Chapter 27 – breaKing point


Author's Notes

Did something happen on Friday that I missed? My stats came in, and it was well over double the previous record in a single day in terms of views for last chapter, 'the pocKetKnife'. No idea why; guess people really liked reading Adam's backstory? I'm happy, just confused.

Either way, I'm happy, the rats are happy, and you still shouldn't do crime!


"Team Yellowjacket…Pyrrha. Come."

Jaune nodded, satisfied with the outcome.

"Woulda preferred Yellowjacket-P, but that works," said Yang. "Gents, The Pyre. Let's go get our m-effing practical on."

It had been inevitable, really. Goodwitch stared down Adam after his little gambit, but she'd relented when Ilia and Blake had both joined hands with him. Ruby had tried to as well, but she'd forgotten that Adam only had two hands, so she ended up just tapping her foot on his. The Yellowjacket-P's and a couple of other students who seemed equally fed up with the abuse they'd received all year joined in on the tapping, thinking it was some sort of song of rebellion rather than an awkward teen not having a limb of her own to grasp. Goodwitch had been short with the class ever since Blake's theft and destruction of a bullhead at the docks, and her treatment of her students hadn't exactly become any less stern after that night. Now, her crabbiness had come back to bite her in the ass.

She couldn't send an entire year of students back to Vale, so she did the only thing possible. She caved. Pyrrha was acknowledge and the Combat Practicals resumed their regularly scheduled programming, so everyone got to walk away happy.

And all was forgiven.

For now.

"Team Rabies, please stand opposite them. Team Sword, please stand alongside them."

Weiss stood up, but she must've thought she'd misheard the teacher. She looked between the two teams, then back at Goodwitch for further instruction.

"Team Rabies has the highest average victory scoring in the entire class. Your teams, by average alone, tie for the lowest. Your combined numbers shall be their handicap. As I said, the tests would be hand tailored to each team's strengths and weaknesses."

"A handicap?" said Ruby. "But they've got Pyrrha! She's the best in the class!"

Goodwitch raised an eyebrow. "They also have Jaune."

"…okay, that's fair."

Jaune himself nodded stoically in agreement.

Ilia supposed it was fair. K was competent enough…who was she kidding, they ran circles around most of these amateur punks, even though they tried not to show off. Ruby definitely pulled her weight, so Team Rabies had no weak link to drag them down like most of the other. While Pyrrha was a prodigy and Yang (though Ilia would only begrudgingly admit it) was one tough bitch, their partners were essentially dead weight compared to real hunter students, making them outnumbered every time their team sparred.

It was even worse for Weiss. She had cobbled together some decent teamwork-based strategies with the Swords that actually made them more useful than a trio of termite mounds, but the three boys' lack of true skill eventually caught up to them. They'd been a promising team once, rising quickly through the ranks, but now that they'd reached their full potential and found it woefully lacking, they had nowhere left to go but to the bottom of the rankings.

"Remember, you shall be graded not on your victory alone, but on your form, your teamwork, and your ability to strategize. This is an examination, not the Vytal Festival Tournament. You have one minute to prepare before the test begins."

Weiss called her team in for a huddle to discuss their strategy, while the Yellowjacket-P's followed Yang in doing some preliminary stretches.

Ruby stood proudly in front of her three Faunus and slammed the butt of her scythe into the ground. "I don't have a soapbox. Adam, would you do the honors?"

Adam sighed and placed his hands under her armpits, then lifted her a few feet into the air.

"Friends. There is not a doubt in my mind that victory shall be ours, despite the uphill climb we face before us. When I look among you, I don't see three random people who just happen to have teamed up with me, and that's because my eyes are closed. Together, we've faced down the impossible and come out all the stronger for it. I believe in us. I believe in the Rabies. And I can't wait to see the look on Weiss Schnee's face when she's lying face down in the dirt."

"Woohoo!" cheered Blake.

"Yeah!" Ilia said, raising a fist into the air.

"If she's face down, how would you–"

"A-Adam, just…let us have the moment, okay?"

"C'mon, Rubadoodledoo," said Yang, finished with her warm-up. "Me 'n' the Swords are all ready, and we're waiting on you."

"We're ready, too. I just want you to know, sis, I won't be going easy on you. You guys and gals have your passports ready, because we're about to bring you down down to Mistral town."

Weiss Schnee drew her rapier. "I highly doubt that. This shall be a chance for me to rectify the blemish of defeat by your hand on my otherwise superlative scholastic record."

"Oooh, look at me," mocked Ruby, waving both hands in the air. "I'm so smart! I know words!"

"In what universe is a rich vocabulary something to use as a mode of disparagement?"

"More and more words, Weiss. You can't hurt me because I have no idea what you're saying!"

Russel crossed his arms impatiently. "Can we fight, or–"

"Weiss is the best huntress in this whole school," said Cardin dismissively. "And you're just a tiny little baby that no one loves."

"Well, you're just a big fat baby that no one loves," said Ruby. She reached out a hand and, without making eye contact, received a high five from Blake.

"Big and fat, huh? Well, it's hard to feel insulted when the one talking is skinnier that her own scythe."

"At least I'm not as skinny as your dick, you dog-nosed, penis breath, buttface!"

Ilia noticed Adam nodding in agreement, a broad smile on his face. Despite his initial reluctance to having a human on their team, he seemed to have certainly warmed up to Ruby.

"And penis breath isn't meant to imply that homosexual behavior in men is in any way an insult," clarified Ruby. "I'm just saying that your oral hygiene is so poor that years of dental neglect have culminated in genitalia flavored halitosis. Also, you're gay!"

"Got'em," said Ilia, hitting the dab.

"Yeah, well…I've at least got a real team," fired back Cardin. "All you've got is your pets."

That time, Ruby had no comeback. Her grip on her scythe did tighten, though, and her smile disappeared.

Cardin continued on, oblivious to the danger he was in. "And after we're through with your rabid freaks, you won't even have that, Booby! How does that sound? A scared little infant, all alone with no one to call friend?" He sneered. "That's all you are. That's all you'll ever be."

Ilia wasn't sure if his insults were or weren't made with awareness of Ruby's past, but they must've struck home. Ruby's volume rose.

"I came here to kick bubblegum and chew names, and I'm all out of butts! I hope you brought a raincoat, because I'm about to serve you a knuckle sandwich! Death will be the only reward of those who disrespect Team Rabies! Zwei shall feast on your thrice-violated remains!

Blake smiled briefly, but it faltered. "Yea– wait, wait?"

Ruby pointed directly at him. "Oh, you wanna go, Cardy-boy? You think you can make fun of my friends and get away with it, you big crybaby bully? You – you – you – you think you can just…just go around, fucking calling them fucking names, you piece of Beowolf shit? Well, then think a-fucking-gain!"

"Uh, Ruby…"

Ruby couldn't hear Blake. "I'll carve your damn eyes out of your skull! I'll tear you apart limb from limb if your try to take my friends away from me!" Crescent Rose pointed at the two enemy teams. "I'll kill every single fucking one of you!"

Cardin eyes shot back and forth in confusion at the unexpected burst of profanity. "I–"

"Ruby!" shouted Adam. "Maybe calm down a bit."

"Ilia, hand me Lightning Lash. I need to go shove it all the way up Cardin's–"

"Ruby!" screamed Ilia, Adam, and Blake.

"LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!"

Ruby charged at Cardin, running at max speed and screeching in anger. Her head rammed into stomach, and her sudden momentum knocked him right out of the arena. The impact must've cost her half her aura, but she probably wasn't even aware of it right then.

Dove was the next closest to her. Crescent Rose knocked him to the ground, then battered him until his aura shattered. There was no finesse to Ruby's movements. She was no longer the expert reaper, master of twirling and swirling her sniper scythe as though it were a ribbon and she a dancer. Now, she was a screaming child holding a stick, and Dove was the donkey piñata.

Yang grabbed Ruby from behind, wrapping her arms around her sister in a full nelson. "Sis, you need to chi–"

Ruby, still screaming at the top of her lungs, drove her elbow right into Yang's nose. Yang reflexively loosened her grip, and Ruby used the moment of weakness to reach her arms behind her and flip Yang right over her head. The blonde landed right in front of Ruby and scrambled to her feet, her eyes red and her hair flaming. Unfortunately for her, Ruby also decided to use her semblance.

Flaming petals hit the ground as Ruby pushed on both of Yang's shoulders at breakneck speeds towards the edge of the arena. Yang was trying to dig her feet into the ground, but they were moving too fast for her to get a foothold on anything sturdy. As the boundary drew closer, Yang drove her knuckles into Ruby's head, but Ruby simply tanked the hit without stopping. Ilia was fairly certain from her leader's rage-filled snarls that she didn't even know it was her own sister she was fighting.

Ruby's aura was down to 27% when Yang eventually tumbled out of the arena. Her eyes snapped back and forth until they found Russel and settled on him. The remainder of Teams Sword and Yellowjacket-P seemed to finally snap out of their initial shock at the chipper girl's explosive temper and jumped into the fray to restrain her. Jaune tackled her to the floor, and Pyrrha tried to pin her fists. Sky, the biggest remaining combatant now that Cardin was gone, threw himself stomach first onto Ruby's torso in a desperate attempt to hold her down with his greater weight. Myrtenaster swirled through the air as its owner summoned simultaneously support Glyphs for her allies and barriers to hamper Ruby's movements.

"YOU WON'T TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME! I WON'T LET YOU!"

"Ruby, no one–"

The Glyphs faded. Ilia glanced over to see Weiss Schnee tumble out of the arena. Adam had smacked her with the flat of his blade while her full focus had been on bolstering the four combatants as they struggled against a wrathful fifteen-year-old who'd been pushed a step too far. Ilia hadn't even seen him move; she'd been too preoccupied on Ruby's violent meltdown.

The disappearance of the Glyphs that had been instrumental in keeping Ruby down did not go over well for Sky. Ruby, now freed, pushed off the ground. She may have been a tiny girl, but her strength was enhanced by her aura which was powered by her soul, and her soul was probably burning out of control with passion and ferocity right now. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Sky were all knocked back, and Ruby rolled out from under them. She kicked off the floor and rammed her shoulder into Sky's torso. The last of her remaining aura was consumed as she bulldozed him out of bounds. That didn't stop her from raining down petit fists onto his head. Sky futilely raised his arms up to block the attacks.

"Miss Rose! That's quite enough!" Goodwitch waved her wand, and Ruby was torn off of the boy. "Your aura is in the gone and you've been eliminated! Miss Rose! MISS ROSE! STOP!"


Ruby showed no signs of stopping as she struggled and growled against the invisible force that bound her. Blake was at full aura, but the Combat Practicals didn't mean shit compared to Ruby's mental health. She dashed out of the sparring ring and positioned herself in front of Ruby.

"Ruby! Ruby, it's me! You need to calm down, Ruby."

After a few tense seconds of struggling, their eyes met, and Ruby's death glare subsided. "B-Blake?"

"Yes, Ruby. It's me. Your partner."

"Blake, they were…I would be…"

"Don't worry, Ruby. You won't be alone. No one is going to leave you alone. I promise."

"I…" Ruby inhaled deeply. "What happened out there? I barely remember anything. I was trash talking Yang, Weiss, and Cardin, and then…he was talking about you and...I forgot. There were so many rose petals…"

"You–"

Blake struggled to form the words to explain it.

" – consecutively took our four opponents in the sloppiest but somehow most effective manner I've ever seen," Professor Goodwitch finished for her. "I'm not sure whether to dock you points for your utter lack of form, or to reward you for the fact that you bulldozed through an entire team's worth of hunters and evened out the handicap ladened on you."

Ruby looked back at the arena, then at the aura readings on the board. "It's three on three?"

"Three on two," admitted Blake. "I kinda ran out at full aura to calm you down."

"I'm sorry," said Ruby, turning red. "I didn't mean to lose it. I just…"

"W-Where did that all come from, sis?" said Yang, coming over to them. "I've never seen that look in your eyes before. I was honest to the Brothers scared for my life."

"I've got no clue," protested Ruby. "I can barely even remember. Cardin said he was going to…to…" Ruby's face fell into a glare. "Cardin."

"Ruby!" Yang gripped her shoulders. "Snap out of it!"

Ruby shook her head back and forth. "I don't…I'm…I'm okay. I'm okay. Blake, you should get back into the fight."

Goodwitch shook her head. "Full aura or not, Miss Belladonna chose to exit the fighting arena. She's disqualified, regardless of her intent. To the remainders of Teams Sword, Yellowjacket, and Rab– Yellowjacket-P, and Rabies, you shall continue your Combat Practicals. Proceed with your fight as though this, ahem, diverting display by Miss Rose is concluded, because it is."

Goodwitch's eyes narrowed at Ruby as she said it.

Adam and Ilia nodded. Pyrrha and Jaune were still on the ground, where Ruby had left them when she took out Sky. Russel was staring at Ruby, likely in shock at having narrowly avoided a near-death experience. The fight resumed now that Goodwitch's approval had been given for it.

Glynda released her hold on Ruby, and Blake helped the unsteady girl to her feet, putting Ruby's arm around her shoulders and lifting her up. Yang took Ruby's other arm.

"You okay, sis? You gave me a real run for my lien, there."

"Oh my gosh, Yang, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"Nothing that I wouldn't get from the Grimm or a spar with The Pyre. You mostly just stunned me and the others with how fierce you got, then blitzed us. My aura's still in the green. I guess this finally settles which of us got the better semblance."

"How's that?"

Yang blinked. "Wow, you really don't remember? You and I clashed head on. I lit up Burn and you pushed back with Petal Burst. We butted heads like a pair of horny male rams, but you eventually pushed me out of the ring. It was cray-cray, sis. You kicked major ass. My little sis, doin' pro-gamer moves and shit – I'm so proud!"

That got a blush out of the red-tipped brunette. "Aw gee, Yang. That really butters my biscuits. Sorry about brutalizing your body, though."

Yang looked over her wounds – none physical, but plenty to her pride – and shrugged. "S'cool."

Blake nodded in agreement at the praise. "You did well, Ruby. Even Adam's never gone that w– heads up. Incoming."

Weiss Schnee positioned herself right in-between the two girls supporting Ruby and the stands to which they were returning. Her rapier was in her hand, and she stared directly into Ruby's eyes.

It was then that Blake considered something that was hitherto unconsidered. It had nothing to do with Weiss, and also everything to do with her.

K had believed that they could simply avoid whoever killed Marrow Amin by keeping their heads down, leaving the mystery unsolved, and avoiding provoking any of the suspects. After the debacle at the docks, this seemed like the most logical solution, and it still was.

But how had the killer ever known that Marrow was the person they were supposed to meet? How had the killer found him before K did in the Emerald Forest, when the three of them had possessed a tracking scroll leading them right too him? Even if they knew his face, they shouldn't have been able to track him down in such short time.

There must be some angle we're missing.

"This proves nothing."

Weiss' statement broke Blake's attention away from her thoughts. "What are you talking about?"

"Ruby Rose is not stronger than me. I cannot, will not, shall not believe it. This was a fluke."

"Just like the last fluke?" said Ruby, her lips curling into a smile and her eyebrows raised. Weiss frowned in response.

"You may have outlasted me in today's bout, but this error shall soon be rectified when next we duel."

"Look, Weiss, can we just, I dunno, drop this rivalry of ours? It wasn't even me that eliminated you."

"Yes, I'm fully aware. Your pet cow snuck up on me during a moment of–"

"BLAAAAH!"

Weiss flinched at Ruby's sudden howl, stumbling over her feet and tripping as she recoiled backwards. Ruby snickered. "Careful, Weiss. You don't wanna set me off again by insulting my friends, or I might just beat up your team a second time."

"You…" Weiss spat contemptuously. "…are nothing. No one. A child accepted to Beacon by accident, undeserving of the praise heaped upon her and disrespectful to those of us who fairly earned our spots here."

"Hey, I earned my–"

"Don't interrupt!"

Ruby let go of Blake and Yang, standing freely of her own volition. "Weiss, just leave me and my team alone. You stay away from us, and we'll keep away from you. That's what you want, right?"

The Schnee didn't answer. The hand in which she held her rapier tensed, and Blake raised her aura over her body. She was at 100%, but Ruby was weak from expending all her energy in her frenzied state. Weiss had to still be in the high green after having been knocked out by a single attack.

Goodwitch was distracted by the ongoing match between Adam, Ilia, and the other three. Weiss' eyes narrowed.

Blake readied herself to defend Ruby, just in case the worst came to pass.

Then, Weiss…Weiss actually attacked.

It was completely unexpected. Not unforeseen – Blake had seen the signs coming a mile away – but she hadn't truly been expecting Weiss to go through with her murderous impulses. They were in broad daylight (so to speak) with a room full of witnesses, and the good guys outnumbered the Schnee three to one. Blake had genuinely thought she was emptily posturing to salvage her pride, and that her next move would be to back down and declare something cliché, like 'We'll finish this later' or 'I've got my eyes on you.' But no, Weiss actually tried to run Ruby through the chest. To end her life.

Blake caught the tip of the blade before it pierced Ruby's stomach and kicked Weiss' right shin. The former heiress lost her footing and stumbled. Blake, still gripping the rapier, stepped on Weiss' free hand and kneeled down so that her lower leg caught Weiss' neck.

Suddenly, a fist connected with the back of Blake's head. She lurched forward, and someone kicked her stomach.

"You!" growled Cardin. "Why don't you freaks just leave my leader alone?"

"Miss Belladonna! Miss Schnee! Mister Winchester! What on Remnant is going on here?" Blake felt an abrupt telekinetic arm wrap around her, preventing her from moving. Based on the way Cardin and Weiss froze as well, Goodwitch had stopped them with her semblance as well. "Has there not been enough disruptions and trouble already? Must you three make even more of a scene?"

Weiss pointed at Blake. "It's the Faunus, Miss Goodwitch! She tried to kill me!"

"That's not true," said Blake.

"Weiss attacked first," said Yang. "She tried to stab Ruby."

Ruby vigorously nodded her head in agreement.

"They're lying," Weiss coughed out, still recovering from being pinned by Blake's leg.

"Weiss is telling the truth," butted in Cardin. "The damn Faunus bitch went crazy and tried to choke her to death."

"Yeah," said Dove. "I saw it too."

"I'm sure you both did," sighed Goodwitch. She turned to address the class. "Did anyone else see what happened? Preferably someone who isn't completely unobjective and biased in favor of one of the combatants?"

No one spoke.

Goodwitch massaged her temples. "Ughhh…if anyone comes forth, I guarantee there shall be no chastisement for the that party."

No threats of expulsion is what she means.

"I saw it, ma'am."

Blake hadn't even seen Russel Thrush get knocked out, but she supposed that the math tracked. Ilia and Adam were pros, and the only opponent left for them was Pyrrha Nikos (taking on both at once). Jaune and Russel were currently sitting in the sidelines, waiting for the fight to finish before they joined their other defeated teammates.

"Mister Thrush, I don't need another teammate corroborating their–"

"Mmmmm, yeah, but neither of them got it right."

Goodwitch's eyebrows raised. Cardin and Weiss turned to stare at Russel intently.

"Do go on."

"The Faunus chick didn't go crazy, but Weiss wasn't trying to stab the kid either. She just had her sword in her hand when she tried to give Ruby a playful pat on the shoulder. She does it to me and the guys all the time; it's one of her mannerisms, you know, how she shows affection. But I get it – the cat doesn't know that and probably thought it was some sorta attack. Everyone overreacted. It's been a tense day, what with the whole Yellowjacket-Piss thing and the hoodie girl going ape-Faunus-shit."

"And I suppose you just want me to let all parties off without punishment, just like that? I'm to believe this was all an accident?"

Russel smiled disarmingly and shrugged his shoulders in overexaggerated 'innocence.'

"I mean, maybe it could've been an accident. No one saw it go down."

Goodwitch glared at him. "This will not be the end of this matter. However, as there is no evidence, and I have no way of determining the culpability of either party, I suppose I cannot determine guilt." She mumbled under her breath, "And apparently I've lost the capacity to deliver punishments."

"Works for me," shrugged Russel.


It hadn't been easy to ring out Jaune.

Correction – it had been extremely simple to ring out Jaune, but it hadn't been pleasant. Still, the wide smile on the boy's face indicated that his day was still an overall good one for him.

He was improving faster than anyone, but he was still weak. Starting from level one meant you could quadrulpe your talent much faster than someone at level fifty, but he'd still just be at level four then. Jaune was getting good enough to rival someone like either of the Albains, or maybe Trifa on a bad hair day. Adam had briefly considered saving Arc for last, but that damn semblance of his – if he stayed in the fight, Nikos would have a regenerative source of amped aura to fall back too, and she was not easy to fight.

Ilia was just barely managing to hold back Pyrrha while Adam had dealt with the two boys. Now that they were done, he took some of the heat off his partner by deflecting the javelin and forcing the Mistrilian champion to retreat a few paces away. She knew of his semblance after he'd used it in Port's class, and she was smarter than willingly charging it up for him.

"What's our play?" said Adam to Ilia. "I push the front, you try to come around from behind, we sandwich her and hope to get lucky?"

Ilia shook her head side to side.

"No? Double up, switch sides, try and catch her off guard?"

Again, Ilia's head shook.

"What do you want, then?" Adam asked in exasperation.

Ilia said not a word, her lips sealed shut. Instead, she held up four fingers.

"We…okay, fourth chamber it is. On your mark."

She signaled, and Adam rushed Pyrrha sword first. He was fully confident in his ability as a swordsman, but that wasn't enough here. He wasn't supposed to know about her 'magnetic personality,' but Ilia had relayed Beacon's juicy secret files to him. His own sword was made of alloyed Dust and shouldn't be fully affected, but its hilt was. Plus, the buckles in his belt and the zipper of his pants could be used to manipulate his own body movements. Nikos rarely ever used her semblance for more than just minor touch ups, typically preferring to play it closer to the chest, but she was outnumbered two to one, and Adam wasn't going to risk it. At no point did Adam loosen his grip.

Nikos was playing a defensive game now, likely hoping for either of her opponents to slip up and give her an opportunity. Wilt was blocked by the shield, and the javelin nicked his belt. Nikos kicked Blush away, depriving Adam of his range, but it was fine. Adam wasn't the closer; Ilia would be deciding their fate today.

He gave her an opening too good to be true, raising his sword high above his head and bringing it down in a blatantly obvious swing. Nikos probably knew it was too easy, but she took the lifeline either way. Throwing the shield at the red blade with one hand, she used the other to switch her javelin to a shortsword and jab Adam's undefended midsection.

The hurled shield did its intended job, knocking Wilt flying out of the ring, but Adam had already let go of it. She'd been expecting to knock his hands back and ended up disarming him instead. It may have seemed like rolling a seven on a six-sided die, but Adam was able to sneak his hands past her defenses since they were much lower than the tip of the sword.

He punched her in the stomach. She must not have been expecting it, because her aura didn't take the blow; her stomach did. Gasping for breath, she fell back two paces before attempting to counter with her shortsword. Adam caught the blade a wrenched it free, but he lost his hold on it and dropped it.

Nikos jumped towards him and kicked, but she missed his head and swiped the empty air in front of him instead. Adam fell to his knees, dizzy and disoriented from the failed kick. Pyrrha tried to punch him, but she couldn't find her balance and tripped over her own feet. Adam was…what was he trying to…fighting her?

Lightning Lady shot out of the walls and wrapped around Pyrrha's waist. Ilia flicked her wrist, and the Invincible Girl disappeared into the walls. She could fly…semblance…but she was maggots, right? Magenta? No, she was a javelin…

"Fig tree totem ray piece!" announced Goodwitch. "Despot a lots, they seem to have purvey led overt to an aim meat teams."

"Depress, depress," said Ilia to Adam, rushing over to his side. "Where rolled in. I've clothed it up. Just breathe, Adam. Anneal and egg seal."

"Seals? T-They lay eggs?"

"Sure thing, big guy," said Ilia. "Seal eggs. Just keep breathing. Deep breaths."

"Seals? What are you…what was I…oh. Right. Did we win?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Did I do anything weird?"

"Nope. You were talking about seals laying eggs, but you otherwise did great."

"Mister Taurus, are you alright?" asked Goodwitch. "You seem unwell. Shall I alert the medical staff?"

Adam curtly shook his head, just enough to pass the message on without agitating his dizziness. "I'm fine, ma'am. Just a little dazed from the fight. Took a few too many hits to the head."

"I see. I was congratulating your team on a victory despite overwhelming odds. While I cannot state the Combat Practical scores until all teams have participated, I expect your team shall be near if not at the very top of the list."

Adam lurched forward and held in the contents of his stomach manually by gripping his esophagus. Pyrrha had been helped up by her teammates and was conversing with them, focusing on Jaune in particular. A deep red blush was spread across her face, and Jaune was anxiously rubbing the back of his neck. It may have been Adam's imagination or just the lingering effects of Lightning Lash, but Adam thought he saw Blake wink at the two of them.


Cardin: *bullies Ruby*

Ruby: Spartan Rage is available. Press L3 + R3?


Author's Notes

Remember, this isn't your grandma's Ruby. This one swears and gets angry and has abandonment issues and does hard drugs and killed a man just to watch him die and – yeah, you get my point.

As demonstrated against Mercury, Ruby does possess killer headbutts (youtube dot com watch?v=Ma-1vZ0RtYA).

Happy rats, and don't do crime!