[Unknown Signal detected]

[s #h%&e*$s%&h#^e #r&*e&%$-]

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"Ugh... I can't believe it's dark already." Ruby groaned as she walked through an unusually dead forest, she had Crescent Rose strapped to her back and her old red colored flashlight, which was currently shined on the map to her new mansion, "Jeez, no wonder they just gave it away, who'd want to buy a mansion that's way out here in this place?" Ruby muttered, keeping an eye out for Grimm in case she needed to use Crescent Rose.

Too bad for Ruby her precious Sniper Scythe would be next to useless where she was going.

"Okay... it should be just about... there." Ruby said looking up from the map as she exited the forest, "Whoa."

The mansion was a massive wooden structure that had three floors, with several windows lining each floor, Ruby had counted eight windows on the first two floors with three larger windows on the third, making the third floor seem more like an attic than a third floor. The first floor had a set of double doors as the front entrance with an archway on the doorstep to shelter people from the rain. Several meters in front of the mansion was a stone wall with a iron bar double door gate. A few feet in front of that appeared to be a small wooden shack.

As if on cue a bolt of lightning stuck in the background of Ruby's view of the mansion.

"That's actually kinda creepy." Ruby said, "Then again, all it needs is a paint job and for there to not be a storm in the early night."

With that line of thought Ruby pushed open the gates of the mansion and walked over to the door, looking around she didn't see anyone else from her team.

"They must have already gone inside." Ruby said to herself, "I know I would with a thunderstorm starting up."

After she said that Ruby turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, Ruby leaned into the building and noticing it was dark, turned on her flashlight.

"Hello?" Ruby called out, reaching for the light switch and flicked it a couple of times, resulting in nothing happening, "Great, powers dead... I guess that's something else on the to-do list."

Ruby then turned and shined her flashlight around the Foyer, the first thing she noticed was another set of double doors directly in front of her, except these had some weird metallic thorned vines nearly completely covering it.

"What the heck are these?" Ruby asked as the vines pulsated purple energy, naturally curious Ruby poked one of the thorns ever so gently.

"YEOW!" Ruby shouted pulling her finger back as the vines sparked purple and had zapped when she touched it, "Okay, you're gonna get it!"

Ruby pulled Crescent Rose off her back and shifted it to it's Scythe form and slashed at the vines.

However the vines sent out a pulse of energy that pushed Crescent Rose back before it could get near them.

"What the-?" Ruby gasped as she put Crescent Rose away and began to look around, "Weiss!? Yang!? Blake!?" Ruby called out.

No one answered.

"Maybe they're upstairs." Ruby said as she looked around, sure enough there were two sets of staircases that led around and up to the second floor, Ruby took the one to the left.

Upon reaching the second floor Ruby saw another set of double doors, though this one lacked the vines, "I guess I'll try this way." Ruby said walking up to the door and grabbing the knob.

However when she tried to turn it the knob would only budge slightly, Ruby then tried to push and pull the door slightly, but to no avail.

Then as if to taunt her a high pitched laughter echoed throughout the room.

Ruby jumped in surprise as she spun around, shining her flashlight around, all she saw was a few tables with red and gold vases on them, and another door, though only a single wide door this time.

"Who's there!?" Ruby called out as she slowly walked down the stairwell, minding the candles on the wall, "Yang if this is your idea of a joke it's not funny!"

When Ruby reached the first floor her flashlight began to flicker and died, "Oh come on..." Ruby groaned, "Don't tell me the bulb is worn out no-"

Ruby cut off her speech as when she lifted her head to groan she saw a yellow orange haze floating directly under the chandelier that was installed on the ceiling. Within that haze was a single gold key.

The haze then seemed to jump as if it had notice Ruby staring at it, the latter of which was completely frozen in fear and shock.

The haze then floated off, dashing past Ruby up the stairs and through the double doors she tried to go through earlier. Ruby looked at the ground the haze once floated over and saw the key had been left behind, and her flashlight was alive once again.

"W-what was that?" Ruby asked herself as she picked up the key, it was simple, gold, and had a flat, circular, but not hollow, grip, "Maybe this key is for that room?" She asked herself.

Ruby ran up to the double doors she couldn't get through earlier and pulled out the key, she slowly slotted it into the keyhole and gave it a turn to the left, she easily heard a clicking sound as she return the key to it's original position and pulled it out. Ruby then slowly reached for the doorknob and was relieved to know it was now unlocked and opened the door, shutting it behind her as she entered the room.

Where her flashlight died once again.

"Again? Really?" Ruby groaned, "I'm so getting a new bulb tomorrow."

Ruby took a few slow steps further into the room, which was the Parlor, and slowly tried to look around with her lack of vision.

Just as Ruby turned her head the yellow orange haze quickly returned to view, and took a much less hazy form.

"RRAGGAAAW" Barked what was clearly a ghost.

It looked like an orange sheet thrown on something for the most part, but it had two beady yellow eyes and a large mouth that had a pair of canines on the upper jaw and two mitten like hands. Not the most terrifying looking ghost out there, but still pretty scary in person.

"EEEYYYAAAAHHHH!" Ruby cried out jumping and falling on her rear end as she scrambled away from the ghost.

Ruby never liked ghost's of any kind, if a book, or a movie, or even a cartoon had a ghost in it she would be as far away from it as she could get. No one was sure why Ruby was so deathly afraid of ghosts, but as of right now, Ruby was almost immobilized by her fear.

Fortunately for Ruby, this Orange Ghost, lacks any form of telekinetic power like other ghosts, so all it could really do was float over toward her in an menacing manner.

The ghost balled up one of it's hands, ready to harm Ruby in the only way it could, by punching her.

Thankfully for Ruby, a sudden suction of air around the ghost caused it to cry out in shock.

Ruby opened her eyes and followed the visible suction of air to... an old man.

The old man was short, shorter than Ruby, had only a tuft on white hair on his head, large round glasses that she couldn't see through, wore a white lab coat and brown loafers. On his back was what Ruby could honestly just call a vacuum cleaner, though Ruby could easily tell it was modified, as that model of vacuum cleaner shouldn't have enough suction power to be visible.

The Orange Ghost quickly began to 'run' as fast as it could away from the suction, which seemed to be holding tight to it somehow, but was unfortunately dragging the old man with the Ghost.

Eventually the Ghost realized the old man could effectively pull the ghost back, which would actually tire it and drain it's resistance to the suction, and began to lead the man along until it pulled the man close enough to punch.

The old man was sent tumbling back, his finger coming off the suction button and letting the ghost go.

Said ghost simply laughed at the old man while it drummed it's hands on it's head before spinning and vanishing.

Ruby quickly shook her head and ran over to the old man and helped him up, "Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"Ouch..." The old man said shaking his head, "Don't worry miss, I'm fine. Oof... though I sure take a lot of knocks in this line of work."

The old man then looked at Ruby with a smile on his face, "If you're sure..." Ruby said helping the old man up.

"I'm getting too old for this Ghost catching tom-foolery." The old man said, "Anyway, nice to meet you. I'm Professor Elvin Gadd. But I also commonly go by Professor E. Gadd."

"Um... I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby said, "It's nice to meet you Professor."

"Please, you can just call me E. Gadd." Professor E. Gadd said, then he looked around the Parlor rubbing his lower back, "This Mansion though... I swear it seems to have more ghosts in it everyday... What's a young lady like you doing here anyhoo?"

Ruby opened her mouth to talk, only for the Orange Ghost from before to reappear, with two identical buddies right beside it.

"Uh-oh! This looks ugly!" E. Gadd announced, "Alright youngster! Look lively! Follow me, posthaste!"

Ruby and E. Gadd ran out the room, Ruby throwing the door shut behind her as she passed through it, and the two ran down the stairs and to the front door, where E. Gadd threw it open with ease and ran out with Ruby close behind, slamming the door shut behind her as she did.

The two continued to run until they were at the old shack Ruby saw, which looked to be the size of an outhouse.

"Okay, we're safe here, the Ghost's don't go beyond the gates." E. Gadd said as he opened the out house, "Ladies first."

Ruby looked inside to see that instead of a hole for bodily waste, there was an elevator platform, which she stepped on.

"Say... you said your name was Rose correct?" E. Gadd asked, "You wouldn't happen to know a Summer Rose would you?"

Ruby's eye's widened, "You knew my Mom?" Ruby asked.

E. Gadd chuckled, "I knew her rather well actually." E. Gadd said, "After all she spent quite a few detentions in my history class back at Beacon."

"Umm... E. Gadd, if I tell you why I came here... could you tell me a bit about mom?" Ruby asked.

E. Gadd chuckled once again, "Certainly Miss Rose, I'm sure I can find us a bit to eat while we trade stories."

"Uh... Can you just call me Ruby?" Ruby asked.

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That's the chapter for now folks.

And Ruby's first Ghost encounter.

Speaking of Ghosts... there's a hidden message in these Ghost Static Opening's I'm letting you all hear... Figure them out if you want.