Hey folks!
I know it's been a while, but things should be getting back on track either now or very soon! I'm going for a bulk upload today, in the hopes of building publicity for my !NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO! all about writing fanfiction. I worked very hard on it, so please check it out at watch?v=5Xa2xEQS8xw& (just put this after the usual URL and you'll be fine). Otherwise, today is my !18TH BIRTHDAY! and this is the 4th chapter of Spidergirl - the beginning of the second Arc...
Ruby Rose: Spidergirl
Chapter 4 – Friendly Neighbourhood Spidergirl
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Ruby just barely blocked Yang's fist as it came flying at her face. Yang gave a surprised smile as she pulled back, going in for another hit.
Over the past couple of weeks, Ruby had trained hand-to-hand with Yang extensively; where before she had been a slow learner, her new instincts made her pick up moves faster than even she had anticipated. Yang feinted, switching the punch with a kick, but ruby found herself moving backwards before the hit even landed. She pulled off an accidental backflip, pirouetting on one leg in a roundhouse kick. Pulling back, she landed another backflip on all fours as she looked up at Yang. Or at least, she tried to look up.
Yang, it seemed, had fallen after her kick, and was now staring in shock and surprise at her sister. Ruby brushed herself off, mentally preparing an excuse, before Yang suddenly wrapped her in a hug.
"I'm so proud of you, sis!"
"Yang… please… stop…" Ruby murmured, unwilling to give away that Yang's hugs… didn't bother her anymore. It had been a steadily increasing series of surprises for that one – at one point, she had slammed face first into a wall at full semblance-speed and had barely felt it.
Yang held on for another few seconds before releasing her with a content sigh. She looked down at Ruby with a small smile for a few seconds more, before stepping up and helping her off the ground.
"So, Rubes, I'd really love to keep training right now… but there's this really cool club in the city I wanna check out, and it's closing soon. I gotta go."
Ruby gave a mock glare. "Yang, you shouldn't be drinking."
"Hey, I won't be! It'll just be dancing, I promise." Yang gave Ruby another hug and stepped away. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Ruby nodded, and Yang dipped out quietly. The moment she was gone, Ruby rushed to the workshop to grab her suit.
It was time to suit up.
…
…
Okay, that didn't work. But it was a better catchphrase than nothing!
With her suit set up, she jumped out of the nearest window as surreptitiously as one can do that particular action and started her journey out to Vale. There was something calming about swinging from the webs – her body experiencing G-forces that could kill a civilian and would at least drain the aura of a huntsman as if she were just taking a brisk walk. It almost felt like an affront to nature – in a good way.
Almost.
Landing on a lightpost in central Vale, she set about her usual routine: saving cats and stopping the occasional mugging while thinking of a catchphrase.
"Feel my bite!" she murmured to herself as she swing through the streets. "No, to vampire-y."
"What about, 'Take my venom!'" she whispered as she climbed up a tree after a wayward kitty. She suddenly shook her head. "Okay, no. That one's just weird."
"Get spider-ed! Oh whatever, I give up." She frowned as she slipped into an alley.
Eventually, a long day of 'Spidergirl-ing' brought her back to the lamppost she had started on. She munched on a free cookie the nice shopkeeper had given her after she'd stopped him from getting run over. Now that she thought about it, she could swear she'd seen him working somewhere else too. He must have some very busy days.
Her musings were interrupted by a sudden wave of warning.
-LOOK-
She glanced over at a nearby alley to see a large guy standing over some girl in an alley. Every sense she had told her that something here wasn't good. She jumped to the building and crawled underneath the fire escape.
The big guy and the girl weren't the only people in the alley – a smaller, lanky guy was tied up against a wall and was watching the girl with horror. The burly man pushed against the young woman, dominating her with his sheer bulk.
"Heard you folks have got a new money stream. We got that right?"
The woman shivered in fear. "Look, we don't want trouble-"
"Well clearly you DO!" The man yelled, and the woman shrunk back futher. "See, you're making more money than before but only payin' out the same amount! You trying to cheat us, girlie?"
The woman shook her head. "No sir, please, we just-"
"There ain't no excuses!" The monster of a man bellowed into the woman's face. Suddenly, he pulled back a little with a leer. "Though if you ain't gonna pay us what you owe… I gotta take a different kinda payment." He began to reach out towards the woman.
"My oh my, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" All three suddenly turned, finally seeing Spidergirl in full. "Cause let me tell you, the things you're saying don't sound all that family friendly."
The hulking brute pulled out a gun, which was promptly pulled from his grasp by an errant web. Ruby did a flip over his head and landed on the other side of him, catching him in her web. She pulled him in, knocking him out with a two-footed kick to the head, and tied him to the fire escape with webs. By the time she had turned around, The woman had already untied the smaller guy.
"Thank you, Spidergirl!"
Ruby blushed under the mask at the man's words. "No biggie, really."
"No biggie?!" cried the woman. "You just saved us from… that!"
Ruby blushed further at the praise "Well y'know, I'm just being your friendly neighbourhood Spidergirl."
The woman cocked her head in thought. "Friendly Neighboorhood Spidergirl, huh? That'd make a good catch-phrase."
Ruby blinked. "Huh. You know what, you're right."
-CLOSE-
Ruby suddenly turned in time to notice a crowd of people clambering and fleeing the plaza. She peeked out of the alleyway, but couldn't see any threat.
The woman followed her gaze. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, but you two should get out of here."
The two nodded, rushing off in the other direction. Ruby stepped out into the crowd, looking for answers. She managed to grab one of the fleeing citizens by the arm.
"Hey! What's going on?"
The man stopped and opened his mouth to speak before his eyes went wide. He pointed behind her. "That's what!"
-DANGER-
She turned, only dimly aware of the civilian running away behind her. The thing stood two foot taller than her, with almost grimm-like musculature and size – however, the colouring was all grey: a strange, skin-tight bodysuit that terminated in a single, ebony horn. The thing that might have been human stood tall before letting out a cry of fury.
"BRING! ME! SPIDERGIRL!"
Ruby braced herself for a fight. This was gonna be rough.
Well, hello Mr. Rhino!
Setting off our new Arc with a quick catchup and a fight - but something's going on behind the scenes. Ruby is in more danger than she knows...
I hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter (finally) - as well as the video I linked, if you decided to watch it.
Either way, make sure to check out my !NEW PATRE0N! and Kofi at /xaosdiscordial for both.
Thanks you for reading, and see you dreckly!