Robotic Voice: "Metroid"

Thinking: "Metroid"

Comms: [Metroid]

Texting: "Metroid"

Chozo: {Metroid}

Whispering: *Metroid*

Talking: "Metroid"

Chapter 2 Invitation and Reunion... Kinda?

Roman Torchwick strutted down the street in his white Tuxedo and black bowler hat as he was followed by 4 goons wearing black suits, hats, red ties and glasses. The night couldn't get any better. Everyone avoided him and the goons, not bothering to stop him or call the authorities. Roman had set his eyes on his next target, a small Dust convenient store called 'From Dust Till Dawn' and no one was willing to get in the way.

Roman stopped outside of the door for a moment and looked up at the sign. He smirked and strode inside, focused on the shopkeeper. So focused that he completely missed the young tall crimsonet standing in the corner of the store with her back to him and headphones on.

Roman walked up to the shopkeeper, taking the cigar out of his mouth, and flicked the ash off of it, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" He said as one of the goons pulled a Dust blaster on the old man.

"Please!" came the panicked reply of the shopkeeper holding his hands up in surrender. "Just take my Lien and leave!"

Roman smirked at this, it was too easy, "Shhh, calm down, we're not here for your money." Roman said, pausing for a moment. "Grab the Dust."

With that the goons went into action pulling out various storage containers for the Dust. Some took containers for the powdered Dust while one took out a case for the crystals. "Crystals: Burn, Uncut," he said.

One goon walked to the otherside of the room and heard music playing. He turned to see a tall young woman with dark crimson hair, wearing black cargo pants and black with crimson highlighted boots and a jacket with a strange emblem on the back. The goon pulled out a cross between a katana and a cleaver and pointed it at the woman.

"Alright miss, put your hands where I can see 'em" he said. The girl seemed to ignore him, opting to continue what she was doing.

Raising his voice, the goon repeated, "Hey, I said hands in the air!"

The girl continued to ignore him as he walked up behind her grabbing her shoulder, "You got a death wish or something!?" he asked as she turned around. It was only then that he noticed the headphones on that were playing music.

Silver eyes looked at the man, a curious "Huh?" escaping her mouth. Irritated, the man pointed at his ear, signaling to her to take off the headset. Doing so, the girl put the headset around her neck, "Yes?" she asked again.

"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" commanded the goon, none too happy about the situation.

The girl looked at him in confusion, "Are you robbing me?" was the tall girl's reply, not complying with the orders whatsoever.

"YES!" the goon said just wanting the kid to follow orders.

The girl's silver eyes narrowed as she glared at him with a smirk, "Oooh" was the only reply he got.

Back at the front, Roman was inspecting a Burn crystal when he heard a goon call out "Hey!" before the aforementioned man came flying past him crashing into the wall. He looked up at another goon before signaling to check it out.

The goon ran over, pulling out a Dust blaster yelling "Freeze" as he aimed at the girl. Moments later, the window of the store was shattered as the goon went flying through followed closely by the girl. As the other goons either got up, or came to the window to see what just happened the girl stood up and pulled out a strange looking crimson and black handgun. In the background you could hear music playing until the girl pulled off the headset, clicking a button and putting the headset away.

Roman looked at the girl and was not happy. This was supposed to be an easy job, and now there was a young but tall, and obviously strong, girl getting in his way. "Okayyy…" Started Torchwick looking at the remaining goons. "Get her!" he ordered, finally getting the goons to take action. This was going to be a long night.

Ruby had been enjoying her visit to Vale. On her way down on Solar Rose, she had read up a bit more about the world. Apparently people could unlock the power of their soul and use it to strengthen and protect themselves. This power was called Aura and it also came with a power called a Semblance which is unique to each individual.

"Huh, that must be the natural energy shield I have and how I can turn into rose petals. I guess I had more than just this from my past." commented Ruby as she pulled out a pendant that looked like a rose on fire.

She also learned that the local currency was called Lien and she had Adam make her a bank account and convert some of her Seguru. "Don't want to mess up the economy too much," she had reasoned.

Ruby landed her ship in a secluded area near a mountain before cloaking it and Shine Sparking away. Ruby walked into the city and was glad that she had upgraded her Zero Suit to absorb the clothing she had and shift into it, much like it did for Crescent Rose.

People wore common clothes similar to those worn by humans of Earth in the 21st century. Ruby had decided to wear a black leather jacket with crimson highlights with the crosshair symbol of her Zero Suit on the back, a red T-shirt, black cargo pants, and her Zero Suit's black and crimson highlighted combat boots.

Ruby had spent the day walking around, enjoying the scenery. She was in a Dust shop reading a weapon's magazin while listening to music. She was fascinated with the weapon tech these people had. Mecha shift was truly a wonder, able to make almost anything become a weapon with a gun. She was so engrossed by the magazine she didn't notice shady people walking in. So you can forgive her as the last thing she was expecting was getting into a fight with a bunch of goons trying to rob the place. She hadn't been caught off guard like that in years!

"Get her!' said the man in the white coat who she guessed was the head honcho. Ruby flicked a switch on Thorned Rose, her upgraded Paralyzer, switching to stun. She did not want to get accused of murder.

Ruby had watched some videos of Huntsmen and women fighting and always thought that some of the extravagant flourishes they did were unnecessary, therefore, she chose to deal with these goons quickly and efficiently.

The first goon didn't even get in striking range when he was shot with a paralyzing bolt, falling unconscious shortly after. The next earned himself a childless future and a voice a few octaves higher as Ruby nailed him with a knee to the groin.

The third goon with a cleaver managed to take a swing at Ruby, but was dodged and knocked out by a well placed blow. The final goon was the one that she had kicked through the window and had the gun. He had managed to regain his bearings and take aim at Ruby. Unfortunately for him, Ruby was faster. Activating the plasma whip in Thorned Rose, she ensnared the gun, ripping it out of the goons hands before hitting him with a paralyzing bolt, leaving him knocked out at the bosses feet.

"You were worth every cent." The bowler hat guy muttered, "Truly, you were."

"That's what you get for paying for a cheap goon squad," commented Ruby, "Try getting some professional help next time, or better yet, don't commit crime! I never really understood some peoples' reasoning behind it."

Scowling, the man looked up at Ruby taking his cigar out of his mouth. "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," he dropped the cigar and crushed it under his cane as sirens could be heard approaching.

"Let me guess, his cane is also a gun," Thought Ruby as the boss man pointed his cane at her, sensing his violent intent through her psionic abilities, courtesy of her Chozo blood of course.

"And as much as I'd love to stick around… I'm afraid this is where we part ways." The bottom of the cane popped up to reveal a gun barrel and an iron sight.

"Called it!" thought Ruby as she dogged out of the way of the firework like projectile.

Looking back at where the guy was, she sees that he had run away. She found him climbing up the fire escape on the side of a nearby building.

Turning to the shopkeeper standing in the doorway Ruby asked, "You okay if I go after him?" The shopkeeper replied with an affirmative and Ruby dashed off in a burst of petals.

Back with Torchwick, the guy had just reached the top of the building and vaulted over the edge. He sprinted to the other side of the roof just as Ruby landed at the top after using her jet boots to reach the top.

"Unless you want to be left twitching on the ground, I suggest you stop and turn yourself in," called Ruby as she aimed Thorned Rose at him.

Roman stopped at the edge of the roof muttering "Persistent… " under his breath. Just then an airship, called a Bullhead if Ruby remembered correctly, rose up into the air, the ship's spotlight momentarily blinding her.

In that moment of distraction Romen climbed into the ship and turned around. "End of the line, Red!" he yelled as he threw the Fire Dust crystal he had at her.

Acting quickly, Ruby lashed out with her Plasma whip, hitting the Dust back at Romen. This resulted in the Dust exploding near the Bullhead, causing the airship to shudder and knock Roman back onto the roof.

Apparently, this resulted in pissing off someone as a woman in a strange red dress with embroidering came out of the cockpit, before launching a great fireball at Ruby and Roman.

"Oh crap! She doesn't even care if she hits her ally," Thought Ruby having sensed the attack a moment before it was launched. Acting fast, she used her plasma whip to pull Roman to her and was about to summon her armor to protect them both when someone landed between them and the fire ball.

The woman who just showed up arrected some sort of purple glyph shield to block the blast. In front of Ruby stood a woman wearing what looked like a stereotypical no funny business teacher's outfit, with the addition of a violet cape fluttering behind her. In her hand was…

"Is her weapon a freaking horseback RIDING CROP!?" thought Ruby incredulously.

Shaking herself out of her amazement, Ruby made sure that Roman was out cold before switching Thorned Rose to Plasma bolts, an upgrade she added after not being able to take down any Space Pirates when she got stranded on Zebes without her power armor. The Plasma bolts aren't as strong as her cannon, but it at least can kill, and should be more than effective at killing any Grimm she might come across, not to mention the metal hull of an aircraft that is in range.

Ruby took aim and started firing at the engines of the Bullhead, leaving behind scorch marks. The huntress, as that is what Ruby figured she was, flicked the riding crop, releasing a number of glowing purple projectiles that struck the bullhead at the same time as the plasma bolts. This caused the ship to rock again, nearly throwing the woman in the red dress out.

The woman from the cockpit regained her footing ,but her face remained shrouded by shadow. Ruby looks up to see her, but focuses on something that did not quite make sense,

"Is she wearing glass high heels?" she states in confusion.

Suddenly the woman unleashes a fireball at them. The huntress blocks it, but a moment later the ground is destroyed in a fire blast. She bakclips away before waving the riding crop causing the debris to gain a violet sheen and form into a large spear,

"Okay… If I didn't know better I'd say that she is using magic," thought Ruby looking at the huntress.

Ruby turned back to the ship as the spear was launched only to be blocked by the red dressed woman and then ricochet off of the top of the bullhead. The spear broke up into smaller spears and began circling around the ship. The woman seemed to become fed up and unleashed a blast, destroying the spears.

Ruby took this as her cue to shoot at the woman in the dress, but she blocked it WITH HER HAND! "What the hell?" Ruby muttered.

Just then the ground began glowing at their feet. Ruby jumped forward with a spin jump to avoid the blast as the huntress did a cartwheel to dodge. Landing on her feet, Ruby turned to the ship to see it flying away. She tried to take a few more shots, but at that range, Thorned Rose was useless.

Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose, "Damn it!" Again she had let an enemy get away, this time because she had underestimated them. "Even with five years of training followed by another 8 years of working in the field, I still have a lot to learn." She muttered as she started to walk away, or she would have if the huntress hadn't grabbed her.

"Now where do you think you are go-?" she started to say before Ruby turned around, stopping and staring at Ruby in shock. What came next only confused Ruby more. "Summer?!" The huntress said at last.

"Well this just got awkward." thought Ruby

Ruby had been in interrogation rooms many times before. She had always had a problem with authority figures she did not respect and that led to her getting put in one on many occasions. However, she had never been taken in for trying to help stop a criminal. Yah sure she could probably break out whenever she wanted to but she wanted to keep her more potent powers on the down low. They may have taken Thorned Rose, but that was the only weapon they could find.

Glynda Goodwitch, that was the name of the huntress, was now pacing back and forth behind her. "I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady." Goodwitch said. "You put yourself and others in great danger."

Ruby rolled her eyes at this, "Excuse me, but first, they started it, second I knew what I was doing, third the first thing I did was make sure that the civilian was out of the way, and forth, I still caught all five of the original assailants."

"But you still nearly got yourself and one of the assailants hit by that fireball!" Retorted Goodwitch

"I also had that under control," scoffed Ruby.

Goodwitch sighed, "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back… and a slap on the wrist!" she said, hitting the table with her riding crop. To her surprise, Ruby did not even flinch. She would have expected the 15 year old to at least move, assuming the girl in front of her is who she thinks she is. "But… There is someone here who would like to meet you." she finished before walking to the side.

A man then came through the door. He had silver hair, small circular eyeglasses, and a lot of green. Seriously, everything he wore was different shades of green except the belt belt buckle, buttons and pin on his scarf. In one hand was a mug of what Ruby assumed was coffee of Hot cocoa. In the other was a plate of cookies.

"Ruby Rose…" the man said, "You… have silver eyes." That was definitely not creepy, why focus on her eyes? Wait…

"How do you know my name?" she asked incredulously, then immediately cringed realizing that he could have been guessing and she had just confirmed it.

"Besides the height difference, you are a spitting image of your mother." he replied with a smile.

"You know my mom?!" Ruby said, hope evident on her tone and face. That was probably the wrong thing to say, as both the man's and Goodwitch's faces became crestfallen.

"Knew, would be a better word" said the man, sadness clearly showing.

"W-what do you mean?" Ruby asked now fearing she already knew the answer.

"Shortly before your disappearance, Summer Rose, your mother, was reported to be MIA, then KIA. She left behind a family of two daughters, and a husband."

Tears ran freely down Ruby's face, the one person that she even vaguely remembered from her family was dead, dead before she had even left Remnant. The man pulled something out of his pocket. It was a photo of a family. There was a tall man with blond hair holding the girl with golden blond hair that Ruby had seen in the memory. Next to the man, holding a 4 year old Ruby, was Summer Rose in her white cloak. Here it was, proof, that she had a family here.

"The loss of your mother was one thing, but your disappearance shortly after hit everyone related to your family hard," Said the man.

Ruby then looked up, "Does that mean the rest of my family is still alive?"

The man chuckled "Yes, they are alive and as well as they could be, given the circumstances." he said smiling, before going serious again. "That brings me to my first question, where have you been these past 10 years and how did you learn to fight so well?"

Ruby should have expected this, but she was not about to say, not without being able to trust whoever this man was. "I am sorry if I am being rude, but who are you? I already have a problem trusting authority figures, especially how they have tried to screw me over in the past." This seemed to get under the huntress's skin more than the man.

"Why you little–" she began, before being stopped by the aforementioned man.

"Now now, Glynda. She has every right to be incredulous," he said before turning back to Ruby. "I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. I was also the Headmaster when your mother and father attended the school, I like to believe I was almost a father figure for her as she had no other family before coming to Beacon."

This surprised Ruby, "He was close to my mother! He also helped teach her! Gahh, I need to think about this. I can't go around saying I just came from outer space, much less that I am a 3 way genetically modified hybrid with actual aliens! But I need to tell someone where I was, trust someone. I need a contact to be able to help settle on this planet. Maybe I can tell him the space thing and maybe having been trained by aliens, but no way am I going to say anything about only being one third human."

Ruby finally made a decision and looked up at Ozpin. She tested the waters of his believability. "You would think I am crazy if I told you." she said, watching the Headmaster's face for a reaction.

He simply said, "We live in a world where people can use the power of the soul to fight monsters straight out of nightmares exist, so please, indulge me." he said with a kind smile. He did have a point, "Alright then," Ruby said, taking a breath. "What would you think if I told you I was not on Remnant? Also did you say 10 years?"

After an explanation of the fact that Ruby was rescued by aliens from Grimm, trained by them, and fought against space pirates, and apparently there was a time difference between the two dimensions resulting in Ruby being 3 years older than she should have been, Ruby was sitting across from Ozpin and Goodwitch munching on a cookie. She of course left out the fact that she was more alien than human herself, but that didn't matter. She had told them that she had found an old Chozo PDA that had information about her and learned where she came from.

"And you know the rest." she finished. The two adults looked at Ruby in shock. To them, Ruby had gone through things that even most veteran Hunters could not match.

"Ahem, well Miss. Rose," said Ozpin finally breaking the silence, "that is quite the adventure you have had."

Goodwitch wiped her head towards the Headmaster, "Sir, you can't seriously believe that. Space! Aliens! It is all impossible!"

The man turned to the huntress, "Glynda, you and I both know and have seen things that should be impossible. We also have no reason not to believe her, the energy handgun she used is proof enough. It doesn't even use Dust!"

That brought up another point for Ruby, "Oh yah, forgot to mention, Dust, Aura, Semblance, Grimm, they are all Remnant only commodities. Also, could I get my Paralyzer back? It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't want the tech, even low grade tech like my handgun, getting in the wrong hands."

After yet another moment of shock, Ozpin nodded, "That is very understandable," he said, pulling Thorned Rose out from his jacket and handing it to Ruby. "I just have one last question, what are you going to do now?"

This made Ruby pause. What was she going to do? She could go see what was left of her family, but what then? So far, she had been so focused on just getting here, she had not thought about what she would do after.

"I… I don't know," Ruby admitted finally. Ozpin looks at Goodwitch who rolls her eyes knowing what the Headmaster was about to do.

Looking back at Ruby, Ozpin spoke, "Well Miss. Rose, I may have a suggestion. You see, your sister Yang Xiao Long is going to begin attending Beacon this coming semester. I am sure you will want to speak with her,"

Ruby nodded at this, "After seeing your combat skills, you are quite accomplished, but you still have a lot to learn, at least in terms of fighting without the suit you described." A

gain Ruby nodded at this, not quite getting what the Headmaster was saying. "So with that in mind, Ruby Rose, I would like to officially invite you to Beacon Academy!"

"You did WHAT?!" and there was Adam's reprimand. Ruby was back in Solar Rose lounging in the cockpit chair.

"I helped stop a bank robbery, got arrested, learned more about my family, and joined a school for elite warriors to be with my sister." said Ruby grinning.

"Why am I not surprised… At least you won't be getting bored while we are here, and no hunting down space pirates is not a pass time, that is work." Adam said ignoring Ruby's indignant "Hey!" "Just make sure you keep a Comm piece with you. We still need to communicate. On another note, how is integrating Dust with your gear going?"

With the change of topic Ruby got up and walked over to a workbench. "Great actually, I was able to integrate Dust into my arm cannon making a new beam. I'm calling it the Dust Beam, and I can cycle through what Dust Crystal is being used. Right now I have Fire, Earth, Water, and Air as they were the easiest, being the most basic forms. I'll need some help with the other forms. Probably going to avoid ice though…" Ruby divulged into a mumbling mess as she geeked out about weapon upgrades and applications.

"Ruby, stay on topic." Adam said, breaking Ruby out of her trance.

"Sorry Adam. Anyway, I was able to integrate fire Dust with Thorned Rose, giving it a bit more of a kick when the Dust is active. I also changed the Zero Suit a bit. Now it has magazin holders and a bit of armor and not as revealing."

This actually integrated Adam, "Why did you change the Zero Suit? You have your power armor."

Ruby just smiled at this, "I need a combat outfit as a Huntress. Yes, I have Cosmic Rose, but I don't want to be using it a lot. People would start asking questions that I don't want to have asked. I want to only use it if I need it. Besides, it will be refreshing learning to fight without it."

Adam was surprised by Ruby's forethought. In the past she had always been about going in guns blazing. "Who are you and what have you done with Ruby?" Adam jokingly asked.

"Hey, I'm just trying to not deal with the trouble of explaining how I have such advanced tech. More advanced than Atlas!" Ruby said indignantly.

Adam laughed, "I am messing with you Ruby. You normally don't put this much forethought into these kinds of things."

"Yes I do!" she retorted.

"Really? When? Please do tell," teased Adam. It had been too long since they were able to have a conversation like this. Ruby struggled to come up with an argument as she finished some last adjustments to the suit.

"Well… I… Umm… Ugh, fine you win! I'm going to pack everything I need for school." Ruby picked up her suit and stormed off to her quarters.

The next day, Ruby was on a Bullhead, headed to Beacon. She had decided to hide who she was for the time being to surprise her sister. She had opted to wear a wig with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail (AN: Looks like OG Samus) and she had sunglasses that hid her silver eyes. She also would use her middle name and the name that she used in the Galactic Federation; Samus, to introduce herself.

She was sitting on a bench reading a book about the Great War occasionally looking around. Soon she spotted a bombshell of a girl with golden blond hair, wearing an orange scarf, yellow shirt, brown jacket and strange bracelets.

"There she is," Ruby thought, "My older, or now younger, sister, Yang. Damn, Professor Ozpin said it was rough for my family, but it looks like it was almost debilitating." Yang was sitting alone away from everyone else. She held a piece of red cloth in her hand and the look on her face would even make Ridley cringe in sympathy, and that was saying something. Ruby could have drowned in the sheer amount of sadness she felt coming from the girl.

Ruby did not want to give herself away yet, but also wanted to cheer her sister up. She put her book away, got up and walked over to Yang. "For someone on their way to, what I would guess is your dream school, you really are looking down."

Yang looked up at Ruby, "What do you want?" she said a hint of venom amongst the sadness evident in her voice.

"I saw someone being all depressing and I thought, 'why not try to cheer them up?' The name is Samus by the way, Samus Aran." Ruby said with a warm smile.

"Heh, thanks for the thought, but you wouldn't understand." Yang replied looking back down at the red cloth in her hands.

"Maybe, maybe not. I can guess though," Ruby knew full well what was wrong, but wanted to hear it from Yang. For the most part. "You lost someone didn't you, someone close." it was not a question, rather an observation.

Yang looked back at Ruby as she sat down next to her. "H-how did you know?" she asked shakily. "The way you are looking at the cloth, the look on your face. I have seen it before, more often than not, on my own face."

Ruby remembered everyone that had helped her on her journey, all of them having died to save her. The Chozo colony that raised her, the infant Metroid, Adam during that fateful mission on the abandoned research vessel, Quiet Robe, to name a few. Everyone that had helped her died. Ruby silently vowed to never let that happen again.

"Do you want to talk about it? Trust me it helps." Ruby said.

Yang looked back at the cloth. "This is my little half sister's cloak. 10 years ago, her mother died during a mission and our father shut down. I was a kid and I wanted some way to get a parent back. I had just learned about my biological mother and found an old address. I thought that maybe she was there. Maybe if I found her, she would come back home and make things better again." Yang started to tear up.

Shaking her head she continued, "How wrong I was. I took Ruby with me, but all we found was Grimm. I don't know what happened, but I got hit and knocked out. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital and Ruby was gone, presumed dead." Yang finally broke, tears rolling freely down her face, "I killed her! If I had not brought her, she would still be alive. It's all my fault!"

Ruby, to say the least, was surprised. Her sister had been holding this burden for so long. Ruby, so desperately wanted to tell Yang that she was alive, but now was not the time. Instead, she wrapped Yang in a side hug.

"It's okay, it was not your fault…" Ruby started.

"But it was my fault," sobbed Yang.

This time Ruby was a bit more forceful. She took Yang by the shoulders and turned her, making the two face each other. "No! No it was not! You said it yourself! You were a kid! You didn't know better. The only person that even remotely could take blame for what happened would be the one who neglected the two of you, but even then, he was not in the frame of mind to do anything. Would your sister want you to beat yourself over this? Or would she want you to go on, continue fighting so that no one will need to experience what you did?"

Yang looked at Ruby as if she just slapped her. This Samus girl was right! What would Ruby think of her if she saw her like this. No she would not let this slow her down.

"She… She would want me to fight." Yang finally said after taking a breath.

"That's right. Be the big sister she would want to look up to." Ruby said. Yang gave Ruby a sad smile,

"You are right Samus, thank you. My name is Yang by the way." Ruby patted Yang on the back,

"Nice to meet you Yang, and you're welcome. To be honest, I am more used to being on the receiving end." Ruby muttered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Yang.

"Naw, maybe another time. Besides, it looks like we are here." Ruby said. The two girls turned to look outside and watched as they neared Beacon Academy.

The approach to Beacon was one of wonder. Ruby had seen amazing architecture before from a variety of races, the grandest mostly being that of Chozo origin, but the castle of a school was certainly magnificent. White stone pillars rose up in a circle around the school, a great wooden door for the main entrance, towers reaching to the sky, the statue of a Huntsman and Huntress standing over a grimm in triumph, it all looked like it came straight out of a fantasy.

"Now that is quite the sight," commented Yang as the Bullhead started to land.

Unfortunately, the wonder was interrupted when a blond boy in partial knight armor ran past trying to keep down his lunch. "Not for everyone, apparently. Hope he will be alright," Ruby spoke in sympathy. She knew more than anyone how bad motion sickness can get, she flew a high speed spaceship for crying out loud and Zero G did not help. Thankfully that had passed quickly.

When the ship docked, everyone started to file out. The blond boy from earlier could be seen emptying his guts into a trash can. Seeing the academy from the ground was even more grand than it was in the air, you just could not get the right sense of scale from the air. Ruby and Yang walked side by side as they looked around.

"I'm here," Yang mumbled, "I'm finally here, Rubes. I just wish you could see se- No… BE here with me."

Ruby looked at her sister smiling, but said nothing. She could not wait to see the look on her sister's face when she finally revealed that her wish had already come true.

As they continued to walk, Yang was so distracted that she only noticed the luggage on the ground when she tripped over it.

"What are you doing!?" came a voice that told Ruby of a life in the high class. She had been around enough aristocrats to know what that sounded like. Ruby turned to see a white haired girl with a ponytail, white dress ("Combat skirt," Ruby reminds herself) and high heels, and a Rapier with a revolver chamber.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted." was Yang's reply.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?" was the princess's response. Ruby knew where this was going and she did not like it. She recognised the symbols on the luggage, and if she was right, the princess did have a point about the damage that could have occurred.

"Easy there princess," interjected Ruby before things could escalate, "I am sure Yang here did not mean to cause trouble."

Ruby picked up one of the fallen cases carefully and handed it to the princess. "Sorry, I just don't want to get off on the wrong foot." The princess took the case and opened it, inspecting the contents. As Ruby expected, it was full of Dust of varying kinds.

"Yah, well, she should be more careful. Even the most well refined Dust from the prestigious SDC is volatile if handled incorrectly." said the white haired girl.

Ruby relaxed a bit, "Crisis averted," she thought as she helped Yang up.

"She's just a bit overwhelmed right now, had a mental breakdown on the airship, so cut her some slack princess," Ruby said, ignoring the indignant squawk from Yang.

The white girl guffawed at the bit about "Princess" and was about to refute it, when she was interrupted.

"It's Heiress, actually." Came a smooth and mature voice, one that had seen true pain before.

The three girls turned to look at a girl with black hair and yellow eyes, wearing all black and some white, with a black bow on her head. She had some sort of sword on her back, the sheath itself also looking as if it could be used as a weapon.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." the monochrome girl continued.

"Finally, some recognition!" came the haughty reply from the now named heiress.

But monochrome was not done, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

["Oooo, shots fired!"] came Adam's first comment from her ear piece since Ruby left the Solar Rose that morning. Ruby and Yang stifled a few giggles at Weiss's expense as she struggled to respond to the slander.

"What- How dare– The nerve of–!" she stumbled out, but she could not find a good comeback. Giving up, she stomped away as some attendants packed up the rest of the luggage and followed her.

Ruby couldn't hold it in anymore and finally laughed out loud. "Hahaha, nice one!" she said, turning back to the monochrome girl, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Yang noticed that she had disappeared, too. "Huh, where did she go?" They looked at each other before walking off, heading for the auditorium.

When they reached the auditorium, it was packed full of people milling about. There seemed to be a lot of hopefuls for getting into Beacon. They even saw Wiess lecturing Vomit Boy from the bullhead and waving a pamphlet in his face. Suddenly, they heard the static from a microphone followed by someone speaking. They looked up at the stage to see Professor Ozpin.

"Ahem… I'll keep this brief." he started. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of a purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." With that, he finished and walked off stage.

"That was strange, sounded like he was on autopilot or something." thought Ruby watching him go. Turned out that Yang was thinking the same thing.

"He seemed kind of off." she remarked and Ruby couldn't help but agree with her.

Professor Goodwitch then took the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!" she said, then walked off the stage herself. With that, people started to leave, headed to the ballroom. Ruby looked at Yang,

"Go ahead without me, I have something I need to do quickly." She then walked away to somewhere privat.

"Hey Adam, what do you think so far?" she asked, holding a hand to her ear.

[It seems to resemble some training installations for the Federation. Just a bit less strict. There were also people from all kinds of walks of life.] Said her AI companion.

Ruby smiled. "I think I will enjoy my time here." Ruby then heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, she saw Professor Ozpin walking towards her.

"Hello Miss, Rose. How are you finding my school?" asked the Headmaster.

"It's nice, reminds me of some bases that I have trained at." Ruby replied.

"Is that so? I am glad it is living up to your expectations." said Professor Ozpin.

Ruby laughed at this, "More so actually, I am looking forward to the start of the semester. I also got to meet my sister, but I have yet to reveal myself."

The Headmaster smiled, "Well, I am sure the reunion will be pleasant. Speaking of which, you should head to the ballroom to get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow." With that Professor Ozpin walked off.

"Well, time to get some rest." Ruby said and headed to the Ballroom.

Ruby entered the ballroom and looked around. She had her things for sleeping in a duffle bag and just got back from the locker room after cleaning up, the rest of her luggage having been taken where everyone else's were, but there were a few things she wanted to keep close. Two of them being her Zero Suit and Paralyzer. She knew that everyone else had left their weapons in lockers, but she felt safer with them. She in fact still had the Zero suit on, just in disguise mode for sleeping wear.

Soon she saw Yang off to the side with an open space next to her. Ruby walked over and saw that she was holding the red cloak again. It just hit her then that the cloak had been hers.

When she reached Yang, she spoke, "I hope you aren't going to fall back into depression town again. Also, is this space open?" she pointed to the space beside Yang.

Looking up, Yang chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm good. And yes the space is open." Her smile widened as she said, "I'm glad you decided to come 'Yang' out with me."

Ruby froze as the blood drained from her face "Oh no, she is a Punner," she thought with horror. "That… Was… Terrible." Ruby deadpanned.

"Aw, common it was 'pun'-tastic!" Yang countered, inciting a groan from Ruby.

Ruby dropped her bag in her space, grabbed her book and turned around. "I am going to leave before I experience death by terrible comedy. I'll be back in a bit." Yang's laughs followed Ruby as she walked away.

Ruby looked around and saw the monochrome girl from earlier in the day. She was sitting to the side next to a lamp reading a book. Ruby walked over, "Hi, I wanted to thank you for helping defuse that situation with the Ice queen earlier." She said, keeping her voice down. Monochrome looked up at her,

"Don't mention it… Literally," she said, a bit standoffish.

"Ehh, if you say so. Call me Samus. By the way, what are you reading?" Ruby asked as she sat next to her, keeping in mind personal space.

"It's a story about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body. And it's Blake." the now name girl said, smiling at the fact that someone was taking interest in her favorite pastime.

"Well Blake, it's nice to meet you. I myself am reading a book, but it's a nonfiction novel." She held up her book, the title "Faunus Rights Revolution" written on the front. Ruby noticed Blake's bow twitch when she saw the title. "I have always been interested in history. Reading this, it just seems stupid what the faunus needed to do just to get basic rights."

This seemed to get Blakes attention. "You didn't know about the operation of Faunus?" she asked in shock. Ruby thought for a moment,

"Shit, I forgot about how everyone knows about that. What should I say?!" Thankfully she had an idea. "The place I grew up in did not care about race. It was also heavily isolated from the rest of Remnant," a the truth, except where she grew up was not even on Remnant.

Blake's bow twitched again but Ruby ignored it. "That sounds like a nice place. I would love to visit it someday." Blake said with an honest smile.

Ruby cringed at this, she had been thinking of the Chozo colony where she was raised, on planet Zebes, that was destroyed. The movement seemed to not go unnoticed by Blake as she spoke up.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

Ruby sighed, "It's gone, destroyed. That's part of the reason I am here."

Blake winced in sympathy, "Was it the grimm?" she asked.

Ruby shook her head. "No, I almost wish it was. It was pirates after some of the tech that was developed there. Thankfully they didn't, but I was the only survivor." This was a half truth, as the space pirates did get what they were after, a base, Mother Brain, and the Metroids.

"I am sorry if I brought up bad memories," Blake admonished.

"It's alright, besides I would not be the person I am today if it did not happen. I am not happy about what happened, but I pushed forward and fought for a better future, literally AND figuratively. Violence is not always the best solution. It's more of a copout than anything." Ruby explained.

They smiled at each other for a moment before Ruby got up. "Well, it was nice meeting you Blake, I'm going to go get some rest now. Good luck tomorrow!" She waved at Blake, who returned the favor. "You too Samus."

Ruby walked back to Yang who was laying down, but still awake. "Out making friends?" Yang asked.

"Yah, I saw the black haired girl from the courtyard and decided to make polite conversation. Her name is Blake by the way." Ruby said as she set up her sleeping kit.

"Huh, well… I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning, good night!" The blonde replied.

Ruby layed down, "good night Yang." and soon fell asleep.

Ruby was always the light sleeper, she had to be to stay alive on missions that took multiple days, so it was no surprise that she was awake when Yang woke up from a nightmare. Ruby pretended to sleep but kept an eye on her sister. She watched as Yang got up and walked into the bathroom. Soon she came back out in her combat outfit and walked outside the ballroom.

Ruby could tell that Yang was sad again, so she put back on her sunglasses, which were designed not only conceal her eyes, but also with a kind of heads up display, had her Zero Suit discreetly switch to its lightly armored form, and followed after Yang.

Ruby found Yang leaning on the railing looking into the courtyard. Walking up to her she said, "Hard time sleeping?"

Yang jumped as she was not expecting anybody else to be awake. "Oh uh, it's just you Samus." she leaned back on the railing again and looked down. "Yah, had a nightmare."

Ruby stood next to her and leaned as well. "Let me guess, it was about your sister, Ruby?" she asked. It was weird to talk about herself in the third person.

Yang sighed,"It was, specifically, the incident that got her killed."

Ruby placed her hand on Yang's shoulder, "Don't think about what was, think about the now. You are here at Beacon! Your sister would be proud of you for making it here," she said at the same thinking, "and she is! I am proud of you."

Yang turned and gave Ruby a sad smile, "I know. I just wish I could see her, talk to her, heck, maybe even be here with her."

Ruby smiled. "Not yet. Now is not the time. Just hang in there for a bit longer." She thought. "I am sure she would love to be here with you too."

And so the sisters stood there for a bit longer, one unaware who the other really was. The next day promising quite the challenge.

Ruby and Yang were in the locker room preparing their gear. Not too far away, a hyperactive girl named Nora was bugging a tired looking boy named Ren, something about sloths. On the other side was Wiess, Vomit Boy who's name turned out to be Jaune, and a redheaded girl wearing what looked like ancient Greek armor named Pyrrha, who turned out to be some sort of tournament champion. Weiss was lecturing Jaune about something again.

"So Samus, what kind of weapon is that? It looks really simple compared to the other weapons I've been seeing." Yang asked, looking at Thorned Rose as Ruby checked it. "I may not have known you for very long, but I would have thought that you would go with something bigger."

Ruby chuckled, "You should see what I normally use," thought Ruby. "This is a piece of tech from where I was living before coming here. It's called a Paralyzer and the basic models only do just that, paralyze enemies."

Ruby held up her handgun. "I however upgraded mine here to do more. Right now it has three different shooting modes. The normal Stun Bolt, a Plasma Bolt where it fires bolts of superheated matter contained in an electromagnetic capsule, and a Dust Augmented Bolt where it uses a Dust Crystal power cell to shoot with different effects. However, right now I can only use Fire Dust." Ruby then adjusted something on the gun, the grip of the gunturning to be in line with the barrel and the muzzle opened, a stream of energy flowed out. "This is the closest thing I have to a melee weapon. A Plasma whip that I can also augment with Dust." She then flicked the grip back in place, deactivating the whip.

Yang looked at the gun in surprise. "Are you sure you are not from Atlas? That sure is some fancy tech"

Ruby shrugged, then looked sad. "The place was cut off from the rest of Remnant, it was also destroyed..."

Yang gasped, "Oh shit, I'm sorry! I didn't mean–"

Ruby cut her off, "It's fine Yang, it's in the past. Besides, the ones who did it got what they deserve."

They heard a loud clang and turned to see Jaune pinned by a spire in his hood. That situation did not last long as the Spartan girl, Pyrrha, had walked over apologizing before taking her spear and walking out of the locker room behind Weiss. Jaune groaned before getting up, mumbling something about his dad saying that girls liking confidence, and walked out of the locker room as well. Yang and Ruby followed soon after.

Everyone was standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking a forest. There was a metal plate under each one of them. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch stood in front of them.

"For years you have trained to become warriors." Ozpin started. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch then took over. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams."

Ruby's blood went cold, "Shit, teams! Why did it have to be teams. I'm not against working with others, it's just that I have not had a good experience with teams." Ruby thought, remembering the disaster of a mission that was Adam's last day among the living. She had yet again, been the only survivor, save one other individual.

Prof. Goodwitch continued, "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today."

Ozpin took it up again, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at this, "Landing?" she thought. She looked down at the metal pad she was standing on "Oh…"

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest." continued Ozpin. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Ruby rolled her eyes "Well that's foreboding, even if true." she thought.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Prof. Ozpin finished.

"Great, more temples and relics. Just another day at the office," thought Ruby.

"Yeah, um, sir-" started Jaune as he raised his hand, however the Headmaster ignored him.

"Good! Now, take your positions." he said. Everyone began to get ready, some crouching down, others getting into strange poses.

Yang, next to Ruby, activated her Shotgun Gauntlets, Ember Celica, getting into a boxing stance. Ruby unholstered Thorned Rose, loaded in a Dust cell, and braced herself to be launched.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um, a question." Jaune said, right as Weiss was shot into the air. He continued to ask questions about the landing strategy with Ozpin giving vague answers, all the while, students were launched into the air.

When it got to Yang to be launched she winked at Ruby and put on a pair of sunglasses. "Idea thief!" Ruby thought as she watched Yang go flying. Ruby was then in the air, only hearing Jaune's scream as he was launched. It was time to show Remnant just what the best bounty hunter in the galaxy could do!

A/N: Hello, Chapter 3 and 4 now remade into chapter 2. I hope you enjoy.