Ruby stood there with her weapon on her shoulder. She stood unsteadily on her high heels, but didn't let it show. Her face was calm and confident as she stared down her opponent from ten feet away. According to her research, Bruce Noar was a lightweight boxer from Mystral who had only aged since his retirement at twenty six. Now he was CEO of his family's business, but all Ruby saw was an old warrior who knew how to take a hit. Somehow, she just knew this fight wasn't going to turn out the way the man expected it to, but it didn't mean she'd let her guard down.
Ruby glanced around at the crowd of people that stood between the two combatants and the building. In the center was Weiss standing in front of her father, his hands gripping her shoulders in a way that made Ruby's blood boil. It was as if he was daring her to take what he thought of as his. Surrounding them were the guards that Yang and Blake had temporarily distracted while she raised her objection in the church. Ruby doubted that they'd actually be a threat, but she knew her uncle had volunteered to control them if needed. Whatever that meant to him while he was half-drunk.
"Begin!" Ruby's head snapped back to her opponent to find he was already sending a fist at her before she'd even had time to react. She quickly took the punch, allowing her aura to absorb what little of the hit wasn't deflected by her spin. She brought her weapon off her shoulder and ducked under his second punch before firing her weapon to give her elbow a fair amount of force.
The hit sent the retired boxer back a few steps, but Ruby didn't push the advantage. This fight was as much about winning and keeping Weiss from getting married to anyone else as it was for her to send a message to everyone else. Ruby felt that the only way she'd get that message through to the most important recipient was to show her confidence even when the odds seemed to be against her.
She replaced her weapon at her back and clipped it onto the white leather belt that was hidden beneath most of the fabric. She raised her fists and took a steadier stance before her opponent once again moved in.
The man rained punches down at her but Ruby had been helping Yang spar for a long time. She dodged what she could and blocked what she couldn't. Every now and then, she countered and was surprised with a hit on her second try. The man seemed to just be getting stronger and Ruby needed to rest as her arms started to feel the hits that she blocked start to form bruises. It was a far cry from sparring with their uncle, but the lack of difficulty didn't mean this was one time she could rush and make a mistake.
Ruby used her semblance on a counter and hit him square in the throat, making him reel back in a coughing fit as Ruby retreated as well.
"Listen, you can end this anytime you like." Ruby informed him simply as she drew her weapon. She flipped it up to her shoulder and let it extend into it's scythe form.
"I won't lose to you!" Bruce replied in a growl as he started marching over to Ruby.
"Suit yourself…" Ruby spun her blade down into the soft ground while she cocked a new round into the chamber. She fired a ice round that Bruce caught on his fist, giving him what looked like a small wrecking ball at the end of his arm. He moved quickly and Ruby dodged under her scythe as the ball of ice came down where she'd been standing. A second later, she had jumped back over her scythe and kicked her opponent in the side of the head which put him back on the ground.
Ruby pulled the weapon out of the ground and moved to another of her combat stances. She now held her scythe behind her, ready to either slice or stab depending on his move. She didn't know how far she'd have to take this fight since Weiss had only written in the plan that it would end eventually. She hoped it ended soon. The muscles in her ankles were definitely going to be hating her later on.
Bruce pushed himself back up and wound up a massive punch. Ruby moved to block it but realized a second too late that he'd been feinting. She tried to adjust but it was impossible and a split second later she'd dropped her scythe and landed hard on her back, her head bouncing off the grassy ground. She started picking herself up when Bruce brought the fist of ice down into her stomach, pushing all the air from her lungs.
Not knowing whether or not he'd continue attacking, Ruby rolled out of the way to hear another dull thud where his punch had missed. The good thing was that he was slow, otherwise she'd be in a lot more trouble. All she really had to worry about was the hard hits with the fist of ice she'd given him.
Ruby jumped up, cursing her white dress that now had taken on a small amount of green as the grass stains showed how she'd landed. Bruce was advancing and Ruby felt her ankles wobble as she took a step. The hit she'd taken had hit harder than she'd thought.
"Now, you'll know the punishment for your insult." Bruce punched his iced hand and destroyed the ice leaving him once again with his two normal fists.
"That's what you think." Ruby replied, hoping to enrage him. She could only hope that if he had a semblance, it was not like Yang's.
Bruce seemed to move in slow motion for a second before his fist moved like a bolt of lightning, striking her dead center of mass, sending her tumbling back even further. Ruby rolled to her feet, as she watched her opponent walk oddly slowly towards her before suddenly flashing to a new position as if someone was playing with a slow motion dial. She regained her breath just as he came within a few feet but suddenly flashed forwards, landing a solid hit to her head that landed her on the ground with her head spinning.
"RUBY! Surrender! It's no use!" She heard a scream from the sidelines. Her head was still spinning too fast to recognize it as another hit landed in her stomach, pushing whatever little air was left in her lungs out.
She coughed, rolling to the side while trying desperately to recover as a kick landed in the same spot she'd been punched.
"Wait…" Ruby croaked out just as a second kick impacted her, sending her sliding on the ground, picking up even more grass stains as she lost a shoe.
"Do you concede your defeat?" Bruce asked as he slowly approached the girl.
"Just do what he says! Please!" Finally, Ruby identified the voice screaming from the sidelines. It was Weiss, the one person who could tell her to stop fighting. Except this wasn't just about Weiss anymore, the duel was about everyone and everything she placed importance on. Her friends, her team, her family, her love for the heiress… she couldn't let them all down now and she wouldn't. She also knew that Weiss already knew this, meaning that something else was wrong here and she finally realized something that had taken her a long time to figure out. Something that her uncle had been trying to teach her since she'd first learned of her semblance. That there were some things that only she could do, and some things she couldn't.
Holding up a hand to ask for a moment, she coughed trying to re-inflate her lungs to answer her opponent. Thankfully, it seemed he was confident in his win as he waited for her to gain a semblance of normal breathing.
"I…" Ruby rasped into another coughing fit after trying to speak and waited for her lungs to calm down before she rolled over onto her stomach and spit into the grass while she pushed herself up on her knees. "I can't do that. Sorry."
"RUBY NO!" Weiss screamed again as Ruby braced herself at the last second for the kick she knew was coming. Her peripherals moved slowly then quickly as before and she felt a hard kick send her sliding back once again.
"Fight back, sis!" Ruby guessed that must have been Yang. She sounded more worried than Ruby'd ever heard her before, but somehow muffled.
Ruby rolled back to her knees, thankful that the kick hadn't winded her again. She quickly took off her remaining heel and discarded it somewhere to the side as she watched her opponent stutter his way forward, fast then slow as if he was a demon in a horror movie. He moved within range as Ruby prepared to enact her theory.
Bruce moved slowly, winding up a kick, and long before Ruby expected him to let it loose, she darted up and away, using her semblance to clear the area just to see her opponent's semblance fail as his leg stopped at his head height after hitting nothing but air.
"Gotcha." Ruby dashed forwards, using her semblance and ripping into the grass, not worried any longer about the stains she was getting into the white fabric she wore.
Ruby knew her hits weren't hard, but that hardly mattered if she hit weak points with her speed-boosted limbs. She aimed for his throat and stomach with two lightning fast hits before he slowed again, indicating his use of semblance. She dodged away to see his lunged punch slicing through where she'd been a moment ago while she noted that the semblance didn't actually speed anything up, it just seemed like it. To her eyes it looked as if time was changing speed, but in reality it wasn't. She smiled smugly as he once again turned to face her, his face frustrated at the fight once again turning against him.
Bruce lunged forward aiming at her head with a punch she guessed was meant to knock her out. She ducked in time and jumped with the aid of her semblance to send her the extra meter to where her dropped weapon was. She caught it and rolled back to a kneeling position as she spun it. She didn't know where her opponent was due to the slowly moving appearance of him taking a step in her direction, but she could guess that he was right on her tail and within her range. Without turning to give off her attack, she gripped the shaft of her weapon remembering the advantage of her weapon's full radius of movement when surrounded or cornered in a wide space. She swept wide and low as she suddenly spun on her knee with the help of her semblance. She felt the fabric of the long skirt strain as she let the scythe slide down her arm for her second radial swipe.
Bruce was just landing, his semblance temporarily off, from the jump he'd taken to dodge the swipe when the pole just below the blade of Ruby's scythe hit his ankles hard, sending him sideways as he launched back into the air in a failed second dodge attempt. Ruby used her semblance as she spun her scythe to the sky then straight down at the center of Bruce's torso.
The dull hammer-like end impacted with an audible crunch before she fired a round, giving the hit the extra force it needed. The dull thud of Bruce impacting with the ground echoed across the field, as a small cloud of dust floated up from the grass due to the force of the impact. Ruby collapsed her weapon and replaced it onto the belt at her back as her opponent lay completely still. She turned to the crowd who seemed surprised that she'd emerged the victor, but the only one she had eyes for was her fiance. Silver met crystalline blue and Ruby knew just from how they shined that she'd done a good job.
"Security, kill the girl." Weiss felt her father's grip tighten in a way she knew would leave a bruise. She tried to shift away but his two hands held her firm.
Weiss could only watch as six security guards emerged from the crowd, all carrying standard issue weapons.
"RUBY! NO! Let me go!" Weiss jerked back to her father as she fought to remove herself from his grip but it was pointless. He was much stronger than her and the way his hands bit into her shoulders, she could tell he wouldn't be letting her go any time soon.
Ruby watched her uncle unsheathe his weapon and start moving towards her fiance's father.
"Everyone, FREEZE!" Winter shouted as she moved out in front of Ruby, blocking most of the guards' aim. "By order of the Atlas military I order you to surrender your weapons."
Qrow stopped where he was standing to see Winter in front of his niece. He replaced the weapon on his back, if only temporarily, but still moved within range to enact his own backup plan. The security guards hesitated, looking to each other and then their employer for direction as Winter tapped her scroll.
Weiss had been anticipating something like this happening when Ruby won the duel so she'd asked her sister to be creative. Just why she decided to use the Atlas military was beyond her guess, since she had no knowledge of any connection between the military and her family other than that of a supplier-client relationship.
"Step down, Winter." Mr. Schnee ordered menacingly. "If you interfere I can guarantee it will be the last time you do."
"Oh, I don't think so…" Winter looked up and the crowd followed her gaze to a massive ball of dark gray steel that came hurtling down onto the turf behind Ruby and Winter. In the small crater it had created, the ball shifted as metal plates realigned themselves as a large mechanoid figure stood with it's weaponized arms aiming over the heads of the crowd. "See, I've been moonlighting with the specialists in Atlas, and they were nice enough to borrow me this toy of theirs for the day. Meet the prototype of the Atlesian Paladin-480A. The most deadly of all the current prototypes."
"Shit." One of the hired security swore and dropped the weapon as he backed down from the menacing creation in front of him. "I heard rumours of these!"
"Kill them both." Mr. Schnee ordered and the paladin reacted immediately. The armour around it's shoulders opened to display arrays of small tubes and lasers that tracked onto each guard as well as Weiss's father immediately.
"Citizens present. Enacting precision execution." The mechanoid spoke through a metallic sounding speaker. "Estimated result is: 0 civilian casualties, 100% success."
"As you can see, it's operated by an AI." Winter stated. "This is your last chance to surrender."
Everyone hesitated, the civilians in the crowd edging back and away from the security guards who remained with their guns aimed at the odd group. Winter waited as the guards wavered between the two simple choices she'd presented.
"If I may make an interjection!" Weiss huffed in annoyance as she finally succeeded in stepping out of her father's grip due to his distraction, and walked up to her sister before turning to the crowd. "If you even think of hurting Ruby, I will personally make this giant hunk of metal look like a fluffy little teddy bear."
If her ice cold glare didn't make it clear to the security guards that she'd make good on her promise, the slow draw of her shining weapon from the sheath at her side pushed the point across. The guards all slowly moved to lay down their weapons, some moving glacially slow as they were still being tracked by the lasers emitting from the Paladin. Weiss watched her father as she waited for him to come to the conclusion she had orchestrated. It took a minute of his angry gaze before he coughed and straightened out.
"Preacher, end this wedding. Now." He spoke calmly as his sharp gaze cut through his two daughters. "We will speak of another in due time."
"R-right." The preacher nervously tugged at his neckline as he stepped out of the crowd. Winter pressed a button on her scroll and the paladin returned itself to it's standby state with it's weapons returning to their concealed homes.
"At this time I would normally ask if there are any other objections as to why…" He looked at Ruby questioningly and it took her a second to realize what he was asking.
"Ruby Rose." She replied with a grin.
"Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee shall not be wed. However as this is now a same-sex marriage, and I must defer from the role appointed to me, as the church to which I've registered feels it is in bad taste to support ceremonies such as these." He turned to the two girls and bowed respectfully. "I have no reason to continue this wedding, and I will not. I apologize for my interference. I wish you luck."
With a quick glance at his employer, he returned to the church. The guests of the wedding looked around in confusion. They whispered to each other and wondered what would happen while the family of the ex-groom and Taiyang moved Bruce to the pavement where he could make an assessment of how much damage Ruby had done. They seemed angry, but Taiyang dealt with them well due to his excessive experience in the emergency room. Weiss simply took everything in from the grass and mud stains on Ruby's white wedding gown to the frightening war machine looming behind them. The crowd seemed to sense that the wedding was off so they started slowly dispersing as they talked about the dramatic events that would surely be all over the news for the foreseeable future.
"Your plight is over, Weiss. We'll be returning home where I will ensure that you will not continue with your… rebellion." Mr. Schnee hadn't moved, yet it seemed as if his presence had grown larger, deadlier since the beginning of Ruby's objection. "This wedding will be rescheduled and you will not defy my wishes again. Am I making myself clear?"
"No father." Weiss took Ruby's hand and squeezed it gently to draw up the courage she needed. "I'm going to return to Beacon, with Ruby."
Mr. Schnee's nostrils flared in anger as he took a step forward only to be blocked by a sword held to his neck by Qrow. Slowly, the man turned to look down the blade at the grinning drunkard attached to it's hilt. His steely eyes cut into the smiling hunter who didn't give any reaction to the unspoken threat.
"Stay out of my business, Branwen." He growled angrily at the man who simply laughed as he took a swig from his ever-present flask. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and replaced the drink into his jacket before responding.
"Seems it's just as much my business, Schnee." Was the reply as the two men stared daggers into each other's eyes.
"Come on boys, you're both pretty. Now let's move this along." Yang spoke up as she stepped out of the crowd followed by their two professors.
"Professor!" Weiss pulled Ruby forward with Winter trailing behind.
"It seems my invitation was not without purpose, after all." Ozpin spoke to the group as everyone grouped together.
"Would you please perform the ceremony, sir?" Weiss asked with a courteous bow.
"I see no reason not to." Ozpin stated in response. "It seems you are both willing and have the proper permissions."
"I shall not give my permission for this obscenity to take place!" Mr. Schnee growled angrily. "That girl is my daughter, and I will not allow it!"
"I believe that the document residing within this church at the altar will be sufficient permission. You didn't have a problem when she was to marry Mr. Noar." Port spoke up. He let out a booming laugh and shook his head. "It's been a long while since I've been to a wedding this exciting!"
Weiss smiled as her professor's laugh but faltered when she saw her father's face. Immediately she knew she'd overlooked something very important in her plan. She hadn't given anyone the job to ensure that document of permission remained usable.
"No…" She took a single step and stopped when her father's face broke out into a grin. Her fear was starting to well up as she realized that this one mistake could cost her everything she'd worked so hard for. And nobody would be able to do anything about it.
"Yes, it is being destroyed as we speak." He stated confidently, looking down at his daughter.
"Yang told you not to rely on your security too much." Blake spoke up, stepping out from behind Winter, making Weiss wonder just when she'd joined the group. In her hand, she held a rolled up paper.
"Give me that!" Mr. Schnee lunged forwards, grasping Blake's arm which exploded into smoke. The real Blake now standing a few feet out of range as Qrow kicked his feet from under him, landing him on his side and forcing the air from his lungs with the unexpected impact. Qrow replaced his weapon on his back before crossing his arms casually.
"Sorry, just doing what everyone else obviously wanted to do." He stated with a drunken laugh and a shrug, while Blake handed the paper to Weiss who quickly made sure it was the right one.
"I'll give this to you for the time being." Weiss handed the paper to the Beacon headmaster who nodded in understanding as he adjusted his glasses to sit higher on his nose. Weiss looked down at her father, wondering just how he could treat anybody, much less a family member the way he'd treated her today. She had no answer and realized she really couldn't care less. If anything, it would be his loss when he realized what the repercussions of his actions were.
"Well, don't everyone move at once! Let's get this thing going!" Qrow cheered, leading them back into the church before waving and shouting for the rest of the broken up crowd to follow. He looked back over his shoulder at the man who was slowly getting back to his feet, trying not to dirty his suit more than it already was. "Oh, and you can keep lying there Schnee. I'll make sure to step on you on my way out."
"Don't listen to him, lad." Port pulled Weiss's father the rest of the way up, and pulled him forcefully away from the group. Weiss was surprised but relieved that she didn't have to deal with him for a while, especially when she heard her professor start one of his infamous tales. She was sure her father would enjoy that. "You know, back when I was a boy, your grandfather…"
They disappeared into the church, following the crowd that was already slowly streaming back in.
Qrow's drunken cackle that echoed out of the church didn't do much to help Weiss's nerves, and the distraction Port was providing for her father made her equally nervous considering his short fuse that had been burnt more than once in the last hour, but the slight pressure of Ruby's hand helped her disregard it all. She looked to her sister and then to everyone who'd helped make this dream a reality and couldn't stop the rush of tears that wanted to break free. Somehow, she managed to keep them in while biting her lip as she looked down at her hand that was carefully entwined with Ruby's.
As they started walking back into the church to prepare for the true ceremony, she took a moment to think. She had wondered earlier about whether or not this whole plan would be a mistake, and she finally had her answer. It was a large, resounding yes. But it's still the best mistake I've ever made in my life… and the most necessary.
Weiss pulled Ruby closer as they walked to whisper in her ear. "You did wonderfully. I can't thank you enough."
"You're mine. I had to get that point across." Ruby replied equally quietly. "But why did you tell me to stop half way through?"
"What are you talking about, dolt? Why would I do that?" Weiss hissed quickly enough that Ruby giggled from her blending words.
"I dunno…. I mean… I thought it was odd too." Ruby replied, bumping her shoulder into Weiss's.
"Oh… maybe it was his semblance?" Weiss asked thoughtfully. "Something that affects sound?"
"Maybe…" Ruby conceded with a shrug. "I guess it doesn't matter now that I've won. Oh! Before I forget, I had to ask why you called me a knight with dented armour on that paper."
Weiss couldn't stop the small giggle that took over as she walked up the steps with Ruby. "Oh, no. I'm not ruining the surprise. You'll just have to wait and see."
Ruby pouted as they split ways. Ruby was guided by Yang and Blake over to the lone dressing room in the church and Weiss approached the waiting headmaster to discuss how the remainder of the day would proceed. She felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins from all the stress going strong and realized that after today, she'd need a long time to relax and de-stress. But as long as she would be married to the right person, it would all be worth it.
Author's Note:
So I'm only about 90% satisfied with this chapter and might want to change some of the confrontation at the end but I really didn't want to leave you all on the edge of the fight for too long, so here it is. If I do change anything, I'll say something in the A/N next chapter just so there isn't any confusion. Also the next chapter is far too big right now so I'm trying to find a way to divide it into parts properly but a lot happens, so look forward to next Friday!