This took a minute….
The Black Suit Arc
Yang swung her tiny feet off an office chair cranked way too high for the seven year old. Back and forth she let them swing, waiting in the unfamiliar room for her classmate to finish talking to his mom.
They were brought here by a school project. It was a silly little thing. A diorama of Remnant's greatest heroes, all together fighting the Grimm. Their teacher gave them complete artistic freedom over the project's execution. Naturally, this meant she and her partner butted heads over every little detail. Their newest "fight" was the depiction of the Grimm. He wanted them to be large and fearsome, towering over the brave heroes that dared to face them.
She wanted them to be a pile of severed limbs.
Neither would budge.
Clearly he was wrong. Monsters shouldn't be allowed to live, even in playdough. It's just wrong! Her hand crushed one of the Beowolfs to paste. Its pink puddy oozing out the cracks of her fist.
Pink. The Beowolf was pink.
She let out a snort.
This guy demanded they be pink.
*Giggle* Who even thinks of making the monsters of darkness Rainbow-colored?
"They're gonna be super-duper scary," he said, "Like a Peacock!"
*Mmphfff* She had to cover her mouth that time. The boy was afraid of bedazzled birds. *MMPHFFF!*
She rocked back and forth on her high chair, barely staying on.
"Like a Peacock" *Ha! Ha-Ha!* What a weirdo.
She let out another laugh. They all seemed to painfully meander through her throat. As if relearning their way.
"Friends share the best laughs," she heard her mom say, "Especially the kooky ones"
Mom's right. Her teammate's definitely a bit kooky.
She always says–
-Said
Her mom always said… that the best friendships are made through teamwork. So maybe, she could sculpt a few rainbow Ursas. Just to make him happy.
Her eyes traveled around the tidy monocolored room, a color scheme she suspected had to do with the feathery terror. Sharp angles cut up the space with maximum efficiency, fitting everything snug in its place. There weren't any medical machines to watch out for. No rats nest of multicolored cables and tubes tripping her feet. Just clean, corkwood floorboards from end to end.
It was 6PM on a Wednesday. That meant Ruby was at home getting di-dia-d̶i̶a̶l̶i̶ She was getting her blood filtered. Hours and hours that gray machine sucked out her sister's blood. Each time she'd see her wither at the point of death as the blood drained from her body. The machine taking her blood through those great clear tubes. Snaking red all around her. Rivers gushing out all that red. It was everywhere. The blood was on the grass! On her face! The wolf was spraying it from chin to chin, tearing through her sister's body like a Rag Doll!
Yang's right hand gripped itself with fast squeezing spasms as her lungs began hyperventilating. She had to get- She had to get away!
*SCrrrRRRAAATH*
She crushed her hand into her chest, forcing herself to ignore the nails tearing into her flesh. Thick blood oozing out from the cuts.
Don't look at the blood! Don't Look At The Blood!
Pain from the clawing cut into her mind. Made her think clearer. She pressed it against her body, knowing from experience anything else would tear her nails clean off.
Plus, it'd leave large gashes in her new friend's room and she couldn't have that.
Focus on the room! Just look at the room and nothing else. The gray room because he's afraid of peacocks.
*Wheeze-heh. Wheze-heh-heh.. Heh-ha*
Her tremors began to slow. Bit by bit, she regained control of her hand. It was a nice room. No pill bottles in sight. Just nice, normal, happy. A great place to live, if only for a moment.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? Bringing Her Into Our Home?" A voice screamed from behind the door.
"But Mom–
"No Buts! I Told You A Hundred Times Never to Talk to that Girl! Don't you remember what she did to her sister!?"
Yang's hand began again its feverish convulsion. Clawing out and in on itself.
"No-no it's- the teacher put us together for a group project and—
"Oh I don't think so! I will be calling them up this Instant and getting you a safer partner. And you will never, NEVER go near her again. Do You Understand?
"y-yes Mom"
"Good. Now get rid of her"
...crreeeEAK!*
The door opened wide in a ponderous arc. Hesitantly, the boy stuck his head through. Behind him his mother towered over, hands crossed on her chest.
"Yan…..ng?" he began, but his voice went still. The chair was empty. Compressed down to its lowest height. Its occupant nowhere in sight.
Four eyes scoured everywhere for the missing girl. Behind the door, under the bed, inside the closet. But to no avail. The chamber was empty, save for an autumn wind bristling against their skin. The only sign that anyone had been inside was a tearstained diorama smashed to bits.
The unexpected chill bristled again, leading them to an ajar window. On its clear pane, a bloody palm print gripped the borders of the glass. Outside, both parent and child saw a tiny trail running away through the fallen leaves.
"Hmph. Good riddance," the Mom muttered, shutting the window.
What if…
"We seek redemption, yet, we don't seek forgiveness."
- Anthony T. Hincks
Ruby was VENOM
Issue 3. Paving the Yellowbrick Road
*HoooooOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLL!*
The entire Beacon auditorium was a flurry of pandemonium. Prospective students dashed around in the dark, fumbling under the weak light of their scrolls. One student (wearing a onesie of all things) ran from lightswitch to lightswitch desperately trying to find one that worked.
Large chunks of castle debris lay scattered everywhere throughout the hall. Cracked loose by whatever ignited the earth-shattering explosion in the forest below. Smoke from the fire it spawned began to waft up into the school as outside the cacophony of Grimm shrieks drew ever nearer.
Static whines and garbled speech filled the room as many of the students tried contacting loved ones. Each message coming through more jumbled than the last. All of them carrying the same theme. 'Multiple massive explosions detonating all over the kingdom'. Some calls even suggested this was a worldwide event.
But at least they got calls!
Yang got nothing. Zip. Nada. Grimm shit. Not a single comm from Ruby or Dad. Even their Atlas Knight, Arnie, was unreachable. That never happened. It defied his programming! Frantically, she kept calling all their numbers nonstop. Each time going straight into voicemail.
During her 22nd attempt, Yang's scroll finally chimed out a message tone. Elation turned to apprehension as she saw where it came from. It was an emergency alert from Patch Town Council. What she read crystallized all her worst fears into reality.
Violently she jammed every bit of gear into her duffle bag. Guns, ammo, ammo, and more ammo. It wasn't very diverse, but she didn't care. She'd make it work. She had to make it work!
"What are you doing?" the bookworm, Blake, asked. Or was it Belle? She'd find out after she came back. If she came back. Damn it all! She never should have left.
"I'm going back home".
"What!? Why?" Blake asked in genuine confusion. This girl did not hesitate for a second to shield Blake with her own body against the crashing stone ceiling. She even capped it off with a cheesy name-based-pun, heaving the rubble off the two of them.
Someone like that. Someone selfless and brave. They wouldn't cut tail and run. Not like, well…
"You're not worried about getting in trouble?".
"Don't care. My sister needs me".
"How do you kno–!
Suddenly Blake was forced to catch a scroll flung through the pitch black. Nearly outing herself as a Faunus.
"That's the only message I've gotten from home," she said as Blake began to read. The alert was written in bold red text, each line more grave than the last.
'CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSION REPORTED AT CLIFFSIDE FOREST'
'GRIMM THREAT INCREASED TO LEVEL 8'
'LOCATE NEAREST AVAILABLE SHELTER AND REPORT TO IT IMMEDIATELY!'
"LEVEL 8, can you believe it?!" Yang asked, tactually taking inventory of shotgun shell packs, "I've never seen it go above level 3 in my entire life and its at fucking 8! Oum, they might have to evacuate the island" she said in a dawning realization.
"But, you have Hunters right, and Signal Academy. Can't they get everything under control?"
"I don't know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. But I have to find her. She'll die on her own".
"Yang, it's gonna be ok,". She put a hand on her shoulder and knelt down next to her.
"How old is your sister?"
"15. What does it matter!?"
"Well if your sister's half as capable as you–"
"She's Not a Huntress!" Yang snapped, causing Blake to recoil.
"She Can't Fight Grimm. She can't even walk right. And now she has to crutch herself across the island into a shelter during a Level 8 Grimm attack!" Yang yelled, "FUCK!"
She tore out her weapons and slammed them onto her arms.
*KLICK - WHIRR - SNAP*
The mechanical gears spun their sophisticated patterns, cementing the hulking metalwork onto the brawler's forearms. Pulling her wrist down at the designated angle, she heard the gears whirr once more. Loading both chambers with highly volatile shells.
Ember Celica had received Ruby's undivided attention the second Yang pulled the gauntlets from the forge. Under her enthusiastic (obsessive) supervision, a litany of wild new additions were welded onto every nook and cranny. Her first modification stripped away its collapsible form, allowing it far greater bulk. She expertly rededicated the mechashift components into a continuous, fully omnidirectional pattern. That one little add-on gave Yang complete 360° wrist mobility to use in her combat forms. A quick test rotating her wrists back pitchwise showed the yellow metallurgy drag the protruding cannons out of her hand's paths.
Her weapons were always active, always battle ready. Not even a microsecond would be wasted against the Grimm.
As for the other new additions…
Yang flipped a switch on each of her gauntlets, feeling her bones shudder as the payload became unstable. Poking through the meshwork on the top, rows and rows of micro missiles began to rattle in eager anticipation.
…they were Overkill.
"I thought we had to store our weapons in our lockers?".
"I like to keep them close at hand. What's your excuse?".
Blake shifted awkwardly against the katana strapped to her back.
"I feel better with mine near"
"Great minds think alike, eh?" she let out the smallest smile.
"Heh. That's one way to describe us," Blake said, sharing the smile.
*SssKKkKKrR eEeeEEEeeReEEeeEeE*
The Grimms' roars cut through the night, sending fresh waves of panic through the auditorium. Their howls were coming ever closer, stirred into complete mania by the raging forest fire.
FUCK! She was wasting too much time here. She had to leave now!
Slinging her bag over her shoulder she left her new acquaintance behind and headed towards the nearest exit. If she retraced her steps she would find her way back to the skydocks. From there she would jump on any ride going to Patch. If worse came to worst, swim all the way there. It was only like…… 60 kilometers.
She could do it… She could do it!
"Your sister. She lives near the blast, doesn't she?"
Yang didn't answer back, instead breaking off into a run. Using her scroll, she navigated through the shadowy debris as best as its weak light would allow.
Their house was safe, miles away from where the explosion supposedly was. If Ruby was home, she was safe.
But she's not home, is she? Her mind darkly whispered. She's visiting Mom at the Cliffside Forest. Like she always does when she's sad.
No NO! Yang thought back. She's home. She has to be home!
Lavender eyes blazed crimson as she cut through the sea of frightened students.
How close to the blast do you think she was? 100 feet? 10 feet? What is Dad going to say when they can't even find a body? Like mother, like daughter?
Shut Up! Shut Up! Shut Up! She screamed at herself, bolting through the smoky haze. She'd find Ruby! And never let her out of her sight again.
Her right hand twitched inward involuntarily.
She'd be safe. They'd put this entire Beacon misadventure behind them and–
"I'm coming with you," Blake exclaimed, springing up out of the dark. Her sudden appearance sent Yang stumbling into a group of bad haircuts. Tucking into a roll she bulldozed through the boys, knocking them aside like pins. Blake skipped over pained groans and indigent shouts, keeping lock-step with Yang.
"……If you want me to, that is".
"What?! Why?"
"To find your sister of course. She needs our help,"
"What, are you like some sort of wilderness people tracker?
"I do have experience in… off-grid things"
"But–"
"We'll bring her back Yang. Don't worry".
Don't worry Ruby. We'll bring Mom back in no time. All you have to do is Follow Me!
Follow Me
Follow Me
FOLLOW ME
"NO! You can't!" Yang screamed. Her right hand feverishly clawing at her skin.
"You can't follow me. Just stay here! Where it's safe" she pleaded.
Blake faltered, incomprehension marred across her face. Why was she refusing her help? Could it be….. No, her bow still covered her cat's ears. So then, what?
Gold aura fractals fell from the girl's twitching fingers as she continued scraping away. Yang caught Blake's gaze and immediately hid her arm behind her back.
"I'm Fine"
"Clearly…"
"I won't drag you into this," Yang took off towards the exit. As she ran, rubble hunks from all sides threatened to send her sprawling at each turn.
"You need my help". Using her feline eyes Blake nimbly bounced through the cement remnants. Seeing a dangerously large piece of pillar rise out of the darkness, she quickly pulled the headstrong girl out of its path.
"Let me come with you and we can bring her back together".
"NO!" Yang wretched herself free, red eyes blazing in the dark. "You can't come OK! Stay here! Please."
Blake stopped and Yang saw genuine hurt in those eyes.
"I'm sorry," she began, continuing on towards the exit. "But I have to do this alone. This isn't even your responsibility. I'm her big sister, not you. So please, don't come". Damn It! She never should have spoken to the bookworm. Why can't she do anything right!?
Stifling a heavy cough from the increasing smoke, she broke towards the exit tucked only feet away behind the last remaining pillar. She'd save her. She had to!
Can't save a corpse.
Then she'd die trying.
Dodging between the scampering students, Yang rounded the pillar's bend. With each step more and more broken masonry slammed into her shins. Having just about enough of EVERYTHING, she lit up her aura and kicked the slabs to dust.
"You're wrong". Blake was back, aura coating her legs as well. "It's my responsibility too".
Why!? *Cough* "You don't even know us". Yang fought hard against the acrid smoke. Each breath sent what felt like bladed worms slithering through her throat.
"Huntresses help people– *Cough* regardless of who they are".
"You're not a Huntress!" Yang yelled, and Blake saw her wince through another painful convulsion.
"And if I don't do this, I never will be". Together, the two shot out from behind the pillar. Smacking straight through the heavy oak doors.
¡*SMACK*!
Ruby barreled through the underbrush, her pale skin a gorey mess. All around her Grimm howls converged from all sides.
Must go Faster! Must go Faster! The symbiote egged her on. Their earlier boisterous bravado exchanged for blind panic.
Not a very fair trade.
The pair tumbled out down onto the sprawling hills. There, up behind that last green crest her house would lay. They should be able to make it home!
Every inch of their form was torn apart by Grimm claws and teeth. Her alien friend's healing prowess was degrading rapidly from sheer overuse. Strands of midnight blue tried in vain to remove a large Nevermore feather lodged through her clavicle. But it was all they could do to keep her conscious and lumbering.
They should be able to make it home. Ruby trudged forward, her feet slogging through pools of her own blood. They should've! They had earned that right, hadn't they?!
So then why Mom…
Above the hill tops, rows and rows of bright red stars glowered down at them. They watched the injured child stumble to her knees with sickening glee. The darkness surrounding those red suns broke, shifted, and scattered into those unholy shapes of pain and suffering.
Why couldn't we make it?
Over a hundred Grimm perched themselves atop those hills. All around her they let out their howling cackles. Behind her, more of those unnatural cries rushed down to box her in.
On top of the closest hill, an immense Ursa Major sauntered in front of the horde. Two meter long ivory spines shot out from all corners of its back. Showing the world that it was indeed an old and cruel monstrosity.
It rasped out in a hyenanic gurgle that only something pretending to be alive could consider laughter. Razor teeth curled up towards the eyes as it spotted a nearby Boarbatusk. Grabbing the creature, it flung the tusked spiked ball at Ruby's head.
Tendrils shot out from her back, pulling her down at lightning speed. The eldritch sonic's tusk scraped into her face, slicing off only a chunk of cheek instead of her head. Before the pain could even register, Ruby's arm shot out! Grabbing the beast mid-spin. Yanking it back towards her, she seized both sets of legs and began to pull.
The monster foamed at the mouth. Lunging at her. Biting off mechanical and flesh digits alike. With a final, agonizing scream Ruby tore the creature in two. Rage beyond imagining coursed through her veins. She took the still twitching halves and smashed them into the ground! Over and OVER and OVER!
Black ichor mixed with the large pool of red at her feet. She collapsed to the ground. Gasping out gurgly, wet breaths as the tendrils on her back convulsed. One by one they all fell to the ground. Shriveling away into ash white husks.
"No!" she rasped. She grabbed one of the tendrils, only for it to disintegrate into dust at her touch.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
Gently, oh so gently, she picked up the very last one and held it to her face. "Please don't be dead. Please! Please! Please!"
The severed fragment gave no answer. But deep within her, she thought she felt something faintly lurch.
"Venom! That was you, right? Please say something!"
………………
"VENOM?"
The Ursa Major pawed the grassy ground. Thick long claws tore through the earth like water. Its glowing red-yellow eyes locked on Ruby Rose.
"No, stay back!" She cradled the small tentacle even as the wind began chipping it away to powdery flakes. "Stay back, or else!"
The massive Ursa roared forward, and the entire horde followed suit.
"I-I'll beat you. I'll beat every one of you" she stammered. Her three remaining fingers struggling to dislodge the Nevermore quill.
The ichor bear pounced down on her. Its mouth agape far wider than any natural bear's anatomy should've allowed. Foot-long carnivorous fangs sprung out, reaching out for her throat! Spittle from its maw was already touching her skin. The tips of its teeth cutting into her flesh.
NO!
The neck flesh was gone! Leaving behind only bits of blood in the monster's maul.
The prey! Where was the prey—
*STAB*
Ruby and Venom thrust the Nevermore feather up into the Ursa Major. Stabbing deep into the monster's neck!
The beast wailed and lashed out at them in agony as the pair raised the two-ton bear high above their heads. Its claws swiping nothing but the air in front of their face.
"We'll Kill You!" they taunted as its own weight began ripping its head from its body. With a wet snap it flew off. Careening down into the sea of rushing black.
"WE'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
Ruby's mouth curved up into their own far-to-wide grin. Hungry elongated fangs poked out in front of her human teeth. Twitching with anticipation, they charged into the horde.
Yang and Blake came sliding out left from a castle corridor. They screeched straight across the stone floors before shooting off down the hallways of the night palace. Broken masonry was everywhere in their path. Left and right they had to dance across the hall. Each dodge necessitating millisecond precision, as they careened forth at 70- no, 80 km per hour!
Blake juked over an enormous rock, and to her shock found herself sailing high above a steep set of stairs. Whipping out Gambol Shroud's sickle form, she swung it at the railing. Its edge caught and she used her weapon's connecting ribbon to yank herself down into a fast grind.
*KAPOW!* Yang's weapon rang out, sending a high density slug straight through the massive boulder. She burst through its dust and recoil-blasted down the stairs.
"Excessive much?" Blake coughed out as the two leaped from the stairs.
"Not like it can get anymore broken," Yang hacked up soot, "Or dirty". True to her words every conceivable surface was covered jet black. And yet, even more charred remains clung to each other in the air. Forming a thick miasma that seemed to only get more and more dense with each step.
Yang sprinted off the last few steps and ran through the cloud. "Let's Get Moving!"
"Look out!" Blake called as a large door swung out into Yang's face. She crashed through it, barely missing the staff member behind it.
"AAIEEEE!" They screamed and fell on their ass. "Hey! What are you– *Cough!* Who are– *Cough!* *Cough!*
"Sorry, didn't quite get that." Shooting a look back, the joke slipped out before she could stop it. Damn it Yang. You can't be joking now. Focus!
Her little sister was d̶e̶a̶d̶-in danger of dying. And it was all her fault. Why couldn't she have simply gotten on that airship without going hysterical? And why couldn't she have just snuck away without unloading all her shit on the nearest person?
The bowed girl grabbed Yang's right arm and took the lead. Probably to make sure Yang wouldn't run into anything else.
You're taking someone into a forest filled with hundreds and hundreds of Grimm. The semantics of who was pulling who were lost on her. You rile people up and drag them on suicide missions.
"Do you even know what a Level 8 Grimm attack means? Patch's blast turned them all into batshit frenzy mode. They're all racing around the whole island at max speed. Attacking everybody in sight".
The black bow didn't respond.
"Grimm don't get tired, remember? They won't stop until they're either dead or everyone else is."
"All the more reason for me to be there". She said, giving Yang's spasming arm a gentle squeeze.
"You need my help".
"I DON'T NEED ANYTHING!" Yang tore her arm free and charged forward.
"Wait! You don't know where you're going!".
Doors swung open on all sides as militant staff zipped back and forth across the hall. Blake had to zig-zag across the hectic passage. Dodging people carrying weapons, heavy generators, and more. Someone carrying a warhammer sprang out of an opening and spun towards them, not seeing the black clad girl until their weapon had almost struck her head!
Blake evaded left, striking a compromise with the half ton hammerhead. It would now crumple only her bow. Suppressing a painful scream she looked back at the blonde.
What?! …..The Fuck?
Yang shot through the hallway at breakneck speeds. Bouncing from door to door with no hesitation. Every obstruction, every hazard dodged at just the right moment. Blake couldn't help but stare in absolute befuddlement as Yang overtook her.
How?
The hall's entire volume was filled with smoke. No light got through. None that a human should be able to see. Even her own cat's eyes were losing their potency in the churning inky air. The blonde girl in front became a vague shape, and then a blur. Slipping off in between the swinging doors.
*Whooosh* A door near Yang swung out, slightly dissipating the smoke in front of it. Yang rushed toward it, dodging the people that spilled out of it, and took off just as the smoke reclaimed its vacuum.
'She's incredible' Blake couldn't help but think. 'Using, no! Maximizing such a small window of sight is something you'd only see licensed Hunters do.'
'How much training did she do to overcome sight?!'
The brawler zipped left and right, jumping at every opportunity.
→ A door behind her closed, giving her just a few more feet of vision.
→ A staff member unseen, shifted the smoke just enough for Yang to know they were there.
→ A tremendous scraping sound let her know that something ginormous was being dragged across the hall.
Yang flung herself to the right, hugging that wall. Aura flashed against every piece of rubble she scraped by. At her left, the back end of a gigantic cannon came rushing to meet her. It must have been 800 calibers at least, towering over her 1.73 m frame. Through soot-caked eyes she barely managed to catch the four blinking auras of the staff that tried, and failed, to regain control of the massive weapon's momentum. It was hurtling out of control!
With only centimeters of room against the multiton weapon, Yang shot her gauntlets at the ceiling. The blasts' recoil knocked her body flat against the ground. Arms crossed she slid just as the cannons rear swept over her.
"YANG—*¡KuTHUNK! Blake's cry was cut off by the cannon smashing straight through the wall! It crashed into the adjacent room before burying itself barrel deep into the stone outer wall.
'Yang! Where's Yang?'
The blonde maverick shot out unscathed, and Blake thanked whatever gods existed. Keeping her speed she slid past the corridor's corner, down the next hallway, and into the waiting arms of one Professor Port!
"Ha Ha. Gotcha". The mustached man stretched his arms wide to catch the girl. Yang was going too fast. She couldn't stop, couldn't evade. Her body slammed into the rotund man who grabbed her firm.
"No! Let me go!"
"You thought you could make it past me" the Huntsman chuckled at her struggles. The force of the impact moved his feet back by merely a hair. "Why this reminds me of a story of my youth–
Blake launched herself out the hallway, stabbing Gambol Shroud into the wall as she did. Her momentum forced its ribbon taught, swinging her full speed around the bend. Left arm stretched out to its fullest extent. Her fingers just barely grabbing onto the back of her f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶'̶s̶ classmate's collar.
Port's jaw dropped as Yang was wretched right out of his grasp. The motion sent him spinning like a top, bouncing off walls until he crashed down in a comical heap. With a precise flick of her wrist, Gambol Shroud was back on her person, and the two sailed down the hallway.
"Holy *cough* shit!" Yang gasped out. She looked up at her rescuer's face and the two shared a smile.
"Oh you think you can escape!" Port, apparently fully recovered, barreled down the hall at them. Guided by the sixth sense of experience, he dodged and weaved through the maze of hazards, not only never dropping but seemingly gaining speed.
"Oh Come On!" she hacked. Touching down on the ground, the two bolted for the stairwell at the end of the hall.
"We're almost there," Blake gasped. "If we go down here and out the cafeteria *cough* we'll have a straight shot to the skydocks". She set foot on the first step, only for it to immediately break off.
Yang grabbed her friend's hand before she could fall any further. The pair were summarily serenaded by the sounds of the falling stone smacking into the rest of the well. Soon its solo was accompanied by more and more falling debris.
"You're trapped". Port was behind them. Boxing them against the dark chasm. "You have nowhere to run".
Blake……couldn't see any way out. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to keep a low profile and become a Huntress. Finally do some actual good in the world. But now, they would go over her records with a fine tooth comb. They would find out about her ears. About her past. And all because she ran off again. Why did she do that?
Yang squared up into a boxing stance. Crimson eyes blazing with determination. But, behind those eyes something else. Something dark and vulnerable. Blake could see it each time her right hand writhed.
Blake squared up into her own fighting stance.
"Oh ho. I sense true conviction from you two. You obviously have a noble goal you're after". Port brought out his weapon. A massive blunderbuss with a battle ax built into the hilt.
"But I am afraid I cannot let you go".
Blake gripped Gambol Shroud in white knuckle intensity. They were about to fight a Huntsman. A real Fucking Huntsman that taught at Beacon. Gods damn this night.
"psst… How many stories do you think were up?" her companion asked.
"I don't know. 4, maybe 5. What's it matter?". Why would she need to know that now— Ooooooh!
"You sure–
"Yep yep super duper sure". She wasn't sure. "Let's do this. Let's do this now"
……Fuck Tonight
Blake tackled Yang off the stairwell, casting them into the abyss. Not losing a nanosecond, Yang fired 2 slugs into the ceiling, sending them hurtling down through the dark miasma. The two plunged away at breakneck velocity, leaving behind only a rotating matte-black sickle. It spun up, reflecting stray beams of moonlight as it did, before burying itself in the ceiling above Professor Port.
"Those crazy kids," his mustache curved up into a smile as his eyes followed down the ribbon, "I can't wait to teach them".
Then the mustache drooped into a frown.
"Unless Goodwitch finds them… Then they're as good as expelled".
Fuck!
Next Time on:
What if Ruby was VENOM
Yang Punches Professor Goodwitch in the FACE!
A.N.
This took a minute indeed. Many things contributed to that. Some will be discussed below in the Meta-Notes, while others shouldn't be a factor anymore. Suffice to say, I hope I can stick to my new update schedule of one issue dropped every 2-3 months. To help boost that goal I wish to address the main concern that delayed this update.
I DON'T HAVE AN EDITOR! No one to run by plot threads by, no one to help me toe the line between text and subtext. I'm just on my own, hoping that the multiverse jumble inside my head comes out to a not just comprehensible, but GREAT story. So without further ado:
EDITOR WANTED
Annual salary……$0
Hours: Infrequent and sporadic
Experience required: Has either written or edited a NY Times Best Seller
Benefits: Will receive credit for all issues they collaborate on. Also maybe dental insurance
This is an opportunity you can't afford to turn down… Please. I need help desperately. If you think you're a qualified beta-reader, or have previous experience doing so please contact me❤
Meta-Notes: Here is where I take you behind the curtain on my crafting process. Be warned that seeing the building blocks of a story may break the immersion and possibly spoil future issues now that you'll understand how the threads are woven. I'll do my best to avoid both those outcomes in these notes, but you have been warned. If you want to write your own stories, or are just curious about my process, this is a fun chronicle of do's & don'ts, trials and tribulations, and other Rube Goldberg-esque shenanigans:
(Music [now part of Meta-Notes]) This Issues' accompanying track was called Unawakening Float and played during the hallway run. It's the level theme to the Night Palace stage in Sonic and the Secret Rings. I was struggling with the narrative momentum of the story. How do I keep the characters racing at breakneck speed against a ticking clock, while also organically moving forward the narrative and building strong foundations for character relationships that should span the entire series? And then it hit me. That's Sonic's bread and butter. Using that as a reference really grounded me and allowed me to experiment with some of my favorite action set pieces yet. Also found out video game music makes a superb soundtrack for literature. The tracks are made to fit people's different play speeds, which perfectly transitions over to people's different reading speeds. Give the hallway run another read with Unawakening Float blasting. The action bops!
Still….Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER try to introduce and build key character relationships in the midst of hectic conflict. Everyone's at their most violent, radical, lord of the flies self. It's like herding cats! This is why smart authors first establish the characters in a safe environment, like how the canon series did *facepalm*. I am very happy with the foundation I created for Yang and Blake, but fuck was this so much more difficult to execute.
Moving from sound to color. I have taken some artistic liberties with the colorization of Venom, which I'm sure you've noticed. My choice to use a dark blue color scheme is something I explain in greater detail in a review response below. However, the reason why the dying parts of Venom turn white before disintegrating is something I'll address now. Venom is not a Grimm. You know this, I know this, but the people of Remnant don't. Seeing something degrade the same exact way a Grimm does will cause an incorrect, but unbreakable association. Hence the change to ash-white before disappearing. Conveniently the color change also allows me to foreshadow Anti-Venom, should my story ever go that route.
Closing this off, I'm excited to reveal all the lethal secrets of Yang's upgraded weapon in future Issues. My goal is to hit that perfect mix of flashy & most effective tactics available (META). And making it utterly beastly doesn't hurt. Gotta be careful I keep the soul of the original intact. Almost accidentally erased it by saying 'Ruby made new iterations' instead of 'Ruby made new additions'. The former makes the weapon Ember Celica in name only. The latter is the OG weapon, but with a cool new drip. That Iterations v additions debacle took an entire week to fix. Kept reading drafts 1-3 and not getting why my subconscious was screaming profanities at me until I changed that one FUCKING word.
Reviews: People who ask questions in the reviews are sent a PM response by me. However, the public might also want the answer to those questions. That is why I will answer them again, now.
Emap7070: Thanks for your support. Hope you enjoyed Issue 3
Buzzsaw935: Thank you Thank you Thank you
JHcola: I love that you love it. I have not played PROTOTYPE, but I will now look to it as a possible well of inspiration
Kenny9x3: Feeling the Love. Happy to continue
TheClowningPrince: This right here. Validates everything! ❤
Predstor: Glad you love the story. Unfortunately for Ruby and Venom, Grimm don't stick around long enough to be eaten. Much to their chagrin
Zekken182: Hope the wait wasn't too long
Spartastic 4: In our PMs we talked a lot about color. Most notably where Venom lies on the Blue:Black scale. I won't deny that Venom is canonically Black. That's as true as water making things wet. Though it's also equally accurate to say artists throughout the decades have taken creative liberties with the color (Venom: The Hunger). I even recall some panels in Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #2 [page 27] where Venom and Spiderman are standing next to each other and Venom's blue is just a hair less intense than Spidey's.
Venom is black colored on Earth 616, but they can't be that way on Remnant. Ruby's world is beset on all sides by the Grimm. These pitch black coloured monsters come in all shapes and sizes, some even mirroring the anatomy of humans. No one on Remnant would see a giant black carnivorous monster and not be absolutely certain it's a Grimm. Even if Venom could prove without a shadow of a doubt that they are an alien, the world as a whole would just believe that Grimm must originate from space. There'd be nothing I could do to convince them otherwise.
The only way they'll accept that Venom isn't a Grimm is if they come to that idea on their own. That is why they are dark blue. Every Grimm, without expectation (to my knowledge), all have jet black skin. That is a fundamental truth of the world, Remnant. So when Hunters, civilians, Beacon students, journalists, ect. come across this blue creature they will all have one immediate gut reaction. A single instinctual thought before conscious rationalization is possible. "Grimm aren't blue!"
Some may suppress this realization, others may dedicate their lives to unraveling the mystery. What matters is that it's there in their minds, at the deepest level. Playing over and over again on replay, "Grimm aren't blue!"
That being said, the closer to black I can make Venom, the better aesthetically they'll look.
Monster King: You're making me blush
Firewyrm2: Ruby would give all the evil tyrants of the world beatdowns and Venom would…well, let's just say the Geneva Conventions would have to expand their list of war crimes by a few chapters *shudders*
As for your second question I'm glad you asked. You see Ruby would decide to *SPOILER* and then because of that naturally *SPOILER* happens. Of course then the logical next steps the characters take are *SPOILER* and *SPOILER*, all to avoid *SPOILER* happening, while making sure *SPOILER* happens. Hope that clears things up for you.
Simp Shout-Out: Hellohello9999's crossover fan-fic It's Always Sunny In Brockton Bay has been nothing short of hilarious. Worm's Earth Bet has grappled with nigh insurmountable terrors of evil. Nazi supervillains, unstoppable kaijus, existential terrors from beyond. But none come close to the amoral depravity from a certain Philadelphian gang, running their ill thought out schemes from a rundown bar called Paddy's Pub.
It's Always Sunny In Brockton Bay, chapters 1-12 up now. Fingers crossed Hellohello9999 can continue toeing the line of controversial topics just as well as the IASIP showrunners can.
