"Ruby vs. Neo's Clones" is a battle that takes place in "Tea Amidst Terrible Trouble" of Volume 9, where Ruby Rose is confronted by Neopolitan and her group of clones, before the Curious Cat eventually intervenes. The Cat later betrays Ruby in order to posses her body and Little is killed, causing Ruby to completely collapse mentally.
Because of this collapse, Ruby ascends, causing the Curious Cat to possess Neo instead.
Preceding Events[]
In "The Perils of Paper Houses", Ruby Rose abandons her team after feeling ignored by them. She snaps at Little before storming off into the Abandoned Acre, in which she finds a large mansion created by Neopolitan. She encounters a clone of Roman Torchwick inside of a painting, who mocks her. Behind her, a table lights up with many more clones sitting, comprised of Penny Polendina, Pyrrha Nikos, Leonardo Lionheart, Clover Ebi, Ozpin, and James Ironwood.
Torchwick exclaims that he wants to watch Ruby break, with the best way to do so being through Ascension. He drops one of the Great Tree's leaves into a teacup, which forms a tea that would make Ruby ascend if drunk.
The Fight[]
Ruby hears something behind her and sees Neo rushing towards her. Ruby tries shooting her with Crescent Rose, but Neo blocks it with Hush's parasol form, leaping over her. Torchwick shoots Ruby with a blast from Melodic Cudgel as Neo lands in his arms, while each participant of the tea party stands up and prepares to fight.
Ruby uses her Petal Burst to dodge attacks from the clones, from bullets from Ironwood's Due Process, Pyrrha's Miló, Lionheart's Stalwart, and Penny's Maiden Floating Array. Ruby gets hit by a stray Dust blast from Stalwart, and is knocked onto the chandelier of the mansion, which she grabs onto to keep from falling. The Pyrrha clone transforms Miló into its javelin form, throwing it into the chain holding the chandelier, knocking it and Ruby to the ground. The impact breaks Ruby's Aura. Before she can run to grab Crescent Rose, the blades of Floating Array bury themselves into the ground in front of her. The Penny clone taunts Ruby about being unable to prevent her death, which brings the latter to tears.
Ruby's neck is grabbed by the handle of Melodic Cudgel, as Roman continues to try to induce Ruby to drink the tea. She briefly breaks free from his hold, before being attacked by the Pyrrha clone, who repeatedly hits her with Miló before knocking her back with a spin attack. After hitting the wall, Ruby is punched in the gut and grabbed by the Ironwood clone, who slams her into the wall before tossing her on the ground. Still trying to reach for Crescent Rose, Ruby is beaten mercilessly by the Ozpin clone's The Long Memory in a manner similar to Torchwick, as he continues to berate her for her actions.
Ruby finally grabs her weapon and lashes out with a strike against the Ozpin clone, before Neo turns it into an Oscar clone, who looks betrayed at Ruby's attack before falling over dead. All of the other clones turn into members of Ruby's Group, who gather around her as she hyperventilates and cries. Neo brings Ruby the tea, but before Ruby can drink it however, the Curious Cat hits Neo away with a large blast of energy.
Ruby is on the verge of a complete mental shutdown and cries while the cat comforts her; however, they soon reveal that they were trying to wear down Ruby mentally to possess her and dig their claws into her chest as she screams in agony. Little tries to intervene in the possession by biting the Cat's tail, but are easily swung away by them.
Neo returns to try to fight off the Cat, who attacks her with another energy blast. The Neo they hit is revealed to be an illusion, as the real Neo hits the Cat away from behind. Little tries to get the injured Ruby up to escape, but are crushed under Neo's boot. With her resolve finally broken, Ruby drinks the tea to commit suicide and ascends just as her team and Jaune arrive.
Aftermath[]
Neo looks conflicted after Ruby’s Ascension and realizes internally she has lost all purpose after getting her revenge and becomes catatonic. The rest of Team Rwby are horrified to see Ruby’s suicide and Jaune looks solemnly after losing her. The Curious Cat panics after losing their potential host, but soon see Neo catatonic and possess her instead as the the building around everyone begins to collapse as the others give chase.
Trivia[]
- Originally, Neo's torture of Ruby was much longer and more brutal, before it was toned down when the script was compressed from 12 to 10 episodes.[1]
- The original sequence also included moments from the clones of Lionheart and Clover.[2]
Image Gallery[]
References[]
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