Robotic Voice: "Metroid"
Thinking: "Metroid"
Comms: [Metroid]
Texting: "Metroid"
Alien language: {Metroid}
Whispering: *Metroid*
Talking: "Metroid"
Chapter 6: Beacon's Bountyhunter
"Monsters! Demons… Prowlers of the night. Yes, the Creatures of Grimm have many names." Ruby and her team were in their first class of the semester, Grimm studies with Professor Peter Port. Ruby actually liked the man's boisterous attitude. "But I, merely refer to them as prey. Hu-hah! Haha." Yep, she could relate to this man. However, it seemed that others did not. Many had already fallen asleep. The room fell so quiet, you could hear crickets chirping. Ruby decided to speak up to save the man the embarrassment. "Can't say I don't agree, sir. It does fit with the 'Hunt' part of Huntsman and Huntresses." She said with a giggle, earning a glare from Weiss. "Thank you Miss. Rose! And I am sure the rest of you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy."
"Now as I was saying," continued the Professor. "Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces." Ruby hummed in understanding, "He is correct, after doing some scans with the research base, I have found that the only places even remotely safe are the kingdoms and secluded places like Patch. The towns past the walls are almost constantly attacked by Grimm." explained the ever so helpful Adam. *Thanks Adam,* Ruby whispered so that not even Faunus ears could hear. "Your welcome"
"And that's where we come in. Huntsman! Huntresses… Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves." The professor continued explaining about hunters and soon started to tell a story about himself. "Oh boy, he's one of those types. At least it's better than some of the war stories I have heard while in the Federation." Ruby thought shivering at the memory of being stuck listening to soldiers that would fare better in spars against her than telling a story. She had only ever lost to Adam, and that was one time.
Ruby continued to listen, noting that there were a few more people that fell during the Professor's rambling. Not surprisingly, Weiss was taking notes. Of what? She did not know. It got to the point where they were not learning anything so Ruby decided to speak up. "Excuse me sir," she said, raising her hand. "I personally enjoy amazing veteran stories, but I believe that you are losing everyone else. Can we please get to what we can learn from this?" she asked, again earning a glare from Weiss along with some thankful looks from other students. "Ah yes, it seems I got carried away. From this, we learn that a true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic… Well-educated… and wise." Prof. Port said, finally getting to the point. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"
Weiss's hand shot into the air. "I do sir!" she said. Ruby rolled her eyes, "Way to be modest, Ice Queen." Prof. Port looked at her. "Well then, let's find out." he said as a cage next to him rattled, a snort being heard from within it. Red eye's glowed with malicious intent. "Step forward, and face your opponent." Weiss left to get changed.
Weiss was now standing at the ready in front of the cage. Ruby and the rest of the team started to cheer her on. "Gooo Weiss!" called Yang. Blake held a flag with RWBY on it. "Fight well!" Ruby looked at Blake with confusion for a moment, "How did she get that" before turning back and calling, "Show them what you're made of!" Weiss did not react well when Ruby spoke. "Ruby, I'm trying to focus!" Weiss reprimanded. "Yikes, what's her problem?" Ruby thought.
"Alright," said the professor, brandishing his blunder "Let the match begin." and brought it down on the cage lock. Immediately, a heavily armored pig charged right at Weiss. "A Boarbatusk!" Ruby thought in alarm. Weiss spun to the side, slashing her saber Myrtenaster across the side of the pig. Unfortunately the blade skittered across the armor, doing nothing. Sliding to a halt, the Grimm turned back to Weiss as the two stared each other down. "Haha, wasn't expecting that were you?" said professor Port.
The Grimm and Weiss charged at each other, but Weiss, blinded by her anger with Ruby, made a mistake. She lodged her saber in the pig's tusk. "Bold, new approach. I like it!" was Port's comment as Weiss struggled. *Adam, scan the Grimm, find the week point,* Ruby whispered, "Damn it Weiss, I know you are better than this. What is bugging you?" she thought.
A moment later, the Boarbatusk threw Myrtenaster out of Weiss's hand and rammed into her. Everyone winced, that has got to hurt. "Oho, now what will you do without your weapon?" chided the professor. Looking up, Weiss saw the Grimm charge at her again. She pushed up, jumping to the side, avoiding the charge, and dashed for her saber.
"Analisis complete. The Boarbatusk type Grimm is heavily armored, however the lower belly is, other than the monster standing low to the ground, completely unprotected" came Adam's report. "Ruby took action to this immediately, wanting to help her partner. "Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-" "Stop telling me what to do!" yelled Weiss as she picked up her weapon, cutting off Ruby. Pinching the bridge of her nose Ruby muttered, "I am just trying to help you."
At that moment, the Grimm jumped up and began spinning in a rolling motion, picking up speed before charging at Weiss again. "Why does that make me think of a blue hedgehog?" wondered Ruby.
Weiss readied herself, summoning a glyph to block the Grimm, knocking it on its back. Jumping off of another glyph, she drives her saber through the pig, finally killing it. "Bravo! Braa-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training." congratulated Professor Port as the Grimm dissolved into smoke. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned reading and, stay vigilant. Class dismissed." Weiss glared at Ruby again before storming off. Ruby looked at Yang and Blake. "I'll meet you guys at the next class." she said before running after Weiss.
In the corridor, Ruby caught up with the resident Ice Queen "Weiss!" she called, causing the aforementioned girl to turn around. "What?" came the reply dripping with venom.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-" "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!" Weiss exploded, catching the crimsonette off guard. "You may be the leader, but all you have been doing is being a nuisance! Speaking out of turn, interrupting the teacher! What's next, ditching classes?" Ruby's eyes widened, "Wow, wow, wow. What did I do?" This just got Weiss even more angry. "That's just it, you've done nothing to earn your position. You came here out of nowhere claiming impossible things. Back in the forest you acted like a child and you've only continued to do so. "
Ruby blinked, did Weiss forget the fact that she rescued her from the beowulves or how she'd led the team to kill the Nevermore? "I did not want to be the leader. This is not my first time being on some sort of team and I hate being the leader! Second. Childish!? That's rich coming from the person who is throwing a tantrum! What happened working as a team back in the forest!?" Ruby yelled back.
Weiss squinted her eyes at Ruby, "Not a team led by you." she glowered. "I've studied, and trained, and quite frankly, I deserve better. Ozpin made a mistake." With that she turned around and walked off. Ruby looked down, hand covering her face. "If it wasn't for your selfish attitude, I would agree," Ruby mumbled.
She turned around to walk to her next class… only to almost walk into Professor Ozpin. "Hmm. Now that didn't seem to go very well." the headmaster said.
"She is right, you know. I should not be the leader." Ruby said, looking down. "And why do you say that? It has only been two days working with your team, only one of them being official, and you have done well so far. You led your team to victory, took initiative to fix a problem for your team, and you did what you could to aid your partner in her fight." asked Ozpin
If Ruby could look down more, she would have. "This is not my first team. Every team that I was ever part of or led, fell apart, primarily from almost if not all members being killed." The headmaster looked at Ruby with stern, but kind eyes. "Then there is only one thing you can do. Protect your team and help them learn to protect themselves. It is the leader's responsibility to look after the team, not just complete the objective."
He put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment as leader to be one of them. Now, it is almost time for your next class. I suggest you get going." With that, Ozpin walked off, leaving Ruby to think about his words. Neither of them noticed a monochrome figure hiding in the shadows listening.
The rest of the day went without further problems, but things were tense. Weiss would not look or speak to Ruby. That evening, Ruby was in the weapon's workshop, modifying Thorned Rose. She had been able to augment it so that it had a melee mode and was looking forward to trying it in combat class. Now she was trying to integrate lightning Dust, but was having difficulty with the formula. That was when someone opened the door behind her.
Ruby turned to see Weiss, carrying a tray with two mugs on it. "Hey Ruby, I hope I am not interrupting anything." Weiss said in a surprisingly kind tone. Ruby looked at her slightly confused. "No, you are not. What is it?" she asked.
Weiss walked to the table Ruby was working at and set down the tray. "How do you like your coffee?" she asked. "Black is fine, thank you." Weiss cocked an eyebrow at this, having expected Ruby to want at least some sugar, and handed her a mug. "Ruby, I want to apologize for my behavior earlier today. I think you will be a great leader and I want to support you as the best partner you could ever have." Weiss said. Ruby gave Weiss a smile, "I am glad at least one of us thinks that. I also want to apologize. I have been pretty confrontational with you." This time Weiss gave Ruby a genuine smile, "Apology accepted. You also don't give yourself enough credit. You helped our team a lot already." she said.
Ruby looked down at what she was working on. "So have I been told," she remarked bitterly. Weiss sat down on a chair next to Ruby, looking at the lighting Dust, Thorned Rose, and the formula. "Having difficulty with something?" she asked. Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose. "I am trying to integrate Dust with my weapon, but so far, I have only been able to get Fire Dust." she said.
"Maybe I can help." Weiss said, taking the formula sheet. After a few moments, Weiss handed the sheet back to Ruby, "Try this. It should not fry your weapon now." Giving her a skeptical look, Ruby took the formula and proceeded to mix the Dust. Soon She was placing the crystal into the power cell chamber. Once in place, Ruby put it down and waited. 10 seconds passed, then a minute. Nothing happened. The Dust Cell was stable. "W-What? How?" Ruby asked in astonishment. She looked at Weiss. "I spent the last hour trying to figure this out."
Weiss smiled, "My family may run the SDC, but that does not mean we don't know how to do it ourselves. I had to study Dust chemistry extensively as the Heiress." Ruby beamed, "Thank you so much Weiss!" She hugged the all white girl, before pulling back. An embarrassed blush on her face. "Oh, uhmm, s-sorry." Weiss was also blushing. "I-Its OK. Just try not to do that again." she said.
Ruby then asked, "Uhm, could you help me with some other Dust combinations another time? I would love to learn more about Dust applications." Weiss smiled again. "Of course Ruby, and if it is OK, I want to learn more about what you learned from the people who saved you." Ruby was actually really happy about this, "Of course! I would be happy to tell you more of the safe information. Maybe over time, I will be able to tell you and the others some of my more… sensitive secrets." Weiss smiled at this, happy to have gained a bit more trust from Ruby, maybe even her friendship.
Ruby looked at her scroll. "It's late. We should head to bed. I'll see you there, I just need to clean up." Walking to the door, Weiss said, "OK Ruby, Good night"
"Good night Weiss" Replied Ruby, who then started to clean up when Weiss was gone. "I've got to say, you two would be good for each other." Adam's comment made Ruby blush even more. "I-I… Idon'tknowwhatyouaretalkingaboutshutup!" Ruby said quickly out of embarrassment, shoving the rest of her stuff in her bag before heading back to the dorm. "Sure you don't. Hehe." chuckled the AI.
The next few days went smoother than the first. Weiss and Ruby were getting along a lot better and that boosted morale in the team significantly. It was the third day of school and they already gone through the morning classes, having Plant Science with Professor Peach, history with Professor (Doctor!) Oobleck, and survival with Professor Greene. Now teams RWBY and JNPR were sitting together in the dining hall having lunch.
"You two seem to be getting along better," mentioned Jaune, gesturing to Weiss and Ruby. "Yep, we talked a bit and came to an agreement. Weiss actually helped me a bit with a problem I was having with my weapon." Ruby said, turning to smile at Weiss who returned it. "I'm actually surprised that the people who saved you do not have Dust. How do they power anything?" Weiss asked.
"They use different forms of energy such as collecting energy from the sun, or messing with atoms, the building blocks of the universe, to release potential energy." Ruby said off handedly. Everyone just stared at Ruby before shrugging. They were getting used to Ruby's indifference towards the bizarre technology.
"Is anyone else looking forward to Combat class later today?" Asked Yang. Nora was the first to speak up. "Yah! We finally get to bash some heads and break some legs!" the hyperactive girl cheered. Ren put his hand on her shoulder. "I don't think we will be breaking anyone's legs." he said trying to calm the girl down. "I am looking forward to trying my new weapon upgrades," said Ruby "What else did you do with your weapon? I had only helped with the Dust." asked Weiss, who earned a mischievous smile from Ruby. "You will just need to wait to find out." she said.
The first class period after lunch was Weapon Crafting and Upkeep with Professor Mulberry. During this time team RWBY and JNPR did maintenance on their weapons for the double period of combat class. Weiss helped Ruby work out an Earth Dust Cell and Ruby told them about some of the basic tech the Chozo had. Finally, It was time for combat class.
"Hello everyone, Welcome to Combat Class. As you all know, I am Professor Goodwitch. I will be overseeing your combat training both as individuals and as teams." introduced the deputy headmistress. "I am sure many of you are eager to prove yourselves in combat, however we review some basics first." Everyone groaned at this, before immediately shutting up when the professor slapped her riding crop in her hand. "We WILL be reviewing. Now, as I am sure everyone knows, Huntsmen and Huntresses all have unique fighting styles, weapons, and semblances. We also use the power of our very soul. This power is called Aura. We use it to protect ourselves and this Aura can be measured."
On a screen behind her, an image of Prof. Goodwitch appeared next to a green bar. On the top of the bar was a percentage listing 100% and under it was the number 750/750. "As you can see here, we have devices that can measure Aura, your scroll being one of them." she said. "We can see the percentage of our remaining Aura. In addition to this, we know that each person has different amounts of Aura. We have developed a system for use to view what that equates to, hence the numbers underneath the bar here." There were a few murmurs of understanding. "The average Aura for someone that is untrained but has it unlocked is 500. That being said, Aura can increase due to training."
The screen then switched to a video of two huntsmen training against each other. "When our Aura takes a hit, it will decrease." the professor said as one of the combatants hit the other, the Aura meter of the one who was hit diminishing. "During training and the Vytal festival, we will be using tournament style rules. If you are knocked out of the ring, you are out. If your Aura reaches the red danger zone, you are out. If you forfeit or you're KO'ed, you are out. If the timer runs out and none of the aforementioned conditions are met, the individual with the highest percentage of their Aura remaining wins." explained Goodwitch, each condition being displayed behind her as she said it.
"Now let's get into the first match of the year. Opponents will be randomized, for the time being, but in the future you will be able to volunteer." stated the professor as she pushed something on her scroll. On the big screen, two scrolling randomizers appeared and started spinning. "I wonder who is going first," stated Yang. "I hope I get to break some legs!" cheared Nora. The first randomizer landed on a student wearing gray and gold plate armor and a meticulously stiled head of red hair. " For the first match we have Cardin Winchester, verses…" the randomizer spun for another second before landing on a familiar crimsonette. "Ruby Rose, please collect your gear and come to the stage." Ruby groaned, she wanted a good fight, but to be the first was not something she expected.
"Good luck, Ruby!" cheered Yang, "Show them what the leader of Team RWBY can do!" that last one came from Weiss, to everyone's surprise. Ruby smiled at them, "Oh, you guys are going to like this." She then turned and instead of going down the stairs, she used her Plasma Whip to flip her into the arena. There were a few murmurs of impressiveness and other's about her being a show off. When both combatants were in the arena, they took up their positions, Cardin brandishing his morning star, Ruby noting the Fire Dust crystal in the head of it while she readied Thorned Rose. There were a lot of scoffs at her choice of weapon, what was that going to do against the larger boy. That was quickly changed to gasps of shock as the Aura monitor turned on. Ruby and Cardin looked up to see what they were looking at, the latter growing angry at what he saw. While Cardin had an impressive Aura, with a score of 800, however Ruby's aura score was well above that, topping at 1299. "Huh, the same as my power suit. Does that mean energy tanks affect aura as well? Would that also mean that my base Aura score is as low as 99?!"
That was something she could worry about later, right now she had an angry Cardin to deal with. "So you have a high Aura, I'll still take you down easily." Growled Cardin. Before he could say anything else Professor Goodwitch said, "Combatants, you may begin… Now!" A buzzer sounded and the battle began.
Cardin made a wild dash at Ruby, attempting to slam his mace into her with a back hand swing. It was textbook, and Ruby took full advantage of it. Jumping back, Ruby popped off a few shots before landing a roundhouse kick under Cardin's guard, reducing the large boy's Aura to 90%. "Are you sure about that?" taunted Ruby.
"Of course I will!" roared Cardin, he swung his mace again, this time activating the Dust crystal, causing an explosion to fly at Ruby. Again Ruby dodged, avoiding the flames that came from the mace. "Why would I lose to a pathetic cowered, much less a girl." That got a few angered shouts from the crowd. "Beat his ass!" Yang, Blake, and even Weiss yelled down to her. Ruby planned to do that exact thing.
Activating her Plasma Whip, she lashed out at Cardin. Unfortunately he was smart enough to dodge out of the way. He then charged at Ruby swing once before reversing his grip to swing again. Ruby was only just able to dodge the mace, the weapon a mear centimeter from hitting her as she ducked under it. Ruby jumped back again, switching to plasma rounds to try and finish the fight faster. From experimenting, plasma seemed to cut down Aura pretty well, but Cardin was not done talking. "Whoever taught you to fight were probably cowards, I would not be surprised if they all are dead." he said mocking her. Ruby froze, a shadow passing over her face.
"Cardin Winchester, you will stop speaking in such a way immediately, or you will find yourself with detention!" reprimanded Professor Goodwitch, knowing who had raised and trained Ruby to be anything but cowardly. "But it's true isn't it, seeing as she is about to cry." he walked to Ruby who was still standing, unmoving, with her head down, raising his mace for an overhead strike. "You should really keep your head in the fight," he said grinning maliciously and brought the mace down on Ruby, causing another explosion, covering Ruby in dust, obscuring her from view.
"Hehe, looks like I won." Cardin said. He then tried to move his mace, but found that he couldn't. He looked up at the Aura gauge and his eyes widened, Ruby's Aura only fell to 99%, the score showing 1290/1299. Looking back to where Ruby was as the dust settled. Ruby was standing in the same place she had been, the only movement she had made was raising her left hand to grab Cardin's weapon, a millimeter away from her head.
"You can insult me all you want," Ruby said in a dark tone that made shivers run down everyone's spines. "But no one talks bad about people I care about, ESPECIALLY THE ONES WHO SAVE MY LIFE!" she roared, activating the new upgrade she gave Thorned Rose on the first day. The pistol shifted to the form it took when using the Plasma Whip, however the changes did not stop there. From the top and bottom of the gun, a crossguard folded down revealing a centerpiece, that of a scatter rose with a lightning bolt over it (A mix of Samus's and Ruby's emblems). From the plasma projector of the whip, a blade of condensed plasma sprang forth growing to about 33 inches. This was Thorned Rose's melee weapon form, a plasma sword modeled similarly to that of a medieval hand-and-a-half sword.
Everyone stared in shock at the weapon's transformation, even Cardin. Taking advantage of this, along with her current control over Cardin's, she swung upwards, severing the head of the mace from the grip. Stumbling back, Cardin looked at his now destroyed weapon. "I was planning on giving you a chance in this fight, but you blew that. Now you get to see just exactly what I was taught." Ruby growled, venom dripping from her voice.
Charging forward Ruby burst into rose petals before forming behind Cardin, kicking him in the side. She used her semblance to move again, moving in front of him before swiping his legs out from under him. Switching to the Plasma Whip, she snagged his foot and swung him around, slamming him into the ground, leaving Cardin's Aura at 70%.
Cardin groaned in pain as he got up and then looked at Ruby, eyes full of hatred. With a battle cry, he charged at Ruby, intent on bowling her over. Ruby had other planes. Right as Cardin was in range, she did a backflip kick, slamming her foot into his jaw, sending the boy into the air. "This is over," Ruby said, finality evident in her voice as she crouched down. She then shot upwards spinning, activating Screw Attack as she slammed into Cardin, launching him into the arena wall, out of bounds, knocking his Aura from 70% down to 5% leaving it in the red. "How is that for a coward," growled Ruby as she stormed out of the Combat classroom.
Ruby was storming through the halls, livid by the fact that Cardin had the gall to insult the Chozo, the people who saved her, made her stronger, gave their lives for her. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she did not notice the rest of team RWBY and JNPR running after her.
"Ruby, wait!" called Weiss. Ruby stopped and turned around to see Weiss at the front of team RWBY and JNPR running after her. "Ruby, please wait! We understand that what Cardin said upset you, but you need to calm down!" Blake said.
"Calm down! The people who raised me, trained me to the best of them, were just insulted with no way to defend themselves because they are DEAD!" Screamed Ruby. "You do not understand how mu-" Ruby was cut off as she was enveloped by a hug from her sister. "You are right, we do not understand, because; 1 you have not told us everything that happened to you while you were gone." Yang said in a soothing tone. "And we will not push for you to tell us until you are ready. And 2, we are not you. Only you know how it feels as none of us have gone through the same things as you."
Ruby stood frozen as Yang hugged her. Soon Weiss and Blake joined the hug. "We are here for eachother, that includes you, Ruby" Blake said. "One of the most important things about being a leader is to be able to rely on your team. You can rely on us, Ruby. Especially me as your partner." Weiss says, her voice carrying a warmth that one would not think of coming from an Ice Queen. Ruby finally cracked and began to cry, there were people she could trust, who would be there for her. Until then, only Adam had been there to support her and even then, what he could do was limited without a body.
They stood there as Ruby cried, team JNPR having joined in. This was the most Ruby had cried in just a week, and she was only able to let these emotions out because of her 7 new friends. Soon Ruby was able to calm down enough to speak. "T-thank you guys. I-I… It has been a long time since I was able to let out my emotions." The teams broke up the group hug. "You don't need to go through it alone, Ruby. We are here for you." said Jaune.
"Thank you everyone, I really appreciate it. I am sorry that I can't tell you guy's everything yet. I'm just not ready… How did you figure out I was still hiding things anyway?" Ruby said, confusion evident. "Ummm… I may have overheard you speaking to Professor Ozpin on the first day…" Blake answered. Ruby facepalmed, "I really need to work on my observation skills." Looking back up, Ruby continued, "Look, I understand you guys want to help, but for the time being, I need some time for myself. I may be out late so don't worry about me. See you guys in the morning." With that Ruby left, heading for Beacon Cliff. "She is hurting," Ren stated. "Well, when she is ready, we will be here for her," said Weiss. Everyone looked at her skeptically, "What?" she asked, confused.
"You really should tell them soon, they seem to want to help no matter what you tell them," Adam said as Ruby walked towards the cliff. "I know, but now is not the time." She pulled out her Scroll and sent a message to Professor Ozpin. "Right now I am going to go check out one of the temples." Ruby looked around, making sure no one was around before closing her eyes. Suddenly she was engulfed in crimson and silver light. When the light faded, Ruby was in her power armor. "Haaa, It has been too long since I was in this." She sighed. She then took off, using Speed Booster to charge a Shine Spark. When she reached the edge of the cliff, she stopped right at the edge, leaned forward, and Shine Sparked off towards the Temple near where the relics were.
Ruby was halfway to the temple when she got a call from Ozpin. Forwarding it to her HUD, she answered. "Hello sir," A window in her HUD showed a video of Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch, the headmaster then spoke. ["Hello Miss Rose, Professor Goodwitch informed me about what happened in Combat class. I want to make sure you are OK."] he said. Ruby smiled appreciating the concern. "Thanks to my team and JNPR, I am OK now."
Both Ozpin and Goodwitch smiled. ["It is good that your team is there to help you, but are you sure it is wise to be going to the temple, considering what happened?"] Prof. Goodwitch asked. "I am sure, professor,"replied Ruby, "If anything, it will help me clear my mind." Ozpin nodded, ["either way, please do be careful, we don't know what could be down there."]
Ruby laughed at this, "I will be fine sir, I have done this many times before, I even infiltrated a Space Pirate warship while my power suit was damaged and I only had my Zero Suit." Ozpin took this in stride, ["You mentioned that before…"] Ruby's smile grew even more. "Did I mention that that mission was my Mission Zero? The first mission I took to directly attack the Space Pirates, when I was 10?" One of Ozpin's eyebrows rose with curiosity, Goodwitch's face was one of horror.
Ruby landed by the building that held the Chozo statue. "Well, I am at the temple so I should get going. See you tomorrow," with that, Ruby ended the call. "Alright Adam, are you ready for this?" she said as she walked towards the Chozo statue. "I am the one who should be asking that, Lady." Ruby chuckled at the nickname that he had given her out of respect when they had first met.
Ruby looked up at the statue. It was like most of the other Chozo statues that she had seen, bar the ones that gave her upgrades on ZDR, as it was crouched down with its hands out as if to hold something round. Shrugging, Ruby climbed up onto into the hands of the statue, curling into her Morph Ball.
As soon as she settled in the hands, the eyes of the statue flashed, the hands closed around her, and a rumbling could be heard. A moment later, the statue began to rotate as it started to descend into the ground. Ruby watched from within the Morph Ball as stairs formed as the statue descended. She then heard something.
A voice whispering to her. {*Champion, you have returned to your home, as we knew you always would.*} the voice whispered in what Ruby realized was the Chozo language. {*This world is plagued by a great evil, one that keeps itself hidden, but is greater than any you have encountered. In time, you will learn about the enemy, but first you must get stronger, gain allies.*} This made Ruby think of Team RWBY and JNPR. Would they help her? Would they trust her? {*You will find others of these temples, each will test you and/or your allies. At the end of each, you will grow stronger. Remenants of your past will resurface, challenge these adversaries. Only united will this world survive.*} with that the voice faded away and the statue reached the bottom.
Ruby got up out of the Morph Ball when she was released. Looking around she found herself in a room that looked similar to a room on the research base she had fought the X on, the first time. "Adam, please tell me that I am hallucinating and it does not look like I am back on the X research base." she said, a hint of fear in her voice. "I am sorry to say but it seems that you are." was his reply. Ruby readied her arm cannon, switching to Fire Dust augmented Plasma/Wave beam, and walked forward passing through the door.
She passed through the first two rooms without incident, however, this only caused Ruby to become even more on edge. The original mission, designated 'Fusion', was much like this in the beginning. No aliens, just empty halls, and she had had nightmares of her wondering these halls being chased by the 10 RB-Xs that had plagued the station.
"I really do not like how quiet it is," Ruby mumbled as she shot a door to open it and walked through it. She immediately regretted saying anything as she saw 5 of the purple slime like aliens that she had often fought on the station. "SHIT!" She yelled as she swung her cannon up to fire. The first slime alien lunged forward, only to be incinerated by a fiery blast of plasma that shredded right through it to pulverize the alien behind it. One of the three remaining aliens lunged at her again, forcing her to jump out of the way. She turned and fired an Ice missile, freezing the last three aliens and shattered them with beam shots. Watching closely, Ruby waited for the dead aliens to reveal an X virus, but to her relief, none did. Instead the bodies dissolved into pixelated dust.
"The temple seems to be taking your memories of past missions and using them to test you, Lady." Ruby sighed, "At least we don't need to worry about any X." Ruby continued on, every now and then, using Radar Pulse to scan the area, but finding nothing of note. She passed through room after room, fighting off the various aliens in each room, their numbers increasing steadily. A few times she came to rooms where the door would not open, instead she had to solve a puzzle, destroying an object, finding a button, or going through a secret passage. It was nostalgic, she had gotten a little used to the more straightforward life that she had in Beacon, now she was able to relive many of the things that entertained her when she was on missions.
Eventually, after an hour, she came across something else she knew well. An alien eye covering a door that she had nicknamed Bossdoors due to their habit of covering the door to particularly strong aliens that locked her in the room until she defeated them. "Looks like I have found the end of this temple…" She loaded a Super Missile and destroyed the Bossdoor. "Indeed. Be careful Ruby, I am picking up a strong lifesignal, a familiar one too…" Ruby pailled, "please don't be who I think it is…" Turning to the door, she walked through.
On the other side, she found herself in a room full of raised platforms. She walked into the center of the room but there was no sign of an enemy. {*You have fought many, an enemy. Each one powerful in their own right and many you have fought multiple times. However, how will you fair against yourself again?*} the mysterious voice whispered again. All of the sudden, Ruby screams in pain as she is blasted with an Ice Beam. Turning around, she saw exactly what she did not want to see. RB-X, standing on a platform aiming its cannon at her, cold vapor rising from it, pale white eyes staring daggers at the human Metroid.
(play SA-X battle theme)
Ruby immediately used Space Jump to avoid another Ice Beam from RB-X. Landing on a platform, Ruby fired Fire Plasma Wave Beams at her doppelganger, earning a few hits on its armor causing it to stumble back. "Ok, Wave still is effective, Fire Dust seems to help as well." Ruby noted. Ruby dodged out of the way of RB-X as it used Screw Attack, but was momentarily left off balance, getting shot again with an Ice Beam.
Ruby looked at her energy meter, seeing it at 1200/1299. "Already one energy tank down, damn it!" Ruby used her Grapple Beam to swing herself onto the wall, where she activated the Spider Magnet to hold onto the wall. From there she trained her Storm Missile targeter on RB-X, then unleashed a barrage of missiles streaking for her copy. They impacted, causing a smoke screen. Ruby released her Spider Magnet and dropped down just as RB-X crashed into the wall with another Screw Attack.
"Adam, give me an update! Any way to take RB-X down?" She asked her faithful AI, however, she only got static. "Shit!' Ruby dodged out of the way of another Ice Beam. She then started charging her cannon, preparing to fire a strong blast, mixing in plasma, wave, wide, and Fire Dust Beams. RB-X tried to hit Ruby with another Screw Attack, but Ruby moved out of the way, bringing her cannon to bear and firing. The beam hit RB-X, sending it flying into the wall heavily damaged.
It started to get up, its body being heavily distorted from the previous hits from the Beam combos. It then started warping even more, mutating, growing. It grew a mouth, many weird eyes, and the cannon arm warped sprouting more cannons. The X became a walking mass of armored flesh.
"Oh boy, I forgot about this." Ruby barely dodged out of the way as the abomination jumped and tried to meteor slam right on top of her. Ruby turned and fired at the monstrosity, doing some damage, however the creature had another trick, one that it did not use before. All of the arm cannons began to charge.
Ruby's eyes went wide, "Oh shit…" The cannons fire, Ice beams being shot in every direction. Ruby, ducked and dodged, doing everything in her power to avoid those cursed shots of cold. Ruby charged another beam and fired, causing the abomination to roar in pain. "Come on, just die already!" muttered Ruby, firing another charged beam as she dodged more Ice beams.
It took Ruby five more minutes until finally: Ruby shot the beast with another charged beam, hitting it right in the face. It let out a roar of pain more terrible than the others, its body beginning to blote even more until it exploded, the remaining pieces disintegrating into pixels.
{*Well done champion. May this gift aid you in your fight…*} Ruby turned around as a door opened behind her. Ruby walked through expecting to find an upgrade orb, but what she saw was something she would have never imagined. "Adam, you there?" she asked. "Yes Ruby." came his reply. "I think I just found out how I am going to protect my friends."
AN: What did Ruby find? How will it change the story? Find out in the story. I am sorry if the social interactions are terrible, I myself, while sociable, am not the greatest social butterfly. Today I am going to be giving an update on Ruby's abilities. I also want to mention that the idea for the temples will be similar to those of shrines in Breath of the Wild.
Combat Zero Suit
Description: A lightly armored version of the original Zero Suit with extra pockets and straps for ammo.
Abilities: Petal Burst, Screw Attack, Jet Boots, Energy Drain (25%)
Weapon (Thorned Rose [Pistol]): Stun (Paralysis) shot, Plasma Bolt, Dust Bolt (Fire, Lightning, Earth)
Weapon (Thorned Rose [Whip]): Plasma Whip, Dust augmentation (Fire, Lightning, Earth)
Weapon (Thorned Rose [Sword]): Plasma Sword, Dust augmentation (Fire, Lightning, Earth)
Strength: Fast and agile
Weakness: Low armor, leaves primary defense to Aura
Crescent Rose (Power Suit)
Description: The fully upgraded power suit from Metroid Dread, sans the Metroid Suit, Hyper beam, and Omega Cannon
Abilities: Petal Burst, Phantom Cloak, Flash shift, Pulse Radar, Spider Magnet, Speed Booster, Spin Boost, Space Jump, Screw Attack, Energy Drain (50%)
Suit Upgrades: Varia Suit, Gravity Suit
Alt Form (Morph Ball): Bomb, Cross Bomb, Power Bomb
Weapon (Beam): Charge Beam, Wide Beam, Diffusion Beam, Grapple Beam, Plasma Beam, Wave Beam, Dust Beam (Fire, Earth, Water, Air)
Weapon (Missile): Super Missile, Ice Missile, Storm Missile
Strength: Strong and Durable
Weakness: Heavy and not as agile, Unable to crawl,
Metroid Suit
Description: The metroid side of Ruby unleashed.
Abilities: Phantom Cloak, Flash shift, Pulse Radar, Spider Magnet, Speed Booster, Spin Boost, Space Jump, Screw Attack, Energy Drain (100%), Energy Transfer
Suit Upgrades: Metroid Suit
Alt Form (Morph Ball): Bomb, Cross Bomb, Power Bomb
Weapon (Beam): Charge Beam, Wide Beam, Diffusion Beam, Grapple Beam, Plasma Beam, Wave Beam, Hyper Beam
Weapon (Missile): Super Missile, Storm Missile
Strength: Fully powered and has the Hyper beam
Weakness: Heavy and not as agile, Unable to crawl, Need enough energy to use, can't use Aura and semblance, can't use Dust Beam, can't use ice missiles, the only effect gained from the other suits is to be able to move through water (Gravity Suit), super weak to the cold.
Now time to answer some comments (Note, I will not be answering all comments. Please do not be offended if I do not answer.):
Lucian Naruto:
I just found this fanfic and without fawning I have to say: This is good, this has a lot of potential.
Seeing the nature of the Metroid crossover, I have a question I wanted to ask you, I'm not asking for spoilers, but just out of curiosity: Will Ruby have a story with Ridley in this AU?
Since she's Samus in this fanfic, are we going to have to worry about Ridley showing up in Remnant at some point?
I am glad you like it. Yes, Ridley will continue to be a thorn in a Bountyhunter's side.
firewyrm2
Okay given the partial cybernetic body I am assuming that this is Omega Ridley, also thought I should mention that the name is beowolf, not biowolf. Finally, glad to see the continued presence of Ruby's aversion towards ice dust.
Thanks for the correction about the beowulves. Technically it is only Meta Ridley, not Omega as there is no Phazon. I am having it where he survives the events of Super Metroid (Which, based on the timeline comes after the Prime games) and had to be made into a cyborg again, after losing much of his body in the battle. It is not only Ice Dust, but the cold in general due to the Metroid DNA.
Guest
Hello love the story so far it is awesome. In regards to the questions
What should the pairings be?
I have always been a fan of ruby x penny myself as they both are full of ideals of a brighter dawn and rather than let those ideals be diminished they instead let those ideals evolve and change as they grew as characters. Second would be wiess x Blake for similar reasons in that they each hate what the other represents yet through each other learn to see the opposite view points and the flaws in their own views. Third yang honestly yang x sun as they are both fun loving and break tension with humor. Finally jaune x pyhra and Nora x ren they just balance each other. Jaune and pyhra via the training giving jaune confidence and pyhra someone to see her as a person rather than a celebrity. ren and Nora as the personalities balance and keep each other in check as well as let them temper each other.
What should be Ruby's melee in each of her suits? Zero, Power, Metroid
Zero: plasma whip x jet boots your video was awesome but for further reference check out Samus vs boba Fett death battle 2016
Power: got nothin sorry to say always seemed ranged though I suppose gun-kata via arm cannon could work.
Metroid: I would say claw and for reference I would use velvet Crowe from tales of berseria. This would tie well- in my opinion- to the fact that this is a high energy and instinctual form/state and energy claw would allow her to drain during the fight.
This last one is really important:
Should Ruby reveal her power suit during the initiation? If so, against what?
I would say it depends on what she is fighting an alpha nucklvee would be an option I suppose.
Thanks for the pairing suggestions, though I have already decided on them. Also, at the time I got this, I already wrote chapter 5 with the initiation so I already decided not to reveal the suit yet. I really like the idea of an energy claw attack for the metroid suit! I think that is what will go with, but we will see.
Mark The Gamer of Grima
great fic! i got curious since i noticed this fic was made recently, and i was not disapointed!
of course, i DO wonder when the power suit will be used...let alone the Metroid suit! X3
you talked about favorite pairing last chapter yea? personally my favorite RWBY Pairing is Rosewick (Ruby x Roman)
i got nothing for Non-space Pirate Bosses, but how about the First Space Pirate boss be Kraid? (cause he is apperantly a Space Pirate) he seems to be everywhere after all, and he was shown standing in lava just fine, so its possible he escaped just before the X parasites were released (since the parasite only absorbed the spike kraid launched at Samus (or Ruby in this case) as a last ditch manuver)
suggestion? how about one of the Chozo Ruins still had some Metroids because the Chozo wanted to keep some around just in case the X resurged, and Atlus found them and started studying them...only for the facility to be shut down once the Space Pirates attacked and Ruby has to be called in, and Atlus does their absolute best to hide the Metroids existance in order to protect a potential assest (not that they know that Ruby is likely to kill them, more like they dont want the other kingdoms to find out)
in any case, i cant wait to see how this fic turns out!
Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of Kraid being alive, it will be interesting how I will integrate that.. The Metroid incident is also a great idea, even something that General Ironwood or the Atlas council would do. Personally, they seem more like the Galactic Federation then any of the other kingdoms.
firewyrm2
It occurred to me that given Zero Suit Samus does well enough with only her whip and kicks, Ruby could just use her semblance to increase the force in her strikes to make for a powerful weapon. She already is capable of parrying so there's not much need for a melee weapon of any sort. Also, honestly a bit bummed to see Rosegarden won't happen (unless you are willing to make a 3 way relationship), but I respect your decision.
You have a good point, however I like the idea of Ruby with the Plasma Sword. I am sorry about the pairing, but I have an idea for a ship with Oscar that I have not seen written yet. It may be out there, But I have not read a story with it.
HaloEmblem
I don't really know any Metroid bosses who would be a good first boss(haven't played the games) but there is a character that I would like to see, Anthony Higgs! Here hoping that you can find a way to bring him in
(Also yay, the first chapter of my story is out if you want to read it)
That would be interesting, He was the only survivor of Other M besides Ruby(Samus). Congrats on your own story, I look forward to new chapters.
I do not have any questions at time, but feel free to ask questions and make suggestions. Make sure they are appropriate.
Till next time.