— A/N —

I realize that this is going to be a shorter chapter despite the long time it took to publish this. At the time I'm writing this author's note (3/10/23), I'm in the middle of transferring to my university of choice. I'm a little worried that I won't be accepted. I've sent my application a little over a week before the deadline, so there's a chance they won't have enough room for me when they get to my application. Or maybe they find my application lacking and decline me. All I can do is wait to hear their response.

- Reviews -

Singular Ash: It'll be a while until that happens. And don't worry, I'm not going to make him say that. Though, even if he did, I doubt anyone would truly believe him.

Molag Vile: Thank you! I wanted Ruby to essentially learn to grow from what she normally would do than in canon.

ThePowerfullKira: Now that you say that, I see the resemblance.

Dandaman5: Thank you!

Guest 1 on March 2: He could definitely do that, but he's more the kind of character to punch someone, then reload before they could retaliate.

Guest 2 on March 2: For the second part of your review, I wanted it to be believable to how eight hunters-in-training lost as opposed to how he won against them.

Jowasut: Sorry to hear that. There's other things that take my attention off from working on this story.

Mike Gentry: Much like most gamers, lol. The sweetest person on Earth could perform war crimes in a game and smile about it because it's only a game. And thank you for the rating—it's a lot more than I thought this story is!

Unde3rB0y: Thank you!

THE TOWER OF PIMPS: I might as well make Teddy T-pose on her just to make sure she won't fight him again.

EShrew: Thank you! I really did like how the back and forth switches turned out.

Imperial Stormtrooper: Thank you!


"SAVESCUM"

Chapter Eight


"Hello? Ozpin, was there something you needed? You don't normally call me out of the blue like this."

The image of his friend came through clearly on Ozpin's display. Leonardo's hair was grey, but was in his signature hair style; hair long and combed back, and his beard was spread out from his chin, giving the image of a wise mane. The large windows behind him had curtains that diffused the light, the same curtains that he, and his predecessors, had since the establishment of Haven Academy. Though his friend was older, he looked no different from when Ozpin contacted him.

But there was something different to his eyes.

"Leonardo, it's good to see you. Yes, you're absolutely right, which is why I'll be brief. There was someone posing as a student from your academy."

"Ah… I've heard of the news. This 'Cinder Fall'." There was a pause on his end. Leonardo stared off into his office. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know how they got into our systems. The staff went through to see how we could have been hacked, but so far there's nothing."

Ozpin didn't say anything. The mug in his hand moved to his mouth for him to take a sip.

"Our computer specialist checked for any suspicious log-in attempts. Nothing. Our security team went through months worth of camera footage for anyone sneaking in. Nothing. And currently, I'm having the staff vetted to know if any one of them had perhaps taken a bribe or sorts."

"I see. It's good to know that you're doing this. In fact, that was the whole reason why I called in the first place."

"I'll let you know if something comes up." The call ended with a flicker, and when Ozpin shut the holographic screen off, he was left staring into the middle of his office. The muffled sound of gears turning was all that's left.

No doubt finding that his school had a breach would be stressful, but it seemed unlikely that that was what Ozpin saw in his eyes. Leonardo wasn't the type to mope when overwhelmed; his eyebrows would lightly furrow, and his posture would be tall as though to take on a challenge. He looked like something ate at him.

Maybe she's making her move already. Cinder in Vale trying to breach Beacon. It seems likely that another one of hers is in Mistral trying to breach Haven. Ozpin recused himself on that. He was wrong. Haven has already been breached. And he had to wonder how that could have happened. Leonardo, as well as any other headmaster for each of the academies throughout the years, have always run a tight ship—checking everything and making sure nothing was out of place.

There was something clearly wrong. Leonardo wasn't telling.

· · ·

Her last memory of what happened was seeing the killer run away. Ren's aim had gone wide, and just missed him. She passed out and woke up in the back of an ambulance. Police had questioned her, again, as well as the others for their accounts. That lasted ten minutes before they were treated, then shuttled to Beacon where they would be resting in the infirmary. That all happened yesterday.

All three of their wounds were superficial with aura; their wounds would heal quickly. Ruby had a cut on her forearm; Yang had a deeper cut along her elbow, so she had to wear an arm sling to keep her arm bent as her aura sealed the wound; Weiss had a bandage wrapped around the back of her head; Blake suffered less pain than them, so she could still go about her day as normal. In her and Yang's words, they used the 'Bumblebee' attack and the killer had led Yang into punching Blake into a shelf. Her aura shattered from Yang's punch, and the shelf had pinned her to the ground.

Blake brough breakfast sandwiches from the cafeteria to them, and she turned the TV on as they ate. First, it was playing some advertisements for products and services, until the channel resumed its program. A flashy intro displaying the name of the news channel flared, and the face of a newscaster was shown.

"Yesterday morning, the serial killer, Grin, was spotted in downtown Vale."

Ruby wanted to choke. The media really did give him a nickname based on his creepy smile—The Grin of Vale. They might as well encourage him to keep going with his crimes.

"Fortunately, Beacon students were there at the scene and quickly moved to stop him. Damages as a result have been limited, however a part of Eritel Main Street was destroyed—that road will be temporarily closed for repairs. Expect traffic to be slow."

"No one has been seriously hurt—neither the students from Beacon or any civilians. Despite their efforts, Grin managed to escape. Authorities warn that Grin is a dangerous individual. If you see him, find a safe place to hide and contact authorities of his whereabouts."

If only it had been like that, Ruby thought, because there had been a seriously hurt person. Jaune wasn't there in Beacon's infirmary with them because he had to stay at Vale's hospital. He had surgery to remove the blade embedded in his ribs, then another to seal his punctured lung. She didn't know much about it, only hearing it from Ren's update through his texts, but Jaune would be alright. His team had gone down to check up on him, and his aura was healing him. The doctors expect him to be fully recovered near the end of their semester break.

"In other news, a police raid on a warehouse turned into a shootout with White Fang members." At the mention of them, Blake's shoulders rose and she concentrated on the screen. "The police were able to put a stop to them, and the raid yielded over five-hundred pounds worth of stolen dust. The recovered goods are expected to be redistributed to dust shops by Friday, and prices should begin to low–"

The screen shuts off. Ruby looked to where the remote was to see it in Yang's hand, outstretched and aimed at the TV. "I think that's enough news," she said. Her arm relaxed and rested on top of the bed. She groaned. "My hair has to be cut again if I want to grow it out to how it used to be."

Weiss looked at her. "You could've died and you're concerned about your hair?"

"No, it's just…" Yang shut her eyes. Her chest rose and fell in a controlled deep breath. But she didn't exhale slowly; it started like that, but it all came rushing out angrily. "Ugh! I hate him! He was toying with us!"

"I'm sorry, Yang. It was… stupid to try and beat him." Her sister's anger died there. Up until now, no one said anything about Grin the entire time they had been recovering since yesterday. It took her more effort to say what she wanted to say.

"How did he know?" Ruby said. "He cut your hair, Yang, as if he knew that it would make you angry. And he dodged your every move. I've seen you fight even slower in Signal, and no one could make you miss all of your punches."

"I don't know."

Weiss had looked down for a moment before she leveled her head with the rest of them. "Maybe that's his semblance—knowing just what ours is by looking at us?"

"That makes some sense," Blake said. She walked around to grab the sandwich wrappers after they finished eating. "He went after Pyrrha because he knew what her semblance was, and he didn't reveal he had any metal weapons until…" She looked awkwardly away. "That doesn't explain how he dodged all of us."

Weiss' voice is heavy with reluctance. "He's experienced." To which Yang scoffed.

"Out of all of us? He looks no older than a Beacon student! And skill is less of a factor the larger the number of opponents there are."

"He divided us, and fought us all either one-on-one, or on two," Blake retorted. She was right about that. But how, then, could two teams not get him. "What if it was precognition?"

Ruby shook her head. "There was a moment when he was surprised. Really surprised. He wouldn't have been if he could really see into the future." Ruby couldn't forget his voice. Quiet, and for some reason also sounded like an alarm. A monotonous, repetitive beep. But through that, she heard, You can hear me? She couldn't wrap her head around it.

Blake looked at the clock on the wall and broke the silence. "I have to go. I also won't be available in the evening."

"Why?" Yang asked.

"Detention, for what happened at the docks. I have to help the teachers prepare for next semester." Blake got up and made to move. "You all will be free to go by then, so I'll see you at the dorm."

When the door clicked shut behind her, no one else said anything. The cut on Ruby's arm should be fully healed in two hours. She could do with some sleep anyway.

· · ·

Her forearm breathed the fresh air as the bandage was unwrapped. Her other hand felt the skin where there used to be a cut—smooth, and not even a single scratch. "Your sister is also free to go with you as well," the nurse said. "She'll have to continue wearing her bandage for today, as well as the arm sling to prevent it from reopening. Just in case."

Ruby gave the nurse her thanks, and left the infirmary. The halls are quiet, and it was only her footsteps that echoed. Most of the students chose to go home for the break. Others are outside enjoying activities under a clear and blue sky; sunny, but windy enough to keep things cool. There was a hallway with large, tall windows, and she looked out to see two teams playing catch. She could imagine RWBY and JNPR in that position. Oh, and there was a rare moment when one person with their weapon in hand plunged over the edge and into Emerald Forest.

They had just over a week and a half until their break ends. Yet when she thought about what they could do, all that came was blank. Maybe something would come up eventually. The door to her team's dorm was up ahead. Weiss was sitting at the desk with a textbook and a sheet of paper off to the side when Ruby entered the dorms. She wrote some things down before she nodded to her. At that moment, her scroll played a tune and vibrated in a pattern that she recognized. Her father was calling. Weiss looked at her oddly as Ruby hesitantly pressed to answer the call. The first thing she sees is Tai, with wide eyes and a frown. He had been panicking, he had to be.

"H-Hi, dad…"

"Ruby! Are you okay?!" Tai's voice came out loudly, and she had to move the scroll further away from her.

"I'm fine, dad! Nothing happened."

"Ozpin told me." And just like that, there went any chance of trying to keep things under wraps. "What about Yang? She's not picking up my calls."

"She's busy."

"Pass the scroll to her."

"She's in the bathroom."

"I've changed her diapers when she was growing up. Just pass the scroll to her, Ruby." She looked up from her scroll to see Weiss, and though she didn't say anything, she was now looking at her apologetically. Ruby opened the door and walked out of the dorm room. "It doesn't look like the bathroom," she heard over the line after she took ten steps out the door.

"M'sorry."

Thankfully, he never said anything, but she could imagine the disappointed look on his face. She took the same route to go back to the infirmary, and thankfully she didn't have to travel the full way, because she came across Yang part-way. She noticed the scroll in her hands and the look on her face. When Ruby passed the scroll to her, Yang put up her normal, outgoing expression before she aimed the camera to herself.

"Hey, dad!"

"Don't bother trying to lie. I know what happened. And… Is that… Is that an arm sling? Yang!"

"It'll be fine. It'll be all good tomorrow!"

"That's not the point. You all put yourselves at unnecessary risk. Ozpin told me how you both got hurt." He shook his head. "I told you, Yang, you can't just rely on your semblance to end things, and you can't just let your temper go out of control."

"I know that."

"You know that, but are you going to learn from that, or are you saying 'I know' to get me to stop?" Yang looked away, frustrated; she didn't say anything. It all felt so wrong to Ruby. Her sister was the only one that didn't want to have a physical confrontation with him. "And you, Ruby, I get you want to save people, but you are not ready yet. I don't care if the media paints you both as a hero. You're going to get hurt."

"Being a hunter is a dangerous career."

"The difference is that you're still in-training. What fully-fledged huntsmen can do is leagues beyond what you two can do. You're not the only ones trying to stop him. Trust me on that."

Yang had more sense than she ever did. Everything that he said was practically word-for-word of what she said to the three of them that day—after she came back from Oobleck's counseling. And such a fool she was to not listen.

"I'm sorry for being frustrated with you both, but there's no reason to put yourselves into unnecessary risk. You two are the only ones I have left. I wish I could visit, or that you two could visit Patch, but Signal's break is different from Beacon's; I'll be busy. I love you both."

"Love you, dad," Ruby and Yang both echoed.

· · ·

Beacon's weapon workshop—or 'The Forge' as it has been called—was one of the few places that Ruby frequented. It was housed in a small building just outside of Beacon's main building. To the side of the room were rows of machinery, and in the corner was a cabinet full of hand tools. The people who maintain the Forge were Beacon upperclassmen.

One of which was always around, 24/7. He's usually behind the desk where everyone who enters is supposed to sign their name and the time they arrive on a sheet of paper. Other times, he cleans the machinery and organizes the hand tools left behind. She never really caught his name, nor did he offer her it, so by default Ruby had always called him 'Keep' in her mind. He wears leather gloves, and a work vest over a black long-sleeve shirt. He's confident and outgoing like Yang is. When he looked over to the door when she entered, he gave her a warm smile. "Hey, nice to see you, kid. Here to work on your scythe again?"

"Hi… Actually, I'm here for another weapon."

"Oh? What did you have in mind?"

"Something for range, and… a knife."

"There's probably a spare I could find," Keep said. He went through the shelves behind him and grabbed a standard combat knife. He continued to rummage around through boxes on the lower shelves. "Any reason why you want new weapons? I figured that you'd just tweak your current weapon to be multi-purposed."

"I just wanted something I can keep on myself at all times."

"I see. Nothing wrong with that. So something compact… a sidearm… Ah!" He got up and came back to the counter with a smile. "How about this lil' guy?" A revolver with matte-black metal, and white rubber handle was presented to her on the counter. "Six shots. A two inch barrel. Both are easy to clean and maintain since you love your scythe so much."

If Crescent Rose was the intricate product of love and care over years, then this was the opposite; factory-made in a single day on a line of other revolvers of the same kind. It went against everything she believed a hunter's weapon of choice should be. This was as much of an expression of herself as everyone else who had the same gun.

She held it by the rubber handle to get a feel for the weight—hefty, but manageable. It had a trapezoid-post that ran along the top of the revolver from its barrel to the hammer. It was a strange choice for an iron-sight, but she realized that it could be to prevent the gun from being snagged on clothing. Ruby pressed the lever on the side and swung out the cylinder. There's an impression of a circle where the bullets go, which meant that it could use moon-clips.

She closed it back gingerly, and looked at its proportions. The edges at the end of the barrel were rounded, and the cylinder was symmetrically fluted. It may have not been intricate, but she realized that there was a certain elegance to its simplicity. Some parts were lacking, but those could be easily modified.

"Heh. I take it that you're going to use it? Are you going to give it a name too?"

She thought about it.

"Poppy Rose."

"Alright, that'll be a two-hundred and ninety-nine lien." Keep broke out into laughter. "The look on your face. I'm only kidding. It's seventy lien for both the gun and knife."

· · ·

"How would you say you're feeling these days, Ms. Rose?"

She was leaning comfortably back in her seat. Oobleck's office was quaint, and felt like a miniature library. On his desk was his thermos, with the roasted warmth of caffeine coming from it. She had gotten used to its atmosphere.

"Better now, Dr. Oobleck."

"That's good! And thank you for using my title. Did you take some time for yourself during the break? It's the last day before your second semester begins."

"Yes, I have. Weiss wanted us to study before the semester began, and I played catch with Yang. Blake spends most of her time in the library."

"Does she not spend time with you all?"

"She does every now and then, but she likes to be by herself to read her books. And, uh… Just yesterday… we went to Vale." Oobleck waited for her to continue. "It was to see Jaune. The rest of his team was there too, and the doctors said that he would be free to return today."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah. On the ride back to Beacon, all seven of us were quiet. I don't think anyone wanted to talk about what happened the last time we went out to Vale."

He hummed. "It's most likely nothing to worry about. I had sessions with them after that happened."

"Are they okay?" Normally, she'd ask them herself. But there never felt like there was a right time to do so.

"I can't tell you the details due to patient privacy, but yes. The only person I need to talk with is Jaune. Ah, but enough about that. You've shown great progress from when you first came in—you're a lot more relaxed now."

And Ruby supposed that she was. She's able to treat the days as normally as she can, though she still can't forget it. Her loss against Grin still irked her, but it oddly washed away her worry in a way that she can't really describe. At the docks, she could have done something but didn't, which led her to feel that it was on her to fix that. But after that fight where she did her absolute best to stop him, she knew better now—nothing she could've done would do anything.

"Because of that," Oobleck said, "this will be our last mandated session."

"Wait, what?!"

He raised his hands to calm her. "I know, but the semester will be starting soon, and I have my work cut out with Jaune. But if there's other things that's on your mind, don't be afraid to reach out."

"Well… I do have one question, actually. I want to know what makes a good hunter, or a fighter. What makes them so good that they could win against all odds?" It feels like a weight off her shoulders saying that.

"There's plenty of things that can make someone a good fighter—all of which is out of my league. Though I am a decent huntsman, I am not the greatest fighter, and my forte is in history. If you really want to know what makes a good fighter, it'll be something you learn about throughout Beacon as you progress." Oobleck took a sip from his thermos, and placed it back down on the coaster.

"However, don't think I'm unaware why you're asking me. I had a feeling that what I said to you the first time regarding serial killers is what led to… that. It was written on your face when I gave you an answer."

Ruby chuckled like she'd been caught red-handed. "I learned that I wasn't good enough, so I want to better myself. But I won't go after him—my dad told us not to do reckless things, anyway."

"That's good. History always repeats itself, and there's one of many things I've taken away from studying it all." There was an earnest look in his eyes. "It's best to walk away, Ruby."

· · ·

Teddy wasn't sure how many times he had to watch a three second black screen transition occur. He sat upright, and felt a pang of numbness in his back, then another in his knees when he tried to stand up and limp to the door. It had been days—in-game, of course—since the fight, and his body was still injured from it all. With the money Roman gave him, he stayed at a hotel for its bed and free breakfast. He hoped that eating fruits and resting for nearly two weeks would be enough. Clearly not. His walking pace was more like a gallop—one leg forward followed by the other instead of a normal alternating stride.

The hotel was fancy with warm, yellow lights and wooden accents. The flooring was carpeting with geometric patterns throughout the hallway. Teddy got to the elevator and pressed a button. When the doors closed, he could see a hazy reflection of himself on its silvery surface. The sleeves of his white button-up were rolled to his elbows, and had a bit of wrinkles all over from having been slept on. The soft, chiming music played for a moment until he reached the ground floor.

A couple more strides later and he stops dead in his tracks. Usually he'd see people coming and going through the door and occasionally hear the sound of a roller-suitcase, there would be people over to the side eating breakfast in a quiet atmosphere. Instead he was met with the entirety of Vale's police department and two dozen huntsmen cramped inside a lobby designed to account for a dozen people at most. The police were heavily armored and seriously packing, but none of that could compare to what the huntsmen had on them.

"Stop!" The one in the lead shouted. His finger was on the trigger of his combat shotgun. "You're under arrest! Place your hands on the back of your head and face down on the ground."

Teddy complied, a whole group of officers surrounded him. One put him in cuffs and pulled him forcefully off the ground. Even then, not a single one relaxed. A man in a trench coat came out from the crowd with a cigarette hanging loosely off to the side in his mouth.

"Hard to believe that the council put all the pressure on us just to capture this freak." He blew smoke into Teddy's face. He didn't flinch. "For someone as slippery as you are, you left a lousy trail. Getting cocky is what got you caught, Grin. Your reign of terror ends now."

Teddy blows the air back at the detective, which punches a hole in the cloud of smoke in front of them both. The detective shut his eyes, and looked annoyed. "If I had a penny for everytime you said that exact same line to me, I would have three now." It was still unnatural for him to speak. The detective opened his mouth to respond, but not a single sound would come out.

[Quicksave loaded…]

Teddy blinked, and he found himself back in bed. He'd rather not put up with that, not in the condition he was in. He got up, held his folded peacoat underneath his armpit, and opened his window. A soft breeze blew in and made his eyes blink again. To the side, there was a fire escape that he could use. It was a simple jump away from his window sill, and while he did make it, his character's leg buckled weirdly and nearly sent him away from where he was going.

The sounds of multiple cars coming to a quick stop came from the parking lot, followed by its doors opening and the many rubber soles against asphalt. The police from before had rushed into the building now, followed by the huntsmen. A little late. Teddy hobbled around the side of the building and through a parking lot of some supermarket. His stride would occasionally be interrupted by his knee giving out, which made him stumble.

The dissonance between what he thinks of doing, and what his character actually did annoyed him. There was no way he could continue fighting. But even if he wasn't injured, could he still do that? Every night was dead silent with no one around, and the only difference now was that police and huntsmen were actively hunting him down during the day—the former of which he'd rather not fight since it didn't make him feel as good.

He realized that he had that same line of thought before; just before Neo kidnapped him, before Roman had given him an offer to break the new monotony he set for himself. It was different, unique. Though it wasn't as exhilarating, he could remember that quest more clearly than the number of fights with faceless mooks. Maybe that's what he needed.

He found a spot behind a large, green garbage bin and took out the scroll. Tapping on the contacts icon, there was only one listing for 'R'. Luckily, his thumbs weren't suffering from any injury. He wrote, "Have you left Vale?" and sent it. He saw a little message appear underneath his text that indicated Roman had seen his message. A response came a little later.

"She sent her kids to track us, so we had to wait a bit until we knew her search for us had calmed down. As well as for my contact to bring in the bullhead." After that, another message came up. "It's here now. We'll be gone before the day ends. Why do you ask?"

Teddy smirked to himself as he typed his message. "Take-a me with you"


— A/N —

Lots of talk through devices in this chapter, I realized.

Got nothing else to really say here. Though while working on this chapter, I found myself writing first chapters for other story ideas that I've had to see how it would go. Not sure if it'll lead to anything else, though.

Published: March 31, 2023