Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Dead Space. Be warned of blood and gore.

Prologue

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Summer Rose ran down the corridor as fast as she could. She could hear it all around her. The screams of people she knew, their yells of pain and shrieks of horror. It pained her to simply run by the rooms where she knew the people she'd called co-workers over the past two months were dying. But she couldn't stop now. Not while she was carrying the most precious thing in her world in her arms.

Sound asleep in her arms was Ruby, her little seven-year-old girl. The only signs that assured Summer her daughter was still alive were her quiet breaths and the barely noticeable rising and lowering of her chest. She hadn't stirred once in the time she had been rescued from that surgery bench. Her little arm was still bleeding though the bandages which had been placed around the stitches in her arm.

How could I let this happen? Summer's thought all but consuming her, What kind of Mother lets this happen to their child?

Summer rounded the corner and spotted her objective: The elevator room, her one remaining chance to get her and her daughter back to the safety of the surface. There were only two obstacles her way: a good 200 feet of hallway and… She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh God…" She said quietly, trembling at the sight before her. There was no mistaking it now. This…This thing was once a person. There was just enough of its face left for her to see what was left of a person she'd never taken the time to talk to. But maybe that was a good thing. She didn't know if she would have been able to take it if it had been someone she knew personally.

Summer snapped back to reality when she heard the thing in front of her screech. It had begun to walk towards her at a quick pace, its arm blades swinging back and forth. Then it stopped moving and grew very, very still. For a moment neither of them moved. Summer held her daughter tighter as the thing suddenly tensed up. In an instant the thing was charging her at top speed, screeching with murderous fury. Summer ran towards it as well and the distance between the two began to close. With every step they grew closer together and in moments they were facing each other with only a few feet between them. Summer planted her foot at an angle and pushed with all her might. The thing was still moving in the same direction, unable to compromise for her change in direction. But that didn't stop one of the monster's blades from cutting deep into her arm smearing her blood across the floor.

Summer ignored the agony that was coming from her arm and clutched her daughter even tighter as she made a dash for the elevator room. The creature took a few moments to stop and turn around but every second it took was another second Summer used to get closer to the room. It began to charge her again but now that the way was clear Summer activated her Semblance. Never before had she felt so blessed to have been given the gift of speed for her ability and she made full use of it. It was only moments later she arrived at the entrance to the elevator room and she slammed the button to open the automated door.

The three seconds the door took to slide open were both the longest and most terrifying of her life as the monster came ever closer to her and her daughter. When it did open, Summer stepped inside and slammed the Close button as hard as she could. As Summer quickly turned her head she saw the creature's horrific form be concealed behind the sliding door. The moment the door sealed she heard the massive *THUD* of the Necromorph slamming into the steel door. Summer leaned her back to the wall, sliding down onto the floor, knowing that the Necromorph couldn't possibly…

Necromorph, Summer thought, realizing the word she'd just used to describe the creature. How do I know that word?

It was obvious to her though. It had to be those rocks, those fragments, those little pieces from hell whispering in her mind. At first she'd questioned why she was needed to guard those few bits of weird stone. Now she wanted to know who to beat for the deaths of everyone around her.

Summer was shaken from her rage when she heard the soft yawn of her daughter. Now that there was a moment were their lives weren't in imminent danger, she took a moment to examine her daughter. She permitted a small smile to appear on her face when she found that, aside from what Steinman did to her arm, Ruby was completely fine. Her smile only grew when she looked up to the elevator in front of her and realized that now they could leave this deathtrap.

She slowly stood up, daughter in arms, and took a couple of strides toward the elevator. She could almost feel it now; the wind on her face and the sun on her skin. She shakily raised her bloodied arm, not daring to chance her daughter with the damaged limb and put her trembling finger on the button. She pressed it…

Nothing.

No. Summer thought as she pressed it again. Still nothing. No, no, no. She started to press the button franticly, the smile on her face quickly fading. All the while the elevator remained silent. No, no, No, NO, OH DEAR GOD NO! Summer starting pounding her entire fist against the button, desperate to hear the sound of the thing working. She starting to sob uncontrollably, slowly falling to her knees, banging against the button in the vain hope that the doors would open.

Her pounding of the button slowly came to a stop. She simply sat on her knees, crying and holding her daughter close to her. Her eyes were closed, tears flowing down the sides of her face.

"I'm sorry Ruby." Summer told her unconscious daughter.

"I'm sorry too, Summer." Summer's eyes blinked open as she turned to her side to see the wall monitor slowly flash to life, a pixilated face slowly becoming clearer. "I am so, so sorry."

Summer could barely make out the words through her sobs, which began to stop. But there was no mistaking that voice. She barely managed to choke out the name; "Elsa."

"It's been a while hasn't it old friend?" Elsa said, her face coming into clear view on the screen before Summer. "Three, maybe four months?"

"Elsa," Summer said again, "what do you mean you're sorry?"

"What I mean?" Elsa's eyes looked away from Summer towards the floor, as if she'd been hoping to avoid being asked that question. She looked back up towards Summer. "Well…" She paused, unable to bring herself to say the words.

"Elsa," Summer's voice channeling the raising anger from being in this nightmare. "I have my daughter in my arms. You know what she means to me. So let me ask this again: What. Do. You. Mean. You're. Sorry."

Elsa closed her eyes and Summer could just barely make out a tear sliding down her cheek. Elsa took a deep breath and looked back up at Summer, a stern look on her face. "I can't let you leave."

Even though she knew the words were coming Summer still couldn't believe them. "W-What?"

"I can't let you leave." Elsa repeated the calm in her tone clearly being forced. "We…We can't risk you being infected from those…"

"Necromorphs." Summer spat the word out as though it was poison. "Their called Necromorphs."

"Necromorphs?" Elsa asked. "How do you know that?"

"You tell me." Summer was now looking at Elsa with borderline fury. "You're the one who's been looking at those rocks that caused this." Elsa had maintained her composure until the mention of the fragments. She looked away from Summer again and looked like she was trying to work up the nerve to ask something. Summer realized the only thing it could be. "Don't you dare-"

"We need you to retrieve one of the fragments."

Summer slowly set Ruby down and laid her on the ground. She then stood up and stared at the image before her. In a flash she slammed her fist into the monitor, smashing both it and what few bones hadn't been broken in her bloodied arm. Her breathing was heavy with the rage she felt coursing through her veins as she felt the broken limb fall limply to her side. The monitor sparked furiously as bits of broken glass began to fall.

"Was that really necessary Summer?" Elsa's voice played through the room speakers and her image began to appear on opposite wall monitor.

"…No." Summer said sternly. "But if I had another arm to spare I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Elsa took a deep breath and looked at Summer.

"Like I said we need you to-"

"If you so much as dare to ask me to go out there to get what caused this hell hole, I will find some other way out of this pit and kill you myself." Summer wasn't even trying to hide the pure hatred in her voice anymore.

"Summer," Elsa began again, almost pleadingly, "you don't even have to go too far. The nearest fragment is in-"

"Steinman's operating theater." Summer said. Elsa looked thoroughly surprised if not outright shocked.

"How…How the heck do you know that?" Elsa managed to get out. Summer did not respond. Instead she looked at her daughter. Elsa's eyes moved from Summer to Ruby.

"Oh, I get it." Elsa said, putting together what had happened. "You saw the fragment when you went to get Ruby out of recovery. Am I right?"

"No." Summer stated, eyes closed.

"No?" Elsa asked, confusion once again appearing on her face and tone. "What do you mean by that?"

Summer tilted her head toward the floor. Through the video feed Elsa could make out the tears sliding down Summer's face. "S-She wasn't in recovery."

"…What are you talking about?" Elsa's tone indicated that she was now the one who had no idea what was going on. "Her operation was scheduled to have been finished a few hours ago. There's nowhere else she could have been."

Summer gave a small chuckle, as though Elsa had unknowingly delivered the punch line of a twisted inside joke. She raised her eyes and looked directly at Elsa. "Do you really think so?" Summer's eyes widened suddenly and a sadistic grin began to grow on her face. "You have access to the security feeds for the whole complex, right." It was not a question. "Why don't you see for yourself. And while you're at it, take a good look at the nightmare that's been unleashed here."

Elsa turned her head and a light shined upon her face. Her fingers moved over what only could have been another touchscreen. There was silence between the two as Elsa watched the footage. At first she managed to keep a straight face as she watched the footage on fast forward. But her composure soon faltered and collapsed as she continued to watch. Elsa's mouth was stuck open in a gasp of horror at the images that danced across the screen.

Whatever they showed her about these things. Summer thought to herself while taking some form of joy at Elsa's extreme discomfort. Must have only been the tip of the iceberg.

Soon, Elsa's hand touched the monitor to stop the video feed. Her face was incredibly pale and she couldn't stop the trembling from what she'd just seen. It looked like she was trying to let out a scream but was too afraid to. Looking at her disgusted Summer.

"You think that's bad?" She asked impatiently. "I'm the one who's actually down here!"

Elsa stopped trembling at the words. She simply stared at Summer. "I'm sorry Summer." She managed to choke out. "If I could do something I would."

Summer looked down at the ground, eyes closed. Elsa might have well have just given her a death sentence.

"What about Ruby?"

Summer snapped her head back up to the monitors. "What?"

"…Think of it like this." Elsa said after a moment. "We can't let you leave or we'd break quarantine. Ruby on the other hand-" Summer did not like where this was going. "-hasn't had any form of contact with those…Necromorphs. Not to mention…" Elsa hesitated another moment. "Steinman's actions. I'm sure the overseers would be happy to find an exception." Elsa paused another moment, but not to find her next words.

"And Ruby gets out alive."

Summer stood shocked, trying to process what her friend had just told her. She'd just been given an impossible choice.

And yet… She thought as tears of sorrow began to slide down her face. There's no choice at all.

Minutes passed by in silence before Summer spoke. "I have a few conditions."

"I'm listening."

The spent the next few minutes talking. Or rather, they spent that time negotiating. Both had an ace up their sleeve: Summer had Ruby and Elsa had the exit. Soon a deal was struck and an hour later the preparations were met. Ruby's uncle was at the top of the Elevator waiting to receive Ruby but with no idea of what was happening beneath his feet. All that remained was the hardest thing: putting Ruby alone in the elevator.

Summer slowly picked up Ruby with her good arm, as she could barely even feel the other one. She couldn't believe what she was about to do. She'd never get to see her little girl grow up. Never get to hold her baby in her arms. Never again.

And yet…She couldn't help but find a little pleasure. Ruby would live. That was all that mattered. She walked into the elevator and put Ruby on the far wall. It wasn't necessary, but every moment she held Ruby was a moment of happiness. Summer began to turn away, sobbing softly when she heard it.

"Mommy?" Summer froze. She slowly turned around. Ruby's silver eyes where slowly blinking open. The first thing that she noticed in her hazy vision where the tears on her mother's face. "What's going on Mommy? Why are you crying?"

Summer felt like she was going to choke. She couldn't breathe. But she managed to force the words out all the same. "It's nothing, sweetie." She was barely able to make her voice sound calm. She knelt down next to her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "J-Just go back to sleep."

Ruby slowly put her arms around her mother in a gentle hug. Her eyes were already starting to close. "Ok." She said, a soft yawn following. "Goodnight Mommy. I love you."

"I love you too, Ruby." Summer said softly as she laid her daughter down again.

Summer slowly walked out of the elevator. The doors shut silently behind her. Her hand slide over the button and pressed it. At once the sounds she'd been deprived of before became the only sounds in the room. The elevator was rising. Ruby was alive.

Now the only thing to keep Summer company was her despair.

"Don't worry." Elsa said, her own face looking heartbroken. "She'll be safe."

"Just shut up." Summer's voice was filled with the pain that filled her. "J-Just shut up."

Summer leaned her back against the broken monitor as she slid to the ground. She felt so…so empty. With Ruby gone there was only one thought left in her mind.

I'm going to die here. She thought. And if that's the case…I'll need to ask one more favor.

"Elsa," Summer said. Elsa looked at Summer, surprised that she would even talk to her. "Last request for a dead friend?"

"…What's the request?" Elsa said.

"When I die…" Summer needed to take a deep breath after muttering those words. "Don't let those things in here. Ever."

"I understand." Elsa said as she began to type on another computer. Summer let her head fall downwards.

"She was right you know." Elsa looked up at Summer's words but kept typing. "That crazy little…She was right about everything."

"It seems she was." And that was the last thing either of them said to each other.

Summer cried the last tears she had left in her. She didn't know what was worse. That she was going to die in this hellhole. Or that she'd sent her daughter with a piece of it.

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A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "RWBY: Necrophobia". This is the first fanfiction I've made in a while. And as a personal precaution to make sure I know where I'm going with this story, I've taken some time to plan a little ways ahead. Please follow, favorite, or leave a review and let me know what you think.