Breaking news: Ravager and Little Red have cornered the mysterious woman in black on a rooftop. The woman seems to have a weapon drawn, and It looks like they're . . . talking to her. More news as it breaks, this is Lisa Lavender for the Vale News Network, signing off.
I hope Yang doesn't do anything hasty. The last thing we need is for this girl to attack.
"Who are you? And why did you kill Torchwick?" Yang asked, cocking her gauntlets. "I want answers!"
It was too dark to see, but Ruby could've sworn that she saw the girl smile. "Starlet! Look out!" She yelled, reaching forward. But before she could do anything, a sucker punch to the jaw threw her sideways. Dark spots formed in her vision, and she lay sprawled on the ground.
Ouch. I haven't been hit like that in two years. How? Where did that come from?
Ruby lifted her head, just in time, to see Yang being flipped and slammed onto the pavement. Whoever this girl was, she was strong.
Ruby got to her feet and put her hands up defensively. "Look we can-" she started, a scream cutting her off.
"Fight me!" Yang yelled. A crown of flames danced around her head, which wasn't a good thing. An angry Yang was an uncontrollable Yang.
"Much obliged," the girl answered, five of her seemingly appearing out of the shadows.
Yang was taken aback, but stood her ground. She'd taken worse odds and walked away.
"Starlet!" Ruby called out, unsheathing and opening her scythe. "Let me help."
"No!" Yang looked down at her younger sister, her eyes blood red and more angry than Ruby had ever seen. "This one's mine."
The tone in Yang's voice scared Ruby. She stood with her weapon at the ready, but nodded stiffly, knowing better than to try to stop her sister when she got like this.
Yang leapt into the air, spinning and firing Ember Celica in a circle at every girl. Then, she fired one shell at the ground to keep her in the air, using that momentum to propel herself forward into the shadows.
There's nothing there. Is she seeing something that I'm not?
Ruby's question was answered rather quickly, as the girl somersaulted out of the darkness. She had that same smile on her face, by something else too. Respect?
"I'm impressed, few have been able to see through that trick," she collapsed her sword into a gun, and aimed it.
Without thinking, Ruby used her semblance to get between Yang and the bullet. She drew her cloak up and braced for the hit, falling back when it struck her. Fortunately, since leaving Vale, Ruby had made some upgrades to her outfit, adding a layer of Kevlar thin enough so that she could still use it as a parachute.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled, her temper and crown of flames flaring up immensely. "I'll kill you!"
"Her name's Ruby, is it?" The girl asked, lunging towards Yang with her sword extended.
Yang met the attack head on, grabbing the girl's sword with her bare hands. She ripped it away, throwing it as far as she could, but inexplicably, the weapon flew back into the girl's hand. She beckoned to Yang with her index finger in a 'come hither' motion.
That may as well have been the last straw in Yang's temper. She threw caution to the wind, and ran forward, leaving a trail of flames in her wake. With all of her strength, she threw a hook with her right hand.
It seemed like the girl anticipated it, putting up her hand, and intercepting the punch. She stepped out of the way, and bent Yang's arm until she knelt down.
"You bitch! Let go of me!" Yang yelled, trying as hard as she could to get out in vain.
"Are you going to stop pursuing me?" The girl responded calmly.
"What? You killed my sister!"
"Hmm. Then it seems I have no choice. I'm sorry."
She twisted Yang's arm, and twisted it, dropping her elbow down on the joint with her full force.
That was when Ruby dashed in, grabbing her sister from the girl's clutches. She ran as fast as she could, not stopping until they were safely inside the Dragon's Den. Yang's bike would still be where she parked it in the morning.
She moved everything off of one of the least dusty tables that she could find, and placed Yang on it.
"Thanks, Rubes," she seemed calm, despite the fact that her right arm hung limply at her side. "She was . . . stronger than she looked. And for the record, I didn't ask for your help."
"Well, you were all over the place in that fight. And what, I was supposed to just watch you get killed?"
"I could've taken her!"
"Yeah, you were doing a great job from where I was standing."
Yang huffed. "What about you? You took a bullet!"
"Yes, I did because you. Weren't paying attention."
"Gee, thanks for the lecture, dad."
Ruby was at a loss for words. She didn't understand where this was coming from. What was Yang really angry about?
"Anyway," Ruby said, trying to move passed that - whatever it was. "Let me take a look at your arm; I learned a thing or two in Mistral."
"No, I think I'd better do it," Yang replied, turning away. She shrugged off her jacket, revealing a silver metal coating on her arm.
Wait, that's not right. It's not a metal coat, it is her arm. What happened to her?
"Rubes, could you hand me that wrench?" She pointed to a toolbox on the supercomputer's keyboard.
"Wh - Why didn't you tell me about this?" Ruby whispered, horrified.
Yang shook her head like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you kidding me?" She shook with a quiet rage, angry. That Ruby could tell, but she felt as if the anger wasn't directed at her. Yang was just angry. "Dad dies and you just left. You left, Ruby. And you never even contacted me! So tell me: where do you get off acting concerned?"
She's right. Maybe if I was here, she'd still have her arm. Maybe I'd still have her trust.
Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whimpered, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. "You have to understand. I - I needed to get away from all of this after dad died."
"That's why you started up your operation in Mistral, right Erythra? Oh yeah, and the name's Ravager now."
"You knew?"
"Ruby," Yang sighed. "You're still that naive little girl that you were when we were growing up. The world's been connected for a long time. Of course I knew."
The two were silent for a while. Yang tuned up her metal arm, and Ruby watched. She wanted to learn everything that she could about it, so the next time this happened; she'd be prepared to help. Though, what pervaded her mind was the idea of reconnecting with her sister. This Yang wasn't the same one that she had known, but she loved her anyway. Yang probably loved her too, but achieving the same openness that they had when they were kids would be tough.
"Look, I'm sorry, Ruby. I didn't mean to blow up at you. I really am glad that you're back," Yang said, tossing her wrench into the toolbox. "But, I don't think we're ready to be partners again just yet."
Ruby nodded. "I don't think so either, but we can work our way towards it. Maybe for now, we can try to be sisters again?" She shrugged shyly, not looking directly into her sister's eyes.
Suddenly, Yang hugged Ruby. Fiercely. "I would love that."
When we woke up this morning, I was able to convince Yang to come out with me for breakfast. We went to a little cafe overlooking the docks, one of our dad's favorite haunts. We'd come here after a night on the job, tired, but always ready to eat. They had the best strawberry pancakes in all of Remnant. Believe me, I tried finding better ones in Mistral, but nothing ever compared.
"So, you took down the entire Mistrali triad on your own?" Yang asked, diving into her omelette.
"Well, the local police helped."
"I'm sure, because the police are so helpful," she replied sarcastically. "Isn't that why we exist?"
That is pretty much why we do what we do. Outside the law, we can do more than the police ever could.
Ruby took a bite of her pancake, the sweet tartness bringing up old memories. "So, uh, are you going to tell me about that?" She motioned to Yang's right arm.
Yang nodded and cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable. "Ok."
"You don't have to, sis."
"No, I do. You should know this," she sighed. "You remember that night, right?"
Ruby nodded, wishing that she could forget. After her mom died, the last thing that she wanted was for her dad to die. Instead she was forced to watch as he was gunned down. They were careless that night and paid the price.
"As soon as it went south, you just up and disappeared. And I -" Yang swallowed. "I killed all of those people.
The day after that I had to bury dad on my own. Dad was gone, and you were gone. I was a wreck. Obviously I wasn't thinking clearly, because that same night, I went after the mob. They were an infection, and I wanted to cut them away at the source," she scoffed. "All that I got for my troubles was beaten bloody, and on top of that, my arm wouldn't heal right. So it had to come off.
Luckily, I was, um, using this mechanic girl to vent my frustrations, if you understand," she blushed a little bit, but barreled on. "She had a knack for bio enhancements: metal legs, cybernetic implants, that sort of thing and insisted on helping me out, provided that I paid her in favors."
"What were the favors?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to the side.
Yang sputtered, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. "I - they - um, Ruby I'd rather not explain it."
Ruby laughed loudly. "I'm just kidding, sis. I know what you mean: you gave her protection from the mob."
Yang blinked at her, a small grin appearing on her face. "Yes, exactly that. Anyway, I'm sure you have questions about Torchwick."
"Yeah, I was about to ask. What were you doing in that warehouse?"
"Losing my arm was one of the hardest things ever. The next closest thing was cozying up to that scum. I knew that I couldn't do this alone; the city's too big for one person to cover, so I went to Torchwick. I figured that it would take a gang to stop crime,"
"You started a gang war?" Ruby asked incredulously.
"What? Of course not, I just told him that I would get off his crew's ass if he could help me get other criminals off of the street. The devil you know, right?"
Ruby tried not to judge her sister. The situation that she'd been put in was something that Ruby couldn't imagine.
"Well crime has been down for the last couple of years. Torchwick cleaned the streets, and I dealt with the stragglers and others who wanted Torchwick's slice of the city. I was able to protect him and his. Until last night, that is. Who do you think that girl was?"
"A criminal like all the rest. We have to find her and make sure she never takes another life."
"But it was Torchwick. Who cares?"
"Yang, it's going to have consequences. With Torchwick gone, the other gangs will be looking to add to their holdings. The streets will be bloody."
"Then shouldn't we -" Yang lowered her voice as a waiter passed by. "Then shouldn't we be watching the gangs for any activity?"
"I have an idea," Ruby said with a smile.
We went back to the Den, and booted Tempest up - the supercomputer, her main body. After mom died, dad became a little obsessed with organized crime. He even managed to bug most of their main hideouts. That's where we're starting.
"Tempest, show us any mention in the world of an assassin in black," Ruby said, sitting down in a big leather chair. Yang stood behind her, squinting against the brightness of the screen.
"Certainly, Little Red."
"And change my code name."
"What would you like to change it to?"
"Erythra, please."
"Of course. Welcome, Erythra."
The screen flared up with dozens of newspaper headlines. 'Mob Boss Slain in Own Home,' and 'Leader of Found dead' was among the most common.
"This proves my hunch!" Ruby said excitedly, scanning the screen. "Yang, this girl hasn't murdered anyone who hasn't deserved it. They're mostly crime lords."
"So what?"
"So," Ruby began. "We tail a crime lord, and we can find her."
Yang smacked her palm with her fist. "Stop her before she can hit again."
"Exactly. You protected Torchwick, so I'm assuming you know who the next most powerful crime lord is."
"Junior Xiong."
"I thought he only dealt in clubs."
Yang scratched her head. "Well, yes, and everything that those clubs dealt. Illicit drugs, prostitution, black market weapons, you name it."
"When should we start?"
Yang thought briefly, then put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "How about tonight? Any time that we waste is time that this girl can use to kill."
Wow, wait. Are we working together? I guess the only way we know how to be sisters is through crime fighting. Go figures.
Somewhere else
"Finally, you've come back to Vale. I've waited for years."
She drew her rapier, firing a magical blast of condensed energy into a picture on the wall.
As it burned, she looked on grimly and donned her helm. "You won't escape."