Dante POV
She's so cute that I think I might implode. Was the only thought I was capable of thinking as Ruby Rose (Ruby fucking ROSE) stood only a few feet away, gently caressing my wing as though tending to an injured dove.
"They're beautiful." I blinked, her comment shocking me a bit.
"Oh, um, thanks." She smiled at me and, my insides turned to water. I took her free hand gently in mine, and she glanced down at our clasped hands, then up at me, her eyes wide and innocent.
"Dante?" My breath hitched and I dipped my head toward her, intent on stealing a kiss from this adorable princess. And that's when I noticed it. The soft slithering sound, coupled with a subtle shift in the lighting. The light seemed to dim ever so slightly, but I noticed. I stopped, swearing like a sailor on the inside.
"Ruby. . ." She nodded almost imperceptibly.
"I know. I see it." Her voice was so low that if not for my super keen hearing courtesy of my heritage, I'd never have heard her. It didn't even look like her lips moved much. She's utterly amazing. I thought dreamily, mentally fawning over her. Her silver-gray eyes narrowed. "Now."
She pulled a red and silver cube from a chain around her neck and pressed a button. It unfolded and transformed into Crescent Rose in its gun mode. I gaped at her as she chambered a round, and aimed at a corner of the room that had become inexplicably drenched in shadow, despite the numerous lights in the room.
"Step forward slowly with your hands raised, I will shoot if necessary. Dante, cover my back." She said, whispering the last phrase under her breath. I nodded and turned, pressing my back to hers. I knew I should've brought Mordred. I groaned mentally, looking over Ruby's shoulder at the figure literally stepping out of the shadows with its hands raised.
He was tall, lithe, and. . .feminine? Yep. Those are definitely boobs. I thought randomly, causing a wave of blood to rush my face. The woman was wrapped in a skintight suit that looked like it was made of living shadows that writhed and slithered across her (undeniably amazing) body for a moment before settling into stillness. The full faced mask she wore was white with glowing red runes carved into the material and her long black hair was pulled up into a messy bun.
"Good morning ladies." Her voice was smooth and sweet, with just a tint of malice. And a hint of an unfamiliar accent. "We are surprised that you noticed our entrance. Most are not so observant. We applaud you for your vigilance." We? I thought, looking around. Are there others with her?
"Who are you?" Ruby demanded. The woman chuckled darkly.
"You may refer to us as Mistress." I scoffed.
"Yeah, that'll happen." Ruby coughed and I turned back around. Only to find 'Mistress' standing two feet away, staring at me. At least, I thought she was.
"Ah!" I cried out and took a step back, accidentally bumping into Ruby. She flinched at my voice and the impact, accidentally firing Crescent Rose and blowing a hole in the wall. The woman chuckled again and she glided smoothly up to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and tilting my chin up to look into her mask.
"You, Dante Stryker, may call us Spectra. In fact, you may call us anytime." There was no mistaking the suggestive tone in her voice as she stroked my cheek with the backs of her fingers. Is she. . .flirting with me?! I felt my face twitch at the absurdity of the situation. Ruby spun around and stared at her.
"What do you want?" Spectra ignored her, she was too busy fondling my face. I was surprised to find that I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. Yeah, it was uncomfortable, but only slightly more than unbearable. I squirmed away from her and darted to Ruby's side.
"Look, just answer the damn question! What is it that you want?" I called out, hiding behind Ruby a bit. Spectra cocked her head, then heaved a disappointed sigh.
"Straight down to business then? That's a shame, we hadn't really finished playing with you yet." That didn't sound good. She leaned back against the wall, crossed her arms, and stared at us. "We are here in search of our Betrothed."
Anna POV
I felt like a total bitch and a half after everyone chewed me out and Ruby ran off after Dante earlier. Then everyone else started giving me the silent treatment. I trudged along just slightly behind the rest of our group, trying not to scowl.
My fingers were twitching, wanting to sketch away my annoyance, but I had no paper or pencil. Cali glanced back at me and slowed down enough to let me catch up. I stared at the ground passing under my sneakers.
"Anna." When I still didn't look at her, she pinched me hard on the arm.
"Ow!" I cried out and swatted her hand away. "What?!" She stared at me wordlessly until I softened my tone. "I'm sorry, what do you want?" She gazed up at me, and though her expression didn't change much, I could see the adorable sternness in her eyes.
"You need to stop sulking." I flushed.
"I am not sulking." She took my hand and laced her fingers through mine. I want her. I need her. I need her now. I shook off the words and refocused on Cali.
"You are."
"Okay. So I'm sulking a bit, I'm just worried about her." Cali shook her head.
"More about what she'll do." I had no argument for that. I was slightly perturbed by the matter-of-fact way she'd burrowed past my façade and down to the ugly truth with five words. Yang groaned loudly and turned to Weiss, who was sipping a lemonade she'd bought.
"I'm bored. Let's go back to Kitty Blake Waifu 2.0." Weiss sputtered and coughed, spraying lemonade everywhere.
"What?" She choked. Yang smiled wistfully.
"That's what I've named my Jag." Weiss coughed, took a swig of her lemonade, and rolled her watering eyes.
"You mean your rental Jag. . .You named it Kitty Blake Waifu 2.0?" Yang blushed and scratched the back of her head.
"Er. . .about that. . .It's not a rental. It's really mine." My jaw dropped, Cali's expression leaned toward impressed, and Weiss's eyes bugged out.
"What?! How did you afford that?" Yang shrugged sheepishly.
"I got it free courtesy of some. . .friends." Weiss sighed heavily and shook her head at the blonde.
"So the story about your allowance advance was false?" Yang snickered deviously.
"Oh, that was true. I just didn't use it for what you thought. I just didn't want Ruby to worry." Weiss held up a hand to ward off any further expldanation.
"I'm not sure I want to know, but are these friends of yours criminals?" The golden girl chuckled a bit and shook her head back at her teammate.
"They prefer the term partially reformed misguided quasi-degenerates." Yang smirked at her. "Besides, what does it matter, they owed me, and it's not stolen." Weiss said nothing for a while, just took another gulp of lemonade. A few more questions and arguments later, Weiss gave up.
"Okay, it's official, whatever repercussions come out of this are yours to bear alone." Then she sighed, and her eyes flicked over her shoulder and back the way we came. Back toward Ruby. I caught her eye and smirked.
"Something on your mind, Weiss?" She stiffened and glowered at me for a moment, then she looked away.
"Just wondering what's going on with them." I started to say more, but Cali's fingers squeezed into a bone crushing death grip on my hand and I let out a squeal of pain.
"Stop it." She said quietly. I nodded frantically.
"Okay, okay. . .just. . .let go. . .of my hand!" I gasped through the pain. She held on for a few more seconds, then loosened her grip. She smiled sweetly and I grunted. "You can be such an evil witch sometimes." She winked at me, the ghost of a playful smile on her lips.
"I learned from the best."
Ruby POV
The woman we now knew by the name of Spectra regarded us from behind her creepy mask, standing perfectly still. Dante was behind me, so I assumed she had no weapon. I hope she can't see my knees shaking. I thought, before shoving the thought away. There were more pressing matters at hand.
"Betrothed?" While I couldn't see her eyes, I knew her undivided, unwavering attention was focused solely on me, like a paralyzing laser beam.
"Indeed. The destined bride promised to us through prophecy. She is nearby, we know that much. We need only find her." I studied her and realized that her hands feet were bare, while everything else was covered. I don't know why it struck me as noteworthy, but I filed it away for later reference.
"We? There's more than one of you?" Dante had stepped up to my side, more relaxed now seeing as the woman wasn't likely to attack yet. Her attention still on me, she replied coolly,
"I, We, it's all the same is it not? We stopped thinking of ourselves as singular long ago. But we see that humans are different. Would you like us to accommodate your tastes, to make you more comfortable?" Dante hesitated, then nodded.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." I think she was too anxious to realize that she hadn't received an answer to her question.
"Okay then," Spectra was clearly amused. "Dante Stryker, would you permit me to. . .examine you to be sure that you are not the one I seek?" Dante shuddered.
"Um, how about no." Spectra nodded.
"I suspected you might say something such as that." The Dante yelped suddenly and I whirled, only to find Spectra behind her, caressing one of her wings. "They are so beautiful," The woman stated nonchalantly, leaning into Dante's back. "Yet so fragile." I got a horrifying image of her effortlessly snapping the bones in one of Dante's wings and coiled my muscles, readying myself to attack.
Spectra tutted disapprovingly.
"I wouldn't move an inch if I were you. . .unless you don't place much value on your friend's life." I froze in place, shocked by her tone. She'd threatened Dante's life without as much as a thought, coolly suggesting that she'd kill her if I moved, her tone no different than if she'd asked what the forecast would be tomorrow.
She turned Dante to face her slowly, moving partially in front of my sightline, turning her back towards me. She brought up a hand and removed her white mask, causing Dante's eyes to widen, her body to stiffen, and her face to pale. It must be awful. I thought, mere moments before she dipped her head, only to pause inches from contact with Dante's lips. She cocked her head, then moved back, lifting Dante's hand and pressing a kiss to her palm before replacing her mask and gliding to the corner in which she first appeared.
She faced us and offered a hurried bow.
"It's been fun, ladies, but we've no intention of being seen." She slipped into the shadows and everything returned to normal. I looked at Dante.
"Seen?" Dante swore and spun around, tucking her wings tight against her back just as the door swung open. Rex peered in and scowled at us.
"Time's up." He rumbled brusquely.
Lol. Partially reformed misguided quasi-degenerates. That phrase was Feelex's doing. I was talking to him over the phone about my cousins, and he said that they weren't criminals, they were just partially reformed misguided quasi-degenerates. So I decided to put it in, since I was going to introduce them into the plot eventually anyway. XD