Author's note: And now, another one of Ruby's side projects.
Late at night, when Ruby finally stopped feeling sore, she left a Substitute in her place and was teleported 10 meters away, ending up on the bottom floor of the train station. She burst into rose petals before hitting the ground and headed into her workshop. She created two clones, and while one fused with Emerald's soul, the other fused with Sapphire's. Unakite and Garnet then reverted back, but turned into Emerald and Sapphire, respectively.
"I'm still amazed that you figured that out," Emerald said, "Even if our eyes stay silver."
"Me too," Sapphire said, "Even if we can't go too far away from you, it's nice being able to walk around on my own."
"Thanks, you two," Ruby said, "Anyway, let's get to work." She put a slab of stone on a tripod over a fire bowl, and put some white phosphorous under it. The powder ignited immediately, and all three women stepped back and covered their faces. The bowl redirected most of the heat upwards, and it was soaked up by the stone slab.
"I really hate this part," Sapphire said and asked, "Can we do water tomorrow?" Ruby looked over to a crate of light red dust crystals and pondered the question for a moment.
"Sure, why not," Ruby answered, "But today, fire. Alright, get ready." She folded her hands, with only her index- and pinkie fingers extended, as well as her thumbs, and a series of symbols appeared around her wrists. Two similar circles appeared above the stone slab, running diagonally and crossing each other.
"Five minutes, starting now," Emerald said, and both she and Sapphire used the Natural Sanctuary semblance their fusions with Ruby had shared with them, anchoring themselves to the ground and increasing their aura regeneration, while also increasing nearby allies' aura regeneration. The entire workshop was bathed in a light green glow, and Ruby condensed the ambient aura and the heat from the stone into a crystalline structure, while also drawing the positive emotions that came with Natural Sanctuary into it.
"It's coming," Sapphire called out, and Emerald drew her weapons, just before black smoke started collecting around Ruby's circle. A light-fire-dust crystal appeared inside Ruby's circle and fell onto the stone slab, and a Knight 200 she reprogrammed brought it over to the crate, before picking up the next. When it picked up the third and final crystal, a black mass wrapped around its arm, and several small mouths opened on the black surface. A black, forked tongue, which was covered in tiny yellow eyes and ended in bone spikes, came out of one of the mouths and stabbed into the Knight's armor plating. However, before the unstable Grimm could do any serious damage, Emerald shot it to pieces.
"And that is the part I hate the most," Emerald said. The Knight, covered in dents and scratches from previous events like this, brought the crystal to the crate, then shut down for the night. Emerald and Sapphire stopped using Natural Sanctuary and fused with Ruby, and Opal reverted back to Ruby, who hurried back to the train station and switch places with her Substitute again.
~o~
The next morning, during breakfast, Ruby thought about how to get the water for her alchemy, especially without raising any suspicion. She knew she could just take water from the river, or a faucet, but those were fairly easy to track, as she would either have to carry water from the river, or run the faucet, which would make sound.
"Ruby, do you hear me?" Glynda asked, pulling Ruby out of her thoughts and getting her attention.
"Sorry, I think I was spacing out," Ruby answered and asked, "What is it?"
"I said we're having trouble with electricity," Glynda answered, "With the agricultural district being cleaned more each day, we keep having more than we need, and more than the system can handle. If we don't do something fast, we'll have serious problems."
"I think I have an idea, actually," Ruby said.
"That was fast," Cardin said in disbelief.
"If we can use it for electrolysis, we can store it for later," Ruby explained, "Basically, we use it to split river water into its composite gases, and when we need more electricity, we burn those gases again, in Mountain Glenn, to encourage airflow."
"Do you know how to do that?" Glynda asked.
"I do," Weiss answered, "I can handle it, if I have the right materials."
"Alright, I'll tell the Atlas military," Glynda said, "And in the meantime, Ruby, I'd like you to keep repairing transformers to buy us more time until the materials arrive."
"Got it. Although, I do have one more idea," Ruby said, "Weiss, give Sirena a list of materials you need. Sirena, you go to Atlas and tell Maria that we need help. I'll send some petrified Grimm over for her to transmute. Once that is done, you send them back here with Bubble Teleport. Then I'll send Khione over, so you two can fuse again and have Marrow copy that semblance of yours. Once she is done setting up the electrolysis, I'll also send Weiss so she can fuse with Marrow again. At the same time, Dove heads on over to Adalwolf's village, so I can get there via portal. Sirena and Khione come to me and let Adalwolf copy their fusion's semblance too, and I summon a Seer so Weiss' fusion with Marrow can let him copy Icy Terrain, too. After that is done, we all meet back up here. And while we're at it, I'd like to copy Messenger Bird, too." After her lengthy string of instructions, everyone looked at Ruby as if she had grown a second head or something, and Ruby realized she went into commander mode again and spouted a bit too many instructions for the problem at hand.
"Wait, Maria?" Glynda asked after a while, then looked at Sirena and asked, "And Sirena, just what exactly did she mean by you and Khione fusing again?"
"The Grimm Reaper," Qrow answered, "We met her on our way to Atlas, and Sirena shared one of her semblances with her, so now she's young again, and back in action."
"How did you know I fused with Khione?" Sirena asked, opting to largely ignore the fact that Qrow had, once again, revealed information about her without her consent, only giving him a mean glare as a reminder.
"I noticed Grimm taking damage in a certain area," Ruby answered, "And, when cross-referencing those areas with the route Sirena was scheduled to take on a mission a while ago, at a time when Khione was assigned a break to recover, I realized that all those areas are on that route. So I went there and used Tracing, and found out that you two had fused."
"Wait, Tracing?" Jaune asked, "As in astral tracing? When did you learn that?"
"Actually, I mean the semblance," Ruby answered, "After the incident with Amihan, I decided that I needed to get stronger, and sent ten clones of myself to various locations to acquire different semblances. That's how I got Venom Net and Fire Power, too."
"I see. Well, there is no point in getting upset about that now," Glynda said and asked, "Sirena, Khione, what does your fusion's semblance do?" Sirena and Khione looked at each other, and the former gave the latter a small nod to speak up.
"I decided to name it Ice Trap," Khione answered, "Like my Frozen Savior, it changes how ice-dust works. Of course, that means that only one of them can be active at a time, and if I change them, it takes about a minute before the new effect is properly imparted in the dust. However, instead of the resulting ice recharging nearby allies' auras, it fires energy bolts at nearby enemies."
"I see," Glynda said and took notes on her tablet, "Well then, let's finish breakfast and get started, since we apparently have a lot more to do than I expected." She looked over to Ruby, who tried to chuckle innocently, but she knew that all of this was necessary to increase their chances against Salem, so it came out rather forced.
~o~
After breakfast, Sirena and Cardin fused again, and Ruby copied Messenger Bird. The fusion looked androgynous and wore an armored dress, with a low-cut back allowing their red wings to move freely. The fusion focused on some woodland critters' fear of Grimm, allowing Cardin to find them once they split up again. While Cardin flew to the Grimm pack, Ruby sent Dove to Adalwolf's village, and Sirena opened a portal to Atlas for herself and Weiss. Once Cardin reached the pack of Ursai, Ruby opened a portal to him, fused into Unakite and petrified the Grimm.
"That was pretty impressive," Cardin said when he looked around the petrified Grimm.
"Thanks," Unakite said and reverted back to being Ruby, who began sending the monsters to Atlas.
"You know, I wonder what our fusion would be like," Cardin said, catching Ruby by surprise.
"Why's that?" Ruby asked, recomposed herself and continued sending the Grimm away.
"My whole deal is fighting against those in power," Cardin answered, "And, well, you are those in power."
"You help the oppressed, and I lead those without direction" Ruby said, "I think we have a lot in common in that regard."
"I guess you're right," Cardin said, but before he could say much more, Ruby clapped her hands.
"Alright, and done," Ruby said, "Now off to Dove. But first, I'll send you back." She opened a portal to Khione, and both walked through. After the portal closed behind them, Ruby opened another one and she and Khione met with Dove in Adalwolf's village.
~o~
Maria trained with the Ace Operatives to keep her skills sharp and had just taken down Harriet, when a red portal opened near her, and both Sirena and Weiss walked out of it before it closed behind them. Maria helped Harriet off the ground, and the training was paused.
"I hope we're not interrupting anything important," Sirena said.
"Of course not," Clover said and asked, "So, what brings you back here this time?"
"We need some materials," Sirena answered and gestured to Weiss, who handed Maria a piece of paper.
"I see," Maria said and asked, "And do you have something I can use?"
"Not yet, no," Sirena answered, "But Ruby is already taking care of it as we speak. However, she also asked Marrow for a favor."
"Me?" Marrow asked, "Sure, what is it?"
"She wants us to fuse so someone else can copy Icy Terrain," Weiss answered.
"Really now?" Marrow asked and said, "That semblance is definitely popular."
"It is, yeah," Weiss said. Maria got a notification on her scroll about unknown activity in the warehouse the military had given to her, and she, Weiss, Sirena and Marrow went there. After Maria had transmuted the stone Grimm, Sirena sent them to Vale. Then, Weiss fused with Marrow, and their fusion summoned a Seer.
~o~
Ruby, Dove and Khione waited in Adalwolf's village, with a Seer ready, until an androgynous face appeared in the summon's spherical body. They had their off-gray hair tied into a wolf's tail, and while their right eye was brown, their left one was light blue.
"Let's get this over with," the fusion said, and quickly shined the light of their aura into Adalwolf's eyes, before breaking contact again.
"And that was it?" Adalwolf asked, blinked in confusion and said, "I expected it to be more… mystical."
"That was it, yes," Ruby answered and let her summon disappear again. A red portal opened next to her, and Weiss and Sirena walked out of it, before it closed again.
"Well then, time for the last one before we're done," Sirena said, "Ruby, you and Weiss can go on ahead, we'll catch up in a bit."
"Alright, got it," Ruby said, "But first, Adalwolf, let me show you how to access this new semblance."
"Sure," Adalwolf said.
"Here you go," Ruby said and used Mentor to let him know how to enter his soul core. Once that was done, she opened a portal back to Cardin, and she and Weiss went back to Vale, while Sirena and Khione fused into one.
~o~
Back in Vale, Weiss set up everything to split water into its composite gases, with Ruby, Jaune, Sky and Glynda helping her, though her Arma Gigas summons also did a lot of work. The group set up a simple, if large, structure, but eventually, everyone got so confused, or intrigued, that they stopped working, leaving Weiss with only her summons.
"Is this really going to work?" Nora asked, looking at the collection of thick glass cylinders, which had a pipe and pump attached to pump river water into a central collection tank, from where it would flow into the structure, be pushed upward a little, and reach two electrodes.
"It is, yes," Weiss answered and looked at her scroll again, and sent Sky the measurements so he could adjust the circuitry. Two Arma Gigas put up a large metal tank to capture the hydrogen.
"Didn't you say there were two gases?" Yang asked, looking at Ruby, "Wouldn't we need two capture tanks?"
"No, because one of the gases is oxygen," Ruby answered, "When we want to revert the process, we'll just use the oxygen in the air."
"Won't that be dangerous?" Blake asked.
"Not as dangerous as distracting me," Weiss called over, and the group quickly dissipated as everyone went to do their own things, leaving Weiss and Sky to do their thing in peace. When Yang saw Ruby walk away, she decided to continue their discussion from earlier and followed her.
~o~
Ruby walked over to an intact transformer, making sure it wasn't too close to her friends, since she felt like she had to keep her new tricks a secret, especially after what happened during breakfast. She fused into Opal and created two clones of herself, and one clone turned into Emerald, while the other turned into Sapphire.
"Let's go," Sapphire said, and she and Emerald took up position on either side of the transformer before activating Natural Sanctuary. Ruby put her hands on the transformer and focused.
"Nice trick, sis," Yang said, startling all three women. Ruby lost focus and turned around.
"Yang, what brings you here?" Ruby asked.
"I was just in the area," Yang answered with a smirk, got serious and asked, "So, how many other tricks do you have up your sleeves?"
"Not a lot," Ruby answered, feeling a bit guilty, "I can create a Substitute of myself, for example. It's not as good as a Shadow Clone, but it teleports me a few meters when I make it, so I can get through walls with it, too."
"I see," Yang said, gestured at Emerald and Sapphire and asked, "And this?"
"Natural Sanctuary," Ruby answered, "One of my clones found someone with this semblance, fused with Emerald and Sapphire individually, and both Unakite and Garnet copied the semblance, then shared it with the other person."
"So, what are you doing?" Yang asked, her posture and tone softening up again when she saw Ruby feeling so guilty.
"I figured we could repair the transformers," Ruby answered, "I mean, I know we won't need them for a while, but I still think we should get them up and running again."
"Yeah, that does sound like a good idea," Yang said and asked, "But why do it in secret?"
"Because I didn't know how to explain all of this," Ruby answered.
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"Well, I did a few things," Ruby answered, "They're not bad, of course, but I'd rather not have too many people know about them until I'm ready, because they can be a bit difficult to explain. I've got everything under control though, so don't worry."
"Well, alright," Yang said, "But promise me that you come to us if things get out of hand."
"Of course," Ruby said with a smile, which Yang returned.
"Thanks," Yang said and asked, "Now, is there any way I can help?"
"Now that you mention it, yes, there is," Ruby answered, "It would be a huge help if you could use Deathzone on the transformers as I repair them, so they harm nearby Grimm."
"Alright," Yang said, "Though, I mostly focus on damage with that semblance. If you want duration, maybe talk to Blake instead."
"No, damage is fine," Ruby said, "We just make sure those things are dead, then we can focus on everything else."
"Got it," Yang said, "Ten meter radius, one week, and the rest in damage." She walked up to the transformer, standing opposite of Ruby, and put both hands on it. Ruby put her hands on it as well, focused and began repairing the transformer. She fixed one transformer at a time, moving slowly, so as to not use up too much aura. Yang focused and made every transformer she repaired harm Grimm for a week.
~o~
Jaune and Khione accompanied a group of police officers through Vale's agricultural district, aiming to clear out the last remaining Grimm. Khione had given each officer a Frozen Shell to keep them safe, and Jaune had summoned half a dozen minions with Kin Summon.
"This is pretty exciting," Khione said, "I'm on a mission with a real huntsman."
"I know that feeling," Jaune said, "But save your excitement for later, you need to focus now."
"Got it," Khione said and gripped her crossbow a bit tighter. As they walked towards a large road, Jaune suddenly stopped, and the group followed suit. Jaune sent his minions ahead, and as soon as they walked around the corner, the group heard explosions destroying the minions.
"Everyone, behind me," Jaune said and created a dozen clones of himself to form a shield wall, and Khione and the police officers hid behind the clones. The group focused, not knowing what they would see, other than Grimm.
"What do you think that thing is?" Khione asked.
"I don't know," one of the Jaunes answered, "But be ready, it could be anything." Bit by bit, the Grimm walked into view, and the group saw a black deer with bone antlers, with the ends pointing forward.
"It's… a deer?" Khione asked. The Grimm turned its head and focused on the group, and the ends of its antlers began glowing red, before it fired balls of red energy at the group and covering a wide area in explosions.
"Pretty sure Yang would call this a Bomber Deer," one of the Jaunes said, "Anyway, let's deal with this." The entire shield wall charged their regular energy disks and fired them at the Grimm. After the initial barrage, one clone used up all his aura for Kin Summon, and the minions rushed the Grimm. Two more clones turned their weapons into their broadsword forms and charged the Bomber Deer, which responded in kind.
"Watch out!" Khione called out, looked around and fired an ice-dust bolt at a wall behind the Bomber Deer, creating an ice spike several meters above the ground. As soon as the two clones got within striking range of the Grimm, it picked them up with its antlers and threw them behind itself. The clones hit the ice spike and landed on the Grimm, knocking it down with their weight and allowing them to decapitate it. As the Grimm evaporated, the Jaune clones disappeared, leaving only one.
"That was some quick thinking there," Jaune said and asked, "How did you know what it would do?"
"Thanks," Khione said and answered, "And well, I would've done the same in its place."
"I see," Jaune said, "Well, in any case, it worked out quite nicely. Good job. But now, we should finish up our route and get back." The group continued along their planned route, and Khione killed several Grimm with her crossbow, allowing Jaune's aura to regenerate faster. When they were done, everyone returned to their base of operation.
Author's note: Ruby has been doing this for a while now.
Anyway, I feel like we need more Grimm with ranged attacks. So, I made this. It was originally supposed to be a smaller Grimm, created by a stationary Grimm that summoned them en masse, but then it turned from Bombardier Beetle to Bomber Deer, so now here we are.