Username: RlyRlyKoolKid
Password: ********
Logging in.
User [Ruby Rose] is now online.
You have [1] friend(s) online.
The sky was an impeccable shade of blue today. It amazed her, honestly. How even on her 4K screen it still managed to hit colours and blends making it seem almost realistic. The best graphics on the market, they said.
The recently-spawned cloaked figure slowly rose from her crouching position and spoke, her voice warbling slightly as her microphone peaked.
"Send message to friend: Weiss Schnee.
I'm at the meeting point. Scoped it out last night. Where are you?"
A ding sounded in her ears as the message sent, but she didn't have time to wait for a reply. The raid started in two minutes, and the recommended party size was fifteen.
There were only two of them.
That was how it had always been.
The sky rumbled, and the ambient light levels lowered. Storm weather phase, for extra drama during the raid.
And her backup still wasn't here. She had already initiated, so if she didn't attack-
They'd come for her.
They were approaching already, dark silhouettes slinking stealthily across the rolling hills and plains. Their red eyes were all that stood them out from their newly-darkened surroundings, flashing in the gloom.
Grimm.
From what she could see, these were mostly low-tier Grimm. Creeps. Beowolves. A few Ursai. But still high enough level to kill her if she was careless.
So she did what any sensible player would do, and sprinted directly at them.
Her hand flew to her side, to the metal contraption positioned there, and she pulled the trigger, skipping the middle ground of transformation and activating the weapon immediately. It unfolded, fast, stretching out into first a colossal staff, then the top spinning outwards to form, finally, a giant scythe. Crescent Rose. The pinnacle of what could be made with the program, something that she herself was a virtuoso at handling.
Then the first Grimm was upon her, and she swung. The Scythe swung around, slicing the Creep in half as it dissolved into the void, and she spun to face the next attack. Two of them, behind her, but a single swipe took them both out. A Beowolf charged, but she simply planted the tip of the scythe in the ground and pulled the trigger, a bullet flying out of the 'barrel'- the end of the staff section.
This was the perk of your weapon being a High Velocity Sniper-Scythe.
The Beowolf disintegrated, but that was only one in the swarm surrounding her. She couldn't kill them all herself.
She moved, activating her Semblance to allow her character to speed through the crowd, slicing and chopping in a crescendo of death. But they were all around her, and she didn't even have time to see the Beowolf that leaped at her back-
And froze.
She slowly turned, staring at the ice-encased gaping maw that had been only a few seconds away from taking a chunk out of her back. A spiderweb of cracks sped across the beast until it shattered, revealing the girl standing behind it.
She stood, her rapier held straight out in fencing stance, and sighed. Her white hair matched perfectly with the white of her jacket, although the skirt and heels she wore didn't seem to be very practical for combat. The red lining of her jacket and boots offset the white clothing and the name tag above her head: [WhiteRose: Weiss Schnee].
Weiss raised her sword, firing a blast of red dust to strike a Grimm behind her, flipping her hair impatiently.
"Come on then, dolt. Don't just stand there. We have a raid to finish."
Ruby grinned and spun, a glowing black glyph appearing in the ground below her. It exploded, sending Ruby flying upwards, and in midair she twisted, positioning her Scythe underneath her and firing a bullet for extra momentum. Once she was high enough, she looked down and ran a quick progress check: 14% complete. Weiss was quickly working her way through an Ursa, dodging its clumsy attacks with ease, but took a second to look up and wave her sword at Ruby.
Another glyph formed next to her, firing her back down at the ground at extreme speed, and she brought Crescent Rose around in front of her.
The scythe slammed into the Ursa, smashing it into pieces, and Weiss quickly formed a white glyph under Ruby to stop her from hitting the ground.
The glyphs were useful. Weiss' semblance, she had inherited it from her sister, who worked for one of the main coders of the Atlas section and whose character was head of the military. General Ironwood. Winter had used her knowledge of the program to create one that was versatile and useful, and had passed it on to her younger sister when she started playing. Ruby's own in comparison was weak, simply giving her mobility and temporary intangibility.
The perfect team, they had formed their own guild to give a message. The same message that they sent whenever they took care of a fifteen-person raid.
We're some of the best. Don't mess with us.
Guild WhiteRose was ranked 5th overall, and in terms of performance:members ratio was ranked the highest. Not hard when two of you are doing the job of thirty.
This raid was unexpectedly difficult. It took them a full half-hour to clear it, which was dangerously long.
Too much longer and other guilds would show up to try siphon some loot for themselves.
Which was why Ruby wasn't surprised when she heard the crunch of boots approaching.
The raid had finished inside a cave, and the newcomers had blocked the only exit. There only seemed to be two- maybe a scouting party? But as they stepped forward, a glance at their levels told Ruby they were much, much more powerful than scouts.
~-I-~
Username: Fireballin17
Password: ********
Logging in.
User [Yang Xiao Long] is now online.
You have [0] friend(s) online.
No friends online?
Maybe that was a bug…?
Yang leant away from her screen, tapping the figure seated next to her on the arm. "Hey, babe. It says you aren't online. Are you connected to the Internet?"
That should work.
[Blake Belladonna] is now online.
You have [1] friend(s) online.
Blake's character flickered into existence next to Yang, nearly getting hit by an NPC-controlled vehicle moving along the busy streets of Vale, one of the four main hubs in Remnant.
"Jeez. Thank god for spawning I-frames. Run over during spawn would be a terrible way to die."
Blake scowled and turned to Yang.
"Please. Stop using those terms. You're ruining the immersion, and I don't even get what half of them mean."
Yang shrugged. "Would you prefer if I made awful puns instead?"
A pause, then: "So, what's an I-frame?"
Despite being both an avid and skilled player at this game, Blake had only clocked in about 50 hours so far, and had barely ever played anything else. Her knowledge of game terms and internet slang was possibly smaller than the amount of Yang's half-decent puns.
Yang didn't mind, perfectly happy with teaching Blake herself, and immediately started explaining.
"I-frame stands for invincibility frame. They're usually implemented during spawn, teleportation or dodge-rolls. I-frames are just the few seconds where you are, as the name suggests, invincible. So, for instance, if a car hits while you're spawning in and unable to react, you'll be fine." Yang grinned at Blake, proud to finally be the one who knew the answers, and gently grabbed her hand. "Come on. I found something for us to do, and it starts in a few minutes."
Blake rolled her eyes, but dutifully followed Yang through the crowded streets into a side alley. As they walked, Yang started talking. "So, you know how we always have to walk everywhere? Well, I found a way around that."
Parked in the alley was a motorbike, gleaming in the Bumblebee guild colours, yellow and black. They were one of the rare two-man guilds, and one of the best, second only to the mysterious WhiteRose. "I named it Bumblebee. Cause it looks like a Bumblebee. And we're Bumblebee." Yang gave Blake a nudge, grinning, and Blake allowed herself a smile back. "It's pretty cool. You know how to drive this thing?"
"Yeah. Easy. Remember, I got the VR vehicle gear. And Dad taught me how to ride a bike. Hop on!"
Yang slid onto the bike and Blake climbed on after her, wrapping her arms around Yang's waist as she prepared for travel.
The gear in question wasn't really VR, per se. More like those racing car wheels you got, but for a bike. Yang loved it anyway, even with the added hassle of having to plug anything in, and nearly knocking Blake's tea off the bed a few times.
"Alright! Gear ready to go. Bumblebee, rollout!"
Blake couldn't help but sigh at the transformers reference, but didn't complain. She loved Yang's awful sense of humour. As they drove, she rested her head on Yang's back and murmured, "So what exactly are we doing?"
"It's a raid, babe. Just generated. A ton of Grimm, and free Dust as loot rewards."
Free Dust. That wasn't uncommon, as Dust was the primary consumable in Remnant, but for Yang to have picked this the dust rewards had to be high.
"What are we talking?"
"A few cases of Gravity Dust, at least."
Blake sucked in a breath. Cases of Gravity Dust? That would sell for a lot, if they didn't decide to use it for combat. Oh, the things Blake's semblance could do with that Dust. That alone made it all worth it.
Bumblebee - both the motorbike and the pair - sped out of Vale. "We're heading for a hilled area behind the Emerald Forest."
"Why today? Why now?" Blake almost groaned as they drove. "We were meant to watch that movie marathon later!"
Yang smiled and turned her head, winking at Blake. "Later being the keyword, babe. Besides, this loot will be epic. Trust me."
Bumblebee started having trouble at the hilly area, so they dismounted. Yang slid off the bike and tapped a few buttons, the bike flickering and disappearing into her inventory.
"We're walking from here. It's not far."
Blake dutifully followed her to the raid point, but paused. "Aren't there meant to be Grimm here?"
Yang frowned. "Yeah. The raid should have just started."
Blake stepped forward, crouching and inspecting the ground. "Two people were here recently. One using Dust bullets and one using Dust chambering. You can see the shells here, all with the same ballistics, and the scores of propelled Dust engraved in the ground."
Yang didn't say anything, more than slightly amazed at Blake's forensic ability, but saw the problem. "Hang on. If two people were here, how did they kill all the Grimm already?"
Blake shrugged. "Maybe they led them away. We could go to the finishing location. Where is it?"
It only took them a minute to walk to the cave. Still silence- surely they should have heard gunshots by now? But no. No Grimm, no sound, no people. Until they stepped into the cave. Blake's eye's adjusted first, spotting the two strange figures.
Yang, however, took longer to adjust, and for her the figures- well, one of them at least- weren't strange at all.
"Ruby?"
~-I-~
"Yang?"
Ruby stared at the familiar figure standing in the cave. "Yang! What are you doing here?"
Yang shrugged. "Playing the game. There was a raid here, and Blake and I decided to do it. We're one of the two-man guilds. You might have heard of us. Bumblebee."
Ruby nodded. "Oh, yeah. You guys are second, right? Well, you showed up late. Weiss and I," she motioned to her partner, "Kinda already finished it. We're WhiteRose." She paused, and imitated Yang's tone. "You might have heard of us."
Yang's mouth just dropped open in surprise. "You- you're White Rose? B-but-"
She trailed off, and Weiss took the opportunity to step in. "Excuse me? Why so surprised? Ruby, who is she?"
Yang's eyes narrowed. "Why so surprised? Because Ruby's my baby sister, that's why."
Weiss snorted. "It must be embarrassing. Your younger sister being better than you at this."
Yang clenched her fist and stepped forward, but Ruby intervened, jumping between them.
"Guys! Seriously! You don't even know each other. Yang, this is Weiss, my teammate. Weiss, this is Yang, my sister. Who's your friend?"
Blake had been silently watching, slightly amused, but when Ruby mentioned her she stepped forward. "Blake. Blake Belladonna. I'm Yang's girlfriend."
Weiss snorted. "So Blake Belladonna and Yang Rose? You're Bumblebee."
Yang frowned. "Actually, my name's Yang Xiao Long. Ruby's my half-sister. Different parents. But yeah. And you guys are WhiteRose, huh? I didn't think you actually played, apart from keeping yourselves at the top of the leaderboards."
Ruby shrugged. "We don't play too much anymore, really. But Weiss is on holiday with her family, and we're keeping in touch through the game."
Yang frowned. "What about you? Surely Dad doesn't let you spend that much time on the game."
Ruby bit her lip. "He's been away a lot. Him and Uncle Qrow have been on a teacher's camp or something after school."
Yang accepted that explanation, and shrugged. "It's good to see you. Sorta. I mean, I'm not really seeing you…?"
Ruby's eyes widened. "That's a great idea! School starts next week, right? We can all meet up! Weiss gets back tomorrow, and we can go watch a movie or something!"
Weiss slowly nodded, agreeing with the idea, as did Blake, but Yang had concerns.
"School starts next week. For us. Signal started last week! Why aren't you there?"
Ruby looked at her blankly. "Didn't they tell you? I was moved up two years. I'm starting at Beacon this year."
While Ruby was severely lacking in the concentration department, due to her ADHD, she was extremely fast when it came to math, enough so that she had quickly passed the Signal curriculum. The teachers- well, mainly Qrow and Taiyang, her father- reached the general consensus that she was good enough in her other subjects that she could afford to be moved up to Beacon, the most prestigious school in the city.
"You're going to Beacon? How many strings did Dad need to pull?" Yang asked with a look of disbelief. "That doesn't matter. I don't want to know. But yeah. Movie sounds good. Hang on…"
There was a pause as Yang thought, then,
"Add friend. Ruby Rose."
Friend Request accepted.
You are now friends with [Ruby Rose].
You have [2] friend(s) online.
"We're free at three tomorrow. Sounds good?"
Ruby nodded in agreement, then froze. "Oh, no. Dad's about to get home. Gotta go!"
[Ruby Rose] is now offline.
Weiss sighed. "She always does this. I'm an awful influence on her. I should probably be going, as well. Winter will need her laptop back for work."
[Weiss Schnee] is now offline.
Yang shrugged. "Well. Now that there's no raid, wanna go do that marathon?"
[Blake Belladonna] is now offline.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Logging off…