HoloRWBY-Alternate

An: Another day, another chapter. Hope everyone enjoys it!

Chapter 7: The Heavy Badge's Bittersweet Burden, part 2

IRyS glared at the man in front of her as he stood, a bright green glow shimmering around him. "Hehehe…!" He grinned widely as he stared at his hands. "I don't know what's going on, but I like it! I feel like my Aura's doubl-NO! TRIPLED!"

'That's not too far off the mark, either,' IRyS thought as she stared at the man. 'His Aura has nearly tripled thanks to his Alteration. It's nothing special on its own, but with the ability to affect a person's mind, this might get quite bothersome if I don't end this quickly.'

Korone noticed IRyS was about to get into a fight and was about to turn and join her when her ears perked up at the sound of ground shattering off in the distance. She turned to see the man she launched flying at her.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the man howled. "I'VE NEVER FELT SO POWERFUL! NOW IT'S PAYBACK-!" Korone didn't let him finish as she appeared in front of him and slammed her fist into his face. Air bellowed from the strike as the ground below them broke under Korone's feet. The man was launched backwards again with a cry of pain.

The leader smirked and vanished from in front of Subaru and rushed towards Ruby. Subaru cursed and tried to pursue, but her danger sense went wild, making dodge a swipe at her head. She turned to see the man she knocked into the forest. "You again, huh?!" she snarled. "Know your place!"

"That's my line!" the man roared and swung his sword at Subaru, who blocked it with her bat. They connected with a loud clang, and wind dispersed violently from the point of impact, knocking the children down and causing the refugees to stumble to the side. The ground below the two combatants fractured and shot up in large slabs as the two struggled.

The leader rushed Ruby, however, Fubuki appeared in front of him, a katana in her hands. He growled and swung his weapon, a gun, and the fox girl unsheathed her katana, Murasamemaru. Suddenly, several slashes literally appeared in midair. The man scoffed and ran at them. However, as soon as his shoulder connected with one, he was thrown off course and skidded across the ground. "What the hell?!"

"Nani?! Dōshite kare no kata ga kirisaka rete inai nodeshou ka?!" Fubuki exclaimed.

Fubuki's shout caused Ruby to try and regain her composure. "It's Aura, Fubuki!" she shouted, making the fox girl smirk.

"Oooh! Wakatta!" Fubuki spun Murasamemaru around into a stance. "Sate…eh?!" Fubuki was in shock as the man suddenly vanished and appeared behind her. "Ruby-chan!" the Idol exclaimed as the man ran towards the Huntress. The fox girl turned to pursue, but suddenly, the man Subaru was fighting appeared in front of her!

With quick, rapid slashes, Fubuki cut the man to pieces, only for the body to break apart into paper-like material. "Kurōn?"

"Like my Semblance, foxy?!" the man laughed as multiple clones surrounded Subaru and Fubuki.

"Great! Just what I needed!" Subaru hissed, quickly redirecting the sword locked with her bat and swinging at the man's head, which burst apart into paper as well. "More annoying loud mouths!" The clones laughed as they began to advance. The two scowled and prepared for a fight.

Meanwhile Ruby was back to her feet and trying to direct the children away from the fighting. The leader smirked as he switched his gun into its knife form. "Now you!" he shouted and readied his knife. This terrified the children around Ruby. Ruby, meanwhile, was frozen stiff, her eyes widened as the world faded around her and all she saw was Salem rushing towards her. Panic slowly trickled into her psyche, and her breaths started to become shallow.

"Miss Huntress, the bad man's closing in!" a child cried, the desperation in her voice jolting Ruby back to coherence.

She ran in front of the children before she realized what she was doing, Floating Array held firm in her hands. The visage of Salem morphed into a dark monstrosity. 'What am I doing?!' She shook a bit until the man was in striking distance, and the children around her screamed in fear, making her shake her head frantically.

'No. Stop that, Ruby!' she thought. 'You can't think that! These kids are counting on you!' The Salem image seemed to grow around her. 'Come on! Fight it! Salem's not here!' The giant Salem started wrapping around her. 'Dammit! You're supposed to be better than this, Ruby Rose! GET OVER IT!'

Suddenly, the image of Salem vanished, and she saw the man with is knife ready to slash her. She growled. "Stay Away!" she screamed and swung Floating Array down. The man smirked, as this was what he wanted and quickly activated his Semblance, swiftly warping behind Ruby. Her eyes widened in shock when the man vanished, and she heard his laughter behind her. She spun on the balls of her feet and raised Floating Array to defend, but she was too slow. The man struck, slashing at her torso, making her cry out in pain.

However, that wasn't all Ruby noticed. Looking down she noticed he cut through her blouse. Her eyes widened. 'H-He cut through my Aura?! How did he-?!' Her thoughts were interrupted by the children as they screamed for her, making her turn back to the man as he stepped close to rain more slashes down on her. Stumbling back, Ruby was quick to avoid several of the strikes, only faltering when she had to swerve to miss a child behind her. The man struck, making Ruby bring up Floating Array in defense; however, the man warped to her side and slashed her three more times in the chest, the knife easily cutting through her Aura and damaging her blouse. She gritted her teeth.

'This is bad! His strikes are somehow strong enough to cut through and nearly destroy my Aura! My Aura Shield won't hold up much longer!' she thought as she ducked under one of his swings and thrust Floating Array forward, hoping to stab the man. However, he smirked and warped away from the strike. However, Ruby was prepared and spun Penny's blade around, but he warped away again. 'And he has a teleportation Semblance to boot!'

"You're pathetic! No wonder Beacon was destroyed!" the man shouted at her, making her flinch back. He tried to stab her again, but she spun and swung Floating Array; however, the man warped away again and appeared just in front of her.

"It's no wonder the Protector of Mantle died on your watch!" Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to defend with the blade again, but he was quicker and stabbed her shoulder, making her hiss and stumble back as more of her Aura was depleted. He appeared behind her, making her spin to strike him, but he warped away. She growled as he appeared behind her again, but this time, Ruby was faster, spinning fast as Floating Array cut through the air.

"Stay still!" she screamed. The man smirked and activated his Semblance again. However, neither noticed the slight, silvery shimmer that danced across Ruby's blade. Just as Floating Array closed in on the man, it connected solidly with the man's side. He gasped in shock and pain as Ruby completed her swing and sent him flying into the air.

'W-What the hell?!' he thought in alarm. 'How did she hit me?! I was halfway through my jump!' His wide, frantic eyes trained on Ruby, as she moved to slash him again. It infuriated him. "I don't know how you did that, but it won't happen again!" he roared and teleported again. Ruby readied herself, but she wasn't prepared for him to warp below her and kick her feet out from under her. "How many more lives do you have to sacrifice before you realize you're not cut out to save anyone?!" he sneered, making her eyes widen and her Aura control falter. This was enough for him to thrust forward and stab her stomach with all his might.

Ruby gasped in pain as the knife punctured her Aura and pierced her skin. Abruptly, her Aura shattered like glass, making the man smirk as he stared up at Ruby like she was a fish impaled on a harpoon. With a surprising show of strength, he casually flicked her off his knife, causing her to hit the ground hard and roll several feet.

She exclaimed in pain as she skidded to a stop and quickly bent at her waist and put her hands on her wound, hoping to ease the pain and staunch the bleeding. The children ran to her and cried as they crowded around her. She looked up to see the man smirk at her as he cleaned his knife. He stared at the children around her and sneered.

"Move brats!" he shouted.

"No! Leave her alone, you bully!" a five-year-old boy screamed.

"Stop hurting Miss Huntress!" a young girl shouted.

The other children begged and shouted at the man, but he was unrepentant. "Fine! Then-!" His sentence was cut off when he sensed something falling on his head, causing him to jump back. Just as he did, a deadly looking spear landed right where he was, impacting the ground with a small crater. "What the hell's happening now?!" he demanded as a figure dropped beside the spear. Ruby gasped, her tears starting to overflow.

"P-Pyrrha…?" she whispered brokenly. The figure, clade in elegant bronze armor and a red sash turned, making Ruby gasp again when she realized that, despite the similar armor, look, and size, it wasn't her deceased friend. Rather, it was a tall suit of armor with a red plume ponytail on the helmet.

"You're wrong about Ruby-chan," came a new voice. Ruby's eyes widened as she turned to see Sora walking up to the group, with A-chan and a tiny, green haired girl in a green and black gothic dress trailing behind her. The man sneered at her.

"What are you talking about, bitch?!" he growled. Sora wasn't intimidated.

"You claim she's unfit to protect people, but you are the one attacking her, and are even willing to harm children to do so," she continued.

Her face contorted into a stern frown, making everyone shiver involuntarily. "From my perspective, you're the disappointment here. I've already heard what the young girl with the orphans said about you. What gives you the right to pass judgement on one who worked to protect all that she could? By what authority can you condemn her when your crimes are far worse than anything she's done? How can you stand there and claim she can't protect anyone when you willfully abandoned them at the first sign of danger?"

The man recovered from his fear of Sora and growled angrily. "I didn't come here to be insulted by a kid!" he roared and warped in front of Sora. She simply gave him a dull glance as his knife flashed down on her. However, the knight behind him grabbed its spear and jumped towards the man, spinning it deftly and letting it slide out of its hand until it reached the butt of the spear before grabbing hold tightly. Then, it wrapped one of its legs around the shaft, for extra strength and support, and swung it at the man's side.

The spear connected before the man even reached Sora's personal space. He gasped in pain as the momentum of the swing threw him away from Ruby and the orphans and made him spin like a top and careen into the ground. Ruby and the children gasped at the sight, while Sora directed her gaze back to Ruby.

"I'll admit it's impressive your Alteration made you powerful enough for one of my Knights to come fight you, but I'm afraid that's only a near thing," the Idol commented as she continued walking to Ruby and the children. "I'll leave the rest to you, Spear Knight." The red clad knight nodded and jumped towards the man, spear at the ready. The man looked up, startled, as the Spear Knight thrusted its spear down, forcing the man to dodge out of the way.

Sora stopped paying attention to the fight as she walked up to Ruby, who was watching the exchange between the Huntsman and the Spear Knight completely dumbfounded. Sora reached the Huntress and knelt to her level and placed a gentle hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby turned to her, startled. The first Hololive Idol simply smiled at her.

"Are you well, Ruby-chan?" Sora asked.

"W-Wha-? H-How-? Y-Yeah…" she mumbled and looked down at the knife wound in her stomach. A-chan walked up and knelt to Ruby, placing her hand out in front of her aimed at Ruby's stomach. Instantly, her hands glowed green, and the wound started stitching itself up. Ruby sighed as the pain started receding.

"T-Thank you…" she mumbled. A-chan simply smiled at her.

"It's no problem, Ruby-chan," she said.

"Children? Are you ok, as well?" Sora asked kindly to the orphans.

"Yeah! Yeah, we're fine!" The children exclaimed, in awe at the woman before them.

"Thank you for saving Miss Huntress, miss!" one of the girl said cheerfully. Sora giggled.

"It was no issue! Ruby-chan is my friend, after all!" the Idol explained. "It's only natural that I'd come to help her!"

"But why did she need help?" a young boy asked. "She's a Huntress! She took on super giant Grimm at Mantle with little help!"

"I know she did; however, Miss Huntress," Sora giggled at Ruby's new nickname, "is struggling with some very painful wounds right now, and it's effecting her abilities." The children gasped.

"S-She's hurt?! B-But she wasn't bleeding before that bad guy hurt her! And that nice lady healed her up!" another child protested, as she gestured to A-chan when she said 'nice lady.'

"These wounds aren't physical, my dears," Sora explained gently. She reached out and lightly tapped Ruby's sternum, right above her heart. "These wounds…are inflicted on her heart," she told them, getting another gasp from the orphans.

Meanwhile, Sora's Spear Knight was still fighting the warping Huntsman. He noticed Sora, Ruby, and the children and tried to warp to them, but Spear Knight swung its spear, forcing him to duck under it. Spear Knight responded by surging forward and kicking the man in the chin, making him gasp as he was thrown into the air. He warped back to the ground and tried stabbing the spirit, but Spear Knight spun its spear around, deflecting the strike. The man continued his assault, but the knight continued spinning it weapon to continue deflecting the smaller blade.

"You see children," Sora began to explain, "Ruby…has a protector's heart." As she talked, the man Korone had launched away returned and tried to assault the kids. They gave the man a fearful glance, only for Korone to reappear in front of them. The man growled and started throwing punches towards the dog girl. Korone settled into a boxing stance and easily dodged all the strikes as if the man wasn't even moving at all.

The children were in awe of Korone, but they turned their attention back to Sora when she continued to speak. "She is one who cannot stand by and let others be harmed if she can do something to stop it." The man roared when he couldn't land a hit on the girl and tried a leg sweep, but Korone simply hopped over it. Sensing an opportunity, she rushed him, raining several heavy jabs on his chest, making air disperse from each hit. The man gasped in pain as he staggered back, but Korone stepped forward and slammed a fist into the side of his head, making him spin away and crash into the ground.

Ruby watched the scene, dumbfounded. "This makes her an amazing Huntress," Sora continued and regained Ruby's attention as well. "However, it's her greatest weakness." The children looked confused, and Sora elaborated. "Ruby-chan has a strength many envy. But even great heroes are not immune to wounds to the heart."

IRyS, meanwhile, fired a ray of light towards her opponent, but it passed through him like he wasn't there. However, it was a ploy to make the man appear and allow IRyS to form a sphere of light behind her. The man appeared behind her, but the sphere turned into a beam of light and shot at the man, hitting his shoulder. He yelped and tried to run, but the Nephilim turned and grabbed him by the face. He tried to escape, but IRyS quickly deduced she was holding an Oozora Police officer and quickly released him, turning to catch her enemy's fist aimed at the back of her head.

"These wounds are harder to heal, and appear when a hero feels they failed," Sora said. "From what I've been told, Ruby-chan has carried the burden of multiple wounds to her heart over the course of two years." Sora smiled at her audience. "Ruby is amazing because unlike many others, she was able to soldier on with those wounds. However, when she lost her closest friend, it finally caused the wounds to become too much."

Fubuki and Subaru were being rushed by dozens of clones. Sword and bat flashed through the air faster than the human eye could see. The clone men laughed as they continued the assault, believing they would overwhelm the girls with sheer numbers. However, Fubuki grew annoyed and Murasamemaru flashed rapidly around the pair, causing several slashes to instantly appear between them and the clones. The clones laughed and rushed the slashes, only to pass right through them. Confused, they instantly fell to pieces, as did the others who rushed after them. The leader was shocked at how all his clones were destroyed as Subaru ran towards one of the slashes and jumped through it. She swung her bat to deflect all the strikes aimed at her and used the force to launch herself at the main body. The man tried to flee, but Subaru was already on top of him and with a loud yell, slammed her bat into the side of his head and brought him down to earth, forming a massive crater in the ground and shattering his Aura again. He could only groan in pain as he fell into unconsciousness.

"Ruby wasn't her best today because of these wounds. I have no doubt if her friend had lived, she would have beaten these men easily without issue before their Alterations," Sora concluded.

"But why did you not get the wounds healed up, Miss Huntress?" a child asked of Ruby, making the silver eyed teen flustered for a moment.

"B-I-It's because I didn't have time," she admitted hastily. "S-Since Beacon, everything happened at once, a-and I…I couldn't…" She sighed and bowed her head. "I couldn't stop. I had to keep moving…" She felt several arms hug her, making her look up see the orphans hug her. Looks of admiration and sadness and determination gazed up at her, making her tense up as emotion surged through her.

Sora reached out and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby-chan," she said softly, "you may not understand it yourself, but your kind soul makes you an incredible person, but you've taken too much responsibility on yourself. That's what caused your wounds to hurt the most." Back with IRyS, she twisted the man's wrist and, with viperlike precision, slammed a cupped hand hard against his ear. He cried out in pain as his equilibrium was disrupted, making him disoriented. IRyS quickly conjured up and fired another beam of light at his head, shattering his Aura and knocking him out. "But you're not alone anymore," Sora continued. "Please don't shoulder all the world's burdens alone. It will only hurt you more. It's ok to ask for help if you're overwhelmed or hurt."

"B-But…" Ruby tried to protest, but she couldn't find her voice. Ozpin's voice about being a leader rang out in her head, making her shake her head.

The man Korone was fighting returned to his feet, only for Korone to be right above him, one leg raised high. The man could only yell as Korone slammed his head back to the ground with a vicious axe kick, cratering the ground even more than Subaru as she shattered the man's Aura. He cried out, surprisingly still awake. Not for long, though, as Korone kicked him in the face, sending him to blissful unconsciousness. "Ruby-chan," Sora sighed, "you've been a strong leader for two long years now. You're an inspiration. However, what I don't think anyone told you is how important it is for leaders to have people to rely on when their burdens become too much."

Ruby's eyes watered a bit as a loud yell caught her attention. She turned to see the Huntsman warp towards her, but before he could finish his warp, the Spear Knight thrust its spear towards where he was warping, making him stumble forward as he appeared. This was enough of a distraction for the Spear Knight rush the man and slam the spear's shaft into the man's side hard. He gasped in pain, spittle flying from his mouth as he was launched into the air. Spear Knight then thrust its spear forward again, slamming into the man's chest hard. He cried loudly as his Aura shattered to pieces.

Before he could be skewered by the spear, Spear Knight spun and used the flat of the blade to bring him back to earth with a loud crash, making a crater even bigger than the one Korone and Subaru made! Suddenly, the orphans and the other refugees erupted into cheers as the man struggled to stay conscious. However, the pain was too much, and he too drifted off into dreamland.

Subaru and the others were quickly to gather the four together and tie them up. As they finished the task, Subaru whistled loudly, and instantly loud quacks resounded throughout the park. Having finally returned to her feet, Ruby looked up and gaped at what she saw. 'What the ducks-?!' she thought as four ducks, far larger than any duck she'd ever seen flew down and grabbed the men by their shoulders.

"Take these idiots to the station," she ordered. The ducks quacked enthusiastically and quickly took off into the skies with their baggage in tow, to the laughter and amazement of the refugees.

Ruby, meanwhile, stood watching the whole thing in shock until she felt yet another hug around her legs. She looked down to see a young girl smiling up at her. The girl patted her leg and said, "I hope you get better soon, Miss Huntress!" she said before she took off after the other orphans. She turned back and waved at Ruby. "Bye, bye, Miss Huntress!"

Ruby could only wave back, stupefied. Sighing, she turned away and noticed Sora walking towards her with the green haired girl. The Idol smiled at Ruby, who returned it hesitantly.

"I apologize that I was late getting here, Ruby-chan," Sora commented. Ruby shook her head.

"No, it's fine," she sighed. "I…I don't think any of us expected…that…" Sora nodded. Ruby looked uncomfortable for a moment. "S-Sora…d-did you…do you really think I'm worth all this praise the people were giving me?" Sora looked to her and blinked.

"Yes. Why?" Ruby shook her head.

"Never mind." Sora looked upset, but she decided to drop it and push the green haired girl in front of her.

"Ruby-chan, I'd like to introduce you to Uruha Rushia, Hololive's resident Necromancer!" Sora said, grandly introducing Rushia. Ruby blinked.

"Wait. She's a Necromancer?" she asked in confusion. Rushia tilted her head in confusion.

"I am. Is that a problem?" Rushia asked curiously.

"N-No. Just surprised, is all." Rushia nodded at the explanation and turned to the bodies off the main path.

"Are those the bodies?" she asked. Sora nodded, which Rushia responded to with the same. "Alright."

The three walked up to the bodies, with Subaru, IRyS, and the Gamers joining them on the way. Rushia stopped in front of the bodies just as the Oozora Police finished opening the body bags and closed her eyes. She stretched out her senses, examining the Ethereal energy from the bodies and tracking down any similar signature in the area. Suddenly, her eyes opened with a gasp as she fell to her knees.

"Rushia?!/Rushia-senpai!" the Idols exclaimed and were quick to fall to her side. Rushia gasped loudly as she tried to steady her breathing, her face wide with fear.

"Rushia-chan! What happened?!" Sora asked frantically. Rushia held up a hand to stall any more questions as she worked to regain her breath. When she did, she let out a shaky sigh.

"…That was…unexpected…" she said heavily.

"Rushia-senpai?" IRyS inquired.

"The Ethereal energy surrounding most of the bodies is…I can't describe it," Rushia commented quietly. "It was…well, I hesitate to say 'evil,' but…that's the closet word I can use to describe It. It was like I was staring into the maw of some Great Ancient Beast, wanting to devour me."

This caused the Idols some worry, as well as Ruby. "And that's not counting the feel of the Ethereal energy of the bodies before us," Rushia continued. "Normally, we have a grace period of three days to resurrect a person who has passed away, but these bodies…" She turned to the bodies, a disturbed look crossing her face. "It's as if the Ethereal energy left within them has been…tainted…"

Ruby gasped and turned to Penny's body. "N-No way…! Does that mean Penny's…!" she couldn't finish her sentence. Luckily, however, Rushia noticed this and shook her head.

"You don't have to worry," Rushia explained, turning to Penny's body. "Hers in one of the few that doesn't have this taint to it." She turned to the group and said, "However, I'm afraid that their souls are not within this immediate vicinity. Which is odd since some of them clearly died to Beasts from Ochiba…"

"Which means, there's something more going on here," A-chan commented with a frown.

"More so than we thought," IRyS said, worried.

Ruby closed her eyes tightly as struggled not to cry. Fubuki and Korone were quick to place a hand on either of her shoulders, making her turn to them. They gave her comforting nods, and Ruby returned them with a sad one of her own.

The group turned to walk out of the park. Things were silent as they were reaching the entrance when suddenly, a bunch of kids suddenly rushed down to see them, followed by a few doctors. "Miss Huntress! Miss Huntress!" the kids cried as they ran up to Ruby, hopping in place eagerly. Ruby stared down at them in confusion.

"Uh, yes?" she asked. The children immediately held up several pieces of paper to her.

"This is for you!" one said.

"Take mine first!" another shouted.

"No! She needs mine first!" a girl exclaimed.

"Ok! Ok! Calm down! It's fine! Let me see 'em!" Ruby told them as they started handing her the pages. Once she had collected them all, she held them up to see what was on them, and her eyes widened slowly as she carefully flipped through each page.

Each page held a crayon drawing of her battling Grimm in Mantle and/or saving people. And almost all of them had something nice to say to her. Some even had drawings of Sora and her knight, Korone, Fubuki, Subaru, and IRyS as well. Ruby clenched the papers tightly as she tried not to tear up.

"T-Thank you. All of you!" she told the children and gave them a watery smile. "These are amazing!" This caused the children to shout out happily as the doctors began to lead them back to the tents. Ruby watched them go with a smile as the others crowded around her to see the pictures.

(…)

"Awww! It's so cute!" Rushia exclaimed as she took the pictures and flipped through them.

"Ahahahahahaha! I look awesome!" Korone grinned.

"Hah! This one drew my Hyaku Katto no Aria!" Fubuki laughed.

"Huh. They made my halo of stars into two instead of a single combined one," IRyS commented. "Cool."

Sora laughed. "You see Ruby, you don't need to be so hard on yourself," she said, smiling down at a picture of her and Ruby charging the Huntsman together. "Those people love you just the way you are! You are their hero!"

"…Yeah. Yeah, I…I guess I am," she said quietly, a few tears unknowingly falling down her face as she smiled a page of her leading a group of children away from a dark forest.

An: And that's the end of chapter 7! I hope everyone enjoys it! I've put a lot of effort into it! It's longer than I wanted it to be, and I didn't end it with a tease of the main villain like I intended, but I felt this was the best way to end the chapter. I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! The next two will cover the conclusion of Jaune and Tempus fighting a Bigfoot! 'Till next time!

Nani?! Dōshite kare no kata ga kirisaka rete inai nodeshou ka?!- Roughly translates into "What?! How is his shoulder not cut open?!"

Wakatta!- Roughly translates into "I get it now!"

Kurōn- Roughly translates into "Clone."

Hyaku Katto no Aria- Roughly translates into "Aria of a Hundred Cuts."