It's been an hour since team RWBY have watched the latest entry, number 4, and they are very confident in themselves to watch the rest now. They have returned from Vale and are now entering their dorm room.
"Ahhh~, thank you guys. I really needed that break." Ruby said comfortably.
"Now do you feel like watching more of this Marble Hornets? You seem fine now." Weiss asked her leader.
"Yes! Let's do this!" Ruby fist pumped the air in exaggeration, making her sister laugh.
"Yeah, that's the spirit! I'm looking forward to more myself!" Yang confessed.
"Well, it's not even noon yet, so we've got all evening." Blake pointed out.
"As much as I would like to keep up with my studying, that can wait for another day I suppose. So let's get to it." Weiss said as she sat back down on her seat in front of the TV.
The rest sat in their seats and Ruby grabbed the remote and pressed play once again to meet face-to-face with the black screen. The white text appeared on the center of the screen:
Entry #5
Before Marble Hornets began production, I went location scouting with Alex.
I filmed him talking about the locations he was interested in using.
I came across one of the tapes containing this footage that has had its audio severely distorted.
"I would really like to hear what the narrator sounds like. All we've been seeing was the white text he appears to use to communicate with us." Weiss admits, Yang agreeing.
"Yeah, I do too. Do you Ruby?" She asked her younger sister.
"Mhmm! Maybe this tape will give us an inkling as to what he sounds like?" The young leader said with her hopes high.
Meanwhile, Blake was thinking about what the narrator had said just then. The audio is severely distorted? So they're going to have a difficult time deciphering what's being said. But, why is the audio distorted this time? All this time it's only been the visuals that had tears from here and there.
The video cuts to footage of Alex in a gazebo, looking at the camera. The gazebo is in shadowed dark, but outside it is daylight on a forest of skinny, smallish trees. The camera is moving slightly, as if it is held by hand.
The narrator: "Alright, it's recording."
"Was that the narrator behind the camera?" Ruby said quickly after pausing the video.
"It was. Man, I couldn't hear him all to well. And we don't even know his name either." Yang whined.
"Continue the tape. Maybe he'll talk a little more loudly next time and his name will be mentioned." Weiss told Ruby and Yang. Little red agreed and resumed it.
Alex looks away from the camera, and says: "Okay, uh, this is the gazebo where I want Brian to come back and reflect later in the movie," Alex is moving around the gazebo, looking out into the trees, and the narrator follows him with the camera. Alex looks at the camera again and gestures with his hands, continuing, "this'll probably be three-fourths of the way through."
A visual tear also begins. The tear resolves itself. The angle drifts downwards, to the gazebo floor. The narrator says: "This'll just be by himself right?" He pans the camera left across the gazebo as he speaks. Alex leaves frame.
"Okay, so that's what he sounds like. Now I can replace his voice whenever we see the white text again!" Ruby exclaimed in victory, having already etched his voice into her memory.
"Alright, so they're beginning to talk about Alex's movie now. Alex seems okay and he doesn't appear to be shaken up anymore." Blake deduced.
"I can agree with you there. Maybe having someone with him eased his mind somewhat." Weiss offered, agreeing with Blake's deduction.
Camera pans back to Alex. Alex says: "Yea. I'm thinking about maybe putting in a—" Heavy audio distortion begins, a loud, heavy, uneven buzzing. The girls jumped a little at the sudden cut of the video. Ruby sunk into her seat and held her ears, Weiss cringed at the sound, Blake was covering her cat ears even though they were covered by her bow, and Yang flinched from the little scare but laughed, "Aw man. I can't believe that got me! I forgot that there was distortion in this one."
The camera pans to the ceiling of the gazebo. The camera pans back down to Alex, and then moves to look out at the forest over his shoulder. The autofocus takes a moment to readjust, rendering the frame momentarily blurry. Alex appears to be speaking, but the audio distortion blocks out any words. There is the slight suggestion of speaking in the way the audio fluctuates, but nothing even vaguely understandable.
"Yep, I knew it. We can't hear anything that they're saying." Blake complains.
The distortion changes quality. It is still noisy, but the sound is almost a rushing sound, like wind past a microphone, and it is slightly tiny. There is once again the vague suggestion of speech under the distortion. Alex is still speaking, and gesturing with his hands.
Alex pauses in his speech, looks at the camera, scratches his nose and gestures. The camera pans to the forested slope beyond.
The audio distortion abruptly ends. Normal audio cuts back in. Alex says: "—and then we'll have 'em, like, reflect and decide to actually go back to Sarah to try and win her back." The camera pans back to Alex.
"So this'll be a romantic slash drama kind of movie. Really odd to name something like a romance movie "Marble Hornets" Weiss said out of nowhere.
Alex continues: "Um, and we've a good number of shots here. We have the stream down there, um, and—" He points towards the stream.
The camera pans towards the stream and zooms. Audio distortion cuts back in. It is a third kind, sounding similar to the 'rushing' noise, but sharper. The suggestion of speech underneath is stronger, but still difficult to decipher.
"That one wasn't as bad as the first one, thankfully." Ruby says in relief.
"Yeah. Thank goodness. I did not need a second one." Yang agreed with her sister.
"What are you doing Blake?" Weiss asked the cat faunus.
"I'm just leaning in closer to hear what they're saying. This distortion isn't as bad as the first one, but I'm still having trouble hearing them." Blake said while on her hands and knees and her head turned so her ears can pick up the conversation better.
The camera zooms away from the stream again, and slowly pans back to Alex. The audio distortion changes. It is similar to the first kind once more. Alex is talking, but it is obscured.
The camera pans to the slope again. The left channel of audio is fluctuating in volume. The kind of fluctuations suggests that the cameraman is speaking as well, and that it is also obscured. The camera pans back and forth between the slope and the gazebo a number of times.
The audio distortion cuts out. The narrator is speaking: "—area it's very, I dunno, secluded I guess." It cuts to footage of a forest floor. The camera pans upward. Alex is standing on a pinecone-strewn, but cleared forest floor.
The narrator speaks: "Alright."
"Oh, a different location. I wonder where they live. Maybe far away from civilization where they can film in peace." Weiss rants.
Alex responds: "Alright. This is going to be near Sarah's hunting camp, uhh."
There is a visual tear along the bottom of the screen as Alex speaks. The tear resolves. Alex continues, walking left: "Over there's where we're gonna do the bonfire scene, over by the fireplace…"
"There it is again! Those tears in the video." Ruby pointed out.
"Those seem to be frequent, but what do they mean? Are the tapes that old?" Yang asked her team, who couldn't possibly know. What year were the characters in?
"Oh, I know!" Weiss exclaims, gaining her team's attention. She continues, "The introduction. The narrator said "After three years and zero contact with Alex…" Since the filming didn't take place until 2006, add three years later, then you have 2009."
"Woah! I hope they confirm it themselves in some way." Ruby said with a cute smile.
The camera pans left, the way Alex was gesturing. There are a firepit and several logs perhaps twenty feet away.
The narrator says: "Yup." He pans back to Alex. Alex says: "Uh, I also want to have a—" The narrator coughs here, "—shot of the next day where uh," Audio distortion cuts in. It is tiny and light. Alex can still be heard speaking through it, and he sounds louder. Alex continues: "Sarah and Brian, and I might also have Tim there at some point, are sitting around thinking about the past, you know, just…"
"Another distortion. Well, at least we can still hear him." Yang says happily.
"Sarah, Brian, and Tim. Maybe they're the characters in their movie?" Ruby said unsurely.
"Of course they are ,you dunce. That's why they're talking about them." Weiss insulted Ruby, the latter sticking her tongue out at the heiress immaturely.
Again, Blake was in thought, 'Tim…'
The narrator pans left again as Alex speaks. The camera pauses on a shot of the tall trees of this part of the forest. A red structure can be seen across a sunlit field a good distance away.
"Woah, what is that?!" Ruby points at the screen.
"It looks like...a tower…" Weiss trails off. The four turn their heads to the papers on their nightstand. Could it…?
The narrator says: "Yeah." Alex continues: "talking about—" The audio distortion ends. "—days gone by. Um, I really like this place since we have the tree line that basically blocks off our entire shooting area and we have these really tall trees right in the middle which personally I just think are really cool." The narrator pans up the tree trunks as Alex speaks, and then back down to Alex.
The narrator pans left again. He says: "What's that tall, red thing over there?" As he speaks he zooms in on the red tower, partially obscured by trees. He zooms out again in chunks. Alex says: "Yeah, thats like an old climbing wall, or—I can't remember if it was a climbing wall or a fire department—"
Heavy audio distortion sets in again, buzzing and irregular. Suggestions of speech are audible behind it again. Ruby and Yang flinched a little at the distortion, Weiss barely moved a muscle, and Blake was already preparing herself for another cut in the audio. The camera pans back to Alex. Louder fluctuations of distortion suggest that the narrator is saying something. He pans back to the tower and zooms in again as Alex speaks, and then says one word and zooms out.
He pans back to Alex, looking towards the red tower. The audio distortion ends. Alex says, and points in the general direction of the tower: "—although I wish that tall grass were all level or we had more of this kinda rubbly stuff over here." The narrator says, "Yeah." He pans to the field again and then back to Alex. Alex: "I'm sure we can work our way around it." He is looking at the camera.
The screen cuts to black. Ruby breathed in and out, thanking someone out there that it's finally over. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all felt a little better now that it's over while waiting for some form of clarity because of the distortion.
In addition to the audio distortion, there have also been numerous instances of visual tearing.
I've noticed these occurring in previous entries as well.
"See! There had to be some hidden meaning behind all those visual tears!" Ruby cheered.
"Let's just hope that it is something good to help clarify our questions." Weiss hoped.
Cut to footage from Entry 1, showing the tear that occurred at the lamp. It is labelled along the bottom with white text, "Entry #1". Cut to black.
Cut to footage from Entry 3, of the tear that occurs at Alex tearing paper. This clip is labelled "Entry #3". Cut to black.
Cut to footage from Entry 4, of the tear that occurs at the camera pointing at some swingsets. This clip is labelled "Entry #4".
"Well, that was meaningless. Maybe he'll talk more about them in later entries." Blake said in disappointment. The screen cuts to black. White text appears:
It is possible that I missed other occurrences of this in tapes that I have already watched.
"Nope, I think you've got 'em all, buddy." Yang said.
The video ends there. Ruby leaned back and stretched her arms and legs, spreading them apart while speaking up, "That one was a bit longer than the ones we've seen so far."
"Yeah. Hopefully there'll be even longer ones in the future. So Blakey, what do you have for us this time?" Yang asked her partner, who looked down and searched for something.
"Well…" She reached over and swiped the paper with the tower on it, "the tower in the tape could lead to this paper. It looks vaguely familiar to the one in the tape."
"Yeah, you're right. I guess we'll just have to watch more in order to fully understand the purpose behind the papers. We still got a whole stack of them." Her blonde friend agreed.
"Weiss? Anything…?" Ruby turned to her partner.
Weiss shrugged and spoke, "Well, it may not be of much help, but the fact that this clip involves location-scouting and appears to be before the filming of Marble Hornets, the student movie, even started suggest that this was very early in the tapes. It is possible that this is the earliest clip."
"That is something. Maybe that's the reason why Alex isn't all scared and jumpy like we've seen him do." Blake agreed with the heiress, thinking along the same lines.
"Maybe one more? I'm pretty sure I can handle anything they throw at us now and after all these clues and observations, I'm a little excited in finding out more about the show." Ruby said in glee. After having watching the first several tapes, her eyes have been exposed to some pretty deep stuff. Stuff that she didn't even think to see in her life. Besides, she liked learning new things.
"I must admit, I am very interested in seeing more. Why not?" Weiss says, much to her partner's happiness.
"Yeah, I guess I do too." BY said together. They both laughed at their habit in talking at the same. Opposites do attract.
They all sat back down and resumed the videos. The dreaded black screen greeted them once more. White text appears centered on the screen:
Entry #6
I found the following clip at the beginning of a new tape.
This could be the continuation of entry #1, which took place at the end of a tape.
"Oh no! That's where that creep scared me last time! I regret my decision!" Ruby screamed in fear and quite adorably.
Weiss and Blake prepared to retreat in case anything jumps out at them. Yang stayed close to her sister. If there's a continuation for anything, that means that it will only be more awesome or worse. In this case, worse.
Footage of a dark room begins. Visible are the faint outlines of a small arc of windows as would be present on a front door. It appears to be nighttime outside. No audio is present, ambient or otherwise. The camera moves fitfully, approaching the door. The camera approaches a window to the right of the door and looks out, first right, catching a yard and a silver car, then left, catching the brick edge of the doorway, then quickly right again.
"I am already hating this!" The heiress yelled.
The camera turns left again towards the door. The camera catches a figure to the left of the frame. It appears to be the tall, faceless man. It seems to be walking towards the door and the window out which the camera is looking. The camera pans very quickly away from the window, down and to the left.
"What are you? An idiot? Move away from the window!" Yang yelled at the screen, hoping for Alex to hear her. RWB flinching at the sight of him. Weiss is coughing viciously, Ruby and Blake patting and rubbing her back in comfort.
'Why do I keep coughing…?' The heiress asks herself.
The footage continues, but after a small dot of light swoops about, it is entirely black for several seconds. The windows of a door are once again visible from afar, maybe fifteen feet away.
A bright light appears to approach the windows of the door. The faceless man's head can be seen slowly moving into the window, reflecting the light of the front porch. The camera pans quickly in and then back out as the tall figure moves slowly across, having to bend to get its head level with the window.
"Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God!" Ruby said, hugging her sister who was more than happy to reciprocate.
"Make it stop! *cough*!" Weiss demanded, covering her eyes and mouth.
Blake was clutching her pillow in comfort. She's never seen anything like him before. Tall, dark, faceless, scary as all hell. Just what the hell is that?!
The tall figure's head is no longer visible through the window, though its arm continues to pass in front, as if it were braced against or holding onto the door. The man can be seen intermittently passing in front of the window to the right of the door. The screen cuts to black and the video ends.
Ruby immediately stopped it from moving on to the next tape. Weiss got up to clear her throat in the restroom. Blake slammed the pillow on the floor and screamed in her hands, seemingly fed up with the tall figure, "What did Alex ever do to that thing?! What does Alex have that it wants?!"
"Blake, calm down. Remember, Alex still has people he can go to. Those people who play those three characters in his movie and the narrator are his friends. Maybe he goes to them for answers." Yang tried to help out her friend.
"Yang, that's not possible. These tapes take place way before Alex left. The narrator just found the tapes and it will only be a matter of time before he catches up to Alex, and I'm afraid of what will happen then." Ruby said logically, hugging herself.
The door to the restroom opened and Weiss came back, freshened up and with a glass of water.
"I don't know what came over me. That cough just came out of nowhere." The heiress said tiredly, taking a sip of the water she had with her.
"These are just getting worse and worse by the minute. I could only imagine what happens in the future." Yang said while putting her face in her hands.
"Ruby. Play it." Blake demanded of her leader from inside her palms.
"Uh...Blake. I don't think Weiss is in any condition to-" The scythe-wielder was cut off from her partner's arm in front of her face.
"Ruby. Play it," Weiss commanded, "I want this tall miscreant dead."
Ruby gulped at the tones of WB and gave in to their wish and resumed it. Yang was sitting there, with a small frown on her face.
'What has this show done to us?'