{Author Notes/Review Response}
College Fool (Ch6) : … Wow. Thank you for that really deep and insightful review. I just… wow. I took its advise so much, that I think I had to completely re write this chapter. Yep. Wow. I'm just surprised.
The Hero named Villain (Ch6): Oh thank you… I think? … Wait, what?
Nine year old Jared Arc was washing the dishes on a Saturday afternoon.
He was finishing it up and wondering what he would watch on TV; he was going to kick back and relax on his day off.
Then he heard a strange sound coming from up the second floor.
"Gotta go! Gotta go!"
Jared finished his chore and looked out of the kitchen, he was surprised to wee is his older sister Yin Xiao Long running down the stairs.
"Sis?"Jared called out to his sister who seemed to be preparing to put on a helmet.
"O-oh! Jay! … Err, weren't you supposed to be making out with Xia?" The girl that looked like a younger version of her mother with more tamed straight hair, and beautiful indigo eyes turned to the boy.
Jared blinked. "You're making fun of my love life, which means you're trying to distract me from noticing how you're going to sneak out the motor bike."
The older sibling laughed nervously. Why was her little brother so freaking perceptive!? Why couldn't she have a normal little brother that blushed from teasing?
"… How much?" Jared asked.
"What?" The fourteen year old confusingly spoke out.
"What will you owe me to not tell Ma and Pa?"
"I… I swear I will not smash another guy through your door?"
He shook his head. "Money. I want cash. Gimme a hundred."
"Tch! Fine! But later!" Yin took the family keys from the cupboard.
"Now, or I call ma on her scroll and she will tear though every potential hot guy just to get to you." Jared folded his arms.
"You little…" Yin fished her pockets before giving her allowance to Jared.
"Thank you for your patronage~ Do come again loyal costumer." Jared mockingly recited.
"I swear your smart mouth will be the end of you."
"Or it will get me out of situations you wouldn't believe." He verbally parried.
Yin rolled her eyes before heading to the garage. "See ya, Jay!" She cried as she rushed off into their garage. A loud engine was heard before it sped off in the distance.
Jared waved goodbye to her in one hand before typing something in his scroll with the other hand.
He placed the scroll near his head. "… Hello? Oh hey! It's me Jared! Yeah! Thank you! Listen, Auntie Ruby, Yin is doing it again. Could you go get her for me? … I'm just doing my job… What!? I didn't fish her for money promising not to tell Ma, just to abuse a loophole and tell you about her rebellious ideas! I'm not Xia! … Love you too Auntie, and sure, fifty-fifty it is. I'll give you your share at dinner tonight—we're having meat casserole."
He finished the call and proceeded to warm up some popcorn before looking at the afternoon news channel.
"Breaking News: Renowned Hunter, Ruby Rose, has been spotted chasing after a speeding motorcyclist down the 708 freeway! Tune in as we broadcast the entire high speed chase with vivid detail and focused anticipation—oh my! The biker has now jumped into the opposite moving car lane to avoid the Crimson Flash! What an exciting and high stakes chase!"
Ahh. His family was better than cable.
Jared walked along the busy streets of Vale all by himself. It was a little chilly especially from the previous day of heavy rain, but he managed the weather well thanks to the trench coat part of his battle attire.
It was odd to finally be away from Team JNPR and RWBY, after being with them for just a week, he felt naked without a large group of people being with him. But this was necessary. He was finally going to hunt down the people who sent the message.
Most people don't realize that around this time, all scrolls have call plans with phone companies like Gerizon, Brint, L-Mobile, and so on and so forth. Jared opened up his scroll and found a specific SD chip that was labeled under Gerizon's manufacturing, so it also must have their call plan.
People could really be weird sometimes. Xia once told him that there were always clues into finding something; you'd just have to look and think in different ways. Jared mentally swore she would have made a way better detective than both Uncle Sun and Neptune combined—heck they even helped a few cases with them!
Scroll tracking was actually one of the cases the four worked on.
Jared walked into one of Gerizon's stores here in Vale. He made his way to an attendant.
"Hello. How may I help you?" The male attendant warmly welcomed the person.
Jared smiled back and placed the black scroll on the counter. "Hello, I'm here to check up on my phone plan. I forgot if I had a limit on minutes or if I have unlimited talk. Also, I would like to check up on the billing address. I'm paranoid I might have misspelled something."
"Sure thing!" The employee then placed the scroll on a scanner and looked on his computer.
Then a piece of paper came out of a printer which was handed to Jared. "There is all your information. How is it?"
Jared ignored the plan and looked straight at the billing address.
"Oh thank goodness," He smiled at the attendant. "I was worried for nothing."
"… What the Grimm? The book for fine dining is this big?" Jaune stared at the clearly labeled 'Fine Dining for Dummies' with the signature silly looking person logo in the soft cover.
"Yes," Ren explained as he sat across from Jaune and started reading a book about next week's homework. "I was rather surprised when I first saw it as well."
Resh had asked the only other male in there group of friends to help their leader in preparation of his date with Weiss next week since he needed this week off for some private matters. The reason for this was because Resh had decided to keep this under wraps as much as possible and told very few people about it.
Resh then realized an error as he explained the situation to Team JNPR, specifically the 'P' part of their team. He forgot that Mom Pyrrha had a crush on his dad the first time she saw him—which made things awkward as he summoned an amazing amount of self control to feign ignorance in order not to tip Pyrrha off. In the back of Jared's head, the thought of Pyrrha knowing that Resh knew of her crush with Juane, but decided to help him with Weiss would have been horrible and cruel.
He had to explain to them as much as possible, with great subtly as well, it was just going to be one date.
Still, the sharper member of their group picked up on the little things.
[Flashback]
"Resh?" The boy in question turned to see a stoic Ren looking at him. "Can I have a word with you?"
"S-Sure… let me guess privately?" He whispered lowly in that second part, which made Ren nod slightly once.
Jared couldn't help but gulp. If there was one person that could ever calm Xia, it was her father, a man who lived with two of the most hyperactive women in the planet, but had remained wise and not driven mad living with them for ages.
The two boys walked out of earshot before Ren turned to the anxious boy.
"… I-is something wrong?" Jared asked nervously, fixing his collar as he did.
Ren seemed completely impassive. "You tell me."
Jared always wondered how he could say so much with very little. "OK, so… I kind of forgot Pyrrha had a crush on Sir when I was asking Weiss to go on a date with him. I was focused a bit on her and Sir's relationship, I forgot about Pyrrha until I saw her again…"
"There's a reason why other people shouldn't mess with another's love life, Resh. This is one of them." Ren noted sagely.
Jared felt really guilty about that.
"I'm sorry, but I guess…" Jared sighed before gathering his thoughts. He figured he should speak from the heart about this. "What I did was wrong, I now realize that, but I also know that they at least deserve a chance to pursue the ones they like. Jaune really likes Weiss and should at least be given a fair chance. If it doesn't work out then fine, if it does, OK. … But all I can do now is put my faith in Jaune and trust whatever happens, happens. And… that's I'll accept the consequences and try to make amends if the worst comes."
Ren sighed. There really wasn't much they could do now, but Resh apparently said it was an accident—that only Jaune could now fix. It was a little odd to see Resh, despite their public display, show so much trust and faith in his leader. It was like an old saying, 'Though brothers may quarrel at home, outside they defend each other from slight.'
Huh.
"… Are you sure you and Jaune aren't brothers?" Ren managed to ask.
Resh smiled.
[End of Flashback.]
Ren would honor the idea that Jaune should at least be given an honest shot, so agreed to help Jaune in preparation for next week while Resh was away.
However…
"Oh my Oum, there are two sets of spoons, knives, and forks?! … And specific times to use them?! … Since when did eating become math!?" Jaune cried out as he saw the first page.
Ren briefly wondered if this wasn't some elaborate scheme of Resh forcing him to deal with Jaune during the rocky start?
"… Wait, why are there napkins on those plates? Don't tell me I have to eat one of them!"
I was official to Ren. Jaune was right; Resh was a Grimm in disguise.
He was going to need some help in this. Pyrrha seemed like a logical choice, she too must have been through fine dining before, but there was the fact this would emotionally torture her.
Who else could he call?
… He really should increase his social circle beyond eight other people including Nora.
653 Levi Street Apt# 13, Downtown, Kingdom of Vale. Postal code 789.
Jared read the address carefully as he walked out the phone company.
"Oh, Hey! Jared!"
He recognized that voice. He looked over to where the voice came out and was surprised to see a familiar young prodigy coming his way.
"Ruby? W-What are you doing here?" Jared mentally cursed at himself. He only told Team JNPR that he was leaving for today. He wasn't aware of any plans Team RWBY had in coming to Vale this weekend.
"I need to do my weekly checkups on my beloved!" Ruby chirped.
Thankfully, Jared was capable of understanding Ruby-speak. "You're tuning up Crescent Rose?"
"Yeps!" She nodded. "I was going to go to an old store that sells the thing I need, but then I spotted you! So why don't you come with me?"
Jared rubbed the back of his head. "Umm, I don't know, I have some personal issues I'd rather work out alone."
"Oh don't worry. I'm sure I can help out!"
Jared blinked. "Um, Ruby? I'd rather work this out alone."
"But with my help you'll go ten times as fast!"
Jared felt his annoyance rising, but he completely restrained himself from it surfacing. He recalled how he reacted when he reacted on instinct when Weiss insulted his dad. He wasn't going to make that same mistake of assuming anyone here was the same as their mature versions of themselves.
With great reluctance and resignation, Jared sighed, "Fine, you can come."
Ruby fist pumped. "Oh don't be such a sourpuss! This is going to be fun!" She then pointed dramatically to the horizon. "Now to Dust Till Dawn!"
Jared felt this odd need to look at the opposite direction. As he did, he raised his brow and voiced his opinion to his energetic not-mother.
"Ruby, isn't that the store in the opposite direction?"
"It's all about the JourneyNotTheDestination!" Ruby said rather hurriedly as she placed up her hood over her face and walked passed by Resh.
'Oh this is going to be a long day. Maybe I should have just tortured Dad back at Beacon.'
"You know this is almost making me wish Resh was here making my life a living hell just because he enjoys it," Jaune added in his thoughts out loud. "Almost."
"Oh come on, Jauney!" Nora nudged the blonde boy in the shoulder before continuing her attempt in picking the lock to the silverware storage in the cafeteria. "I'm telling you this is a great idea!"
In utter need of confirmation that sneaking into a closed area on a day off to 'borrow' silver ware in practice for a potential date wasn't a very ethical or sane idea, the future hero turned to his stoic ally for a desperate sense of common sense to say no to all of this.
Lie Ren sighed in a resigned manner. "Sorry Jaune. Maybe I shouldn't have asked Nora."
Unfortunately there was almost no stopping Nora when she started. Ren was always there to mitigate damage rather than prevent it from happening. Attempting to stop the unbounded energy known as Nora had proven to only make things worse.
Unfortunately for the two boys, Nora had finished picking the electronic lock with a bobby pin.
Jaune wanted to question that, he really did, but Nora had already snuck in as soon as it ended.
Hoping he wouldn't get caught for breaking and entering, Jaune followed Ren in and really wondered why the only choices for help were a sadistic Grimm in human disguise, or a walking trouble typhoon.
Jared leaned nearby the counter as he waited for Ruby to pick up her dust. He stared plainly at the written address on his scroll. The mysterious billing address where his Scroll plan was being paid from. Oddly enough, the address was not that far from where they were right of this moment. It seemed to head into some of the older areas of the city where the buildings have lasted almost hundreds of years ago and where the city tries to restore every ten years to keep that historic vibe alive.
"… The Black Mansion?"
Jared turned his head to see the owner of the shop looking over to the same address Jared was mulling over.
"I'm sorry," Jared started as he stood up properly. "But do you actually know this place?"
"Oh… I remember that place…" The old man said timidly before chuckling and giving him a weak smile. "Back in my day, it was the town's very own folklore," He beamed as he remembered his youth, seemingly giving him a renewed boost in energy. "Me pals and I used to say that there ol Mansion be haunted cause even longer ago some posh family died horribly in there. Only the Cool Cats could go up in there and stay in one of the rooms overnight and proved to the other kids you were the bravest of the brave…"
It was then Jared's mind clicked. "Wait… this address is a haunted mansion!?"
"Well not exactly. It actually was an old hotel back in its day. The real history has been lost, but most people believed some rich man turned his large home into an apartment complex when he had no more heirs. It looks like a haunted mansion by now, and no one's been in there for fifty years," The old owner finished wistfully as he reminisced in his younger days. "Now, sonny, why are you makin your way up there?"
"Yeah, why Resh?"
Jared turned to Ruby who placed her stuff in the counter. She obviously heard that tidbit about going to a haunted mansion.
How exactly would he explain this to her? That he was going there to search for a reason why he was sent to the past and admit to Ruby she could be his mom?
The truth was too surreal and there was no way to explain this through a lie, especially since he had already lied to team JNPR about this being about his family.
Wait, he'll just do that again when they asked about his dad. Half lies! They worked well when Xia would string him along in one of her daily whims—he fell for those more than he really should.
"Umm, it's really complicated. But I told the others that it has something to do with my family. My older brother, Chronos, has this nasty habit of setting up things for me without my knowledge. Now, he wants me to go treasure hunting in an abandoned mansion apparently." Jared explained calmly. Part of being a good lie is to make yourself believe it's the truth. That's what Xia taught him—and it really scared him how much of her tactics he was actually using.
"I didn't know you had an older brother…" Ruby leaned her head and imagined someone being an older brother figure to Resh. Wow. "A-And what do you mean treasure hunting in a mansion?"
"I thought I was pretty straight forward with this. My life is weird. Explaining it will give everyone a headache." Jared casually dismissed it before walking out. Before he went out the door, he turned back to Ruby. "I'll be waiting outside. The faster you buy your things, the sooner we can get over the even weirder stuff."
"Nora. Stop."
"REN!? HOW IS THAT GOING TO HELP!?"
"Jaune, I know this looks bad, but trust me."
"BUT SHE JUST STOLE THE ENTIRE DISHWASHER! HOW'D SHE EVEN DO THAT!?"
"But Jauney, you said you wanted silverware, and this thing had silverware!"
"I DON'T NEED ALL OF THEM, NORA! PUT THEM BACK!"
"Jaune, calm down, you're going to make things worse."
Nora placed down the stolen machine as if it weighed the equivalent of a picnic basket before looking over to two people. "Ooh! Oh hey! Blake and Yang! How's it going!?"
"Nora?" The Black and Yellow girls looked over to the three disheveled students standing beside a roughed up dishwasher with plates inside.
"Hey you kids!? What are you doing with school property!?" An attendant suddenly yelled to the five of them and pointed over to the machine Nora was previously lugging around.
"It's the man! Skedaddle!" Nora cried before running away madly with the borrowed goods.
"Wait, Nora!" Ren cried out before running after her.
The two members of team RWBY quickly glanced over as they saw the attendant running angrily at them while seemingly calling for back up. Not wanting to get blamed for something they didn't do, the two girls also fled from the scene quickly in a different direction.
This left poor Jaune all alone as he ran away from the man who was now solely focused on making sure the last boy did not get away from him.
Jaune couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity in this scenario where he had to run away from a scary, powerful force from catching him. Oh right this was exactly how Resh's joggings are.
Well this was one weird way to see his training paying off: running from the authorities.
At least Resh wasn't here recording this for his own pleasure.
'Why do I have such a strong feeling that I'm missing something?' Jared briefly thought to himself before shaking his head. He had to concentrate.
"Wow…" Ruby cooed as she stood in front of the mansion gates.
The Building itself looked straight from a Halloween story: dark, fading tiles, menacing atmosphere, dead dirt and trees, three story open windows with white sheets blowing out of it which could suggest something was watching you from afar, the broken gargoyle statues on some balconies along with two big statues at the entrance, and last but definitely not least the stormy clouds flashed lighting before thunder echoed after it.
"That's sooo cliché!" Ruby excitedly said.
"Yep, and it's also 3PM in the afternoon when the sun was up just an hour ago. It looks like Monty just hates me." Jared sighed before jumping over the gates.
"R-Resh!" Ruby cried out in shock. "You're trespassing!"
"Thug life!" Jared pumped his fist in the air as he walked towards the door. "I'm being a bad influence, Ruby, don't follow me!"
"What!? Hey, I can be cool to!"
"What!? I'm not cool. I'm a degenerate with nothing to lose!" And Jared really was trying to get rid of Ruby in a non-emotional drama related way that will hurt her feelings. Maybe acting like a cartoon thug would have made her heroic and noble side stand up, and she would obey the rules of society and not follow him down the path of wannabe gangsters.
OK now that he actually thought about that a second time, it sounded stupider than being in the past, or Nora stealing a dishwasher— even she would never do that. Ever.
Unfortunately, acting like a bad boy has actually gotten Ruby interested. Apparently that bad boy thing girls probably liked wasn't a myth. Not saying that he was thinking Ruby was 'liking' him in that manner—that was disturbing on sooooo many levels. His younger mom?! *Shudders*. But apparently fate has decided that it was reverse psychology day, so the more Jared didn't want something to happen, it happened.
"You're showing off like you always do when you put on that armor!" Ruby called back before jumping over as well.
"I don't show off when I put on my ar—" Cue imaginary montage of Jared attempting to intimidate people whenever he activated said weapon. "… Just don't come with me!" Jared said as he walked up the door and found it to be open because the locks were already rusty and weak.
"Nope!" Ruby defiantly chirped as she followed him.
Jared sighed as he walked in. The wooden floor beneath him creaked in a annoying manner with each step.
Meanwhile, Ruby was starting to hyperventilate. "Oh this is so exciting!" She then pulled out Crescent Rose in scythe form. "Who knows what vicious monsters are lurking around the corner ready to be killed!"
"I'm sure they were just waiting to be slain by a worthy opponent in an epic battle within an abandoned, condemned building for fifty years."
"I know right!?" Ruby apparently either did not pick up on Jared's sarcasm, or was too excited to care. Either way this prompted the boy from the future to look at what was left of the main desk.
According to the cubby holes left behind the counter, it looked as if this place, despite being so big, had only fifteen rooms with five being on each floor after the next.
Jared was surprised to see all the numbers up to twelve, but then skip thirteen! "No thirteen? That can't be right."
Jared looked up the address again on his Scroll and he confirmed that this was the address, but there was an indication of number thirteen.
'Wouldn't the phone company noticed if a certain address existed or not? Don't tell me some guy in a computer thought it was a typo. There would have been more investigations about this existing. Was this some kind of wild goose chase?'
Still, he needed to physically check.
"To the third floor, it is." Jared said as he made his way up the creaky stairs. Ruby briefly wondered what that was about before looking at the cubbys and then following after Jared.
On the third floor, Jared looked baffled as he stood in the hallway. There were only five rooms in this floor, each of them were grandiose, spacious, but really old as Ruby said as she peeked in through all the doors. The real problem was that there was no number thirteen.
"Who the heck counts from 11, 12—then 14!?" Jared whined as he stood in the large gap between the two numbers.
"Well, not all apartments or hotels have number 13 because some customers are superstitious. A number thirteen room might scare some customers." Ruby voiced out.
Jared sighed. This really looked like a waste of time.
… There was that bit about Ozpin hinting to time. Maybe he could re meet with him later and ask about that.
"Resh?"
"Huh? Yeah Ruby?"
"Why do you need to find this secret number 13 room anyway?"
Jared rubbed the back of his head. "Well I—wait, why did you say secret? It doesn't exist." He realized as he replayed what she had just said.
"No, it's not," Ruby told him before pointing to the number 12 room. "I looked at the other rooms, which all seem to have a lot of fancy beds which look like they're from one hundred years ago, numbers twelve and fourteen looked different from the others, a little smaller."
"Smaller?"
"I think maybe there's a secret room in between them. A place this big has got to have secret rooms!"
That… that made sense. Weird. Maybe it was a good thing Ruby came with him after all, or Jared would have been looking at a dead end.
He touched the wall and saw some of the wall paper being torn. He grabbed it before ripping it off in one strong motion ripping apart a large chunk of it off the wall.
A little to the two's right was a secret blue wooden door.
"Oh my gosh!" Ruby hoped for joy on the squeaky, warn out floors. "A secret door! This is so exciting!"
Jared blinked twice before smiling at Ruby's energy. It was quite the relief to see her so upbeat and excited. It made Jared almost feel like he was a kid to; going on an exciting adventure. "Heh, yeah. I guess that's one way to look at it? Well? Ready to find out what mysterious secrets be hidden behind secret number 13?"
Ruby nodded excitedly but prepared Crescent Rose. Jared slid out his buckle and prepared a hand close to his orb just to be on the safe side.
Jared twisted the lock before pushing the creaking door open.
Ruby's silver eyes stared at what the secret room held in the center. "… A letter?"
"A blue envelope." Jared corrected.
In the middle of a creepily empty and dusty room was a small table where a blue envelope was standing right under a small light bulb that made some kind of spot light for it.
The letter had accumulated much dust as if it was there for the longest of times, but despite that it had a nice blue color to it… actually… it was a really, really nice blue color to it.
It felt vaguely familiar to Jared. Had he seen something with this color before? His mind briefly flashed with the jagged eyes once more before something else quickly flashed over his mind… something about… jelly… babies?
"Resh?" Ruby looked worryingly to the boy.
Jared shook his head, "Sorry, just wondering what all of this is…" He said plainly before taking the envelope and seeing a small little square device that was being used to make it stand up.
Over the small square machine, there was some old, half faded writing above it saying, "Do not touch this cube!" It looked to be made poorly and fragile, but had some odd blinking light at its center.
"What's that?" Ruby asked as she quickly grabbed the small device since she wasn't in a good angle to spot the writing right beside it. The small device cracked and seemed to darken even more as it was picked up by the scythe wielder. She then looked over to the table and saw the writing. "… Oops?"
The two waited for a second or two.
Jared looked around worryingly. "We need to get out of here." He said placing the envelope in his trench coat.
Ruby blinked. "Why? This thing didn't do anything—"
There was a loud, but collective sound of chirping and flapping. The two hunters quickly went out of the room and paled in surprise as they looked out the window.
There was a large swarm of bats flying away from what could have been the roof of the mansion. Their screeches and chirping whistles seemed frantic and seeing a mass amount of them even around this time and place was something unexpected. It was like a dark cloud of hundreds of bats flying away as fast as possible.
Ruby and Jared looked to their sides to still see several other bats fly pass them and down the stairs, as if all leaving from the roof.
As soon as what was considered the last bat flew away, the mansion became deathly quiet. Not even the winds seemed to be moving inside the broken house.
"Crrrreeeaaaaaakkkk."
Until that.
Ruby wanted to speak, but when her silver eyes turned to Resh, he had signaled a finger over his mouth to keep her silent.
Then they both looked upward where they heard the creaking noise.
Something was up there and it definitely wasn't a bat.
Judging from the large creaking, and the amount of dust falling from the floor above them with each noise, something big and heavy was right above them.
It started at one edge of the hallway above the number sixteen door. Then it seemed to… move around. More loud creaks and thuds were heard as whatever was up there seemed to be… stretching it's legs maybe? And it looked to be stumbling around in that one area near number sixteen while not seemingly noticing both him and Ruby being beneath it. Because of this, Jared made a motion to move his feet towards the opposite direction.
Then the floor beneath Jared squeaked.
'Dang it!'
Ruby glanced over to Resh's foot before looking back up where they last heard the sound. It wasn't moving anymore. Ruby readied Crescent Rose and turned it to its gun mode while aiming up.
More silence. It almost looked as if whatever was up there, never even existed.
Jared looked to Ruby and she nodded.
Jared took one step back… nothing.
Ruby, pointing the gun up, also stepped back… nothing.
Jared took another step. It was louder, but nothing.
Ruby followed, once more nothing.
Then a deafening noise and ground shaking crash came from room 12.
Ruby pointed her weapon at the doorway. Whatever was up on the roof or attic was now in room 12. And the only thing keeping whatever-that-thing-is from the two hunters in training was a faded, lock-broken wooden door.
Jared armed his gauntlets and prepared his buckle. They saw the large amount of dust escaping from the cracks of the doorway, almost signifying something crashed from the ceiling into that room.
Again the creeping noise came…
It was much slower this time, but it felt like it was getting closer, and closer to the door. Each gap between what could have been steps felt longer, more drawn out, but louder, and vivid. The two hunters almost felt their Auras shiver as they heard a soft snarling sound that was coming behind the door.
Jared felt his heart about to burst out of his chest at the rate it was beating. What was it? A Grimm? Did this have something to do with that machine that crumbled after Ruby touched it?
Ruby didn't really look scared; actually she seemed rather annoyed.
"Aww man! I can't wait any longer!" She cried before shooting several shots at the door.
Jared was surprised at his mom's lack of fear, and even more so when after her first barrage she switched into scythe mode and proceeded to kick down the door and attack whatever was behind it.
"Wait, Mo—RUBY!" Jared caught himself from the slip as he yelped in surprise for his mom. He turned ran into the doorway to see Ruby holding Crescent Rose… but nothing was there in room 12!
"Hey! Where did it go!?" Ruby cried.
The room looked to be a giant mess, and there was a huge crater right below a large hole to what looked to be the attic. The left over furniture were now ruined if they weren't already by decay and the dust still was solid enough to fill a large chunk of the room as clouds.
But what was behind this door? Surely it didn't just vanish, and it couldn't have just been their imaginations. Did it go back into the attic?
Then Jared looked down. And saw there were actually 'footprints'. Holes on the ground… they almost looked like—
Jared didn't finish that thought.
Something crashed on top of him.
Ruby quickly turned back in horror. "RESH!" She yelled as another dust explosion came her way and she was forced to shield her eyes.
She had to move quickly. Forcing her way towards Resh, she was surprised to see another hole where Resh and a good chunk of the hallway was previously as the dust quickly settled.
"GAAAHHHH!"
Ruby felt her heart start to beat faster as she heard Resh's cries of pain.
Then there was that horrible screech.
"Kkkrrreeee!"
It was almost ear shattering, like someone amplified the sound of nails being scratched on a chalkboard. Ruby looked down the crashed floor and gasped at the sight.
Resh thankfully seemed alright, but that was the only thing that seemed good.
There was a large humanoid looking Bat Grimm that was at least eight foot tall with a probably sixteen foot wingspan. Its fur looked to be a mix of both white and black, almost signifying that it's an evolved Grimm, one that has lived a long amount of time therefore has thicker fur and is stronger and smarter than a newborn. Its fangs looked as sharp as a sabertooth's… which were being brought down on Resh!
"Resh!" Ruby cried out.
The large creature had pinned the purple clad boy to the ground with its legs, which looked to be like talons that had been used to pin and seemingly crush Resh's legs while it tried to kill its prey with a bite. But Resh seemed to put up some defense as there was a purplish glow coming from his gauntlets that helped him push up the force of the creature. However, it obviously wasn't enough as slowly the fangs seemed to be descending closer and closer to Resh's tender neck.
Ruby pointed Crescent Rose at the Creature and unloaded one round of her magazine. However, it looked as if the hide of the creature was too thick to pierce. Furthermore, every shot seemed to make Resh lose his grip and have the fangs slowly getting closer to him.
"R-Ruby! It's a Acula Grimm! These Grimm are based of Bats!" Jared cried out.
"I'll get him off you!" Ruby said as she jumped down and readied Crescent Rose's Scythe form. She attacked, but the Acula tilted its head slightly towards the incoming red girl. He extended his wings, which shot out like a blade and parried Ruby's first slash.
Resh tried to use this distraction to push up the creature, but its entire weight was too much for the boy and he couldn't access his armor without releasing one of his hands.
Ruby tried again, from behind and aiming for the joint parts of its legs, but she was surprised to see the creature's wings flexibly bend to counter from that angle. Ruby tried slashing at it again, but Crescent Rose was repelled by the surprisingly thick but flexible wings of the Acula who was repelling her while still trying to kill Resh.
Jared felt the horrid stench of the beast as it came closer and closer, some if it's drool was leaking out and touching his skin and it burned at the touch of it. He grunted in pain as the acidic saliva was staring to pile up on him.
"RESH!" Ruby yelled in panic.
Jared had to think fast. Ruby was starting to panic and continue her attack, but this Grimm was powerful and smart enough to continue its defense as it tried to take him out. Man, back in his time, Ruby Rose was a famed hunter who could be known as the Crimson Flash, or Grimm Reaper for all the Grimm she's killed. If only she was here…
Wait…
That's right! She is here! Jared had to bring that version of his mommy/aunt out of Ruby!
"Ruby! Stop attacking for a second and think!" Jared paused slightly as the pressure of the fangs started to increase. "GH! All Grimm are still based off animals! The Acula is not an exception! Think! What are bats known for!?"
Ruby processed that information quickly. Beowolves were like wolves in that they also acted in packs. Nevermores acted like birds in that they would sometimes swoop down and catch their prey. So on and so forth, each Grimm had a similarity with its animal counterpart.
What did bats have? They rely on echolocation for sight since they are blind. That would explain why it suddenly started moving to them when Resh first made that sound. If it did rely on that then that must mean it was also blind and relied on it to see its prey.
The Ears! The ears are the most sensitive part of a bat! So they should also be the sensitive part of the Acula! But loud noises don't really seem to affect it.
So how about a sniper bullet?
Ruby acted quickly and changed the form of her weapon once more. She aimed fire at the ears this time. Being smaller and faster, the Acula could not deflect a majority of the bullets, one was able to pass by and hit its large ear, making it release its attack from Resh and screech loudly in pain.
Resh, finally seeing his chance, gathered aura into his free fist and socked one of the legs as hard as he could which forced the talons off his legs, and made the Acula fly upward to avoid the stinging pain in its ears.
Ruby quickly took advantage of its release of her friend and whisked him away to the main lobby in the first floor.
"Resh! Are you alright?" Ruby asked worryingly as she placed him on a dusty couch. "Man, you're heavier than you look!"
"Well I am two years older and pretty much almost two feet taller than you. If I wasn't heavy to you that would be a problem." He managed to scoff weakly.
"At least you seem fine…" Ruby admitted after hearing Resh's trademark sarcasm before glancing over to his legs. "Oh my gosh!?"
His lower legs were bleeding and almost looked crushed. It wasn't really bad as it looked. It was like something had snared itself over Jared's legs and tried to crush it. It still looked to be in a good shape, but his pants had red rings of blood leaking out.
"Oww. Right. I tried to solidify my aura around that area, but that Acula really has a firm grip." Jared winced as he made a motion to his leg. "My aura is already working on closing up the wounds, but the muscles might be longer."
Suddenly the roof crashed and out came the Acula, angrier than ever.
"—Which apparently we don't have! Ruby, run!" Jared turned to the girl in panic.
"KRRREEE!"
The creature raised its head before snapping it back and screaming at where Ruby and Jared where just a few seconds ago. A powerful sonic scream tore through the area and even broke through the walls on the very opposite side of the mansion/hotel.
Unfortunately, while Ruby was fast, the ground she was running on was weak, and one of her foot sunk into a crack after her initial jump. Resh wasn't as lucky as he kept going and slammed into a wall.
"Uh! I'm stuck!" Ruby cried as she tried to pull out her leg, but it the failing floors wouldn't let go of her .
"GAH!" Jared yelped when he was thrown into the wall.
The Acula finished the sonic scream and turned to the two downed hunters.
Silver and crimson eyes widened in horror as it looked to be preparing another scream to which neither of them could react.
Jared's mind brainstormed like never before. 'Come on!? Think! What else is there!? I have my armor, but I can't move my legs—wait! I hope that works!" Jared acted quickly, releasing his buckle from his belt and loading the Thunder Crystal Dust in before pressing a button which seemed to time something.
"RUBY CATCH!" Jared yelled desperately as he threw his buckle at Ruby.
The young huntress' eyes winded as she saw the Armaments of Raijin flying towards her.
The Acula raised its head and inhaled with its powerful lungs.
Ruby reached out for the buckle, every moment it flew closer felt like an eternity.
Then the aerial Grimm unleashed its attack.
"KKKKKRRRREEEEEEEE!"
…
There was now another large devastated area with another that even reached to the other side of the mansion and tore a giant hole through.
However… there was a flash of red light the millisecond before the attack was unleashed.
"M—R-Ruby?"
The Acula turned around to the sound of that voice and beheld its end.
Unlike Jared's armor which seemed more knight themed with heavy, rune glowing plating, the Crimson Armor now clad over Ruby looked sleeker and thinner. There were no more shield pads on the shoulders for one, but it looked as if Ruby's cloak had changed. It was no longer a full body cloak, but it now seemed like a long flowing scarf that almost looked… alive. Some of it was still wrapped around her head that made it look like she was wearing a hood, but the way it flowed without wind almost suggested it seemed to be a part of her especially with at the very opposite end of her cloak-turned-scarf was a symbol of a rose in white outlines. The thunder crystal was embalmed a little higher up her torso, but it no longer gave out those same glowing lines that seemed to feed of power in Jared's armor. It might have had something to do with it not being connected to the skates and gauntlets, but that wasn't the time for it right then. There were also no more chainmail around the joint areas, and seemed to be covered in the same armor as the rest.
Jared had no idea that his buckle would work for anyone else, but he was definitely glad that it could work. Especially since he now seemed to be at a safer distance from the creature with Ruby in his armor standing between them.
The Acula just seemed mad that it missed its attack, but before it could even move, a blast to the center of its chest knocked it back and made it fly until it slammed into a wall.
Jared was shocked since he didn't even see Ruby draw Crescent Rose out again, or at least change its form back to gun mode. As he took a closer look at Crescent Rose, he noticed the massive half gun half scythe seemed to be outlined in red light.
The Acula got back up and angrily snarled at Ruby.
It was then, after more of the building shook and the roof gave out, the moonlight snuck in and shone a spotlight over Ruby. The bright light shining on her visor as it focused her gaze on the Acula.
"I'll give you something to really scream about."
That was all Ruby said before she switched to scythe mode in an instant! Jared was shocked, what happened to the few seconds between transformations?
The Acula tried to Roar, but it was instantly knocked back again by what almost seemed to be an invisible force.
It crashed hard into the floors, but one of its wings was also clipped right off!
Jared felt like he was missing something. Then he remembered telling everyone that the armor could also amplify semblances. Was Ruby's semblance now making her moving faster than the human eye could keep up?
The Acula got back up, albeit poorly. Even though it was blind, it sensed where the two hunters were and mustered a hateful snarl towards them before inhaling its powerful lungs again.
Then Jared felt a soft wind and saw bits of petals fall from Ruby's scarf.
A loud thud was heard. Jared looked over to see the Acula was decapitated with its head flying high into the air above it. But when its body touched the ground, it split up into hundreds of cleanly cut pieces that were now fading away.
Ruby turned to Resh, and the injured boy could feel a smirk behind that visor.
"Wow. I can see why you show off in this thing." She admitted before placing a hand over the orb and removing it, canceling the power boost.
Jared shielded himself from the red flash of light before seeing Ruby get dizzy and lose her balance. Jared quickly forced himself up and caught both of them from falling.
"Uhh… OK that's why you don't use it as much…" Ruby groaned before regaining her balance then helping Resh up since he was injured.
"Yeah, well first timers usually feel like they can take on the world. … How are you feeling anyway? Any weird side effects? Because I never had anyone else use it before." Jared asked.
"Well… after I saved us from the attack… everything felt so… clear… kinda like what you said only… it made sense."
"Hooray. Welcome to understanding-the-nonsense club." Jared quipped to distract himself from the pain. It was working since his Aura was mitigating it greatly.
Ruby rolled her eyes before Jared could let himself stand on his own. "Yeah well, you were right: things were kind of trippy inside it."
"So now you're comparing my power boost to getting drunk. Darn and I always try so hard to stay sober. Oh wait! Monty all mighty, I got Ruby Rose high! Yang's gonna kill me!" Jared mockingly panicked.
The younger girl blinked. "Oh hush you," She said before nudging him in the ribs lightly then made him wince in pain. "Oops! Sorry!"
"It's fine…" Jared admitted easily.
Ruby looked down on her feet. "No really, I'm sorry for rushing ahead and letting that thing pounce on you." She said rather sadly. It was just like initiation when she attempted to take on the Deathstalker by herself. It ended badly, but her friends were able to help her out on that. "Also, I'm sorry for forcing to come along with you… then you wouldn't have had your legs hurt because of me. I took that odd device that seemed to be keeping that thing sleeping or something…"
"And I would have been dead if it weren't for you." Jared told her solemnly. "I admit that I was a little reluctant in having you come along with me, but I'm truly glad you did."
"But I—"
"Nope!" Jared interrupted her the same way she did earlier that afternoon. "Look, the past is the past. We can't spend our days thinking about what could have been when we can spend our days making sure tomorrow is better. Besides, if this didn't happen, you wouldn't have looked so kick ass in my armor."
Ruby's emotions took a huge one-eighty. "I know right?! Did you see me? I was like swish! Slash! Boom!"
"Actually, you were so fast, I didn't even see you move! It was like the Grimm was being beaten up with your sheer awesomeness!" Jared happily played along with his mom.
"Oh yeah!" Ruby cheered.
The two then laughed at the situation. Even after all most dying, it was odd to see two people laughing like fools without a care in the world.
Then Jared heard a faint sound in the distance. … It almost sounded like sirens. "OH." He mouthed.
"Is that the police?" Ruby wondered as she heard the distant and familiar sounds. "Oh great, maybe they can treat you better Resh!"
Jared's eyes widened. "Uh Ruby? You do remember we trespassed in private property right? Then technically trashed it? Which means we might go to jail if they find us here."
Silver eyes widened. "Oooohhhhh. So… what now?"
"I like the idea of running and escaping from the authorities. I mean, we are in that ripe age where we rebel against the elderly." Jared noted casually.
"Yeah! Thug Life!" Ruby Rose fist pumped.
Jared laughed and silently prayed to Monty that Yang would not kill him for being a bad influence on his mommy.
"…"
"Is… something wrong… Mother?"
"… I simply felt a presence I had lost some… time… ago. A pet of mine that I did so enjoy playing with at the time until that… thing… took it away from me. But sorrow, oh sorrow! I have finally felt its presence—only for it to be killed shortly after."
"What!? How dare they hurt your pets, Mother! Allow me to go and hunt down whoever slew your beloved!"
"Thank you… but there is no need. It was quite the pity the Acula was blind. I might have had a glimpse at who had done such a thing. But still, if they stumbled into one of my favorites… who's to say they won't encounter more?"
When Ruby and Jared got back, after taking a quick stop in getting a new pair of pants for Jared, they weren't expecting the school grounds to be under lockdown.
"What the heck?" Jared asked out loud as he viewed the large row of security forces forming some kind of barricade in the front of the air docks.
"Please be seated in the main loading and unloading zone until the security has deemed it safe to return." An officer repeated out in a mega phone.
Jared walked up to one of the security guards closest to them. "Excuse me, what's going on?"
"There's a dangerous group of dishwasher thieves running around in Beacon. We've tried to apprehend just one of their members, but he keeps out lasting all of our men who try to chase him. He's also quite fast," He elaborated. "We wanted some help with the hunters, but Ozpin had us agree to send the teachers to protect the students, a valiant move on his part. Now we've trapped the scoundrel in school grounds and even with his stamina we will eventually catch him. He can't always lap around Beacon!"
Jared was having this very odd, tingling sense that something wasn't quite right here. "Um excuse me for a sec by any chance do you know what he looks like?"
"Not necessarily. He's been far ahead of us for quite some time, but we do know he is at least as young as you students and has messy, short blonde hair."
'Oh Monty, no.' Jared thought. There was only one person that unlucky for this to happen to, and that was his dad!
Ruby also seemed horrified at the thought of Jaune being arrested. It became worse when the Officer continued on. "Also, we have reason to believe that we have also identified his hooligan associates: one green, eastern themed boy, a girl with orange hair that liked yelling 'boop' a lot, a girl wearing black get up and a black bow, and lastly another girl with wild and longer blonde hair."
Ren, Nora, Blake, and Yang.
The two hunters just stared at the implications of their friends and teammates.
"Not to worry, I have word we will soon capture one of the villains and be that much closer in capturing the other fou—" A beep came from the walkie-talky of the officer. "Excuse me. … What!? The other four ambushed the chasers and rescued the blond boy!?"
Ruby and Jared paled.
And it just kept getting worse. "And you're saying that the blonde girl suddenly attacked our men in a violent and merciless manner for almost no reason?"
'Oh please tell me they didn't accidentally cut off Yang's hair.' Jared foolishly begged in his head.
"Now you say the black haired girl has restrained the reinforcements while the orange haired girl is mockingly throwing bananas at them!?"
Jared leaned towards the leader and whispered. "Psst, Ruby, if they ask, we don't know them."
"Know who?"
"This is getting worse than we thought!" The officer cried out. "We have no choice! We must beg headmaster Ozpin to send Glynda Goodwitch! She'll stop them!"
Meanwhile, the two people who were purple and red were praying to whatever benevolent being up there that they would be spared from their neighbor's sins.
{Author's Notes}
OK kind of a longish one again.
I wanted to make it longer, but once more, it didn't really seem like a good idea to.
First off, Jared finds a mysterious letter! Next chapter, we see what is inside it.
Second! Hey! Ruby and Jared bonding! (Thank you College Fool.)
I had to completely rewrite this chapter after I found that lengthy review. It felt like it went in a weird direction going over it a third time.
This one I'm way more proud of.
Third is Ruby actually used the Armaments of Raijin!
Whoo! I bet you didn't see that coming huh? Kegi Springfield brought up the point that children OCs here usually have their weapons from their parents. This way, I turned the tables a little.
Instead of kids having their parent's weapon, I let Jared give his weapon to his parents!
I'm so glad that the plan I'm having with the weapon is slowly coming to fruition. Hey! If Ruby can take on the armor that means everyone else is fair game! Especially since I have something planned for that. MWAHAHAHA!
Well that's all for this week. Next week for sure I'll put that sport extra. I like it. Hope you will too.
Thanks for reading!