Walking slowly through the nighttime streets of Vale was Ruby Rose with her messy reddish-black hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders and dejected silver eyes. Her clothes followed a Goth Lolita style with a red and black combat dress and a red cloak that she couldn't love more.
Normally speaking, she looked flawless and extremely cute, or so her older sister would say, but that wasn't quite the case right now, especially considering how damaged her clothes were.
Let's just say that Ruby wasn't having a good day, even more so when she was the target of public attention.
She hated every second of it, feeling uncomfortable showing more skin than she ever would under normal circumstances.
Honestly, Ruby couldn't understand her older sister's appeal in basking in this kind of attention, especially from men who stole unassuming glances at her exposed legs after having her leggings and part of her dress destroyed.
By very little, Ruby wasn't showing her underwear, and she could only try to cover herself with her equally damaged cloak as she ventured into more uninhabited parts of the city.
Fortunately, no one tried to approach her, and that could only be due to the fact that she seemed to have come out of the fight of her life, and ironically, that was exactly what happened.
Earlier that day, Ruby came to Vale with her older sister, and together, they had fun in the malls, arcades, and even ate some cookies! Afterwards, they stopped by a Weapon store to see if there was anything new on the market that they could use as an upgrade, but when Ruby wanted to check out some magazines and refill her Dust reserves, Yang decided that she had other things to do.
Just like always.
"Bad Yang." Ruby huffed and immediately regretted it as she shuddered in pain. I think I broke a rib...
Which was kind of scary to consider, especially when she'd never broken a bone before.
All because of an insanely dangerous man.
That visit to the Dust store would remain in her memory for the rest of her life.
After Ruby had been forced to spend some time alone until her traitorous sister returned, the Dust store she was in was robbed, and honestly, it had made her as happy as Christmas Eve!
A chance to be a hero had just fallen into her hands!
However, it wasn't long before Ruby was knocked off her metaphorical horse.
That orange-haired man in the white suit, Roman something, was strong, very strong. He hit as hard as Yang when she was angry, and that was a version of her sister to be avoided at all costs.
Ruby once saw her sister send flying a three-meter Ursa, almost ten feet tall, and weighing more than a ton, with no more than one punch!
Somehow, this Roman could rival that kind of strength!
For the first time in her life, Ruby found herself experiencing a movie scene as she was sent through the walls of the Dust store.
All this while being hit just once!
And what was that Semblance? Ruby felt her heart sink at the thought of that power. I've never seen anything like that before.
Roman controlled a type of smoke that could be mixed with Dust and transformed into clouds of super-cool but frightening elements, even more so when used against her.
Worse still, that man didn't even need to use his Semblance, being more than capable of defeating her with his physical strength alone.
Still, Roman used that power on Ruby and enjoyed every second of it, especially when he started to slowly burn her clothes after breaking her Aura.
As well as being evil and clearly insane, that man was also a disgusting pervert who loved humiliating other people!
This was the first time Ruby had felt so weak and vulnerable since she had started training under the tutelage of her Uncle Qrow.
"If it wasn't for Glynda Goodwitch..." Ruby didn't like to think what might have happened to her if this incredible Huntress hadn't appeared in time. Even so, Roman managed to repel her with his Semblance and escape with a bunch of Dust.
Somehow, knowing this made the fact that Ruby had been unable to help a little more tolerable, but no more acceptable.
This experience showed how complacent she had been in letting the praise for her fighting skills go to her head.
Which was why Ruby couldn't be happy even after having her efforts recognized by Ozpin, the legendary Huntsman and Headmaster of Beacon, and being accepted into his academy two years earlier than usual.
While she didn't believe she deserved such an honor, it was an opportunity like no other, and it would be stupid of her to turn it down.
That's right, if I want to become a hero and save people, I need to be stronger! Ruby decided to stop whining and look ahead to what she could do. "Like finding my way home..."
Because she had no idea where she was.
That Huntress had taken Ruby to the police station to testify, a place she didn't know, and as if that wasn't enough, her mind was so distracted that she had gotten even more lost.
Considering that her Scroll had been destroyed in that fight, there was only one thing she could do in this kind of situation, and that was...ask a stranger for information.
An introvert's worst nightmare.
"I wish Yang were here." Ruby wasn't just referring to this moment, but that her sister had never left to begin with. That fight would have been different if Yang had been with me...
Probably.
Roman was so strong that Ruby wasn't sure if even her uncle Qrow would have been able to defeat him.
Besides, maybe it was a good thing that Yang wasn't there. Her sister already wore few clothes, the way she was, so there was a good chance that the pervert would have left her naked!
"Ruby?"
She stopped, feeling goosebumps at hearing her sister's voice.
For a moment, Ruby thought she was imagining things, but it wasn't long before she was filled with happiness when she came face to face with Yang.
What's more, for some reason, her sister was in the arms of the coolest cloak Ruby had ever seen!
On the other side of this unexpected encounter, Sasuke was about to let the shy girl in his arms go when she reacted to the presence of another girl who had been approaching in the distance.
What happened next managed to surprise him a little.
Suddenly, that girl turned into a literal whirlwind of red petals, moved at considerable speed, and materialized again in front of him, only to wince in pain shortly afterwards.
"Ruby!" Yang ignored her own condition and jumped out of this guy's arms to check on her little sister. "What happened to you?!"
It even looked like she had fought against a horde of Grimm!
"Yang, you don't look much better..." Ruby smiled through her pain, trying to ease her overprotective sister's worry. Some things never change.
That was a side of her sister and her family in general that she always had a hard time dealing with.
It seemed that Yang had taken a beating, too, during her little escapade and was even worse off than Ruby, but she didn't care about her own condition, and that was exactly what bothered her.
"You're more important, now spit it out!" Yang was seeing red, especially when she noticed how damaged her little sister's clothes were, almost as if that was done in a deliberate way to expose more of her skin. "Who did this to you?!"
Whoever it was, she swore she was going to destroy the balls of that perverted son of a bitch!
As the girl in red, or Ruby, tried to explain what had happened to the blonde menace, who was now identified as Yang, Sasuke found himself watching this interaction with a certain level of curiosity rather than walking away.
That was because his eyes had seen something interesting in this eccentric new girl who had just appeared.
Ruby looked younger by a year or two, had black hair shaded in red, and wasn't very tall, perhaps within the female standard for her age. Her clothes were reminiscent of the dresses worn by those twins Yang had faced at the Junior's Club, except for the red cloak and how damaged everything was to expose much of her decency, but none of that mattered.
Sasuke's focus was on Ruby's reddish Aura and the anomaly that her silver eyes represented.
It seems that in this world, there is also a form of ocular ability. Sasuke could clearly see the difference in the type of energy present in Ruby's eyes when compared to the rest of her body, being almost divine in nature. Silver, I've seen all kinds of eye colors, and even the lilac of this blonde girl. He still couldn't say her name without thinking about the power of the Sage of the Six Paths that was in Naruto's possession. It's not unique; I've seen others like her.
Silver, on the other hand, was unique so far.
Both in this world and in the Elemental Nations.
"That aside, who is this super cool cloak?" Ruby tried to change the subject and escape the endless questions from her sister, who only got angrier and angrier. I wouldn't mind having one too!
Especially now that her beloved combat dress had been destroyed.
"It's a person, Ruby." Yang sighed as she calmed down a little after seeing that her little sister was fine despite everything. Roman, a man with orange hair, dark green eyes, and dressed in a white suit.
The description of the pervert was etched in her mind, and she would be sure to put her hands on him one day.
Not only that, but Yang intended to let her father and uncle know every detail of this incident, thus putting a price on Roman's head among the Hunters of Vale and beyond.
In short, that bastard was fucked.
Honestly, part of her also wanted to do the same to Junior, but that had been her fault.
Speaking of which, Yang had forgotten about the guy who had beaten her, being reminded of him in the worst way by seeing him approach Ruby, and that put her over the edge.
"Your eyes," Sasuke said to this younger girl, one who immediately jumped in surprise and tried to hide her exposed skin with her red cloak. "What can they do?"
Ruby was too busy feeling ashamed of her childishness in mistaking a person for a cloak and the state of her clothes to respond immediately.
Maybe I've got a concussion or something... She took quite a blow to the head during her attempt to defeat Roman. That or my obsession with red things is getting worse.
That aside, she didn't understand the question.
While Ruby knew her eyes were different, having never met anyone other than her mother with silver eyes, it raised a question.
This person was the second that day to comment on her eyes, the first being Ozpin.
Even so, Ruby didn't know what to think about it, let alone what to say in response.
So, almost instinctively, she looked to her older sister for help, only to have her face held by a hand that felt soft, gentle, and strong at the same time.
A man's hand.
Ruby felt her heart skip a beat for more reasons than she could understand and let her cloak fall, revealing more than she would ever have done consciously.
Yang tensed to the limit at this unexpected development, but ultimately hesitated to do anything.
No matter how much she hated every second of it, Yang knew that she was incapable of defeating this guy, even more so in her current state.
Besides, he wasn't doing anything bad. Otherwise, Yang would have already attacked without caring about the consequences.
"Err..." Ruby swallowed, her mind racing for an answer as she focused on a single bright red eye with three black commas in a kind of spiral pattern around the pupil. "I can see very, very well?"
Which wasn't a lie, and the main reason why her beloved weapon, Crescent Rose, was a hybrid between a scythe and a sniper rifle.
An unusual combination, but one that worked very well and was super cool!
"This is not a joke." Sasuke was not amused and let go of the face of this girl, who still looked confused as to what he wanted to know. "I'm asking if your eyes don't have some kind of special ability?"
Yang felt a wave of relief when she saw this guy move away a little and used this opportunity to pull her little sister closer into her arms.
"No... should they?" Ruby was uncertain as to what the cool cloak meant, and also couldn't help noticing how protective her sister was being. Aren't they friends?
Never before had she seen someone carrying Yang in their arms, so Ruby assumed they were on good terms.
"Those petals from before, what were they?" Sasuke continued to ask even after noticing how defensive the blonde girl was being. They must be close friends.
Realizing this made him think of Naruto, of the way they used to be as children, and of what would never be more than a distant memory.
"Oh, you mean my Semblance?!" Ruby perked up at the subject, but then backed away, confused about how to act with someone she didn't even know the name of. If he really were a cloak, this conversation would be so much easier!
That might sound stupid, but it was still true when her best friend was her own weapon.
So I was right. Sasuke was beginning to take a certain interest in these Semblances, being more unique and complex than he had initially believed. This girl's ability allowed her to defragment her body into rose petals and move at high speeds.
While it was much slower than a well-executed Body Flicker, this Semblance had a lot of potential and could perhaps be just as lethal if used to defragment other people's bodies.
Something to keep in mind.
That aside, she didn't seem to be aware of her own ocular ability. Sasuke couldn't help but be disappointed when the first thing that truly caught his attention in this world hadn't manifested...yet. Perhaps her eyes would react to strong emotions, like the Sharingan?
The thought of trying to force Ruby's awakening crossed his mind, but just by looking at this girl and the innocent way she was behaving under his gaze, especially after noticing that her red cloak was no longer covering her exposed body, that thought ceased to exist.
If she had never been through an emotional trauma, Sasuke wouldn't be the one to make her have one.
He never wanted to go through what happened to awaken his Sharingan, so it would be hypocritical to want to force an innocent girl into a similar situation.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter." Sasuke decided to give up for now. I have more things to do.
While the possibility of getting a potential ally and uncovering a new eye ability was tempting, it wasn't the priority.
Sasuke needed to talk to Junior and force him to keep his promise; only then would he be able to enter that academy without complications on the day after tomorrow.
"Wait!" Yang called out, not expecting this guy to just turn his back and leave like that, without saying anything else. "You didn't tell me your name!"
It might have been a long shot, but she had to try and get something out of him!
Sasuke stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder briefly.
"As I said, it doesn't matter." He continued walking, being indifferent to this temperamental girl's intentions. "It's not like we're going to see each other again."
Hopefully.
With that, he disappeared from sight, leaving only green leaves behind and a pair of stunned sisters.
That... looks like Ruby's Semblance! Yang was breaking out in a cold sweat as she realized the kind of monster she was up against and the fact that she had never stood a chance of victory! I think I was really lucky to get out of this in one piece.
Especially since this guy wasn't like other men.
Even now, when her beautiful little sister exposed so much of her skin in front of him, he didn't have any kind of disrespectful reaction.
"Yang... do you really not know who that super-cool cloak is?" Ruby was as surprised as her sister, never expecting to see a Semblance so similar to her own! And what was that about my eyes?
She couldn't stop thinking about his questions and the coincidence of this unique characteristic of hers being approached twice on the same day.
Perhaps Ruby should talk to her father about it.
"It was a person, little sister." Yang hugged Ruby closer, deciding to put this whole thing aside. For now, that is.
If the opportunity arose, she would try to approach that guy in a different way.
After all, he is someone worth getting to know better. Inevitably, the feeling of warmth and the strength of his arms wouldn't leave her mind. I'm still going to see what's under that hood!
That was Yang Xiao Long's promise!
------
Roman was happy, fucking happy, and not even the indescribable hunger that tormented him could ruin his good mood.
On this fateful night, many things happened, and while Roman had a shitty encounter with a monster that could kill him at any moment, he managed to survive and became a new man as a result.
Truth be told, Roman needed to thank that monster for giving him the best thing in the world...after money, women, and alcohol, of course.
Power, pure and absolute.
So much so that if it had been before tonight, Roman was sure he would have had to risk his neck to get rid of that brat in the red hood. Not just her, but the extremely hot Huntress who had shown up to help ruin his party. Now, however, he didn't even have to make an effort and could even play with little Red before dancing with that powerful Huntress!
Even now, Roman could remember Red's despair, especially after he started using her as a guinea pig to test his new Semblance.
His power was so versatile and under control that he could destroy only what he wanted, like that girl's clothes, and without leaving a mark on her beautiful skin!
While Roman had gone a little too far, almost adding "pedophilia" to his list of crimes, he had managed to teach that heroic brat a lesson she would never forget.
Thanks to this little experiment, Roman had managed to create an excellent ability that he wanted very much to use on Cinder as retribution for all the humiliation he had suffered at her hands!
"How sweet life is!" Roman exhaled another breath of smoke, this being his tenth cigar in the last hour alone, but he didn't care. This power is so incredible that it's addictive!
Seeing his smoke mix with Dust to take on the property of its element would never get old, especially when the power behind it was so frightening... to anyone who stood in his way.
Speaking of which, the biggest rock in his shoe had just arrived, and she wasn't alone.
Perfect.
"Roman..." Cinder entered the hideout, slowly accompanied by Mercury and Emerald. "We need to talk."
By talk, she meant to interrogate and possibly torture him until he tells her everything she wants to know.
"Do we?" Roman turned to the hottest, most sadistic bitch in the world, one who had the audacity to chain him up like a puppy... No more. "What if I'm not in the mood?"
Cinder had literal fire in her eyes in response.
"I researched everything about you before we met." She held out her hands, and fire rose, the power of the Fall Maiden being displayed in all its glory. "The fame-obsessed loser."
The perfect distraction to draw the attention of the authorities while Cinder worked in the shadows to bring destruction to this Kingdom.
"Oh, I have a stalker?" Roman exhaled another cloud of smoke, setting the stage for the inevitable fight for his freedom. "You didn't need to make such an effort, just come to me, and I will give you a really good time~."
Emerald and Mercury took up combat positions, ready for what was to come.
Cinder wasn't fazed, but it was impossible not to be aware of the clouds of elements forming around them.
In a way, it almost seemed as if Roman also had magic, and that was impossible.
"You didn't have that kind of strength, speed, let alone such a powerful Semblance..." Cinder wanted more power, and she wasn't going to let this chance get away from her, even if it meant delaying all her plans and getting on that immortal witch's bad side. "Roman Torchwick, you're going to tell me how you got all this, or you're going to die trying to keep this secret."
Something she intended to find out, even if she had to examine this man's corpse.
All that mattered was the chance to grow stronger.
With that, all hell broke loose in a struggle for sovereignty, freedom, and power.