"So, is the plan understood?"
Emerald and Mercury nod in unison. On the day of the dance, Cinder would have her mission and Neo would have hers. As for Emerald and Mercury, they would just stay at the dance, and provide some alibi if need be.
"Perfect. Until that day, we can enjoy this environment. It won't be long until we burn this school to the ground, after all!" said Cinder, amused. An amusement that would soon be interrupted by a knock on their door.
"Um, hey, it's me, Ruby! Can I come in? There's something I wanna ask!"
Emerald felt herself gag on the inside. That little pipsqueak better not be asking anyone of them out to the dance. The last thing she wanted was for the most annoying person on the planet to have a crush on her. As the thought remained in her mind, she went to the door to open it, mentally readying herself on how to act friendly to the little brat. As soon as she put on her best (fake) smile, she opened the door.
"Hey, Ruby! What's…"
The sound of Emerald being stabbed seemingly echoed throughout the room. Cinder and Mercury looked to the doorway. Once Emerald fell to the ground, the true perpetrator was revealed. In her abdomen was Crocea Mors, and in the doorway stood the weapon's owner, Jaune Arc.
"That's for killing Penny and hurting Pyrrha!" said Jaune as he took his sword out of Emerald, causing her to quietly scream in agony as she loses blood. The weapon had broken her Aura with just one attack. She wasn't ready for a fight, and didn't activate her Aura. Emerald never stood a chance. She would never get the chance to redeem herself in this timeline. Chromos smiled at that thought as she watched what was about to unfold.
In an instant, both of the villains that remained in the room retaliated. Cinder sent a fireball at her attackers while Mercury used the bullets from his boots to fight back. Jaune had expected this, so he had already activated his shield, blocking the incoming attacks with relative ease, though, the fireball did push him back a bit. As soon as he was done blocking, Ruby used her semblance to go in front of him and fire at her enemies with Crescent Rose, though, they were easily dodged.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Cinder, curious to know if Ruby and Jaune were aware of their plans.
"Cut the crap, we're gonna make no one else dies by your hands!" says Jaune, furiously.
"Cinder, what's the plan? We have to take them out before any one notices, right?" Mercury asks.
"Yes. We need to dispose of these two now before anyone notices what's going on this room. Here's hoping that they didn't alert Ozpin already." Cinder responded calmly.
You have to be kidding me! Ruby shakes her head. Why didn't they think of that?! Had they just informed Ozpin, they could have easily changed the timeline with a huge impact, all without engaging in a conflict. Too late now. Maybe they'll try that in another timeline? At the moment, that didn't matter. She had to stay focused on dodging their attacks.
The sound of dust being shot echoed through the hallway. It was inevitable that someone would hear. Unfortunately for Ruby and Jaune, the person who heard the fight wasn't their ally.
As Ruby provided cover fire for Jaune, who was foolishly engaging the enemy (at this point, the plan he had come with was abandoned. His vengeance had blinded him, and he was trying to fight head on against two powerful monsters), a mysterious visitor had entered the room, unnoticed by Chromos' lackeys. In a matter not unlike what had happened to Emerald moments before, Ruby suddenly felt herself get impaled. Blood came gushing out, and when Ruby fell on top of Emerald's body, she saw who had done this. Looming over her was a small girl in all black, smiling at the carnage she had created. Ruby recognized the smile easily: it was Neo.
"RUBY!" Jaune shouted at the sight of his best friend dying.
The last thing Ruby saw before her death was Jaune being burned alive by Cinder.
"Sorry, Pyrrha."