Chapter 14 – Ruby's Rally

"Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but I can't exactly help you in person," Roman said, when Ruby finally got around to planning for the upcoming mission. "Cinder's gonna need me working with the White Fang closely, so I can't exactly be seen rilin' those animals up."

"How closely?" asked Ruby, squinting at him.

"This close." He held up two middle fingers right near each other.

She would've admonished him for only bringing this up now, but it was actually a welcome excuse to remove him from the rally. After hearing some more of his views of racial equality and why it was pointless, Ruby was both unenthused at having to spend time with him and worried that the mission might go too well. Her goal, after all, was to drive Faunus recruits closer to the White Fang, not to start a riot in the streets.

"I can give you some advice on how to stir the pot, if you'd like."

Ruby weighed it over. Roman might lie about how to be racist, but at the same time, she could just consider his advice and reject it if she didn't think it was going to work. This wasn't some cartoon where the deceitful adult manipulated the blind idiot kid to do whatever shenanigans he requested.

"Alright. If the CEO of Racism himself is willing to lend me his knowledge, I'd be a fool to decline," she said.

"CEO of…? Never mind." Roman placed an arm over Ruby's shoulder as they exited the apartment, which she immediately shrugged off. It was almost nighttime, and Tyrian had finally messaged Ruby with some latitude and longitude coordinates for the location of the rally. She was lucky he had, for any address in another language would've gone right over her head.

"So, here's your problem. You ain't racist. Not like me, at least, and not like the people who truly despise the Faunus, not by a long shot. That means, when you say 'I do so surely hate the Faunus whom I hate' or some other made up schtick, they'll see right through it."

"I wouldn't say –"

"Again, you're not seeing the point. When you say some insult, you'll not be believing it. It won't be something you thought of naturally, but something you consciously cooked up to be inflammatory. Real racists speak from the heart – they say the unpretty things that they actually think are true, making it far more genuine – whereas you'll be making it up on the fly. Faunus who've been yelled at all their life will be able to tell the difference between someone who hates them and someone trying to make it sound like they hate them. Remember, kid, this won't be the first time the White Fang hired a false flag human instigator, and they've been caught with their pants down before. Folks'll be on the lookout for discrepancies."

"So, what? You'll tell me some good zingers before the show?"

He shook his head. "You're gonna have to improvise. If you're reading lines and not responding to the flow of the audience, that'll show too."

"Then what's the advice?" Ruby asked. So far, she'd been hearing a lot of what could go wrong and why they couldn't fix it. The part about how to solve her problem had yet to appear.

"I can't give you some magic advice that fixes it all."

"Then why did –!"

"But I can give you some general tips."

Ruby bit her tongue. This guy was really good at getting under her skin. "Go on," she hissed.

"You're gonna need to get in touch with your inner bigot."

"My what?"

"Your inner bigot. Lemme explain. Every human being in existence, hell, every being in existence is a naturally frightened, jittery, terrified creature. We're cowardly little wretches that jump at our own shadows because we're born with written instincts that tell us to run away from danger. Now, most of the time, danger's face is anything different from what we already know. That means, if it don't look like me, there's some part of me deep down that wants to hate it 'cause of that. It's the cause of all the racism you so thoroughly look down upon, but the truth is that it's the same's for you, as much as you may not want to admit it. You're a human, which means there's a part of you deep down that's ready to fly out of your own skin when something you don't understand comes into play, not because it poses a danger but solely on account of it being something you don't understand. You just need to tap into that part of yourself, ya know, unbury it. Once it's out, you'll be able to let the fear flow like blood, and the words you need to say will come naturally."

Torchwick just smiled when Ruby stared at him incredulously.

Her inner bigot…Ruby didn't exactly want to unbury that part of herself, if it even existed. See, this was what she meant – just because Roman Torchwick of all people gave her advice didn't mean she had to follow it. Getting in touch with some mystical inner instinct that said being racist was good…what a bunch of baloney.

The coordinates ended up pointing her to a hotel, of all places. Ruby hadn't expected the White Fang to host a rally in such a blatantly public place, but the portable sign at the front said that a group called 'Valean Multispecies Community Organization' had booked the conference room.

It made sense, in hindsight. All they needed was one legitimate person to buy out the room for the night and call themselves part of some fake organization. Then, when the doors were locked for their private meeting, they could put on whatever masks and discuss whatever evil plans were in effect freely. There was really no need to meet in some abandoned warehouse and seem all suspicious-like – just claim to be a legitimate group and then wait until the doors closed. They could even post advertisements about Vale without risk of being shut down by the police.

Inner bigots aside, it wasn't going to be too difficult to find it in herself to get angry at these people. If they were on the verge of joining the White Fang, that meant they were willing to hurt the innocent to get their way. Ruby knew that Faunus had it bad, and she would never begrudge anyone taking action to fix the problems in the world that came from inequality and hate, but the White Fang just wasn't doing that. Maybe they used to, but nowadays they mostly just killed innocent humans and Faunus in the name of 'proving their strength.'

The rally hadn't started yet, if it could even be called a rally, but there were plenty of Faunus milling about in the lobby and bar. It was a lucky break for Ruby that it was held in such a public space, because it wasn't weird for her to be there. A bit odd for a teenaged girl to be spending time in a fancy hotel place, but not nearly as conspicuous as it would've been in an old, abandoned factory or dusty hidden zone under the pier or whatever other place the White Fang could've met. Here, she was just a kid milling about innocently – people's eyes passed right over her without a second glance.

Welp, time to get started. There seemed to be a gaggle of Faunus with a scant few humans mixed in all conversing at the center of the lobby. The eight or so people were dressed to impress and clearly seemed to be the people in charge. As they lazily spoke to one another, Ruby slowly ambled over to their cluster of cushioned chairs, taking out her scroll to make it look like she was distracted.

Roman had said that the worst thing she could do was not sound like a genuine racist, but Ruby had seen enough absurdly offensive folks in videos on the public freakout subRemnit to know roughly how they spoke. She could do this; just walk up, pretend to be surprised and disgusted by the Faunus, and then run off when people started filming. Heck, she'd infiltrated Salem's deepest inner circles with nothing but her wits and incredible cover story provided by her uncle's death. This would be a cakewalk by comparison.

As she got closer, she came to hear more and more of their ongoing discussion. A human and a pair of Faunus were currently engaging in some sort of polite debate.

"…our people a bad name, the further we shall be set back. I truly think that you're not giving this issue the gravity it deserves."

"Oh, I full acknowledge that this is a problem, and quite possibly the most severe one our generation will –"

"There is no quite possibly; it's a certainty."

"Well, if you'd let me finish, you'd have heard me say that it shall be up to each and every Faunus must address this issue."

"I disagree," said one of the other Faunus. "Not about the severity, but about the responsibility. I'd expect anyone to speak out against them, but it is no more the job of each and every Faunus to face head on than it is the responsibility of each and every human to –"

Ruby, eyes on her scroll, intentionally bumped into the side of one of the Faunus' armchair.

"Oh my goodness!" she quailed. "I am so…oh."

Her facial expression dropped the second she made direct eye contact.

"Ick. Never mind," she murmured, walking on her way.

That should be enough. These White Fang folks were supposed to be pretty anti-human, and while these fellas may have been low enough down the chain of command to actually associate with them, there was absolutely no way that they would let such a blatant display of human chauvinism pass.

Except there was a way. The way was that they did.

As Ruby walked away, she tried not to panic. Okay, so she'd gone and racisted them, and they hadn't reacted. That was okay – she just needed to step up her game.

"The funding of predominantly Faunus schools is less than 40% of what human-heavy schools receive, young lady. Furthermore, many Faunus families lost access to their bank accounts during the Second Enforcement, and Faunus owned and operated businesses are nearly guaranteed to be denied a loan on their first try."

If Ruby hadn't been ordered to complete this mission, she would've run off in a cloud of rose petals by now. Everything she'd tried to do to cause a scene had horribly failed, from drawing a picture of a crude dog on the White Fang's portable sign (they'd thought her a budding artist) to calling the cops on them (they'd ID'd her by her voice as Ozpin's killer and she'd hung up immediately) to glaring at them for ten minutes straight (they'd just straight up ignored her).

In the end, she'd just had to go with the good old fashioned 'yelling a racial slur in a public space.' It physically made her gut recoil to have the word pass her lips, as she'd spent so many years treating such language as a taboo, but it had to be done.

That, of course, had led the violent extremists' leadership to finally address her by cornering her and…and…and…

"We're not trying to criticize you, little girl," said one of the Faunus. "Children like you are the future, and if you're using a word like that, there's no doubt you heard it from someone else who regularly uses such language. It's up to us to break the cycle, which is what we're trying to do here. This isn't us censuring you, this is us trying to open up a discourse."

One of the humans politely smiled. "If you truly feel like Faunus are inferior to humans, please explain why. This isn't a trick question; we all truly believe that equality is demonstratable logically and factually. Explain what makes you feel the way you do, and we'll do the same. In the end, the truth will out. This is how both sides come together."

I'm not an old codger who hates because of the Faunus wars. I'm a kid, which means they still see me as redeemable.

It wasn't fair. Ruby wasn't actually a racist, meaning that she had no arguments about why humans were better. Her goal here wasn't to prove anything to these people, just to draw up controversy in front of all the Faunus who hadn't yet decided which side of the fence they were on. Well, the entire lobby was watching now, but if Ruby failed to complete her mission from Salem or, worse yet, actually made it look like violence wasn't the answer, it would be horrible.

And the worst part is, violence isn't the answer! How do I prove something that I don't even believe in?!

"F-Faunus are dirty…"

Darn it, the words coming out of her mouth didn't sound nearly convincing enough (probably because she knew they weren't true).

"Faunus are dirty!" she repeated, louder. Several members of the onlooking audience scowled.

Good. Good – get angry and be mad at humans, or the world could literally end!

"Are they?" asked one of the humans. "Extensive research studies have been conducted, and there has been no significant correlation between species and disease. Currently, there are no confirmed contagious illnesses that affect Faunus more than humans, and while a handful of genetic conditions tend to be more prevalent in…"

No, no, no! Weren't the White Fang supposed to be angry and hateful? Ugh, this sucked! Ruby wanted to interrupt him as he explained the topic, but she couldn't think of any good counterarguments here. It was impossible; she was thinking logically about why people would be illogical, and it wasn't working. Most anti-Faunus arguments were emotion-based and didn't center around facts.

"…anything, it proves that Faunus are suffering, not that they're inflicting harm on others."

"Oh, yeah?" Ruby asked. "Izzat so? Well, maybe the world would be better off if there were no Faunus! What do you think of that?"

A Faunus woman smiled. "I think that means you've been exposed to hateful ideologies that you don't truly understand, and now you're on the verge of questioning them. You don't exactly sound all that convinced, yourself."

Because I'm not! Do you want me to fail here? I'm trying to save lives and stop the Grimm, lady!

Ruby had to concede it, but Roman had been right. If she wanted to do this, she would need to tap into her inner bigot. The problem was, the thief hadn't exactly been forthright explaining how she was supposed to do that.

"Faunus are filthy!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

"Still?" said the human who'd quoted the scientific studies. "We've been over this. I can even point you to the sources in question, if it would allay any concerns over me making this up."

I need to get angry. I need to feel hatred – maybe not against the Faunus, but against something that I do hate. The Grimm? Cinder? The White Fang?

The White Fang…that might work. If Ruby spoke about the White Fang, something she truly could be upset about, and just phrased it as Faunus, she might just get passionate enough to get worked up.

The guy was taking out his scroll to show her the sources when Ruby spat on the floor. Taking in a deep breath, she braced herself.

Okay, no more games. Time to channel my inner bigot. I know it's in there, somewhere, if I dig deep enough.

imgur dot com slash 9rEbqER

"You wanna talk about facts, you animal-fuckers? Here's some facts – Faunus are criminals!" Ruby screamed.

Every single one of the White Fang.

"Every single one of them!" She pointed at the people in front of her, as well as many members of the crowd that had gathered around them. "You can cite whatever lies you have, but we all know that Faunus love killing humans."

"That's not –"

He's defending the White Fang. He's lying!

"IT IS TRUE!"

Ruby pushed the Faunus who'd spoke up backwards, sending him sprawling.

"They murder people left and right, and then they claim to be the good guys? I don't think so! They're violent, crazy extremists, and the entire planet would be better off if they all just gave up. O-Or better yet, jump off a cliff!"

Ruby could remember watching the Argus Limited Hostage Crisis on TV, where over fifty innocent people were held by White Fang fanatics for no reason other than the fact that they were humans and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Two thirds of them had died.

Yang had tried to cover her eyes when they'd showed the aftermath, but Ruby had watched the whole news report from start to finish. Even at ten-years-old, she'd known she was going to be a huntress, and huntresses stopped things like that.

"You go out and murder innocent people, and then you come to me with the audacity to claim that you aren't monsters? Y-You're worse than the Grimm, because the Grimm don't have a choice! You do! You do, and you do it anyways, because you're evil! EVIL!"

That got the reaction she'd been hoping for. All of the well-dressed people were silent as the grave, and most of the crowd was displeased.

One of the suits tried to speak up. "N-Not every Faunus is –"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Crescent clocked him on the side of the head. It wasn't enough force to do any lasting damage, but it was easily enough to draw blood. It was what he deserved, though, for defending the White…

N-No. For defending the Faunus.

…for being White Fang! That was right – this was all a White Fang rally, so he was secretly a part of the organization that Ruby hated so viscerally. He was a terrorist.

Ruby looked around at the crowd, who were all backing up a ways.

Wait, wasn't Tyrian supposed to be here? Infiltrating the rally?

Also, if these people are all White Fang recruits or members, why were they trying to be all civil about convincing me not to be racist?

Ruby looked at the portable sign again: Valean Multispecies Community Organization.

Oh.

"It's her!" someone shouted. "The one who killed the headmaster of Beacon!"

"She's got the scythe! It her! Call the police!"

Someone grabbed Ruby's shoulder, but she ignored it. There were screams of fear, terrified shouting at the killer who'd murdered Ozpin, but Ruby couldn't hear it. Nothing reached her.

Salem…

She wrestled free and pulled out her arm. Checking her scroll, she looked at Tyrian's coordinates again, just to verify that she hadn't mixed them up and gotten the wrong place.

She hadn't. Right now, she was definitely where she'd been told to go.

Salem made me…

Ruby whipped Crescent around and screamed as she sliced an empty couch cushion in half. The people who'd tried to restrain her lost their resolve and fled, leaving Ruby alone with herself, her thoughts, and her shame.

Omake

Ruby's inner bigot:

imgur dot com slash C18UTut

Coming Soon – Ruby's Regret

And now, a tip from Ruby:

Ruby's Tip #600 – Tired of having to make your bed every morning, only to ruin it again that night? Just don't make your bed! There's no real good reason to do it. It makes no sense, like, at all! Seriously, dad, why do you keep telling me to make my bed? It's dumb! I don't get it! I mean, no one's going to come into my room and inspect it or anything, so why do I have to keep it clean? And also, you need to stop it with the meatloaf. Neither of us like meatloaf, and Yang always gets gassy when you put in too much spinach. Just make us anything other than meatloaf, I'm begging you!

Author's Notes

To be clear, Ruby didn't mistakenly go to the wrong address. She went where she was sent.

I know that having the links spelled out here is quite cringe, but they're too relevant to just skip out on. You may want to make a pilgrimage to AO3 to see them, just this once.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!