Sisterly Confrontation

A young redheaded woman wearing clothes worthy of aristocratic character is currently listening to a transmission sent by one of her advisors who is reporting on what happened at Mantle.

"Lady Ruby, this may sound unnecessary to you but we just heard a report from Cloud branch that one Faunus named Fiona Thyme is gathering what few insurgents to rally against this new government. As of now, we learned that she is in love with the late Jaune Arc and blames you for his death, angrily going on about some nonsense about saving the people and you abandoning them and ranting about how Jaune sacrificed himself like a true huntsman and all that." Her male advisor with a spiky ponytail said.

"We'll be letting that branch deal with Robyn Hill's loyalist. Thought I suspect that is was Sasuke's fault that the politician is dead."

"Understood, Lady Ruby. Good day to you." Her advisor said before shutting off.

Ruby Rose, who succeeded her predecessor as leader of her village, let her finger roamed around the star map before walking around her capital ship of the Ides of Summer. She felt a presence but decided to ignore it.

She walked to her office and sat down on its throne-chair. She turned it so that its back would face on its desk. She finally addressed the presence in question.

"It's been quite some time since Atlas, isn't it Yang?"

Indeed, her elder sister who escaped the Union's wrath along with her uncle Qrow was standing near her.

"Ruby, I have two reasons for coming here; you owe me answers and I hope that you can stop pretending to be some leader of some village." Yang Xiao-Long said.

Ruby smirked as she turned to face her sister. "Let's say that I do."

Yang narrowed her eyes and demanded. "What all this about? Why'd you do what you did? Helping the Union like that?"

"When I first went to the First Decade, I saw people sleeping in their pods. My predecessor made a plea to let them settle on this world and I delivered. They've waited until I stopped Salem and make sure this planet is ready for their arrival."

Yang accused. "So you've been lying from the start."

Ruby scoffed. "I gave you as much information as both groups allow. It's not my fault that you wanted more than I could give you."

Yang asked another question. "How are Weiss and Blake?"

"Weiss is now my wife and Blake is currently with her family." Ruby answered and Yang winced knowing that she is on bad terms with those two.

Yang asked. "Whose side are you on, Ruby?"

Ruby smiled. "Why the Union Republics. Team 7 and Team RWB is my family."

Yang made a plea. "Ruby, stop your daydream and help us save Remnant from their tyranny. We can stop the Union's plans against the kingdoms. Make sure the people are safe."

Ruby raised an eyebrow then laughed as if her sister just told a funny joke. "This has been a stressful few days; I needed that pick me up. Have you looked around while you're trying to board my ship? The people are talking, laughing and loving every single moment of my rule. Remnant is far better off under the rule of the Union than before. I'm aware of what goes on in Vale, dearest sister and it's been peaceful so far."

Yang readied her fighting stance. "I guess I gave no choice but to make you snap out of it and drag you back to Patch."

"Neither do I, Yang." Ruby replied as she pressed a button on her desk and it appeared thousands of Atlas drones given to her as a gift by the leader of the Cloud branch on her birthday and they've been repaired, upgraded, reprogrammed to serve her appeared from all sides. Penny flying in front of Yang and standing protectively in front of her mistress.

"You knew better than to fight me head on. You knew that I'd still beat you in a straight up fight." It was a statement from Yang.

And Ruby knew it too. "I know. Even with all my training, you can still kick my butt in battle so it's better to let these droids do all my fighting you for me. Besides have you ever stopped to wonder why it is so easy for you to infiltrate my ship when there's no security present? I knew you'd find me. I don't aim on hiding anymore and bring me this chase to an end."

"So you're going to kill me, your own sister no less!" Yang accused Ruby.

Ruby looked sad for a bit then said. "I really don't want to Yang. I want you to join me. I don't want us to be enemies even when we're on opposite sides during the invasion. If you join, I promise to pardon you so long as you don't antagonize the Union. If you refuse, I'll have no choice but to have you terminated with extreme prejudice like how the Union deals with the Grimm."

"Speaking of the Grimm, there really isn't much anymore invading the kingdoms isn't there?" Yang asked and Ruby nodded.

"They've became docile ever since Salem's death but the hunters continued to eliminate them. Not that I mind. So what do you say, will you join me?" Ruby asked.

"I still need more answers." Yang insisted.

"Let's hear them."

"Are you really the leader of the Union?"

"This branch at least. What you're seeing here is the Leaf branch of the Union. Three other branches have taken over the kingdoms. I like to think that I'm doing a good job as its leader but I'm not that arrogant. Vale is currently doing well under my rule as all the other kingdoms."

"How come the Union didn't come earlier to help us fight the Grimm? From what I hear, the tech is equal to Atlas if not better."

"From what my predecessor told me, they will not be welcome and will be seen as invaders. I'll let you in on a secret: all the members of the Akatsuki are clones of the original members of the Leaf branch." Ruby tells Yang casually who looked stunned.

Yang shook it off and asked. "What happened to my mother?"

Ruby answered. "My predecessor's partner sent two clones of Tyrian Callows to kill her. She managed to take out both of them but she was badly injured. I've been told that she died by my predecessor's team later on."

Yang's expression turned to horror as she exclaimed. "What about Uncle Qrow and me?! What happens to us if we surrender or maybe our father Tai?"

"If you and Uncle Qrow surrender, you will be pardoned or I said that already. My father is not Tai Xiao-Long but another person entirely though you're still my sister. If you must know about what happened to him, he did surrender and was pardoned."

"What happened to your predecessor?" Yang inquired.

Ruby answered and Yang thought she saw unshed tears on her younger sister's eyes. "He was sick and old. He endured cancer for about thirty or at least that's what my medical officer tells me. He personally designated me as he successor as he knew that his sicknesses will catch up to him and he believed that I was the best choice for his village. He passed away before my nomination. You should have seen him in his final moments Yang and you will know that has suffered enough and he can finally rest."

"I heard enough. I like to think that my curiosity is satisfied." Yang finally said.

"So what will be your decision be? Will you join me and become Team RWBY again or refuse and be struck down?" Ruby asked while seeing Yang going through an internal debate.

[Bad Ending]

Yang shook her head and readied her Semblance. "I can't. I'm sorry Ruby but I have to avenge my mother."

Ruby looked sad and replied. "I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping that you'd join Yang, sister and sister along with Weiss and Blake. But if there's anything I've learned from being the leader of Team RWBY and then later on the leader of this branch of the Union, it's that we can't always get what we want." She gestured for the droids and Penny to attack Yang.

"If you kill me, uncle Qrow will know what's going on and he will come for you." Yang threatened/warned while trying to find an escape route.

Only to find that there's one door and a window behind Ruby, both guarded by robots. She isn't sure if she could survive the fall in the event that she does escape, even with her Aura.

Ruby merely smiled. "I'm counting on it dear sister." As she leaned on her chair and watched the droids attack Yang.

The battle lasted for three hours. Yang impressively held out against the droids, reducing them to scrap metal. Yang pushed herself to the physical maximum in destroying all the former Atlas drones and charged to Ruby.

Only to find Penny blocking her. Yang growled and tried to push against her but Penny used her boosters to charge against Yang. A stalemate at first but Yang shoved Penny aside and ran towards Ruby. Penny shot some sort of shock projectile from her wrist launchers at Yang, stunning her and forcing her on her knees. Yang decided to attack Penny and landed some punches on Penny's head. Yang continually punched Penny and the android was forced to come up with countermeasures by scanning the fighting pattern and imagine Yang's surprise when Penny caught her fist.

Penny blocked the next punch and countered with a palm beam to the gut, sending Yang flying four meters. Penny boosted towards Yang and blocked the punch, countering with a punch to the side. She followed up with an elbow hit to the face, an uppercut and then finally a beam to the gut, knocking Yang down.

Yang saw Penny ready to fire her palm beam and grabbed the android by the wrist and pulled Penny down. She then punched the android six times in quick succession. She readied the last punch but Penny activated her wrist blade and stabbed Yang in the side of her neck. Yang stumbled back, clutching her neck.

Penny rammed her wrist blade on Yang's chest and then readied both blades in a beheading stance.

Yang looked at her sister who stared at her in disappointment. She said her final words. "Your ideas are going to kill us all. I'm not following you anymore Ruby."

Ruby felt hurt by that last line but shook her head. "You made your choice, Yang. I didn't make it for you." She nodded to Penny.

She watched with sadness as her android handmaiden decapitates her sister's head. The head rolling two meters before it stopped. Ruby picked up Ember Celica off of Yang's corpse and made a mental note to send it to Tai along with her apologies.

"Lady Namikaze Rose, Miss Schnee-Rose will speak to you." Penny said to her.

The door opened and it revealed Weiss in it. The white-haired woman saw her wife's expression and asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not." Ruby mutters quietly. "I executed my own sister." Tears finally spill of her eyes.

Weiss gently cupped her wife's face and said soothingly. "It needed to be done, my love. No matter how I know you wish it hadn't happened."

Ruby sighed as her wife removed the tears from her face. "I know but this is uncle Qrow's niece and Tai's daughter. How can I look at them knowing that I gave the order for Yang's execution?"

Weiss continued drying the tears as she explained. "She wished to kill you or beat you to an inch of your life so that she could drag you back to your uncle or at least that's what your female advisor told me before I came in. Even if she did succeed in doing either of those two, she'll be labelled an outlaw for the rest of her life as well as that of her associates. There is no good ending for her now that she refused your offer. The people here in Vale and all the other kingdoms love you, sing your praises and are happy with your rule and Yang will destroy the peace you worked so hard to maintain. Yang's death is her fault and hers alone."

Ruby made a weak smile and said. "I know. I've also learned from my predecessor that actions have consequences. I just want to make sure my actions are the right ones."

Weiss finished removing the tears as she continued cupping Ruby's face. "And they are all correct. Everything you have ever done, no matter how questionable it may seem from the outside, has always been the right choice leading up to your tenure as leader of this branch."

Ruby smiled. "Thank you, Weiss."

"You are welcome, Ruby. Your female advisor wishes to have a meal with you. You could use that to take your mind off this gruesome event." Weiss took Ruby's hand, took one last look at her dead former teammate with a flat expression, and shook her head.

Before the two wives left, Ruby ordered Penny. "Take Ember Celica and my sister's corpse to Patch. Inform Taiyang Xiao-Long what happened and convey my apologies."

"It will be done, Lady Namikaze Rose." Penny replied as she watched the two wives leave.

Penny took the head, the body and the gauntlets to Patch, conveyed her condolences/apologies to Taiyang then left.

The man mourned for his dead daughter but did not blame Ruby as he warned Yang against going after her sister would only lead to her death. And it did.

Yang made her choice and it cost her life.

As for Ruby and Weiss, they ate their meal with the blue-haired female advisor and they both comforted Ruby which made her feel better after the order.

[Good Ending]

Yang nodded. "I accept. I'll join you Ruby and we'll be Team RWBY again."

Ruby beamed and said. "Excellent. I would like to pardon you now but you need to swear an oath. I can't be sure you'll try to kidnap me as soon as I let my guard down and Penny isn't around. Penny will make you do the oath then you're officially pardoned."

Yang looked at Penny who said to her. "Please repeat after me; upon my honour I do swear undying fealty to my service to the leader of the Leaf branch of the Union, Ruby Namikaze Rose."

Yang repeated after Penny. "Upon my honour I do swear undying fealty to my service to the leader of the Leaf branch of the Union, Ruby Namikaze Rose."

"…And unwavering obedience to the officers of her great village." Penny.

"…And unwavering obedience to the officers of her great village." Yang.

"May those closest to her judge me and may those farthest to her condemn me if I fail in my duty." Penny.

"May those closest to her judge me and may those farthest to her condemn me if I fail in my duty." Yang.

"Long may she reign! May her rule be greater than her predecessors before her!"

"Long may she reign! May her rule be greater than her predecessors before her!" Yang finished, trying to mimic Penny's enthusiasm.

Ruby declared. "By my right as the leader, I hereby pardon you of all crimes before this. Now let's leave here and we can pretend this never happened."

Ruby gestured for the droids and Penny to stand down and that is where Weiss arrived by opening the door and entering. Ruby tells her. "Thought you'd like to hear but Yang has joined us now."

Yang remembered the guilt that had been eating her these last few years and tries to say, "Weiss, I…"

Only for Weiss to hold a hand to stop Yang from continuing. "I still remembered what you said to me back at Atlas, Yang so don't think I'll welcome you back so easily. If you want my forgiveness, you'd better earn it because this won't be easy. The same applies to Blake."

Yang nodded meekly. "I understand."

Weiss nods and said sharply. "Good. If you ever hurt my wife Ruby, I will personally gut you like the pig you are and dump your corpse into the ocean." She glared at Yang who nodded more fiercely.

"I understand."

Ruby clapped her hands together and said happily. "I'm hungry and my female advisor wishes to speak to us. Penny, tell Taiyang Xiao-Long that his daughter is alive and well."

"As you say, Lady Rose." Penny replied as she watched the three of them leave.

She flew to Patch and told Taiyang who was relieved by the news and hoped that both sisters will stay together and visit him one day.

Yang made her choice and it gave her life.

(Other Matters)

Somewhere near Mantle, the insurgents formed by Fiona Thyme were easily smashed by the more superior Atlas-Cloud forces. Those that were in hiding in separate houses were found out by the soldiers who chopped off their heads and tossed them into a pile. Even worse was that some insurgents were impaled on spikes and left to die.

At Fiona's base, her men were killed systematically and with deadly efficiency. Now she is alone on a roof with the Cloud soldiers guarding her as if she's about to escape.

One man wearing a raincoat intoned. "Fiona Thyme, assistant to the late Robyn Hill, is hereby sentenced to execution of seven slashes for the seven men sent to assassinate Ruby Namikaze Rose."

Fiona spat out with all the hate filled voice she could muster. "Ruby is a monster who would sacrifice millions to achieve her own goals. She killed my love Jaune before he could confess to me our love and murdered him in cold blood. I will not stand by and watch her subject those people to her propaganda…"

She was about to say more when the man just rolled his eyes and said. "I see no more reason to prolong this discussion. Kill her."

Another man slashed torso six times and the seventh slash aimed at her throat, cutting her ear to ear.

The man ordered. "Burn her body and send the head as a warning to any who might dare rebel against the Union."

Fiona is dead and her head being delivered to Atlas' walls as a cruel warning. Her body was burned while her followers were hanged, impaled on spikes or burned.

As for Qrow Branwen…

[Bad Ending]

The man had tried to avenge his dead daughter by attacking Ruby but he was deceived and entered the wrong carrier where he was put to death immediately. His weapon was recovered and sent back to Patch.

[Good Ending]

The man had no allies and he is now an outlaw. He had left the kingdoms and disappeared without a trace.

[Bad Ending]

As for Ruby and Weiss, they continued their lives like normal. Ruby told Blake about Yang's fate but the Faunus was neutral in her expression and remained detached from Yang. The incident completely forgotten as RWB carried on with their lives.

[Good Ending]

It wasn't easy but Yang rebuilt burnt bridges with Weiss and Blake and Team RWBY is reformed again. Life from then on became perfect.

Notes

This is the first fanfic that introduces two endings and intends to tie up loose ends. Thanks for reading.