RWBY Through Worlds (End)

BC32: Falling Up (Cinder and Co.)-4

["Holding On To You"--21 Pilots]

"And I asked, 'Are you robbing me?'" Ruby told Royal over lunch a few minutes later. "And he was like, 'Yeah,' and I was like, 'Huh,' and then I knocked his butt right through the wall!" She gestured wildly and almost fell out of her chair.

Cinder, who was sitting in the corner of her own volition, had to smirk. She could just see the look on Roman's smug face.

"And the dandy guy, what did he do?" Royal knew Roman and was just dying to hear this also.

"He just said, 'Okay...'" Ruby imitated his tone pretty well. "And then he said to get me. So I kicked all their butts, and he shot dust around and ran away, and then I chased him up the roof, and he was getting away in a ship, and Cinder was there, and he shot at me, but then Glynda was there, so he was like, 'Oh no, a huntress,' or something, I guess, and Cinder comes out and start using magic and those screaming portal things--"

"Those were magic, Ruby," Cinder said in an annoyed tone.

"Right, and they got away. Then Ozpin recruited me--after Glynda scolded me for getting involved." Ruby winced at the memory.

"So he just recruited a 15-year old kid because she kicked some bad guys' butts?" Royal said. "I mean, any Signal Academy kid could have handled those punks. Roman's the only one who can fight at all."

"How do you know that?" Pyrrha said, over the head of one of the kids who'd decided to braid her hair to amuse themselves.

"His guys still get into fist fights on the job when Neo's not around to stop them. I've seen them do it, and it's just sad." Royal shook his head. "Also he should really stop it, but he thinks it's funny. The Argus people don't think it's so funny."

"Roman usually wouldn't let his guys get away with that kind of punk behavior," Cinder commented. "He must be bored. So much for liking his new job."

"Or they're just bad workers," Oscar said.

"Well, Ozpin let me in," Ruby said. "Fast forward a few months, I've got new friends--and Weiss."

"She wouldn't like that," Pyrrha said.

"Are you gonna tell her?" Ruby asked.

"Of course not," Pyrrha said. "I remember when you said that before though. She went, 'Hey!'"

Pyrrha nailed Weiss' voice surprisingly well for someone with such a different cadence, and Oscar and Ruby both started choking on laughs.

"Do I detect some salt, Nikos?" Cinder said. "Your competition."

"Oh, that was years ago," Pyrrha brushed it off. 

"Competition?" Royal said. "Wait, did Jaune like Weiss? Or did she like him? I feel like she'd probably like him."

They all snorted, even Cinder.

"No," Ruby said with emphasis.

"Not at all," Pyrrha said. 

"Jaune wasn't such a catch back then," Ruby said. "He's shaped up pretty well. But he was...uh...hitting a learning curb his first year."

"You mean he was a total loser who faked his way into Beacon," Cinder said.

"And we all know no one else ever did that," Ruby said dryly.

"The difference is I had to hold back to make it convincing, and he couldn't even make it believable," Cinder said.

"Jaune is probably more powerful than you," Pyrrha said. "He just couldn't harness it, and stronger power takes longer to hone--we know that. I'm not sure you'd do so well now."