Ruby's eyes cracked open and immediately snapped shut again, having been assaulted by a blinding white light. Her entire body ached and her head felt as if it was being split in two by her own scythe. There was a blank spot in her memory, and that was more than worrisome. She could remember Beacon, having landed on the deck of the Atlesian airship, and being abruptly confronted by Roman's tiny, parasol-wielding henchwoman. And then, she could remember—

Oh, no.

Ruby's eyes shot open again in a panic. Quite frankly, she was surprised to be waking up at all, but then belatedly remembered that Torchwick was probably the type to hold his victims over for torment before killing them. She gritted her teeth and quickly surveyed herself for any immediate damage.

As far as she could see, no limbs were broken and she wasn't bleeding profusely, but her black dress was in tatters, and her boots and cloak were missing entirely. Of course, so was Crescent Rose. Ruby seethed with fury at the thought of the fiendish criminals laying so much as a finger on her beloved weapon. For all she knew, they'd destroyed it entirely— or perhaps it had gone flying over the side of the airship, to be picked up and used for an evil purpose. Ruby shuddered and looked around, knowing she needed to calm her emotions if she was going to be able to find a way out of her apparent captivity.

She was lying on a bench in a small, circular room with a low ceiling, gleaming metal walls, and a heavy steel door on the right-hand side. She frowned as she realized that she appeared to be being held in… a bathroom? There was no visible toilet, but against the back wall was a low, rounded bathtub with metal steps leading up into it.

This makes no sense, Ruby thought, chills of alarm pricking intensely at her skin. Torchwick hijacked an Atlesian prisoner airship. Why didn't he just throw me in one of the cells?

Of course, almost nothing about the crime lord and his small, silent partner had ever made sense to Ruby.

Okay. I don't have time to waste on puzzling out details, she reasoned, forcing herself to remain calm and focus on escaping from the stolen airship. At first, she wasn't too concerned when she found her wrists and ankles locked into heavy steel chains, but then a dull pang of horror echoed through her when she realized that the metal was infused with the power to suppress her semblance.

Frantically, Ruby attempted to use it, but nothing happened. She clenched her jaw and tried again with all of her strength, hoping that perhaps the binding power of the chains was just weak enough that she could shatter them with a burst of speed. This time, her body jolted forward, tumbling off the bench and sprawling across the cold metal floor. Her chains clattered raucously and she flinched, suppressing a groan of irritation.

Just great, Ruby thought. Of course, somebody's going to come running now to see what that noise was. She shivered slightly at the hazy memory of being struck repeatedly in the head and once on the face with Roman's cane. Although she knew her aura had had time to recharge, she didn't exactly want to feel its soothing presence beaten from her again.

To Ruby's surprise, there were no running footsteps and the tall metal door didn't swing open. Everything was deathly silent. Too silent, in Ruby's opinion. She could feel the gentle sway of the floor beneath her, which told her that the Atlesian ship was still in the air. Good! Maybe that means I haven't been knocked out for long!

Ruby couldn't suppress a small smile as the hopeful thought returned to her. After all, if she could just find a way to break the chains around her wrists and ankles, escaping from the airship would be relatively simple. She rolled over and tried slamming one of her manacles against the floor in an effort to weaken the metal, but all that seemed to do was create far more noise than she was comfortable making, given her situation. She growled softly in frustration and shimmied her way over to the bench she'd been lying on, locating a sharp edge of the metal and starting to grind one of her chains on it.

A horrific screech of metal on metal echoed through the tiny bathroom and Ruby swallowed in horror. Oh, no. It sounded as if she'd released a Grimm in the room with her, and that was sure to bring someone to investigate.

Sure enough, soft, padding footsteps sounded just outside the door a few seconds later. There was a loud beep and the heavy steel panel slid open slowly, letting in a petite figure that was all too familiar to Ruby. She barely caught a glimpse of a narrow, brilliantly lit hallway outside the door before it closed sharply, padlocks clicking into place behind it.

Ruby clenched her teeth and glared up at the small woman she'd been dueling with just hours before. Surprisingly, she was without her parasol, this time carrying only what appeared to be a small whiteboard. She was still garbed in her white blouse and skin-tight black leggings, the high heels of her white leather boots clicking softly on the metal floor as she walked toward Ruby. Her thick pink and brown hair was tied into a messy bun at the nape of her neck, curly tendrils hanging around her face, but her expression was completely unreadable.

"Leave me alone," Ruby snapped. She'd witnessed only a small fraction of the brutality that Roman's henchwoman could wield, and had heard nightmarish stories of the rest. After all, she was the one who'd almost stabbed Yang in the heart even as she'd lain defenseless. Ruby swallowed, realizing that without Crescent Rose or her semblance, she might even be more helpless than her sister had been on the train all those months ago.

A small smile passed over the young woman's lips and she glanced down at the whiteboard she held, scribbling something on it. Ruby felt her level of annoyance growing, as it seemed to take the girl an inordinate amount of time to finish her message. When she was finally done, she walked over to the bench and perched the whiteboard on it so that it was visible to Ruby. The board was full of elaborate, flowing cursive script, which made Ruby roll her eyes in annoyance.

Hello, Little Red! My name is Neo. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.

"As if I care about your name," Ruby spat.

The young woman— Neo— ignored the outburst entirely and retrieved the whiteboard, writing out another message and propping it back up for Ruby to see. The captive girl glowered at it, but then swallowed in confusion and mounting concern when she read the words on it.

I thoroughly enjoyed our little meeting, Neo had written, obviously alluding to the fight to the death the two girls had engaged in on the deck of the airship. Roman's spoken of you so often that I simply had to see what his little red reaper was capable of! I must say that he exaggerated your abilities, but he never mentioned how lovely you are. Such a shame, isn't it?

"Shut up." Ruby knew her response was reckless, given that she was in a very vulnerable position, but in the moment her anger overrode her judgment.

Neo tapped a finger to the side of her mouth with a little smirk, indicating I didn't "say" anything. Her pink and brown eyes shimmered playfully in a way that Ruby recognized as being a danger sign.

"Release me this instant," Ruby demanded. She knew it was ridiculous, but without her scythe or her semblance, she was more defenseless than she'd ever been.

Neo blinked her eyes in an innocent fashion, still smirking playfully as she wrote another message on her whiteboard. Always making demands, aren't you, Little Red? From the way it looks to me, you're frightfully incapacitated at the moment. Those little outbursts are so unbecoming.. I wouldn't waste my strength on them if I were you, love.

Ruby glared at Neo as the petite woman crouched down beside her on the floor. She aimed a kick at her, but with her ankles bound so securely, all it did was cause her body to jolt awkwardly. Neo tilted her head as she watched, eyes sparkling with amusement at the captive girl's obvious discomfort.

"What do you want?" Ruby growled, flames licking at her silver eyes, but behind them lay the faintest shadow of fear.

Neo returned casually to her whiteboard again, turning it around for Ruby to see. The warmth in her mismatched eyes was quickly fading, being replaced by a steely edge.

You must be terribly exhausted from all that fighting. Roman said you must be desperate for a hot, soothing bath. Isn't that right?

Neo smiled, and Ruby's blood ran cold.