A/N: Just a few notes about the setting. RWBY is already pretty close to a superhero universe, but this AU is a lot closer to the Marvel or DC universe. Modern-ish setting, secret identities, the works. I've made a lot of modifications to Weiss's backstory to make her deciding to become a hero in this universe make sense, so don't worry if some aspects seem off. Enjoy!
Ruby's halfway through the two o'clock patrol, on the warehouse roofs of the riverbank, when she sees the lightshow.
Initially, she thinks it's Yang, but the colors are wrong. Yang's fires aren't that bright, stark white that washes out the stars. And she'd never be throwing flames indiscriminately like that.
Ruby swings across to the next building and activates her headset.
"Powered event, sector 41, maybe 45. Source unknown. I'm gonna go check it out."
She's used to Pyrrha's quiet sigh and mumble of "Ruby, if you need backup –"
"Nope! We're all good here. Ten-four, you might say. Over and out."
They have a quiet agreement to stay on their sides of the river, unless there's an emergency that requires more firepower (Yang made that joke at least six times when the plan was introduced). And for now, Ruby can handle this.
She's a bit sick of Pyrrha getting all the credit. That was the agreement, that the people of Remnant have one hero that they could idolize, leaving the others free to work in peace, and she knows that none of this is easy for Pyrrha either, but it'd be nice to have an article about Ruby on the front page for a change. And she wouldn't call herself something boring like The Huntress. She'd be the Crimson Dynamo, or the Scarlet Avenger.
This is absolutely not the point of her patrol. Ruby shakes her head slightly and brings her focus back to the crime at hand.
Sector 41 is an upper-class residential district. She doesn't patrol there much; people can afford dogs and security guards to keep the poor well away from their perfect lawns. An event in sector 41 is going to be big.
Ruby ducks a blast of white light, rolling across the roof. Over a light blanket of snow.
It's July.
Great. A supervillain with cold powers, now, when she's on patrol rather than Yang? This is gonna be fun.
Ruby vaults across the street and peers down through the haze that she now realizes is a very unseasonal blizzard.
There's someone in the center of it. A girl, it looks like, a few years older than Ruby, feet bare in the damp grass of someone's garden that is going to be completely ruined by the weather.
Ruby ducks behind a chimney and begins aiming her sniper rifle. It won't kill the girl, but by the time she wakes up her trial will be halfway over.
She squints through the scope. The unnatural winds are wreaking havoc with her aim. Ruby could give up and fight her on the ground, but she has a pretty damn good position here. The girl is fifty feet in front of her and out in the open. She can do this.
Ruby reaches around to clear the ice off the lens, not taking her eyes off the girl.
She doesn't look happy, or vengeful, or drunk on power. She looks terrified.
This has suddenly become a completely different mission.
The superpowers that randomly pop up in the population are still a medical mystery. People, mostly kids and teens, wake up one day being able to call down lightning or throw fireballs or, apparently, cause blizzards. None of them can control their powers. If they're lucky, they get taken down by a team before they can destroy more than a few blocks. Yang is part of a family of heroes who've spent generations training to fight, and Mom still didn't –
Ruby blinks the snow out of her eyes. Time for a rescue mission.
Ruby vaults off the roof, wincing at the jolt through her legs. She'll have to replace her boots soon.
"Hi!" she calls. Great way to start. "Stay calm! Take a few deep breaths!"
The girl turns toward her, and a gust of frigid wind nearly knocks her over. Ruby unfolds Crescent Rose and plants the scythe into the ground to stay on her feet.
"I'm not trying to hurt you! Please, just stay calm!"
…
Weiss doesn't understand.
Her hands are cold and her heart is numb but there's a kind of euphoria. A kind of freedom. She's causing this. She's bringing down the sky in revenge.
How dare he –
But she's confused and horrified and doesn't know what she's done or if her siblings are all right or how to make any of it stop.
"Hi!" someone calls. Weiss whips around to see who's being this casual in a situation like this.
It's a person, probably a child by their height, but carrying a rifle that looks real enough, if heavily customized. She (probably a she, anyway) is wearing a black bodysuit with a red-trimmed skirt inexplicably attached. A cape, still clearly scarlet despite the lack of light, billows behind her.
"Stay calm! Take a few deep breaths!"
Weiss knows the child is trying to help, but something in her whispers it's trying to stop you and sends wind gusting toward her.
The child unfolds the gun (that's the best Weiss can describe it) into a scythe with a five-foot blade, pointed at Weiss.
It wishes to harm you.
It wishes to stop you from taking what you deserve.
Kill it.
"I'm not trying to hurt you! Please, just stay calm!"
"Who are you?" Weiss asks, squinting into the haze. The child has a scarlet hood hiding her face in shadow.
"I am – the Crimson Avenger! Or – no, the Scarlet Avenger! That sounds better, right?"
The girl is disturbingly calm. She slowly reaches one hand to her face and peels up a black fabric mask.
Weiss peers at her again. She's certainly a child, with a chubby face and small nose. Why is she out here trying to fight villains?
Then it hits Weiss.
I'm a villain.
She's destroying the city, and a brave hero is here to stop her.
…
The girl gasps and steps backward. She looks horrified. The winds begin to slow.
"You okay there?" Ruby asks. "Is my face that bad?"
The girl crumples to her knees, taking shuddering gasps of air. The blizzard dies out as abruptly as it rose, leaving drifts of quickly-melting snow across the ground. It's a shame, since Ruby likes snow.
Ruby jogs toward the girl and gives her a pat on the shoulder. She's sobbing shakily into her hands.
"I could have killed people," she whispers.
"But you didn't," Ruby says. "So, you know, all's well that ends well, I guess?"
The girl raises her head and glares at Ruby.
"You don't understand. I-I'm a villain. I nearly destroyed the city, and a hero had to –" her voice trails away as she continues to cry.
And now Ruby has to do a pep talk. Ruby is pretty good at pep talks, sometimes.
"Well, you could have become a villain. But you realized you were wrong, and you stopped, which is fairly not-evil. And now everything's going to be fine." The girl raises her head slightly, and she still doesn't look happy, but she's not utterly miserable. Ruby continues. "We should get you back to your parents, I guess. Where do they live?"
At that, the girl's face twists in horror.
"No. You can't take me back there. Not after everything."
Well, that's a minor problem.
Ruby has a stupid idea. Yang's going to be annoyed, and so is Pyrrha, but neither of them are in charge here. Ruby is, and she's going to try the stupid idea.
"If you can't go back to your parents, why not join us? We're stretched kinda thin, and we could use a hand."
The girl is standing up, tugging her dress straight, and angrily smudging the tears away from her face.
"I accept your offer to become a superhero," she says. "However, you should probably bring it up with your team leader first."
"I am the team leader," Ruby says, grinning. The girl's face doesn't move, apart from a faint twitch of one eye.
"You're the team leader? You're a child!"
"I'm fifteen, and that's old enough to be committing crimes, so it's old enough to be stopping them," Ruby says. That's the best way to describe it, without going into too much detail as to why there aren't many older heroes.
The girl sighs quietly.
"Very well. I accept your proposal. My name is Weiss Schnee."
"Like, Schnee Schnee, or just some regular old Schnee?" Ruby asks.
"Your question is utterly illogical," Weiss responds. There's no trace of the terrified girl from earlier; she's standing, taller than Ruby, and glaring down at her. "I am the heir to the Schnee Company, and would prefer not to comment further. Let's go."