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The readouts stared back at her, daring her to deny the facts they presented. And she wanted to deny it – things like this were beyond the ability of humans to comprehend fully. But Ruby was no 'mere' human. She had gathered the data herself, so there was no mistaking the accuracy of the information.
The clear, glass-like dust crystals gave off a steady, musical hum from their mounts. At times she thought she saw miniature stars glittering within them. Was it any wonder she referred to them as Resonators?
After many years of research, development, testing, failing, cussing, more testing, and begging for more funds to keep testing with… Ruby was finally ready to try her machine. She was ready to make history.
She would become the first woman to travel between dimensions. History in the making. This would also prove her multiverse theory beyond any doubt.
Ruby hit a few buttons and started the process. The device made an obnoxiously loud sound, and Ruby made a point to work that out with the next iteration of the machinery. The transfer field erupted in a blaze of light. It had an odd blue-green tinge to it, and she made another mental note to examine this light. Did it have anything to do with her machine, or was it a naturally occurring thing?
Oh well. Now was not the time to ruminate over such details. On to history!
Ruby walked through the opening carefully, unsure of the wonders waiting beyond the portal. What sort of fantastic world was just sitting there, past the edge of reason?
She would soon learn. Moments after walking through, Ruby met the girl called Rain. Shortly after that, she would take the nickname Carmine.
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Chapter 13:
Black
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8:13 AM, Saturday
BMAC, Carmine's Lab
(Morning of Day 5)
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The clickity-clack of fingers across the keyboard was the only sound in the room as Rose waited on the resident mad scientist to speak. Carmine could have done this all day, though. In fact, she did go all day once… but paid for it the next morning with sore joints. The fun times of writing out long medical reports for hours on end. Ah those were the good ol' days…
"I've got the results of your scan back, and I was right. You have a massive hormone imbalance resulting in the most concentrated naturally-occurring pheromone levels I've ever seen." She turned to regard the muscular teen, staring at her over the top of her glasses. "These are really something."
While Carmine was rightfully dubbed the 'mad scientist' by the other members of the group, she really was, in truth, a doctor. In fact, she had been offering her services to the Academy as a temporary nurse in the clinic. She'd helped patch up numerous huntsman-in-training by this point. And through it all, the grown version of Ruby still found time to work on her personal research projects. So much to do, and all that…
Rose glanced at the readout on the massive screen (with a blank look), then said, "So what does that mean for me?"
"It means I can fix it." Carmine simply stood and fetched a large, beige-colored plastic bottle and handed it to the tall teen. The bottle bore a simple smiley-face on the label. "This is your medicine. A shampoo-body wash combination. Use this at least three times a week or things will go back to the way they are now. I've also included the formula for the medicine in a file I sent to your scroll - that way you can have more made when you get home."
Silver eyes grew brighter. "You mean… I'll be… normal?"
"Oof…" spectacled eyes winced, "I hesitate to use words like that, but yes. 'Normal.' In simple terms, this should drastically reduce the output of your… shall we say… love perfume?"
Rose snorted, unamused at the joke. Still, she held that bottle much like it was her firstborn. "I'm gonna go use this right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you…!" The last words were cut off as the door shut behind her. Carmine could have sworn the girl's eyes were sparkling.
She sighed, returning to her console. There was a lot more she could have said regarding her findings – such as the fact that Rose likely got that imbalance from her father, or the fact that different people would have different levels of reactions – but it was too late for that now. Back to her report.
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Truth was, Carmine had more work to do than anyone else could have imagined… but resigned herself to the fact that she'd never be able to finish it all, even if she lived for a hundred years. The most obvious jobs involved her current situation: learning exactly what her Resonators back home were detecting, running full scans on all 9,900 known timelines (of which she was only 57% done), scanning for even more beyond that, and making sure none of the numbers got too screwy. On top of that, since she considered herself one of the only 'grown-ups' of this little group, Carmine felt a generous sense of responsibility to make sure these kids all made it back home in time to prevent the end of their worlds.
And let's not even mention what she will have to deal with once she gets home to her own world. So, yeah… no pressure.
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She had the lights low and all the windows blocked, just as Rain wanted. Ku sat in the center of the room, sleeping peacefully… or at least, as peacefully as someone can sleep while tied to a chair. Rain was going to have a talk with Ku's other half, the creature called Thorn.
Carmine had installed various sensors and detectors around the room to monitor Ku's brain activity, but she was asked not to include any cameras or audio recording devices. Rain wanted their conversation to be private. Carmine didn't want to be in the room when Thorn returned anyway, but her curiosity was strong. She hid one microphone close to Ku's chair, hoping Rain didn't know about it.
Once everything had been set up, all Carmine had to do was switch everything 'on' and monitor things from her main room. Simple. Of course, she had a pair of headphones ready to listen. The conversation had already been going on for a few minutes by the time she put them on. She heard nothing at first.
Soon there was the sound of eerie singing, in a rough voice that carried a tune strangely well.
"Close your eyes now, time for dreams…
Death is never what it seems…
Take the things you thought you should…
All the things they said were…
Good…"
Needless to say, Carmine cut the feed off quick. Her stomach lurched once, a warning. It took several minutes for her goosebumps to settle down.
What the hell was wrong with that child?
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Carmine shook her head briskly, trying to shake loose the memory of that creepy song. It was a nice day today, though a bit cloudy, as she made her way to the headmaster's office. She knew the way perfectly well, but often enjoyed taking the scenic route anyway. The old man could wait a few extra minutes.
As she walked, the mad scientist was treated to an unexpected sight: Weiss and Sapphire having a peaceful conversation in a nearby breezeway. They cut off as she approached, so she didn't hear what they were taking about, but the simple fact that they were talking at all was a major step forward – especially considering how they started off when the taller of the two first appeared.
"Well good morning you guys," Carmine greeted them. "I see you've… made up."
Ice-blue eyes glanced at Sapphire, then Weiss answered, "Yes, well… it was high time we put aside our differences. I needed to apologize, and she needed someone to talk to…"
"What about you?" Sapphire cut in. "What brings you out of your cave?"
So I'm a cave troll now, am I? Carmine had to fight the urge to check and see if her hair was messy. "As a matter of fact, I'm off to see the wizard!" This earned a flat look from both Schnees.
Sigh… kids these days. No sense of humor.
The rest of the walk was less eventful, but the young doctor did manage to spot most of the other members of the Ruby Squad along the way. Cherry was hanging around Velvet Scarlatina (again, though that wasn't a problem), and Yang and Red were having a spirited conversation down one hallway. Considering the fact that Ku was currently 'grounded,' that accounted for most everybody. Well, except…
"Took you long enough. Everyone's waiting," Rose grunted as Carmine stepped off the elevator. Just past her was Coco Adel, Glynda Goodwitch, General Ironwood, and of course Ozpin himself. A meeting of the bigwigs, and they all seemed to be waiting on her for some mysterious reason.
In spite of herself, Carmine felt a goofy half-grin slip onto her face. She suddenly felt like a child being sent to the principal's office.
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3:58 PM, Sunday
About Twelve Miles South of Mountain Glenn
(Afternoon of Day 6)
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Team CFVY really didn't need her to come along, even more so because they had Rose with them. The muscular teen was more than capable of keeping up with the second-years all by herself. But Ozpin wanted her to accompany them to gather data on some sort of… 'new' Grimm. Carmine suspected the old man simply wanted her to go outside and play for a bit.
And then they actually found the damn thing – a large creature with the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a humanoid. It was similar in shape to the Nuckelavee (which she had personally documented back home), but it was actually closer to the mythical centaur… and so Carmine named it. She remained in the circling bulkhead transport, taking data and photos from a safe height, all while the five huntsman-in-training were trying their best to kill it. Carmine noticed that Rose had taken a sort of guard position near Velvet, though there didn't seem to be much reason for it. Still, it wasn't a bad thing.
The Centaur Grimm had quite the tough hide, giving Coco's minigun a workout. In fact, it almost looked like it had some sort of electromagnetic shield… hard to tell from up here. It also moved quite fast, making for a harder target than it already was. It's hide was tough enough to block most of the damage from the two boy's blades as well. She watched on, wondering absently how she would fare against it, given the chance…
She sighed. This one was theirs to kill. Goodwitch had given that order rather explicitly.
The pilot of her transport was doing an admirable job keeping the ship low and close as the fight drifted into a clearing just past the thickest part of the woods here. After what seemed like an hour-long battle, it was a combination attack from Yatsuhashi and Rose that finally parted the Centaur's head from it's shoulders. It seemed longer because Carmine already had all the data she needed, and she was just waiting for them to finish up.
"Good work down there, guys," she buzzed them on her earpiece. They each responded back in turn.
And then everything started happening at once.
The transport lurched hard, throwing Carmine off balance. She just caught sight of a black shape darting past the open door of the bulkhead. A Nevermore. This pilot was going to get a hefty bonus after they got back.
There was also distant roaring. Once she got back to her feet, Carmine leaned out and spotted a very large mass of black shapes with blazing red eyes heading for the teens. Almost all Beowulf. There were also a large number of other Nevermores above them, flying in the same direction. She swallowed hard – that was one large nest of pissed-off Grimm. "Uh, guys? You've got incoming." She didn't have to speak loudly for the receiver to pick her voice up, but she started talking louder anyway. "That is one seriously big gang of Grimm coming for you!"
"Do we have time to clear out?" That was Rose, sounding a bit panicked.
"They're coming too fast," Fox said next.
"I'm almost out of ammo…" Coco this time.
Carmine could feel her eyes sparkling. Hot damn, here was her chance! "Then your mission is over. Just sit tight guys… It's MY turn to help!" She ignored the confused replies as she stood up in the still-open doorway. She licked two of her fingers a bit, stretched out her right hand, and gave a loud snap.
Fox spoke up seconds later on the radio. "What the… what the heck is that buzzing noise?"
The mad scientist looked in the general direction of Beacon and grinned when she saw what she was looking for. A cloudy black mass, flowing like liquid, cutting through the air with the speed of a bullet. It was time, baby. She would have laughed manically if there had been more than a few seconds to spare.
Instead, she jumped. With no parachute. Carmine couldn't hear the group's concerned cries over the sudden rush of wind past her ears. She held out her hand and waited.
The black mass rapidly reached her, gathering into her open palm and sending out tendrils to catch her fall. She gripped it, holding on as her descent was quickly slowed. The black mass caught in the branches of nearby trees, struck into the ground, and wrapped around Carmine's arm as it brought her safely down to ground level. The five teens stared in stunned silence.
With a flick of her wrist, Carmine gathered the black mass into her outstretched hand. It flowed like sentient water, yet quickly took on a solid shape… a shape Rose knew well… a shape any of the Ruby's would know well…
It became a massive, all-black scythe weapon.
Bigger than Crescent Rose, and meaner-looking as well. A small bit of the blackness formed a C-shape on the side of Carmine's face, just to the side of her right eye.
No one spoke for a few seconds, but Rose broke the silence first. "What in the hell is that?!"
The urge to laugh like a lunatic was getting hard to suppress as Carmine looked over the stunned faces before her. "Allow me to introduce you to… Omega Rose." The massive black weapon sent a ripple along it's length, reminding them that it only appeared solid. "Mwa ha ha," she added.
They simply blinked. She didn't blame them.
"And now if you'll excuse me… I have some Grimm to kill." She twirled Omega Rose around, setting her feet into position. She could feel her face twisting into a feral grin.
This was gonna be fun.
The first few Beowulf to break through never saw her coming – she shot herself forward, twisting as she flew. Three down in the blink of an eye. Several more spins took out another four almost as quickly. She didn't even try to figure out where to go next, or which way to turn. Such movements were so ingrained into her muscles that she could fully tune out of the fight and be done before she even knew it…
But she wanted to be there. She needed this.
…And she wanted to show off a bit.
After sending another half-dozen to oblivion, the rest realized that charging this strange woman in the lab coat was bad and started to back off. None of them tried to go around her and get to the others, though. Carmine twitched her hand and Omega obeyed – it shifted into a liquid mass again, quickly forming into a copy of Coco's minigun. Just before she started firing, Carmine heard the beginnings of a protest from the brunette (what the…) which was quickly drowned out as she began mowing down the enemy.
And she didn't care, either. Gods, this was fun. Fun… gun… heh, they sound the same… heh heh.
Half the number down, half to go. Carmine tossed the weapon into the air lightly, then snapped the fingers of both hands – the black liquid quickly flowed back down and took the shape of Blake's sword, Gambol Shroud. Carmine wasn't much of an expert of using other people's weapons as well as they did, but she'd studied their techniques enough to make it work. And this one was fun all by itself… sending the gun part flying around by the ribbon while it fired was a pure blast.
The scientist was starting to lose control, but she welcomed it. She'd never had much of a chance to just… release her built-up tension.
Only a handful left. Time for the finale. She spread her hands apart, forming a T with both arms. Omega answered it's master's order and flowed around Carmine's arms, forming a complex set of armor that closely resembled Ember Celica, except this version continued on up to her shoulders. The scientist slammed her fists together, face fully contorted into a mad sneer, and ran forward.
The others would later tell her that her tongue was hanging out while she fought.
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Five minutes later, it was all over. The five teens and one adult each sat in a seat of the transport bound for Beacon.
"So did you enjoy making us all look like a bunch of rank amateurs?" Rose asked dryly.
"Oh yes, very much so… heh-heh…" Carmine was still giggling every so often. That happened every time she cut loose like that – a lingering madness, as she thought of it.
"I have to admit, though," Coco added from the other end of their seats, "that was quite the show. And your little friend was rather familiar… right, Velvet?"
The rabbit faunus nodded, suspicion painted across her face as she looked over at Carmine. Yatsuhashi and Fox merely sat in silence, waiting for the transport to land, but there was no doubt they were both listening intently.
The mad scientist had no problem picking up the unspoken question. "It is similar to your weapon, Velvet, and for good reason – you helped me develop it. Well, the you from back home that is…"
Velvet's face became the very picture of surprise and shock. She was aware of the existence of alternate realities now (thanks to talking with Rose and the others), but learning that another version of yourself was doing something so… incredible… was rather unexpected.
The black mass known as Omega Rose was currently residing in a duffel bag next to Carmine's feet. Every so often it would poke a tendril of itself out of the small opening, almost like it was checking on the other passengers. Rose noticed this. "So, um, …what is it, anyway?"
"Nanomachines, of course." Carmine almost rolled her eyes. Really, how could she not see that?
Both Rose and Coco made an 'O' shape with their mouths. Rose did roll her eyes then, not caring for Carmine's tone of voice. Deal with it, kid. It's not gonna get any better.
Carmine opened one hand, beckoning Omega to come out. It complied, flowing out and running itself over and around her hand without a single noise. She lightly caressed it, letting it touch her back as she daydreamed a bit. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed every other occupant of the vehicle watching the exchange. She could kind of understand their feelings, to a point.
In short, Omega Rose was a nanomachine cluster that was specially attuned to Carmine's mental wavelengths. Simply put, it scanned her brain and formed itself into whatever shape she wanted. There were times where she would snap her fingers or nudge her hands, but most of the information came from the piece over her eye, which acted as a scanner. It took a good amount of focus to get it right, but when she did… it was a work of art. The scientist casually explained all of this as she let Omega play around with her open hand.
At a nudge, the non-liquid flowed back into the bag. It then zipped it's own bag shut, prompting a surprised squeak from Velvet. Carmine fought back the giggles.
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5:02 PM
Beacon Academy Cafeteria
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"This is the single coolest thing I've ever seen in my life," Yang declared. Her lavender eyes danced as the black substance swirled around her. It was saying 'hello.'
Blake seemed impressed as well, but her reaction was more tempered. "It is rather neat, but I'm curious… why wait until now to bring it out?" She took a slow bite of her mashed potatoes. "Would've been a big help the other day…"
Ku was on the edge of her seat, her eyes sparkling. She had a clear I-want-to-touch-it look on her face. It should be noted that the childish adult was dressed in very casual clothes – nothing that had a hood. At all.
Weiss ignored the show, sitting across from Sapphire at the far end of the table. They were busy discussing something related to their family – all Carmine caught was the occasional use of the word 'Father.'
"I wasn't hiding him, not really…" Carmine adjusted her glasses as she spoke. "He was in my lab every time you all came to visit me."
"He was…?" Rose was understandably curious. With a light flick of her wrist, Carmine showed them what she meant. The black mass flowed quickly to a space just behind her and took the shape of an office chair – the one from her lab.
"So let me get this straight…" Yang started to say, "…you brought the single coolest weapon of all and – literally – sat on it this whole time?"
"Yep," she replied with a pop.
Little Cherry had already said her own hello to Omega and was busy eating. She looked up at Ku, who was still staring at it, and tugged the taller girl's sleeve, saying, "Ku, eat your veggies before they get cold." She had a very motherly tone.
"But I wanna see i~i~it…" Ku whined in response. Carmine noticed the girl's hand reaching for the edge of a hood that wasn't there, likely a nervous tick, but worth noticing. "And I don't like carrots…" the adult-child pouted.
Pretty much the entire Ruby Squad had arrived in time to have dinner together, which was a nice change from normal – 'normal' in this case meant that most of the time everyone ate separately.
Red sat next to Yang, looking much better now that he had gotten more comfortable around her. Carmine knew that his fear would only get worse if he didn't make every effort to overcome it, and by the looks of things that's exactly what was happening. Rose sat across from Blake, and the scientist clearly noticed a difference in the muscular teen. Mainly the smell. That medicinal shampoo was working like a charm. Carmine couldn't help but notice that Blake kept stealing glances at Rose throughout the meal, though.
After being stuck in her room for a few days, Ku was finally allowed to roam outside. She sat next to Cherry, who was helping keep her in line. The two seemed more like sisters than any of the others thus far, and for that Carmine was grateful. Even after the incident in town earlier in the week, nearly everyone seemed to be warming up to Ku – notable exceptions included Ren and Nora, who avoided her like the plague ever since Nora came home from the hospital.
Glancing over at the two Schnees, Carmine wondered what had finally happened to bring them together. Their talking was at a low volume, so she couldn't hear much of anything but, oddly enough, she did hear the occasional bouts of laughter. She smiled at that, glad that the off-world soldier had found someone to connect with. Sapphire had been training the two from team JNPR, but according to the teacher herself, Pyrrha wasn't likely to last too much longer. Jaune, however, seemed eager to train all the way up to the day of their departure.
Their departure? Oh, dear… that's coming up fast, isn't it?
"…?" Carmine noticed that Yang was slowly looking around the room with a confused look on her face, brows tightly knitted.
"You okay?"
The blonde simply scratched the back of her head, admitting, "…I feel like we're forgetting something…"
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=^w^=