Hey guys welcome to 2015. I thought I'd celebrate the start of the new year with an update, although the update rate will definitely slow down due to getting Destiny for Christmas and work. Sorry about that, so enjoy the next chapter.
P.S. It turns out that is having problems and that's why the first upload of this chapter wasn't working. Hopefully by re-uploading it you should be able to see it.
I don't own RWBY if I did I wouldn't need to think up a disclaimer for every chapter.
"What about this one?" asked Yang as she shoved a dress into Red's hands.
Red just sighed and walked back into the bath room to get changed, ignoring the squeals of delight coming from the brawler as she walked out. Seriously why does Yang have so many dresses for Ruby? It's clear that neither Red nor her predecessor were into these kinds of things. Rolling her eyes she tried to walk to the door, having had enough of being Yang's personal Barbie doll, when she tripped over in the high heeled shoes.
"How does Weiss fight in these things?" grumbled Red as she got back to her feet.
Accepting Yang's help the two sisters made their way to the ballroom with Red finally beginning to get the hang of the heels. "You know if Blake doesn't show up I'm going back to bed," reminded Red, as they entered the ballroom.
"Oh don't worry she'll show up, after all I'm saving a dance for her," replied Yang with a grin.
"Bumblebee," coughed Red.
"What was that Ruby?" asked Yang as they joined Weiss.
"Nothing!" replied the reaper hastily.
Yang and Weiss just shrugged when they all heard the door behind them open again, turning around Red's mouth dropped open in a comic expression of shock. There was Sun and Blake walking in together with held hands, she quickly rubbed her eyes and to her amazement the image stayed.
"I told you she would come," said Yang.
"What? But how? I don't…" stuttered Red as her brain refused to acknowledge the sight before it.
"Well Ruby looks like you lost again. I guess you're staying after all," commented Yang, smugly as she walked off.
'Note to self never ever make bets with Yang again no matter what my aura says,' thought Red as she made her way to the punch bowl. It wasn't long after this that she was approached by an equally miserable Jaune.
"I see you're hiding at the punch bowl too," he commented, standing next to her.
"Yep," replied Red, popping the p.
"To the socially awkward," toasted Jaune as he held out his glass.
"Live long and prosper," laughed Red as the two friends clinked their glasses together.
"So are you and Pyrrha here together?" asked Red curiously.
"No what gave you that idea? She's way out of my league, I mean come on she's on the cover of cereal boxes," retorted Jaune with a laugh.
"And the heiress to the largest dust corporation on Remnant isn't?" questioned Red, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Exactly! See you get it," replied Jaune.
She just shot the blonde an incredulous look before shaking her head, 'don't question it Red that path leads to madness.' Shaking the thoughts from her head the two friends sat in silence and watched as the couples danced, Red smiling slightly at the sight of Sun and Blake letting loose. 'Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all,' thought Red as she let herself relax.
"Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss," she apologized to Jaune.
"Meh, it's fine. Neptune's pretty 'cool'. I get why she went with him," dismissed Jaune.
"What do you mean?" asked Red confused.
"Well, come on, not many people can pull off blue hair," replied the blonde as he took a sip of his punch.
"No, I mean, Weiss came to the dance alone," informed Red, causing Jaune to choke.
"Uh, What?!" he cried.
"Yeah, she said that she had too much to focus on to worry about boys," answered Red.
"Hold my punch," said Jaune as he handed her his cup and disappeared into the crowd.
Looking down at the cups she frowned, 'umm…which one was mine?' As she was staring at the offending cups she heard a familiar voice from behind her.
"Enjoying yourself?" asked Ozpin as he appeared beside her.
"Surprisingly yes. I'm not really a fan of these types of dances but even I have to admit, it feels good to just slow down for a while," she replied.
"Well, you can't spend your whole life on the battlefield, even if you may want to," agreed Ozpin.
"Yeah, that lesson's been floating around a lot lately," commented Red with crossed arms.
"If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked, although one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot," joked the headmaster.
"Or a twisted ankle," laughed Red as she looked down at her own feet.
"It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds, but it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget," explained Ozpin.
Red smiled and was about to respond when suddenly something felt off, unable to put her finger on it she frowned. After waiting a couple of minutes her frowned deepened as the feeling never left, putting it down to nerves she excused herself from the headmaster and headed back to the dorm. Upon reaching the outside the feeling grew stronger to the point that Red could recognize it as her aura. Slipping her feet out of the heels she ran towards the wrongness and her eyes narrowed as she saw a figure running across the rooftops.
Surrounding her feet in aura the reaper ran in the direction of the figure, already lamenting leaving Crescent Rose in her dorm. 'The one time I don't have her with me and this happens, maybe Yang's right I should just leave it in the locker,' grumbled Red as she arrived at a tower surrounded by guards, either dead or unconscious she couldn't tell. 'Well at least I still have Earth aura,' she thought as she glowed a blood red and the elevator doors opened. It looked deserted but Red knew better, she could smell the scent of the thief, almost like the smell of ash.
"Come on out I know you're here. I can smell you," she called and a figure rose up from behind one of the terminals before summoning two swords in her hands.
"Looks like surrendering peacefully isn't an option. Guess I have no choice after all," sighed Red as she activated her Earth aura.
At first it was just like all the other times she had practised, she felt her body shifting and her senses sharpening. However her senses were sharpening to a degree that hadn't been possible before and Red felt something beginning to burn itself onto her arms and legs. It wasn't long after this that she felt waves of emotions crash into her, feelings of hate, anger, fear, everything she'd been bottling up was unleashed. Unable to take it anymore her mind snapped and a mad grin spread across her face as Pandora's Box was suddenly opened.
Cinder frowned from her hiding place as she heard the door open, 'the general shouldn't be here yet. What's going on?' Her thoughts were answered as a familiar voice echoed across the room, causing Cinder's frown to deepen.
"Come on out I know you're here. I can smell you," came Red's smug voice.
Growling in frustration Cinder checked her mask was still on her face before standing up, revealing herself to her opponent. Cinder smiled when she saw Red was unarmed, her scythe nowhere in sight. 'Looks like I can finally eliminated this problem myself,' she thought eagerly as her swords were summoned to her hands.
Red's eyes narrowed at the sight of the swords before a frown spread across her face, "looks like surrendering peacefully isn't an option. Guess I have no choice after all."
Cinder took a cautious step backwards as Red began to glow a blood red that rapidly changed to a deep black, the sounds of bones cracking filled the room as her hands grew large sharp looking claws. Cinder took another involuntary step back as she saw Red's eyes change, turning black before glowing a harsh red. Suddenly Red let out a cry of pain as she began gripping her head before eyeing the ground, swaying on her feet. Cinder watched in fascination as red glowing rune-like tattoos began to appear on Red's body, starting at her arms and legs before beginning to grow inwards towards her head. Cinder coughed as the black aura emanating off her opponent began filling the room like smoke, briefly causing her to feel light headed before her own aura kicked in.
Snapping out of her daze she smiled when she saw that Red hadn't moved an inch. Taking advantage of her seemingly helpless opponent Cinder charged, sending the left sword flying towards Red's head. The criminal mastermind was completely shocked as she saw a manic grin spread across her opponent's face before Red grabbed the sword in mid swing, the runes glowing harshly as the sword began to crack in her grip. Red then began to giggle as she used the sword as leverage to pull Cinder towards her, slashing at the mastermind's throat. Eyes widening Cinder let go of the sword and it vanished into thin air as she brought the other one down in an overhead slash at her chest.
Feeling the sword pass through flesh Cinder leapt backwards and frowned, 'that shouldn't have happened her aura should've shielded her.' It was then that she realized something, where was the cry of pain? Looking back at her opponent Cinder felt a drop of cold sweat run down her back, Red wasn't crying in pain. Instead she was giggling fanatically as she examined her arm that had blocked the blow to the chest, blood dripping down it and staining the tiles.
"It's just so funny," laughed Red, her eyes gleaming with madness. "It should hurt but it doesn't. I can't feel anything, let's try to change that."
Suddenly Red was sprinting towards her, laughing manically as she approached. Seeing her rapidly closing the distance between them Cinder sent large fireballs towards her opponent, hoping to slow her advance until she could summon her sword again. Now this would have worked against any normal opponent, logically when a large ball of fire is approaching a person they would dive for cover however in her current state Red was anything but logically. An eager grin on her face and the runes glowing again, Red continued on course and charged the fireballs. Cinder watched as her opponent hit the fireballs, the glow from the fire being briefly consumed by the black aura before pushing it away as the fireballs exploded. As the fireballs burst Cinder hastily backpedaled, seeing Red leapt out of the explosion, still laughing despite looking slightly singed.
"Is that all? Don't you have anything else? You know like twisting off, gouging out or tearing off? Come on you're supposed to be the evil antagonist so do something to me! Something more intense!" whined Red.
Before Cinder could do anything in response she was grabbed by the head and repeatedly slammed into the wall as Red grinded her face against it. Feeling the mask beginning to slip off her face Cinder panicked as she conjured another large fireball and fired it at point black range, the explosion engulfing the both of them and sending soaring into the air. Landing with a groan Cinder coughed as she felt her entire body in pain, her aura spinning into overdrive trying to heal it. Checking to make sure the mask was still on her face she struggled to her feet and looked around at the carnage. The entire room was destroyed with not a single terminal left intact and there was a large gaping creator from where she was earlier. To make it worse no one could have missed the resulting explosion which meant company was on the way. 'Still,' Cinder breathed with a sigh of relief, 'no one could have survived that without their aura shielding them which means one major complication has just been solved.'
"Now that's more like it! We were totally sent flying! Maybe I should start calling you Creator Face?" said a cheery voice, making Cinder's eyes widen as she spun around.
Sure enough there was Red, her dress in tatters and still alight with embers but otherwise unharmed. The mastermind tried to retreat as her opponent began walking towards her, giving Cinder the impression of a predator stalking prey, only to collapse as her body finally gave out.
"Awe is play time over? Ok then," pouted Red as she began to stamp on Cinder's neck.
'She was playing with me the whole time?!' thought the mastermind, both angry and shocked. Seeing spots appear in her vision she used the last of her energy to grab Red's offending leg before slamming her aura infused arm into the back of her knee. There was a satisfying sound of bones breaking as Red's eyes widened and she toppled to the ground, Cinder immediately felt air rush back into her lungs. Scrambling back to her feet she watched in dismay as Red simply looked at her broken leg in confusion before shrugging and grinning as she stood back up, giggling once again.
"That's better boss fights are no fun if they're too easy," cheered Red.
'She's insane!' thought Cinder in dismay as Red began to approach her, only for her black outline to sputter and blobs of a bright vibrant red began to appear. Instantly Red cried out in pain and her body began to return to normal, the claws disappearing and her eyes returning back to their silver colour before they rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground. Unsure of what just happened Cinder cautiously approached her downed opponent and grinned as she grabbed her sword. However just as she was about to land the killing blow Cinder heard the sound of the elevator arriving, realizing that the welcoming committee had arrived she growled in frustration and fled. Leaving a confused Ironwood, Ozpin and Glynda to step into the room before rushing over to Red.
"We have to get her to the infirmary now!"
Cinder groaned as she collapsed into her bed, completely exhausted. Shortly after this she heard the sound of the door opening and two gasps of shock from her subordinates at her condition. Emerald rushed over to the first aid kit they'd stashed in the room while Mercury just closed the door before walking over.
"Cinder what happened? We saw the explosion but you never answered our calls," asked the kickboxer.
"Radio broke," replied Cinder as Emerald began to administer first aid.
"I see still I thought the plan was to bail out if you were discovered not try to fight the General," commented Mercury.
"I saw a golden opportunity and it backfired horribly besides it wasn't the General that did this," admitted Cinder.
Both Emerald and Mercury exchanged looks of surprise, "but all the other Beacon staff were accounted for. I can't imagine you having any trouble with run of the mill guards," informed Emerald.
"I had a run in with our old friend Red. She was unarmed and alone so I took my chances and it failed," she informed them.
"Did she recognize you?" asked Mercury, worriedly.
Cinder frowned, "I made sure to keep my mask on and not say a word. However she said something that makes me worried, 'I can smell you'. If that's the case it would be wise if I kept my distance for a while."
"Red was able to do this to you by herself and unarmed?!" exclaimed greenette in disbelief aas she examined the wounds, causing Cinder to hiss as Emerald placed too much pressure on them.
"Her Earth aura is extremely dangerous if either of you encounter her in that state flee at the first chance you get, consider that a standing order. Secondly stop spying on her we don't want to draw her attention to us right now," she commanded, receiving looks of shock from both of them.
"Yes ma'am," they both replied.
"I'm going to need to wait a couple of days to completely recover and for the heat to die down. So you two will need to keep up appearances as students, continue going to classes and try to find out everything you can about Earth aura. But for the love of God be discreet," she ordered them, getting nods of understanding in response.
Red yawned as she opened her eyes, blinking in surprise as she woke in the familiar setting of Beacon's infirmary. 'What happened? I remember encountering the thief then I felt weird and everything became a blur,' she thought confused. Stretching she got out of the bed and was surprised to see herself clothed in a some sort of white gown, with numerous bandages wrapped around her.
"What are you doing up?!" scolded a familiar voice as the door opened.
Red spun around as Glynda angrily approached her, "huh?" replied Red intelligently.
Goodwitch just sighed as she rubbed her temples, "you're supposed to be under sedatives. Lord knows we put you under enough to keep most Grimm down."
"Um…sorry?" apologized Red confused.
Glynda shook her head, "it doesn't matter. Still I must ask you to go back to bed, your aura still hasn't finished healing you yet. When you are ready to move the Headmaster will want a word about the incident."
"Incident?" repeated the reaper.
Glynda raised her eyebrows, "how much of last night do you remember?"
Red frowned as she sat back on the bed, "I was at the dance when something felt…off. I thought it was just nerves and decided to turn in for the night when I saw a person hoping along the buildings so I followed them."
"And then?" interrogated the professor.
Red's frown deepened, "I remember catching her in that room but everything's hazy. I remember anger, fear, enjoyment…madness," she replied, whispering the last part.
The professor sighed, "I see very well I will inform your teammates that you are awake just remember Miss Rose. You are not to leave this bed until I get back, understood?" ordered Glynda sternly.
Red just nodded and began staring at her hands, not even reacting as the door shut and the professor left. Frowning she examined her hands and was startled when it briefly glowed a black colour before disappearing, 'I didn't activate it that time.' Feeling a stinging on her arm she unwrapped the bandages and her eyes widened, her entire arm was covered in dull red runic tattoos. Recognizing the tattoos Red felt a mixture of fear and confusion as she quickly rewrapped the bandages and lay back on the bed. Why am I scared? It was so much fun and I definitely enjoy it. Instantly sitting up Red glanced around the room but to her surprise found there was no one there. 'What the hell is going on here?' she wondered fearfully as she looked up at the ceiling and the door slammed open.
"Ruby you're okay!" cried Yang as her teammates rushed in.
Red didn't respond and just frowned as she tried to banish the memories of last night to the back of her mind. But still a small doubting voice in the back of her mind began to whisper, 'am I?'
Well looks like Red has begun to realise something's off with her aura. The question is, now that Pandora's Box has been opened can it be closed? Who knows, anyway hope you all liked the chapter. I'm really looking forward to writing the Mountain Glen arc now.