Author's Opening Note: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to the one-shot multiverse. As I mentioned in my currently defunct Cinematic multiverse fic, I'll be sticking to this fic for now as far as multiverse viewings go. And, in case you're curious, the following viewings happen during Volume 3 between chapter 3 and chapter 4.
Resident Evil won the poll by five votes. Dead Space came in second, so I might write an adaptation of that one right off the bat one day given how many votes it got. And once more, if I make any mistakes, point them out for me ASAP. Read and enjoy.
Review Responses
Ultimate Warrior of Zera: Thanks for pointing that out for me. I'll fix it when I get the chance.
Muuussstttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrd: Don't get me wrong. I feel the same way about those pairings. But in the "Max Payne" adaptation, Qrow and Winters counterparts are both in their 30s.
LoamyCoffee: I'm glad you like it. I'll be publishing more Hazbin Hotel chapters that in the future.
CRabbit3428665: I'm sorry, as much as I like Turok, I don't think too many people have played Shadows of Oblivion. I could write an adaptation for Turok, but it will probably be Dinosaur Hunter from 1997 or Turok from 2008.
StoutShako42Refined: I might write an adaptation for the original Jurassic Park. You can never beat the original.
Pharamine: I'll check out Murder Drones and see what I can do. And thanks. I need to double-check the text more often to avoid that.
Airchampion: The entire first episode would have taken a little too long to write, but I'll be publishing more Hazbin Hotel chapters in the future. I'm not a big fan of Final Fantasy, but I'll think about it.
Straw Hat PiratesFan2024: Lol, I knew more than a few people would like that casting choice. Glad you enjoyed it.
Emerald-Stirling: I never watched Rick and Morty, but that sounds like a really wild idea, lol. But it just might work.
Yuri Bezmenov: Thanks for the 10/10. Glad you loved this chapter.
Guestspirit: I've never seen Undertale the Musical. But I'm absolutely writing another Looney Tunes adaptation. Coyote and Roadrunner would be a good choice, but I'll have to think about it.
Halofanreach: Absolutely. Bioshock will get the good ending, but I won't be publishing the entirety of 300, only the most important parts.
Guest, Oct 29th, 2024: Those are good casting choices, but it might be tricky to decide on who should be Logan. Thanks for the ideas.
MaskedRiderEnzo: I'll definitely be publishing more Hazbin Hotel chapters. I'll probably put the next song decision to a vote.
TheDoctor1998: I'll have to check on Murder Drones first before I decide on writing an adaptation. But thanks for the casting choices anyway.
DragonKingDragneel25: I'm fairly certain I'll adapt Alien Isolation right off the bat, although I'll probably have to introduce the audience to the Xenomorphs all over again, since now I'm done with "Cinematic Multiverse".
Ushio: Sorry you feel that way, but not all my casting choices will suit everyone.
RedFire905: Oh, I love Home Alone. I might write a one-shot for that movie for Christmas in 2025. Any casting ideas?
Inspiration: Resident Evil (2002 remake)
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 "Resident Evil" is the property of designer Shinji Mikami and video game company Capcom.
Gold-Sith's interdimensional office
In a large storage closet connected to his interdimensional office, Gold-Sith was sorting through some film reels, excited to show his audience on Remnant another series of multiverse viewings.
"They'll love these clips," Gold-Sith smiled to himself as he placed the reels in a box.
Gold-Sith was just about to head for the projector booth when there came a knock at his office door. He turned to it curiously "Who could that be?"
Standing outside was a deliveryman dressed in a green uniform, a letter in his hand and a large package on a dolly with a big red ribbon wrapped around it and a letter taped onto it. Whoever this person was, Gold-Sith could suddenly sense something from him. Something bad…
"Hello, Mr. Gold-Sith," the man said with a nod of his head, holding out a sheet of paper and pen. "I have a gift for you. If you could just sign for it, I-"
But Gold-Sith cut him off. "Oh no you don't!" he shouted, jabbing a finger in the deliveryman's face. "I can sense ill intentions from a mile away. Whatever you're planning, I'm not falling for it. Now scram!" [1]
"B-but I-…" the deliveryman stuttered, but Gold-Sith slammed the door into his face.
With a huff, Gold-Sith turned a walked away. "Now, then, time to summon my guests," he declared as he pulled out an iPad and headed for the projector booth at the far end of room behind his desk.
Beacon Academy, Planet Remnant
Meanwhile, in their Beacon dorm room, Ruby and Weiss were filling Yang and Blake in on Qrow and Winter's fight the previous day.
"It was awesome! Uncle Qrow had Winter on the ropes!" she said enthusiastically.
Weiss crossed her arms. "As I said, it was a draw at most. She would have won if General Ironwood hadn't interfered," she claimed.
Ruby was about to retort when her scroll beeped. She took it out, looked at it, and her face brightened. "It's Gold-Sith!" she beamed.
"Gold-Sith?" her teammates all asked excitedly.
Ruby turned to her friends. "Yeah. He says he has another series of multiverse clips to show us!"
Yang quickly took out her scroll, confirming Ruby's words. "All right! I can't wait to see them!" she fist-pumped eagerly.
"Me neither," Blake as she took out her scroll. "Well, time doesn't pass inside his theater, so why not go watch a few?"
Weiss paused before shrugging. "I suppose so," she conceded.
One by one, Team RWBY clicked on the link sent to them and teleported out of the room, bound for Gold-Sith's theater.
Gold-Sith's theater
As they all materialized inside the theater, Team RWBY wasn't surprised to find a few previous viewers had received Gold-Sith's message and had already arrived. In fact, they were the last ones to arrive.
"Hello, headmaster," Pyrrha waved to Ozpin standing nearby.
"Hello, students," Ozpin smiled and raised his mug to the students.
Glynda Goodwitch, James Ironwood, Winter Schnee, and Qrow Branwen all looked over and nodded in greeting the newcomers. Nearby, JNPR, Coco, Velvet, Neptune, and Sun were all chatting about their upcoming matches in the VYTAL tournament. Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck were discussing the next fight they would be spectating.
"I can't wait to see what Gold-Sith has in store for us," Ruby rubbed her hands together excitedly. "We've already got me as a super soldier and a demon princess, Uncle Qrow as a bullet dodging cop, and dad played a superpowered martial artist."
"Not only that, but we also saw General Ironwood play a warrior king, Oscar was trying to survive in an underwater city, and... Jaune was a great dancer," Pyrrha surmised, mentioning the last role with a blush.
"And we got fearless leader as a goofy alter ego and Velvet as an equally goofy cartoon character," Nora added with a giggle, hoping she'd see more of those comedic adaptations.
Just then, the screen shined on and Gold-Sith's shimmering golden image appeared. "Hello, everyone. It's good to have you all back," he said cordially.
Ruby smiled and waved. "Hello, Gold-Sith."
Penny gave a light bow. "It is a pleasure to see you again!"
Ozpin nodded to the screen. "We missed you Gold-Sith. How are you?"
Gold-Sith nodded back. "Quite well, thank you. And I trust you're all doing well?"
"Well, many of us have made it to the doubles round, so we're all feeling pretty good," Weiss boasted, eliciting a few nods from her fellow students.
"And since the gangs all here, I'd say it's time for the show to start," Qrow declared as he took a seat.
"Yeah! Let's watch more of the multiverse!" Nora hollered as she hopped into a seat and ordered some pancakes.
Everyone else followed suit and took a seat, ordering their favorite food and beverages to materialize in their hands.
"Enjoy, everyone," Gold-Sith said before he vanished from the screen, and it presented the next multiverse viewing.
The viewing faded into a bloodshot, pale-blue eyeball with dirt smeared eyelids gazing out of the screen. Slowly pale brown, typewriter styled lettering materialized, spelling out the words: "Resident Evil" which a deep, creepy voice said aloud.
Almost everyone shuddered a bit from the ominous title screen.
"R-resident Evil?" Ruby parroted nervously. "That sounds like horror to me."
"I won't lie to you, Ms. Rose, it is indeed horror," Gold-Sith said honestly.
Not being a big fan of the genre, Ruby put a hand on her scroll in her pocket contemplating sitting this one out.
"Ah, don't sweat it, sis. You can handle it," Yang assured her sister with a hand on the latter's shoulder.
"Yes, friend Ruby! You're a strong warrior, you can certainly handle a horror viewing," Penny encouraged her friend.
Ruby paused, but then looked at Yang and Penny, nodded gratefully, and put her scroll away. "You guys are right. I've got this," she boasted lightly.
Blake shrugged. "I don't mind horror," she stated, having read her fair share of horror novels.
"I don't mind it either," Jaune agreed, even though he looked a bit nervous himself.
"Well, then I hope you're all prepared," Gold-Sith warned as the viewing continued.
The viewing faded into a nighttime view of a dense, foggy forest through the viewport of a flying bullhead.
"Alpha team is flying around the Emerald Forest zone situated in north-west Vale, where we are searching for the bullhead of our compatriots, Bravo team, who disappeared during the middle of their mission," a familiar voice narrated.
The pilot was a Lion Faunus with a thick light sandy brown beard, mustache, and hair in the shape of a mane. "Haven't you found it yet?" he asked.
"No. Not yet, Leo," a familiar female voice responded over a radio.
Yang perked up. "Hey. That sounded like me," she noted, suddenly eager to see her counterpart in action.
"And I see Headmaster Lionheart is the pilot," Sun added.
Blake looked curious. "Alpha and Bravo team? Are those hunter teams?" she asked before munching on a tuna sandwich.
"No. Alpha and Bravo team are part of an elite police team called S.T.A.R.S.," Gold-Sith answered.
"S.T.A.R.S.?" Nora repeated curiously. "Cool name. Does it stand for something?"
"Yes. It's an acronym for Special Tactics And Rescue Service. The team consists of ex-military and specializes in anti-terrorism operations and other high-level operations," Gold-Sith provided.
"If that's the case, something big must be happening in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin predicted, wondering what it was.
Cut to a television in an electronics store display window on a Vale city street. Lisa Lavender was shown giving a news report, but bystanders walked past the window, paying it no mind.
"Bizarre murder cases have recently occurred in Vale," Yang continued. "There are outlandish reports of families being attacked by a group of about ten people."
Lisa Lavender's report was covering the murders Yang mentioned. The film screen then displayed a series of bloody crime scene photographs taken by the VPD, each one showing the aforementioned victims. One photo even included a close-up of one of their faces.
"Victims were apparently... eaten…" Yang finished uneasily.
Soft, wide-eyed gasps filled the theater; no one had expected the murders to be so gruesome. Jaune, Velvet, Neptune, and Ren even turned a little green while their respective partners rubbed their backs in comfort.
"E-eaten?! You mean…" Ruby started, then gulped before finishing. "Cannibals…?"
"Ugh. How barbaric," Weiss stated in disgust.
"How long have these murders been happening?" Ironwood inquired. "And how many victims are there?"
"About two months. And the body count now stands at twenty," Gold-Sith answered succinctly, much to everyone's shock.
Back to Alpha Team flying over the forest, searching for their teammate's bullhead.
"The Bravo team was sent in to investigate; but we lost contact."
"Look, Yang," another familiar piped up as she spotted something down below.
Leo shined the bullheads searchlight over another bullhead crash site in a clearing down below, toppled and splintered trees surrounding it.
Velvet gasped softly. "Oh no…I hope they're okay."
Winter observed the crash site. "The Bullhead looks more or less intact. At least it didn't explode when it hit the ground," she pointed out, expecting survivors
Blakes ears twitched slightly. "And it sounds like I'm in this universe, too," she identified herself.
"Cool. We're on the same team here," Yang said with a smile.
Cut to the shoulder-cam of Peter Port, as indicated by the 'Port. P' caption, as he carefully entered and investigated Bravo team's helicopter, a 12-gauge shotgun in his hands.
"Well, look at that. I finally make an appearance," Peter said proudly, hoping his counterpart would help bring the perpetrators to justice.
"It's good to see you make an appearance, Peter," Oobleck said, pleased to see his old friend
"Bravo team's bullhead was a derelict..."
True to Yangs words, the interior of the bullhead was trashed. The windows and viewport had been smashed, the hatch opposite Port was knocked loose, and there were torn out wiring here and there.
Ironwood examined the wrecked interior. "It looks as though the Bullhead was attacked after they landed," he deducted quickly, creating a sense of alarm among the audience.
"By what? The cannibals?" Ruby questioned warily.
"If so, then the killers are brazen enough to attack police officers," Pyrrha noted with a hint of anger. "Alpha Team must be extra careful."
Peter swerved his shotgun at the shattered viewport, then looked down at the pilot's seat…
"Save for the remaining body of Cardin."
...and his flashlight illuminated something lying down in the pilot's seat. It was the Bravo team pilot, Cardin Winchester. His face was pale as death, and one of his eyeballs had been gouged out by a trio of claw marks.
Gasping in fear and disgust, Peter ran out of the wrecked bullhead.
While nobody in the theater particularly liked Cardin, they were just as horrified and caught off guard by his death.
"Oh my Gods!" Velvet gasped, feeling almost reluctant.
Jaune grimaced. "Cardin may be a jerk, but even he didn't deserve that," he said begrudgingly about his former bully.
Port knitted his eyebrows as he noticed something. "Did you see those claw marks over his eye?" he asked, referring to the wound on Cardin's face. "It must have been an animal of some kind."
"What are you thinking? The cannibals have attack dogs?" Oobleck asked his old friend.
Port nodded. "Possibly. If they're hiding out in the woods, they might have trained dogs to patrol their territory," he assumed.
"That makes sense. But where's the rest of Bravo team?" Ren asked.
Scene cut to Alpha team searching the dark forest. It was eerily quiet, and fog had rolled in, giving it an eerie atmosphere. Leading the Alphas was a tall, dark-haired woman wearing a red tactical vest and sunglasses despite it being the middle of the night. Alongside her was a stubble faced-man in a black vest wielding a heavy-caliber revolver. Not far away, Yang Xiao Long, wearing a yellow tactical vest, was scanning the gloomy forest with her Beretta and flashlight in hand.
"Look at that. I'm playing a cop again," Qrow pointed out as he ordered a shot of whiskey that he downed quickly.
"And so is Cinder from Haven academy," Ruby identified the woman beside Qrow.
Velvet blinked. "Why is she wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night?" she asked in puzzlement.
Coco shrugged. "I guess that's just her style. I wear my shades at night sometimes too," she defended.
"You know, it's good to see so many of our counterparts working together as a team," Nora noted positively as she munched on some popcorn. "Maybe we could all get a chance to shine."
"We continued our search for the other members, but it turned into... a nightmare," Yang narrated in a low, foreboding voice as she shined her flashlight at the screen.
Yang shuddered a little at her counterparts' words. "I don't like the sound of that…" she said, sensing trouble was coming.
"And it's quiet...too quiet," Pyrrha remarked on the lack of ambient noises in the forest, like birds and crickets.
"That's never a good sign," Ironwood spoke from his own battlefield experience, the adults all nodding in agreement.
Nearby, the camera moved smoothly down a ravine adjacent to Peter and Blake. It looked like a POV shot. As if something was silently following them...
Winters looked nervous. "Is it just me, or does looks like someone is following them," she said.
"Yeah. Someone… or something," Ren agreed forebodingly.
Blake swallowed. "Is it one of the dogs?" she whispered, gripping her armrests.
Through the lens of Peter's camera, he could be heard panting nervously as he scanned his surroundings, shotgun at the ready.
Twenty feet ahead of him, Blake Belladonna, wearing a black beret and shoulder pads over a white shirt, was walking along with a handgun and flashlight in each hand, her expression tense and alert.
Peter was pleased to see his alternate self was younger here with a thinner build and lighter mustache.
Coco whistled lightly. "And that's a nice beret, Blake. Your other self has some good fashion taste," she complimented, trying to relieve some of the tension.
Blake just nodded silently, having the strange feeling that the Alphas were about run into serious trouble…
From behind him, it seemed as though something was right behind Peter…
…then there was the snap of a twig and what sounded like a soft, throaty growl.
"Watch out, Peter!" Glynda gasped.
"It's right behind you," Oobleck gesticulated strongly at the screen.
"Quick! Turn around, professor!" Velvet shouted frantically.
Peter spun around at the noise, shotgun at the ready…and saw there was nothing there. Just silent foggy forest shown on his monitor.
After a pause, Peter lowered his weapon and let out a relieved sigh. Maybe it was just his imagination…
A few people sighed as well, the fear dissipating a little bit; mistakenly believing that it was a false alarm.
"Be careful. Don't let your guard down!" Port warned his counterpart.
Nora steeled herself. "He's right. Something bad always happens afterwards at times like this in scary movies," she muttered.
Sudden cut to the POV of something running lightning fast toward Peter from behind; the S.T.A.R.S. member barely had time to turn around and scream in surprise as something swiftly lunged at him with its toothy jaws wide open.
"Whoa!" Ruby, Jaune, Velvet, Weiss, and Neptune all yelped in surprise, jumping in their seats or dropping their snacks and beverages.
"Peter!" Oobleck cried out for his friend as he quickly leaned forward.
Peter gasped deeply and nearly dropped his water cup at his counterpart's abrupt peril.
A loud gunshot rang out, attracting the attention of Yang, Qrow, and Cinder who all spun at the sound.
Back to Peter's camera. It was hard to make out what was going on, because the camera was shaking so much. But it looked like a dog was gnawing on Peters wrist, but he kept firing his weapon. A yelp was heard offscreen, suggesting there were other dogs and he managed to kill one of them.[2] But it was futile.
"Get off!" he shouted at the dogs, his blood spattering his camera as the animals knocked him prone. "No! No! No!"
Ports mouth hung open as he and the audience watched helplessly as his counterpart was being mauled to death by dogs. The only iota of comfort Port took was that at least he took one of them with him.
"Oh my Gods!" Ruby whimpered as she watched through her fingers.
"That's so horrible," Nora whispered on the verge of tears, while Ren put a hand over hers to calm her down.
In the struggle, Peters camera was detached and fell off his shoulder, the blood on the lens slowly trickling down, half-obscuring the gruesome footage of the dogs tearing at him, his agonized cries quickly weakening. Concurrently, from offscreen, handgun fire could be heard.
Blake stood nearby, aiming her now empty Beretta as she pulled the trigger over and over in wide-eyed shock just as Peter let out his death rattle.
"Peter…no…" Bart muttered in sorrow for his friend, before bowing his head in respect, as did several other audience members.
Port closed his mouth and breathed out slowly through his nose. "At least I took one of them with me," he sighed, having overheard the yelp. "And let this be a lesson, students. Never let your guard down."
"That's my worst nightmare right there," Blake said shakily as she trembled. "That's why I'm afraid of dogs.
Yang patted Blake's shoulder for comfort, the latter giving her an appreciative nod.
The camera zoomed in, finally revealing the creatures. They were Doberman Pinchers, but something was horribly wrong with them. They looked as mutilated as Peter now was. They had patches of skin missing, exposing the muscle beneath, or missing ears, tails, or eyes. And yet…they were still alive.
Seeing the vicious dogs in full view and their decomposed appearance only heightened the audience's fear, all of them staring in or gaping disbelief.
Weiss covered her mouth with her hands. "By the Brothers…why do they look like that?!"
"It…looks as though they're…rotting. Decomposing!" Oobleck remarked in befuddlement.
"Y-you mean…zombie dogs!" Neptune stammered, scarcely able to imagine such a thing.
One of the dogs, chewing on a bloody strip of Peter's flesh, turned and spotted Blake nearby; the S.T.A.R.S. member still staring like a deer in the headlights. With a low growl, the demonic dog charged and lunged toward Blake; who stumbled back and fell on her backside.
Ruby reached for the screen. "No, not Blake too!" she cried out.
Blake broke into a cold sweat and squeezed her eyes shut, dreading that she was the next one to go.
Luckily, right before the dog reached Blake, Yang had shown up and fired. The round hit the dog in mid-air and sent it flying to the side. Blake stared stupefied with a few drops of the dogs blood on her face.
Unfortunately, the sudden death of one of their pack members prompted the other dogs to look up from Peter's mutilated body, focusing on Yang and Blake.
Blake wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Thanks for the save, Yang," she said gratefully.
"Don't mention it, partner," Yang nodded with a smile. "I think now would be a good time to get the hell out of there,"
"My thoughts exactly. They need to get back to the Bullhead," Qrow insisted.
Yang ran to Blake and took her arm. "Come on!" she urged.
The remaining Cerberus began to pursue the two S.T.A.R.S. members, who immediately started running through the dark forest. But the dogs were too fast, they'd catch up within seconds.
As they ran, Yang looked skyward and saw the Alpha team Bullhead flying away over the trees above, stranding the others. "Hey, Leo! Where the hell's he going!?" she shouted in outrage.
"What the…?" Yang shouted with outrage, her eyes going red. "Did he just abandon them?!"
"That coward!" Coco snarled, clutching her armrests, wondering how someone ever became a member of S.T.A.R.S. in the first place.
Glynda scowled. "Shame on you, Leonardo! Abandoning your teammates like that," she reprimanded.
Ozpin sighed and took a swig of coffee. "Let this be a lesson, students. Always keep your cool under pressure. Panicking and fleeing in battle can have disastrous consequences," he said wisely.
The dogs had finally reached the pair. Yang spun around and screamed as she raised her arm as one of them lunged toward her, it's dripping jaws wide open.
But then, just in time, a shot rang out, killing the dog. Yang turned and saw Captain Cinder Fall with her weapon aimed. "Yang, this way!"
Yang breathed out with relief. "Thanks for the save, Cinder." [3]
Ren sighed. "At least our counterparts have each other's backs out there," he said thankfully.
Yang and Blake ran ahead while Cinder and Qrow laid down suppressing fire on the dogs, bringing another one down. But more and more just joined in on the chase.
"Damn it!" Qrow snarled, as his revolver ran dry and kept moving.
"What are they supposed to do?" Winter asked with concern. "They can't outrun them."
"And I doubt they can hold them off forever. There could be dozens of those zombie mutts running around," Ironwood added.
"Head for that mansion!" Cinder commanded as she looked ahead.
As she ran past the others and took the lead, Blake looked closely and saw there was indeed a huge mansion not a hundred yards away. Vaguely, she noticed that some of the windows had light shining out of them.
"Huh?" Coco did a slight double take. "What's a mansion doing in the middle of the Emerald Forest?"
Ren tilted his head. "Yeah…that's peculiar."
Yang just shrugged. "Well, whatever. At least now they have shelter from those dogs," she reasoned.
Velvet looked closely. "And some of the lights were on," she pointed out. "Maybe there's people inside who can help them."
There was a scene transition showing the mansions double doors opening as the Alphas took refuge inside.
"There are only three S.T.A.R.S. members left now. Captain Fall, Blake, and myself. We don't know where Qrow is," Yang informed offscreen.
Ruby and Yang looked very worried. "Oh no! Don't tell me the dogs got him," the former fretted.
"Don't sweat it, kiddo," Qrow waved it off confidently. "I'm sure other me is okay. It'll take more than some undead mutts to take me down."
Shutting the front door behind them, the remaining S.T.A.R.S. stepped into the mansion's foyer, panting with fatigue.
The mansion foyer was huge and luxurious in architecture with two levels. Delicate and expensive looking vases and paintings decorated the walls and there were many doors. A long red carpet extended from the front door and trailed up a staircase leading to the second level. A large chandelier on the ceiling illuminated the room.
"Wow. Look how big the foyer is. It must be as large as the Schnee estate's foyer," Winter admired the architecture.
"Lucky for them, the front door was unlocked," Weiss said before she realized something, her brow cocking. "Wait a second…why was the front door unlocked?"
"Perhaps Bravo team managed to evade the dogs and take shelter inside," Pyrrha guessed as she ordered a soda.
"Let us hope so," Winter said. "They'll have a better chance of surviving if they're all together. Strength in numbers."
The Alphas caught their breath and took a second to observe their new surroundings.
"Is everyone all right?" Blake asked her teammates.
"Qrow? Where's Qrow?" Yang asked as she noticed
"He's…" Cinder trailed off.
"No…" Blake murmured grieffully.
"Then they have to go back and find him," Yang said impulsively.
Glynda shook her head. "No. It's too dangerous to go back outside. Who knows how many of those dogs are out there," she said, much to Yangs consternation.
"And I doubt they have any means of calling for help," Ironwood added before scowling. "Assuming Leonardo doesn't bother doing so himself."
Qrow bristled at the mention of Lionheart. "He better call-in back-up instead of just flying back to Vale with his tail between his legs."
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from one of the other rooms, drawing the attention of the three S.T.A.R.S. It sounded like it came from a double set of doors not far away.
"What was that?" Blake asked.
"A gunshot. Maybe it's one of the Bravos," Oobleck presumed with a sip of coffee.
"I'll go and check it out," Yang volunteered, already heading toward the doors the shot came from.
Cinder nodded. "All right. Blake and I will stay and secure this area," she said.
Ironwood shook his head. "I wouldn't advise that. They have no idea what's inside the mansion."
"Besides that, hasn't Cinder ever watched a horror movie? You never split up," Nora spoke from her own movie-going experiences.
"Yang. Take care," Blake bid her teammate luck.
"Yeah," Yang nodded before leaving.
"There's something not quite right about this," Pyrrha muttered before an idea occurred to her. "Do you guys think the mansion is the headquarters for the cannibals?"
Qrow looked skeptical. "I doubt it. To be able to afford that kind of residence, they would have to be loaded."
"And of all the places a group of cannibals would hide, a big fancy mansion sounds too conspicuous," Port added.
"And what about the zombie dogs? Where did they come from?" Ren questioned. "I highly doubt they could be controlled like guard dogs."
Oobleck exhaled in frustration. "So many questions. So few answers," he said, tapping his notepad.
Yang stepped through the double doors and found herself in a big dining room with a second story balcony overlooking it. The room was partially illuminated by a fireplace and a candelabra sitting on a big rectangular table situated in the center. The only sounds were her footsteps and the rhythmic ticking of a grandfather clock on the right side of the room. Yang slowly walked down along the right side of the table, her gaze scanning the large room, but there didn't appear to be anyone there.
Nora looked nervous. "This mansion reminds me of those haunted, abandoned houses you see in spooky movies," she recalled from past movie viewings.
"I'm not sure if it's abandoned. The lights in the main hall were on. And the fireplace and candles are lit in the dining room," Winter reminded.
"True. But there is a fair amount of dust around," Penny noted, thanks to her enhanced optic sensors.
Sun scratched his head. "But then where is everybody?"
There was a door on the right at the far side of the room. Right before Yang reached it, she spotted something at the base of the fireplace.
She moved closer and saw that it was blood. She knelt and dabbed a finger into the blood. It was still fresh. She frowned, hoping it didn't belong to one of the Bravos.
"You think the dogs managed to break inside?" Ruby questioned cautiously.
"If they have, let's hope none of the Bravos suffered my counterpart's fate," Port said grimly, trying not to think about it.
Yang stepped through the door and entered a long hallway. It stretched to the right, there were two more doors ending with a stairway. To the left it turned to the right and spread into an open resting area.
Yang sniffed the air, and her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh…what is that?" she muttered as a foul odor entered her nostrils.
Next, she heard a sound coming from the resting area to her left. It was soft, but wet. It sounded like...chewing noises. Raising her weapon, Yang slowly homed in on the sound, her heart beginning to pick up.
The audience went rigid as their hearts picked up too, preparing themselves as best they could for what Yang was about to encounter.
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Ruby whispered as she gripped her cloak.
Yang overheard her sister. "I think we all do, sis."
Yang turned the corner, her pistol at the ready…and what she saw next nearly made her drop her weapon in shock.
There was a tall, bald man in tattered clothes hunched over something he was noisily chewing on, letting out raspy, spine-chilling moans as he ate.
Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the man was eating another man. It was S.T.A.R.S. Bravo member, Yatsuhashi Daichi. His eyes were wide open and lifeless, his body twitching in its death throes. Blood dripped onto his face from the assailants mouth as he stopped feasting.
Shrill gasps echoed throughout the theater.
"Yatsuhashi! No!" Velvet shrieked, her hands clasping over her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.
"Oh my Gods," Coco screamed, clutching at her pearls. "He…he was eating him!"
"Please don't tell me that's what I think it is," Jaune said in a small voice, having seen plenty of horror movies.
The assailant slowly turned toward Yang. His…no, it's face was ghostly pale and there was blood all over its lips. Its eyes were foggy with white mucus, the pupils barely visible as they fixated on Yang as it let out a low guttural growl.
A few people gasped again or screamed with pure horror as they stared bug-eyed at the creature, immediately knowing what it was. They'd all seen the movies.
"It's a zombie!" Ruby cried, a trembling finger pointing at the screen.
"Eek!" Nora squeaked as she hugged Rens arm for comfort.
"Don't let it bite you, Yang!" Jaune warned from the edge of his seat.
Yang aimed her weapon at the creature. "Stop! Don't move!" she ordered, her voice quivering slightly.
But the creature paid her words no heed as it stood up and extended its hands towards her, shambling forward with hunger.
Yang fired once. The zombie barely flinched from the 9mm round that smacked into its chest and kept advancing. Backing away, she fired again, twice this time, the zombie staggering slightly, but didn't fall.
"It's not stopping," Weiss said, her voice shaky with fear.
Yang then cupped her mouth. "The head, other me! Aim for its head!" she called.
"That's right! You gotta destroy the brain!" Sun added loudly, hoping it worked in this universe.
Yang then remembered then remembered the fair share of zombie flicks she used to watch with her sister as a kid. She aimed at the creature's bald head and fired one last time at its forehead. With a low gurgle, the zombie fell backward and crumpled onto the floor. It twitched once, twice, then it went still.
Yang stared down at the dead creature with her weapon still pointed at it, hardly believing what she was seeing.
The audience calmed down, relieved that the old "aim for the head" cliché worked on zombies in this universe.
"First zombie dogs, now zombie humans and probably Faunus. What's next?" Qrow questioned with his hands raised.
"Where did they even come from? And what's the story behind this mansion anyway?" Sun asked what everyone else was wondering.
"Well, one thing is for sure: The zombies must be the ones responsible for the murders in Vale," Vale said resolutely. "After all, other-Yang said the victims had been eaten."
After a few seconds Yang shook her head lightly to snap herself out of her funk, she slowly approached Fox's corpse, a look of grief washing over her face. The Bravo members' throat had been torn out, and chunks of flesh were chewed off the sides of his neck. Frowning, Yang knelt down and took a few spare 9mm magazines from Fox's holster and then closed his eyes in empathy.
Yang cleared her throat and looked apologetically at Velvet and Coco, but they nodded in understanding; her counterpart needed the ammo more than Fox certainly did.
"Smart move taking the ammo. You only have so much on hand," Winter complimented Yangs resourcefulness.
"That's right. Scavenging for whatever you can to survive is always important when cut off from supply or reinforcement," Ironwood added.
She'd have to report back to the others. She immediately exited through the door she'd entered the hallway from, running across the dining room, and stepped back into the foyer…
…but there was nobody there.
"Hmm?" Yang scanned the screen. "Where'd they go?"
Yang stepped into the center of the foyer. "Fall? Blake? Where did they go?" she asked herself.
"Good question," Ruby agreed, before looking alarmed. "You don't think the zombies got them, do you?!"
Qrow shook his head. "I doubt it, squirt. If any showed up, Yang would have heard the shots from where she was," he reasoned.
"And I don't see any signs of a struggle," Penny carefully observed the screen with her cybernetic eyes.
"So, what happened to them? Why would they just wander off?" Velvet asked in confusion.
"Perhaps Cinder suggested she and Blake split up and search other parts of the mansion," Glynda assumed disapprovingly. "Which, given the circumstances, is a poor decision."
"So, I'm on my own now," Yang mumbled, even though she was sure her counterpart could handle herself fine.
Sometime later, Blake was slowly walking down another dimly lit hallway. She hadn't encountered anymore zombies for about ten minutes. But she was dangerously low on ammo and still hadn't seen any sign of her teammates since she and Cinder split up and began to search the mansion.
"So, she's encountered the zombies too" Ruby noted, grateful that Blake was handling herself.
"But why would Cinder insist on splitting up the team so quickly?" Jaune questioned the Alpha leader's judgement.
"I don't know. But something seems a little fishy about it," Ozpin mused with a squinted gaze, attracting a few concerned looks.
Blake stopped at a door on the right. She tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. She paused for a moment before fishiii a lockpick out of her pocket and got to work on the door's lock. It was a simple one, a piece of cake for her and in less than a minute she got it open.
Weiss blinked. "Since when do police officers carry lockpicks?" she questioned.
"Gold-Sith did say the S.T.A.R.S. are ex-military. Perhaps Blake was taught how to pick locks during training," Ironwood guessed.
Blake shrugged. "Well, it saves me the trouble of having to find the key," she reasoned.
Blake slowly opened the door, ready to fire at the first threat she encountered. It was a bedroom. It was in a messy state. Blood stains were visible on the floorboards and bedsheet of the cot and a few scattered papers and bottles on the floor. There was a desk beside the cot, a thin layer of dust coating it. And sitting on it was a book. Curious, Blake walked over and picked it up. It was a diary.
"Perhaps reading that diary will shed some light on what happened inside the mansion," Oobleck guessed with a sip of coffee.
Blake sat down at the desk and started to read, starting with the month of May.
May 9th
Played poker tonight with Scott and Alias from security, and Steve from research. Steve was the big winner, but I think he was cheating. Scumbag.
Blake giggled softly at the entry and continued onto the next one.
May 10th
One of the higher-ups assigned me to take care of a new creature. It looks like a skinned gorilla. Feeding instructions were to give it live animals.
When I threw in a big, the creature seemed to play with it. Tearing off the pig's legs and pulling out the guts before it actually started eating.
Blake's smile vanished as she finished reading the entry. She quickly turned the page, realizing she had stumbled onto a clue on what happened at the estate.
Jaune, Ruby, Velvet, and Nora all looked queasy after hearing the creatures' gruesome eating habits.
"New creature? Does he mean the zombies?" Pyrrha questioned with a hint of suspicion.
"Hmmm," Port scratched his chin, pondering. "Judging from the description, I don't believe so. It sounds like a different kind of monster."
"And he mentioned something about a higher-up," Weiss added astutely, her eyes narrowing. "Whoever this guy is, he must have worked and lived in the mansion."
May 11th
At around 5 A.M., Scott woke me up. Scared the shit out of me, too. He was wearing a protective suit. He handed me another one and told me to put it on. Said there'd been an accident in the basement lab.
I just knew something like this would happen. Those bastards in research never sleep, even on holiday.
The audience sat in silent fascination and apprehension as the story behind the mansion infestation began to unravel.
"Basement lab…?" Oobleck tapped his chin with his pen. "Interesting…very interesting" he trailed off as he continued to write.
May 12th
I've been wearing the damn space suit since yesterday. My skin's getting grimy and feels itchy all over. The goddamn dogs have been looking at me funny, so I decided not to feed them today. Screw 'em.
Ruby and Weiss both scowled at the keeper's mistreatment of the dogs. Even Blake frowned slightly, never approving of any sort of animal abuse.
May 13th
Went to the infirmary because my back is all swollen and feels itchy. They put a big bandage on it and told me I didn't need to wear the suit anymore. All I wanna do is sleep.
A few people grimaced or shifted uncomfortably in their seats or rubbed their arms in discomfort at the keeper's worsening illness, a few even figuring out what it meant for the writer…
"New creatures. A basement. His symptoms…" Ozpin mused to himself, his gaze lowered as he connected the dots.
May 14th
Found another big blister on my foot this morning. I ended up dragging my foot all the way to the dog's pen. They were quiet all day, which is weird.
Then I realized some of them had escaped. Maybe this is their way of getting back at me for not feeding them the last three days. If anybody finds out, I'll have my head handed to me.
That spread even more tension and horror among the audience as they learned just where the zombie dogs came from and how they were transformed.
May 15th
My first day off in a long time, and I feel like shit. Decided to go visit Nancy anyway. But on the way out, I was stopped by the guards. They say the company has ordered that no one leave the grounds. I can't even make a phone call. All the phone lines have been ripped out. What kind of bullshit is this?! [4]
Ren cocked his head. "The company? What company?" he inquired.
"The Umbrella Corporation. It's the leading pharmaceutical company on Remnant and one of the most powerful companies on the planet," Gold-Sith answered concisely.
"So, Umbrella owns this mansion. And that laboratory mentioned as well…" Bart trailed off before writing down more notes.
"And they're responsible for whatever experiments they were conducting," Winter added in a low voice.
May 16th
Rumors going around that a researcher who tried to escape the estate last night was shot. My entire body feels hot and itchy and I'm sweating all the time now.
I scratched the swelling on my arm and a piece of rotten flesh dropped off. What the hell's happening to me?
"Ewww!" a few people cringed in disgust at the entry.
"Rotten flesh?" Nora muttered before gasping. "So, that means..."
"Yes. He's turning into a zombie," Penny whispered with a hand to her mouth.
Ozpin frowned heavily. "I figured as much, given the symptoms he was describing in the diary."
May 19th
Fever gone but itchy. Today hungry and eat doggy food.
May 21st
Itchy itchy Scott came ugly face so killed him. Tasty.
4/Itchy. Tasty.
There was nothing else written. Blake stood up and placed the diary in her back pocket. It was like another piece of a puzzle just fell into place.
The audience sat in silent, pale-faced horror and intrigue as more of the mystery unfolded, chilled by the final entry.
"It's all starting to add up. A secret lab owned by this Umbrella Corporation, an accident involving some kind of virus that turns people and animals into flesh-eating monsters," Ozpin surmised before taking a sip of coffee.
Ren nodded before his eyes widened. "And some of them escaped the mansion," he said softly. "So, Neptune was right. Those monsters are responsible for the murders in Vale."
Winter nodded slowly. "Ren is right. The last diary entry in only two months prior to this. And Gold-Sith said the murders began in May."
"By the Brothers, if that virus were to leak in a major population center," Ironwood muttered with horror, not wanting to even imagine such a scenario.[5]
"And what was Umbrella thinking to cook up a virus like that in the first place?" Oobleck questioned in disbelief.
"And so the plot thickens," Jaune finalized.
Blake was just about to leave when she heard a thud behind her. She drew her beretta and spun around just in time to see a closet door crash open and a Zombie shuffle out. Without missing a beat, Blake fired twice, the second round piercing the creature's right temple, and it crumpled to the floor.
"I'm assuming that was the keeper," Glynda guessed with a hint of distress in her voice.
"And parents always say there are no monsters in your closet," Jaune said half-jokingly, drawing a few laughs.
Yang giggled. "Nice one, Vomit Boy," she complimented, eliciting a sigh of frustration from Jaune.
Breathing out with relief, Blake searched the closet for anything useful. It was mostly clothes and junk, but half-hidden under a t-shirt was a box of shotgun shells and a handgun magazine. Elated, Blake checked the clip to make sure it had 9mm rounds inside; it did. She then stuffed the 14 shotgun shells into her belt pouch, hoping she could find a 12 gauge somewhere around the mansion.
"Nice find," Yang nodded with some new optimism. "Hopefully she can find a shotgun. A little extra firepower wouldn't hurt."
A quick search through the rest of the room turned up nothing, so Blake left the Keepers bedroom, strongly hoping that she and her teammates weren't infected with whatever had leaked from the mansions secret lab.
Yang and Blake suddenly froze, their eyes widening at the implication of their counterparts suffering the same fate as the keeper. Everyone else looked afraid and alarmed at the possibility as well.
Oobleck cleared his throat. "Well, virology isn't my field, but typically airborne pathogens can remain infectious for hours," he said to assuage the audience's anxiety. "And it's been two months since the virus leaked from the basement lab."
"Let's hope to the brothers that's the case and the S.T.A.R.S. didn't catch the virus after entering the mansion," Ozpin stated and wished the team the best of luck escaping.
Author's Closing Note: Resident Evil is one of my all-time favorite video game franchises and I'm very excited to be writing an adaptation for it. I'll probably move on to Resident Evil 2 (2019) and Resident Evil 3 (1999) once I'm done with this adaptation. Special thanks to Dustiniz117 for helping me with the casting.
Author's Footnotes
[1]- Read "RWBY Forced To Watch The TF2 Community-Verse" by Emerald-Stirling, and you'll understand where this is coming from. Basically, this is an alternate timeline in which Gold-Sith sees through the deception and tells Stirling off.
[2]- I don't know if Joeseph/Port or Jill/Blake managed to kill any of the Cerberus offscreen, but I threw this in so at least Port would take one of them with him and let him go out fighting.
[3]- You have no idea how much you're going to regret those words, Yang :(
[4]- This line actually comes from SD Perry's novelization of Resident Evil published in 19. I threw it in because it tells more about the mansion incident. I suggest you read it and the rest of the RE series from Perry, all of them are amazing works.
[5]- Some very unfortunate foreshadowing to Resident Evil 2.
Cast of Characters
Yang Xiao Long as Chris Redfield
Blake Belladonna as Jill Valentine
Qrow Branwen as Barry Burton
Cinder Fall as Albert Wesker
Peter Port as Joseph Frost
Leonardo Lionheart as Brad Vickers
Yatsuhashi Daichi as Kenneth Sullivan
Cardin Winchester as Kevin Dooley