Chapter Text
Museum of Archaeology, Vale City, 21:20, Friday
The Vale Museum of Archaeology is quiet on the busiest days. A full selection of displays dating back from antiquity to prehistory depict ceramics, clothes and draperies, and weapons of hunting and war decorate the building’s interior, accompanied by informative plaques for each and every piece. These plaques, fact-checked by every professional historian the museum’s curator could afford to contact, would be most useful to the man entering the lobby.
He’d dressed up for the evening, sporting a white suit jacket and black pants, while a black bowler hat sat half-cocked on a head of orange hair. He and the entourage of black-dressed henchmen he’d employed dispersed through the building as they entered. Just as rehearsed, he and one of them approached the information desk. “Excuse me, sir,” he greeted in a practiced, friendly tone, “but where would I find exhibits relating to faunus history?” He smiled when the old man at the desk pointed him up the stairs. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make this fast.”
The man clicked his fingers, the cue for every thug that came with him into the building to pull their weapons. Every security guard was pacified and disarmed, the doors locked, and the museum’s guests now trapped inside. As he saw several thugs begin taking out security cameras, the old receptionist was shaking, his hands above the desk out of fear for his life. He gave a cautious glance down to the button underneath, just out of reach.
“Right about now, you’re probably thinking something like, ‘If I’m fast, I might be able to hit the silent alarm, even if it means getting shot,’ right?”
The old man looked back up at the two criminals in shock. “Yeah,” the man in the white jacket said, lighting up a cigar, “the last three receptionists thought that too. Take it from them, grandpa: don’t be a hero, you’ll live longer.” He took a puff. “Up the stairs, right?”
He ascended the short flight and addressed the panicked crowd, twirling his cane in a practiced manner. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll just pipe down, this will be over before you know it. Don’t even think of calling the police; I know for a fact that the cell reception in this museum is terrible, not to mention the fact that we’ll be gone before they can get here.”
As the crook browsed, another of his men spotted a visitor who didn’t seem to get the memo. Some girl with her back turned was looking over the museum pamphlets, wearing a black dress with red lace and matching boots, her face hidden by the bright red hood covering her head. “Hey!” The grunt marched over to the girl. “Get on the ground, kid!”
When she didn’t respond, he angrily spun her around. Her hood came down, revealing a set of headphones over dark auburn hair. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen, but that wasn’t going to earn her any slack. “Are you stupid?” the thug asked as she took the device off her ears. “Get on the ground and don’t move!”
The girl cast her big silver eyes past him, seeing a number of other people complying with this apparently blanket order. About three other similarly dressed goons were watching over them, presumably more around the building, and she could see the man in the white coat in the next room perusing one of the pieces on display. “Are you guys robbing the museum?” She asked.
“Yes!”
“Oh…!”
Something like a sledgehammer struck the thug in the stomach. He couldn’t see it, whatever it was, but it did a good job of knocking the wind out of him. His boss turned from the display just in time to watch him get sent flying. The man raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued enough to look at the assailant. The teenager walked forward, stopping in the doorway of the room as she hit a button on what looked like a music player. He chewed the end of his cigar. “Okay…” he drawled curiously, glancing at his remaining entourage. “Get her.”
Two more henchmen closed in on her, but met the same result as their friend. The first received three swift blows to the chest, each hitting as hard as a champion boxer before sending him tumbling to the ground. The second took a blow to the head, spinning on his heel before a strike to the back launched him into the wall.
What they couldn’t see was the thing that was so handily dispatching them projecting out of this otherwise unassuming teenager: a feminine figure, lithe, powerful, and scarlet red. A crimson cape flowed behind it from around its shoulders as it skated an inch off the ground. “These people just wanted to learn about history,” the girl in red declared. As she approached, the man in white cautiously stepped back. Three more goons appeared through the door, but were defeated just as quickly as the last. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
The man chuckled, tapping the ash off the end of his cigar. “I’d say what you’re doing to my men is a bit unfair, wouldn’t you agree? How are they supposed to fight something they can’t even see or touch?” He leaned forward. “Although I have to say, tonight is just a treat.”
The red figure lunged for him, but the man quickly stopped the attack with his cane. The girl paused in surprise. “Ah, but next you’re probably going to say something like...”
“ ‘You shouldn’t even be able to see my Stand, but you blocked it effortlessly!’ ”
“...am I right?”
The crook used the girl’s momentary hesitation to bat her Stand aside. “Predictable goody-goodies like you might just be my favorite thing in this world, Little Red.” A spectral, white-and-orange arm manifested briefly over his own, allowing him to crack his cane over the young Stand’s shoulder.
The girl grunted, holding her arm as she fell to a knee. A sharp pain surged its way down her limb. “Fast and precise, but can’t take a punch,” the man noted, almost as if he were critiquing the girl’s Stand. He stepped back as it rounded on him, coming just short of actually hitting him. “From the look of things, its range is about six meters…” Another pair of blows sent the Stand back to its owner. “Listen, kid, because I’m going to give you the rundown on how this plays out. You see, I don’t much care to show you my Stand in full - that’s why you’re only getting a small taste - but at worst, my [Soft Criminal] is stronger and more resilient than that miserable excuse you’re throwing at me. What’s more, I could attack you safely from nearly three times your range with no impact to my own power. The only reason I haven’t already is the off chance you’ll survive the pummeling I’ll put you through.”
He waved dismissively. “Make this easy on the both of us, Red. Stay down like a good little girl and don’t get up until I leave with what I’m -”
“Ruby.”
The man stopped. “...Excuse me?”
“My name is Ruby.” The girl, apparently Ruby, staggered to her feet. “After all that’s happened here, you never bothered to ask.” She pointed defiantly at her opponent. “I thought it would only be fair that you know the name of the person that stops you!”
Stand Name: [Red Like Roses]
Stand Master: Ruby Rose
Power: C
Speed: A
Range: C
Persistence: D
Precision: A
Potential: A
There was a pause, but the enemy Stand user began to chuckle, which quickly turned into full-blown laughter. “That’s rich! Do you even realize how ridiculous what you just said is? You’re going to beat me after I’ve laid bare almost everything that puts me above you?”
“[Rose Red]!” Ruby called, her Stand now brimming with energy as it charged forth.
“Your pathetic Stand can’t even reach me from -!”
But [Rose Red] was on him in the blink of an eye, having moved well past the six-meter mark he had set. “What?!” The Stand’s fist connected with the crook’s body so quickly he could barely react. A flurry of punches tossed him like a ragdoll across the room. The man glowered at Ruby as she stepped to keep him in range. That brat! She plays inexperience, but she’s aware of her abilities enough to fake them?! The hand of [Soft Criminal] bit into the floor, slowing him to a halt before he could crash into one of the displays. He picked himself up, leaning on the glass as he held one hand up to the girl. “N-now hold on -!” he gasped through bruised ribs.
“Why should I listen to someone who robs a museum for kicks?” Ruby crossed her arms, [Rose Red] coming to rest just in front of her.
The man in white grinned. “Because if you keep on beating me the way you are, I’ll lose focus and one of these bystanders will die.”
Ruby looked worriedly at the hostages still cowering from the unseen battle unfolding in front of them. They began to murmur with worried confusion. “You’re bluffing.”
“Am I? All I have to do is look at someone - say…” He pointed to a woman in the crowd, “...her, for example. As long as I’m focused on her, she’s safe, and I can even let her go whenever I want. But I’m not really a fighter, and wounds are distracting; if I lose my focus on her, her blood will boil like lava, melting her from the inside out.”
Ruby gulped. Darn it, I can’t tell if he’s lying! I have to stop him, but if he’s actually capable of that… “If you’re not a fighter, then what was all of that just a minute ago?”
“I was overconfident. You saw how I misjudged the range of your Stand, just look how I payed for it!” He gestured weakly to himself, pointing out his broken nose and the blood running from his lip, as well as the new cuts across his face. His outfit, pristine at the start of their battle, was battered and all but torn asunder. He glanced down, spotting the plaque for the display he was propped against. “So here’s the brakes, kiddo,” the thief said, growing more bold as he rose, resting his elbows on the glass, “I’m going to leave, safe and sound. Once I’m gone, I’ll lift [Soft Criminal]’s power off of her. We can pretend we never saw each other.”
As he spoke, [Soft Criminal]’s hand appeared behind his back. Of course, that’s all a lie. You think you have me cornered, but now you’ll be too scared to even touch me. The spectral hand slipped through the glass pane of the display case, seizing its contents. And [Soft Criminal] can’t melt people, but it can permeate through any barrier without disturbing it. It can even drag objects and people along. The perfect power for the perfect thief!
Ruby felt a flash of inspiration as her look turned to one of confidence. “I don’t believe what you’re saying is true, especially since you’ve already lied once about your Stand’s abilities.”
What! The thief stifled a gasp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You said before that yours is stronger, more resilient, and can attack me from three times my range. You thought my range was six meters, but it’s ten. You would still have the advantage at nearly eighteen, so I’m positive you would have attacked me if you were as desperate as you sound. That tells me your actual range can’t be more than mine.” The man scowled as Ruby held one finger to her temple. “Now you say that your Stand’s power lets you melt people if you stop focusing on them involuntarily. If that’s the case, why would you pick a random stranger in the crowd and not me, the person it would most benefit you to get rid of right now…”
She pointed at him with determined accusation. “...unless you figured out already that I would gladly put my own life on the line to protect any of these innocent people, even if they’re complete strangers! I might not know your power for certain, but that tells me I can safely beat the daylights out of you!”
The man in white smiled again as he leered at her. Was he getting smaller? “Brilliant deductive reasoning, Red, but too little too late. Like I said, I’m going to leave, safe and sound. I even have what I came here for; this could only have gone better if you hadn’t gotten involved! See ya, kid!”
Ruby sent [Rose Red] after him, but its fist collided with the empty floor. He had sunk through, and Ruby couldn’t follow directly after him. She let out a frustrated noise. Great, so either he can pass through walls, or else he can teleport. She looked at the crowd of hostages. “Are you all alright?” Once everyone was calm enough to confirm, Ruby ran as fast as she could down to the front desk. “Sir? Mister Receptionist, are you alright?” The old man nodded, still rattled. “Did you see a man in a white suit run through here?”
“No, he never came down. But as soon as that thug that was with him ran upstairs, I managed to hit the alarm.”
“Alright, stay here and stay hidden until the police show up. I’m going to look for him.”
“Okay. Please be careful, miss.”
But Ruby couldn’t find the man in white after that. Her guess was that he ran off after disappearing. When the police finally arrived, she decided that saying she didn’t know what happened to the henchmen was easier to believe than her fighting them off, with or without a Stand. She didn’t have an explanation for how the thief had taken the display’s contents. What had he taken anyway, and why? Everything in the museum was either old and crude or easily recognizable, so he couldn’t sell any of it.
Ruby decided to let it go for the time being. She knew the police definitely wouldn’t be able to handle someone with a Stand like that, but she also knew she couldn’t do anything herself without more information. Once she was cleared to leave, she started for home, pulling her phone out of her pocket to call ahead.
“Xiao Long residence,” came the familiar voice on the other end.
“Hey, sis,” Ruby responded.
“There you are! You’re usually back home by now, what gives?”
“I’ll tell you when I get there. It’s got to do with you-know-what.”