"Oh my god, you two are so cute together!" Yang yelled out.
"As you are constantly reminding us, Yang." Velvet responded.
Ruby and Velvet had been dating for about two months now, and the pair couldn't be happier. One of the things they did was alternate between spending lunch with Ruby's team and spending lunch with Velvet's team. Velvet cherished talking to Blake, and Weiss was actually pretty cool for a Schnee. Yang, however, she could do without. But she had to learn, she couldn't kick her girlfriend's sister out of their lives.
That's right, Ruby Rose is my girlfriend. The thought never failed to bring a smile to Velvet's face. "Whatcha smiling about? I thought you hated Yang's jokes." The young leader asked the rabbit faunus.
"I'll learn to live with them, if it means I get to stay with you" she replied.
"How are you still so mushy after two months?" Ruby asked, turning bright red.
"If you keep with the cute blush, I'll keep with the cheesy lines." Velvet answered.
"Dear lord, we've created a monster." Weiss cut in. "To think I believed you would be the quiet one out of you two."
"Hey girls." Coco spoke up from behind them.
"Coco? Yatsu, Fox?" What are you guys doing?" Velvet asked her leader.
"You spend half your time with these guys these days. I figured it was time we got to know them." Coco answered. The two teams were now sitting together, and began to mingle. It was actually going along well. Coco found it was easy to talk fashion with Weiss, Yang asked Yatsuhashi about strength training and the two soon sounded like old workout buddies. Blake and Fox just kinda stared at each other, but they did so with smiles.
"Hey, Velvs, we gotta go soon." Coco told Velvet near the end of the lunch period.
"Go where?" Ruby asked her girlfriend.
"We have a mission." Velvet answered slowly.
"A mission? Right now? Veeeelvet, why didn't you tell me before?" Ruby pouted.
"I didn't want you to spend all of lunch worrying about me when I hadn't even left yet." Velvet told her. The last time Ruby was a nervous wreck, and spent all of lunch making sure her girlfriend was okay and had everything she needed and whatnot. It was cute to see her so concerned, but still not something Velvet would want in favor of their normal lunch days.
"How long will you be gone?" the younger girl continued questioning.
"It should only take us a week." Velvet said.
"So it'll probably take us two." Coco added.
"I have class, I can't go see you off." Ruby informed her girlfriend. Velvet hugged her close in response.
"I'll miss you too." Velvet stated.
"Be safe and kick butt!" Ruby said with a smile. Velvet smiled back and walked off with her team. Before CFVY got too far, Ruby added, "Don't forget the stuff I taught you if you have to use Crescent Rose!" with a yell.
Velvet smiled and shouted back "I won't! I'll see you soon!"
Team RWBY turned and headed the other direction for their class. Ruby smile fell quickly. "Two weeks…"
"She said it should only take one." Yang reminded her sister.
"That's still one week too long. I didn't even have time to mentally prepare for her being gone." Ruby bemoaned, looking back over her shoulder as if Velvet was still there behind them.
"She'll be fine, you know she's strong." Yang told her. "Cheer up sis. She wouldn't want you depressed the whole time she's gone. Wanna go to the Arcade later?"
Ruby put a small smile on her face. "You're right. I'm soo gunna whup your butt in the Arcade."
Yang smiled in success. "So you think!"
"She came home complaining about how Ruby, in fact, did 'whup her butt' in every game." Weiss smiled. She, Blake, and Velvet were out on the picnic they had talked about, enjoying the good weather. Taiyang couldn't come because of work.
"Ruby and my names used to be in the top two spots of the high score boards of every machine. I wonder if they still are." Velvet spoke up, thinking about the many dates that took place there.
"Yang definitely picked the wrong battlefield. But she had cheered Ruby up, and that's what was important to her." Blake said.
Velvet smiled. Yang was a good sister, and Ruby had good friends. That mission had in fact taken two weeks, and she expected Ruby to be clingier than normal upon her return. But Yang had kept her mood up the whole time. That day was the start of a more positive relationship between her and the blonde brawler.
The rabbit faunus looked up at Weiss and Blake. "Thank you both for letting me come. Not just the trip, but here too. You could have used it as a date."
"We weren't going to leave you behind." Blake assured her. "You probably need this more than us. I imagine you're hurting a bit more than we are at the moment…" Ruby leaving was indeed a new source of grief for her friends and team mates. But Velvet loved the girl. In a way, it was almost worse that she wasn't dead. At least then, they would know what happened. But all anyone knew was that Ruby was somewhere, but where? They had searched for a month before realizing the girl left no trace.
"We have to pack up soon if we want to make our flight back." Weiss informed them, trying to steer away from the uncomfortable silence. Out of all of them, she was the closest to moving on. Yang had been dead for a year, after all, and Ruby's leaving only made her angry at the young leader. All she wanted to do was pick up the pieces. All she wanted was to make Blake's nightmares stop…
Despite Velvet being closer to Ruby, Blake was the farthest from moving on. It's almost as if she refused to let herself do so. It wouldn't surprise Weiss, however, if that were the case. Everything about her girlfriend got a lot more complicated when Adam was involved, and it was his blade that dealt the fatal blow to Yang. Blake took a share of blame by not stopping Adam all those years ago. Now Ruby was gone too, and it broke her nearly as much as it broke Taiyang…
Torchwick was still in Ironwood's care, locked on his flagship that was currently hovering over Atlas. Neo had planned to free him during the attack on Beacon, but Ruby and Velvet happened to stumble across her while on a date. Neo had to run, and Cinder and the White Fang were defeated without the help of the Atlesian Knights Torchwick was planning to reprogram. And now Neo was here, about to free him so they could do what they do best. Lie, cheat, steal, and survive. And better yet, Ruby was here to help her.
Not Ruby, Reaper, Neo reminded herself. If she wanted to keep her new ally, she would have to comply with whatever wishes helped the girl cope. Reaper was currently reading the novel sized text message from the black scroll explaining Neo's plan. "You were really banking on me saying yes. What if I had said no?"
'I knew you would say yes.' Neo confidently responded.
"Because I'm a survivor?" Reaper asked. Neo nodded, happy to forgo typing whenever possible. "My temper's not what it used to be." Neo nodded again, making it plain she knew already. She had factored that into her plan. "When I fly off the handle, you might not be safe." This time Neo was shocked. A questioning glance was sent Reaper's way. "I haven't forgotten your and Torchwick's part in what happened. I can't exactly control myself when my anger gets out of control. You may become targets again during the Red Haze."
Great, I probably should have realized that. Too late now. Neo cursed herself for the temporary shortsightedness. At least seeing us won't trigger this 'Red Haze' anymore. The airship they were on came to a stop. They quickly departed before anyone could realize they didn't actually have tickets for the ride they just snuck onto. Reaper felt the bite of the cold and took a look around. This was the first time she had ever been to Atlas. In another life, she may have come here with Weiss to visit the heiress's family. That life was gone now. Freeing Torchwick would be the final nail in that coffin.
Reaper followed Neo's lead through the streets. The first part of the plan was to steal a private craft to make a run at the flagship. There was no way to approach the military craft quietly without weeks of preparation, and even then the plan would only have a small chance of succeeding. So Neo elected to raid the ship instead, but she wasn't good at fighting groups, even if they were aura-less androids.
Luckily, she heard rumors of a being that fought like a demon appearing in the more decrepit parts of Vale. After finding Reaper and watching her for some time, she knew she had found what she needed. It hadn't even taken much to convince the girl to follow, and Neo didn't even have to lie to do it. Reaper was certainly a survivor, and a strong one. She didn't know what happened to Ruby to cause that transformation, and she wasn't likely to learn. She got the impression that talking about Reaper's past wasn't the best idea if Neo wanted to keep her around.
The private airship yard appeared past the next corner. "We should stay away from any ship with a Schnee logo. I don't want my description somehow making it to Beacon because of my old partner." Reaper told Neo. She nodded in acknowledgment. Neo was fully aware that the Schnee heiress was Ruby's partner in school. It would certainly make criminal work problematic if the Academy caught wind of her location and decided to try track her down.
'It would be foolish to think we could keep quiet forever.' Neo texted to Reaper's black scroll.
"Doesn't mean we have to help the news break any faster." Reaper rationalized. Neo nodded in agreement. Schnee craft were off limits.
They walked up to the security booth at the entrance. The guard looked over the strange pair. "What are you two doing here?" He asked them. Neither girl answered. The pink one just smirked and stared at him. The red one seemed unnaturally still. He was about to ask his question again when a hand seized the back of his hair and smashed his head into his console, knocking him out cold. Reaper let go of the guard's hair and watched the copy of herself dissolve beside Neo.
Reaper had been on the other side of that particular trick once before, and knew its effectiveness. The guard never stood a chance. With that, the criminal pair dashed across the yard on the lookout for the ship they wanted. They had to pass up a perfect craft because of the glaring Schnee logo on its side. Neo spotted another candidate and motioned for Reaper to follow her to it. Halfway there, they were cut off by more guards, and a few of the robot Knights. One of the guards was bleeding from his forehead.
"Guess I didn't hit him hard enough." Reaper thought out loud.
"Where's your partner!?" the guard in question shouted. Reaper and Neo traded looks. He had no idea what had actually happened. With a smile, Neo fired up her semblance once more. Since they were semi-physical copies and not images plastered on their opponents eyes, Neo could even fool the androids. The guards approached the copies, intent on arresting the pair. When the craft turned on behind them, the illusions shattered.
They turned to fire on the ship, but the head of one of the Knights being shot off made them hesitate. Neo took the pilot's seat while Reaper hung out the back with Crescent Rose trained on the ground force. If it came down to it, she would only disarm the people. But they don't need to know that. Reaper thought, putting another warning shot through another androids head to show off her accuracy. The intimidation worked, the guards lowered their weapons. They weren't going to die over some rich person's insured airship.
Reaper let out a held breath. Next they had to make it to Ironwood's ship. The plan didn't necessitate the stolen ship being in one piece, but they had to at least make it to the military craft. "You sure you can make the approach?" Neo looked over and rolled her eyes as if to say 'of course I can.' Reaper settled into the co-pilots seat for the rest of their short flight.
Ironwood's flagship was calm, quiet. Only a few living personnel were onboard, the craft mostly manned by android units. Then the alarms rang out, the klaxon lights drenching the white hallways in red. The Knights were moving to their programmed defensive positions when one the hallways exploded, a small personal craft grinding inside through the fresh hole it had caused. The two girls climbed out, no worse for wear. They had flared their auras at the last second before impact, letting it take the hit instead of them. Neo wasn't going to be fighting anyway, and Reaper had plenty of reserve.
Neo tossed Reaper a short knife. "You sure this thing will work?" Reaper asked, putting the knife through the back of her belt for now. Neo nodded. "It better." They ran through the halls, heading for the brig. Neo knew where it was from the planning the first breakout, the one Ruby and Velvet forced her to cancel.
They met little resistance until they stepped through the brig's doors, and met dozens of knights and one human girl on the other side. Crap. Reaper had met her before. Weiss's sister, Winter.
"I had assumed there would be only one reason to raid this ship," Winter stated. "Jailbreak. Wait… Aren't you…" Winter started to recognize the red girl.
"Neo, stay back." Reaper told her ally. Neo allowed herself to fade into the shadows, illusioning herself from the red girl's sight as an added precaution. Reaper pulled the knife out and held it tight. Now or never. Just do it. Do it! DO IT! Reaper brought the knife in and buried it into her right shoulder. She gritted her teeth and focused on the pain, allowing it to draw the Red Haze. Her sanity began slipping, and her silver eyes turned into a bright red. She eyed the androids with only one thought in her mind. To rip apart these fucking machines. And that's just what she did.
Winter felt her back slam into a nearby console after being launched across the room. This can't be Ruby. How can this be Ruby? From what little Winter knew of the girl, she was far from the criminal type. And not nearly this strong either. After stabbing herself, this red terror had thrown herself at the Knights, and all but ground them to dust. Winter moved in to take her down, remembering Weiss mention Ruby wasn't the best as fighting people.
And while Winter certainly seemed to be landing more hits, they barely fazed this girl. Meanwhile, the girl that looked like Ruby kept getting stronger and stronger, and angrier too. I thought turning someone's strength back onto them was her sister's semblance… The red eyes, the amazing speed, the overwhelming power… Winter had to admit, she was scared shitless. There was only one thing she could do… retreat as if her life depended on it, because it certainly looked like it truly did.
She used her summoning glyph to send a white beowolf at Reaper. The weak construct was easily wiped from existence, but it had served its purpose. Winter used the distraction to jump backwards and smash through the windows. She allowed herself to fall far away from the ship before slowing her descent with her glyphs. If that really was Ruby, that scythe had a sniper function. Winter really didn't want to learn firsthand.
Finally making it to the ground safely, she could no longer hold back the darkness. Reaper had made considerable work of her, and using the glyphs to save her life took what little energy she had left. Closing her eyes, her brain forced her into unconsciousness. But at least she was alive.
