Hello again! I know that it has been a long time since I've updated, but Tragic assumptions is still my main priority. Which I will have another chapter of soon. Also lately I have been doing a lot of work on a piece of artwork for codyknight22. Woah ho ho, now what could this be? I will leave it up to him to let you know when he posts it. Anyways, enjoy the chapter. :)

Ruby grit her teeth, Roman was the last person she wanted to see today. But just her luck, there he was. She took a few minutes to think it over, but ultimately decided that it would be best to investigate. It seemed that the others were going to be forever, so she didn't bother to wait for them. Taking in a deep breath she stepped outside of the dress shop, and saw what seemed to be a robbery in progress. However, this was nothing like it was the first time.

First off, this was no low grade dust shop. This was the holy grail of dust; this was the Schnee family's largest factory for refining dust. Second, there were easily two hundred men and women that were clearly with Roman. It seemed like this had been a long time in the making. However there was a brighter aspect that Ruby noticed; the factory staff had obviously been expecting this for a while, and was actually fighting back. Ruby dashed forward, attempting to get straight to Roman, but there was several guards watching him from all directions.

As she ran, a large faunus stepped into her path, making Roman become blocked and not visible to her. Ruby tried to run around him, but it seemed that he was agile despite his size. Every time she would make a move, so would he. She considered using her semblance to go around, but it seemed that it would be better to keep her ability a secret until needed. However, she had taken down enemies much larger and stronger than him.

Seeing no other way, Ruby pulled out her scythe. But there was a very distinct noise that it made when it was activated, and Roman recognized it easily.

"Oh hello Red, come to be a hero again? I don't think that's going to work this time." He veered around, and looked into her eyes, after the faunus had moved of course. His gaze was level, calm, and malevolent. The look he gave her had given Ruby shivers. It didn't seem like he was at all worried regardless of her foiling his earlier attempts. That made her worry, but there was little she could do at this point.

Instead she glared at him, trying to shrug off the eerie feeling that she had gotten. He looked amused, but did not comment again. Roman turned around again and twirled a finger in the air. All of the on looking criminals resumed their work, now ignoring the red haired girl. This made Ruby angry, how could they just act like she was nothing?

Her anger overcame her, and she used her semblance to dash around the tall faunus, who had yet to notice her movement. The blade of her scythe whizzed through the air, sailing to meet the familiar contact of flesh. But as it fell, the blade was stopped in mid strike. Ruby's eyes widened, what she had hit was most certainly not Roman, but instead was a large barrier. He glanced back, noticing her scythe.

"Sorry red, forgot to mention. This here is Elyse, her semblance is to create a temporary shield that can't be broken." Ruby's anger intensified; not wanting to be foiled so easily. However she could her a dozen or so guards coming up from behind her. It seemed like she was going to have to fight them, no matter how much she wanted to avoid hurting anyone but Roman.

The first few of them dived, trying to catch Ruby while she was occupied with thoughts, but it was a common tactic, and she easily sidestepped out of their attacks. They were surprised, but recovered quickly. Now with the help of the next few guards, they circled around Ruby. All together; they attacked, trying to hit her from all directions. But instead, Ruby fell to the ground. She quickly fired off a shot to spin her body. As she did this, she stood up and continued her firing. Each shot that she took added a new note to her song of death.

Soon there was nothing but a pile of bodies around her, counting to about ten. But she could hear more guards coming. As she turned to face them, Ruby noticed that they were hesitant, and soon stopped all together. Although people would normally react this way, Ruby was suspicious. It was only a few moments before she heard fizzling, sensing what it was, she quickly dove to the side, trying to avoid the searing flames.

But her move had been anticipated, and Cinder's flames had engulfed her. Ruby was shot into the air, with burnt clothing and hair. After what seemed like an eternity of flying, Ruby's body was crushed into the pavement by nothing more than gravity, but that was more than enough. She had several broken ribs and limbs, with harsh burns all along her body. Ruby laid there for a few minutes, occasionally coughing up blood. But she could soon hear the faint sounds of someone talking.

"She's over here! And she's hurt!" Her eyes fluttered open briefly, to see the image of Blake and Weiss standing above her. Soon a blurry Yang joined them.

"Oh my god- Pretty bad, we're going- help." Her hearing buzzed in and out, never wanting to stay the same for more than a moment. But she quickly felt the sensation of being lifted, and realized that she was being carried. Her eyes opened long enough to see an ambulance coming, but no longer.

Outside of her broken body, the others spoke frantically.

"I don't know what we're going to do! I mean what if she is disabled because of this? What if she gets kicked out of Beacon?" Yang stopped the blubbering Weiss; but looked nervous herself.

"Don't worry about it, she is a really strong girl, I know that she can pull through this." Even as she spoke, tears filled her eyes. It was obvious that this was harder for Yang than for anyone else. She had always protected Ruby, and now she couldn't do anything. Nothing but wait.

A few of you may have noticed that these chapters are significantly shorter than those of Tragic assumptions. Frankly I don't have a real reason for this, so I find there no need to explain myself. But please leave your reviews, comments and opinions on the story. Feedback is always welcome!