The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the arachnophobes' bedpost...'

(Ruby's POV)

"There's been a dream I've been having since receiving a note a few months back. In it, I start out in an extremely dark room with nothing but my usual attire and my sweetheart isn't in its holster on my back. In the distance, there's this clicking sound that sounds like a Deathstalker as its walking forward but only downsized. Anyways, in the dream, I'd take a step forward and ram my shin into the leg of a table about the height of my hips and on it is a coal burning torch and a lighter. After I'd light the torch, the clicking would disappear and the light that was produced by the flame would paint the walls blue-"

"Hang on a sec. sis... Blue flames coming off of a coal burning torch?" Yang interrupted as she sat up on her bunk. We had the afternoon off due to Nora nearly killing Cardin again, even though he unquestionably got what he deserved. Yang and I were in the dorm on our individual beds while Wiess and Blake were off doing some other things that I didn't want to think about while I was venting to my older sister.

"I know, sounds a lot like Resin, doesn't it?" I asked, ignoring her response.

"Or the Chintamonty Stone..." she let her voice drift into her own thoughts as she abandoned the rest of her sentence.

"You and I both know that it doesn't exist," I persist, snapping her back to reality. "Besides, somebody would've found it by now and sold it. Anyways, in the dream I'd see that the walls were made of a kind of stone similar to Beacon Tower's exterior, and that on the other side of the table is a darkened hallway where the clicking is coming from. From there, it varies from time to time."

"What do you mean by 'it varies'?"

"I mean it's like one of those 'choose your ending' stories: sometimes I'd brave the corridor," a chill ran through my spine at the thought of what was at the end of it. I shook it off and continued explaining, "And sometimes I'd sit back and try to wake myself up any way possible."

"Meaning..?"

"Any... Way... Possible... Yang." I answer slowly repeating my words with emphasis, resulting her eyes to widen at the drastic measures I had to use to help me through the nights.

"So... those bruises you've been waking up with... those where-"

"A gateway to escape the Hell that is my dreams?" Yang nodded at the accuracy of my guess tears welling up in her eyes. "Yup. Believe me when I say that I wish there was another way, but there ain't, I've tried looking for one, but there isn't any."

"O-Oh my god... Ruby-"

Holding up my hand to silence her, I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't need your sympathy, Yang, just you as backup." Opening my eyes again, I saw that she was on the verge of crying. Nodding that it was fine to allow herself to show such emotions in front of me, even gesturing for her to hop up on my bed so that I could comfort her. Catching onto my signals, she slid down from her bunk and used the momentum of her fall to bounce up onto by bunk beside me. Wrapping her arms around my shoulders and burying her head into the nape of my neck, causing me to hiss in pain as there was a bruise the size of my fist there.

Apologizing, she adjusted her resting place and let her tears flow into my shirt as she murmured repetitively between sobs "It should've been me..."

"How ironic," I thought, rubbing her back to try and calm her down before I continued explaining my plan. "this is almost exactly like when mom died, only now I'm the one calming down Yang, not the other way around."

We sat there for a good five minutes until Yang lifted her head, her eyes a terrible shade red except for her pupils. Wiping a still falling tear away, she cleared her throat and said "What do I have to do?"

"It's simple," I started, the plan coming forth in my head again. "We find the fucker that's started this war, question his motives, then kill him. That last one I'll leave to you, that is, if Nora doesn't first."

"Nora?" she asked, and with a nod, she continued to say "What's she got to do with this?"

"Jaune's been missing for almost a month now, Ren's in a coma caused by fear, and have you seen Pyrra lately?"

"Who hasn't seen what she's become? Or the wreckage caused by it?"

She had a point, but I was going to exploit it to my advantage. Pyrra was just a few words away from a killing spree, and everyone knew that. But what not too many people knew was that she was single-handedly destroying Vale looking for Jaune.

Literally.

A perfect example of this was not more than a week ago, she located a White Fang stronghold and eradicated it within three hours, only stopping to brutally interrogate the leaders of the stronghold and to wire explosives to level itself as she took her leave of the building. To say the least, the explosion cause a fireball that was noticeable as far as Patch.

And authorities still were digging through the wreckage of what once was a terrorist refuge with no suspects.

"And that's why she's perfect for this job," I said with a demonic smile spread across my face. "So, you in?"

"If it'll help you sleep again, just tell me what I have to do," she stated with a tone as cold as Wiess normally was.

"I'm waiting on the details of the letter we were given at the beginning of this whole thing to plan out our next move. As soon as I get an email from the hacker involved in this, I'll call up the team and we'll storm the fucker. Until then, do what you want to and tell no one about this! The fewer people that know, the better the odds of our success. Clear?" Nodding, she hopped down from my bunk and casually walked towards the door. As she was about to open the door and exit, she called over her shoulder "Make sure I'm the first to know." She then opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind her.

"You'll be on the list for that," I thought aloud as I grabbed my Scroll. 'That's all I'll promise you.' I then proceeded to scroll through my messages to see if my informant had messaged me yet on the final details.

'Down came the pain and burned it to a crisp...'

(Yang's POV)

I closed the door after myself as left Ruby to her own devices.

'C'mon hacker, give us something quickly so I can REALLY fuck this guy up!' I thought as I flared my Aura a bit, causing scorch marks the carpet and wallpaper and the sprinkler system to start up.

"FOR FUCK SAKES!" I heard coming from down the hallway. Specifically a guy about my height in a black trench coat, denim pants, combat boots, and a now soaked gray hoodie. He was a normal looking human, with a light toned skin color, light brown curly hair, and silver framed glasses. Pocketing his Scroll, he looked over my way with primarily hazel multi-colored eyes that seemed more like he was looking at an old friend than a complete stranger. "Hey," he called in my direction, his tone calmer than a few seconds prior. "Did you pull the fire alarm?" he questioned with a brow slightly raised.

"No," I answered, still pissed from the water pouring on me, "but whoever did'll definitely be getting a word or two from me when I find them..."

"You and I both," he said as he came closer to where I was currently standing. Extending his arm towards me, he said with a faint smile, "The name's Atomic Flea. My friends just call me Atom."

"Yang" I affirmed as I took his hand into my own. It was cold to the touch, almost the equivalent of Wiess in a way, but it was a relaxing type of cold. Like a cold drink on a blistering day cold. "Yang. Haven't seen you around before, you new?"

"Yeah, actually. Just transferred in last week," he stated casually while scratching his head sheepishly. "To be fairly honest, you're one of the first people to talk to me since I arrived here. Well, besides the faculty anyways." At that moment, the sprinkler systems deactivated themselves. "Look, we're both pissed off about something of our own accord and soaked from the sprinkler systems going on a random rampage. If you're anything like me you'll want a good workout to cool down, am I right?"

Nodding, I couldn't help but to give him a second glance over to notice that this 'Atom' had a set of katanas strapped to his back and multiple types of firearms holstered to his body under his coat in an equally diverse calibers and actions: from semi-auto .45's at his hips to select fire 9mm's along his back (only visible by collapsible stocks faintly sticking out). If Ruby were here she'd definitely be flipping out over this guy.

"Well, if you're done checking me out, I need to get changed into a more suitable suit for sparing in. I'd advise you do the same," he said as he turned and walked over to his dorm that he was entering before our little interaction. "And by the way," he called over his shoulder as he inserted his Scroll into the doors locking mechanism. Looking back at him before I entered my dorm, "Your plan won't work: he already knows what you're working on and is planning around your plan."

"So what?" I called, slightly agitated, after him as he was stepping inside his dorm, "We'll just plan around the plan that he's planning around our plan!"

"Despite all that, there's something you solely lack..." he stated in a tone that sent literal ice crystals flying from the carpeted flooring beneath my feet.

"And that is..?" I croaked out between the flurry of ice that was pelting my mouth and throat. Atom looked over at me with blood red eyes that looked like there was something behind them looking through, ready to kill at a moments notice. A twisted smile appeared on his face that exposed twin rows of needle sharp as well as thin teeth. All those in effect along with a dark Aura emitting around him made him the single biggest creep I've ever run into. But as he said the next bone-chilling statement was when I lost conciseness..."Zeppelins... along with an impenetrable fortress that used to be called Ancread... good luck, Yang Xiao Long... I'll see you there."

"Yang...? Yang..!" a voice called out from the darkness that surrounded me, a splitting headache being my only welcoming party. "Help me Yang!" the voice called out again, this time more recognizable and distinct than before. "YANG!" my sisters pained voice screamed in my ear, causing me to open my eyes to the most horrific sight I've ever seen...

Ruby was pinned to some pentagram looking structure, her wrists and ankles were cuffed to four out of the five points on the star in a leather like material that spider webbed around her body, only exposing her face, breasts, and nether regions. Around her was blood red wax candles and ritualistic symbols written in what looked like blood. Men and women in crimson robes and hoods with sleek black gloves and boots were on their knees around her, chanting in some ancient language. One of the figures pulled a lever that was located beside her, activating some ancient mechanism causing it to start up in a series of mechanical whirring and wooden clanking to ring throughout the air around me. Underneath Ruby, a wooden plate moved from its original position to expose two wooden support structures holding what looked like glass jars, positioning themselves along her... openings. I tried to screech out her name but shortly found myself in a similar binding as Ruby, only unable to speak as some thick substance had filled my mouth identical to a gag.

But it was enough to get her attention for a brief second, and with it, I saw something that I never expected to see from Ruby in my life; something that would stick with me for as long as I lived...I saw fear within her eyes, but her face was one of disappointment and failure. Another lever was pulled and the jars inserted themselves into her, causing her to scream out in a pain that I'd never heard before.

'You bastards!' I mentally screamed as I yanked and tugged at my restraints. 'I'll kill you! Every last one of you will die for what you've done to Ruby! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!'

Another lever was pulled, and a black substance began to fill the jars, making its way up and into her cavities, causing the screaming to switch to a painful series of begging and pleading for them to stop. The end result was the substance to move quicker into her. After what seemed like an eternity, she ceased her begging, as it had turned into quick, faint breaths and her eyes to roll up and into her head. Her mouth agape, the substance leaked out of her mouth and smothered her body. Simultaneously, her stomach erupted outwards with the same material, only to be covered by it again.

It was then that I realized what the substance truly was...

Black Widows.

'Up came the grenades that were nothing but duds and ricocheted off of the armor...'

(Nora's POV)

"2015-09-08: Everyone's been on edge since the arcade incident three months ago. Ruby's suffering from night terrors. Ren's in the hospital with a nightmare that was so terrible he went into a coma due to its intensity. Jaune's missing and Pyrra's on a search-and-destroy mode as a result. Wiess and Blake are always sneaking off together, so no-one seems to know what their opinions or states of mind are. Yang's either screening her emotions or sparring with someone and nearly killing them in the process. As for me, this is my nineteenth video recording since Day 0 - Ren's idea, by the way - and I'm heading to the location of the origin of this story, to what I know it to be.

"The arcade.

"What I intend on finding here? Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest. Answers, I guess. Should this video series get to the police and from there go viral, whoever is doing this, I just have one question for you: why? Why are you doing this? Why us? And why now of all times? Please... haven't you tortured us enough with your sick game!? *sniffle* This is Nora Valkyrie, almost out of hope... and over at my limit."

Clicking the 'stop recording' button on the camcorder in my hands, I closed the collapsible screen on the side of the machine and pocketed the device. Brushing the tears aside. The wretched feeling of crying crept into my throat as I took a deep breath to try and soothe

myself.

Leaning against a light post looking out towards Beacon's loading docks, I tried to put the evidence together mentally.

'"An hour of fear for all that you hold dear"... Ruby's night terrors... Ren's fear coma... Monochrome a possibility...' I recalled as I lifted my hand to prop my head as I thought. 'Either someone's fucking with the Fear Turkey again, or there's a terrorist with long range phycological controls. Either or, we have to actually face this thing head on and kill it before it spreads.' agreeing with my possible outcomes, I lowered my hand back to my side and raised my head again.

Standing upright, I shifted toward the dorm buildings and sprinted into a brisk run towards it.

'I have to tell her... before it's too late!'

(Dorm building Echo: Team RWBY's dorm.)

"We leave tonight. The sooner we do this, the sooner this is over and nothing but a horrid memory." Ruby revealed her plan to me as she loaded bullets into her clips for Crescent Rose.

Apparently, she hired a Black Hat Hacker that went by iPodDude1824 to attain what he could about our antagonist and the one who gave us those notes three months ago. What he found out was that the attacker went by Atomic Flea, he recently bought a burnt-out club before the incident passed, but nothing else.

"Then let me scout ahead of the group, to see what sorts of defenses this guy has set up!" I bargained in hopes of coaxing her away from the inevitable.

But to no avail.

Shaking her head, she loaded her weapon and cocked a bullet into the chamber. "Ren's in a coma, Jaunes MIA, and so is Yang... I'm not going to lose you too Nora. I'm sorry, but the answer is no. We have far too much at stake for this to go wrong." As she said that, the pressure that was swelling around my chest either lifted or became too sensitive to notice. She shuffled towards the door behind me as she sheathed her weaponry, placing a hand on my arm as she passed. "It's happening tonight... and everyone's going in as a group. For Ren, Jaune, and Yang... And Nora..?"

I glanced over her way, tears welling in my eyes.

"When this is over, Ren has something that he wants to ask you. Didn't say much when we talked about it, just that it was important-"

"I already know what it is that he wants to ask me, and I'll tell him when he wakes up that he had his chance when we were kids." I affirmed coldly as I hung onto the younger girls wrist lightly, fighting my urges to be too forward with her.

Not like she was making it easy on me, though.

"Meaning?" she asked, taking an uneasy step toward me.

'Meaning I love you, you idiot!' I mentally shrieked, but all I did was clench my free hand into a tight ball and applied some pressure to my clutch.

"Nora... what aren't you telling me? What's wrong?"

'Well... as the song says... "Fuck it all!"' I thought as I unballed my fist and raised it to cup her cheek.

"N-Nor-"

She never got to finish her sentence, because in the instant it took her to open her mouth, I had driven my lips up against hers in (what I felt was) a passion fuelled kiss. She struggled for a moment, trying to say words that would be lost in the embrace but only that. From there, she wrapped her arms around my waistline and lead me toward one of the bunks.

What happened from there, though... that's a tale for another time. ;P

A/N: Sup readers! Long time no chat, I know... but I haven't had much inspiration for the last few months, along with going into my Senior year of high school, I barely have time to even check to see if another Author I've Fave'd/Followed has sent up a new chapter. As well as being a Beta Reader, I'll try to keep up the supply as long as there's a demand. Any whom, some pretty obvious Easter Eggs, some reason this fic is rated M instead of T, and maybe a hint at the next chapter? Who knows. I know I don't! (Yet...) Till next time, fave, follow, criticize my work if it was "da shit" or total shit, anxiously wait for the next season of The Walking Dead to come out next month, etc.

PEACE!