NOTE: This is a reworking of the original fight, which was first uploaded as a fan-made Death Battle. In the interest of preserving the content without conflicts with the new format, the research elements have been forgone in favor of just including the battle. Please enjoy!
Location: Forever Fall Forest
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Scout: What’s with this forest? Thought it was supposed to be July, why’re all the trees red?
The Scout was the first of the small band of Mercs to speak in a long time as they trudged through the tree-riddled terrain of Forever Fall Forest. They were following directions assigned to them by Redmond Mann, their boss, to get to the new plot of land he and his brother Blutarch were fighting over. Why is was this far of a trek and he didn’t offer any transportation for them, nobody understood, but orders were orders, and they liked being employed.
Spy: Monsuier Redmond did tell us it would be an odd path ahead, no? I am sure this will not be the only oddity that nature will offer here.
Heavy: Aaargh! Sounds of crunchy leaves driving me crazy!
Scout shrugged.
Scout: Why don’t’cha shoot ’em, big guy? They’ll probably shut up that way.
Heavy’s face lit up for a moment as he took Scout’s advice wholly seriously, but Medic forced him to keep his minigun packed away. They didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention while they were out here. Heavy’s expression fell with disappointment, and they continued on their way through the seemingly endless woods.
Not too far away from them, Team RNJR was sitting around a small, smoldering campfire that had died down since being lit the previous evening. Jaune Arc was standing against a tree, Lie Ren was seated before the smoldering flames attempting to cook some scrap of breakfast for the group, Nora Valkyrie stared hungrily over his shoulder, and Ruby Rose, the team’s honorary leader, sat on her sleeping bag with a troubled look.
Her knees were drawn close to her chest with her arms hugging her legs, her eyes staring blankly at the fire as Ren tended to it. She had had another odd dream last night of her vision being encased in red before she woke up suddenly, shivering and in a cold sweat. It had to mean something, she was sure of it… but what?
CLANG!
Ruby snapped out of her trance as Ren accidentally dropped a frying pan into the fire, making a loud noise as the handle struck the outer ring of rocks surrounding the spot. Ruby shot him a look, and Ren shrugged apologetically.
Ruby: Can’t you try to be quieter? We don’t know if there are any people, Fang, or Grimm nearby. We have to be careful…
Little did Ruby know how accurate her warning was. The group of four mercenaries was slowly approaching their campsite.
Heavy: *sniff sniff* …I smell… bacon!
Heavy’s chin tilted upward as he smelled the remains of some cooking meat on the forest air.
Medic: You must be delusional, zere is nobody out here. Come, eat some of your sandvich.
Medic unpacked Heavy’s sandvich from his giant pack and handed it to the burly man who proceeded to eagerly take a bite. Scout, bored out of his mind by the consistent and unchanging scenery, pulled out his Sandman and popped a baseball up and down in his hand.
Scout: Y’wanna see how far I can hit this thing?
Spy sighed. Truthfully, he was getting a bit tired of the endless stretch of red before them, so he decided to oblige his teammate.
Spy: …Bon deuil… Fine, impress me.
Scout grinned and tossed the baseball into the air and wound up his bat.
Scout: He winds up…!
Just as the ball entered the bat’s swinging zone, Scout brought the Sandman forward and hammered the ball straight forward, sending it barreling through the amber brush.
Scout: Aaaaand line drive!
The baseball tore through branches, bushes, and crispy dried tree leaves, hurtling straight towards a certain campsite.
Jaune: Relax, Ruby. As long as we don’t make too much noise, we’ll be just fine. What’s the worst that could be out here anyway?
Immediately after Jaune finished talking, Scout’s baseball tore into view and smacked into the side of Jaune’s face painfully. He stumbled backward and fell onto his rear, crying out loudly in pain.
Jaune: Oww!!
Ren sprung into alertness and rushed over to his downed teammate, Nora following, to help him up. Ruby, on the other hand, stood up quickly and drew Crescent Rose, walking over and picking up the baseball from where it had come to rest next to the campfire.
Ruby: What the…?
From a few hundred meters away, the mercs heard Jaune’s cry of pain as Scout’s baseball had slammed him. Scout’s face fell.
Scout: …Uhh… did I do that…?
Spy facepalmed and started running forward, followed by Heavy and Medic.
Spy: Imbécile oublié… Come. We must investigate.
Scout: Whoever I hit, I ain’t payin’ for his meds!
Scout followed with haste. The four eventually came upon the campsite of Team RNJR, where Ruby, Ren, and Nora were all helping Jaune stand back up. Ruby was the first to notice the four new presences, and she shot up, drawing Crescent Rose and standing in front of her friends protectively.
Ruby: Who are you!?
Spy, assuming the lead role of the four, stepped forward into the clearing and held his hands out at his sides innocently. He’d done plenty of wooing over others in his profession, it would be easy to win the favor of a little girl with an overly big weapon.
Spy: Relax, little girl. We’re just passing through on our way to work, nothing to be worried about.
Ruby didn’t budge. Jaune mumbled incoherently behind her, still dizzy from being smacked in the face with a baseball, and Ruby held up the ball in her hand.
Ruby: Which one of you threw this stupid ball!?
Scout’s expression darkened. Did she just call his lucky baseball stupid? From behind Spy, he lashed out verbally at the younger girl.
Scout: You dissin’ baseball, kid? Don’t make me show you some re- mmph!!
Scout flailed as Spy covered his mouth with a gloved hand nonchalantly.
Spy: Ignore my coworker, s’il vous plaît. He is just a bit short-tempered.
Ruby, not in the mood for being talked down to by the silver-tongued merc, glared directly at Scout.
Ruby: You hurt my friend with your dumb ‘baseball!’ You wanna know what I think of your dumb toy, huh!?
Ruby tosses the ball into the air and, in a bright flash of steely red, sliced it in two with a swing of her scythe. The dual halves of Scout’s lucky baseball fell to the forest ground, and everyone stared at her with a slight hint of surprise.
Scout, however, didn’t restrain himself behind shock for very long. He shoved his way past Spy and marched straight up to Ruby with a furious look, pointing at her as he advanced.
Scout: Listen up, kid. That was my lucky friggin’ baseball, and I don’t give a damn if I hit your buddy in the face. NOBODY messes with my stuff!
Ruby’s stance seemed to falter at his uninhibited rage. Scout progressed further until he was right up in her face.
Scout: What’s the matter, little red suddenly lose her edge!? C’mon, what’re you gonna do about it!?
Ruby growled and swung the blunt end of Crescent Rose into Scout’s chest, sending him sliding backward a little. The hotheaded merc growled and took out his Scattergun, cocking it as he prepared for action.
Scout: Now you’re REALLY askin’ for it!
Ruby spun her weapon into a ready position and glared back at her newfound enemy with equal anger.
Ruby: I’ll show YOU to hurt my friend for no reason!
Just before violence broke out between the two of them, Spy facepalmed and muttered in French.
Spy: Cela ne va pas finir bien…
Scout squeezed the trigger on the Scattergun, blasting the first spray of shells at Ruby. The red huntress slipped to the left, easily avoiding the shot, and lunged in with Crescent Rose held in both hands, poised to strike.
Reacting as fast as he could to the giant incoming red scythe, Scout hastily swapped his Scattergun for his Bat, swinging the metallic tool to meet the razor-sharp blade of Crescent Rose. A loud clang of steel on steel rang out, and the both of them stumbled backward a bit. Scout’s arms ached from absorbing the shock of colliding his Bat with Ruby’s scythe, and thus Ruby had an opening. She rushed in and unleashed several blinding slashes, her blade digging into Scout’s skin, before unleashing a blast of explosive dust at him, sending him flying back into the red forest.
Scout slid along the dry fallen leaves for a bit, his wounds stinging with pain like tiny bees. He rose to his feet and took out his Scattergun again, aiming at the incoming Ruby and firing more rounds of shells at her. As she spiraled out of their spread and hurled through the forest, Scout growled and sprinted after her, taking out his Winger pistol and running after her.
Scout: Get back here, you twerp!
The two red speedsters left their comrades in the dust, and Spy turned slowly to look at the three remaining hunters.
Spy: So, eh… no hard feelings?
Meanwhile, Ruby and Scout were racing through the sea of red foliage, racing along as they eyeballed each other angrily. Scout trained the mouth of his pistol on the red streak of his enemy’s movement and fired at her, trying to land a shot or two. A few bullets hit their mark, but Ruby’s aura shielded her from the small lead ballistics entering her skin. Crescent Rose shifted into its sniper form and she unloaded dust rounds at the mercenary, small explosions of flame erupting around his feet as he sprinted alongside his adversary.
One of the fire blasts hit Scout’s right foot, and with a yelp of surprise and pain, he stumbled, landing on his face and sliding across the leaf-covered forest floor. Ruby smirked and planted her feet against the thick trunk of a tree, halting her momentum and flipping off to vault over Scout as he pulled himself to his feet. The sound of her combat boots hitting the ground caught Scout’s attention, and he turned to face Ruby, pulling out his Sandman with a silent glower. Mechanical clicks and the shifting of parts emanated from Crescent Rose as it shifted to scythe form, and the two ran in.
Scout feigned going for an overhead swing of his bat, and when Ruby swung her blade upward to counter he slipped underneath and struck her stomach with the Sandman harshly. She staggered back, and Scout dealt a few consecutive blows with the wooden bat before Ruby shoved the blade of Crescent Rose in the way of his next attack, the scythe’s sharp edge slicing into the wood and sticking it in place.
Ruby fired off a basic sniper round to gain the momentum she needed to break Scout’s grip on the Sandman, launching herself a ways away before waving her scythe through the air in a blur. By the time she had finished, the Sandman was nothing more than wood shavings that daintily floated to the leaf-coated ground. Scout blinked a few times before his fist clenched angrily.
Scout: That’s it! You asked for this, sister!
Ruby prepared for her adversary to take out another weapon, but all he took from his pocket was a red and yellow soda can. Ruby tilted her head confusedly as Scout cracked the can open and took a big, long swig from the can of BONK!. After a second, Scout’s body lit up in a bright rainbow color, taking Ruby by surprise.
Scout: Ahhhh… Atomic Punch, baby! Nice and tangy!
Scout crushed the empty can in his fist and before Ruby could make sense of what had just happened, Scout attacked with some punches to her jaw. Scout drew from the memories of fistfights alongside his brothers, and he employed similar tactics while BONK! was in use, throwing strong punches at vulnerable places. Ruby felt pain zip through her as her gut, jaw, and cheeks were all grazed with blows.
Scout shoved her away just as the Atomic Punch wore off and he took out the plain Bat, swinging the metal weapon at his opponent. Ruby’s legs buckled underneath her as the width of the bat came smashing down on top of her head, and she fell face-first to the ground, dropping Crescent Rose.
Scout: Sheesh, kid. Actin’ all tough before and it took this much to beat ya?
Ruby grimaced and clenched her fist. In a blur of sudden movement that Scout barely registered, she bolted to her feet and to the side, sprinting a rapid circle around Scout.
Scout: What th-
The words were cut off as Scout felt the air around him beginning to leave as Ruby’s insane speeds began to create a vortex. He dropped the Bat and desperately grabbed at his throat as the oxygen began to run out, and before long he felt his feet leave the ground as well. He flailed in the air, helpless, and the Bat flew from the ground and went flying into the thick of the autumn scenery.
Ruby, seeing his vulnerable state, broke away from her circular pattern and grabbed Crescent Rose off the ground, blasting back toward Scout with the blade unfurled. The sharp scythe bit into Scout’s skin as Ruby slashed at him in midair, her momentum carrying the two of them forward and toward several trees. Ruby, seeing this, turned the sniper head of the weapon on Scout’s chest and fired an explosive round of dust, sending the mercenary crashing through the forest.
He came to rest after smashing through the thick hulls of no less than five oak trees, battered severely and winded. Collecting himself after the brutal beating he’d just been on the receiving end of, Scout shakily came to his feet, drawing deep breaths and relishing the feeling of fresh oxygen coming into his system. He didn’t have much time to recover, however, as he heard the incoming sounds of his opponent hurling towards him at an alarmingly fast rate.
Thinking fast for a way to even the playing field in his damaged state, Scout formed a plan quickly. He scrambled over to take cover behind the cover of a tree and, reaching into his arsenal, pulled out the Fan O’war. And then he waited for the right moment to strike.
Ruby’s footsteps were light, soft tap-tap-taps along the ground as she raced along the path Scout had flown, following the trail of broken tree trunks that marked where he had crashed. A slight clearing in the trees was ahead, and she made for it with as much speed as she could muster. The speed she had built up racing towards the parting in the dense woods was so high that she found herself unable to get out of the way when Scout surprised her by appearing from behind one of the trees ringing the outside of the small open patch and swinging the Fan O’war at her.
She had no choice but to tank the strike face-first, which wasn’t too difficult as her aura shielded her from any serious damage she would have otherwise taken. Her sheer momentum overpowered the small, thin weapon, and it broke in two as she soared through it. She came screeching to a halt in the clearing and took out Crescent Rose, ready to fight her opponent once more. Scout, in response, tossed aside the broken stem of the poor Fan O’war and took out the Soda Popper, not waiting a second before firing and running to the right.
Ruby, receptive to her opponent’s strategy, transformed Crescent Rose into its sniper function and ran in the opposite direction, mirroring Scout’s running pattern. If it was a firefight he wanted, it was a firefight he’d get, and then some. As they ran around the circular patch, their bullets whizzed by each other, the constant movement of the two making it difficult to keep a steady aim. Neither dared to stop and aim properly, though, as they would be left a sitting duck for their opponent to fire on them. Several of Ruby’s shots narrowly grazed Scout, and Scout scored a few blasts here and there.
Finally, Scout managed to land the last hit he needed, and the Hype Mode function of the Soda Popper kicked in.
Scout: Aww yeah, let’s go! WOO!!
With a whoop of enthusiasm, Scout leaped into the air. Then he jumped again. And again, and again until he landed in the thick of a tree. Ruby skidded to a stop and stared at the impossibility of the feat he’d just performed, and Scout grinned smugly as he tore the can of Crit-A-Cola from the bottom of his gun and took a swig, tossing the can aside once finished and strapping a fresh one to the Soda Popper’s clip.
Springing from the foliage of the tree, Scout jumped across thin air, training the barrel of his shotgun downward and raining shotgun blasts down at Ruby from above. The spread of the gun lessened the danger that the shots put her in, as the height he was firing from put some distance between the two of them, but Ruby deflected the bullets with the razor-sharp edge of Crescent Rose regardless. Scout whistled a tune as he jaunted across the air from tree to tree, making it rain with shotgun blasts. Despite ruby’s best efforts to deflect the bullets, a few slid through her guard and hit against her aura, which was beginning to tire from all the hits it was taking. The extra damage he was dealing to her aura with the mini-crits from the Crit-A-Cola he’d just slammed allowed him to constantly refresh the Hype buildup, and so he continued to nimbly leap from tree to tree.
As she skillfully deflected the shots fired at her from above, Ruby analyzed Scout’s patterns of jumping. Slowly but surely the trees he made to land in became more and more predictable until she could accurately know the tree he was going to touch down in without fail. With this pattern in mind, she loaded lightning dust rounds into Crescent Rose and continued to deflect shots that came her way, waiting for her opportunity.
That opportunity came when Scout jumped back into the air and took aim at Ruby again, pulling the trigger only for an empty click to resonate from the Soda Popper’s chamber.
Scout: Huh?
He had been so caught up in his display of physics-breaking jumps that he had failed to notice he was out of ammo for the Soda Popper. As a result, Hype Mode ran dry, and Scout yelped in surprise as he began to plummet from the air. Thinking fast to avoid falling damage, he pulled out the Pretty Boy’s Pocket Pistol and pointed it as steadily as he could at Ruby only to see she was taking careful aim at his falling form.
Scout: …Daww, crap-
Ruby fired the round of dust and Scout felt incredible amounts of electricity run through his body like a current, arcing from his toes to his teeth and everywhere in between, and then some. He dropped the pistol and slammed painfully to the ground back-first, and before he could move to regain his footing, Ruby’s boot was planted firmly on his chest, Crescent Rose held dangerously close to his face.
Ruby: You finished?
Scout glared up at her with defiance and made a subtle move with his hand into his inventory, grabbing the first weapon he put his hand on. He grinned as he recognized the rough handle of one of his most dangerous weapons.
Scout: Not yet, sister!
With a harsh swing, Scout brought the spiny edge of the Boston Basher up to Ruby’s arm. Her depleting aura couldn’t absorb the full blow and she cried out as her skin was sliced, getting off of Scout as fast as she could.
Scout got to his feet and took out the Atomizer, getting close to Ruby, who was clutching her bleeding arm. He smirked and pointed towards the sky, wound up, and swung with all his might as he performed the Home Run Strike. The sturdy bat crashed into Ruby’s back with colossal power, and Ruby went sailing into the air, coming down elsewhere in the woods with a loud snapping of wood.
Scout let the Atomizer hang down by his waist and stared for a second before whooping victoriously.
Scout: WOOHOO! That’s right! I’m the man! Ain’t no sissy anime girls stoppin’ THIS!
He went to do a show-offish victory pose but stopped as his aching body cried out in protest, settling for a raise of the fist and a weary grin. As he went to collect the Pretty Boy’s Pocket Pistol, which was laying beneath some leaves as it had skittered from his grasp when he fell.
Suddenly, though, he became aware of the sound of something moving at great speeds, and directly towards him at that. Before he could even begin to think of what he should do in case his enemy had returned, Ruby came bursting from the edge of the clearing, an enraged look on her face. She shot past Scout, punching him squarely in the jaw as she passed him. Scout reeled back and she came around for another pass, kicking him in the back of the head. The dazed mercenary found himself on the receiving end of strikes that came from seemingly every direction, too fast for him to react to until he felt the sting of her attacks.
After what felt like forever trapped in the omnidirectional onslaught, Scout was spared for a brief moment as Ruby snatched up Crescent Rose from the ground, as she had dropped it when she was knocked clean out of the clearing. Scout, desperate to counterstrike in this window of opportunity, readied the Boston Basher.
Ruby lunged from above, her scythe poised to strike.
Scout swung like a batter hitting a baseball coming from the heavens.
And with a loud SLAM, their weapons collided. Their clash led to the sounds of two loud snaps, and Scout stumbled backward, Ruby flipping away and landing safely. The top half of the Boston Basher had snapped off the handle, and the spikes had punched a hole in the chamber of Crescent Rose, leading to a trail of multicolored dust leaking from it as Ruby leaped away.
Shaking off the subsequent ache of smashing the Boston Basher against Crescent Rose, Scout tilted his chin up and caught a glimpse of the rainbow formed in the forest air by the dust released from Ruby’s weapon. He dropped his attacking stance, the Basher hanging down by his legs, and sniffled at the sight of the lovely rainbow. He brought a single finger up to his cheek and brushed away a tear.
Scout: It’s so friggin beautiful man…
As he gazed with tearful wonder at the rainbow of dust, Ruby recovered from their intense clash and noticed the large, ugly cracks in the head of Crescent Rose, as well as the large hole where the cracks spindeled from. A sharp, cold dagger of initial panic stabbed into her heart, which was almost immediately thawed by the burning flames of all-consuming anger.
Nobody hurt her precious weapon like that.
NOBODY.
Ruby unleashed a berserk war cry and rocketed forward, unfurling Crescent Rose into its extended blade form as she became little more than a red streak of movement to the untrained eye. As she gained speed, the winds she whipped up as she passed the trees of Forever Fall caused dead, weak branches to snap from the trees and whip up from the ground, following her like a storm of pointed plant limbs.
Scout had very little time to even blink as the multicolored cloud of dust was pierced by Ruby at an insane speed, Crescent Rose lifted over her shoulder in a striking position. His eyes widened in surprise, but it was too late to react with the speed Ruby was hurtling forward at. She stepped to his side and rushed past him, the unfurled blade approaching his unprotected throat. And then…
SCHLING!!
The sharp metal edge sliced through the flesh of Scout’s neck like wet cardboard, decapitating the mercenary in a horribly messy fashion. Flecks of blood flew from the gaping wound, some drops of it flicking onto Scout’s expressionless face as his eyes rolled back into his head. His headless body dropped the Boston Basher and fell to its knees, only for the whirlwind of branches Ruby had whipped up in the whirlwind behind her to riddle its headless chest with sticks, stabbing it with nature’s knives countless times. It fell back, laying motionless on the scarlet leaves that coated the ground.
Ruby’s ire was not quelled yet, however. She whirled around in midair and transformed Crescent Rose into its sniper form, taking aim at Scout’s severed and lifeless head. She loaded an explosive dust shot into her clip and squeezed the trigger without remorse, and Scout’s head exploded in a messy spray of blood, skull fragments, and cranial matter that sprayed the already crimson forest. Ruby skidded to a halt, some of her enemy’s blood having gotten on her cheek.
Ruby: …Oh… o-oh no…
Her attacking stance fell away and she stepped back from Scout’s body in horror of what she just did. Her eyes began to sting with tears as she found herself unable to rip her stare from the scene of her enemy’s gruesome demise, but before she could break down further the sound of several footsteps treading across the crunchy fallen leaves behind her caught her attention, and she turned around.
Ren, Nora, and Jaune stepped from the brush and into the clearing. Jaune patted her shoulder and eased her into a relaxed state.
Jaune: It’s okay, he deserved it. We sent the other guys on their way; they said he’ll come back from the dead somehow. I dunno, but you don’t need to feel bad. He started it.
Ruby sniffled and nodded, supposing her teammate was right. Together with her friends, she exited the clearing, the mental note she was making of fixing Crescent Rose’s cracks in the next town they came to shielding her from the image of Scout’s headless, bloody body laying, still and silent, in the vast, scarlet forest.
