The bell above the door sounded with a soft ringing noise as Ruby softly pushed it inward. The shop was dark and colorless, which was actually quite unexpected for a shop filled with so many different books. But the shop was very well organized, which she appreciated.
An employee – or the owner – of the shop was sliding a small box cutter along a cardboard box on the front counter. The smell of freshly printed ink-covered paper filled the still air as the man pulled out various literary pieces.
She had never been to this particular shop before but it was on the way home and she really wanted to pick up the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav. Maybe pick up a few more books so she would have something to read before bed. Ruby wasn't the most avid reader but she did enjoy sitting down with a good book every once and a while. Mostly she just stuck to the comics because comics were awesome, but she read more traditional books every so often.
She often wished that she had something to read during long stakeouts as Spider-Woman, but bringing the books with her would be impractical considering that she would have to carry the damn thing everywhere she went. She would just read on her scroll if she really wanted to.
She considered picking up books on spiders in hopes that the information would help her further her abilities – but considering that there were no spiders that could lift 20 tons or dodge a bullet after it's been fired – she figured that developing her abilities further would have to be done with good old fashioned training and intense life-threatening pressure.
How god intended it!
The man noticed her entering the building and smiled at her as she approached him. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun," he said with a smile. The man had cleanly cut hair along with noticeable sideburns. He also had hairy muscular arms. Ruby had the suspicion that he was a faunus, though she couldn't prove it.
Ruby approached the counter with a pep in her step and a smile across her lips. "Hello! Do you have the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav?"
"Actually," the man began before pulling more books out of the box he was rummaging through not 20 seconds earlier. It took a few seconds but he eventually smiled and held out a brightly covered comic book before her eyes. "I just got the delivery not two hours ago. You're right on time!"
Ruby's eyes lit up at the news. She couldn't throw her money at the man fast enough. "I'll take it!"
Ruby slid her wallet out of her pocket and pulled out a handful of lien. The man accepted the cash and gave her the brand-new comic. She heard the bell chime behind her, indicating that someone else had entered the shop, but she ignored it.
"I don't think I ever remember this shop being here," Ruby said.
Tukson scratched the back of his head. "I'm still getting started," he admitted sheepishly. "Trying to start a new life for myself, y'know? Figured making an honest living was the best place to start."
"So this is your shop then? You must be Tukson."
The man nodded his head in confirmation. "That's me. Took out a small loan to get this place up and running. I really lucked out on the location. Business is pretty good these days."
Ruby liked seeing people happy, even if they were just living a mundane life waiting for their next paycheck. If the citizens of Vale were happy then she was happy.
Ruby could tell that the shop was relatively new. Most bookstores had posters for newly released books on the windows. This place didn't even have more than four colors. Tukson obviously was focusing on his product rather than decorating. Though, if he wanted to stand out then maybe adding colors that didn't simulate colorblindness would be a good start. Even her enhanced vision didn't make the place look any better. The fact that the windows were tinted an ugly shade of yellow did not help.
There were also boxes lying around the shop filled with books that had yet to be stacked on shelves. Ruby could also see a bucket of paint that had yet to be opened. At least that meant the ugly color of the walls would change with time.
Despite that, the shop still felt homely. It was a bit on the smaller side and the bookshelves took up a good amount of space but there was something about the store that made her feel happy.
"Thanks for the comic, Tukson," Ruby said as she walked off. Tukson waved at her before she turned around. Her Spider-Sense saved her from bumping into a taller girl who was standing too close behind her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ruby apologized to the girl. She had dark skin and bright green hair. Definitely had origins in Vacuo. Her eyes were an incredibly bright red, something Ruby had only seen in Yang whenever her semblance was activated. Though this girl's eyes didn't glow like her sisters.
She was taller than Ruby because of course she was. Ruby hasn't met a lot of girls her age that she was taller than. The only two that she could think of off the top of her head were Weiss and Nora. Even then, Weiss always wore high heels anyway which gave her the height needed to surpass Ruby.
The girl smiled at Ruby. "No worries. Have a good day," she said with a polite wave. In any other circumstance, Ruby would've just walked off and continued minding her business. This case was a little different.
Different in the sense that her Spider-Sense would not stop blaring down her spine. This girl was major trouble.
Still, not wanting to make a scene, Ruby walked past the girl without another word. She hoped that her expression didn't show any fear. She caught a brief glimpse of a boy with silver hair hanging over a shelf before she pushed the door open. Her Spider-Sense buzzed for him too. They were probably working together for some nefarious reason.
In any case, not wanting anyone to get hurt under her watch, Ruby discreetly slipped into an alleyway with her comic book and dashed down at impressive speeds.
She unclipped her cloak from her neck and allowed it to flutter to the ground. Her shoes came off next. She kicked them away, not caring where they landed. Pulling her shirt over her head revealed the shining spider insignia sitting comfortably above her breasts. Reaching into her pants pocket, the girl pulled out her gloves and wrapped them around her fingers. Her mask came next, she tightly grasped the spandex before slipping it over her eyes. She jumped into the air and slipped out of her pants before unfolding her web-shooters from her wrists.
Spider-Woman was in action!
Emerald forced her strained smile to stay on her lips as she watched the girl skip merrily out of the store. She hated kids like that, always so damn happy and optimistic. Her type was easy to pin down.
Mercury was somewhere behind her, not that she cared enough about the boy to keep track of wherever he was at any given time. She could bet he was goofing off somewhere or trying to flirt with some girl with no success.
Her cheeks were starting to hurt from keeping up her fake smile. Like how her arm would feel if she kept it raised for too long. It was just becoming numb from the lack of blood flow. The smile would freeze in place pretty soon.
It's a shame really, Emerald quite liked reading, she almost felt bad about what was about to happen.
Almost.
That worthless rat, Torchwick could never do anything right. Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale could spell disaster for their plans. Emerald and Mercury decided to take it upon themselves to do Torchwick's job for him. They wouldn't be getting paid for this but Emerald would do anything for her boss.
Mercury was less inclined to work for free, even if he was working for a woman as great as their boss. Threats of punishment were more than enough to make him obey like the dog he was. Still, his loyalty could and would shatter the moment things looked bad. Emerald vowed to kill him if such a thing ever happened.
Maybe she could take some books back with her, assuming that they weren't destroyed or covered in blood after they were done with their job. Not like Tukson would have any use for them where he was going. The man had rushed off to the back as soon as the girl left the shop, likely going to get more boxes that needed unpacking. Not that he would get the chance. Emerald busied herself with examining her surroundings to come up with the best way to do her job. She could never be too careful.
She heard Mercury chuckle behind her, goofing off when he should be working. Probably looking for porn or something. Pig.
Emerald was getting sick of waiting. She tapped the bell on the front counter to signal an employee.
"Be right there!" Tukson's muffled voice called out from behind the double doors. Emerald tapped her foot impatiently for a couple of seconds before the man in question pushed the doors open with his back and emerged with two boxes filled with merchandise.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How may I help you?"
She could tell by the way the man moved that he was untrained, or trained very poorly. He was muscular though, but strength could only get someone so far. She knew that he had faunus claws though, which might possibly make this the tiniest bit interesting.
"Just browsing," Mercury claimed as he clapped a book shut, not at all taking his job seriously. Looks like she'd have to do this herself.
"Actually," Emerald began, "I was wondering, do you have any copies of The Thief and the Butcher?" It was an old favorite of hers. She had to have read it at least 20 times by now. It was one of her guilty pleasures.
"Yes we do," Tukson said with a nod. "Would you like a copy?"
"No," Emerald denied immediately. She already had a copy. "Just wondering."
Mercury loudly clapped a book shut behind her. She knew that he was trying to intimidate the man. Fool. They weren't here to put on a show, they were hear to do a job.
"Oh! What about Violets Garden in paperback?"
"He's got it, hardback too," Mercury called.
Emerald could appreciate the man's dedication to his job. She hated most people, but those who took their jobs seriously were those whom she could respect. "Oh, options are nice."
"Tch, no pictures." Mercury clapped another book shut. "Hey, do you have any comics?"
Still so childish. Couldn't appreciate fine literary work when he saw it.
"Near the front," Tukson called.
"Oh! What about Third Crusade?" Emerald asked with a sinister edge to her voice.
That got Tukson to tilt his head and furrow his brow in confusion. As it should, she had just made up that title.
"I...don't believe we carry that one," Tukson admitted shamefully. He actually appeared embarrassed.
"Oh…" Mercury drolled.
"What was this place called again?" Emerald asked. Tukson was starting to look worried. Seems his instincts were accurate at least.
"Tukson's book trade," he replied.
"That girl earlier called you Tukson? That means you're the owner...right?"
"That's right," he nodded.
Emerald leaned forward on the counter. "So then I take it that you're the one that came up with the catchphrase."
"Yes…"
Mercury piped up from behind Emerald. "And...what was it again?"
Tukson sighed, thinking that they were just being typical rude customers. "Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun."
"Except The Third Crusade?"
"It's...just a catchphrase…"
"It's false advertising!"
Emerald's eyes narrowed at the man. She had already reached behind her to finger her weapons. "You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep...Tukson."
Emerald heard the soft click of the door locking behind her, at least that meant Mercury was doing his job properly.
"I hear you're planning on leaving. Moving all the way to Vacuo." The light's dimmed, engulfing the room in just enough illumination to let them see but to block anyone peeking in from the inside. "You're brothers in the White Fang wouldn't be happy to hear that...and neither are we."
Every muscle in Tukson's body tensed up. Emerald enjoyed watching him squirm as he knew that his life was about to end. Mercury no doubt enjoyed it too.
"You know who we are don't you?" It wasn't a question, not really. She knew for a fact that he knew who they were and who sent them.
"...yes…" Tukson growled, eyebrows angering his expression.
"And...you know why we're here?"
"...yes…" Tukson slowly started backing up, either preparing to flee or gain some distance. Not that it would help him any.
"So, are you going to fight back?" Emerald asked cockily.
Tukson's eyes darted back and fourth, examining his surroundings and his enemies, planning an attack of his own. His hands unclenched and he extended his fingers.
"Yes!"
Sharp claws burst forth from his fingers as he leaped onto the countertop. Emerald and Mercury both backed up a few steps to gain a bit of distance.
Tukson jumped at Emerald and slashed his claws with impressive speeds at the smaller girl. The attack completely missed as the girl bobbed and weaved around the claws without even trying.
Tukson's eyes widened as he came face to face with Mercury reeling back his leg in preparation to end the Tukson's life in a single blow. He could see a small flame burst to life in Mercury's heel, likely due to some gun designed into his shoes. Tukson's entire life flashed before his eyes. In that single moment, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was going to die.
In that one moment, he couldn't help but think about what he could've done differently. Maybe there was another way to help the faunus that didn't involve joining the White Fang. Maybe he should've just lived with the discrimination and tried his best to ignore it. Or maybe he should've followed in Blake's footsteps and tried to become a Huntsman. Well... it didn't really matter right now, did it?
With no aura to protect him and no way to avoid the bullet that was sure to puncture his skull, Tukson simply exhaled for the last time as Mercury rocketed his leg toward his face.
Right before Mercury's leg was violently torn away by a single strand of spider silk.
Just my luck. And here I thought I would just be dealing with some run-of-the-mill thugs wanting to rob this poor man. But nooooo! I get to deal with Hunters that want to murder him! Typical Rose luck in action ladies and gentlemen. God dammit!
Spider-Woman yanked the boy's leg to the side just in time for the firing mechanism built into his shoes to discharge away from Tukson and obliterate a nearby bookshelf.
"Noooo! That bookshelf had Charlotte's Web in it! You'll pay for that, you bastard!" She roared in faux anger.
Tukson crashed into the ground very much alive. Spider-Woman wasn't sure if he had aura or not but she wasn't about to take any chances with his life. She also wasn't about to punch him to confirm it.
"Spider-Woman!" Tukson called from his prone position. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just stopping by to pick up a copy of Invitation to a Beheading. It's a book about a man sentenced to death, and his only companion in his cell is a spider. Can you guess who my favorite character is? Spoiler! It's the spider."
Spider-Woman dropped from the ceiling when the green-haired murderer fired a volley of bullets where her body once occupied. "Didn't your mother ever teach you manners? You could really hurt someone with that."
Spider-Woman ducked under a powerful kick aiming to take her head off. She grasped the ankle between her fingers and held on tight. The leg didn't feel like flesh, actually, it felt more akin to metal. Most likely a prosthetic or a weapon wrapped around his leg. It didn't really matter. Spider-Woman spun the boy around in circles fast enough to make them appear as a blur.
"So long have a nice trip!" Spider-Woman cheered as she released the boy, causing him to fly through the air and crash into another bookshelf, toppling it and him.
"Hey, Tukson, sorry about your shop, but... y'know... you're welcome for not getting murdered."
The green-haired girl transformed her weapons into a pair of blades. "She's just one girl, kill her!" She roared to her partner. Striding forward with her weapons ready, she slashed wildly at the spandex-clad spider.
"You know," she ducked under a blade, "I think-" she vaulted over the assassin, "that you-" she caught the body of the weapon on her wrist, "could be-" her head tilted to the side to avoid a fire dust infused bullet, "a really-" Spider-Woman's fist blasted into the woman's nose, sending her tumbling into the boy who had just gotten up. Spider-Woman could've sworn that she heard bowling pin noises as she crashed into him, "good dancer!"
Tukson stood next to her with his claws still ready for battle. "Need a hand?" He asked. He already knew the answer to that obviously, and there was no way that she was going to let him fight after he had almost just died in a single attack.
"Nah," she brushed him off. "Just sit back and relax. Watch me take out the trash." Spider-Woman cracked her knuckles and readied her fists. "Though I would appreciate it if you hid in the back or something. Don't want you getting hit by a stray bullet."
"Don't need to tell me twice," Tukson whimpered as he scurried away to safety. She should've told him to call the police but the people outside must've heard the commotion by now. The cops would be here sooner or later.
"Now," Spider-Woman directed her attention to the criminals who had just gotten to their feet. "Where were we."
The two shared a quick look before nodding to each other. The humming of her Spider-Sense did little to ease her worries.
The green-haired girl did something she wasn't expecting by throwing one of her weapons at her. Spider-Woman ducked under the spinning blade only to notice a chain wrapped around it.
"Woah, that's cool! Oh shi-" Spider-Woman swept her leg through the air to divert a kick that was aimed at her face. The bullet that discharged from the boy's shoe obliterated the floor right next to her face. "Eek!"
She didn't have time to relax as the green-haired girl yanked on the chain that her weapon was attached to. Spider-Sense flared to life behind her, warning her of the retracting projectile. She brought her palm up and waited patiently for the weapon to land softly in her hand.
Sure enough, she felt the cool metal slap her palm not a moment later and clasped the weapon tightly in her grip. So tight in fact that the weapon itself buckled and shattered into a hundred tiny pieces of useless metal and machinery.
The green-haired girl's eyes widened in panic before Spider-Woman then grabbed the chain and pulled with incredible strength. The result was the girl being pulled toward Spider-Woman against her will and right into her approaching fist. The resounding crack of aura was enough to make anybody wince. Aura was the only thing preventing her neck from snapping in two. Even Spider-Woman almost felt bad.
Almost.
The girl tumbled into another bookshelf and crumpled into a pile of groaning flesh and bone.
"Yawn... come on, at least make this fun for me," Spider-Woman complained loudly.
The boy was still up and ready to go. Based on their earlier confrontation, she could tell that he focused more on kicks than punches. She could handle him just fine. She brought her hand up to catch a kick aimed at her face but was forced to let go and disengage when he jumped up and reeled his other foot back in preparation for a strike. Her head whipped to the side to avoid the bullet from his shoe.
Now mid-air and with no way to dodge, Spider-Woman blurred forward and jumped into the air before delivering an axe kick to the boy's stomach. The wind was blasted from his lungs as he crashed into the floor with a loud application of aura.
"Jeez, you both have fancy weapons but can barely use them. Is this really the best that criminals these days have to offer? I'm almost offended that you thought you could beat me. I'm not that pathetic."
The girl – now back on her feet – swung her one remaining weapon at Spider-Woman. This proved to be a feint as she disengaged her weapon and shot her foot up to deliver a devastating strike to Spider-Woman's chin.
Spider-Sense flared to life to warn her of the oncoming appendage. Instead of dodging, however, she simply ignored her Spider-Sense and stood in place to let the attack land.
The girl's foot struck home, the resulting crunch was horrifying and would've made anyone who heard it cringe. Fortunately for Spider-Woman, she was completely uninjured and failed to budge an inch. The crunching noise was the result of the girl's aura flaring to life to protect her fragile foot. Not being a CQC combatant, aura control for attacking wasn't something that she had put a lot of time into learning. The result was her losing a lot more aura than necessary as her kick hurt her more than it did Spider-Woman.
The girl almost screamed in pain, she would've if not for the vice-like grip that held tightly to her throat and refused to let go.
"Another fly has flown into my web! Muhahaha!" She laughed maniacally. Spider-Woman then brought the girl down hard as she literally drilled her into the ground. The ground stood no chance against her incredible strength.
Spider-Woman ejected a web line to a book that had been discarded in the chaos and began flipping through the pages. "Ooohhh. Of Human Bondage! This is another good one. It's about a boy who is orphaned and sent to live with his aunt and uncle. I don't know why but it sounds very familiar to me. Eh, whatever."
Not wanting to ruin merchandise, – or well... any more merchandise – she closed the book with a soft clap and set it down on the countertop.
"God... dammit!" The girl growled while trying her best to get up. "Merc! Stand up dammit."
Merc? Was that a nickname? Eh, who cares?
The boy had shakily risen to his mechanical feet with his aura flickering visibly. He had to lean on the wall to support his injured body. His hair was all disheveled but showed no signs of injury. Aura was so cool.
"Surrender," Spider-Woman demanded. "I really want to go home and relax and I'm positive you don't want me to cave your faces in."
The girl had made her way to her knees and aimed her remaining weapon at Spider-Woman but didn't pull the trigger. Her Spider-Sense was calm. Actually, it was almost too calm.
"Never! Not to the likes of you!"
Come on, just give up, I wanna read my new comic dammit!
Spider-Woman groaned audibly, clearly annoyed at her choice. "Seriously? You would rather have me knock you out than just surrendering and making this easy on everyone? I knew criminals like you were stupid but god damn!"
Still, if she really wanted to be knocked out then who was Spider-Woman to deny her of such a desire? Spider-Woman lazily trotted over to the woman who still had her weapon pointed at her and whipped her hand around to snatch the weapon out of her hand.
Imagine her surprise when her hand not only went through the weapon, but the weapon disappeared entirely, along with the girl herself. She just seemed to dissolve away into the air as if she were nothing but smoke.
"What?"
Her eyes gazed around for the boy too only to discover his own body vanishing into thin air as well.
What the hell just happened? Was I fighting ghosts this entire time? It's like they were nothing more than... illusions… son of a bitch!
They were long gone by now, she doubted that she would've been able to find them. She might've heard them leave if she hadn't webbed up the bell above the front door so they didn't hear her come in.
Fucking illusions. God dammit.
Whelp. Nothing she could do about it now. Nothing except make sure Tukson was okay. She opened the door to the backroom only to find another door open that led outside. He had definitely escaped through that door. At least that meant he was safe.
The sounds of sirens approaching alerted her Spider-Sense. With no reason to stick around, Spider-Woman fled through the open door and swung to safety.
All her clothes were still where she left them, thrown around on the dirty alley ground. Not her smartest move but she was in a bit of a rush.
Spider-Woman slipped her clothes over her spider suit and tucked her mask in her pocket. Her comic book was still wrapped in its manufactured plastic so at least that meant it wasn't damaged. She probably shouldn't have thrown it so carelessly but whatever.
Ruby emerged seamlessly from the alleyway and blended into the crowd with remarkable fluidity. Most of the citizens had remained ignorant about what just went down not a quarter mile from them.
Who were those guys? I caught the tail end of their conversation. Tukson was a member of the White Fang like Blake. I bet they were sent by the White Fang to kill him for betraying their cause. I have the feeling I'll be seeing them again.
Oh damn... I should've tested my venom sting on them. Would've been a good opportunity considering they had aura. Oh well. There will be more chances.
Police cars zoomed by her with their lights flashing and siring blaring. Tukson must've called them. She was glad he was okay.
Ruby slithered through the crowd and made her way home.
About an hour later, Emerald was cradling her injured foot while Mercury had an ice pack against his head. That was easily the worst beating they had taken. It wasn't even a fight, Spider-Woman was playing with them and they both knew it. They only managed to escape thanks to her Semblance.
Cinder was understandably not happy about this turn of events. Her anger was amplified by the fact that they had directly disobeyed her orders to not get their hands dirty while in Vale. Their failure to execute the man made her anger even worse. The temperature of the room had risen a few degrees when her eyes and fingertips exploded into flames. Emerald pushed herself further away from the irate woman to cool down. She could even see Mercury's ice pack start to melt faster.
"I explicitly told you two to not get into any trouble while in Vale. I literally gave you the order to chill out and do nothing and you still somehow found a way to fuck it up in the most unbelievable way possible. Not only did you get your asses kicked, but Tukson lives and knows what you look like. Spider-Woman knows what you look like too!" Cinder roared at her two pathetic underlings. Emerald actually had to cover her body in aura for fear of getting burned.
Mercury removed the now warm ice pack from his head. "Do you want us to go after Tukson again? He's a priority target now."
"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Cinder roared with even more fury. "Tukson will be well protected now and I know damn well he told the police what you look like. No, you two are to be confined to Beacon for the rest of our time in Vale. We cannot risk anyone recognizing you. Least of all Spider-Woman. You are only to leave Beacon if you are accompanied by me. If you disobey this order then I will not hesitate to boil your flesh and evaporate your blood!"
Emerald felt her heart stop as pure unbridled terror slammed into every inch of her being. She couldn't even sweat. It was like her entire body had been paralyzed.
Cinder took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. "Tell me everything you can about Spider-Woman. Her fighting style, personality, attitude, abilities, anything"
Mercury sat up straighter, not willing to anger the woman any further. "Well," Mercury began. "For starters, she is ridiculously strong. Tossed us around like we were fucking baseballs."
"He's right," Emerald reluctantly agreed after her heart had restarted. "Punched me so hard I flew across the room. She literally drilled me into the ground with one hand and shattered my weapon without even trying." Emerald recalled the feeling of her powerful fingers choking the life out of her before she was pushed into the ground. She shivered slightly at the memory. "She's also really fast," Emerald continued. "I couldn't even see her move half of the time. She could dodge fucking bullets."
"Yep," Mercury said. "And that brings us to her agility. Let me tell you something." Mercury pushed himself closer to Cinder. "I've seen some very agile fighters in my day, but this girl blew all those out of the park. The way she contorted her body was unbelievable."
"Yeah, she bobbed and weaved out of my slashes without even trying. It was like fighting a person made of water."
Cinder only seemed to get angrier and angrier with each new addition to Spider-Woman's power set. But they knew better than to stop listing.
"And those fucking instincts man. It was almost like she knew where attacks were coming from before they landed," Mercury sneered. "I've seen the same thing from a few faunus Hunters in the past but never like this. She caught my kicks without even looking at me."
Flames kissed the corners of Cinder's vision as she subconsciously activated her magic out of rage. She pushed down her anger a second later to avoid exploding. "What about her fighting style?" Cinder asked. "How did she attack? Any obvious martial arts she used?"
Mercury removed one of his mechanical legs to inspect for damage. "That's the fucked up part. Her fighting skills were terrible. All of her attacks were so telegraphed that a beginner could've dodged them if it weren't for her speed. She's just too fast."
"He's right," Emerald admitted. "She used no martial arts at all. Just pure power and speed. She only used her webs to save Tukson from Mercury at the beginning of the fight. Never used them on us again." Emerald looked down at her feet. "She was toying with us the entire time. If she wanted it then we would without a doubt have died."
Cinder had to let go of her scroll for fear that she would crush it beneath her fingers. Cinder would be paying attention to Spider-Woman from now on. While she was confident in her ability to kill her, that didn't mean that she couldn't still cause problems.
"Did you notice any weaknesses? Anything that might give you the slightest possible edge in a fight?" Cinder asked.
"If there was then I didn't notice it due to her speed," Emerald admitted sheepishly. "Sorry boss."
"Apart from her cockiness, there was nothing. She's arrogant but she has the strength to back it up. Not only that, but didn't Torchwick say she could produce electricity now?" Mercury added.
So, there is someone interfering with my plans who is not only ridiculously strong and fast but also can use webs, produce electricity, contort their body like crazy, stick to walls, and take on both Emerald and Mercury at the same time.
Cinder hated to admit it but this woman... no... this girl is becoming a problem. That's all she is, a girl... a child who doesn't know her place. She doesn't know what true power is. Cinder would be more than glad to show her the meaning of power. To show her just how inferior she really is.
"The breach will be happening soon," Cinder changed the subject. "For now we need to be ready for that when it comes. I'll say this again because I'm sure you two morons will forget. You are not to leave Beacon unless I explicitly say so. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Ma'am," they both agreed immediately.
Nothing else was said for the rest of the day. Good, Cinder wanted silence.
Ruby hoped she wasn't overstaying her welcome whenever she went to Beacon to have breakfast with her sister. Ozpin assured her that she was welcome here anytime which she greatly appreciated but she didn't want to be a bother.
Well, as long as Ozpin said it was okay then she wouldn't worry too much about it.
Ruby bit into her buttered bread with a ravenous appetite. The others at the table had grown used to her messy eating habits so they didn't give her weird looks anymore. The truth was her eating habits had only gotten messy after she was bitten by that spider. It might've been that she had the mindset of a predator now and thus ate her food accordingly or her enhanced metabolism made her so hungry that she didn't care about how she ate anymore. She didn't really know but it wasn't a big deal anyway.
Nora was busy tossing various fruits at Yang who easily caught them in her mouth while Blake's eyes never left her book. Penny wasn't eating anything again. Ruby had never seen her eat a single thing, which was weird. Jaune was trying his best to pace himself with his food so as to not choke, likely due to the fact that his training had made him much hungrier than before.
The second semester of Beacon was going to start tomorrow according to Penny. That meant back to classes for everyone. There weren't any semesters at Signal, only one straight school year followed by a short break.
Yang chucked an entire apple at Nora, nailing her right between the eyes and causing her to fumble with her next throw. Ruby promptly ignored them.
Yang would be really busy during the second semester, no doubt trying to finish assignments the night before they're due despite not having started yet. Yang was a master procrastinator, she worked best under pressure.
"Hey," Ruby began, "if classes start back up tomorrow then maybe we should all do something fun today," she suggested. She wanted to spend as much time with Yang as possible before she became too busy.
"Hm... Good idea," Yang said with her mouth full of bacon. It took her a few seconds before she swallowed it. "I don't want to be cooped up here all day when the new semester starts tomorrow."
"Well, whatever we do, I know that we should do it as a team," Weiss said. Ruby pouted at her words. "And of course, Ruby is welcome to join us." Ruby cheered at being included. Ruby had gotten to know Weiss pretty well over the last few months. While she was a major pain in the neck, she was also someone whom Ruby considered a good friend. Maybe Yang was beginning to thaw that icy heart of hers. Or maybe Penny's optimism was starting to rub off on her.
Actually, she considered all of teams PWBY and JNPR good friends at this point. They had spent a lot of time together after all and Ruby liked to think that she knew them pretty well. It was a guilty pleasure of hers to hear Weiss bicker with her team as well as witness Nora's shenanigans. Despite not being a part of the teams, they felt like a second family at this point.
Ruby liked having friends.
"Maybe we can go bowling?" Yang suggested.
"Absolutely not!" Ruby denied Yang's suggestion immediately. "You got us banned from the last bowling alley we went to when you destroyed an entire lane."
Yang blinked. "...oh yeah... I did do that... oops."
Ruby's palm met her face.
"Maybe get something to eat?" Blake suggested. "I hear there's this really good Vacuan place that just opened up."
That sounded nice, Ruby loved to eat even if Vacuan food wasn't her favorite.
Weiss stood up. "Well, I for one would like to go t-"
Creamy goodness splashed across Weiss' face when Nora's aim was just a little off from hitting her sister. Whipped cream dripped down Weiss' features as the pie slid off her face, revealing an expression of pure anger underneath.
No one in the cafeteria dared to utter a noise. Even the staff that was handing out the lunch slammed the shutters shut to protect themselves from the fallout. Nora pointed at Ren to divert the blame and hopefully spare her a cruel and unusual punishment.
There was a good ten seconds of silence. Ruby never understood the phrase 'the calm before the storm' before this moment. The buzzing of her Spider-Sense did nothing to ease her concerns.
Yang decided to do the only thing that she could at that moment. Actually, it was something that Yang excelled in. Something that Ruby had witnessed time and time again and yet still couldn't figure out.
Yang had the unparalleled ability to make a bad situation ten times worse.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Yang roared into the crowd.
All hell broke loose a second later.
Ruby ducked just in time at the command of her Spider-Sense to avoid a watermelon that almost exploded on the back of her skull. Instead, it continued its journey right into Penny's face.
The ginger girl – now covered in melon juices – toppled onto the ground from the force of the rogue fruit.
Dammit, Yang!
Ruby jumped over the table and kicked it upward to use as a barrier of some sort while she got her bearings. The smarter students bolted for the door the moment Yang yelled, while the rest of them grabbed various culinary delights to use as makeshift weapons.
Ruby peeked over the table to see a boy using a baguette as a makeshift saber and another spitting pomegranate seeds like a machine gun. There was even a girl using an entire raw turkey to bludgeon her male teammate.
It was madness.
And it was all Yang's fault.
Blake slid next to her to share the cover she had provided while Ruby pulled Weiss to safety while she was still cleaning her face. Ruby considered pulling Yang to safety but ultimately decided that Yang deserved it. Yang was hit with a pineapple a second later.
Good.
Their cover was being pelted with various foods that missed their intended targets. Penny had just gotten up and cleared her eyes of the melon juices. She spat out a watermelon rind and stood tall in the face of a delicious adversary. "So this is a food fight? It appears that everyone is attacking each other with various delicacies. Sensational! I would love to be a part of this experience!"
Oh dear god...what does she have planned?
"I am combat ready!"
Oh no.
Penny launched herself over the cover of the table and grabbed an entire bowl of grapes that was sitting on the floor. Her arm was a blur as she picked up a single grape at a time and rapidly pelted students with them. They were like bullets! Delicious, juicy, bullets!
A student managed to make their way around her cover and reeled back a loaf of bread like a baseball bat, aiming to bonk Ruby on the head. Ruby simply raised her left hand and caught the baguette while thrusting her right hand forward and shoving an entire lemon in her mouth.
The sour fruit exploded into delicious juices and covered her tongue in lip-puckering goodness. Also, the force of Ruby's attack had pushed her back a good ways away. If she wanted any hope of winning this then she would have to play offensive! Sitting in one spot for a few minutes wouldn't get her anywhere.
Ruby picked up a pumpkin and threw herself over her barrier. It was only after she took a few steps did she realize exactly what she grabbed.
Wait... this is a pumpkin. Like... an entire pumpkin. Not even pumpkin pie or pumpkin muffins or anything. It's just an entire raw pumpkin. It's not even hollowed out or cooked. Why does Beacon serve their students raw pumpkins?
Actually, come to think of it, there were many strange food options being thrown around. Ruby saw a few durians, a couple of fish, and even a few entire raw turkeys. Or were those chickens?
Didn't matter anyway. Ruby reeled back and rocketed the pumpkin in the direction of an unfortunate student who happened to be in its way.
In the 30 seconds that it had taken for the food fight to start, Nora had somehow constructed an entire castle made out of cafeteria tables. She stood at the top with a cocky grin and her hands on her hips. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" The rest of her team were standing around her 'castle' at various points, ready to defend it from whatever threat was necessary. Even Jaune looked ready for a fight.
Ren hopped off of the castle and landed on a plank of wood which launched multiple watermelons into the air. He promptly kicked each of those melons toward Ruby.
Ruby jumped over the first melon and spun around to avoid the second one. She caught the third one and spun around really fast with the aid of her Semblance and launched it back at Ren – who managed to avoid her counterattack.
Jaune, in a surprising display of agility, grabbed a watermelon off the ground and flipped over it before throwing it at Ruby. Ruby was impressed at his progress.
Instead of dodging the attack, Ruby reeled her fist back and blew the melon apart with pure strength. Unfortunately, Ruby neglected the fact that she would have to use more strength to completely blow the melon away from her. As such, the melon exploded but did not stop moving. The melon splattered across Ruby's face and clothes, leaving her smelling great, but also really sticky.
Yang then appeared like a bat out of hell with two turkeys wrapped around her fists. She unleashed a volley of punches at every single watermelon that aimed to strike her. How Yang thought that cooked poultry would be a better weapon than her hard fists was beyond her. Though, this was a food fight she supposed. Maybe it was in the official food fight rule book. If such a thing existed.
Blake leaped over Yang with a baguette in each fist and wielded them like swords. Well... more like hammers or just any blunt object really. She whipped her bread around and aided Yang in destroying the watermelons that threatened them.
Yang strode up confidently next to Blake. However, the turkeys wrapped around her fists lessened the intimidation factor by a bit. "You're gonna have to do better than that Nora."
To her credit, Nora never once let her smile falter. "I am not Nora. I am Melon Lord! Muhahahaha!" Ruby couldn't shake the feeling that she heard that from somewhere.
Blake and Pyrrha began to duel with their breadsticks while Yang and Nora exchanged blows. Nora grabbed a steel rod and impaled a melon onto it to use as a makeshift hammer.
Blake made liberal use of her Semblance, leaving clones in her wake to distract the Amazonian. It didn't work, of course, Pyrrha easily kept pace with the faunus.
Ruby jumped back at the command of her Spider-Sense to avoid being struck by Jaune who wielded a rather large leek in his hand. It wasn't the best substitute for his sword but he didn't look too worried.
His slashes were getting faster and more powerful with his training. He seemed to predict some of Ruby's moves, just like a Huntsman should. He used feints while springing traps to catch her off guard, trying to attack in blind spots. It was quite impressive actually.
But... Ruby didn't have any blind spots.
Ruby kicked up a rather large fruit from the ground – a jackfruit, maybe – and beamed it straight at Jaune's face. The fruit exploded on contact and launched Jaune back quite a ways. He crashed into a couple of tables and tumbled to the end of the room with a pained groan.
Heh.
Weiss appeared out of nowhere and began slashing at Ren with a swordfish.
Like... an entire swordfish. What the hell are they feeding these kids?
Weiss had the advantage given her actual weapon was more akin to a rapier. The swordfish wasn't the best substitute but it was better than the leeks that Ren had grabbed. Blake had just been launched away from Pyrrha via deadly breadstick, and Ruby decided it was time for her to intervene. She looked around for a 'weapon' she could use before eyeing a turkey leg.
Am I really going to resort to this?
As if that was even a question.
Ruby scooped up the turkey leg and dashed toward Pyrrha with Semblance-enhanced speed. Pyrrha was just barely able to bring up her breadstick in time to halt her attack in its place. In any other situation, Ruby would've kicked Pyrrha in the leg to make her lose her balance, but she felt that would go against the honor of the food fight.
Pyrrha ducked under Ruby's weapon and slashed her breadstick toward Ruby's face. Ruby could've dodged it, or simply blocked it with her arm, or maybe even tanked the hit and followed up with a counterattack.
Ruby did none of those things.
Pyrrha struck Ruby with all the force that would be allowed for such a fragile weapon. It didn't do much good because Ruby simply opened her mouth and waited for the weapon to get close enough. She crunched the delicious weapon between her teeth and started to chew on her new meal. Pyrrha was only stunned for half a second, that half second was all Ruby needed to bash the turkey leg across Pyrrha's face, sending her tumbling like a human tumbleweed away from the chaos.
Ruby finished eating Pyrrha's weapon and looked back just in time to see Nora hit Yang so hard that she crashed through the ceiling. That had to hurt, Ruby didn't feel that bad though. Penny was still having the time of her life torturing a poor boy with multiple heads of iceberg lettuce. Ruby couldn't think of a worse torture than forcing someone to eat that disgrace of a vegetable.
Blake was using a bunch of sausage links as a makeshift whip and spun it around with surprising ease. It was actually quite mesmerizing to look at. Nora was the unfortunate soul who happened to be on the other end of the whip when Blake struck.
The strike rocketed Nora across the cafeteria and into a vending machine full of soda. The cans spilled onto the floor as the machine buckled under Nora's weight. Nora recovered quickly and grabbed a couple of those soda cans and shook them vigorously before chucking them at Blake. The soda cans acted like makeshift grenades and exploded upon contact with the faunus, launching her back and covering her with sticky sugar water.
Her Spider-Sense buzzed toward the champion that she had knocked away. She was thoroughly surprised to see all the soda cans that littered the floor start to levitate around her.
Woah! Is that her Semblance? Telekinesis? That's really cool! Telekinetic semblances are quite rare.
Ruby backed away when she saw the several hundred soda cans begin to swirl around the girl.
Oh wow... that's... not good.
Ruby kicked her Spider-Sense into overdrive as the champion thrust her hand forward. She wasn't aiming for Ruby exactly but she was hoping that a few cans would hit either her, Weiss, or Blake. Penny was off in a corner shoving an entire grapefruit down a boy's throat so she would be safe.
Time slowed down for the young Huntress as she obeyed her Spider-Sense and twisted her body around to avoid all the soda cans that threatened her. It wasn't that difficult considering that all the cans were coming from a single direction. It would've been much more difficult if the cans were coming from different directions. Either Pyrrha was pushing the limits of her Semblance or she just hadn't thought of it.
Either way, each can passed by her harmlessly apart from one which Ruby snatched out of the air and opened with a loud crack. She took a swig and winced as she realized what flavor she grabbed.
Ew... I hate cherry-flavored soda.
A loud crash sounded from behind her, she turned around to see Blake cratered into the wall. All of those soda cans must've done a number on her. The cracks that spread across the wall stretched for quite a while, it was impressive the wall was still standing at all. Even one of the support pillars was gone.
Alright, that's enough.
Ruby felt the hum of her semblance vibrate her atoms. The energy of her soul spread throughout her muscles and engulfed her entire being. Ruby closed her eyes and bent her knees, preparing to kick off the ground like a rocket.
Not too much. I don't want to seriously hurt anyone.
Her eyes snapped open.
The ground shattered beneath her boots and exploded backward in a shower of rubble and destroyed food. The wind rushed past her ears like the roar of a cascading waterfall.
She twisted her body mid-air and began spinning like a drill piercing the air as she roared her Semblance to life and increased her speed massively. The wind she generated grabbed hold of every single can that was scattered on the floor and brought them along with her.
It wasn't just the soda cans, various food items were also picked up by the wind generated from her Semblance. Some more dangerous than others.
Ruby blurred past Pyrrha and allowed the items she picked up to slam into her body at high speeds. The wind pressure did a number on her as she was lifted clean off her feet and into the air. She spun around the cyclone, unable to correct herself or get her feet off the ground.
Ruby had picked up Ren, Nora, and Jaune as well, Jaune had just gotten back on his feet too.
The instant before Ruby made contact with the wall, she deactivated her Semblance and dug her heels into the ground to slow her body. The wind pressure created a massive crater in the wall that sounded like crushing stone.
While Ruby may have slowed down, team JNPR did not. Still trapped in her cyclone, they had no way of freeing themselves from their fate. They slammed into the crater she had created which only served to make it bigger. The various food items hit the wall soon after, covering the team in sticky soda, cooked meat, scraps of vegetables, and pasta.
The entire cafeteria was plunged into silence after that. It was mostly empty at this point, apart from a few students who had either not been fast enough to get away or chose to stay for whatever reason.
Penny had finished shoving different objects down that boy's throat, though judging by the way he was foaming at the mouth, he might need the nurse to check on him.
Blake was shakily getting to her feet while Weiss was dusting off her dress. It would need a much better cleaning though. Yang was nowhere to be seen, likely still soaring through the air from the force of Nora's strike. She'd be fine, her aura was really large.
She heard four distinct crashes behind her from team JNPR that had slid off the wall and crashed into the cafeteria tables.
Maybe I overdid it a bit.
Cafeteria doors burst open and a very angry-looking Glynda Goodwitch strode in with her riding crop at the ready. Ruby feared a punishment would come from their actions before the cafeteria tables defied the laws of physics, soared through the air, and gradually tumbled back into place.
Slowly but surely, the entire cafeteria began to look brand new. Even rubble from the destroyed pillar gradually came back together before being placed back where it belonged. Though Ruby noticed that Glynda did not clean any of the students off. Something that must've been intentional on her part. Also kinda petty.
"Children," her voice boomed across the cafeteria despite being spoken softly. "Please do not play with your food."
Whelp, that's my cue to haul ass out of here. Maybe she hasn't noticed me yet. I'll just sneak my way ou- oh damn!
Ruby jumped to the side at the command of her Spider-Sense to avoid a blonde missile that had come crashing down through the ceiling. Rubble rained down from the skies and 135 pounds of Huntress-in-training obliterated the floor beneath her fleshy body.
Of course.
Yang got up and dusted herself off before shooting Ruby a thumbs-up. The fact that the food fight was entirely Yang's fault in the first place made Ruby want to smack her.
But she'd hold back.
For now.
Maybe I'll put mayonnaise in her shampoo bottle as a form of punishment.
AN: Not exactly happy with this chapter but I think it's good enough.
I really think my writing is getting better. My writing in chapter one was terrible, don't deny it, but this chapter is better by leaps and bounds.
As expected, I've been playing a lot of Helldivers 2 recently. It's a really good game.
Review if you want.
Or don't.
I don't really care.