something here you will really want to hear: a message from Omega Rose."
This got Yang's attention. The blonde had been ignoring most of the conversation, but upon hearing that name she turned and said, "From Ruby?"
"Not sure yet… it only just came in before… before I was attacked. I'll play it now."
Snow was certainly paying attention, but she also noted that every other Ruby in the room was giving the message their undivided attention as well.
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"…You sure it's on?…Okay.
"Hey guys, it's me. You know, Ruby. I'm alright, though I'm… oof, how can I put it? I'm in a really, really weird situation right now – like, completely-out-of-body-experience weird – but I AM still alive. Omega Rose is with me, although how she found me I still don't know, but she's the one doing this recording. She assures me it'll get to you, so… here I am, telling you I'm fine.
"I'd love to tell you everything that's been happening, but I don't have much time to talk. Omega tells me you guys are looking for me, so maybe if you can… What? …No, I didn't say… Sorry, Omega keeps interrupting…
"Anyway, I'm here and waiting for whenever you guys track me down and bring me home… but when you find me, you might be a bit shocked at how I look. I'll know it's you, anyway. And… I miss you, Yang.
"…uh, Omega says…'The cards are the keys.' I don't know what that means, but yeah, that. Maybe Carmine knows what she's talking about? Anyway, bye!"
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The voice was not what she expected, but Snow could easily see Ruby Rose saying all of that. It was certainly her.
"I had to scan the message to make sure, but it's legit," Carmine said. "Only Omega would be able to hack his way into this system remotely."
Blake said, "So that means… you can find Ruby?"
"Not quite. The signal source is scrambled, but I don't think it was intentional - Between space is funny like that. Once I find the right frequency modulation, I should be able to lock on and get the exact location."
Snow smiled, glad to know that their goal of finding Ruby was finally going somewhere. She turned to see how Yang was reacting… and was startled to see the blonde breaking down in tears. "Yang…?"
Being addressed seemed to make it worse; her bottom lip began to tremble as Yang muttered, "S-sorry, I… I… excuse me…" before running out of the lab with more tears falling to the floor. She was audibly sobbing as she left.
Blake tried to follow, but Velvet stopped her with a gentle hand, "Give her a few minutes. Don't worry… she's just really happy."
Snow looked on, her heart going out to the blonde girl who was clearly in a lot of pain right now. She didn't look very happy, to be honest. Snow knew what it was to be truly happy - she'd met her husband after long voyages at sea, sobbing with emotion every time he came home alive. What Yang was feeling seemed different… but that wasn't for her to know right now.
"You guys," the spider-themed girl started saying, "…You're trying to find someone, right? Your own Ruby Rose?"
HF Ruby and Spider glanced at each other for a moment, then smiled at each other. The long-haired Ruby simply said, "What can we do to help?"
Carmine seemed surprised at the offer, saying, "You sure? I could just send you guys home if you want…"
"Why would we just leave if there's something we can do?" Spider-Ruby seemed incredulous. Like the very idea of walking away didn't make any sense. "Besides… Rose had a thing of Juice. That matters to me. I'm staying."
Blake added, "She also had a Calmer. I told you about those. That definitely matters to me."
Carmine gazed around the room, taking in the sight of no less than four Rubys staring back at her. Snow looked as well, and she saw that all of them had the same look of determination. Even Crimson.
"Okay, then. I accept your offer. Be back here tomorrow."
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Today was one of the longest days of Yang's entire life – at least, that's how it felt now that night had fallen.
Honestly, enough was enough. She felt as though someone had yanked out all her nerve endings and ran them through a paper shredder.
Rather than sleep, Yang decided to walk around the courtyard a bit and just enjoy the weather. And it was nice; a cool breeze blew by every so often, and the cloudless sky proudly displayed the stars. It was also nice because she was out here alone, something she'd been wanting ever since her breakdown.
Ruby was alive.
She'd never doubted that for a moment, yet when it was finally confirmed beyond all doubts… Yang couldn't handle it anymore. The emotional overload alone drove her to her knees.
Ruby was alive… but there were still other Rubys to worry about. And Yang couldn't trust them. Any of them. Not anymore.
First was Rue the survivor… then Rose the psycho… then Ruby Grace the assassin… how many more? How many Rubys out there had fallen down the dark path?
And was her Ruby doomed to meet the same fate?
No. No, no, NO! Ruby would never do that!
But Rue did. Rue, an older woman driven to desperation by solitude and strife. A woman who tried to do unspeakable things to Yang after earning her trust. Betrayal – the pain still stung, even now.
It also left her with a pair of new problems – the most obvious of which was her illness. Right now the zombie virus in her system was under control, but all it would take was one time to get mad and fry the nanomachines, setting the virus loose once again. Her anger was what drove her to fight, what defined who she was. Without it… who was she?
The other problem revealed itself every time someone tried to touch her – every touch felt like her touch, every kind of contact took her back to that place, that time. No matter who it was, Yang was seized with the urge to scrub her skin with sandpaper. She simply couldn't stand being touched anymore.
Ruby… would she even recognize this frail, weak, scared little blonde girl as her big sister? When they finally found each other, would she still know it was her?
The idea that she might turn away was enough to make Yang want to scream.
"Can't sleep either, huh?"
She heard the voice before she saw the speaker; it was the long-haired version of Ruby from earlier. The one who'd saved Carmine. They called her… HF.
Yang took a tentative step away from the Ruby and nodded, not even able to meet her gaze.
HF didn't say anything, but looked up at the stars like Yang had been doing. The two watched the heavens for several minutes, not saying anything. They simply stood there, silent companions in the still of the night.
A lone star suddenly streaked across the sky, leaving a line of pure light in it's wake. Yang's throat locked up; Ruby always loved to wish on a shooting star.
"Whatever happens…," the long-haired Ruby said quietly, "…we can never give up. I didn't give up on my Blake, and I won't give up on you guys. We will find your sister."
Yang gave a nervous chuckle, then started brushing her hair with shaky fingers. "Heh… at the rate we're going, she'll probably find us first. We're not much of a team without our leader, you know?"
HF looked down and locked her eyes with Yang's. They seemed to sparkle in the starlight. "You're far more than just a team, Yang…you're a family. And family knows no distance."
It was in that moment, for the first time since she met Red back home, Yang decided to place her trust in a Ruby that was not her own Ruby. This girl had the right kind of spirit.
"Thanks," Yang muttered. "I think…I needed to hear that."
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A day later, Rosey stood in the lab with the others in eager anticipation. This would be the first time she was present to witness the miracle of science they called teleportation.
"After careful consideration – mainly due to the events of the past day or so – I've decided to take a few more precautions than before."
Carmine stood on a large platform off to one side of the lab, making adjustments to the machinery as she spoke. Once or twice she used a tool to whack a part into place.
"It's obvious now, but there is a force out there that seems to be trying to stop us for some reason. With that in mind, none of you will go out alone anymore. I've enlarged the platform to send you out in pairs."
"Shoulda been doing that from the fucking start," Crimson muttered from one side. "This shit isn't a game, you know."
Carmine paused to give Crimson the stink-eye, then said, "I've also changed my mind on your missions. Now we need to find the rest of those card-things. The work with the scanners will have to wait. Based on Ruby's message, those cards are the key to finding her location."
"I'm glad somebody understood all that," said the spider-Ruby with a tone of confusion.
Snow spoke next, sounding far more grown-up than any of the others, "Who will you be pairing up?"
"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll pass this time," Yang said tiredly. "I've had about enough…"
"I'll go with Yang," the long-haired Ruby said quickly.
"Didn't I just say-"
"This is your sister we're trying to find, and I won't hear any arguments. I won't let you stay here and wallow in self-pity, do you hear me? We'll go together."
Yang opened her mouth, then shut it again. "Fine…" she growled.
"Rosey," Blake said from right behind her, "what about you? I think Carmine will let you come along if you want…"
She'd been thinking about that for a few minutes, and surprised herself by coming to a different decision; "A-A-Actually, I think y-y-you should go with C-Crimson."
Blake and Crimson both blinked at her.
"I'm w-worried about you, B-B-Blake. I-If something bad happens, I c-c-can't fight... B-b-but if C-C-Crimson were there…!"
The one-eyed Ruby sighed through her nose and said "Okay, okay…I get what you're saying kid. You want me to keep an eye on your big sis, 'zat right?"
Rosey nodded emphatically.
"Alright, but it'll cost you extra." Crimson turned her gaze towards Carmine again, her face twisted into a grin. "And I happen to be a bit…thirsty, if you catch my drift?~"
Carmine sighed as she took her seat at the console, "…I guess Junior's gonna get to retire early after all."
Snow then said, "I suppose that leaves me with…"
"Me, huh?" the spider-Ruby said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Ah, it's fine. I guess you won't hold me back too much."
"Me hold you back?" Snow scoffed, "What makes you think you can even keep up?"
Spider-Ruby and Snow stared at each other for several moments before both of them grinned evilly.
Oh, [d-d-d-deary-] dear…
Rosey stepped back as Carmine explained the new setup: "In order to keep things stable, I've re-written the program to send you guys out two at a time. I'll pull you back a full 30 minutes later, since I have to get a bit more complicated with the setup. The same rules apply once you're out, but the only one you need to be worried about is the time you spend there – no longer than one year, or you risk permanent damage."
Two of the Rubys gulped. Crimson didn't even blink.
"Snow and Spider, you're first. I don't have a full scan of the world you're going to, but I know there's a large discrepancy in the energy readings. I literally don't know anything else – you'll have to let me know what effect this issue has on the environment after you get back."
Both girls nodded as they took their positions on the platform. Carmine hit a few buttons, and the pair disappeared in a flash of bluish-green light. A few voices in the room ooh-ed at the sight.
"Yang and HF, you're next. All I can say about the world you're going to is that it's a lower level of technology than you're likely used to…and there's no Grimm. Aura and semblance should still work like normal, but Yang… don't forget to keep a lid on it."
Yang sighed as she nodded, and HF gave her a light pat on the shoulder. Rosey watched as the pair vanished, and she was struck with how… depressed Yang looked. So very different from the naturally confident Yang she remembered.
"And lastly, Blake and Crimson. I've found a nice, normal world for you to search. A few enemies, but nothing you can't handle."
"Aww…," Crimson groaned, pouting a bit, "I thought I was gonna get to have fun…!"
Rosey giggled, "J-Just think of the b-b-beer."
This brought a smile back to her well-worn face. "Aw, hell yeah! Let's get this over with!"
Blake just sighed, looking at Rosey in accusation.
Carmine started up the machine and sent them away, leaving Rosey by herself.
Velvet was in the clinic today, so that left the Faunus alone with Carmine. That didn't happen too often.
"I've been meaning to ask you," the older woman said suddenly, "…what do you want to do?"
"...w-w-what do you m-mean?"
"Blake told me she brought you out of your own world because living conditions were terrible, but what do you think? Where do you want to end up?"
"W-Well…," Rosey booped her pointer fingers together, "There is one p-place…"
For the next 20 minutes or so, Rosey told Carmine as much as she could of her story. She paid special attention to her description of the world where she met her own Blake and the various other Rubys therein.
Carmine, for some reason, sighed deeply upon hearing it. "I think I know exactly which timeline you're talking about… but getting you there is going to be incredibly difficult, even for me."
Rosey tilted her head in confusion just before the computer started beeping.
"I'll explain later… first we've gotta get everyone back home."
What followed was several sets of teleportations that brought almost everyone back. Snow and Spider were first, both in very upbeat moods. It was interesting to see how different they were acting after spending some time together. Yang and HF came next, but their change was more startling – Yang was openly crying, and HF was trying to console her. Snow was there in a flash, doing everything she could to help her friend calm down.
But then Blake returned… alone.
Oh no.
Before anyone could ask where Crimson went, Blake jumped forward and quickly drew her weapon, pointing it back at the platform and shaking in terror. Rosey let slip a whine as the tension in the room shot up, but no one else made a sound. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
"Did anything else come through?" Blake suddenly barked at Carmine. "Did anything else come through? ANSWER ME! !"
Carmine, who was clearly getting sick of the taste of adrenaline, rapidly typed on her computer for a moment before saying, "No, nothing. Access route is totally closed. You're safe. Now what the hell happened? Where's Crimson?"
"Safe? Safe?!"
The tension in the room was rapidly replaced with horror as Blake began breaking down in nervous giggles that soon devolved into mad cackling.
"No one…safe…no one…safe…Meaningless…Everything is meaningless…No one…safe…!"
Velvet burst into the room right then, shoving a few bodies out of the way as she forced herself in front of Blake; she used both hands at once to tweak the Faunus, trying as hard as she could to calm her down. Rosey's stomach was in knots as she looked on, utterly helpless to do anything.
Blake wheezed a few more words out before falling unconscious. Words that sent a chill down the spine of everyone in the room:
"It's coming… The Shade… It's coming…!"
… … … … …
… … …
…
Author's Note: And now I'm dizzy. Yeesh.
So this delay was the fault of a small case of burnout, sorry to anyone who really wanted to get through it. I hate leaving things unfinished like this, but I just have too much else to think about. Other stories to finish, for example.
Starting next chapter, I'm going to start playing with the format a bit to keep things interesting. Now that our heroes have a better sense of what's going on, they should be on a more direct route to the climax. Here's hoping my three readers hang on til then!
=^..^=
A Few Credits:
Long-Haired Ruby/HF Ruby originally appears in the webcomic "RWBY: Henceforward (also known as Hedgehog with Roses) by author/artist Kuma.
Crimson Thorne originally appears in "Sins of the Future" followed by "Distorted Mirror Images" by fanfic author The Layman (who is also my beta reader, in case you forgot). And no, she's not dead. (editor's note: insert Monty Python reference here. XD)
Spider-Ruby is my own OC, but is based on the character of Spider-Man of Marvel Comics.