A/N~ And here are we in another chapter! Sorry for the long update, but I'm really pushing chapters for other stories forward now and should be able to post a little bit faster now.

Thankfully, I see some people are still enjoying the story regardless. So here are some of the feedback I've received!

Reviews:

R98

Again, thanks for the review! That might be a good idea, but for now, there are no plans to make a Power Star for Ruby or any of her teammates.

UKNE-12mark3

Keep on reading, pal! There's more where that came from!

And special thanks to slalus3ti4, genesicgaogaigarvsgodgundam (Man, your name, dude XD), anime junkie2, azickwolf, TwilightKingA5L, Bloxxerboy and all the other wonderful people who have liked the story (sorry I didn't mention some of you in the last chapter, it seems I forgot to do it, so here's a late thanks from me to you )

UPDATE (29/3/2018): Had to re-upload, due to a massive plot hole in the timeline of this story. It has been removed and shall be moved to another chapter.

Chapter 6: Heroes, One of the Same

~RUBY'S POV~

There were no words to describe my frustration towards my newest 'ally' in the fight against a new evil. I've been put in my place when I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just so furious right now even Weiss could do a better job at cheering me up than that ninja boy.

Darn it. Why did everything have to be so strict for this guy? I'm doing this world a favour. I want my friends and me to get ourselves back into shape and help people again; to bring our team back in the game and prevent more attacks from those who threatened our home. Now, with these aliens terrorizing the kingdom all for some stupid game show, I wanted us to step up and show the world what we Huntresses were made of.

But here I was. Just sitting on a rock after being sent packing like a rookie by some dude who thought he had all the power to stop these freaks. Worse part was that he too was not even from this planet at all! Who was he to tell me what I can or can't do?! Lives were at stake but he was so sure that whatever he did was the right thing.

He was such a jerk back there and I really hope he'll finally understand how things were done here. I did the only thing I could do; yell out my frustration and show him how I felt about his interference. But then, he shoved back and gave me a stern look, uttering that 'I have no idea'. What the heck did he mean by that? What wouldn't I understand from a pair of bossy boots like him? I just don't understand boys these days, even if he was from some other universe where these freaks came from.

SHHFT!

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the bushes behind me shook; the branches rustled and shaking from something hiding behind them. I quickly jumped back up and turned to face the bush where I found the leaves shaking. I knew something, or someone, was watching me, waiting for the right time to strike. Then, the mysterious person jumped right up and I was about to shoot it down with my weapon.

"ACK!" I yelped, aiming my sights on whatever was about to tackle me.

"Oh no! Don't shoot me! I'm just an innocent assistant android!" But when I heard the person scream back, it sounded very familiar. It was the same electronic voice of the robot I met earlier, and that was who I saw from out of the bush. The red robot that accompanied Brody had popped out, waving his hands at me and begging at me to spare his life… or circuitry? I dunno how robots… live? Darn it!

"Oh… it's you… Redbot, was it?" I asked, making sure I got the name right after a while.

"Yes, it's me." he confirmed. He then stepped right out, dusting himself from the leaves stuck in his hinges before facing me. I wondered why he came to me and what his business was, instead of sticking by his friend's side.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. "Shouldn't you be with Romero over there?"

"Yes, but Brody needs some time for himself right now." he told me, with a voice that told me that Brody was not in the mood himself.

~REDBOT'S POV~

Previously

"You have no idea, Ruby." I heard the strain in Brody's voice when he went up face-to-face with our new friend. Once they walked away from each other, I immediately calculated the many probabilities that this alliance could end up in the wrong direction. I was developing concerns over the matter and was starting to get very fidgety about the strain in the partnership. If something wasn't done to solve their differences, then there was no way we could beat Galvanax and his minions before they take over this entire world.

So, as any good friend would do, at least that was what I had programmed into myself, and talk to either one of them. naturally, I went for Brody, knowing that some talking time could help rewire his understanding in the right place.

"Brody?" I walked after him, trying to get him to calm down. "Please don't be upset with Miss Rose. I'm sure she didn't mean it." Brody kept on walking from the girl until he came to a complete stop. At that moment, I looked around and saw that our friend had mysteriously disappeared into the trees, but not before hearing a very loud scream followed by a loud slicing sound. It didn't take long for me to see a tree fall right down into the ground. It was surely the work of Miss Rose as she had that big scythe of hers to cut down the tree.

I turned back to Brody and saw him sigh, looking less angry as he took off his helmet so I could see the more upset look on his face, evidently very affected by the argument he had just had with Ruby.

"I know she doesn't, Redbot." he cleared up, but then, before walking off into the woods, he was once again putting up a disappointed tone as he spoke again. "That's why I'm not happy with her right now." And just like that, he chose to sit atop a huge rock nearby and remained silent. Not a word would come out after he was seated.

"Oh boy." I said to myself. "I guess I should leave you be then." It was then that I decided to resort to walking off to finding the young girl and let Brody get some air to cool down his nerves. I walked away from my old friend, worried constantly about both of the humans. I kept repeating to myself in my head about the consequences of a disrupted friendship that could lead to a very catastrophic outcome for out battle against Galaxy Warriors.

Somewhere in my artificial intelligence chip, I had to do something to mend this and get those two to fight side-by-side the proper way. And that, according to Mick, required a 'sense of common ground and understanding between two parties'. With some form of programming in my head, I seemed to have deduced this as a conversation between two affected parties. So, I complied with my wiring and went to find the girl, knowing it would take a lot of time and words to help calm someone I had just met in another world.

~RUBY'S POV~

Not to sound rude or anything, but I was kind of confused as to why the robot was coming to me when he was more acquainted with Brody. I enjoyed some company, especially from the less annoying ones, but I was not feeling in the mood for an actual talk with anyone right now.

"So… what makes you think I need your company?" I asked again.

"I cannot compute with that question." Redbot insistently told me of his purpose. "But I'm sure you wouldn't mind sparing a few minutes to talk?" He then bowed respectfully, like I'm a guest of honour, but I knew it had to do with politeness. "Just for a while?" I had to think this through. I felt like rejecting his offer, giving myself some lone time to cool off while I look into the sunset. But then, when I thought about it, Redbot must had been a little worried about both Brody and me, so he might had tried to talk to him. If he was here, then I didn't think it went well. So, naturally, I had to let him be.

"Fine…" I sighed, accepting the company for a change. "I guess some talk time couldn't hurt."

"May I be seated on this rock?" I hesitated, still unsure about engaging in an actual conversation with a robot. However, deep inside me, I mentally slapped myself. I just remembered that was when I remembered about doing exactly that just a few months ago.

To my credit, the last robot I talked to was so perfectly human-like with very little 'robot stuff' to leave her any hints. Redbot was different. He was fully robotic with no disguises or fake human features and heck, he even moves and talks like a genuine robot. If I learnt anything from Penny though, it's that you should never judge a book by its cover.

Redbot was a sweet robot, always looking out for Brody out and actually showing concern for him like he was human. A real friend. With that in mind, I motioned for Redbot to come sit with me on the rock. The way he walked towards the rock was kinda silly. His arms would remain angled and would rock back and forth as he walked while his legs were heavy as he stepped forward. It made me snicker a little, seeing how funny the motion was. He then sat down on the rock, a little clumsily since his body was moving step by step.

"Do you often come here to relax your mind?" he then asked me as he comfortably adjusted himself up next to me.

"No." I shook my head, turning my head back to face the sunset. "It's a new place for me."

"But the view is simply admirable." added Redbot.

"Yeah." I agreed. It was a very, as Weiss would put it, serene view indeed. I would always remind reflect on my days, no matter how good or bad they turned out to be. As excited and trigger-happy as I tended to be, it was still a nice treat to actually get some peace and quiet to get my mind straight and back into shape. Maybe Blake was right after all. Some fresh air always did the trick. But that would leave me thinking about the bad stuff that happened each time before I'd go get a breather.

"Is there something troubling you?" Redbot snapped me out of my little meditation to ask another question. One that I didn't really want to answer right about now.

"Me?" I tried to lie and avoid the subject. I have to admit, though. I was… No, still am a terrible liar. "No! I-I'm… fine! See?"

"Frantic stuttering within your voice suggests otherwise." Redbot had to remind me about my awful fibbing. He could probably see me struggling to come up with any excuse anyway. After some more stuttering made its way out of my mouth, I had to sigh in defeat. I had nothing else to say.

"Okay. Who am I fooling?" I slumped my body down, lying on the rough surface on the rock. I was very hopeless with my inability to get myself out of these situations. I'd just give up, knowing that my attempts to make everyone's worries for me go away would end up in failure.

"Does it have to do with Brody?" And Redbot just had to rub it in some more…

"Yeah…" I got back up, raising my legs up on the rock and hugged my knees while also burying my chin in between them. I was going to be very honest with him about what I thought about that Red Ranger, or whatever they called him. "I don't get it, Redbot. Why can't he just take these fights more seriously? A boy was in trouble and I had to help him. But Mr. Intelligent over there thought it was a good idea for me to forget the boy. Even if he did plan to help the kid, I needed to do something before anything could happen to him." I was even more frustrated now. Just when I thought I could finally put the whole argument to rest, now I had to retell it to the one bot who stood by his side. Redbot had to defend him, trying to reason with me to think about him in a different way.

"Brody is smart and cunning." Redbot said. "If anything, he could have saved that child in the nick of time."

"I know that, but he had to go and berate me for my failure to follow his plan." I defended again. "Why can't he just let me do my own thing? It's like he doesn't get why it's so important to help my fellow people!"

"I understand your anxiety." argued Redbot. "Brody may be stubborn when it comes to monster fights, but he is not without care. He is a born hero, willing to do whatever it took to save lives, just like you. And when it comes to trouble, the monsters like the ones you fought are pure evil, willing to hurt or even destroy others to get what they want. That's why he does get serious in his battles, because he cares about protecting the innocent, no matter where they're from."

I wanted to lash out and fight back, more serious than I had ever been, to show this robot that I could make things right for people and make this world a better place.

But then, it just clicked. I stopped. I had to think about what Redbot said that finally caused me to stop resisting the inevitable. I then rested my chin on top of my hands, whimpering inside for a lost cause to proving myself. Great. First, Ozpin, then the whole school and now some guy from another dimension thought I was such an obstacle. I really wanted to do my best to show everyone that I could do things right again after what happened at Vale. But now, I just didn't know if I'm doing enough to help people. I've let many down. My team, my other friends, my teachers… I just couldn't think of a way to set things right again.

"I've had my fair share of troubles with these monsters, but Brody would always have my back. He's saved me many times before, and I will be sure that he will come to my aid from here on." Redbot's words were really kicking into me. As I managed to stop myself to listen, I was beginning to understand now.

I now realized that I was being such a stubborn little brat. I let myself get so bent on protecting people all by myself that I didn't give him the chance to help out too. I was so advocate on fighting the bad guys and not letting Brody do his part to lend a hand. Now, it was coming to bite me in the back.

"Maybe you're right." I finally conceded. "Maybe I've been a bit… stubborn myself, thinking that I'd make a difference. I've always been so willing to help people… that I've put myself over others. Out of all of this…" Hesitation kept me from saying more, but I had to let it out and accept the truth. "I'm the one wrong here."

And what about my team? I said I wanted to help them get back to helping people, but as it turned out, I was forcing them to help me out with something that only I wanted to do. I know I had good intentions, but I must've been such a jerk to push them off their feet like what I did back at Beacon.

Oh boy. I'm such an idiot. I burrowed my face into my hands as I laid back down groaning in frustration for being so delusional. Surely, Redbot must had wanted to say something rough to me for finally defeating myself.

"You are certainly a brilliant fighter. I'm sure Brody thinks so too." Well, I was wrong again. But those words were helpful. I gotta admit, that bot had some neat talking skills. Now that I got that aching feeling out of my chest, his words of comfort were really touching.

Smiling, I sat back up and giggled, letting my past anger thrown off the plank.

"Thanks." Then, I thought about Brody again. He may had been right to scorn me, but I still had that wanting to make him see me for who I really was, forgetting about the selfish side of me and view me as the hero who still does want to save people. "But still, I wish he could just see me as a capable fighter myself."

"Perhaps in time, you can." advised Redbot. "I advise you listen to him the next time you team up with him. He certainly has many ways to win his battles."

"I'll try." I didn't promise anything, but I would do my absolute best to fix things between us. Take things slowly and actually pay attention. It was going to be hard; I mean, I used to fight against sleep to stay at attention for Professor Port's boring old war tales, so listening to someone who gives a darn about fighting should be a real lesson. So, after that, that was my resolve. If I learned to listen to someone, then I'd do better with my team.

Dear Oum. I wondered how was I going to talk things out with the others while I'm still gracious to hear what they thought about me.

Suddenly, the winds kicked in with a strong blow. It was lovely, as always. I'd let the cool air brush against my hair and let my cape flutter away!

"Ohh!" But that put Redbot in the firing line… from my own red cape. I yelped after hearing the robot getting slapped and covered underneath it. So, I pulled it back and saved the poor guy from being blinded by my prized possession.

"Sorry!" I quickly apologized. After he shook his head, Redbot immediately apologized.

"It is no problem." Then, afterwards, I retreated my cape and to avoid another mishap, I draped it around myself like a blanket so I wouldn't let it blow upon him. Redbot seemed to be curious about something, staring at me for some reason like he found a blemish on my face or something.

"Do you always wear this strange red cloak?" he asked me. Strange, he thought? Come on! Everyone's such a critic!

"Of course!" I just cheerfully answered, hoping to not let my inner thoughts get in the way. Though I felt the urge to tell him why it's such a wonderful thing to have. "I tend to see it as a symbol. Not only for my Semblance…" Then, for a moment, I felt a little empty inside. About what the cape would always make me think of every time. "…but for my mother."

"Your mother?" Redbot questioned.

"She…" I didn't really want to pour too much of my emotions into this, but it was going to be the way to set things straight with these strangers from a world unknown. My mother's tale of heroism and sacrifice was going to be one helpful way to remind them of who I am and who I want to be. "She was a Huntress like me. My dad always told me that she was a great one too. I guess I decided to wear my cape to remind me of her and her contribution to our world. That's… really all I can remember of her."

"What happened to her?" And that was the question I didn't want to hear. No matter what, though, I had to go on and tell him the bad news about the ending to this sad tale.

"She… died a long time ago. When I was still very little." Redbot didn't have a human-like face, but if I could tell from his voice afterwards, he probably didn't feel so good about what I said.

"Oh…" he said apologetically. "I'm… sorry."

"It's alright." I turned to him and kept on with the story. "I never really knew my mum, so I never understood how to handle it. But that didn't stop me from loving her from here on out." I looked back at the sun setting down into the mountains, with the day slowly turning to night. I remembered how I would always return to her grave every time, to tell her of the many adventures and achievements I had earned in my life. Then, I prayed on, knowing that my mother would be up there, seeing me down here proud and happy for me. "I'm sure she would be happy to see me now. Living up to her legacy and continuing the Rose family name!" I unwrapped myself from the cloak and brought the edge of it to my sight, clenching it into my fist gently and lovingly. "This cloak of mine will always remind me of her, even my time with her was short."

"I see." Redbot was touched by the whole story, I'm sure. But now, the problem was that I must had let those feelings out too hard on Brody. Surely, now I regretted it, so I told Redbot what I initially thought about it.

"So, when Brody talked down on me earlier and I talked back, I was thinking about my mother. How would she feel about me if I let some other person tell me that I was doing things the wrong way? I couldn't help but show him that I care too, you know?" I sunk my head down, wanting to go out there and apologize for the harsh things I said back there, but somehow, somewhere deep inside of me, I did what I had to and gave him a dose of my spirit.

"I just wish he'd understand." In the end, all I could hope for was some way for him to fully realize how much this world meant to me and that he'd finally let me work things out with him. I'd wonder if he'd know what it was like to have lost someone precious in your life and that you'd fight to live up to his or her name.

Then, all of a sudden, Redbot told me something. Something that would really shake things up.

"I'm certain he would. In fact, you're not alone." I turned my head and wondered why Redbot would say such a thing. Could it be-?

"What?" I asked, surprised by what Redbot said to me about Brody.

"Brody should know what you went through." he continued.

"What do you mean?" I had to ask him again. Now, I was itching to more about Brody, because there was something in Redbot that made me want to hear everything out. This would be a good chance to fully get the better picture.

"Let me tell you then. I'm positive that Brody would comprehend." And so, I sat at attention like I would with Yang in her bedtime stories… when I was young, of course… and listen to Redbot, hoping that I'd better understand the tale of this hard-headed ninja.

"As a kid, Brody always wanted to be a ninja warrior. And as it so happened, his father was a Ninja Master." Amazing! Brody had a dad who could fight too! I was so amazed to think that Brody wasn't just a ninja warrior. He must had been a prodigy! I rested my head on my fists as I listened eagerly to know more about him. "So, Mr. Dane Romero took it upon himself to teach Brody the ways of the ninja, preserving an ancient tradition that was dying out."

Yeah, ninjas were kinda outdated here in Remnant too, even if someone was so engrossed in a certain romantic 'story' as Weiss would put it.

"Brody loved his father very much. He valued his teachings and he would always be proud by learning from him." I know I would mine. Both Dad and Yang too. I was getting to become even more curious about Brody, and actually… I felt a little more acceptant to him just by listening to the more touching side of him.

"But that all changed in one day. There was this mystical power source called the Ninja Nexus Prism. It held the power that would later give Brody his own powers today." I imagined back to the special ninja powers and the spandex…

THAT IS NOT SPANDEX! For some reason I heard a very shrilled female voice coming from afar, but I didn't know what it was. Strange…

Anyway, I remembered how powerful and awesome Brody's ninja powers were with that… suit of his. So fast, so elegant, so destructive! These powers must had been so great that it'd make most Huntsmen and Huntresses like me jealous. Still, I had to listen to Redbot more and hoped to tell me more about this weird other world they came from.

"His father kept the Prism in his home, harnessing the power within and forging the steel from the artefact itself for future use. From there, he hoped to learn how to use this power to protect others and allow the spirit of the ninja to live on. He would then train Brody and his brother, Aiden harder than ever to prepare for whatever may try to take the power of the Ninja Power Star." Two ninja brothers. Now that was a family tale that could end in happiness. Right?

Turned out, I was wrong…

"Until he came…" Redbot turned sorrowful, as if there was a very sad twist to this tale. This was it. That typical tragic chapter where things would go down south really badly. I was even more attentive to the tale now, hoping that things would turn out alright, but deep down, I knew there wasn't going to be any good news.

"Galvanax. The big boss. The baddie who ruled them all. He is the one threatening your world today." I didn't know who this Galvanax was, but if those monsters were anything, then he must had been huge and massively strong. Like 'the-end-of-the-world' strong…

"He came to find the Prism and get its power, but Brody's father did his best to protect both the Prism and his son from harm. He even managed to become a Power Ranger through the Prism's power." I held on to hope, as if I was there to watch it, actually rooting for Brody's dad in my imagination, just thinking about him slashing down on the monster with his awesome powers.

"Unfortunately, Galvanax was more powerful in the fight." But then, it was the moment that I was afraid of. "To help save the world, Brody's father had to do what needed to be done. He jumped in and sacrificed himself to destroy the Ninja Power Star. The Power Star was broken apart, preventing Galvanax from achieving the ultimate power." IT was at this point that I wanted to know desperately of what happened in the end. Was Brody's dad okay? What happened?! I was so impatient to hear what had happened, and Redbot straight away told me of the sad fate of Brody's dad.

"Brody's father, however, was nowhere to be found…"

My heart was heavy afterwards. Brody's father did all he could to protect his world from the clutches of the evil Galvanax from achieving this ultimate power. But in the end, after all of the fighting and pain he had suffered, he was no more. Gone.

Just like what happened to my mother…

"Brody took the loss very seriously ever since. Worse still, he was kidnapped after the battle and was forced to separate himself from the only family he had left. His brother, Aiden." I was actually almost driven to tears here. To imagine Brody, as a young kid, taken away from whatever was left of his family; it was more than I could take. It was such a sad story and I really wanted to shed some tears for him, feeling so remorseful for what I said to him earlier.

That was it! I was now an even bigger idiot! I was so angry at him that I shouted out all my care for my mother at his face. And you know what I said?

'I'm not sure you would understand!'

Now I knew why he was so mad back at me! I was so foolish to have had said that awful sentence, without knowing that he, too, had lost not one, but two people in his life! I wanted to beat myself up for not thinking straight, being so sure that I was the more tragic figure in this fight. What had I done…?

"From that day forth, Brody was forced to work for Galvanax in his ship for ten whole years. There was when he met me and another friend of ours. But those times were the hardest for him. He had lost the only family he had left and was treated like dirt because of it." It was even more painful to hear what happened afterwards. Ten years away from home to be a slave has got to be the worst thing that would ever happen to a boy like Brody. I was getting more and more upset for him, and myself for being a total douchebag to him.

"We managed to escape the ship after so long and landed back home on Earth, where Brody would meet up with new friends and gain the powers of the Ninja Steel Red Ranger from the Power Star, but no matter where he goes, he is unable to find his long lost brother." The more I heard of this tale, the sadder I got. I was glad he met some people to join them, but there was no sign of Brody's brother anywhere. I couldn't imagine what it was like to lose a sibling like that for so long. If I were to lose Yang for that amount of time, I'd be devastated too, and I would go the extra mile to reunite with her. There's just so much I'm learning about our new friend.

"The events that led up to his time as a Ranger were hard felt and difficult, but with our new friends, we always prevailed and overcame the odds against Galvanax and his forces." "That is why Brody is such a valiant leader. He always knows what to do and he does it all to save the people he knows and loves." In the end, I was moved by how things went for Brody. He never gave up looking for Aiden and worked with his friends to defeat the forces of evil. There was so much I had to understand about Brody that now, after this one tale, I finally knew what he had to go through to fight these aliens and why he would go so far to defeat them. He was a better hero than I thought he'd be.

Still, I was still so sorry for him; as he lost all of the family he knew and loved. His father was gone; his brother was missing. There was not even a mention of a mother.

"Gee, I… didn't know… he lost his family." I sobbed a little. "Let alone one parent like me…"

"Well, we still don't know if Brody's father was ever gone. He just disappeared with no trace left." Well, there was a pinch of hope there, but it must had been tough still. "Still, it was very upsetting for him."

"Yeah…" I crossed my arms to my stomach, still feeling guilty for yelling at him. "Having to go on with life without any family to depend on." I thought about the fact that he had new friends to depend on when he needed company and help. It was still a good thing he had some people in your life. People he could love again. "But that's when you've got friends by your side, and the next thing you know it… They become your family."

"That is exactly what Brody would tell me." stated Redbot. I stood back up, feeling even better knowing that there was a chance to make things right between us. All I had to do was be more understanding towards him and let him decide what's right in our battle against these evil gladiators from outer space.

"I guess he and I have something in common after all. We're both leaders looking out for our teams and we fight to protect our worlds." I was going to finally change and listen to him when we head for battle against these monsters. "I should have known."

"It's never too late to learn." assured Redbot. I looked at this red robot and was amazed that he was actually teaching me how to be a better person towards another. Well, it's not impossible since I actually taught a robot about how she lives her life too.

"Wow. For a robot, you sure talk a lot of sense." I praised him.

"It's all thanks to Brody for being such a friend to all of us." said Redbot. Now, I just had another question to ask him about Brody.

"Speaking of which, where are his friends anyw-?"

BBOOOMMM!

"What the?!" It just came out of nowhere! Another explosion somewhere further away! I was sure it was another alien attack!

"It's another attack!" I stood up in a flash and jumped down from the rock to get back into the action before I'd lose my chance again. "Our friend's back!" I had the lamp-like monster in my mind, ready to cut him down to a million pieces!

"We better go warn Brody!" Just then, I heard Redbot jump down too and went to warn his friend. I completely forgot that I had to have Brody by my side if I would have any better chance of defeating these aliens. I already told myself I would try my hardest to listen to him, and I am not going to spoil another chance like this.

On the other hand, if I waited any longer, that monster would be sure to destroy another village and raze it to the ground. More lives would be in danger and, who knows? Someone could actually… lose a life. That was when I had an idea.

"You do that! I'll go on ahead." I told Redbot, going for the option to head out first and attack that monster before he could take down whatever he was destroying. The least I could do was stall the beast while Redbot went to warn Brody of the danger, though I was sure he heard the blast too.

"But…" When Redbot was about to insist, possibly for me to wait for Brody, I quickly declined his chance to speak, hushing him up with a wave of my hand to the side.

"There's no time! I've got this. Just tell Brody to meet me there and help out." If I could hold on for as long as I could, Brody would be there just in time for us to launch an all-out assault on the enemy. Redbot just stood there for a while to figure out his… uh… Processing thing.

"Alright." He finally agreed to let me go off and attack the aliens. With a nod to thank him for understanding, I immediately made way and zoomed out in a flash to buy Brody time to help out.

~BRODY'S POV~

A few minutes ago

Boy, was I mad…

I could not believe that girl just stood up to me and told me that I wouldn't understand what it's like to live up to a legacy of someone who was no longer in your life. I couldn't keep myself composed for long. I had every bit of anger boiling inside to hear that ungrateful remark from Ruby. To say that I wouldn't know about the loss of a parent, she had no idea at all. I decided to separate myself from her after a while and calm down from the hurt caused by the disobedience Ruby displayed.

I know she had to preserve her mother's legacy to fight the forces of evil, but she was not alone. I too had a dad who sacrificed himself to protect the world I lived in. To protect me… and Aiden. She was not being so devoted now, was she?

It was so aggravating to have someone tell you that you wouldn't understand the loss of a parent that I could just slice a bunch of trees like she did to that one back in the forest. I had to sit down somewhere and relax, getting rid of my anger from my little scuffle with Ruby earlier. My helmet was off to get that fresh air of this weird world of girls wielding weapons of awesome calibre, orbited by a moon fractured by some cataclysm. I had to admit; it was far fresher than the slightly more polluted air back at Summer Cove. Perhaps it did help calm my mind a little, but the pain from our disastrous alliance had really sunk in really good.

I prayed to Dad, wondering if he was saw my quarrel with Ruby. I didn't want him to see me like this, all depressed and upset over one sentence, but if there's one thing I've learnt so far, words tend to hurt more than actions these days. Galvanax's constant threats, Ripcon's annoying taunts, Cosmo's irritating 'hosting' and now Ruby's hurtful words at me.

I wondered what went wrong. I didn't know why Ruby wouldn't listen to me when we were fighting enemies that I had fought for almost all my life and then she came in and said that this was her fight. Yeah, I get it! You wanna defend your world, then no problem for me. What really bugged me was that how she refused to take advice from me so we could get the upper hand against them, going instead on her own terms. All because she wanted to rescue… that…

Girl…

That was when I thought…

She… did save a girl anyway… Was that so wrong?

If she wanted to save that girl, then was it right for me to just continue on with the plan and not let her do the rescuing? Couldn't have I just told her that I was going to summon a shadow clone to help out instead? If that was the case…

Then maybe I was the one who was stubborn…

It just hit me like a baseball bat to the chest. After all this time of fighting Galvanax's monsters and keeping Ruby in line, I was the one who tried to control the situation. Yes, this was her home; she had the right to fight things her way and she would save lives without anyone telling her otherwise. What had I done?

Why was I so foolish to become the control freak here? And because of me, I probably upset her more than she did me. I was the bossy boots of the job to be blamed for our mess-ups, not her… I grabbed my head from the gruelling headache from realizing what I had done to strain our acquaintanceship. Some hero I turned out to be. If I was this rude and demanding, then what am I really?

I had a lot of explaining to do… My head was spinning from mind-blowing realization, forcing me to rub my forehead. My own heart was stinging from the guilt that I had to sit down and take a breather. Most of all, my own brain was processing a way to bring it up to Ruby over what I said. I hoped Redbot's got her covered; he was always programmed to assist the needy and would sit down with them when he felt like doing so.

Meanwhile, I had to calm down and find a way to relax my mind before I faced the girl again. She pretty much wouldn't want to talk to me anymore, so I really hope Redbot had my back.

BOOM!

Well, things couldn't get any worse, I thought. Once again, a bad day was really testing my patience. That explosion signalled yet another attack by Galvanax's newest goon, surely on another settlement. I had to jump into action and fight them, putting back my helmet on. With my Star Blade in hand, I ran towards the sound of the blast.

I stopped. I looked back to where Ruby had left off from, thinking of whether to call upon her for help. It still looked like she was not willing to talk to me after our argument, not wanting to do anything with me at that point. And I was pretty sure she would have heard that blast anyway. If anything, she'd just jump up and race right for the site of the disaster without me.

"Brody!" All of a sudden, I heard Redbot's voice calling out to me. Shooting back around, I ran to find him, just seeing him already within a few feet away. When I met up with him, he told me what he wanted to say, and what came out of his vocal processor was almost what I wanted to hear.

"I assume you heard the explosion?" he asked.

"Hard not to, Redbot." I told him.

"Well, Ruby has gone off to fight the monster." Redbot announced, confirming my suspicions. I knew she'd run off without me. Was she still mad at me? Now, she had to go on her own because she wasn't going to even call for me? Now I knew how much of an idiot I was. It was totally my fault that she was going to go full solo against Galvanax and his minions, and she didn't even have a clue about how to defeat them. If only I'd given her some room to try… "And she told me to tell you that she'll need the help!"

Suddenly, when Redbot told me she needed my help, my head twisted in confusion. Even after all the fuss I did to her; after she wanted nothing to do with me from our scuffle, she still wanted me to help her? Why would she do so?

Drgh! What was I thinking? If she wanted my help, I'll do it anyway. I can't just leave her to battle the monsters alone. It was time to forget what had happened and be a better teammate now. Right now, she needed me, and I'll need her help too.

"Alright!" I quickly agreed, preparing to go on ahead and find her before it was too late. "I'll go on ahead!" With my powers checked and re-energized, I made a quick dash for the attack, hoping to find Ruby there and help her defeat our mutual enemy.

"Don't worry! I'll catch up!" It was faint, but Redbot's voice was clear enough for me to, however, feel a little worried about leaving him in a forest filled with dangerous predators constantly stalking around. "I hope…" Now, on my way, I was going to give it all I got, not just against the monster, but also for my new teammate.

~THIRD PERSON POV~

Ruby had left Redbot behind to go warn Brody while she raced off to pursue her target. Her eyes were directly set towards her path, hands firmly gripped on her most trusted weapon ready to slice and dice her prey. With a monster threatening to burn down another village, she certainly hoped to buy herself some time before doing the wise decision for a change.

She held on to faith that her comrade would come to join her so she could find a way to beat this creep faster and before anyone else got hurt or at least lost a home. After a terrible round of disagreements with Brody, it was by time she had to finally accept the truth that she needed his help more than ever.

After darting through the woods with lightning speed and a stream of fluttering rose petals behind her, she dashed all the way until she could finally hear the chaos spreading through the area. She stopped behind a few trees where the danger was happening. She peeked over a tree, listening into the cackles being hurled at by the same monster who almost fried her, recognizing the voice easily.

When she caught the monster in her sights, he was already about to arch his back and prepared to fire another beam of searing light energy towards the trees. It was fortunate that there was no settlement or town in sight. However, this was still an arsenic attack upon the forest, firing his beams at the wildlife… non-Grimm ones… Any sentient life was worth protecting and this monster was threatening it as far as she knew. The headlight-like monster fired another massive beam, devastating another part of the forest to flames, scaring the wildlife. A violent dash of orange filled the serene green of the forest's atmosphere, bringing more harm to anyone nearby.

Ruby had to act fast. The monster was the least of her concerns; now with the animals and possibly nearby humans trembling in fear, attracting nearby Grimm in the area as well. If this kept up, there would be destruction throughout and not even Ruby could stop it. There was no time to lose. All hopes were on Brody to arrive and help her out with the fight, so she would have to be extra wary to buy him some time.

"Hold it!" She jumped from her hiding spot to reveal herself to the enemy. The light-powered monster spun around with his Kudabots to see the young girl standing right before them, with her scythe at the ready. Her eyes stared right at him, glaring in her angered state, triggered by the mass hysteria he was causing.

"Hah!" The bogus actor-wannabe bellowed in her presence. "So you have returned for a new audition, my dear?!" Ruby then spun her scythe around before transforming it into blaster mode, willing to start the fight as soon as possible.

"Yeah!" she cried in full battle mode. "My chance for another shot at you." She dashed forward, catching the monsters by surprise. She leapt in the air and fired a few high-powered frag rounds on top of them, easily taking care of the Kudabots all at once with multiple blasts. That just left the big bad monster all to himself. Rotlight jumped around helplessly as he was being pelted by explosive rounds all over him, taking out his troops in a few seconds.

Ruby landed on the ground after her successful barrage had taken out the support, leaving Rotlight all on his own. She knew she had to be careful now. Even without those blue soldiers, these monsters were indeed capable on their own from what she had experienced so far. Rotlight snapped out of his hysteria and faced the Huntress-in-training with anger that he was already deprived of his backup.

"You just took out my star cast!" he cried with fury, something that Ruby didn't really have time to give a darn about. "Fine! If you really want to be in the cut, then allow me to make you shine!" He charged up the energy inside of him and unleashed his super-powered beam of light at the girl. Ruby panicked when she saw the superfast beam racing towards her, instinctively darting away with her Semblance of extreme speed. The violent ray blew up a tree just behind Ruby a second ago, incinerating it to nothing. The fire burnt atop the broken stump with wild and intense heat.

Ruby had to do something about the monster and try and take him out. If she wasn't successful, at least she hoped it was enough to give Brody more time to arrive. So, she had her weapon shifted to scythe mode and charged right for the monster before he could charge up another devastating blast. Engaging in a close-quarter battle, Ruby began to work her way with a series of spins and slashes, rapidly against the monster. Surprisingly, the monster held his ground on his own, defending himself from each strike. He never knew he had this momentum and speed against the speedy Huntress. It must had been the essence of the new world around him, somehow allowing him to boost his power to the max. Indeed, his energy beams had become more powerful than before back in his own universe. Something must had been working and it showed with his new strength against Ruby.

Ruby tried a swing to the leg to try and trip Rotlight down, aiming her blade right at his stubby appendage. Unfortunately, the alien managed to catch the blade with his own bare hand, swiping it off before giving Ruby a good punch to the chest, sending her back reeling from the hit.

She then zoomed right for the monster again, clashing in another series of attacks with equal ground again. Ruby tried to find another angle, trying to leap over him and attack him from behind, but the monster kept swinging backwards to stop her from doing any damage. Ruby then raised Crescent Rose high enough and swung it right down on him, hoping to knock out his light cannon. The monster then caught the deadly weapon with both of his hands, barely missing the sharp edges of the blade.

He pushed the weapon right up in the air, making a panicked Ruby vulnerable to another hit to her face, knocking her back again. While she was recovering from the attack, he quickly charged up a low-powered blast from his weapon, sending a beam of light milder than before, but should be enough to deliver enough hurt to pin Ruby down.

Ruby was hit by the energy beam; the power of the blast searing through her in an instant and with a force that sent her spinning to the ground. It was far worse than the time she had been slashed at by a fiery weapon during one of her sparring sessions at Beacon. The burns were more powerful than the singing stings of that weapon, almost feeling like it was enough to burn her to a crisp.

She crashed down on the ground hard, thankfully still alive, but now damaged and stinging all over. There were burn marks on her clothes and cape; those on the cape obviously far more visible than the ones on her black clothes. The pain she felt forced her down, making her unable to get back up to fight the alien. It really hurt so bad, she'd need a few sick days from school to have her wounds be healed.

From this pain, she now fully understood why Brody specifically told her to be cautious of his enemies. Now, she knew what these monsters were capable. These weren't like the Grimm or Torchwick. They could still kill you, but these aliens were far more violent and volatile. Destructive as the Grimm, but with hearts of cold ice. As vile as Torchwick, but even more powerful and stronger in their power. These monsters were bent on destroying everything in a single blow and willing to see someone suffer from their injuries. And to think, all of this for a stupid game show…

Rotlight sure enjoyed his little debut against a formidable opponent, even as the strange essence in the world he was in somehow empowered him to such speeds. It's no wonder that the contender before him was also feeling the power before he too was unfortunately put down by the Red Ranger. At least he could now finish what he started and put an end to the obstacles of the most precious beginning of his career.

"You should have not underestimated me, little girl!" The monster taunted Ruby who was till badly burnt. She was able to find enough strength to get back up, but only managing to her knees. She looked at the monster with dread as he lightened up his weapon again, now going to full power and willing to incinerate her to nothing more than a pile of ashes, not willing to let the opportunity slip past him this time.

At the peak of his power, he was ready to fire his weapon. Ruby closed her eyes, ignoring the pain on her body and accepting the inevitably of her situation. She held onto hope that somehow, within this heck of a mess, close to her own death, she would be saved by some miracle. It had before, why should now be any different? For now, she had to pray to Oum that if she did meet her end, she was going to hope that everyone she knew would be able to live on without her. Oh, how she wanted to tell Weiss how much she loathed her fancy attempts at making everything so… fancy. How she wanted to learn more about Blake's past. How she wanted to give Zwei one last hug before she dies. How she wanted to tell Yang and her father how much she loved them. How much she wanted…

To see her mother again… Perhaps she shall in the afterlife…

"Say goodbye, girl!" And the monster fired his weapon…

Ruby prayed with her last words. She felt a swift force picking her up to send her to the heavens for her final moments of life. And when she opened her eyes to accept her fate, she could see herself higher than she was. She would find herself…

On top of a tree… What?

"Huh?" She was certain she was now in a better place, but when she opened her eyes, she was beyond surprised when she saw the face of hope in front of her. It wasn't an angel, or any other person of heavenly grace. It was none other than the one person she hoped would come.

"Sorry, I'm late." Yes, it was him. Brody had finally come to save the day, cradling her after rescuing her from her certain doom. Where she stood defeated once was nothing more than a burnt out crater, with an equally baffled Rotlight to feel dumbfounded by his miss. She found herself then being jumped down with him on the ground where he safely placed her on her two feet. She couldn't really have the energy to show her appreciation, with her wounds still being there to sting. All she could do was smile, glad that Brody had come to help her fight the monster.

"Am I glad to see you." thanked Ruby.

"Glad to know." acknowledged Brody.

All those times they fought each other, forgotten. Their past grudges put aside for now. There was a much bigger fight at hand. Either one of them didn't know that the other was willing to cooperate, but it was clear that they had to work together again, now or never. They could always talk it out later and focus on the fight here and now.

"Okay, Brody." Ruby called on to Brody. The Red Ranger expected a little burst of self-confidence from her, letting him know that she would prepare to lead the charge instead of him. "What's the plan? You lead, I'll follow." Brody heard it right. Ruby was actually willing to give him the chance to guide her through this fight. For the first time since a while ago, she wanted him to help her fight. He wasn't sure if she was going to be easy on him after what had happened, but he was sure glad that she was about to follow his lead. Of course, he too had the chance to make things right. This wasn't about him; it was both of their fights. Both of their efforts. Both of their mistakes… And since Ruby seemed to wanting to correct her mistakes, it was only fair that Brody correct his.

"That monster's source of power comes from that light of his. We take out the lens, we'll make him vulnerable." he told Ruby. "And that's where I need you to do some damage." He told Ruby exactly what needed to be done, giving her the chance to give her own taste of fun to defeat the monster. And it worked after noticing the dangerous little smile on her face.

"My specialty." Ruby grabbed onto Crescent Rose like a warrior itching for battle. This was the chance for the both of them to fix up their alliance and start fighting like a team against their common foe. They stood battle-ready, about put their skills to the test and find out if their team-up was still alive and growing.

"Hit the lens on my signal." Brody reminded. "Do you get that?" Ruby probably didn't need to be told on what to do. Brody was giving her the opportunity to help save lives, and she was going to do part of the hurting. That was all that mattered.

"Loud and clear!" She spun her weapon in the air and crashed her blade to the ground. Brody unsheathed his blade from his belt and took out one of his Power Stars to use in battle against Rotlight.

"Then, let's make this epic!" With Brody's battle cry, the warriors in red were ready to move out and fight against the mutual evil. Rotlight stood his ground as well, making sure that he would melt down both of them in a single light beam. As such, he sucked up enough energy from the Sun and was about to let one beam rip at them.

"Move out!" Ruby yelled as they both jumped out of the way before Rotlight fired his deadly laser at the two. They both managed to dash away on time before the beam hit them, exploding in another fiery blast. The two heroes zig0zagged their way towards the monster with incredible speeds, confusing the monster as to who and where she should shoot at first. In his desperation, the monster fired a few rushed shots at them both, resulting in complete misses as they sped through the attacks.

Finally, after dodging his moves, the Red Ranger began to attack first, lunging his blade from the air and preparing to strike at the monster through the lens. The monster made his move to stop him from hitting him, brushing off the attack and tossing the Ranger aside. While he was able to throw away one warrior, he was not prepared for the second warrior just inches away from his legs. It was Ruby who dealt the blow to his legs, slashing them with her weapon.

The monster was felled with that one blow, all while Brody was still recovering from his tumble. Ruby darted away just in time before the monster fell to the ground after her successful strike.

When the two allies regrouped, they faced the monster to see the results of their coordinated teamwork. The monster was down, but not out. They still had a little more to go if they were going to hit its lens.

"Okay, we managed to weaken him, but we better improve our odds. Perhaps a little more would do." suggested Bordy, which was all Ruby needed to hear.

"Sounds good! You keep him distracted and I'll see if I can score one for us." The Huntress offered her own take on the plan, which earned a nod of approval from Brody. Clearly, the teamwork was slowly coming together nicely as the two prepared another round of assaults on the creature.

"You fools will pay for this box office disaster!" yelled Rotlight.

"Don't worry." taunted Brody. "You won't be around for the sequel!" He thrust out his Power Star and called upon its power. "Ninja Clone Star! Ninja Spin!" Locking it in place onto his blade, he gave a spin with the full flick of his thumb and allowed it to summon two copies of himself; all moving at their own will but to follow the host's command. "Meet my stunt doubles."

With the swing of his blade, Brody charged forward and led his clones to action. All of them attacked as different individual minds launching their moves at different paces and patterns to confuse the monster into fighting all three at the same time. It was a total mess fighting off three Red Rangers at the same time, and Rotlight wasn't sure which one was the real one, forcing him to take on all of them.

While Brody and his clones got him distracted, Ruby jumped through the trees trying to get an angle on Rotlight's lens. She didn't know how Brody was going to hold him steady; all she had to concentrate on was Rotlight himself. If he was stationary enough, she would have that chance. Then, at that moment, Brody managed to keep the monster in a tight lock, trapping all of his limbs in place.

"Now!" the Ranger yelled, signalling for her to strike, jumping out of the trees and aiming her gun at the monster's lens as planned.

"Gotcha!" In the air, she locked on to the very glass at the barrel of his weapon, about ready to pull the trigger. However, in that instance, the monster had struggled well enough to shake off one of the clones, knocking him out of existence as it exploded in a cloud of dust. Ruby fired the weapon too late, the bullet then racing for the monster and ending up hitting his eye instead of the lens.

"ARGH! What just hit me?!" The monster reeled in pain, and in doing so, charged up his firepower in desperation. He fired a haphazard low-charged blast that was, by the worst luck possible, heading for Ruby.

"Look out!" Brody couldn't do anything but helplessly warn his comrade of the beam. The beam fired right up and hit Ruby by the foot, burning it and causing some massive pain. Ruby winced as she crashed to the ground hard.

Brody ordered the other remaining clone to keep Rotlight distracted while he ran to help Ruby up. As he reached her, he could see the damage done. A smoking trail left on her boot as she clutched her foot, almost in bad shape after the additional pain from the fall.

She massaged the burn as hard as she could, fortunately feeling nothing more than a little sting. Thankfully, her boots were made to withstand powerful attacks like that and all she had to do was rub the pained areas of the rest of her body from the crash landing.

"You okay?" Brody came by and placed a hand on her shoulder, and then helping her up with a helping hand.

"Just a singe." assured Ruby, though feeling a little bit let down by her failed attack. "Sorry, I messed up." Brody felt the disappointment in her. This time, however, he wasn't going to chastise her for her failure. This wasn't the time, or rather wasn't his thing to berate her for not scoring a direct hit. He was going to give her the credit for trying her best, and that was what he should have been doing the whole time. No more criticisms. Ruby was a compatible fighter and no one was going to ruin her incredible streak for anything.

"Don't worry. You almost had him." praised Brody. For a while, Ruby almost anticipated a little harsh remark, keeping her on bad expectations. When she heard a compliment from Brody, however, she couldn't help but smile at last, thankful that Brody was there to compliment her.

The two returned to the fight. They saw that Rotlight had managed to wipe off the last clone before turning his attention back to the real deals. "We're going to have to really put the hurt on him."

At that point, Ruby looked for a solution. She had to find a better way to make the monster stay still and for much longer this time. When she scanned the monster, she studied how he was moving after she shot him. She could make out a bit of a stumble in his walking, seemingly disorientated by what happened to his eye. She then recollected what happened when he fired his weapon after being partially blinded. He was quite precise before with his shots, but it seemed like his lack of vision had greatly affected his aim.

Perhaps he could still see a small shade of her from his blurred vision. If she could find a way to blind him completely…

"Since he can't shoot what he can't see, maybe we can blind him with something." she deduced. She then looked to Brody, hoping he had something he could use to make the plan work. As much as he liked the idea, he regretfully informed Ruby that he had nothing of the sort to perform.

"I don't have anything to do that." That was when Ruby brushed through the magazines on her belt, checking them out one by one before eventually coming across something most fortunate, as much as she wanted to say it was all according to plan.

"I do." She then kept the rest of her ammo away, leaving one conspicuous magazine left. Brody looked at the clip and saw that it was white instead of the traditional red he usually spotted in Crescent Rose. Ruby locked it in place before cocking up the weapon, ready to fire. "Get ready to charge up whatever attack you have. I'm going to give 'em something."

Brody didn't know what she had in mind, but he decided to give it a shot anyway. Ruby may had been stubborn and reckless, but she was as skilled as they came. So far, she had proven capable when listening, so it was now his turn to respect her idea. One nod was needed to confirm his approval to proceed. Seeing if Ruby could do the job, Brody leapt away into the trees, waiting for the chance to attack.

"What is this?!" Rotlight yelled, seeing Brody's rush away as a sign of cowardice. "Not enjoying the bright lights of show biz! Someone is clearly not into the stardom!"

"Hey!" He then shot back to the young girl left on the field, who stood defiantly while the Red Ranger ran for his life. "Want some more stardom? Here's some coming at you!" Ruby then aimed Crescent Rose at the monster, loaded with the new mag in her weapon. After a pull of the trigger, a bullet was launched and headed right for Rotlight.

However, instead of an armour-piercing round that would penetrate right through him with extreme pain, Rotlight was caught within what appeared to be a sudden blanket of an intensely bright light upon his eyes, blinding him almost completely.

"AAHHH! It stings! My eyes!" The monster backed off with nauseating pain going across his mind while also being unable to see. He tried to shake off the effect to no avail; he was going to become blind for a long while. Long enough for Brody to make his move…

"Lights out!" From out of nowhere, the Red Ranger sprinted from out of the trees and he flew right above the monster with his Star Blade ready to slice at him with a direct hit to the lens. He could see the brilliant flash coming from the branches and quickly shielded himself from the blast, allowing him to see clearly where his blinded target was.

With a sharp dive-bomb, he lunged his sword downwards like a harpoon towards an unlucky fish in the sea. The blade speared through the lens, shattering the glass and digging right into the inner electronics that made the weapon work. Rotlight screamed as the blade pierced right through him, blowing up the circuits inside of him. The sudden shock was felt all the worse when he couldn't even see the attack coming and the pain was made from a total ambush to his body.

Brody skipped away from the blow and regrouped with Ruby, seeing the damage he had done. A successful hit as the glass of the weapon was broken down into nothing more than a few shards. Jolts of electricity fizzed out of the barrel, showing that his attack had done much more to Rotlight. It was all enough to prove that their attack had worked.

"No!" Rotlight screamed, having his vision restored to see what had happened to his masterpiece. "You destroyed my most prized asset!" As the monster moaned in defeat, Brody took out his own signature Power Star to prepare for his final attack.

"Great." After placing the Star, he looked at Ruby and called upon her for the next phase. "Now, let's finish him up. Together."

"Aren't you powerful enough to finish the job on your own?" asked Ruby.

"Hey. I can't have all the fun, can I?" assured Brody, giving Ruby more of the exciting feels. If there was anything Ruby would enjoy from a hunt, it was the satisfaction of ending the battle. So, to make the final move with an ally was just as special. "Just follow my lead." Brody and Ruby made their stances, crouching forward and waited on Brody's go.

"Ninja Spin!" The flick of the wrist and the cycling of the Power Star at rapid speed, Brody unleashed his full fury with his red energy blazing across the blade in a show of power Ruby wished she would put for Crescent Rose. Perhaps some modifications could be done… Right now, it was time to synchronize their attacks; no time to drool over awesome visuals!

"Final Attack!" At the sound of his call, Ruby followed Brody in a simultaneous charge. The two zapped their way towards a doomed Rotlight, who was powerless to stop them from being close to ending his life.

In a surprising show of force, Brody and Ruby's bodies became blurs in a blitzing trail of roses and electricity that soon combined into a twister with the two of them spinning around each other in a tornado of red mist firing away and speeding towards Rotlight. Finally, the two forces crashed right into the monster with full force enough to drive right into him in a second.

The power was just too strong for Rotlight to take and it ended up blowing him up inside of him. When they finished up their final assault, they skidded away from behind Rotlight and landed right at the same time; a successful team effort that ended with almost perfect harmony.

"'Tis the end of Rotlight?!" The monster began exploding all over, about ready to finally explode and conclude his terrible career to stardom. "Going out like this with a box office bomb?! ARRGHH!" At last, after a chaotic reign of terror, Rotlight fell to the ground dramatically and blew up into a fireball, ending his life for good.

The two heroes watched the fireworks, but while Ruby shielded herself from the bright explosion, Brody naturally turned around and thrust his sword in the air with a victory pose.

"Show's over! Good guys, win!" gloated the Ranger, adding another monster to his tally of wins. And just like that, it was all over. Ruby couldn't believe what had happened. They had finally won… as a team. It was probably the most exciting thing that has ever happened to her since the Breach. She was now fully filled with high spirits as she leapt in the air right as the fireball died down to a few small flames.

Brody too felt the thrill of a hard-earned win, with a teammate he finally trusted to help him win the fight. He just stood and watched the younger girl cheer so jubilantly, though he kinda felt like jumping for joy himself.

"WOOHOO!" Ruby cheered with enthusiasm. "That was awesome! The synchronization, the strategy. that final move! I mean, the way we managed to join our awesome powers together! We sure make a great team after all!" Her girly screams sounded off as very cute in a wild way, reminding Brody of the whole team whenever they cheered for victory too. To think that a girl her age had all of this energy and even had enough to jump for joy after a rough fight.

"We sure did." complimented Brody, accepting the results he had been given for being more tolerant and fair to Ruby's own contributions. Perhaps he had lost his touch before when he thought she was not being a conscious fighter, but right now, he really felt like he was back in a team again…

A few minutes had already gone by since their victory against Rotlight. Ruby and Brody were now resting atop a boulder near the explosion that ended their enemy's career. Ruby was sitting at the very top while Brody, finally out of his suit and in his normal clothes, just leaned at the base. Redbot had caught up to the two of them, barely able to see what had transpired. One thing he was sure glad to see was how the battle ended, with two of the warriors able to work together to win the fight.

The two were really happy things worked out in the end, but there was a little more than joy in their win that was felt. Now, it was time to properly settle things straight. There was still the difficult series of arguments that nearly tore them apart in their moments of battling evil. Both sides were able to fight together as a team, but now there had to be screws to be tightened to strengthen their new friendship.

Ruby dusted her boots against the rock, still unsure of what to say to Brody other than the cliché form of apologies. She really wanted to say something much better for Brody since she had hurt him for saying that he wouldn't understand about living up to a loved one's legacy. But what else was there to say? Did she really need to play around with fancy words to help make her apology great? No, she had to make it plain, simple and clear. She needed to be sincere with it, saying it with heartfelt passion.

"Hey, uh…" She called Brody, who she didn't realize was also being awkward about what to say back. "I just wanna say…" She brushed the side of her arm, still trying to relax herself from her guilt. "I'm sorry about what I said to you back there. I didn't know you… lost your parent too and I really regret saying the stuff I did."

Brody felt her apology hit right into his heart. It had to happen soon, he supposed, but when he found out that she knew of what happened to him as a child, it immediately sent shivers in his bones for mentioning those horrid events. Then again, Ruby was there to help him feel better from his victory and getting some closure out of his chest was all he needed to make him become more acquainted with his new friend.

"Redbot told you, huh?" he asked. Ruby nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah."

"It's fine." Brody didn't want Ruby to feel bad about knowing the truth without him knowing because he knew Redbot would clear things up for him. He was the kind of friend Brody would feel very grateful for in a long time, and thanks to him, he could finally reconcile with Ruby. "But I should be sorry too. I guess I was being too forceful and I didn't take you seriously. I should let you do more of the punching when the going gets tough." He chuckled with a bit of sorrow for upsetting Ruby too. So much for trying to lightening up the mood.

Then, Ruby jumped right down in front of him, shooting a finger right in front of his nose with a strict face.

"First of all, I slice! Not punch." she huffed. "And second… As much as I want to protect my family and friends, and everyone else in this planet, I'll promise to listen to you to fight with these aliens." Brody grinned, glad that they were both learning to accept one another.

"And you'll get the fair share of the action." he added.

"Friends?" Ruby extended a hand to seal the new bond between them, letting their differences be put aside and only partnership to come and help them face the dangers that now threaten the world of Remnant. Brody didn't need to think about it. He was just elated that Ruby was willing to work with him not just as a teammate… but as a friend.

"Friends." He slapped his hand with hers, shaking it and forming the friendship between two worlds. Redbot soon joined and placed a hand on top of the two of theirs, showing his support for Ruby and her fight to save the world.

When they parted, it was the beginning of a swell friendship. One that exploded as soon as it was settled…

"So, what's it like to be a Power Ranger?! Do you have snazzier weapons with you?! Do you have like some super-secret hideout or something?! Do you…?!" Ruby soon blew up in a frenzy of questions that caught Brody and Redbot by surprise. They were so not prepared for the overloading of curiosity sparking around like fireworks being shot at them with rapid pace.

"Whoa! Ruby!" Brody quickly stopped her before she'd go nuts, holding her by the shoulders and telling her to halt her questions. "Let's not get too hasty. I can't get those questions out of the way that quickly."

"Sorry." Ruby rubbed her head apologetically. "But I have just one important question. Where are the rest of your friends? You know, your teammates."

"If I have to tell you, then I would have to tell you the whole story." joked Brody, even if he wanted to tell Ruby the tale of his Ranger days. "It's going to be a long one."

"Tell away, Brody." Ruby gave Brody a thumbs up, willing to hear it, all the way. "I love listening to hero stories!" The Ranger grinned, happy that she would give her undivided attention to him.

"It all started, long ago…"

"Professor Ozpin!" There had been an alert back at the very top of Beacon Academy. Atop the tallest spire, a blond-haired woman in a white uniform marched right in to inform the headmaster of Beacon to tell him of a major disturbance just happening down below. "We're getting reports of multiple attacks just outside…!" The panicked alarms from the woman with spectacles echoed through the room with much concern. However, all of that was being put on hold when a finger was raised from behind the large office chair with the person sitting on it overlooking through the circular glass window.

"I know." With the sip of his cup of coffee, the man with grey hair spoke with the calmest voice in the room. "Forever Fall is coming under fire." Professor Ozpin's reaction to the crisis was not what the assistant Professor had in mind, causing much more bafflement. As if the Breach a few months back weren't bad enough; now there was a resurgence in violent activities being conducted at the forest.

"Then, let's not just stand around! We have to…!" She tried to speak loudly out of reason, but once again, she was silenced by the gentle demeanour of Professor Ozpin as he now raised a palm to at least show more authority over her alarmed presence.

"Glynda. Please be patient." He brought himself up to his feet and continued to view the scene; the otherwise quiet land over the horizon with very little sign of trouble. Perhaps that was why he wasn't so concerned over the growing chaos. "I'm sure things are going to turn out just fine."

"How are you so sure?" Glynda Goodwitch crossed her arms and asked with inquisition. It wasn't long until Ozpin turned around to meet her face-to-face. He walked towards her with his one arm behind his back and the other grasping his cup of the hot beverage. He adjusted his shades properly to show her that he was right with his judgement.

"Because…" he spoke with a little bit more seriousness. "Team RWBY is out there right now, operating as they were meant to."

"I was told they were being temporarily suspended from active duty until further notice. Under your orders." reminded Glynda.

"Indeed." Ozpin said before he took another sip of his coffee. "But it appears to be a common occurrence around here these days. And no matter how bad things got, they still managed to hold off on their own. With or without my restrictions." Glynda groaned with dissatisfaction, not content that Ozpin was taking the situation seriously with his students. If she had any reason to believe that the four girls were being held back for the time being, it was for their knack for getting into trouble, and that stemmed from Ozpin's own insistence on letting go on a mission beyond their level. If they were out there right now, then there was going to have to be some reinforcing of the rules that she hoped not even Ozpin could bend.

"I swear, Ozpin. You're being too easy on them." she huffed unapprovingly.

"Easy is hardly the word I would use, Glynda." responded Ozpin. "For now, we shall wait. I wish to see how the cards will play for this new crisis in our hands. Especially since even I can't even pick out what could it be that is threatening our very world now."

"Are you suspecting that these attacks are out of the ordinary? As if the Grimm are not being responsible for these attacks?" Glynda raised an eyebrow, clearly not getting what Ozpin was pointing his suspicions at.

And now, this was when Ozpin had to turn his grin upside-down. It had become clear that the old man was very well aware of how dangerous this unknown threat may be, and if nothing was done to defuse the crisis, then Remnant was in for a world of chaos that he would never have imagined.

"If the Grimm were responsible, then I would have felt the intensity of the village people to be far worse than it already is since the Breach." "This is the work of something, or someone, more violent." He scratched his chin gently, trying hard to anticipate how dastardly the upcoming threat was going to be. His hopes were on his students to react to the situation, especially for the very team he had specifically told to stay put until further notice. For all he knew, they were going to become involved sooner or later, anyway. "I'm afraid even I am not sure on what is it that we are about to face." Yet, somehow, he had the feeling something else had followed the new evil. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So if there was a new evil, then there had to be a new ally to call upon. He had to hold onto hope that that ally should arrive to help him and his world. "But maybe some others do."

"Who?" asked Glynda, almost dying to find out. Ozpin remained silent, still not having a firm answer to her question. There was only hope that laid within him. Hope that out of this new threat, there would be a new saving grace to help him.

"We shall see, Glynda. We shall see very soon."

TO BE CONTINUED…