Yes everyone, it is time for more Little Red. Don't really have a lot to say other than ya'll are in for a treat. I really had fun writing Little Red and Wolf.
Also, I wanna say thank you for you're reviews. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to receive the amount I got last chapter. Some of you seem to like Red's first appearance along with the grimm. Some of you caught on and mentioned Red and Wolf having a Kindred thing going on. Heck, I'm pretty sure those of you who played Elden Ring caught the Godrick reference with Qrow/Scarecrow.
Also, this will be a 2 part chapter. I planned to end the conflict with Ruby and Co. escaping from Red, but I felt the chapter might be too long for some people. Anyway, I've talked enough. I hope you all will enjoy chapter 3 of Little Red.
"Stay!"
They all freeze. Stuck. Muscles locked in place. Bodies standing still like statues.
What's going on?! Ruby darts her eyes in clear panic. She can't see it, but she can tell that something has her. She tries to move. Arms. Legs. Fingers. Toes. Even wiggling her nose and blinking proved to be impossible. Like a deer caught in headlights.
She remembers this paralyzing feeling. It's happened once before.
"Ruby, you have to stop!"
She hears the woman's voice cry out her name again. It's not a voice she recognizes. Who is that? Why is she crying out her name? Is she crying out to Little Red?
"Shut up!" Wolf growls towards the voice. "The dead don't speak! Go back to the aura!"
"Please, stop!"
Red screams in agony, dropping her pointing finger —which was holding the group in place— and grabs her head with both hands. Her borrowed semblance breaks.
Without missing a beat, Sun grabs Ruby's arm, yanks her to her feet, and the party moves. Adam takes the lead, his crimson hair glowing bright and a tight grip on Wilt.
The black horde breaks loose, charging with a beastly chorus of howls and snarls.
Ruby sees a red flash appear in front of Adam for a split second, Wilt glimmering in the crimson moonlight. The moment she blinks, red lines cut and shred through the black tide of burning eyes and mouths, lights forging a way through the darkness of the horde.
Come on. Just one more.
Ruby wraps herself in her hood, snatches everyone in her petals, and blasts off. Tooth and nail chase after her. Roses slip through snapping teeth and swiping claws, growls and screeches coming from both sides as the tide threatens to close in and swallow her. Despite the weight she's carrying, she mustn't slow down. She can't. Their life is riding on her speed.
She rockets through the maze of shipping containers, train cars, warehouses, and grimm. Nevermores rain down their powerful feathers, hitting the yards with a thunderous boom-boom-boom! Plumes of dust and debris clouds her vision, but she pushes through, slipping past shadows moving in the moonlight.
A King Taijitu bursts out of the cloud, stretches its gigantic mouth with menacing fangs, and spews a viscous purple fluid. She darts behind a train car, a loud splash crashes into the giant metal box; reeking of a burning stench.
The Scarecrow swoops in on the hunt. His dragon head-for-an-arm opens its mouth with a fiery roar and chases after her with hellfire, laying waste to the shipping yard with a sea of flames. Ruby fights for that extra boost of speed.
She cuts right, shooting between two warehouses and barrels down the street passing by many more steelwork factories. She sees the ruined city ahead. If she can get there, they might—
"On your left!" the mysterious woman rings in her ears.
Bam!
A flying boot blindsides Ruby, slamming full force into the side of her face. Her vision blurs, ears ring, head swims, and petals scatter. Everything moves in slow motion with the familiar sound of a sniper bolt cocking back and locking forward.
Boom!
"AHHHHH!"
It's like a Paladin came through and smacked her right in the face. Her world spirals and she flies through the air, slamming hard against a wall with a loud cry and hits the pavement. Her aura flickers, barely holding against the devastating blow. It if weren't for it, she might not have survived that hit.
She picks herself up on hands and knees, the taste of blood resting on her tongue with something moving in her mouth. She spits it out, covering her mouth with a horrified stare.
T-That's my tooth!
"Hey, good Ruby! You okay?" Sun yells out to her.
Ruby snaps out of her daze and looks to the party. Little Red stands before them, hands gripped on her Crescent Rose and Wolf looming at her side; snarling and bearing his teeth. Just as before, Red shows no emotions for her actions. No hint of sorrow nor conflict in her eyes. Just a cold, observant, and calculating silver stare.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in her mouth, Ruby scrambles to her feet, wiping the blood from her mouth and runs to join the group. She feels herself trembling a little. Is it the adrenaline? Or is it fear?
Come on, Ruby. Keep it together, she breathes to calm her nerves.
Yeah, easier said than done. Her heart won't calm down, chest beating like a drum. That kick to the face definitely didn't help any, especially getting sent flying into a wall by her baby. Or…Red's baby? This is confusing…
"Come on, Ruby!" Sun yells at Little Red. "We fought in the Great War together! Don't tell me that giant fog made you forget all that?!"
The Great War? The war from eighty years ago? Ruby thought.
"No," Red said plainly. "I remember."
"Then why?!" Ren yells. "What happened to you that made you like this?!"
"Where is Ozpin?"
"Why?!" Blake yells. "So you can wipe out the rest of humanity?!"
"Yes"
Blake scowls. "You are NOT the Ruby I once knew! She would never be so heinous, heartless, vile, and nihilistic as you!"
Her words roll off of Red, remaining unmoved and untouched. But her giant wolf on the other hand…
"You left us!" Wolf startles the cat with a vicious growl, tears streaming from his fiery eyes.
Blake pauses.
"Cowards like you deserve to be in my teeth!"
She left them? Ruby thought while looking over to a wide-eyed and lip biting Blake. It's subtle, but she can see Blake trembling, something rare to see from her faunus companion —despite her being another version of Blake.
"It's okay, Wolf," Red comforts the giant beast and wipes away a tear, quelling his rage. "Ozpin and the Witch can't elude us for too long. But they'll meet us sooner or later."
Deep growls, guttural roars, loud hisses, and high pitch screeching catches up to the huntsmen. Red's army rushes down the street like a rogue wave. Ursi bulldozes through walls and toss old rusted vehicles. Beowolves jump from nearby roofs and out of windows. Nevermores perch on factory tops; calling out to the rest of the horde.
Something large and powerful drops in and hits the ground with a shake, creating plumes of dust behind Little Red. A guttural growl followed by scrapping metal comes from the cloud. The Scarecrow —-ever so menacing and heart stopping to Ruby— shuffles out of the clearing dust, taking his place beside his twisted niece.
The party is surrounded again.
Qrow bellows his metal grinding shriek, prompting the horde to join him in a beastly chorus of cries. They're going to attack.
No! No! NO!
"Fauna," Little Red raises her hand to the horde. "Stay."
Huh? What?!
Ruby looks around at the horde. They all come to a stop, their bloodlust and hunger brought down to subtle growls and snarls; like domestic pets on an imaginary leash.
She stopped them with just a word?! Is she like their Red Queen or something?
"I still remember our time together, so I'll give you one chance," Red said to the group. "Remnant is finished. Please, go in peace. I promise to make it quick and painless. But if you refuse…"
Wolf snarls, opening his maw and showing giant sets of crimson fangs and teeth, showing what awaits the huntsmen depending on their answer. Ruby swallows, tightens her grip on her scythe, and steps back. What happened to this other Ruby for her to be like this? Was it the Great War Sun mentioned? Did something happen there? What did that giant wolf mean when he said Blake 'left them'?
This is wrong. This world, timeline, parallel universe, or whatever she fell into is wrong. All this is horribly wrong! If only… If ONLY this was just some crazy nightmare she's having and she's actually sound asleep in her bunk at Atlas Academy. Oh, how much she'll love for that to be true. How much she'll love to jump awake by Penny barging into her team's room and shouting her famous 'salutations!'
She looks over to her team —might as well be at this point—, hoping they're holding themselves together better than she is. Well, only half of them are. The one that seems to keep his composure the most is Adam. His grip remains firm on Wilt and his only eye focusing solely on Red. The second is Ren, although his panic cracks through his composure a little bit. His eyes shift warily, darting from Little Red to the by-standing horde. Sun stands in the middle, trying his best to hold it together but his heavy breathing and wide eyes makes it all fall apart. The worst out of the group is Blake. Still shivering and wide eyed, looking at the ground with a directionless stare. No one bothers to give an answer.
She looks to the Scarecrow heeling next to Red. A troubling question that's been gnawing at her since she first saw him.
She swallows and musters the nerve to speak. "H-Hey. Why is he like that?"
Red looks at her.
"Why is he a grimm? D-Did you do that?"
"That's my uncle's scythe you're holding."
"Answer the question! Did you do that to him!"
Red blinks and answers nonchalantly, "Yes, I did."
The dead and flat tone of Red's answer makes Ruby stumble back, as if the words itself had some unseen force to move her. It's just as she feared. "Why?! He's your uncle! Why turn him into a monster?!" Ruby didn't bother to fight back her tears. Never in her life would she think to hurt the people she love, especially Uncle Qrow. The very man who took her under his wing and been a second father figure to her. Why would this Ruby do it?
"Something about you feels wrong," Little Red said in response to Ruby's outburst. "You look like me. You sound like me. But at the same time, you don't belong. Like a faulty part in a malfunctioning weapon."
"She's a blight. A mockery," Wolf answers. "Her actions. Emotions. Personality. It's all just like Ruby Rose."
"So… She'll be getting in the way, huh." Red locks eyes with Ruby while raising her hand to the horde. "Then let's send her away with the rest. Fauna," Right on cue, the grimms' bloodlust and hunger come back in full force. Snarls, hisses, growls, and roars erupt from the beastly army, fiery eyes bunch around in the black drove with drooling and snapping mouths. "Hun-"
"Wait Red!" Wolf interrupts her. "Let's make this fun."
"We have a job to do. Best to end it quic-"
"We've done it your way three times already!" the giant wolf argues. "With the airship, the blind boy, and that shouting dog faunus." He said referring to Fox and Marrow. "It's clear that they didn't accept your offer, so let's make this into a game! For fun! Please!"
The level of giddiness and excitement in Wolf's voice sends a foreboding chill straight through Ruby. It almost seems like —and oh gods she hopes she's wrong— a child asking their mother for permission to go play.
Red seems to visibly let out a sigh, even though her face shows no emotion. "Okay, you win Wolf. What game do you wanna play?
Wolf gives a wide hunger smile, "Hide and seek"
Hide and seek? Ruby thought. Hearing the game from the giant wolf's voice makes her feel sick to the stomach.
"Hide and seek?" Red raises an eyebrow. "We'll be giving them a chance to escape."
"And that makes it all the more fun. We're hunters. We hunt. We kill."
"And we'll do it again…"
"Exactly! They won't get far anyway."
Red looks back towards the huntsmen, twirling her scythe and chambers a round. "Fine."
"But first," Wolf adds with a grin, stopping her. "We need competition."
"Competition?"
"What makes a hunt more thrilling, is knowing there is another hunter after the same prey."
"Then my uncle will do."
"No. He's done enough. He's fast, but they'll just use his size against him again."
"Then he'll shed it."
"I want someone else. A hunter with just as much finesse. I want The Spartan."
"Huh. So it's an old friend of mine you want."
Something gigantic casts its shadow over the factories and streets, blocking out the blood moon. The manta ray grimm from earlier —The Harbinger, as Adam called it— looms overhead with it's colossal size. One of the Nevermores screeches and takes flight toward the giant beast. Something small falls head first from the underbelly of the Harbinger and lands on the Nevermore's back. The giant raven swoops back around and flies by with a strong flap.
"Spartan," Red calls out. Like a servant answering the call of their queen, a red haired girl cladded in white and black armor leaps from the bird's back, dives head first, flips and lands next to Red, breaking the asphalt under her heels. The newcomer rises to her feet and Ruby jumps along with Ren and Blake.
No. T-That isn't… That can't be…
"Why Ruby?! Why her?!" Ren bursts in anger.
Ruby's jaw drops, she couldn't believe her eyes. "P-Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha —the Spartan as she's called— stands silently beside Little Red, clutching both Milo and Akouo in her hands. Her skin is ghost white and her black and red eyes stare at the huntsmen, regarding them as nothing more than something to be hunted.
Pyrrha too?!
That sick feeling in Ruby's stomach gets even worse. Pyrrha may look more human than Qrow, but the white skin and black and red eyes makes her appearance seem so… uncanny. Like Salem herself. She looks over Pyrrha's armor which resembles her bronze spartan one. But instead of bronze metal, thin bone plates clad her legs, chest, and arms with black underneath that covers parts of her body.
"For…Rem…nant…" Pyrrha said in the same wheezing and raspy voice as the Scarecrow.
"You'll have a minute to run," Red said in her gentle yet monotone voice. One side of the horde splits open, creating a path for the huntsmen to flee. "When time is up, we'll come after you."
Wolf cackles. "One with the most kills wins!"
"Hey!" Adam snaps Ruby out of her stare on Pyrrha and Red. "Hurry! Get us outta here!"
Without a second thought, she wraps herself in her cloak again —pushing past her exhaustion— sweeps everyone up in a gust of petals, and blasts off. She carries them down the path, flying past loads of burning eyes and snarling mouths on both sides. As she rockets away, she hears Wolf's laughter traveling behind her.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! YES! Thrash! Flee! Run, if you can!"
/-/
"This is bad! This is really really bad!" Sun paces back and forth in the factory they're in. "She's hunting us! She's freaking hunting us! We're so freaking screwed!""
"Get a hold of yourself!" Adam yanks Sun by the collar. "Pacing around and losing your cool isn't going to make things better! This is just another war, isn't it?"
"Just another war? Look around you Mr. Hero! Remnant is dying! There are grimm everywhere! We're literally living like moles underground! This is more than a war! This is the apocalypse! Freaking armageddon!"
Adam gives a small growl of frustration.
Ruby silently watches as a heap of emotions show from the group. Ren remain quiet as usual, but intense fury and rage burning in his eyes tells her that he's a ticking time bomb, ready to blow at any moment.
"Um, Ren?" Ruby's compassionate side naturally takes over and she moves to try and comfort him. A good hearted move, but unfortunately… Ren shoots her a glare, all of his hate and anger staring into her silver eyes. Just the mere sight of her makes him seem like he's gonna blow. Before that could happen, he turns on his heel and storms off.
That cuts her deeply, but given the situation how can she fault him? Yes, she didn't do anything to him. But Little Red did. And Little Red is literally her. She looks over to Blake, seeing her leaning against a wall with her face buried in her hands.
"I'm sorry, Ruby. I'm so sorry," the faunus repeats through a muffle.
Their interaction with Red gave Ruby her own chills, probably hitting closer to home than anyone else. Especially Wolf. The giddy demeanor he showed for hunting reminds her of herself. How her team would compete against each other when fighting grimm. One with the most kills wins. That was always her rule.
She shudders.
"Everyone. Gather around, now." Adam commands the group. "Ren, use your semblance."
Oh that's right! Ruby caught on to what Adam is doing. Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, and the group being a wreck of it will definitely get them found. Smart thinking. Everyone gathers into a circle, hands on each other's shoulders. Ren aura spread from person to person, masking the group's emotions.
"Everyone needs to breathe and pull themselves together. Now is not the time to be wrecked with guilt," he looks to Blake. "Anger," he turns to Ren. "Or panicking," He glares at Sun. "Don't you see why she let us go so confidently? Because she knew we'd get like this. If you don't calm down, she'll find us sooner."
Blake breathes in deep, doing her best to push her memories to the farthest reaches of her mind. "Adam's right. She could very well use one of the grimm to find us. Or… she could use…"
"Don't say her name Blake," Ren cuts her off, seeming to bury his anger as deep as he can. "That is not her…"
"Why is she even here?!" Sun asks. "I thought the heavies were supposed to grab her attention!"
Ruby cocks her head with a raised eyebrow. "Heavies?"
"A designated class for huntsmen with specific semblances," Blake explains. "A heavy class huntsmen or as some call them 'Heavy Hitters' specialize in power and durability. They fought on the frontlines of the Great War. Adam is in that class because of his semblance. You've seen why."
Given that he can cut down buildings and tear through grimm with a single strike. Yeah, Ruby can definitely see why he's a heavy hitter.
"Our team was made up of one heavy, three scouts, and a glass cannon for a search and rescue mission." Ren takes over.
"Glass cannon?" Ruby blinks.
"That would be me," Sun points to himself with his thumb. "I'm strong, I'm fast, but I can't take too many hits."
"Who are the scouts?"
"Ren and I," Blake answers. "Fox too, but…"
"Their designated name is self explanatory," Adam takes over. "Their specialty is stealth."
"I can see that. Given that they're ninjas, in their own way."
"Ninjas?" Sun raises an eyebrow with a small chuckle. "Now that you've said it, I can see it. I like this Ruby clone."
"I'm not a clone…."
"Sun, please…" Blake sighs. "Now is not the time."
"Hey, do you want me to freak out again?"
"Can it you two," Adam resumes control again. "Little Red is probably looking for us right now. We'll have to stick to cover and move cautiously. If we can get far out into the outskirts, we may be in range to radio the Vault."
"The Vault?" Ruby perks up. "I thought the relics didn't exist in this world?"
"It's the name of our homebase." Ren answers.
"Calling for help would be a whole lot easier if we had working scrolls," Sun groans, motioning to their outdated radios.
"If you can somehow rebuild the infrastructure and re-establish communications, then we'll get rid of the radios. But until then, we're working with what we have." Adam replies. "Now listen up. Here's what we're gonna do."
Ruby listens to the bull faunus along with the rest of the group. It feels strange not being the one to come up with plans and ideas for once. That same ringing in her ears comes back along with the woman's voice.
'Run! She's coming!'
As soon as Ruby hears the voice, she sees Blake's ears perk and snap a horrified look behind the group.
Bang!
Ruby wraps everyone in petals in an instant and zips out of the way. Something fast and powerful crashes into the concrete floor, throwing up plumes of dust and debris. A familiar bronze spear levitates out of the cloud —like being pulled by a magnet— and flies up the factory ceiling; back to the hands of an old face.
"Pyrrha…" Ruby said in a horrified hush.
Rose petals from above grabs everyone's attention; they're not Ruby's. Little Red appears in the air with a backflip and plants her feet on her Crescent Rose; barrel pointing towards the ceiling.
Oh no… Ruby immediately knew what she's about to do. "Move! Move!"
Bang! Red blasts towards the group.
Adam takes his stance, tight grip on Wilt and Blush, and jumps into the air; so high as if he was launched by a spring. Bang! Blush fires, allowing Adam to draw Wilt with more speed and power. The bull and Red meet with a mighty clash that shakes the air —Wilt and Blush against Crescent Rose— Adam's semblance absorbing the shock from his sword. Adam's remaining eye stares her down with murderous intent and hatred, while Red on the other hand remains cold and expressionless as always.
Red kicks her feet into Adam's chest and pushes off; sending the bull faunus tumbling back down. "Found you," she said coldly. "Bite."
"DINNER TIME!" Wolf manifests and chases after his falling prey with voracious hunger. Adam braces himself with Wilt. Wolf snatches the bull with his jaws and crashes through the old machinery and steelwork of the factory.
"Adam!" Blake screams.
Numerous broken machine parts and scattered metal rise into the air, as if being tied to invisible strings. They fly over the party like a serpent made of scrap metal and swarm around Pyrrha —hands raised in the air— in a vortex.
Wait! She can use her semblance even as a grimm?!
Scrap metal and parts come together piece by piece, rapidly assembling into a giant makeshift arm with a buzzsaw for a hand. And by buzzsaw —in this case— are multiple sharp parts stuck together and spiraling with a fury of sparks. "I'm….sorry…"
"Run!" Ren yells.
The saw comes down on the party, swiping the factory and shredding through everything in its path. Ruby —coming to the rescue once more— scoops everyone in her petals and carries them up to the upper floor of the factory.
Red appears in her own burst of roses, grabs and snatches Ruby out by her foot, and throws her towards the saw.
"AHHHH!"
"Hold on! I got you!" Sun claps his hands together and summons clones to go after her. Ruby sees the clones reaching for her. "Use them as a boost!"
One of the clones grabs Ruby's hand and slings her away from certain death. The second acts as a footstool, letting her jump off its backs and fly away in a burst of petals. The giant saw smashes through the factory wall, making part of the old rusty building crumble and fall apart; crashing and covering the ground floor with plumes of dust and rubble.
Calm down. Calm down. You've done something like this before. Ruby repeats over and over as she runs and leaps from falling platforms and giant metal structures. No different from her fight against the Nevermore during initiation.
The whole factory starts to fall apart. Floors falling on top of one another and rusty foundations finally given way; like a domino effect caused by the saw. Adrenaline pumps and her heart pounds, two feelings every huntsman and huntress should be well accustomed to, but there is one creeping feeling that she still can't seem to shake.
Fear. Fear of what —no, who she's up against.
Metal debris starts to close in all around her, as if some unseen force is pulling them towards her. In fact, it is. Pyrrha slowly draws her hands near together, enclosing the space around the fleeing huntress.
She's trying to crush me!
Ruby looks ahead, seeing an opening at the end of the closing tunnel. She bites her lip and starts moving. She runs down a crumbling platform, jumps and runs along a floating wall, springs off with her speed and leaps from support beams to anything she can land on. She's almost there but the tunnel is getting smaller and smaller —fast. She blasts off in a last ditch effort, fighting for every inch she makes.
She squeezes through the opening, making it out of death's grip before everything behind her crushes together into a ball of twisted metal. Ruby swallows, she never imagined seeing Pyrrha use her semblance like that.
"Hey! Stay focused!" the mysterious woman shouts in her ears.
Right on cue, her hunter instincts jerks her gaze upward. Little Red drops from her petals and swings Crescent Rose. Ruby blocks just in time with Harbinger, the sheer impact of Red's swing makes her wince as it travels from the scythe to her hands and arms. Red takes this moment, swings herself on Crescent Rose and kicks Ruby in the chest with both feet.
"AHHH!" Ruby plummets towards the factory floor, her world flipping out of control. She smacks into the concrete, her aura dulling the impact but still knocking the wind out of her.
Bang!
The all too familiar voice of Crescent Rose grabs her attention. Red plummets straight for her, spinning like a circular saw with her red scythe.
Buzzsaw?! Ruby immediately recognizes this move. She freezes.
"Don't just sit there!" Blake yells at her. Ruby feels a pair of hands grab her by her collar and snatch her away, leaving behind two apparitions of themselves as Red slices clean through the concrete floor.
"Blake be nimble, Blake be quick," Red chants in her monotone while walking towards the pair, dragging Crescent Rose's tip across the floor.
"You should stick with running," Wolf's terrifying voice comes from behind them with a guttural growl. "That's your only trick!" The girls jerk their heads back in horror, staring straight into the black abyss of his jaws.
"NO!" Adam shouts. He sprints out of the plumes of dust and lunges at the shadowy wolf with Wilt. Wolf dodges his slash and returns back to Red's side while she continues her advance. Adam's attire has seen better days, littered with rips and tears as if he had just got into a fight with a savage beast —literally. He's exhausted but he doesn't seem to have any visible injuries. His aura is holding up —but for how long?
Adam slips past the girls and charges straight for Red and Wolf, sliding Wilt into Blush for one of his signature quickdraws.
Red picks up her pace. "He wants to fight tooth and nail."
"I like him!" Wolf smiles hungerly.
Adam pulls Blush's trigger and draws Wilt. His strikes come out lightning quick, fluid, and precise. To Ruby, it seems like he leaves behind after images of himself with each attack he does. Little Red, as expected, is just as quick. Like Ruby, she twirls her scythe as she moves. Spinning as if she's dancing to the rhythm of war. Wolf gets in on the hunt, working in sync with Red's movement as he attempts to catch the faunus with his shadowy claws or crimson teeth.
They clash in a blur of black and red, sparks flying as scythe and sword strike each other. The smell of fire dust gunpowder reaches Ruby's nose and fills the air. Crescent Rose vs Wilt and Blush, round two.
"Come on!" Blake yanks Ruby by her arm and snaps her back to reality. "We gotta help him!"
Ruby brings herself back to the situation a hand, gives a quick nod, and charges into the mayhem. "Ladybug! Ladybug!"
"You hear that, Little Red?" Wolf catches wind of the combination attack.
"Ladybug. Ironic."
Ruby takes the lead, twirling Harbinger and joining her attacks with Adam's. Red defends against them with ease. Every duck, sidestep, and block makes Ruby's heart beat even faster. She's nimble and quick, just like Ruby. But what scares Ruby the most is that Red is quicker. Each swing she makes only hits air; not even grazing Red's cheek or cutting off a strand of hair.
Red locks eyes with Ruby, sending chills down her spine. It's like looking in a mirror.
Does she know everything I'm gonna do?
Blake leaps in as a shadowy blur, chasing after her former leader with relentless strikes in tandem with her semblance. The faunus appears from her shadows and lunges for another strike. Red side steps with a spin, twirls her scythe and catches Blake by the waist. She pulls the trigger.
Crescent Rose slices through.
"NO!" Both Ruby and Adam scream.
Blake splits in half -there is no blood- and fades into shadows. Everyone's eyes lift up, seeing Blake in the air. She pants and sweat runs from her forehead. The look of a person who barely cheated death.
She locks Gambol and slides the blade back, throws her gun by its black ribbon, and twists her body in the air; swinging out slashes. Red skips, cartwheels, and flips all the while deflecting and blocking the trio with her giant scythe. She jumps, swings Crescent Rose into the concrete, swings her body around —as if she's break dancing— and kicks Ruby right in the face.
Ruby goes flying. She flips in the air and stabs Harbinger into the floor, using it to drag herself to a stop. She lands, shaking off the kick-to-the-face she took, and naturally reaches for Harbinger's charging handle. Wait. Where's the charging handle? She forgot. This isn't Crescent Rose.
Harbinger functions and operates differently from her baby. It's fashioned with a shotgun instead of her fully customizable, high impact sniper rifle. Heck, she doesn't know how to make it transform nor does she have the time to figure it out.
Before she could make her next move, that same ringing from earlier fills her ears. She winces and slaps both hands over her ears.
'STOP!'
Ruby hears the woman cry out again. Just who in the world is this?
'Stop this Ruby! I can't watch this anymore!'
"AHHHHH!" Little Red screams from the constant ringing and the shouting of the voice.
"Leave us alone!" Wolf howls. "We don't need you anymore!"
'Don't say that! Just please stop!'
Blake and Adam exchange looks, deaf to the ringing and the voice. To them, Red just suddenly started screaming while Wolf shouts at air. They nod and rush in to hopefully strike her down. This is their chance.
"Flora!" Red's eyes snap open, a small glint of anger and grief showing through. The factory floor begins to tremble and shake. "Grow!"
I originally wanted to have Ruby and Red clash when they use Petal Burst simultaneously, but as I wrote the scene, I've decide to save that for a future fight; along with other things I wanted to show.
Some of you may have wanted to see Pyrrha aka "The Spartan" in action. Don't worry, that will be in the next chapter.
Anyway, keep an eye out for the next chapter. Because it'll be coming right behind this one.
Until next time readers. Outlandish Storyteller, signing out.