I don't own RWBY.
Beacon
Markus was walking back to his medical room after an enjoyable hour doing nothing but staring at the moon on a balcony.
He was sure that he looked incredibly cool from a third person's perspective. Unfortunately, no one showed up. Markus didn't mind, the thought of how cool he looked was enough.
Markus's self esteem was largely boosted.
There was almost a skip in his step.
…
He arrived at the door to his medical room. Sykes said he would decorate it, for some reason.
He opened the door, and stepped in to look around.
He froze.
...
Wow.
"It's a lot bigger on the inside, isn't it?" He spoke to nobody in particular.
(It actually wasn't. Sykes just happens to be rather skilled in interior design.)
Were the walls always this color?
Were the lights always this modern?
It looked more like a one-room apartment than a medical room.
In fact, it didn't look like a medical room at all. Even the tile floor was replaced with hardwood.
…
He took a step forwards, but his foot collided with a hard metal object. He looked down at his feet, and saw a large metallic colored box. On the box was a pink sticky note with words written on it.
He picked up the note and read it.
…
The note combusted for no apparent reason.
Markus smiled underneath his bandages and rubbed his hands together.
This is going to be great.
-Break-
The morning
Both of the freshmen teams were walking down the hallways leading to medical room 318.
All of them had time to think, and concluded that the strange liquid that he would drink must be able to heal him if it did something to his aura. Call it a stretch, but more hope is not a bad thing (usually).
…
Now that they were getting close, they could hear muffled sounds coming from further ahead. Everyone brightened up when they figured out which room it was coming from.
Nora and Ruby shot to in front of the door. Before anyone else could catch up, they had already tried the doorknob. It was locked.
Yang seemed slightly shocked at that, but no one noticed. By now, the rest of the group were standing right outside the door.
Nora knocked on the door loudly. "Hey! Markus, open up!"
After a moment, a familiar voice came from inside. "...Huh? Oh, I'm coming."
Markus was okay. Nora was so excited she hopped. Everyone was smiling at the great news, even Weiss.
Weiss may have not interacted too much with Markus, but if anyone died, that would not be good.
The tiny smile she had on her face was immediately wiped away when the door opened, though. Even Nora paused in shock.
Because, there was some sort of monster on the other side of the doorway.
It was wearing a black t-shirt with strange but familiar silhouettes on it and heart boxers. It was also wearing a pink apron on the incorrect side of the body.
It's head was completely wrapped in bandages, and where the mouth should have been had two things sticking out of either side. On the right, an unlit cigarette. On the left, a bendy straw that led to nowhere.
On top of the monster's head was a pair of black bunny ears. They were costume ones; you could see the black hairband on the sides of the monster's head contrast with the white bandages.
It was like a physical amalgamation of what the hell.
The monster moved its arms. One came up, they noticed that it was holding a glass bottle, and brought the bottle to the bendy straw.
The other arm came up to the monster's face and lifted a bandage blocking one of its eyes.
An eye peered at them from the darkness.
Slurp "...Oh. It's you guys." The monster took the cigarette out of its mouth and slid it into its boxers while moving its hand down.
The bandage snapped back down when it removed its hand. The monster turned around and began to walk back in.
"Come in, I was just making pancakes." The monster looked back at a specific person. "For me. Only."
Slurp
…
The mention of that word was able to snap Nora out of her silence.
She ran towards Markus and was about to envelop him in a crushing hug, but remembered his bandages and refrained for doing so. "Marky? Are you feeling okay?"
The monster walked to the stove that was definitely not here yesterday and plopped his frying pan on it. "I'm okay. I could use another bottle, but I'm okay." It was unknown what bottle he was referring to.
Then, Nora froze again. This time, it was because her immediate surroundings registered within her.
Okay, let's begin:
Olive painted walls, hardwood flooring, white plaster roof?
A bed and sofa in the corner, set up in a way that you would have to climb over the sofa to enter the bed?
A large tv on the wall, with a small table and chairs underneath?
A completely new wall that separates the room into the living area and the kitchen?
Updated lighting?
…
I don't remember this being here.
The monster already finished frying a couple pancakes. "Yes. I redecorated the room." Did she say that out loud?
…
Nora was in the kitchen area with the monster, who the others recently discovered was actually Markus.
A slap that sounded like a spatula colliding with a hand would ring out every so often.
The others were in the living area.
...
Team RWBY and JNPR minus Nora were horrified. They were all sitting on the sofa and bed, looking around at the posters on the wall.
They were on the posters.
Tens of team RWBY and JNPR posters were stuck onto the walls. Some focused specifically on one member of the team. Some included all of them in some activity.
Some were even bordering on obscene. That included the males as well.
But that was not all.
There was a couple bookshelves in the corner of the room, but there were no books on them.
Instead, small statues, figurines and even plushies were all over the shelf.
These were also all based on them. A good portion of the statues were almost naughty as well.
Behind them, there was a white body-length pillow lying on the bed. Yang widened her eyes when she recognized what kind of product that was. Putting one and one together, she prepared for the worst. She leaned towards Ruby, who did not think much of it.
...
Ruby hesitantly and anxiously flipped over the pillow over after her sister told her what it was.
There was most definitely a figure on the pillow. Thankfully though, it was no one they recognized. Everyone let out a breath they didn't know they held.
Things were already creepy in here, but that would have smashed the limit.
…
While in her shock, Blake noticed how some of the merchandising with her in it showed her faunus ears. She would have to ask about it later.
Markus walked towards the table in front of them and let down a plate of many pancakes. He had to push Nora away while walking, but when Nora caught sight of the room she stopped trying.
He put down his plate on the table and sat on one of the chairs. He grabbed a red fork that was already on the table and took his first bite, pulling down the bandages blocking his mouth to under his chin.
While chewing, he looked at the furiously twitching - and frankly, scared - teens.
He swallowed and opened his mouth.
"So, what's up?"
…
Weiss's inner rage was released. "What's up? What's up?!" She hopped off the sofa and jabbed a finger in Markus's chest. "What's up with this room!" She then noticed that the silhouettes on the t shirt were actually of her team, with the letters RWBY underneath. It did not help her mood.
Markus took another bite. "What do you mean?"
Weiss gestured towards the walls, bookshelves and his shirt. "Everything! Who gave you permission to use m-" Weiss looked around. "... our bodies like this?!"
Markus raised a finger. "First of all, what you see here," Markus gestured in a similar manner to Weiss. "Is only what I let you see." Markus then mumbled something under his breath.
Blake twitched.
"Second," Markus stood up and walked to his main clothes, which were laying in a pile on the the ground. He reached into his coat and pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper.
He handed the paper to Weiss before sitting back down. "Your team leader allowed it."
Weiss was going to retort, but instead furiously read through the paper. She paled more and more as she read, and eventually got to the bottom, where a messy signature written in a blue pen was.
Weiss froze.
She looked up finally and glared at Ruby. "What did you do?!"
Ruby waved her hands in front of her. "I-I don't remember signing anything! It might be fake!" She really didn't. She doesn't even have a real signature yet.
Weiss looked at her leader's body language before shifting her glare back to Markus. She opened her mouth but Markus spoke first.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I recorded it." He slid his scroll out of his pocket and tapped on it a few times before laying on the table. An audio file began to play.
...
They heard a door creak open.
A few light footsteps.
The sound of a paper being flipped out.
Markus's voice came through the scroll.
Hey, red girl. I need you to sign this.
…
Hey, red girl. His voice was a little louder, this time.
A voice higher in pitch came out. It was Ruby's. And it sounded dead tired.
...What…? …Yang?
No. I am not your sister.
Ruby did not seem to hear.
…Let me… go back… to sleep… Yang…
I'm not your sister. But I will let you sleep if you write your name on this.
The sound of paper flipping.
Right here. Here's a pen.
A cute yawn.
Ooookayyyyy…
The sloppy sound of scribbling.
After a moment of silence, Markus spoke.
Thanks, red girl. You can go back to sleep now.
The sound of a bed creaking and ropes tightening.
No more noise was recorded, but there still was the light static that came even if you recorded no noise at all.
…
Actually, red girl. Can you tell your white-colored teammate to let go of my legs?
There was no reply.
Hey, don't be like that.
The recording ended for real there.
…
Markus looked at Weiss and pointed to a bruise on his thigh.
"You have a very powerful grip, white girl."
Team RWBY were all pale. For differing reasons.
Weiss was mortified that she hung on to someone's legs in her sleep. Ruby was embarrassed at her half conscious actions. And Yang and Blake were fearful of the fact that Markus snuck into their dorm room and no one knew.
Jaune was snickering at their misfortune. What a chucklehead.
"That was about six hours ago, by the way. First thing I did when I woke up. Then I got to work making merch." Of course, this was false. It was all an intricate scam fabricated by Sykes. "I did it to you too, Jaune."
Jaune shut his mouth.
Markus grabbed the bottle with the bendy straw in it.
Slurp
…
RRIPP
Weiss tore the document in her hands right in half.
She sent a twitching smile at Markus.
Markus swallowed his bite. He then stood up and walked to his coat. Reaching in, he took out eight pieces of paper.
"I felt like you would do that. So, I also got individual consent from each and every one of you."
He fanned out the papers so you could see the lower half of them. Every single one had a different thumbprint stamped on the bottom. He pointed at their hands.
"Look, the ink is still there."
After a quick glance at their slightly purple thumbs, everyone paled considerably.
Markus walked back to his chair and handed the papers to Weiss.
"Rip them if you want, those aren't even the originals."
…
Weiss was standing over the remains of eight papers and pointed at Markus. She stuttered. "T-those weren't signed with our c-consent!"
Markus sent a sideways glance at Weiss.
"Prove it."
…
Something snapped.
…
…
…
"W-white girl, I c-can't breathe."
-Break-
A white haired faunus with rabbit ears was relaxing on a balcony, a heavy and old looking book in his hand.
After reading a couple lines from the book, he closed it and slipped it in his coat.
"This is boring." He hasn't done anything remotely interesting for the last day. That is too long of a period to not have done anything.
Essentially, it's time to leave.
Sykes stood up and walked into the house.
…
Later, Sykes was standing at the front entrance of the Belladonna household. He had a black bookbag that did not exist earlier slung over his shoulder.
He was currently saying various goodbyes to the two inhabitants of the house. In the one day he has been here, he has become quite good friends with them. Sykes just happens to be rather skilled in interpersonal communication.
"If you are ever in Menagerie, know that you are always welcome here, Sykes." Kali told him. Ghira, her husband and the last giant on Remnant nodded.
Always welcome here?
How exciting.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Sykes flinched slightly. "Oh yeah, I've got something for both of you."
Sykes reached into his bookbag and took out a square container, like the ones truffles would be stored in.
He held it out to them. "A couple chocolates, handmade by me." When the box was taken from his hands, he continued. "I would eat them quickly, they won't last too long. Especially in a climate like this."
Sykes started walking away after looking at his wrist. "I should leave now. Goodbye, Ghira, Kali. I'll be sure to return someday." He kept a hand in the air while he was walking.
They said something, but Sykes didn't really care.
...
When he left their and any other people's view, he stopped and looked around.
"So, he's come to Menagerie." Sykes let out a small smile. "Interesting."
Sykes disappeared.
…
On a cliff overlooking the ocean, Sykes reappeared. He looked around, and both the backpack on his shoulder and the rabbit ears on his head disappeared from existence.
"...Mistral, huh?" Sykes stretched his arms over his head. "Let's see what surprises you hold."
Before he started moving, he took out a mirror from his coat and looked into it. He smiled in many different ways until he found the unnerving one that he always had plastered on his face back when he was in Vale.
He complimented the handsome devil in the mirror.
Sykes slipped the mirror back in his coat and began wandering in no specific direction, but away from the ocean. Now, with the smile on.
He has four days before he has to return to Vale. Hopefully something interesting happens.
-Break-
Markus was rubbing his neck while glaring at Weiss through his bandages.
"What the hell, white girl? I almost passed out! Are you trying to kill me?"
Weiss was being held back by her team. "Yes. Yes I am." She glared at Markus with twice the force. "And I have a name, you know."
Markus opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by another's voice.
"Okay, that's enough!" Pyrrha was frustrated at the time wasted on Weiss choking out Markus. While she was distressed by all the merchandise in the room, she was already used to things like this and she had things she wanted to talk to Markus about. Namely, his father.
"Markus. A couple days ago, we fought your father."
Everyone stopped looking around to see Markus shoot his head towards Pyrrha so quickly they could hear a crack. "Really?!"
Pyrrha nodded. "Yes."
Markus stared at Pyrrha for a moment.
Once satisfied with his scrutiny, he then fell back in his chair, mirthfully chuckling, eventually becoming laughter. The laughter didn't cease for at least a minute.
...
Eventually, he stopped. Not because he wanted to, but because he would probably asphyxiate if he kept laughing.
He lifted a finger to wipe a moist part of his bandages near the eyes. It did absolutely nothing but slightly wetten his finger, but the idea behind the gesture was obvious.
"Woo… So!" He slapped his knees. "How'd it go? Ten seconds or five seconds? Who lasted the longest?" The pure excitement being released from his body was almost felt by the students.
Markus felt like a child finally revealing a toy that he's been keeping secret for years. Sykes was such a fun guy, he couldn't wait until he could share the joy with them.
…
That was sarcasm.
The teams were slightly put off by the lack of concern coming from Markus, but Pyrrha decided to humor him anyway.
"Umm… it took about a minute, and… I was the last one. I think." Pyrrha told him.
Markus choked on his last bite of cold pancake "A-a whole minute?! Really!? Did you record it?" He was able to keep his food down in the end.
Pyrrha was going to deny it, but the front door opened before she could talk.
From the open door, a man in a dark green suit walked in. Professor Ozpin.
He spoke. "Good morning, Mr. Quinn. It is good that you have woken up. Someone wishes to meet with… you." Even someone like Ozpin had to do a double take once he noticed the decorations in the room. "Ahem. Immediately, in my office. You may bring your fellow students."
…
The students looked at Markus. He wasn't moving at all and he looked spaced out.
Eventually, he snapped back to reality.
"Okay." Markus stood up. That action allowed the students to remember that he was wearing nothing but boxers and a team RWBY t shirt. The apron was removed when he left the kitchen area. "Let's go."
Oh yeah, the bandages and rabbit ears too.
They tried to stop him to get him to put on some pants or take off the ears, but he managed to elude them.
Ozpin raised an eyebrow at his student's attire, but did not comment on it. "Follow me, Mr. Quinn."
Markus walked with Ozpin, ducking and jumping to avoid his fellow students' attempts to make him wear pants or remove the ears.
-Break-
One awkward elevator ride later, the other students and I were at Ozpin's office.
It was lacking any chairs, as ever.
All three other members of Ozpin's brotherhood were standing behind the desk, and Ozpin soon joined them. If I were to guess, Ozpin made everyone show up so General Ironwood would not do anything too rash. He probably wants me locked up in a cell.
Sykes told me that if I get locked up, he will quite literally burn the world to ashes. So, that's nice.
The members of the brotherhood looked surprised at my current appearance. Qrow chuckled.
A wrapped head, t-shirt with other students on it, heart boxers, and bunny ears?
I really didn't understand why Sykes told me to wear this. At least it's comfortable.
…
I talked first.
"There's still no chairs in here, professor."
Ozpin ignored me. Smart move. Instead, Ironwood talked.
"I am James Ironwood, general of the Atlesian Military. I have a couple of questions for you, Markus."
I looked up at the general. He looked like he was having trouble finding where my eyes were.
"Is it about my father?" I crossed my arms.
"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Ironwood looked right back once he found my eyes.
"No. Not at all." I sat cross legged on the ground. "Shoot."
Sykes sounded extremely serious when he gave me directions for this part. He even gave me a script, and he said it will reveal what I should say when it is asked.
I'm not sure why exactly, but he seemed adamant on me following exactly what he says when he says it. I, having no reason to refuse, decided to go ahead and do whatever he wants.
…
Well, let's begin. The eight from teams JNPR and RWBY are listening too, so things should be interesting.
-Break-
Later
A man was standing in a field, the grass high enough to cover everything up to his thighs.
He was missing something, but that did not seem to affect him in any way.
…
Sykes lifted his left arm up and looked at his bloody hand. The glove was soaked, and was turning a dark red. A drop of blood would flow from somewhere and drip off one of his fingers every so often. It was unknown whose blood this was. Or if Sykes bleeds at all.
There was also some blood splattered on the sleeve, having most of it near the end and decreasing as it went up. Other than that, Sykes was completely stainless.
Sykes was smiling in his special way, and nodded. His head tilted down towards his feet.
"Thank you. That was thoroughly enjoyable."
Sykes lifted up a foot. "But, all good things must come to an end. Goodbye."
Sykes's foot stomped down.
CRAK
Something broke.
…
Sykes looked at the wrist of his bloody arm.
It's been four days, and it's time to return to Vale.
He did not bother to clean his sleeve before disappearing.
-Break-
Emerald and Mercury were walking in a warehouse. There was White Fang goons sorting Dust crates and doing some training exercises around them.
…
Eventually, they reached a small clearing in the maze of shipping containers and bullheads. In it was a table, a map, and some chairs.
Oh, and a cabin.
They saw Roman on the ground, doing push-ups.
…
Emerald broke the silence. "What are you doing?"
Roman looked to the side, but did not stop his exercise. "Oh! It's the kids. Where have you been all day? I've been worried."
Mercury spoke up. He sounded irritated. "You failed, Roman. The animal ran away."
Emerald and Mercury found Tukson's Book Trade and planned on taking care of him earlier today. When they entered, however, they found no traces of Tukson.
In other words, he escaped.
Roman frowned, but kept doing push-ups. He was going to say something, but was interrupted by a new woman's voice.
"I'm disappointed, Roman." A woman stepped onto an electric lift, lowering her to floor level. "You had so, so much time to eliminate the target. But, you failed to. Care to explain why?"
Emerald got excited once the woman got close. "Cinder!"
Roman shuddered and almost fell onto his face. Deciding to stop his exercise, he stood up straight and dusted his coat for any dust. "Hey, hey, blame the numbnut! He fattened me up with his unlimited supply of potato chips. I doubt I could have taken care of the animal even if I tried."
"But, no worries! I'm just about back to one hundred, now." Roman flexed.
Cinder seemed to think for a moment before looking around. "Speaking about that man, where is he, Roman?"
"No clue. I left him with ten huntsmen brats. Maybe he's rotting in a cell. Maybe he's dead." Roman shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me either way. Only good part about him is his movies."
Mercury leaned towards Emerald to whisper her a question. She shrugged and shook her head.
Cinder opened her mouth, but was interrupted.
"Oh, bossssssssssss~!" A man came from nowhere and attempted to tackle Roman. "I'm~ back~!"
Roman sidestepped. The man fell onto the ground and slid a couple feet.
When Roman recognized the man, he grabbed onto his head. "...Just what I needed."
Sykes stood up. "Did you miss me, boss? You're looking thinner." Sykes spread his arms. Something was off about the gesture, and Roman picked up on it immediately.
"Uh… numbnut. What happened to your arm?" Roman pointed at Sykes's right arm. Or, the empty space where a right arm should have been. Everything, including the coat, was missing past his right shoulder.
Sykes's smile froze when he looked at the stump on his right side. "Oh! My arm!" He grabbed onto the stump and fell to his knees. "M-MY ARM!" Sykes stopped smiling, incredibly.
Sykes sneezed.
He stood back up. "Oh, I remember." He frowned and sounded frustrated. "You see, boss, there was some brats I came across on my way here, and their massive egos really pissed me off. So, I told them I could beat them with one arm." He spread his arm again and began smiling creepily again. "It worked pretty well."
It was at this point that everyone in the immediate area noticed how the one sleeve he has on his coat was covered in blood, and would drip every so often. They also noticed that his right boot was completely bloodsoaked.
"You… cut off your own arm...?" Roman knew something was wrong with Sykes, but not to this extent.
"Huh? Yeah, I guess I did." Sykes reached into his coat and produced a prescription bottle. He noticed Cinder standing near him while trying to open the bottle with his teeth. "Oh. It's you, ma'am. What are you here for?" He was able to mumble out.
Pop
Sykes was able to get the child-proof cap off after a bit of trouble, and a couple small pills with checkered squares on them fell on the ground. He reached down to grab a few and shoved them in his mouth after slipping the prescription back in his coat.
Cinder was going to speak, but was interrupted, again. This time by a strange bubbling sound.
She noticed that Sykes's stump was bubbling, as if it was boiling water, except pitch black. Suddenly, the bubbles rapidly expanded into the general shape of an arm, throwing some black liquid onto the ground. The strange liquid stopped bubbling and shrunk, leaving a black sleeve with a white stripe on it and an gloved hand with a hollow white circle on the back.
As if it was a living creature, the splotches of black liquid thrown on the ground screeched and attempted to slide to Sykes's feet. He stomped on them, stopping the noise and the liquid's movement.
Sykes stretched his new arm over his head, allowing a few cracks and pops to ring out.
The others were dumbfounded and a little bit pale. "H-hey, numbnut, what was that?" Roman asked Sykes.
Sykes let down his arms and tilted his head. "It was a healing pill. What did you think?"
Before Roman could reply to that, Sykes suddenly disappeared.
"So, who are these kids?" A voice suddenly came from behind Emerald and Mercury. They shot around and saw Sykes standing there, pointing a finger at each of them. They unconsciously took a step back from the monster.
They also tensed and prepared for battle.
Cinder cleared her throat once she noticed their tensing. "Those two are my… underlings, I suppose. It would be beneficial if you remember them from now on. The grey one is Mercury and the green one is Emerald."
Sykes leaned forward and hummed in thought. "I see."
Sykes stared at them for a while, before bowing in his own special way. "I am Sykes, it is a pleasure."
When he stood straight again, he looked towards Mercury and then pointed at him. "I like the hair. You're very handsome."
Mercury touched his hair.
Sykes casually strolled to a spot diagonally behind Roman. He crossed his arms.
"You can get back to whatever you were doing now. I'm done."
…
Roman chuckled. He loved how Sykes could confuse just about anyone. That, and his movies. He also liked his potato chips quite a bit, even if he would never admit it.
While Roman went on a tangent in his mind, Mercury and Emerald really didn't know what to do. So, they looked to Cinder for any sign of instruction.
She broke the silence, after a little while. "Well. It is good to see you again, Sykes."
Sykes has only been becoming more and more interesting to Cinder. She has been keeping an eye on his actions for the last four months, and discovered more of his personality and his skill in crime that may even surpass Roman's. With his level of skill and strange atmosphere, it should not be long until he catches her attention.
So, she did not mind him listening in.
…
…
…
"We're proceeding to phase two." Cinder began to saunter away, flanked by both Emerald and Mercury.
She was only able to get so far before she heard an offhand comment from Sykes, directed to Roman.
"You think she gets inner thigh rashes? Walking like that must chafe her legs."
Cinder almost stumbled. Mercury and Emerald didn't hear.
Roman laughed out loud. "No clue, numbnut. No clue." Roman turned around and put an arm around Sykes, turning him around as well.
"Well, we have lots of work to do. Let's get started."
Roman and Sykes disappeared around a corner.
That was honestly the first thing I thought when I saw that scene.