Hey folks!
Happy easter! I have a small break, but apparently not as much as I would hope. Such is life, I guess.

Enjoy the chapter!

Ruby Rose: Spidergirl

Chapter 6 – Aftermath

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Ruby stepped out of the shower clad in her 'new' pyjamas, having outgrown her old ones since she became Spidergirl. Though the powers she could control, the height gain she could not, and though she had managed to modify her more important items of clothing she had been left significantly short on a number of essentials. Dad had sent some of Yang's old clothes, which now fit her near perfectly, but because they were, well, Yang's, they were a tad more… form-fitting than her old ones.

She resolved to buy a new set as soon as possible.

Nobody was around, luckily, allowing her to sneak into the shower. Her destroyed suit had been hidden in the workshop beforehand, and the clothes underneath had been hidden in the wash-pile for later. She sighed, laying down on the bed.

Her body ached like nothing else, but the shower had soothed her muscles somewhat; however, stretching out on a soft bed was more pleasant that she had ever felt it, and grogginess immediately returned to her.

She looked sadly at her shattered scroll screen, which was now discoloured and blotchy, before setting an alarm and pulling the covers over her head. That'd show her for cheaping out on a civilian model – she would get a proper huntress' scroll as soon as she could.

When Yang returned to the dorm, smelling slightly of alcohol, she found the adorable sight of a sleeping Ruby waiting for her. Neither she nor her other teammates bothered to disturb her as she slept soundly. She had a lot to do, after all. More than they knew.

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Ruby pulled her suit over her head, sucking in air effortlessly through the filters in the mask.

It had taken a couple days to fix the suit, and she hadn't had the time to upgrade it at all like she had hoped – but she had to get back out there, helping people, even if it meant the suit wasn't quite up to her usual standard.

She had a responsibility, after all.

She sighed, jumping down from the ledge and swinging through the streets. It was night-time now, her late-night jaunt excused by the fact that the other three had gone out to visit the very club that Yang had checked out the other day. Apparently, she wanted to share it with them – but not her. Of course, Ruby wasn't a fool – she knew they were drinking, and other such things – but the opportunity was far too convenient to bother with reprimanding Yang for underage drinking. Save it for another time.

She'd been looking for hours, but there was no sign of the Rhino anywhere.

After she'd gotten away, the police had taken Rhino away – but he never reached his destination. Somehow, he had escaped – and now he was at large. You'd think that a giant man in grey spandex with a weird black horn on his head would be easy to find, but no.

She recalled seeing the news story the next day, all sitting together in their dorm.

"I mean, that's ridiculous! How do you lose a prisoner like that! Honestly, this kingdom's police…" Weiss was incensed. She seemed to be incensed most of the time, actually.

Yang nodded. "With a guy that big, they should have called a huntsman in to handle it. I mean, he looks more like a Grimm than a man!"

Weiss huffed in agreement, and the conversation moved on quickly. That's the Vale news cycle, Ruby thought to herself.

Blake had sat silently in the corner of the room throughout the whole thing, watching the screen. Ruby wondered what kind of thoughts were running through her mind. She was a quiet and secretive girl, and Ruby hadn't had a lot of chances to get to know her better.

Blake noticed her gaze and looked back at her book, and Ruby let her have her privacy.

Somehow, Yang and Weiss' conversation had made its way back to Rhino.

"I still don't understand how he escaped so easily!"

"C'mon, Weiss, it ain't that hard to see." Yang paused the TV on a helicopter shot of Ruby's fight with Rhino – he was in full view, huge and imposing even in the grainy footage. "Look how big that guy is! He must have overpowered them or something."

"Even still, is he really that strong?"

Yang laughed. "Trust me, Weiss, I watched the whole fight footage myself online. This guy is stacked – nearly turned Spidergirl into mush."

"Oh yes, that Spidergirl again. Wasn't he looking for her intentionally? I find that a little suspicious, to be honest. What if the whole thing is a setup?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "You sound like that Jameson guy."

Blake giggled quietly at the jab while Weiss grumbled at the comparison.

Yang suddenly picked the remote back up. "Hey, I wonder what his angle on this one is?"

All four of them sat up a little as she changed the channel over to the Daily Remnant news channel, which was run by the editor-in-chief himself. True enough, J. Jonah Jameson could be seen alongside a still of the Rhino.

"And yet again, this 'Spidergirl' character races to the scene. Rhino was after her! If this doesn't show you how the two of them could be working together, I don't know what will. Spidergirl is a menace to our streets, and-"

Yang switched the TV off. "Yup," she drawled, "Called it."

Ruby sighed, leaning back into her bed. It bothered her, how easily he had escaped. How long the police had taken to arrive. What was going on? And nothing bothered her quite as much as the accusations, Jameson being the primary source. Her aches hadn't even fully healed yet, and people were already speculating. It looked like this was going to be a bigger gig than she'd ever planned.

Oh well, she had to take responsibility somehow. If this was the way, this was the way.

Yang called up to her, and Ruby propped herself up.

"You doin' good sis? You look kinda… stressed, maybe?"

Ruby forced a smile. "Oh, no, just schoolwork and stuff. Y'know, the usual."

Yang nodded. "Well, If you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask. K?"

Ruby nodded. "Okie-dokie!"

That had been the day after the fight, and the memory was still fresh. Yang didn't know that there wasn't much she could do to help Ruby with her issues. Argh, she wished things weren't so complicated!

She sighed, stopping on a random roof. Why had Rhino wanted her specifically? And she was still wondering what he had done to her leg. She had planned to investigate it the next day, but the wound had healed during the night. She'd never realised super healing could be so inconvenient! It wasn't something that was meant to affect her, or she'd have felt something by now. Probably. She hoped. Still, it was odd that he had been looking to fight her and had waited for her to arrive.

What had he been planning? Or was it his plan at all? Not to mention the question of why he looked like a rhino in the first place. There was something odd about the whole thing, but she couldn't place it. She was missing a few pieces to this puzzle, and it was troubling. Very troubling.

She stretched her still sore muscles before leaping into the skies again. If she was going to be out so late, she might as well make the most of it.

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"Well, this is certainly interesting."

The warehouse was dark, many of its regular lighting fixtures blocked by the crates of dust that were stored there. It was nearly empty of life as well, the only people within being some of the most cruel and dangerous people known to Remnant.

Cinder Fall was looking at a picture of a microscope slide in mild interest. She turned back to the man who she was, begrudgingly, working with. "But what does it mean?"

Watts' moustached lip twitched into a cocky smile. "I'm glad you asked." He flipped through the file he had prepared. "It shows that the cause of the girl's powers isn't magical, its genetic."

Cinder scowled. She had hoped it might be something she could steal – perhaps even a new bearer for the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers – but it would seem this was a different thing entirely. "That's unfortunate."

Watts nodded. "Indeed, but that isn't all."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Now I may be no geneticist, but I know a few things. This blood sample contains some unusual components, and I managed to trace them back to the gene that codes for their creation. And I found something very interesting indeed."

He took the file from Cinder's hands and lay it down on the table, a picture of a line of text revealed. A combination of Cs and Gs and other letters, in a long list. Cinder looked up at Watts. "What is this?"

"This is the gene I found. It's part of a longer genetic sequence that I found spliced into the girl's DNA. I believe that sequence is the sole reason for her powers. And yet, I found something very interesting." He flipped the page again, revealing another picture of an identical string. "This is something I found on an Atlas server."

"Is that the same?"

"Indeed. In fact, the whole genetic sequence – minus a few natural mutations – was on the very same server."

Cinder picked the file back up. "So Atlas is researching genetic manipulation…"

"Actually, I don't think so. The situation seems far stranger." He turned the page again, revealing the SDC logo among other photos. "The server was an SDC server, specifically one containing data relating to one of their Vale facilities."

"The SDC then."

"Indeed, but that isn't the whole picture. The sequence was located in relation to a project on dust-infused animals – this appears to what they found when inspecting the DNA of one of their experimental projects, a dust-infused spider. It would appear that dust infusing the spider caused a notable change to their genetic code."

"And somehow, this girl got a hold of it… Then maybe we can too?" She looked back at Watts who smiled smarmily.

"That was precisely my thoughts. I traced the location of the spiders, and they are still located here in Vale – under the purview of one Doctor Octavius."

Cinder turned before Watts could see her smile. Somehow, he'd actually done something useful for once. It didn't matter how the girl had got the powers – she could have a stab at it herself. She schooled her smile into something regal and turned back to his expectant gaze.

"Looks like we have some spiders to steal."

Watts nodded. "I'm glad you agree." He picked up the files before he stopped suddenly. "Oh! What do you want me to do with our new friend, the so-called 'Rhino'? I know we offered to remove his suit for him in return for Spidergirl's blood, but the material is bonded to the skin. I'm not sure it's actually possible."

Cinder hummed. Bribing the cops to release him to them had been costly, but he had given them everything they needed from him. "Kill him."

Watts nodded and turned to leave. "Understood." He took a few steps towards the door.

"Wait!"

Watts stopped, turning back. "Yes?"

Cinder hummed again, this time giving it more thought. "Even if we can't remove him from his suit, we can pretend that we are still trying. Give him some upgrades and keep him on standby. A man that strong will be a good ally."

Watts grinned eerily. "It would be my pleasure."

Well, it seems that Watts and Cinder are working together here. I suppose Salem must have taken some interest in the sudden appearence of somebody with strange spider powers and super strength...

And Rhino was working with them. What a surprise!

That should do it for now. More should hopefully be coming next week.

Hope you enjoyed and I will see you dreckly.