Thank you for all your suggestions for Ruby's new team, I may have only used one but I have taken a thing or two from some of your suggestions. Thank you goys and I hope you keep this up.
On another note Ruby will need some teams to fight during the tournament. Feel free to submit some (they don't have to be nearly as detailed as some of the characters you submitted).
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together – African proverb
Another hour ticked by on her watch as the light from the artificial window made her table shine, distracting her from the objective of sleep. It wasn't her fault, the High Overseer's suggestion would put her at the head of a team once more; she desperately prayed that it would not go that way.
A gust of wind was herd; not too unusual as the air conditioning outside probably kicked in to revitalise the air outside. Suddenly, the artificial window turned off, leaving the startled Ruby in darkness. She fumbled around where she knew the tiny bedside table was she reached for the switch of her lamp only for it to click, warming up the room in yellow-hued light.
A figure sat on her table, a gas mask on his face and dressed in an old red leather coat. "Hello Ruby Rose" spoke the figure as a gun emerged from under Ruby's blanket and pointed at him
"Don't move" ordered she as the three green dots of her pistol's night sights came up on his chest, Buckshot chambered and ready to go in a second
"You won't have to worry about that, the Black-eyed Bastard sent me"
"The Outsider?"
"Yes, looks like he's pleased with your performance over the past month; I am too for that matter" he took off his mask and put a hand in his pocket, drawing out a cigarette and lighter despite the gun trained on him "You know, when I woke up and saw my own bloody corpse at the bottom of the flooded district, head bent and skull cracked open to reveal the brain inside I was furious; denied my atonement for killing the empress. seemed the Bastardy had work form me before I went to the other side… So here I am. Daud 'the Knife of Dunwall', you must be his latest plaything"
"Daud? I can't say I know of you"
"Of course, I suppose those of us that stowed away within the whaling ship didn't want to draw any more attention than they had to… Look" his head turned back to her; the glow of the cigar giving depth to the scar on the left of his face "All you need to know is that I was once an assassin, wielding the power of the void just like you do now. I am here to do one last thing before I finally depart; to give you some tips.
"Tips?" asked Ruby in disbelief "Surely it is not everything?"
"I cannot give you more, the Outsider's orders are absolute. Shall we get started?"
"I suppose..." she did not get to finish the sentence as she felt a tug on her and suddenly she was in the familiarly cold depths of the Void. Daud was nowhere to be seen a note under a small necklace flapping in the wind. "Daud?"
Nothing answered. She walked to the note and unfurled it, 'before you lie several scenes from both mine and your memories, a recording of me will speak to you as you near each one. In delivering this message and what is before you I have finally earned my rest. Good luck Ruby.'
Putting the note away she advanced towards the first: It was a scene of her former team, talking to each other but with her replaced by her own dead body. Jealousy, never underestimate what lengths people will go to attain power. Be it through murder or betrayal these people will never rest until their position is secure, even if it means stabbing you in the back as you try to reason with them. The only solution to traitors is exile or death. The voice echoed as she went to the second one.
A man talking to another in a theatre with a hand behind his back and a knife in it. Be careful who you trust, don't throw it around. One day it will bite you in the back. She went to the next one; half a street swarming with rats while another had several people and a cheerier atmosphere. No matter what you do, remember that actions have consequences and while murdering indiscriminately may be easy, it is not sustainable. The rats were suddenly hit by a burning cylinder as a metal man on stilts moved in and began to shoot burning arrows at the rats.
She came to the last one, showing her descending off the Grey Mountain's side while a girl cried and looked down at the mangled remains of her brother's dead body. Sometimes it is better just to finish the job, at best we prolong suffering; the orphan of your target dying of plague as he lies in an alley. At worst we create another enemy. The scene changed to show the girl now looking at her descending form as she tried to aim her dead father's gun at her back, The desire for revenge should never be underestimated…
Ruby nearly jumped as her alarm clock went off. She looked around, wondering if the dream was real only to find the pendant the note had been under still in her pocket. Her Phone pinged and she saw a message from Blair 'meet me in Canteen in two. I need to talk to you'.
She went on down to find him sitting with a small stack of papers. "Good morning Blair, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes Ruby please take a seat" he ordered, his tone becoming serious "Are you aware that you have been entered into the Vital tournament?"
"Well yes, I was offered the chance and I took it" replied Ruby "Did I do something wrong?"
"Oh, Outsider no! I was just hoping you weren't signed up without knowing about it" He clapped and his voice returned to normal "The High Overseer has tasked me with bringing you up to date on the team we've selected; hence the folder you see?"
"Oh okay, let's get a look at them"
"Just before we start I need to mention a few security related things, you've heard of the train Incident haven't you? Oh, no? Well, in a nutshell, some White Fang managed to let Grimm lose in the city using the old subway"
"How many died?"
"About 20, luckily there happened to be hunters in town on break or whatever so massive casualties were averted" He opened the folder and pulled out a sheet with 'Operational Security', handing it to her to glance through he continued "Anyway the point is, we're not too comfortable sending out Overseers without some form of contingency plan. This is it for you and your team. We have several agents in the city of Vale proper but otherwise not too many; should you need to hide, resupply or whatever you go to these addresses for help. You'll need a passphrase for them to identify you but they'll probably let you in if you say you're with 'The Order'"
"Isn't this a bit… excessive? I mean this is just a tournament we're heading to"
"It seems more than it actually is you know. Anyone operating in the Vale is is also given these, this just happens to be your copy"
"Alright then, so is this it?"
"Well I mean as a part of the tournament itself there are rules and customs; I expect you look on their website, download them and give them a read" he took out a small binder and handed it to her "These have been issued to all of you about each other to somewhat familiarise you before you meet. One of your team is just returning to Murmansk tomorrow so expect to see all of them within the week at most, I'll arrange a meeting for you once I get in contact with the other mentors"
"Do you know much of them?"
"Not personally, I suppose you'll have to wait or call them; their numbers should be in there"
"Alright then, I'll read it in my own time. Anything else?"
"Yes… I suppose this is a bit awkward for me but I need to show you the Overseer Dress Uniform"
An uncomfortable second passed before Ruby motioned "Why would I need that?"
"Well as far as I've read there will be some sort of dance involved and should you win You'll need something for the ceremony no?"
"I guess… Do you wanna get that done now? I haven't got much anyway"
"I mean you're the only responsibility I have around here, I don't see why not; you don't mind if I visit a few other places? I have some supplies I need to replenish at the scrapyard"
"Yeah I've got no problem with that, when's the next APC leaving for Murmansk?"
"Let me check… Aha! We meet in the hangar in about half an hour, It'll be departing then. Oh you want the time? 8:00 exactly. Yes, see you in a bit"
The two departed to their respective rooms, Ruby putting on her webbing and leaving the folder behind as she departed for the hangar. Rifle slung over her back and helmet exchanged for a peaked cap she looked like one of those Mountain Troopers she'd seen in old documentaries about the great war…
"Over here Rubes!" yelled a familiar voice as she quickly located Blair and the two sat down within the rolled steel frame and armoured belly of the beast as it roared into action minutes later and set off down on the road.
"Is that you Ruby?" asked the gunner on the machine gun up top, It's been a while"
"Andreev? Why are you up there?"
"Well Ruby say hello to the assistant coachman of the vehicle you now reside in! I was recently recalled back on reduced duty so I'm kinda stuck here"
"Reduced duty? Did you do something wrong?"
"I made a mistake yes. I was asked to help clear the sewer system of Warsawa after a young King Taijitu somehow got in there; whaddayaknow! Sewers are slippery and I swear if I hadn't had those WPD with me I'd be a goner. You know one of them had a flamethrower and nearly cooked me alive!"
"Since when do we have Grimm in the sewers?" noted Blair as he scooted over and sat opposite Ruby "Especially given that there is no real way it'd get there"
"Yeah man, weird spooky shit I tell you; doesn't matter now though, They're gathering a full-on Purge Squad to clear that place out"
"A Purge Squad is a special contingent of Overseers trained in close-quarters fighting and usually armoured well beyond the norm, they are usually deployed in underground locations and sometimes urban zones" said Blair as he looked at Ruby with a smirk that almost said 'I knew you were going to ask'
Ruby just pouted back and lay on the bench with a headphone in her ear, this was going to be a long trip…
After a surprisingly calm trip, their ride came and went, it being about noon when they arrived. They decided to head to the tailor's first and then she'd leave Blair to do whatever he needed at the scrapyard.
As the pair walked in they were met with rows and rows of suits, some back, some grey while others swung blue like the darkness of the sea as they parted and a well-dressed woman approached. "Why hello there my Blairite" said she, her voice like a whisper as it sent shivers down Ruby's spine "And who might you be young one?" she looked over to her "an Overseer? You seem quite young"
"Now now my Lucyfer, as he walked up and shook her hand. This is Ruby, a fellow Overseer, she needs to be fitted for an ODU; I'll be paying"
"No no" interjected Ruby as she brought out her own wallet "I've saved up plenty over the last year"
"It's a gift Ruby, you'll be representing us and you need the best"
"Okay, 50/50?"
"50/50 it is then"
The woman curiously watched them as they both nodded in agreement and Blair left out the door, the bell chiming as the door shut behind him.
"Well then Ruby, shall we get started?" asked she as she motioned for Ruby to follow her upstairs.
The two of them came up the polished staircase and Ruby found herself face to face with several rows of various Overseer clothing as well as a bench and sewing machine "This your first time Ruby?" asked the woman as she motioned for her to sit down on the bench as she went behind the machine and took out a book.
"Yes mam"
"No need to be all mam with me Ruby, just call be Lucy"
"So why did Blair call you Lucyfer?"
"Well that would be because of my surname, Fern; you see how that comes in?"
"Yeah, so whats this then?" asked she as she turned to the book
"This here is the Overseer code and constitution, Let me just get to the part about Dress" Ruby was passed the book as several pictures of men and women in Overseer uniform stared back at her "This first one here is the Duty uniform, notice how you're wearing the thing almost to the letter? You do have some leeway you haven't exploited… but you're not here for that. Take a look at this picture here. Lucy's finger pointed to a man and a woman, both dressed the same in what she assumed to be the formal uniform.
They wore straight-cut trousers and the Overseer overcoat along with black leather straps which attached to the belt, with a white collared shirt and such peaked out from under it; one wore black leather gloves while the other wore none, the woman also shown wearing what looked like a Black Naval Trench coat aside from the obvious Overseer insignia on the sleeve as well as golden epaulettes and buttons on the front. You were also allowed to wear your medals and such if you had any; of course she didn't have to worry about that yet.
"Had a look? Alright then here are your actual options, these pictures are what we have in stock that you can pick from. Also note that while the rules do not say so you are allowed to wear a skirt; however I would advise against it"
"Why not?"
"Because this uniform was never meant to look good with a skirt, just take my word for it alright?"
"Okay then, I guess I'll take the standard set, I have no idea of my preferences with all this stuff yet"
"That's fine, most do that anyway. I guarantee you though, I'll see you back here within the year to change this for something more 'you' within the year" she put back the pictures and handed her a set of clothes which looked about her size "Put these on in the booth over there while I tell you of your chosen set's features"
As Ruby put down her clothes and began to put on this uniform she was bombarded by a horde of facts figures and stuff about the clothes being 'armour compatible' and 'built-in reinforcements for stress spots'.
She finally exited to find the woman working on some sort of belt by her sewing machine, her sword and pistol lying on the table "Is that it?" asked Ruby
"Well take a walk around, I'm just finishing up your belt and suspenders; mind you these are won like webbing and function similarly, they just happen to be more… presentable than their bulkier counterparts"
Amazingly the uniform fit well, even though the woman had not once taken any measurements. "Yeah, this fits fine. I'm just wondering about shoes…"
"You just wear the standard combat boots, just make sure they're clean of dirt and have a decent polish on them. Now come here, this should be the last thing you need from up here"
Ruby put on the belt and suspenders, tucking them under her evaluates as they came over and fastened from the front of her belt, the golden evaluates bearing a stylised OI (Overseer Initiate) sewn on quickly as both the coat and her jacket were done. The sword and pistol she carried both went into leather loops on the belt as it wrapped around her and sat smugly on her hips.
"Well that's it dear, this hat is the last thing you have to try on for me"
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as she put on the black field cap and looked in the mirror. In all fairness she looked sort of like one of those policemen in old photos, all she was missing was a top hat. "Yeah, this is good" nodded Ruby as she went downstairs and paid for the uniform.
She breathed a final sigh of relief as the door shut behind her, no matter if this was Vale, Patch or Murmansk one thing had stayed constant. She hated clothes shopping.
You may or may not be able to tell but I went on a bit of a rant there, either way I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter of Betrayed: Descendants of the Void.
Do note that if you'd like to suggest an OC Team for Ruby and her lot to fight, leave it in the comments. TY
