Ch. I: The Casting List

A/N: Ok, I'll make it easy for all of you readers because here's how this fic's going to play out: a mildly slow-burn horror story that's going to start out really slow, but will start to pick up (hopefully) within the next few chapters. The POV's in a "vantage point" style that should prove more or less more interesting, comparing it to the other fics that I've written? D:

Yang's POV

'Memories:

Visions of the world of late?

Or the world soon to be?'

"Slow down, Ruby! Not everyone is as fast as you are!" I yelled over the rush-hour crammed Vale street. It was the beginning of the summer brake according to Beacon's schedule and the Vale tournament had just finished, despite the complications added to it.

Since the breach in the downtown segment of the city last spring had caused a serious uproar after the Grimm were cleared out, and General Ironwood took over as head of security, the event turned into some show to behold: Ironwood had set a preliminary round for all of the kingdoms to, somehow, prove their worth in two qualifying rounds being filled with Atlas' elite drones then packs of Grimm. Following that came the 1-v-1 matches which, to everyone's surprise, Jaune wound up winning.

"Try to keep up then! Or has the Ice Queen finally rubbed off on your legs, sis!?" Ruby yelled over her shoulder as she turned around the corner of the block she was currently on, three ahead of me.

And I was losing her trail.

'Dammit, Ruby!' I thought as I engaged Ember Celia and fired off a few shells, using the recoil as forward momentum to catch up with her. 'Where the hell are you taking me that's so goddamn important!?'

But as soon as I thought the question, I wished I hadn't, because it wasn't exactly the type of thing one doesn't forget easily… if not, ever…

Swinging on the light post on the corner of the block that I saw Ruby bolt around, I was face-to-face with what should've been long past an old memory…

Junior's old, hollowed out nightclub.

"Ruby…" I said as soon as I managed to stop myself, a hint of the fury I felt looking at the building once again tinging my voice. "What the hell is this..?"

"We both know you remember exactly what this is - or rather, was at one point in time." She responded, an uncharacteristic monotone rang through her voice as she spoke, a steeled gaze of sadness and the want to destroy something. "It's that club that you practically went nuclear on last summer, remember?"

"Thats not what I meant…" I sighed, slightly more annoyed than before.

"It's reopening as an arcade sometime next week! And I figured, with my rep and all-" she didn't even need to finish her sentence for me to know what she was going to ask…

"No, Ruby… you know how I feel about you coming down to this part of the city as is, much less hanging out here!" I say as calmly as I can muster at this point. The area we where in was in the southwestern part of Vale next to the docks, but simply went by "The Pit." The place got its name with a good reason: every weekend, unless the Vale Police Department had any say in it, the centre of the small harbor became a massive sparing circle… people - humans and Faunus alike - bet on matches for who goes down first… death match style.

As to what they do to fighters who barely make it out alive or too far injured to fight another match, I wish I could forget those sights and sounds…

With a shiver running up my back at the thought of what happened after hours here in The Pit. Mentally shaking the gruesome thoughts of death and over exerted use of brutality, I turned to face my little sis for an attempt at persuading her to look the other way on this sickening place. "C'mon, Rubes, there's more arcades in Vale than just this one! And I'm pretty sure that someone's bound to beat a high score of yours sooner or later!"

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I turned her around from the soon-to-be "arcade", and started walking her out of the neighbourhood before anyone got any bright ideas about her.

As soon as she was about to protest the whole situation, her scroll whined some muffled ringtone. Pulling it out of a custom pocket on her belt line for the device, the ringtone became much clearer as a song from one of her favourite animated series about two rival armies that are nearly indistinguishable besides their armour colours: one armies colours where more of a reddish spectrum, where as the others colours where that of blue.

Pressing a button onscreen, she lifted her scroll to her ear and quoted her trademark quote as to instil as much fear into the other arcade gamers as possible:

"Rose Gaming: where the only things bigger than my high-score are my scythe's price tag and your blood splattered all over the wall!"

Everyone at the arcades she went to in Vale already knew how big of a gamer she really was. But it wasn't until she made it onto DustTube that she really made it big… but that's a story for another time…

After picking up the call and reciting the line for probably the millionth time, she then bore a mask of her own anger and asking whoever it was on the other end of the line for some details as to who probably just crushed another of her high-score.

Despite the call only lasting two or three minutes, I managed to zone out into my imagination for the entire thing. The last thing she said after I zoned back in and before she hung up was "I'm on my way." like some spec-op mercenary. Turning to me and looking me dead in the eye, she scoffed "This isn't over, Yang." and took off in a puff of rose petals.

"Like hell it ain't." I muttered to myself with a smile on my face. As I started after her, only to stop about a half-dozen meters away and steal a final glance at the building that - despite the boarding on the windows and doors, as well as a notice from the health department stating that it was uninhabitable - I swear I saw someone staring at me from a third story window that wasn't boarded up before disappearing into the darkness of the room behind the glass.

Didn't get much of a look, but I thought I recognized the apparition from somewhere before.

Shaking off the thought, I broke into a brisk jog, only for the thought to return minutes later. As I thought, my mind started to wander as the questions to follow came up.

'Who was that person in that third story window? How'd they get up there without being noticed by anyone? Why did they seem so familiar? Wait- is that a taco truck? Yumm!'

Ruby's POV

'Speed…

The forward momentum of an object,

…and the only thing that will

define your very existence…'

"Slow down, Ruby! Not everyone is as fast as you are!" I hear Yang yell behind me between the constant sounds of the busy Vale rush hour. It's only 4:00 PM but the streets are practically loaded with people by the time we're only a few blocks away from a new arcade that's opening up later this week, and my… 'habits of over-obsessively wasting my time on useless video games' as Weiss would of put it - which has made me tones of friends and my own DustTube channel.

'She's just jealous 'cuz i gotz skillz that she'll never properly grasp!' I think as I approach the final corner to the arcades street 'Probably hasn't even seen a console before, let alone a controller. Oh shit, forgot about Yang!'

"Try to keep up then! Or has Ice Queen finally rubbed off on your legs, sis!?" I yell over my shoulder to get her riled up to quicken her pace as I turn the last corner. I had been in a slight run since we landed at the docking station earlier today and only slowed down to a jog as I reached the front of the soon to be arcade.

Following my ceice in motion, four distinctive shotgun blasts rang out from around the corner of which I had emerged from. Shortly after they finished their echoing from the buildings, the screams of a man that then tumbled into view fully engulfed in fire. 'I'm so not bailing you out if you kill someone again, especially here, Yang!' I nearly yelled out as she used the street lamp as I had to alter her trajectory to my current location. Sidestepping to avoid her speed killing me upon impact, she finally stopped about ten feet behind

"Ruby…" she said as she clamped onto the bridge of her nose to try and vent her frustration passively "What the hell is this..?"

"We both know you remember exactly what this is - or rather, was at one point in time. It's that club that you practically went nuclear on last summer, remember?"

It was true that my big sis had a bit of a temper, but she could control it as long as no one touches her hair. After that, all bets are off as to who - or in this case, what - she'll punch a hole into or burn down. I wonder what she'll be like when I finally come out… No, better not. Not here at least.

"Thats not what I meant, Ruby…" she sighed, slightly more annoyed than before.

"It's reopening as an arcade next week! And I figured-"

"No, Ruby…" she said, almost sounding like a mother to her child. Before I could argue my case, she continued. "You know how I feel about you coming down to this part of the city alone, much less hanging out here! C'mon, Rubes, there's more arcades in Vale than just this one! And I'm pretty sure that someone's bound to beat a high score of yours sooner or later!"

vvvvttt vvvvttt, vvvvvtttt!

'Well, speak of the Devil… who's going to die today..?'

There's one thing that Vale's gaming community has learned to respect and fear since I picked up a controller, but my slogan says it sooooooo much better!

Taking my Scroll out of my custom made pocket that I made for my belt on my combat skirt, I let the ringtone play for a few more seconds before I pressed the accept button on the screen and let it rip.

"Rose Gaming: where the only things bigger than my high-score are my scythe and your blood splattered on a wall!"

The blood splatter was more of a metaphor, but it did its job: instil fear into whoever thought it would be a good idea to prank call me in the middle of the night. "Ruby speaking!"

'It's me, Reaper.' The voice said on the other side of the line that I recognized as a friend and fellow gamer, 'Atomic Flea'.

No one knew why he chose the nickname, but one thing was certain about him: he was a force to be reckoned with, both in the feild and behind the controller. But gaming was his primary thing to do, if he wasn't writing knockoffs of famous works. But the tone of his voice told me that this was no leisurely call to chill some place.

"Sup Atom?" I sighed, prepping myself for the bad news. I had a rep for being the best in the city, but calls like this only damaged it majorly.

'Not your scores, Reaper. Some fresh meat just wiped you off the leader boards of "House of the Grimm"…'

"Did you just say 'House of the Grimm'…?" I said slowly, emphasizing every word of the games title.

'House of the Grimm' was a classic in any arcade. Mainly got its fan base from the simplistic point-and-squeeze-the-trigger style gameplay mixed with the challenge of nonstop Grimm swarms popping up from around almost every corner of the gameplays scenery.

The story behind it? Your an elite Huntsman sent on a serch-and-distroy job to clear an over run village south of Vale: save the village from its enevitable doom, be phrased, get paid, move on in your life. But the best part of it was the dule system screenplay setup: at any point another player could join in where you are and have their Shari of the fun!

Its controls varied from the skill set you chose before you had even begun the game: LMG, Pistol, SMG, Rifles or Shotguns. From there the player(s) could choose to use just one gun, or to dual wield the same weapon, thus furthering it into the debatable state-of-the-art category of gaming.

But to beat my high score AND wipe it off the field? There wasn't a way possible that my score - 50 million flat in an hour while on a single continue - was bested.

"What's his score at?" I questioned, my curiosity piqued close to its limit.

'…You're not going to like it, Reap-'

"THE SCORE ATOM!"

Silence was my only response, only sending my curiosity skyrocketing.

"Atom..?" I barely managed to whisper after several moments past without a response. 'How bad could it be?' I think while the silence continued on for another long five or so seconds. 'It's not like-'

'100,026,950… and counting….'

I immediately begin to question the intel I just received. "Over 100M…?" I quietly squeaked. Regaining my composure, I cleared my throat and tried again to figure out what I just heard, and couldn't. "You sure it's not some glitch or something?"

'The scores are liget for the both of them, and their scores only have a difference of 20.'

"Them? As in more than one?"

'Yup… Neither him nor his partner have a hit against them…'

I snapped at those words. 'Neither of them have been hit?' I thought, the urge to slowly kill them both lying just beneath my skin. 'Just who the fuck do they think they are!?' Taking a slow but steady breath to calm myself, I asked the most concerning question I had on my mind.

"Where are you?" I ask calmly on contrast with the full out Hellfire pumping through my veins. The hatred within me took over my thoughts to express some of his own. 'Where the fuck are the pricks that think they can get away with this..?

Where are those hacking fuckers that have a death wish of my wrath, then using one of my bullets as a pen, sign their death certificates in their blood? A-to-m… WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY!?'

'"Ricks Gaming Centre" on seventh and center…'

A smirk crept onto my face at these words, following two from the emotion strongest in thought.

'Checkmate, bitchs!'

'Dare I ask how this is going to turn out?'

"Remember the code system we set up as a precautionary alert if something went bad?"

'Yeah, what about it?'

"Rose Pink."

'Hold up… did you just say Rose Pink?'

"I'm on my way." I hang up the phone and pocket it again. I gave Yang a sidways glance and stated coldly "This isn't over." and took off with a burst of my Aura towards my target, leaving rose peddles in my wake.

All the ways I could mutilate the pricks swam around in my head as I made my way towards where the arcade was, only one clear thought produced in the orchestra of chaos and rage in my mind - one clear note being played throughout this symphony of destruction and soon to be panic.

With a smile to match my thoughts, I vocally produced that single musicians section of the song:

"Better start praying, bitches! It's hunting season for your kind, and Imma be here everyday till it ends!"

Nora's POV

'A weapon is only as good as its handler. So, what dose that make the Hammer Maiden?

"Nora?"

GGGRRRRR...

BLAM!

"Nora..."

RAWR!

BLAM BLAM BLAM BALM!

"Yeah! GET SOME!"

"NORA!"

"Oh! Sorry, Renny... did you want a turn too?"

It was just another day at the local arcade: lights flashing, sounds blaring from almost everygame in the building, me turning virtual Grimm into-

'Grimm Jelly Achieved!' the games anouncment - besides being perfectly synced to my thoughts - only seemed to rile everyone that had crowded around me to watch the gameplay as I tore every Grimm to pieces. flicking the games hand-held controlers - dual Desert Eagles - to the edge of the screen, activating the games reloading sequence. At the same time, the screens view fliped at a 180 dagree angle to show a massive Beowulf Alpha leading what looked like 20 Betas.

'By the gods' names, I think Renny Bear might have some compatition here...' I thought as I put both Eagles in my right hand, grasping the controlers secondary button that was located underneath the barrle of the guns that activated the grenade function.

Looking at a group of spectators to my left, mostly kids in their early to midteens, and said while giving one of my trademark grins "Kids, only use this tactic on Grimm and while in dire need to finnish them off quickly if your overrun."

Turning back to the games screen, I spammed said buttons, firing off every last grenade the inventory held into the crowd of Grimm, causing some rather realistic, but nicely done, explosions.

Switching back to a dual wield fashion, I finished off the Betas that managed to survive the explosive onslaught.

Upon hearing the machine next to me being loaded with lien, I turned to see Ren grasping two Glock 18's. catching my glance, he smirked as he explained in his usual manor "You'll need help ahead."

Looking back to the screen I saw exactly what he meant with his choice of words.

Onscreen was a massive Deathstalker bursting through a nearby wall, smaller Grimm of every known variety followed through said hole.

Loading his weapons, he took aim and let the bullets fly, making short work of his targets from his choice of burst-fire.

Following suit, the smaller Grimm were all but alive after 30 seconds which only left the lone Deathstalker. Taking time to reload, I took the chance to ask a rather interesting question on my part.

"Hey, Ren…"

"Yeah Nor?" He said flatly, his usual monotone still in place.

"This is your first time to an arcade, in like, EVER, right?"

"Yes it is, why?"

As the reload was completed and the Deathstalker closing in for an attack, I managed to word out my question between gunshots "Soo… how exactly is it you know that I would need help, which I do- DAMNIT, STAY THE HELL BACK FLUFFERS!" yelling the last half of the sentence half in the spur of the moment, half because the giant Grimm nearly caused me to take damage. As to why I referenced it to a plushy I saw on my way over was a mystery to me.

"Fluffers..?" A spectator laughed "So, what? You name your targets before you kill them?"

"Can it kid, or you'll be the next one I cap-"

"You think you can scare me with your weak threats, bitch? Man, and I thought the previous high score on this game was pathetic!"

A chorus of laughter immediately followed the boys response, followed by the thought of Ruby mentioning that she claimed every high score in an arcade, but I couldn't remember which one.

"Hahaha! Yeah, cute. Soooo… what was that last high score again?" I asked nervously, praying that it wasn't Ruby's.

"Just under half of yours," the kid said, an evil smirk emerging on his face as he continued "and was set by the chick from Rose Gaming."

"Rose Gaming..?" I repeated, my voice shaky from the fear now pumping through me as I think to myself 'Well… Fuck. Imma die in a GameStop… and I still haven't gone on that date with Ren.'

"That's right…" the boy answered. "You've heard of her… right..?"

"Nay…" I grimaced, my tone low, as I realized I had mere seconds at best before I was her next victim. "I haven't just heard of her, boy… I've befriended her." My answer encouraged whispers and gasps from the audience around both myself and Ren. I sighed as I continued "And now her scythes blade as well."

Suddenly, the entire room went black, the sounds from the games stopped and what sounded like someone saying "sheeeee's heeeeerrrrreeee…" in the creepiest way possible.

Putting on a pair of night vision goggles that I "forgot" to return after the last mission we where on and turning them on.

'Fuck it!' I thought, 'If I'm going to die, I'll die to my own tune of choice!'

"Hush little Reap-er… don't say a word~" I sang as I looked around for Ruby.

Drawing Magnihild in its M32-Hammer form, I stepped down from the console I was just at and continued to sing "Nora's going to give you what you de…serve:"

Pushing my way through the crowd, I rested my weapon on my shoulder. "A way to see and hate the minds~ of the cruelness of people and… mankind!~"

The main door opened as the sound of a cape flapping in the wind arose and then died as I continued with the song, slowly pacing through isle after isle of games. "But if you cry and hate me more,~" as the door closed I felt a gust of wind behind me. Sighing, I finished the line I was on. "I'll fed the one you love to a Ne-ver-more!~"

"As much as I'd like to see that happen," I heard Ruby's voice fill my left ear, instantly making me freeze to where I was. "I'd rather kill her myself." A spew of rose petals surrounded me as she bolted away from me.

'So…' I thought. 'Psychological warfare is how you want to play it, eh? Game on, Ruby!'

Now running through the isles, I continued with my little song. "Then I'll see you break and go in-sane,~"

Again, the rose petals flurried around me, and Ruby's voice filled my ear. "To realize the true mean-ing of pain!~"

Turning to meet her, I was welcomed by the darkness that the goggles didn't clear away. Now slightly more pissed, I only slightly raised my tone so that everyone in the room could hear me. "As you rage, I'll sneak up to you unheard,~"

"You're the one raging! Ya crazy bitch!" trash talking kid from before yelled out. Before I could shoot a grenade over his way, the sound of a head exploding prevented my pull of the trigger.

"So hush little Reaper…" I practically whispered as a suppressor was lifted to my neck, the cocking motion and sound of a bullet casing hitting a game nearby caused me to weep uncontrollably in fear.

As the next bullet was loaded into the guns barrel, she casually finished the song off.

"What is your last word?"

Ren's POV

'Underneath that stoic personality of yours,

what secrets do you keep locked away?…

What do you fear the most, Lie?'

As the power went out in the arcade the chatter was minimal and casual, almost as if this was a normal occurrence.

That is, until Nora started to sing.

"Hush little Reap-er… don't say a word Nora's going to give you what you de…serve: a way to see and hate the minds of the cruelness of people and… mankind!~"

Where she gets these songs, I'll never know. Just that their extremely fucking creepy and scaring the kids around me.

"But if you cry and hate me more, I'll fed the one you love to a Ne-ver-more. Then I'll see you break and go in-sane, To realize the true mean-ing of pain As you rage, I'll sneak up to you unheard,"

At this point some wise ass smart mouth decides its a fun idea to open his mouth and say what he wants about the situation. "You're the one that's raging, Ya crazy bitch!" Was all he said before Ruby shot the fuckers head clean off. Although, I don't recall her ever needing a suppressor… but, I digress.

At the far end of the arcade I could hear both Ruby and Nora finishing the song in unison.

"So hush little reaper . . . what is your last word?"

It was silent for a few moments afterwords, but came to an end as a single sniper round was fired off and the lights flickered back to life… and everyone around me just started screaming.

Not from the blood that now coated the room… not from the twenty bodies that where stacked about five feet away from the majority of us… or even the disembowelled body nailed to the ceiling above me.

Logically, they should've been, but they didn't.

They screamed because of the note each of us where now holding in our hands had the most terrorizing message possible…

Would you chance an hour of fear for all you hold dear!? The Gamble is always near if you choose to accept… be warned: come alone, or the choice you'll regret!

The words written in blood.

Clipped to each of the notes was a face of, what I assumed was, a loved one: to mine was a picture of both teams RWBY and JNPR in front of the fountain at Beacon during the winter break.

Grabbing Nora by the arm, I dragged her out of the building and began a conference call between teams RWBY and the remainder of JNPR telling them (once everybody was connected) to meet both Nora and myself in our dorm room. Once agreed to the meeting, I hung up and looked at Nora.

She was showing all the symptoms of everything that she wasn't normally: terrified, fatigued, defeated. All of which suited to piss me off further.

Matching my gaze, fear and confusion filled her eyes.

"W-what the fuck was that Ren?" She stuttered weakly as tears ran down her eyes. "A-a-and what in gods name dose this note mean?" She held out her note for me to read. The message was the same, but the picture attached to hers was one of her beloved hammer.

"I don't know, Nora. Maybe once we regroup with the others we'll be able to figure it out. Sound good?"

A weak nod was his only response.

I sighed, wrapping an arm around her and proceeded to the shuttle bay to get us back to Beacon ASAP.

The walk there was mostly quiet, the occasional whimper from Nora could be heard as she shivered multiple times along the way. That and some nut running past us with a box of waffles yelling "I'VE WAITED THIRTY YEARS FOR ONE OF THESE SLICES OF HEAVEN! AND YOU'LL ONLY BE GETTING THEM FROM ME WHEN I'M DEAD, COPPERS!" as four cops chased after him.

Fortunately, the ride back to Beacon was much of the same: the shuttle was empty except for us, and we where the first ones back to the dorm.

Nora sat on her bed still shaking in fear. I sat beside her for god knows how long trying to calm her down.

And it basically stayed like that until Jaune walked through the door…

A/N: 'Kay, firstly: this is my first attempt at writing something like this. Sorry if it sucks.

Secondly: The song that Nora was singing during the power outage was a paraphrased version of (what I have a tendency referencing it as) Cinders Lullaby from A Beacon of Hope in a Castle of Ice by Jorge10466. I was going to use that song elsewhere… buuut, that other fic isn't going anywhere fast.

Thirdly: this fic was inspired to me by a good friend of mine: atomic flea, who, truly, is the inspiration behind this, and probably will be up on his page as well.

And finally: this one is meant for those who think video games cause violence; NEWS FLASH! THEY DON'T! In reality, it's people like that that gives us gamers a bad rap in society. "Don't like it? Don't play it!" As an old friend of mine once said.

Anyways: review, have some nachos, whatever it is you do in life, and (if there is one) I'll see you next time!