Beacon had fallen.
She failed. She failed everyone's hopes and expectations.
'Invincible girl', what a joke. She was far from being invincible.
Her assailant, Cinder, stood above her. Her immense presence made her flinch, but she didn't show it. If she was to die, then she might as well die without satisfying her enemy more than her defeat already was.
"Do you believe in destiny?" She asked. She answered her with a smirk.
"I do."
She closed her eyes.
She waited for the final blow.
But it didn't come.
What came was the annoyed voice of Cinder.
"Who ARE you?"
She opened her eyes. Behind her, she could see Ruby come rushing toward her side. In front of her, however, was a sight as impossible as the situation they were in. It seemed that this also wasn't part of Ruby's plan either, based on how puzzled she was.
Stood in front of Cinder was a rider, on a horse, on the top of the Beacon tower.
How in the Brother's name did they bring a horse this high up?
"Just a drifter."
Their voice rang in her head. She passed out due to exhaustion.
Salem won.
That was the only conclusion she had, and the only one she needed to know. They failed, and Her victory came soon after.
She wondered, where did it go wrong?
Was it the battle for Atlas? Did they make the wrong call? Was the decision to stop the general a mistake? Could it be the moment they let Salem take Him with her?
Or was it something from even further before? She remembered Haven and Lionheart. Could she blame him for what happened? Could anyone truly take the responsibility?
Her mind brought her back, even further to the past. Back to her innocent time. Where all she knew was school, friends and dreams. Dreams of becoming a huntress, dream of helping people around the world.
And she watched her friend die. Helpless, nothing more useful than a dustless cartridge. She watched Pyrrha's demise. It played in her demented mind, over, over and over again.
She thought she found out where it all went wrong. Cinders, her teams, the Vytal festival. They came, they saw, they broke it all. That woman was the catalyst, the harbinger of everything. It was her team who made Yang question her own eyes and mind. It was her who hijacked the CCT tower, who turned the Atlesian machines rogue. She was the one to let the grimms in, who let the wyvern loose. She killed the Fall Maiden.
She killed her friend.
Yet, she refused to blame Cinder for all that happened. She knew better than lamenting the past. She had a mission to finish.
Another loud explosion came from the facility below. Lavos, a name as strange as the reason she started to call him by it, was doing a fine job distracting the Narmer 'soldiers'. With him securing the left wing, she could focus on her main objective for the time being, as long as their reinforcement hadn't found out that he was just the distraction.
A cheerful voice came from the other end of her communicator.
[The sector is clear, no one knows you are here. Sensational, friend!]
Penny's voice echoed in her head like a bell being rung right next to her ear. She held her head with one hand, the other grabbed onto the railing.
"Penny, can you please tone down a bit? Where is the control center?"
[My apologies, friend. The control center is located approximately 100 meters from you to the west. I suggest avoiding contact with the security system. A single alarm is enough for them to start the data termination sequences.]
"Thanks for reminding me about that." She rolled her eyes. "How about Kahl? Is he there yet?"
[General Winter is currently directing him towards the production site. He is rather eager to -BLASTTHEMTOPIECES- terminate the facility and its storages, much to the annoyance of the General.]
"Sounds like him. Hope that Winter will go easy on him this time around."
[I have found the data vault's signal. ETA 3 minutes. Please be careful.]
And with that, the connection was cut. She saw it, a blast door with only two guards next to the console. Both veiled, poor things. She could just throw the veil breaker at them, but the last time Kahl did that, it almost made nearby electrical devices go haywire.
Throwing out a smoke screen, she immediately leapt into action. As the smoke attracted their attention, she darted forward, using her semblance to move between them. A quick jab to both sides was enough to knock both of them down.
"Still can't get used to this. How did she even use it?"
She hugged the wall as the backlash of her semblance came to her. It felt like you were on a tough horse ride, spiraled toward a wyvern. It was, in all of her honesty and opinions, shit.
Her older self must've been some kind of speed nut to have such semblance.
She connected her scroll to the console, and let Penny do the work. With the bypass done, she could enter the vault. And as expected, more security within.
She cringed. She might need someone to help her get used to her own abilities, ASAP.
Another kick to the left, with a barrage of shotgun from the end of it, he turned the grimm into a fine paste of black. Stomping his foot down, the Cedo's glaives extended, ready to fly out of the launcher.
He waited for the next group to come into the room. And as soon as they opened the door, he let loose the glaives, sending out three sharp discs of blade covered in dust toward his attackers. They shredded through the enemy line like a fine cut of a knife on a tomato, spraying black and scrap metal all over the place. Good thing for him, they only sent out machines and grimms, not living soldiers. It would be a much harder job if he had to do filtering while killing. Behind him were the few faunus and humans, mostly engineers, whose veil was broken. They held the line with weapons collected from the assailants.
"How much longer must we stay?" A man cried, his AR ran dry.
"Just a little more."
His communicator flared to life as a raspy old man's voice was heard.
[You did good. Get to extraction as soon as you are ready. Our agents have found what we needed.]
"About time. Let's go." He signaled the survivors, prepared to make their final push to freedom.
His catalyst probes were filled to the brim. With a quick motion, he launched them forward. Dust rained on their path, burned, melted, frozen anything it touched. Taking the lead, Lavos heading towards the extraction point. Cedo turned back to its shotgun form, allowing him to use it as he and the survivors marched across the facility.
"Still think we should blow it up."
Kahl snorted. He hid behind a pillar, away from the Atlesian knight's field of view.
[As much as I want to agree with you, Kahl, I can't let you do that. This facility is the only Narmer headquarters in the area. If we destroy it now, we might lose all of our leads. Besides, if we can take control of it, this will be a valuable asset for our endeavor. We can liberate the veiled through its command system. Kahl, are you listening?]
The wolf faunus's ear perked up. His good eye darted from side to side.
"Got it."
[Good. Kahl, I need you to gain access to the factory's control center. It should be nearby.]
Kahl turned to the central room, on the other end of it was an observatory. He unsheathed his machete, the veil breaker charged to the maximum.
He waited for the Atlesian to come next to the pillar. His machete struck true, pierced the machine's spinal section, rendered it useless.
Still, he preferred a gun, if only the mission allowed him to go loud.
The ex-White Fang found the situation eerily similar to the heists they used to pull. Good old time, hitting the Schnee on the shin.
He was unexpectedly quick on his feet, which made good stories for a good laugh during his down time. Like the one where he replaced Adam's hair gel with lard.
Hate the bull, wasted too many brother's lives for nothing. Hurt the little red too.
With another turn, he reached the console. A little tab here, a click there, finished with the good ol' enter. Access granted.
"Kahl sneaks good."
Winter's face was funny when she saw him do it the first time.
[... Right… Kahl, your mission here is done. Lavos is coming, he might need back up. I have access to their arsenal. Pick your weapon, make some noise.]
He smirked like a dog with a bone, as the weapon lockers behind him opened.
She found the mission to be quite smooth. Too smooth, in fact. If her experience could be enough to determine the nature of the situation, it would be screaming.
The data was collected, all of the team had done their job. Time to extract.
Yet, she felt cold. Shivering, even. Something ain't right. Something was missing.
The shivering cold ran from her mind, to her spine, then to her skin. She breathed out, a cloudy white fog came to her vision.
The cold was no longer a metaphor. It was literally as soon as she heard a scream from one of the people she freed.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The cold died, as air froze in his lungs.
Held him by the neck, was a fair maiden. Her body radiated a bright blue aura, while light flared out of her eyes. Her skin was as white as snow, and her body was both elegant and alluring.
Two things however, made it clear that she was up to no good.
First of all, she was holding a dead man. His body was turned into a statue with just a simple contact with her.
Secondly, half of her body was grimm. It crept from her thighs all the way to the left side of her face.
A False Maiden.
How in the Brother's name did they miss the fact that this facility had a False Maiden?
The first bullhead lifted itself up to the sky, on it were the survivors Kahl and Lavos managed to save. The second one should arrive shortly.
Lavos sat on a barrel, the Cedo turned into its armor form, which he strapped on his legs. Kahl stood nearby, a grenade launcher in hand. The two brawlers quietly observed their surroundings.
Lavos was talkative, once. But he learnt to be better than a walking joke.
Kahl was… Kahl. He was the more sociable one, something to do with his canine instinct. While on mission, however, he rarely chatted.
In the other word, if one of them decides to pay a small part of their mind to social interaction, it would be quite awkward. Luckily, they didn't have to, as the bullhead had already come.
Before they could settle down, the sound of rumble slowly made its way towards them. Kahl looked up, and what he saw almost made him scream.
"False Maiden!"
She screamed on the top of her lungs, with a young faunus on her back. The Maiden shot out barrage after barrage of ice spikes and dust wind, turning her path into a frozen hellscape. Immediately, the two of them provided her with cover fire, delaying the maiden from reaching her prey.
"Rose, faster!" Lavos yelled. "Use your semblance!"
Realizing her opportunity, Rose dashed with the faunus in her embrace. A spiral of red rose petals launched itself into the bullhead's belly. The aircraft took off, left behind an angry maiden.
They felt a slight tug. Slowly and slowly it became stronger.
"Maiden girl is pulling us down!"
Kahl yelled at the pilot of the bullhead, which was the A.I girl.
[Hold still, I am pushing the bullhead to top speed. We will -DROPTHEBITCH- shake her down.]
'Rose' stood at the bullhead's door, Harbinger aimed at the Maiden. She emptied the weapon's entire magazine, while Kahl manned the turret and Lavos's glaive tried to cut through the Maiden's defense.
Not even a dent.
They were losing attitude.
"Damn it all!" Lavos grunted and loaded another dust canister into his weapon. A moment too late to save himself, as the bullhead shook, sending him flying outside.
"I got you!"
Rose rushed to his side, and reached out to grab his hand.
"Kahl!"
The wolf faunus was already there. He pulled Lavos up, both of them exhaled rapidly.
"Didn't think that I would be in your debt, Rose." He said, loaded the damned canister into the Cedo.
The bullhead shook again
"Any idea how to stop her?"
Rose's silver eyes flashed. A headache came to her. She hugged her head and kneeled down.
"Sorry, I don't think I have any."
Suddenly, they felt the bullhead gaining speed, at an alarming rate. The crew almost got thrown out of the aircraft, hadn't they held tight to the seats.
"Maiden girl bored." Kahl snorted.
They were safe, at least for a moment.
{Dreamers, I know that it might seem a bit grimm out there. But know this: as long as one of us keeps our hope, someone will also keep it too. Don't let your hopes and dreams die, dreamers. For there is someone put there who is fighting to keep yours alive, and you are also fighting for theirs. Trivia out.}
The soft voice on the radio was soothing, at least compared to what they had been through. Rose walked out of the river after she had cleaned herself. They were lucky to have such a place, especially in Glenn of all places. Funny, that. Glenn was one of the most dangerous areas of Vale, but it was the safest place they could find. Out of the Dark Queen's gaze, with enough supplies and natural resources for them. Maybe one day, one day they might be able to take Glenn back.
She returned to her room, a small bedroom from one of the house turned refugee camp. Inside of it was all of her belongings. A small emblem of a burning rose, a book about weapon maintenance, a few trinkets here and there from her travels. It felt homey, almost familiar. But it was also lonely. She felt like there should be more people in the room. A sister, a friend, a partner. Yet, she was there, all alone.
The weapon case she left near the window started to collect dust - the dirty kind, again. She swept them away, then took a moment to observe her 'altar'. Nothing much, just some books and journals from Beacon. A dirty and ragged banner, on it was her old team name. 'Her' weapon case, a red and black mechshift wonder, to her at least.
Sat in the middle of the 'pile of memory', as Trivia once called it, was a picture frame. She picked it up. The picture was burned on the edges, and it faded with time. But she could still see what it captured. Four girls, a cheerful blonde with lilac eyes, a stern but kind and fair silver haired 'princess', a girl adorned in black with a black bow sat on her black hair, her amber eyes shone. And… her. Her finger ran on the weapon case.
Could she be herself again? The cheerful, innocent Rose? The Rose that brings hope to people?
Could she become Ruby once more?
"Hey, Jaune."
She turned to the room's entrance and saw her old friend. He leapt into her embrace. She hugged him. He was cold, and warm at the same time.
"I wonder where they are. Are they fine? Did they fall to somewhere else like I did? Do you think he is fine?"
He answered her with a lick to the face.
"That's tickle, Jaune." She laughed.
The porcelain jackalope squeaked. Wasn't he precious?
She heard a knock on the door. Jaune jumped down to meet the visitor.
"Did I come in at a bad time?"
She snapped to the door. Standing there was an old man. He was slightly crooked, his raven hair slowly turned gray. On the left side of his face were scars, making it look like it was cracked. His leg wasn't as good as it was, but they stood firm. He held a cane in his hand, his faded scarlet eyes were kind and wise, with a hint of sadness.
"No, I am just… brooding? How are you doing, Qrow?" She smiled.
He pouted and shook his head.
"Still no 'uncle'?"
"Sorry, still feel weird when it rolls on my tongue like that."
"Ah, I see."
He sat down, next to her. His eyes turned to her altar.
"You know, I might be able to teach you how to handle Crescent Rose again. But with how good you are with Harbinger, I don't think it is necessary. Why?"
She replied with a puzzled face.
"Why?"
"Why don't you use it? It is your weapon."
"It was 'her' weapon." She bitterly said. "It was Ruby's weapon, not mine. I am not Ruby, Qrow. I can't become her."
"Ruby, don't go too hard on your- "
"I am NOT. HER." She almost yelled. Old pain stirred. "I can't remember who you are, I can't remember my teammates. My family, Qrow, I can't remember their faces. Even mine."
She started to sob. Stress from the mission, mixed with mental trauma created a very potent emotional bomb. He messed up, didn't he?
"Listen, Rose. No matter what you can remember, no matter how much you changed. You are still you. In my eyes, in everyone's eyes. Memories, you only can't remember them well, you didn't lose them. You are still here, Rose… and one day, you can truly call yourself Ruby again, I believe in that."
"Thank you… uncle Qrow." She chuckled. "Still weird."
"Better than last time, no?" He joined her.
"So, why are you here?" She picked up Jaune, and let the jackalope sit on her shoulder.
"Checking on you, that's the first. Secondly, there is something you must see in the Undercroft."
Did the Red Queen lose her temper again?
She couldn't believe what she saw. It was like a poisoned blade stabbed to an old wound.
She saw a girl kneeled down, an arrow to her chest.
"It was destined to happen. But you can change this one's fate."
Qrow's words echoed in her mind.
"Are you sure about this?" Qrow asked her. Beside him was her companions, Lavos, Kahl, and Lil' Gretchen.
"You don't have to go with me."
"And let you fix our messes yourself? No thank you." Gretchen smirked, or she sounded like she did.
"Little Red, Little Red, still think we are the same stinking monster we were?"
The amount of sarcasm within her voice was still a mystery to her. She could be soothing, suave, and quite odd at times. Well, that's Trivia for ya.
"Besides, Roman is there, is he not?"
"You are still in love with that criminal?" Qrow grunted.
"Kahl says he deserves that." Only to gain a glare from the shortstack.
"Hush, wolf boy."
Rose rolled her eyes and called her steed. A porcelain horse grimm arrived, with Jaune sitting on it.
"Well… changing destiny, nothing new. But right now? Fixing our mistakes in the past? Now… or never."
She turned to them, and they nodded in response. She rode her horse through the portal, greeting her was one of the few memories she had before she became what she was. Before she was Rose.
"Pyrrha!"
Back on the tower, Rose came face to face with her enemy. She jumped down from her steed, Harbinger changed to its scythe form.
"Harbinger?!" She saw… her. Her eyes almost popped out of her head.
"Pick her up, bring her somewhere safe." She commanded her younger self.
Realizing the dire situation, Ruby held Pyrrha up and ran toward the exit.
Cinder tried to follow them, but she was stopped by a shotgun shell.
"Just you and me now, False Maiden."
The face Cinder gave her was priceless.
"YOU. WILL. DIE!"
"This could be our day, can't you see that?!"
Adam spoke, almost yelling, at Blake, lying on the ground.
"I never wanted this. I wanted equality. I wanted peace!"
Her voice was shaken, it felt like she was begging. Begging that what little sense Adam still had in his mind could respond to her. Begging his conscience to take a turn for the better.
She pulled her trigger. All of her shots were blocked by Adam's blade.
"What you want is IMPOSSIBLE!"
He backhanded her, knocked Blake back down to the ground.
"But I understand. Because all I want is you, Blake."
He lowered himself to her eyes.
"And as I set out upon this world to deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserved. I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."
From outside, a voice echoed to them.
"BLAKE!"
Yang ran on the street, punched and shot any White Fang dared to stop her.
"Blake?! Where are you?!"
Adam turned to her, then to Blake. Something clicked in his mind.
Dread set in as Blake realized what was going to happen.
"Starting with her…"
Yang turned around, searching for her partner. A scream alerted her. She tried to find its origin, and found Adam, with his blade stabbed to Blake's side.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Blake reached out, trying to warn her friend.
"No… Please…"
Fueled with rage, Yang cried and leapt toward Adam in a fiery assault. He responded in kind, with his blade slowly drawn.
A burning fist and a blade of calm cruelty met.
Only that they didn't. Someone tackled Adam, threw him toward the wall, while Yang landed and created a crater on the ground.
The newcomer stood up, dusting his cloak. He wore a greenish gray cloak, with many tubing connected to a large dust canister on his back and many smaller ones on his waist and chest. A gas mask covered his face, with only his gray eyes visible. The wide brim hat he wore was half melted on its right side.
"Another human decided to step in my works. You better be ready to pay for it."
Adam rose up, snarled.
Yang readied to fight, but she was stopped by the mysterious man. He didn't say anything, only pointed toward Blake, then to the entrance of the building.
'Go', she understood that, but she wouldn't comply. He seemed to understand that too. He grabbed her hand.
"What?!"
And threw her across the room, toward the entrance. He then did the same to Blake, much to Adam's surprise.
Assured that the girls are out of trouble, he turned to Adam. He snapped his finger and his neck, felt his old instinct kicked back in, he hated that.
"I have never liked you from the start." Lavos mumbled, prepared to engage in combat.
A smack to the face. Not something he expected to feel. And honestly, he thought that a grimm's belly was at least warmer than… whatever this flat surface was.
He slowly opened his eyes. Greeting him was a familiar face, but he couldn't put his mind on who it was.
"Finally awake! Thought that I would lose you again."
She pulled him into her embrace. It was tight, and warm. Strangely warm.
Roman turned his head around, and found Neo at a corner. She hugged her legs, one of her hand was tied to a pole by a handcuff. She was as confused as he was. Just who was this woman?
He took a good look at her. Her hair was dyed, that was sure, he could see its brown root. It was dyed pink and faded to orange at the end. Her eye, however, came to him as a surprise.
"Neo?"
"Well, took you long enough." She smirked, and kissed him.
Neo visibly cringed.
"And so, the worlds collided, and the timelines moved once more."
The man said. His body was odd, long arm, bluish skin faded to green in certain areas. Golden veins ran on his porcelain skin as if he was an artisan made kintsugi statue. He wore a simple yet elegant chiton, with golden thread decorated it.
Qrow looked at him.
"You are sure that this won't leave any lasting impact upon us?"
"Eternalism, my dear sir. No need to worry. This is just one of many worlds sprung from your intervention. You can't change fate, not yours. But you can bend the flow of others."
"At least this could give her some calmness in her heart. Where are they?"
"They are currently residing in my amphitheatre, sir Branwen. Only the ones that matter, and living, the others are elsewhere, under my associates protection ."
"That's… good. I think I am going to meet them, can you lead the way."
"At once, sir Branwen. And please, call me Leverian."
RWBY: TALES FROM THE PARADOX
Author's Note:
Third time the charm. My newest attempt to integrate Warframe's The New War and The Duviri Paradox into RWBY. And yes, most of the main cast from the 'Duviri' side are ex-villains.
Still can't decide where should Fortuna and Cetus to be, thought. Might scramble up something later.
Wish me luck, if you think this is a good idea.
A bit of warning: This is going to be a semi reaction fic, where the Duviri side tell their stories to the Remnant side. Terribly sorry if it isn't you taste. If there is a chance, I will publish a reaction-free version too, not the exact same thing with this one, but in essence, they are equal.