RWBY Puppet AU Novel

Chapter 4: Out for Blood!

Blake walked down the halls of the Vale hospital downtrodden. Every single step away from her partner's room made her weak heart beat stop, threatening to take the breath away from her. Not that she wouldn't welcome that honestly as she remembered the doctors observation.

"Miss Xiao Long you were VERY lucky!" The doctor had said, but Blake winced as she saw Yang's emotionless expression. It was clear this incident with her sister had not just worn her down physically.

"The blade just barely missed your heart by a few inches. Though you suffered sever blood loss and a ruptured sternum they should heal completely with your aura within the next few days. You won't be confined to that bed for long before your out their smashing Grimm's heads again." The doctor said joyfully, trying to alleviate the depressed brawler. But his comment made both Blake and Yang wince as their eyes widen in terror.

"R-Ruby" Yang whispered in fright, her fist shaking as she still felt her sister's skin on it. The sensation brought her immense shame. Though it was the only way to stop her at Ruby's request, Yang still felt like a failure. Helpless and weak to save her sister from a sinister threat, something Blake could see on her face and empathized with it completely.

The doctor noticed the two's extremely sullen expressions and coughed as he realized he had struck a nerve.

"Uh yes well….I uh….will just take care of this and be on my way." The doctor awkwardly said as he administered Yang more painkillers and ran out the door nervously.

"Please go too." Those cold words came from Yang though, making Blake tremble.

"Unless you get news about Ruby, just go away and don't let anyone else bother me please." Yang bitterly said as she sunk her head into her pillow, tears Blake could see in the corner of her eyes.

Blake couldn't find the strength right now to argue with Yang. She was angry as well, with herself for her failure to save Ruby. As she saw Yang lie in bed exhausted, but not loosing that bitter glare, Blake tried to open her mouth, desperate to say something encouraging to alleviate her friend's misery. Only she couldn't….

"Okay" Was all Blake could find the strength to utter as she headed for the door. She turned her head back to steal a glance, hoping Yang would change her mind and reach out for her, only to be disappointed as the Xiao Long was just weakly watching the window ignoring her. With a heavy sigh, Blake left Yang to wallow in her misery, a feeling infectious right now as it strangled Blake's heart.

"What am I going to do for them?" Blake thought sadly.

She felt so weak right now and felt she just needed to go outside and clear her mind with some fresh air. On her way out, she saw Weiss outside Ruby's hospital room, her back slouched up against the wall. Blake bit her lip as she saw both the room holding their possessed leader and friend prisoner while recovering and the bags under Weiss's eyes. She hadn't slept a minute since they brought Ruby and Yang here and saw the hospital security guards strap her down under Ironwood's orders. It was clear this ordeal had taken just as much out of Weiss as it did Yang.

"Weiss….are you okay?" Blake nervously asked the first thing that came to her mind, something she learned she was about to regret as Weiss shot up and fixed her a death glare.

"OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGHT!" Weiss roared as she grinded her death making Blake recoil in shock.

"Yang's all cut up and won't let anyone see her unless their news on Ruby. Oh! Speaking of witch, my partner and best friend is being held down in their like some wild animal because of one, and WORSE some maniac has her brain held hostage and might never let her go because they want her to kill us! HOW IN THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO BE ALRIGHT!?" Weiss screamed. Blake sighed sadly as her arms hung and she fell back against the wall as the reality of what Weiss said sunk in, worsening her own mood.

"Dumb question. I'm sorry." Blake sadly said as she averted her gaze shamefully, the sight making Weiss's eyes widen in surprise as she caught her breath and realized her own outburst, likewise feeling remorse.

"I…I'm sorry I just…" She tried to say but Blake held a hand up interrupting her.

"It's okay I get it. This is all too much to handle right now." Blake said supportively with a sad tone and Weiss nodded.

"This situation is so messed up. The only way to end all this is to end that psychopath controlling Ruby but we don't even know where the psycho is. So….I can't even do anything to save her." Weiss said dejected, shame and helplessness filling her heart.

"We'll find a way to save her Weiss." Blake said, trying to alleviate her friends burden but knew right now it was wishful thinking at best. She herself had no idea how to do that, something Weiss could feel and just hung her head as tears formed in her eyes to Blake's surprise. The heiress always kept a strong image of herself around other people; it was very rare to see her breakdown like this.

"I promised her that I'd be the best partner ever and since then she'd become very important to me. I….I love her. I can't stand the thought of losing Ruby." Weiss cried softly. She was rattled as a firm hand was placed on her shoulder by Blake whom she weakly eyed.

"It'll be alright Weiss. We all love her and want her back, that's our purpose as huntresses and family." Blake said surprising Weiss.

"Family?" Weiss thought, amused and heartbroken at that term. She wasn't accustom to familial love, since her parent's falling out at her 10th birthday, but couldn't help but feel warm and force a smile a bit at the gesture from the cat Faunus.

"I once told Ruby that the world isn't like a fairy tail, and that not everyone gets to have a happy ending." Blake said, but still retained a smile as she imagined the bright warm one that sweet little 15-year old gave her that night.

"But she said that's why we are here, to make it so everyone at least has a chance for that. I'm willing to put my life on the line and say this story has a chance for that happy ending. We WILL save Ruby! I know it!" Blake confidently said. Blake's speech shocked Weiss, but she couldn't help but smile brightly as well as her friend's positivity drenched away the bitterness in her. She was right, so was Ruby that day, they had to have hope they could do just that if their leader and her love was to survive. Suddenly Weiss felt a third presence watching them and stole a sharp glance at the corner of the hall, something that caught Blake's attention as she instinctively reached for Gambrol Shroud.

"What is it Weiss?" Blake sternly asked as her gaze narrowed where Weiss pointed.

"Theirs someone over there Blake…but who?...!" Weiss said as her and Blake's eyes widen as they laid them upon a familiar but unwelcomed pink and black haired girl smirking at them.

"That's the ice cream girl who works for Torchwick!" They thought in unison as they gripped their weapons, sure a showdown was to start.

Back in Atlas…

Speaking of Roman Torchwick, Ironwood raced down the halls of the Atlas prison, his heart racing with anxiety as he recalled the text he received from Penny.

"Intruders have assaulted the prison. My scanner showed 3 lifeforms. I believe Roman Torchwick is their goal. Engaging assailants now sir!" Penny had texted.

"Penny ran into 3 of them?! Please be alright Penny I'm almost there!" Ironwood thought in a panic. He trusted his countries strongest android, but 3 on 1 from intruders who could bypass all their security guards and devices were obviously no laughing matter. He would feel a lot more at ease seeing her alright with his own eyes, after all, she was expensive to procure and would hate to have to spend money to rebuild her….again.

He kept his stern expression for appearance sakes, but was internally cheering like a school girl as he made eye contact with the one he hoped survive in prime condition standing at attention.

"OH! Hello General Ironwood, sorry for the mess." Penny said in a professional tone as she and the General eyes the massive hole in the wall.

"What happened to the prisoner?" Ironwood asked, curious of Roman's fate.

"With regret sir, I must inform you one of the intruders, a pink haired woman, escaped with him during the chaos." Penny remorsefully said, Ironwood gave a bitter groan at the news. His disappointed wavered as he heard Penny talk in a more cheerful tone, knowing it meant good news.

"But I did manage to catch her accomplice." Penny cheered as she pointed to a defeated Emerald laying against the wall nearby, her right shoulder bloodied with a hole in it as she was riddled with cuts and burn marks as well, a result Ironwood knew was from Penny's lasers and swords.

"She is responsible for numerous crimes, including attempting to assassinate Roman Torchwick and admitted to helping kidnap Ruby Rose. I left her alive for information, despite admittingly wanting to see her get what's coming to her." Penny bitterly said,

"Really it was Roman who said that, not that I'll tell the General. He'd dismantle me for believing a convict's word and acting on it." Penny thought as she glared at Emerald, still remembering bitterly the previous encounter.

"I'm placing all 3 of you under arrest, surrender or die!" Penny said cheerfully as she hovered 6 blades above her with her semblance. Roman was sweating nervously as he saw this, knowing even for Neo it would be a tricky fight. All it took was one stray sword or gunshot and BOOM!

Suddenly a gunshot from Emerald ripped through the air like lightning making Roman jolt as he saw the girl fire at Penny who effortlessly blocked it with one of her blades using her robot eyes to see the bullet at a slower pace.

"Inefficient speed." Penny had said not amused to Emerald's frustration. In that moment, Roman got an idea and formed a devilish grin as he leaned in to whisper to Neo, causing her to smile and nod cruelly as well.

"Sorry Emerald… not sorry actually to throw you under the Ursa, but that's what you get for trying to off me." Roman thought.

"Hey robo girl! I saw you with your pal Lil' Re-I mean Ruby Rose at the docks! Did you know this girl Emerald kidnapped her!?" Roman yelled out gleefully, making Emerald's eyes widen in anger as she gritted her teeth, knowing what he was planning.

"Roman you bastar-AAAAGH!" Emerald screamed as a laser shot straight through her shoulder painfully and propelled her against the wall, blood splattering against it as she dropped her guns and grasped it. Penny fixed the all a vicious glare as she learned this, it only fueled her directive to take them all down.

"ENOUGH GAMES! YOUR ALL BEING DETAINED. NOW TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT RUBY ROSE BEFORE I DISOBEY ORDERS AND KILL YOU INSTEAD!" Penny roared, her glare murderous making Roman and Neo sweat nervously again.

"Guess I overdid things. Better use my trump card I was planning for trial." Roman thought as he took out from his pocket a flash drive to the androids surprise.

"I'll make you a deal robo girl. This drive contains info on this girls accomplice, Cinder Fall. She's the one holding Lil-Red hostage. Let me and Neo go and we'll also use this to help her team free her for you since your stuck guarding Atlas. Deal?" Roman pleaded as Penny eyed the drive and Emerald bitterly at the declaration of her actions.

Ironwood was surprised to hear and see malice come from this robot girl, as if sensing the bloodlust in the air. Ironic, he couldn't help but humor himself with, given she had no blood to begin with. The one by him, however, Emerald opened her bloodied lips to cry out weakly as she heard this, as if sensing death approaching.

"Cinder…*hic* please… save me. You said you'd protect me." Emerald groaned with tears in her eyes. Regardless, Ironwood and Penny just shook their heads dissprovingly. They couldn't find it in them to show any pity for this girl after all she did.

"I am going to recharge. Can you handle her sir?" Penny asked and Ironwood nodded in reply as he cuffed Emerald in Aura dampening handcuffs.

"I couldn't get any info out of that girl. Oh well, even if I did Ironwood won't let me leave Atlas right now. Hopefully Torchwick can help team RWBY like he promised. I know I can't trust him, I know it's a risky gamble, but it's Ruby's only hope." Penny thought, the reasons for letting Roman go left her with a mix feeling of bitterness and hope.

Meanwhile at Beacon

Ruby had awoken, but to her surprise she could still only see darkness. A bright light from a lamp soon illuminated the room as it shined on her face to her annoyance. She tried to move her hands to her face to rub her aching eyes with hope to alleviate the discomfort, only to grind her teeth in frustration at the futile effort, as she found them to be bound by aura dampening handcuffs. Soon a yell for her name snapped her out of her irritation as she slowly raised her head to meet the sources sad eyes.

"J-Jaune?" Ruby weakly whispered, her throat burning as it let out even a single word. She met not only a shocked Jaune's eyes, but saw a horrified Pyrrah holding a hand over her mouth. Nora and Ren observed from behind the couple, Ren having to hold a firm hand on his girlfriend's shoulder as she attempted to charge and hug her friend, a stern glare telling her now wasn't the time. Jaune also knew now was a difficult time, he had heard the reports of a criminal possessing Ruby's body and soul like a Gheist Grimm. Fear crept into his own soul, making him tremble to utter his next question, hope for a positive response being his only strength.

"Yes Ruby. Do you remember us?" Jaune nervously asked, his heart pounding rapidly as he waited for her reply. Ren suddenly saw Ruby's silver eyes twitch a bit as Jaune asked that and fixed her a stern glare. He didn't like the look of that, despite his own heart telling him to relax for everyone's sake once he heard his friend's bright voice speak up.

"Yes, in fact….I don't even sense that person in my mind anymore. I-I think I'm free at last! Do you think you could let me out of these cuffs? I'd love to celebrate with you!" Ruby cheerfully asked. Nora smiled brightly as she heard this, Ren's firm grip being the only deterrent to this request. She fixed him a pout but he didn't budge, in fact, she only gave a silent gasp as she saw a concerned look on his face hearing that. Did that mean she was telling the truth or was lying?

Jaune stole a glance at Pyrrah, she only shrugged her shoulders due to her instincts not sensing any danger. His partner's assurance alleviated Jaune to a degree as he looked back at the bright smile he found himself always thrilled to see coming from his best friend. Still though, for some reason he had a bitter feeling in his gut that kept him at bay like Nora.

"I don't know Ruby…maybe-" Jaune said as he took a small step forward with his hand reaching out, only to recoil as a yell from Ren paused him dead in his tracks.

"DON'T DO IT JAUNE!" Ren roared. Everyone fixed him a confused gaze as he gave Ruby a bitter look.

"You can drop the act whoever you are! I know your not really Ruby Rose." Ren coldly said, making Ruby's eyes widen in response.

"What are you talking about? I am Ruby Rose!" Ruby defiantly argued, but Ren wasn't even flinching, never losing that glare.

"No. You're not. I can sense that murderous intent in your aura. Ruby isn't like that at all, you can't fool me." Ren said to his friend's shock. They knew with his semblance he could drown emotion's to hide from Grimm, but they never knew he could sense emotions or intentions from others. Ruby took a deep breath as she heard this reply, giving the other's cold sweats as they heard her whimper a bit.

"R-Ren you…" She cried, but her crocodile tears didn't budge Ren, making her bit her lip a bit in anger as red marks infected her cheeks and her tone turned dark.

"Are way too sharp for your own good." Ruby bitterly said, her murderous intent in that tone blasted Ren like a hurricane, making him double back as he saw Cinder undo the façade.

"By reducing my control to the minimum, I can hide these marks that prove I'm controlling someone. But…I guess I still can't hide the fact I want to kill all of you, too bad." Cinder disappointingly said through Ruby.

"LET HER GO!" Nora screamed, her volume making Cinder wince as her eardrums rang from the angry Valkyrie's tone, but she simply gave off a mocking grin.

"Or what? Whether you keep me cuffed up or not you can't keep me here forever. It's a waste of time, there's no way to save Ruby from me." Cinder gloated as she forced Ruby to give a cheerful smile to JNPR's disgust.

"Why?" A small whisper surprised Cinder as Pyrrah approached her slowly.

"Hmmm?" Cinder hummed curiously, raising an eyebrow at the sad champion.

"Why are you doing all this to Ruby?" Pyrrah asked, this kind of torture her friend was enduring she could only imagine was horrendous. Letting someone else play with your body and use it to attack those you love, what possible reason could this person have to put a sweet innocent girl like Ruby through such hell?

"Pff! Why? Because this little brat has been a great thorn in my side since coming to Vale." Cinder coldly said making JNPR fix her deadly glares but she wasn't scared, rather it fueled her desire to torment them about their friend's loss of freedom and her reveal her goal to enact the worst punishment as a result.

"I will make her suffer endlessly for getting in my way. First, I'm going to have her kill her teammates, including her sister. Then….I'll have her kill all her friends." Cinder menacingly said as she formed a sadistic smile on Ruby that horrified JNPR.

"Kill? Kill all of us, Yang included?!" They all thought. Such an act would surely make sure Ruby never brought a smile to that face again.

"Don't worry about Ruby though, I won't ever kill her." Cinder joyfully said, but they knew it was a malicious, fake expression, which made their stomach's sink as they knew something bad was coming next.

"No, death would be the easy way out. I want her to live a long life knowing her loved ones she treasured died by her own hands. I won't even let her use those hands to kill herself, she'll be by slave forever, working for me." Cinder laughed as JNPR looked on horrified. Was there any hope for their friend to avoid such a hellish fate?

After they left, letting the anguish of their friend's ordeal sink in, Cinder smirked as she knew it was time to enact such a plan.

"Right now there's only one way to get out of these damn cuffs and get free. Although I'd rather not use this method…" Cinder said through Ruby as the girls silver eyes soon flashed Cinder's own yellow, a flame in the corner of her eyes as the cuffs melted off. By putting more power into the possession, she could resort to transferring her maiden powers to her host temporarily.

"There! Much better! Ready or not Team RWBY….I'm coming for you hahaha" Cinder cackled, her hands itching to draw blood.

Hope or Hell?

Outside the hospital, Blake and Weiss chased Neo to the forest nearby, cornering her near a plane of grass in the center of the woods.

"NEO! We finally caught up with you!" Weiss yelled angrily as she and Blake pointed their blades at her and readied it for combat, but Neo never lost that cocky smirk the mute always annoyed them with. What annoyed them more was a condescending laugh from a man both girls

"You only caught up with her because she let you kids. Hell there Ice Queen and kitty kitty!" Roman mockingly cheered as he walked out from behind a tree to the girls surprise.

"Torchwick!" Weiss yelled shocked.

"Your supposed to be in prison! What are you doing here!?" Blake yelled confused. She knew Atlas had the most high-tech prison's ever, how could he have escaped even with Neo's help? She was knocked out of her thoughts by the sight of a small black object flung by her that she instinctively caught as soon as she heard him say "catch". It was a flashdrive!

"I just came to give you a present, that device contains info on Cinder Fall. I'm sure you know she's the one who captured and turned Red into a puppet?" Roman said joyfully. Not only did his relaxed demeanor annoy the huntresses-in-training, but it perplexed them in addition to why he would give them this.

"Why help us, weren't you working for her?" Blake sternly asked, remembering Ruby mentioning how she busted Roman once only for Cinder to help him escape in Vale. She found it ironic honestly how the two criminals that were making her life hell now were the reason's she met Ruby so soon. Even so, the thought of showing gratitude for that or this hard drive that supposedly would help Ruby disgusted Blake, she couldn't let her guard down.

"Cinder was my employer….UNTIL THE BITCH STABBED A KNIFE IN MY BACK!" Now it's my turn to do the same. If helping you save lil' Red is the only way it's no skin off my bones." Roman bitterly said.

"So you want us to do your dirty work huh?" Weiss bitterly asked, feeling this was too good to be true. Her feeling proved right after what she heard next.

'That's right. I don't want to save Red directly, especially since I feel the brat is getting just what she deserves." Roman whimsically said. This was the last straw as Weiss formed a glyph and jabbed her saber into the ground, summoning a wave of jagged ice towards the criminals.

"Neo? If you would?" Roman cheerfully asked Neo who bowed to him and the girls. Suddenly both disappeared into a storm of paper machete.

"An illusion all along huh? Damn! They got away… Weiss?" Blake groaned before turning to Weiss and seeing her fume, but not for missing like she assumed.

"Hear me Torchwick…..RUBY IS A SWEET GIRL AND A HERO TO ALL! SHE DOESN'T' DESERVE ANY OF THIS! SO DON'T CALL MY DOLT A BRAT!" Weiss roared into the air.

Later….

"YANG XIAO LONG OPEN THIS DOOR!" Weiss yelled as she pounded on the door annoyed to Blake's surprise (eyes blank comically like anime) while a nurse tried to intervene.

"Please miss Schnee, Miss Xiao long requested no visi-" The nurse tried to argue, but the door opened instantly the second Weiss uttered these words.

"We got info on Cinder Fall!" Weiss yelled. Yang burst through the door wheezing as she heard that.

"Come in!" Yang demanded with a fierce glare, making the girls nod and the nurse whimper as she was caught off guard by that. As much as she wanted to reprimand the blond brawler for getting out of bed with those injuries still bandaged, she knew it would be suicidal to get in her way as that glare stabbed her heart. The nurse decided to excuse herself to get Yang more painkillers while the girls went into the room. As Yang plopped on the bed, she winced a bit but ignored her soreness, she had to give them her undivided attention now that there was news. They took a small laptop computer they borrowed from the nurse and inserted the hard drive they decided to not tell her Roman gave them, knowing she'd probably call them idiots for trusting him. As Yang quickly scrolled through all the data on Cinder Fall, she formed an annoyed look on her face.

"God this is Cinder Fall? Just looking at her pisses me off!" Yang yelled. Weiss and Blake nodded, returning the sentiment exactly though Weiss urged her to focus on the task at hand and she kept reading.

"What kind of info do you see on her?" Blake asked curious.

"Lets see…her records say she assaulted a woman named Amber a few years ago, it comes with a map of all her hideouts all over vale…..but she has a hideout in about a mile a from the field we found Ruby at!" Yang said seriously, shocking Weiss and Blake.

"Seriously!" Weiss asked and Yang nodded.

"How did we miss that?" Blake asked, completely annoyed with herself for their bad luck and lack of tracking skills, something Yang empathized with as she groaned in annoyance.

"Yeah, it's just a warehouse though. But it's a place she goes to often." Yang said.

"You don't think she might be there do you? She could be at any of those locations?" Weiss said skeptical.

"Maybe your right, but we should try looking since it's the closest." Blake said and Weiss nodded.

"I guess so, what do we have to lose? We'll go check out the area and tell you what we find out Yang." Weiss said but Yang shook her head.

"No. I'm coming with you." Yang said to Weiss's astonishment as she eyed her friend's bandages, a bit of blood leaking from the fresh scars.

"NO YANG! Your wounds aren't healed. You aren't ready to fight you'll just reopen the wounds and die!" Blake yelled but Yang hung her head and grinded her teeth in anger. She knew she was right, but Yang didn't care.

"Ruby is my little sister! I love her more than anything in the world, then life itself! I would sacrifice my arms and legs for her, even my own life if that's what it takes. I'M GOING WITH YOU TO SAVE HER!" Yang roared. Weiss was about to approach her to reprimand her, but gave an annoyed look as Yang could sense that intent and glared at her.

"AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" Yang yelled defiantly.

"Ah jeez. She has the same look as that dunce." Weiss bitterly thought as she imagined Ruby whenever she was stubbornly saying her dreams or desires in Yang's place. She knew this was a futile argument. Best to concede before getting ear raped again.

"Fine Yang, you can come with us but no fighting unless absolutely necessary, got it!?" Weiss firmly said and Yang nodded with a smile. Blake was aghast by this concession and grabbed her shoulder firmly and glared at her.

"Weiss you can't be serious! She isn't ready to go back out yet!" Blake yelled.

"I know but, she has the same look in her eyes as Ruby. Whenever I see those eyes I…..I can't bring myself to tell her no." Weiss sadly said, but Blake just fixed her an annoyed look.

"So your fine with letting my partner get herself killed out there?!" Blake asked mad but Weiss got annoyed with the infighting and shook her head in denial.

"Well, if we bring with us we can at least keep an eye on her. You know if we leave her she'll just do something stupid and dangerous like the meat head she is right?" Weiss asked and Blake fumed as she knew it was right, but really, REALLY hated admitting it to Weiss.

"FINE! You can come with us Yang, but like Weiss said no fighting unless she and I can't handle it alone. If it gets too dangerous for you I'm dragging you back here even if I have to be the one to beat you senseless got it!?" Blake yelled and Yang fixed her a confidant look.

"Fine with me!" Yang sternly said.

But as the trio of huntresses left the hospital and headed to the airfield to hitch a ride on a ship to the enemy base to take down Cinder, they failed to realize a hunter was out for them as well. As Jaune came down the hall a bit later, he was horrified to see a guard's body laying against the wall, blood running down his mouth. He ran to him with fright.

"Hey! Hey, are you alrigh-" Jaune was about to ask until he froze in terror as he felt for the man's pulse. Was it gone?…had Ruby killed him! Jaune felt his stomach knot and he stopped breathing as he realized Cinder had escaped and made Ruby's nightmare begin. Even one person killed by her hands, possessed or not, would torment her soul for life. Jaune soon began breathing as his heart began beating in relief as the man groaned a bit; he was still alive, Jaune just didn't check the right area of the neck to his relief. What will she do if Cinder succeeds in killing someone she knows and loves? He didn't even want to spare a second thinking of that as he quickly grabbed his scroll and dialed Pyrrah.

"PYRRAH! IT'S RUBY, SHE ESCAPED!" Jaune yelled as she answered.

"That's awful Jaune, do you know where she went?" Pyrrah said fearfully.

"No, I don't." Jaune sadly admitted.

"What's the situation over there?" Pyrrah asked, although hesitantly. Things just kept getting worse and she feared more bad news was coming. Her heart sank as her dark thought proved true as Jaune replied.

"A guard was knocked out, but he's alive…barely. Ruby stole his scroll, I think she can use it to call Crescent Rose from her locker?" Jaune fearfully said. His words made Pyrrah gasp in terror. Yang's injuries and WBY's account for their battle made it clear, possessed or not Ruby was a deadly threat with that Scythe. Cinder's goal of killing WBY and them wasn't far fetched if she got a hold of that weapon. She turned pale as she realized only Nora was with them, Ren and Jaune were still elsewhere and Ruby could certainly kill them if they fought one on one.

"Nora call Ren ASAP!" Pyrrah yelled.

"Got it!" Nora yelled.

"Jaune! Try to meet us outside the hospital! Run if you think you see Ruby, we need to be together if we're to stop her got it!?" Pyrrah asked.

"Got it! I know it's suicide to fight Ruby by myself." Jaune firmly said. His heart skipped a beat as he realized admiration for his best friend just became fear. He could almost hear the wind ripple as he remembered the sound and movement of the scythe slashing the air from practice, only to now know that curved blade was aiming for his and his teams necks.

"Ruby….please hang on! We won't let that monster make you a murderer!" Jaune pleaded in his head as he ran down the halls, passing Yang's nurse as she began entering her room to give her medicine.

"Miss Xiao Long, how are you doing? I have your-!" The nurse kindly said before she was startled seeing the room dark and Yang's bed, but no sleeping patient.

"She's gone!" The nurse cried, but as she was about to turn around and call the hospital security to check for their patient, she felt a cold powerful hand cover her mouth as a lightly build person, whom she recognized was a girl from the boobs pressed on her back, snatched her arm and jerked it painfully behind her, making the nurse powerless to move. Her muffled screams were stopped as a knifes blade from the girls wrist shot out, rubbing against her cheek.

"Listen closely." Ruby coldly whispered, her tone making the nurse cry and shiver as she felt like she was trapped in a horror movie and couldn't leave.

"I am going to remove my hand, if you don't wish to die, tell me where you think Yang Xiao Long may have run off too." Ruby firmly asked as her eyes flickered between silver and Cinder's yellow. The nurse slowly nodded, fearful for her life as Ruby complied, yet drew the blade to the throat to make sure she didn't lie.

"I..I-I overheard her saying something about an airship and…ugh…maybe a field or shack or…something like-GAAAH!" The nurse said before feeling a surge of pain on her throat as the weight of the blade pressed against it was removed. She clasped her throat, feeling a liquid stain her hands as she fought to will herself to scream as she realized what happened. Her throat was slit! But she couldn't fight the pain, the burning in her neck that consumed her as she saw everything black out and collapsed on the floor. Within her body, Ruby looked horrified as she saw the nurses lifeless body plop to the ground…by her own hands.

"NO! YOU MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU?!" Ruby's spirit cried, but Cinder just gave her a cruel chuckle.

"What? Me? It was your hand that slipped. Besides…get used to it. Your friends and sister are next." Cinder sadistically said, Ruby's eyes widening in horror as she and Cinder knew the girls were heading for her.

"No…please no." Ruby weakly cried as her spirit grew weaker and disappeared into the void in her mind to Cinder's joy.

She just couldn't wait to see Ruby break even more as she ended her teams lives like that nurse. As the possessed Ruby was about to leave the room, she was startled as she came face to face with Ren as he entered the room. All he saw was his friend free and the sight of the bloodied corpse of the nurse. The sight and the smell of blood stanching his nose distracted him, something Cinder took full advantage of as she slashed as his chest and grabbed his neck and slammed it against the door, knocking him out cold. Her hand itched as Cinder felt tempted to do the same as the nurse to Ren, but snickered as a better idea came to mind.

"I guess I can spare some time before playing with Xiao Long." A possessed Ruby cruelly whispered as she grabbed Ren by the collar and snuck out the window, ready to enact the next phase of her plan.

Author Notes

Happy new year! Cinder's goal is revealed and has already claimed the life of a background character, but Ruby is still horrified. Will Cinder make her hell worse, or will WBY save her in time before she kills Ren? What is the next phase of Cinder's plane though? Find out next time on Chapter 4: Turmoil