R.W.3.Y.: All Fairy Tales End

Chapter ; PROJECT: DUST-LANCE

Characters: Ruby Rose, Sage Ayana, two new threats, etc.

Ships:

Description:

RW3Y, the amazing art by Dishwasher1910 who has given me permission to write this, after the Salem Crisis RWBY went a many myriad of directions with their lives, but maintained close ties with each other and their friends. This is their story, their continuation, the end to their fairytale.

-Four Weeks after the death of Arthur Watts

SDC Atlesian Warship Mother of Invention

"You've got an incoming transmission Sir." The thunk of a shotgun's pump sounds in the background. The dark grey clad figure aims down the weapon's sights, lining them up with the target down range.

"Tell that idiot he's not supposed to-"

"It's an unknown Scroll Sir." Bang. Turning the grey clad figure depresses the flashing red button.

"You have company on the way, it appears someone got interested. I detected their intrusion into the SDC network. Prepare for the visit, he may not still be around, but he'd still like his investment protected." garbles the deep mechanical voice.

"I don't take orders from you. But the information is helpful. I'll be more than prepared for their arrival." Releasing the button and lowering his eyes to the dark grey helmet on the table beside rowed standing shotgun shells. He turns and walks away, his armour clad form revealed in the light reflecting off the solid metal of the helmet. "Filis? When will Subject Sigma be ready?"

"Estimated time to completion of procedure? Or when will Subject Sigma be combat capable?"

"Is there a difference?"

-Two and a half days later-

SDC Bullhead, en route to unidentified Atlesian Warship flying SDC colours

The large dark skinned man turns a smile on the young, only slightly shorter brunette. Despite Ruby's usual giddiness she had surprisingly still, her energetic voice didn't bounce around the hold as much as normal, and her eyes didn't have their usual light.

"What's wrong little red?" Ruby jumps in her seat, her legs coming a good inch or two off the chair and a tiny 'eep' escaping from between her lips. Her silver eyes turn meeting Sage's. His shoulder still bore the golden pauldron, albeit the shiny material now covered his upper arm. Much like his leader Sage still opted for the open coat showing off the chiseled abs, now lined with a number of white streaks. His hair is still fairly opposite to Ruby, with a majority of its green locks still stuck up by a ridiculous amount of hair gel, the black only showing through near his roots.

"It's… Well. All the stuff Jacques was doing, I can't wrap my head around why Weiss and Winter thought I could run a company. I mean Rose and Co is small, focuses only on weapons and has like three employees. Sitting in that big office trying to figure out how to keep profit high while I start the changes Weiss always went on about is like trying to do calculus in crayon without a calculator!" Ruby throws her arms up. Letting her limbs settle back onto her knees her head hangs low.

"Hey there Ruby, everyone knows you can do something you put your mind to. I mean look at you, fighting only a year after that damn Grimm? None of us have done that before without Jaune standing right behind us. You'll find the right solution Ruby. Just give it time." Ruby looks up and locks her silver eyes with Sage's golden before nodding. Then the entire ship shuddered, and not in a turbulence way.

"Hang on back there! We've got incoming!"

Mother of Invention, Bridge

"Just missed them Sir. We'll get them with the next-" the man's words trail off as large fingers wrap around his windpipe. The black and grey bodysuit telling the soldier all he needed to know.

"Getting them on the next pass won't work. They're Hunters. Prep Subject Sigma for initiation. I want all forces ready for combat." Clawing at the fingers around his neck the soldier tries to get free. "Someone come over here and… dispose… of this."

The snap of bone echoes through the bridge and the six and a half foot tall man's boots clomp off the bridge. Two guards in a black armour with a white snowflake off centre on their chests let out grunts and huffs as they pick up the body and start off the bridge. The grey armoured soldier makes his way through the winding core of the Atlesian Dreadnought Mother of Invention a weapons rack opens and he grabs the rifle off of it as he passes. If the Hunters want a fight, then I'll give them one. The green 'X' on the armor clad super soldier was more than enough to cause a number of people to step away, but for those unlucky few Locust reserved a fate full of pain, something a poor runner found out when he bumped into the mercenary on his way to Project Dust-Lance's main suite.

SDC Bullhead, en route to unidentified Atlesian Warship flying SDC colours

"We're turning back, their flack is too heavy. We'll call for air-" The pilots voice cut through the alarms filling the hold alongside the intermittent flashing red.

"Swing us around and open the bay doors, Miss Rose and I would like to have a word with the owners of this airship," Sage's disembodied voice answered the pilot's attempt to flee. A grumble echoes down the corridor back to Sage and Ruby who were now poised at the right side of the bullhead.

"Hunters are fuckin crazy. Opening bay doors in 3… 2…" Ruby's arm muscles tightened and loosened as her knuckles go white clamped onto the handle next to the unopened door. Sage seemed like a lake of serene peace in the midst of the chaos his massive sword simply hanging on his back while he held a strap from the work of webbing over his head. "... 1… Mark!"

The doors opened and the wind began pulling and grabbing at Ruby and Sage's clothes. Ruby's cloak whips like a geist possessed object flitting from one place to another in seconds, while the edges of Sage's coat are caught being pulled in the same direction then another and so on. The pairs lips curve upwards and Ruby twists her head giving a sly wink to the taller dark skinned man before do a graceful flip out into the hands of the deep azure sky with clouds as white and as fluffy as the snowfalls in Atlas. Sage follows suit, but without a fancy flip or anything else, just straight dives out after Ruby his hair being ruffled by the sudden winds speeding past his face and the rush all but deafening him to anything but the clank and bang of the warship's flak cannons.

Mother of Invention, Main Project Room

"Subject Sigma better be ready, I want it operational then initiate Omega Protocol. We aren't taking chances with the Red Reaper out there." The staff in their pristine white lab coats barely fluttering with the slight amount of air being funnelled into the interior room. Then like a match being struck the words register with the variety of eggheads and the room is thrown to chaos of a sinking ship. Locust's lips twist upwards and he stalks out of the room towards the hangar bay.

Soldiers clad in similar to the old armors worn during the Salem Crisis covered in black with a white Schnee snowflake pass by their hands holding rifles and other various assortment of small arms. Locust just grunts. His steps falter as a door on his right catches his eye, and with a small smile beneath his helmet Locust steps back and enters switching out his rifle.

Mother of Invention, outer hull

The pair of Ironclad soldiers visors are glimmering with red displays, circular targeting sensors flirting across their field of view. Then the sensors stop locking onto two growing black dots. The pair try to raise their rifles only to feel something like a baseball slam into the left one's side. The magnetic locks holding him to the hull groan and there's a pop as his body twists from the sudden impact. The other soldier's rifle come to bear as the outline of the Red Reaper appears in the sky. His finger slides into the trigger guard. The pressure on the trigger builds, then without his own thoughts his trigger finger begins to weaken. His stomach doesn't feel right, and with careful, almost robotic, movements his head lowers to see something red in his stomach. A dark skinned and emerald green haired man was looking up at him with a blade buried in the black armored Ironclad's gut plate. Without hesitation Sage removed the sword and used it to bat the Ironclad away.

Ruby's legs bowed and the dent in the hull were her only indication that she'd landed. Sage levelled a glare, the two heaps of metal on the ground had rapidly crimson pools enlarging beneath their unmoving forms. Ruby squeezed her eyes shut as a single wet line ran from her eyes.

"What a waste…" turning from the scarlet scene Ruby made for a hatch then would take them into the ship, one not unlike she had used years ago. Quiet as a wraith Ruby and Sage dropped into the ship and headed for the bridge, their best bet to end this quickly.

Mother of Invention, hangar

Locust was more than pleased with how quickly the evacuation was going, before long they'd be heading for the secondary site, the data would be wiped and he would start the operation again with almost no setbacks, always a good idea to have a secondary location-

A shudder quakes through the ship shaking bulkheads and causing the deckplate to become seem unstable beneath his feet. Damnit… they made it to the bridge already? The mercenary moved over slamming his fist into an alarm button, and effectively sealing the ship from bow to stern.

"That should slow them down." His visor highlighted the troops and scientists boarding the second to last bullhead. His measured steps brought him to the end of the ramp before the craft could launch and his faceless visor locked with the head scientist, a man with black hair and greying sideburns. "Did you release Sigma?"

The doctor slowly pushed his glasses up revealing deep green eyes. Those emeralds focus on Locust and the mercenary could almost feel his skin crawl underneath the body suit under the man's piercing gaze.

"Yes Locust, Subject Sigma is completely prepared and has been released at your authority, we've collected our data sent the transmission and deleted the current backups, as far as anyone is concerned this place never did anything." The mercenary cocks his head slightly to the side, then like a animal watching where they step Locust pulls his foot off the ramp and allows the bullhead to retract its ramp.

"I hope there aren't any issues with your work Doctor, I would hate to have to come looking for you outside of the office…" Locust lets words hang as the ramp whines, the darkened compartment slowly losing view of his HUD before the downturn of the doctor's lips catches Locust's eyes. The deckplates shuddered as the thrum of the bullhead's engines resonated up Locust's legs and into his chest.

Mother of Invention, Bridge

Ruby's silver eyes scanned the bridge carefully, they'd thought they'd be entering into a free fire zone, however most of the people they'd come across were little more than bloody stains and forgotten bodies at this point. Life must be protected… That was Ruby's job, and from the looks of it she wasn't up to snuff at the moment. Walking over and placing her Scroll on the control panel the cool blue of the screens is quickly lit up by green flashes as the security is overrun by her SDC CEO codes. Sage off to her right kneels, running a hand over the closest body. He hesitates as his hand halts over the slight warmth he could feel contained within the blood.

"This was recent Rubes… whatever did this couldn't have gotten far." Ruby taps a button on her Scroll and looks over at Sage, her eyebrows pulling tightly together.

"Then let's find it."

Mother of Invention, Datacore

"We need to move faster, Locust won't wait for us if we're late." The voice's slightly odd layered effect reaching the ears of the man currently pulling his fist back. The fist halts at the words, almost as if stuck and the man responds with a humming like growl. "You may not care but I-"

The words were cut off by the groan of metal and vicious sparking of circuits as the man's armored hand collided with the plate in front of him. "Honestly I'm starting to wonder why I even bother." The clip of metal begins to ring out as the man draws back his fist again.

"This way," A male voice echos towards the man.

"How do you know?" a woman's voice joins, the clanking of metal on the deckplates getting louder alongside their voices, however there were no metallic hints to either of the voices.

"The blood splatters, they show someone going this way, plus the pockmarks of small arms are all facing the same direction. Whatever did this was coming this way, and given that the data cores on these old Atlesian models are this way…" The man turned as he realised he'd been discovered, a rising growl was cut off as his jaws tightened and he grabbed the weapon on his left that was leaning against the wall. Contorted panel left hanging by a swingle bolt sways slightly as the ship begins to angle downwards at a slow speed, almost imperceptible to the man. A hiss resounds in the hallway and he steps out, his right hand holds the circular handle and trigger to his weapon. The short barrel of the grenade launcher has bayonet like blade beneath it, while the rest of the weapon was reminiscent of Ruby's own scythe with a crescent blade traversing most of the bottom half the weapon. It shimmered, noticing the two humans, like a Grimm hungry for blood, and the man's golden faceplate presenting almost nothing to the two hunters.

Ruby's eyes widen before tightening and Crescent Rose clicks and whirs into a proper weapon. Sage on her right draws his sword off his back. The creature before them appears to be wearing a slimmed down Ironclad armor system. Its white finish was marred by blood splattered over the chestplate and decorating the man's fists. His helmet was the main difference, with it's white siding and primary golden faceplate that was passive despite the crimson liquid running like a gash from left to right on it. The shoulders of the creature shifted ever so slightly before the weapon rises and a heavy thoomp resonates through the bodies of everyone still breathing. Sage pulled his sword forward catching the round on the flat of his blade. The sword was flung to one side. Sage slid across the floor, his feet catching on a corpse and knocking him over. Ruby rushed forward, Crescent Rose's blade singing behind her before a shriek of metal biting into metal reached Ruby's ears. Her eyes dart upwards were her sweetheart's blade is caught in the ceiling of the hallway. Her head shot back down, eyes wide as a blade slammed into her hastily raised aura.

Ruby hissed as she slid across the deckplates her gut groaning at her. He hits like a train… Rushing forward, pouring aura into her semblance Ruby all but teleported around the man her metal leg coming down and striking his shoulder. The only response was a grunt as the man fell to his knees. Ruby's upturned lips the smirk growing on face slipping away as the man pushed off his knee and tossed the young woman away. Ruby focused aura into her hand and dug it into the deckplate to slow her slide. Some of her locks fell in front of her face as a few beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Ruby's eyes narrowed and blew the hair out of her face before channeling her pool of aura into her semblance. The response is instant as she teleports, an afterimage of rose petals appearing around her as she used Velvet's training to kick out at the man with every ounce of strength the metal apendages contained. A flurry of strikes. The man pulling his arms to cover his face. Clank! Clank! A slam of power shudders her leg and his forearm. Ruby's eyes flit to his neck and another flurry of rose petals appeared. Her leg swung and caught the man in the back of his unarmored neck.

A growl like a Beowolf answered Ruby's strike as the man slammed into the ground. Ruby jumped back grabbing the haft of Crescent Rose and squeezing the trigger. The weapon's blade rockets down to catch the man. Clang! The man's own weapon is raised, and with one hand he holds it against Ruby's power. Pushing her away. Ruby spins, teetering on her ankle. Her focus finds the weapon, the barrel aimed at her. Fire consumes the young Rose as her aura pulses to protect her and she is thrown away. Crescent Rose slides across the ground and Ruby's eyes flutter closed.

Sage forces himself to his knees and grabs his sword. The Ironclad looks at him, the ship finally began to pick up speed and the Ironclad twists, running away. Sage stabs his blade into the deck plating as the ship tilts back towards the bow. The man reaches a turn and turns back raising his weapon and aiming at Sage. Ruby's unconscious body begins to slide heading back the way she and Sage had come. The dark skinned man jumped. The ship reached a sixty degree angle and the man was forced to abandon his shot. Sage's hand caught Ruby's wrist, the young woman's eye cracking open to catch her weapon as the ship teetered towards ninety degrees.

"Hold on Sage!" Shouts the younger woman. Suddenly a greenish white and red blur sped downwards.

Mother of Invention, Escape Pod Room 1

The man grunts and flips a switch and clambers in. The pod's viewscreen is nearly covered in a fiery rush of air. With a few flips of switches and and a few button strikes and the man's hand hovers over a red switch.

"Do it." The hand slams down. A crash resounds and the pods across the entire ship blast out of their housings.

Mother of Invention, Bridge

Ruby grabs her Scroll and then slams her fists onto the holographic keyboard, the indicators flashing a scarlet red on the ice blue screen in front of her.

"I hope Shade Academy taught you a landing strategy, because we're jumping." Ruby spins on her heel catching Sage's hand and pulling him after her. Ruby pulses her semblance to flit them around the ship and to the nearest outer hatch. Her chest heaves as Sage pushes the hatch open. The wind barrels in bombarding them like bullets and grenades before, they're dragged out of the ship and flung to the mercy of gravity.

Ruby spins Crescent Rose out and begins firing at an angle to stop her spin, to her left Sage has also stopped spinning, but the ground is fast approaching as the pair see the island coming into view. Ruby fires off two rounds and catches Sage. The wind is pulling at their clothes throwing their hair in different directions and pulling at their bodies. Ruby's cloak billows in the wind behind them and she quickly begins tying the edges to her beloved Crescent Rose.

"Hold on Sage!" Ruby shouts, Sage's knuckles go white as he clamps down onto Crescent Rose before the two are suddenly jerked backwards as Ruby's cloak becomes a parachute. At the last second Ruby pulses the last of her Aura into her semblance and the pair land perfectly on their feet, as if they'd only jumped from a small step. The two Hunters lock eyes with the crashing ship as Sage pulls out his Scroll.

"We're gonna need a lift…"

A/N:

Hey so I am really sorry I know its been almost a year since I last updated this story, but I kinda got caught with writer's block on this little short… which ended up clocking roughly 3,300 words and just over seven pages. I hope you all get the referecne and trust me I'm not just throwing Locust in there alone or without reason. I've made these parallels for good plot reasons and because I thought it was important to remember the company and man who helped make both of these shows and their animations. With any luck as soon as midterms are over I'll have the other two shorts out and will be ready to start work on Chapter II. Thank you all for waiting so long for me to get my shit together and I sincerely hope you enjoy this, and for those questioning my decisions in some of the last short arcs I'm doing this because I'm towards some of Dishwasher's other art and I thought it would be a good way to do it, so it won't be staying too long. Anyways I hope you've had a good break but I'm ready to continue and am hopefully going to at least get through chapter 2 before I need another hiatus.

-Six out