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Oh, what's that? It's the NEW STORY ALARM!

That's right, my fifth story, titled The Murderess and Her Brain has dropped! Join Neopolitan the murderess and Ozpin her brain friend as they forge a weak alliance in the name of avenging Roman and Beacon while navigating their own distrust of one another. Laughs, cries, fights, and plenty of excitement abound, in...THE MURDERESS AND HER BRAIN!

Chapter 94: A Cold Day in Vacuo

In which nobody is anybody's friend anymore.

"I'm sorry," Yang said.

Nothing.

"About Jaune," she added.

"I'd rather not discuss the matter."

"Yeah, but I want you to know that if you –"

"I do not."

If it had been anyone else, Yang would've chastised them for snapping when she only meant to be polite, but this wasn't anyone else. This was a young boy who'd just cruelly lost his last teammate after having him briefly returned to him for but a fleeting moment. His hope and his heart must've gone soaring high and then right back down. Yang had been there when Blake died, and she would've wanted people to give her some leeway when she'd been just as snappish, so that's what she did.

She and Weiss had been strolling through the colosseum when they'd come across the bronze-haired boy sulking. Jaune hadn't been a close friend or anything, no more than any member of Team Adventure, but he'd apparently sacrificed his life literally saving the world (Kid Ozpin wouldn't shut up about it), so Yang felt she owed it to him to look after Dove in his sorry state.

Amity had landed some distance away from Atlas. It was far enough out of range of their Dust artillery cannons, but not so far that the faint hum of the Hard Light generators couldn't be heard as the produced a bluish force field around the floating city and the crater beneath it. The battle hadn't started yet, but everyone was just waiting for the first strike to be launched. For now, the Vale Vacuo Mistral Menagerie Alliance, or the Vermillion Alliance as it was called (Yang liked to joke that it was Team VVMM), was taking the time to make final preparations. Outfitting the hunters with ammunition, unlocking the aura of any among them who did not yet possess it, last minute checks on weaponry – that sort of thing. The war hadn't started yet, and they were going to take full advantage of whatever time they had.

Dove clearly didn't want to be bothered, so Yang turned to Weiss. "You're from Atlas, Weiss. Anything you can tell us about their hardware that'll give us an edge? You know, flaws in their weapons, underground tunnels that lead to the center of the city?"

The Weiss-sicle sighed in exasperation. "Nothing that can't be found online on Atlaspedia, Yang."

"I take it that Xiao-Long was not the first to inquire, then," asked Dove, perking up slightly.

"Nope. Me and every Atlesian foreign national they brought have been hounded day and night for the 'insider tips.' People don't seem to realize that living in a city doesn't equate to being given daily briefings on its tactical weaknesses. Tell me, do either of you know all the secret info that could be help an enemy conquer Vale?"

Yang raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm not falling for that one. I always took the Valean Top Secrets class they gave to five-year-olds very seriously."

"Hardy har har."

Yang patted Weiss' back, nearly knocking her over. "Lemme ask you this, then. You're a run-of-the-mill, boring, ordinary citizen of Atlas –"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call mys–"

"So why is it that you're with us, but everyone inside the city has lost their minds and joined up with Team Evil?"

"I can think for myself, Yang. I'm not some robotic drone that obeys all commands."

Yand pointed, as though Weiss had just admitted the truth. "But neither is everyone in Atlas, right? I thought it might've been a cultural thing, like, I dunno, all kids in Atlas are trained to stay loyal to the state above all else, but you clearly weren't."

Weiss scoffed, but Dove pursed his lips. "Xiao-Long does have a point."

"I'm not a traitor, if that's what you're trying to imply."

Yang shook her head. It hadn't been. "What I mean is, we're the good guys and they're the bad guys. This isn't a fight for land or money or power, where those on the side of the victors get some prize at the end. We're trying to save Ruby and secure the relics so she doesn't use them to blow up the world or unleash a plague or something. Shouldn't there be some dissidents in Atlas who, ya know, don't want that to happen? Actually, shouldn't there be a bunch?"

Weiss looked down at the ground forlornly. "If I'm going to be honest, I myself am unsure as to why the people Atlas has accepted this so easily. The only conclusion I can come to is that the leaders of Atlas have not yet told the populace. If they don't know the truth, the Atlesian army and its hunters would most likely follow their General."

"We have not done well to dissuade them of the notion that we are a hostile force," said Dove. "Suppose that Branwen did not venture to Atlas, or she did and chose to lay in wait instead of making her presence known. How should a sovereign kingdom respond to the invasion of their soil by an armed force of three neighboring armies? To expect a welcome with open arms is preposterous."

"I hadn't considered that," said Weiss. "But if Ruby hasn't somehow convinced the Council of Atlas to aid her, then their response should be far more diplomatic. We haven't violated any laws nor trespassed on Atlesian land. Vale is supposed to still be allies with Atlas, and that includes extradition. Hunters are often called to bring in dangerous criminals. Unless we declare hostile intentions, we're just a friendly peacekeeping force."

"I hate to burst your bubble, Weiss Cream, but when you bring this many armed fighters to camp out on someone's doorstep, treaties and laws stop meaning anything. If General Ironwood has half a brain, he'll know we're here for fighting."

"But we're not!" huffed Weiss. "We aren't going to fight unless we have to. Oz…Ozp…Oz-whatever said that Ironwood is supposed to be his friend, and that he might still be loyal. There's a chance that Atlas will even help us bring Ruby in. Perhaps a diplomatic envoy is on the way, and we're out here worrying over nothing."

Yang wasn't convinced. It was obvious to people like her and Dove, but Weiss had grown up sheltered, so she didn't understand. The war had already started, it was just waiting to turn physical. There was no way that this many Valeans, Vacuoans, and Mistrilians wouldn't make Atlas feel threatened. Even if Ruby wasn't here, there would still be some conflict. Be he loyal to Ozpin or not, Ironwood wasn't going to simply invite a 'friendly, peacekeeping force' into the walls of his kingdom, not willingly. Yang had only heard the man speak a couple of times, but she could tell he would the type to look at any skirmish and see nothing but the first battle of the next war.

"Well, I'll be. It seems you're right, Schnee," said Dove sardonically, gripping his knees to begin the process of standing up. "I am sensing a diplomatic envoy flying to us right now."

"Really?" asked Yang. "I can't see any airships." Dove's semblance only let him see about 200 meters away, and most transport vessels were big enough to be spotted from that distance. Plus, it would have to be closer for him to see it in enough details to make out that it had diplomats on board.

Dove stretched out and rested a hand leisurely on his sword. "That is because there is no airship."

The rook transformed just before it hit the ground. Ruby kept her hood pulled close to her, but Weiss could see the pale skin. She looked just like –

"I'm surprised it wasn't a Nevermore."

Weiss slapped Dove's shoulder with the back of her hand. "Dove!"

"H-Hey, you guys."

Well, at least Ruby' social awkwardness hadn't faded. Weiss rolled her eyes and looked around her. As far as she could tell, the four of them were completely alone. She and Yang had found Dove moping in a rather secluded corner of the stadium, hence their privacy.

"Hiya, sis."

Yang did not respond.

"I came alone. And I'm unarmed. I…I kinda lost Crescent Rose a while back. I see you lost Amphitere too, Yang…"

Still nothing. Weiss wondered when Ruby's sister would break away from her piercing gaze and say something.

"I can build you a new one."

"Let me guess," said Dove. "You'd fashion her a Grimm arm? The likes of which we fought at Salem's castle?"

"Ruby, you need to come with us," Yang said at last.

"I can't. Not while I still have this." Ruby raised up some weird, ornamented lamp.

Dove took a step back, clearly shocked. "The relic…"

"It was a risk bringing it so close to Ozpin, but it isn't supposed to leave my person according to the rules," said Ruby. "And I wanted to come and see you first. I was hoping we could talk things out before anyone gets hurt."

"Ruby, I don't care about whatever that's supposed to be." Yang waved her hand dismissively. "You can throw it in the ocean for all I care, or put it on your dresser in our home on Patch. But I need you to come with me, little sis. We can get you help. You're…You're…"

"A Grimm?" supplied Ruby. "A monster?"

"No!" Yang exclaimed with vehemence. "No, I'll never see you a monster! But we can help you turn back to normal. We can put this whole crazy world of magic and Gods behind us. Please, just come to me, sis."

Ruby clenched her teeth she spoke. Weiss had only ever seen her get this serious back in Mountain Glenn, when they'd fought to stop the city from being breached. "I can't. I need to stay like this. It's the only way I can–"

"I suppose you do, Branwen." Dove turned his back and stepped away from their secluded corner of the stadium. "I'm going to find Ozpin."

"B-Bronzewing? Guys, you know it's still me, right? Right? Ruby Rose, the dorky dork who almost blew Weiss up when I met her. Bronzewing, we went to prom together and you fed me cookies all night because I couldn't move around in my heels. I'm still the same girl who did all that stuff. The pools haven't changed who I am."

"He said you'd say that," whispered Yang. She gestured to Ruby's…everything. "Ruby, just look at yourself! You don't even look like a human. There's clearly something wrong with you, and if you're okay with being the way you are right now, then I think that's some pretty solid proof that you have changed. We're huntresses! We fight Grimm, not join them!"

"I didn't join the Grimm! I…I command them, now. They do what I tell them to."

To prove her point, Ruby opened her palms wide and placed them together as though she were praying. When she separated her hands, a small black sphere was present. It took Weiss a few seconds to realize that the sphere was in fact a beetle-shaped Grimm.

"Hey, little guy. Why don't you go say hi to your Auntie Yang?"

Ruby tenderly set the beetle down on the ground, and it began to crawl their way. The Grimm was a lot faster than it looked; Weiss supposed that any creation of Ruby's would be blessed with immense speed similar to her own. Yang cautiously side-eyed the beetle as it approached her.

BANG!

"Bronzewing!" Ruby snapped as the smoke from Hallshott dissipated. "He wasn't going to hurt her!"

Dove replaced the empty round in his revolver sword with a fresh one. "Branwen, it'll be a cold day in Vacuo before I ever choose to side with the Grimm. You've clearly lost perspective on the situation at hand. I'm bringing you in. Come willingly, or I shall have no option but to do so by force."

"Okay, okay. I can tell I've overstayed my welcome. Look, I'll skip to the point. Ozpin is the bad guy. He was the one who killed Pyrrha and took over Jaune's body–"

"Don't you dare say their names!" Dove barreled toward Ruby until his sword was at her throat. "You killed him! You killed Arc!" Ruby frowned as he brandished his weapon malevolently, but she made no effort to detain him.

"I didn't kill him," Ruby calmly intoned. Her fingers pushed the sword down "He set off the explosion by his own hand."

Dove raised it right back up to her neck. "But you were prepared to throw Arc's life away without even giving him the chance to escape! You had no right to choose Schnee and me to live instead of Arc!"

"Jaune would've given his life to save you."

"We shall never know, then, because he is dead. He died killing Salem, and you've taken her place. If his sacrifice is to mean anything, you must die."

And that was officially too far. Weiss reached for Schachmatt, only to remember that it had been destroyed at Salem's castle.

Fortunately, Yang still had Ember Celica, which was primed by a satisfying click. "We're not going to hurt Ruby. She's as much a victim in this as Jaune was, Dove."

"No, you don't understand! Please, Ozpin is going to use the relics to bring back the Gods, and they'll destroy –"

"I never took you to be religious type, Branwen. To hide behind wild claims of gods and relics…perhaps the pools have changed you. But it matters not to me. Even before you became a monster, you betrayed Arc and abandoned him to die. Our qualm extends deeper than your alignment with the Grimm. When next we meet on the battlefield, I shall not hesitate to do what a true huntsman does when he finds a Grimm. What Arc would have done."

Dove trudged off. Ruby raised a hand and appeared to consider calling out to him, but apparently she thought better of it.

Weiss cleared her throat. "We've probably only got a matter of minutes before he tells someone you were here. What was it you wanted to tell us?"

"I…Bronzew…okay, look, you two have got to talk to the people leading this and get them to call off the attack. If Ozpin gets his hands on the relics, he's going to combine them and call back the Brother Gods. He thinks they're divine deities, but trust me, those two are bad news. That's why Atlas is helping me out. General Ironwood wants to stop the end of the world as much as I do. If we tell the people in charge of Vale and the others, they can put a stop to this before it gets any worse."

The three of them stood in silence for a second. Weiss held in a hopeful breath. Then…

"That's great, Ruby." Yang smiled. "I'm so glad to hear we can peacefully resolve everything. Let's go tell the headmasters and the Albains. Mom's even there, too! You'll finally get to meet her."

"Oh, Yang! I knew you'd understand!"

Ruby dashed forward to hug her sister, and Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. Dove would still be troublesome, but Weiss was confident they could handle him. After all, once everyone was on the same page about stopping the end of the world, what could one student do against all the hunters in the four kingdoms? Well, two if you counted the weird Ozpin-kid, but he was a scrawny little whelp with no muscle definition or inches of height above four feet tall. Weiss could probably take him on her own if she had to.

Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulder, then let go and tussled her hair as the trio walked together. "They made the lockers into a war room where the leaders meet. We can tell them all at once."

Weiss' breath caught in her throat. Every warm feeling she'd just had evaporated away. Every shred of relief that Team Rainbow had prevented a war fell apart. Every hope she'd had died in that single moment.

Because the war room was in announcer's booth.

The lockers were where the armed hunters were readying up.

Yang was leading her own sister into a trap.

Weiss stopped walking. "No…"

"What was that, Weiss Cream? You mumbled a bit."

"Yeah, Weiss! For someone's who's so prim and proper all the time, I would've thought you'd have learned to enunticate…to enucianate…to speak clearly."

"Yang, you can't honestly believe Ozpin more than you believe Ruby!"

Yang kept leading Ruby further and further toward the colosseum. "I don't! C'mon, Weiss. We've got to get Ruby where she needs to go ASAP."

"She's clearly of sound mind!" protested Weiss. "Yang!"

"Well, my Rubaby's always been a little bit bonkers, but that's part of the reason I love her, eh?"

"YANG XIAO-LONG!"

Yang turned around and faced Weiss. The look on her face was one of sheer annoyance, and her eyes were dangerously narrowed.

"Weiss Schnee."

"Ruby Rose! Heehee! Er, Ruby Branwen."

"I will not sit back and let you betray your own sister!"

"Uhhhhh, I'm not betraying my sister."

"Alright, then. If that's the case, then let's have Ruby fly back and get General Ironwood. I doubt that the headmasters of the three hunter academies will take kindly to Ruby's changed appearance."

Yang shook her head. "We've got to go now. There's no time! The fighting could start at any minute." Yang turned to Ruby. "Ruby, Weiss is being a butt. Let's go."

Ruby tapped her chin in pondering. "She's right about my looks, though. Yeah, no, it'll be easier if I go fly and get Mr. Ironwood. He's a headmaster like the others, and more importantly, he's a human. They'll listen to him."

"No, Ruby, you can't!"

"Why not?"

"How awful would you feel if Atlas or the VVMM Alliance attacked each other while you were flying back? It would be like you hurt those people. We can't afford to waste time talking."

"Yeah, I guess. But Yang, the colosseum must be crawling with hunters who'll try and stop me. How about you two go ahead and warn your council, and I–"

"Damn it, Ruby!" Yang stamped her foot. "I'm trying to save you!"

Ruby froze at the admission. Yang gripped her arm around Ruby's wrist, but Ruby pulled herself free. The elder sister tried to give chase, but she found herself suddenly immobile as a chunk of solid ice had frozen around her legs.

Ruby's maiden eyes were glowing brightly, but her expression was aghast. "Y-Yang…"

"Ruby, please," Yang pleaded. "You have to come with me. We can get you help. We can fix you, sis!"

"I don't need to be fixed! I'm not going to have puppies!"

"No, not fixed like that! We'll get you back to normal. You don't need to be a Grimm!"

"Atlas can't defend the relics on its own. I need this power to stop the Ozpin from–"

"Ruby, who cares about relics and wizards and whatever other wild stories they told you?! You're my sister, and all I've ever wanted was to take care of you! When you were little, you didn't want to eat your peas because you said they were gross, but I made you eat them because you needed to be healthy! When you got into Signal, you wanted to play with Fire Dust, but it was me who took it away from you because it was dangerous, even though you begged me to give it back! I raised you and I looked after you and I still look after you! I'm the older sister! I know what's best! I always take care of you, it's what I do!" Yang reached out to her sister, but Ruby stepped away.

Yang…this isn't…this isn't right, Weiss thought. It's…It's Ruby.

When Weiss looked at Ruby, she saw black tears pouring out of her Grimm-silver eyes.

"Weiss, I'm going back to Atlas. Are you coming?"

Weiss voice caught in her throat. "The council…"

"…won't believe a Grimm and an Atlesian national alone. There's nothing for us here. Let's go."

"Ruby, I watch my figure as best I can, but I'm fairly certain that a rook won't have the strength to carry someone as heavy as me."

Ruby hummed quietly.

Yang punched at the ice with her arm to free herself one chip at a time. "Ruby? It's not too late. I promise, we can keep the relics away from Tiny Ozpin or whatever you want. None of that means jack to me, honest. All I'm asking is for you to come with me!"

"And when it's over, who holds the Grimm back? Who takes Salem's place and orders the Beowolves and Ursai and Gryphons and Sabyrs not to attack the kingdoms? I can't go back, Yang. This is who I am now. Please, you've got to accept it. Trust me that I know what I want."

Yang looked away.

"I can't. Ruby, there's no way my little sister can want this."

Ruby hummed again.

The clouds parted, and Weiss fell on her rear in a manner quite undignified for a Schnee as a Grimm dragon fell out of the sky and landed right next to them.

"My queen."

"Holy fuck!" screamed Yang.

Ruby calmly grabbed onto the beast's neck and hoisted herself atop it far faster than a girl her size should have been able to move. "Let's go, Weiss."

Weiss looked at Yang one last time. The blonde was desperately trying to free herself from the ice holding her back.

"Weiss. They'll have seen Kraken. We don't have any more time."

"Ruby!" cried Yang, who's fists were bleeding from her rapidly she was punching downwards. "RUUBBBYYY! Don't go! Please, Ruby!"

Weiss took Ruby's hand and mounted the dragon.

"I'm sorry about Yang," said Weiss.

The dragon's speed of flight was far faster than Weiss had expected. Earlier today, Weiss had been sure that Atlas was destined to fall, but this towering Grimm alone would be enough to turn the tides if Ruby used it well. The fact that it could move so stealthily and enter straight into the heart of the Vermillion Alliance's main base did not bode well for Weiss' allies…rather, for her former allies.

"She just thinks she's helping you," explained Weiss. "Don't hold it against her. It was so hard getting her back on board after Blake. I'd rather not have to talk out my feelings during single combat a second time."

"I'm not mad at her. I just wonder, what if she's right? What if I went crazy, and I'm not myself anymore?"

Weiss shook her head at that. "Ruby, I know you better than almost anyone. You're still you. Ozpin said you'd be corrupted and evil, so I was expecting you to be some sort of perverse mirrored version of yourself."

"With an evil goatee beard?" asked the Grimm-human girl.

Weiss pointed excitedly at Ruby. "That! That's what convinced me!"

"A beard?"

"No. You! You're still Ruby Rose, the silly little bean who says random gobbledygook. If it weren't for the change to your appearance, I wouldn't have even thought anything was up in the first place!"

"But Ozpin said that –"

"If some random stranger came up to me on the street and informed me that you had turned evil, I'd place no stock in their words. The fact that said stranger is a thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be a reborn teacher of mine does little to improve my trust in his words. In fact, it actually makes his claims more outlandish."

Ruby nodded and faced forward, patting the dragon as it flew them through the atmosphere. "I get why Yang's mad. Here I am, fighting alongside the same monsters we've been destroying since we were eleven. I mean, why would she not think I'm crazy?"

"Because she didn't go to that castle and see Salem," explained Weiss. "Yang never saw magic and maidens and Grimm pools firsthand. To her, you got dragged off by a dragon and now you're spouting random gibberish about the Brother Gods. It sounds like you've gone off the deep end, but we know better. This new world full of crazy stuff is real, and you didn't make it up. You got dragged into it."

"Well, technically I tripped into it."

"Of course," Weiss sighed. "Only you could transform into the Queen of the Grimm by tripping."

Weiss had always believed the Hard Light shield of Atlas to be impenetrable barriers, ever present symbols of the flawless defenses of the supreme kingdom. As Ruby's dragon, high up in the clouds where it could remain unseen, sailed right over them, that old patriotism felt somewhat misplaced.

"Jump," Ruby said suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Ironwood and I haven't exactly told people that I'm on Team Atlas, so they'd probably freak the heck out if Kraky landed in town square. We've got to jump down. I hope you remember your landing strategy."

Weiss smirked.

"As if I'd ever forget."

Weiss shakily rose to her feet. The dragon's back wasn't covered in scales like a normal reptile's. Instead, bent spikes ran along the spine, increasing in size until they reached their peak in the middle, then decreasing down the tail. Ruby seemed perfectly comfortable standing freely aboard the Grimm, but Weiss needed to stabilize herself by gripping one of the spikes.

Her leader waved goodbye to her, then hopped off. No – she literally just walked off, as though there were a platform where she was about to step. When her foot hit empty space, she simply rotated 90 degrees and fell straight down.

Weiss waited until she could see the red underside of the beast's wings as they rose for a flap, then peered over the edge. Ruby was plunging straight down to Atlas. Then, she disappeared. Weiss blinked a couple of times and tried to locate her disappearing teammate before realizing that a rook would likely be impossible to make out at this speed and distance.

They were so high up – easily at least four and a half kilometers above Atlas, which itself added another kilometer to the height. As much as Weiss knew she could make the jump, the sheer scale of it all put the fear of the Brothers into her. This high up, the entire kingdom was visible from a single point of view, and Weiss didn't –

"You'd better jump before you lose her."

Weiss nearly tripped backwards at the booming voice. "O-Oh. Okay. Thank you…uh, M-Mr. K-Kraky."

The Grimm shook its head with a breathy huff and banked to the left, entering a circular flight pattern above Atlas. Weiss steeled up her nerves and leapt.

The wind rushing past her face was frigid, causing the autonomic reflex tears in Weiss' eyes to be lost behind her as she descended. As she fell, a black speck that might have been Ruby came closer and closer. She appeared to be gliding, as if to wait for Weiss. When the white-haired girl approached the bird, it joined her in a nosedive down to Remnant.

Weiss' landing strategy during initiation had been to use her rapier, Myrtenaster, to summon a burst of air beneath her, allowing her to gradually dissipate her momentum before she hit the ground daintily. Unfortunately, both Myrtenaster and its replacement had been destroyed, and Weiss was entirely without a way to control Dust.

She was not without means to control her fall, though. As the city approached her, vertical Glyphs appeared in a short line down the side of a skyscraper. Weiss' heels contacted the first Glyph, and she began to run straight downwards, summoning each Glyph in front of her just before she needed it. Before she reached the ground, Weiss changed the path of the Glyphs to curve. Gradually, she changed her trajectory until she was skidding to a horizontal halt.

"Not bad."

Weiss turned around to see Ruby, now fully enveloped by her hood. The pair of them had landed somewhere near the academy, though Weiss wasn't familiar enough with her homeland to tell which specific block.

"Thank you," she said, brushing back her hair out of her face. "I've been practicing."

"You certainly are improving. As your leader, I approve of your improvements." Ruby held up a hand and clenched it down into a fist. "But we need you at your best, not just improved. This should give you a bit of a helping hand."

In an unnaturally fluid motion, Ruby opened her hand. Dark black tendrils sprung forth as though a leafless sprig from an obsidian plant was growing out of it. Weiss watched with a mixture of awe and terror as another shoot extended, then another and another until a flurry of cascading vines wove together into their final form.

"May I present…Schachmatt 2.0!"

Ruby gripped the jet black pickaxe with her other hand and plucked it free. The hand from which it had budded had a mark where it had been that dissipated after a few seconds. Ruby held out the weapon eagerly, waiting for Weiss to take it.

"Go on. I made it from schematics of the first Schachmatt that I stole from your desk and memorized. B-By accident."

Further proof that this was, in fact, Ruby. Weiss warily claimed the pick and inspected it. Ruby was right; it was physically identical to the original, down to the Dust chamber and everything. The handle was a black mass, whereas the pick itself was a sturdy bone-like structure.

…the only difference was that it had a pulse.

"It's a Grimm."

Ruby nodded happily, oblivious to Weiss' own rapidly increasing heart rate. "Salem made Grimm Shadow Arms, so I experimented a little bit with what I could do. Weapons are the coolest, so I spent most of my time making them. I'm trying to make a living scythe…well, if the Grimm can be considered living at all. I think I'll call her Grimmrose…that is, if I can ever get the sniper scope right. Grimm don't exactly make the best of lenses."

Weiss tapped where the switch would have been on the original Schachmatt. Instead of a mechanical shifting, the hilt receded into the pick in what would best be described as an organic manner. The handle had seemed like a solid object, but it unwound into countless individual fibers that receded to make for a Grimm boomerang.

"Ruby, this is…"

"Horrifying?" Ruby offered. "Vile? Wicked?"

"How about amazing? The only Grimm I've ever seen before were soulless monsters, empowered for the singular purpose of destroying everything around them. You actually created something with their power." Weiss rotated the pick in her hands, feeling its evenly distributed weight and comparing it to the original Schachmatt. "A tool to protect others…hmmm. I think I have a name for it."

"Oooh oooh! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Ruby began to hop up and down. "Don't leave me hanging!"

Weiss grinned. "Antiheld."

Someone behind her spoke. "An excellent name for an excellent weapon."

Weiss' wonder soured as the familiar voice complimented her choice. She didn't even have to look to know who was behind her.

"Winter."

"Sister."

"Friend Weiss!"

Weiss turned and saw Penny running towards her. Her first instinct was to race into her BFF's arms. Her second instinct was to throw up her newly gifted pickaxe and see if it was as sharp as the original.

"Penny."

Penny did not seem to hear the coldness in Weiss' tone and chugged on merrily. "It has been too long since we've seen one another!"

"We've only been apart for about a week, Penny."

"That is six days and twenty three hours too long, Friend Weiss."

"I might say it's not long enough."

Penny tilted her head and considered Weiss' words. "Should I…Should I close my eyes?"

"Penny, do you not even know what you did wrong?" Weiss asked in frustration.

"Did wrong? Um. I did not bring you a present?"

Ugh, she was insufferable! Weiss had half a mind to turn away and leave the robot on her own to figure out her mistake, but experience had taught Weiss that Penny would never understand a social situation without someone spoon-feeding the answer to her.

"Penny, you betrayed me! You were working for Salem!"

"Yes, but you are now aware that Salem was attempting to stave off the destruction of Remnant at the hands of the Brother Gods. And we are now working together to continue her will, so all is well."

Weiss put her face to her palm. "It's not that. You didn't tell me. I was with you from Vale to Atlas and back, and the whole time, you were lying to me about your true intentions. Penny, you know how my father lied to me about the Faunus and how Winter here…" Weiss growled as Winter sheepishly withdrew. "…lied about my semblance. You said we were best friends, but in the end, you were just another person who was willing to deceive me when it suited your needs."

"Friend Weiss, there was no way to safely reveal my loyalties without placing your lives or the lives of others at risk. With the relics at stake–"

"You could have told me. I would have understood."

Weiss had no idea if Penny could compute guilt, but the look on her face suggested that she was experiencing it right about now. "I did not know for sure if you would. If you had responded negatively, our friendship could have been damaged."

"So, you didn't trust me enough to let me know the truth," said Weiss, placing her a hand on her hips. "Well, guess what? That's going to be pretty damaging to our friendship."

"Weiss, we need Penny for the–"

Weiss cut her off. "I will work alongside her to protect Atlas and aid your cause, as I will with Winter. But she and I are no longer friends."

Next Chapter: Besieged – In which the war for the relics finally begins in the most anticlimactic way possible, and everyone does their best to speed it up.

Omake

Weiss: Hey, what's up with distance? I've seen people use meters and kilometers, but I also hear people describe things in feet and miles…

Ruby: Oh, well, it's like this. Atlesians use the metric system, while Valeans and the other kingdoms use British Imperial Units.

Weiss: What's a British? Also, I'm fairly certain Dove used both miles and meters at some points.

A̶u̶t̶h̶o̶r̶ Ruby: It's tough to be consistent, Weiss! Jesus Christ, gimme a break!

Weiss: Who's Jesus Christ?!

Ruby: I don't know!

Weiss: THEN WHY ARE YOU AND YOUR UNCLE WEARING CROSSES ON YOUR OUTFITS?!

Author's Notes

There's that 'overprotective' part from the teaser (if you're on AO3, because I couldn't fit it into the character count on ffn net). Sadly, Yang and Dove are going to have a bit of trouble before they can do things right.

Ruby's got her eyes on the prize. She's in it for the long game, knowing that even if the relics are stashed, someone's going to have to take up Salem's mantle (in Mantle).

Real talk: do you think I could've pulled off naming the horseman Kevin? Or would that have been too far…?

Happy rats, and don't do rime!