Shabby apartment; Vale
After experiencing the overkill that passed as a bar brawl, Ruby and Jaune promptly left Yang and her sister Amber to their own devices and returned to their apartment, having decided that they have seen enough today.
"That's what passed as a bar brawl on this planet?!" Ruby exclaimed immediately after closing the door and locking it, dropping the shopping bags full of clothes at the same time.
"I knew from watching many Isekai anime that Remnanite society is going to be plain weird when compared to Earth." Jaune added his opinion in. "But the lack of gun control... no wait, weapon control takes the cake. Like, bringing a rocket launcher to a barfight?"
"Let's not forget how said rocket launcher could transform into a baseball bat!" Ruby threw her arms up as she reminded. "Or that its owner got beaten up by a teenage Chinese-looking blonde girl with gauntlets that are also shotguns!"
"Yeah, that too." Jaune shrugged. "We're gonna need new weapons if we want to keep up."
Ruby nodded. Having seen the criminal patrons of Junior's bar shrugging off getting shot by 9mm bullets in the face, Melanie and Miltiades having the reflexes to parry those same bullets, and a few of the aforementioned criminal patrons taking Yang's shotgun-gauntlet-enhanced superpowered punches to the face and merely flinching, she knew that her and Jaune's M1911 handguns and Ka-Bar knives didn't, and would've never cut it on Remnant.
They're definitely going to need new weapons to even out the odds against the people of Remnant and the Creatures of Grimm...
...
Next morning...
The next day started just like it has been for the past eight days for Ruby: wake up, get showered, brush her teeth, then bind up her chest to make herself look... smaller. This time, she remembered to lock the bathroom door so Jaune wouldn't walk in on her and see her barely clad chest...
A metallic snap suddenly sounded from the bathroom door, followed by the door in question opening from the outside, revealing Jaune who once again stood right there in the same hilariously childish onesie and bunny slipper. Only this time, the Marine is also holding what seemed to be the bathroom door handle which he apparently somehow ripped right off the door.
"Uh, for two days in a row... Oops?" Jaune sheepishly said as he awkwardly dropped the orphaned door handle on the floor.
Ruby didn't make a sound, for she is too angry about Jaune entering the bathroom without checking and seeing her half-naked again to even think of saying anything. She crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, and then punched Jaune in the face once again.
This time, though, the airwoman's punch was strong enough to send the Marine flying into the concrete wall opposite of the bathroom door, hard enough to even dent it and cause chunks to fall off.
Ruby paused, her turn now to watch in surprise upon realizing what she just did, forgetting that her chest bindings hasn't been properly tightened yet.
Jaune on the other hand, seems to be barely fazed as he promptly removed himself from the dent in the concrete wall. Though he is just as surprised about what just happened as Ruby is.
"Did you just sent me flying with a punch?" Jaune reacted first.
"I think I did. But did you just shrug off that punch and hitting the concrete hard enough to dent it?" Ruby reacted next.
Jaune touched his face with both hands, feeling all over it. "My nose ain't broken, even though it should've, from such a punch."
Ruby then looked down at her hands, inspecting them as if to make sure nothing else seemed strange.
"Wait does this mean..." Jaune came to a realization. "...that we're getting the same superpowers as Neopolitan Torchwick?"
Ruby didn't need to answer. Her wide-eyed stare at her own hands is enough to tell Jaune what she is thinking.
It is clear that Neopolitan gained her super strength, super toughness, and super speed after she was brought back from the dead by Powered Healing Dust. Given that the same thing somehow happened to Ruby and Jaune, does this mean they'd get the same superpowers?
"Uh, Ruby?" Jaune brought the airwoman out of her thoughts. "You might wanna... Um..." He then awkwardly pointed a finger at her chest.
That made Ruby remember that she hasn't finished binding up her chest and getting dressed yet. Face the same shade as her (nick)namesake, she quickly rushed back into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She didn't bother with locking the door, but not that it mattered, as Jaune had ripped the door handle right off moments ago.
...
Vale City
After they were done cleaning themselves up, putting on proper clothes and then having breakfast, Ruby and Jaune went out to the streets for the day's business.
Ruby is not in a good mood though. Not just because she had Jaune accidentally stumble upon her in the middle of binding up her chest again, but also that due to all the new clothes bought yesterday turning out to be damaged by the barfight at Junior's, Ruby ended up having nothing to wear but the "Little Red Riding Hood" outfit. And of course many people have already mistaken Ruby for a little girl due to said outfit. Either that, or they point out to her how her corset isn't properly tightened, unaware of how she has no intention to make it any tighter than "loose"...
First order of business for today: go clothes shopping and get something normal. After that, try to get better weapons for herself and Jaune, in case the superpowers they are beginning to develop aren't enough to even out the odds with the Remnanites.
The duo went back to the same casual clothes store from yesterday and (after awkwardly explaining to the storekeeper how they lost all of yesterday's purchases to an "incident") bought a new set of casual clothes.
With the clothes purchased, Ruby and Jaune then went off to look for a weapons store.
Turns out there are plenty of weapons store in Vale. However, they're all meant to supply the Hunters that protected civilization from Grimm, so most of the weapons the duo found were much too exotic for them. Like seriously, a Zweihander that can transform into a .50 caliber machine gun is apparently considered normal for schoolchildren on Remnant (and that was apparently a commission that was still waiting to be claimed by its intended owner).
There are also weapons whose only selling point is that they looked cool. Ruby and Jaune dismissed those particular weapons as utterly impractical and not worth their attention.
After five weapons shops, Ruby and Jaune paused their weapons shopping for a lunch break. Then its off for some more weapon shopping.
The sixth weapons shop they visited is a relatively small one that looked kind of old-fashioned, though the weapons on display in it were anything but. The shop has what seems to be its slogan written on a board that says "Your soul is not complete without a weapon. Complete your soul now!"
Most of the weapons in this shop actually looked practical, though that's not to say there aren't weird ones on display as well, such as a snowboard that can transform into a rifle with a giant ice pick where the buttstock would've been. But even the weird ones here are still more practical than the examples seen in the other weapons shops.
"This one actually has much more practical options." Jaune said as he perused the shop's catalog of weapons. "Shotgun with a war-scythe bayonet. Tonfa-submachine gun hybrids. A bo staff that can apparently turn into a longbow. A crossbow that's just a crossbow. You name it..." He listed off all the weapons he could see at a glance.
As Jaune continued to list out what he could see, Ruby tuned him out as she went further into the shop on her own, looking for a weapon that is both powerful enough to even out the odds with most Remnanites and Grimm, but still practical enough to remain useful in the long term.
Soon, something catches the airwoman's eyes...
Sitting by its lonesome on a shelf in the back of the shop is what looked like a rectangular block of metal painted rose red. But on closer inspection, it actually has several bits and kibbles that suggest it could just be in some sort of "compact mode".
Ruby didn't know what kind of weapon this block of metal is supposed to be. Yet, something about the block drew her to it like a magnet, and she just can't help but want to get a closer look at it.
The bits and kibbles on the block are more obvious, now that she is standing right up to it. She can tell that this weapon would be much bigger if unfolded. But is it a gun? A polearm? A polearm-gun hybrid? Or something a bit more exotic?
Before Ruby realizes it, she reached out to the red-colored weapon with her left hand...
As soon as her hand touched the weapon, Ruby felt a jolt in that hand that then spread all over the rest of her body in an instant. And then she swore that she heard a voice singing softly...
"Red like roses fill my dreams and bring me to the place you rest..."
With a loud gasp, Ruby quickly removed her hand from the weapon and recoiled backwards.
The soft singing stopped instantly, and everything in the shop seemingly went quiet again.
Ruby looked around her surroundings to see if anyone else were by her side just now. No dice. The nearest person to her is Jaune, who appears to be looking at something not visible from where Ruby stood.
She turned back toward the red-colored weapon on the shelf. She wondered what was with the weapon just now, and why that singing just now somehow sounded vaguely familiar to her, as she reached out toward it again.
That was when Ruby noticed that her hands seemed to be glowing in a slight red hue, not unlike the Aura that she first saw in action back at the fight in Junior's bar.
Was that Aura? Did I just unlock my Aura? Or was that the weapon at work? Ruby wondered to herself for a moment before deciding to grab the weapon again.
This time the weapon unfolded when Ruby laid her hand on it, causing her to jerk her hand back. It revealed a trigger, sniper scope, and a bit at one end that looked like it's supposed to be a rifle buttstock.
After the unfolding just now, Ruby cautiously tapped the weapon with a finger to make sure it won't do anything else. Once she is sure of it, she then picked it up for a closer look.
The sniper scope on top, buttstock-like bit at one end, and gun barrel on the other end makes it clear to Ruby that the weapon is supposed to be a sniper rifle, albeit a very high-caliber one. It looked as if it could've unfolded even further, judging by the bits and kibble that haven't moved at all during the earlier unfolding.
There also appear to be writings etched on its right side. The writings said: "Crescent Rose - Thus Kindly I Scatter".
Crescent Rose. Ruby wondered if that is the name of the weapon, and why it is named so. And then there's the fact that not only does it have the word "Rose" in its name like her, it also has the exact same color scheme as her "Little Red Riding Hood" outfit.
People say you'd find a companion in an animal that resembles you. Ruby thought. But a weapon? That's really uncannily weird...
"Hey, Ruby." Jaune suddenly appeared behind the airwoman, having apparently found his own weapon. "What'd you find?" He asked curiously.
Ruby turned to look at Jaune, then back to the sniper rifle in her hand, before turning toward the Marine once more.
"I think it's a high-caliber sniper rifle that might be able to transform into something else. Not sure what, though." She responded to his earlier question. "You?" She took her turn to ask him.
"Me?" Jaune raised what seemed to be a sword and a shield. "These, I guess? The shield has a built-in sheath for the sword." He demonstrated by sticking the sword into the hidden sheath in the shield. "And the sword has a hidden compartment of its own in the pommel for inserting... Dust, I guess?" He continued. "Oh, I think it's called Crocea Mors, which is French for 'Yellow Death'. At least, according to the name etched on its back."
"Well, mine is apparently called Crescent Rose." Ruby showed the sniper rifle to Jaune. "And yes, I'm aware that it is uncannily similar to me. Don't ask why, as I have no idea either."
Jaune gave Crescent Rose a lookover. "That's an odd-looking sniper rifle. Doesn't look all that practical to me..." He commented.
"I know." Ruby said. "But for some reason, I'm subconsciously drawn to it, like fate willed it... Was that one of the many common tropes from one of those 'Isekai' anime of yours?"
The Marine looked up to the airwoman. "Nope. Not from any Isekai anime or manga that I can think of." He then raised a finger. "Funny thing is, I think I have something similar going on with Crocea Mors."
"Did you feel a jolt when you touched it, and then heard a voice?" Ruby then asked Jaune.
"Yeah, I did. How'd you know?" He confirmed. "Crescent Rose did the same to you?" He asked back.
"Maybe it did." She confirmed. "Maybe all weapons on Remnant do this to their to-be-owners. Or maybe it's a side effect of having Aura..." She went on to theorize about what just happened.
"Aura, huh?" Jaune became interested. "You think our being exposed to... those special Dust," He went on, while making sure to avoid mentioning Roman Torchwick and his Powered Healing Dust directly in public. "granted us Aura?"
"Possibly. Dust is really weird." Ruby shrugged. "Anyway, I think that's enough talk for now..."
With that, Ruby and Jaune took the weapons they found to the cashier to get them checked out.
Two good news: one, the shopkeeper said that the weapons come with maintenance kits and, for Crescent Rose, a kit for making ammunition using Dust, which will be offered together with the weapons as a promotion; and two, there's a one week warranty for both weapons, so Ruby and Jaune can return them for a full refund if they don't perform well for whatever reason, even if they come back in pieces.
Bad news: Dust for the weapons are not provided. For that, Ruby and Jaune will have to get Dust elsewhere.
And so, the duo paid for their weapons and the toolkits for maintaining them, before setting off to find Dust for their newly acquired weapons.
Good thing there are just as many Dust stores in Vale City as there are weapon shops. And Qrow happens to have recommended one to Ruby and Jaune as he helped them get their apartment.
...
From Dust Till Dawn
The Dust store in question is called From Dust Till Dawn. According to Qrow, it offers good quality Dust cheaply, and its owner is a friendly fellow that'd be more than happy to assist them if asked kindly.
Well, both statements seems to be true. The Dust offered here is indeed rather cheap, and the old man who runs the store is kind enough to both greet them as they entered the store, and point them toward where some of his best weapons quality Dust are.
"So, from what we've known about Dust so far, Fire Dust have enough explosive power to make ANFO look like a weakling." Jaune surmised. "But that's when it's still raw. Properly refined Fire Dust is what everyone uses in their stoves, water heaters, incendiary elements for their weapons etc."
"Incendiary? Didn't the Geneva Convention take offense to those?" Ruby thought out loud.
"I don't think it's possible for a weapon to be both Geneva-friendly and reliable against Remnanites and Grimm." Jaune voiced his opinion in response.
Ruby attempted to retort, but then realized that Jaune might actually be correct in that regard given how they both seen first hand how Remnanites and Grimm could shrug off 9mm bullets.
"In any case, you go find what you think best fits your... loadout." Ruby changed the topic. "I'll go find what's best for mine."
And with that, Ruby went off on her own to explore a different part of the Dust store.
As Ruby browsed through all the Dust available, she soon had her attention drawn to some magazines on a rack at the back of the store.
Out of curiosity, Ruby removed a magazine from the rack and took a look at its cover, which depicted an immaculately dressed man with silver hair and has a pair of old-fashioned glasses.
"'Beginner's Guide to Aura and Semblances, by Basil Ozpin." Ruby read out what's printed on the cover of the magazine.
Curiosity soon got the better of Ruby as she flipped the magazine open and started reading through it.
For a good while afterwards, everything was quiet in the store, as everyone from the old man shopkeep to the other customers just minded their own businesses, carefully browsing through the Dust available.
That was until...
"Nobody moves!"
It's been a good while since I updated this story, and boy, am I glad to take it out of hiatus.
So, aside from Ruby and Jaune starting to develop superpowers and Aura, we're finally introduced to Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors. And yeah, Ruby didn't build Crescent Rose since as an Earthling from the United States of America in this continuity, she would never have come up with a high-impact sniper-scythe that is longer than she is tall and would've preferred using simple firearms. Though that last bit is about to change, what with her developing superpowers and Aura as well as needing something more local to effectively deal with Aura and Semblances as well as the Grimm.
And what's with Ruby receiving a jolt and hearing a voice when she touched Crescent Rose? And Jaune apparently had something similar going on with Crocea Mors?
Well, it looks like Ruby is about to have her "This Will Be The Day" moment soon. Only this time, Jaune will be present as well.
Afterword ends here.
