Another installment, another day of insanity with these four. I'm finding myself surprised by how I'm writing Blake here, normally one of the hardest for me to write, but I'm finding this version of her much easier to work with. I wonder what that says about me...well, either way, I hope you enjoy!

"You think it's genuine?" Ruby asked, her lips curled in a smile as she lolled back in the office chair.

Yang, hands behind her head as she lay on the couch, gave what little shrug she could from her position. "It makes sense. Ain't like she's getting anywhere further than we are with this turf war. Been at it a year and nothing shown save some dead grunts. Not like I'm complaining, it's fun and good work, but gonna get stale at this rate. We know what happens when you get bored, sis."

Ruby rolled her eyes as she gripped the bottle of whiskey on the desk. She quickly swung it over a series of shot glasses, emptying the remains of it out into them, spilling half of it on her desk. Ignoring the alcohol staining the wood, having already done it a number of times, she waterfalled two of the shots as quickly as she could. Her smile faded just slightly as she let out a long, annoyed groan. "Ugh. You're right, it is boring." Ruby swept her arm across the other glasses, knocking them off the desk and ignoring the shattering as they smashed into the wall and floor. She leaned back in her desk chair, kicking her legs up to rest her boots on the desk as she stared at the ceiling.

"Plus hey, this way, I get to see the cat again," Yang remarked.

"Why the hell do you want to see her so bad, anyways?"

Yang's smile spread across her lips, nearly a mirror of the wide, terrifying grin that the Red Queen was known for. "The challenge, Ruby. She's a challenge. I want to sink my teeth into her and spill her blood. I know she wants to dig her claws into me and rip at my flesh. She's as much of a bastard as I am...and that's fucking hot."

"You're a weirdo," Ruby scoffed.

"Pfft. You're one to talk. How many pills you pop today?"

"Ugh. Already ran out. It's not enough. Nothing is enough, Yang. Everything is too goddamn slow!"

"So then, whaddya have to lose seeing the White Queen? At least it'll be exciting," Yang replied, her prosthetic hand flicking the thumb open to reveal a lighter. Flipping the tip of it closed and then reopening it, she started at the flickering flame as she lay on the couch.

Ruby rolled her eyes again, something she seemed to do to no end around her sister. "You just wanna spend more time with the hot crazy cat lady."

"That's for damn sure. You'd understand if you got laid too."

"Too fucking slow. It's all too slow. You still don't get it Yang. You never did," Ruby's smile never seemed to fade, but there was an emptiness in her eyes as she stared at the rough metal ceiling above her, what little light that made it through the half-boarded up grimy window behind her somewhat suffusing the metal lined small storage room Ruby had claimed as her 'office'.

"Yeah, maybe...but I ain't given up on you yet, have I? Ain't steered you wrong either...or right, if you wanna be some crusader hah," Yang remarked. "Sisters till the bloody end, right?"

"Duh, you dork. We're gonna burn in hell one day, but we'll just rule that too when the chance comes." Ruby let out a sigh, dropping her boots off the desk and spinning the chair once. Planting her elbows on the desk, she gestured tiredly at Yang. "Aight, let the crazy one in."

"But we're both already in the room."

"...I take it back. I hate you."

Yang chuckled to herself, clambering off the couch with a groan as she stretched her back. She stomped over to the door, her combat boots pounding the thin rug that barely hid the rusted metal below. She yanked the door open, revealing Blake Belladonna, a perfectly tailored jet-black suit with a light lavender undershirt, standing there with a small smirk present. With one hand, she closed the golden pocket watch she had been looking at, slipping it into her breast pocket. She arched an eyebrow at the woman standing before her.

"Am I interrupting?" the velvety smooth voice asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.

Yang leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest as she boldly looked her up and down. "Not a bit. Looks like my sister's ready to hear you out. You ready, kit-cat?"

Blake stepped passed the taller blonde, barely brushing against her side, a featherlight touch of her hand upon Yang's exposed forearm. "Always ready, my dearest dragon. Always." As she stepped into the room, she took it in with expert eyes, noting every detail as quickly as possible, committing it all to memory, before latching all of her attention on the woman across the desk from her.

It amused Blake, to consider the irony of the situation. As she let her gaze examine the Red Queen from head to toe, it reminded her of how unbelievable it would seem to the common person. The two most feared crime lords in the entirety of the country, and neither one of them fit the classic stereotype. Certainly, Ruby Rose was a fit young woman, slightly taller than Blake, with obvious musculature showing from underneath the skin-tight shirt she wore underneath her black vest, but nothing else about her instantly screamed 'monster', the same way Weiss didn't...at first glance.

And yet, the moment Blake met Ruby's eyes, that's when she saw it. Saw the same storm of emptiness, the same utter hatred and contempt for a world that she saw as nothing but hypocrisy unbound. It was in there, in that moment, that Blake saw the Red Queen, both for what she was, and what she wished she was. The White Queen felt nothing. The Red Queen felt everything. Internally, she smirked to herself as she mused 'Won't this be fun?'.

Blake bowed before the desk, one arm swept wide to the side as the other crossed her waist. "Good afternoon, Red Queen. Or would you prefer another name?"

Ruby waved dismissively, her smile contemplative as she gave Blake the same head to toe review that Blake had given her, both women knowing the game. "Ruby's fine, Miss Belladonna."

"Blake, please. Let's not stand on ceremony if we don't have to."

Ruby shrugged. "Fine by me, I ain't much for manners anyways. So, I hear your boss wants to chat me up, hmm?"

Blake chuckled. "In truth, it was my idea. She was initially resistant to it, but after the number of times we failed to kill you, we figured it was time to maybe try talking."

"Surprised you didn't hire Nikos. She mighta had a shot."

"She's on 'vacation'," Blake quoted. "Some new boytoy she found who has no clue what she is, she's too busy enjoying her time out of the spotlight. Or something like that."

Ruby blinked in surprise. "Huh. Never woulda pegged Nikos for the sentimental type."

Yang snickered in the corner, muttering under her breath, "Bet that's not the only thing she's pegging."

Both Ruby and Blake ignored Yang, the blonde pouting behind their backs. Ruby leaned forward on the desk, propping her up on one hand as she stared at Blake with a slightly wider grin. "So...I get why your boss wants to talk to me, but what am I getting outta this? Sounds to me like we're holding all the cards, if she keeps failing to stop me from encroaching on her turf."

Blake mirrored Ruby's posture uncannily, the same creepy grin spreading across her face. "Because you've done no better than we have." Blake saw the dangerous glint in Ruby's eye, that brief moment of irritation and anger that was quickly hidden behind the facade of cheerfulness. Blake might not be as much of an adrenaline junkie as the Red Queen was, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement stir within her as she wondered if Ruby would lose her temper...and what it would look like. She did a quick internal reset of her mindset. Now was not the time to pick at the Red Queen, no matter how much fun it would be. She had a mission to accomplish.

Ruby's smile was just the tiniest bit strained as she gazed into Blake's eyes, mercurial silver meeting molten gold. "You know, lotta people wouldn't survive saying something like that to me."

"I never took you for the type to be afraid of the truth, Red Queen."

"You are really trying to push my buttons, aren't you, Belladonna?"

Blake shrugged with studied nonchalance. "What can I say, I like living on the edge. Your sister wouldn't sleep with me if I was afraid of pissing people off."

Ruby rolled her eyes, ignoring the finger guns Yang was pointing at her from the doorway. "I can't be the only one who finds it weird that the two most feared enforcers in this entire damned kingdom sleep together while being from rival crime rings, can I?"

Blake let out a surprised giggle at that, caught off guard for a brief moment by Ruby's candor. "Of course it's weird. But Weiss respects my decisions. Pretty much only mine, but at least mine. There is a reason I follow her, after all, and it's not just because I appreciate the view...although it is a lovely view. Not unlike the one I have in this room."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Yang remarked from the doorway, leaning against it and winking at Blake's back.

Ruby let out an exasperated sigh. "She just talked about her boss being hot, and me too, Yang. How is this not a problem for you?"

"I've seen the photos of the White Queen. You can't tell me she ain't a looker, sis. Besides, I like her being a wild cat."

Ruby planted her face on her desk, her shoulders quaking. Blake, a little nonplussed, tilted her head at the woman before her. "Are you alright, Red Queen?"

Ruby's head lifted from the desk. Blake's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the sight of the woman before her laughing, the previously silent chuckles echoing out into uproarious laughter that echoed through the chamber. Others might see the laughter as a good sign, but Yang's immediate movement to the back of Blake's chair, gripping Blake's shoulder tightly in warning, cued Blake to a line they may have crossed. Ruby, eyes wide and gleaming with madness, quit laughing with no warning, slamming her hands down onto the desk before her as she leapt to her feet. Her grin so wide as to split her face in two, almost inhumanely so, she leaned down to stare directly into Blake's eyes, their faces a bare inch apart.

"Wild, huh? So maybe...maybe you'd be wild enough for some fun, perhaps? Maybe a game, just you and I, a little entertainment. What about it, Belladonna? Up for something...wild?"

"Ruby," came a low, warning tone from Yang, the tall, blonde figure stepping next to Blake, all of her muscles tense with anticipation.

"Now now Yang, I'm talking to our guest here. The one you invited. Let her speak for herself, dear sister. You wouldn't go against me, would you?" Ruby's gaze never left Blake's, but the threat hung in the air, the implication of the choice before Yang obvious to both women facing the unhinged visage of the Red Queen herself.

Blake patted Yang's gently, not letting the calm half smile she had placed on her face twist. In a mirrored motion to the Red Queen, she stood to her feet, placing her palms down on the desk just as Ruby had a moment before. She leaned forward to match the other, close enough that the heated, warm breath from Ruby was washing over her face as she spoke in a low tone. "Meet with us, Red Queen, and I promise you fun you have never had. Hear the White Queen out. Imagine it for a moment...what could we do, the four of us, together? What fun could we have as one?"

Blake knew it. Without looking over her shoulder, she knew Yang knew it too. Blake had said the magic words, set the bait that would ensnare Ruby as well. Blake could see it in Ruby's eyes, that dangerous glint exploding, the irritation and madness gone as the dreams flitted across the adrenaline junkie's mind. Just as she'd done with Weiss, with Yang, she now had done the same with Ruby, her claws sunk deep into their own insanities.

Maybe they were all insane. In truth, it wasn't really a maybe. Blake knew she herself wasn't the most stable. She couldn't make the decisions Weiss did, the ones Ruby did. But she could bring the four of them together. She could create the most magnificent, dangerous, deadly crime family imaginable. She didn't need the organizations that they had. She needed them. They filled in the gaps she couldn't. She couldn't run an organization. She couldn't create loyalty through fear and intimidation (though she certainly knew how to create fear). But what she did know, was how to weave her web.

Years of knowing Weiss had given her the in she'd needed with the White Queen. The months spent, flirting, fighting, and fucking the Dragon had given her what she'd needed with Yang. And now...with Yang's unwitting help, she'd found the last piece to her puzzle, the last key to the lock. She had the Red Queen just where she needed her. And with the three of them together with her...they would burn this stupid, broken, hypocritical world to the ground.