Speed Booster-SargentEpsilon gave me the idea of using Wind Dust to replace Ruby's semblance, but the idea is not finalized. Ideas are still welcome.
Super Missiles-Jacob9594 gave me the idea of Ruby combing two dust into one to make her energy blasts strong. But the idea is not is finalized. Ideas are still welcome.
Power Bomb-Ideas Welcome.
Gravity Suit-Ideas Welcome.
Diffusion Missiles-Ideas Welcome.
Ice Beam-Still undecided, but ideas are still welcome. I might just remove this power-up altogether.
Alright, the power-ups are starting to be smaller. To the new reviewer, sundew112604, I did get your ideas and will think about using them. I'm just trying to see if anyone else comes up with something before I use them. Just know I might rework the ideas when I do, okay? But thanks anyway. Now there's not much to say this time so I'm going to cover Sector 2 for this chapter.
Ruby rode down the elevator into Sector 2. But no matter where she went, she could feel something watching her, hunting her. She steps into the Navigation Room and contacts Winter.
"Miss Rose, dude to someone take over, I forgot to ask for your report in Sector 1," Winter said, looking towards the side.
Ruby sighs, she forgot about reporting as well. So, she told them how she dealt with atmospheric stabilizers and came to another lab room. She told her about the strange bird-like statue before it turned into a Parasite. She mention how different it was from the last one and when she absorbs it, she was able to use Gravity Dust to perform a charge shot with her Crescent Rose.
Winter was surprised. She never heard anything like the statue she mention, nor anything about chargeable dust. She then remembers her own report she needs to tell her.
"Miss Rose, I have learned the identity of our mystery saboteur." She said.
"You did?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, it's a Death Parasite mimicking you. Weiss had come to name it Death Rose." Winter said, showing the image of it.
Ruby gulps, her eyes full of fear. It looks just like her, cloak and everything. It even had its own Crescent Rose! But its eyes, gone where the silver eyes she had. In its place were fully black eyes that had tears coming from them. Winter took the image down and decide to inform Ruby why they took her dust.
"Miss Rose, the real reason we took most of your Dust away was because of your Grimm DNA. After a bit of studying, we have learned that your Grimm DNA is still harmful to Dust. While we can't figure out why your aura isn't attacking it, it's clear that Death Rose has dust with it. I highly avised if you even meet it, don't fight it. Just run." She said.
Ruby gulps. That explains the pain she had earlier. From what Ruby could tell, her parasite copy looks to have all her skills. But was unsure how much of them she knew. Winter heard a beep and turns away for a second.
"Miss Rose, Ironwood has ready your first upgrade. It will allow you to drop small dust bombs that will break things your blasts can not. There's a Data Room in this sector you can use to get it. But it locked behind a security hack." Winter said.
"So, I got to find the hatch and unlock it?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, but per safety protocols, it's not marked on the map. You'll have to find it on your own. So first locate the Security Room and release the locks, then go to the Data Room to get that Bomb data. And keep an eye out for the Death Rose. It's hunting you." Winter said.
Ruby nods. With her mission set, she turns and started to head out. But not before recharging at the Recharge Station before doing so.
Beacon,
Winter sighs. Clearly, she was more out of the loop than she thought. Still, the Death Parasites were far more dangerous than she thought.
"Are you okay?"
She turns to see Blake close by, a bit worried about her.
"I'm fine. It's the Parasites I'm far more worried about." Winter said.
"They clearly are dangerous." Blake agrees.
"Which is why you should have Ruby get out of there!" Yang shouted.
"Yang, did you forget what Ruby told you? She won't leave until she finds survivors!" Weiss reminds her.
She looks down before sighing.
"Dad and Uncle Qrow just call me. They know about Ruby and the mission she's on." Yang said.
Winter raised an eyebrow. It was one thing to have Ozpin learn about this and another to have the rest of team RWBY learn, but how did Tai and Qrow learn about it?
"Just what I need, more problems," Winter said, sighing.
"Did you tell them that this was her choice?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, but they're still coming over," Yang said.
'This can't get any worst!' Winter thought.
Sector 2,
Ruby dodges a huge insect as it dove at her. She quickly shot it down and absorbs the parasite. She sighs as she kept walking through the area, trying to find the security hatch to let her find the Data Room. She enters another room before seeing it cover in greeny. She understood this was supposed to be a tropical sector, but it look more like a jungle. Still, she had to find the lock hatch. Luckily, most of the areas were clear of the Death Soul Parasites. Ruby spends the next five minutes running from room to room, getting annoyed.
"COME ON! WHERE IS THIS STUPID ROOM?!" Ruby shouted.
Ruby enters another room before seeing a blue door. Confused, she walks up to it and tries to open it.
"LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT. DISABLE LOCKDOWN TO RELEASED HATCH."
Ruby sighs. She found it. But now to get in. Since the door won't open, she had to look for another way. Ruby looked up while thinking and notices a crack behind some of the vines. She fires one of her blasts and climbs up the hole. She saw another door, and this one was grey. She opens it and drops down into the Security Room.
"Finally!" She said, running up to it.
"Now, how do I unactivated the security hatch?" She asked, looking it over.
She then spotted something that looks to fit her hand. She looks at her gauntlet and places it inside. She watches as her suit glows for a few seconds before hearing a voice.
"SECURITY LEVEL 1 UNLOCKED. BLUE HATCHES ARE NOW ACTIVATED."
"Yes! Now, where's that Data Room?" Ruby said, bringing up her arm.
She check the map she downloaded and saw the Data Room was a bit away from where she was at. She nods and left the room. As Ruby ran through the rooms, she notice more parasites were starting to swarm in, taking up many forms to try and stop her. Sadly, they fell to Ruby and didn't know about her Grimm DNA when they try to take her body. Ruby was scared of them, knowing she had a way to keep herself safe. It took a few more rooms before Ruby found the Data Room. When she enters the room, she notices a strange machine in the middle and light beeping.
"UPGRADE READY. PLEASE STEP INSIDE TO RECEIVE THE UPGRADE."
Ruby blinks before doing so. Her suit glows once more before a light appears around her waist. When it faded, Ruby notices she had a belt with her Rose symbol on it.
"BOMB UPGRADE COMPLETE! WHILE IN CRAWL MODE, PRESS THE ROSE TO DROP FIRE DUST THAT WILL EXPLODE."
Ruby blinks. She looks at the belt and smiles at the rose. It was her symbol as well as her mother's. With another nod, Ruby left the Data Room. As soon as she steps out, an explosion was heard below her. Confused, Ruby drops down and ran towards the noise. She stops when she notices one of the doors was destroyed, blocking her path.
"Drats! Now what?" She asked.
Ruby decided to see if she could find another way out before noticing the cracked floor.
"Well, I might as well try these new Dust Bombs." She said, activating her crawling mode.
She then pressed the rose on her belt and let out a small ball of fire dust that started blinking before releasing a small explosion that made her boucle a bit. She climbs through the hole and was surprised to find herself in an uncharted room.
"Huh? I better be careful." She said, running down the area.
She ran into a few more Death Parasites but Ruby was having the same feeling she had since she first got her. Someone or something was watching her.
"Don't let it get stronger! Kill the Grimm!"
Ruby did her best to ignore the voice as she ran through the rooms.
(AN: From what I'm aware of, there are no important things to do besides collecting Data Packs and Heath Tanks. So, I'm going to skip straight to the boss.)
Ruby ran into another room and check her suit upgrades. She had picked up a few Data Packs, increasing her Gaunlet's energy blasts by just over 150 and her shield upgrades increase by 300%. Ruby felt prepared to take on the next challenge. Which was a good thing, she saw another one of those eye doors. Remembering she defeated the first one, Ruby took it out and absorb the parasite that fully heal her.
Ruby drops into another room and notices the Death Parasite floating above her. She pulls out her Crescent Rose and ready herself. The Parasite lowers itself to the ground before changing shape. Ruby said that it looks like a Frog, but much bigger and had some kind of armor skin on its back. To roars at her, showing off its sharp teeth.
Death Frog
Ruby stood ready as the Death Frog bend its head down, putting its armor skin in front of itself. Ruby fires a blast that did nothing to it. But the action causes the Death Frog to bend back up and shoot its tongue at her. Ruby was shocked to feel the tongue wrap around her and started to pull her towards the Frog. Ruby grew her claws and stabs into the ground, slowing the Death Frog pull. Wasting no time, she turns and fires some energy blasts at the Death Frog's mouth, causing it to roar in pain as it kept trying to drag her in.
Finally, the pain was too much, and let go of Ruby. Ruby got on her feet and saw the Death Frog jump high into the air. Ruby notices its unprotected belly before dropping towards her. Ruby quickly jumps out of the way as the ground shook from the landing. Ruby stood up and felt the tongue wrap around her. She was suddenly yanked off her feet and into the Death Frog's Mouth. It started to chew before it felt its mouth be forced open.
"I didn't come all this way just to be someone's lunch!" Ruby shouted before shooting in its mouth.
"I...hope...you're...hun...gry!" Ruby shouted.
She finally felt the Death Frog's mouth open widen as she jumps out of the mouth. She quickly looks at her suit power and saw it drop by 100% when the Death Frog chewed on her.
"Okay, I need to stay out of its mouth." She said, not wanting to go through that again.
The Death Frog Roars before jumping high into the air. Ruby quickly aims a few blasts at the Death Frog's belly before moving out of its way. She felt the tongue wrap around her and quickly use her claws to keep her from getting dragged again. She turns and fires the energy blasts at its mouth before it let go and started to change back into the Parasite.
Ruby remember how to deal with this one, and started to shoot at it while absorbing the smaller Parasites to heal herself. Finally, the shell breaks and Ruby jumps up and absorbs it. She could feel her suit change again but this time at her legs. She notices that the armor around them looks a little bigger.
"HI-JUMP UPGRADE COMPETE. LEGS OF THE GRIMM SUIT CAN NOW SHOOT BOTH WIND AND GRAVITY TO ALLOW HIGHER JUMPS THAN NORMAL."
Ruby blinks. More dust? Was the facility experimenting on Dust before the Death Parasites came? She has to save that question for later. Right now, it was time to get back to the Navigation room and inform Winter about what happened. She felt both the wind and gravity dust form around her as she started to jump. She was surprised to find herself jumping much hight than before. Normal, she would have to use her aura to get a little boost for her jumping height, but the upgrade allow her to do without it.
"Wow. I like this upgrade!" Ruby smiles.
Ruby enters the room before dropping to the floor. However, she was shocked to see that area looked a bit destroyed. Even the door leading back to the Navigation Room was destroyed. Ruby walks up and saw a few cracks on the floor. Using her dust bombs, Ruby drops into the next floor...
She froze. Her nerves were high alert, and her Grimm DNA was warning her of a danger that was in the room. Ruby could sense something was in the room with her and she stood no chance against it. Ruby saw a hole close by and looks in it.
Down below, Ruby saw someone that looks just like her, cloak and everything. It walks down the hall before stopping.
"Grimm. Near. Hunt. Kill." It said.
It pull out its Dark Rose and shot the door, opening it. It soon steps through and disappeared into the facility. Ruby pulls herself away and pressed herself on the wall.
"What that...Death Rose?! And did it just speak?!" She asked, trying to calm her beating heart.
Ruby never thought she'll be scared of herself. But she remembers what Winter told her about it. It had Dust of its own and she could be hurt by it.
"I highly avised if you even meet it, don't fight it. Just run."
Winter's words echo through her head. Ruby pulled herself from the wall and climbs to the lower floor, holding out her Crescent Rose. She wasn't sure what it could do, but she had to be ready to fight if she needed to get away. The trip back to the Navigation Room was okay, but she didn't feel safe like before. Now that she knew what the Death Rose was like, she knew she was in trouble if she even runs into it.
She enters the Navigation Room and contacts Winter.
"Miss Rose, you're...are you alright?" Winter started before seeing that Ruby was shaking.
"M-M-My r-r-report..." Ruby shuttered before explaining what happened.
She mentions picking up the new upgrade and using it to find her away to another Death Parasite that became a monstrous frog. She explain the fight and told her about the new upgrade she got. She even mentions seeing her Death Parasite self, which she shivers when she mentioned the voice. It sounded like hers, only cold and lifeless.
Winter felt bad for her. If only she was there to help her. She turns to see the rest of Team RWBY having the same thought. But for now, she'll just have to ensure her survival.
"Miss Rose, I fear releasing the security lock may have been a bad idea. The Death Rose has invaded the water environment in Sector 4 (AQA) with several thousand Parasites. With the blue hatches active, the Death Rose slipped in easily. The creatures and systems in Sector 4 are already showing multiple irregularities. I'm currently investigating. I'll brief you at the Navigation Room when you arrive." She said.
"R-right. I-I'm on my w-way." Ruby said.
The connection turns off and Ruby steps on the elevator, her mind thinking back to the Death Rose.
'Death Rose, a Parasite mimicking me. From just seeing it once, I'm already terrified of it. Just from it that one meeting I can tell it has all my skills and abilities. It might even have my semblance. Does it have an end goal? No, I don't think so. It's a killing machine, hunting me. If it were to learn what it could do as me then no one could stop it. I guess the saying is true, sometimes the only person that knows you better is yourself.'
And that ends Sector 2! So, Tai and Qrow had learned about what Ironwood did with Ruby and they are now on their way to Beacon to speak with both Ironwood and Ozpin. I'll have them appear in the next chapter. Ruby, in the meantime, had gained two upgrades and fought another boss. She also had a run-in with her Death Parasite form. While she hid from it, it didn't make it any easier after hearing it talk. Okay, Sector 4 is the next chapter and that's where the Speed Booster comes in. I still have SargentEpsilon's idea, but I still waiting to see if anyone could add something or have a better idea for it. Sorry, sundew112604, but Ruby is getting the Speed Booster in the next chapter.
