Ruby Rose was in the cafeteria with her teammates.

Ever since Weiss had discovered the news of Bruce Wayne's return, she had been talking about old memories with him. Ruby enjoyed those stories. Of course she remembered Bruce. She'd learned a while ago that he was the one she'd met years ago as a kid. She had practically given him her cape in an attempt to comfort him. She'd missed it for a while, but she hoped it made him happy now.

There was one thing that distracted her from the food she was eating was Cardin Winchester at the other table, pulling Velvet Scarlatina's rabbit ears.

Cardin always disgusted her. He was the school bully, and he was the perfect example of why she was starting to hate the career she'd chosen.

Ruby had chosen to be a Huntress to protect people, faunus or human. But coming to this academy showed her what she was getting herself into. The people here were corrupt, outside of a few, and she felt ashamed associating herself with them. She just wanted to make the world a better place.

Thoughts like that stuck with her all day, all the way up to night. She was unable to sleep that night, even while her friends had drifted off.

Keeping these thoughts away from them was painful, but she didn't want to bring them down. Especially with their side investigation on Torchwick, and the whole situation with Blake.

Ruby climbed from her bed, heading for the bathroom to get herself a drink, leaving the door open behind her.

She filled up a cup she left at the sink in case any of them got thirsty. She reached to the faucet to turn on the water, but stopped as she felt a hand cup over her mouth, and something metal push against the back of her head, which she didn't doubt to be a gun.

"Don't turn around," a dark voice said, "or your friends will be punished. Do you understand?"

Ruby nodded. She didn't want this man to do anything to her, but she wasn't going to let him hurt her friends.

"You're a good Huntress," he said, removing his hand from her mouth, and grabbing her shoulder. His grip was oddly gentle. "One of the few."

"What do you want?" Ruby asked, hoping speaking wouldn't lead to "punishment" for her friends. But the man didn't seem to care.

"Roman Torchwick brings in shipments of drugs every week," he said. "Nobody takes him down. Why?"

Ruby felt slightly calm, getting the impression he was here to help, not hurt. Now she was much more willing to cooperate.

"I don't know," she said. "I think he's paying people."

"What will it take to bring him down?" the man asked.

"Well, I don't know," Ruby said. "Weiss says you'd need proof that Judge Faden is working with him, and then you'd need Huntresses brave enough to take him into custody."

"So you guys."

Ruby wasn't scared anymore, knowing for sure this man was on her side. "Who are you? Are you a friend or something?"

"Watch for my sign."

She felt the weapon remove from behind her head, and the grip release from her shoulder. "You're just one man?"

"Now we're two."

"'We'?"

Silence.

Ruby turned around, and saw that the man was gone, and on the ground was the weapon he had used: a stapler. She was never in any danger.

Ruby activated her semblance, Petal Burst, which allowed her to run at extreme speeds, leaving behind a trail of rose petals. She dashed to the window, and stared to the roof, where she could see a costumed man climbing up.

She ran to grab her weapon, a giant scythe that could transform into a sniper rifle, and hurried to the roof, where she saw the man.

"Hey!" she called.

The man turned to her. He wore black armor, with a belt strapped to his waist, and a balaclava over his head. He quickly ran to the edge of the building, and leapt off.

Ruby ran to follow him, looking over the edge of the building. She could see a tree rustling down below, but she could not see the man.

She stared into the tree, certain he had landed inside, but there was no sign of him. Wherever he had gone, she wouldn't be able to find him.

Bruce watched from the bushes as Ruby searched for him. He had run with incredible speeds back to the wall of the building, and hid in one of the bushes lined up against the wall as decoration. In his dark suit, and the thickness of the bushes, he knew she wouldn't see him.

But his fall had hurt his legs. With no aura, a fall like that was painful, and something he couldn't keep risking. He hadn't thought this through.

Which was why he went to visit Lucius the next day.

The faunus smiled as he saw him.

"Well, what is it today?" he asked. "More spelunking?"

"No," Bruce said, smiling back at him. "Today it's BASE-jumping."

"'BASE-jumping'?" Lucius repeated. "That like parachuting?"

"Kinda," Bruce shrugged. "Do you have any lightweight fabrics?"

Lucius thought for a moment. Bruce could see the moment where he realized the kind of thing he was looking for. "You know, I think I have just the thing."

He brought Bruce further into the basement, and opened a case to pull out a long piece of black fabric.

"It's called memory cloth," he said. "Notice anything?"

Bruce looked over it for a moment. When he couldn't see anything, he shrugged.

"Regularly flexible," Lucius said, putting on a rubber glove. "But put a current through it . . ." the glove lit up into a blue color, and he placed it on the fabric, causing it to pop up in a tent-like shape, ". . . molecules realign, it becomes rigid."

Bruce smiled at it, impressed as he placed his own hand on it. "What kind of shapes can you make?"

"Can be tailored to fit any structure based on a rigid skeleton," Lucius said.

Bruce already had an idea of what shape he wanted for it. It was perfect for his plan. "Too expensive for the Army?"

"I don't think they tried to market it to the billionaire, BASE-jumping crowd," Lucius said.

"Look, Mr. Fox."

"Yes, sir?"

"If you're uncomfortable--"

"Mr. Wayne, if you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing, when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot."

Bruce smiled, and nodded. "Fair enough." His eyes were suddenly drawn to something off to the side. "What's that?"

Lucius turned around, seeing an old, tank-like car draped in a black fabric.

"The Tumbler? Oh, you wouldn't be interested in that."

But Bruce proved him wrong when he brought it out for a test drive. The Tumbler was an amazing vehicle, which could drive at amazing speeds for its size. The inside was also quite comfortable.

"She was built as a bridging vehicle," Lucius explained in the passenger seat as Bruce drove through the massive test-driving room. "During combat, two of these would jump over a river, towing cables. Over here on the throttle," he reached down to the throttle, and opened a cap on its side, revealing a red button, "flip that open and throttle up. This will boost you into a rampless jump--"

Curious, Bruce pressed the button, which boosted the Tumbler, sending it flying forward.

"Not now!!!" Lucius shouted as they headed straight for the wall. He removed Bruce's hand from the button, turning off the boost. "Not... Not now, sir!"

The two chuckled as the Tumbler slowed down, and Bruce turned away from the wall, back onto the track.

"We never could get the damn bridge to work," Lucius said, "but this baby works just fine."

Bruce swerved the Tumbler to a stop, and took a moment to breathe, looking over the controls in awe.

"So, what do you think?" Lucius asked.

Bruce only had one question.

"Does it come in black . . . ?"