Chapter 9 - - - Cryptic . . . Part 2
Ruby pulled out her scroll as she hurriedly walked through town to check on the time, already having changed out of her uniform and equipping her weapons back at her dorm room. If she started running, she could probably make it to the meeting before it began.
If she did that, she would be able to grab Neo and ask for her uniform, something Neo somehow seemed to have near her person at all times.
Ruby wasn't going to question it.
Making up her mind, she quickened her pace to start a run, only to slam right into something.
"Oh! Salutations mate- Ruby!"
Or someone…
"Penny!" Ruby exclaimed, suddenly experiencing a strong case of deja vu. "I didn't see you there."
"It's okay." Penny cheerfully stated, "You seem to have a aptitude for running into people."
"Just you." Ruby laughed uneasily. Though… when she thought about it, there were several times when she was younger when she would always run into everyone back at base… That didn't matter though. "It was nice running into you, but I really need to go somewhere."
"Oh… Okay." Penny sagged in disappointment
Ruby hesitantly took another step away, but was unable to take her eyes off of the other's sad, puppy eyed expression.
… Maybe this was why Mercury and Roman had difficulty saying no to Ruby…
"Um… Well… I can probably hang out for a little while longer."
Penny visibly brightened, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Most excellent! What shall we do then Mate-Ruby?" She suddenly gasped as she was struck with an idea, "I know! We can, go shopping! It'll be fun! We could pick outfits for each other, do each other's makeup and nails, and tell each other 'That looks great on you, you should get it'! That is what teenagers do, correct?"
Ruby's smile strained at the thought of going shopping and sitting through a flurry of outfit changes… She already had to deal with modeling a number of outfits for Cinder, Neo, and Roman and while the end product was exciting, causing no qualms for her to do outfit changes for specific events, actually sitting through and searching for the perfect outfit was murderous.
She was not willing to go through that whole ordeal if she could help it.
"How about we just… hang around?" Ruby suggested
"That sounds splendid!" Penny agreed before the two began walking, "Is it acceptable if I pose a query on your past matters leading to this point?"
Ruby looked up in thought as she tried to recall recent events, "Well, other than keeping grades up and preparing for the Vytal Festival, I haven't really been up to anything."
Penny leaned in with a skeptical look, "Are you certain? Your stress levels indicate- I mean. You look really stressed."
"I'm fine." Ruby attempted to reassure, suddenly feeling self conscious about the dark circles under her eyes and lifting a hand to touch one. Were they really that noticeable? "What about you? How have you been?"
"I have been fa~ntastic! Thank you for asking!" Penny delightfully answered. "My father has expressed his permission of allowing me to access any area through Vale. It is very exciting."
"You mean you weren't allowed to before?"
"Oh no, I had to… sneak away as people say." Penny elaborated, "You see, I've never been outside of Atlas before. So my father was very wary about allowing me to venture out on my own, and asked that I don't leave the company of my caretaker or the guards who have gained permission to accompany me. It wasn't until recently that he changed his mind."
"Your dad sounds like a bit of a pain." Ruby bluntly stated.
"You have to understand, my father loves me very much." Penny began solemnly, "He just worries a lot."
Ruby frowned in thought, recalling how her sister always acts when it came to her. "Believe me, I know the feeling."
"My caretaker on the other hand…" Penny rolled the statement, "Can be a bit… much. It's because of him I still have to, sneak away, as it is."
Ruby arched an eyebrow.
"He seems to be very paranoid for some reason." Penny stated, "He claims that there are some dangers lurking in this kingdom and asked that I do not stray too far from his supervision."
"Dangerous?" Ruby asked
Penny nodded, "Yes. Oh! But I shouldn't be telling you this. So I must apologize as I request that we redirect the topic of our conversation."
Ruby pondered on what Penny might have meant, but shrugged it off as she heard something that caught her interest. She'll think about it later.
"Oh my gosh! Those are the AK-130 models." Ruby exclaimed as they passed by an Atlas demonstration, presented by a holographic Ironwood.
He was easily recognizable throughout most of Remnant since he helped move a project to provide robotic security to remove people from the dangers of battle.
But Ruby could care less about them, she was more interested in the models.
The robots were where it was at.
"Ruby… I would very much appreciate it if we could depart soon." Penny stated in concern.
Ruby didn't seem to be paying attention as Ironwood quickly introduced the new Atlesian Knights. She was inclined to agree that they did look a lot sleeker than their previous models… But she wouldn't say that they were a little less scary.
"Um… Ruby?" Penny tried once more as the holographic Ironwood began to introduce the product of the military's efforts with the Schnee Dust Company's cooperation, the Atlesian Paladin.
Despite the fact that it was just a holographic turnaround of the model, Ruby couldn't help but get excited as she wondered if this was what Emerald was talking about and if she could convince Roman to let her pilot one of them.
She was quickly shaken out of her daydream upon noticing the guards standing by looking and pointing toward her with suspicion. Or rather… toward Penny.
"Penny? Are you friends with them?" Ruby asked, reflexively making her way backwards as her hands crept behind her back toward her swords.
"I wouldn't say friends exactly, but yes. I am acquainted with them." Penny nodded, backing up as well. "They work for my caretaker who doesn't like having me venture around by myself."
"Oh I see." Ruby nodded.
The moment the guards who had their eyes on Ruby and Penny took a few steps toward them… they dashed off and into the alley behind them.
Making a quick turn, Ruby began hearing heavy footsteps chasing after them and quickly scanned the area. She saw a fire escape ladder up ahead and smiled.
"Here, this way!" Ruby called, as she pulled out her swords. She sped ahead of Penny to run alongside the wall opposite of the ladder before making a jump, latching onto it with her hooks. She climbed up the few steps with her upper body before getting a stable hold with her foot, and pulled the latch to let the rest of the ladder fall down.
Getting the picture, Penny climbed up as quickly as she could while Ruby swung to the side, hanging with her hook sword secured to the corner, and allowed the other to climb up ahead.
Before the other two guards could begin climbing after them, Ruby swung into a slot, hooking her legs and foot onto the steps and lowered her upper half (taking care to not bang her head) and shuffled her body around to press her chest against the ladder. Making eye contact with the other guards, she waggled her brows before she swung her upper body to the side, bringing her swords in the same direction as far as she could, before letting go and cutting the ladder below her.
The two panicked for a moment as they tried to steady the broken ladder and Ruby took the time to pull herself back up and climb after Penny who was snickering just a little at the guards.
"They're okay right?" She asked as Ruby reached the platform.
"Yeah, they didn't even climb yet." Ruby laughed as the two continued running up the fire escape.
When they reached the top, they took a peek down to see where the guards were at and found them gesturing each other before splitting up.
"They're trying to find out where we're going to go down so they can catch us there." Ruby stated, leaning back and scratching her head as she looked around.
Penny giggled, clapping her hands together in delight. "Oh this is sen~sational! I haven't had this much excitement in my life before."
"I bet." Ruby noted, pointing over to another roof behind them that can easily be jumped to. "With how your dad and caretaker seem to keep a close eye on you and all." She said before running and making her way to the lower roof, rolling to help lessen the impact.
Penny nodded as she followed, "Oh yes. Although, I'm certain once I tell my father, he will be most joyous of my escapade. He thinks that I should be, quote, getting into all sorts of crazy things like normal teenagers, unquote. It's why he allowed me to go around."
Ruby snorted, "I don't think this is included on the list of crazy things." She surreptitiously stated as they continued slowly making their way from roof to roof
"Yes. I don't believe this isn't quite what he had in mind. Regardless, I can tell you for certain that this is crazy." Penny said with a smile.
Ruby thought about it, and she supposed it was true. To Ruby, this was rather normal for her seeing as she had to run or escape from guards or police on a regular basis growing up. But to the average person, it would be considered… well… wild.
"Well, let's get going crazy." Ruby jokingly said with a small roll of her eyes, as they found themselves on a much lower roof of a one story building. There was a nice path that they could hop and make there way down with a closed dumpster at the far wall.
Penny happily gasped in excitement, "That's a nickname! I didn't think I would ever be granted one."
"Wow. You really need to get out more if you like that one." Ruby laughed as they got back to ground while holstering her swords once again.
"I know!" Penny proclaimed just as Ruby heard more hurried movement from the alley way.
"C'mon! In there." Ruby shouted in a whisper as nodded over to some entertainment store filled with a bunch of gadgets and gizmos for educational purposes.
The two quickly rushed over and ducked between some shelves.
Ruby tried to peek out to see if the guards saw them, but thankfully they just ran past the store, allowing her to breath a sigh of relief. When she turned back toward Penny, she saw… a rather peculiar sight.
Penny didn't seem to notice as she was busy fiddling around with some fling-ons.
Ruby was very familiar with those, as she used to play the game with Roman frequently at base after hanging up a targeting stand. They obtained those items mainly due to the fact that Roman could play darts, and Ruby had no chance to compete with him.
With fling-ons, due to their x-like shape, it had less to do with precision and more to have fun. Especially since they were unreliable for sticking to the target immediately upon contact due to the fact that each end was equipped with magnets inside.
It looked like Penny didn't know or were aware of these facts as she was amusing herself with how they were sticking to her hands and wrists, attempting to shake them off and causing Ruby to stare at her rather… curiously.
"Ruby, might I ask what these are and the purposes of them?" Penny inquired, "The product box describes them to be a 'fantastic fidget toy' and to my understanding, fidget toys are meant to help stimulate one's mind to help increase productivity. These seem to help distract you instead of its' intended purposes." she stated, as she continued waving her hand away from her, causing the train of fling-ons to swing around her wrist.
Ruby merely stared at her, before picking a few fling-ons herself… and well, flinging them onto Penny gently.
Penny flinched upon each impact, "Ruby! Wh-What are you doi-" She stopped short when the last one landed right on her nose… and slid down over her mouth.
"Penny?" Ruby asked finally, "Why are magnets sticking onto you?"
Penny froze, "U-uh…" She stammered.
Suddenly, Ruby felt a quick flash of heat emit from Penny just as all the magnets fell to the ground, each landing with soft thuds and a faint smell of burnt plastic filled her nostrils.
"Wh-What magnets?" Penny asked before hiccuping.
Ruby frowned, pointing to the mess on the floor "Those magnets. They were just on you."
"No they weren't!" Penny denied before another hiccup overcame her.
Ruby gave an unimpressed stare as Penny attempted to avert her gaze.
It only took a minute before Penny cracked though.
"I'll tell you, but please don't tell anyone." She whispered pleadingly.
Ruby arched a brow. "Okay." She agreed.
It was highly unlikely that this secret would have a large impact or become a major trouble.
Penny glanced nervously around before she grabbed Ruby's arm and dragged her outside, and around the building to a more discrete location.
Once she felt it was safe enough, she let go of Ruby's arm and turned around with a serious, but desperate expression. "Y-You said I was your mate right? Like your friend? You called me a friend! So... We're friends right?"
Ruby awkwardly shuffled in place, not entirely too sure how to respond, but was certain that her answer really mattered to Penny. "U-Uh. Yeah. Definitely."
It seemed like her answers always mattered a lot more than usual as of recent.
Penny stared down to the ground with a solemn expression, "I'm not a real girl Ruby…"
…
Oh.
Okay. Well. This was a bit…
"Wait. Hold up." Ruby said, holding a hand up in a halting motion as she brought her other one to her face, and rubbed it in hopes of wiping away the sudden weariness that weighed down on her.
She didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. So, she sighed and dropped her hands. "Alright… rewind a bit. From the top…"
"Well… I was made." Penny began, "My father built me, making me the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura."
Ruby nodded in understanding as she felt herself getting more focused instead of tired. "Okay."
"Um… So I'm not real." Penny finished.
Ruby frowned, "Of course you are!" She stated in a matter of factly. "Just because you've got a metal body, doesn't mean you're not real."
"You're… taking this extraordinarily well compared to a few moments ago." Penny dubiously said.
"I know someone with prosthetic legs." Ruby claimed, "I mean, sure! They're all wired and screwed, but doesn't mean they're not his legs. You have an aura! That means you've got a heart, a soul. I can tell. So trust me when I say that just because you're a little different, doesn't mean you're not real Penny." she finished as her heart ached in remembrance for Mercury.
She could still remember how hard it was for him to even look at his prosthetics after they were installed. He could barely even perform maintenance on them for the first few months, allowing them to stiffen and creak with every step. Due to his negligence of maintenance though, Ruby ended up learning to do it for him. It wasn't until he became comfortable enough to look at his legs that the two began doing it together.
Penny couldn't seem to believe how well Ruby's reaction was toward her, as she didn't even attempt to contain her squeal of excitement before throwing her arms around Ruby and crushing her into her body. "Oh Ruby! You're the best first friend anyone could have!"
"I'll… be…. Your first… dead friend…. If you…. Don't let me…. Breath!" Ruby gasped out in between breaths.
"Oh!" Penny seemed to realize that other people needed oxygen, and suddenly let go of her hold.
Ruby keeled over, resting her hands on her knees as she took deep, wonderful breaths of air.
"My apologies." Penny sheepishly smiled
"Is okay." Ruby reassured, bringing a thumb up. She was used to being crushed since Cinder seemed to take enjoyment out of sitting on her.
Ruby took a few more breaths before straightening up again with a relieved expression. "Wait. Were those guards from your… caretaker? Is he protective over you because of..." She trailed off, realizing just how big of a secret Penny asked her to keep.
"Yes." Penny nodded, "They're scared that I might run into trouble that I'm not ready for yet."
Ruby rose a brow at the idea, but once again, could relate to the idea. Cinder of course seemed to have that same concern.
It seemed like she always made sure Ruby promised not to get into any sort of-
Trouble…
"Oh no!" Ruby cried, throwing her hands to her head. "I'm late!"
"What? Late for what?" Penny asked
"I'm supposed to meet with some of my uh-" Ruby quickly stammered, trying to think. "My family!" She finished as she began taking a few steps back.
"Look, it was really nice hanging out with you Penny! But I really need to get going." Ruby spoke in a hurry.
"It's okay Ruby! I understand, I hope to bump into you soon!" Penny quoted with a salute.
"Y-yeah! You too!" Ruby agreed with an exaggerated nod before hurrying off.
She gave a mental sigh of relief the moment she was out of Penny's sight, that was a bit too much of a wild adventure for her in such a short amount of time.
She'll have to make sure that her time spent with Neo and Roman was just filled with fun.
Blake furrowed her brows as she traced over the three scratch marks on the side of a building. Signs from the White Fang, used to help indicate where one could find a meeting, but it wasn't the only markings.
There was an extra one, a new one. A fourth one? Although it was not as long as the three slashes, it was marked horizontally near the bottom of the far right. Almost as if it was falling to the side. Not only that, but it was… ragged. It wasn't a clean swipe.
Blake's frowned deepened, wondering exactly how long it had been since the new mark was added. She couldn't ponder on it for too long though, as she had no choice but to make her way into the building.
Pulling her ribbon loose, she quietly thanked the person obscured around the corner, hidden in the shadows of the warehouses for handing her a mask.
She stared down at the item in her hands for a moment.
It felt heavy. Heavier than before. Colder.
A shiver ran up her back.
She didn't want to put the mask on. Reluctant on donning the face of a monster once again. Reluctant on giving the world a reason to think of faunus as monsters again.
She silently wished that she had one of her friends by her side to help provide her with the courage needed. Instead, she had to quietly comfort herself by remembering the reassurances given to her.
She had to remember how Ruby was so willing to stand up for her, reassuring Blake that she was forgiven, along with her actions. She had to remember that Yang so easily accepted her completely for who she was, not even questioning her history. She had to remember that Weiss was trying her best to learn, and explained in no circumstances that she understood that Blake did not share the same beliefs as the White Fang.
Renewed with a sense of hope for her race, and for herself, Blake placed the mask over her face.
She'll be fine. She had friends who believed in her.
She took a deep breath.
With that reaffirmation, she managed to bring herself to keep moving forward into the dimly lit warehouse, and entered the meeting, bracing herself to the brush of cold air filled with silent hatred.
Just like the door guard said, she kept to the right with the rest of the recruits, and was surprised to find that there were humans mixed in with the crowds. Each human wore a similar uniform to the White Fang, though with black waist coats and darker masks instead of the White Fang's trade mark whites. Their uniforms seemed to only come in two different sizes as well… Large, to accommodate those with rough muscles covered in scars. Or small, a size that was still too big for those with tiny frames of skin and bones.
Not a single faunus seemed to mind though as they intermingled with the humans in hushed whispers, filling the air with a sense of excitement… and bitterness.
The small hairs on the back of Blake's neck rose as she tensed.
This was new. This was not something that happened before.
Something was wrong.
"Alright, settle down you punks." A voice echoed throughout the warehouse. "I know we're starting a bit late, but well… That's not my fault now is it?"
Everyone immediately began to settle, giving the person their undivided attention on the makeshift stage and allowing only the soft, clacking sounds of a tap on the floor to wash over.
Blake had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from gasping as she saw Roman Torchwick walk up and to the center of the makeshift stage, placing his cane directly in front of him and resting his hands on its' head with a cigar in between the fingers of one hand, and a large black curtain behind him.
"Good evening folks, I'm glad you all can join us today." Roman greeted pleasantly. "Now, let me begin with just saying this. The people at the top, the people running this government, the people who think they are above you all, who disrespect you, who spit and turn from your face? They are the worst."
Blake froze, her heart beating loudly in her ear drums as she began to hear murmurs of agreement.
"The kingdoms think we live in a time of peace." He continued in a tone so calm, it made Blake's blood run cold. "But the truth of the matter is, there is no peace. We- those born and raised in poverty, who lived out on the streets, outside the protection of the kingdom walls and those who were simply born faunus, We know better. We know- no peace."
"These people don't know how to run a kingdom!" Roman cried, his voice raising to be heard clearly. "They put you all in overrun orphanages that cast you out on the streets! They see you, a mere child, a teen, a young adult, sitting at the side of the street, or in an alleyway, or living outside the safety of the kingdom's, the city's walls and they do nothing. They stop you, prevent you from getting a job to feed yourself, your family. They don't do anything to help you, to show others that you need help. They don't do anything when they see you faced in a situation of discrimination! They stay silent! They want you all to stay silent, because they want to erase your voice and pretend, that there is no problem! They refuse to acknowledge it! To acknowledge you! And if they don't address your situation, your discrimination, your needs, then they might as well be encouraging it!"
This wasn't… This was not anything like Blake thought it would. Her hands shook, trembling as they felt numb. Her knees wobbling, urging her to run as more and more people began shouting in agreement.
"Silence is a form of oppression! And when you stay silent, you are complying. You are telling your oppressor that NOTHING is wrong!" Roman shouted, as his voice broke. "But no more." He said in a whisper that still seemed to ring through the room.
"And that's what brings you all here today right?" He asked, eliciting more shouts and nods. "You all wondered, 'Why stand around so idle?' And thought, because you wished to do something about the situation you're in. Because you wished to obtain something that everyone else in the world seems to have that you don't. Freedom."
At the word, nearly everyone began shouting in agreement.
"And freedom-" He shouted, still somehow being heard over all the cries, "-Is worth dying for! But we don't want that just yet, oh no. We still need to give you all a fighting chance. Which is why your new employers and I got this!" He continued as the curtain behind him unveiled what Blake recognized to be an Atlesian Paladin.
"I know some of you may wonder if this cause is really something worth joining, or where you will end up going should you do so. Now, I don't know what course some of you may choose, but if it were me - I would take a chance at freedom, or die trying." He took a drag from his cigar. "And when provided an arsenal like this, then I'd say… your chances have gotten higher."
The entire warehouse was silent as Roman finished, causing Blake to worry that everyone around her would hear her loud, drumming heart beats that were crying in fear.
But… seemingly, all at once, everyone erupted into loud cheering… and Blake's heart dropped. Was… was the amount of resentment and anger of their treatment so strong, that they all had resorted to violent vengeance so easily?
"Will the new recruits please step forward!" A few other members yelled, trying to be heard over the noise.
Oh no.
Blake panicked as she stayed in place, unsure of what to do as she looked around, seeing other people's happy faces. Goosebumps trailed up her arms and back in fright of the buzzing air of emotions.
She had to get out of there. She had to tell Weiss and Yang that they need to leave. She had to tell someone about what happened, about what she saw.
As the recruits pushed, trying to move her forward, she tried to take a step back. And another.
She looked around, trying to find any sign of possible escape.
Unfortunately, it seemed that her movements looked a bit too obvious as Roman caught her eyes with a fierce frown. He began making his way in her direction, raising his hand with his cigar to point at her with, causing heads to turn.
Finding a power box to the side, Blake quickly raised her gun - and fired.
The lights went dark and everyone began to shout in panic and confusion.
She ducked through people's arms, dodging the other faunus attempting to grab her and causing them to collide in another human as she rushed to a window, knowing fully well that she couldn't go through the doors that were blocked by members of the White Fang, and crashed through and into the night.
She ran as fast as she could to get to where she knew Yang and Weiss were hiding, a little further out and away from the warehouses and around a corner.
"Blake?" Weiss called in alarm, noticing the panicked expression. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I-" Blake tried, getting closer and closer to them.
The sound of heavy machinery steps and a crash echoed into the night, eliciting all three of their attentions, only to see the large Atlesian Knight charging in their direction.
"That!" Blake finished, prompting all three of them to turn their head and run. "Roman's controlling it!"
"What do we do?" Yang yelled in consternation.
"We need to get far away first!" Weiss reasoned with a raised voice. "If we stop here, then the rest of the members from the warehouse will come out and quite frankly, we would not last."
"The freeway?" Yang suggested
"We can't!" Weiss firmly rejected, "There are civilians still driving at this time!"
"The underpass!" Blake proposed
The other two nodded in agreement, before sharply turning into an empty street of parked cars that Yang was familiar with as she saw the signs to Junior's bar, with Roman still on their tails.
Weiss took out her scroll, sliding it open as she pushed a few buttons.
"What are you doing?" Yang asked in disbelief. "You can't call the police! They'll ask why Blake was-"
"I'm not calling the police!" Weiss snapped, flashing her scroll toward Yang to show Ruby's picture… That Weiss actually didn't remember setting up to look so… silly. Though now was not the time to be wondering as such. "I'm calling Ruby! I know that Knight is still a prototype, but we will not win with just the three of us. We need back-up!"
"... Yes?" Ruby cautiously answered through Weiss's scroll.
"Ruby!" Weiss shouted in relief.
"Whatever it is you think I did, I didn't do it!" Ruby quickly exclaimed.
"Wha- No!" Weiss shook her head to help keep her focus. "We need your help!"
"Help?" Ruby asked in disbelief
"Yes! Help!" Weiss asserted. "Where are you?"
"Uh… In town." Ruby stated with uncertainty.
"Are you close to the freeway underpass?" Blake questioned
"Um-"
A car suddenly flew overhead, crashing in front of them - giving the three no other choice but to run around or jump onto and over the vehicle.
"What was that?" Ruby asked in alarm.
"A car!" Yang answered from the side
"Look! There's no time to explain." Weiss quickly began, "But we're being chased by an Atlesian Paladin and I would appreciate it if you came and helped!"
"But I-"
"Please!" Weiss shouted, dodging another car as she glanced back to see exactly how far apart the three were from the Knight
"Okay… Just… give me some time." Ruby replied hesitantly.
Another car crashed in front of them as the underpass came into view.
"Hurry!" Weiss shouted before disconnecting the call.
"So? What now?" Yang asked
"You two need to split!" Weiss ordered, "We'll reconvene momentarily!"
"Got it." Blake nodded, as the two proceeded to run off toward the sides.
Weiss nodded in approval before spinning the revolver to her weapon, stopping it on her ice dust cartridge as her semblance activated right ahead of her. As she quickly approached, she began to pirouette toward it, stabbing her sword onto the symbol upon contact and activating a large area of ice surrounding her.
Roman seemed to notice too late as he skidded across the sleet ice, and tumbled over, crashing into one of the pillars.
Weiss, Yang, and Blake quickly took the moment to regroup just before he could right himself again.
"What's the plan boss?" Yang asked
"First, we need to get rid of the sensors." Weiss proclaimed hurriedly as Roman began loading the armored guns. "Otherwise, he'll see us coming no matter-" She couldn't finish as she summoned another glyph to throw her backwards to dodge the firing projectiles.
Blake and Yang flipped or threw themselves backwards as well.
"There is one at the side of each shoulder. If you two can get those, we'll have more room to move around!" Weiss tried to say as quickly as possible
"Got it!"
"Understood!"
The two quickly separated from Weiss once more, rushing in from the sides
Weiss stood her ground in front of the Paladin though, before gritting her teeth and charging straight in.
Roman decided to try and take care of Weiss first, as the guns shifted away and back into arms. The Paladin twisted away, bringing an arm back in a move to hook punch Weiss when she came in range. The moment she did, Roman rushed to swing the robotic arm at her, only to completely miss as she summoned a glyph to help launch her up and above him.
At the peak of her height, she turned, her feet slanted above her shoulders, a platform and time dilation glyph holding her in midair as her head pointed toward the Knight. She quickly summoned a few more glyphs to line in front of her with a wide berth of space in between each one, all directed toward the robot.
Roman didn't even get a chance to switch back to the guns as she launched herself immediately, slashing on each glyph to throw multiple ice projectiles at the Atlesian Knight. The oncoming icicles raining down on him forced Roman to lift an arm up in an attempt to shield the robot's face, which apparently just what Weiss wanted.
Quickly, she took advantage of the arm blocking the top sensors, and thrust her rapier into the one located on the Knight's mid-section.
Roman barely had time to react before Yang and Blake nearly flew in from the sides and punched or slashed away the sensors located in the Knight's shoulders.
Blake immediately pushed off of the robot after accomplishing what was needed, doing a few back handsprings in an attempt to put as much space between them as possible.
Yang continued latching on to the arm though, bringing her own fist back as she continued punching into the shoulder to try and blow it out of its' socket.
The other hand rose, reaching up toward her - ready to swat at her like a fly. She froze upon noticing the shadow over her, and braced herself for impact until another glyph appeared under Yang's feet, and propelled her off.
Completely off guard, Yang tumbled and rolled a bit onto the ground before righting herself and jumping back to her feet.
"Yang! Are you okay?" Weiss worriedly asked
"Yeah, thanks for getting me out of there." Yang nodded.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to go back in." Weiss declared, "I need you to distract him and deal as much damage as you can while Blake and I try to severe one of the Paladin's arms."
"I can do that." Yang agreed before launching herself back in.
"Blake," Weiss called, twirling her fingers in the air, spinning them in a circle as an indication of her plan.
Blake understood, nodding in agreement as Weiss began summoning as many glyphs as she could to surround the Atlesian Paladin while Yang kept distracting him.
Weiss could feel herself grow tired from pushing herself to use her semblance so frequently one after another, but knew that against the Paladin and someone as cunning as Roman, there wasn't much else the three could work with.
Well… that wasn't true. She knew, logically, that there were many ways to utilize each one of their fighting capabilities, possibly to even gain an upperhand against the Atlesian Paladin! As much as she hated to admit it though, she wasn't certain as to how.
As both Weiss and Blake launched themselves in and Yang threw herself out of the speedy cross slashes, Weiss silently thought about how Ruby wouldn't have a doubt as to how to take advantage of everyone's capabilities.
Ruby would be able to put her plans and battle formations in motion. She would be able to take charge and give clear directions…
Weiss could only lead them to a stalemate at best… or a loss.
Ruby gave a contemplative frown at her scroll as she sat on the roof of a building, relying on her ears to register the sounds of metal clanging against one another and ammunition being expelled due to the fact that the freeways hiding the fight from her sight.
When Weiss had call her, Ruby was already on her way and close to the warehouse where Roman was holding the meeting, but reluctantly turned around in the other direction to make her way toward the underpass that her team had mentioned.
Now that she was in close proximity though, she found herself in a… bit of a tight spot.
She had no idea who was in the mech or the reason as to why they chased after her teammates.
On one hand, she couldn't exactly let her teammates get severely injured. Especially after being called for help, no matter how surprising it was for Weiss to do so. If they were put out of commission, Ruby's station at Beacon would be shaky seeing as it was required to be on a team and partnered.
On the other hand, if there was some random member in the mech who knew her, her identity might be compromised. Or she might be interfering with some… plan that she had no idea about. Or her act might be considered a betrayal and confusion would rise and spread within the organization.
She was pretty sure that Cinder and everyone else would prefer not to waste any time trying to help settle that down… She knew she didn't want to.
She was considering calling Roman to get an idea of the situation, until she heard a jet hover above her.
Looking up in question as the hatch slid open, she found Neo staring down at her in surprise and confusion.
"What are you doing?" Neo signed with one hand to the best of her ability while clinging onto the door with the other to help keep balance.
Ruby placed her scroll in her pocket, although she was certain that the cars on the freeway and sounds of fighting would be much too loud for her team members to hear her shout from the distance, she still wasn't willing to take the risk. "My teammates are fighting the robot. They asked for help." She signed back as Neo flicked her index finger up and down while nodding. "Who is in there?"
Neo crossed her fingers, touching it to the crown of her head before emphasizing it out. "Roman"
"Ah." Ruby voiced with a nod, relieved to find out the identity of the mecha pilot. If it was Roman, then she would be able to jump in the fray without any worries… besides the fact of losing the Atlesian Knight. "I'm going to help fight. Grab him when you can. Tell me everything later please."
Neo nodded in agreement, her hand flickering out an "Ok"
With that all set, Ruby dropped down from the side of the building, using her hook swords along the sewage pipe to help climb down.
Upon landing and turning around, she found her team starting to tire out. Once she turned around, she saw Roman pull a leg back, and kicked Blake - sending her flying backwards and colliding into a pillar before collapsing onto the ground as Weiss and Yang loudly cried for her, reaching to Ruby's ears.
Ruby knew Roman, she knew how he fought, and knew that Roman would immediately go after for whoever seemed to be the weakest in a group at the moment.
She took one look at Blake, who was struggling to lift her body up with her hands.
And Ruby ran.
Roman began closing in on Blake, just as Yang jumped onto the Knight's back and began frantically punching into it as best she can in hopes of distracting him.
He remained undeterred, simply rotating the upper portion of the body as quickly and roughly as possible to make her fall off before he continued toward Blake, the armored shoulders on the Knight opening up to show rockets loaded up.
Ruby gritted her teeth, rolling her eyes as she willed herself to run faster. Roman never did understand when he was being excessive.
When he began firing the rockets, she clicked her tongue against her teeth as her eyes widened, locked onto Blake's form. She wouldn't make it in time.
Just when she thought that, she saw a trail of Weiss's glyphs lighting up toward Blake, allowing the Schnee heiress to run as fast as could, stopping in front of Blake with shaky legs and heavy breaths before activating a time-dilation glyph under her.
Even from where she was, Ruby could tell that Weiss was getting tired, pushing her semblance to its' limits and her aura, expent.
And still, Weiss thought that she still needed more as a large glyph appeared at her back, but… upon closer observation, it looked different from Weiss's usual Glyphs, as that one had swords appearing on the symbol.
Weiss didn't even seem to notice the symbol at her back though, as it continuously dimmed while she remained focused on throwing sharp blades of wind at the incoming missiles to make them explode before they came close.
Roman took advantage of the clouds of the expelled rockets, using the smoke to surprise Weiss as he charged toward her and Blake.
Quickly glancing behind her she found Blake able to stand, albeit weakly. She was in no condition to make a run and her aura was nearly depleted made evident by the scratches and bruises on her body.
Weiss turned to face the Atlesian Knight, holding her sword horizontally above her head as she braced herself for the impact of the charging robot. She still didn't seem to notice the symbol behind her as it rapidly flashed and spun.
A ghost of a sword began to appear in front of the two of them, and Weiss's eyes widened in hope.
To no avail as it and the glyph disappeared, fading from existence right when the mecha came into range, and Roman pulled an arm back.
"Weiss! Blake!" Yang's voice cried as she hurriedly tried running toward the two and the Atlesian Paladin.
Ruby was just close enough though, that she pulled her swords out and casted a strong gust of wind behind her to help push her forward, activating her semblance at the same time. She continued running, feeling the wind lift beneath her feet before she lept, spinning in midair as her swords pointed at her feet to create a vortex that pulled the dust and rubble around her. And went straight past and in between Blake and Weiss, sucking them into the wind behind her. Forcing them away from danger before the mecha made impact.
Sensing that they were a suitable distance away, Ruby forced her body to flip, thrusting her feet in the opposite direction before doing another spin with her swords, creating a second gust of wind to force the her to stop mid air. And for Weiss and Blake to collide into her.
The three landed on the ground, tumbling against one another before stopping with Ruby at the bottom of the pile and groaning. She probably should have expected this outcome. "Everyone okay?"
Weiss, shifted on top of her, lifting her head up as she heaved a sigh mixed of relief and pain. "Yes."
Blake grunted quietly from the top of the pile, "I think so."
"... Can you guys get off me?" Ruby asked in a strained voice.
The two tiredly propped themselves up and off Ruby, wearily standing back up.
Ruby climbed back to her feet, quickly assessing the situation.
Yang seemed to be relieved that they were all safe, casting a nod of approval toward Ruby before attempting to engage in another bout with Roman.
Ruby could tell that Yang was getting tired though, but noticed that her eyes were flashing red and her aura was starting to allow her signature heat to manifest. Indicating that she had been hit a few times.
Weiss was starting to wear down, her breaths were heavy while Blake seemed to be the most spent.
"How much longer do you two think you can last?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not completely finished just yet and I believe I can procure a few more glyphs." Weiss informed.
"I'll keep going if you need me to." Blake weakly stated, her determination shining through her eyes.
Ruby nodded in recognition toward Blake before turning her attention to Weiss. "Give me a number to work with."
"4… no. 5. I can do 5 more." Weiss confidently said.
Ruby chewed on the inside of her cheek, her mind rushing at work as she tried to plan the best course of action that would guarantee the win and safety of her team… and Roman's escape.
Her grip around her swords tightened as she settled on a plan. "Alright, you two. Rooks to King's feet!"
Weiss and Blake stiffened, acknowledging the plan of attack as they remembered the names and formations Ruby briefly went over with them during their sparring class. They had yet to put these tactics that Weiss thought were silly to use, but Ruby insisted that they remember each movement for when they get called upon for a demonstration.
Though, it seemed like they would have to test them now.
"Weiss, try to keep a spare Time glyph for Blake. Blake-"
Blake turned toward her leader with confused eyes, as Ruby gave a shaky smile.
"I'm trusting you."
Suddenly, Blake felt her tiredness wash away as she became more alert than ever, understanding that she had to be prepared for anything Ruby might do. Before she could reassure Ruby though-
"Go!" Ruby yelled, forcing the two to do exactly what they were told. "Yang! Out!"
Hearing her leader's orders, Yang jumped off of the Atlesian Paladin right as Blake and Weiss rushed in, taking the robot straight on.
The two continued slicing and thrusting their weapons at the Atlesian Paladin's legs, forcing Roman to take steps back to a avoid taking too much damage.
"Yang! Knight takes King's arm!" Ruby ordered as she proceed to run at the side.
Yang immediately complied, mirroring Ruby as they made a sharp turn toward the Atlesian Knight, and lept into the air with their weapons drawn back.
The two made impact, and just like Ruby thought, Yang had received enough damage to blow the arm on her side off.
Ruby on the other hand, spun as much as possible, attempting to deal as many hits to her side as she could before being flung up into the air.
"Blake! Bishops take King's arm!" Ruby yelled.
Weiss and Yang immediately pulled themselves out as Blake created a clone and kicked off of it into the air. Ruby threw her swords back, creating another gust to thrust her back toward the ground and spun once again.
The two crossed paths at the arm of the Atlesian Knight, creating an X and effectively slicing the arm off.
Ruby knew this was their chance as Roman had already used up all of the rockets, there were no more weapons for him to use.
She had to make sure she did this right.
Raising her hand to the sash across her chest, she pulled out two purple dust vials close to her hip, palming them in each hand before launching herself back to the Atlesian Knight. Halfway to it, she threw the vials at the Knight, allowing her arms to cross with her swords nearly behind her.
The vials shattered against the Knight, purple dust cascaded down from the Robot, and Ruby sliced at the Atlesian Knight once more with blade of wind accompanying the attack.
The area surrounding the Knight and Ruby suddenly sounded, whirling in like a suction before allowing a brief second of silence. Then, a mix between an explosion and warp echoed through the air between the two, and expelled the both of them away, throwing them into the air in opposite directions.
Weiss understood immediately what Ruby had done, and recognized the need for the Time Glyph as she casted it toward Blake's general direction.
Blake saw it, rolling over into its' landing area and allowed it to hasten her before she kicked off another clone, and another… and another to rush after Ruby.
When she was close enough, she tackled her leader to the ground as the Atlesian crashed at the same time, shattering to pieces.
The pilot of the mecha, Blake, and Ruby continued tumbling along the ground as more and more space was made between all of them.
"I just got this cleaned!" Roman growled as he righted himself onto his feet and frantically dusted himself off.
Yang and Weiss stiffened, bearing their weapons once again as they tried to prepare for another bout though the latter casted her eyes behind them to check on the status of their leader and teammate in concern.
Yang though, fired another cartridge at Roman, but was blocked by Neo's umbrella after jumping down in front of him.
"Well this was a complete disaster." Roman grumbled while Ruby and Blake sat up, "But no matter. Nothing has changed. Neo? If you would." He offered as Neo smirked.
She discreetly made eye contact with Ruby and winked while curtsying.
The act seemed to enrage Yang, prompting her to run forward and throw a punch at them as she remembered the last frustrating fight she had with the other.
Her violence only seemed to shatter the image in front of her, again. And when she furiously looked around for them, she found them getting away in a jet, again.
Yang wanted to scream in vexation, but her eyes suddenly flashed back to normal as she remembered her teammates. "Ruby! Blake!"
She and Weiss rushed over to the two, dropping to their knees or sliding over to them as Ruby groaned in minor pain.
"Are you okay?" Yang asked worriedly, gently placing her hand on Ruby's back to provide support while Weiss did the same for Blake.
"Yeah. I think." Ruby grunted, "It was no different from the first crash. No biggie." Or the other ones. Ruby wondered if she's getting a bit too used to being thrown.
Yang sighed in relief as she helped her leader back to her feet.
"What about you Blake?" Ruby asked, turning toward her.
"I could go without doing that again." Blake softly said, the corner of her mouth twitching up as she leaned against Weiss, her arm over the other's shoulder.
Ruby smiled, "You might have to if I decide to do that again." she joked as she shuffled away from Yang, throwing a grateful nod.
"Please, don't." Blake weakly protested.
"Regardless, it was an outstanding display and use of gravity dust." Weiss complimented, as she shuffled Blake up to get a better hold. She paused before her lips curled up into a smirk, "I may even wish to use that tactic myself."
"Well I'm not catching you." Ruby stated, averting her gaze while touching her nose. "I've crashed enough times this semester to last a lifetime."
Yang laughed, touching her own nose. "I'd rather make the other person crash."
Weiss exaggerated a wistful sigh, "I suppose I have no choice but to rely on you Blake."
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to pass." Blake said, carefully extracted herself from Weiss's hold and moving over to Ruby instead to emphasize her statement..
Weiss huffed, crossing her arms with a frown on her face. "And here I thought we were all teammates." she sulked with a smile.
Everyone laughed, more than happy to have some form of humor after tiring themselves out from a harsh battle.
As it slowly trailed though, Weiss grew a bit serious as she turned to Ruby with a grateful smile. "Thank you for coming when you did."
"Oh." Ruby shuffled nervously, shifting Blake's weight on her as she sensed the palpable amount of relief and gratitude sent her way. "No problem… You did call so…" she shrugged
Weiss shook her head, "I'm not finished yet." She paused, "I… admit that at the beginning of the year, I did not believe you to be capable of being our leader. It wasn't until after I saw how well you take notes and how much you pay attention in classes, that I thought that you had… potential. But, I confess, that during our times in sparring class as I watched you draw out some team formations and titled them with chess pieces, I thought you weren't taking your job seriously again and I apologize. I didn't realize, until at the moment while we were fighting, how practical it was to simplify our movements."
She lifted her head, looking into Ruby's eyes with a glint of respect and admiration. "You manage to help us, tell us what to do in no time while I-..." She shook her head, remembering how she had to frantically yell out the plans to Yang and Blake, clumsily tripping over her words while attempting to focus on her own and the robot's movements. "You're just… Your leadership skills are impressive and allowed us to secure a victory as well as leaving relatively safe. So... thank you Ruby."
Ruby shuffled again, more nervously as a weight lighty settle in her chest and she forced a laugh. "Just doing my job." She choked, her breath hitching slightly. She furrowed her brows in confusion, not sure why she was feeling this way or why she was suddenly feeling nervous again.
She ignored it though, shuffling Blake up further and pulling her arm a little tighter so she would be more secure.
"You know what we should do before heading back to school?" Yang asked, "We should get ourselves dessert! We totally deserve some pick-me-ups after that."
"That would be a splendid idea." Weiss nodded in approval, "Were it not for the gravity of Blake's injuries." She finished.
Yang sheepishly ducked her head.
Blake's stomach growled, causing heat to rise to her cheeks as her eyebrows twitched. "I may have worked an appetite…" she bashfully confessed
Weiss sighed, "Then we might as well…"
"You know what they say," Yang started with a shrug.
"You can always build your Aura back up with sugar!" She said at the same time as Ruby, causing her to snap her head toward Yang wide eyed. Yang joyfully laughed at the act though, clapping Ruby on the back
"C'mon, I know a great place." Yang said, leading the way as Weiss followed.
Ruby shifted Blake again before trailing after, but was stopped once again as Blake pulled down to get her attention.
"While we're still apologizing," Blake said in a low tone for only Ruby's ears, "I just want to say, I'm sorry too."
Ruby arched a brow, but continued onward.
"For doubting you I mean." Blake continued, "I thought, for some reason- I thought you wouldn't come. That you would only appear at the last minute. But… you didn't. You came in time, and I'm grateful. But… I'm also sorry that I doubted you."
The heavy feeling weighed down in her chest again upon hearing those words, and Ruby gave a shaky smile, still unsure about what to do with the strange feeling. "Like I said to you before, it's okay. You're fine."
Blake sagged in relief, and Ruby continued carrying her as they followed after Yang and Weiss.
And the weight that had previously settled in her chest, refused to be lifted.
Cinder pinched the bridge of her nose, not sure what to make of this situation as Ruby and Neo both sat on the floor with a sheepish look on their faces.
The entire dorm was asleep, besides them along with Mercury and Emerald, both who were sitting off to the side on the opposite bed and chair looking down at Ruby and Neo as a scroll was set in front of the two.
"Ruby… I thought you promised to not get into any trouble." Cinder sighed, attempting to massage away the what leftover fear she had felt upon learning about what Ruby did, and finding out how late she had returned back to campus only to be directed to go to the infirmary.
"I didn't promise anything! I only said that I would try!" Ruby retorted
Cinder slightly narrowed her eyes down at her sister, causing Ruby to wilt a little. Cinder turned her attention toward Neo, who immediately tried to look innocent and at anywhere but Cinder. "And you, why didn't you stop her?"
Neo pointed to herself with a look of curiosity, as though not knowing what Cinder was talking about at all.
Cinder's eyes narrowed even further.
Neo looked away as she pointed to Ruby, pinning all of the blame onto her.
"Traitor." Ruby grumbled, "But that's not true! Roman was chasing after my team and they called me for help! I was only doing my job as team leader otherwise I wouldn't have a team left!" She defended herself, though winced a little upon feeling the weight in her chest again.
Cinder sighed in resignation, knowing that Ruby had a point.
"She used her gravity dust on the Atlesian Knight." Roman's voice stated from the scroll laid out in front of Ruby and Neo. "Is she alright? I saw her take quite the tumble."
At this, Cinder frowned as Ruby clicked her tongue, grumbling about how everyone was a traitor to her.
"I'm fine! Totally fine!" Ruby declared, raising both her hands up in a gesture to stop Cinder from advancing on her and to halt everyone's stare. "The school doc checked me out and everything! I'm all clear." She nervously informed them.
"Ruby." Cinder exasperated, causing her sister to petulantly pout.
"Fine. I just got a little bruising. But that's it! I swear!" Ruby vowed.
The attention on her lessened in her relief, though Neo had scooted over to hug Ruby tightly in apology.
"That's good." Cinder smiled softly, "I'm also glad to hear that your team… trusts you so completely. Now we don't have to worry about them so much."
Ruby nervously laughed, the weight in her chest growing heavier. "Yup. That's the plan."
"Did they tell anyone about what happened?" Cinder asked
"Ozpin came into the infirmary to question us while we waited around Blake." Ruby answered, thinking back to how the doctor told the team that Blake would have to stay overnight before he came in. "He seems a little concerned, but he told us that he would handle the rest for us. I… don't know what that means yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon." she shrugged.
"Good." Cinder nodded with a small smile. "But enough about that, we need to get you ready for next weekend."
Neo turned to Ruby, an excited look on her face and Ruby found herself feeling apprehensive about what her sister had to say next.
AN: Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed! :D