Ruby was listening to This Will be the Day while reading a magazine on the newest climbing gear when the heavy hand landed on her shoulder. The black suited man jabbed at his ears, and Ruby took the headphones off, hiding her right arm under her red cloak as she did so.
"Lien," the man growled out, holding out his hand out expectantly.
"Are you… robbing me?" Ruby asked in amusement. Being robbed, that was a new one. She'd have to tell Skarmory about it when she got him out of the PokeBall they reluctantly put them in when they had to go to Vale. Which was annoying and dumb, she wanted to enjoy Vale with her partner, not with them stuffed in a ball.
The man started to raise a red machete, and Ruby's right arm, transformed into an Aegislash's shield, slammed into it and knocked it down the aisle. Grabbing the man with Petal Burst, she used it to carry him through the aisle and out into the street, slamming him into it with a loud thud and knocking him out.
Turning, she drew Crescent Rose off her hip, the pair of kama-cum-climbing picks twirling as she stepped over the groaning member of the Xiong family before the tassels on the end connected to the bracelets around her wrist in a clicking of gravity dust as she flicked a switch on them. Two other goons drew their machetes off their hip while the third drew a gun, the leader, easily distinguishable by his white suit and black bowler hat, continued to lean against the counter top with a look of boredom on his face.
Ruby activated Petal Burst, dashing past the two melee mooks and reappearing in front of the one with the gun, kicking at him with a leg transformed into a sword and watching him backpedal rapidly, only to hook Crescent and Rose around the gun and wrench it from his hand. Transforming her foot back, she stomped hard on his foot and Crescent's haft into his skull, causing him to buckle and collapse.
Unhooking Crescent and Rose with a flick of the switches, Ruby threw them both at the remaining two members of the family, Petal Bursting behind one as they deflected the kamas and driving her hand, now in the form of her Aegislash's blade, into his back and watching him spit up blood. Crap, they didn't have their Aura unlocked? She hadn't meant to kill anyone with this.
Returning her sword to a hand, Ruby pressed the buttons on her cuffs, pulling Crescent Rose back to her and snapping them in place. She rushed forwards, flipping the kamas so their hafts were barred and using them as a pair of escrima sticks to batter the last one down with a series of heavy thuds. Turning to the leader, she had just enough time to widen her eyes before the gun-cane he was aiming at her went off and blasted her back into the wall across from them. She didn't even have time to go intangible.
She shook her head, eyes closed as her Aura healed the flash burns over them, and fumbled with the ball at her hip and throwing it into the air, calling, "Flying Sword!" as she transformed into Aegislash.
—
Skarmory grabbed Ruby by the tassels as soon as they were out of the PokeBall, feeling them wrap around his talons until he was sure he wouldn't drop her and flying into the air. Eyes landing on the human that had hurt his partner. He was running along the rooftops, not even using the cane he had shot Ruby with to move.
It was still too slow. Far too slow. Tilting his body downwards, Skarmory dove into a, well, dive, folding his wings at his sides and streaking straight for the man. He glanced back, eyes widening as he saw Skarmory and swinging up a cane, firing a red flare at Skarmory as he continued to run.
Skarmory barreled right through it, slowing only slightly as he did, and felt Ruby swing back, recognizing that as a sign to throw her as she swung forwards like a pendulum. Ruby stabbed through the air, transforming back into a human a second before she stabbed into the man and turning it into a full body tackle, slamming him into the ground, knocking his hat off and causing a flash of orange Aura. Ruby's left arm became the tassels of an Aegislash, wrapping around his arms and causing his Aura to slowly but surely start to drain while she gently hooked Rose around the man's neck.
The guns on the bullhead he was running to turned towards Ruby, and Skarmory felt their eyes widen, speeding up so he was in front of the first salvo, his steel gray Aura flashing repeatedly as it hit home, pinging off his steel body. Did they not care that they might hit their partner?
The second burst was interrupted by a wall of stones that suddenly sprang into existence between the bullhead and Skarmory. Once the guns stopped firing, the stones turned sideways, revealing edges as sharp as Skarmory's feathers, they fired at the bullhead, forcing it to pull up sharply. A whip crack echoed, and the stones pulled up with it, chasing the bullhead off into the distance before crumbling to dust.
"They escaped?" Ruby asked, and Skarmory nodded, "Dang. At least we got this one."
"Yes," a voice said from behind them, and with another whip crack stones formed around the man's legs and chest, pinning him in place, "You can let him go now."
"Right," Ruby's left arm turned to a human hand and she stopped straddling the man. Both Pokemon and, at the moment, human turned towards the woman approaching them. She had on a white blouse with a high collar and a small cut out that went from her collarbone to the top of her breasts, a black skirt and a purple and black cape, "Skarmory, you know who that is? It's Glynda Goodwitch!"
"I know who it is, Skarmory said in amusement, "Holder of the record for the most civilians saved when the Vale Airliner Hope of Vytal crashed into Mountain Glenn after an attack by a flock of Nevermore. While over forty huntsman were deployed, she was the leader of them, and given the lionshare of the credit.'
"A less known achievement of mine, but correct," Glynda said, despite her eyes widening under her glasses, "and you two are?"
"Ruby Rose, and this is my partner Skarmory," Ruby said, "Could we have your autograph, pretty please?"
—
Glynda read the information sent to her from Signal, taking a moment to glance at the duo sitting in the interview room without a care in the world, grinning at the scrap of paper she had scrawled her signature onto. At least, she thought the bird was smiling at it.
Ruby Rose, Semblance(s) Petal Burst, the ability to turn into a storm of rose petals to accelerate rapidly, and Aegislash, the ability to turn into a living sword and shield that went by the same name. If Glynda hadn't already been aware of Qrow's "dimension hopping niece", she would have written it off as absurd. Two Semblances, who had ever heard of that?
Average in most regards of history, math and most cultural classes, but excelled, to a degree that left a completed note to check for nepotism, in combat and rescue operation classes, especially when accompanied by the three strange animals that made up "Rescue Team Blade", as Ruby called them. The steel bird, currently with her, Skarmory, a white furred, wolf-like creature called Absol, and a large magnetic disc called Magnezone.
Pokemon, they were called, according to Ruby, who had the ability to translate what they said into Vytalan. That was a fact proven to her when Skarmory had listed an achievement Glynda didn't normally broadcast despite her pride in it.
"They took down Roman Torchwick," Glynda said to Ozpin, who nodded, "They did something the entire Vale police force has failed to do for years."
"It's a very impressive feat," Ozpin said, taking the cookies he had ordered from a police officer and pouring them onto a plate, pushing open the door, "Ruby Rose, Signal's prodigy, you have Silver Eyes."
There was an infliction on the last words, before he put the plate down on the table.
"I… wouldn't call myself a prodigy, I just have a lot of extra training," Miss Rose said modestly, "it's a long story."
"Your Uncle Qrow told us about it, I hope you don't mind," Ozpin said, "That you travel to a world full of creatures called Pokemon and act as a "rescue team" for them?"
"I would have preferred if Uncle Qrow had at least asked my permission first," Ruby pouted.
"And you enjoy it?" Ozpin prompted, "Rescuing people?"
"Fighting too, but definitely Rescuing. We would have broken up as a team years ago if we didn't enjoy it, right, partner?"
"What's not to enjoy? Skarmory asked, taking an offered cookie and swallowing it in one go, "We're helping people."
"We're trying to get through Signal so we can go to Beacon and become licensed, that way we can expand operations to Remnant," Ruby explained happily, "There are plenty of people on Remnant that need to be rescued too."
"And fighting Grimm?" Ozpin prompted.
"A bonus. A really enjoyable bonus, but a bonus," Ruby said, "Why are you asking me this, Professor Ozpin?"
"So you know who I am," Ozpin said, brown eyes twinkling lightly, "You want to go to my school?"
"I need to, if we're gonna help people on Remnant. Well, I suppose I could try going to one of the other schools, but that would mean leaving the Pokemon of Pokemon Square to do the work themselves for years, and I don't wanna do that."
"Well then," Ozpin said, meeting Glynda's eyes. She sighed and shrugged, aware she couldn't stop him even if she wanted to, "Why don't I see if I can't move your application up a couple of years? I take it you would be bringing your partners with you?"
Ruby and Skarmory both nodded, eyes wide and glowing with excitement.
—
Next time, we see Yang travel to the Pokemon World in a flashback, meaning I have to decide if she turns into a Pokemon or not.