Copyright Disclaimer that I really should have put in the first chapter:
RWBY is the rightful property of Rooster Teeth, and Starcraft is owned by Blizzard.
Note: This chapter contains scenes (well, a scene) of severe violence. Which is AWESOME!
Zerg Hive Cluster, Patch Island
Under normal circumstances, Yang Xiao Long would have been quite worried. An enormous Alpha Beowolf, followed by eight of its lesser kin, was slinking out from the tree line before her, the glowing orange-red eyes of the Grimm offering a sharp contrast against the pale white of their bony armor. She, on the other hand, was alone and disarmed in more ways than one. The shadowy wolf-creatures had the extreme number advantage, and there were most likely more of them lurking just outside her line of sight in the tree line.
How fortunate for her that these were most certainly not normal circumstances.
Yang smirked at the approaching beasts, the creep of the zerg hive-her hive-bubbling beneath her feet like tar. Behind her, nine Zerglings were assembled; the lizard-like beasts snarled and snapped at the approaching Beowolves, but the Grimm paid them no heed, instead focusing on the blonde human before them. The Alpha specimen sniffed the air, tilting its head confusedly as it inhaled the unfamiliar scent of the zerg, but it didn't lash out, almost as if it as waiting for Yang to make the first move.
The blonde firestarter grinned. It would be her pleasure.
The Huntress shifted into a combat stance, her arm raised and her hand balled into a fist; a clear signal that she wasn't running. "What are you waiting for, ya fleabags?" She shouted. "Come and get me!"
Thinking her stillness to be an opening, the Beowolves charged forwards on all fours behind their Alpha as three more of the umbral canines burst from the tree line, slavering at what look for all the world like a helpless victim. Before the leading Grimm could get within twenty feet of her, however, Yang gave a one-word telepathic command to her forces-one that they had all been waiting for.
Kill.
Immediately, the Zerglings rushed forwards, screeching in anticipation of the approaching bloodshed. One soared over its queen's head with a single flying leap and landed squarely on the ground in front of the lead Beowolf, positioning itself between Yang and the Grimm while two more of its kin guarded her flanks; the other six sprinted towards the rest of the attacking monsters. The Grimm snarled at the obstructing zerg, but the alien stood firm, growling right back at its opponent before charging forwards. The wolf monster swung a clawed hand at the Zergling, but its more agile adversary easily dodged the blow, ducking underneath the limb and leaping at the Grimm's throat, the surprising amount of force behind the smaller predator's attack causing the Alpha Beowolf to actually stumble backwards upon impact with the Zergling. That momentary loss of balance was all that the zerg creature needed.
The Zergling's mandible-horns snapped shut like an organic beartrap, plunging into the sides of the Alpha Beowolf's neck and holding the monster in place while it chomped down on the Grimm's unprotected throat, its razor-sharp teeth easily tearing through skin, flesh, and muscle. The alien's claws dug into the larger monster's hide while its bladed limbs found a gap in the Grimm's shoulder armor, stabbeing downwards into the skin just behind the collarbone and staining the foul creature's black fur red. The Alpha Beowolf flailed about, trying to shake off the Zergling, but its struggles only caused the creature's grip to tighten further. The Grimm tried to howl and alert the rest of its pack, but the smaller creature's iron grip on its larynx and the large amount of its own blood that was currently streaming down its throat only allowed for a faint gurgle to escape.
In one smooth motion, the Zergling ripped the Alpha Beowolf's throat free from its neck with a jerk of its reptilian head, staining the zerg's entire front half crimson with blood. As the corpse fell backwards to the ground, the victorious zerg placed a forefoot on its victim's chest, letting out an avian screech of triumph before sprinting off with the two Zerglings at its queen's sides, eager to join the rest of the battle.
Said battle was not going well for the creatures of Grimm. Despite having the advantage in size and numbers, the Beowolves didn't stand a chance against their unfamiliar enemies. The Zerglings easily danced around the larger creatures' wild swings, taking advantage of their opponents' momentary opening to quickly dart in and slash away with their bladed limbs. Tendons were cleanly sliced, sending wolf monsters crashing to the ground, while the less fortunate Grimm were simply disemboweled within two or three slices, their steaming internal organs spilling out onto the snowy ground. The shadow monsters' armor plating was of little help to them; as soon as one of the Zerglings' blades located a chink in the bony plates, the entire pack was notified of the weakness through their hive mind, prompting all of them to strike at the unarmored gaps. Even the creep was working against the Beowolves, congealing over their paws and pulling them downwards like sticky mud, impeding their movements, while propelling the dog-like zerg creatures to even greater speeds.
A snarl and a hissing screech snapped Yang out of her observations; a second Alpha Beowolf had somehow gotten past her Zerglings and had pounced on a Drone, dragging it from the Hatchery and pinning it down with a razor-clawed paw. The lupine creature slowly raked its knife-like talons across one of the alien's webbed wings, tearing through the thin membrane with ease and earning a shriek of pain from the thrashing Drone. If the Grimm's furry snout had the necessary musculature, it would have been grinning like a cat that had just swallowed the canary as it took its time to torture its prey, drinking in the agony it was inflicting.
Yang would have none of it.
Charging forwards at speeds she didn't know she could reach with a cry of pure and utter fury, the blonde firebrand slammed into the Grimm with a shoulder check, the force of the impact knocking the lycanthropic creature back several feet and breaking several of its ribs with an audible crack, despite the fact that Yang was less than half of the Beowolf's size. Standing firmly between the Drone and the Grimm, the zerg queen snarled at the monster, her vision gaining a crimson tint as her eyes glowed an identical shade of red.
This vermin had dared to harm a member of her Swarm.
It was going to die. In pieces.
Charging towards the Alpha Beowolf at top speed once more, Yang's fist slammed into the Grimm's torso like a meteor, the lupine creature's already-cracked ribs shattering with an audible crunch. As she swung over and over again, the newly-infested human could barely hear herself speak over the roar of blood in her ears as she snarled the last words her opponent would ever hear, every word punctuated by the sound of bones breaking.
"You!" A blow to the skull, causing thousands of hairline cracks to spread across the right side of the Beowolf's bone mask.
"Will!" A vicious kick to the leg, shattering the left kneecap.
"Not!" Another blow to the torso, forcing several rib fragments deep into the Grimm's lungs.
"Hurt!" Yang grabbed the monster by the wrist and pulled, tearing the Alpha Beowolf's right arm clean off at the elbow.
"My!" She sidestepped the Grimm's frantic swing with its remaining arm, stabbing the splintered bone shards at the end of the severed limb deep into the wolf-like beast's side.
"Swarm!" As the monster howled in pain, the zerg queen grabbed the Beowolf by the throat and squeezed, her vice-like grasp crushing the monster's windpipe like a toilet paper tube. As the Grimm tried to yowl in pain through its crushed larynx, she yanked her hand back, tearing out the Grimm's trachea with one smooth motion and tossing it to the ground, killing it instantly.
As the Beowolf's corpse dropped to the frozen earth, the baleful light in its eyes fading and blood streaming from the gaping hole that was once its jugular, Yang threw her head back into the air, an inhuman cry of victory tearing its way free of her throat.
"SKRRREEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
As the infested human roared, her Zerglings, seemingly given strength by their queen's triumph, threw themselves into combat with renewed vigor, tearing into the invading Grimm at an even faster rate. With almost the entire pack now lying dead on the ground, the few surviving Beowolves did something Yang never thought she would see in her lifetime-they turned and ran back into the woods, tails between their legs; the Zerglings, dyed crimson with blood and viscera, screeched in victory, their birdlike calls filling the air. The blonde brawler gawked at the sight for only a moment, however, quickly turning her attentions back to the wounded Drone, her eyes fading to lilac once again as the adrenaline rush subsided.
The worker wasn't in good shape; its right pincer was connected by only a few threads of flesh, while its left hung limply at its side, broken in at least two different places. The entire right wing was torn, grounding the zerg organism, and its carapace was cracked in several places, leaking copious amounts of blood onto the creep-covered ground.
"No, no, no, no, no. You are not dying on me." Yang muttered to herself, scouring her memory for anything she could think of about setting wounds as she frantically placed her hand over a particularly nasty wound and applied pressure in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Do not worry, My Queen," the Drone murmured, its mechanical tone sounding tired and weakened. "I will recover in time; zerg regularly endure and completely recover from damage much worse than this. Consuming biomass should increase my rate of recovery even more."
"Biomass, huh?" The blonde firestarter asked, looking over her shoulder at the already-dissipating corpse of the Alpha Beowolf she had just killed. "I think I know just the thing."
Walking over to the dead Grimm, Yang grabbed hold of the Grimm's body by the wrist of its remaining arm and dragged it over to the Drone. "Here, eat up. It's not exactly premium meat, but it should do."
The worker nodded in understanding, not exerting itself further by communicating as it used its remaining legs to drag itself towards the corpse. It sank its mandibles into the Beowolf's furry hide, biting off a large chunk of meat…
Immediately, the zerg's eyes blazed red, a tortured shriek resonating through the hive mind. Yang yelled in pain and clutched her hand to her head, but the pain from the cry was soon replaced by an even worse burning sensation within her mind, as if something was forcibly dissolving her connection to the Drone. The young woman desperately grabbed hold of the creature's mental presence and held tight, but within seconds, the zerg's presence in the hive mind was gone, torn free from her grasp by the agonizing process. What now stood before the blonde firebrand… was not her Drone.
The newly-transformed zerg glared up at its former queen with several dozen glowing red eyes, snapping its saliva-dripping mandibles hungrily even as its prone body twitched and convulsed, taking on new nightmarish qualities. Rough, uneven bony armor plates collected over its wounds like thickened white scabs, while ashen-grey skin stretched between the many tears in its wings and similarly-colored tissue knitted itself over the ruined forelimbs. The patchwork creature flapped its leg-wings and took to the air, issuing a gurgling cry as it began to rush towards Yang…
Until a curved blade, thin as a rapier and curved like a scythe, stabbed downwards into the feral Drone's carapace and punched through its underside, spearing it like a fish.
Abathur loomed over the corrupted zerg, effortlessly lifting it up into the air until it was level with his spider-like face. The impaled abomination squirmed and snapped at the larger creature, but its cries were cut short as the Evolution Master cleanly decapitated the Grimm-zerg with a quick swipe of his other bladed limb.
"Organism Abathur cannot allow harm to new queen of Swarm." Abathur intoned, calmly sliding the twisted creature's body off of his blade and letting it fall to the ground. Yang, on the other hand, was still reeling from the pain of the Drone's egress from the hive mind.
"Th… thank you, Abathur, but… what the hell was that?" She asked, shaking her head a couple times and massaging her temple.
"Unsure, but direct consumption of Grimm biomass not recommended." The Evolution Master replied, slithering over to the corrupted zerg's corpse and picking up its severed head, examining it closely. "Recommended: Direct deposition into Hatchery."
"Al… alright. I'll have the Drones do that immediately. As soon as that biomass is processed, I want you to start looking these Beowolves' essence over to find out why… that just happened; as soon as you find the reason, I want a way to stop it."
Although she was still staggering a bit from the mental agony she had experienced moments before, Yang dipped into the hive mind and extended her telepathic presence to the rest of the hive cluster.
All Drones, stop what you're doing and bring those Grimm corpses to the Hatchery. Tear them into smaller pieces with your claws-for the love of Oum, don't eat them.
I want the first six larvae that emerge to morph into additional Drones; two of you, do the same thing that the other Drones are doing, and the other four, morph into…
The blonde powerhouse looked to Abathur. "What can I spawn right now for some more defense? I don't want us getting caught with our pants down like that again."
"Spine Crawler; anti-ground defensive structure. Spore Crawler; anti-air defensive structure. Mutate from Drones, plant on Creep. Can uproot and move to different location, but dies slowly if rooted in area lacking creep. Zerg organisms: Roach, armored creature, requires Roach Warren. Spits acid; can burrow to heal wounds. Hydralisk, ranged unit, requires Hydralisk Den. Fires spines at opponents." As Abathur talked, images passed through Yang's mind of the creatures; images of razor-edged tentacles, armored insectoid monsters, and vaguely humanoid serpentine beasts.
"Got it. We'll need all of the firepower we can get." She continued her orders. You heard Abathur; two Drones in Group B, morph into Spine Crawlers, while the other two morph into a Hydralisk Den and a Roach Warren. We are not letting an incident like that happen again.
Abathur nodded, spearing the headless Drone carcass on one of his bladed limbs to carry back to the Evolution Chamber, but his queen called out after him before he could get too far.
"Hey, Abathur, I just thought of something." Yang turned to the severed zerg head. "This guy," she nudged the tainted skull with her toe, "Sure met… a Grimm end." A wide grin split across her face as she smiled at her own pun.
Abathur, the reincarnation of the Evolution Master of the Swarm, architect of the Queen of Blades and creator of the many deadly species of the Swarm, facepalmed. "Pun quality: abysmal."
Within about fifteen minutes, it was done; Yang's three surviving Drones had immediately set to work on the dead Beowolves, their pincers being put to good use in tearing the meat into smaller chunks. Yang herself had also done her best to pitch in, dragging the bodies furthest from the Hatchery closer to the hive. Although three Beowolves had dissipated before they could be collected, eight more, including the two Alphas, had been successfully harvested for their biomass before their bodies had degraded too much-the assistance of two newly-hatched Drones near the end greatly sped up the process.
At the moment, the five Drones were digging into the earth a short distance from the Hatchery at the edge of the creep cover at Yang's command to start mining for minerals, their pincers carving through the frozen soil with little difficulty. Abathur had retreated into the Evolution Chamber to examine the Grimm's essence, and the cysts containing the two developing Spine Crawlers stood at opposite edges of the creep while the ones containing the Roach Warren and Hydralisk Den stood near the Spawning Pool, ready to burst open at any moment.
Yang herself was currently entering the Evolution Chamber, wiping her hand, stained with Beowolf blood, on the organic wall of the structure as she entered. The interior of the Chamber reminded her of an enormous stomach, with the creep-coated floor curving upwards at the edges to form outwards-arching walls and curving upwards to form the domed ceiling. Fist-sized orbs glowing with pale yellow light dangled from the ceiling on ropy tendrils, while dozens of empty cocoons, looking like larger versions of the ones that her larvae encased themselves in to evolve into Drones and Zerglings, were embedded into said walls at ground level. Near the center of the room sat a roughly oval-shaped pool of green fluids set into the ground, similar to the larger Spawning Pool outside, with the decapitated Drone carcass floating on its back in the middle of it.
The Evolution Master himself was 'standing' in front of this pool, holding the hands of his second pair of arms about three feet apart, a ghostly yellow image of a DNA helix bridging the space between his palms. Abathur was plucking at the helix with the claws on his first pair of hands, pulling out individual bars and scrutinizing them, tossing some aside and placing others into different locations. Sensing his queen's arrival, the creature turned to Yang, dispelling the genetic sequence with a flick of his wrists.
"Found anything?" She asked, hand resting on her hip.
"Relevation. Discovered reason of Drone corruption." The zerg scientist replied, steepling the fingers on all four of his hands as he spoke, as if he were a supervillain from an old spy film.
"Essence of organism Beowolf like virus. When consumed, incorporates new traits into genetic structure on level of organism Yang Xiao Long's infestation. Drastically degrades mental functions, cuts off from hive mind. Hypothesis: similar behavior in essence of other 'creatures of Grimm'. Problematic to harvest for biomass, almost impossible to extract essence. Solution: adapt. Can extend digestive system of zerg organisms, strengthen gastric enzymes. Dissolve tainted portions of Grimm essence, allow safe consumption. Can cocoon all zerg units, introduce into genetic code of Swarm at any time. Can also apply to organism Yang Xiao Long, if wished-current digestive system inefficient, incapable of effectively metabolizing uncooked flesh. Evolution will improve digestive system immensely, widen diet."
"Good to hear that you found a solution for this; we don't need this problem hovering over us any more. I want that evolution applied to all zerg in the hive immediately." Yang said. "And that goes for me, too." She added after a moment of thought. While the idea of eating the creatures of Grimm wasn't exactly appealing to the blonde firestarter, her new carnivorous tendencies would definitely require some improvements to her digestive system, just in case she really did pick up some kind of disease. "However, there is something else I wanted to ask of you first."
"Name required task."
"You said earlier that you could regrow my arm, right?" The young woman asked hopefully, wiggling the stump of her severed limb to make it clear what she wanted of the Evolution Master.
Abathur nodded in understanding. "Simple matter, but not recommended. Grasper limbs of Organism Yang Xiao Long poorly designed. Minimal biological adaptation. Biomass insufficient for extensive modification, but improvisation possible."
"Woah, woah, woah, Abathur, my arms are fine; I don't want you to-" Yang raised a hand to argue, but suddenly stopped herself mid-sentence. The Evolution Master brought up a good point; her fists hadn't been enough to against Cinder and the White Fang before, and they wouldn't be any more helpful now. When in Atlas, I suppose. She thought ruefully. She was zerg now; it was time to act the part. If she truly wanted to get revenge, she, too, needed to evolve.
"On second thought, I wouldn't mind a few modifications…" She trailed off.
"Name improvements organism Yang Xiao Long wishes implemented."
The blonde firebrand stood silently for a few minutes, pondering. If she wanted to stand against her foes, she needed to improve herself in every way possible. But no matter what upgrades Yang made to herself, they wouldn't be of much use to her without some serious firepower-firepower that she no longer had, now that her Ember Celica were gone.
At the memory of her weapons, the blonde powerhouse's mind was made up. "Abathur, is it possible for me to show you my memories?" She asked.
"Certainly possible through hive mind. Reason?"
"Because I'm about to show you what I want." With that, Yang plunged into the hive mind, accessing the Evolution Master's mind and thinking back to her days at Signal Academy, of the blueprints for her beloved weapons. She dredged up every last iota of information she had about Ember Celica-their weight down to the last milligram, the maximum amount of ammunition they could hold, the feeling of the recoil from each shot, and that oh-so-satisfying sound it made when the blasts of kinetic energy hit flesh.
One of the perks of going to Signal-each and every student knew their weapons inside and out.
The blonde brawler gathered up all of her memories of the gauntlets and fed them through the hive mind, pouring them into Abathur's brain like molten metal into a cast. If this wasn't enough to rebuild her weapons, then nothing would be sufficient.
"If I'm going to lead the Swarm to stand against my enemies, I'll need my original weapons back. I want you to recreate them as best you can."
Abathur was silent for a minute as he mentally examined the gauntlets' blueprints; Yang could almost hear the gears in his head turning as he examined her memories.
"Interesting, interesting…" The zerg scientist muttered. "Cannot exactly replicate item Ember Celica…"
Yang visibly deflated.
"But exact replication unnecessary." He continued. "Can improve on organism Yang Xiao Long's design, eliminate flaws."
"Wait, flaws?!" Yang indignantly exclaimed, her temper flaring up and her eyes turning red. While the blonde firebrand wasn't quite as weapon-crazy as her younger sister, she still took considerable pride in the Ember Celica. "Excuse me?!"
"Flaws inherent to all Terran weaponry, not unique to item Ember Celica." Abathur quickly added, quickly backing away from his queen before continuing at a safe distance. "Item Ember Celica unlike previously encountered Terran weapons-combines melee and ranged capabilities, folds into compacted form. However, flaw shared by all Terran ranged weaponry still present-must reload after certain number of shots. Will look into alternative forms of ammunition, eliminate need for reloading."
"Oh, then I suppose that's alright." Yang replied, calmer now that she knew that Abathur wasn't talking smack about her weapon. Actually, now that she thought of it, the Evolution Master didn't seem like the type to dislike anything without good reason; the realization caused a small amount of guilt to sink down into her stomach. "I'm sorry for lashing out like that, Abathur. You have served me well so far; I shouldn't have blown up at you like I did."
Abathur said nothing, but the blonde powerhouse could feel his confusion through the hive mind. "It's not that hard to reply, you know." She deadpanned. "It's a human custom to thank someone who says they're sorry about something."
"Will remember. Apology recognized and appreciated."
"Good. Make whatever other improvements you can to me, but don't go too crazy, alright? We're working on a budget here in terms of biomass."
"Unclear. Mental health irrelevant for spinning of sequences. However, will keep changes minimal."
Yang sighed and made a mental note to teach her top-and for that matter, her only-scientist a thing or two about human customs.
"Good Oum, I'm becoming Weiss." She muttered to herself, before something else came to her.
"Hang on; will I still be able to lead the Swarm while you're… improving me?"
"Affirmative. While evolving, organism Yang Xiao Long can still command Swarm through psionic connection of hive mind. Psionic essence can communicate with zerg, move freely throughout reach of creep."
"Then what are we waiting for?" The golden-haired powerhouse grinned. While Abathur's technobabble had gone right over her head, she still gotten the gist of it; regrowing her arm wouldn't leave her hive without a leader. "Let's get my arm back!"
Abathur nodded and slithered towards one of the empty cocoons embedded into the walls, his clawed fingers grazing the surface of its plastic shell. Immediately, the covering split and peeled back, yawning wide like an open maw. The Evolution Master slid over to the side, gesturing for his queen to enter the cocoon.
"Evolution requires organism Yang Xiao Long to enter cocoon. Changes will be made to digestive tract first, then will improve arms."
Yang just nodded, walking over and entering the egg-like structure. As soon as she had done so, the shell sealed shut again, tinting the view outside faint green. Veinlike tendrils slithered out from the walls, wrapping themselves around the infested human's limbs and pumping a steady stream of zerg essence into her system with a few faint pricks. The blonde firestarter closed her eyes, keeping herself calm and collected even as the tendrils pierced her skin. As she slipped into unconsciousness, a faint smile was on her face.
It was time for the first step towards her revenge.
Yang slowly opened her eyes, awakening to a view of her own face through the glassy surface of the cocoon, the smile still on her lips. With a small squeak of surprise, she frantically tried to backpedal away from the sight… only to realize that she didn't have feet anymore.
Somehow, the blonde brawler was floating above the ground at about the same height as her body's face. As she looked down to try and get a look at herself, Yang quickly realized that she didn't have a physical form anymore-she was a mass of nothing floating in the air.
This must be what Abathur meant by my 'psionic essence' being able to move around, she thought to herself. Alright, great; she wouldn't be helpless. Yang tried to walk forwards, but a new problem surfaced-she didn't have any legs to move. Well, crap. So much for that. She wondered if this was how it felt to have one of those out-of-body experiences she had heard about; was there some kind of trick to this?
"Will not move by trying to focus on limbs." The guttural voice of Abathur suddenly piped up. "Must not focus on how to move, but where."
Yang whirled around to see Abathur standing in front of the central pool again, facing away from her and once more fiddling with a DNA helix.
"You can-" Yang stopped herself as she realized that she wasn't making any noise as she talking, quickly switching to telepathy. -I mean, you can see me?
"Affirmative and negative. Organism Yang Xiao Long's psionic essence can be detected by all organisms connected to zerg hive mind. Not directly seen, but location known."
Oh, I… guess that makes sense. Yang replied. That explained how the Evolution Master knew where she was, despite the fact that he hadn't turned around at all for the entirety of their conversation. So all I have to do is just focus on where to move, but not how I'm moving?
"Affirmative." Abathur confirmed, squinting at a bar of what must have been Yang's genetic code as he held it up to one of his many eyes.
The former human looked towards the exit of the Evolution Chamber, focusing on the creep in front of it. She shifted her attention from trying to take a step to willing herself to move, almost leaning forwards as she did so.
Sure enough, the blonde brawler began to move, gliding quickly and smoothly over the creep. As she arrived at the building's exit hatch, the valve-like structure opened to allow her mental projection to leave. It seemed that she had only been out for a few seconds-the structures she had ordered built had yet to burst free of their development cysts, and the hole her Drones were digging had only deepened by a few inches; said Drones were now shaking themselves dry of the fluids of the cocoons they had just exited in order to receive Abathur's newest upgrade. Floating towards the closest cyst, Yang peered into the semi-transparent object-a spiny object resembling the Hatchery could be seen through the amber fluids.
I wonder… She thought to herself, an idea suddenly coming to her. Looking up at the Overlord hovering above the hive, she focused on floating higher up into the air. Sure enough, she immediately began to ascend, soon 'standing' at the level of the giant floating zerg, which turned to look at her through its four glowing yellow eyes.
So this is what it's like from your perspective. she 'told' the creature. I've gotta say, it's peaceful.
The Overlord snorted in agreement, startling a pair of small birds that had been perching on its mountainous back and earning a telepathic giggle from its queen.
Alright, big guy, I've got to go. See you!
Descending back to the ground, Yang 'settled' herself directly on top of one of the Hatchery's maw-spikes and looked out over her hive, her mind going into the same analytical state she went into whenever she played a game.
While the blonde brawler hadn't exactly been a star student in Beacon, she was far from the airhead that many wrote her off as (Never in front of her, obviously-the last guy who tried that ended up in the hospital with both legs broken, a mouthful of lost teeth, and half a dozen shattered ribs). When it came to games of strategy, she had a surprising knack, quickly figuring out what she could do with the resources allotted to her and using them as best she could to utterly devastate her opponents. One of the walls in her bedroom was decorated with trophies she had won in chess tournaments when she was younger, and she had been the undefeated champion of Remnant: the Game during her time at Beacon. Heck, Qrow had even taken her to a casino once on her eleventh birthday; she had actually managed to win a substantial amount of cash before Taiyang had finally managed to locate the two and drag them back home.
Now, it was time to put that strategic mind to use.
The development cysts burst open, revealing the nightmarish structures within; two Spine Crawlers, each a 20-foot-long tendril as thick as a tree trunk forming the shape of a question mark tipped with a razor-sharp barb shaped like a Deathstalker's sting situated in the center of a ring of spikes protruding from the ground, stood at opposite ends of the hive, their stings twitching in anticipation of being plunged into living flesh; a Hydralisk Den, which looked like a smaller Hatchery with the central maw slumping over and lying on the ground; and the Roach Warren, which resembled a circular chitin dome set on an elevated platform, with several pairs of large inwards-curving bone spikes on the back, one pair atop of the other, and an organic stairway lined with inwards-curving tusks leading into an entrance.
Perfect. The blonde thought to herself. Time to really start setting up shop. She cast her reach out into the hive mind, finding that she currently had no less than thirteen larvae milling around the Hatchery and relaying her psychic command to them.
All right, you lot; I want one of you to morph into an Overlord, four to morph into Zerglings, four into Roaches, and four into Hydralisks. If we run out of space in the hive mind, wait until the second Overlord has been birthed before cocooning yourselves.
The wormlike creatures obeyed immediately; one larva wrapped itself up in a massive cocoon, while three others headed for their respective structures; the first slithered into the maw of the Hydralisk Den, the second to the entryway of the Roach Warren, and the third into the Spawning Pool. The rest of the small zerg sat stock-still, staring avidly at the developing Overlord's chrysalis.
While the remaining larvae prepared to cocoon themselves, Yang turned her attentions to her Zerglings, who were currently scattered around the hive, napping or playing chase with one another.
Zerglings, listen up! She telepathically barked; immediately, all nine of the creatures stopped whatever they were doing and snapped to attention with almost military precision, all eyes focusing on her perch. I want you all to split into groups of three; two groups stay here and guard the hive while one patrols the woods around the hive, staying within 50 feet of this clearing. If you see anything bigger than a mouse come within that distance, kill it and bring the body back here for the Drones to break down into biomass. I want the group patrolling to change shifts with one of the two groups staying here every twenty minutes. Now hop to it!
At once, the wolflike reptilian creatures leapt into action; one trio-which Yang recognized as her original batch of Zerglings-took off into the woods, while the other six began to circle the small hive, staying on the edge of the creep.
Within a few minutes, her zerg began to break free from their cocoons: a second Overlord joined the first above the Hatchery, while four new zerg creatures emerged from the structures they had been metamorphosing in.
The Hydralisk Den's slumping mouth opened wide, releasing a 7-foot-tall creature with a somewhat humanoid upper body, a snakelike tail in the place of hind legs, scythe-like claws on its arms, chitin plating covering its body, a head hanging in front of the chest, and hundreds of quills on its back, while a four-legged beetle-like creature the size of a black bear with a heavy spiked shell, a small reptilian head with four eyes and mandibles, and a pair of large, sharp claws mounted on the shell where the bladed limbs would be on a Zergling exited the Roach Warren. At the same time, two Zerglings leapt out of the Spawning Pool, their wings fluttering as they shook off the slime of the Spawning Pit. The rest of the larvae filed into their respective structures, cocooning themselves as they prepared to develop into new forms of zerg.
Wait a minute, Yang thought to herself as she counted her new forces. I only ordered one larva to mutate into a Zergling. What gives?
Zergling essence extremely simple in structure. Typically allows for two per larva. Resources previously insufficient to produce two Zerglings per chrysalis. One Zergling per larva, less expensive, provides protection. Not ideal, but efficient. Abathur's voice suddenly echoed in her mind. Additional information. Essence of organism Yang Xiao Long fully examined by organism Abathur. Digestive system improvements complete. Requested modifications to be implemented immediately. He added, reporting his progress on his queen's evolution.
Thank you, Abathur. I'm not complaining about it; it just means more zerg for the hive. Yang replied before shifting her attention back to the hive. In the time that she and Abathur had been talking, the rest of the units she had ordered had finished developing. Six more Zerglings had joined the eight on patrol, three Roaches were standing at attention next to the first one she had spawned, and the first Hydralisk was now joined by three more of its kind.
If the blonde powerhouse had a mouth, she would have been grinning like a kid in a candy store at the sight of her army, now numbering twenty-four as the Zergling trio lurking in the treeline re-entered the clearing, one of them carrying a partially-chewed up badger carcass in its jaws that it passed off to a Drone to convert into biomass. Yes, this was more than a sufficient fighting force, but the memory of her deceased Drone's agonized screaming was still fresh in the blonde brawler's mind.
Drone, I have a question. She glided down to the ground and entered the mind of one of the digging zerg workers, floating alongside it and 'talking' as it deposited its payload of regurgitated soil into the Hatchery. Do zerg have any units capable of healing their own?
"That would be a Queen; spawned directly from the Hatchery instead of a larva, and serves as a support unit. Fires quills, heals zerg, and lays Creep Tumors to spread creep. Why do you ask, My Queen?" The Drone answered, not showing the slightest sign of surprise at the sudden voice of its ruler echoing in its brain.
I don't want to worry about the health of my forces after every battle. Having something that can heal wounds would be extremely beneficial. The zerg queen replied. I want one to be spawned immediately or as soon as we have the biomass, whichever comes first.
"As you wish, My Queen." The zerg replied, returning to its hole-digging.
Cutting off her telepathic conversation, the blonde brawler floated her consciousness back up to her place atop the Hatchery, sending out one last command to her hive, this time to a pair of newly-spawned larvae.
I need you two to mature into Drones; once you finish, mutate into Spine Crawlers at the other two corners of the hive cluster that the other two we have aren't covering. I want this base protected from all sides in case of attack.
As the two larvae began to wrap themselves in their chrysalises, Yang heard a scraping, skittering sound coming from within the organic structure. One of the delivery orifices stretched and expanded until a fully grown Ursa could walk through before disgorging the newest addition to the Swarm.
The creature's lower body looked like that of a bulkier Drone, with glowing green spots running along the sides and an orifice that looked like a fist-sized gaping maw, void of teeth but flanked by a pair of mandibles, in the place of a tail. Six spider-like legs supported the body, each ending in a sharp blade-like claw, with webbing like the leg membranes of a Drone connecting the limbs together. The creature's upper body, mounted on the lower body like a centaur, had a torso somewhat shaped like that of a human, but the resemblance ended there. Chitin plating covered the body like a suit of armor, and a pair of thin arms ending in three-clawed hands swiped at the air, while a pair of smaller mantis-like limbs was mounted below the arms, the blades on the end twitching as if they couldn't wait to tear skin and rend flesh, and a pair of many-jointed limbs shaped like Abathur's spear-limbs arched above the head, with hundreds of straight spines sprouting from where the shins would be on a human leg down and pointing forwards. The face had no visible nose or ears, just a pair of glowing yellow eyes and a set of suspiciously human-like jaws equipped with razor-sharp teeth flanked by a pair of sharp-toothed mandibles, with the back of the head projecting back almost a foot, decorated with bony ridges, short spikes, and several dozen segmented hair-like tendrils growing from the underside. The nightmarish creature turned to where Yang's psionic presence was located and lowered its head respectfully, sweeping its arms out as if it were attempting to curtsy.
So, I take it that you are a Queen? The blonde brawler asked.
The zerg nodded. "Indeed, My Queen. I live to serve the will of the Swarm." It replied, its vaguely feminine voice raspy and hoarse, but also stilted and awkward, as if it were a prerecorded message speaking rather than a living creature.
Um, good to hear, my subject. The infested human replied, more than a little creeped out by the Queen's lifeless tone. The Queen's dialogue was just as mechanical as the Drones', but it was somehow more disturbing coming from the larger creature, especially with the many suspiciously human-like features it had. Uh, I want you to extend the creep near those two developing Spine Crawlers, then head to the Zerglings. We just had a minor skirmish with a pack of local creatures; I want you to heal any injuries that they might have.
"As you command, My Queen." The zerg replied robotically, quickly skittering off, the creep propelling the centaur-like creature forward with each step. Reaching the first development cyst within seconds, the Queen's lower back arched upwards, a misshapen clump of indistinct tissue dropping from the orifice on its lower end like a freshly-laid egg. The lump, at first the size of a baseball, quickly began to expand and grow; within seconds, it was easily the size of a Zergling. Creep began to ooze out from the thing like water from a sponge, pooling around it and expanding the reach of the slimy material. Soon, the creep around the Spine Crawler cyst had extended by almost ten feet, with the Creep Tumor responsible pulsing as if it would burst at any moment. The Queen quickly scuttled across the hive cluster and repeated the process next to the other developing Spine Crawler before heading to the pack of Zerglings, which all gathered around the larger creature as they saw it coming.
Looking over each zerg organism before it, the creature brooded over the smaller Zerglings like a mother hen clucking over her chicks, opening jaws to examine their teeth, picking bits of dirt and creep from the lizard-like creatures' hides, and tending to the admittedly minor wounds that Yang's forces had sustained by spitting a strange glowing green slime on any injuries it found; as soon as the ooze touched a wound, the injuries healed at an incredible rate, cuts sealing up and chipped claws mending themselves almost instantly. Within moments, the Zerglings were in perfect condition, chittering and hissing to each other.
Strange. Yang 'said' to herself. When it was tending to the pack, the Queen seemed more… alive. There was more energy in its movements, more spring in its step, and the blonde brawler could even hear the creature actually chittering happily to itself as it fussed over the Zerglings. Even though she had only interacted with the creature for a few seconds, this didn't seem like it at all. The blonde brawler made a mental note to ask Abathur about the Queen's strange personality.
Notification. Evolution of organism Yang Xiao Long complete. Psionic essence can enter body and exit cocoon. Abathur's voice echoed right on cue, snapping the infested human's consciousness out of her thoughts.
Thank you, Abathur. The blonde brawler replied. I'll be there momentarily.
Steering herself towards the Evolution Chamber, the zerg queen glided through the mouth-like hatch, flying over the pool in the center of the chamber and stopping at the cocoon containing her newly-improved body; since she had been gone, the casing had become clouded and opaque, rendering it impossible for the young Huntress to get a sneak peak of herself.
Alright, I managed to do this before; I can do it again. Now I just have to do it backwards. She told herself, mentally reaching forwards and 'touching' the cocoon. The golden-haired firebrand focused on the form within the chrysalis, grasping onto it through the hive mind and pulling herself forwards. Sure enough, she felt a strong tug on her consciousness, as if her body was physically towing her mental being back into her skull. Riding out the strange sensation, Yang relaxed her metaphysical 'body', pouring herself back into her physical form like water through a funnel. A rushing sensation filled her being, and everything went black.
Yang opened her eyes to find herself lying against the interior wall of her cocoon, the fluids having drained out of it and the tendrils retracted. So the evolution had worked; she was back in her body again. The blonde powerhouse brushed aside her feelings of amazement: freaking out over how cool her out-of-body experience had been could wait. Right now, she had a Swarm to lead.
Immediately, she pushed herself out of the cocoon, her hands grasping the edges of the egg-like structure as she stepped out-
Wait a minute; hands? As in, plural? Yang quickly looked at the stump on her right side, only to find… an arm, complete with a fully-formed hand.
"Holy crap." She breathed, examining the new appendage closely. It wasn't entirely like her old arm - smooth insectoid chitin plating, light tan in color, now protected the forearm, almost like the Ember Celica did in her days at Signal and Beacon - but besides that, it was a near-perfect replica of what she had had months before.
Wait a minute. Yang thought to herself, quickly flicking her wrist forward-the mechanism that had activated her beloved weapons. Sure enough, the chitin plates immediately extended, covering the backs of her hands and a small hole forming above the wrist-a near-perfect replica of one of the barrels of her golden gauntlets. But the transformation wasn't over: smaller chitin plates covered the backs of the blonde brawler's fingers and wrapped around her digits, while a larger one slid across the palm of her hand. Within seconds, her fist looked like it was covered by a gauntlet made entirely out of the articulated plates of an insect's shell; as the Huntress flexed her fingers, she realized that these armor plates didn't impede her movements at all, bending and shifting as if it were a second skin-which, now that Yang thought about it, it kind of was. Quickly looking over to her left hand, the golden-haired firebrand experimentally flicked her other wrist; sure enough, armor folded out over the limb, just as it had on her right one.
A grin stretched out across the girl's face. "Ha, ha, all right!" She shouted, pumping her armored fists. "Look out, world; Yang Xiao Long is back in action!"
Abathur gave a curt nod as he observed his queen's reactions, steepling his fingers as he studied her reaction.
"Organism Abathur presumes that organism Yang Xiao Long enjoys replication of item Ember Ce-urk!"
The Evolution Master's inquiry was suddenly cut off as Yang dashed towards him and grabbed him in a bear hug, her improved arms easily wrapping around his thin midsection and taking the zerg scientist totally by surprise.
"Actions of organism Yang Xiao Long… unclear." Abathur said, clearly somewhat uncomfortable with this unfamiliar sensation despite his monotone. He looked down somewhat nervously at his queen, only to find himself at a loss for words.
Tears were running down the golden-haired human's cheeks in thin streams, despite the huge smile she had on her face. He scratched the mushroom-like growth on his back in puzzlement.
"Confusion. Organism Yang Xiao Long is engaging tear ducts. Tears sign of distress, but hormone levels indicate intense joy is being experienced. Unclear. Error in sequences, perhaps?"
"No, Abathur - *sniff* - I'm fine." Yang said somewhat tearfully, releasing the being responsible for making her whole again from her death grip and wiping her runny nose on her arm-thankfully, the slimes of the cocoon had seemingly totally removed themselves from both the blonde and her clothing, leaving her completely dry. "I'm happy, don't worry. That's - *sniff* - why I'm crying." She held up her newly armor-plated fist. "You gave me my arm back. You… you fixed me. Thanks." Her voice was calm, almost solemn, as she thanked the Evolution Master. "I owe you."
"Organism Yang Xiao Long owes nothing to organism Abathur." Abathur shrugged, blunt as ever. "Was happy to improve you. Challenge of recreating item Ember Celica engaging. Can use to better improve Swarm." With that, he continued on
"Implemented far more than simple weapon recreation and regrowth of grasper limb. Increased muscle and bone density; strength, speed, endurance, durability all increased. Improved digestive system; safe consumption of virtually all organic matter possible. Added claws to digits; increased melee combat proficiency-"
"Wait, claws?!" Yang exclaimed, looking down at her fingers and concentrating momentarily, feeling new muscles within the tips of her digits and tensing them. Immediately, razor-sharp talons, each measuring four inches long, erupted from her fingertips; with another second of concentration, they retracted again. The blonde brawler grinned like a kid in a candy store at the sight of it, extending and retracting her new claws several times before snapping out of it.
Oh, this is going to be fun.
"Thank you for the enhancements, Abathur. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take them for a test run." The blonde brawler said happily, a somewhat maniacal grin spreading across her features. Striding out of the Evolution Chamber, she waved to her Queen with her newly-regrown right arm, who chittered in approval at the sight.
All combat-based zerg units, converge to me. Her mental command carried over the hive cluster; as soon as the command left her mind, her little crew of horrors gathered together, standing before her and awaiting her command.
Yang's grin grew even wider as she stood before her assembled forces; a troop of slavering monsters that appeared to have crawled directly out of the depths of Hell, and every last one of them served her and her alone.
A few Beowolves had escaped after their failed attack on her; it was time to show them the full extent of their folly in attacking the Swarm.
"Prepare to mobilize. We're going hunting."
Holy crap, this thing took longer to write than I thought it would! I was originally going to make this a single chapter, but I feel that it has enough content in it to let it stand on its own. I've already written up a lot of the next chapter, so it should be up at least a little bit sooner than it took to finish this chapter. (Key word here being should.)
Also, I have updated the last couple of chapters, including a nice little nod to a certain Youtube fight...
I don't think that there's really enough gore in this to warrant a Mature rating, especially considering that I do put warnings up whenever I get detailed. Plus, there is the fact that I literally got the idea for Yang's finishing move from Mortal Kombat, so yeah, there's that.
Once again, thank you for the reviews; keep 'em coming! If you have an idea for this story, spotted a grammatical error, have constructive criticism, have a question for me, or just want to say that you like the story, go ahead and say it! If you dislike it, just tell me why.
Now to answer some of you guys' questions:
Guest: It would be spoiling things to say whether or not the Protoss are going to appear, but it's a pretty fair bet that Yang's not going to be using psi-blades, as awesome as that would be.
The Joining: Woah, thanks for the ideas! Keep 'em coming! If you have any ideas for things like Evolution Missions or just new upgrades for the zerg, go ahead and say 'em in a review or send me a PM!
Guest: Integrating elemental properties into the zerg is indeed something that I'm going to do; I'm also taking quite a bit of inspiration from other sources already; as the story progresses, you'll be seeing those influences more.
Guest: Ha, ha, ha! None can stop Yang and the adorableness of the zerg!
HolyKnight5: ... I like the way you think, good sir/ma'am. I'm definitely going to be using this review as a basis for ideas, especially with how Taiyang and Qrow react to Yang's disappearance. If you want to talk with me more, just PM me.
Edboy4926: The rest of Team RWBY will not be converted to the Swarm; however, Weiss is definitely going to play a part in this story.
The Insanity of a Rambling Mind: Does this chapter answer your question? (As a side note, Yang is going to evolve more as the story goes on; the modifications Abathur made here were made under a strict 'budget', so he's definitely going to want to improve his designs later.)
Phantomraindance: Well, I'm trying to right Yang as a mix of being bitter about what happened to her and still having her old personality. I guess that it remains to be seen how well I pull that off.
Pokeman1280: Don't worry, I'm not going to have Yang lose herself. She's definitely going to be a good deal more ruthless than she is in canon, but she certainly won't have her team killed!
Rambler: Hm, I might incorporate a few draconic traits. I'm definitely going to have some Grimm traits be absorbed into the Swarm-it just isn't the zerg way to leave perfectly good adaptations just lying around!
Deadrich18: Shhh, you'll spoil the surprise! And Yang's zerg makeover is definitely going to be impressive, don't you worry.
5 Coloured Walker: I'll take your advice into account. Also, yes, Aura and psionics are being treated as the same thing here.
Abrams 1559: Well, not all of Remnant will be against Yang, but most of it definitely will be. As for your request to see Infestors and Defilers, perhaps, although Infestors don't really seem to me like Yang's style.
Korrd: I'm not saying that Ruby left Yang out of malice. I'm saying that she got really, really screwed over. There's a difference.
Nuthenry2: Oh don't you worry, Abathur's going to have a freaking field day when he finds out what those strange sequences he found in Yang's genetics do...
Magisking: Well, I've gone back and reworked the Drones' dialogue to fit your suggestion a bit better. I kind of imagine them as talking kind of like a prerecorded message-there's at least some intellect in there, but there's no actual emotion in their tone. Plus, if I were the Overmind, I would definitely want Drones to be at least intelligent enough to understand complex orders; considering the crazy shit people can pull of with microing and macroing and all of that jazz, they would have to be.
Note (10/7/17): Added some more details to various sections.