Chapter Text
This was beneath him… It was sorely beneath him… Roman Torchwick was a man of talents. Talents that went beyond the need to personally rob this card shop blind. He’d hired plenty of goons off of Junior to rattle this dump for all it’s worth. Him being present was just a little vice of his. Indulgent, yes. Risky, incredibly. Fun, intoxicatingly so! No amount of numbers or rackets could compare to the lovely sound of a display window’s glass shattering from his cane. Burglary was an artform and Roman was a starving college student. Why let Junior’s pack mules have all the fun?
He opened up the briefcase for the more rare and expensive Duel Monster cards. The kind his client surely wanted despite simply demanding quantity. Maybe one or two for his personal use. Ashes didn’t really say what she wanted, just cards en masse. If anything, this shiny new copy of ‘Crooked Beast Kingpin Barbaros’ in his deck would ensure he didn’t get pinched by Vale Security. She wouldn’t mind this little acquisition off the top.
Unfortunately, Roman’s smile was short-lived. The telltale ding of Life Points dropping to zero and the yell of one of the mooks as he got blasted through the window heralded that this shop had a little hero waiting inside. He crooked his head into an aisle to see a short little girl in red dueling with two of Junior’s best.
“Alright, ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’! SLIVER MOONLIGHT SLASH!” Little Red roared as the holographic Duel Monster slashed at both goons with its giant scythe. Their Life Points sinking like rocks.
“Mr. Torchwick, I’m sorry…” The loser that landed closest to Roman groaned as the humanoid plant-woman faded. Red’s silver eyes now glaring daggers right at him.
“Thanks for telling her my name, idiot!” He hissed smacking the thug in the neck with his cane. This was bad, the cops were certainly on their way now and he didn’t have time to curb stomp children into the dirt and get out scott-free. Thinking fast he dashed for the briefcase he already half-filled with the most expensive cards, thinking that the quality will keep him unburnt when Ashes comes to collect. Grabbing it and getting to his duel runner Melodic Cudgel, Roman peeled out of the alleyway and onto the overpass.
***
This is my chance. Ruby thought to herself as the tires of Petal Burst squealed beneath her. She rocketed up the overpass where she saw the stark white of Torchwick’s Vylon-2 duel runner speeding off. And Yang said Petal Burst didn’t need all the acceleration it had.
“Wha- Are you even old enough to drive Red?!” Torchwick sounded stunned as she began to overtake him. “Hey! It’s past your bedtime you little dork!”
“Return those cards you stole!” Ruby yelled trying to sound all heroic and serious and stuff before Torchwick kicked at Petal Burst’s frame forcing Ruby to swerve.
“Oh yeah, and how are you gonna make me?” Torchwick laughed before Ruby dove back in close. She didn’t have the ability to force a runner into duel mode like Security runners could, she needed to improvise.
“Like this!” Ruby threw her arm over Torchwick’s and pressed a button on his runner’s console.
“Duel Mode Engaged!” The automated voice in Torchwick’s runner began quickly followed up by Petal Burst’s own response in confirmation.
“Alright Red! You want to end up in a burning heap on the side of the road, I’ll oblige ya’!” Torchwick growled as the auto-driver forced him on a path to the highway’s duel lane.
Petal Burst slowed to cruising speed of thirty-five as it took its spot behind Torchwick as the holographic hue of the duel lane illuminated the road. The console between the hand clutches showed the field and the Life Points as both hers and Torchwick’s rose to 4000.
“Let’s duel!” Both of them shouted in synch.
Ruby got a good look at her opening hand of five cards. ‘Faeflora Sakura’, ‘Monster Reborn’, ‘Kurirose’, ‘Miracle Blossom’, ‘Faeflora Ichigo’; she couldn’t help but smile, her mind alight with exactly the moves to take Torchwick down.
“Age before stupidity Red! My move!” Torchwick called out. “First off, allow me to introduce you to introduce you to a monster that’ll teach you to keep from sticking your nose where it don’t belong! Come on out, ‘Crooked Magical Hat!’”
Torchwick’s monster sprung forth from the holographic card. The sleezy looking man with the dark top hat and cane chuckled as the display showed its stats as a level 3 Spellcaster with 1000 ATK.
“Heh, only 1000 Attack Points?” Ruby smirked. “Going easy on me cause I’m a girl?”
“Au contraire, brat. What my monster might lack in outright ATK it more than makes up for with its devastating effect!” Torchwick laughed as he played another card. “Whenever I equip it with a spell card, like this ‘Smoke Grenade of the Thief’ right here, it snatches a card right out of your hand and sends it to the graveyard!”
“WHAT!” Ruby gasped as Crooked Magical Hat flew besides her and snatched ‘Monster Reborn’ from her hand and flippantly tossed it into the GY snickering.
“Ooh! And what a card to lose Red!” Torchwick mocked her “Be grateful that my friend’s effect here can only be used once per turn or this second ‘Smoke Grenade of the Thief’ would be taking another card from you!”
Ruby growled under her breath; this was a bad situation. Any of her other monsters could’ve been brought back by that spell even if she wasn’t starting the duel from a disadvantage.
“I’ll set the remaining two cards in my hand face-down and pass my turn over. Your move Little Red.” Torchwick snickered.
“My draw!” Ruby yelled out as her turn started and she ripped a card off the top of her deck. ‘Rose Bell of Revelation’, that spell card will let her get her ace monster! Perfect! ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’ will trim that smirk off of Torchwick’s face!
“Time for my trap card!” The red and white bandit called out. “I activate ‘Security Fraud!’”
Ruby flinched as the holographic pink monolith depicting the human-sized card raised up.
“’Security Fraud’ lets me destroy my own cards and replace them with new ones from the top of my deck! So I’ll trash my two Smoke Grenades and draw two cards to replace them!” Torchwich cackled as the two green spell cards shattered from behind ‘Crooked Magical Hat’. “And since my two Smoke Grenades bit the proverbial smoke as it were, they can take two of your cards down with them!”
‘Crooked Magical Hat’ boomed with laughter as he threw two smoking paper orbs at Petal Burst forcing Ruby to drive through a thick cloud of smoke. Ruby coughed on reflex and saw that both ‘Faeflora Sakura’ and ‘Rose Bell of Revelation’ were now in the GY.
“Alright Red. Now you can play!” Torchwick taunted, cackling that he ripped her starting hand in half on the first turn.
“Fine! Here’s a monster that’ll shut you up! ‘Faeflora Ichigo’! Show this bully how pathetic he really is!” Ruby shouted out as a strawberry red swordswoman erupted onto the field in a storm of round white petals to display its staggering 2300 ATK that makes it the queen among level 4 monsters. Ichigo glared her eyes at the scoundrel across from her as she ran alongside Petal Burst. “Take down that ‘Cooked Magical Hat’! Strawberry Sword Slash!”
‘Ichigo’ dashed towards Torchwick’s monster and before her sword was able to cut down her foe… “Not so fast, Red! My trap card ‘No Entry!!’ will end this fight before it starts by changing all monsters on the field to defense position!”
‘Faeflora Ichigo’ retreated back to Petal Burst’s side as both Ichigo and ‘Crooked Magical Hat’ turned a blue hue. This was bad… Ichigo had no DEF, even a small monster like ‘Crooked Magical Hat’ would run right over her.
“I… I’ll set one card and end my turn…” Ruby said as she placed ‘Miracle Blossom’ face-down, trying to curb her defeated tone. She made a juvenile mistake… One Yang lectured her on time and time over…
“I warned you, Red! Think of this as a harsh lesson not to stick your nose in grown-ups’ business!” Torchwick dug into her as he drew for his turn. “Just perfect.”
Ruby didn’t like that smile Torchwick got from that card he just drew.
“First things first Red, I’m gonna activate the spell card ‘Cost Down’. By discarding this copy of ‘Goblin Thief’ from my hand the level of every monster in my hand is reduced by two for the rest of this turn.” Torchwick cackled. “Which is just perfect for me to summon a powerful monster by just giving up ‘Crooked Magical Hat’!”
‘Crooked Magical Hat’ glowed as it rose into the air and morphed into a blue orb.
“Now it’s time to learn just how rigged this game is against you! I’ll tribute summon! SHOW THEM WHO’S BOSS! Level 8, ‘Crooked Beast Kingpin Barbaros’!” Torchwick roared as the blue orb erupted into the brutal form of a giant black-maned lion-man in a pinstriped suit with a massive 3000 ATK. “Take that little girl in red down Barbaros! Rampaging Hit!”
Ruby swerved as the massive beast-warrior smashed down on Ichigo. Her monster was destroyed but at least since it was in defense mode her Life Points were-
“WHAT!” Ruby squawked in horror as she watched her Life Points drop to 1000. “Ichigo was in defense mode! How?! You’re- You’re cheating!”
“Sorry Red, dontcha know? Whenever Barbaros here attacks a defense position monster with lower DEF than it’s ATK, you take damage equal to the difference!” Torchwick explained.
“Tell you what Red. I’ll be a gentleman. Forfeit the duel right now and I’ll let you cruise to a stop instead of having Barbaros here turn that toy scooter into a slag heap.” Torchwich offered in the most patronizing tone he could muster. “You’ve lost this duel as soon as it’s my next turn anyway. No matter what garbage bin pack filler you’re about to draw right now, it’s over.”
Ruby just stared at her deck. Was he right? Was this too much for her? Maybe it would be better for her to give up now and let the grown-ups fight him… All she’s done so far is let him make a fool out of her… She can’t even win against Yang at home… How was she going to win against a bad guy like Torchwick…? She was just a kid…
Remember Ruby… As long as you believe in your heart that you can win, fate will always give you a chance. You just have to see it!
“No… I’m gonna be the greatest duelist, just like my mom!” Ruby shouted with conviction. “Even if I only have one Life Point left, all I need to do is believe I can still win and take that chance! I DRAW!”
“Always going to be idiots I guess…” Torchwick sighed as Ruby looked at the card she just drew off the top of her deck. “Hey! What’s got you all giggling?”
“Exactly the card I needed!” Ruby grinned as Torchwick lost the color in his face. “I’ll activate the effect of ‘Rose Bell of Revelation’ in my graveyard allowing me to banish it to special summon a plant monster with 2400 or more attack points from my hand! No matter the darkest wood or the deepest night, no beast will ever escape this heroine’s sight! Level 7, ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’!”
From among a brilliant flash of silver light, a tall woman wielding a scythe cloaked in whirling rose petals appeared flying beside Petal Burst. Her red hood billowing behind her as she smiled at Ruby.
“Oh! Ooh! Whew… You actually scared me for a second there, kid… Good on you! But unfortunately, your huntress is 500 attack points shy of being able to compete with my pal Barbaros here.” Torchwick laughed with relief.
“Oh, that’s not going to matter in the slightest because I still have my normal summon! Come on out Kurirose!” Ruby shouted triumphantly as several of the rose petals flying beside ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’ coalesced into a flower bud with large eyes and little green paws that emitted a cute ‘Kuri’ noise upon summon.
Torchwick just burst out laughing to the point he swerved a little on the road.
“That’s your plan? Make me bust my gut so I drive off the road laughing! Whaddya think this is a cartoon? Which one gave you this gem?” Torchwick mocked. “You seriously think I’d be scared of a single broad and a growling flower with barely 300 ATK? Oh no, I’m quaking! Get real!”
“Oh, you will be, especially with this little flower’s gonna be the one to take down that big bad Barbaros!” Ruby called out “I activate the effect of ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’! Once per turn she can destroy a card I control to destroy one you control. Go, Reaper’s Thorn!”
‘Crescent Rose Huntress’ scooped up ‘Kurirose’ with the blade of her scythe and flung the small creature square into the chest of ‘Crooked Beast Kingpin Barbaros’. Upon impact, the flower gremlin latched on to the giant lion-man and began to entangle it with numerous thorny vines before both of them shattered next to a mortified Torchwick.
“Now since a plant monster was destroyed, my face-down trap card, ‘Miracle Blossom’, can activate. It boosts the ATK of one plant on the field by the ATK of a monster that was destroyed this turn! Like your Barbaros!” Ruby explained as the pinkish card raise up and glowed. “So ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’ gets boosted up from 2500 all the way to 5500, more than enough to end this duel right now!”
“Now just wait a moment…” Torchwick stuttered, able to see the flashing lights of Vale Security gaining behind them. “Let’s talk this out! Just let me go and I’ll let you take every card I stole back! I’ll even write the old geezer an apology letter! I’ll never litter again! C’mon Red!”
“No deal! All you’re getting is a taste of defeat followed by a nice and long vacation in a jail cell!” Ruby shouted. “’Crescent Rose Huntress’, Silver Moonlight Slash!”
The blade of Huntress’ scythe glowed silver as she raised it over head. This was going to be it; in just a few short seconds Ruby was going to defeat a bad guy and be a hero! This attack just had to connect!
“Duelist entering into duel in progress. Administering 2000 LP penalty.” The computers inside Petal Rose and Torchwick’s duel runner announced as a jet black Catastor-mdl5 duel runner leaped from a rooftop and hit the duel lane running alongside Torchwick.
“About time you got off your butt, Ashes…” Torchwick hissed at the mysterious turbo duelist with the black helmet and catsuit.
“I activate the effect of ‘Midnight, Ashen Maiden of Grimm’ in my hand!” The feminine accomplice garbled out, her helmet clearly having a voice modifier. “Since I lost life points this turn it gets special summoned to my side of the field!”
In a flare of smoke and shards of glass, a black glass statue of a woman with a masquerade mask wielding a bow floated behind the two thieves blocking ‘Crescent Rose Huntress’. Still the level 6 Pyro monster only had 1200 ATK, not enough to defend either of them.
“The effect of Midnight activates! When she’s special summoned, she targets another special summoned monster on the field and then you take damage equal to the difference in its ATK compared to Midnight’s!”
“WHAT!” Ruby shouted as the dark glass angel drew its bow and deftly shot a flaming arrow right into Petal Burst. The dingdingding of her life points dropping to zero filling Ruby with shame as Petal Burst forcibly slowed to a stop. Defeat clutched straight out of the jaws of victory…
“Oh, so close Red…” Torchwick shot back as he peeled off alongside his companion, the holograms of the duel monsters fading into the aether as the duel concluded. “Better luck never!”
The crook’s boisterous laughter stinging her as it faded out to soon be replaced by the sirens of Vale security as three police issue duel runners shot past her. Another duel runner, oddly not a standard security Goyo-28 but a Windwitch-mdl7 -a fairly expensive model-, parked beside her and it’s driver dismounted and removed her helmet. Ruby took one look at the middle-aged blonde woman and could already tell she was going to be raked through the coals.
So… This is what it feels like to be Yang…
***
Young Ms. Rose was slumped on the table of the interrogation room as he walked in. Clearly, the dual trial of having her victory against one of Vale’s most dangerous criminals snatched away from her as well as Glynda’s certainly ‘gentle’ lecture on the dangers of vigilantism and that curfews on student drivers also apply to duel runners had devastated the poor girl. Or at least that’s what Ozpin thought until Ms. Rose’s face lit up like a child receiving their first structure deck as he set the plate of cookies and glass of milk on the table.
“Hmmm… Silver eyes…” Ozpin mused to himself, causing a perturbed look from the teenage girl as she briefly stopped inhaling the baked goods. “May I ask how exactly a teenage girl came about her own duel runner with a modified engine that’s faster than most racecars?”
“Oh! Uhm…” Ms. Rose gulped her milk. “Built it myself. There’s a junkyard a bunch of factories dump their unsold stuff and junk off over by Signal Academy. Me and my sister, Yang, we go there -well she’s starting Beacon soon so I guess it’ll just be me now…- and we built our runners by the fixing up parts we found there. Well, Dad and Uncle Qrow helped, but I still know the insides of Petal Burst like the back of my hand. The console’s a Stardust-25, the chassis is a Junk-13 and several of the pistons are a Junk-mdl5 but there’s one from a Turbo-mdl6. The shell of the engine’s from this Nitro-27 we found half buried under some kind of-“
She’s going to ramble on about the runner all evening if he lets her.
“I’m impressed. You’re quite the tuner Ms. Rose.” Ozpin nodded.
“Thanks… I’m Ruby, but you probably already knew that cause you know my last name…” She petered out as Ozpin nodded once more. “I figured ‘You know, turbo duels are the best kind of duels and you need to have your own duel runner for that.’”
“And they teach that at Signal?” Ozpin asked.
“No… Not really… Not a lot of the students are old enough and Patch… Patch doesn’t really have a lot of roads… Me, Dad, and Yang just kinda did laps around the academy… Kind of a big reason I want to go to Beacon, they’ve got the best turbo dueling courses in the world!” Ruby explained looking at the silver haired man with some hope in her eyes.
“Do you know who I am?” Ozpin smirked.
“You’re headmaster Ozpin, you run Beacon Academy, the best dueling school on Remnant.” Ruby smirked conspiratorially.
“And you want to attend my school?”
“Yes… But I’m two years away from being eligible to attend…” Young Ruby sank back into her seat as the older man thought things over.
“Well… Given you are the top student of your advanced dueling class at Signal and, judging from the logs Vale Security pulled from your duel disk, quite able to handle your own against career criminals, I might just be able to pull a few strings for you.” Ozpin mused aloud making the red-tipped brunette squeal in excitement.
“You- You’d let me go to Beacon?” Ruby gasped with sparkling eyes.
“Classes begin on the twelfth Ms. Rose. I expect great things.” Ozpin smiled only to be immediate deafened by the highest pitched squeal of joy he had heard in eons…