Time For Love: Ruby Rose X Male OC

Vol. 3 Ch. 26 Beacon Falls...

Ace's POV

I caught up to Ruby as we turned around a corner and emerged from the service tunnel, only to see with our own eyes that we are far too late. Ruby fell to her knees and said, "Penny..." I crouched down beside her and hugged her as she began to cry miserably into my shoulder. I rubbed my hand along her back to try and comfort her. Suddenly I heard a voice ring out throughout the Colosseum and the rest of the world watching these events. The voice said, "This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"

The screens in the Colosseum cut from red and black to complete static. I became furious that someone had purposely caused Penny to get killed just to make a point. Then I heard the sound of a wailing alarm throughout the Colosseum and looked up at the orange flashing screens that read "CAUTION". Then an automated voice announced, "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner." The crowds began to flee, wild and screaming, through the exit tunnels, then Ironwood said through the P.A. system, "Ladies and gentlemen, please. There is no need for panic." With that said, a Giant Nevermore appeared atop the arena's domed force field, giving a series of deafening screeches as it clawed and pecked at the defenses with its beak. The Nevermore screeched as it continued to weaken the force field that kept it from getting in. The warning announcer said, "Warning: Safety Barriers Failing." As civilians ran past us in a panic, Ruby stayed kneeling on the ground with her face in my shoulder, her expression in a mixture of shock and sadness. As the Nevermore circled around the colosseum, Pyrrha struggled to stand as she looked in shock at the torn apart Penny. From the stands, Jaune yelled, "PYRRHA!! Pyrrha, that thing's going to break in! You've gotta move!" Jaune, Ren, and Nora looked up and saw the force field flash as the Nevermore rose back up before diving back in. Wasting no time, the leader of Team JNPR jumped from the stands into the arena. Nora said, "Jaune!" He ignored Nora's shout as he ran towards Pyrrha and yelled, "Pyrrha, please snap out of it!"

3rd Person POV

Suddenly, the Nevermore completely broke through the holographic barrier, and the force of it landing on the arena floor knocked back Jaune, Pyrrha, and the pieces of Penny. The Nevermore screeched and lunged towards Pyrrha. Suddenly, the Nevermore was knocked back by a red, twirling blur of roses, with the cause of the blur gripping one of Penny's swords and stabbing into the Nevermore, before jumping back down in front of Pyrrha, who said, "Ruby?" With an angered, determined expression on her face, Ruby pointed Penny's sword toward the Nevermore and said, "Leave her alone!" The Nevermore rose up and circled around the arena before lunging back down as Ruby held Penny's sword defensively. Suddenly, the Nevermore got pinned down by a barrage of rocket lockers, and screeched out in pain before going unconscious. The lockers then opened up, revealing the weapons of various students, including Crocea Mors, StormFlower, Magnhild, and Equinox and Blitz. Ace pulled Equinox and Blitz out from his locker as he converted them into their sword form, and was shown alongside Scarlet gripping his cutlass and flintlock pistol, Sage with his sword, and Neptune with his gun in hand. Sun held his weapons, Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in its staff form, Ren and Nora were carrying their respective weapons, and the remaining members of Team CFVY, the members of Team ABRN, as well as Flynt and Neon of Team FNKI, all gripping their respective weapons. The students were then suddenly shook when the Nevermore started to get back up. Ren then leapt up into the air and used the blades of his weapons to slash at the Nevermore's eye. Arslan used her rope dart to swing down and grab the towering Yatsuhashi from the ground carrying him upward. Sage also leapt up into the air, and Nora ran up to the Nevermore's head and hit it with Magnhild in its hammer form. When Arslan reached peak height, she let go of Yatsuhashi, who was then joined by Sage, as the two broadsword wielders slashed down and decapitated the Nevermore. Causing its head to land near Ruby before dissipating into black particles, while the students formed a perimeter. As Arslan landed back on the ground next to her teammates, Ruby looked over to the teary-eyed Pyrrha.

Ace's POV

Kneeling on the ground, Pyrrha said, "Ruby, I..." She stopped and held a piece of Penny's torn cloth in her hands as her eyes continued to swell up. Pyrrha said, "I'm so sorry." Ruby replied forlornly, "Me too. But it wasn't your fault." I spoke up and said, "She's right." Jaune walked over to Pyrrha with Miló and Akoúo̱ in his hands and said, "Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else." Pyrrha stood back up and took her weapons back from Jaune, the two of them exchanging determined expressions. The two of them then looked over to Ruby, who smiled at the impressive ensemble of students. The moment was cut short when we noticed hippogriff-like Grimm land on top of the colosseum. They flew towards our group of students as Ren called the Grimm species out by their formal name and said, "Griffons." Neptune spoke up and asked, "Anybody got a plan of attack?" I frowned and said, "I have a plan. Attack."  Ruby then said, "Sun! I need your Scroll!" Sun used his tail to flick his Scroll to Ruby, who caught and used it to summon her locker, which opened up revealing Crescent Rose inside. However, Ruby is stopped when a Griffon lands on her locker, and roars at her before being scared away at the sound of a gunshot. I turned and saw both Port and Oobleck standing there, with their respective weapons in hand. Port spoke up and said, "Students! I think it would be best for you to leave." Ruby replied, "But we did a─"

Oobleck cut her off and said, "Miss Rose! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it." Ruby nodded at the Doctor's words before grabbing Crescent Rose, twirling it into it's scythe form, and said, "Let's go!" As all of us leave the arena, Ruby got distracted by the flash of Velvet's camera. The other students and I exited the arena entrance and gathered together in front of Ironwood. Then Ruby said, "What's going on!?" He answered, "Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang's invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse, some... vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control. So I'm─" He was interrupted by a sneak attack from a Creep, which was swiftly dealt with from a bullet to its head. Then he continued, "─going to take it back." As Ironwood turned for his ship, he stopped when Jaune asked, "What should we do?" Ironwood turned, faced us, and said, "You have two choices. Defend your Kingdom and your school... or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave." Ironwood then proceeded to climb up on the dropship in front of him, as he addressed the crowd, "Let's move out!" As Ironwood left, the other students looked at each other and murmur before a certain monkey Faunus spoke up, and said, "I mean... come on!" Then I said, "We can take a ship to Beacon!" Then we all run to the nearest airship and hope on board. We watched in horror as we saw dropship fall from the sky. Ruby decided to run to the bay doors of the Air Bus. Sun looked and said, "Ruby! What are you doing!?" I briefly activated my Semblance and grabbed her wrist. I looked at her and said, "I know I won't be able to stop you. But, before you go, promise me one thing. Be careful and come back to me in one piece." She nodded as I resumed time and let go of her wrist, and she jumped off the Air Bus as it barely took off, using her Semblance of speed to safely land on the runway after freefalling in the sky. As the Air Bus flew away, I muttered to myself, "If anything happens to her, Yang is gonna kill me."

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the wait.
Master out.