Perseus started to squeeze the trigger, but was knocked off her feet by Yang.
"She's innocent!" The blonde shouted out.
She brutally punched Perseus in the face, Ember Celica equipped, causing cracks to spread across her mask. Just before Yang delivered the final blow that would destroy the only barrier between her and the truth, she heard the familiar sound of cocking guns behind her.
"Yang Xiao Long! Freeze!" Turning around, Yang saw that she was surrounded by Atlesian military personnel. Gunshots were fired, felling the robotic soldiers, the Vale military were the ones that shot them. They stood, with their guns at ready, waiting for orders.
Perseus jabbed Yang with her foot, forcing her back. Team JNPR arrived just in time to see it happening. Springing into action, Pyrrha kicked the cybernetic soldier with all her strength, slamming her into the concrete. The road gave way as Perseus' body dug into the street, creating a trail behind her as she slid down the street.
Perseus tried to stand, but her prosthetics locked up from the damage, causing her to fall to the ground. Penny saw this, quickly sending her swords towards Pyrrha. She pushed them back with her Semblance. The wires entangled around Penny's arms, slicing straight through her. Penny fell to the ground in pieces.
Perseus screamed in rage, pushing herself up with her human arm. Weiss marched over to the damaged soldier and kicked her back down harshly. Afterwards, Yang went over and picked her up by her neck.
"Why are you going through so much trouble for this?" The blonde asked, furious red eyes staring into Perseus' masked silver eyes.
"I see a lot of myself in your late sister; we both just want to do the right thing." Perseus answered, her legs and right arm limp with damage. Her flesh arm gripped Yang's in an attempt to lessen the pressure on her throat.
"Ever think that you might've blurred the line between right and wrong?" Blake asked, walking up to Yang's side.
"Dust, Blake." Yang said. "I got this." The cat faunas put her hands up in surrender before backing up. "Ever think you might've blurred the lines between right and wrong?" Yang asked, copying her friend, earning a slightly annoyed sigh from her teammate.
"No, I haven't." Perseus said in a blank tone.
Yang suddenly released Perseus, and she fell limply to the floor. "Jaune, get her out of here. I think she just called in backup." She said, glancing around at the abandoned streets.
"Me?" Jaune squeaked. "I may have improved since Initiation, but putting me with a cyborg-killer is like asking me to commit suicide!" Yang turned to him, Ruby's former cloak fluttering with the sudden movement, from its perch on her shoulders.
"Her right arm and both her legs are prosthetic. They're broken. You'll be fine." She explained.
Jaune sighed and began to drag Perseus off. He stopped in a shadowed alley, leaning against the wall. He was completely unaware that Perseus' limbs were silently repairing themselves.
Soon after, Jaune could hear sharp gunshots and resounding explosions in the distance. He could faintly hear a bullhead coming closer over the sounds of battle.
Just outside the alley a bullhead landed, seven soldiers jumping out to run over at Jaune. Out of instinct and growing panic, Jaune grabbed the collar of Perseus' shirt, and began to run in the opposite direction. She grabbed his arm and swung him around, right into the receiving end of her taser. The blonde boy grunted in surprise and pain before collapsing onto the ground. The soldiers ran to him and threw him into the bullhead, one gentlemanly soldier helping Perseus into the ship.
Months Ago…
WBY, JNPR, Sun, Neptune, and CFVY, along with Taiyang and Qrow, were all attended Ruby's funeral.
They were "burying" Ruby right next to Summer upon Taiyang's sullen request.
Jaune felt a horrible sinking feeling when he first saw Ruby's casket.
It was mostly polished wood with a golden trim. Ruby's rose symbol on the sides and top was colored a brilliant gold.
Resting against the casket was a picture of the girl. She was laughing. The picture had clearly been professionally taken. Probably family photos. He had seen a similar picture with both Ruby and Yang, the blonde had been tightly hugging the younger sister, when JNPR had gone to comfort WBY.
Speaking of family, why wasn't Ruby's mother at the funeral? Jaune around, spotting the tombstone just beside Ruby's casket.
"Summer Rose
Thus Kindly I Scatter."
Jaune put two-and-two together: Ruby's mom was dead. But by how cheery Ruby had usually been, Jaune could tell that Summer had died many, many years ago.
Jaune looked down at the little funeral brochure, and saw more pictures of Ruby. He immediately slammed the pamphlet shut, gripping the paper tight. Almost every part of him wanted to cry, to grieve for his friend. The Arc part of him refused to let that happen. His father raised him to never cry, because he was told crying was for gays and women, and he was neither.
However, Ruby was his first friend… Ever. Growing up, no one had wanted anything to do with his socially-awkward, wimpy self, not even his own father.
His mother was the only person on the entirety of Remnant that cared whether he lived or died, but then Ruby came along. When he screwed everything up in the first semester, she just sort of swooped in and saved the day.
After her little "nope" speech, as he dubbed it, the two leaders had begun to confide in one another.
"What makes a hero?" She once asked. This stumped Jaune. In all honesty, it depends on the opinion of who you ask.
"I dunno." He had told her. "I guess... a hero could be anyone." He said dumbly. "Even a teenage girl who convinced her peer that he hadn't really ruined everything. Who told him that he mattered. That he was no longer a failure, because he couldn't be."
Remembering this conversation of the past, Jaune could no longer hold it all back. The tears began to fall, little droplets of water that did nothing to help him. He wanted to scream, to let out all of his anger and sadness. He wanted to break something, crush something, destroy anything. He wanted to go back into Emerald Forest and brutally tear the Grimm apart for doing this to such a sweet, innocent girl.
In Jaune's peripherals, he saw someone sit down beside him, and felt them put an arm around him. He turned his head and saw Pyrrha, her red hair standing in stark contrast to her black dress. Red hair that was similar, yet not at all like Ruby's.
"Are you okay, Jaune?" She asked. He ignored her question and returned his gaze to the, suddenly very interesting, grass. After a few minutes, he finally answered.
"No, I'm not okay. I can't be okay. My best friend is dead and there's nothing I can do about it." He bluntly told his partner.
"Maybe that's why you shouldn't worry about it so much." She told him with a soft voice. Jaune sent an angry glance at her. "It's not like it's your fault, there's nothing you could have done." She said. Once that didn't stop his grieving, she gave up. She stood and walked away, muttering in an annoyed manner. Jaune could barely make out any of what she was saying, but he only needed to hear "waste" and "space" to understand clearly what Pyrrha had said. She had called Ruby a waste of space.
Jaune clenched his fists and bit his tongue harshly to stop himself from getting into fight he couldn't win. He had half a mind to throw her off the barren cliff, a quarter to kick her ass. The remaining quarter said, "You do anything to her, and you land yourself in federal 'ram-you-in-the-ass' prison."He, instead, stood and turned to the direction Pyrrha had gone.
"What'd you say?" He asked. She stopped in her tracks.
"What do you mean?" She turned back around, clearly acting as though she didn't know what he was talking about.
"Cut the crap." He said gruffly. "You know what I'm talking about." Not wanting to make a scene at a funeral, he walked up to her and lowered his voice to a volume that only he a Pyrrha could hear. He pressing his cheek against the side of her head, whispering to her in a dangerous voice. "If you ever call Ruby a waste of space again, I will break your fucking neck and toss you off the nearest cliff. Now get the fuck out before I tell Yang what you said." Pyrrha stormed off, plastering a mournful face on.
Edited by DemonFoxBK201