Author's Opening Note- This chapter was much longer than most previous ones; over10,000 words. Plus, I was busy with celebrating Thanksgiving and taking care of Christmas shopping, so I had to post it late. Speaking of which, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and got your Christmas shopping done this Black Friday. Read and enjoy. And if I made any mistakes, please point them out.
Review Responses
RedFire905: That's a great idea. Good choices. Though I'm more likely to write a one-shot James Bond adaptation for the RWBY cast to watch.
Guest, Nov 25- It's possible I'll do "Dead Man's Chest" off the bat. Or at least make it a voting poll option.
Guest, Nov 20- I just binge watched "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" and liked it, so I'll either adapt that one or "Scott Pilgrim Takes Over the World."
Guest, Nov 20- Good idea. I'll keep that in mind for an action movie adaptation for the one-shot multiverse.
Memnon45: If you mean the encounter and subsequent final battle with the alien queen, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the finale.
triscythe59: I could make that an option in a future poll, either for cinematic or one-shot.
Pharamine: Yep, it'll be close but they'll pull it off. And I agree, they'd be better off using Jacques as bait for the aliens at this point. After all, he's the one responsible for the whole mess. Unfortunately, I get mixed up with the endnotes for various reasons, but I'll be trying to avoid that in the future. Finally, I've never played "Deep Rock Galactic", but it looks pretty cool. I'll keep your idea and casting suggestions in mind if I decide on it for the one-shot fic.
GojiraFan455516: I can hardly wait to write it myself. I was in awe when I first saw it. Ruby and Yang will definitely enjoy Summer's showdown with the Queen the most.
Jeager2020: Lol, that would make a good one-shot adaptation. Imagine Salem playing one of the witches XD
060896: I'll be returning to the one-shot fic in a month or so, so it's definitely possible for Sun to play Bruce Lee in a martial arts flick.
Shadowknight77: I'm afraid so. Sorry, but I kept them out due to time reasons. Although, the xenomorphs terrifying intelligence is already shown when they possibly cut the power and find another way in not included in the colonies floor plans.
StoutShako42Refined: Given the circumstances, you could hardly blame Marrow. Nothing could have prepared him for the Xenomorphs. After reading your review, I watched "Emesis Blue" and I enjoyed it. I'll consider making a one-shot adaptation for it.
thundercharger123: I never read whatever book your referencing, but I suppose interactions between Xenomorphs and androids vary. And I fully agree: "Aliens" is one of those movies I can quote word for word, or at least close to it.
LoamyCoffee: Yeah, I figured Marrow was best suited to play Hudson. Summer and Yang's growing bond is certainly heartwarming for the audience and the readers. Guys like Jacques never take responsibility. Everyone will be satisfied to see his number come up. And, finally, go ahead and binge watch the films, or at least the good ones.
Acedragoon: That's a good point. Plus, the Queen is shown to be more intelligent than the warriors, so it makes sense she'd view Bishop as an enemy.
Inspiration: Aliens
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit story for entertainment purposes only. "RWBY" is the property of director and animator Monty Oum (RIP) and production company Rooster Teeth, and "Aliens" is the property of director James Cameron, production company Brandywine Pictures, and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
In the control center, the survivors were going over their defense plan until the dropship arrived to picked them up
"I want you two walking perimeter," Taiyang ordered Marrow and Harriet.
The two marines stared at the corporal in hesitation.
"Move!" Taiyang barked.
With that, the two began to walk off before Taiyang spoke again.
"Hey, listen. We're all in strung-out shape, but stay frosty and alert," Taiyang encouraged. "We can't afford to let one of those bastards in here."
"All right. Come on," Harriet said as she gave Marrow a love tap on his chest plate.
Yang tapped her chin. "Hmmm, stay frosty. I like that one, dad," she said positively. [1]
"Sounds like something you'd say to Weiss or Winter," Blake grinned at the Schnee sisters.
Winter sighed while Weiss rolled her eyes. "Very funny," the latter said.
After Harriet and Marrow left for the corridors, Summer took at swig of cold coffee, clearly exhausted, but too afraid and stressed out to rest.
"How long's it been since you got any sleep?" Taiyang asked in concern. "Twenty-four hours?"
"With those things running amuck, sleep would be the last thing on my mind," Yang said.
"Your counterpart is lucky you even get a chance to sleep in this whole Gods-awful mess," Elm reasoned.
Yang shrugged. "Maybe. Though I'm still iffy about being left alone in that room," she said with a frown.
"Xiao Long, I'm not gonna end up like those others," Summer declared, preferring any alternative to being a chestburster victim. "You'll take care of it, won't you?"
"If it comes to that, I'll do us both," Taiyang promised.
"Oh my~" Yang said in a sultry tone, eliciting a few unamused groans.
"But seriously, any other way to die is better than being a facehugger host," Nora stated.
"You can say that again," Jaune agreed wholeheartedly.
Nora smirked. "But seriously, any oth-"
Ren couldn't hide a grin. "Nora!" he cut off, prompting a giggle from his partner.
"Listen, let's just make sure it doesn't come to that," Taiyang said softly. "All right?"
"All right," Summer nodded.
"Hey, I want to introduce you to a personal friend of mine," Taiyang as he hefted up the spare pulse rifle. "This is an M-41A pulse rifle, 10 millimeter, with an over-and-under 30 millimeter pump-action grenade launcher."
Ruby barely kept from drooling. "Nice piece of equipment," she complimented.
Yang nodded. "It's about time mom got to wield a weapon. She's gotta be able to defend herself."
Taiyang removed the rifle's magazine and handed it to Summer. "Feel the weight."
"Okay, what do I do?" Summer asked, accepting the weapon.
Meanwhile, Penny was still pushing onward through the tubular air duct. The only sounds were her breathing and her body scraping against the metal interior.
Back inside the complex, Taiyang continued showing Summer how to use the M4A1 pulse rifle. Summer was aiming the weapon with the corporal standing right behind her, setting her arms in the correct position.
To witness Summer and Taiyangs counterparts bonding over some minor training was heartwarming and reassuring for the audience.
"This takes me back to dad and uncle Qrow training us," Yang reminisced with a smile.
"The training is very limited, but it may still keep Summer alive long enough until they escape the colony," Ironwood remarked.
"Okay, pull it in tight here," Taiyang instructed.
"Right…" Summer acknowledged.
"Lean into it," Taiyang added.
"Mm-hmm," Summer elevated her aim slightly.
"All right Now, it will kick some," Taiyang warned.
Taiyang then pointed at the ammo counter beneath the magazine house. "All right. When the counter reads zero here, you-"
"I press this up?" Summer asked as she pressed the release button and the magazine slipped out.
"That's right. Get another one in quick. Slap it in hard," Taiyang said, and Summer re-inserted the magazine.
"Right. And you're ready to rock and roll,"
"What's this?" she asked, feeling the tube beneath the rifle's barrel.
"That's the grenade launcher. I don't think you want to mess with that," Taiyang answered cautiously.
"Nice! I prefer my own grenade launcher though," Nora remarked.
Summer shot Taiyang a look. "You started this. Show me everything. I can handle myself," she said with a grin.
"Yeah, I noticed," Taiyang chuckled.
A few people chuckled along with Taiyang.
"She wants to be shown the whole tutorial," Yang smirked.
"I don't blame her. You never know if she'll need to use the grenade launcher," Qrow reasoned, having a feeling Summer would indeed need it.
Summer stepped out of operations and into the corridor, carrying her new weapon. Nearby, Ironwood stepped out of the med lab, weakened from his concussion but stable. Jacques stood wordlessly beside him.
"It's good to see you back on your feet, sir," Clover said earnestly.
"Yes. Though I highly doubt I'll be returning to a position of authority," Ironwood sighed, painfully remembering his counterpart dropping the ball earlier.
Summer approached Ironwood. "How do you feel?" asked sincerely.
"All right, I guess. One hell of a hangover," Ironwood replied.
There was an awkward pause between the two.
"Look, Summer, I just want-" Ironwood began to apologize.
"Forget it. Excuse me," Summer interrupted as she shoved past Ironwood.
While Summer went to check on Yang, Ironwood turned to see Harriet standing nearby staring coldly at him.
Harriet shifted uncomfortably in her seat, knowing her counterpart's relationship with Ironwood was unquestionably caustic.
"I'm guessing your counterpart wants to kill him,"
Harriet didn't answer, but if she had to admit it, she'd reply in the affirmative.
Summer passed through the empty laboratory, heading for the small operating room where she left Yang.
Entering the darkened bedroom, she approached the cot she'd left Yang on. It was empty. And Yang was gone. Summer looked around in alarm.
Ruby and Yang both gasped softly. "Oh, please no," the former whispered.
"She should never have left her alone, even with that tracker on her," Elm stated, already fearing the worst.
Qrow looked skyward. "Gods, please don't tell me those things took her…" he mumbled in prayer.
Thinking face, Summer knelt down and peaked under the bed. There was Yang, sound asleep, and curled up against the wall. Clutched in her hand was Casey.
Yang, Ruby, and Qrow all sighed in relief that Yang was safe and sound.
"Thank the Brothers," Blake said gratefully.
Ripley laid the pulse rifle on top of the bed and crawled underneath. She gently slipped her arms around Yang without waking her up. The girl whined softly.
"Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh," Summer hushed Yang, rocking the girl in her arms. "It's okay. It's okay."
"D'aaaw!" Blake, Weiss, and Elm all cooed at the cute and touching scene.
Yang smiled warmly at the screen. "This takes me back to when we were little kids," she cast a teasing glance at her sister. "Ruby would ask to sleep in my bed with me when she had nightmares."
Ruby blushed slightly "Oh come! I was like five!" she whined in embarrassment.
Jaune laughed. "Don't sweat it, Ruby. I asked my sisters the same thing when I was little," he revealed.
Outside the complex, a storm was rolling in. Heavy wind and rained hammered the complex. Despite the dangerous elements, Penny was hard at work atop the uplink tower. Behind her, brilliant blue bolts of lightning emanated from the overloading reactor.
"She needs to hurry. The clock is ticking," Oscar tapped his wrist.
"Fret not, Oscar. I'm sure Penny will come through for the other survivors," Ozpin assured his host.
"Indeed. I will not let my friends down," Penny declared stalwartly.
Thousands of miles up in LV-426's orbit, the klaxon lights of the Sulaco's hanger bay activated and shined while the spare dropship began to slide into position for launch via Penny's remote control on the surface.
Seeing the dropship preparing for launch helped boost the audience's spirits a little.
"She did it. It's working" Winter said in a congratulatory tone.
"Now she's gotta get the ship down there," Ironwood said.
"It'll be close, like Summer said, but she can do it," Ruby said with faith in Penny's counterpart.
Back inside the operating room, Summer woke up. She checked her watch. She unwrapped her arms from around Yang and prepared to crawl out from under the cot. And then she caught sight of something that made her freeze.
Across the room, just inside the door to the room, were two stasis tanks. The same ones that contained the facehuggers. And they were empty.
The audience froze as well as they stared at the tanks onscreen. Yang and Ruby even paled a bit as soon as the realization hit them.
"Now those aren't…" Marrow trailed off in disbelief.
Alarmed, Qrow leaned forward. "How did those things break loose?!"
"Hmmm...I don't think they escaped," Ozpin mused, already suspicious.
High, eerie music began to play as the frightened and alarmed Summer looked around frantically for the facehuggers she knew were loose inside the room.
"Yang, wake up," Summer whispered, grabbing Yangs shoulder.
Yang stirred awake. "Wha-"
"Be quiet. We're in trouble," Summer cautioned softly.
Yang, now wide awake, kept quiet. The two of them watched and listened carefully, but the room was dead silent.
"Please tell me this is just another one of mom's nightmares," a shocked Ruby whispered as she pulled her hood over her head.
"I don't think so, sis," Yang murmured, wishing that were the case.
Summer reached up and pushed the cot as gently as she could away from the wall. Once there was enough space, she carefully slid herself up between the wall and the edge of the bed, reaching for the rifle she left lying on top of it. But it was gone.
"Where the hell is her gun?!" Yang cried, her panic rising.
"It was right there. Where did it go?"
Oscar pondered for a few seconds. "Someone came in there and stole it. Then they released the facehuggers," he figured out.
"What?!" half the audience shouted in anger and shock.
Then suddenly, as quick as lightning, a facehugger lunged toward Summer from a tabletop.
Summer immediately ducked back the bed. "No!" she cried.
Yang screamed as the facehugger tried to crawl beneath the bed, but Summer thought fast and slammed the bed against the wall, pinning the creature only inches away from them, it's legs and tail writhing and whipping.
Ruby screamed and hid inside her hood. Everyone else yelped or jumped, dropping food or drinks in surprise.
"Go for the door! Get out of there now!" Harriet urged loudly.
"Move, Yang!" Summer shouted as they both scrambled out from under the bed.
Summer quickly flipped over the bed, trapping the creature beneath it as she grabbed Yang and yanked her toward the door. The facehugger worked itself free and scuttled across the tiled floor and disappeared beneath a cabinet.
Summer desperately pressed the door control button, but it wouldn't open. Then, with Yang's assistance, she tried to force it open, but it wouldn't budge.
"They're trapped in there with those things," realized with horror.
"I don't even want to imagine being trapped in a room with those things skittering around," Oscar shuddered.
Summer and Yang inched over to the window.
"Hey!" Summer shouted.
From outside the room, Summer and Yang were visible, but the thick glass completely muted out their cries for help. Summer then spotted her pulse rifle sitting on a table.
"Who the hell would do that?!" Blake exclaimed.
Weiss thought for a second. "Jacques," she snarled accusingly.
Yang gasped, perking up. "He wouldn't dare!"
"Help! Help!" Yang cried as she continued slapping the glass.
Summer moved to stand in front of the security camera in the corner.
"Xiao Long!" Summer shouted her arms at the camera.
"Somebody!"
In the operations room, a camera monitor showed Summer waving her arms, but there was no sound.
"Say again, Penny," Taiyang said from offscreen. "You've got it into auto-refuel mode, and its sequencing right?"
"That's right," Penny confirmed.
A hand reached over and switched off the video feed. The camera then panned over to reveal it was Jacques. Behind him, an oblivious Taiyang was speaking to Penny via headset. Standing beside him was Ironwood.
"Okay, good. Stay on it. Get back to me when you've activated the launch cycle," Taiyang instructed.
"Roger."
The entire audience was enraged upon Weiss' assumption being proven correct. Yang and Ruby were the angriest of all.
Yang shot up from her seat. "THAT SON OF A BITCH!" she thundered, her eyes going red again.
"He would do something that low? Let one of those things implant a little kid?!" Ruby shouted in outrage, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles went white.
"I can't believe it. After everything he's caused already," Ironwood hissed.
Yang panted with fury for a few seconds before Blake and Ruby gingerly sat her back down.
"She's at the uplink tower," Taiyang informed.
Ironwood nodded. "Good."
"Terrific," Jacques said, stroking his chin in a scheming manner.
Back inside the sealed operating room, Summer and Yang continued calling for help as the now blind camera continued observing the room.
"Xiao Long! Xiao Long!"
"Help!"
"Xiao Long, help us!"
"Break the glass!" Yang suggested.
Ren nodded. "Good idea. They can get away and just lock the facehuggers inside the med lab."
"They're about to be rescued anyway. They'll just have to make sure the Facehuggers don't follow them," Vine said logically.
"Break it. Break it," Yang said desperately.
"Yes," Summer agreed as she picked up a metal chair. "I'll try."
With all her might, Summer swung the chair into the glass. But it simply bounced off, barely scratching the surface. The glass was reinforced.
From outside, Summers futile efforts were barely audible through the thick glass as Summer struck it with the chair.
The revelation that the glass was reinforced elicited deep groans of frustration throughout the theater.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Nora threw up her hands.
Summer tried one more time before she gave up and let the chair fall from her grasp.
Summer and Yang panted with barely controlled panic as they flattened against the wall, wildly scanning the dark floor for the two Facehuggers.
"Summer, I'm scared," Yang whispered.
"Me too," Summer replied honestly.
"Me three," Yang and Ruby admitted together shamelessly.
"What if they covered their mouths so those things can't…well…you know," Marrow said awkwardly.
Maria shook her head. "I don't think that'll work. Remember when it melted a hole through Ren's space helmet?" she reminded sadly.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Marrow deflated a little.
Luckily, Summer got an idea as she glanced up at the ceiling and noticed something.
"Stay here," she instructed Yang.
Summer moved cautiously over to a fire sprinkler and fished a zippo lighter from her pocket. She lit the zippo and held it under the sprinkler, triggering it. As the fire alarm went off, a red light activated, and water sprayed down from the ceiling. Summer then held Yang close.
"Good thinking. Just like in 'Die Hard' when I set off the fire alarm," Jaune remembered from the very first multiverse viewing.
"Let's just hope this time it works," Ren said as he took a sip of green tea.
The alarm could be heard throughout the complex and its location indicated at the control panel Taiyang was seated at.
"It's the med lab," Taiyang said as he rose from his chair.
Taiyang and Ironwood headed for the med lab while Jacques stayed put.
"Amin! Bree, meet me in med lab. We got a fire," Taiyang notified his squad mates as he grabbed a fire extinguisher.
"We're on our way," Marrow affirmed over the radio.
"Hurry dad," Ruby implored her father's counterpart.
"But what about Jacques? What if he tries something while they're gone?" Clover asked.
"They'll deal with him later. First, they must rescue Summer and Yang," Ironwood focused on the matter at hand.
Back inside the operation room, a drenched Summer and Yang waited for their rescuers.
"They're coming, Yang," Summer assured the girl.
Suddenly, from beneath a surgical multilight, the other facehugger sprang out towards her face. Summer was knocked into a surgical cart while Yang backed away, shrieking abjectly. The music intensified.
Yang and Ruby shrieked as well, in fear and worry. The last thing they'd want to see was Summer be "impregnated" by a facehugger. For them, it would be worse than Taiyang being blown apart by gunfire in "Robocop".
Summer managed to pry the facehugger off her jacket and threw it across the room against the wall. The creature quickly righted itself and quickly scurried toward Summer as she desperately crawled backwards, knocking over cabinets and other objects to block the creatures path. But it was no good. The facehugger bounded over a medical poll, landed on Summer's chest, and wrapped its tail around her neck.
Everybody went rigid or clenched their armrests in fear and worry at Summer's peril.
"No! Not mom!" Ruby shrieked as she covered her eyes, unable to watch.
"Don't just stand there screaming, other me! Do something!" Yang begged her counterpart.
Summer gasped and grunted as she barely kept the facehugger only inches away from her face with her free hands.
Yang kept screaming at the horrible scene, nearly missing the first facehugger sneaking up behind her from behind a desk.
But Yang spotted the creature and, thinking fast, pushed the desk against the wall, pinning the facehugger's tail against it, holding it at bay.
"You may be just a kid, but you can still handle yourself," Maria commended Yangs counterpart.
"No doubt, it's those kinds of smarts that kept her alive," Blake smiled.
"But where the hell are the marines?!" Yang said in near panic.
Witnessing what was happening from outside, the marines immediately sprang into action.
"Shoot it out!" Taiyang commanded as he backed away from the window.
Amin complied and fired a burst of armor-piercing rounds into the glass, weaking it enough for Taiyang to dive through, shattering it. The other marines quickly clambered inside.
"Finally. I was starting to think they'd show up too late," Vine said.
"Amin!" Yang cried for help, barely holding off the facehugger.
"Brothers," Amin's eyes widened and he rushed over to the girl.
Taiyang, Harriet, and Ironwood ran over to help pry the facehugger off Summer.
"Brothers, kid, look out!" he shouted as he pulled Yang away from the desk, pinned it down with his boot, and fired, blowing the creature to smoking pieces.
"Fucking die!" Amin muttered in satisfaction.
Elm smiled. "Good job, Amin," she complimented.
"My alternate self still has some fighting spirit in him," Marrow commented, smiling as well.
"Now to save Summer," Qrow said.
After a struggle, Taiyang, Ironwood, and Harriet all managed to pry the facehugger off Summer, who at last gasped for breath as they unwrapped it's tail from her neck. They held the thrashing creature, preparing to toss it away.
"Over there! Ready?" Taiyang asked Harriet.
"Yeah!" Harriet replied, preparing her pulse rifle.
Taiyang and Ironwood flung the facehugger at the wall. "Now!"
Harriet fired and blew the facehugger apart in a shower of corrosive blood.
Ruby finally pulled her hood up. She put a hand to her chest and exhaled slowly in relief.
Yang slumped in her seat. "Thank the Brothers," she breathed out gratefully.
"They should have gotten rid of them as soon as they found out that Jacques was behind everything," Ozpin said wisely.
"Speaking of Jacques," Winter snarled darkly.
"Amin?" beckoned his squamate.
"Yeah. All clear," Marrow reported as he rushed over. "Nailed the other one. It's history, man."
A sobbing Yang ran over and hugged Summer, the latter coughing and gagging for breath.
"Brothers," Taiyang muttered at what nearly happened to Summer and Yang.
"Jacques..." Summer coughed out. "It was Jacques."
"His ass is grass," Jaune said threateningly, prompting nods throughout the theater.
Back inside operations, a calm Jacques was seated in a chair while the survivors surrounded him with furious looks.
Marrow shoved the muzzle of his gun under Jacque's chin. "I say we grease this rat-fuck son of a bitch right now!"
"Me too," Yang said dangerously.
"But what was he planning to do after getting Summer and Yang implanted?" Penny questioned, not comprehending at first.
"It just doesn't make any Goddamn sense," Taiyang muttered as he paced back and forth.
"He figured that he could get an alien back through quarantine if one of us was... impregnated- whatever you call it- and then frozen for the trip home," Summer accused, staring daggers at Jacques.
Jacques stared back at Summer, trying to appear icy calm, but his sweating told a different story.
"Nobody would know about the embryos we were carrying- me and Yang," Summer finished surmising Jacques' plot.
Nearby, Yang sat in a chair wearing Summer's adult jacket as she stared at Jacques with a somber expression.
"That plan is as heartless as if is foolish. So much room for error," Penny scowled.
"Well, Jacques must have gone with it because he felt he was out of options to obtain an alien and wanted to silence Summer up so she couldn't expose him," Ozpin presumed.
"My thoughts exactly, he's too greedy and short-sighted to give up," Winter concluded.
"Then what about the other survivors? No doubt, they knew Jacques was responsible for this whole shit-show in the first place," Vine asked hesitantly.
"Wait a minute, now. We'd all know," Taiyang doubted Jacques' plan working.
"Yes. The only way he could do it... is if he sabotaged certain freezers on the way home. Namely yours," Summer continued accusingly. "Then he could jettison the bodies and make up any story he liked."
That revelation unquestionably cemented the audience's hatred for Jacque's counterpart.
"Do what?!" Clover said lividly.
Harriet's face contorted. "This guy is really starting to piss me off," she said with barely controlled fury.
"Join the club," Qrow clenched his water glass with near crushing pressure.
"Fuck!" Marrow scoffed. "He's dead. Your dog meat, pal," he threatened, again shoving his gun into Jacque's face again.
"This is so nuts. I mean, listen- listen to what you're saying. It's paranoid delusion," Jacques said dismissively.
"It's really sad. It's pathetic," Jacques finished.
Winter scoffed. "I don't believe it. He's trying to gaslight them," she said indignantly.
"That was just one way he'd manipulate people, especially mother," Weiss remembered her unpleasant experiences with Jacques.
"Well, he's not fooling anybody onscreen or in the theater," Ironwood stated with a scowl.
"You know, Jacques, I don't know which species is worse," Summer stated as she stepped forward. "You don't see them fucking each other over for a Goddamn percentage."
"All right. We waste him," Taiyang declared as he grabbed Jacques by the lapels and hauled him to his feet. "No offense."
"No! He's gotta go back," Summer protested.
"Go back? What the hell for?" Harriet questioned, not understanding Summer's reasoning.
"Actually, Summer is right," Ironwood held up a finger. "If they keep him alive, he can face justice in a court of law. And possibly expose anyone else in the SDC who wanted to obtain an alien in the event he wasn't working alone."
"That could be tricky," Maria scratched her chin. "Jacques could have some powerful associates in the SDC who will cover his ass if he were to offer them a slice of any potential profits from the aliens."
But suddenly, the whole room went dark. Then, the eerie emergency red lighting came on. The survivors all looked about, dumbfounded by the loss of power.
"They cut the power," Summer whispered in amazement and horror.
"What do you mean, they cut the power?" Marrow said in disbelief. "How could they cut the power, man?! They're animals!"
Marrows fear was palpable as the audience was terrified by Summer's claim.
"What?!" Ruby, Elm, and Nora all whispered.
"No way. I'll say it again, they can't be that smart," Harriet repeated her earlier standpoint on the aliens.
"It could have been damage caused by the processing station overloading," Penny assumed, though even she had her doubts. [2]
Taiyang turned to Marrow and Harriet. "I want you two with trackers, checking the corridors! Move!" he barked.
The two marines grabbed their motion trackers and headed for the adjacent corridor.
"Ironwood, watch Jacques!" Summer shouted.
Ironwood drew his sidearm. "I got him," he complied and cocked the gun behind Jacques head.
"Yang, stay close," Summer added loudly as Yang stayed nearby holding a flashlight.
Marrow and Harriet entered the now red-light filled hallway.
"I'll go this side," Marrow said headed down the left side of the corridor.
"You do that, man," Harriet agreed as she went right.
The separated marines slowly walked down their respective corridors, scanning for movement.
Back inside operations, Summer and Taiyang were readying themselves.
"Anything?" Summer asked Marrow through her headset.
Marrow's motion tracker began to beep just as he reached one of the barricades at the end of the hall.
"There's something. It's inside the complex," Marrow responded as multiple dots appeared on his tracker screen.
"You're just reading me," Harriet called over her shoulder, sounding annoyed.
"That's a possibility," Penny said uncertainly.
Marrow spun around towards Harriet. "No, no, it ain't you," he refuted.
Marrow was right. There were multiple signals on his tracker. And they were surrounding the marines.
"They're inside-inside the perimeter. They're in here," Marrow said shakily.
"Amin, stay cool!" Summer said over the radio.
"…or not," Penny rescinded her earlier words.
"Yeah, stay cool, me. This is not the time to be freaking out," Marrow criticized his alternate self.
"But where is it coming from? They sealed off their position, didn't they?" Weiss said in confusion.
"Bree?" Summer requested a report from Harriet.
Harriet turned around and aimed her motion tracker toward Marrow, picking up the signals he was reading.
"Amin may be right," Harriet admitted calmly.
"Get back, both of you!" Summer warned, nearly ready for battle.
"The signal's weird," Marrow went on, confused.
Marrow backtracked a little, peering left and right in a near panic.
"Must be some interference or something. There's movement all over the place!"
"Get back to Operations," Taiyang ordered before looking at Summer. "It's game time."
"Yang," Summer beckoned the girl to follow.
Yang rubbed her hands together. "Oh yeah, it's game time! Hope she finally kicks some alien ass," she said eagerly.
"I hope they all do," Nora said, feeling it was the casts time to truly shine.
Just then, Marrow and Harriet scrambled back inside the operations room while the others rushed to the door they had just come in through.
"Seal the door. Hurry!" Summer instructed.
"Come on! Get back!" Taiyang shouted as he and Marrow slammed the door shut and locked it.
Taiyang and Harriet pulled out small welding torches to seal the door shut.
"Work fast," Taiyang said as he and Harriet began to melt the door composites together.
"Cover your eyes, Yang. Don't look at the light," Summer cautioned as she covered Yang's eyes.
"That'll slow the aliens down and buy the survivors some time," Ren noted positively.
"Good. They need all the time they can get before making the dropship picks them up," Clover nodded, hoping he wouldn't have to watch anymore of his teammates perish.
Just then, Amin's motion detector began to beep again. "Movement. Signals clean. Range, 20 meters," he reported.
Summer looked gob smacked. "They found a way in, something we missed," she mumbled.
"We didn't miss anything," Taiyang refuted in a forced voice.
Oscar was taken aback by Summer's claim. "Wait…what?"
"But they sealed off the entire complex," Penny recalled tentatively.
"Eighteen. Seventeen meters," Marrow began to count down the proximity of the signal.
"Something under the floor, not in the plans. I don't know," Summer said in frustration.
Summer's words exacerbated the crowd's fear. It was like the battle inside the processor all over again.
"Please be wrong," Nora whispered as she grabbed Ren's hand for comfort.
"Gods, those things are so crafty," Blake said, frightened and amazed.
"Fifteen meters," Marrow said as his trackers beeping intensified, slowly but surely.
"Summer!" Yang whimpered, knowing what was coming.
"Definitely inside the barricades," Taiyang admitted.
Yang tugged on Summer's arm. "Let's go!"
"Listen to her. Get out of there," Oscar fully agreed with Yangs counterpart.
"If Summer is right, then they should just make a beeline for the landing pad at this point," Blake suggested.
"We don't know how much time is left," Ironwood disagreed. "It may be wiser if they made a stand first, then made a run for the dropship when it arrives."
"But if they wait too long, the aliens might encircle them, and trap them inside," Ozpin countered Ironwood's advice.
"Thirteen meters," Marrow reported.
"That's right outside the door. Xiao Long, Bree, get back!" Summer warned loudly.
Marrow shook his head. "Man, this is a big fucking signal," he said nervously.
"How you doing, Bree? Talk to me," Taiyang asked as sparks from the welder flew around them.
"Almost there," Harriet responded, ignoring the burning sparks from her work.
Harriet and Taiyang finished welding the door.
"That's it," Harriet said as they backed away and regrouped with the others.
The entire group backed away from the door, preparing themselves for battle.
"Twelve meters…eleven…ten," Marrow continued counting down.
"Then they're right on us," Harriet aimed her weapon.
"Well, whatever they do, this is it. Their last stand," Clover announced with an edge.
"Gods be with them all," Ruby whispered as she and Yang held each other's hands in hope and concern for Summer.
"Kick some alien ass," Harriet encouraged the onscreen cast.
The group fixated their flashlights on the sealed, smoking door.
"Nine meters," Marrow kept counting down.
"Remember-short, controlled bursts," Taiyang reminded, given their limited ammunition.
"Good advice, since they have such little ammo left," Jaune nodded in approval.
"And the sheer number of aliens they're up against," Ren added.
Long seconds dragged by as the motion trackers beeping climbed steadily to a shrill point.
"Eight meters…seven…six!" Marrow went on, beginning to sweat heavily.
"It can't be. That's inside the room!" Summer protested.
"It's reading right, man! Look!" Marrow said frantically, gesticulating with his motion tracker.
"Well, you're not reading it right!" Taiyang claimed, starting to lose his cool.
Summer looked at her own tracker in frustration. It confirmed Marrows words. Somehow the creatures had breached the operations room.
Marrow's anxiety could be felt by nearly everyone as the trackers beeping became louder and higher pitched.
"Where are they?!" Oscar asked what everyone else was undoubtedly thinking, their tensions reaching their peak.
"They could be anywhere at this point," Elm muttered, her eyes darting around the screen.
"Five meters, man! Four! What the hell?!" Marrow babbled on, flabbergasted, his tracker reaching beeping at an ear-piercing point.
Slowly, it dawned on Summer as she looked up at ceiling. Everyone else followed her gaze.
"What? Through the ceiling?!" Jaune whispered in horror.
"Okay…I take it back. Maybe they are that smart," Harriet admitted she was wrong.
"And they just welded one of their exits shut," Ren concluded, knowing there were only so many ways out of the room.
"Oh, my God!" Marrow whispered in horror. "Oh, sh-"
"Give me a light!" Taiyang said as he climbed a file cabinet and took a flashlight from Summer.
"Be careful, dad," Yang cautioned her father.
Taiyang raised a panel of acoustic drop-ceiling with his rifle and shine his flashlight inside. What he spotted in the beam of light was a nightmare.
With a sharp scare chord, Taiyang spotted aliens. Dozens of them. As silent as the grave, they crawled upside down, clinging to the pipes and beams of the structural ceiling, not even scraping the concealing acoustic panels.
"Whoa!" a few people recoiled in their seats at the sudden appearance of so many aliens.
"Holy shit!" Qrow shouted, nearly dropping his water glass.
"Watch out, dad!" Ruby cried out.
Gasping, Taiyang fell back to the floor, firing his rifle blindly. An instant later, the aliens began to smash through the ceiling panels and drop into the room, the nearest one only ten feet away from the survivors. Suspenseful action music played as the battle broke out.
"There they go! Over there! Get them!" Marrow yelled as he discarded his tracker.
The marines all opened fire at the alien horde as the creatures leaped and crept toward them over desks and other objects. Gunfire shattered glass and sent papers flying everywhere. Muzzle flashes from the rifles went off in the red-tinted emergency lighting.
"Come on!" Marrow shouted.
"Get them!" Harriet chimed in.
Ironwood opened fire as well with his pistol, ignoring Jacques, who immediately took advantage of the distraction.
"Do something, Ironwood!" Jacques cried as he fled down the corridor leading to the med lab.
Everybody stared hatefully as Jacques ran off like the coward he was.
"Gutless bastard!" Harriet yelled.
"No surprise there. He's no soldier. Just a snake in a suit," Clover shared Harriet's sentiment.
A few aliens had gone down by this point, but they just kept coming through holes smashed through the flimsy acoustic ceiling panels.
"Get them!" Hudson shouted.
"Look out!" Harriet warned.
"There's more of them!" Taiyang pointed out.
But the marines couldn't hold out forever. Soon, their ammunition would run out and they'd be defenseless. Retreat was the only option.
"Medical! Get to Medical!" Summer shouted as she pulled Yang along by her hand. "Do it! Now!"
"Amin, look out! Look out!" Taiyang warned his squad mate offscreen.
Summer and Yang reached the corridor leading to med-labs, just as an alien charged toward them, hissing.
Thinking fast, Summer switched off the safety-lock to her rifle, aimed, and fired, blowing the screeching creature away.
"Way to go, mom!" Yang cheered her step-mother on.
"Yeah! Kick alien butt!" Ruby hollered with a hand to her mouth.
"Now!" Summer yelled, taking Yang by the hand as she ran down the corridor.
Unfortunately, Jacques had just cleared the door and was starting to close it.
"Jacques!" Summer shouted.
But it was too late. Jacques shut the door and locked it just as Summer slammed into it.
"That spineless bastard!" Ironwood spat at Jacques craven behavior.
"I don't say this often…but I hate that guy," Ruby showed a rarely seen toxic side, much to the mild surprise of much of the audience.
"I hate him more than Roman in Robocop!" Yang declared through clenched teeth.
"Open this door!" Summer demanded.
Inside the next room, Jacques backed away from the door as Summer's muffled shouts could be heard outside.
"Jacques! Open it!"
Ignoring her, Jacques walked off nervously, apparently intending to try and escape the colony on his own.
"What does he think he's going to do?" Harriet scoffed. "Escape all by himself?" she said in near-amusement.
Winter rolled her eyes. "As if. He won't last five minutes on his own," she predicted, not ashamed that she hoped Jacques counterpart would perish.
Back in the operations room, the marines were holding their own, killing several aliens. But there were simply too many of them.
"They're performing far better this time," Clover pointed out, feeling proud of his teammates performance.
Taiyang and Harriet worked their way towards the corridor leading to the med-lab. "Go! Fall back!" the former shouted at his squad mates.
But Marrow stood his ground, blasting away at the aliens and scoring kills.
"Die, you fuck! Die motherfucker!" Marrow roared in rage and vengeance.
"All right! Go other me," Marrow cheered his counterpart.
"Yeah! He's definitely got his fighting spirit left," Elm commended her teammate.
Back down the corridor, Ironwood joined Summer at the med-lab door. "Jacques!" he shouted.
"Amin! Amin!" Taiyang loudly called for his squad mate to fall back.
But Marrow either didn't hear him or didn't listen as he kept blasting away in a frenzy.
"Motherfucker! Come on! Come and get it, baby!" Marrow shouted as he gunned down foe after foe. "I don't got all day! Come on! Come on! Come on, you bastard!"
"Marrow, you need to fall back," Clover warned his teammate.
"Oh come on! I'm kicking ass," Marrow protested.
"Yes, but you can't keep it up forever," Vine shared Clovers opinion.
"Come on! You too! Oh, you want some of this?! Fuck you!" Marrow continued his tirade.
Just then, the floor panel Marrow stood atop lifted upwards.
"Ahhh!" Marrow yelped as he was knocked off his feet.
Multiple people gasped in surprise and grief, especially Marrow himself.
"Marrow!" Elm and Vine cried out.
"Help him!" Harriet shouted at her and Taiyangs counterparts.
The aliens underneath seized Marrow by his legs and began to pull him under the floor panels.
"Fuck you!" Marrow bellowed as he jammed his rifle down the hole and fired until it ran dry. "Xiao Long!"
"Amin!" Taiyang heard Marrows cries for help and rushed over to help his comrade.
Taiyang grabbed Marrow's wrist, but it was no good. Marrow screamed helplessly as an alien clamped its hand around his face and ripped from Taiyangs grip and disappeared under the floor, his screams quickly fading away.
All of the Ace-Ops, and a few other audience members, hung their heads in sorrow for yet another deceased comrade.
"No…" Elm moaned pitiably.
"At least I stepped up at the right time and died fighting like a marine," Marrow sighed, looking on the bright side.
Harriet nodded. "Excellent change of pace from all the whining you did earlier," she said bluntly.
"Indeed. You performed well, soldier," Ironwood praised Marrow's performance, causing the latter to smile in slight embarrassment.
Taiyang narrowly dodged a pouncing alien and blasted it away with a quick burst from his rifle.
"Come on, Xiao Long! Go!" Harriet pushed Taiyang toward the corridor, knowing full-well that Marrow was gone.
"It's locked!" Summer informed.
Taiyang quickly took out his cutting torch and got to work on disabling the door lock.
Back inside the operations room, Harriet covered the group's retreat as she fired at the alien horde. She even launched a few 30mm grenades for good measure, scoring a few more kills before she rejoined the others down the corridor.
Taiyang got the door open just in time. "All right! Got it! Let's go!" he shouted.
"Let's go! Go! Go!" Ironwood added as the group piled into the room.
"Move, Ironwood!" Harriet shoved past Ironwood and immediately slammed the door shut.
"Seal it!" Taiyang ordered Harriet, who immediately got to work with her welding torch.
"Jacques! Goddamn you! Open this door!" Summer pounded on the next door leading further into the med-lab.
"If they catch up to him, do you think they'll even bother trying to bring him back?" Marrow asked as he munch on a handful of popcorn.
"I sure as hell wouldn't," Harriet shook her head.
In the next med-lab room, Jacques, hyperventilating with barely controlled panic, stumbled across the room. Gasping, he bumped into a dangling ceiling light as he crossed the room towards a door leading to the main corridor and from there, the elevator leading to the landing pad.
Jacques reached the door…and it slid open by itself behind him.
He spun around to come face to face with an alien. He barely had time to scream as the hissing beast lunged forward to deliver a headbite from its dripping jaws.
Everyone either smirked or nodded in satisfaction to see the despicable Jacques get what was coming to him. [3]
"I knew that was coming," Jaune said cathartically.
"Now that's what I call karma," Qrow commented.
"Goodbye Jacques," Winter said pitilessly.
"And good riddance," Yang mouthed silently, happy to see her counterpart's family avenged.
Back to the survivors. From outside the door came a heavy thud, concaving it slightly as the aliens slammed into it while Harriet continued sealing it.
"Get back!" Ironwood warned Harriet.
"Hurry up!" Harriet said to Summer.
"Ironwood, get out of the way!" Taiyang ordered as he struggled to open the door to med-lab.
"They're already breaking through," Ren noted.
"And I don't think they can cut through the med-lab to reach the dropship," Clover added, judging from Jacque's fate in the next room.
"So that means they're cornered?!" Ruby fretted loudly.
"Summer, this way!" Yang said, pulling Summer away from the door.
"What?" Summer questioned.
Yang led Summer to an air vent set low in the wall and deftly removed the grille, opening it.
Yang started inside but Summer pulled her back. "Wait. Get behind me," the latter advised.
"Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast!" Harriet urged, still sealing the door as the creatures rammed into it.
"Oh yeah. I forgot. That's how she evaded the aliens in the first place," Jaune remembered.
"Then other should know those vent shafts like the back of her hand," Yang smiled with pride.
Summer shined her flashlight down the shaft and saw it was clear. "Xiao Long!" she called as she climbed inside with Yang right behind her.
"Come on. Let's go," Taiyang shouted.
"Move!" Ironwood pushed Taiyang inside as he followed him into the vents.
Harriet stayed put, aiming her rifle at the door as the door as it caved in further.
Inside the vents, Summer took point while Yang directed her.
"Which way is it to the landing field from here?" Summer asked as she looked left and right.
"This way," Yang pointed right.
By now, the aliens had nearly broken down the door. Harriet fired a few bursts at them before fleeing into the air vent.
"Those damn things aren't about to give up," Qrow commented.
"Well, neither are we," Harriet said with determination.
"Go right."
"This way. This way."
"Which way?" Summer asked the young navigator.
"Straight ahead and left," Yang directed, pointing out the correct route.
"Penny, do you read me? Come in. Over," Taiyang spoke into his radio.
"The ship is on its way," Penny answered.
Outside, the storm was still raging on, heavy winds rushing around Penny as she stood atop the uplink tower.
"E.T.A., 16 minutes!" Penny reported to Taiyang through her headset.
"Almost there. They're almost home free," Nora bounced restlessly in her seat until Ren put a hand on her shoulder.
"Stand by there. We're on our way!" Taiyang ordered loudly.
Covering the rear was Harriet. Right behind the group, the aliens clambered after them. Harriet fired a burst from her pulse rifle, killing one of them.
"Man, those things are persistent," Oscar commented.
"Which way now?" Summer asked Yang hurriedly.
"That way," Yang answered, but then remembered. "No, wait. This way."
"You sure?" Summer questioned as Yang pulled her along.
"Take care not to get them lost. Or lead them to a dead end," Ozpin said sagely.
Yang waved it off. "Don't sweat it. I'm sure she won't mess up."
Behind Yang and Summer, Taiyang and Ironwood noticed that Harriet was falling behind.
"Bree, move!" Ironwood urged.
But Harriet was too preoccupied with blasting away at the pursuing aliens.
Up front, Yang ran ahead of Summer. "Right up here. It's just up here," she said, pointing ahead.
"Xiao Long!" Summer shouted back as the others were falling behind.
"We're almost there," Yang assured as she ran ahead.
Summer hesitated. "Yang, wait! Yang!" she called as she chased after the girl.
"Don't run ahead like that," Yang criticized her counterparts' recklessness.
Back to Harriet blasting away at the pursuing aliens until her rifle ran dry. She discarded it and drew her sidearm. Looked up a vertical airshaft above her just in time as an alien descended upon her from a vertical shaft above. The creature landed and tried to seize Harriet, but the quicker marine narrowly dodged it, then slammed and pinned its head against the wall with her boot and blasted away into its skull with her pistol.
"Yeah!" multiple people hollered ecstatically.
"That a girl, Harriet!" Elm cheered.
But Penny looked alarmed. "Be careful, Harriet! Not too close!" she warned.
Unfortunately, the aliens acidic splashed out from its cracked skull and spilled onto Harriet's ankle. She cried out in agony while the dead alien tumbled away.
Groans of dismay filled the theater as they realized that Harriet's counterpart was probably a goner.
"Damn it! Just like with Vine," Harriet swore, sadly remembering how her other self accidentally killed Vine.
Up ahead, Taiyang and Ironwood turned a corner, then stopped as they heard Harriets pained cries.
"Bree!" Taiyang yelled back.
"Go!" Ironwood clapped Taiyangs shoulder as he rushed back to help Harriet.
"He's going back to save her," Clover said reverently.
"My alternative self may be an inept leader, he's brave and combat capable when it comes down to it," Ironwood praised his counterpart.
Back to Harriet. The wounded marine unloaded her pistol's empty magazine and struggled to get up, but her acid seared leg kept her prone.
"Oh, no!" Harriet groaned through clenched teeth.
Ironwood reached Harriet, grabbed her, and began to drag her down the vent shaft he'd just come from.
But it was too late. Just then, an alien cut them off as it smashed through a grating in the vent shaft Ironwood had just come from.
Ironwood aimed and fired his pistol at the shrieking creature, scoring headshots.
"Oh no. They're separated!" Elm gasped.
"M-maybe they can fight their way out," Winter assumed, even though she knew it was unlikely.
Back to Summer and Yang. The latter emerged from the vent shaft into a small chamber. Beneath them was a circular vent fan in the shape of a gear and opposite them was a ladder.
"Yang," Summer said as she reached the girl.
Yang pointed at the ladder. "Up there. There's a shortcut across the roof."
Summer slung her rifle. "Xiao Long," she called as she carefully stepped over the vent wheel towards to the ladder and began to climb.
Taiyang emerged from the previous vent shaft and began helping Yang across the gap towards Summer.
"They're almost out of there," Maria pointed out.
"But what about Harriet and I?" Ironwood asked hesitantly.
At that moment, Ironwoods pistol went dry. He saw the aliens begin to creep over the smoldering body of the one he just killed. He looked down the other way to see another alien creeping toward them. They were cornered.
"Shit…" Harriet sword softly. "No way is my counterpart gonna be a host for those things."
"Harriet…general...no..." Elm mumbled sadly.
"You always were an asshole, Ironwood," Harriet said hoarsely.
Ironwood didn't respond. He simply took out an M40 grenade, popped off the cap, and pushed the button to arm it. He held it aloft so he and Harriet could clasp their hands around it.
Then, in the split second before the aliens reached them, the grenade detonated, in a big fireball.
Everyone stared mournfully at the screen at Harriet and Ironwoods deaths.
"Better that than being…'impregnated' as Summer put it," as he saluted the screen in respect for his fallen counterpart, and the marines as well.
"Well, Jimmy, your counterpart here was a shitty leader…but he was a good soldier who fought to the bitter end," Qrow stated in respect.
"And you gave your life to help Harriet and buy the rest of the survivors time to get away," Winter added with reverance.
Ironwood exhaled through his nostrils as he saluted the screen as well in respect and sorrow for the deaths of the last of the counterpart. Winter and the Ace-Ops saluted as well.
"Now dad's the only marine left," Ruby said morosely.
Unfortunately, the resulting shockwave from the explosion, amplified by the vent shafts narrow confines, knocked the three survivors off balance. Yang screamed as she fell onto the rotating, gear-like, vent mechanism.
"Yang! Gods!" Summer shouted as she grasped for Yang from the ladder.
"Summer!" screamed for help as she was swept away into one of the adjoining vent slats.
"Yang! Xiao Long! Xiao Long, get her! Hurry!" just as Yang disappeared.
Taiyang shoved his pulse rifle into the fan mechanism, jamming it. He and Summer then dove under the vent wheel, reaching for Yang as the girl hung onto the edge of the shaft. The music turned perilous.
"Oh crap!" Yang grumbled.
"Don't lose her! Your almost out of there," Weiss shouted.
Ironwood cleared his throat. "That was my mistake," he admitted awkwardly.
"Hold on, Yang!" Summer yelled.
"I'm slipping!" Yang cried, unable to hold on for long.
"Don't let go!"
"Come on...come on," Ruby whispered.
"Hold on," Summer groaned as she grabbed Yangs jacket sleeve. "Gotcha!"
"Help!" Yang cried.
"I gotcha"
But then Yang slipped out of the oversized jacket.
"Yang! No!" Summer exclaimed.
With an echoing scream Yang slid down the chute and out of Summer's sight.
"Oh, come on," Qrow raised his hands in exasperation.
Yang chuckled mirthlessly. "If she wasn't stuck in the middle of this nightmare, my counterpart would be having a blast sliding down that vent shaft," she commented. [4]
Taiyang held up the beeping tracker radar. "Come on. We can find her with this," he reminded.
"Stay where you are, Yang!"
"Summer!" Yangs voice echoed faintly from the bottom of the vent shaft.
"We're coming."
Taiyang kicked out a vent grating he and Summer slipped out into one of the colonies main corridors and rushed down a nearby staircase, homing in on the tracker's signal.
Elm snapped her finger. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that tracker."
"Good thing Summer gave it to Yang, or they'd never find her," Ren said with relief.
"Then they've gotta get to her before they do," Nora finished, knowing the aliens couldn't be far behind.
On the floor below, a frightened Yang stood in a half-flooded grotto like area beneath the floor platings of one of the colonies corridors. She held Casey close to her chest.
"Summer!" Yang called out, her voice echoing.
Taiyang and Summer quickly arrived at a corridor via the stairwell, homing in on Yangs position via the tracker.
"This way," Taiyang guided Summer down the corridor. "She's close."
"Yang!" Summer shouted.
"Summer!" Yang called out again.
"Where are you? Can you hear me?" Summer shouted as she and Taiyang jogged down the corridor.
"Yang!" Summer called, her voice audible from Yangs location.
"Here! I'm here!" Yang answered as she climbed atop a set of pipes.
"Where?"
Yang stuck her fingers through the grated floor to signal her position just as Summer and Taiyang arrived and knelt down above the girl.
"Yang, are you okay?" Summer asked as she grasped the girls' fingers.
"Thank the gods they found her," Blake said gratefully.
Yang nodded in response.
"We'll have to cut it," Taiyang grunted as he pulled on the floor.
"They'll have to hurry," Ren mentioned with an edge. "No doubt, the aliens will pick up their trail."
"Climb down, honey. We've gotta cut through," Summer instructed.
Yang nodded and hopped down from the pipe as Taiyang began to cut through the floor with his welding torch.
"Yang? Now, don't move. Stay very still," Summer ordered Yang.
"Okay," Yang replied nervously as she gazed around the chamber while sparks from Taiyangs torch rained down.
"We're almost there. Hang in there, okay?" while Taiyang continued his work.
Just then, Summers motion tracker started to beep. She looked at the screen and saw that a dozen or more signals began to home in on the trios location.
"Xiao Long," Summer said in a frightened tone.
"I know," Taiyang replied simply.
"Hurry!"
"I know!"
"I mean it!" Summer began to panic.
"Oh no! They're coming!" Jaune murmured.
"There's just no end to them," Maria commented on the aliens numbers.
"Come on. Come on! Get me out of there!" Yang urged through gritted teeth.
"Yang? Yang, just stay still," Summer warned
But it was too late. Directly behind Yang, the glistening body of an alien emerged from the water. Sensing movement, Yang turned around and screamed in terror at the creature towering over her.
The girls and a few of the guys screamed or gasped shrilly at Yang's imminent abduction.
"Yang! No!" Ruby cried with her hands over her mouth.
Blake averted her eyes. "Please don't kill her," she begged under her breath.
"Almost there!" Taiyang shouted.
"No! Yang!" Summer didn't wait as she and Taiyang kicked and stomped on the partially cut floor piece, dislodging it.
Summer gazed into the hole, shining her flashlight. The rippling water reflected the beam. Yang was gone. All that was left bobbing in the water was Casey the doll head. It slowly sank into the water.
Teams RWBY and ORNJ all looked crestfallen at the capture of Yangs counterpart. Yang herself stared bug eyed, her mouth agape.
"No…no…no!" Ruby muttered while shaking her head.
"Too late…" Blake said shakily.
"She survived for weeks only to be taken by the aliens when she was mere minutes from escaping," Maria mourned.
Summer tried to dive in through the hole. "Nooo! Nooooo!" she shrieked in anguish.
But Taiyang pulled Summer back out of the hole so the aliens wouldn't grab her next.
"No! No! No!" Summer cried desperately.
Taiyang pried Summer out of the hole. "Let's go!"
Most of the women in the audience teared up a bit at Summer's hysterical cries.
"She's already lost Ruby, now she's lost Yang too," Weiss sniffled, knowing that Summer was just rekindling a motherly relationship.
"And if they bring Yang back to the nest…" Blake gulped, unable to finish her sentence.
"No! No! They don't kill you!" Summer protested as Taiyang tried to restrain her from behind.
"They-They don't kill you! They-," Summer rambled on. "She's alive! She's alive!"
Taiyang forced Summer to face him. "All right! I believe you! She's alive!" he said. "We've got to go. Now!"
"But what are they going to do? The reactor is going to explode in less than an hour," Penny estimated, knowing a rescue would be almost impossible.
Yang dried her tears. "It doesn't matter. She'll rescue me. She went back for Zwei on the Nostromo," she countered, remembering the first movie.
"And they'll escape in time. You'll see," Ruby declared with total confidence in her mother.
Author's Closing Note: I'll be taking down the voting poll for the next cinematic multiverse viewing shortly after I finish "Aliens", so get those votes in people and choose wisely. I'll also be requesting casting suggestions once the answer becomes public.
Author's Points
[1]- I'm on board with Yang on this one. I've said "stay frosty" more than once in real life myself.
[2]- To this day, I have no idea if Ripley (Summer) was correct about this, but it sure is terrifying to imagine the Xenomorphs truly are that intelligent. Imagine if most Grimm possessed such cunning…
[3]- I know earlier reviewers voiced disapproval at the audience being spiteful or cheering when the villains are killed. But Jacque's counterpart seriously had it coming. He's probably the most despicable character the audience has seen in the multiverse so far. In fact, Burke was so hated, that the family of his actor, Paul Reiser, cheered when they saw him die at the films premiere.
[4]- Newt's actress, Carrie Henn really did have a blast sliding down that vent shaft during filming. In fact, she loved it so much that she asked James Cameron if she could do it a few more times and he allowed it, lol.