Prompt: what would Adam's death scene look like if Ladybug was the main pairing?
(Okay, finally got around to writing this. Maybe one day I'll do a whole au from the Fall of Beacon centering around Ruby and Blake's relationship and how it got to this point)
“Are you sure you dont want me to come with?” Ruby asked as she reached the treeline near the communications tower with Blake.
Blake took a few steps closer towards the tower. “More intruders means a higher chance at getting caught. Besides, we’ll need to keep out of sight and your scythe-”
Ruby folded her arms across her chest as she listened to Blake.
“-I mean I’ll be quick and come back soon,” Blake said as she turned around with a smile. “And this is still your plan. If anything happens, they’ll need your guidance.”
Ruby relaxed her arms and leaned against a tree. “Go, I’ll wait here for you.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
Ruby nodded and pressed on her comm to speak to her team. “We’re in position.”
“I’ll be continuing on foot,” Blake said over the comms.
“Great,” Jaune answered back. “Now all we have to do is wait for Weiss to get out of range and for Blake to take care of the radar tower.”
Ruby took a few, deep breaths to relax herself as she watched her scroll and waited for Weiss to be out of range. Once Weiss’s signal died out, she found herself watching the tower once more as she waited for Blake.
Her attention went back to her scroll as she saw Weiss come back in range of the communications tower, her heart nearly stopping. Blake was supposed to be back by now with the tower disabled.
“Blake?” Yang asked over the comms. “Is everything alright?”
“I’m going to check on her,” Ruby answered back, racing towards the tower. She stopped when she saw some of the destruction around it: gunshot marks in the metal around the tower, the Argus soldiers that were supposed to be on duty killed, one of the cables snapped… and then the footprints leading away from the tower and towards the waterfall.
It didnt take her long to see that there were two sets of footprints, one from Blake and the other from someone that seemed to be chasing her. She used her semblance to follow the footprints faster, glad Qrow had spent all that time teaching her how to track. Her heart raced as she pushed herself as quickly as she could, dropping out of the cloud of rose petals once she heard a few gunshots. On instinct, she rushed up into the air with her semblance, dropped out of it, unfurled her scythe, and then started to use the momentum of her fall along with a few shots from her sniper attachment to make her way towards the gunshots.
Ruby ran on instinct. A member of her team, the woman she loved, was in trouble and she was not about to let her face whatever was going on alone. As she drew closer, she could hear the sounds of fighting as metal struck metal. She kept her finger steady on the trigger, continuing to use each shot to boost her speed until she reached the edge of the cliff. Her eyes widened as she saw Blake on the ground with Adam standing above her. With one more shot, she threw herself over the cliff and dove straight at Adam.
Adam readied his blade, moving slowly towards Blake. “So, Blake, how does it feel to be alone?”
Blake used her semblance to avoid the strike from Adam. “I’m… not alone.”
Ruby yelled as she used the momentum of her fall to swing her scythe at Adam, catching him with the back of her scythe and throwing him back. She landed just in front of Blake, aiming the sniper portion of her scythe at Adam as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself as she stared down at Adam.
Once Adam steadied his footing, her glared at Ruby. “You.”
Blake smiled, then dropped to her knees, wincing in pain as she held her side.
Ruby took a few steps back, eyes and weapon still trained on Adam. “Its okay Blake, take a few to catch your breath. I’ll hold him off until then.”
“She’s right, Blake,” Adam said as he readied his sword once more. “She and I have some… unfinished business.”
Ruby gripped the shaft of her scythe tightly, her mechanical hand magnetizing to it. Her eyes stayed on Adam as she waited for him to make a move. Finally, Adam rushed at her and she rushed in to meet him.
Adam rushed at her with a flurry of strikes, using his semblance to let out the energy he had stored up. All Ruby could do was use her scythe to block each strike, getting knocked back until she found an opening. She smirked as she used her semblance to get around him, striking at him and putting him on the defensive as he used his sword to block each strike.
“Ruby, you need to be careful!” Blake called out as she started to stand up again. “His semblance is like Yang’s! He absorbs energy in his sword and dishes it back twice as hard!”
Ruby’s eyes widened as Adam used his semblance once more, slashing furiously at her. Ruby moved her scythe to block the strikes and used her mechanical arm to brace against each strike. And still, the force of the blows managed to push her back.
“Ruby!” Blake yelled out.
Ruby took a few breaths, glad that her scythe held up to the blows as she tried to regain her footing. “Leave us alone. This is your last chance.”
Adam grinned as she watched Ruby’s fingers start to tremble, lowering his sword. “Do you really think that? Or are you really hoping to scare me away so you dont have to die protecting her?”
“She’s not protecting me,” Blake said as she walked over to Ruby and took her hand.. “And I’m not protecting her either. We’re protecting each other.”
Ruby gave Blake a small smile before going back to focus on Adam. She took a deep breath to steady herself, her fingers squeezing against Blake’s. And yet, now wasnt the time to relax. Not while Adam stood in front of them ready to tear them apart.
“You couldnt win at Haven, so what makes you think you can win now?” Adam asked.
“Because I dont have a choice!” Blake yelled out as she took a step forward. “I have people who care about me now and I promised them I wouldnt leave again. I have no plan dying now.”
Adam turned to look at Ruby, smirking at her as he spoke again. “She made a promise like that to me too. That she’d *never* leave my side. And look where she is now.”
“Was that to you, or to the person you used to be?” Ruby asked.
Adam took a breath and looked at Blake once more before drawing his sword again. “You’ve made your choice… and I’ve made mine.”
Ruby and Blake rushed towards Adam as he rushed towards them, and soon, the sound of metal hitting metal filled the air around them. Ruby used her scythe to keep distance from Adam as he continued to strike at her, only using her scythe to block each hit to try to keep him from gaining any more force for his semblance while Blake used the broken blade of her sword to get a few strikes on Adam before taking hold of the ribbon and throwing the bottom half of Gambol Shroud to catch Adam’s legs.
Adam grinned as he blocked it, swatting it away like a fly. “Is that the best you can do?”
Ruby used her semblance to grab the bottom half of Gambol Shrould and swung Blake at Adam, smiling as she watched her ready for a strike with her sheath. And then, she froze as she watched Blake get swatted to the cliff side, her aura flickering before she fell. “Blake!”
“This is the moment of truth for you, Ruby,” Adam said as he sheathed his sword. “Do you really think you’re faster now than you were at Beacon?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Ruby said quietly, her fingers starting to shake as her mind stayed on Blake. She had just gotten her back and she wasnt ready to lose her again. Which meant she needed to finish this fight and quick.
Adam unsheathed his blade with a grin and rushed at her. Once again, Ruby found herself blocking each strike with her scythe, spinning it around to keep Adam from gaining any ground on her, each strike pushing her back. Finally she found an opening and started to strike back, keeping the force of her own strikes low to not fuel him.
“Just hit me already!” Adam yelled out. “You’re a coward just like her, always running away!”
Ruby used her semblance to avoid a few strikes and to give her a bit of distance as she took a few shots at Adam before rushing in for another strike. Her eyes stayed on Adam’s blade as he blocked each shot and started to block her strikes, looking for another opening.
“What does she even see in you?!”
Ruby’s eyes widened once more as she watched Adam’s blade start to glow as he brought it down for one more swing. She quickly readied herself, blocking the strike with her scythe as a cloud of dust formed around her from the energy released from Adam’s semblance.
As the dust started to clear, Ruby turned her scythe and pulled the trigger for the sniper attachment, the blade slicing through Adam’s wrist. Her aura shimmered and broke and her fingers trembled as she watched Adam’s hand drop to the ground, still holding the sword.
Adam pulled back, holding his wrist where his hand had been, glaring at Ruby. “You bitch!”
“Its… over, Adam,” Ruby said between as she folded up her scythe. She kicked the sword and hand away, and a smile crossed her lips as she watched Blake make her way back to the top of the cliff.
“Its not over until I say its over,” Adam growled out as he lunged for one of the broken pieces of Gambol Shroud.
Ruby used her semblance to reach the pistol of Gambol shroud first, picking it up and slamming it into his chest as Blake slammed the other half of her broken blade into Adam. She pulled hers out of Adam as he pulled back, her heart stopping as she watched him reach for the wound in his chest.
“Oh…” was the last word that came out of Adam’s mouth as he fell to the ground, motionless.
Ruby raced to Blake as she dropped to her knees crying, and pulled her into a tight hug. “Its over. Its finally over.”
Blake hugged Ruby back, tears still running down her cheeks and hands shaking. “I wont break my promise. I wont.”
“I know you wont.” Ruby rubbed Blake’s back and took a few deep breaths to steady her own fingers and heart, her eyes going to Adam’s severed hand. “And I’ll never be like him. I promise.”
