Light shines through a tree's canopy, and onto the face of Ruby. She lets out a grunt as her face scrunches up, before her eyes flutter open. Her red eyes glance around in confusion, seeing green vegetation all around and bright light.

She puts her left hand on the ground, feeling grass under it. She tries to put he right hand on the ground, but nothing happens. She glances down, seeing her bone arm still half missing. But there's a green glow coming from the tip of her bone arm, as it slowly starts to regenerate.

Ruby then looks down at herself, seeing her body covered in bandages. Luckily her dress seems to be fully repaired. She then brings a hand up to her head, and feels that her horns are missing. 

Ruby lets out a huff as she looks around her surroundings, finding herself on a small hill with a single tree. She lets out a grunt as she stands up, her entire body is sore. 

She glances at the tree behind her, seeing her scythe resting up against it. She puts a hand against the tree's bark and rubs it.

"It's real..." Ruby mutters in surprise. 

She then looks back and her eyes scan the area. She spots a a sort of gazebo with a bed in it. She narrows her eyes as she spots Hajime and Yue on the bed.

Ruby hums in thought as she grabs he scythe, putting it on her back, before walking off. She lets out a grunt as pain flares up in her sore legs. 

"Just walk it off Ruby." She mutters to herself.

Ruby walks all the way over to the gazebo and hovers over the bed. She studies Hajime and Yue's sleeping figures. Hajime is covered in bandages, and he and Yue are both naked.

Ruby gives a disgusted face, before she turns around and walks off. She looks up to the bright light in the sky.

"An artificial sun?" Ruby questions as the light blinds her, causing her to grunt in frustration. 

...

...

Ruby continues her explorations, walking down a path. The sounds of rushing water hits her ears and she speeds up. She comes to a bridge with a stream under it.

"Woah..." Ruby mutters as she walks down to the streams edge.

She kneels down and sticks her hand in the water, shivering from how cold it is. She cups some water into her hand and brings it up to her mouth, and takes a light sip.

"It's real!" 

Ruby quickly sticks her head into the water and starts drinking it. After a few moments, she takes her head out of the water as she gives a sigh of relief. She then laughs as she stands up smiling.

"I haven't had real water in forever!"

Ruby then hops across the stream and continues down the path, and sees a mansion in the distance, with vegetation covering it. She walks up to the mansion and looks it over.

"I should probably wait for the others..." Ruby mutters as she walks off to the side.

She finds a large tree and leans against it. She starts to gather her thoughts, going over what happened in the battle with the hydra. She lets out a sigh as she shakes her head.

"Dumbass, you nearly died Ruby." She talks to herself. 

Then Ruby holds her hand out and black liquid starts to pour out of it and lands on the ground. A few seconds later a small crow sized Nevermore pulls itself out of the pool and caws.

Ruby tilts her head as the bird looks up to her and mimics her actions. Ruby holds her hand out and the Nevermore jumps onto it, the black puddle seeps back into Ruby's hand. Ruby brings the small Nevermore up to her face and it caws at her a couple times.

Ruby smiles and she holds her hand out and the Nevermore flies away. She watches as it flies above the mansion, cawing a few times. 

Ruby then looks down at her hand, she stares at it for a moment, before brining it up to her mouth. She licks her hand, and gags for a moment.

"Ugh, I need a bath."

Ruby pushes off the tree and starts walking around the side of the minions. Where she finds an outdoor bath in the bath. She hums in thought and walks over to it, sticking a hand in the water, finding it hot.

Ruby's eyes shines with stars. "A real bath!"

Ruby quickly takes of her fur collar cloak, her dress then her knee high socks. Her smooth stomach that also has bandages wrapped around it. Her small, but perky chest, also hand bandages wrapped around it.

Ruby, with a little difficulty, takes the bandages off. She looks down in slight surprise to find no scars. She smirks and runs a hand down her side, before placing her hand on her hip.

Ruby then walks into the water as her hips sway. She stands in the middle of the bath, before lowering herself into it. She gives a moan of pleasure as her cheeks grow red.

"This is the stuff~"

Ruby sits down to the point only her head is above water. She then smiles brightly as she laughs.

Ruby rubs her body under the water, messaging it a little. She then lets out a satisfied sigh as she stretches.

"I haven't had a bath in like three months!"

Ruby tilts her head towards the water and begins to wash it. "Man, this is kinda hard with just one hand." She flips her hair back when she finishes.

Ruby lowers herself into the water so only her eyes are above it and she closes them. She then lets out a satisfied hum. 'I'm never going so long without a bath, ever again.'

She hears some footsteps approach and she opens her eyes to see Yue and Hajime enter the bath area. Hajime looks at Ruby, now only having one eye.

"Reuben." Hajime smirks. "Should've known you'd find this place first."

Ruby stands up in the bath, steam covering her important bits. "Well, I've been bathing in blood for a little over a month, so I thought I'd actually get clean now." She then gains a suggestive smirk and she leans forward. "Ara Ara~ Like what you see?"

"Tch." Hajime glares at her. "Not a chance. Stop acting like a girl, you're a man."

Ruby glares at Hajime, before yelling at launching at him, causing Hajime to panic a little. Ruby lands on Hajime's back and starts biting at his head, while he tries to throw her off.

"Get off me!" Hajime yells as he grabs onto Ruby's one arm.

"You're always so mean!" Ruby yells as she bites onto his head.

Hajime manages to throw Ruby off him, she flips through the air and lands on her feet. The two glare at each other, sparks flying between the two.

Yue looks at Ruby's chest, then down on her own. Yue's chest is flatter than Ruby's and she looks up at Ruby with a pout. "Ruby, put some clothes on."

Ruby glances over to Yue. She then shakes the water off herself like a dog. "But it feels rather nice without clothes on." 

A stone hits her on the back of the head and she turns to Hajime. "I'll kill you asshole!"

"Put some damn clothes on!" Hajime yells in anger.

"That's not how you treat a lady!"

"You're not a lady, you're a creature of Grimm, they don't have genders!"

"Well, I do!" Ruby motions to her lady bits, that have steam covering them. "Don't you see them, I'm a lady!"

"Cover yourself up!" Hajime yells again. "I don't want to see your ugly body!"

"You take that back, I'm a pretty girl!"

Yue sighs as she deadpans. She then walks over to Ruby, making the naked girl stop glaring at Hajime and look down at her. The two stare at each other, before Yue light hits Ruby on the arm.

"Bad Ruby." Yue calmly says with a slight glare.

Ruby then puffs her cheeks out as she pouts. "Why am I getting in trouble!"

After Ruby gets dressed the three move through the mansion, looking at various stuff. They move up to the second floor and Hajime puts his hand on a door that has large cracks in it.

Hajime puts his hand on the door and tries to use Transmute on it, but it doesn't work. "The library and workshop on the second floor are both sealed off, huh?"

Ruby steps up to the door. "I wonder if I could brute force my way in?"

"It seems magically seal, so I wouldn't try."

Ruby just hums in thought as she puts her hand on her chin. Yue then calls out to them.

"Let's see the third floor."

"Yeah." Hajime nods in agreement.

The three head up to the third floor and find only one room.

"Looks like this is the only room up here." Hajime observes.

"Yeah." Ruby and Yue say together.

They walk into the room and magic crystal torches light up. Hajime sees a skeleton sitting in a throne-like chair. Ruby and Yue stands a couple feet behind him.

"Almost like he was waiting for someone." Hajime observes the skeleton.

"Yeah." Yue nods.

"How long has he been down here?" Ruby questions as she rolls on her feet.

Hajime looks down to the dark magic circle painted on the ground. "This room's gotta be the key to finding a route to the surface. My Transmute ability wouldn't even work on those sealed rooms... Yue, Reuben, help me out if this goes south."

"Mm. Be careful." Yue calls out.

"And don't be a dumbass." Ruby smirks darkly.

Hajime walks onto the magic circle and nothing happens until he reaches the middle of it. As soon as he steps in the middle the circle lights up red and Hajime stops and grunts. After a few seconds the light dies down a little and suddenly a hologram appears from where the dead man is sitting and the hologram stands up.

Hajime puts a hand on his gun, that's holstered in the back of his pants. But he lets go after a few seconds of nothing happening.

The hologram then speaks. "My name is Oscar Orcus. I am the man who built this labyrinth. You've done well to survive my trials and make it here. The term 'Maverick' should be familiar to you, yes?"

"So you're him..." Hajime mutters.

"Sorry, but you'll have to hold off on questions. This is just a recording, after all. Unfortunately, I can't answer your questions. I just wanted to leave a message for the person who made it here, to share the reasons why someone who knew the truth of this world chose to fight against it."

Higher up in the labyrinth the hero party reaches the 65th floor again. Yang flexes her fingers, readying for a fight.

"This is the 65th floor..." Shizuku says.

"Yeah, we're down to the deepest floor anyone's made it to." Kouki stands next to Shizuku.

Everyone follows Meld as they move on.

"Indeed." Shizuku says to Kouki. "I was worried how things would turn out at first, but everyone's gotten so strong. I was really surprised."

"You're one to talk--you've leveled up quite a bit, Shizuku." Kouki points out

"Not as much as Mister Hero, here. Or even Miss Huntress behind us."

"Focus, now!" Meld calls out. "This map only shows part of this level. We've no idea what will happen."

"Right!" Everyone says as they all walk down a pair of stairs.

The group comes to the bridge where they fought the Behemoth and lost Hajime and Reuben. Yang grits her teeth as she curls her fists.

Meld holds his hand out to stop the group. "Wait."

Everyone stops and they look to the other end of the bridge and a large purple magic circle appears.

"N-No..." Shizuku takes a step back.

"That monster again?!" Kouki sweats.

Yang slams her fists together. "I'm ready for round two!"

Daisuke moves behind Kousuke Endou, or hentai protagonist looking guy. "I thought it died!" Daisuke sweats as he looks on in fear.

"Behemoth..." Shizuku mutters as sweat drips down her face.

"It's been two months, so I'm prepared now." Yang cracks her neck.

The Behemoth starts to come out of the magic circle and Meld readies his sword. "Nobody knows the respawn rate of monsters here in the labyrinth... but it is normal for some monsters to respawn after being defeated." He looks back as the Behemoth fully spawns. "Here he comes! Don't forget to secure an escape route!"

A few of the party members turn around, only for another, smaller magic circle to appear.

"Meld-san, we're not the same as we were before!" Shizuku states.

Kouki holds his sword out. "We're hundreds of times stronger! We won't lose again!"

Yang smiles. "Yeah, not gonna lose to some big clunky enemy now! So we're gonna win this time!"

Ryutarou speaks up. "That's right! Doesn't feel right for us to keep up this losing streak! Time for a rematch!"

Everyone else nods in agreement.

Meld smiles. "Comrades..."

The Behemoth roars at the party and the force of it nearly blows everyone to the ground.

Kaori points her staff at the Behemoth. "We won't let you take any more of us. We're going to press past you and keep moving forward!"

Kouki aims his sword at the Behemoth and it starts to glow as a magic circle appears behind him. "Soar to the heavens with the speed of a thousand wings--" He brings his sword back. "Heavenly Flash!" he swings his sword and a large slash slams into the Behemoth, not doing much, but it lets out a roar of pain. "We got this! Shizuku, take the left! Hiyama and the others, go behind it! Meld-san, take the right! Yang, take the front. Rear guard, prepare the magic circle, a high-level one!"

"Direct, unwavering orders--excellent!" Meld smiles.

Skeletons appear in the magic circle behind the group and the Behemoth starts to charge the party with its horns down.

Yang runs towards it. "It's me and you pal! Herculean Strength!"

Magic covers Yang's arms as she runs forward and intercepts one of the Behemoth's horns. Yang grunts as the Behemoth starts to push her back, but she smirks with a little sweat traveling down her brow.

Yang plants her feet in the ground and stops the Behemoth. "Now would be a good time to do something!" She yells.

Meld jumps up to the horn that Yang's holding. "Crumble to ash, to splinters, to dust!" His sword glows. "Overpower!" He slams his sword into the Behemoth's horn, just cracking it. "Still tough as ever, isn't he?!"

"Let me handle it!" Shizuku yells as she jumps up towards the horn. "Let this supreme strike slice through all!" A magic circle appears behind her and her sword glows. "Obliterate!" A magic slash flies through the air and cuts though the horn.

The Behemoth roars and shakes it's head back and fourth, Sending Yang, Meld and Shizuku flying back.

Kaori starts to cast a spell. "Let this gentle light envelop you--- Gentle Halo!" She points her staff forward and it glows green.

Three platforms made of light appear below Yang, Shizuku and Meld and they land on it.

Kouki charges forward. "Luminous Burst!" He stabs his sword into the chest of the Behemoth, but it does little damage and the Behemoth stomps on the ground, sending him flying.

Yang jumps forward as her hair starts to glow and her eyes turn red. Activating Burn. "Take this!" She pulls her right fist back and a magic cirlce appears behind her. "Turn all those oppose me to ash and dust, leave nothing behind for them to find! Flame Bullet!" She throws her fist forward and multiple small fire balls fly from her first and slam into the Behemoth.

The Behemoth stumbles back and roars and Yang charges forward with a yell. The behemoth shakes its head and looks forward, only to get knocked back by a powerful punch from Yang.

The Behemoth roars in anger and tries to impale Yang with its horn as she grabs it and struggles to hold it as her hair catches on fire and burns brightly. Yang lets out a yell as she starts to push the Behemoth back with all her strength.

The Behemoth roars and lifts up his head, taking Yang with it. The Behemoth then brings its head back down, throwing Yang back and she slams into the ground back behind Shizuku, a yellow aura surrounds Yang, protecting her from harm. Yang cancels Burn and her eyes and hair return to normal.

The Behemoth stares at the party as purple mist surrounds both its horns and they glow red.

"He can still do that, even with his horns broken..." Shizuku mutters. "Everyone, get ready to attack!" She yells.

Suddenly the Behemoth jumps past Shizuku, Meld, Kouki and Yang, heading towards the rear guard.

"Huh?" Shizuku questions.

Suzu then starts to cast a spell. "Enemies of God mayst not tread upon His holy ground!" A magic circle appears behind her and she holds her hands out. "Herem!"

A large dome surrounds the rear guard and the Behemoth crashes into it.

Suzu grunts as the Behemoth pushes into the dome, slowly making it disappear. "I'm not gonna let you win!" She grunts.

"Blessing of heaven, reveal your secrets-- Divine Strength!" Kaori casts onto Suzu, making the dome stronger.

"Thanks, Kaorin! I love you!"

The Behemoth roars at the dome, but its suddenly pulled back slightly.

"I didn't say we're done! Limit Break!" Yang yells as her eyes shine red and her hair burns brightly as she pulls onto the Behemoths tail.

Yang lets out a loud yell as she lifts the Behemoth off the dome and flips it onto his back.

Eri moves forward and holds her staff out. "Blazing Sun!"

A large ball of fire shoots out of her staff and floats above the behemoth, before releasing fire balls down onto it.

Yang pulls her fists back. "Flame Bullet!" She throws her fists forward and multiple small fire balls fly from her fist and into the Behemoth.

Kouki holds up his sword. "Limit Break!" He cuts the Behemoth in half, killing it. It releases purple particles."D-Did we beat it."

The Behemoth falls down and all the skeletons fall apart. Yang's eyes and hair return to normal and she lets out a breath as some sweat falls from her cheek.

Daisuke is cowering on the ground. All is quite for a few seconds.

"We won!" Shizuku smiles.

Kouki holds up his sword. "Yes! Victory is ours!"

Yang throws her fists up. "Hell yes!"

Everyone begins to celebrate.

Yang stares at the Behemoth's corpse. 'We've defeated it, Reuben, I hope you're happy wherever you are down here.'

Back down in the Maverick's Lair, Oscar's projection is speaking. "I don't know who you are or why you came here. But there's something I want you to know. I will give you my power. Use it as you please. Just please don't use if for evil."

"Power?" Hajime questions.

Ruby thinks for a moment as she crosses her one arm under her chest.

"That's all." Oscar says with a small bow. "Thank you for listening. I hope you will be able to live by your own free will." He disappears and Hajime grunts as a bunch of information is forced into his head.

Hajime puts a hand over his missing eye. "Wh-What's happening? It's like something's being imprinted onto my mind..." He lets out a few pained grunts. After a few seconds the magic circle dims and goes out. "Holy shit..."

"Hajime?" Yue calls out.

"You look like your about to shit your pants." Ruby observes with a smirk.

"They weren't evil gods, or Mavericks, they were Liberators..." Hajime informs.

"What now?" Yue asks.

Hajime turns to the two girls. "I told you before, I don't give a crap about what happens to this world. I'm going home. That's it. You two worried about it?"

Yue shakes her head.

Ruby scoffs as she puts a hand on her hip. "I'm not worried about anything, If I can kill a Hydra, I can kill anything. Besides, I'm stuck with ya and as long as you don't interfere with my plans, then I'll help you."

 Hajime nods to her and she nods back.

Yue walks over to Hajime. "I belong here." She grabs his hand and holds it. "I don't care about anything else."

Hajime glances away from Yue. "Oh, also it seems like I've learned a new kind of magic--ancient magic."

"Really?"

"It's called 'creation magic.' It lets me add energy to raw minerals to give them special qualities."

"You can make artifacts?" Yue asks.

"Yeah, seems like it." Hajime replies as he looks down at the vampire girl.

"That's incredible, Hajime!"

"You wanna learn how to use it?"

"But I can't use Transmute..."

"Well, sure, but it's ancient magic, you know." Hajime says. "No harm in learning how to use it, right?"

Ruby starts picking at her teeth in boredom.

"If you say so, Hajime." Yue says.

Hajime glances towards the Grimm Girl picking at her very sharp teeth. "How about you, Reuben?"

Ruby stops picking her teeth and she shakes her head. "I don't want some dumb old ancient magic, I've got my own."

Hajime spends the next few hours teaching Yue how to use creation magic and it eventually turns night. Where there's an artificial night sky.

Ruby's outside and she's looking up in awe. "Wow, It may not be the real thing, but its still so cool."

Ruby smiles as she turns around and heads back inside. She heads upstairs and opens up a door. She steps inside and looks around in the bedroom. She smiles as she walks over to the bed and sits down.

"It's real..." Ruby runs a hand over the soft sheets, she grows a tired look.

Suddenly there's a knock at the door, and Ruby looks over to see Yue standing in the doorway.

"Yue?" Ruby questions as she tilts her head. "Why aren't you with Hajime?"

"Hajime went to sleep, and I'm not too tired." Yue walks over to Ruby and sits beside her. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you real quick."

"About what?"

"First..."

Yue leans forward and moves Ruby's fur collar to the side, and bites into her neck. Ruby shives as Yue quickly drinks some of her blood, before leaning back. 

"I don't like it when you do that." Ruby mutters to the vampire.

Yue licks her lips. "Its Dessert~"

Ruby glares down at the vampire, until she suddenly puts her hands on the Grimm's face. Yue squishes Ruby's cheeks a few times, before moving her head side to side.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asks in confusion.

"Grimm had white bone face masks, and you don't. Why?" Yue asks as she continues to study Ruby.

Ruby grabs Yue's hands and takes them off her cheek. "Probably because I was human before, and not 'Born' Grimm."

Yue hums in thought, before nodding. "Also, Hajime said he only had a couple friends, so you must be one of them.

Ruby nods as she smirks. "Yeah, that nerd only had me and one or two more friends. Unlike me, I was friends with almost everyone!"

"Everyone?" Yue tilts her head.

"Well, people says I was super approachable, and it was nice to have lots of people to talk to. But it was much easier to do it because Yang was there."

"Yang? Who's that?"

Ruby smiles happily. "She's the best sister ever!" She puts a finger on her chin. "Though, she isn't the brightest, given she was held back a year. But she's super awesome and stronger!"

"She must mean a lot to you." Yue gives a small smile.

Ruby nods rapidly as she smiles brightly. "Yang's everything to me! She the most important person to me!"

"But she is a huntress."

"Yeah she... is..." Ruby then realizes. "And I'm a Grimm..." Ruby then bites onto her thumb. "I... We can make it work."

Yue stares at Ruby for a few moments, while the Grimm is lost in thought. She then reaches out and pats Ruby on the arm, making her look over.

"I'm sure it will work out." Yue hops off the bed. "You're bond seems very strong, it won't break because of this."

"I hope so."

Yue then gives a small bow to Ruby. "Goodnight, Ruby."

"Goodnight, Yue."

Yue leaves the room, closing the door behind her. Ruby stares at the door for a few moments, before laying down on the bed. She climbs under the blankets as her entire body grows tired.

"So... soft..."

Ruby closes her eyes as sleep takes her.

The next morning the three bury Oscar's skeleton and they go into his office, and search through the books in there. Ruby's bone arm has slightly grown back more, along with her horns.

"Bingo!" Hajime sets a book on the desk. "Found it you two!" Yue and Ruby walk over to Hajime after putting their books away. "Looks like that magic circle is connected to the surface."

"But to connect it, we need Orcus' ring." Yue informs.

"That's not a problem." Hajime reaches in his pocket and pulls out Oscar's ring. "I grabbed it when we buried him."

"So the workshop's full of Oscar's artifacts and all his materials, huh?" Hajime questions. "We'd better take 'em with us."

"That would be the best course of action." Ruby agrees as she crosses her arms.

Yue grabs a book and brings it over to Hajime. "Hajime, look."

Hajime grabs the books and sits in a chair, Yue sits on his lap and Ruby leans over his shoulder. Hajime reads through the book.

"So is that how it works, huh?" He questions. "If I make it through the other labyrinths, I'll get my hands on the other forms of ancient magic?"

"You might find a way to get home." Yue says.

"Yeah. Guess that's what we gotta do!"

"Then I'll be able to fight many strong enemies and eat them." Ruby nods to herself and drools a little.

"Let's hit up those other labyrinths!" Hajime says.

An hour later the three go over to the workshop door and Hajime opens it using the ring.

A crystal lamp lights up as the three walk into the room. Ruby moves around the room.

"There are even more in here." Yue says and she notices Hajime looking at her. "What's wrong?"

"Hey, Yue, let's stay here for a while." Hajime says. "I want to get up to the surface, but there are too many things to learn down here."

Ruby finds a small safe locks up with a key lock and she begins fiddling with it.

Hajime continues. "And if we're going to go through the other labyrinths, we should prepare as much as we can."

"I don't mind, as long as I'm with you!" Yue smiles happily.

A little red forms on Hajime's checks. "Okay."

A loud bang is heard and the two turn to see Ruby holding the safe door. "What?" She questions as she glances over. "I didn't want to look for the key."

Hajime rolls his eye and walks out of the room, with Yue following him. Ruby just shrugs her shoulders and tosses the steel door behind her, lodging it in a wall.

Ruby giggles to her self as she moves her hands around in the safe. "Huh?" She pulls out a large vial of black liquid. "What's this?" She sniffs the bottle and even licks it. "Hmmm." She opens the top up and pours it onto a table.

She then tosses the empty vial to the side, with it shattering as it lands on the ground. Ruby stares at the black liquid before touching it a couple times. "I think this is a little bit of a Grimm pool." Suddenly the liquid attaches itself to Ruby, before sinking below her skin.

Ruby blinks a few times. "I feel slightly weird." She then shrugs her shoulders and walks out of the room.

Then that night Ruby is back into the bath, as she leans against the side. She lets out a sigh of relief. Suddenly she hears the soft patter of footsteps and glances back to see Yue, with a towel around her torso.

Ruby turns around and rests her cheek on her hand. "Hajime still busy in the library."

Yue's cheeks puff out. "He won't come out till he's done with his current book."

Ruby chuckles as Yue walks over and drops the towel, before entering the bath beside Ruby. Ruby turns back around and stares up to the artificial night sky with a smile.

Yue glances Ruby up and down, before speaking up. "Hajime said you were once a boy."

Ruby looks at Yue with a side eye. "Yeah, then Goddess Salem changed me into this." She brings up a pale hand as she smiles at it. "I kinda like this body more, even with the massive change."

Ruby looks back at Yue, only to see her covering herself. Ruby grows confused as Yue lightly glares at her.

"Ruby, perv."

Ruby's jaw drops, before she stands up, revealing her lady bits. Then she points at Yue with a small blush.

"I was in this bath first, you're the one who came second! Besides, it's not like there's anything to look at!"

Yue frowns as she glares at Ruby. Before suddenly launching herself at Ruby. Ruby yelps as Yue tackles her into the bath, and they start to wrestle around.

"Bad Ruby!" Yue shouts.

"Stop biting me!" Ruby shouts back.

The next morning Ruby is standing in front of a large mirror as she looks herself over. But then she notices something.

"Have I grown?" 

Ruby measures herself and notes that she grew an entire Inch. Her horns, what have regrown, are even a little sharper.

"Huh... neat..."

The days then go by as the three prepare themselves for the surface. Ruby's bone arm grows day by day as she mostly spends her days in the Library, trying to learn a new skill she wants.

One day she stands beside Hajime as he works on building new guns.

"Hajime, teach me a couple skills!" Ruby orders.

"No! Learn them yourself!" Hajime yells back.

"Teach me!" The tall Grimm girl waves her arms back and fourth.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!

"YES!"

"NO! Hajime yells.

"NO!" Ruby yells.

"YES! Wait, fuck!"

"HA!"

Ruby Learned Mana Manipulation!

Another day Yue cooks a large meal for the Hajime and Ruby and they swiftly dig in.

Hajime stops and starts to sweat as his face turns blue and he starts choking. Yue panics and starts to slam her hands on his back.

Ruby, who has a bone sticking out of her mouth, starts laughing at Hajime. Ruby pounds the table as she laughs, but then the bone falls into her throat and she starts choking.

Yue panics as Hajime and Ruby are both choking. Ruby falls to the ground as she turns blue.

Another day Ruby runs through the forest with a happy smile, her right bone arm is half way regenerated. Her horns are fully regenerated. A few small Nevermores fly above her as a couple Beowolves run in the background.

Another day Ruby is bothering Hajime again.

"Make me this!" Ruby orders as she puts a couple stone tablets on Hajime's desk. They have a weapon blueprint on them, her arm is mostly healed, it's just missing the fingers.

Hajime glares at Ruby. "No."

"But I don't have a weapon and this'll help me with long range!"

"Still no."

Ruby then holds up a Grimm puppy.

"But how can you say no to this face?" Ruby says in baby talk.

The puppy barks.

Hajime deadpans. "No."

Ruby huffs in frustration as she sets the puppy down and its barks as it runs off.

"Hajime!" Ruby yells. "I, Ruby Rose, order you to make me this weapon, so I can fight!"

Hajime sighs. "If I do, will you leave me alone?"

Ruby nods. "Hai Hai."

"Fine." Hajime reluctantly agrees.

"YES!" Ruby then pulls out a few more stone slabs. "Also here's blue prints for a few times of ammunition."

Hajime slams his head into the table with a groan.

On one of the last days Ruby is looking at herself in a mirror.

"Man, I'm beautiful." Ruby mutters.

Ruby looks herself over and looks at her bone hand, noting her claws a re a little sharper. "Well lets try this Metamorphosis Magic, only took me two months to learn."

Ruby closes her eyes and casts the spell. Her body shines a dark red as it shrinks down into a smaller form, being 5'5'' (167.6 cm.)

The light disappears and Ruby opens her silver eyes and blinks a few times as she looks at herself in the mirror.

"Wow." Ruby says in astonishment, even her voice sounds slightly different, more human than her regular voice. "This is cool. Now I can use this as a disguise. Can't let the whole world know that Grimm are coming back."

She smiles as she twirls around noticing even her clothes changed to match her human disguise. Ruby then grabs her new weapon off the table to her side and changes it into scythe mode.

Ruby twirls it around before holding it in front of her. "I think I'll call you... Crescent Rose. Yes, that's perfect."

Ruby looks at herself in the mirror again and sadistic smile as her right eye turns back to Black and Red.

"This will be fun~" Ruby giggles to herself, as she puts her scythe in storage mode, and putting it on the back of her hip.

Ruby then exits the bathroom and heads down the hall and outside. She spots Hajime and Yue sitting on some chairs outside, enjoying the moment.

"Hey guys!" Ruby calls out.

The two look back and their eyes widen.

"Woah, Ruby." Yue starts. "You're human?"

Ruby skips up to them, hopping from foot to foot as she reaches them. "Nope! Well... Kinda. But just a disguise."

"Wow, can't even tell you're a Grimm." Hajime points out.

Ruby nods as she sits on the grass beside them. "Yupyup! This is perfect!"

Ruby then pulls out her status plate and looks it over. Her silver eyes glance over her stats, and she tilts her head.

"Huh..."

Name: Ruby Rose (Reuben Xiao Long) / Age: 17 / Sex: Female / Level: 95 / Job: G̷̜̕r̷̝͛i̵̙̍m̸̫̈m̶̬̍ ̷̯́Ą̸͘p̶̰̈o̵̳͋s̴̫͆t̵͕͑l̴͔̇e̶̖̓ ̴̳͝

Strength: 3900
Vitality: 2980
Defense: 4125
Agility: 4500
Magic: 1900
Magic Defense: 1500

Skills: Language Comprehension. Petal Burst. Iron Skin. Reap and Sow. Sacrificial Sweep. Burning Hook. Willpower-Draining Aura. Ear-Piercing Scream. Acid Spit. Fire Breath. Fireballs. Night Vision. Detect Negative Emotions. Fear Resistance. Paralysis Resistance. Poison Resistance. Slight Regeneration. Petrification Resistance. Intimidate. Limit Break [War Demon]. Mental Resistance (New) Mana Manipulation. (New) Farsight. (New) Metamorphosis. (New) Elemental Resistance. (New) Chantless Magic

 G̢̘͎̘̎̎r̜͍̓͠i̷̲̲̯̰̟̳̋̌mͦ҉̫̗̺͈m̷͕̝͙̥̝̯̈́̉ͪ̑ͅ ͇͔̠̲̖̻̗̺̓ͫ͝Ṕ̙̬̱̫̬͈͖̿̽͜o̸̬̼͖͍̥̖ͫo͎̠͇̹ͦ̒̌͟l̥̤͓͙̼͍̩̅ͮ̀̓͟

Ĝ̸̟̻̻̻̗̬r̯͍̲̆ͨ͌̀ͅĩ̷̫̤̯̺̹m̵͈̝̦̱̝͈̭ͭ͐͐m̧̲̙͚̜̻͖͍͚ͬͣ ̨̜̥̫̙̯̫̓̔͊̐ͅS̷̯̱̈́͆p̧̫̤͇̺͕͍̒͋̋a̭̖̳͍͔̞̞̳̿ͭͭ̊͡w̢̗̞ͪn̗̝̹̼͔ͪͬ͂́͡

██████ ████

Ruby's browns furrow as she notices the blacked out skill on her stats. "What the hell?"

Hajime glances over. "What?"

Ruby shows him her stats. "What's with this blacked out one?"

Yue glances over as she tilts her head. "Strange."

"Huh..." Hajime rubs his chin. "Never even heard of that."

"Think it could be something powerful?" Ruby questions as she looks back at her stats.

"Probably." Hajime thinks for a moment. "Maybe its to dangerous, that somethings blocking you from know what it is, so you can't use it."

Ruby stares at her status plate, before frowning. "Bullshit, give me my OP powers!"

"You're already OP as hell!" Hajime points out.

Ruby huffs as she puts her status plate away. "Not OP enough!"

"Oh... Pee?" Yue questions in confusion.

Then the next day Ruby, in human form, is outside as she's loading up a red magazine with large sniper rounds. 

"Ehehe..." Ruby smirks evily. ".50 BMG M8 API, now I'm unstoppable!"

Ruby then grabs her scythe, which is in sniper mode, and loads the magazine into it. She then aims it towards a large wooden wood pile. 

"Say hello to my little friend!" Ruby shouts before pulling the trigger.

The bullet streaks through the air, and slams into the wood pile, causing it to explode outward, as it also slightly catches on fire. Ruby lowers her gun and looks at the destruction in front of her.

Ruby lets out an excited gasp as her silver eyes shine brightly. She then laughs and hugs her gun tightly.

"You are the best weapon ever, Crescent Rose!" Ruby gives the weapon a light kiss. "I'm gonna give you the best cleaning ever for being such a good gun!"

Hajime is off to the side, looking over a truck he built. He's watching Ruby snuggle her gun, and he starts to sweat drop as he looks at his friend like she's crazy.

A couple days later Ruby, Yue and Hajime gather on a large magic circle as it glows red. Hajime is sporting a new look and Ruby is in Grimm form. Crescent Rose is on her back, but it's in its Grimm look.

"We're fully prepared." Hajime says. "I've learned all I can from monster meat." Hajime looks at his new prosthetic arm. "We're all geared up, too."

Ruby holds her scythe over her shoulder. "It took us a whole two months. Been down in this shit whole of a labyrinth for four months, sheesh."

Yue nods.

"Yue, my weapons and powers aren't normal up on the surface, neither are Reuben's." Hajime informs. "The Holy Church and other kingdoms won't be able to keep quiet about 'em. I'd be fine if it were just them, but we might even get targeted by godly beings."

Yue nods again.

Hajime continues. "It might just be us against the world on this journey. We may not have enough lives saved up to survive it."

"It's too late." Yue states.

Hajime puts a hand on Yue's head. "I'll protect you, and you'll protect me. We'll be unstoppable." Yue nods.

Ruby hugs the two. "And you'll both protect Ruby!"

Hajime pushes Ruby off him. "Don't hug me!"

Ruby sticks her tongue out at Hajime. Hajime glares at Ruby as she smiles at him.

Hajime huffs. "We're gonna defeat everything and everyone... and surpass the entire world, the three of us!"

Yue nods.

"Hell yeah!" Ruby cheers as she holds up a bone fist.

The magic circle glows brighter.

....

---

.

.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4-1-2026

6400 words