Chapter 24:
Peter had come to see the girls hovering over a campfire, presumably made by Blake as she was kneeling in front of it.
"Hey gals, did you find anything yourselves?" Peter asked as he arrived.
"No, nothing yet." Yang answered. "Can't believe we didn't find anything."
"We've always been fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side." Blake said to her partner.
"Unless your me, than it's the complete opposite. Give it a bit, I'll probably find them by accident." Peter quipped.
"Do you always use your Parker Luck as an excuse?" Yang asked.
"He does." Venom said as it got out Peter's body and into his backpack to consume chocolate.
"Hey! But yeah, and I refuse to believe it's not real. I'm just that unlucky." Peter replied.
"That's not what I meant." Weiss aid out loud, confusing the others.
"Huh?"
"Earlier, about upholding the Legacy. There's more to it than that." Weiss responds.
"Yeah….No, me too. I mean…I don't know." Yang said, slightly sad and confused.
"I don't know either, I know what I want to do, but I figured I'd take things one step at a time." Blake agreed.
"Well, it doesn't matter, we know why we're here, right?" Yang asked, everyone then looking towards Peter for advice.
"What? I got something on my face?" Peter asked, confused on what they wanted.
"They want to know your opinion on their conversation." Venom said, still in Peter's backpack.
"Oh, well, you guys know why I do what I do. There's not much to it." Peter explained.
This didn't seem like enough for them. Surely there had to be more, right?
Before anything else could be said, Oobleck zoomed quickly as he stopped in front the campfire.
"Ah wonderful, a textbook campfire!"
"So warm." Ruby said as she kneeled in front of it to feel it's warmth, Zwei joining her.
"I hate fire." Venom said from the backpack.
"Well we need it's warmth, deal with it." Peter said, expecting a retort. But it just said silent.
"Very good, eat your dinners and hurry to bed, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary Abode. Any volunteers for first watch?" Oobleck asked.
"Yo!" Ruby said as she raised her hand, getting up from her spot.
"Take me with you, I can sense if any lifeforms are out there." The Symbiote said as it got out the Backpack and dragged it to Ruby's feet before going back in.
"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea." Weiss said her concerns.
"I agree, I'd rather not have to deal with another one of your messes." Peter agreed, much to Weiss' relief.
"It's fine, I could use a living radar to help me." Ruby said, grabbing the backpack. "But, can you stay in the backpack, I don't want any of you on my dress." Ruby asked.
"…..Fine." The Symbiote simply replied, not even poking it's head out the bag.
Right as Ruby began to make her leave, but Yang called out for her and asked, "Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean, what did you tell him?"
"Hmm, no he didn't, weird, oh well goodnight guys!" Ruby said as she left with Peter's bag by her side.
"Was it a good idea to let Ruby take the alien with her?" Blake asked.
"Any idea involving the Symbiote is never a good idea." Peter sighs, "But I wouldn't worry, the Symbiote has been really quite ever since Oobleck asked it a question."
"What did he ask the goo?" Yang asked.
"The doc asked why the Symbiote choose to protect our species instead of consume it." Peter answered.
"What did the alien say?" Weiss asked
"It doesn't know."
"What?"
"V said they don't know why. Which to be honest, I think it's telling the truth." Peter said.
"How would you know? It could be lying." Weiss countered.
"When we are bonded, our minds are connected where we can hear each other's thoughts. And recently, I have been getting a slightly bigger picture on how they think. While it's still complicated to understand them, one thing I have been able to know is when it comes to things the Symbiote isn't sure of, it gets rather quiet for a while." Peter explained, "The last time it got this way was when I once asked it if it missed being it space. It didn't answer me for a few weeks, eventually they told me they didn't."
"That's….. interesting." Blake thought, "But what Oobleck asked it does raise a question, what caused it to abandon it's original intent to be a predator?"
"Who knows, maybe I can find that out one day. For now, how about w get our sleeping bags ready." Peter said as he began to get his sleeping bag out.
"Peter, I don't mean to sound like a broken record here, but you are aware allowing such a creature to exist is dangerous." Weiss said, with concerned tone.
"I know more than anything, the reason for the truce remember. Plus, I have a feeling it's weakness will soon be lost so our best hope is to teach it good from bad." Peter responds.
"And has it? Is it really learning?"
"I believe so, just takes time. Acts a lot better than how it acted way before now, for the most part." Peter answered.
The teens then got the sleeping bags ready, now having them out for use. They then silently ate their dinners, taking the time to eat, with Peter eating a surprisingly less amount of food then expected tonight. Once dinner was done, each one of them were now laying on their respective sleeping bags, preparing to go to sleep.
Nearby, Ruby was watching over, looking out for any danger. As she was petting Zwei, they heard the sound of Beowolfs howling in the distance.
Ruby would turn to her canine companion, "Don't worry, things will be better tomorrow." Ruby said as she looked into the horizon.
"We shall see little one, we shall see."
/
Ironwood was standing outside, looking at the City of Vale in the distance in silence.
"Trouble sleeping?" The voice of Glynda asked the general as she walked towards him.
"Phantom pains, still feels like my arm and leg are still there." Ironwood responds.
"I see….." Glynda said, remembering the sight from before, Carnage's sinister laugh in the back of her mind. "But that doesn't explain why you are standing out here gazing menacingly out into the distance. What's wrong?"
"I've trusted him for years, we both have." Ironwood began, "I can't help but feel like he's keeping us in the dark."
"Don't be ridiculous, you know very well that we are not the ones in the dark." Glynda told the general.
"That makes it worse, and then there's the aliens. He kept the knowledge of those things from me. He didn't trust me enough to let me know about them sooner. I just don't understand why he would act so passive with a such a dangerous threat." Ironwood says. "Surely even you have to understand that those creatures are dangerous."
"Of course I do, ever since I found out about it's existence I've been nothing but worried." Glynda replied.
"Then why not do anything about it?" Ironwood asked.
"Because we knew very little about it. We observed it's behavior, it's actions. Determining how big of a threat it is. I worry that Peter is risking his life being that creatures host." Glynda answered.
"But it is a threat, we both know what it's capable of. We've seen it's strength, it's speed, it's power." Ironwood reminded her.
"Have we really? We've only seen it take the form of a suit on Peter. By only aiding Peter, it was capable of taking down it's own offspring, one none of us could defeat, not even together. I can only imagine what it's true form looks like, a form Peter has actually fought himself in the past from what he told me." Glynda explained.
"All the more reason we have to do something. What if Young Parker can't keep it at bay? Can we trust a child to do such a task?" Ironwood asked, skeptical that Peter actually defeated the Venom Symbiote before.
Oh if only he saw Peter's past.
"I'll be honest, even I'm not sure. But if we do something that causes it to turn on us, we may not be able to stop it. Right now, I can only see Peter being the key to keep it docile." Glynda answered. "Look James, you're a good man. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest, it's admirable. But it's high time you stop talking about trust and started showing it. Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack, and I think that's something worth remembering."
"And what of the Vigilante? Should we trust that child?" Ironwood asked.
"We should, ever since the young boy has arrived here, all he as he ever done is help others. He may be reckless at times, but he's a good kid. He has his own experiences with dealing with threats himself, Ozpin has seen it in his eyes, and so have I. There are times I fear he may be growing up much too quickly." Glynda replied.
"Do you really believe that?"
"I do."
Ironwood sighs, both adults standing there in silence. He respects Glynda for worrying about the child. But he believed it was stopping her from seeing the bigger picture. It seemed like the Huntress was worrying about the boy as if he was her own child.
He believed she and Ozpin failed to see the "inevitable" danger waiting ahead of them.
"I'm sorry you don't see the danger in front of you. Maybe one day you'll forgive me once the deed is done."
/
Yang woke up, having trouble staying asleep. She then turned towards Blake and asked, "Blake, are you awake?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?" Yang asked.
"Maybe he was just curious." Blake guessed.
"You think?"
"….No."
Yang sighs, she then asked Weiss, "Weiss, are you awake?"
"Of course I'm awake you two are talking!" Weiss replied. "And I think he…when I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But it's not what you think. I'm not stupid, I'm fully aware what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, out business has operated in a…. moral grey area."
"That's putting it lightly." Blake says.
"Which is why I feel the need to make things right." Weiss said as she sat up, "If had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it." Weiss declared as she laid back down.
Deciding to speak herself, Blake then began to tell her tale. "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner, named Adam, more of a mentor actually." Blake began, fully knowing if Peter was awake, he would start asking a question she feared would come soon.
She was right, as Peter was wide awake but choose to stay silent. He wanted to let the girls vent about their past. And just as Blake suspected, Peter did have the question he wanted to ask, but of course he would ask it later, feeling it wasn't appropriate to ask right now.
"He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be…not perfect for everyone." Blake continued, "I joined the academy because I knew Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good, but I never really thought past that. When I leave the academy, what will I…..how can I undo so many years of hate?"
"You can't." Everyone heard the voice of Peter interrupt. "Once hate has truly consumed a person, they can never change. But just cause you can't save that one person, doesn't mean you can't save others. The people of today may not change, but that doesn't mean future generations won't. It's going to be hard now, but things will get better eventually. As long as you don't let hate fully consume you, then you prevent others from going down that path. You just need to be patient and persistent, I know you can do it Blake. You aren't one to back down just because the going gets tough."
"But I do!" Blake yelled, "I do it all the time! When you all learned I was a faunus, I didn't know what to do so I ran. When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster I ran! Even my semblance, I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself, an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away." Blake moved herself to face away from the others.
"You didn't run from Carnage."
"What?"
"Carnage was in the process of assimilating me. You faced a monster far worse than anything any of us would ever encounter in our entire lives. And yet, you still fought, you fought to save me." Peter smiled, "You may not see it, but you are a person who cares about others. It's like you just said, you fought for what you believe was right."
Blake stayed silent, not sure what to say. She felt a slightly guilty at what Peter said about her. While she was glad Peter saw her in a positive light, but at the same time felt like she didn't deserve such a praise.
"If you knew what everything I've done you wouldn't think so."
With Blake being silent, Yang decided to ask Peter something, "Hey Peter?"
"Yeah?"
"Back in the airship, you mentioned your parents, have you ever wondered about who they were? Do you remember them at all?" Yang asked. "If you don't mind me asking, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"It's ok, I don't mind taking about them." Peter replied, "I don't remember much about them, I was a couple years old when they left me with my Aunt and Uncle. The last thing I remember was the smiles of my mom and dad, them promising to be back soon after their business trip, but they never did. One day, when I was a bit older, I got curious about them and asked my Uncle what were they like. He told me they were good people, that they always cared about those around them. My Aunt would join the conversation and told me how much they loved me, that I was their little miracle." Peter said with a said smile.
"I'm sorry." Yang apologized, thinking that Peter was starting to get hurt from remembering them.
"It's ok, I've long accepted they were gone. I may have lost my parents, but that didn't mean I didn't have a mom and dad to take care of me. Aunt May and Uncle Ben were the best parents I could ever ask for." Peter continued to smile sadly, now remembering the elderly couple.
"They meant a lot to you, didn't they?" Weiss asked, although feeling a bit of longing envy at what Peter once had.
"They do." Peter replied, "What about you Yang? Anything you need to get off your chest?"
"Well, I've just kind of always gone with the flow you know. And that's fine, mean that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for?" Yang asked, "I want to be a Huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, no offense Pete, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring, and that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that."
"I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress, it's like she said, ever since she was a kid she dreamt about being the heroes in the books, a hero like you Pete. She wants to help people and save the day, never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today." Yang finished.
"Well she's still just a kid." Weiss points out.
"She's only two years younger." Blake said. "We're all kids."
"Well, not anymore. Uh, I mean, look where we are, in the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth." Yang countered.
"I don't have weapons." Peter quipped.
"You have your fists and an alien. So I think that counts." Yang replied.
"It's the life we chose." Blake reminded.
"It's a job. We all had this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads. But at the ended of the day, it's a job to protect the people. And whatever we want, will have to come second." Weiss says, Oobleck smiling as he has been listening in for a while now.
"I couldn't agree more Weiss." Peter agreed, knowing exactly what that was like.
Everyone then soon went back to sleep, now tired from the long conversation they had. They have a long day ahead of them tomorrow.
/
Ruby was sleeping soundly, that was until Zwei woke her up with a small whimper.
"Zwei it's late, got to sleep." Ruby told the small Corgi.
"The small furry one smells something, and I can sense it." The Symbiote whispered to Ruby from the backpack.
And then Zwei running off, with Ruby calling out to the small canine to comeback.
Turning towards the backpack, Ruby asks, "Can you help me like you did the other night?" the young Huntress whispered.
"…..fine, stealth would be a good option. Just listen to me when I tell you to hide." The Symbiote grumbles slightly.
Ruby then quickly picked up Peter's backpack, taking the alien lifeform with her, and grabbed Crescent Rose, quietly leaving the others behind as they sleep.
Ruby would slowly but carefully looked around her surroundings, calling out for Zwei in a low voice as to not draw attention to herself.
"Over there, the dog should be there." The Symbiote let out a tendril from the backpack, pointing ahead of them, to see the small corgi peeing.
"Never mind, guess I'm the only one here who senses other people." The Symbiote grunts.
"Zwei! This is a wasteland! You literally could have done that anywhere!" Ruby said the Zwei as he barked happily.
The Symbiote then sensed other people approaching and said, "Two people are approaching, hide!" Venom instructed.
Ruby quickly complied as she picked up Zwei and hid behind a corner of a ruined building. She peeked around the corner to see two White Fang grunts looking around, confused as one of them thought they heard something.
After not seeing anything, both grunts began to walk away, leaving the area. As they left, Ruby started to think about what to do next, before getting an idea.
"Aren't you going to get the others?" The Symbiote asked.
"I'm going to follow them, maybe I can find their hideout. I can get the others afterwards." Ruby said as she let Zwei down and the two of them began to trail the WF grunts.
After a few moments of Ruby doing her best to stealthily follow the two, which made the Symbiote annoyed by how she was doing it, Ruby would turn the and pick up Zwei to have the small dog look.
"Did they go in yet?" Ruby asked the small dog. "One bark means yes."
"Rouf!"
"I think just hearing the noise of a door is enough for a yes." The Symbiote grunts.
"Just wanted to be sure." Ruby told the alien as she took out her scroll to call the others, only for it to beep to signify a low signal. "Oh man!"
"Space satellites would work better." The Symbiote told the young Huntress.
"That would be so cool, wish dust worked in space." Ruby groans. She then turned towards the small backpack and asked, "What's up there?"
"What?"
"What else is in space? What other types of aliens or planets are there?" Ruby asked curiously.
"…..A lot, there's a variety, probably still some life hidden in the cosmos, hopefully. But then again that's in mine and Parker's universe, no idea what's out there in this one." The Symbiote responds.
"Maybe there's more life out there in this universe too." Ruby thought out loud, she then wanted to ask a different more personal question, "So, do you consider Peter your friend?"
The Symbiote stayed silent, not sure if it wanted to answer that question, a few moments later it then says, "Probably the closest thing to a friend if I'm being honest. I have caused him a lot of harm, I don't blame him for discussing contingency plans to deal with me."
"I think you look like you're trying to be a nicer, person? Alien?"
"Alien is fine, I'm not native to any planet anywhere." The Symbiote told Ruby. "And what makes you think that?"
"Well, after Peter became your host again, you have been helping him ever since. And the fact that you helped him save us from your own kid from eating us is one. And you told us the truth about your history with Peter. Maybe you were just misunderstood and need a friend. That and you like Zwei so you can't be truly evil." Ruby gave her opinion, "Plus, everyone deserves a second chance, they just have to take it, like you did." Ruby finished, Zwei barking happily as well.
"Ok, surely you are aware it's dangerous to be this naïve, I have pointed that out multiple times by now."
"Maybe, but being a hero is about helping people, and that's what I want to be." Ruby responds, "Do you want to be a hero too? You don't have to be a mean monster you know, I think you can do good too."
"……….."
The Symbiote didn't responds, unsure of what it wants anymore.
"Um, you still there?" Ruby asked as she lifted the backpack pocket lid, seeing the Symbiote in it's puddle state, only showing it's eyes.
"……. Let's just get the others."
"Oh, ok." Ruby sighs, wondering if the alien lifeform being less snarky and more quiet was normal.
As Ruby began to make her way back, the ground below her began to crack, causing her to drop Crescent Rose onto the more stable ground near her as she and Zwei began to fall. As she fell, the Symbiote sent out multiple tendrils out of the backpack to grab her and Zwei. However without a host it couldn't keep this up, slowly loosing its grip
"Damnit! Should have stayed focused!" Venom growled.
"Throw Zwei over! Zwei go get help!" Ruby said as the Symbiote threw Zwei over to safety.
The Symbiote finally lost a majority of it's energy and retracted back into the backpack, which caused Ruby and it to fall down below. Leaving Zwei behind to whimper in sadness before running off for help.
Back with Ruby, she landed onto the hard ground below, rubbing her head in pain, the backpack landing right next to her. As she got up, she looked around her to see more ruined buildings, many filling out the space underground.
"Freeze!"
Ruby then turned around to see the very same White Fang grunts from before, pointing their rifles at her.
"Where did she come from?" one grunt asked.
"You're a long way from home little girl." The other side as they got in close.
Ruby went for her weapon, only to realize that she didn't have it, causing her to slightly panic because of it.
As one grunt went in to grab her, she shoved him away, causing the man to let go. "Hey! Hands off!"
Ruby then punched the man in the chest, but that did nothing. She tried and uppercut, but the grunt grabbed her arm and prepared to knock her out with a punch of his own.
But just before he could do that, a large black arm shot out from the backpack on the floor, sending the goon flying back, knocking him out instead.
"What the hell?!" The other grunt shouts in confusion and fear. He attempted to shoot it, but the large arm grabbed him and slammed the man multiple times on the ground, knocking him out as well.
With both goons now downed, the arm shrunk into a small puddle, the Symbiote now back to its small size.
"That…..took…..too much….of my energy…." The Symbiote said as it then crawled back into the backpack, without Peter, it couldn't use too much energy as efficiently as it usually does.
Ruby then carefully picked up the backpack, she then asked, "Do you need more chocolate?"
"Yes……but I ate……all of it…..in this bag." The Symbiote responds.
"I have a spare chocolate bar with me, Peter said you need a lot so I am keeping some just in case of an emergency." Ruby said as she dropped the chocolate in the backpack.
The Symbiote then ate the chocolate bar, now beginning to slowly digest it. "I will need time to gather what energy I can from this. I'm surprised you weren't afraid by that action of mine."
"You were protecting me, just like you did with fir- I mean Cinder, still can't believe it was her, she seemed so nice. But yeah, you were protecting me, plus if you ignore the scary stuff from Carnage, that looked so cool!" Ruby replied.
"Ok……you should probably find a place to hide until the others get here. This chocolate is only enough to keep my sanity." The Symbiote instructed.
"Ok, place to hide, got it!" Ruby said as she left the area.
As she climbed down the ruined building, the Symbiote then says, "For the record, you might want to learn a way to defend yourself when you don't have your weapon, otherwise you won't survive."
"Aw, but I suck at hand to hand combat, I prefer using Crescent Rose." Ruby whined.
"Do you want to survive or not? Just ask Parker to give you a few pointers, if he can teach you all physics then he can teach you basic self defense." The Symbiote grunts.
"I prefer my baby! But I'll think about it, will it be easy?" Ruby asked.
"You should already know the answer to that."
"Aw man."
/
Yang was the first to wake up, she got out of her sleeping bag and got up to stretch for a few moments. She then went to wake up Weiss, but she stopped mid sentence as she noticed Ruby's sleeping bag was empty.
"Hey, where's Ruby?" Yang asked, sounding concerned.
The others then got up to notice Ruby was missing, Peter then looked around for his backpack, and noticed it wasn't there.
"Um, guys, my backpack is missing too, and I don't hear the Symbiote in my head." Peter alerted the others, which made everyone more worried than ever.
"What?!" Oobleck said as he appeared from behind a doorway.
Suddenly, Zwei came running in, running towards Yang.
"Zwei?" Yang asked the small Corgi.
"What's going on?" Blake asked in worried confusion.
"Grab your weapons, your leader may be in trouble." Oobleck said, quickly making a conclusion on what may have happened.
"And we have a missing alien ooze that may need more chocolate, oh boy." Peter gulped.
"Oh gods, please tell me we won't find what I think we'll find." Weiss said, worrying about the worst.
"Less time worrying, more time searching. Do you know were they are?" Peter kneeled down, asking the Zwei.
"Ruaf!" Zwei replied, now running back out, stopping to look back at the group, barking again as a sign for them to follow.
The group then followed the small dog, eventually arriving at the large hole in the ground, Crescent Rose laying in front of it.
"Ruby's scythe!" Yang said as the others approached.
"Oh no."
"No sign of my backpack!" Peter said as he looked around the hole for it.
"Do you think she fell?" Weiss asked.
"Fell?"
"Down there." Weiss replied as she and Oobleck looked down the hole.
"Oh my. Of course. Of course, of course, of course!" Oobleck shouts.
"What is it?" Blake asked in confusion.
"How could I be so stupid!"
"I ask myself the same question sometimes." Peter quipped.
"Well you act stupid." Weiss told Peter.
"Nice to see your banter slightly improve." Peter replied, getting a deadpanned look from Weiss.
"Dr. Oobleck what's wrong?!" Yang asked, still worried about her little sister.
"Mountain Glenn!" Oobleck said right to Yang's face, "Yes! An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the Metro tunnels and what do they find?! The Southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"
"Doc, what are you saying?"
"There's an underground city under the city being used for underground operations?" Peter guessed
"Precisely!" Oobleck smiled, pointing a finger at Peter.
"They've been working in caves?" Blake asked.
"No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time thanks to aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main kingdom! Sadly, without many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start. As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival. They took up shelter beneath the city, in massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface." Oobleck explained.
"So it is an underground city, you were right Pete." Yang said.
"It was an educated guess." Peter replied.
"More or less, it was a safe haven." Oobleck began, "Until an explosion opened the mouth of a other cavern. Filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels. Creating the world's largest tomb."
"Man." Peter said in a quiet tone, he could only the imagine the amount of lives lost from this event in Remnants history.
"If Ruby is down there, we must find her." Oobleck said as he got out his weapon.
"Don't forget the Symbiote, if they are down there too, then we do NOT want anybody finding it." Peter followed up.
"Agreed." The girls said in unison.
By instinct, Peter attempted to shoot a web so they all could use it to go down the hole. Only to remember he hadn't rebuilt them yet.
"Sorry, force of habit. Guess we're jumping in. Maximum Effort!" Peter shouts as he jumped down.
"We need to be stealthy, you'll give us away!" Weiss shouts as she jumped down.
"She isn't proving her point that way." Yang slightly chuckles as she jumped down, followed by Blake and then Oobleck.
/
Ironwood was supervising a airship that was preparing to leave, inside the shuttle was a package that was sealed with the most security available.
After Pietro was unsuccessful in destroying the sample of Carnage. He decided it would be best for the sample to be transported to Atlas, where there was more available resources to keep the sample secured.
Ironwood had hoped that without nutrients, the sample would slowly die out since it couldn't be destroyed. But unfortunately that was not the case and the sample still showed some activity.
Suddenly a few of his men approached him, with one saying, "Sir, the packaged has been secured, and we have our men armed to the teeth "
"Excellent, see to it that you transport the package safely. Failure is not an option." Ironwood instructed.
"Yes sir!" both men said.
"If you'll excuse me Sir, but what are we transporting? We have no information on what exactly is in the package." One of the men asked.
"That is classified soldier, and so is this delivery. See to it that it stays that way and no one asks any questions, am I clear?" Ironwood asked.
"Yes sir!"
"Good, now finish preparations and contact me once you get back to Atlas." Ironwood said, the men saluting as they left.
Ironwood watched as the airship started to rise up and fly away, heading to Atlas.
With highly trained men and a very small sample stored in a strong container, along with being placed inside a metal box, there was no way for anything to go wrong now.
"Once that has been dealt with, I'll have only one problem to solve." Ironwood thought.
But what the General should have realized, or more like remember, was that the small red ooze had actually been getting stronger and slowly evolving thanks to the number of experiments performed on it. It merely acted like it showed little stimulus to give the illusion that it had gotten weaker.
When in reality, it was the opposite, just like it's father before it.
It bided it's time, waiting for the right moment to break out and escape.
/
Meanwhile, Ruby had found a spot to hide from the White Fang that had been using the underground city as a base of operations. The spot she had chosen allowed her to watch from a safe distance as she watches goons move things around and prepare for who knows what goal they had in store.
"Whoa, there's so many." Ruby said as she peeked from a broken window of the building she was hiding in.
"And there's more that you can't see. I would recommend not peaking so much, unless you want to get spotted." The Symbiote grunts from inside the backpack.
"Oh! Sorry." Ruby whispered, "How long until they find us?"
"Give me a moment." The Symbiote said as it tried to sense the others, "Unsure, I can sense them, but it's faint. Might be a little while longer."
Ruby groaned, she felt useless without a way to fight back. As they waited in silence, Ruby decided to ask another personal question.
"Hey mister alien."
"What is it child?"
"Why did you stop eating people?" Ruby asked.
"What?"
"You said you used to eat people like Carnage did a long time ago. But you aren't doing that anymore. Why did you stop?" Ruby elaborated.
Again, that question. It annoyed the Symbiote. They had no idea why, which pissed it off. It was about to lash out in angry annoyance, but it stopped itself. Ruby was merely a naïve innocent child, it wasn't asking the question out of malice, or interrogating it of info. She was just a child that wanted to understand.
"Honestly, I'm not sure why I stopped, I just did. My offspring asked the same question, and the answer was the same." The Symbiote replied.
"Oh, that's sad." Ruby comments.
"Hmph, and why do you say that?" The Symbiote huffed.
"It's just, you sound lost. You did once say you don't really have a purpose. Maybe the reason you stopped is that you didn't want to destroy anymore." Ruby guessed.
"I still crave violence."
"But you also said you fight those instincts too. You don't actually want to do harm anymore, right?" Ruby asked.
No response
"It's ok if you don't want to talk about. Maybe when you really know the answer, we can all talk about it, okay?" Ruby asked.
"Whatever." Venom huffed.
A little while passed as the two waited for the others to find them. Eventually, the Symbiote sensed them nearby and let out a tendril to point out, "There down below, this direction."
Ruby got up and quickly ran out to look out a hole in the wall. She looked down and saw the others, looking for her.
"Hey, I'm up here!" Ruby shouts quietly.
While Yang, Weiss, and Oobleck couldn't hear her, Peter and Blake did thanks to their enhanced hearing.
"Huh? Oh! Guys, she's up there!" Peter points up above them.
Yang looks up as the others did so, once she sees Ruby, she felt relieved that she was okay. "Oh thank Oum, you're alright!" Yang said.
"I'm coming down!" Ruby shouts quietly, now making her way down carefully out the building. Once she gets down, she meets up with the group and says, "Hey, you all wouldn't believe what I fou-"
But Ruby didn't get to finish her sentence as Yang trapped her in a bear hug, "I'm so glad you're ok! Please don't wander off like that again, you had me worried!"
"Sorry, I won't do that again. Now can you please let me go!" Ruby pleaded as Yang was hugging her too tight.
Yang then let's go, also handing her back Crescent Rose as well, allowing the young Huntress to breathe, Peter than asks, "Hey, is the Symbiote still with you?"
"Yup, they actually saved me from a couple of baddies that tried to knock me out." Ruby replied as she handed Peter his backpack back.
"Did they now?" Peter smirks as he looked into the bag.
"If I didn't I wouldn't hear the end of it from you." The Symbiote grunts.
"Sure." Peter said with a sly smile.
"Thank you." Yang said to the alien, grateful and surprised the alien protected her.
"Don't mention it, and mean not to anyone. Now do you have any chocolate on you? Because I need it!" The Symbiote demanded.
"Here, I stuffed my pockets filled with chocolate bars." Peter said as he dumped all the chocolate he had into the bag.
"I also have a few stored on my person as well. I did say I would have backup in case of an emergency!" Oobleck said as he took out an entire box of chocolate from his large backpack.
Peter took the box and dumped it all in, the Symbiote quickly consuming it all. Once done, the Symbiote went back inside Peter's body, ready for action.
"Now, that we have reunited, Ruby did the ones the alien protected you from a part of the White Fang?" Blake asked
"Yup, I actually found where their hideout was before I fell down a hole. But look, there's more over there!" Ruby pointed behind her.
She then ran ahead, the others following behind her. Eventually, they all arrive, using the environment to hide as they saw many members of the White Fang there. Upon looking further, they noticed something that look like…
"Is that a subway train?" Peter asked
"What's it doing all the way down here?" Weiss asked.
"I don't know, but they were loading all sorts of weapons and robots onto the train cars." Ruby explained.
"And something tells me that there could be explosives on there too." Peter comments.
"What makes you say that?" Yang asked.
"Yang, I have been blown up more times then I can count. Bad guys love to use explosives, especially on me. And knowing my luck, there's probably rocket launchers on there." Peter explained.
"That's true. Honestly it's a mystery how you haven't died via explosion." Venom said as it developed a head from Peter's back.
"Ignoring that, the tracks seem to be leading all the way back over there." Blake points at the tracks.
"The tunnels over there are sealed, that leads to a dead end!" Oobleck told the teens.
"Then why does it look like it will go that way then?" Weiss asked.
"Probably going to smash it into the wall blocking that way." Venom, getting everyone's attention, "What? That direction leads to the city no? And with how much terrorism they commit, it wouldn't be surprise they would do that. I would."
"Oh boy, that doesn't sound good." Peter gulps.
"Not good indeed! If the White Fang do go through with such an act, not only will it create an opening into Vale, but the following panic will attract many Grimm to the city." Oobleck explained.
"Oh by the gods, I don't want to believe they would do that." Blake stuttered, she didn't want to believe it, but due to how far gone the once peaceful group was, it was very likely they would.
"We need to stop them." Weiss said, everyone nodding in response.
Suddenly, they all hear an intercom start playing, "Get to your places, we are leaving now!" the voice of Roman spoke, the Train suddenly starting.
"Oh no, they must have found the guys the alien knocked out." Ruby gulped.
"Why am I not surprised." Weiss stared at the alien.
"Oh I'm sorry, next time I'll let the child get hurt instead of blow my cover! Would you like that?" Venom stared back angrily at the Heiress.
"Not the time you two!" Peter shouts at them.
"We might need backup! I'm calling Jaune!" Ruby said as she tried to use her scroll, but received no signal. "Crapbaskets!"
"Ruby!"
"Sorry!"
"No time to call back up, we are stopping that train! I'll use my bare hands if I have to!" Peter said as he ran ahead, the others following behind him, getting their weapons put.
/
A single grunt was alone in the train car, looking out for any signs of intruders.
The grunt then heard a noise, he then looked out and saw a bit of red before it disappeared from sight.
The grunt then took out his radio, "I think their on th-" but man didn't finish that sentence as he was knocked out by Oobleck.
Meanwhile in the front, Roman was told by another grunt, "Boss! They made it on the train!"
"Ugh! Then grab some cargo and get them off the train!" Roman shouts at the grunt, the guy leaving. "Man, animals every one of them." Roman said, right next to a White Fang grunt, "Not you though, you're, uh, you're great." Roman said awkwardly.
Back with the group, they were standing on top of a train car, planning their next move, the Symbiote having retracted as to not blow it's cover, of it hadn't been blown by Cinder yet.
"Alright children! You must get to the front and stop this train!" Oobleck instructed.
"Uh, professor!" Weiss said nervously.
"Doctor."
"What's that?" Weiss pointed at a device that was hidden on the train.
" It's a bomb, of course it's a bomb! Why do I have to be right!" Peter groaned.
"Correct Mr. Parker, it is indeed a bomb." Oobleck confirmed, the others backing away from it.
"We got baddies!" Ruby warned, pointing ahead of them.
And in the distance, was a bunch of White Fang grunts, all climbing on top the train, ready for a fight.
"Oh come on! It's the Goblin Nation all over again!" Peter complained once more.
"What?" Weiss asked in confusion.
"Another story for another time." Peter told the Heiress.
"Well I didn't expect them to go-" But just as Oobleck began to speak, the bomb started beeping, "…easy on us. Time to go!" Oobleck said as everyone began to run ahead. He then stopped Blake and said, "Blake, detach the caboose, it will kill us all!"
"On it!" Blake nods.
Blake then landed in between, prepared to detach it, until it detached itself.
"It de-coupled itself!" Blake told the Doc.
"What?"
"I guess Torchwick really doesn't want us on this train." Yang assumed.
They all watch as the derailed train was left behind. After a couple of moments, it blows up into the distance, leaving a bit of destruction in it's wake.
"That's not good." Oobleck watched on.
"Neither is this!" Weiss said, getting everyone's attention.
The others looked to see Ruby and Weiss up a metal lid, revealing another bomb on the train car.
"It really is like the Goblin Nation. Except instead of the air it's underground and instead of water towers it's train cars." Venom comments.
"I don't need another reminder!" Peter shouts internationally.
"Another bomb?!" Blake shouts.
"No offense Pete, but your luck is awful." Yang comments.
"I know!"
Oobleck then ran ahead, saying no multiple times as he reached the train car ahead of them. He then opened another lid, revealing yet another bomb.
"They all have bombs!" Oobleck shouts.
"And something tells me I was right about crashing into the wall of the city." Venom said.
And yet a again, the train car they were one disconnected, forcing them to jump onto the next car, joining Oobleck.
They then turned around to see the White Fang grunts getting closer. "Get the humans!" A deer faunus shouts.
The girls got into position, Zwei joining them, with Peter standing behind him, fists clenched.
"Yup, another army to fight. You ready? I can't help you on this if you don't want their aura to be drained and lead to a death or two." Venom asked.
"I was never ready to begin with, but that doesn't mean I can't do it. Besides, I have help." Peter replied.
"Well, go on then, don't water your time." Venom huffed.
Peter smirks, cracking his knuckles, "Alright! Let's do this!" Peter shouts as everyone rushed ahead.
Yang met up with one grunt, who tried to perform a low kick, but Yang meet his kick with own foot. The grunt tried to punch her, but Yang ducked and delivered a back kick to the man's only foot touching the ground, causing him to fall. Just as he was falling head first, Yang winked at the guy with a smile, before delivery a dust boosted punch to the face, causing him to crash down onto a lid that lead inside the train cart, knocking the grunt out for the count.
With Blake, she lunged forward, knocking back many grunts out of her way off the train as she went further into the depths of the small army. She would slash at each of the grunts that reached for her with her Gambol Shroud's blade form, knocking them out. She then slapped a grunt who tried to use his rifle, sending him flying off the train.
Weiss would use lunged forward with Myrtenaster, leaving a trail of ice behind her, causing many to fall of the train. Once she stopped, she then twirled her weapon around, slashing at the grunts around her that tried to get her.
Back with Ruby, she shot herself forward with Crescent Rose, sending her flying ahead. Just as she approaches a few grunts, she swung her scythe, sending multiple grunts into the air as Rose petals floated up above. She then lands onto the roof of the train, having knocked off multiple people for the train.
The others then looked ahead at Peter, who was surrounded by many grunts. He would taunt them as he dodged each attempt of punch or kick, while also delivering multiple counter attacks in the process. Eventually, many of them tried to dogpile on him as they all jumped at him. Peter smirked as he jumped towards them, surprising the grunts. And as he passed each one, he would deliver a series of devastating uppercuts, spin kicks, downward punches, and down kicks, knocking them all out. He then landed onto the roof of the car, smirking.
"Huh, I was expecting this to be more difficult. Guess I got better." Peter quipped.
"Ahem."
"Sorry, we got better." Peter replied, getting a huff of approval from the Symbiote.
Oobleck would watch as the teens dispatched each member of the White Fang. He would then turn around to look at the train car that has previously detached. He watched as it got farther away into the distance. The train car then exploded like the one before, only this time it resulted in a even more destructive result.
The results ended with the ceiling of the tunnel now having a huge hole. Next thing Oobleck saw was a bunch of Grimm dropping down below into the tunnel.
They all roared loudly as the Grimm started to chase the train ahead of them, causing Peter's Spider-sense to alert him of the Grimm.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Peter shouts.
The others look at him in confusion as he pointed all the way behind the train, the others now looking back.
"The Alien lifeform was correct, he's leading them to the city!" Oobleck warned them.
"Told you."
"I know!"
"What?!" Weiss shouts, shocked at the alien being correct.
"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!" Oobleck explained.
"I can't believe it, they really have gone to far." Blake said to herself.
"We have to hurry!" Oobleck instructed.
Peter sighs, knowing how many grunts there were, it would be difficult to disarm the bombs while fighting off every one of them.
Before Oobleck could say anything, Peter says, "You guys disarm each bomb while I go ahead and stop the train! I'll take out as many as I can along the way!"
"Are you insane! You're strong, but that won't be enough! Can you even stop a train?!" Weiss shouts.
"I don't know, but that won't stop me from trying!" Peter shouts, just before he could go, Blake grabbed his shoulder.
"Peter you can't! You'll get yourself killed!" Blake said, worried about the danger ahead of them.
"I know, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. At the very least if I fail, you guys would have stopped the bombs. Besides I have help remember? Just focus on bomb defusal." Peter said as he took Blake's hand off him and ran ahead.
"Be careful." Blake said, her eye full of worry.
"He is extremely stubborn, you better not die Peter!" Weiss shouts.
"Come on ladies, no time to waste. I'll go on ahead to assist Mr. Parker while you four stop the bombs!" Oobleck instructed, the girls nodding as they went ahead to do the tasks they have been assigned.
Oobleck ran ahead, seeing Peter ahead of him. Suddenly, a bunch of Atlesian Paladins jumped onto the roof of the train cars, weapons deployed, ready to fire.
Peter, not patient enough to mess around this time, formed large Symbiote arms, with huge sharp claws at the end of them. Oobleck watched as Peter lunged forward, once single slash from each arm as he past each Paladin. And before anyone knew it, the Paladins collapsed into multiple pieces, the grunts piloting them falling off of the train as a result.
"Remarkable…." Oobleck comments, fascinated by the display of Symbiosis in front of him.
Oobleck would then reach Peter, the young boy noticing him approach, "Where are the others?" Peter asked, the arms now returning to normal.
"I assigned them to deal with the bombs while I came to assist you. Clearly I underestimated you and the alien's capabilities." Oobleck responds.
"Of course, why am I not surprised." Venom grumbles.
"To be honest, you never showed anything like that to me before, so I kind of agree." Peter told the alien lifeform.
"….. I'll give you that one."
"Mr. Parker, I believe we should get going." Oobleck snaps.
"Right, sorry, inside conversation. Let's go." Peter said, both intellectuals running ahead.