Yang was walking from the dorm and saw Velvet approaching in the hallway. "Sup, Velvs?"
"Just picking Ruby up. We're heading out to the arcade for a little bit." Velvet answered.
"You guys really like that place, huh? I should have never thought I could beat at Ruby anything in there." Yang responded.
"You should have checked the leaderboards. Hey, Yang." The rabbit girl looked to her friend with concern. "Are you doing okay?"
The blonde's face fell. "I'm… Velvet, you don't believe I just broke his leg like that, right?"
"Of course not." Velvet told her, "You may be a bit of a brute, but you're not brutal. Not without cause. I know what I saw, but I also know there are all kinds of powers and abilities in this world. One can't always trust their eyes. Ruby believes you, and she knows you much better than I do. Even Weiss agrees it isn't like you, and you two aren't even that fond of each other."
Yang smiled. "Thanks Velv. We're cool, right?" Velvet nodded, and the two girls parted ways.
Velvet had permission to enter RWBY dorm on her scroll, curtesy of Ruby, and was able to let herself in. Velvet was immediately greeted by a red blur wrapping herself around the faunus. "Ruby, how did you even know it was me?" She asked her girlfriend with a laugh.
"You're the only person I was expecting." Ruby answered as she let go.
"And if it was someone else? You would have just hugged a random person?" Velvet pressed.
"That, uh… actually happened once. It was awkward…" Ruby said.
"Ruby!" Velvet crossed her arms.
"No, it was a long time ago, we weren't together!" Ruby recovered quickly. "It was back on Patch. I thought it was going to be my mom, but it turned out to be the guy telling us… Well…" Ruby suddenly seemed really sad.
"That she wasn't coming back?" Velvet asked cautiously. Ruby nodded and Velvet pulled her into a hug. "Let's get to the arcade, love." The young leader nodded again and the pair headed into Vale. Ruby had cheered back up by the time they made it to the arcade. The girls found themselves thinking about nothing other than their respective dates.
Ruby had always assumed Velvet was a quiet book-y type. When she learned they shared their Weapon Engineering class, she was strangely happy to see the faunus had an excitable side. Velvet found she was always smiling as Ruby fawned over various weapons. Soon enough, the faunus let the young girl know what her own weapon was. A weapon that can be every weapon in the world! That is sooooo cool! Ruby had said.
The next few days were spent with questions about how Velvet's weapon worked. Velvet was happy to answer questions about her weapon, and Ruby was happy to see a new, energetic side to her latest friend. After Ruby had learned everything about Velvet's weapon, she didn't stop sitting and talking with the girl. She wanted to see what else brought out this excited side that made her smile so much to see. What confused Ruby was that the faunus girl seemed to always be super excited whenever they talked about anything at all, even things that Ruby knew the girl was usually timid about.
For weeks, Ruby just couldn't figure it out, until Velvet had come to her out of class one day and asked Ruby on a date. Everything clicked into place. She was what was making Velvet so happy and energetic. Ruby also realized there could only be one answer to the question at hand. In her commotions, she had overlooked her own developing feelings. Now that Ruby was aware, the only thing left to figure out was why Velvet ran when Ruby said yes.
"I said I was sorry! I had to tell Blake, I was really happy!" Velvet told her girlfriend as they left the arcade. At some point they began reminiscing out loud and between each other.
"I'm happy I make you happy." Ruby replied. Velvet smiled at the response. "Uh oh!" Ruby checked her scroll. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss the next fight! Who's left, anyway?" Velvet responded with names, but the only two Ruby recognized were Pyrrha and Penny. As they rushed through the streets, something made Ruby stop short.
"What is it?" Velvet asked, turning back.
"That girl." Ruby pointed at a strangely colored girl who looked as though she was attempted to walk quietly into a restricted area. "She's one of Torchwick's goons! The one that stopped us after the mech, and beat up Yang on the train!"
"You realize you lead a very event filled life for a first year Beacon student." Velvet observed, having heard of team RWBY's misadventures from her girlfriend.
"Care to join me on this one? She can't be up to any good." Ruby asked, pulling out Crescent Rose.
"If you get yourself hurt, you won't hear the end of it." Velvet answered by readying her own weapon.
"Right back at'cha, girlfriend."
They followed the strange girl at speed, and she noticed the huntress's approach. She did not expect to be seen here, and was now being run down by two huntresses. One with a huge scythe, the other had a holographic fake of the same scythe in her hand. Neo soon found herself at a standstill with these two. She could dodge their attacks easily enough, but the red one was too fast to counter, and the faunus kept changing her weapons and fighting style.
Neo was quickly becoming worried. If she couldn't end this fight or find a way to run from it soon, the entire plan would be shot. Even with the White Fang and the high possibility of a Grimm attack, the Atlesian Knights turning on Beacon was a vital piece. They were interrupted by a large disturbance from the fight. All three girls' attentions turned to the screen. "Penny…" Ruby fell to her knees as she saw her android friend in pieces.
Neo took the opportunity to run. Perhaps, if she was fast… nope, the nevermores were already coming. With the Grimm, Ironwood's ship would be on lockdown. She was supposed to already be on board for before now to get Torchwick. His many lessons told her exactly what to do. Run and survive. She ran like hell, blending in with the mass of civilians fleeing into the city, and hopefully to safety. She promised herself she would find a way to get Torchwick later, even if Cinder lost this day and her war was over. There was still plenty they could do together, profits to be made.
Meanwhile, the girls she left behind were beginning to react to their situation. "Ruby!" Velvet shook her girlfriend out of her stupor. "There's White Fang and Grimm on campus! Now are you a huntress or not! Fight first, live to grieve later. Okay, love?"
"You're right." Ruby sniffed. "Gotta call Yang." She dialed her sister on her scroll.
"Hey, Rubes, where you at?" Yang answered.
"On the grounds. We gotta regroup, where are you?" Ruby asked.
"Looking for Blake. She's not answering her scroll. I'm by the cafeterias, meet me."
Reaper's rage had calmed after seeing Winter go through the window. "Neo, I'm safe." The color coded criminal shimmered into existence next a cell in the brig. By the time Reaper joined her by it, the door was already open, and Torchwick stepped into freedom.
"Well, this is certainly a surprise, Red." Torchwick said. "That was an impressive bit of fighting." Roman's eyes panned to the window Winter leapt through. "If you fought me like that I might not be here for you to rescue. I suppose I should be thankful."
"Thank Neo." The scythe master told him. "She's the one who convinced me not to gut the both of you." Torchwick looked to his old partner, who only smiled knowingly.
"She certainly appears calm around you. I guess that means you're okay, Red. What's the next step?" Torchwick asked, "I'd love to blow up this ship."
"If the blaring alarms weren't a dead giveaway, we don't have the time for that." Reaper sounded irritated. "We just gotta use the program on your scroll to hijack a fast fighter, and run like hell."
"Not blowing up the ship?" Roman looked to Neo, who gave him a series of gestures Reaper couldn't dechiper. "If I were a betting man, I might say Cinder really is finished."
"I find it hard to believe you don't gamble." Reaper told him.
"I play cards, darling, but I don't gamble." Torchwick responded with a smirk.
"Lie, cheat, steal, and survive, right?" Reaper replied.
"Oh, Neo's been teaching you well I see. I'm starting to think a partnership might just work out." Torchwick smiled cunningly. "So, Cinder is gone. I wasn't sure I should have trusted that news when they told me. Guess we picked the wrong side that time. Glad I'm still alive to try again."
"And whose side are you picking this time?" Reaper asked.
"My own." Roman said. "Even without world changing crime to do, we can have plenty of fun and make a pretty penny in the process. There's a whole criminal underworld, Red."
"Ruby?" a familiar voice spoke from another of the cells they passed. Reaper turned slowly and saw a head of ruffled silver hair through the window.
"Mercury…" She growled, eyes tinging red. She stalked up to his cell. Roman watched the scene out of lethargic curiosity, though Neo found she had a great interest is seeing how 'Reaper' handled the unfolding situation. Mercury smirked as she approached.
"Freeing Torchwick and not us? I'm hurt." Mercury chided.
"Mercury, shut up!" Emerald's scared voice came from behind Reaper.
"I'm surprised you're here, Ruby." Mercury ignored his partner in the cell across. "Mind letting me out too?"
Reaper brought Crescent Rose up in sniper mode, pressing the barrel flush with the glass to Mercury's cell window, pointed between his eyes. "Neo and Torchwick did it for the money, to survive. Bur you followed her ideals. You. Followed. Cinder." Her red eyes brightened.
"Mercury!" Emerald called from her cell.
"It's fine, Em," he called back, "she's still too much of a goody two-shoes to pull the tri-" BANG!
Blood spotted the back of Mercury's cell, as the owner's lifeless form slid to the floor. Torchwick raised an eyebrow in surprise, Neo gave a large smile and Emerald screamed. Reaper turned to face the other cell, and its occupant.
"Your eyes. Mercury… What the hell happened to you, Ruby?" Emerald's fear was evident in her voice.
"That's not my name." Reaper told her, bringing up the rifle once more. She fired through the glass and Emerald fell, but no blood appeared on the back wall of the cramped chamber. There was the chance she raised her aura in time, and had enough of it to absorb the damage. If that was the case, she couldn't have much left, if any at all.
Reaper extended her weapon to the full scythe mode, ready to counter an attack as she opened Emerald's cell. What she saw was the girl unconscious and intact on the cell floor. The scythe master grabbed the dark-skinned girl's neck and threw her out of the cell, into the middle of the room. As Reaper raised her blade, Emerald blinked awake. Seeing the flash of silver like a guillotine, she attempted to raise her aura again.
Either she was too late, or she didn't have enough. Crescent Rose's blade stuck into the floor and Reaper watched Emeralds head bounce away, independent of her body. The scythe girl pulled back her weapon and walked to the main door of the brig. "I think I'll keep Reaper, actually." She told Neo. "It fits."
"Reaper…" Torchwick tested the name on his tounge. "So it does. Remind me not to piss you off."
The criminal group heard the sound of approaching military robots. "Great…" Reaper cursed herself. She got gotten distracted, and wasted time. Her anger, though directed at herself, called forth the Red Haze. "If you don't want to get killed, then get back and stay out of my way!" Reaper barked at her companions. She let the last bit of sanity go and flung herself at the robots, slowly clearing a path to the hanger.
Torchwick watched the girl work. She's strong and willing to work with him the same way he and Neo work together. She could certainly be an asset, help him get back on his feet. He just hoped this decision wouldn't bite him in the ass, like the last one almost did. He and Neo were slightly delayed by destroying the surveillance tapes, but arrived in the hanger to see a calm Reaper and a craft to escape in.
Velvet sat at the breakfast table the next morning, waiting for her friends. She wouldn't be able to smile until her friends showed up and distracted her from her thoughts. Three months, and Ruby's desertion hurt just as much now as the first day she realized the young girl had run away. All Velvet wanted to do was find the girl, hold her close, and never let her go again. But to do that, she would need a place to start looking, and she had none.
She recalled Ruby asking to spend the night with Velvet the night she vanished. Not sex, just sleeping, she had clarified. Velvet was still unsure, and turned her down politely. At the time she had thought Ruby took the refusal surprisingly well, as she seemed eager. Then her girlfriend was gone by morning. Was she already planning to run? Could I have changed her mind? Or did I unwittingly push her away?
Eventually Team CFVY and the remnants of RWBY joined her at the breakfast table. Soon after CFVY invited themselves to sit with the first years, it became a regular thing. Even now, after everything, it was a tradition neither wanted to give up. Conversation became the normal morning things, and provided the needed distraction. Everything was calm until Weiss checked the newsfeed on her scroll.
Her eyes became panicked after reading the main article. She quickly switched her scroll to the contacts page and hit a number. It rang. And it rang, and it rang… "Pick up, dammit!" Weiss eventually cursed. She hung up and called again, only letting it ring twice before ended that call and dialing a different number. After three rings, this one picked up. "Father! Father, I just read the news, it's not… no…"
The rest of the group quickly retrieved their own scrolls and checked the news. 'Ironwood's flagship attacked late last night by unknown assailants. Two prisoners executed, a third freed, and an officer resting in a coma. Click here for the full story.' The 'full story' didn't give much detail, as the Atlas military refused to release any. An unnamed prisoner was freed, and the two other unnamed prisoners were obviously executed by the intruders, given their state of death (which remained unclear to the reporter).
They also refused to release the name of the comatose officer. Though given Weiss's reaction, they could assume who. Someone she knew, who worked closely with Ironwood and would likely be assigned to his flagship. Someone who was close to Weiss personally. "Winter…" the heiress grieved, her head landing in her crossed arms on the table.
Blake wrapped a comforting arm around her girlfriend. Winter was one of the few people who was consistently kind in any way, shape, or form in Weiss's early life. The cat faunus knew what the heiress's sister meant to her. It seems our year of tragedy isn't over just yet, and it's my turn in the barrel. Weiss lamented.
