Cover art - MRK50

"Arrgh!"

Emerald yelled as she hit the ground hard. Her weapons flew out of her hands and scattered far from her. Bruised and exhausted, she could only lie in the dirt completely defeated.

Ruby stood over her victorious. It hadn't been easy to track her, Mercury and Hazel, and less so to beat them. Emerald was a tricky devil, relying on illusions to throw her off balance. She found out the hard way that mind games didn't work on her anymore.

Not that it mattered now, though. The fight was over.

Emerald glared up at her. "Go on! Just get it over with!" she spat. "You took Cinder from me! You took everything from me! I've got nothing left…"

It would be justified. Emerald had aided in the destruction of Beacon, and the deaths of countless people. Many would say she deserved death. Some would say even worse.

Unfortunately for those people, it wasn't their choice to decide what happened to Emerald today - it was Ruby's. And she had already made up her mind.

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen."

Emerald was baffled. "What?"

"You heard me," she said. "If you want death, you'll have to look somewhere else. Because you won't get it from me."

Ruby went behind her and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, a special brand strengthened for those with aura. She never left the house without them. Emerald wasn't breaking out of these anytime soon.

"Don't be stupid!" Emerald roared. "Hurry up and kill me already! You know you want to!"

"No, I don't want to," Ruby said calmly. "I don't want to kill anyone. I've had my fill, though I suppose that's something you wouldn't understand."

Emerald looked at her like she was an idiot. "But I destroyed your school! I killed your friends! I-"

"And you will be punished for that," Ruby said. "Don't think you're escaping justice that easily. Mark my words, you will pay for all the terrible things you've done. But not with your life. That's not how I work."

"But… why?"

Ruby crouched down to her level. "Because believe it or not, life actually means something to me," she said. "Even someone like yours, Emerald. The rest of the world might throw you away, but I have to believe there's still some good in you worth saving. That is my duty as a huntress."

Her logic clearly didn't make sense to Emerald. "So what, you're just gonna send me to prison?" she snarled. "You think that's gonna stop me? You can't just lock me up like some common thug. I'll just break out. It'll be easy."

"Unlikely," Ruby said confidently. "And even if you do, I'll just put you back in. I'll do it as many times as it takes."

"You're an idiot!"

Ruby shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe I am stupid for thinking there's hope for you. But someone has to, and it won't be the people whose lives you've ruined. You better get used to me, Emerald. I'm the only protection you've got."

"You… you're…"

Ruby turned around to see the fight in the distance. Yang was really going to town against Mercury. The silver-haired goon was struggling to keep up. He was fighting a losing battle. This would be over before they knew it.

Her scroll rang. She answered it. "Hey, Weiss. How's it going with Hazel?"

"That oversized ape is a nuisance," Weiss groaned on the other end. "But we've got him on the ropes now. You should see Nora fight when she's angry. Remind me to never get on her bad side."

"So, the situation's under control?"

"Completely. He's on his last legs now. It's only a matter of time. How's Emerald?"

"I'm heading over with her now. I'm just gonna check if Yang needs any help. Stay safe, Weiss."

"When am I not?" she scoffed before hanging up.

Ruby rolled her eyes. Trust Weiss to always be so self-assured. Gods, it was wonderful to have their team back together.

Things had been different lately, more so for Ruby. If someone were to see her now, they'd definitely notice the change. She still maintained her bubbly personality, but her eyes no longer carried that innocent light to them. They were dimmer now, more hardened. It was obvious she was no longer the girl with her head stuck in the clouds.

But her confidence shone like a lighthouse beacon. Her purpose in life was clear now. She felt fulfilled, complete. After sixteen years, she finally felt she was truly living her life. The life she was destined to live.

The life of a hero. Just like her family and friends.

She frowned when she heard Emerald laugh hatefully behind her. "That is my duty as a huntress?" she sneered her own words back at her. "Don't give me any of that moral bullshit. You won't kill me is because you're too scared to do it."

Ruby looked at her with cold eyes.

"Yeah, that's right. You stand there acting like you're better than me, when really, you just don't have the guts to finish the job. You're just a coward. A pathetic little-"

The gunshot propelled Ruby forward at lightning speed. Emerald's breath hitched as Ruby disappeared before he eyes. She blinked and saw Ruby now standing behind her.

With Crescent Rose's blade resting against her throat…

"You're right," Ruby whispered. "I don't have the guts." She pulled the blade away, allowing Emerald to release the terrified breath she had been holding. "And you better pray I never do."

Ruby's fist crashed against the back of Emerald's head. The thief went down, face smacking against the dirt. She made no effort to get back up.

Ruby's knuckles throbbed slightly. A punch like that would have Yang's seal of approval. Emerald was gonna wake up with a pounding head and a bad temper. She could only imagine the verbal abuse Ruby's ears would suffer from once she regained consciousness. Interrogating her was gonna be a pain.

But she'd live.

That made her smile.

Well, I did it. I actually finished something. It's ridiculous that it's taken a year to finish this, but I suppose life and other projects have taken up some of my time.

This has been such a fun story for me to write, but a difficult one. Because of the serious nature of it, I spent hours agonising over how the dialogue should be spoken, the length the story should be, the trials Ruby would face and, most importantly, how to end it. It's such a surreal thing to think about. This is the end of the story.

I know some might feel annoyed that it's only eight chapters given the time it took me to finish this, but personally, this is as far as I can take the story. I feel like I've gotten the point across. Any more chapters would just feel like filler to me, and that's not what I want this story to be. It was always gonna be a short story, even way back when I first planned it. I'm sorry if some are annoyed, but this is the ending I'm happy with.

I want to thank everyone who's waited so long for each update, as well as my friends over at Discord for all their support. All of you mean the world to me. With this finished, I can work on Burned and Exxxtra Credit again. This story will not be the only one I finish. Far from it.

I don't want to make this AN overly long, so if you have any questions about my process for writing this, or if you just wanna talk in general, feel free to shoot me a PM. They're always fun to get.

Once again, thank you for reading.