HoloRWBY-Alternate
An: Another day, another chapter. This took longer than I wanted, but I hope y'all enjoy it nonetheless!
I found more inspiration for my story in the form of Kugeki animation's Holo-Chronicles. If you haven't heard of him, I recommend looking him up on YouTube. His videos are amazing and remarkably well done. I will be taking a lot of inspiration from his videos, so they will also be good reference points for later when I really get into the action for this story.
Also, as you know, when someone is speaking Japanese in my story, I have it written as Japanese and have the translation at the bottom. Well, that changes halfway in this chapter. When you see the sentence with an asterisk before and after it, then that means the characters are speaking a different language. Since this story is in English, when I write characters speaking a language other than English in the story, I'll use some words or phrases from the language used to show that the characters, despite me writing in English, are speaking another language. For example, since they'll be speaking Japanese, I'll have characters use words like "Hai" or "Matte" instead of "Yes" and "Wait." I hope that this wasn't too confusing.
And I'd like to give a huge shoutout to AbyssalDragon66 and spartabreak16 for their help with this chapter! Thank you both for your help and support. It really means a lot to me, friends.
And with that out of the way, enjoy this new chapter!
Chapter 4: Hololive
Seiso City, Japan
"…and then, I tapped Marine-chan on the shoulder; she jumped super high and squealed!" Sora giggled as the group of three made their way into Seiso City.
Ruby couldn't help but giggle at the story as well. "And she didn't know you were stalking her?" she asked.
"Nope! She told me that she had felt she was being watched, but she convinced herself it was her imagination!" IRyS couldn't help but chuckle as Sora recounted one of her many interactions with their fellow Idols. It would always be surprising to those that weren't in the know at what Sora's hobbies were. She may be the truest example of a Seiso Idol, but Tokino Sora never lost her mischievous side, a point many of her unsuspecting kouhais (IRyS included) tended to forget.
Since learning Ruby was on the edge of despair, Sora and IRyS took it upon themselves to cheer her up until they reached the Agency and learned the truth behind Ruby's woes. Whatever it was, the Nephilim knew instinctually it was bad. Worse still, IRyS was quick to recognize a familiar glint in Ruby's eyes that she saw in a few of her senpais: the burden of leadership.
Obviously, she held a leadership role at some point. And if IRyS wasn't misreading the situation, it likely played a role in her current situation. And THEY were involved, they needed to correct the situation fast. They would certainly take possession of Ruby should she fall to despair, if given half a chance.
Thankfully, Sora picked up on this too, because she was quick to take point and be the decision maker for three. The burden wasn't lifted from Ruby, far from it, but the silver eyed girl's shoulders seem to sag less and the light in her eyes brightened a tiny shade. It was miniscule progress, but progress nonetheless.
Currently, they were walking past one of Seiso's many parks as Sora started regaling Ruby with another tale, this one about how Sora encountered the 'Hololive Resistance.' IRyS let out a chuckle at that story. That was Sora at her best.
The Nephilim turned back forward and noticed someone walking out of the park's entrance. And it was someone she knew. She smiled, quickly having an idea. "Fubuki-senpai!" she called out, making Sora and Ruby look up at the person IRyS called to.
The girl in question had long white hair with two fox ears standing atop her head. She wore a white, sleeveless robe that was buttoned in only two places with a ribbon attached around the top. She had detached, white sleeves on her arms, and she wore black shorts and boots, with a black stocking on her left leg reaching up to her upper thigh. Also, a white tail with a black tip swayed behind her.
Fubuki turned to see them and smiled widely, blue eyes brightening at the sight of them. "IRyS-chan! Sora-senpai!" she waved at them and jogged up to them "Koko de nani o shite iru no?"
"Rubī-chan no otetsudai o shite imasu," Sora explained, gesturing to Ruby, who waved awkwardly. "Kanojo wa boido o tōrinuke, IRyS-chan wa kanojo no tōchaku o kanjimashita."
"Wakatta wakatta!" Fubuki nodded to Sora and turned to Ruby and waved. "Hi, friend!" she exclaimed with a cute accent. "Hajimemashite, Rubī-chan!"
Ruby, meanwhile, had been taken aback by Fubuki, being a Faunus with more than one animal trait. She was still trying to process the differences in Earth and Remnant when Fubuki had turned her attention to Ruby and greeted her. It sounded so cute and was so sincere that Ruby couldn't help but smile back, deciding she should stop sweating the small things.
"Hi. Nice to meet you, Fubuki," Ruby said with a wave.
"Oooh! English?!" Fubuki asked in interest. "That's cool! That's cool!" Ruby couldn't help but giggle at her accent. "Sorry. Not very good with English yet!"
"No! No! You're fine! I…I kind of don't know your language yet, so it works out, I guess…" Ruby said with a nervous chuckle. Fubuki chuckled at that, as well.
"Nē, Fubuki-senpai, dōshite kono kōen ni kita no? Anata wa itsumo higashinohō ni ikimasu ka?" IRyS asked. The fox girl shook her head.
"Oh!" she answered. "Omoni riben-sei no tamedeshita. Watashi no chīmu to no dotanba de no torēningu ni sanka shite imasu."
"Matte. Gēmāzu mo koko ni?" IRyS asked and turned back to the park. Ruby did as well and saw three other girls walking towards the exit. The tallest was a black-haired beauty sporting amber-colored eyes with a wolf tail and a set of wolf ears atop her head. She wore a black and white sleeveless top with a red tie and a black skirt. Black arm sleeves covered her arms from her elbows down, and she wore sandals with thigh high white socks.
The second girl was shorter and was drastically different. She had golden brown eyes and long, brown hair that was tied up in braided twin tails. She had two floppy doglike ears on her head, and she wore a white sleeveless dress with a yellow windbreaker over top. A fluffy dog tail poked out from behind her, and her feet were clad in red socks and blue sneakers.
The third girl was even shorter and sported cat ears and a tail. She had light purple hair and eyes a shade or two darker than her hair, and she wore a black hoodie with a rice cake (what did Blake call those again? Oni-something, something? Ruby couldn't remember) logo with white and purple jogging pants with silver sneakers.
Sora turned as well and smiled. "Mio-chan! Korone-chan! Okayu-chan!" she greeted happily.
"Sora-senpai!" the three shouted in kind, as they rushed over to the group. Once they were close enough, they noticed IRyS and greeted her too, and the six began talking excitedly in rapid fire Japanese.
Ruby watched this with a small smile, though she did feel her eye twitch a bit. She couldn't understand a freaking word they were saying. The dialect was old Mistrialian to her, a language that hadn't been spoken regularly on Remnant since before the Great War. Every now and again, she would catch a word or two she knew, but otherwise, she was left huffing to herself.
Darn-it, she really needed to learn their language. Otherwise, she was just going to continue feeling so left out-
Abruptly, she was forced to gasp loudly as a piercingly sharp pain jabbed through her forehead. She grabbed her head and bent at the waist to try and mitigate the pain, but it didn't abate. The Huntress gritted her teeth as she found herself forced to ride through the pain. She whimpered as the pain sharpened even further, as a loud ringing resounded in her ears that nearly disoriented her. It was as if she was being stabbed by a burning knife through the side of her head!
Then suddenly as it appeared, the pain vanished, making Ruby gasp at the sudden feeling of whiplash. She felt short of breath, causing her to take a few deep breaths as she focused on a lingering ringing sensation in her ears. As the ringing abated, she began hearing voices.
*"…never happened like that before!"* a voice shouted, and Ruby instantly recognized it as IRyS's.
"Is she going to be ok?!" another voice, one sounding slightly high pitched, asked frantically. Ruby wasn't sure who it belonged to. "Do we need to call the hospital?!"
"Don't worry! She'll be fine! Just give her a moment, girls!" Sora's voice called out to them.
Ruby took a final deep breath and swallowed hard a few times to try and cause her eardrums to pop. As she started to hear clearly again and her headache vanished, leaving only an odd sense of phantom pain she finally looked up to see six pairs of eyes staring at her in concern.
"Are you ok?" the girl with the wolf ears asked. Ruby nodded.
"I…I think so," she said softly. Fubuki, Sora, and IRyS jolted back a bit.
"…I thought you said you didn't know Japanese?" Fubuki asked her. Ruby looked at her in confusion.
"I thought you said your, um, English, wasn't good," Ruby responded.
"Well, I guess we know what her Alteration did," the purple haired cat girl said, her voice deeper than Ruby was expecting. The red-black haired girl turned to her.
"Huh? Alter-what, now?" she asked in confusion.
"Huh? Oh!" Sora looked sheepish and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry about that, Ruby-chan! I didn't explain Alteration to you!" she bemoaned.
"Well, it didn't come up, Sora-senpai, so it's fine. No time like the present!" IRyS placated her. Turning to Ruby, she started explaining, "Basically, Alteration is the process of the Alter-Effect changing things. People, plants, heck, I've heard reports of buildings changing because of the Alter-Effect! It's random, but unavoidable."
"And those affected by it become what we call 'Altered,'" the cat girl continued. Ruby took this in and nodded.
"Ok, so, the Alter-Effect changed me, somehow. I get it now," she said. "But how?"
"Ruby-chan," Fubuki called out, getting the girl's attention. "You are speaking Japanese right now."
"What are you talk-" Ruby tried to say, but she noticed a change in Fubuki's dialect, how it sounded like the broken speech from before. With a jolt, she realized what Fubuki was saying.
"What in the he-!" Ruby stopped herself and tried to clear her throat. "O-Ok…" she mumbled quietly, more than a little freaked out. "I'm speaking fluent old Mistralian, uh, Japanese I guess now." She turned to the girls before her. "So, this is the Alter-Effect?" Six nods answered her.
"Un!" the dog eared one chirped. "Thankfully, despite the rough transition, yours wasn't all bad!"
"That's because it wasn't complete." Everyone turned to the speaker, a frowning Fubuki.
"Huh?" the wolf girl asked. "What do you mean, Taichou?"
"So, you noticed too, Fubuki-senpai," IRyS commented.
"Hai. It feels as if the Alter-Effect was stopped from completing its cycle early," Fubuki explained. "I've never heard of something like that."
"And that worries me." Everyone turned and flinched at the sight of a frowning Sora.
"S-Sora-senpai?" the wolf girl asked hesitantly.
"You were right that Ruby-chan's Alteration isn't finished, but it wasn't forcibly stopped," Sora explained. "It simply stopped."
"Stopped? How can that be? The Alter-Effect's never done that before!" the cat girl protested.
"I don't understand it either, but obviously there's a purpose in it." Sora turned to the group and continued, "However, we cannot dwell on it here. Let's head to the office. A-chan will be able to help us gather answers. I'm sure of it!"
The girls around Ruby blinked for a moment before they nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right," the dog girl commented. "A-chan is super smart and knows a lot about the Alter-Effect!" She smiled and jumped in place. "Anyways! We kinda got sidetracked by your Alteration! We didn't introduce ourselves! Your name is Ruby, right?" She pointed to herself and said, "My name is Inugami Korone! It's nice to meet you, Ruby-chan!"
"Yeah. Same here," the cat girl proclaimed. "I'm Nekomata Okayu, by the way."
"Hello, and nice to meet you, Ruby-chan! My name is Ookami Mio!" the wolf girl said happily.
"And I'm Shirakami Fubuki. Nice to meet you officially, Ruby-chan!" Fubuki said with a smile. "Together, the four of us make up the Gamers, an elite task force within Hololive!"
"Gamers? I bet there's a reason for that," Ruby chuckled. "And yeah. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you!" She looked at the girls in front of her and asked, "What's Hololive, by the way?" The six chuckled.
"Our day job, basically!" IRyS told her. "But we can explain better at the Agency! Let's get going!"
"No need! We got the van with us today!" Mio commented and pointed to a large van painted in various shades of blue and white, with an animal head logo emblazoned on the side.
"I'll drive!" Fubuki called out and started walking towards the van, only for Mio and Korone to grab her.
"NO!" they cried.
"Fubuki-senpai, your driving sucks," Okayu told her bluntly.
"Shut up! No it doesn't!" Fubuki protested hotly.
"Yes! It does! And I'm not having you total the van! Again!" Mio told her. She let go of Fubuki and said, "I'm driving!"
"Sorry, Taichou!" Korone said cheerfully, releasing the fox girl as she raced to the van. "But Mio is a better driver!"
Okayu shrugged and walked to the van as well. IRyS chuckled uneasily while Sora laughed, and the two walked to the van. Fubuki pouted.
"Jerks!" she muttered. "I can drive just fine!" She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ruby giving her a reassuring smile.
"It's ok. My friends and family are the same way with me," she said sympathetically. Fubuki regarded her.
"Oh?" she asked. Ruby nodded and her face fell into a cute frown.
"Yep. I don't get it really," she admitted. "It's frustrating! I can get from Point A to Point B, so what's the problem?!" Fubuki laughed at that.
"That's what I say!" The girls shared a laugh as they walked over to the van and hopped into the back. Fubuki shut the door and gave Mio a thumbs up.
"Alright! We all set?! Then let's shove off!" the wolf girl shouted as she fired up the van and popped it into drive. As they pulled onto the highway, Korone turned to Ruby and smiled widely.
"So, Ruby-chan! Sora-senpai says you fell through the Void! Where'd you fall from?!" Korone asked, her tail wagging. Ruby giggled at the sight.
"My world is called Remnant," she explained. Korone let out a cutesy 'Oohh!' as Okayu powered up a laptop.
"Your world got any notable traits? I can go ahead and place and make note of them for when we get to the Agency," the cat girl asked, making Ruby turn to her.
"Yeah. Remnant's moon is shattered. That's the biggest one," she explained. Okayu hummed in interest.
"A broken moon, huh? Well, that is certainly significant," she admitted. Her laptop finally finished booting up, allowing her to unlock it. "If we're lucky, once we can get-Oh, shit." She stared down at her screen with a deadpan.
"Huh? What's wrong Okayu-chan?!" Korone asked in concerned. The Gamer cat just pressed a few keys and some screens flipped down from the roof of the van. Everyone turned to them as the screens quickly flared to life.
"We are live at the Tokyo Mall where a group of unnamed gunmen have taken several people hostage!" a news reporter cried as several men in dark police armor set up a perimeter behind hi,. "Reports are still coming in, but we have confirmed that one of the hostages is in fact Motoaki Tanigo, founder and CEO of Cover Corp."
"Yagoo-san!" Sora shouted.
"NO! Not Yagoo!" Korone exclaimed.
"Who?" Ruby asked.
"Our boss," Fubuki explained. Ruby gasped.
"Oh, no!"
"Relax. It'll be fine!" Fubuki told her.
"How will it be fine?! Your boss is a hostage!"
"Eh, it's kind of normal for him, really."
"Wha-" Ruby was about to retort when she became distracted by the news again.
"Hold up: We've just received word from the Hololive Agency that Shishiro Botan is on site and is rescuing the hostages!" the reporter called out just as a wall of the mall exploded outward.
Ruby's eyes widened as the camera turned and readjusted, catching sight of several men lying on the ground in pain as a tall figure walked out of the smoke, revealing a grey eyed girl with long, fluffy white hair with cute catlike ears on her head. She wore a sleeveless black shirt and matching short skirt, a white cat tail casually darting behind her. She also wore a dark fur collared coat that hung off her shoulders as she hoisted a machine gun in one hand and held a man in the other.
"See? Botan's got this covered," Fubuki commented.
"Well, yeah, but, didn't the last time Botan-senpai rescue Yagoo-san, she…uh…" IRyS couldn't finish as Botan on screen was surrounded by gunmen, making her scowl in fury. However, quickly looking down at the man in her arms, she readjusted her grip and grabbed his collar.
"Yagoo! Protect me!" Botan shouted and held the man up as the gunmen started aiming at them.
"Matte. Matte, matte, matte-AAAAHHHHH!" the man, Yagoo, cried as the men fired, and the bullets started hitting Yagoo in the chest. Ruby gasped again in horror. What was she doing?!
However, Ruby quickly noticed the bullets weren't hurting the man. In fact, they seemed to be bouncing off him as Botan raced forward and slammed Yagoo into a gunman before turning sharply and firing on another.
"Bo-chan…" Sora muttered under her breath, her eye twitching.
Korone laughed. "That's Botan for you!" she commented.
Ruby was just confused. "A-Are you…H-How can…?" Ruby tried to ask, but she couldn't form the question she wanted to ask. Fubuki noticed and gave the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"Best not to question, Ruby-chan," Fubuki told her.
"Is your boss…uh, Altered, as well?" she asked.
"Yes/No/Maybe/I think so…?" came four different replies, making Ruby blink in confusion.
"That's…something we have debated since we all joined Hololive, Ruby," IRyS commented. "Trust me, questioning it will make your head hurt."
"Agreed!" Everyone in the van said together. Ruby looked unsure, but she relented.
"O-Ok," she said. Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "S-So, how much further till we reach the, uh, Agency?"
"Not long now," Mio replied from the driver's seat. "Just gotta turn up here, and we'll have a straight shot to Central."
"Oh. Cool."
"Anyways, I got the program pulled up now, Ruby-chan," Okayu announced. "Let's talk about your world for a bit, since the Agency isn't far off now."
"Sure."
For the remainder of the drive, Ruby gave as detailed information about Remnant to Okayu as she could. The Gamer cat had quickly typed down all the relevant information and stored in on whatever site the posted it to, while Ruby asked Fubuki why her squad was called 'Gamers.'
"It was Korone-chan!" the fox girl explained. "After our first successful mission, a reporter approached her asked what was next for us, and Korone responded, 'Gaming marathon!'" Fubuki laughed as she said this. "After that, the media assumed we were all 'gamer girls,' and the name 'Gamers' kinda stuck after that!"
Ruby giggled at the explanation. "You didn't try and stop it?" she asked.
"Well, it's kind of hard to when we all are gamer girls…" Fubuki said sheepishly. Ruby laughed out loud at this. The others in the van laughed as well.
"I'm glad we're all in good spirits!" Mio commented as she pulled to the curb and put the van in park. "Because we have arrived!"
"Alright!" Korone cheered as she opened the door and jumped out. The others exited the van as well, Fubuki and Ruby leaving from the back. Ruby jumped out and turned to the building. It was rather nondescript with only adornments being a neon sign on top of the building saying "COVER CORP." and the word "HOLOLIVE" emblazoned across the one set of windows.
"Welcome to Cover Corp., Ruby-chan!" Sora proclaimed grandly as she gestured to the building. The group walked to the door as Sora continued, "Home to the Idol Agency: Hololive!" She opened the door for the others, and Ruby was blown away at the sight before her.
Several people filled the lobby either hanging out or going somewhere, and each person was as diverse as the others. Ruby's eyes widened as she tried to take in the sight before her, trying to identify the various differences in the people before her. She felt Fubuki gently push her forward making Ruby blush a bit as she started walking again. Catching up to the others, Ruby decided to ask a question.
"Did you call Hololive an idol agency?" she asked. Sora chuckled.
"Yeah. That's Yagoo-san's doing," she revealed. "At first, Hololive was meant to just be a run of the mill idol group, but after an…incident involving myself and my gen-mates, we evolved into an organization that aids in dealing with threats beyond what normal law enforcement can handle alone. We still do the idol thing, though, thus we're still, technically, an Idol agency."
"Doesn't help that since Gen 0's involvement with that Incident, other 'Idol Agencies' started following the same example," Okayu commented.
"Yeah. I don't think any of us foresaw that one. Well, except maybe A-chan," Sora admitted. "She's scary good at predicting things…"
"Is she really that good?" Ruby asked curiously.
"No, no! She's way better than that!" IRyS answered with a laugh. "Where will A-chan be right now? Lunch break?"
"As if!" Sora snorted in an almost un-seiso like manner. "She's probably upstairs doing paperwork. Let's head up." She smiled and waved at a tall purple haired young woman, who was talking to a group of people wearing suits as the group walked towards the elevators.
They entered one of the available elevators and rode it to the twentieth floor. Upon the doors opening and stepping out, Ruby saw outside of the niche the elevators sat was several cubicles with computers in each. On the back wall next to the windows, one computer was on, and before it was a slim young woman with short purple hair held back by a blue ribbon and wearing simple jeans and a long sleeve black shirt. Sora smiled and walked up to her; the others quickly followed her.
"Hey, A-chan!" Sora called out, making the woman turn, revealing her blue eyes behind simple glasses. She smiled at the sight of Sora.
"Hey, Sora-chan. What's up?" she asked. "I thought you were watching the Dragon migration."
"I was, then I met a new friend!" Sora smiled as she turned and grabbed Ruby's hand, pulling her to the front. The Huntress stumbled a bit but she quickly regained her footing. "Ruby-chan here fell through the Void, and I said I'd help her out!" A-chan hummed and turned fully.
"Is that so? I did sense a disturbance in the Reality Web an hour or so ago," A-chan mused. "But that was over Ochiba Park. I sent Subaru and the Oozara Police to deal with the issue and have yet to hear back from them."
"Eh? Ochiba? The Altered Park?!" Korone asked in surprise.
"Even parks can become Altered?!" Ruby asked as well, in alarm.
"The Alter-Effect is unrelenting in what it chooses to change," A-chan commented with a chuckle. "Anyways, Ruby-chan, it's nice to meet you. I'm A, but everyone calls me A-chan."
"Your name is only one letter? That's cool," Ruby commented with a smile. "I'm Ruby Rose. Nice meeting you as well." A-chan nodded and returned her smile.
"So, you fell through the Void? There's a story to that, I take it?" A-chan asked. Ruby's good cheer seemed to drop a bit, something everyone noticed.
"Y-Yeah…it's kind of a long story, and Sora thought it'd be best to wait till we came here," Ruby explained. A-chan sobered up and nodded once.
"Ok. Let's move to a lounge, where it's more comfortable," she offered, and everyone accepted. A-chan turned off the computer, and the group walked out of the computer room and across a hall to one of the lounges. Soon enough, Korone and Fubuki sat beside Ruby on a couch, while Mio and Okayu sat on the arms. A-chan, Sora, and IRyS quickly took up the recliners on the other side of a table.
"Sate," Sora said kindly, folding her hands on her lap. "Let's hear your tale. Take your time, Ruby-chan. We've got plenty of time." Ruby nodded as she took a moment.
"Alright," she sighed and bowed her head. "I…I guess I should begin with explaining about my world…"
And explain she did. She talked about Remnant in a bit more detail than she gave Okayu, about the Grimm that plagued it, and about the Huntresses and Huntsmen that fought to protect the people. Going off that, she recounted the Fall of Beacon. Her cross-country trek to Haven Academy. Learning of Salem and the eventual fight for Haven.
She then hesitantly told them of her world's lost history, of Salem's immortality, and their daring escape to Atlas. It was here that Ruby's voice took on a bitter tone as she recounted everything that happened at Atlas, and how her failures led to Ironwood branding them criminals and how they had to work against him to save Mantle.
She ended her story with the events of the last two days of them informing the world of Salem's tyranny, Salem's assault on Atlas, and Ruby's last-ditch effort to save the people by getting them to Vacuo. She finished her tale by telling how she fell by looking up at the others.
Everyone's faces held varying stages of shock and sympathy. Sora looked particularly upset as she leaned forward and said, "I'm truly sorry you were forced into all of that, Ruby-chan," she said.
"It's fine," Ruby assured her with a heavy sigh. "It's in the past now. I just wish I did things better in Atlas. Maybe then things wouldn't have been so bad…"
"Maybe. Maybe not," Fubuki said, making Ruby turn to her. "Yes. You did some things wrong, Ruby-chan, but you made the best out of a bad situation, and that's all anyone can ask of someone in your position."
"But it was me not telling Ironwood about Salem sooner and not trusting him that drew General Ironwood over the edge!" Ruby protested.
"Was it?" Ruby turned to see A-chan looking at her. "Tell me, Ruby-chan, why did you initially not trust him with the information?"
Her question caught Ruby off guard. "O-Oh…uh…it was because…" She trailed off.
"Because?"
"…Because I wasn't sure if I could trust him or not," she admitted softly. "He was preparing all of Atlas and Mantle for a conflict with Grimm by telling everyone of Salem, and I wasn't sure telling him she was immortal was a good idea." She thought back to that first meeting with Ironwood. "Also, I…I think I was scared of him…"
"Why?" Korone asked.
"W-Well, he seemed so confident. So sure they would be able to stop Salem that…" Ruby paused for a moment to gather her words again. "…that I was afraid if I told him it was not possible, he'd…"
"That he'd break, right?" IRyS asked softly. Ruby nodded stiffly, making IRyS smile at her. "It was a good thing you were trying, Ruby; trying to keep his hope alive. I know you didn't handle the situation well, but keeping hope alive is never a bad thing."
"That's right!" Sora said, giving the girl a smile. "Ruby-chan, I understand you're hurting because of the mistakes you made, but from what it sounds like, your friends didn't offer any better alternatives."
"Un! And it sounds like they just differed to your direction, too!" Mio commented, making Sora nod her direction.
"Hai. And unless I'm misreading what you told us, Ironwood seemed on good terms with you guys until this Cinder woman showed up," Sora told her. "And even then, it sounds like your sister Yang was most at fault for his blow up for going behind both of your backs and informing this Robyn woman highly confidential information."
Ruby stared Sora, wide eyed. Since getting more time to think on her actions, she saw everything she did wrong and became ultra critical of herself. After all, what kind of leader made such avoidable mistakes? But staring at everyone around her, she didn't see the judgmental and doubtful stares she was met with the last time her decisions failed. No. They were sympathetic and understanding.
Ruby didn't realize she was trembling until she felt two hands on her shoulders. She looked to see Fubuki and Korone giving her reassuring smiles. Ruby couldn't help but return them.
"A-chan," Sora said, making her friend turn to her. "After learning about Salem, and her plans for genocide, I think we can all agree that we need to help Ruby-chan." Ruby snapped to her at this.
"H-Huh? J-Just like that?!" she asked incredulously. Sora smiled and nodded.
"Of course! I offered you help, and help you, I will!" Sora gestured to everyone else. "I think I can speak for everyone here that we don't want our new friend going off to fight this monster without at least trying to help, right girls?"
"Of course, Sora-senpai!" IRyS smiled widely as she stood and fist pumped in the air. "Would have helped her anyways!"
"Hai! This mad woman needs to be stopped swiftly!" Fubuki said with a stern frown.
"Can't be helped. Plus, this is kind of our thing!" Okayu commented.
"Un! Sounds like fun!" Korone chirped.
"You've done amazingly so far, Ruby-chan, but now you don't have to go it alone! We're going to help you win against this woman! I swear it!" Mio said with a smile.
Ruby felt a warm feeling bubble up in her chest. "Y-You guys…!" she stammered out, trying to force herself not too emotional over this show of kindness.
A-chan simply smiled at the scene unfolding around her. "Ok then!" she said with clap. "This situation got a bit more complicated than I expected, but Sora, you seem to have it well in hand!" She stood and stretched a bit. "I'll go settle the paperwork and other necessary stuff. Sora-chan, why don't you IRyS-chan and the Gamers get Ruby-chan settled in a guest room here. After running around for two days, she's likely heavily exhausted."
"Un," Sora agreed with a nod. "That's for the best. Then afterwards we can discuss the other stuff tomorrow, after Ruby-chan's well rested," she agreed. "Not to mention, there's some more stuff I'll need to discuss with you after we get Ruby-chan settled in."
Ruby was about to protest that when A-chan cell went off. Not blinking or missing a beat, she pulled her cell phone out of its case and answered the call. "A-chan, speaking," she spoke. "Oh! Subaru! Did you find the source of the disturbance? Eh? Turn on the news?"
A-chan was confused by this, but Okayu quickly jumped off the couch and turned on the TV in the corner. It flickered on quickly, and immediately they were struck by a news broadcast. "The Oozara Police are currently leading these refugees from another world out of Ochiba Forest," the reporter commented as her camera man turned to see a young woman in dark clothes leading people out of the woods.
"More people?" Mio asked, but she quieted down when she heard Ruby gasp. "Ruby-chan?" she asked as she turned to her.
"T-They're from Atlas," she mumbled. "And Mantle!" She quickly stood and rushed towards the screen.
Everyone's eyes widened. "These must be the people that Cinder woman sent flying off the Crossroads!" IRyS gasped.
"Subaru, I'm aware of the world those people came from!" A-chan said into her phone. "I'm with a person from there world right now and know the reason they're here."
As A-chan spoke to Subaru, Ruby watched in horror as some of the people who came out of the forest weren't alive, being carried off by police officers on stretchers. The camera zoomed in on one of them: a young girl with poofy orange hair wearing a white blouse and a green skirt held up by green suspenders…
"Penny…?" Ruby asked quietly as the whole world vanished except for Penny, looking so serene, as if she was asleep. However, the sight of her bloody blouse…
Sound became muted as Ruby's eyes rolled back into her head, and her legs lost the ability to support her.
An: Poor Ruby. Hope y'all enjoyed this one! Next chapter, we'll switch back to Jaune and Tempus and some special guests! Look forward to it!
Koko de nani o shite iru no?-Roughly translates to "What are you girls doing here?"
Rubī-chan no otetsudai o shite imasu. Kanojo wa boido o tōrinuke, IRyS-chan wa kanojo no tōchaku o kanjimashita.-Roughly translates into "I'm helping Ruby-chan here. She fell through the Void and IRyS-chan sensed her arrival."
Wakatta wakatta!-Roughly translates to "I see, I see!"
Hajimemashite, Rubī-chan!-Roughly translates into "It's nice meet you, Ruby-chan!"
Nē, Fubuki-senpai, dōshite kono kōen ni kita no? Anata wa itsumo higashinohō ni ikimasu ka?-Roughly translates into "Hey, Fubuki-senpai, what brings you this park? You usually visit the east one?"
Omoni riben-sei no tamedeshita. Watashi no chīmu to no dotanba de no torēningu ni sanka shite imasu.-Roughly translates into "It was mainly for convenience. Just getting in some last minute training with my team."
Matte. Gēmāzu mo koko ni?-Roughly translates into "Wait. The Gamers are here too?"
Un-Roughly translates to "Yeah."
Hai-Roughly translates to "Yes."
Matte-Roughly translates to "Wait."
Sate-Roughly translates to "Now then."
Ochiba-Roughly translates to "Falling leaves."