Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Ruby follows her dad and his hired thugs into the dust store, feeling a bit on edge. It's been nearly two weeks since they met that woman, Cinder, and ever since then, they'd been ramping up their heists, stealing more and more dust - but never the lien. Cinder paid them well for all the dust but never told them what it was for. They were just supposed to hand it off to the White Fang of all people. Now, Ruby's got nothing against the faunus, but the White Fang are a bunch of terroristic assholes who used to be so cool and peaceful but now want to wipe every human from Remnant.
She's not sure how she feels giving a terrorist organization all that dust.
“Red, look alive. We're about to enter showtime!” Roman gives her a brief grin before striding confidently into the store, shouting, “Man, do you know how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?” He slams a briefcase onto the counter top, ignoring the shopkeeper's pleas, and growls, “Burn. Uncut.” He turns to Ruby and the thugs, “Get the dust. Red, make sure these idiots don't grab the wrong kinds.”
“Yes sir.” Ruby nods, following the thugs to the large pre-ground dust tubes. “Hey, we're after burn, wind, and lightning today. Nothing else.” The thugs nod, each heading for a tube to fill their canisters.
Ruby waits for the last canister to fill before calling out, “Alright, lets go.” She turns, heading for the front of the store, where her dad was still getting the shopkeep to fill the briefcase. “We're done, dad.” She says, skipping up to him, and Roman grins,
“Well, well, you were much faster than this old fart was.” He glares at the old man, and Ruby knows he would have taught the man a lesson on time management (via his cane) had Cinder not requested that there be no murder. Roman scowls, closing the case and looking to the hired thugs, “Let's lock and load, before a hunter comes!”
They only just make it to the roof where Cinder was going to meet them with the bullhead, the hired thugs driving off in stolen vans loaded with dust, when a blonde woman jumps from the next roof, landing before them.
“Halt.” The woman says, flicking her riding crop, “Roman Torchwick, you are under arrest. Please come quietly.”
Roman sighs, “See, about that,” He shoots the woman a wink, “I can't do jail time. Who will take care of my daughter if I get arrested?”
The woman blinks, “You have a child?”
Ruby waves, grinning, “Hello! I'm Red. You're Glynda Goodwitch, deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy, aren't you? We don't want to fight, Miss Goodwitch, but we will if we have too!” In fact, Ruby's kind of hoping for a fight. Dealing with Cinder for the past weeks has been running her ragged. The woman was a slave driver and everything about her made Ruby want to shoot her and rip her eyeballs out. But Roman said not to, so she won't.
“I see.” Goodwitch says, eyes narrowing, “In that case, Roman and Red Torchwick, you are both under arrest.”
Ruby looks to Roman, knowing that she needed to stall a little for Cinder to arrive, “I've never gotten this spiel before. What should I say?” Roman rolls his eyes.
“You say no, Red. And then you get the hell out of dodge.”
“Oh, okay.” She looks back to Goodwitch, “Sorry Miss Goodwitch, my dad said I'm not allowed to get arrested.” At that, the sound of a bullhead comes, and said machine rises out of the alleyway below. Roman hops on immediately, shouting into the cockpit,
“We've got a huntress!” He turns back to Ruby, “Lock and load Red! We gotta go!”
“Coming!” Ruby tries to jump onto the ship, but something grabs the back of her shirt, pulling her away from the bullhead. She lands next to Goodwitch, gasping, a purple aura covering her limbs and making her unable to move. “D-Dad!”
“Red!” Her dad looks between her and Goodwitch, but before he can jump back down, the bullhead takes off. “Hey! Take us back, now! Red!” She hears her dad shout something else at Cinder, but the bullhead doors close and the machine flies off. Ruby stares at the retreating machine, eyes wide and betrayed. Cinder had…
She grits her teeth, blinking away tears, “Fucking Cinder… I knew she couldn't be trusted, the bitch!” A hand grabs her arm and tugs her up, and Ruby's grey eyes meet Goodwitch's green.
“Red Torchwick, you are under arrest for armed robbery.”
Ruby shifts in the hard metal chair, wincing as her hands tug on the cuffs restraining them. Goodwitch stands by the door, looking at something on her scroll, occasionally glancing up as if to make sure Ruby was still there. And if the stupid cuffs on her wrist weren't aura suppression cuffs, she'd have been long gone!
Ruby's eyes narrow, glaring at the table, If I ever see Cinder again, I'm gonna shoot her fucking head off. Then I'll get dad to piss on her dead body and Neo to burn her to ashes. Then we'll dance on her fucking grave and send the video to her employer.
“Red Torchwick.” A man's voice comes, startling Ruby.
“Ack!” She looks up, as a man with tousled silver hair walks into the room, Rose's Promise held in his hands. Ruby's eyes immediately latch onto her weapon, checking it over for any dings and scratches. She lets out a relieved sigh when she notices that it's in the same condition as usual - absolutely flawless.
The man clears his throat, gaining her attention, and says, “Miss Torchwick. I do hope you understand what is happening right now.”
Ruby rolls her eyes, “Yeah, my dad's employer's a fucking bitch who betrayed me and left me to the wolves. I always knew she would. What else is new?” The man looks amused at her quips. He steps up to the table and places Rose's Promise onto it, just out of Ruby's reach.
“This cane is quite finely crafted.” The man says conversationally, “Was it your father who made it?”
“No. I did.” She says, “Dad made the first one and it broke so then I remade it.” Not exactly a lie, but close enough. Her dad had her first cane commissioned, but after that one broke Ruby remade it herself. And she's proud of that fact! Even her dad and Neo let her work on their weapons.
The man hums, “I see. That's a very interesting skill for a child criminal to have.” Brown eyes meet her grey, “Tell me, how old are you, Miss Torchwick?”
“...fifteen.” She mutters, glancing between the man and Goodwitch, “I… just turned fifteen” Well, according to the surprise adoption ID her dad gave her at least. Absolutely wild when you consider that Roman himself is only 29. If she were his real child, that meant she would have been born when he was fourteen. Luckily, no one aside from her and Neo knows exactly how old Roman is.
“How interesting.” The man runs a finger down Rose's Promise, lightly tapping one of the hidden blades “You see, Miss Torchwick, you are quite young.” He looks into her eyes again, “Too young for the prison sentence the police wish to give you.”
“The way I see it,” The man looks to Goodwitch who nods, “you have two options set before you. Either you take your chances with the city being lenient on you for your age, or…”
“...or?” Ruby hedges, already having a feeling about what the man's going to say next. He's quite recognizable, after all.
“Do you know who I am?” He asks instead, and Ruby nods,
“You're Ozpin. Headmaster of Beacon Academy.”
“Indeed. Your other option, Miss Torchwick, is this:” He leans forward, “You attend my school and become a huntress. Upon graduating, your records will be erased. A clean slate.”
“And that's… it?” Ruby asks, looking between Ozpin and Goodwitch, “I go to your school and I'm, what, let off scot free?”
“And you're not gonna ask about my dad or his plans?”
“If you're willing to share, go ahead. But no, I will not ask for that information.” Ozpin smiles, “It's illegal to interrogate a minor without a parent or guardian present, after all.”
“...alright then. I'll… I'll go to Beacon.”
pixelskylines
2087
izzy806
theartofmadeline
kaledo-art
discoholicmusic
origamiaround
