Author's note: And now, the culmination of a bit of prep work Ruby has done so far, including picking up semblances to know whether she'd like someone on average, approve of what they would use a gift for, and what they want the most. And, of course, alchemy.
Well, we'll start right after that, because I couldn't think of enough to warrant actually showing what she does.
Ruby dragged herself out of her field bed and got ready for the day, as much as she could manage. She could easily have either Emerald or Sapphire cover for her today while she regained her strength. However, she knew she shouldn't, even if all she had to do was share some of her abilities with the girl she chose. But she wouldn't, no matter how hard walking, standing, thinking was. No matter how exhausted she was.
"Hello R- wait, you're not Ruby," Velvet said when Emerald walked downstairs. Emerald stopped mid-step, and sighed.
"I'll get her," Emerald said, sat down on a chair and took out the silver contact lenses, before slumping over a bit. Velvet, Cardin, Taiyang and Khione waited for a few minutes, thinking this was taking too long. After a while, Ruby slightly raised her head, tilted to the side and fell over.
~o~
When Ruby woke up, the room was still spinning a little bit, but she felt much better than she expected, considering what she had been doing the previous night. She got up, got dressed, and walked downstairs for breakfast. However, when she entered the repurposed restaurant, she saw that Velvet, Cardin, Taiyang, Glynda and Khione all gave her concerned looks.
"Hey guys," Ruby said, "I know I slept a bit… longer- wait, what day is today?" She pulled out her scroll and gasped.
"Ruby, what's wrong?" Khione asked.
"No time to explain, I've lost a whole day," Ruby answered, "We need to move fast, or-"
"Ruby, calm down," Taiyang said, and put his foot down, "We can still do whatever you wanted to do, but you need to have something to eat first."
"We also need to prioritize the water collection plant," Glynda said, "Or we will run out of drinking water before the reinforcements from Atlas arrive."
"I- alright," Ruby said, sat down to eat something, and asked, "How far ahead are we on that, anyway?"
"We spent all day killing Grimm," Cardin answered, "There's more than enough ice now, so you should be fine."
"Sounds good," Ruby said, "Guess I'll do my other plan later."
"Speaking of which, what is it?" Khione asked.
"I wanted to send you to another village," Ruby answered, "Then I make a portal to you, and then Velvet and I come to you, so that one of the people there, Adalwolf Star, can copy your and Wisp's semblances."
"I see," Khione said and asked, "Anyway, why were you so exhausted yesterday?"
"Well, I did a little thing," Ruby answered, "In short, I helped some people, especially children, make it through tough times."
"That sounds nice," Khione said.
"I hope it inspires them to be good people," Ruby said, "In any case though, I think we should get started on the water collection plant. Cardin, get your team ready, I'll need to travel quickly." Cardin nodded and left the train station, and when Ruby was done with breakfast, she made a portal to him and began repairing transformers.
~o~
After Ruby had used up all the ice in one area repairing the water collection plant, she opened a portal to Cardin and walked through. On the other side, she created a Healing Circle and continued repairing, while he flew away to yet another location.
"I should also help with electricity," Ruby thought, "There's enough ice around, after all." The ice dispersed and sparkly ice crystals floated towards her, disappearing into her body and recharging her aura. After fixing five transformers, she went back to repairing the collection plant. When all the ice was gone, she opened a portal to Russel and set up another Healing Circle. Taking a little break, Ruby entered her soul core to come back to her senses, and pulled out her scroll when she returned to the waking world.
"Sophie, I need you to do something," Ruby wrote, "Reconnect the water draining system and have Mark attach silk strings infused with ice-dust to the bed of the river coming down Mountain Glenn."
"How much ice-dust?" Marble asked.
"Enough to freeze water, but not enough to halt the stream," Ruby answered, "Now go."
"As you command, Apostle," Marble wrote. Ruby collapsed her scroll again and went back to work. The strings would cool down anything that touched them, forming ice crystals that would cool down the fog in the swarm's territory and cause the water to condense, resulting in more water gathering in the lake that fed the underground reservoir the collection plant would draw from.
"This is going pretty well," Ruby thought, and caught herself getting cocky, "No, bad girl. Don't get cocky now. Stay vigilant." She felt how the collection plant's mechanical doors bent back into shape, how the pumps were lifted off the ground, and the wires re-insulated. After she ran out of ice, she opened a portal to Sky and finished repairing the plant, then used the remaining ice to repair the remaining transformers, and returned to the train station once that ice was gone, too. She was fairly satisfied with her work, and really wanted to do more, but she restrained herself, knowing this was just Repair speaking.
~o~
On the way back to the train station, Ruby thought about how Grimm were starting to disappear in Beacon's library, and realized that her plan was going to go well. Not only that, but Sirena would also have access to all the books she needed to learn how to be a good teacher. Before dinner, she entered her soul core to regain her senses, then helped prepare dinner, even though it was just canned food.
"So, how's it going?" Taiyang asked during dinner.
"The water collection plant is fixed again and should go back online shortly," Glynda answered, "Now we just need to clear out the Grimm, and repair the remains of the city."
"Can we do my plan tomorrow, then?" Ruby asked.
"Well, it is a good plan," Glynda said, "Alright, if those two agree, they can definitely come along." Ruby looked around, and both Velvet and Khione nodded in approval. For the rest of the day, Ruby made some more precise plans on how to handle the situation, and how to get Adalwolf the dust he'd need to make this plan work properly, then went to bed, so she could get to work early in the morning.
~o~
The next day, while Taiyang was still making breakfast, Ruby, Velvet and Khione already returned from the village. Shortly after, everyone had breakfast and got ready for the day, making plans to more effectively take out the Grimm.
"One more thing, Khione," Glynda said and walked over to Khione.
"What is it?" Khione asked, and Glynda reached into her pocket and handed Khione a fancy-looking envelope with Beacon's emblem on it.
"While the school is still closed, I am technically the headmistress," Glynda said, "And you have proven that you have what it takes to become a huntress. So, when Beacon opens its doors again, feel free to come to us, should this path be the one you wish to walk."
"Wait, really?" Khione asked.
"Yes, really," Glynda answered, "I saw what you can do, and I don't think it's necessary to have you go through the entrance exam." Khione slowly took the envelope with both hands and studied the intricacies on the paper for a moment, then put it away into her own back pocket, pumped her fists and headed out after Sky and Dr. Oobleck.
~o~
Velvet and Cardin made their way through the city's entertainment district, which was still full of Grimm. The neon signs were still without power, allowing a rather unique look at the normally glistening and shining part of the city. Seeing Velvet's reaction to a particularly tasteless sign, Cardin swung his mace and sent a charging Beowolf through it.
"Oops," Cardin said with a smirk, and got ready to take on the rest of the pack.
"They're coming," Velvet said, then made her weapon create a copy of his and faced another alleyway. Several Beowolves came running towards her and she sent a hard-light aura arc towards them, followed by several throwing daggers, killing them all and creating a dozen light bombs. Cardin took out several Beowolves with one horizontal swing, then slammed his mace down and sent an ice-dust arc towards another pocket, freezing them all in place.
"If you would," Cardin said and gestured to the Grimm. Velvet made her weapon copy Thief's Respite and took out the immobilized enemies with a series of precise head shots.
"I think we're done here," Velvet said, and moved her ears around to scan the environment for any Grimm sounds.
"That was pretty easy," Cardin said, and Velvet pushed him aside and jumped away, just in time before a King Taijitu broke out of the ground.
"Lesson one of being a huntsmen, never get cocky," Velvet said, "That attracts them even more than negativity. Let's go." She ran into an alleyway, focusing on the sorrow of the people around her to draw the Grimm's attention. The King Taijitu followed her, and slithered directly into the bombs, taking serious damage. She kept luring the Grimm away from Cardin, and her prey sense told her where other Grimm were whenever they targeted her. As soon as a handful Beowolves came around a corner, Velvet killed them with her copy of Thief's Respite, creating more bombs as she lured the Grimm in a circle.
"Velvet!" Cardin called out and hit the other head after adding a gravity-dust crystal to his mace, causing its head to slam into the ground. Velvet jumped up, against a wall and behind the head chasing her, and kicked it into the other head. The one Cardin had dealt with died, and Velvet bombarded the other one with hard-light daggers until it died as well.
"Good job," Velvet said after landing, and turned to face a flock of Griffons flying towards the duo. Cardin swapped the crystal in his mace for lightning-dust, and Velvet made her weapon create several mines. After she tossed them into position, Cardin stunned the Grimm, causing them to crash into the mines. After the initial explosion, the remaining Griffons were killed by the light bombs.
~o~
After following the trail of several Grimm, Ruby and Coco stood in front of a church dedicated to a god of rebirth, and Coco seemed somewhat uneasy, shifting from one leg to the other and back while looking up at the imposing structure that, as if by a miracle, had been left largely unharmed.
"So, what do you say?" Coco asked.
"There are definitely Grimm in there," Ruby answered.
"I know, but I mean, about the god this church is devoted to," Coco said and asked, "Do you know them?"
"Not really," Ruby answered, "I heard of this place, but I never really paid much attention to gods. Until recently, of course."
"Can you ask the god of light?" Coco asked.
"Nope, I can't," Ruby answered, "I only wield his power, but he doesn't speak to me or anything."
"I see," Coco said, "So, we can't just ask if it's ok to fight in there, then."
"No," Ruby answered, "But we can just take care not to break too much, and then we should be safe."
"What if they still get upset?" Coco asked.
"Then I'll keep you safe," Ruby answered, drew Thief's Respite and went inside. Coco tightened the grip on her handbag, waved the police officers over to follow them, and followed her.
"Just be sure not to damage anything," Coco said when the officers caught up to them. They all had light blue shells floating around them that would absorb several attacks to keep them safe, and drew their guns before entering the church.
"And another thing," Ruby said, "I'm using air-dust bullets, and a semblance I copied makes my allies faster when I hit enemies with air-dust, so be sure not to run into walls or anything." Beowolves rose to their hind legs between the benches, and Ruby dashed around with Petal Burst, quickly cutting them down before anyone could react.
"I can't believe I'm helping a real huntress," one of the officers said, "My little boy is going to be so jealous when I tell him that." Ruby smiled at the comment, thinking back to when she would be that starstruck if she were to work with a real huntress. Then she realized she was the huntress and turned to face the man.
"Want to take a picture?" Ruby asked, and saw the man's face light up. He nodded enthusiastically, pulled out his scroll and rushed over for a picture, and Ruby posed with Crescent Rose.
"Thanks," the man said after taking the selfie.
"You're welcome," Ruby said, "Now, back to work." She focused on the Grimm in her immediate surroundings, narrowing down the radius of her extrasensory perception as much as she could.
"And, how's it looking?" Coco asked.
"They're under us," Ruby answered.
"Wait, what?" Coco asked and said, "I mean, I heard there were catacombs under this part of town, but I don't think we can get there."
"I may know a way," one of the officers said, "My brother used to work in city planning, and working around the old tunnels when putting down cables and such was a huge pain. I'll see if I can ask him." He pulled out his scroll, and Ruby secretly used Puppeteer on her scroll to let the officer access the new system. His face lit up in joy and he sent the message. A few minutes later, he got a reply.
"And?" Ruby asked and locked the officer out of the system again.
"I got it, but lost contact again," the officer answered, "Still, it was nice having contact when we needed it."
"Alright, then let's go," Ruby said. Armed with the building's layout, the group quickly found the basement, which contained a large double door made from dark wood, and reinforced with forged steel. Ruby motioned everyone to stay back and created two clones of herself, before creating a black Glyph in front of the door. The two clones got ready to use Wolfpack, augmented with lightning-dust. As soon as the doors swung open, the group saw a wide hallway covered in a knee-high black fog, with arms, tentacles and maws growing out of the floor, walls and ceiling. Both clones immediately sent three spectral wolves into the corridor, and the limbs snatched them up, causing them to burst into lightnings and taking out several limbs.
"Well, that looks bad," Coco said and asked, "So, what now?"
"We have grenades at the police station," one of the officers said.
"Actually, they were moved to the train station," Coco said, "But we can go and get some."
"But that could take too long," one of the officers said, "We don't know what this is, or if it can expand, and by the time we come back, it could cover this whole building."
"What if I use explosive rounds?" Coco asked.
"The whole thing could come down," one of the officers answered, "And that would cause severe damage to the city."
"But we have to do something," a younger officer said.
"No one is denying that," an older woman countered, "We just don't know what to do."
"Hey Ruby, got anything that could help us?" Coco asked, but Ruby could already tell the answer from her sorrowful expression, and the hopelessness she felt. The clones both disappeared, and reunited with the original.
"No," Ruby answered, "Sorry." She put Thief's Respite away again and started to walk away, but Coco walked up to her and stopped her in her path.
"Hold on there," Coco said, "I don't know a lot about you, but I do know what Yang told me, and she told me that you always try to look for a solution, until you find one, even if everyone else gives up. So, don't just give up here."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I know I can't help you," Ruby said, "I inspire hope in the hopeless, but only if I can help them. And right now, you're feeling like there's nothing that can help you. And if you feel like that, and don't turn to me for help, that means I can't help you. That's just how it is."
"That… is something, for sure," Coco said and asked, "So, what do you normally do when this happens?"
"That's the problem," Ruby answered, "This hasn't happened to me before. Usually, I can come up with something, but I don't even know what I'm dealing with here. Grimm are easy. They're beings of darkness, and I kill them. But I have no idea what this is, or where it came from."
"But, can't we just destroy those limbs?" Coco asked.
"We could, obviously," Ruby answered, "But we don't know how many there are, so it could easily be a waste of resources."
"Compared to what?" Coco asked, and Ruby paused for a moment.
"Fair point," Ruby said, "Though, now that I think about it, maybe we can increase our chances somewhat." She drew Crescent Rose and loaded a magazine of steam-goo bullets, then fired into the hallway, taking out limbs bit by bit.
"We'll go and get steam-dust ammo, too," one of the police officers said.
"Not necessary," Dove said when he came into the cellar, "Ruby already told me to come." He handed the officers two magazines each, and they began taking turns shooting the limbs. The hallway slowly filled with steam, and Ruby made sure to aim further inside, and when the fog almost reached the door, she loaded Thief's Respite with a chamber of lightning-dust bullets and fired a single shot into the steam, electrocuting all the limbs at once, and fired more shots, taking out most of them by the time she ran out of ammo.
"Well, it's far from perfect, but it works," Ruby said.
"See?" Coco asked and said, "Now we can get in a bit further, and see what it's like in there."
"But we're out of steam-dust," one of the officers said, "So even if we wanted, we couldn't do this again."
"Yeah, that's an issue," Coco said, turned to Ruby and asked, "What do you think?" Before Ruby could answer, she got a message on her scroll, and checked to see what it was.
"… Yang?" Ruby asked in disbelief when she saw the picture her sister had sent her, showing the silhouette of Beacon academy in the distance. She sent a reply and collapsed her scroll.
"Wait, the others are coming already?" Coco asked and said, "I haven't seen them since before the finals round."
"Coco, take the police and head back to the train station. Dove, you go ahead to the docks," Ruby said, "I still have a few things to do, but I'll catch up."
"Got it," Dove said and hurried outside.
"You heard her," Coco said and left the building, waving the officers to follow her. When Ruby was alone, she pulled out her scroll and checked the videos from the other timeline, and tried to memorize how that version of her acted. When Dove arrived at the harbor, she collapsed her scroll, opened a portal to him and went through to meet her friends.
Author's note: Next chapter, the reunion.
Originally I had planned to do a dungeon-crawling segment at the end, but then this happened.