Ownership:

RWBY is owned by creator Monty Oum, God rest his soul, and Rooster Teeth Productions.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is owned by manga author and illustrator Hirohiko Araki.

I, the humble author of this fan-work, own absolutely nothing, gain no profit whatsoever, and wish only to express my writing and love for these fandoms artistically.

I took a challenge

Update: I made some updates

Team JGJO's Bizarre Adventure: Grim Tales

Trailer #1: Red Roses Bloom in the Golden Wind

Whenever I see my mom, I always make sure to fill her in on my life. I tell her absolutely everything, or as much as I can remember really, like how I'm doing, how Dad and Yang are, the good conditions my Crescent Rose is always in, or about the few occasions Crescent Rose isn't doing so well. Even with how much loving treatment I give her, there's always something bound to happen to Crescent Rose. I think Mom tries to make me admit that sometimes, reminding me to not let the pride get to my head. I don't know what I'd do without Mom.

Well, it's time to see her again. She's at the end of the forest, which happens to be a steep cliff side, always waiting for a visitor. Waiting for me. Right now, it's about the middle of winter, when the snow gets its heaviest in Patch, my home. I like the snow a lot, making snow angels or snowman, or just walking through the snow even, hearing it crunch under my boots. Mom likes it too, because she knows it makes me happy. Speaking of who, I'm at her place now! At the cliff, where she always is… where she always will be…

…

My mom passed away some time ago, when I was young. Really young. As in I was too young to understand what death was, how it makes someone feel when their loved one passes on, or that it's a natural part of life. Dad and Yang knew it better, Dad more so because… he… I'd rather not talk about it. In short, Yang had to explain everything to me because Dad… just couldn't. Even she had a hard time telling me everything. I don't really remember how I reacted, but Yang said it was the longest episode of sobbing I've ever had. But… we all got better, Dad especially. We moved on, accepted it, and we full-heartedly know Mom's in a better place.

So… when I said I see my mom and talk to her, I meant I visit her grave… and talk to her. I know her gravestone is not going to respond, but I can't help but talk to her. I feel that she always gives me a response, and I'd know what she would tell me… well, I would guess what she says. Don't question this, it's totally normal that a girl my age is talking to her deceased mother… right? I mean, it's kind of like talking to a living mother! Spending lots of family bonding time, talking about usual girl stuff, and weapons – especially weapons. … Sometimes, I think she wants me to talk about… boys.

Not that I need them! I just need my sweetheart, Crescent Rose in my life, that's all!

…

Well… maybe not just my scythe. There is one person I've liked a little more than usual, but as far as I know, we've just been friends. I've known him since we were four, and now we're at the same age of fifteen. We're totally childhood friends. He's kind, thoughtful, brave even, and he's just so cool! Although… he's not really social. I mean, I'm not that good talking to people either, kind of how we got to know each other, but it's like he intends to be introverted. It's as if he's wearing a mask on all the time (I don't mean a real mask, it's metaphorical… I think that's what it means). It makes me wonder how he even feels about me…

Oh geez, you know what? I haven't even told my name to you guys, assuming you don't know who this is. I think I should tell you my crush–! I mean… my friend's name too, since you'll definitely hear about him a lot.

My name's Ruby Rose, and this was how I met Giorno Giovanna! Or "GioGio," as I like to call him!

(eleven years ago)

"Ruby, come play with us!"

Every child knew that they had to go to school. Each day would be another session of classes about boring English, confusing math, and other subjects they were supposed to "learn." It's common for the youths to prefer accomplishing something else in place of school, one could say that it is normal. The many things any child would dread from school included pop quizzes and tests, strict teachers, and detention. Out of all the things that they would perceive about school, there was just one subject the kids enjoyed – leisure, or better known as play time.

At the halfway mark of the lunch hour, or when the teacher permitted it, the elementary or pre-schools of Patch island allows their very young students to enjoy a period of leisure. They could do whatever they wanted, for a certain period of time, like reading a book, eating a snack, taking a nap, or, the more popular option, play on the school's own playground installation. The children would almost always come to the school playground, playing on the seesaw, riding the swing sets, navigating the jungle gyms, or playing their own games on the ground.

Yang Xiao Long always enjoyed a day at the playground. She always got to see her friends and play on her favorite spring rider, which resembled a yellow motorcycle. But every time she went to the paly ground, she always made sure to do one thing first – getting her little sister Ruby involved. The poor girl never headed Yang's words, her social anxiety and fearfulness overtaking her mindset. She always stayed at the playground's border, keeping to herself.

Right now, they were going through the same routine, and was likely to end the same way as Yang's past attempts.

"I… I don't want to…" Ruby meekly answered, her small hands clutched together tightly and her gaze slightly downcast.

"Come on~! Please play with me! You can't be alone forever." Yang pleaded.

"But… but Yang… I…" She couldn't find the right words. Yang looked at her sister with saddened, disappointed eyes. She took a moment to think before sighing.

"Okay, fine." She replied. "Just… stay here, and don't run off." After letting her protective side show by telling Ruby what to do, she walked off to finally play.

"Y-Yang, wait…!" Ruby tried to call out, reaching her right arm to her, but her words were either too quiet for her big sister to hear, or she had opted not to listen.

Ruby sat down on the playground's border, her short pants protecting her rear from the dirty wood that made the boundary. She watched the other children with a mixture of regret and hesitation, seeing them play on all of the items the playground had to offer. She saw Yang play with her own friends, already riding the yellow spring motorcycle. Seeing her sister happy was a great thing to see, but it also reminded Ruby of her regret. She desperately wanted to tell Yang to play with her by themselves, just the two of them. She didn't tell her because she knew Yang would discourage that, too nervous to hear any scolding. She would have said something along the lines of 'you can't rely on your big sister for friends all the time.'

What was worse was the more she stayed alone, the more she felt afraid of being alone. And the more she felt afraid, the more she couldn't pull herself back. Ruby brought up her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She lowered her head into knees, averting her gaze from the playground. The feelings and thoughts of loneliness crept up on her once again. She tried her hardest to ignore it, holding her knees closer to herself and shutting her eyes tight. Like other times, she would only do one thing to stop it; she would not go to play with the others, or ask Yang to play with her, she would just wait out until leisure was over. Sometimes she would hope that the waiting would end sooner.

Just then, without looking, she heard a soft thump next to her. Surprised, Ruby brought her head, blinking out the tension in her eyes. Turning her head to her left, she saw a boy next to her, by less than half a meter away from her. He was about her height, having black hair in a bowl cut and, from what she could tell by looking at his side, blue eyes. He was wearing a simple white shirt and dark pants. The boy seemed unaware of Ruby next to him. The only thing he was doing was simply staring off into space, his face wearing a dull expression.

Ruby was more nervous than she could remember. An actual boy was sitting next to her! But why? Was it because… he liked her? Was he trying to show interest in her? That couldn't be! She thought that boys and girls could only start dating when they were adults, like Daddy said so?! (or they could date whenever and whoever they wanted, as Yang put it). Ruby hoped he wasn't one of the creepy boys, who Daddy and Yang told her to stay away from.

Despite her fear was rising with each thought, the curiosity seemed to overpower it. Mustering up the courage to even think of what to say, Ruby made to get this boy's attention.

"Um… h-hello?" Was her best attempt.

It took a moment for the boy to recognize the sound of another's voice. Slowly he turned his head, his dull blue eyes eventually meeting her own gaze. He blinked once or twice, taking in the image of the person before him. Finally, he spoke.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't notice you were here first." Though his voice was very monotone, he sounded as young as Ruby, perhaps revealing that he was the same age.

Ruby blinked in surprise. That was it? He sat here without knowing she was there? … Well, that was a letdown. What kind of boy was he, being so unaware of his surroundings? The boy sat up, breaking Ruby out of her thoughts.

"I'll leave you alone… I'll sit somewhere else." He stated, and started walking along the border.

For some unexplainable reason, it felt wrong for Ruby when she saw him walk away. Though small and difficult to pinpoint, she could feel a pang of pain as he got farther. Maybe it was because… this was an opportunity. Maybe, just maybe, Ruby had found a way out of the lonely pit she constantly experienced on the playground. Unwilling to let this slip out of her grasp, Ruby was going to make sure he would stay.

"W-wait!" She called out to him. The boy stopped and turned his head to her, only by a slight margin faster than before. His attention was fully on her and he had a different expression – shock. Though it wasn't much, the boy earnestly showed shock through his slightly widened eyes.

"You… you can stay… please." Ruby told him. The boy's eyes widened further but still slightly, and his mouth opened in a small sliver, as if this was the first time he was told something like this. The first time someone told him to stay. However, as quickly as they widened, his eyes turned back to dullness. His gaze was analytical, making Ruby uncomfortable. A nervous frown was plastered on her face, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. Finally, he walked back and sat in the same spot next to her, the same distance between them as before.

Ruby exhaled in relief, thankful that she didn't offend him in some way. She looked back to the boy, who had now gone back to staring at whatever was ahead of him. At this point, Ruby let go of her knees, her legs relaxing. Preferring not to leave it at this, she wanted to get a certain piece information out of him.

"U-um," He turned his attention to her. "I'm… Ruby Rose…" She meekly introduced herself.

The boy blinked at her, and his gaze was still dull. Ruby wasn't sure if he understood what to do next but, thankfully, he did.

"Haruno… Shiobana." He finally introduced himself.

Ruby attempted to continue, but the boy, now named Haruno, averted his gaze from her and returned to stare into nothingness. Ruby was disappointed, wanting to talk more with this boy… but perhaps this was enough. Though not much was said, one could say Ruby had progressed, taking the first steps to making a friend. Ruby looked down to her knees and blushed, happy at the thought of making a new friend.

Unknown to the both of them, Yang was watching the events unfold from afar. She had made one last glance at Ruby while play but lo and behold, a boy was approaching her! Truth be told, if he was one of the creepy boys who was trying to make a move on Ruby, Yang would have slapped him silly. Thankfully, for his sake, that wasn't the case.

"I'm proud of you, little sis…" She thought with a smile on her face.

And that was it… we just gave our names to each other sat there until classes started… I know it's not much but it was, like, the most special moment in my life. I made a friend for the first time, of course I was nervous, cut me some slack! This wasn't the only time we saw each other, if that's what you're thinking. We pretty much sat there every day at free time. We may have not talked more than a couple words at first, but we learned to keep up a conversation between us… well, I did a little more of the talking. And we moved up to real school, going to Signal Academy together (not together-together!) and we spent even more time talking. We were the closest of friends!

… Well… I think I was his only friend. He definitely wasn't one of the creepy boys, but… he wasn't treated like a normal one. A lot of the kids thought he was nosy, they wouldn't stick around him and some outright picked on him. His parents didn't do anything about it; in fact, they were his worst bullies. His mom neglected him and his stepdad… well, I don't know what he did, but the images of Giorno's face almost every morning were not very pretty and gave me a pretty good idea of what happened (that meanie!). Also, Giorno Giovanna wasn't his first name change!* When his mom married that jerk, his name was changed from Haruno Shiobana to something even I didn't like!

It only kept on for about a year or so, pretty short when I think about. All of that harassment just went away, when Giorno met someone. I don't know who he was but I only saw him a few times, and when I asked about it Giorno would change the subject. Eventually, the kids started acting nicer to Giorno and he was getting better, like his stepdad stopped hurting him (either way, he was still mean!). Giorno changed too. He started getting bolder, growing less quiet, and even adding to our conversations a little more. He even came up with his current name, and changed it to that without argument (and frankly, it is a pretty clever name).

But… he also started getting into trouble. I heard rumors that he started stealing goods from shops, that he was skipping out on school, and people were saying that he started driving around! He was too young to drive! I was so scared, I thought I was going to hear that he didn't pay people he owed back, cheated on tests, or stole girls' underwear! Just… NO DIGNITY!

Thankfully, other than stealing and illegal driving, nothing else happened. Yang would have kicked his butt if he did do that. Eventually, Dad and even Yang told me to stay away from him when the rumors kept spreading, despite my protests. I wanted to talk to him about it, but I couldn't even think of those things without being embarrassed. But… when I did think about confronting him… he was gone. The headmaster said Giorno was expelled that day, and his parents reported that he went missing. A whole search of the island proved he wasn't on Patch anymore.

…

It was two years since I last saw him… I just hope he's doing fine, and… I hope I can see him again, someday soon…

The snowy weather was perfect for the solemn mood Ruby felt. That was how she often felt when visiting her mother's grave. She did her usual routine with her visits – speaking to her mother's grave about various subjects, like updates on the family or her feelings on a certain situation. She done so, and left when she felt enough time was well spent. She always felt happy to speak to her mother, but it also served to remind her that she had died and she could never get a real answer.

Ruby sullenly walked through the leafless trees, her boots crunching through the snow. The path she took led to an open field currently covered in a blanket of the white frost. Because her gaze was covered by her hood, she couldn't see much but the ground she stepped on. That's why she didn't know what exactly was growling at first.

Grrrrrrrrr~…

"Huh?"

She looked up from the ground. In front of Ruby was a whole pack of Grimm. From the wolf like features, they were obviously Beowolves. However, from the lack of any armor, Ruby realized the exact age of these Grimm. She heard about the Newborn before, but never saw them in person. A Newborn Grimm was said to be the natural offspring of two Grimm of the same type, instead of being spawned from wherever they originated from. The Newborn were basically whatever type of Grimm they were, except they resembled their animal counterparts more closely with the lack of their bone armor, which has yet to develop. Though they still retained their black skin and fur, but had crimson eyes and blood red teeth. The eyes would later develop a yellow hue and the teeth will turn white like their masks, once they grow older.**

At first, Ruby initially felt surprise and fear, coming face to face with a horde of Grimm. Then, she felt a stir of excitement for the same reason. This was like a test, one that she could actually look forward to. She could finally test her weapon on the Grimm, the monsters she swore to kill as a Huntress in training. How exciting this could be! Ruby reached for her weapon, but then thought of something. This could be the perfect opportunity to record this event, one of her first slayings of Grimm.

Ruby reached for her scroll, activating it, and looking for its digital recorder. Feeling the need to communicate however, wanting consent for what she was about to do, she looked up to the Newborn Beowolves.

"Uh~… you guys wouldn't mind if I recorded this, right?" She asked. It was a little scatterbrained of her to attempt talking to feral monsters, but her intentions were pure.

Sadly, innocence does not make a Grimm consider a change of heart. With hunger and bloodlust fueling their thoughts, the beasts decided it was time to feast. The first three at the head of the pack charged towards, each one leaping into the air and raising their gruesome paws at her.

"EEP!" Ruby squeaked in fear. At that moment, to her fortune, she acted on one of her newfound instincts: the use of her semblance. In a sudden burst of rose pedals, she jumped, soaring well above the Grimm. The three who charged could only react in time to slash at nothing, and tumbled onto the snowy ground. The beasts were confused, but one had enough insight to look up. It saw the girl high in the air, the light of Remnant's shattered moon outlining her red-clad form. Her hood had flown off her head, revealing her youthful face of pale white skin, hair that was black at the roots but the tips transitioning to red, and her large eyes that shined silver.

"Okay Ruby, remember your training." She nervously thought to herself. "Just stay calm, and remember every move you practiced on the dummies." While seemingly suspended in the air, for a considerably surprising amount of time, she reached for her weapon. Her Crescent Rose was her pride and joy, personally handcrafted by herself in her own school. Ruby took the concealed tool from the back of her waist. She twirled in the air as she activated Crescent Rose with a push of a button, transforming it into its powerful sniper rifle mode. She took aim while having a final, confident thought, "… I got this!" and fired.

Another aspect of the Newborn that differed from an older Grimm was their innards. A creature of Grimm's blood and flesh was a disgusting color of pure black, much like the color of their skin and fur. A Newborn's flesh, however, was a bright red, like the color of a rose or human blood. It was theorized that once they aged, the flesh would develop into a darker color, and ultimately turn black. Because the Newborn were so rare, however, the actual color of their inner workings is undetermined, only being claimed to be red from spontaneous witness accounts.

Ruby had just unknowingly proved this theory, by simply shooting down one of the Grimm before her. The bullet tore through the creature's skull, cleaving it like a butcher's knife through meat, thanks to the force of the shot. What remained of the Grimm's head was thrown back by the force, then lolled to the side before the body fell down. The monster's corpse started to dissipate in a similar fashion to Ruby's semblance. Speaking of whom, she finally landed, both feet firmly planted on the ground.

"I did it?" She asked incredulously, before cheering at her successful kill. "YES! That's one down… and a whole lot more to go." She couldn't celebrate any further, the other Grimm began to rush towards her. Though one of their kind had fallen, they were undeterred in getting a taste of this human's flesh, and the night was still young.

Ruby leapt over another Grimm, before it could swipe at her. With another simple pull of the trigger, she ended the second Grimm's life with a shot to the back. Still in the air, she took aim at a third Grimm, fired, and blasted its side into a bloody paste. Ruby landed in a graceful somersault as a fourth leapt to strike at her. Before it knew what was going to happen, she aimed her weapon and once again fired, blowing a hole dead center into the beast and throwing its corpse into the ground.

Now with four kills under her belt, Ruby rolled back and stood up. It was time to really give these Grimm a show. With each step she took backwards and the twirl of her weapon, the barrel was unfolding by itself. What was once a mere high powered rifle was now a massive, intimidating scythe. The blade was practically sharper than the Newborns' own claws. One wolf was unimpressed however, as it sprung forth and ran towards her. With enough time to react, Ruby spun around and caught the attacking Grimm, hooking its head in the crook of her weapon. Though it was a hard blow to its head, it was undeterred as it looked at the girl right in the eye, baring its open maw full of crimson teeth.

"Oh, wow, you need to clean your teeth, mister." Ruby playfully quipped, the only response she got from it was an angered snarl. Even though she was earnestly afraid of these Grimm, she was strong enough to hold onto her wits, confident in her ability to fight and win. Ruby smirked as she pulled Crescent Rose's trigger, but the Grimm still did not understand that it was doomed. Using the force of the weapon firing, Ruby cleaved the beast in two, its upper chest sliced cleanly from the rest of its body, its head and right arm still attached. As the upper half of the beast was flung into the air, Ruby kneeled down as she finished swinging her weapon in a full arc. As the halved corpse fell to the ground, Ruby could help to express her joy over such an impressive feat.

"THAT WAS SO AWESOME! GO ME!" Of course, all she could do was think the words to express her elation, as she was still in the midst of battle. As more Grimm charges, Ruby stood up and swung her weapon into the ground, stabbing her weapon's blade into the ground. This way, it adds support on her when firing, absorbing shock and keeping it from knocking her back. Each shot she fired hit their target, felling each Grimm and throwing their bodies back, ending their existence in the world.

One Grimm, however, got lucky as it was only inches away from Ruby. It swiped at her, but Ruby jumped with her weapon in hand and detaching it from the ground, in time for the Grimm to miss and only strike the air. Still in the air, Ruby fired her weapon, striking the beast dead center, and the force of the shot flinging her backwards. Once again she used Crescent Rose to strike the terrain, this time to stop herself from flying. As the weapon skidded slightly before stopping with a jerk, Ruby performed a backflip and landing her own two feet on the very handle of her weapon. Standing from there, she turned head around to see more Newborns emerging from the forest.

"How many of them are there?" Ruby thought to herself. Their numbers seemed to be kept the same or growing, with each Grimm appearing on the battlefield. Like a Hydra, if one head is cut off, two more take its place… but she would keep fighting, until there wasn't a single head left. The skirmish kept on. Ruby performed elegantly with deadly precision, appearing like a Grim Reaper that was clad in red. She swung left and right, vertically and horizontally, diagonal, in all directions. With each shot she fired, a Grimm was either killed directly by a bullet or a forceful swing powered by the gunshots. Limbs were severed and heads were decapitated. Holes would be blasted into their torsos and skulls, tearing through flesh. With each kill she made, Ruby performed a feat that even a decorated acrobat couldn't do.

Such as how she killed two Grimm simultaneously, in a fashion similar to her fifth kill today. As a Grimm was swiping her claws at her, and another behind the first Grimm approaching fast, she hooked her attacker into the crook of her weapon and fired. Not only did the force of the blast help her weapon to cleave the first in two, from the waist up, the bullet fired had pierced the second directly into the abdomen.

"Double kill! Nice~!" Ruby happily thought. Two more Grimm were fast approaching her. Thinking quickly, she leapt over both of them, effortlessly dodging their attacks. They had their chance, now it's her move. She easily executed the first in three moves, severing its left arm, leg, and slicing its stomach open. The second attempted to taker her by surprise, but Ruby was faster. She hooked the beast in the crook of Crescent Rose, the third time she done that technique today. She rolled under the Grimm and jumped, hopping on to the back of the animal. Now that her weapon was positioned so that the blade was facing the Grimm's throat, she pulled the trigger. The beast was instantly decapitated, but the force of the blast flung Ruby into the sky. Taking notice of her, three Grimm leapt up into the air towards her. The strength in their muscle propelled them just as high as Ruby currently was.

"Alright, three at once!" she mentally observed. "Here I go!" Raising her scythe above her, she fired, pushing her down towards the first. In a spinning arc, she slashed the first beast across the chest, then pointed the muzzle of the rifle towards its head, and fired, instantly blowing its brains out.

"One…" Ruby counted off the first kill.

The force of the blast propelled her into the air further but for a moment. As she descended, she fired into the second creature. The force of the gunshot once again kept her airborne.

"Two…" She counted again.

As she started to descend again, the third was practically flying towards her. With a quick swing of her weapon however, she severed its arm off from the shoulder. This time, however, she did not fire her weapon, her descent now being permanent.

"Three… Ah!"

To her misfortune, there was an unexpected fourth. Once she was in range during her descent to the ground, the fourth Grimm swiped its massive paw at her. Thankfully, Ruby brought up her weapon in time to block it. The beast's claws clanged against the shaft of the weapon, but its strength alone was enough to knock Ruby back a long distance. While she was midflight from being thrown back, Ruby used her weapon to score the ground a third time, skidding for a moment, then came to a halt. She looked up from her position…

Lo and behold, she saw a third wave of Newborn Grimm.

"Oh~ geez… that's a lot of Grimm…" She muttered in dread. She could have sworn that there were only three to four left! Where did these Grimm come from?!

"Okay, don't freak out, there's more of them but I can beat them easily… I think." Despite her confidence and skill, her energy was starting to fade. She felt exhausted and she was quite low on aura. She was also low on ammo, only having one cartridge left. Fighting the Grimm for an unknown period of time would do that to an individual. However, she had to put any thought of rest to the side. She was in a battle where her life was on the line and that was all she could focus on right now. Ruby released the empty ammo cartridge in her weapon, the piece falling to the snowy ground. She took the next cartridge her side, looking at it with some reluctance. "I might have to use this."

The red cartridge in her hand had an emblem of four arrows facing inward, pointing to a filled-in circle – it was the symbol for Gravity Dust. Many forms of Dust contained nature's elemental powers, but Gravity Dust was special. Hence its name, it was able to manipulate gravity. One who uses Gravity Dust can alter the gravity around; they could jump higher, run faster, even float. Ruby had never used it before and, quite frankly, it scared her. What was going to happen? How fast would she go? Would she only end up hurting herself? These questions plagued her mind each moment she would lay her eyes on this certain material.

Unfortunately, she can't hold back from using this. The third wave was approaching her fast, the Grimm closest to her was eager and craving for a meal. Ruby casted her doubts aside by shaking of her head, and donning a determined look towards the enemy. She loaded the Gravity Dust cartridge into Crescent Rose, a satisfying snap meant its locked into place. She bent into a crouch, and held her weapon in a position so that its blade and muzzle of the gun was behind her. The Grimm were stampeding towards her, and she was ready. The Grimm at the head of the pack was coming closer; Ruby's finger was over the trigger. She was going to pull it.

*WHOMP*

Just then, a dark body landed harshly into the ground between her and the Grimm, the object pluming a cloud of snow from the sudden crash. The Grimm stopped out of curiosity, and Ruby stopped herself from pulling the trigger, confused by the abrupt incident. The snow cloud cleared out to reveal… only a Grimm. Or what remained of it. It was badly beaten, its hair disheveled, and limbs in awkward and unsettling positions, clearly broken. Its jaw was broken to the degree of looking like poorly butchered meat, and its snout seemed to be smashed in to the point of being seemingly inverted. Red blood was pouring out of its open wounds. The worst of it though was it seemed to be barely alive. Its body was convulsing and twitching, almost violently. Whatever attacked this Grimm, it must have struck it so fast and in numerous times, that the Grimm hasn't yet realized that it was dying, or already dead.

Finally, the broken and bloody mess of a Grimm stopped convulsing, the battered beast breathed its last, and began to dissipate, like any of the other Grimm that has died this day.

Rrowwrrr? One of the Grimm growled questioningly.

"Huh?" Ruby herself questioned. Was something else here that was fighting the Grimm? Or… someone? Just then, she heard distant, bestial grunts of pain. She looked up to see one of the most astonishing things she would ever witness. In the background, one by one, each of the fourth wave's Newborn were flung into the air by an unknown, incredibly strong force. Their bodies were limp, moving like ragdolls in the air. Ruby could faintly see one or more impressions on their bodies, shaped like a fist. She could also hear something else, it was distinct from the Grimm. It almost sounded like a word. It somewhat sounded like this:

"Muda…" … Whatever that meant, Ruby didn't have the slightest clue.

The Beowolf at the head of the pack picked up on the commotion. The mysterious force was coming closer, more Grimm being flung high into the air. The lead Grimm turned its head behind it –

*POW*

Almost immediately, a fist smashed into its face. The force, energy, and velocity of the punch was unfathomable, and the result of its contact with the Grimm was gruesome. The side of its face was practically smashed in, its left eye squished and popped out of its socket. It was thrown at an incredible speed from the force alone, its soaring body just barely crashing into Ruby, who was staring at the event with wide, dilated eyes. The beast soared for another moment before violently crashing into a tree, the force of the collision having uprooted it. Ruby turned to where it landed.

"Wha-?! … What was that?!" She blurted out. She's never seen anything like this! What in Dust's name could have enough strength to do… that?! She turned her head to see the culprit…

and seeing it made sense. Of course this thing, this ability, could pull this feat off.

Standing before her… no, floating actually. Floating before her was what could be easily identified as a Stand.

On Remnant, once an individual unlocked their aura, they basically have the choice between two abilities. There was the common ability of the semblance, which was what Ruby had… and there was the rare ability of a Stand. Stands were much more complex to master, stranger to behold, and their unpredictable abilities were bizarre, compared to semblances which usually have a more natural ability. What's more was that stands came in corporeal forms, like humanoids or something else. A stand was a more rare sight on Remnant though, because they are much harder to develop than a semblance, and that it would kill a considerable amount of one's aura to summon a stand. Yet, they existed nonetheless.

The stand before her was rather slim, but powerful and… beautiful, in a sense. It was almost completely gold in color, with some contrasts of white and green. It was decorated with eight green and black ladybugs, two placed evenly across its chest, hands, waist, and ankles. Attached to the waist were loosely hanging slings, like those of suspenders, and a stylized wing on its shoulders. The top of its head formed a helmet like cap with curved marks engraved on it. Its face had no nose and green eyes that appeared almost like ribbed glass, with markings shaped like the letter J coming down the sides of its face. Ruby looked in awe at the golden being of power. Just then, what came next would be the biggest surprise for her today.

"It has been a long time… Ruby Rose."

Ruby gasped. Who spoke just now? Who was it that… knew her name? She looked to the stand for the answer, but it hadn't made a sound since it appeared. Suddenly, it began to dissipate, the energy of its physical being starting to fade into… someone. It was the stand's user, calling the stand back to themselves. Ruby didn't know how she saw them at first, but she put that thought to the side as she took in the strange new arrival.

He was a boy. He was of an average height, possibly the same height as Ruby or taller. He was of a slim athletic build, similar to his stand, and has white, lightly tanned skin. His eyes were a vibrant blue and his hair a golden blonde. His hair was an interesting spectacle – the back slightly spiked up, a short braided tail that Ruby almost couldn't see, and three O's styled from his hair hanging over his forehead.

He wore a dark blue two piece suit, that had a glossy texture and appeal to it, with some gold outlining. The jacket had an open heart shape over his chest, revealing no shirt but his slightly toned muscle. Like some decorations on his stand, the boy's collar had stylized wings sown into it and a trio of ladybugs on his jacket – two on either side of his chest, and one just below the zipper. His pants had no such decorations, and he wore green shoes, each having the ladybug emblem on them.

If Ruby had to be honest, the boy appeared to be a bit flamboyant. Yet, for some reason, the young man pulled of the look very well, looking somewhat attractive.

"About two years have passed," He spoke again, speaking as if he knew Ruby personally. "Hasn't it?"

Two years? Ruby couldn't what he meant for the life of her. Just how did this young man know her? How could he possibly assume they haven't seen each other for… two years…? Something was wrong. Everything seemed odd about this. Not because he was a stranger who came out of nowhere though… but because something about him was familiar to Ruby. She decided to pry for his identity. She had to know who was this instant.

"Do… do I know you?" She cautiously asked. There was a short moment of silence before he answered.

"I didn't expect that you would recognize me now, of all times…" He replied. As Ruby heard his voice, something clicked in her mind.

"Wait… that voice sounds familiar…" The serious, calm, and even charismatic tone of his voice. It was all so familiar to her! "But how? … No, it couldn't be!"

"Perhaps this will help?" The boy continued. His left hand reached into his pocket, rummaged for a quick second, and pulled his hand, closed into a relaxed fist. He reached out with his arm and slowly opened his fingers, his palm facing up to the sky. As his hand was opening, something seemed to grow up. Miraculously, a flower appeared in the middle of his flat, open palm. It was a rose, but what was truly special about the flower were its two colors – gold and red. About half of the rose's petals were a brilliant red and the other half a shimmering gold. The different colored petals had mingled with each other, creating a visual swirl of color in the flower. Upon seeing this flower, Ruby gasped loudly. She instantly recognized it.***

Thus, she instantly recognized him.

"It is!" she quickly thought before speaking again. "GIORNO~?!" She called out. Upon hearing this name, his apparent identity, the boy's serious gaze shifted… into a small, caring smile.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Ruby." He said warmly. At that point, she didn't need any more proof than that. Giorno Giovanna was back. The boy Ruby cherished as her very first friend has now returned, now grown into a young adult like her. With their long-awaited reunion finally at hand, Ruby reacted in the best way that was natural to her.

"EEEEEEEEEEEKKK~!"

She squealed like a fangirl, and proceed use her semblance to get closer to him. She collided into Giorno with a tackle hug, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders. The affectionate attack really caught him by surprise and knocked the wind out of him from the collision. He almost fell down from the force, but he caught himself and kept his bearings.

"R-Ruby?!" He blurted her name in questioning shock.

"Giorno~~~! I can't believe you came back and that it's really you!" She excitedly exclaimed, "It'syouit'syouit'syouit'syouit'syouit'syouit'sreallyyou~!" And proceeded to repeat that 'it's him' without taking a breath.

Though her restlessly repeated statement irked him a bit, he put that personal peeve to the side, remembering the kind of hyper-active person Ruby is, and knowing the situation they were in right now. "Ruby, maybe now is not the time for–!"

"But I've missed you~!" She interrupted, slightly pulling away from Giorno to show him her face, which was currently displaying an adorable frown and a set of watery puppy-dog eyes. It was an infamous technique that anyone could use, if they were immature and desperate enough. Now Giorno wasn't one to give in to immature looks but… even if he hadn't seen her for two whole years, he inevitably relented.

"… Well, maybe for a short moment." He said with a chuckle, and returned the excited girl's embrace, lightly wrapping his own arms around her waist.

She smiled brightly and elatedly yelled out, "YAY~~!" And returned to their hug, drawing herself closer to him and resting her chin on the crook of his neck, over his right shoulder. Everything felt like eternal bliss for Ruby.

… Until she was reminded of a certain enemy.

Before she could blink, one of the Newborn Beowolves was upon them. Its left arm seemed to be damaged, but the rest of its body was unscathed. It glowered at them with an intense fury, angered over the fact that these mortals had basically forgotten the battle with itself and its brethren. It was angry, it was hungry, and it was going to satisfy both of those feelings. It roared with all its energy and raised its right paw to make a clean swipe at them, aiming to slash them both in half in a single strike.

But it was hardly fast enough to even reach them.

Without saying a command or even turning his head back to look, Giorno immediately summoned his stand. The golden powerhouse didn't need any more info to know what it had to do, as it threw its fist in an uppercut at the Grimm.

"MUDA~!" It roared.

The punch went straight through the beast's maw, smashing through its jaw and snout. What was left of its obliterated mouth spurted red fluid. Because the beast was a Newborn it was hardly as durable as any of the older Grimm, which was why the stand easily cleaved its snout from its head. The Grimm looked incredulously at its missing mouth before its eyes seemed to roll back, its eyelids becoming heavy, and the dark animal fell to the ground dead, beginning to dissipate. Ruby watched the entire fast-paced spectacle unfold, gazing with wide eyes in pure amazement.

"… Woah." Was all she could say, but it was enough to describe how she felt about it. Giorno turned his head to see the dissipating corpse, staring at it with an expression that was once again serious but with a hint of irritation

"Awfully rude of these beasts to interrupt." He stated disappointedly. They both relived themselves from their embrace, letting their arms fall to their sides as the two stood next to each other, and took in the state of the Grimm before them. Surprisingly, those of the fourth wave were alive, apparently surviving Giorno's onslaught. However, that didn't mean that he didn't leave his mark on the Grimm. Many of the creatures were injured, their youthful red blood leaking from the single or double impressions of his stand's fists. But here they are standing, their goal of eating the girl still in mind, and now they wanted the boy. Their trademark, hateful glares was written all over their faces.

"I guess there's more of them, huh?" Ruby stated with a nervous smile.

"It would seem so." He concurred, though he didn't return her look. "I didn't think some could even stand after bluntly taking Gold Experience's assault, even if I only struck them once."

Upon hearing that name, Ruby gave him a questioning look. "Who?" She asked.

"Gold Experience… that is my stand's identity." He clarified.

"Oh… oh yeah!" That made sense, considering it was primarily gold in color. Now that the stand was on her mind, she thought of complimenting him for it. "You have a really awesome stand–!"

"Now isn't the time to discuss that, Ruby." He sternly interrupted. His tone surprised Ruby, slightly shocking her that he interrupted her on the spot. Why did he do that just now? Ruby was going to say something, but then she remembered their current dilemma with the Grimm. Of course now wasn't a good time to talk casually, how dumb of her to forget about the Grimm.

"R-right, the Grimm… sorry." She quickly amended. Giorno took a short moment of silence before he spoke again.

"… I'm curious… what would you have done with the Grimm, if I hadn't intervened just now?" He asked. His peculiar question caused Ruby to blink at him a couple times, then answered.

"Oh, well… I was gonna load Crescent Rose with Gravity Dust. I thought that might give me a speed boost and finish the Grimm off quickly…" She answered. She was unsure of herself if she could actually pull that feat off though, knowing her current inexperience with the powerful material. "Why?"

"Because now that I know this…" He started. "I may have a plan to defeat them even quicker."

"Really?" Ruby asked with a hopeful tone.

"Yes. Using the Gravity Dust, you'll fling us both into the Grimm." He stated, revealing his plot.

"What?!"

Fling them both into the Grimm?! What kind of idea was that?! And should she mention that she never used Gravity Dust before?! This could practically get them killed! … Though she had to admit, this sounded like an awesome plan. Well, as they say, better said than done.

"A strike from both my stand and your weapon can easily eliminate them," He explained. "But what would happen if a Grimm was struck by both of us at the same time?"

"… Uh~…" Obviously, Ruby didn't have a clue.

"I'm not sure either. I'd imagine the results would be destructive."

Ruby wasn't sure what to think about this. One the one hand, it could be a spectacular way to eliminate the remaining Grimm forces. On the other hand… there was still her inexperience. She just wasn't sure what to do. Don't get her wrong, she would love to go through with this route of action. She was incredibly confident in her skills with slaying the Grimm. This was different though; she almost doesn't know how she would react while using Gravity Dust, let alone using it with another person. Without her confidence, what good would she be against the Grimm? She wondered if there were any alternate methods and chose to question Giorno's plan.

"Yeah but, is that really smart?" She inquired. "How can we even manage this? I mean, Gravity Dust is like really, really, really dangerous–!"

"There isn't any time to argue this." He stated bluntly, reminding them of the approaching Grimm. "Trust me on this."

That last sentence, a sincere request on his behalf, caught Ruby's full attention. 'Trust'… maybe that's what they needed. If she could trust him, and he trusted her back, they just might pull off their over-the-top plan of action. Besides, it does take two to tango. Ruby looked to the Grimm, concerned that they were getting closer, despite their slow pace due to their injuries. She then turned back to Giorno, who in turn was looking at her with a still-serious expression, but Ruby saw a hint of anticipation in his eyes. Realizing their current lacking of other options, she made her decision.

"… Alright… just hang on to me."

Giorno nodded, agreeing to her caution. He opened his right hand, waiting for Ruby to grab it with her left. She looked to it with some hesitance, but she knew it had to be done. She took hold of his hand, gripping it tightly. Ruby once again positioned Crescent Rose behind them, her finger over the trigger. They positioned themselves with their knees bent, as if they were preparing to jump.

She pulled the trigger, and in a flash they were off.

The two soared at an incredible speed, nothing that they could have ever perceived as possible until this very moment. To them, it felt like they were going faster than the speed of light, like a brokenly-powerful stand with a speed beyond even A-rank classification. It took all of the willpower and strength the youths had to keep hold of each other. If they were to let go of each other now, it would be disastrous.

They were immediately in front of the first three Grimm. With their wits and rationality still intact, Giorno summoned Gold Experience and Ruby prepped her weapon, both ready to strike. The golden stand launched its fist and ruby swung her scythe. The result was bloody, but efficient – the fist had smashed through their heads in one strike, effectively obliterating their skulls into nothingness, and Ruby's Crescent Rose had swiped through them, cleanly cutting through their abdomens and severing them in half.

Ruby fired another shot of Gravity Dust behind them, keeping up their speed. Soon, they found themselves running across the snow, maintaining their incredible speed. Briefly, Ruby took a glance at Giorno, wondering how he was handling with their speed. He seemed to be adapting to it soundly, showing no signs that his body was under stress from the speed. She was doing fine herself, considering speed was her specialty, despite never going as fast as this. Giorno returned her glance, his stand seeming to have looked to her as well. Seeing that they both were serious about this, Ruby nodded and fired another shot. With their speed doubling they soared off the ground. Ruby held her weapon behind her, her arms and scythe behind her head. It was hard to hold it with one hand, but she held onto it with a firm grip.

The Grimm looked onto their targets with pure befuddlement. How were their prey able to move so fast? It all seemed hopeless for these Newborns, their lives would end after an incredibly short time after these two were done with them. Just then, Ruby's weapon went through another transformation, only smaller. The full blade of the scythe shifted, no longer making a 90 degree angle with the shaft, but aligning itself with the straight direction of the shaft's shape and structure. Crescent Rose was now in its war scythe variant form. They charged into the Grimm and all hell was let loose, if it hadn't already.

Their final display of combat skills were phenomenal. Each of her slashes and his blows hit their mark, easily murdering each of the Newborn Beowolves. None of the demons could withstand their hits a second time, succumbing to a painful death and their bodies dissipating. What was most astonishing of their kills, though, was that with each Grimm, they had struck and killed them… together. Giorno's Gold Experience would throw a punch so fast and strong, it would discombobulate a Grimm severely, if the blow hadn't killed it first, and a swipe from Ruby's Crescent Rose would slice through the beast, ending its existence. Each of their kills by combined effort were spectacular and incredibly fast paced, and each Grimm's flesh was tattered and beaten by godlike fists, and slashed by sharp and enhanced steel.

The last Grimm was killed brutally, Gold Experience throwing it's fist down into its skull, and Ruby firing her last round of Gravity Dust into its body, blowing it to bloody pieces. After the last kill, both Ruby and Giorno jumped backwards, spun midair, and landed in a pose – something rather flashy for their day of brutal killing of Grimm. Ruby posed by positioning Crescent Rose behind her, resting it on the back of her shoulder. Her right arm bent and her hand holding the lower half of the shaft, and left arm laying over the weapon's upper shaft.

Giorno stood in a slightly sensual pose, his right hand grabbing the open heart of his jacket and pulling on it, his left hand grabbing and pulling down on the bottom of the jacket, and his legs spread far apart. His stand, Gold Experience, had mostly faded into him and was partially showing, its head and right shoulder visible, though Giorno's braid was positioned to slightly cover Gold Experience's face. As they posed, the shells of Ruby's Gravity Dust bullets started to rain behind them… and there were a lot.

Not a single Grimm was in sight. They won the day's battle.

Ruby was completely exhausted, thankful that everything was now over. She ceased from standing in her pose, taking her weapon off her should as it relaxed, and she exhaled heavily. "… That was probably the most reckless thing I've done yet." She tiredly claimed.

Giorno looked to her with some sympathy, knowing it was a plan that could have been consequential for the both of them. "I will admit, the idea was drastic but–"

"BUT IT WAS SO AWESOME~!" She suddenly shouted, throwing her arms un in the air with great enthusiasm. It appeared that somehow, her energy had returned to her. However, she was unaware that she closely next to Giorno and had practically yelled down his ear.

"Ow." Giorno deadpanned, digging his little finger into his ear canal, checking for anything that could have been damaged by Ruby's instantaneous shout.

"I never thought I could do something like that!" She exclaimed. "I've never used Gravity Dust before, and I was super worried I was gonna mess up! But then you helped me out, and we were like PATOW~! And WATAH~!"

With the odd noises she made, Giorno let a small chuckle to escape him. "What kind of effects are those?" He asked. Upon hearing that question, it caused Ruby to blush in slight embarrassment. Her hand went to scratch the back of her hand, trying to think of what to identify those sounds she made.

"Uh… ninja noises? duh" was her answer, her tone saying that it should've been obvious. "Anyway, that was the coolest ever~! I wasn't sure about it at first, but you came up with a really amazing idea, Giorno!"

"Well, it wouldn't have come to fruition without you." He replied, nonchalant but confident. Looking at Ruby, Giorno saw that her response was blank at first, her eyes blinking wildly at him and her mouth slightly open. She wasn't expecting the compliment apparently, to his confusion. Her cheeks slowly brightened into a rosy red color from the rush of blood, and she bashfully looked the other way.

"Oh, stop! Heheh!" She proclaimed with a giggle, more to Giorno's confusion.

"What?" He asked for clarification.

"Y-you're just saying that!" She accused, though in Girono's mind, he couldn't distinguish her tone as playful or serious.

"Ruby, I'm serious. I couldn't have done it without you." He stated. Ruby then looked back to him, her expression showing slight surprise and her eyes blinking once or twice.

"Really?" She asked him.

"Of course." He confirmed, and he gave a short smile in hopes of looking more convincing. Thankfully, it appeared to work, as Ruby then gave a bigger, brighter smile.

"Thanks~!" Ruby happily chirped, then gasped as she apparently realized something. "Oh my gosh, it's been so long!" She took step closer, and looked directly into his face.

"You've got to tell me everything!" Giorno looked at her confusedly, wondering about what she was referring to.

"About what?" He asked.

"Like where you went, what you were doing, or maybe you saw something cool!" She clarified. Giorno swallowed nervously, though his gulp was quiet enough so that Rub couldn't it. Internally, he was concerned of what he could possibly tell her. In the time that he was gone, he had… taken part, let's say, of something that he currently did not want Ruby to know about.

"Well… I haven't done that much–" He started.

"Will you please tell me everything you did while you were gone?" Ruby eagerly interrupted. "I want to know! Please~?"

Giorno once again felt nervous, but he hid those feelings behind figuratively, slightly cracked mask of sternness. He closed his eyes, took a near-quiet deep breath, and looked to Ruby warmly, with a small smile gracing his lips.

"… Alright, I'll tell you everything I can remember." He said, to her exuberance.

"Yay~!" Ruby happily squeaked and returned to embracing Giorno, who then returned the hug. It was a pure, blissful moment for the two long lost friends. It could have lasted forever, and neither of them would have objected to that kind of fate.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last.

To Giorno's surprise, he saw one more Grimm. Ruby couldn't see from her position in their embrace, her back facing it, nor could she hear because this Grimm was being particularly quiet. This Grimm seemed to almost unscathed, miraculously, with only some rustled fur. It did have one blatantly visible wound however – the left side of its skull dented and its left eye hanging out of the socket by a sinewy string of flesh. It was the last Grimm Giorno had attacked when he making his way to Ruby.

Before Giorno could react, the Beowolf leapt towards them, it's right arm raised up. He didn't have the time to comprehend how it was alive or how it still had so much energy; time seemed to slow for him during this crucial moment. Knowing the danger Ruby was in with her back facing the Grimm, he had to act on the first action that he could think of. He threw Ruby off of him, the red-clad girl confused by the sudden action. Though he succeeded in saving Ruby, Giorno wasn't fast enough to avoid injury

The beast land in front of Giorno and swung down with its claws, slashing his right arm. It tore through his sleeve and cut the skin deeply, drawing fresh blood. Giorno growled loudly in pain, dropped to one knee and clutched his bleeding arm. As soon as Ruby fell to the ground from Giorno's push, she turned to see him injured, fallen before the evil creature. Any confusion she had suddenly turned to fear for friend.

"Giorno!" She called out in concern.

Giorno grunted out of pain, before he looked to the Grimm. It had a satisfied look on its face, content with its act of revenge on the one who bashed its eye in. Giorno challenged it with an expression of stern anger.

"Gold Experience!" He commanded, and his stand appeared in a flash.

Remembering the golden being who struck and disfigured it, the Newborn roared fiercely at the stand. Of course, Gold experience paid its intimidation no heed as it launched an uppercut into the creature's gut. It gasped and coughed up spittle, shocked that the stand moved so quickly. The Grimm fell to the ground, clutching its stomach, apparently fatigue was catching up with it, thanks to it wounds. The beast weakly looked up at the stand, which had an expression that was wrought with an angered sneer. Seeing that it was clearly outmatched, the Grimm hoped that was the only strike the being was going to give it.

But that single strike was only a sample of the pain the Grimm was about to feel.

MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! MUDA~!

Gold Experience wailed on the final Newborn, smashing it into the ground with each fist it struck into the beast. A cloud of snow began to form from the stand's erratic barrage. The moment he felt it was finished, Giorno used a single thought to order Gold Experience cease its attack. The cloud of snow cleared away to reveal a bloody mess of the animal, completely unrecognizable. The last of the Newborns died in pain and its body started to dissipate. With the threat finally gone, Giorno called off his stand and continued tending to his wound. Ruby rushed over to him in a worried state.

"Giorno, you're hurt!" She stated… though it was obvious.

"I'm… well aware."

"Let's get you to my Dad, quick!" Said Ruby, having thought of a plan. "He'll definitely have first aid stuff –!"

"That will not be necessary." He claimed. Confused, Ruby pried for what he meant.

"But–!"

"Just watch, Ruby." He stated, and Gold Experience once again appeared by his side. The stand looked around them, and its gaze found something – a bullet shell that was one of Ruby's, a convenient two feet away. The stand went to pick it up, Ruby viewing the stand's actions with some befuddlement. Gold Experience then came back to Giorno and took a hard look at his wound. The stand would do something that was utterly shocking to Ruby; with all of its might and speed, Gold Experience shoved the she into Giorno's arm. He grunted in pain, and Ruby gasped again in concern.

"Giorno, what are you doing?!" She asked him incredulously. "Are you al-… right…?"

Now Ruby couldn't be more puzzled than now. Before her eyes, the shell and Giorno's flesh seems to glow, then morph into each other. The bullet shell transformed from steel into the skin and blood of Giorno's body. He grunted in pain again, but the process was immediately over and the arm looked in healthy, undamaged condition. Ruby was beyond astonished.

"This is Gold Experience." He stated, gaining Ruby's attention. "My stand can grant life to all."

"Life…?" Ruby inquired. She was still confused, but she seemed to be in awe of hearing such an ability.

"Yes. It can create a small animal from any object, such as a beetle from a bullet or a frog from a suitcase." Giorno explained, giving rather bizarre examples of his power. "In this case, Gold Experience can use that ability to heal the skin over the cuts on my arm. It isn't meant for healing though, so the process is a painful one."

Hearing what his stand was capable, Ruby couldn't feel any more amazed. A stand that could heal and create living things? Ruby hadn't heard of such a beautiful stand. Not even a semblance could be capable of such a versatile gift. That was the greatest difference between a stand and a semblance – their abilities. One was a power that could be extremely adaptable when used correctly, while the other was rather practical and could be used as a last resort. It was one of these times when Ruby wished she had a stand, though she wouldn't replace her semblance with anything else at this point.

"… That is so cool." She exclaimed, brimming with joy. However, just saying that was not enough to express her amazement. Ruby turned to Gold Experience itself and gave it a well-deserved compliment. "You're so cool."

Upon being addressed by someone who wasn't its master, the stand looked at her. It gave a small smile and the nod of its head, elating Ruby that it gave her a reply of its own fashion. After doing so, Gold Experience proceeded to fade back into its user, no longer needed at the moment. The two youths stood up, Ruby still looking at Giorno's healed arm.

"What about your sleeve?" She asked him, seeing that the cloth was still severely tattered.

"The ability doesn't affect clothing," he answered. "Unless I wanted to make animals out of my clothes. But that action wouldn't turn out so well for me."

Ruby giggled at the thought of his shirt turning into some sort of animal and leaving him bare. "Heh, yeah, that'd probably be… bad…"

Noticing her sentence fade out, Giorno looked at Ruby, curious of what was wrong. He saw her looking at his left arm. Her eyes narrowed onto his limb with pure focus, and slowly her expression unraveled to shock.

"Ruby? What is it?" Giorno asked. She did not answer right away, kindling some concern from him. She slowly brought her head up to look at him, dead in the eye, with an almost unreadable expression but showed some fear.

"… Giorno… what is this?" She pried, her tone strangely cold.

"What?" Confused, Giorno looked to his arm… and his blood ran cold. On Giorno's left arm, visible through the torn sleeve of his jacket, was a tattoo. It was dark pink in color, and resembled a flower. It was stylized, some of the petals spaced out from each other and the other, unidentifiable parts of the strange flower. This was a Passion flower. Giorno mentally cursed himself for forgetting that he had their emblem forever emblazoned into his left arm.

"Giorno… is this what I think it is?" She asked another question. Apparently, she knew what this symbol meant. He did not answer, only gazing at his arm with a stunned expression. His eyes were wide but his mouth closed. His lack of an answer irked Ruby.

"Giorno, answer me–!"

"Your father… Taiyang." He interrupted, Giorno took a step away from Ruby and surveyed the dead forest around them. "Which way is his and your cottage?"

"Hey! Don't change the subject–!"

"It has been two years, remember?" He interrupted again, taking a few more steps away from her. "I'd like to greet him, and possibly Yang as well. Oh, and is Josuke here too–?"

"GIORNO GIOVANNA, ARE YOU A GANGSTER?!"

…

He was caught. There was no way out of this. He panicked at first, he tried to change the subject, and he tried to cover it with his two year absence. But he failed to hide the truth and he knew it. Now, he had face the music.

Giorno stood there for a moment, then took a deep, loud breath, in and out. The noise of his breath was audible. He finally turned to Ruby and donned his usual mask that was void of emotion but the usual austerity.

"Yes… I am working for Passione." He admitted. Ruby gasped in surprise, even though she was quite sure that she knew the answer.

"… But… but you…" She couldn't comprehend it, she just couldn't. For the life of, she could never understand why the person she held closest to her was involved with such an organization. In her desperation to understand, she inquired him of his affiliations.

"Why?!" She desperately demanded. He took a moment before he spoke again.

"… Ruby… how much do you know about Passione?" He asked out of curious interest. Realizing that the tables were turned on her, she mentally scrambled for an answer.

"Um… only that they're… the biggest meanies in the world!"

"…" Was her answer. Giorno raised an eyebrow out of puzzlement.

"… Dad doesn't tell me much about them." She painfully admitted. Yes, she knew what Passione was, but she hardly knew what they were infamous for. She watched news reports of their crimes behind her father's back, when she was younger. When she would ask about them, Taiyang would only brush it. Yang wouldn't budge for an answer either. The best she could figure out about them was the reports constantly showing the emblem of Passione, which was how she recognized the tattoo on Giorno's arm.

"Well… he's rather protective of you, if he hasn't told you anything." He stated, thinking deductively on the reasons why he told her so little about them.

"But Giorno, why are you with them? They turn people into murderers!" She claimed. Upon hearing this, Giorno did something she never expected to hear out of him: He chuckled. Darkly.

"Heh… that's a pretty ironic statement." He also claimed.

"Huh?"

"The people who join Passione were already killers from the start." His morbid statement disturbed Ruby, never having wanted to hear such a thing.

"But… but you haven't killed anyone, right? Giorno?" She asked hopefully. To her fearful disappointment, Giorno did not confirm her question verbally. Instead, he did not look at her, his eyes now looking downward. To Ruby, this was a clear sign of what this meant.

"… No… no, you haven't… you couldn't…"

"I have…" He admitted.

"But… but you regretted it… right?"

"… No."

Ruby couldn't believe what she just heard. She practically was listening to someone confess to murder – her friend, no less. It was official: Ruby Rose was friends with a gangster and a murderer, the greatest evils she could ever comprehend in her lifetime.

"… Why?" She asked again, but with a little more volume. "Why would you do such a thing?! Why are you with THEM?!"

"So that I may be able to change them." He confidently answered.

"… What?" Asked Ruby, once again dazed and confused by his words.

"Ruby… do you have a dream?" Giorno asked her. "A desire for what you will become in the future? The mark you will leave on the world around you?" His peculiar question caught Ruby off-guard, though it did not derail her from the matter at hand.

"Um… yeah?" She answered, unsure of what he was aiming to prove.

"What is your dream?" He pried.

"T-to be a Huntress, of course!" She stated. "That's what I told you, remember?" She was starting to think that he had forgotten their special interactions, all those years ago.

"I do remember." He said. She was relieved that he did, but that left something uncovered in this situation

"But that's what you wanted to be too… right?" She asked him. If he did not, then why did he join Signal with her in the first place? A combat school that was meant to get them ready for actual huntsman academies?

"In a sense… but something more." He clarified. "Something that truly spews influence."

"… So… your dream is being a gangster? Do you actually like it?" She inquired of him, bitter that this was what he really wanted as a profession

"There's nothing good or influential about my current position." He retorted. "It is what I aim to be that is much more."

"And what's that?" She asked, slightly less bitter.

"To be the head of Passione."

"HUH~?!" Needless to say, the revelation of Giorno's true goal shocked her to her very core.

"Ruby, let me explain–" He tried to expand, but Ruby interrupted.

"Y-y-you want to be a… a… A GANG–STAR?!"

…

"… A what?"

Oh dear Dust, why did she have to say such a thing?

"L-like a superstar combined with a gangster…" She explained haphazardly, nervously twiddling her thumbs. "… A super gangster… or something."

"… The term would simply be 'Boss,' Ruby." He corrected. "I'd be the boss of Passione."

"Yeah, well… I… still don't know much about them." She reiterated.

"Perhaps I should tell you then." He assumed. Upon hearing this, Ruby was afraid. She was sure that the mafia group had done a many terrible atrocities but she didn't want to know. They could be just too horrible for her to comprehend. The curiosity would bite at her, but she pushed those feelings away.

"I don't know if I want to know more." She retorted, fearful of what he would tell her. Giorno gave a somewhat sympathetic look, but he was going through with his conviction to inform her about Passione.

"Ruby, if you want to understand my intentions, then hear me out… please." He said. His plead had gotten to her.

She sighed heavily, eventually agreeing to hear him out. It wasn't going to be pretty, but if he was going to understand his intentions, she might as well listen. "… Alright."

"… The Passione Mafia is arguably the most dangerous force on Remnant." He started. "Their organization consists entirely of stand users, all 757 including myself. Aside from their control over various hotels and restaurants, they have been influencing political figures, committing innumerable crimes, and have been rumored to be funding the White Fang."

"But… doesn't the White Fang refuse support from non-Faunus now?" Ruby asked, confused that the all-Faunus terrorist group has taken funds from what was likely a group whose majority of its members were human.

"Not all of Passione's members are human but, either way, it would be unwise for the White Fang to refuse funding. They want weapons now that they're violent, and from who else could they get the money?" He rhetorically questioned. It made sense, since they likely had to restart their initiative, once the White Fang had become what it is today. "But that's not Passione's worst offense."

"Huh? Then what is?"

In response, Giorno only reached into right pocket. He dug into it before pulling out his hand. In his open was a small, white object. It looked like a piece of paper, wrapped around something. Ruby looked at with some confusion, but she took the object out of his hand, taking a closer look at it. She gripped it between her thumb and index finger, turning each side to figure out what it was and what it meant.

"What is this?" She finally asked, having been unable to deduce the object.

"A drug."

Hearing his answer, Ruby yelped and immediately dropped the now-identified object, a potentially harmful concoction. The piece fell to the ground, almost blending in with the snow. Giorno bent down to take back the drug.

"Passione is infamous in the drug trade," He explained the drug's relation with the stand-user mafia, "close to being labeled as the kingpin of it. They sell a multitude of illegal narcotic, like Dust powder laced with nicotine or volatile medications. The worst product they vend is their own concoction right here – Passiflora Indomabile, the drug of passion."****

"… Passi-… In-dumb… w-what?" Having never heard the odd name before, for a drug no less, Ruby had no idea how to pronounce it. Realizing that she couldn't after her garbled attempt to say it, Giorno realized she wanted him to…

Repeat himself.

He was only doing it this once because she was his friend. He took a loud, deep breath to steel himself from making his opinion known about repeating himself. "Passiflora… Indomabile." He stated, slowly iterating each syllable, hoping that she could understand.

"… I'm sorry, could you spell it out?" She asked innocently. To her unknowing misfortune, his personal peeve got the better of him.

"Actually, I'd rather not." He stated firmly. "I already repeated myself once."

"Um… O… kay?"

"Back to the matter at hand. It's a drug created from actual Passion flower and some unknown component, likely another drug. It's effects are comparable to ecstasy, making one feel intense pleasure and heightened sense… but an overdose can lead to death while sleeping."

"Only when they're sleeping? That's horrible!"

"It is, and the fatality rates from this drug is higher than any other… but those statistics does not stop Passione from selling it, nor does it stop addicts from purchasing. The worst of it all is that Passione targets children and young teens as the consumers."

Ruby gawked at the horrible information. "They force drugs on CHILDREN?! Why are they so awful?!"

"Because there are awful people out there, Ruby." He answered her, knowing the truth. "Disgusting people who would do anything heinous, as long as it heightens their status."

"But… what about you?" She asked him. It was a viable question, and she felt it was time for him to explain why he was a part of this in the first place. "Where do you stand in all of this?"

"… I want to eliminate the evils of Passione." He revealed his ultimate goal. "They do nothing to help our world, only spreading death. I cannot stand for that. The moment I become the Boss, I will not hesitate to eradicate the Passion drug and cut any and all ties with the White Fang."

"But… Why do you kill people, like they do?" She asked. This was her strongest concern about his situation, utterly befuddled as to why he

"… Ruby… take this flower for example." Giorno knelt down as he said this. His right hand dug into the snow and touched the ground. Right then and there, his hand started to glow, indicating that he was using his stand's ability. In a few seconds, a beautiful, fully grown flower sprouted from where his hand was. As it stopped blooming, he deactivated his stand and he picked the flower out of the ground. He brought it up for the both of them to see.

"It might not show it, but it is something that is full of life. Life is the greatest gift that anyone or anything could have. But many do not value the lives of others, as you and I do." He explained while gazing at his creation, garnering a feeling akin to inspiration out of the girl. Giorno then took his eyes off the flower to look at her, wearing a determined expression. "Ruby, you mistake my killing of such people, those who take life, for the slaughter of innocents, the people who deserve life. I can assure you that I have only committed the latter."

Ruby looked at him in awe… but not a typical kind of "awe." She looked to him in an amalgamation of admiration and fear. She felt admiration because it was hard not to see him as such a charismatic person, with some of the purest ideals one could ever have. But it was flawed, to Ruby at least. He still admitted to killing, and that was something Ruby could not particularly stand for. What made her afraid was that it was her friend that admitted to murder, something she'd never thought to have experienced.

"But… but killing is wrong, Giorno!" She argued, with hope of getting through to him. "Even if you are killing bad people, it doesn't make anything better!"

"… Perhaps it doesn't…" He admitted, catching Ruby off guard that he agreed with her on that. "But when it comes to protecting others from the likes of Passione's members, who enjoy killing, then I would do what I believe is necessary." His conviction towards this was strong. It was obvious that she couldn't change his mind on this, and she was at least thankful that he had done it in for the better, in a slightly twisted sense. But there was something that truly worried her at this point, more than anything else.

"… Giorno…" She began, her tone nervous and a little shaky. "What if someone… kills you?"

"…"

"…"

…

There was a moment of silence. Giorno was seemingly taking in what she said. The quietness concerned Ruby, leaving her without an answer and she was impatient for it. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of snow falling around them, which really meant no sound at all; and maybe the chirps of a bird in the distance.

"… It's not so bad." Giorno finally broke the silence.

"Huh?"

"Being a gangster, I mean." He clarified his vague statement. "Not every day's a game of life and death, Ruby. I've actually met some good people within the mafia… and it pays rather well, to be frank." He chuckled at the end of that sentence.

"… Still doesn't make it any better." Ruby responded, dejectedly. Giorno did not respond, seeing his attempt to change the subject and try to uplift the mood had failed. To be fair, he didn't blame her for how she felt about the entire situation.

"… Is this really how you want to help people, Giorno?" She suddenly asked him. Although, he didn't need to take any time to think of an answer.

"It is." He confirmed, to some of her dread. "I can't see any other position higher than this." She looked to him with utter worriment. It was obvious that was all she could do really – worry for him – but there was something more important that she should do. She should trust him. Even with all of her disagreement and appalling, she should trust him. She wants him to live, after all. Ruby breathed in a heavy sigh before speaking again. However, what she would say next would not be the easiest thing to do.

"… I don't like it." She admitted. "I don't like any of this one bit. I don't like crime, I don't like drugs, and I don't like killing. So I can't agree with what you are doing." Her brutal honesty hadn't phased Giorno the slightest. He merely kept his neutral expression, but his eyes conveyed that he was understanding. Suddenly, she threw a verbal curveball.

"But… the one thing I can hope for, to come out of this, is that I won't lose you. You can do that, right?" Her abrupt change with a question surprised Giorno slightly. He hadn't expected such a hopeful request after making her opinion known to him.

"Promise me that you won't die, Giorno. I only now just got you back in my life." Giorno took a moment of time to think, looking down to the snowy ground as his thoughts ran through his head.

"… I don't know if I can make promises, but I can assure you that I will survive any obstacle in my path, with Gold Experience by my side." He claimed.

Ruby did not move for a moment, until she released another heavy sigh, but out of relief this time, and gave him a smile out of her relief. "… So… you wanted to see Dad again, right?" She asked him, changing the subject. "I can lead you to our house. He'll be glad to see you again."

"… I would like that… thank you, Ruby." He said, his smirk still apparent, and Ruby's smile grew a little wider. The day was finally over, and they were walking to Ruby's home, side by side.

"I guess I can't really get him out of this, no matter how much I don't like it." Ruby thought, that much was obvious. "But… there has to be another way. And I'll find it for him."

Ruby couldn't help but think of what could have been. What if he went down a different path? The right one. The one there was no violence, no war, none of the horrors she detested. She believed that Giorno was going down a path of condemnation, but his goals, no matter how justifiable, are blinding him. She doesn't want this for her first, her closest friend. She would want him to reform Passione, that much she can agree with him. But not through the path of violence.

The truth was, she didn't believe that he could survive any of this on his own. Violence would only lead to more of it. Maybe more than he could handle. It didn't matter if he had any kind of connections within the mafia, it couldn't possibly make anything better for him as of now. She had her friend back in her life, she was not about to lose again, let alone permanently. She would do everything in her power to keep Giorno alive and to have him see the truth. She believed that much would be best for her.

As Ruby thought of what she should do to save Giorno from possible death, she glanced over to him, his right side facing her left. Her eyes moved down to his hand, and a peculiar thought came up in her mind.

"This was the first time… we held hands." She thought obscurely. Though they were close as friends, she wasn't sure if even this was appropriate for the two of them. She abandoned any forms of intimate emotion she felt a long time ago, why now was she having such thoughts of this. She focused on getting rid of them for now. She was fine with being friends, and she was certain that he felt no different. But the thoughts persisted, to her chagrin.

As she was feeling a rush of emotional confliction, Giorno had a simpler thought on his mind.

"'Gang-star'… that honestly sounds rather catchy. I might have to ask her if I can use that title in the future."

While they were walking through the dead, snowy woods, something unbeknownst to them was watching from a tree branch. It was merely a crow, with feathers as black as coal and eyes a vivid red. It was no Grimm of any sort, but it almost wasn't a crow… something seemed human about it. It only watched the two youths for a couple more moments, then flew off into the sky and emitted a caw.

From this point on, a rather bizarre adventure had begun.

Author's update note, 5/26/17:

After reading my reviews and taking in some other advice, I decided to rewrite this chapter a little bit. No drastic change to the plot or action of the chapter, but there are some important changes to re-establish Ruby and Giorno's relationship somewhat, and to make them a little more in-character for this chapter. I felt that it was more important to work on the characters than on the actions anyway.

Author's note, 1/29/17:

Ugh, cheesy ending.

Anywho~… guess what? I'm the guy who took Mugiwara's challenge! For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about: popular fanfiction author Mugiwara N0 Luffy posted a challenge last year for a crossover between RWBY and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I had gracefully taken this challenge out of my pure interest, my sudden fondness of a pairing between Ruby and Giorno, and the many zillions of ideas I came up with the moment I read his one-shot. To be fair, I did plan my own idea for a RWBY and JoJo crossover… but I kinda fell out with that. And I'm still kinda new to JoJo, having watched all four parts in the anime, but now I'm halfway through the part 3 manga. But I am an avid researcher, and I plan to iterate many of the characters of JoJo in complete faith to the source material!

So here's some notes on this chapter:

*I feel like his name is too clever for it to have come from an abusive step-parent. So for this fanfic, I felt that Giorno Giovanna giving himself that exact name would at least add on to a sort of self-independence the character has.

**Since I was technically making the first RWBY trailer canon for this fic, I devised a concept to make the prototypes for Grimm as actual Grimm, only very young and their bone protrusions haven't grown yet. That's pretty much how I interpreted them at first, until I learned the first trailer wasn't technically canon.

***That special flower's origins will be covered later on.

****I wanted to make my own kind of fictional drug, simple as that. It'll probably be used as a plot point later on.

And that's all I got. So this will pretty much be the last thing I post for a while, because of college. The best I can do is write outlines for the while. If I'm lucky, I'll try to post something during Spring break, but I'll ultimately get back to writing fanfics during the summer. And a great many thanks to Mugiwara for offering this challenge to the fandom! Ciao!

P.S. because the first four chapter are going to be the trailers, think of Ruby's POV introduction as a kind of manifesto for the chapter. It'll only be the trailers that will have this thing.