Fate's Wild Card Ch. 27 (Released)

Pyrrha is right—it would be better if he gave her more time to think through a proper training regimen to help him improve.

"Well, I don't see why not. We've got time, anyway."

Ruby beams with a smile so wide it practically splits her face in half.

"Yay!" She jumps up with her hands extended and grabs his hand, trying to drag him toward the door which completely fails. Her momentum stops dead as Pryce remains firmly planted in place, causing her to stumble forward and nearly fall flat on her face.

Even Pyrrha lets out a soft giggle at the scene, covering her mouth politely.

Ruby catches herself and turns back, flustered, her cheeks pinking as she pouts up at him. "You're not moving!"

Pryce chuckles, shaking his head. "Fine, fine. Let's go, team leader."

They leave the training arena and walk across the campus. Ruby, being the ever-cheerful and energetic girl she is, skips along the entire way, her red cloak flowing freely behind her like a banner. She hums some tune under her breath, occasionally breaking into little excited hops when she gets enthusiastic about whatever it is she needs his help with.

A few heads turn their way as they pass, probably wondering why the hyperactive girl is acting that way but their attention is quickly lost as the pair continues on their way.

Eventually, they reach the academic building and Ruby takes him to a different section. The hallways here smell different—like metal, oil, and something chemical he can't quite place. Gun oil, maybe, or some kind of solvent. Overall, it's familiar enough that he knows what all of that entails.

Once they reach a set of double doors marked "Workshop - Authorized Students Only," Ruby's excitement increases. She grabs his hand again and drags him inside, this time with him actually letting himself be led.

The workshop is impressive—rows of workbenches equipped with various tools, mechanical equipment, welding stations, chalkboards,  and many other specialized devices. A few other students are scattered throughout, working on their own projects and completely absorbed in them, wearing headsets that cancel out all the ambient noise. Hence none of them turned to look at them.

Ruby lets go of his hand and moves toward the center of the room, gesturing wildly around with both arms extended. 

"We're here!" she announces triumphantly, as if she's just revealed some grand secret.

Pryce raises an eyebrow. "We had an introductory class here earlier this week. No need to show off the place like it's new."

Ruby just grins mischievously and moves to a workbench in the corner that already has a pile of equipment, parts, and what looks like weapon components scattered across its surface in what he assumes is some sort of organized chaos—though it honestly just looks like chaos to him.

And magazines. Plenty of weapon magazines spread across the bench and stacked in small towers.

"So what exactly do you need my help with?" Pryce asks, following her over and eyeing the mess. "And please don't tell me you broke something."

"What?! No!" Ruby looks genuinely offended by the suggestion. "I would never break stuff by accident!"

"Then what's all this?" He gestures to the scattered parts.

Ruby picks up one of the weapon magazines—not ammunition magazines, but actual printed magazines about weapons—and flips it open to a dog-eared page. "I've been reading about different weapon modifications and upgrade possibilities, and I found this really cool article about integrating secondary blade configurations into scythe-rifle hybrids, and then I thought about how your gunblade has that really interesting heat gauge system, and I realized I wanted to learn more about multi-functional weapons that aren't just scythes because even though scythes are obviously the best weapon ever created—"

What?

"Ruby…" Pryce interrupts gently. 

She takes a quick breath and continues slightly slower. "I want to understand how different weapon types work! Not just scythes. Because if I'm going to be a great Huntress and a good team leader, I should probably know about all kinds of weapons, right? And you have a gunblade, which is super cool and different from what I'm used to, so I thought maybe you could help me understand how it works and we could maybe even work on some modifications together and—"

"You want to take apart my weapon?" Pryce asks, suddenly very protective of the gunblade at his side. He might not have it for long but it saved his life so he gained some level of sentimentality for it.

"Not take apart! Well, maybe a little bit. But in a good way! A learning way!" Ruby's silver eyes practically sparkle after that declaration. "Please? I promise I'll be super careful and I won't break anything and I'll put it all back together exactly how it was—or maybe even better because I had this idea that might improve your firing rate and—"

Pryce stops her mid-sentence since he doesn't really understand what she's rambling about anymore. "Wait, so you only needed my weapon, not me?"

Ruby gasps and shakes her head frantically, her hands waving in front of her. "No, no, no! That's not why I called you! That was just an idea that popped into my head right now! The actual reason is completely different!"

She moves around the workbench and starts dragging over tall support stands and framework pieces, arranging them with surprising speed despite her scattered energy.

"See.." Ruby explains, slightly out of breath from hauling equipment around, "I needed somebody to help me keep things steady while I work on some quick projects. I tried to convince Weiss since she could study while doing this, but she said something about 'not being a furniture piece' and 'having better uses of her time,' so she refused. So I came to you for help! You can be my assistant!"

"Your assistant?" Pryce blinks.

"Yeah! Like, you'd stand here and hold something high since I'm kinda short," she admits with a sheepish grin, "and then hand me tools and parts when I need them so I don't have to keep running back and forth across the workshop. It's really simple stuff!"

"So basically a living tool rack," he says dryly.

"A very helpful and deeply appreciated living tool rack!" Ruby adds quickly with the same enthusiasm. "And as thanks for your help, I'll work on your weapon a little! Just a small upgrade or tune-up, I swear it won't take more than twenty minutes! Thirty tops! Maybe forty if we run into unexpected complications, but that probably won't happen!"

Pryce stares at her hopeful, grinning face for a long moment before sighing heavily. He already accepted to help her, so there's no real turning back now.

"Fine."

"Yay!" Ruby cheers, bouncing on her toes before rushing over to grab a pair of safety goggles from a nearby shelf. She tosses another pair to him, which he catches reflexively and puts on. Ruby quickly pulls on a pair of leather work gloves, already moving to position him exactly where she needs him. "Okay, so if you could just hold this support frame right here—yeah, exactly like that—and whatever you do, don't move until I say so!"

Pryce finds himself holding various pieces steady while Ruby moves to her chair and starts her work. 

So he stands there.

He occasionally glances down at her as she becomes completely absorbed in her task, watching her weld components together. The bright flash of the welding torch reflects off her goggles, and the sharp smell of hot metal fills the air around them.

During a brief lull when Ruby pauses to swap out her welding tip, he tries to message Neo on his scroll with his free hand. She responds almost immediately that she's busy with "kitty training".

She's at Beacon?!

Wait, no—maybe Blake left campus to head back to Vale and Neo intercepted her there. That would make more sense since it was technically Blake's last day with the chastity belt.

And he decides he probably doesn't want to know the specific details of whatever "kitty training" entails.

That leaves him standing there with Ruby as the energetic girl works her magic amid all the organized chaos she'd created. Surprisingly, over time, the scattered mess actually starts reducing, slowly taking recognizable shape. Parts that had seemed completely random begin fitting together with clear purpose and design. 

It's actually pretty cool to see it happening in real-time.

Soon enough, Ruby lets out a happy sigh as she lifts her goggles up to her forehead, revealing her sparkling silver eyes. Pryce imitates the gesture and looks at Ruby's creation without the tinted lenses.

It's a double-bladed scythe with elegantly curved blades on each end of the central staff. It didn't have color and it had some burnt marks but well, she created that quite fast.

Ruby grabs it eagerly and begins testing it immediately. She manipulates something on the staff, and with a series of mechanical clicks, the weapon seamlessly separates into two individual sickles, one in each hand. Then, with another smooth motion and a twist of her wrists, she rejoins them back into the full double scythe. Finally, she triggers another mechanism and the weapon bends at a central joint to transform into a compact rifle.

"Wow, that's actually really cool," Pryce admits. A three form mecha-shift, he thought only Pyrrha had a weapon like that.

"I know, right?!" Ruby beams at him, her entire face lighting up with pure joy and pride. "I've been wanting to try making a double scythe for ages, but I didn't have all the right materials back home in Patch! Or access to the proper equipment to do all the calculations! See, the balance has to be absolutely perfect or it throws off the whole weapon's handling, and then there's the separation mechanism which needs to be both mechanically secure during combat and quick-release for transformations, plus the dust chambers have to be positioned to maintain equilibrium in both configurations, and—" She catches herself rambling again and stops with an embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry, I get really excited about weapons."

"I noticed," he says with a hint of amusement tugging at his lips.

Ruby carefully sets the double scythe aside on a padded weapon rack and turns to him with a more serious expression—or as serious as his perpetually enthusiastic team leader can be. "Okay! Your turn! Let me see your gunblade!"

Pryce hesitates for just a moment before unclipping it and handing it over. "Remember, you promised only twenty minutes."

"I remember, I remember!" Ruby takes the gunblade. Her eyes immediately light up as she examines it closely, turning it over in her hands and inspecting every detail. "Ooh, the craftsmanship is really good! Whoever made this knew what they were doing! And this heat gauge system is so clever—I've only seen this kind of thermal regulation in a few custom pieces! But I can already see a few things I can improve..."

Is it really that well-made? He'd just bought it wherever Qrow told him to go. The owner had seemed competent enough.

She sets it carefully on the workbench and immediately starts pulling out various tools, muttering under her breath in a continuous stream of technical jargon.

Pryce crosses his arms and leans against the bench, watching her work. "So what exactly are you planning to do to it?"

Ruby mumbles something under her breath as she works, her hands moving with surprising confidence and precision for someone so young. She carefully opens the revolving chamber of his weapon and begins extracting components one by one with the same tools she'd used moments ago.

Ruby is completely absorbed in her work, her silver eyes narrowed in concentration, so Pryce doesn’t interfere and just settles in to get comfortable and watches her disassemble his weapon with meticulous care. He doesn't know exactly what she's doing since the technical aspects are well beyond his street-learned knowledge, but it definitely looks complicated. Springs, gears, tiny screws, pins, and various other small components are carefully laid out in organized rows on a clean work cloth.

Wait, where or when did she even pull that cloth out? He'd been watching the whole time.

After a while, Ruby starts reassembling everything, her movements becoming almost rhythmic as pieces click back into place. The gunblade slowly takes shape again under her skilled hands, each component slotting perfectly into position.

"AND DONE!" Ruby announces triumphantly, holding up the weapon with both hands like she's presenting a trophy.

Pryce takes it carefully, feeling the familiar weight settle into his grip, and then brings it close for thorough inspection. But naturally he cannot find any difference.

"So!" Ruby raises her voice to catch his attention. "It was actually a really good weapon to begin with—whoever made it definitely knew their stuff and used quality materials! But some of the internal components were a little worn from lack of proper maintenance and use, so they needed some quick attention before they caused bigger problems down the line. I replaced a few of the springs that were starting to lose tension and cleaned out all the dust residue that was building up—that stuff can really gunk up the works if you let it accumulate! Oh, and I also improved the cylinder rotation speed by adjusting the internal tension and lubricating all the gears and linkages, so it should cycle through your dust cartridges way faster now! That was all the improvements I could safely do this quickly without doing a complete rebuild or overhaul of the whole system!"

Pryce raises an eyebrow, impressed, before testing the cylinder speed himself. He flicks it open and spins it with his thumb. It rolls smoothly and definitely faster than before. In combat, every fraction of a second counts, so this is actually a good upgrade.

"Cool. Thanks, Ruby." 

"No, thank you!" Ruby beams at him, practically glowing with happiness. "For helping me hold all that stuff and being my assistant! I got so much more done with an extra pair of hands available! You're a great assistant! And you didn't complain even once!"

"Glad my limited skills were actually useful for something," he says dryly, which makes her giggle.

Ruby just grins wider and starts cleaning up her workspace with the same energetic efficiency she applies to everything else. "We should totally do this again sometime! I have like seventeen other weapon ideas I want to try building, and it would be super helpful to have someone to help with the heavy lifting and holding things steady and—"

"Let's see how this one goes first," Pryce interrupts gently, holstering his gunblade.

"Deal!" Ruby extends her hand for a handshake, which he accepts with a slight smile.

As they finish cleaning up the workbench and putting away tools, Pryce finds himself thinking that maybe having an enthusiastic weapons expert on his team isn't the worst thing in the world. Especially one who can tune up his gear for free.

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

Pryce is back at the training arena, except when he crosses through the door, he doesn't expect to find Jeanne there as well. The blonde girl jumps in surprise and whips around to see him, her blue eyes going wide. Pyrrha stands nearby and waves a hand in friendly greeting.

Why would that blonde klutz be here?

"Oh, Pryce! You're back!" Pyrrha says cheerfully before he can voice his question. "I've already thought of some training ideas to help you improve, but then Jeanne came looking for you saying you two had promised to train together, so I thought I could help you both at the same time! It's much more efficient this way, and we can all benefit from practicing together!"

Right. He and Jeanne are supposed to be training so she could woo Weiss’ heart.

Pryce just looks at Jeanne, who has turned as red as Pyrrha's hair and is pointedly looking away in obvious embarrassment, her hands fidgeting nervously with the hem of her red skirt. Pyrrha, meanwhile, is smiling with complete innocent enthusiasm, apparently oblivious to the awkward atmosphere she's created.

"So," Pryce says slowly, his rabbit ears twitching with mild annoyance, "you told Pyrrha we're training together?"

"I-I didn't explain the details!" Jeanne stammers quickly, her face somehow getting even redder as she finally meets his eyes with a desperate, pleading look. "I just said we had agreed to practice some things together, and that you promised to help me with... with certain skills!"

Which is technically true, just missing the entire ridiculous context.

Pyrrha nods enthusiastically, still blissfully unaware. "Yes! And I think it's wonderful that you're taking time to help other students improve, Pryce. It shows real leadership potential and team spirit! Just don't forget that as partners, we should prioritize our own team's development as well."

"Right," Pryce mutters, shooting Jeanne another look. "So what exactly did you have in mind, Pyrrha?"

"Well," Pyrrha begins, moving toward the center of the arena. "I was thinking we could start with some basic sparring exercises to assess both of your combat styles and identify areas for improvement. Jeanne mentioned she wanted to work on her confidence in close-quarters combat, which actually aligns well with what you need to practice too!"

Jeanne nods quickly, apparently latching onto this explanation. "Y-yes! Exactly that! Close-quarters confidence!"

Seriously?

AN: Everyone forgot that Ruby is a weapons otaku and expert.