Heyo once again y'all! Thank you so much for sticking around and helping this story grow, and I apologise for the long wait for this chapter, it's and extra-long one, so should be worth the wait. Also, change-up to how I'll be try to answer reviews, in order not to overinflate the chapters, I'll directly message responses to reviews attached to accounts, including reviews from the same account but done in the guest format. I'll still answer proper guest reviews the regular way. Hopefully my responses have reached their respective accounts by now. Speaking of which, onto the (guest) reviews!

Travis S: Thank you again for the review dude, and really happy that you're enjoying the chapters so far! And cooorect, he is related to exactly who you think he is ;D. Gotta put some respect on the side-character's names sometime, right? Thanks again dude, and enjoy the chapter!

Guest 1: Super happy you're loving this version of Ruby! While I've always liked the canon one, I'm still glad that my own version is one that people really seem to like.

With that said, onto the show!


Fighting Rose

Chapter 14

Portside Punchout


Yang hummed as she rolled her hips and shook her legs out, having finished her last set of jump-tucks, thus ending her exercise routine for the day. As she sat and rested, she closed her eyes and simply took in the sensations within herself. She could feel the warmth of her blood coursing through her veins, almost each individual drop of sweat, every muscle-fibre brimming with life. She wasn't tired, but her body felt warmed up and ready to go.

'Should probably up my training,' She thought, 'Can't have Ruby catching up to me too quickly.'

After a quick shower and change, she made her way back to the dorm, finding Weiss staring rather blankly at a wall while fidgeting with one hand. Yang huffed and ignored her for the time being, quickly moving to check her scroll as soon as she saw one unread message on it from a couple minutes ago.

Blake and I are fine, she just needed time to breathe.

That made Yang sigh in relief, happy that her sister and partner were alright, though the next part made her eyebrows knit together.

We might not be coming back, be in Portside Vale in an hour and a half. Something might go down, so bring Weiss.

Yang was quick to type out, You sure that's a good idea?

if this is as big as I think it is, then we'll need her support. Besides, Weiss needs to get over herself if we want to become an effective team. No better time than now.

Alright, Yang typed, coming soon and stay safe. Send me your location if anything happens.

Will do. Love you sis.

Yang smiled at that. Love ya too. Peace out. She put her scroll away and paused as she noticed Weiss staring at her.

"What? Got somethin' to say?" Yang said gruffly as she made her way to the closet and took out her brown jacket, quickly throwing it on and moving to put on Ember Celica next.

"Ruby's still with Blake, isn't she?"

Yang paused at that before answering, "Yeah, what about it?"

"How can you not be mad with her!?" Weiss yelled, "She hid the fact that she was a Faunus, that she was in that filth-ridden White Fang-!"

"YES I'M MAD!" Yang shouted, baring down on Weiss, "I'm MAD she didn't tell us, but you know what!? It's not because she hid it from me, she's got every right not to tell anyone about it. I can at least UNDERSTAND why she hid it! Why she ran!"

Weiss refused to back down, her thoughts and bottled emotions from last night exploding in one big burst. "She somehow snuck into Beacon, I just know it! To think she could've got past Ozpin-!"

"Get your head out of your ass Weiss!" Yang snarled, "How do you think Jaune, freaking Jaune got past Ozpin with fake transcripts!?"

Weiss paused at that, her mind working furiously, "You… you don't mean to suggest he knew about Blake being in the Fang?"

"Of course he knew!" Yang groaned, "Say what you will about him, but the guy has access to info about us that we may not even know ourselves! He's not stupid Weiss, every decision he makes, he does it with something in mind. Say what you will about Jaune, but that aura he's got… it's even bigger than mine, and I'm pretty sure it's got a lot of room to grow."

"What does that have to do with Blake?"

"Are you seriously dumb? This is twice now we're getting into bullshit arguments…" Yang growled, "Blake had to have been a White Fang member at one point. With how the White Fang are now, and knowing that you'd be attending Beacon, not even he's bold enough to let an active Fang member come here. If she still was…" She looked Weiss dead in the eye, "… she could've killed you in your sleep."

Weiss started to shake.

"Would've been easy too," Yang said in an off-handed tone, "She could've slit your throat, stabbed you in the heart, decapitated you, suffocated you, and slipped off into the night. You're just as heavy a sleeper as I am, so you could've died without even knowing."

"Th-the innocent don't run Yang," Weiss said weakly, though Yang just raised a brow.

"Look in the mirror and realize who she's running from." That shut her up, something about Weiss' body seemed to slump. "… anyways, suit up. Ruby and I both seem to have the same idea about the dust-thefts, and it seems like she's found something thanks to Blake. We're gonna need your support if a brawl breaks out."

"… so be it," Weiss said, her expression schooled as she grabbed Myrtenaster from a case under her bed.

With that, Yang huffed and calmed down as they left.

Portside Vale, Evening…

"Yang texted back, she'll be around here in a few minutes," Ruby said to Sun and Blake, "Weiss is coming too, but don't worry about seeing her until absolutely necessary."

"Thank you," Blake sighed in relief.

The roof of the portside warehouses were thankfully empty at the moment, allowing them to look over the stretch of docks

"Wow, I heard stories and rumours," Sun chuckled, "But is the Schnee actually that bad?"

Seeing Blake's discomfort, Ruby jumped in to cover for her. "Oh, well uh… kinda?" Sun raised a brow and grinned at that. "Okay, so she has her… tough-to-deal-with moments."

"She challenged Ruby for the right to be leader and jeopardized her schooling at Beacon for the sake of her pride," Blake snorted as Sun's eyebrows went up, "Ruby beat that brat within an inch of her life."

Sun turned back to Ruby with an appraising look: if there was one consistent thing that was said about Weiss Schnee, it was that she was at the very least an extremely skilled fighter, and the Schnee semblance only served to further enhance her abilities into the top tiers of the new students. Ruby's cheeks turned red at the sudden attention before she straightened up, a stern look shot at Blake.

"Yes, she can be very difficult to deal with," Ruby conceded, "But it seems like everyone here's gone through some kind of childhood bullcrap. For Weiss, and for you, for all of us… you should know that hatred is taught Blake."

Blake turned quiet at that, looking down and mulling over her words.

"Sooo, since we got some backstory for miss dark and broody over here," Blake rolled her eyes at that, "Tell me 'bout yourself!"

"What's there to tell?" Ruby asked, embarrassment at the attention growing.

"C'mon, you've got my blood all fired up!" Sun laughed, "Younger than most of us, but your aura's packin' power well beyond the average of our age-bracket, and not to mention you beat Weiss Schnee!"

"I-I mean, I'm just doing my job as any fighter should…" Ruby mumbled, idly kicking a pebble to try (and failing to) hide her growing blush, though it faded as her eyes hardened. "… besides, I need to face way tougher opponents. I wanna grow, evolve, win. Weiss was the first step, and I have an idea of who I'm gunning for next."

"Huh…" Sun said, startling Ruby as his eyes flashed that same colour of stark yellow, much like the day before.

"S-sorry, got carried away again," Ruby squeaked.

"N-no, not at all!" Sun said while waving his hands in a placating manner, "It's just… well, my family back in Vacuo shares a lot of the same ideals, and while I'd expect that from them, especially the hard-asses from my mom's side… I didn't think that there'd be anyone out there who'd dedicate themselves like that. That's seriously cool. I mean, y'know, not that I'm calling you a hardass or anything!"

Ruby stopped Sun with a hand on his shoulder, her cheeks still red but a beaming, grateful smile on her face. "Thanks Sun. I don't do this for fame or anything like that, but… it's nice to know that someone can see my effort."

"Heh, felt it too," He chuckled, holding up the same palm that Ruby had clashed with the other day, "Though, you were comin' on a little too strong back then, lettin' your aura burst from you like that."

"Yeah, I know. Even with all the crap that happened, I still lost focus and injured myself." Ruby sighed, Blake raising a brow as the two suddenly seemed to fall into a comfortable rhythm nerding out about aura.

"Well, it's only natural that you lose focus sometimes," Sun said earnestly, "Not every day is gonna be a happy one, and not every battle is gonna be perfect." He held up a palm and Blake gasped as his hand glowed, a perfect sphere of yellow aura fizzling into existence. "That's why you gotta learn to adapt!"

"True…" Ruby said, distracted and equally awed by the sphere as she poked it with her hands. "Didn't peg you as one to use aura-shaping."

"Ah well, can't use it for much other than charging my super-ultimate move!"

"It's a beam-type, isn't it?" Ruby guessed with a grin while Sun groaned.

"Kill all my fun, why don't you?" Still, he grinned again. "Yeah, beam-type. What about you?"

"Oh, I only really use slash-types with my legs," Ruby sighed, "It'd be awesome to fire a giant red laser from my hand, but I'm way better at controlling aura on an internal scale."

"Fair enough," Sun nodded before grinning, "You got any other cool attack names?"

"A ton," Ruby said gleefully, "I've got my Crescent Rose Kick, Crescent Bullet, Crescent Lance… just a lot of crescent-themed stuff."

"If you don't mind me asking," Blake piped up, "Why do you shout attack-names?"

"Well… think about it like this," Ruby said as she turned to Blake, "When I say straight-right, you think of a straight right-handed punch, isn't that right?" Blake nodded, though was still confused. "When you say left-roundhouse, you think of a left-roundhouse. It's pretty much the same concept here! Saying it out loud helps me better ingrain what I'm actually going to do, along with every function of it within an instant."

She put up her guard and lifted her leg slowly.

"Get into my stance…" She slowly twisted and started to extend her leg. "Let aura flow and pool in my leg…" She fully extended, a slightly pulse of red creating a tiny gust of wind. "And then fire off what's around it like a loaded gun! Really helps streamline the process. Think about it, I noticed that you've got specific moves in your repertoire, and I don't doubt that you think about the process before actually doing it."

"That's…" Blake pondered, realising the truth behind the statement. Hell, she technically had a named attack of her own, simple as it was.

"Oh uh… that's true, but I just think it's really cool more than anything else," Sun admitted sheepishly. Blake gave Sun an incredulous look, only for her jaw to drop as Ruby solemnly nodded with him.

"Oh yeah, the cooler it sounds, the more effective it is," Ruby agreed wholeheartedly.

"…you two are weirdos," Blake groaned, only for the hair on the back of her neck to rise as she felt waves of glee roll off Ruby.

"Weirdos huh? Ahem…" Ruby coughed, "…Hey Sun, you ever heard of a book series called 'Ninjas of Love?'"

"Yeah actually, isn't it a bunch of smut and-?"

"OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, I'M HUNGRY. SUN, GO GET US SOME FOOD," Blake said as her aura wafted off of her, shadow appearing to cover her face as her eyes glowed menacingly, pure crushing intent layered on Sun. While it didn't physically affect him, he was still smart enough to recognise when a lady was angry.

"Right, getting food!" He cried, scrambling to his feet and hopping off to find some grub. Blake then turned back to Ruby, her cheeks burning red with utter mortification.

"H-how did you even…?" Blake stammered.

"You left it on your bed and the false cover slipped off," Ruby chuckled, her own cheeks going a bit pink, "So I got curious and I gotta say Blake… you've got good taste."

"Y-you… read that stuff!? But you're fifteen!" Blake asked.

"So what if I'm fifteen!?" Ruby cried, her face going horribly red as she realized that this may have backfired on her, "It's filth and I like it! I LIKE IIIIIIIIT!"

Everything was quiet for a moment before both girls' cheeks puffed up and they burst into peeling laughter. Ruby was flat out on her back while Blake could barely sit upright, trying to regain her breath.

"R-Ruby…" Blake wheezed, "You're an odd one."

"Pfft, I've been told," She giggled as she calmed down. "… huh. I guess I really needed this."

"…me running away?" Blake asked, her voice smaller.

"Oh, nonono, that's not what I mean!" Ruby reassured her, "Just… something to distance myself from him…" Her expression turned dead as Blake felt waves of anger beginning to roil off her body, though she didn't flinch or shy away. Ruby caught herself and closed her eyes, sighing as she let the anger fizzle out, at least for the time being. Blake couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked as she stared into the orange sky of the setting sun, peaceful yet a bit… sad.

"Well," Blake started to change the topic, "Looks like all the crates have been loaded up."

"Seems so. Now…" Ruby groaned, "We wait."

The sun set not too long after, both girls just sitting around and waiting. Ruby was the first to get bored, idly fiddling around with her bracers while Blake diligently kept watch.

"…Still nothing?" Ruby asked, her eyebrow raised as she noted the time, the moon already well into the sky. Not unusual for a summer night, but for it to be this late without anything happening was certainly strange, especially considering that piles of dust laying around completely…

"Unguarded…?" Ruby muttered, catching Blake's attention. Both of them were interrupted as Sun hopped onto the roof, a heap of food perfectly balanced in his arms.

"Yo, I'm back."

"I can tell," Ruby chuckled before she started to drool at the sight of food. "What did you manage to get?"

"Oh, not much but I managed to swipe sandwiches, some chicken legs, beef, couple apples, and some cookies." Seeing Ruby's face light up like a Christmas tree made him grin and toss a batch of cookies at her, Ruby expertly snatching them out of the air with sharp jabs and devouring them in the next instant.

"Do you always steal something without a care in the world?" Blake asked, a displeased look on her face.

"Hey now, weren't you in a cult or something?"

Blake shot Sun the most evil glare while Ruby's eyes bulged as she nearly choked on her cookie, pounding her chest and managing not to both burst into laughter while suffocating.

"Aaaanyhow," Ruby said, her face going serious again, "Sun, did you see any security guards around here? With a Schnee shipment of dust this big, you'd think that there'd be a good amount of them, if not some Atlesian Knights as well. Especially during a time like this."

"Now that you mention it…" Sun hummed, "Yeah, I kinda just walked right through into here. No security guards, no staff, nothin. Think I saw a couple of fairly big cars coming here on the way up though."

"That doesn't make any sense, there's no way they'd just up and leave, unless they were given a reason to… like getting paid off?"

"The White Fang wouldn't do anything like that," Blake said, "Considering all Schnee security forces are human, and that the Fang doesn't even really have enough funding to bribe Schnee forces, then…"

The three of them were interrupted as a Bullhead approached, forcing them to lay low and hide. Blake's stomach dropped as soon as it landed, out of it coming figures dressed in white and black combat attire, their faces covered by Grimm-mask imitations, and their backs baring the red visage of a snarling predator, teeth bared amidst three claw-marks: the mark of the White Fang.

"Oh no…" Blake breathed, shame engulfing her along with the feeling of what little hope she had being shattered.

"Blake…" Ruby muttered, a gentle hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort the girl.

"You really didn't think they were behind this, did you?" Sun asked softly.

"…no, I think that deep down, I knew they were, but… I just didn't want it to be true, to see the organization that I once grew up in debase itself to something like… this," Blake hissed, her eyes glistening with tears of frustration. The trio immediately perked up in surprise as they heard an all-too familiar voice.

"What's the hold-up here for!?" Roman Torchwick shouted as he stepped out the Bullhead, "We're not the stealthiest bunch, and the stealth-programme for our rides aren't gonna last so long if you keep screwin' around like that you animals! Don't even get me started on those armoured cars we got coming this way, do you know just how much that took from my pocket!?"

"If there's anybody who could pay someone to turn a blind eye," Ruby said wryly, "It'd definitely be Torchwick."

"This-!" Blake stammered before her gaze sharpened, drawing her blade as she stood up. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like him."

"Wait, what are you-!?" Sun started before she dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch and sprinting off in Torchwick's direction.

"Welp…" Ruby said before she too stood up, tapping an icon on her phone that said 'Send Location', "You go high, I go low?"

Sun sighed before he grinned along with her, Ruby leaping down to follow right after Blake while Sun hopped from the roof to the to of another crate. Blake herself had already snuck up behind Torchwick, catching him by surprise as she slipped in and held the edge of her blade against his neck.

"Wha-!? Oh for f-!"

"Nobody move!" Blake snarled as the soldiers trained their guns on her, though their hesitation was palpable as she removed her bow and bared her heritage for them to see. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you working with this criminal scum!?"

"Well little kitty, didn't ya hear?" Roman chuckled, utterly confident despite, or perhaps because of, the blade pressed on his jugular, "The Fang and I are on a joint business venture!"

"Well spill it or I'll end you and this little operation of yours!" Blake growled, pressing the blade harder against his skin. She paused and looked up in shock though as two more Bullheads pulled in, no doubt loaded with more Fang members armed to the teeth.

"Wouldn't exactly call it a little operation…" He chuckled, noticing her slackening grip and quickly pointing the barrel of his cane at her feet.

"HAIIIIYAAAA!"

There was a *CLANG* as a blur of red dove in and something smashed right into his cane, knocking it skywards just as he pulled the trigger. The explosive bolt almost hit one of the Bullheads while he himself was sent stumbling away, though he was quick to right himself and point his cane at the interloper.

"Well-well-well," He ground out, "If it ain't little red! Ain't it past your bedtime kid?"

"Come on, I know you missed me candle-stick!" Ruby laughed, landing right next to Blake in her fighting-stance. "And a bedtime-quip? That's low-hanging fruit and you know it."

"Pshh, maybe so," He chuckled, admittedly enjoying the banter, "Unfortunately, there won't be a next time for me to use my improved humour!"

He immediately fired off round after round of dust-bolts, Ruby standing in front of Blake to give her cover while she redirected the shots away from the dust-containers with a combination of soft movements and hard strikes, reinforcing her legs and arms with aura to handle the burns and impacts.

"Blake, flank him!"

"On it!"

Ruby grunted with exertion as she shot her leg forward in a straight kick, punting a bolt right back at his feet and threatening to blast him sky-high, though he was wise to the trick and danced back to open fire on the incoming Blake, forcing her to use her clones as an escape. The Bullheads opened up and a score of armed Fang-members dropped out, blades and guns surrounding both girls as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Bit much fodder for the great Roman Torchwick, isn't it?" Ruby said with a grin, eyeing down the Fang members in a show of confidence.

"Well now, I'm no one-man army like that Dragon of Dojima now am I?" Torchwick quipped back, though the sour look on his face was more than noticeable, "Though you're not wrong. Still, better safe than sorry with a heist like this. They'll – I'll need every advantage I can get little red."

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the slip.

"Well then let's level the playing-field!" A banana-peel dropped onto Torchwick's head before a pair of sneakers crashed into said head, Sun bouncing off of him and flipping to stand to the left side of Ruby.

"Can you help take out these grunts?" Ruby asked.

"Help?" He chuckled before his aura swirled to life around him, Ruby almost dropping her stance in awe at the fountain of power bursting from Sun, his eyes shifting to the same colour of sunny yellow. His power felt raw, pure, primal.

'He's… almost as strong as Yang, and that's with her semblance at full charge!'

"I'll take 'em all myself and clear a path for you two! How's that for a slice of fried gold?"

"Yeeeee boooyyyy!" Ruby laughed as they bumped fists, utterly elated at the prospect of fighting alongside Sun as her own aura bloomed, thorn-patterns lighting up on her skin.

"Save the references for after the fight," Blake sighed before Sun burst into action. His launch off the ground literally cracked the concrete before he dove in with a spinning kick that sent a poor Fang flying right past Torchwick. Three more charged recklessly at him and paid the price, Sun going low and sweeping the front-runner right off his feet before hitting him with a series of palm-heels that buried him a foot into the ground, stepping in past the second Fang's downward chop to grab his arm and easily throw him over his hip in a motion as smooth as butter, only to yank him with his raw strength and use him like a screaming baseball bat to, well… bat away a bat Faunus. Along with five others who attempted to smother him movements, Sun practically using the poor Fang as a pair of nunchaku. He quickly pivoted and used the momentum to pitch the Fang right into the midst of the group before he reached behind his back and whipped out a red and gold staff, expertly spinning it with blinding speed to deflect an onslaught of gunfire as he rapidly closed in, his staff smashing right through the cheaper weapons of the Fangs before promptly crashing into their heads. Surrounded yet again, he just laughed before his aura glowed brighter before he slammed his staff into the floor, a burst of force knocking them clean away before he rolled to his feet and got into his stance, pointing the now hesitant Fangs.

"…You guys know any good food stalls open this late?" He asked, "I'm kinda hungry."

Ruby had been ahead of Blake in their charge at Roman, though to her surprise he also seemingly stepped forward alone to meet their challenge, cane at the ready.

"Taking us on just like that?" Ruby asked, "Bold of you!"

"I've always got contingencies. Neo, take care of little red and I'll handle kitty-cat!"

Violent intent suddenly appeared right in front of Ruby, forcing her to stop as a frilly pink umbrella blocked her vision, an aura so sharp and refined it almost made her freeze on the spot. Her training kicked in as the umbrella closed, the wielder spinning to try and land a sweeping hit on her forehead.

"Welter!"

Her guard up tightly, Ruby bobbed and weaved around the flurry of sudden attacks, and though it seemed like there was an opening as the wielder appeared to overextend on a downward strike, Ruby was forced to 'Trick' backwards to barely avoid a boot to the face, the attacker having curled her leg over their back and head to strike like a scorpion-tail. They put their foot down and Ruby got a good look at her: a lovely mix of chocolate, vanilla and pink colouring her extremely fashionable jacket, pants and boots, her hair a perfect split of pink and brown just like her mismatched eyes.

'She's strong!' Ruby thought, immediately much more cautious at the dangerous aura surrounding the shorter woman.

"You handle her Ruby, he's mine!" Blake shouted as she dashed right at Torchwick. 'Neo' saw an opportunity to intercept her and dashed forward to lash out with a roundhouse kick to Blake's head, though Ruby was already there, catching the kick between her knee and elbow with a grunt as pain lanced up her limbs.

'Her shots are super-sharp too, she doesn't waste any stamina or force at all,' She thought as she grabbed Neo's ankle in an attempt to grapple and throw her to the floor, only for Neo to twist her own ankle to an unnatural degree and slip free from Ruby's grasp, a hook-kick almost taking her eyes out had she not 'Tricked' around the attack, ending up behind Neo and shooting out a straight-left punch. Neo tilted her head to the side, Ruby's knuckles just bumping against her cheek with a noticeable sting before she trapped her outstretched arm with the hook of her umbrella, her leg swinging straight up and her shin smacking Ruby right in the forehead and nose. She tried to follow up with a heel-kick to Ruby's stomach, only for the younger girl to have dashed out of range, idly rubbing her nose.

"Gotta say…" Ruby said as she grinned, "You're pretty good."

Neo raised a brow before grinning back, doing a little pirouette into a bow before her body appeared to shatter like glass, Ruby's eyes going wide as she felt a rush of air barrelling right for her face. She leaned back as far as she could, the leather of Neo's boot barely scraping the tip of her nose before Ruby went on the offensive, one hand on the ground to help her launch a sharp heel-kick of her own. It too barely whiffed past Neo's face, the smaller woman backflipping and landing with ease, mildly surprised at Ruby having already covered the distance. Ruby threw out a blistering combination, her left-straight, right uppercut, leaping roundhouse slashing through the air and finding no purchase as Neo slipped and ducked every single blow with practiced ease. She waited for Ruby to land to employ a counter of her own, only to be surprised as he girl seemed to phase straight up without having to kick off the floor, her left leg raised high for an axe-kick.

"Lunar Pha-!"

Neo didn't let her finish, sharply hooking Ruby's ankle with her umbrella and with strength that was entirely contradictory to her stature, smashed Ruby face-first into the floor. Ruby's mind blanked as the impact rocked her mind, and she couldn't recover in time as Neo flipped and smashed her shin right onto the middle of her spine. The bolt of pain woke Ruby right back up, her semblance bursting to life as she spun on the spot, throwing a knee right at Neo's face. Even though it was blocked by her umbrella, it still knocked her clean off her feet and sent her flying, though she regained her balance soon after. Her arms shook slightly, Neo having not expected the girl to pack that kind of striking-power.

Ruby grunted as she flipped onto her feet and back into her stance, snorting the blood from her nose. Now she was significantly more worried, worried and excited. Her blood began to thrum through her veins, aura lighting up more fiercely and unbeknownst to her, steam and petals swirling off her skin. Before she could do anything about it, both combatants were stopped as Sun had just finished a barrage of attacks with his pair of gun-chucks, the speed and explosiveness leaving Torchwick wide open as Blake flashed in and scored a clean slash across his torso, sending the man flying right next to Neo. She was quick to help him up, the combatants entering a bit of a standoff as Torchwick eyed something above Blake and Sun. In the next instant, he fired a dust-bolt at a suspension cable holding up a massive crate, sending it falling right on top of their heads.

Yet both Ruby and Blake watched in awe as Sun bellowed so loudly that waves of air stopped whipped across them, the power of his aura shooting even higher as his muscles and entire body visibly increased in size and height. He shot straight up with incredible speed, drawing his open palm back as the faint mirage of a bigger hand surrounded it for a brief moment before he thrust straight forward. There was a hollow *BANG* as the side he struck was left with an imprint of his palm, ten times bigger than normal as it was sent careening through the air and crashing onto the ground.

"Looks like we're back to a standoff," Ruby chuckled as she stood by Blake and the now normal Sun, the boy panting slightly as he wiped some sweat from his face.

"Seems like it…" He said, bringing out his staff again. Two more Bullheads seemed to pull up out of nowhere and Ruby could see several more coming through in the distance.

"Tch," Ruby kissed her teeth, "This is gonna be more difficult than we thought."

"If that's the case, then…" Sun muttered, quickly putting away his staff before huffing a quick breath out, intense concentration on his face as his aura rocketed back up again and his eyes glowed yellow. "Ruby, Blake, if you can't seem to reach out to me, run as far as ya can. I can only hold this for a minute at best."

"Sun…?" Ruby asked, noticing just how hard he was biting his lip, hard enough to draw blood. Before he could even do anything though, Neo's head snapped off to the left, her eyes going wide before she sharply grabbed Torchwick's shoulder and yanked both him and herself straight down. Ruby grinned as she felt an all-too familiar heat rise, the burning visage of Yang diving through the air rocketing right above where the criminals stood with her fist ultimately hitting nothing. Even as she missed, they weren't given any time to recover as a prison of Glyphs formed around them, spears of ice firing from them and forcing the two to backpedal while dodging in the case of Neo and opening return-fire in the case of Torckwick.

"Sorry I'm late sis, there were a couple of Fang members guarding the entrance!" Yang said as she landed next to them, "How're you holding up?"

"Could be better," Ruby admitted, "But not too bad. We just about needed some backup too."

"Well then it's a good thing the three of us are here now," Weiss said as she too touched down not long after, brandishing Myrtenaster with her usual poise and grace… though, she was noticeably winded sweat dripping down her face and her breathing deep and unsteady. She turned to look at Blake, who flinched at first until she saw the rather calm look on her face, and the surprising weight of shame on her aura.

"Blake," She said with a small.

"W-Weiss," She returned.

"You two make up after we've dealt with the extra goons," Yang said curtly, lines of flame writhing across her skin.

"We can't let Torchwick get away!" Ruby shouted, "He's the best shot we have at figuring this out!"

"Well then it is a good thing that I am capable of rendering the majority of these Type-21 Bullheads non-functional!"

Ruby's head snapped up to see none other than the Atlesian girl Penny literally hovering overhead with a floating array of blades and… guns used to propel her into the air.

'Those guns aren't using dust as fuel, that's aura!' Ruby realized, 'Wait, if she's using aura to hover, then I wonder…?' Shaking the thoughts off, she focused back on Torchwick and his assistant as they fell back behind the growing number of White Fang troops, some rolling in from other entrances to the docks in armoured vehicles.

"Alright then, now that we're all here, watch your six, aim for Torchwick, and…" Ruby said, rolling her ankles and cracking her neck. "LET'S RUMBLE!"

The ragtag team roared in unison as Ruby led the charge, zooming in and dropkicking one of the frontrunners right in the face, launching his body backwards to strike those behind him like bowling pins. Weiss was right behind her, leaping into the fray and unleashing a furious barrage of slashes while using glyphs to ruthlessly blast some of the Fangs away. Sun and Yang were powerhouses in their own right, blowing right through their ranks with gunfire and brutal attacks, Blake ensuring that their backs were protected from all sneak-attacks. As Ruby round-housed another goon into the air, she kissed her teeth at the sight of the other two Bullheads drawing near, only for Penny to swoop in and position almost all of her guns to rapidly revolve in front of her as a sphere of emerald aura began to spark and crackle, a high-pitched whine piercing through the air before suddenly-

*BWAAAAAAA*

Penny shot her hands forward and fired off the beam of pure aura, the beam splitting into two and slicing right through the incoming Bullheads, the Fang members inside spilling out onto the harbour and into the docks. With noticeable effort, Penny directed the beams downwards to blast through the majority of the armoured vehicles there, giving those inside just enough time to escape. Another bullhead further back simply began to open fire, raining bullets on the team and even on their own people, forcing nearly everyone to dive out of the way. Penny remaining behind to use her multiple blades as a buzzsaw-shield, drawing all fire onto herself.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, getting her sister's attention from across their respective covers. "Red Comet!" Yang grinned and nodded, both of them dashing out into the opening as their auras flared. The hail of bullets were instantly placed onto them, though Weiss quickly stepped out and waved her hand with her teeth grit and a vein bulging on her forehead, weak Glyphs popping into the air to shield the sisters, only for the bullets to sharply race for her.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Blake shouted, phasing in front of her and furiously trying to deflect as many bullets as possible, the high-calibre rounds jarring her arms and instantly starting to gouge chunks from her weapon. Still, it was just enough time for the sisters to meet each other in the middle, Yang jumping up and facing Ruby with a shout of "Royal Guard!", Ruby drawing her leg back as her aura burst, grins on both of their faces as she rocketed her boot right at Yang.

A deafening *CLANG* rung through the air as Yang blocked the kick, the force sending her rocketing through the air as her body lit up even brighter, eyes shifting red as she twisted and drew her hand back, roaring as her fist ripped through one of the Bullhead's wings, sending it crashing into the ground as she landed safely on top of a stack of containers. The Bullhead didn't explode on hitting the ground but was instead send tumbling right towards the rest of the group and threatening to crash into container upon container behind them filled with dust of all kinds.

'Damn it, that was careless of me!' Ruby thought as she moved to try and stop it, only to grit her teeth in pain as the muscles in her kicking leg shrieked in pain, forcing her to her knees as she bore witness to the oncoming mass of metal. 'OH COME ON, NOT NOW-!' Penny and Sun raced past her, Sun having suddenly bulked up again before he shouted and slammed his open palm into the Bullhead alongside Penny rearing back and launching a simple punch, the combined raw power between the two of them crumpling the metal and bringing the Bullhead to a grinding halt.

"…well," Yang said as she hopped down, "That was a thing."

"Seems so," Ruby grunted after having let her aura soothe her leg, mending a few of her Auric Circuits randomly firing off. "…did he get away?"

"Yeah, bastard threw everything he had at us to make a clean escape," Yang kissed her teeth, pointing to a Bullhead that was rapidly disappearing over the horizon, this one sleeker and faster than the rest. Ruby's face darkened for a moment, her teeth grinding as wisps of aura began to roil off of her, only to stop as Yang put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let it go Ruby," She said softly, "Besides, even if he got away… we still won without killing anybody."

Ruby looked to see the relative peace that had befallen the docks, police finally pulling in and everyone relaxing. With that, Ruby sighed and calmed herself down, her aura fading. "Yeah…" She hummed, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"…So can I…?" Yang asked lowly, her eyes flashing red as she stared at Blake.

"…please don't be too hard," Ruby said, picking up on why Yang was angry, "You know that really wasn't her fault." Yang huffed out sharply at that, a bit less angry. "Besides, let them sort things out first."

"…Alright," Yang sighed before kneeling down and gently touching Ruby's leg, whisps of aura soothing her strained and damaged muscles. "You overclocked yourself with the Red Comet, you gotta stop putting so much force behind your strikes."

"I didn't want to fail," Ruby muttered, looking down and biting her lip. Yang sighed again and hugged her little sister, softly rubbing her back.

"You didn't," Yang said quietly but firmly, pointing at the two girls in white and black. "You did not fail… and there's the proof."

Weiss and Blake, both of them entirely winded from the fighting, had opted to simply sit down by each other. There was a moment of silence before Weiss turned to Blake, wiping the sweat from her face and levelling the most blank look her way, sitting up straight and poised while Blake curled away slightly.

"So…" Weiss started, "You were in the White Fang, correct?"

"Yes," Blake answered quickly, "I-I'm no longer part of it, I'm a defector, and I no longer agree with the policies that they-!"

"Quiet," Weiss snapped, though it was far softer than normal. "…allow me to be clear Blake. I despise the organization that is the White Fang and everything they stand for on the basis of what they have done to my family and how they affected my life. That will not change, or at the very least, not for a very long time. Everyone who mindlessly follows their dogma will fall under my wrath." That made Blake shrink away some more, only for Wiess to hold a hand up. "However… the fact that you, you of all people, Blake Belladonna," The way Weiss said that made Blake flinch, "Made the choice to join for whatever reason and then leave of your own volition… you have my respect. Not to mention, you just saved me from becoming a bullet pin-cushion, so you also have my gratitude."

Blake, shocked at the honesty in Weiss' voice, moreso as Weiss looked down in a bit of shame.

"…To an extent, I can understand why the Fang has chosen to lash out like this after your – after the previous leader," She corrected, quickly looking around to ensure nobody else heard, "Stepped down. These past weeks in Beacon has helped open my eyes to that fact. As such…" She held out a hand. "I would like to start over… Blake."

Blake looked at the hand with genuine shock, looking back up at Weiss and unable to ignore the worry, the fear, the hope swirling around her. Upon seeing that, Blake felt a strange weight lift from her shoulders, one hand pulling the bow away to reveal her ears and the other grasping Weiss's own firmly.

"I'd like that too, Weiss. Thank you."

"You're forgetting one other thing," A voice said before Blake was roughly yanked up by the collar and spun around to face a furious Yang. She didn't have time to react as a powerful slap echoed through the docks, even Weiss crying out in shock while the force of the blow was threatening to send her to the floor. "That was for putting my little sister at risk all because of some STUPID LITTLE SECRET!" Yang roared.

"Yang, what the HELL!?" Weiss shrieked, tired as she was.

"All she needed to do back during the Lupa attack was just tell us what was up, and Ruby almost died because she decided to stay quiet!" Yang snapped, her eyes flaring red again as she stared down the shaken Blake. "Don't you ever pull shit that ends putting my sister in danger ever again. Got that?"

"Lay off Yang," Weiss said, pausing for a moment as she realized that she was standing up for an ex-Fang member of all things. If only her father could see her now. "Tonight is not the night for that. Please."

Yang was silent for a moment before she huffed and turned away, Blake visibly unable to really process what just happened.

Ruby and Sun looked on at the outcome, Ruby now more relaxed as the tension faded. Sun grinned and lightly punched her shoulder.

"Told ya, you look better when you're relaxed!" He laughed, Ruby's cheeks heating up.

"Th-thank you… and thanks for saving my butt back there with the Bullhead."

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it," He said naturally, "Though, I notice that you seem to overwork your muscles and aura a lot. I might not be allowed in Beacon just yet, but when I do get in, I'd be down to giving out some tips and even train with ya if you're cool with it."

"Really!?" Ruby said happily, "I'd totally be down for that! Let's exchange numbers."

The affair was rather quick, all things considered, before Sun blanched at the sight of the two police officers from the other day making their way over to the carnage.

"Uh, I'd…" He laughed weakly, Ruby giggling at the look on his face.

"Yeah, you should probably go," Ruby finished, holding out a fist. "See you sometime soon, Sun."

With that, he grinned and fist-bumped her back before easily hopping off onto the crates, a cry of "See you soon then Ruby!" as he waved his tail.

"Pfft, goofball," She chuckled laying back as she oversaw the rest of the team, her team finally come together. "Finally, everything is…" The memory of Jaune flashed through her mind and she had to supress a scowl. "…no, not everything's sorted out yet, not by a longshot. Guess there's no better time than now to ask her why the hell she'd side with someone like him."

She clenched her fist to hard her knuckles popped and creaked before she forced her emotions down again. "Doesn't matter either way. I was always gunning for Pyrrha from the start, but now I'm more than a little motivated," She muttered, looking up to the fractured moon. "The time's finally come, Pyrrha. Let's settle this and see what you find so interesting with that blond disgrace."

With that, she huffed and closed her eyes, crossing her legs and opting to simply meditate, though her annoyance and tension wouldn't disappear anytime soon. In addition, there was this nagging feeling in her head as if she was… missing something. Opening her eyes, she scanned the area, noticing something was missing.

"…Huh, guess Penny had to bounce too," Ruby said, "Considering she's an Atlas Student, Ironwood would probably crack down on her if she were caught out like this… oh well."

Yang, Weiss and Blake had walked up to Ruby, Yang helping her up.

"The police want a statement from us," Yang said, both her and Ruby groaning, "What're we gonna say?"

"I'm sorry," Blake said weakly, only for Weiss to elbow her lightly.

"Hush you, not really your fault." Blake smiled a bit at that, though having Weiss Schnee of all people say that to her was jarring, to say the least.

"Well," Ruby sighed "… time to figure something out on the spot. Then let's grab some shwarma or something. Sound good?"

"Ugh, I'm dying for a decent meal," Weiss groaned.

"Agreed," Yang chuckled, patting her rumbling stomach.

"I second… well, third that," Blake admitted.

"Well, sounds like a plan. Team RWBY…!" Ruby started dramatically, only to slump, "Let's try not to get arrested."

(TWBY Continued…)


Well, there's the Volume 1 finale! Really hope you guys enjoyed the first part of this saga, and stick around for next time!

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Naaah, I'm fucking with you guys XD. There's still one more chapter left for this 'Volume 1', and it's the moment you've all been freaking waiting for... ladies and gentlemen, get ready, because next time, we've got Ruby Rose Versus Pyrrha Nikos! Stay tuned, love you guys and peace ouuuut!