Welcome all to this story! For those who are wondering, this is a RWBY fanfic. I came up with this idea as I was watching Vol. 1, and I hope you enjoy this story. All I own is the singular Faunus in this story and all my creations yet to be seen. Fair warning, this story will feature many mature themes, so if you don't like that, read at your own risk. Or don't read it all all, it's entirely your choice.
Now without further ado, let's get this party started!
Chapter 1
Vale City
Vale City was in a calm atmosphere for the month. No crimes by Roman Torchwick had been committed, no murders, no nothing concerning the underworld. Shops were, in fact, experiencing an increased flow in customers. Even then, that didn't stop a certain wine-haired girl from constantly coming through the city. She, like so many others, was a huntress-in-training, which meant she was a protector of the people. She kept coming through the city to make sure no crimes were soon to be committed.
Said girl was right now in the middle of the city, with her fellow teammates, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, doing just that; however, one teammate, Weiss, was beginning to get irritated with her.
"Ruby," said Weiss, "what in the name of Dust are we doing here again?" She felt her eye twitch.
"Weelll…," said Ruby as she started to connect her index fingers together. "I kinda like walking around the city. I mean, I know Beacon's important and all, but sometimes I want to just explore the city over and over."
"Sis, as much as I love you, we really need to head back to Beacon." Ruby sighed as she looked over to her yellow-haired sister. "I know, Yang, but it's just too cramped in those classrooms and dorms sometimes."
Weiss sighed. "Look you dolt," she waved her hand around, "we are huntresses, not common peasants, so we—more like you—need to take these studies seriously right now. Otherwise, what's the point of being a team?"
Ruby gave a defeated, doe-eyed look at Weiss. As much as it affected her, she stood her ground. "We are going back now, Ruby. We can visit here again later." Ruby nodded in disappointment.
Beacon Academy
Up at the top of a strange clock-like tower, a man with light-gray hair had been reading an email from a colleague of his when he received a new email. Straightening his glasses, he saw that there was no return address, only a recipient I.D. His.
"Who could have bothered to send this to me?" he asked himself as he opened the email. Inside, he was treated to photos of walls splattered with blood, dismembered bodies, lab equipment, and a holding cell. Along with the photos, a video file—no wait, multiple video files—were attached in the email as well.
While he'd dealt with blood before, Ozpin had felt a sense of queasiness at the amount of blood shown on the photos. Who knew what awaited him on the videos. This wasn't good, he had a terrible feeling from this.
"No sense in delaying the inevitable," he muttered to himself. He tapped on the first video. A screen popped up alongside a symbol he hadn't seen in awhile. The White Fang's symbol—an animal head with three claw marks on the background—had appeared. Whatever was beyond it was classified White Fang information.
The video began to play. No sound was present, which meant this was just some form of an early experiment tape. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That thought was cut short once he saw the walls of the experimentation lab. Vials upon vials of liquids—black, green, purple, so many more—were stacked on the counter levels. Suddenly, as if a microphone had been turned on, sound could be heard from the video feed.
"Get five of those black vials over here," said a voice from the video. It was muffled, most likely the person was in some form of suit. As the vials came into view, Ozpin noticed that the liquid within the vials was blood. It looked fresh too. Who the hell would have black blood instead of red? As much as he wanted to stop, he knew that he had to continue.
The next video began to play, this time a new person along with the people in experimental suits was shown. Ozpin noticed with shock that the new person was a Faunus. Bat ears were seen on top of their head and a pair of brownish-black leathery wings protruded from their back. The Faunus seemed asleep right now.
"Begin Experiment Phase Number 10. Keep him sedated and locked down, we don't need any accidents." One of the scientists extracted blood from one of the vials, and it seemed to grotesquely pulsate. As the scientist neared the Faunus, the blood started pulsating faster and faster. It seemed almost symbiotic. The Faunus' eyes opened, revealing a pair of unsettling yellow eyes.
The Faunus began to jerk and shake violently at seeing the black blood. His thrashing caused two other scientists to suffer serious bleeding. "Get away now!" As if straight out of a horror film, the blood that was leaking from the scientist's bodies began to move of their own accord. The blood morphed into needle-like objects before they started piercing through their bodies.
"Hold him down, goddammit!" The scientist with the syringe approached the Faunus and injected the blood into it. The thrashing began to lessen as the Faunus' eyes glazed over. "Son of a bitch, just when we we're— look, just freeze the Phase and commence tomorrow." The video cut off.
Before Ozpin could call for Glynda the final video began to play. Screams—more like shrieks—were heard from the video. It sent chills down his spine. The video feed showed the Faunus again, this time in the holding cell he had seen in the photos. Unlike what the photos showed, however, three giant machines had tubes connected to the Faunus. They were injecting more of the blackened blood into it.
"Experiment Phase 10 is now 95% complete." The head scientist, at least who appeared like the head with his separately colored suit, turned a lever up towards an unidentifiable symbol. The blood began to inject faster, the color turning a darker shade of black. The shrieks became louder and more animalistic, like a caged animal.
A few seconds passed before the tubes had been drained of the rest of the black blood. The Faunus had stopped shrieking, most likely falling into unconsciousness. "Alright, collect some samples from the chest region. We need to see how the new blood affects his cardiovascular system." Ozpin noticed that the vials on the walls began to slightly shift. None of the scientists noticed it.
The holding cell door was opened, the Faunus remaining still. "Alright, commencing blood extraction. Subject one-six-eight-seven is showing normal signs of unconscious activity." The syringe pierced the Faunus' skin. Blood blacker than what was injected came out of the their body. The first syringe was quickly filled up with the substance.
"Bio-scans show that the Faunus' red blood cell capacity has now been entirely removed and replaced with black blood cells. Phase 10 is comple—," Before the scientist could finish speaking, the black blood in the two syringes burst out of them and began forming in a black, pulsating puddle. The blood vials on the walls burst and then joined with the formation inside the cell. The scientists inside the cell began to run towards the door, but were soon stopped by a hulking creature that oozed black blood. It made no sound, and instead reached for the closest scientist. It grabbed him by the throat before choking him with enough force to cause blood to pour from his mouth and eyes. The blood then shifted to turn on the scientist. It dug into his skin, horrifying screams erupting from his mouth. Soon, the screaming stopped, accompanied by a wet squelch! from the now dead scientist.
Gunfire then riddled the creature before it turned to the others in the room.
"Dammit, Doctor Grut, get us out of here!" The creature took a step forward before it started thrashing about. The scientists noticed that it began dissolving. They breathed a sigh of relief as the creature dissolved, the blood turning to a black mist.
Their relief was cut short as they heard chains rattle behind them. An animalistic sound was made, like a bat trying to use echolocation. As one scientist turned around, fiery pain erupted from their neck. Blood spurted from their mouth as the now free Faunus feasted on them.
"Fuck, specimen is loose! Doctor Grut, warn the rest of the facility, now!" The doctor outside the holding cell nodded as he sprinted to the door. The remaining scientist uttered a scream before blood splattered against the wall.
The feed cut to another camera, this one showing guards with rifles firing down the hall. Black darts sped across the screen as the guards fell to the ground in slumped messes. Their blood leaked from their bodies as it swirled in mid-air. It then jetted off from sight, right before the bat Faunus sped across the screen and turned the corner. More shrieking could be heard before a body was thrown into the view of the feed. They hadn't died yet, evidenced by their slow crawling. A black-clawed hand shot out from behind the corner and grabbed the guard's ankle, dragging him back around. He screamed for all of a second before the sound of tearing flesh accompanied his sudden silence.
The feed switched to the next camera. The Faunus was seen facing a small army. Though their face wasn't visible, Ozpin could feel the hate in their aura from the video itself. Soldiers began attacking the Faunus, but it zipped between them, slashing their torsos and morphing their blood before sending it to their comrades. The Faunus began their next assault, but a yellow dart then struck their neck. They dropped to the ground in unconsciousness.
The video cut to the final segment back at where the carnage started. Two of the soldiers threw the Faunus into the holding cell. As the door closed, a voice was heard saying, "Consider this specimen a failure. We'll need to find a new one now." The remaining scientists had hooked the Faunus back up to the three blood machines. "Set the machines to pump more blood into him until he dies." The video ended, and Ozpin was just staring at a black screen now. He sipped some of his coffee, thinking of a plan concerning the Faunus.
While he'd need to be properly trained on the policy of no killing, it seemed the Faunus would make a superb addition to Beacon. Only question was where the facility was located. A beep came from his scroll, this time a set of numbers was sent. As he sipped more of his coffee, he quickly triangulated the coordinates given to him from the message. Sure enough, it pointed him directly to the facility from the videos.
All he needed now was a team to help investigate if the Faunus was still at the facility, hopefully alive. He dialed Glynda, and in nearly a minute she was at his desk.
"Ozpin, what is it you want to talk about at this hour?" She checked her watch. It was one-thirty in the morning, and Ozpin somehow wasn't sleepy.
Ozpin drank some of his coffee again. "Glynda," he said as he got up, "I received an email with some attachments. Now, being who I am, I decided to investigate it." He picked up his scroll and handed it to Glynda. It was open, showing her the photos of the facility. Her eyes widened in abject horror. "As you can see, this is not something one would just send to a headmaster of an academy—much less Beacon. The videos, however, show something we could assist—help really." He played the second video for the blonde-haired woman. As it played, her mouth dropped in shock.
"Ozpin… what are they doing to him?" she asked the gray-haired hunter.
He adopted a look of slight grimace before saying, "I fear it is hell to the boy."
Glynda then saw the blood of the scientists turn on them. She paused, attempting to keep the contents of her stomach down. "What barbaric semblance is that? Surely one can't have something that inhumane!"
Ozpin gave a shrug as he walked to the window. "It is not our place to say, Glynda." He observed the quiet night outside. "He is a boy who has dealt with something of this magnitude, and is still breathing—according to the video feed, at least." Glynda let out an audible scoff.
"That doesn't mean he's alive now. He could very well have been killed after that last video you showed me." Ozpin sipped from the coffee mug.
"While I understand that point, I find it to be too simple for that to have happened. He's still alive, still isolated, still residing in that facility," said Ozpin as he took the scroll from Glynda's hand and began putting in the coordinates he'd received minutes beforehand. He then handed it back to her.
"This is the facility where he's being held?" asked Glynda. Ozpin gave a small nod before replying with, "If these coordinates are wrong, then he may very well be dead." Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose in slight annoyance.
"If that is the case," she said, "then what do we do? We can't send a team out, they aren't ready yet!"
Ozpin gave her a smile, knowing full well she'd catch on. She did. "No… we aren't sending those four out." Ozpin tapped his cane against the floor as he drank some more coffee.
"They may not be fully ready for missions, but this is a simple rescue. They can handle it." He set his mug down. "Besides, if they do run into trouble, we'll be right behind them. They won't know this of course," he said.
Glynda gave a final huff before nodding her head. "When shall we do this?" she asked him.
He replied with, "First thing in the morning. They may need to warm-up first beforehand." Glyda, with this information now in hand, departed the room to be called upon in a few hours. Ozpin, on the other hand, rewatched the third video of the experimented Faunus. The shrieks he emitted were painful and animalistic. Ozpin gave a deep frown as he continued the rest of the video. He'll be out of there by midday. I hope.
Ruby had just woken up from her sleep when she heard a knock on her team's dorm room. "Coming!" she said as she zipped to the door with her semblance. Opening the door, she saw Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin standing right outside in the hallway.
"Miss Rose," said Ozpin, "may we talk with your team for a few minutes?" Ruby turned her head around to her dorm. Weiss was asleep as if she were on a cloud, Blake was curled up, and Yang… her snores could be heard from down the hallway if the doors weren't solid enough for so little sound to pass through.
"Ummmm… give us ten minutes, please?" Ozpin nodded while Glynda sighed. As Ruby closed the door, she used her semblance to wake her three teammates up. "Team RWBY, wake up!" Weiss jolted upwards from her bed, Blake's eyes shot open, and Yang, well, rolled onto her side.
Weiss was the first to speak. "What in the name could have you so hyper, you annoying child!"
Blake rolled her eyes and turned around, desiring more sleep.
"Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch want to speak to us." This caused Weiss to stay quiet, albeit still annoyed at the rude awakening Ruby gave her. Blake turned back around to gaze at her wine-haired leader.
"Did they say why?" she asked. Ruby shook her head.
"Well, with Yang out for now, let's just get dressed and talk to them." Ruby and Weiss nodded at their black-haired teammate. Outside the dorm, Ozpin and Glynda were going over the plan they had ready to give to team RWBY when the dorm room opened to have Weiss, Ruby, and Blake exit the room.
"Where is Miss Xiao Long?"
Ruby curved a thumb behind her. "Still asleep, sir," she said.
Ozpin drank some more of his coffee and said, "Very well, one of you can just redirect this to her then." He led them to the training yard. Once there, he tapped his cane before a beep came from the girls' scrolls. Opening them, they gave the same horrified faces Goodwitch had when she saw the photos. Blake's eyes shined with discomfort at something on the screen, most likely blood, but it was anybody's guess with her.
"What you see is where Goodwitch and I are sending you," said Ozpin. He then continued on with, "I received these photos last night, along with coordinates." The location popped up on their screens.
"What are we to expect?" asked Weiss.
"Nothing, except for the prisoner," said Ozpin. The three girls gave him suspicious looks. "I'm being honest, I was sent proof as well. That can wait, however, once the prisoner is brought back here."
Blake frowned slightly. "Sir," she began, "what benefit is it to bring a prisoner from a facility to Beacon? It seems unreasonable for there to be no personal gain of some sort." Ozpin nodded before sipping more coffee.
"There is no personal benefit for us, but the prisoner—a person who's been there for perhaps months, maybe longer—will receive a most wondrous opportunity. I'm sure you three can guess that opportunity." Ruby's eyes widened before she spoke with slight enthusiasm.
"You'll offer them an opportunity here at Beacon!" Ozpin nodded. "That means we'll have a new student. Yes!" She pumped her fists into the air like a little child would—granted, she did act like one. While the three, more like two with an ecstatic Ruby, were pondering their roles in this plan, Glynda had moved over to Ozpin.
"Are you sure about this, Ozpin?" He looked at her in confusion. "Sending them out on this "rescue" mission, I mean. You know what could happen, surely this is a mistake." Ozpin straightened his glasses before giving his response.
"Like I told Miss Rose once, I've made countless mistakes in my life before, but this… I know this is not a mistake to be made. That Faunus needs help, and we're the best chance he has right now." Unbeknownst to Glynda—Ozpin, though, knew this—Blake had overheard the conversation with her hidden cat ears, and she was shocked. A Faunus was being held captive? The thought made her blood boil. Then there were the photos, one in particular, and it made Blake frightened a tad bit.
"Blake, is something bothering you?" Blake jumped at hearing Ruby's voice.
"No, just… hearing things is all." Ruby shrugged at the comment.
"Well, just tell us if anything is bothering you." Blake gave a small smile before the three departed to the cafeteria. There, they found Jaune and the rest of Team JNPR eating breakfast quietly.
"Jaune!" Ruby waved a hand at JNPR's leader. Jaune looked up and smiled at her.
"Hey, Ruby," he said. He noticed Yang wasn't with them, but decided to not bother asking.
"What's got you three here so early?" he asked them. They seemed to hesitate on this question.
"We… just felt like waking up early today," said Weiss in a very rushed tone. Jaune shrugged his shoulders at the heiress and went back to eating.
Ruby nudged Weiss' side, eliciting a glare from the girl. "Should we have even said anything like that?"
Weiss rubbed her forehead. "I don't know," she said, "but it's not exactly comforting to know that we're being sent out for something like this."
Blake looked up from her book. "She has a point, Ruby. Who's to say this is something we're prepared for?"
Ruby huffed in annoyance. "We took down a Nevermore during initiation! How are we not ready? Isn't saving people the duty of a huntress?"
"Of course it is!" snapped Weiss. "Yet how is a huntress expected to save people when they don't have much information to go on? I'm annoyed that Professor Ozpin decided to withhold those videos he told us about, they could really help right now."
Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Maybe it's something the prisoner needs to see," she muttered.
"Then why would he want us to see them later?" asked Blake.
"I… can't give you an answer there. I don't know, maybe we're headed somewhere special to save this person."
Weiss sighed. "That's not likely, Ruby. This is Professor Ozpin, he knows exactly what he's doing, so we just have to go along with this," she said.
Ruby gave a weak nod as they finished breakfast.
Getting up from the table, Ruby asked, "Is Yang still asleep? I haven't seen her around the academy." Blake and Weiss shook their heads. Ruby sighed before using her semblance to zip back to their dorm.
"Is it me, or does Ruby seem sorta defensive right now?" asked Blake.
Weiss nodded before saying, "She does, and she was excited about the premise of a new student, although I don't understand why the person we're going to rescue will be a new student."
Blake frowned as she thought back to Ozpin and Goodwitch's conversation. She was still angry at the information of a Faunus being the prisoner, much less an experimented specimen. Why did her kind still have to suffer from things like this?
She quickly remembered the photos they were given on their scrolls. With her night vision, she was able to see an old and familiar symbol. In a corner of the photo, she had managed to see the symbol of the White Fang, and what twisted her stomach more was that it was the symbol of the new White Fang. It seemed that they were attempting new ideas behind the curtains of their infamy. It didn't help that the White Fang was making it worse for Faunus society to coexist, or even live. When she'd left, it was only a matter of time before things would decline, especially with Adam left in charge.
Her eyes felt like they dulled at the thought of Adam. After she left, his view on humans had grown even more sour than when she was still a part of White Fang. The Schnee family, including Weiss, had become a bigger target for the group once word of Jacques Schnee's attitude toward Faunus had grown worse. Weiss had seemed to adopt a watered down version of this attitude, but she still treated Faunus more fairly than her father. Problem was, what would she think of Blake's previous involvement with the White Fang? That, hopefully, was an event that would never need to happen if Blake could keep her ears hidden.
"Blake." Blake snapped out of her thoughts at Weiss' voice.
"Yes, Weiss?" she asked the white-haired heiress.
"Something's bothering you." Blake cursed mentally. Had she been obvious in her dismay with the mission? Surely not.
"No, Weiss," she said, "I'm fine." Weiss huffed as she crossed her arms, her bolero jacket and combat skirt swaying slightly at the motion.
"You are such a terrible liar, it's written all over your face." Blake rubbed her eyes before glancing around the cafeteria. Though there was hardly anyone around, she didn't want to risk being heard. She motioned for Weiss to follow her.
Blake found a good spot to not be heard. She had led Weiss to the school entrance, near the fountain. No one was around, and Blake didn't hear any footsteps being made either.
"What's bothering you, Blake?" said Weiss as she sat down on the fountain lip.
Blake hesitated as she thought of a good explanation to tell Weiss. She couldn't beat around the bush, it'd end in a bad outcome. Then again, she didn't need the whole truth. After all, if she knew they were rescuing a Faunus, things would probably take a turn for the worse. It seemed that despite being non-White Fang, the Faunus at Beacon, and most likely the kingdoms, received even more venomous opposition from society. Thankfully the professors didn't harbor those same ideals, in fact, they almost welcomed Faunus with open arms, treating them as equal citizens.
"Weiss, I…" She had to take the gamble, otherwise they'd be back at square one of their friendship, even if it was a shaky one. "It's about the person Professor Ozpin is sending us out to rescue," she said. "How can he, much less ourselves, be so sure this person is alive?" Weiss put a finger on her chin as she thought of an answer.
"Like I said, Ozpin knows what he's doing, so if he thinks this person's alive, then he may as well be alive." Blake forced a small smile. She couldn't do it, not even to the Ice Queen herself. She just couldn't tell her the prisoner was a Faunus, whether it was out of fear of prejudice or her old ways setting in she didn't know.
"Yeah," she said. Weiss wasn't a bad person, Blake could attest to that. It wasn't because she was a Schnee either, more like it was her attitude towards Faunus that made Blake wary about exposing her real self. This Faunus they were rescuing in particular had a chance of being exposed, subsequently being arrested, and possibly killed, all because they were a fellow Faunus. Blake decided it was best to just let things roll and see how Weiss—and the rest of Team RWBY—would react in the end.
Ruby had finally managed to get Yang up and about when Blake and Weiss came into the dorm. "Hey, guys!" She looked out the window that gave them a view of Beacon's outside. It was a sunny day, the skies were clear, birds could be hear chirping, and students were currently strolling about their business.
As the trio went over their plan, Yang had come out from the bathroom, wearing her standard combat attire. Her yellow hair and lilac eyes stood out against the browns and blacks that she wore. She was quite buxom too, though she more than likely didn't care about that part.
"Alright," she said, "can someone catch me up to speed with what we're doing?"
Weiss felt a small vein throb in her forehead. "You're such an idiot. Of all times you have to be asleep, it had to be the past hour," she said.
Yang waved her off. "Chill, Ice Queen, it's not that big of a deal," she said.
"Anyways, let's catch Yang up to date on what Professor Ozpin assigned us," said Ruby. After twenty minutes, and a debate as to their roles, the four girls had finally devised their plan to rescue the unknown person. Ruby clapped her hands together. "Alright, Team RWBY, now that we have a plan, let's head to the loading bays," she said.
Before they did so, they retrieved their weapons from their lockers—half a building away from where they currently were. They walked the journey to them, but smiled as they felt the joy of their weapons in their arms. Ruby cuddled her weapon, Crescent Rose, a red and black scythe that could transform into a high-powered sniper rifle. Weiss sheathed Myrtenaster, her trusted rapier with a thin blade and a guarded hilt that could also flip down to reveal a gun barrel, which was mainly used to switch up the dust variants within the chambers of the barrel. Blake twirled her ribbon, which also acted as her weapon, Gambol Shroud. It was a cleaver that was connected to her by the ribbon, allowing for long-ranged attacks or a means of rappelling, as seen when they had fought the Nevermore Grimm during their initiation. Yang attached her shotgun-based gauntlets, Ember Cecilia, which gave her massive melee damage while also being able to shoot dust-based rounds from the barrels on the tops of the gauntlets.
"Are we ready Team RWBY?" Three nods gave Ruby her answer as they departed for the loading bay. Upon arriving, they saw Professor Ozpin waiting for them, drinking his coffee still.
"Hello, Team RWBY," he said as they walked over to him.
Ruby violently waved her hand before saying, "Professor Ozpin! What are you doing here?"
Ozpin chuckled lightly. "I came here to see you depart, and," he pulled out a few objects out of his pocket, "to give you four these. Wireless radio earpieces, useful for talking when separated."
The girls inspected them before inserting the earpieces into their right ear. Ruby and Yang had some trouble adjusting them to properly fit, while Weiss and Blake seemed to adjust them with ease.
"How did you manage to get them so easily situated?" asked Yang.
"It was part of my combat training that my father put me through," said Weiss.
"I learned to pick it up from my old mentor," said Blake as she readjusted her hair bow so that her earpiece would fit snugly.
Once Ruby and Yang had finally put their earpieces in a snug position, they then boarded the closest airship after Ozpin said farewell to them. On the airship, they went over their plan one final time, just to make sure they knew what their job was.
Ruby would go in the facility first, but not too far from the entrance so that she could retreat if needed. As she would make her way further in, she'd radio the other three for any signs of danger that may exist inside the facility.
Weiss would follow, acting as an offensive drive to kill any Grimm that may be lurking around the place. Then again, if Grimm were around, then it meant the prisoner wasn't alone.
Blake–as well as Yang—would investigate the second half of the facility. Turned out the photos were misleading as to the size of the facility, so much so, that it was actually double the believed size.
Abandoned Facility
With the plan ready, Team RWBY commenced the first step. Ruby opened up a rusty door that was most likely the entrance. She jumped back as it fell forward, a loud metallic bang! accompanying the crash. Her nose was then assaulted by a horrifically foul smell that emanated from the pitch black beyond the rusted door frame.
"What is that foul stench?" asked Weiss as she pinched her nose shut tightly. The smell had made her nauseous to the pit of her stomach. What happened here? she thought as she unsheathed Myrtenaster. She checked her dust rounds. Full, which was good.
As they descended the stairs, the stench grew stronger. "Where is it coming from?" asked Ruby. Weiss shrugged her shoulders as the two girls rounded the corner… and nearly tripped across a corpse. Both shrieked at the sight. The corpse's flesh was missing in huge chunks, with bits of flesh hanging off. Multiple wounds were visible, and their eyes were heavily glazed over. They'd been dead for a long time.
They soon came upon a harrowing scene: Bodies scattered across the ground, pools of blood turned a darkish-brown, which signified that the blood had been dry for a significant amount of time. Claw marks were seen etched into the walls. Possibly Grimm–made, but it seemed odd for Grimm to invade this place and then leave. They were more intelligent than that.
"Ruby." Ruby jumped when she heard her name through the earpiece.
"What is it, Yang?" she asked as she pressed the earpiece.
"We found a door, but it's… locked I guess is the best word," said Yang from the other side.
"Alright, we'll be there soon." Ruby pressed the earpiece again, ending the conversation.
She looked around for Weiss, who seemed to have vanished. "Weiss, where are you!" Her voice echoed around the room before she decided to venture further into the facility. "Weiss!" Ruby called once more, this time a hint of fear crept into her voice. She turned another corner. This place was a labyrinth.
She heard the faint voice of someone.
"You brute! Do you have any idea what could've been behind the door?" She recognized the voice as Weiss.
"Weiss!" Weiss, Blake, and Yang turned around to see their leader approaching them.
"Where were you, you dunce!" said Weiss. Ruby threw a confused look at her.
"What do you mean, you disappeared on me," she said.
"I thought you were following me," said Weiss. Blake quickly shushed the two of them before their arguing could get worse.
"Hate to say this, but we gotta go in," said Yang as she motioned to the broken doorway, a doorway which she had kicked open.
"Hey, it wouldn't open," she said as she saw the look on Ruby's face.
"Yang, why must you do this stuff?" asked Weiss as she rubbed her forehead.
Making their way inside the room, the four noticed that broken vials with various liquids littered the room. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang struggled to see in the pitch black darkness of the room. Blake on the other hand had been able to see the room clearly. The first thing she noticed was the holding cell in the back of the room. It was stainless steel, and the only color added to the inside was dried blood that spattered the ground and walls. Three machines were visible, with one tube each snaking its way to the center of the cell. That's when she felt horrified at the sight of what lay at the center.
At the center was a chained Faunus. She noticed that not only did the Faunus have animal ears, but a pair of blackish-brown leathery wings were seen protruding from their back. It was a bat Faunus that had been kept prisoner here, chilling Blake's blood at the realization. Bat Faunus were known as one of the deadlier Faunus species when provoked, and who knew how this one was with what they had been subjugated through. Their hands were visible, though barely. The Faunus' skin was paler than the moon on a clear night, and at the end of their fingers, she saw what appeared to be their nails, if they could even be called nails. They were black like the night, but long, sharp, and curved like the talons of a bat.
"Blake, do you see some sort of switch to turn these lights on?" asked Ruby. Blake noticed that Ruby was starting to flail her arms around, looking for said switch. Blake scanned her eyes for a switch, but found no such thing. What kind of room didn't have any light switch?
"If you're looking for a light switch, then you should have asked me." A voice had suddenly spoke to them from somewhere. The four girls jumped in slight fright as a metallic pole descended from the room. An orb was at the end, a purple light emanating from its center. The pole turned around and the orb rested its sight on the four in front of it.
"W-What are you?" asked Ruby as she hid her face from the orb. The orb seemed to squint at the question.
"If you couldn't tell," said the voice, "I am an A.I." The orb moved as the voice kept speaking.
"So you're a computer? Cool!" Ruby had a big grin on her face. "Does that mean you can command everything here? What about voice modulating? Oh, wait, wait, how about di—"
Weiss put her hand over Ruby's mouth. "Shut it!" Weiss narrowed her eyes at the A.I. orb. "What exactly are you?" The orb bobbed up and down, as if mimicking laughter.
"First off," said the A.I., "thank you for quieting down that girl. Second off, as I stated, I am the A.I. of this facility. I was created to monitor the test subjects, protect the scientists, everything a facility A.I was and is meant to do." The orb turned itself to see around the whole room. It stopped as it stared at the holding cell.
"Excuse me computer thingy, but how are you still active?" asked Yang. The orb turned back to look at her.
"After one of the subjects attempted an escape—the carnage you more than likely came across being the result—they rerouted my program to keep the re-captured subject under lock and key, metaphorically speaking at least," said the A.I.
"So wait," began Blake, "if you're still active, does that mean the subject is still here?" The orb mimicked laughter again.
"What do you think?" Blake's eyes showed a hint of annoyance before the A.I. continued speaking. "Yes, he's still here. This room is where it all began for the subject." The girls looked around the room again, still seeing darkness.
"Oh, forgive me," said the A.I., "you needed light." Bulbs crackled to life, emitting the room in a white-yellow glow.
A small lab table was found off to the corner, a pile of beige folders strewn about its top level. "Ah," the A.I. noticed the four look at the files, "that would be the subject's files. Well, maybe not all of them, but most of them at least." Ruby approached the table and picked up the first file she touched. Opening it, a mountain of words, pictures, and data were seen inside. She focused on the file report, even if her brain struggled a bit to understand it all.
Phase Five report
Dr. H. Grut, Lead Scientist of the Phase Test
Part 1:
Test subject one-six-eight-seven has been subjected to the black blood for two months now. After Phase 5 was completed, the subject's DNA mutated to have another characteristic develop on their body. They seem to have lost any form of appetite, as the subject has not eaten for two weeks at this point.
Blood tests confirm our beliefs with the black blood overtaking their red blood cells by 40% now. Any and all cuts the subject receives causes them to bleed black instead of red now. Further Phases are needed for more conclusive results.
Part 2:
Subject now shows signs of semblance. Their semblance is biological down to the bloodstream, possibly even their DNA. Tests show that, if cut, the subject's blood will morph or harden into some form of object and attack anyone or anything believed to be hostile to the host while attempting to heal them.
The black blood, intended to act as a parasite, instead shares a symbiotic relationship with the subject; however, it seems that the subject's semblance can only be replenished with blood from a foreign supplier (human, animal, etc.).
Part 3:
After a few more weeks, the subject's semblance has now mutated to allow replenishment from the host's own blood. It has kept the ability to morph into any object (recent test showed the blood hardening into armor on the right arm while the subject's right hand transformed into a blood-based claw weapon).
Phase Six will commence in three days after the data recording for this Phase.
Ruby nearly dropped the file in shock. What kind of horrors had this person gone through? Who could do something so cruel? She felt someone tap her shoulder.
"Ruby, what is it?" asked Weiss as Ruby regained her composure. Ruby handed the file to Weiss with a look that said, "See for yourself." Weiss read the file and stumbled a bit as she did so. Her eyes seemed filled with remorse as she handed the file to Yang, who, after reading the file, handed it to Blake.
Blake had seen the Faunus with her night vision, but reading what they had endured brought her breakfast close to her throat. It was sickening that a Faunus had gone through such hellish events. She closed the file and threw it down on the ground.
"Mister A.I.," said Ruby, "where is the subject?" The orb turned around to look at the holding cell.
"Are you sure you want to see him?" asked the A.I. Ruby, and the others, nodded as the orb seemed to hesitate on revealing the prisoner. "Alright, but be careful around him. Things could go downhill fast." An alarm was heard being set off as the holding cell door slowly slid open. A light inside the cell was turned on, revealing the sight that Blake had seen earlier.
Ruby put her hands over mouth at the sight—Weiss and Yang had to look away in discomfort. The prisoner was seen at the center of the holding cell. The four noted the wings protruding out from the prisoner's back, as well as the ears on top of their head. It was a Faunus, which shocked Ruby, Weiss, and Yang.
"Are you saying that a Faunus was being experimented on?" asked Ruby as she turned around to look at the A.I. orb again. The orb nodded in response.
"Regrettably, it was Faunus that the scientists experimented the Phases on. Many objected to the notion, but they were silenced quickly. This Faunus was captured, brought here, and tested on with a new strain of blood created by the lead scientist, Doctor H. Grut." The Faunus seemed to rustle slightly at the name, but it went unnoticed.
"Why would they do something as perverted as this?" asked Blake with a heavy tone of disgust. The orb spun to look at her.
"I do not know, for it was kept a secret even from me. At best, I'd assume that they figured Faunus would be easier to experiment on given the current social situations in Vale and the neighboring kingdoms." Blake's eyes started burning with anger.
"Why is he chained up to those… things?" asked Weiss. The orb seemed to shake its body at the question.
"They were used to pump the black blood into the Faunus while simultaneously removing his red blood cells from his body. He's one of the few who made it to Phase Ten."
Another alarm went off, this time for the machines inside the cell. "Oh no," said the A.I., "he's breaking free!" The machines began to crack, causing black blood to ooze out from them. Steam began escaping the valves while the blood that leaked began to form into a blood oozing creature. "He's forming it again!" The girls snapped their heads towards the orb.
"What do you mean?" asked Ruby as she eyed the creature that was forming before her team.
"The Faunus had created that when he tried to escape the facility. You need to get out!" The A.I. seemed terrified of the creature that had almost formed. Ruby readied Crescent Rose while her teammates readied their weapons.
"Ready, Team RWBY?" she asked to her team. They gave nods of recognition as they got into their combat stances.
By this point, the creature had fully formed. It was oozing the black blood, had a very muscular appearance to it, and was missing a face, save for two very unsettling white dots in the center of its head. It gave a small growl before crouching down and lunging at the girls.
"Now!" Ruby used her semblance to get under the creature, transforming Crescent Rose into its gun state as she fired multiple rounds into the creature's stomach. It crashed to the ground with a thud, but shook it off as it charged at Ruby again. A wall of ice sprouted in front of it. It gave a loud hiss as it scanned for the new attacker.
It found Weiss, whose weapon was emitting the residue of an ice dust round. She halted at the creature as it roared at her. It began charging her before it suddenly stopped, clutching its chest where the heart would be. As it started shrieking, a figure burst through its stomach. It was the bat Faunus.
Yang and Blake stood prepared for the Faunus to attack, but said Faunus didn't move. Instead, they looked around at the four girls surrounding him. His eyes were the exact same as the creature he'd just killed, and his mouth seemed to stretch past human limits into a blood curdling smile. A clicking sound emanated from the Faunus' mouth as it started swaying back and forth.
"Alright, looks like we got to knock this fanged creep out first," said Yang as she readied Ember Cecilia. Blake nodded as she transformed Gambol Shroud while Weiss switched to a different dust variant for Myrtenaster. Ruby kept Crescent Rose's gun barrel in a clear line of trajectory.
The Faunus bared its teeth, made the clicking sound again, and leapt at the team.