Been helping my brother move back home from college this weekend, so this is a bit late. My apologies.

If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

Ruby had seen a lot of terrible things in her life, faced dangers most would never have dreamed of. Grimm, wizards, dark magic, even demons, all of them had tried to do her and her friends in. Though a mixture of skill, strength, and sheer dumb luck, they had all survived every time, no matter the odds. Yes, she was aware that there was always a lethal danger to their life, she remembered her mom promising they would make cookies when she returned only for her to never come back, but such finality always seemed to be separate. A possible fate, but one that would never come.

Then she saw Pyrrha's semblance tear Penny to shreds right before her eyes.

For the first few seconds after it had happened, her mind was in chaos. Pyrrha had killed Penny. Her friend had murdered her other friend. But why? Pyrrha had barely even known the robot girl and she certainly wouldn't do it for the tournament—

Then Invincible Girl had dropped to her knees, her emerald eyes blankly staring at her victim's metal remains. Right after, the Black Queen had appeared on the stadium's viewscreens and a voice Ruby couldn't quite place but knew she'd heard before began rambling on about how the academies couldn't be trusted and how the kingdoms were on the brink of war. When the screens went dark, alarms began to flare all throughout Amity as Grimm began smashing into the coliseum's shields. The crowds erupted into terrified screams and stampeded for the exits.

Ruby didn't hear any of it, barely saw any of it, her silver eyes narrowing in fury. Pyrrha's reaction and the speech's timing slid everything into place. Whoever had taken over the broadcast had planned this, had somehow manipulated her friends into killing each other.

She didn't consider herself a vengeful person, but she believed she'd very much enjoy introducing the woman on the microphone to her arsenal. Specifically, her cannons. The Full Magnolia would love to meet her.

"Ruby? Ruby!" the silver-eyed girl was roused from her daydream but her partners constant shaking. Weiss looked over her fearfully. "Are you alright?"

For a moment, she wanted to scream that of course she wasn't alright, her friend had just been murdered right in front of her. But she understood that Weiss was asking out of concern and, more importantly, she was her leader. She could mourn Penny later, but with a giant Nevermore crashing down into the arena and charging straight for Pyrrha, she had to stay strong. Just as the Strongest Team looked to Erza for guidance, Team RWBY looked to her. She wasn't allowed to falter when possibly the biggest battle of their lives was about to begin.

"I'll be fine," she replied quickly, rising to her feet. Magic flowed through her body and Crescent Rose flashed into her hands from her requip space. "We've got work to do—Where's Blake?"

While Yang had chosen to stay behind from Pyrrha's match ("If she uses magic, I don't want any sneak peaks before our match!"), Ruby had been seated with Weiss and Blake on either side of her throughout the entire thing. Yet now she found the cat faunus missing from her flank.

Fortunately, a simple gesture from Weiss towards the arena floor revealed her location, the former terrorist dashing past Pyrrha to crash head on with the Nevermore.

Before Fairy Tail, such an action might have made Ruby worried for her friend. Blake was perfectly capable as a fighter, but her specialty was agility and stealth. Not exactly a skillset suited to taking on a Nevermore the same size as the one that had taken all four of them to kill during initiation. After Fairy Tail, Ruby was still concerned, Blake more than the rest of them was limited in her magic supply, but who was she to criticize the huntress for moving to protect a friend?

A golden glow ignited along Blake's hand as her fingers curled into a fist.

"Regulus Claw!"

The shining light bent around her arm, taking the shape of a lion's paw. The blazing phantom limb smash right under the Nevermore's bone mask, crumpling the demonic bird's skull and sending it crashing across the stadium. The beast's body quickly began to dissolve into flecks of darkness.

Except there was something about it. Ruby had seen hundreds of Grimm die in her life, many killed by her own hand. But she'd never been able to sense magic around any of them before.

"Ruby," Weiss muttered softly, her eyes wide. "Did you feel that?"

The red hooded girl nodded. "They feel sort of like… Celestial Spirits? Except not? They're… I don't know, the darkness to their light."

"But if they're spirits, then that means your eyes and—Blake! They're spirits!"

The cat faunus' head jerked back towards them, the glow fading from her arm. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to confirm she'd heard them before a swarm of Griffons crashed down into the arena. The leader of the pack immediately surged towards Blake's exposed back. Its claws, powerful enough to rip apart flesh and bone, tore straight through the huntress.

Only for said huntress to disappear in wisps of dark smoke. The Grimm had barely a moment to look surprised before the real Blake appeared atop its head. Her hands came down and crashed into the beast's back.

"Take-Over!"

As the wizard's shout echoed throughout the Coliseum, the Griffon suddenly exploded, its shadowy remains cycling around Blake's falling form, a black maelstrom of dust and darkness. For a moment, Ruby was afraid something had gone wrong, Blake had never fully done this before after all, merely siphoned power from Loke, but at last, a sickly yellow light glimmered from within the typhoon and the essence of the spirit was sucked into the huntress.

Unfortunately, the process must have disoriented Blake because the cat faunus did not land on her feet. She tumbled through the black mist and smacked into the ground, her body convulsing as shadows flickered over her skin. The rest of the Griffons flinched away from the huntress, terrified at their leader's sudden disappearance.

But fear only lasted so long, especially for monsters made to track by it. Soon, the creatures began to circle Blake, like vultures ready to feast upon a corpse.

Ruby and Weiss hopped over the stands and into the arena, glyphs beneath them both as they rocketed to their friends' aid.

Of course, in their haste, it had slipped their minds that they were not Blake and Pyrrha's only friends.

All as one, like a thunderous artillery, twenty rocket lockers crashed down into the Griffons, bashing the demons into paste.

Ruby grinned as she and Weiss made their way to their teammate, crouching down as Blake struggled to her knees.

"You alright?" Weiss asked.

"I… I…" Blake stuttered. "I… think so. Yeah, I think I'm okay."

"Good," Ruby smiled. "But hey, if Grimm are spirits, that means you've got lots of things to absorb now—"

"No!" Blake shouted, staggering to her feet. When she saw her teammates startled reactions, the cat faunus looked away. "I mean… not for now. There's something about that's… wrong. Dark."

Weiss frowned. "You can't have much of Loke's power left after that attack. What if you run out?"

"I'll make do," the cat faunus replied. "Take-Over is a tricky enough magic as it is without throwing… whatever that was into it."

Ruby wasn't sure how she felt about that, they'd likely need every trick they could for the upcoming battle. But Blake knew her magic and her limits better than they did, so she nodded her assent to the plan, receiving a grateful smile in return.

"Ruby?"

The red hooded girl turned to the tentative voice, Pyrrha kneeling before her with tears welling in her eyes. "I am so sorry!"

"It's not your fault," Ruby insisted immediately. "This was planned."

The redheaded huntress' eyes widened. "Planned?"

"She's right."

All four huntresses whirled around. A grin blossomed across Ruby's face.

Standing before them, their weapons retrieved from the newly arrived fleet of lockers, was every huntsman and huntress that had competed in the tournament, Team JNPR in the lead. Jaune carried Milo and Akouo up to his partner, helping her to her feet.

"The person on the microphone," the blond huntsmen growled. "They're the one responsible for this."

For a moment, Pyrrha hesitated, glancing fearfully between her weapons and her hands. Hands that, manipulated or not, had taken the life of an innocent. Ruby may not have blamed the other girl for Penny's fate, but there was no guarantee that she did not blame herself.

But, blame or not, the past was the past. Life moved on, as cruel and callous as it could be. It was the Fairy Tail way to move forward with it, keep going to find what joy could be found on the eternal adventure. And right now, that adventure was defending their school and their kingdom.

Pyrrha's eyes hardened like the emeralds they imitated. She grasped her weapons from her partner and leader and nodded. Whether it was a mask or not, the Invincible Girl was back.

Ruby smirked. A pair of crashes smacked into the arena and Weiss and Blake retrieved their blades. With that, the assembled teams of huntsmen raced out to the docks.

They met General Ironwood there, fresh from brutalizing an Alpha Beowolf and about to head up to retake a battleship that had apparently been captured by a 'vagabond', with a bullhead full of Atlesian Knights as backup. He'd given them a speech, assuring them that no one would fault them, the teenagers who were still in school, if they chose to get to safety.

Honestly, it was nice that he cared about them and was relatively not patronizing about it. But there really was only one option for all of them and they were on a shuttle to Beacon as soon as he boarded his ship.

Unfortunately, the good general's ship plummeted from the sky in flames only a few moments later.

Ruby's eyes widened in shock before narrowing at the only remaining battleship, her fingers already flickered across her scroll.

"What's the plan?" Weiss asked, noting her leader's feverish movements.

"We do our job," Ruby declared. "The general said the White Fang are attacking Beacon. Whatever is going on, whatever this is about, their target is the school. Yang's already there, probably hasn't called because she's having a blast, but with that many Grimm they're going to get overwhelmed eventually. Blake, do you know anything about specialist protocol from your… uh… training days?"

Blake frowned, but nodded. "With the entire kingdom under attack, they'll secure the main plaza as a safe zone for non-combatants and then get everyone to the city as fast as possible. Even with the festival, there are way more civilians there and that means it's a higher priority to defend."

"Good. Weiss, meet up with your sister and make sure that the safe zone stays secure. Blake, find Yang and bring as many non-combatants as possible to the plaza."

"And what are you going to?" Weiss inquired.

Ruby caught sight of an object rapidly approaching the shuttle. She grinned. "I'd bet every lien in my cookie reserve that the 'vagabond' that's taken control of the general's ship is Torchwick. I'm gonna show him just how much 'Little Red' has learned since we last saw each other."

"What?" Weiss screeched. "And just how are you planning to… no. Ruby, don't you dare!"

Too late.

Ruby dashed out the back of the airship over her partner's protests, leaping into the sky as the wind ripped past her face. Within an instant, she activated her semblance and flashed onto her rising rocket locker, grappling onto the surface with her scythe. Before long, she'd climbed as high as she needed to and leapt down onto the surface of the battleship.

A few moments later, she was confronted by a short woman in a pink suit with an umbrella. She vaguely remembered Yang looking up here bounty poster after encountering her during the Breach. Neopolitan was her name if Ruby was remembering correctly. More importantly, she was Torchwick's most consistent associate, which meant the nefarious criminal couldn't have been far.

Neo took a picture on her scroll and then smirked at Ruby, twirling her umbrella. Despite the situation and exactly how heinous her foe's actions were, the red hooded huntress found herself mirroring the expression. After all, she had a lot of rage to work out over Penny's murder.

And if Fairy Tail had taught her anything, it was that there was no better way of working out your emotions than with a good fight.

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

There was an old Mistralian proverb that had been quoted to Winter quite often during her academy days. 'He who seeks peace should be prepared for war.' Or, less eloquently, no matter how much you want things to go well, anything and everything will go wrong and you just have to deal with it.

The special weapon P-1 being destroyed and revealed on international television was already a veritable diplomatic firestorm on its own. But for the resulting shock to be flamed into mass panic and negativity to attract the largest horde of Grimm Winter had ever seen, aided by a legion of White Fang, and in the midst of sacking one of the four academies? With their air cover completely eradicated? That was perhaps the greatest catastrophe since the Mountain Glenn disaster.

Still, they were specialists, not green huntsmen. They were trained to handle the worst. Forming a spearpoint to cut through the invaders, they cleared out the school's main plaza to act as a safe zone, their knights and automated paladins surging in to secure the perimeter. Slowly but surely, they managed to create a route to funnel civilians to the docks, where they could get to relative safety in the city. Once they were cleared out, the squad and their forces could launch a counterattack on the invaders.

At least, that was the plan before the knights' visors went red.

For a brief moment, Winter was a bit confused by the change in the machines, but she and most of the other specialists were far more concerned with the horde of unholy hellbeasts trying to tear them limb from limb. Fortunately, one of them was a bit more cautious.

"Win, down!" Ana yelled. Her former teammate vanished in a brief flash of light, reappearing right beside Winter and pulling her to the ground. Not a second later, their robotic forces turned their guns on the specialists, raining bullets down on those who had only moments before been their commanders. If not for Ana's warning, which the rest of the squad had at least taken note of, they might have all been wiped out by the sudden betrayal.

Both Ana and Winter leapt back to their feet, their enemies' numbers no doubled while their own were slashed to barely a third. Thankfully, with aura enhanced strength, Winter's twin blades cleaved through metal as easily as terrorist or Grimm. Ana's twin machine pistols made mince meat of their attackers, flashing back to right next to the drone that had initially aimed at her and putting a dust cartridge through the center of it visor.

Unfortunately, the robots were not only attacking the specialists and their scarce human troops. The very machines they had relied upon to protect the civilians they were guarding had now turned on them, six paladins whirling about to encircle the population.

"Ana!" Winter shouted, gesturing with her head towards the endangered. Her former teammate quickly nodded and disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing right on top of the foremost paladin, sticking her guns right into its vulnerable joints and unloading her entire magazine into it.

Nevertheless, Winter immediately dashed for the units. Ana's semblance, Rebound, besides being rather aura intensive, allowed her to teleport to any unoccupied position within her line of sight, but it was not without its drawbacks. Whenever she used it, after five seconds, she would always be teleported back to her original location, no matter what. She could get to the fight faster than anyone, but she couldn't stay there.

Fortunately, their years at the academy had taught Winter enough to use the time Ana was there hammering and distracting their opponents to get to the field herself. In turn, she would hold the enemy off until her old teammate could join the battle permanently. Thus, by the time Specialist Tremaine had flashed by to her starting location, Specialist Schnee had already glided through on a line of glyphs and finished off the paladin her friend had just crippled.

That left Winter with five paladins to handle, or at least keep distracted so they wouldn't target the cowering mob of civilians they had surrounded. Not an easy task even for her. The new model paladins were meant to be more than a match for the average huntsman, and even though Winter herself was far above that level, she still only she could comfortably manage three or four at a time. And with the knights, Grimm, and White Fang hammering her allies, there was no guarantee even Ana would find an opening to assist her.

No matter. She was a specialist and a huntress. If she died to this damned treachery, she'd at least make sure these machines would hurt no one else.

The paladins' miniguns all locked on to her and blurred to life a buzzsaw. A pale white glyph glowed beneath the specialist and Winter shot into the air, quickly spawning another pair of the sigils at the tips of her blades. Two snow-white Beowolves spawned from the symbols and fell upon a paladin each. They wouldn't be able to beat the machines, but they'd keep them off her for a bit.

Winter flipped over in midair and kicked her legs towards the sky, a glyph beneath, or rather above, her feet. She bent her knees and launched herself towards the farthest paladin, streaking right between its legs. The other paladins of the trio not beset by her Beowolves paused in their barrage, their friendly fire prevention programs apparently still classifying each other as allies. It would only take a second or two for them to determine a new attack vector, the one she'd gotten under and behind was already rotating its upper body to face her down, but a second or two was all she needed. Especially when she could stretch it even longer.

A glyph with a clock face spawned beneath her feet, the time dilation speeding up both her perception of the world around her and her body's reaction to it. In the space of the meager second available to her, she'd already delivered two dozen slashes to the robot's vulnerable joints. The war machine toppled over, a few tiny summoned Nevermores flying into the new cracks in the armor to shred the interior systems, a series of sparks flashing across the exterior before it exploded.

One down. Four to go… and the Beowolves were dead… and those paladins were turning towards her.

Just wonderful.

The fallen paladin's form would shield her for a moment, but then the others would switch to heavy weapons and blow her away with missiles. And while she was confident that she could dodge such ordnance, and perhaps even turn it against her mechanical foes, the shrapnel would most certainly risk the civilians she was guarding.

No, she needed to keep on the assault, keep their threat assessment locked on her. Whatever virus had infected them seemed to leave their automated functionality the same, so they would target whatever was attacking them unless given direct orders otherwise. And since whatever fiend that was behind this horror seemed too focused on chaos more than any direct assault, that meant she needed to keep fighting to keep those she needed to protect safe. Though, at this point, she didn't know how much longer she could keep going alone—

"Ice God Bellow!"

Winter immediately leapt back, a wave of brittle cold suddenly washing over her skin. A moment later, a wave of black ice surged down the center of the plaza and slammed into the four remaining paladins, the war machines swept forward and crushed under the titanic frozen weight.

Ana teleported to Winter's side, her mouth agape. "What the hell was that?"

Winter had a theory, but it wasn't confirmed until she whirled around to the entrance of the plaza, a wide grin spreading across her face. "My sister."

Indeed, Weiss, at the head of a menagerie of fighters from the tournament, charged into the fray, shooting across glyphs as Myrtenaster sliced apart knights and Grimm.

Ana's eyes widened as she glanced between Weiss and the wall of black ice that had remained after crushing the paladins. "That's your little sister? Seriously? I haven't seen anyone do something like that since—"

Her semblance teleported her back to where she'd come from before she could finish, the rush of battle forcing her to concentrate more on saving herself.

Which might have been for the best, since Weiss arrived at Winter's side a moment later, engulfing her in a tight hug, students surging all around them to engage their foes.

"You're okay!" she cheered. "I mean, of course you're okay. You're you, you can handle—"

"Weiss!" Winter shouted, pulling away and slashing a Creeper that had been going for her sister's back. "Not the time."

"Oh, right."

The sisters pulled away and dashed in front of the civilians cowering in the face of the carnage around them. The students were welcome reinforcements, but even with their arrival, the sheer numbers of their foes did not bode well for their chances, their swords flying just to keep up. For every Grimm they slew, three more would take their place. For every knight they dismantled, five more rust buckets would seemingly appear out of nowhere.

No wonder Qrow loved taking apart her escorts. They were infuriating to fight.

"So, any idea why the knights are trying to kill us?" Weiss inquired as Myrtenaster speared a robot's head.

"None," Winter replied, slicing three Beowolves apart. "Thank you for the save. I don't suppose you'll be able to pull off more of that?"

Weiss shook her head. "I can, but with everyone mixed in, I can't take them out with one big shot. I could do multiple precise strike, but I can't recharge my ethernano enough to do as many as I'd need. Unless you have some ice cubes on you?"

Winter cocked an eyebrow and poked her head towards the black wall beside them. "Is that not enough?"

"A slayer can't eat anything they produce."

Winter frowned. "Inconveniencing. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold out against this without something of that power."

Surprisingly, Weiss smirked. "This division of knights is controlled from the general's flagship, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we only have to hold out a little longer. Ruby will figure something—ouch!"

"Weiss!" Winter whirled around, terrified her baby sister had lapsed in her form and had had her throat ripped out by a vicious Grimm.

Instead, she found her tugging at her jacket, the tape beneath pulling at her skin.

"Goddamnit, not now!"

Despite the desperate situation they were stuck in, Winter couldn't help but sigh. It seemed they would have to save Beacon and Weiss' dignity. That tape would only last so long.

But Ruby Rose was a wizard, wasn't she, as well as Qrow' niece and protégé? She must have been competent. Yes, Weiss would not have put such faith in her if she was truly just the overexcitable child she appeared to be.

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

"I need guns."

"… pardon?"

Ruby sighed. Across from her in the guildhall's lower level, sat Bisca and Alzack Connell, wearing their awesome cowboy hat and poncho outfits (seriously, why did these things exist in this dimension when Vacuo didn't?). Currently, they were both looking at Ruby as if she'd grown a second head, their daughter Asuka smiling between them.

"I need guns," the red hooded huntress repeated. "Erza said you guys were the guild's gun magic experts. Side note, how awesome is it that 'gun magic' is a thing? But I figured that meant you guys would know where I can get some guns."

"No, we got that part," Bisca assured her. "But, why do you want guns? Erza said you used Spirit Slayer Magic."

"Eh," Ruby shrugged. "More like, it's stuck in my eyes and I don't know how to get it out. Besides, Requip is so much cooler than some stupid eye beams that get me and my friends stuck in another dimension. I can use every weapon I can get my hands on! And right now, I need some more guns."

"More guns?" Alzack asked. "I thought you used a scythe. And swords."

Ruby spawned her signature weapon into her hand and transformed it into its alternate form. "It's also a gun."

Asuka's eyes sparkled. "Cool! It's a scythe and a gun!"

Ruby blushed and preened. "Oh, why thank you. I made her myself, and she's absolutely perfect." She squished her baby into a tight hug. No matter how many weapons she got for her requip (and she planned to get a great many), there was always going to be something special about the one she'd made with her own two hands.

"It sure looks great. You might be almost half as good a shot as mama with it."

"I know, I know, but you should really see me—wait," Ruby whirled on the little girl. "Almost? Half? I'm a great shot!"

"She's not saying you're not," Alzack quickly cut in. "I'm sure you're an incredible shot, Ruby."

"Yeah, just not as good as mama."

"Asuka!"

"What? It's true. Mama is the best. She's even better than you, papa."

"I use pistols and she uses rifles, it's two different types of shooting. Bisca, please help?"

The green-haired wizard shrugged and engulfed her daughter in a hug. "Not much I can do, Al. The little girl is right after all. Aren't you baby, oh yes you are, yes you are."

"Mama!"

As someone who idolized her own warrior woman mother, part of Ruby could appreciate Asuka's blind hero worship. However, that part was vastly overshadowed by her indignation at the very idea that her baby, and by extension her wielding her baby, was not the greatest long-range combatant of all time.

She glared at Bisca, who playfully answered her stare for stare. "We'll schedule a match to settle things."

"Agreed," Ruby nodded. "Now, about my guns. I need some that are big enough to mount on my team's float for the parade."

"Why are you putting guns on a float?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Bisca opened her mouth to respond, before shutting it again. She looked to Alzack. "You want to field this one, honey?"

"Are you sure I should? I don't want Erza coming down on me for giving cannons to a fifteen-year-old."

Bisca pointed to Crescent Rose. "If she can handle that, Erza won't mind."

"Fair point," Alzack turned towards Ruby. "How do feel about cannons?"

Ruby grinned. She loved cannons.

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYFTFTFTFT

Ruby decided she hated Neopolitan.

No matter how fast she swung or how quickly she moved, the stupid little ice cream imp always weaved just out of the way. And whenever she did move fast enough to score a blow, her target immediately shattered into glass shards, revealed to be just an illusion. Then she had to rush to a new position before her real opponent shoved an umbrella knife in her back.

It was like fighting Uncle Qrow or Erza, except with her not being able to trust her eyes and having a much smaller target. Hell, Neo seemed to be playing with her, trying to wear her down bit by bit or stall her until—

"Little Red, Little Red…"

Aw crud.

She dove to the side just as the fire dust shot flashed over her shoulder. It smashed into Neo, exploding in a surge of flames, but Ruby caught the bits of glass tumbling out of the edge of the blaze. When she saw the shorter criminal grinning before her, her hunch was confirmed. The umbrella was jabbed out at the huntress, a knife extending from the tip towards her face. If Ruby was who she was before Earthland, she probably would have lost an eye.

Fortunately, she was not.

She activated her semblance and burst into rose petals, rushing around Neo's sword and reforming behind her back, Crescent Rose raised for a decisive strike as the mute criminal's eyes actually widened in surprise.

Unfortunately, another fire blast stuck her before her scythe could fall. Ruby was sent careening through the sky, the sheer wind and the motion of the ship throwing her off into the sky. She would have been stuck in the swarm of Griffons, but she managed to flip Crescent Rose around and rapidly fire off a few rounds, the recoil allowing her to get back onto the battleship. She stuck her scythe blade into the steel, tying her to the roof.

Roman Torchwick, fiend that he was, swaggered towards her, twirling his cane as he went. "You are just determined to be the hero of Vale, aren't you?"

"What are you doing?" she screamed at him. "Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"

Both Roman and Neo smirked. "That's the plan."

Neo dove for Ruby, but the huntress managed to roll out of the way only to have to use her semblance to dodge another fire blast from Torchwick's cane.

At that point, she thought she'd gotten a good handle on her opponents' strategy. Neo would get in close and badger their target, wearing down their strength and creating openings for Roman to exploit from long range, with her semblance providing protection from both her foes and any errant shots from him. It was simple, but Erza had always said a simple strategy employed well would sweep aside more complex plans almost every time. And the criminals' teamwork certainly showed they were well-practiced at fighting together.

She needed to upset their rhythm, distract them so she could recollect herself and come up with a plan. She needed to take down the battleship so the other Atlas forces could take back control of the skies. She wasn't sure if Fairy Glitter could target the entire ship and her breath attack would leave her open to Neo, so that left her with only one card powerful enough to play to destroy the bridge.

Fortunately, this was one of the few times where she thought Erza's advice might have been a bit off. After all, Torchwick loved to hear himself talk.

"But why?" she screeched. "What do you get out of it?"

"Oh, Red," Torchwick scowled, pointedly not shooting at her. "It's not what I have to gain. It's what I can't afford to lose."

Ruby started to prepare her magic to summon the weapon she needed, but Neo was not as easily distracted as her boss. The criminal stopped ducking and weaving, and went on the attack, her umbrella sword lunging forward with stab after stab. If her dainty, quick style wasn't somewhat similar to Weiss' technique with Myrtenaster, Ruby would never have been able to counter the vicious assault.

"I may be a gambling man, but even I know there are some bets you just don't take," Torchwick monologued, grinning at Neo's onslaught like it was his favorite tv show. "Like it or not, the people who hired me are going to change the world. You can't stop them. I can't stop them. You know the old saying, if you can't beat them—"

"Kill thousands of people for them!" Ruby grunted back, hissing as sparks hissed across her scythe's shaft. "Why would you ever do that?"

Roman growled, gripping his cane tight. "You know, if there was one upside to my recent prison stay, it was that I could actually pretend that you'd grow up a bit while I was away. But no. You're still the same old naïve little dog, with the same old naïve little tricks."

He raised his cane and Neo made her real move. Wrapping the curved hilt of her umbrella around Crescent Rose's shaft, she tugged the weapon to the side and out of the way, Roman firing his shot at Ruby's now wide-open body. Before Fairy Tail, the huntress would have had to either take the direct shot or let go of her weapon so she could dodge.

Of course, since Ruby was a Fairy Tail wizard now, she had more options than that.

"Requip!" the huntress shouted, light engulfing her as soon as she said the words. Neo stumbled away as Crescent Rose was suddenly no longer present to anchor her.

When the light faded, Roman's fire blast crashed into a shining circular shield and shattered into nothingness against its pristine silver surface.

Tulip's Aegis, a three-foot diameter shield Ruby had built based off Pyrrha's Akouo and Erza's Adamantine Armor. Ruby hadn't really understood why her mentor had demanded she create some defense during her forge spree, but she was certainly grateful she'd made her listen. She hadn't been able to work in the same ultimate defense magic from the Fairy Queen's armor, but what she had managed to copy still made it tougher than most shields.

She grinned as Roman's jaw dropped.

"I have learned a few new tricks." She quipped.

Neo's playful veneer broke as she scowled, diving to stab under the huntress' guard. She probably thought that even if Ruby could conjure Crescent Rose like she had Tulip's Aegis, she couldn't effectively wield the scythe in one hand at such close range. And she was right.

But Ruby was no longer restricted to only one weapon.

Waxing Petal flashed into her opposite hand and came down to force the bladed umbrella aside. Drawing on only enough of her semblance for super speed, Ruby rammed into Neo's head with Tulip's Aegis, her shield bash apparently not striking an illusion as the short criminal went tumbling across the deck, her aura crackling with strain.

"Neo!" Roman roared, rushing forward to check on his partner, genuine concern on his face as he examined the dazed woman. After she nodded at him, he rose, glaring at Ruby with utter loathing.

Ruby glared back at him herself, her silver eyes narrowed in disgust. "I don't care what you say. People are dying down there. Whoever's behind it, whoever hired you, I will stop them, and I will stop you. Bet on that!"

Maybe it was her continued optimism, maybe it was her hurting his friend, maybe it was the fact that she hadn't died after he'd said his cool one-liner, but her words threw Roman into a rage. He marched in front of Neo and raised his cane, unleashing fire blast after fire blast.

"You've got spirit, Red! But this is the real world! The real world doesn't care about spirit!" he ranted as he stomped towards her, further incensed as her shield deflected his every shot. "You want to be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history!"

He'd made it into close range at that point and began hammering her with his cane. Ruby flinched under the onslaught, but more from his words than his blow. She knew better than most just how high the mortality rate among huntsmen was. And just what it did to the ones they left behind.

But more than that, something about Torchwick's words seemed familiar. His cynicism, his fury, his insistence that the world was a dark and cruel and terrible place, it reminded Ruby of, of all people, Blake. Someone who tried to do good and found that their faith was not rewarded. Only instead of pressing on trying to do good as her teammate did, the master thief had drowned himself in the world he saw, embracing the negativity with everything he had… wait, negativity?

It was only then that Ruby noticed that the swarm of Griffons were getting closer and closer to the ship.

"Torchwick!" she squealed. "Calm down! You're attracting—"

"As for me, I'll do what I do best!" he shouted over her, lost in his rage. "Lie! Steal! Cheat! And survive—"

She saw the Grimm before he did. The Griffon came down from the air right behind him and its maw closed around his entire body at once.

Neo's eyes widened with horror as she saw her partner consumed. Fortunately, this meant she wasn't going to attack Ruby while she tried to save him.

The edges of her vision clouded with white mist as she was sure silver light began to shine from her eyes. She sucked in a deep breath as magic gathered in her throat, the instinctual defense of any spirit disturbed by unwitting forces, powerful enough to terrify all but the sternest of souls.

"Silver Spirit Wail!"

A rush of bright silver energy surged from Ruby's mouth and tore right through the Griffon, the creature of darkness disintegrating into dust the moment the light struck, the remaining length of the blast blazing into the sky, any Grimm it even grazed plummeting from the sky. The rest of the demons fled from the glow in a mad frenzy.

That caused Ruby to quirk an eyebrow as the glow faded from her eyes. She supposed it did make some sense. Blake had absorbed a Grimm, so that on its own meant they were some kind of spirit. Ruby's eyes would cut through all but the most powerful of them like carving a cake.

But still, the Grimm didn't feel like spirits, even if they felt like some sort of inverse of Celestial Spirits. And if they were, why were they in their world? Between them, the ethernano, the elementalist, and the book, Ruby really started to wonder just how much Earthland magic was on Remnant.

A deep thud resonated from the ship to draw her from her thoughts. She glanced towards Neo, the short girl picking over a figure coated in a thin layer of grey dust. A bit of dusting off revealed Torchwick coughing off the ash.

Huh. Grimm didn't digest things immediately. Who knew?

The criminal coughed several more times before struggling to his knees.

"You… saved me?" he muttered.

"Yeah," she replied. "I did. It's what I do."

"You sap."

Ruby felt the tinge in the back of her aura as soon as the words left his lips, a sharp prick straining against the energy of her soul, trying to run her through. She triggered her semblance immediately, dispersing into rose petals and rushing a few feet behind her. When she reformed, she kicked out at what seemed to be empty air.

The real Neo flipped away from her strike back to Roman, her double shattering into nothingness a second later.

Ruby landed back to the deck and sighed.

"Oh, what did you expect, Red?" Roman replied, Neo helping him to his feet.

Ruby shrugged. "From you? Nothing. From me? Nothing less."

Fairy Tail did not kill, and they did not let people die. However, just because an enemy today could become a friend tomorrow didn't mean they would, a fact Erza had not tried to hide from her.

But there was always the chance they would. Which meant she would always do her very best to give it to them. Whatever the consequences, that was her choice.

Predictably, Torchwick looked more confused than anything appreciative. "I thought you were just idealistic but… you're insane. Saving me doesn't mean you can stop them. It doesn't help any of those pretty little people and puppies below you're fighting for. And I'm certainly not going to help you when my neck is still on the line."

"I don't need you to help me," Ruby declared, the light of her requip flaring around her body and dissipating her weapons. "But you really should get out of my way."

When the light faded, Full Magnolia was at her command. Two 30mm autocannons, one in each arm, belt-fed anti-fortification magic shells from a pair of massive ammunition boxes adorned on her back. Alzack had planned for her to mount them on her team's float, but with aura enhancing her strength, Ruby proved able to wield them herself, if only for a short time. On the side of one of the ammo tubs was her crimson rose emblem, while the other showed the symbol of Fairy Tail.

Torchwick and Neo's eyes widened. "Holy shit."

Ruby's eyes glowed silver, the magic seeping into her cannon barrels. "Like I said, get out of my way."

Neo quickly tugged Roman aside, dashing for the open air. Surprisingly, Torchwick resisted for a moment.

"Cinder Fall," he called out. "That's the person who hired me. Figure it'd be better for you to point those things at her next than me."

Cinder? Emerald and Mercury's team leader? Why would a student want to do something like this? Though, even though Ruby hadn't spoken to her often, what vague recollection she did have of her voice was similar to the one from the Black Queen's speech. There was no way to know if Torchwick was lying or not, but it was the only lead she had to find Penny's killer.

Torchwick and Neo leapt into the air, the latter opening her umbrella to guide them through the air.

With that, Ruby had a clear shot at the airship's bridge. Power rushed into her cannons, seeping through the shells and charging the lacrima within. She was never able to master her Slayer powers like her teammates or their mentors, but that had just made her eager to find other uses for the well of power within her eyes, namely combining it with the other tricks she'd picked up along the way.

"Gun Magic- Argentum Salvo!"

A dozen bolts of silver energy erupted out of Full Magnolia, splitting the sky like a crack of thunder. They rammed straight through the battleship's bridge and tore its engines completely asunder. Scraps of torn molten metal cascaded through the air as the rear of the cruiser ignited in a massive fireball, the ship instantly plummeting from the sky.

Her job done and actual Atlas airships visibly ascending into the night sky to battle the swarm of Griffons, Ruby switched out her cannons for her trusted scythe, a far less draining weapon on her body, letting out a heavy sigh as the titanic weight left her body. She leapt from the falling, flaming wreck and into the open air, firing Crescent Rose repeatedly to control her descent back to Beacon.

She needed to find Cinder Fall and find out how much she was really involved in this. And if she was behind it like Torchwick said, then she was going to learn exactly what happened when you messed with a Fairy Tail wizard's friends.

If you have trouble visualizing Full Magnolia, just think of Seras Victoria's cannons from Hellsing Ultimate. Of course, Ruby is hardly as strong as a vampire, so they aren't practical as a main weapon. Special thanks to cyberlord4444 for the idea and name!

An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, StabKingPro, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, and Paula mandel.

Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!