Chapter Text
She crawled.
She crawled as fast as she could.
It hurt. It hurt SO MUCH.
How could she be this stupid? Why didn't she just run away? Why did she have to apologize to this...this psycho?
*STOMP*
She gave a silent grunt as she felt her boot crash down on her back.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ruby asked, staring down at Neo, who was bleeding fast from where her legs used to be "I'm just getting started."
*KICK!*
With a sharp kick to her ribs, Neo was flipped over on her back against the sand, and looks up with horror at Ruby, with her blood still on her drawn scythe from cutting her legs.
Which she reverted it back to it's rifle mode.
*BLANG!*
One bullet through her left shoulder.
*BLANG!*
And one through her right shoulder.
If she had a voice, she'd scream and yell for someone to save her from this monster that she regrettably created.
"You think you can just apologize and we're suddenly friends?" Ruby asked coldly "that I'd just let you go after what you did to me? What you tried to make me do? After everything...EVERY SINGLE SHIT I've had to put up with thanks to you, Torchwick and EVERYONE Else?"
The Barrel of her weapon was shoved into her mouth next, and tears began to fall from Neo's eyes from the pain and the terror.
"I've had ENOUGH of dealing with you. You miss your dipshit boss so badly?" Ruby asked "Then I'll just send you to him."
...She didn't want to die. Neo didn't want to die. She didn't want to die like this. She didn't want to die to...whoever this little red was now.
But, a growl took their attention as they both looked over, and saw a pack of Beowolves approaching.
"...On second thought." Ruby then pulled the barrel of Crescent Rose's rifle mode out of her mouth and...just began to walk away.
Neo tried everything in her power to get her attention back. Anything to make Ruby look her way while the Beowolves moved closer while Ruby walked away.
But Ruby finally glanced back to her way, and saw the pleading eyes Neo gave her.
"...What? Grimm gotta Eat too, you know." Ruby coldly stated.
Neo was more scared and horrified more than ever in her life. Her legs were gone, her Arms were useless because of the pain shooting through her Shoulders, her Aura was gone, and...she didn't even know where her Parasol was at this point!
She tried to plead and beg Ruby to just Forgive her and save her. She wouldn't do this right? She was the Hero. She was a Huntress. She was...some kid! she wouldn't just abandon someone to die like this, Right?!
"...Ugh, fine." Ruby turned and faced her direction, while the Beowolves got closer "I'll get you out of here. Heck, I'll even accept your apology! Only on ONE. CONDITION."
Neo was listening carefully, and was ready to do whatever it was that She wanted.
"...Say 'I'm Sorry, please help'." ruby coldly and cruelly said "No Illusions talking for you. Open your own mouth. and SPEAK. Say 'I'm sorry' And 'Please help me', With YOUR OWN VOICE."
...Neo just stared at her, shocked and in deep despair of her demands.
"...Nothing?" Ruby asked "Okay then. I Deserve to be broken? then you deserve to be DOG FOOD."
...She wanted to scream. It was absolute agony.
She felt every bite, every claw, every piece of her that was ripped out. She could feel one of the Beowolves eating and chewing on her guts and organs.
She was in torture, and she wanted to scream...but she just, could, not.
...And all the while...she could see her cold dead eyes, staring at it all happen from a distance...
Neo jumped from her bed, gasping in and out as she could feel her body shaking from the cold sweat she got.
After calming down, she looked around confused...
...until she remembered where she was.
With a sigh, she got up from her bed, looking over at Romans hat on a nightstand next to her bed and her Parasol: 'Hush', rested against the same nightstand.
She got up and walked over to the mirror on the wall of her little house she barely managed to afford, seeing her own reflection.
She was a mess. There were bags under her eyes, her hair was messier than usual. Her coat was a little ragged...and she still had the nightmares.
Dying the way she did...it had broken her more than enough already. But then waking up and spending her time in this...primitive world where she just HAD to drop in the country where it made Atlas's High and Mighty mindset look like a joke...she was convicted this was hell.
And quite frankly...she stopped even bothering to use her Semblance to make up that same Fake Roman since it stopped feeling real very quick.
Right now...all she wanted was to be left alone in peace. Let this Revolutionary war business blow over and stay isolated from the world.
Because every time...every time she even saw the color of red...all she could see was her. the monster she created. the monster she unleashed upon herself...
*Meow*
She jumped and looked over to her window, and saw a cat staring at her.
It was cute. And she Hated it already.
Neo angrily picked up a wooden cup from a near by table and threw it at the wall beside the window, making the cat to just run away.
With a sigh, she sat down on the only chair her house had, and put her hands around her face.
...a short while later, she decided to just go back to bed and...probably cry herself to sleep again through all the Nightmares she will very much have from 'little red'.
She walked toward her bed, and just as she finally made it beside the night stand, She looked over at Romans hat. She missed him. The REAL Roman. The fake one she could make was just...telling her what she wanted to hear. but she knew the real roman would tell her what she needed to hear_
*CRASH!*
Something just Crashed through her window!
She looked around to see what it was and...
"...You..."
...No...
"...You..."
...no no no, Not again...
"...You."
...Not this again...
"YOU!"
Neo, terrified and panicking, tried to reach for her Parasol beside her bed...
*WOOSH!*
But Ruby was above her in an instant!
"I'LL FUCKING TEAR YOU APART!" Ruby screamed, and Neo's nightmares became true.
She swung her Scythe, And Neo quickly snatched her Parasol and the hat before jumping out of the way!
She turned to face Ruby, but the Red Reaper was already before her, slamming her knee into her face!
Neo was through back against the wall, before she felt Ruby's hand gripping her throat tightly against the said wall.
"Did you think you could just HIDE?!" Ruby spat, while Neo was shocked at how much strength was behind her grip on her neck!
With a kick and a swing of here Parasol, Neo managed to shack Ruby off. Only for the Red Reaper to roar and started to savagely swing her Scythe around the house as Neo dodged and Blocked!
But then, Just when Neo was gonna activate her Semblance, Ruby did a swipe kick and tripped the girl and then grabbed her hair!
Neo tried to struggle, but Ruby just threw her to the other side of the room and then stomped her boot into Neo's face, keeping her pinned against the wall!
"This time, I'm going to make you SQUEAL," Ruby huffed in fury "like the PIG THAT YOU ARE_"
*WHACK!*
_AH!"
Neo used her semblance at last, making a fake roman who swung his cane at Ruby's head from behind!
She used this opportunity to ran out through the door into the streets while leaving behind the fake Roman, alongside a Fake Ren, A Fake Ironwood and a Fake Jaune to keep ruby down.
She ran as fast as she could down the street. She was sure the Illusions she left behind were enough to keep her down long enough for her too_
*CRASH!/SHATTER!*
Her eyes widen as she witnessed the illusion Ironwood get slammed against one of the houses next to her and shatter away.
Looking back...she saw The Red Reaper walking toward her, with the illusion Jaune's decapitated head in hand before it shattered into pink glass too.
...But all Neo was seeing was a monster, cloaked in a red hood, and a shadowing, deathly Aura surrounding it.
"...After you died...you know what I thought?" Ruby spoke up "I thought: 'What a waste. All those things I hadn't done to her yet'." Neo just became more scared "And this time...I'm gonna take my time, TORTURING you. SLOW. And PAINFUL."
In that split second, Neo made a fake Pyrrha who held her spear in it's gun form and aimed at Ruby!
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" The Illusion Pyrrha screamed on Neo's behalf as she fired!
*WOOSH!*
Only to get cut in half easily as Ruby was closer to Neo now.
"I also realized something." Ruby spoke "You can make fakes of everyone you've met, but I highly doubt your illusions can also use their real skills and semblances aside from the weapons they have. And, it also takes a big chunk of your Aura, right? Why else would you sit back and just relax in your Tea Party and just run away the moment I started slaughtering your little pawns?"
Neo was starting to panic more as she stepped back.
"Your new power uses up your Aura too much. I'm even willing to guess you made those other illusions in the ever after FAR Before hand while making your Aura recharge at the meantime." Ruby kept glaring at her "So go ahead. Make as many fakes as you want. It'll only tire you out faster."
Neo, still Panicking, made up more illusions of all the friends Ruby had. Her team, her friends, Penny, Ozpin, Oscar too...and just stares in horror as Ruby easily rips through them all without even a little hesitation. She even jabbed her thumbs into the fake Oscars eyes and gouged them out before it shattered away.
Ruby then decided to launch head first into Neo, who held her Parasol tightly!
"OOOOOHOHOHOOHOH YES YES YES!" Ash excitedly cheered as he kept watching "GIVE HER THE GOOD OL' 'ONE-TWO'!" He mimicked a left punch and a right punch as he said so.
Neo managed to trip and push Ruby away with her Parasol, but she was getting more hits and losing more Aura as her Scythe kept making contact!
Until Neo managed to make an illusion of herself before appeared behind ruby, ready to kick her in the back of the head...only to feel something Get wrapped around her!
Looking down, Neo saw that there were strings around her arms and waist, holding her in place!
"You okay?!" Then, a Green haired boy Neo has never met before appeared behind her with the strings attached to his gloves. And beside him was another brown haired boy, a purple haired girl in glasses and a girl with light-pink hair.
"...I'm fine." Ruby coldly stated "Now hold her still."
"What?" Lubbock asked.
*POW!*
They all were shocked when Ruby punched Neo in the face.
*POW!*
And again.
*POW!*
...and again,
*POW!*
...and...again?
"R-Ruby?" Sheele called out.
*KICK!*
Neo coughed in pain as Ruby delivered a kick in her stomach next.
"Ruby what are you doing?" Lubbock asked.
"Just HOLD. HER. STILL." Ruby ordered, before she grabbed Neo by the hair,
*WHACK!*
And slammed Neo's face straight into her knee!
*WHACK!*
*WHACK!*
*WHACK!*
*WHACK!*
*WHACK!*
Over and over and over again.
"R-Ruby what are you doing?!" Tatsumi spoke up.
"Do you know her?" Chelsea asked.
"STAY OUTTA THIS!" Ruby yelled, before she whacked her knee into Neo's stomach next.
With an angry look, Neo created a Illusion of Cinder next!
"LET ME GOOOOOO!" The fake Cinder screamed as she swung down her swords at Lubbock, Who jumped back just in time, but ended up letting go of Neo with his strings!
"W-Where the hell she came from?!" Lubbock yelled as they all were shocked by the sudden appearance of this one eyed black haired woman they've never seen before.
But What got them really spooked was the fact that one of her arms were fully black and skeleton like with sharp nails too.
Neo began to run while Ruby gave chase!
"Ruby wait!" Sheele yelled as she swung her Extase at the fake Cinder, making her dodge back and ran after Ruby and Neo.
And Chelsea followed suit too.
Tatsumi and Lubbock were left with the fake Cinder, which was actually proving to be a match against them despite not having Cinders Semblance, the Fall maiden Powers or the full extend of the Real Cinder's skills.
Tatsumi swung his sword while the fake Cinder parried, and tried to stab Tatsumi who bend his body backwards to dodge and kicked the fake Cinder in her chin and pushed her away! Lubbock tried to attack with his strings, while dropping a coin too in the mean time.
The fake Cinder roared in anger and dashed straight at Tatsumi!
Lubbock tried to wrap some Strings around her, which she actually dodged and turned his attention to Lubbock next and charged at him instead!
Lubbock managed to hit one of her swords away, which just prompted the Fake Cinder to use her Grimm Arm to try and claw his face off!
"SHIT EW EW EW!" Lubbock yelled as he was very much grossed out by The Fake Cinders arm a he did his best to keep it back!
*WARP*
Until he used his semblance to switch places with a small coin he threw a moment ago.
Being caught off guard by Lubbock disappearing, Tatsumi used the chance to kick The Fake Cinder away before she used her remaining sword to attack!
The Fake Cinder screamed in rage before she swung again! But this time, Tatsumi blocked her sword while Lubbock managed to wrap his strings around her neck from behind!
"Gotcha now!" Lubbock yelled as he pulled his strings, and the Fake Cinder's head was sliced off!
However, the body soon shattered into Pink matter too.
"The hell was that?" Lubbock asked as they watched the illusion disappear.
"We gotta go! Something isn't right with Ruby!" Tatsumi reminded as the two started running too!
*BLANG!*
Another bullet almost brushed past Neo as Ruby kept firing as thet wo ran down an alleyway with a small shop near by!
As Ruby dashed forward, Neo made a fake Roman who blocked her scythe with his cane!
"Just GO AWAY!" The Fake Roman yelled "LEAVE ME ALONE! HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH TO ME?!"
*BITE!*
"AAAAAAAAAH!" The fake roman yelled as Ruby leaned forward and dug her teeth into the illusions throat and ripped it out. Exactly like how she did in the Tea Party in Ever After.
The Fake Roman held his bleeding throat before it shattered away too, and Ruby glared forward to where Neo was only to find that she had disappeared again.
Ruby frantically looked around, too angry and too spiteful to just let her escape like this.
Neo then appeared right behind Ruby, with the bladed tip of her Parasol out!
And just as she was ready to swing hush down on Ruby, and when Ruby was about to block!
*SLICE!*
...Her Parasol felt...lighter. TOO Light. No...there was no weight at all.
Looking back, Neo finally noticed that her Beloved Parasol: Hush...was cut down the size.
All that remained in Neo's hand was her Parasols hook-handle, a little bit of it after the handle...and the rest of it cut perfectly clean on the dirt, and the Purple haired girl with the glasses held what Neo could only describe as the most terrifying weapon she has ever seen in her life.
Sheele Glared at Neo, Extase in hand after utterly destroying Neo's only weapon.
Neo knew she was slowly running out of Aura if she kept using her Semblance, but she was too terrified of both the The Glare Sheele gave her and the sharpness of the massive pair of scissors she held.
Just as she was going to burn through the rest of her Aura to summon at least 4 Illusion jabberwalkers,
*WHIRLE!*
She suddenly began to vomit, her stomach turning in on itself!
Neo fell to her knees, holding her stomach while she Vomited the food she ate before this mess began!
"Are you okay?" Sheele asked as she turned her eyes to Ruby.
Ruby didn't even bother to talk to Sheele before she grabbed Neo by her hair again, and slammed her face into a wall beside them!
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SSSSSSS*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
"HEY HEY HEY!" Chelsea who managed to catch up, grabbed ruby and prevented her to slam Neo's bloody face into the wall again just when her aura was finally gone.
"Back off!" Ruby Shoved Chelsea away.
"Ruby stop!" Sheele stepped forward next "Please just tell us why you're_"
"I SAID BACK THE FUCK OFF!" Ruby screamed, causing Sheele to jump and step back, staring ar ruby in shock and horror.
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
*SLAM!*
And just when back to slamming Neo's face into the wall!
Soon, Tatsumi and Lubbock caught up, and were shocked at what they were seeing.
Ruby let Neo go, who tried to crawl away.
But she stomped on her back, keeping her down.
"No." Ruby spoke "You go, when I ALLOW you to go."
Ruby then held up her fist,
*SHATTER!*
And slammed her into the shop beside them, breaking one of the two glasses of its window while the other one remained untouched.
Then, Ruby grabbed her by the back of her head...and lead it toward the broken glass on the ground.
"W-Wait...Ruby..." Sheele called out.
"I-Is she gonna?!" Lubbock gasped.
"RUBY THAT'S ENOUGH!" tatsumi tried to step forward.
"KNOCK IT OUT! YOU'RE_" Chelsea tried to speak up too, but it went to deaf ears...
*SLAM!*
*STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB!!!!"
*Splatter!*
they all stood there frozen, shocked ad terrified as Ruby slammed Neo's face into the broken glass on the ground, moving her head around back and forth as the broken shards all stabbed into Neo's face!
"YESSSSSS!" Ash cheered as he kept watching from where ever he was "I. Am. So. FUCKING. LOVING THIS! Ooooh this is better than killing the Mute shit Myself!"
After thoroughly brutalizing Neo's face on the Glass shards, Ruby yanked her up and pushed her to another direction.
Tatsumi, Lubbock, Chelsea and Sheele all gasped or nearly shrieked at the sight before them.
Neo's eyes were wide open because of the pain, cuts, stabs and blood ALL over her face! there was also a piece of glass stabbed into her face just below her eye. She hadn't gone blind yet, but it was feeling her right side of her sight with the color or red.
Terrified, in agony and on pure survival instinct, Neo tried to swing her fist around at Ruby as best she could. It was a pathetic attempt anyway.
Ruby casually caught her fist,
*KICK/SNAP!*
And kicked Neo right in her knee, breaking it!
Neo fell, and Ruby grabbed her by the neck.
She struggled and tried to move out of her grip, but Ruby just dragged her infront of the other glass of the shops window, letting her get a long good look at her ruined face.
Neo was in more shock as she saw the state her face was in. cuts all over, shards stabbed around her cheeks. forehead, nose, under her eyes and even her chin, and she gasped when Ruby pulled out her scythe next!
*SWING-SWING!*
Ruby delivered two swings, and first, romans Hat was cut in half.
Then...Her long Brown and Pink hair was cut short too, into a messy short hair.
Neo just stares, shocked and horrified at A: Losing Romans hat. And B: Becoming such an Ugly, bloody mess.
Then, Ruby swung her Scythe again,
*SWING!*
And Neo's coat fell apart too!
She then gripped what little was left of Neo's hair and talked into her ear, while they both looked at each other through the reflection of the window.
"I am going to make you SUFFER. Do you hear me?" Ruby spoke with silent rage and spite "I'll make you regret EVER being born. And I'll make sure I'll drag it out painfully until I feel satisfied."
Neo kept becoming more scared by each word Ruby spoke.
"You will die, when I give you Permission to Die." Ruby darkly stated, before she held up large broken glass shard...and stabbed it into Neo's left breast, and moving it around.
She ignored how the others yelled at her to stop...and with a few more movements, and with tearing out a few fabrics of clothing...The Red Reaper cut Neo's left nipple out...
"More. More. More. MORE!" Ash was having the time of his life sadistically "MAKE HER SUFFER MORE! God I am Watching PEAK THEATER RIGHT NOW!"
Neo wanted to Scream in agony, but all she could do was stare down at her deformed and bleeding left Breast.
All the while, The Red Reaper was just staring at how much pain Neo was in with a cold soulless Glare.
"...Well?" The Red Reaper asked while Neo looked up at her "Go On. SPEAK. Say 'I'm Sorry'. TALK with YOUR OWN MOUTH. Do JUST that, And I'll let you go."
Neo just looked up, gasping and eyes wide, horrified of what was going to happen next.
"...Still nothing?" The Red Reaper said "Then Stay Quiet and BLEED, You MOTHER FU_"
*POW!*
But then, The Red Reaper was sent flying as Tatsumi ran in and punched her right in the side of the head!
The Red Reaper slowly stood back up, and saw Tatsumi just staring at her while Lubbock stood guard infront of Neo while Chelsea kneeled down next to the hurt and broken girl, and Sheele just looked in from the far back.
"...What. The HELL. Did you just do?" The Red Reaper angrily asked.
"I dunno. You tell me." Tatsumi answered while Glaring back.
"YESSS YES YES YES YES YES YES!" Ash was ecstatic at this point.
"Get outta my way. And I MIGHT just forget you_"
"Not a chance." Tatsumi didn't even let her finish.
"I'm serious. Give that MUTE-SHIT to me right now." The Red Reaper spoke again.
"So what? For you to keep hurting her like this?" Lubbock spoke too as he was ready to use his Strings at any moment "We're Assassins. Not the Sadists we put down every night. There's still a big line between those two If you haven't figured it out yet."
"I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" The Red Reaper screamed, causing Lubbock and Tatsumi to get on guard while Neo crawled into Chelsea in fear, and Sheele just stares.
"WILL YOU JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF?!" Chelsea screamed back "JUST LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE HERE! YOU EXPECT US TO JUST LET YOU CONTINUE WITH THIS?!"
"This doesn't concern you!" The Red Reaper growled "This is between ME, And HER!"
"LOOK AT HER!" Tatsumi pointed at Neo who kept hanging onto Chelsea while Chelsea held her back "HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH?!"
"NO WHERE NEAR ENOUGH! SHE DESERVES TO BE SHATTERED AND BE IN AGONY FOR THE REST OF HER WORTHLESS, PATHETIC LIFE!" The Red Reaper Roared.
"No. I'm...We're not letting you do this." Tatsumi stated firmly "Killing is one thing. But Torturing and mutilating our Targets, hurting them as long as we want, making them suffer like this so inhumanely without even flinching a little...That's too far. Specially for you."
"You...You traitors..." The Red Reaper growled angrier "You're taking HER SIDE!"
"We're not taking sides! THERE ARE NO SIDES IN THIS RIGHT NOW!" Lubbock yelled "We're just trying to stop you from turning yourself into the Monster the capital thinks you are!"
"...I thought you'd know by now...We ALL became Monsters the moment we took this job." The Red Reaper stated "But you don't have to worry about that anyway...cause I'll just KILL YOU TOO."
"DO IT! DO IT DO IT DO IT!" Ash cheered on "That's EXACTLY What I want! Kill them too! that'll be the ENDING OF THE CENTURY! EXACTLY AS I SCRIPTED!"
"...What?" Chelsea asked, all of them staring at The Red Reaper in shock "You're...not serious are you?"
"Friendly fire does tend to happen." The Red Reaper repeated, preparing her Scythe.
"SO THAT'S IT, HUH?!" Tatsumi yelled in anger "You're just gonna kill us just to get to that girl?!"
"NOT UNLESS YOU WASTES OF LIVES GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY!" The red reaper yelled again.
"FINE! GO AHEAD! KILL US TOO IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT!" Tatsumi yelled "GO ON! NO ONE'S STOPPING YOU! DO IT!"
"The HELL are you doing dude?!" Lubbock freaked at Tatsumi's provocation, and Even Neo was terrified of what he was doing right now!
"BUT BEFORE THAT!" Tatsumi then pointed a the remaining Glass of the window left on the shop next to The Red Reaper "TAKE A GOOD LONG LOOK AT YOUR OWN DAMN FACE FIRST!"
"I SAID_"
"SHUT UP AND JUST LOOK!" Tatsumi screamed as he kept pointing at the window.
The Red Reaper decided to just glance over...and what she saw was terrifying.
She saw herself...she saw...Ruby Rose?
...she was covered in blood, her hands were trembling while Crescent Rose was in her hands, her posture screamed murder and death...and the look on her face.
It was a scowl. And Angry, growling scowl. The light from her Silver eyes was gone, and nothing but anger and rage was left in them. there was blood on her face too. Nothing but a raging woman was left, prepared to kill everything and everyone.
...wait...this isn't right...this wasn't Ruby Rose...it couldn't be Ruby Rose.
Finally Realizing what she had become, Ruby's expression changed into a baffled and stunned look.
"IS THAT HOW YOU WANT TO GO BACK?! HUH?!" Tatsumi kept screaming "IS THAT HOW YOU WANT AKAME AND LEONE SEE YOU AGAIN?! IS THAT HOW YOU PLAN ON KEEPING YOUR PROMISE TO BRO ABOUT STAYING AS YOURSELF?!"
"...I...I-I..." Ruby Mumbled, and she finally realized what she had done in this night.
"I don't know what she did you you, And I probably have no right to know or to ask you about it, But you can't just go on about it like THIS!" Tatsumi kept ranting "You hate her so much?! Then just Kill her or just let her go! NOT THIS!"
"But...B-but she!...She..." Ruby tried to speak.
"Do you know who I'm seeing right now?! Do you want to know who I see when I look at you?! Well guess what, NOT THE RUBY I KNOW!" Tatsumi yelled "All I see...All that see when I...Look at you...ALL I SEE IS ARIA ALL OVER AGAIN!"
Ruby just stared at him, her eyes wide in shock, unable to speak another word.
Was he...right? Was she the same as that evil little girl that she shoved into an Iron maiden? No no no It couldn't be. She refused to believe that.
"W-what are you talking about?! " Ruby yelled as she took step back, panicking "I-I-I'M NOTHING LIKE HER! SH-SHE TORTURED YOUR FRIENDS! SHE-SHE KILLED S-SAYA REMEMBER?! WHY WOULD...WHY WOULD I_"
"HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT SHE DID?!" Tatsumi pointed at the bloody and hurt Neo "HOW IS THIS NOT THE SAME?! HOW IS NOT TORTURING SOMEONE TO THIS DEGREE JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LIKE THEM NOT THE DAMN SAME?! WHAT, DID SHE HAVE BETTER HAIR THAN YOU?! IS SHE LIVESTOCK?! SHOULD SHE BE GLAD YOU WANT TO TAKE YOUR TIME THOROUGHLY HURTING HER?!"
"SH-SHUT UP! I-I'M NOT THE BAD GUY! I'M NOTHING LIKE ARIA! I'M NOT! I-I'M NOT!" Ruby kept repeating, before her eyes turned to Sheele who was still silent the entire time "R-Right?!"
"..." Sheele just stared at Ruby.
"S-Sheele, come on..." Ruby looked at her air head lover pleadingly "Y-You know me! R-Right?! You know I'm...I'm nothing like that. right?"
"..." She stayed silent.
"Sh-sheele, H-Hey come on." Ruby said, putting on a shaky, half baked smile "S-Stop s-s-s-spacing out. C-come on. Tell them I'm N-not a monster. you don't agree with them, right_" ruby stepped forward, but Sheele stepped away from her causing Ruby to look at her with a heart broken expression "...Sh-Sheele...?"
"...I...I-I..." Sheele mumbled, while tears began to fall from her eyes "...I...I don't...I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU ANYMORE!"
Ruby jumped at how Sheele began screaming too.
"ALL I...A-ALL I KNOW IS THAT...THAT YOU'RE NOT RUBY!" Sheele screamed as tears fell from her face "THE RUBY I KNOW ISN'T ANYTHING LIKE THIS! SHE'S KIND, CARING, FUNNY, COMPASSIONATE! NOT...NOT WHATEVER OR WHOEVER YOU ARE!"
"B-but I_"
"GIVE HER BACK!" Sheele angrily screamed on "GIVE ME MY RUBY BACK! GIVE US THE REAL RUBY BACK RIGHT NOW!"
...Ruby just looks at Sheele with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging, tears slowly falling down from the corners of her eyes.
don't listen to them. just kill them and you can make that mute Ice-cream bitch pay.
'...but...'
she helped destroy beacon. she tried to kill you. she's the reason you and the others all ended up in that stupid fairy tale land. she hurt you. tried to make you kill yourself. then...she had the audacity to just walk up to you, and try to apologize!
'...I...I can't...'
can't you see? they're betraying you too. Akame and Leone would do the same if they were here. they don't love you. they don't care about you. they're taking your enemy's side. they're taking NEO'S Side!
'...but I...I can't...I can't just kill them...they're my_'
your friends? your team? they're the same as the last ones. they only hold you back. kill them. make THEM suffer too! cut them into pieces, make them feel EVERY second of it! let the entire town hear their screams_
"SHUT UP!" Ruby screamed as she held the sides of her head "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
...The others, Including Neo too, just stare at Ruby as she just screamed out of no where. They were starting to be convinced that she was crazy. but then their worries were pushed aside as she looked back up, her eyes showing a broken. sad, and most importantly, regretful expression.
"...Let her go..." Ruby spoke, surprising everyone "Just...J-Just let her go. Let her run away..."
"...You heard her." Chelsea spoke up to Neo "Go on. Scram."
Still in shock, Neo began to quickly limp away from the scene, still bleeding and hurt.
...and also, maybe a little angry that they didn't even bother to at least help her cover or heal her wounds even a little.
"...Ruby?" Sheele called out.
"...Let's...Just go..." Ruby spoke, and she began to walk away.
"Ruby, wait_" Sheele tried to call out again.
"We need to go. We'll talk later." Ruby spoke again and continued to walk.
"...What?" Ash stares, flabbergasted at how it ended "...What are you doing?...What. The Hell. are you doing?"
He watched as Ruby just walked away and Neo stumble away from the scene.
"Hey. HEY, ASSHOLES! THAT wasn't in the GOD DAMN SCRIPT!" Ash yelled, his mood quickly switching "You're suppose to KILL ALL OF THEM! NOT WALK AWAY AND LET THE MUTE RUN OFF! FUCK! GGRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
He screamed in rage and punched whatever that was near him.
It might have been a wall, but not like it mattered right now.
"...Alright kiddo. Go on. Walk on outta the one time opportunity you could have had. But you...you REALLY fucked yourself this time by not playing along." He spoke, his voice trembling in anger "You want to keep playing the good girl act? Then let's get rough."
"Hmmmm...hhhmmmmmmmmmm..." Leone hummed as she laid down on the couch "...they're late."
"Yes." Akame agreed as she was sitting beside Leone on the same couch.
"...I'm going after them." Leone said as she sat up "That mission was shady as all hell. I'm telling you something is wrong."
"It's still too soon to decide." Susanoo said as he walked over to the two, with two plates of snacks in each hand "I'm sure they are cautious enough to not be caught off guard by any enemy ambush."
The two just took their plates.
"...Yeah but...Ruby just has shitty luck some times, you know?" Leone said "No matter what, sometimes something dangerous or stupid happens to her and..."
"She ends up hurt, ends up with a new girlfriend, or ends up missing." Akame stated.
"Y-Yeah, that." Leone agreed.
"I highly doubt any of those will happen since she has backup this time." Susonoo assured.
"...It's best not to jinx ourselves." Akame said as she ate her snacks.
"Yeah." Leone nodded with a sigh.
"Akame? Leone? Ruby and the others came back. Come here at once!"
Hearing Najenda's voice through her semblance, they could tell something bad had happened because of their boss's tone.
The two ran out of the room followed by Susanoo, and when they reached the hallway that led to the front door of the hideout...
"...Ruby?" Akame said, both her and Leone frozen on the spot at the sight of Ruby walking away, blood covering her arms and dress.
Ruby sat down in the bathtub, pouring water all over her hair as the blood got washed off from her face.
she pulled her wet hair back out of her face, and sighed as she hugged her knees and just looked down.
She still felt tense from what she did. She could still fully remember how it felt when she brutally beat, broke and ruined Neo's face. She could still feel the sensation of feeling Neo's face get stabbed all over by the broken shards of glass.
...There was no enjoyment tho. There was just...hate. Anger. Spite. And a longing to inflict pain as much as she could.
Seeing Neo's face as she looked at herself, her face bloody and her hair cut short, turning from her sassy and confident self down to a broken, hurt and scared girl begging for mercy...Ruby wanted more of that look. She was so lost in hate and rage that she just wanted to make sure Neo felt nothing but despair.
But just where the hell did the idea of Cutting her nipple out came from?!
Now that Ruby thought about it, torturing and hurting Neo the way she did was terrible...but cutting off Neo's left Nipple...god, what was she thinking exactly?
Ruby looked down on her hands...her ugly, bloodstained, sinful hands.
'...I thought I washed it off...' Ruby thought as she pushed her hands into the water and rubbed them together.
And the when she pulled them out...the blood was still there?
Ruby grabbed a nearby bar of soap and began rubbing it between her palms.
After a lot of washing, she put the soap and washed her hands again...the bloodstains still remained.
"...ha...haha...hahahahaha..." Ruby began to quietly laugh, her eyes wide as tears rolled down, her smile and laugh shaky "Hahahahaha...it's not coming off...this time, it's NEVER coming off, is it?"
She kept staring at the bloodstains on her palms. the tears continuing but her smile grew wider.
"Of course it's not coming off. Hahahaha, I-I can wash it all off all I want if it's the blood of someone who deserved it...and I...I..."
"I WISH I NEVER MET YOU! I WISH I NEVER DECIDED TO BE A BETTER FRIEND FOR YOU! I WISH I NEVER ACCEPTED YOU AS MY LEADER AND PARTNER! I...I-I...I WISH I JUST STAYED IN ATLAS, FAR AWAY FROM YOU!"
"...Hahhaha...HAHAHAHA..."
"You're Ruining EVERYTHING You've done! you're burning All the bridges you made! Over a petty grudge!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"...Why? Just...Why are you doing all of this? This-THIS ISN'T YOU!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"I thought Adam and Cinder were monsters...I was wrong if you're here."
"HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"
"What the hell ARE you?!"
"HAHAHAHAA! HAAHAHAHAHA! HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!"
"Are you...really this hateful? This Spiteful? So much so that...you'd kill a world?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHA...hahaha...ha...heh..."
"Th-this...this isn't how it was suppose to be...this isn't what YOU were supposed to become...why would you...break everything...break so many beings...for what?"
"hehehehhe...hahahahha...HAHAHA..."
"...I take everything I ever said to you back. I have no niece."
"...hehe...heh...hee...aah...aaaaah..."
"GOOD JOB! YOU HATE EVERYONE AND EVERYONE HATES YOU! WAS IT WORTH IT?! ARE YOU EVEN HAPPY WITH HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU JUST KILLED HERE?!"
"aaaah...aaaaaaaah..."
She finally stopped laughing, and just cried.
"...Y-you're...A-A monster..."
'...I'm...I'm a monster...I-I'm STILL a monster...' Ruby thought as she cried 'Nothing's changed...I'm...I-I'm still the same hateful sinner as back in Remnant...I-T thought I changed, I thought I could be better...I was wrong_'
"Ruby!"
"AH!" Ruby jumped as she looked over, and saw Leone kneeling beside her bath tub with a hand on her wet shoulder.
"A-Are you okay?" Leone asked "Akame and Sheele and I were worried sick, So I came to check up on you...then I...I heard..." Leone seemed disturbed to continue "...I heard you...Laughing from outside..."
Ruby just stared at Leone, unable to answer.
"R-Ruby, you're freaking me out." Leone spoke "You came back covered in blood, walk away into this bath without a word, Chelsea explained that you...Y-you tortured a girl who you somehow knew, that wasn't even our target. J-Just what's going on?!"
"...D-Don't go..." ruby begged.
"What?" Leone asked, but then she gasped when Ruby leaned forward and wrapped her wet and cold hands around her shoulders.
"Please don't go...d-don't leave me...please don't leave me...I-I beg you, don't leave me..." Ruby begged, her voice broken and tears adding to the wetness around Leone's shoulders.
"O-Okay. Okay I'm not going anywhere." Leone assured "I promise I won't leave. But...can you let me go for just a few seconds? I promise I'm not gonna walk out of here."
Ruby hesitatingly Let go, And Leone stood up and stepped back before she undid her clothes and let them fall on the bath floor.
She then walked into the bathtub too right infront of Ruby.
"Can you turn around? I'll wash your back for you." Leone asked.
Ruby nodded and turned around in the bath tub and Leone started to wash her back.
"...It's not gonna come off..."
"What?" Leone asked.
"...The blood...the blood on my hands..." Ruby said, looking down on the palm of her hands "...Neo's blood is never gonna come off..."
Horrified at what Ruby just said, Leone quickly hugged her from behind and hid her own tears.
an hour later, Leone help Ruby to dry off before wearing her PJs and walk into her room, where Akame and Sheele waited.
"...Ruby?" Sheele asked as the two looked at her while Leone helped her walk in by holding Ruby's shoulders from behind.
"..." Ruby stayed silent as Leone led her to her bed, and Ruby sat down on its side.
"Ruby," Akame called out, and held her hand which shock Ruby out of her daze "Look at me."
Ruby gulped and looked up very slowly, and met Akame's eyes that showed Concern and worry.
"Is it true?" Akame asked "I want to hear it from you. Did you really...torture someone the way Chelsea said you did?"
"...I...I..." Ruby mumbled "I-I didn't...I didn't mean to, I..."
"Just, why?" Leone asked "Who was that girl to you? What did she do?"
"I-I...I didn't, I mean I...She..." Ruby kept trying to say something, anything, any excuse, only to slowly look down and mumble something quietly.
"What?" Akame asked.
"...I'm not..." Ruby mumbled again.
"Sweetie, what are you saying?" Leone asked too as the three got closer to Ruby.
"...I'm not a Monster..." Ruby spoke, and slowly looked up as tears rolled down her eyes "I-I'm not a monster...I-I swear I'm not..."
Seeing this and hearing her words, the three girls felt heart broken and all of them quickly leaned forward and hugged Ruby as tightly as they could.
"Sniff, I-I'm not...I-I swear...I-I'm not a monster I...Sniff, I swear I'm not..." Ruby kept repeating as she also cried on.
"You're not. We know you're not." Akame softly assured.
"You can never be a monster. No matter what, You're still far too kind for such a thing." Sheele assured to as she teared up as well.
"D-don't...Don't leave me...Please, don't leave me..." Ruby begged.
And they all knew she didn't mean that they'd leave her alone for now. She meant for them to no Abandon her.
"We're not leaving." Leone assured "No matter what you do, we're not leaving you."
"Even if you try to push us away, we won't leave you. No matter what." Akame whispered as the three hugged Ruby tighter.
Through the entire night, Ruby continued to cry and mumble pleas and apologies, the her lovers remained by her side through out the entire thing.
It wasn't clear when she fell asleep. But when she started to feel herself drift and fall to dream land with Akame, Leone and Sheele all by her side, Ruby finally manage to find some form of peace at last.