Winter stood in front of Ironwood as Tai and Qrow spoke with Yang outside. Ironwood reads over the reports and hmms to himself.

"Does Miss Rose suspect anything?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so," Winter said.

"To think she's gone so far without any backup. The Grimm DNA is much more useful than I thought." He said.

"Sir?" Winter asked.

"Don't worry Winter, I already promise the board that Grimm DNA will not be used on any more humans. I still don't know how some hunters got Grimm DNA." He said.

Winter was quiet. While she stood straight and calm, she was, in truth, really worried about Ruby. She should be entering Sector 6 by now.

"Sir, I need to return my post. Miss Rose should be in Sector 6 by now." She said.

"Yes. We have finished the upgrade for the suit. It's being sent as we speak." Ironwood said.

Winter nods and started to leave.

"Winter?"

She stops and looks back at him.

"You must keep Miss Rose away from the hidden lab. She can not find out what's happening." He said.

"Yes, sir." She said and left the room.

Winter sighs. She was loyal to Ironwood and would follow him, but this mission was too much. She only hopes Ruby would return safely.


Research Facility,

Ruby enters Sector 6 and contacts Beacon.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" She asked.

"Miss Rose. I see you made it. Ironwood just informed me that your new Dust Suit is ready to download. Get moving to the Data Room, but be alert. The Parasites, they have...changed." Winter said.

"Changed how?" Ruby asked.

Winter puts up a window showing the Parasite that almost killed her. However, it was colored differently. It's almost pure white.

"They've been changed by the Dust. If you absorb one, you'll be attacked from within. This seems like a deliberate tactic. Once you download the Dust Suit modification, you'll be out of danger. Just be extremely careful until then." She said.

"Right," Ruby said, getting ready to move.

"Miss Rose."

Ruby turns back around and saw Winter sigh.

"Be careful. The NOC Data Room is here. Remember, avoid the white parasites. You should be able to use your weapons to stun them. Be careful, as they are hunting you actively now, Ruby. And this area is very dark. Proceed with extreme caution." She said, cutting the feed.

Ruby sighs and started to explore Sector 6. She entered a dark room and saw that her helmet's visor turn on, allowing her to see.

"Sweet!" She said, walking through the room.

Ruby then spotted a White Parasite that also notices her and flew at her. Remembering Winter's warning, Ruby fires her Crescent Rose at it. The shot stun it and Ruby ran under it. She spotted more White Parasites and stunned them as well. Just as Ruby enters the next room, a White Parasite flew from nowhere and got absorbed into Ruby.

Ruby froze as her mouth opened to let out a silent scream. Her whole felt like it was being attacked from the inside out. She felt like she was burning and freezing at the same time. She was able to force her body to move before more White Parasites arrived. Ruby was able to leave the room and fell to the ground.

"Was that what Grimms feel when we use dust on them?" She asked herself.

Ruby lay on the ground, letting the pain fade away. To think she was now harmful to dust, the one weapon that was most effective against the Grimm. Ruby felt the pain ease up, and she could move without forcing it. She already almost died to those things once, and she was starting to relive that fear.

"I got to keep going. I have to save any survivors and stop the Parasites." She said, slowly getting up.

That was one thing Ruby had noticed since coming here. She hasn't run into a single human or faunus here. But she couldn't give up. Take a breath, Ruby started to run down the rooms, heading for the Data Room. She spotted more White Parasites and was able to stun and dodge some of them. Ruby did find herself in another room that block her progress and felt the wall.

"Huh. This looks tougher them the others. It looks as if my Dust bombs will do nothing to it." Ruby said.

Suddenly, Ruby felt her body freeze up again. Something was coming, and it was dangerous. Ruby looked around, but there was no place to hide. She quickly took out a dust bomb and blew a hole on the floor. She quickly crawls in it and moves away from the hole.

The door opens and the Death Rose stepped in. She looks around, trying to see if there were any Grimm in the room. She walks forward, not noticing Ruby beneath her. Ruby crawl quietly away from the Death Parasite as it reaches the same wall she did.

"Hmm," Death Rose said before activating her semblance.

While it was much like Ruby's, there was something different about it. Instead of Rose Petals, it looks as if smaller versions of the parasites were surrounding her. Ruby peeks from the vent as she watched the Death Rose. Suddenly, it shot into the wall, destroying it completely. Ruby tries not to gasp. She couldn't do that!

"Grimm. Hunt." Death Rose said, dropping down to the next room.

Ruby waited until she heard another door open and the footsteps faded away. After climbing out, Ruby took a breath. How did the Death Rose know she was here? She shook her head and started to head into the next room.

Ruby had to deal with the White Parasites again, but she soon made it to the Data Room, only to find the same eye she has ran into many times before.

"Nononono!" Ruby said, quickly shooting at the Eye.

Once it was gone, Ruby ran into the room, only to find the Death Parasite downloading the suit itself, destroying the Data Station as it did.

"HEY! I work hard for that! GIVE IT BACK!" Ruby shouted, chasing after it.

Ruby enters the next room and saw it disappear. But Ruby remains on guard. She pulls out her Crescent Rose and carefully looks around. She then spotted something heading for her and quickly jumps off to the side. The Parasite floated downwards, completely change from the Dust Suit it took.

DUST PARASITE-X

Ruby aims her Crescent Rose at it, ready to fight. The Dust Parasite then flew at Ruby, which she jumps off to the side to dodge. Ruby saw it headed back towards her and ducks under. She turns and fires a charged shot at it. It let out a strange noise before flinching away from her.

"Okay, it looks as if the dust suit doesn't work for the parasite." She said.

The Dust Parasite flew around the room, trying to attack Ruby, not knowing the suit was meant for protection. It flinches away from Ruby's charged shot before floating higher into the air. Ruby turn to follow it but it flew past her, knocking her over.

Ruby started to sit back up before the Dust Parasite slammed into her. Ruby groans before it slammed into her again. And again. And again. And again. It was clearly trying to crush her. Ruby's arm was hanging out as the Parasite slammed into her. It then started twitching before the suit formed claws. As the parasite started to go for another slam, Ruby suddenly rolled away. The Dust Parasite hits the ground before floating back up.

Ruby was on all fours, growling. The Dust Parasite charged at her, but Ruby moves to the side before raking her new claws against it. The Parasite screams before Ruby jumps on it. She took off her helmet, her face completely different. Her eyes were switching between silver and red. He mouth was full of sharp teeth and she was growling like a wild animal. She bit the parasite, which started to trash. Ruby digs her claws in it as it tries to shake her loose. Finally, Ruby jumps off it before landing on the ground. Before the parasite could recover, Ruby jumps towards it, slashing her claws against it. The Dust Parasite could hold its form and soon fade back into its core. It stood no chance. Ruby tore the core apart before absorbing it.

Suddenly, a bright light cover her and her suit changed. It was no longer black and red. It was mostly white with some blue on its arms. Ruby blinks before taking a step back. She grabs her head as she tries to stop the headache she had.

"Augh, my head." She said, noting her helmet was off.

She found it on the ground before reaching for it.

"What the?!" She said, noticing the new colors on her suit.

She grabs her helmet and slips it on.

"DUST SUIT UPGRADE FOUND! PROVIDES PROTECTION AGAINST DUST AND ENEMIES."

"Wow," Ruby said before she felt her headache again.

"Augh. What happened to me?" She asked herself.

Ruby shook her head. She can figure this out later. She better reported to Winter.


Beacon,

Winter sighs as Qrow stood in the room with her. Tai was still outside, arguing with Yang about her choice of letting Ruby take a dangerous mission.

"Why are you here?" Winter asked.

"Tai and Yang are going to be at it for a while. I don't want my bad luck making any worst." He said, taking a sip.

Winter sighs before hearing the computer beep. Ruby was contacting her.

"Miss Rose. I see you finally got the Dust Suit." She said, noticing the change of color.

"Yeah, but the Death Parasites somehow download first," Ruby told them.

"WHAT?!" Weiss asked, shocked.

Even Blake couldn't believe what she heard.

"What? How did the Parasites download the Dust Suit data? This doesn't seem to make any sense at all. Unless the Parasite..." Winter said before thinking.

"Unless what?" Weiss asked.

"Unless the parasites have the ability to process data organically," Winter said.

"Wait, you mean the data could be taken by someone other than Ruby?" Blake asked.

Winter wasn't fully sure, but she could only nod.

"At any rate, you have the Dust Suit data. Now you will be protected from extreme temperatures. More importantly, the Death Rose will have a harder time trying to hurt you, so you can escape easier." Winter said.

Ruby nodded. She did give the suit a test during her trip back. She laughs at the sight of the Parasite fleeing from her after learning that they couldn't hurt her with Dust anymore.

"Even with the Dust Suit, you're still too weak. That thing is too much for you now. Scans indicate that it has somehow improved its defenses, despite not appearing any different. If it really has increased its defenses, then you currently have no way of damaging it. But my simulations indicate that a penetrating weapon like a Flame Dust might work." Winter said.

"Flame Dust?" Ruby asked.

"But that going to take some time. There's also a chance that you may be able to upgrade your beam to a Flame Dust by absorbing a large Death Parasite, as you did with the Gravity Dust function." Winter said.

"Really?" Ruby asked.

"In the meantime, We have prepared another upgrade for your gauntlet. It will allow you to use Ice Dust with your blasts. It will help. Go to Sector 5 (DUS) for the download." Winter told her.

"Understood!" Ruby said, getting ready to move out.

"Um, Winter?" She said, stopping.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Um, never mind. I call you later." Ruby said, cutting the connection.

"That was weird," Blake said.

"Yeah. It looks as if she was keeping something to herself." Weiss agrees.

Qrow nods. He could easily tell something that left Ruby confused but wasn't sure how to explain it.

Winter starts to think to her before deciding to check Ruby's life readings on her suit.


And done. The main reason this chapter took so long was because I was trying to think of the color Ruby was going to have. I decide on Weiss's Colors, White and Blue. I might use Blake's colors for the Gravity Suit and Yang's for the last suit upgrade. I mean, Ruby wears Red and Black. So, I might as well give her all of team RWBY's colors. Remember, I change the name of Sector 5. It's where all the Dust was stored and studied. Since I'm still behind on RWBY, is there Flame Dust? And looks as if Ruby's Grimm DNA is acting up again. What's happening to her? I'm afraid you'll have to find out later!