Bold: other speaking

Bold: other thinking

Hi: normal thinking

Hi: normal speaking

Chapter 1: Is this fate?

Ruby Rose always wanted to be a huntsman.

Since she was young she heard the stories of hunters saving villages and innocent lives from the threat of Grimm. Their courage and bravery had always fascinated her and she had made attempts to emulate her very heroes.

In one world she would have become a huntress herself. Fighting against the forces of Grimm and eventually becoming the hero she had always admired.

However, that was another world, this universe was anything but a fairy tale and not everyone got what they wished.

Very earlier on in her life Summer Rose, her mother, had died. When the family learned about this they were shocked to say the least.

For Ruby Rose this was where the ball started to roll downward.

Her father had fell into a depression, drinking and grieving defined his life. He rarely interacted with his daughters forcing Qrow to take up the role of a parent, more than once Ruby and Yang were forced to go on what Qrow defined as "mini vacations" to Vale.

The smell of motels were more normal for their noses than the smell of their own home.

Shouting was a staple for the times they did say at home. But even Ruby knew that this was only on good day as other times the sound of breaking glass and the pungent smell of alcohol were more common.

It would be almost a lifetime, or a few years as Qrow would say, before Taiyang finally escaped the dark abyss and actually became a competent parent. But even then the once bright light in his eyes had long since dulled. The scars from Summers unexpected death still hunted him time to time.

Things finally began to look good for the family and their was hope things will start to get better.

But as stated before this was not some kind of fairy tale and tragedy stuck again. Summer was not Taiyang's first wife but for Ruby and Yang this was the mother they had known for their life. Thanks to the mumbles of a drunk Taiyang Yang had learned the location of a hideout her biological mother used many times.

With desperation fueling her she snatched Ruby from her bed and placed her into a wagon. With hefty grunt she lifted the wagon and proceeded to the hideout under the shroud of night.

The family lived in the more rural area of patch and as a result couldn't enjoy the same luxury of safety as there city counterparts.

If it weren't for Qrow being sober both girls would have meet a gruesome death. From what she heard from Yang Qrow had never look so angry after saving two. The lecture afterwards was one of most scariest moments of her Yang.

When Taiyang had learned of the now named Wagon accident everyone was scared that he may fall back into a depression. To their own relief Tai did not slip back. Instead he forced the family to move into the more urban parts of patch, not wanting it to happen again.

He also decreed that neither Ruby nor Yang were to pursue a huntsman career. It's was the huntsmen path that drove Summer to her early demise and he could not bear the idea of his daughters falling to the same path.

Ruby had objected to this of course but her father was absolute on it and would not move on the issue. It was because of this decree that the relationship between the two was strained.

It didn't help that years later Yang had begun to enroll in signal academy. The reason so was that Yang had accidentally unlocked her aura when the bus she was riding collided with another car. A rarity for anyone to unlock their aura that way.

Ruby was angered when she learned that Yang would go to signal. Why would she get to be a hunter, there plenty of civilians that had aura but never had any huntsman training. Whatever reason for this fell on deaf ears.

The news that she could not be a hunter felt like someone had stabbed a knife into her heart. When Yang was allowed to become a hunter the knife had twisted and dug itself deeper into her heart.

The relationship between the two sisters had become strained, besides the bare basic communication between the two it was clear Ruby felt spiteful towards Yang as well as her father.

Yang & Taiyang had both hindered and stopped all her attempts to become a hunter. When she began practicing her combat she was grounded. When making a weapon Taiyang would have taken it and either broke it or sold it off. When she tried to these things in secret her sister or father had to chaperone her wherever she went.

It was humiliating to Ruby and because of that she limited the time she left the house, making her skin more paler as a result. It also didn't help that not even uncle Qrow was able to help her least he would be forbidden to come near the family again by Tai.

And so Ruby was forced to walk the life of a civilian while her older sister was allowed to live the life Ruby dreamed of. Loneliness and resentment we're all she had as she refused to make any friends. Prioritizing her education so she could escape her father and sister more quickly.

IN VALE

"Sibling bonding time my ass" Ruby mentally sneered as she walked down the streets of Vale at night.

Yang had forced her to go with her on these so called sibling bonding times. Of course it was just codeword for Yang to abandon her to a hotel while she searched for anything about her biological mother, Raven Branwen. This sadly wasn't the first time this happened and Ruby didn't doubt it would be the last.

It also didn't help that Yang didn't trust her to behave while alone in the house. What was she a child or something! Ruby shoved the anger back down quickly as it would not help her at the slightest.

Ruby had long learned when Yang would back from these investigations of her and during this time would have left to explore Vale. But now she was heading to nearby drug store to get some painkillers. Since a month ago Ruby had been experiencing headaches then and there at random intervals. Lucky for her neither Yang or her dad seemed to notice and she would make sure it would stay that way.

The trip to the drug store only took minutes to reach and finding the painkillers was barely a chore.

xxx

"Argh! Shit not again" hissed Ruby as clutched her head in pain. Her headaches were acting up again. Pushing through the pain she reached the counter and slammed the pills down … and three king-size chocolate bars. Giving the clerk the cash she bolted out of the store as the headache began to recede again.

For some reason whenever she bought chocolate, a lot of it, the headache would immediately recede and hunger for said chocolate would follow up. Boy did she eat a lot, seriously, one full bag of chocolate chips and she still felt peckish to say the least. How she gained almost no weight was mystery.

Not hesitating Ruby ripped the the wrappings and wolfed down the bar with the ferocity of starving man. It took only seconds to finish the first bar, licking her fingers for any residue. As much as she wanted to finish the last two bars she refrained from doing so, least she got hungry again.

HOTEL ROOM

The familiar smell of cheap cleaning products assaulted her nose as she closed the door. A tired sigh escaped her mouth, throwing the bag on the table before grabbing the TV remote. The TV flared to life as Ruby scrolled through the channels for anything interesting.

She settled on a cooking show currently showing a chocolate-fest of recipes which in future hindsight wasn't her brightest ideas. Nibbling on her second bar she watched the show before her headache came back with a vengeance.

"Dammit not now" Ruby growled. "I got the chocolate what the hell do you want now!?"

As if her body responded the headache increased causing Ruby let a surprised cry of pain. Sweat began form above her brow.

Not waiting a moment she bolted from where was, snatching the painkillers on the way, and straight towards the bathroom. She turned on the faucet as she opened the container and popped two pills while using the water to wash it down. Sweat fell from her brow as cold water was splashed onto her face.

xxx

"Come on work pills work" said Ruby splashing her face with more water. As much as she wanted to chug the whole bottle to stop the pain even she knew how horrible that idea was. She grabbed a towel and began drying her face as sweat continued to fall.

DING

DING

DING

The headache ceased as the doorbell stopped ringing.

"Is Yang back already … please let not be so" prayed Ruby, she really did not want to explain to Yang why there were painkillers and chocolate inside the room.

"Yang, is-" Ruby asked before she was shoved back and door flung open. "Hey who do think yo-" began Ruby before a gun barrel to the face quickly shut her up.

…

"Uh hey um why don't we put that down-"

CLICK

"I'll shut myself up now."

MINUTES BEFORE

High above the ground two people were laying on the top of a apartment complex just meters away from from the hotel Ruby was staying. A sniper scope followed Ruby's movement before she rushed into the bathroom.

"So that's the target, she doesn't look like much … kinda of shrimpy" said soldier 1.

"Not her, it's what's inside that matters the host is expendable" replied soldier 2.

"... So … is it true, about the you know what" asked soldier 1.

"If it wasn't then why are we stalking this girl?" rhetorically asked soldier 2. "Of course it's real, which is why we need to get it back now before that girl does something extremely stupid."

"Then why don't we, she's just a civilian, we can take her without putting much effort" argued soldier 1.

"That's the specialist's decision, all we can do is stay right here and wait for orders" explained soldier 2.

…

…

…

*All units I repeat all units we have a green light, agents move into position* ordered the radio as it went dead again. A group of agents disguised as civilians began moving into the hotel.

"Well I guess we start now" said soldier 2 aloud as he refocused on the bathrooms door.

PRESENT

A storm of curse words whirled around her head as she was forced back to the wall.

She was absolutely scared and why wouldn't she. Currently there were a bunch of people pointing guns at her face and the look they were giving her really didn't help. They were looking at like she was some kind of animal or something … wonder if this is what Faunus feel like?

The sound of heels clicking on the floor could be heard from the distance, it progressively got more louder till it momentary stopped. The people in her room suddenly stood straight as they made room for somebody.

Coming into the room was a tall lady, almost 6 ft if she had to guess, clad in Atlas military attire. She had the whitest hair she had ever seen, it looked more like snow than hair, her face had that serious look to it but the simile somewhat clashed with the look.

On her hip was a saber of masterwork quality, she had to be hunter or why else would she used such a close range weapon. In her hand was water bottle and the other had another king size chocolate bar.

"Apologies for the rather … uncalled for method of entering your current abode. The name is Schnee Winter, you can just call me Winter if you like" apologized the now named Winter.

"Holy shit, what the heck is a Schnee doing here of all places" Ruby thought. One would had to live in the literal middle of nowhere to not know the Schnee family. They are one of the richest families in the world and own one of the biggest companies out there.

"Please, take a seat you look like you just ran marathon" commented Winter.

Feeling a bit insulted Ruby touch her clothes to realize they were quite damp. A quick sniff of her armpit reeled her back. Jezz just how much did she sweat.

"Once again I have to apologize, I only had a short amount of time and I feel my gifts to you to be rather lackluster if I had to say so myself" Winter apologized once again.

Taking the gifts Ruby placed them on a nearby table. "Look, thanks for gifts and everything but who are you people?"

"We're simply people who wish to help you" explained Winter.

"By crashing into people's room and pointing guns at them" sarcastically asked Ruby.

Instead of replying Winter motioned Ruby over to the couch. Not seeing that she could do anything she obliged.

"Now Miss …"

"Ruby … Ruby Rose."

"Miss Rose, have ever felt any headaches bor sorts, desire for any chocolatey goods, or random fits of anger?" questioned Winter.

"No, why do you ask" replied Ruby.

"Miss Rose you have no need to lie to us, like I said we're here to help you not hurt you."

A migraine began to form in Ruby.

"Look, even if I believe you for a moment why would it matter? Maybe I'm just having a bad day or something" said Ruby.

"Eating chocolate does not cure headaches Ruby, nor do headaches happen in intervals."

The migraine increased.

"Miss Rose, you are a very special person. All we want to do is help you Miss Rose and if you allow us we can."

A headache form.

"Ruby … there something inside of you, something that could change the very world and how we see it. If you would help us you be a her- Ruby are you alright" Winter asked at the end. On the other side Ruby was clutching her head with both her hands.

"Argh, headache again" groaned Ruby.

"Ruby, when did this start happening" demanded Winter, her tone shifting into serious one.

"It's no-ARGH" said Ruby as she clutched her head tighter, to the point she was nearly pulling out hair.

" . " repeated Winter.

"Enghu, a-a month ago" answered Ruby.

"Impossible, you had it for entire month, have you not heard it speak?"

"The fuck you talking about, what the hell is happening to me" roared Ruby.

"So the doctor was true after all, Ruby … you've integrated with the symbiote to a level we thought wasn't possible."

Sudden as Winter said the word "symbiote" the headache ceased and its place was an unnerving silence.

"Ruby …" drawled Winter "... I need you to be extremely calm, whatever you do don't panic" slowly explained Winter as she reached for Ruby's shoulder.

Her hand shot up and grabbed Winter's. It proceed to crush the hand

"I-I'm not doing this, I can't stop it" panicked Ruby as her arm wouldn't obey her. One of the agents moved towards Ruby.

"NO DON'T" shouted Winter but the time she did it was too late. Ruby's other arm rose up and black liquid leaked out of her sleeves covering up her entire arm. The arm extended forward, slamming into the agents chest and pushing him to wall.

The last thing Winter and her men saw was the terrified face of Ruby before a sea of black mass slammed into them.

xxx

"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the FUCK is happening" Ruby thought to herself. One moment she was having the worst headache yet and then next thing she knew she was flung through the goddamn wall into the alley below.

No matter what Ruby did her body refused to listen her commands, she felt like a backseat driver in her own body and that terrified her.

"Move"

Her body raised out of the rubble before sprinting out of the area. Ruby tried to fight whatever was controlling her body and for a brief moment regained control. Her body stumbled a bit before the thing took back control.

"Take"

In her vision was a motorcycle with it's driver starting the vehicle. Her arm was recovered in the same black goo. The arm reeled back before releasing it, stretching to inhuman levels it stuck itself onto the drivers back.

With a "light" tug Ruby pulled the driver back before knocking him out and taking his helmet. She barely had time to apologize before her foot slammed on the gas pedal.

The screeching of tires and the smell of gas was all that remained.

xxx

"Come on me" struggled Ruby as she fought against this symbiote as Winter had called it. When they had finally reached a stop light she had finally won back control of her arms. "Argh, alright who in the name of the brothers are you" Ruby shouted.

…

She dug her hand into her pockets, grabbing the scroll she began calling for the police … hospital … really anyone at this point.

"Run"

Her fingers froze in their track as Ruby felt her heart rate spoke.

"Who are you? What are you doing to me" demanded Ruby.

"Run"

"I ain't going anywhere until I get some answers" Ruby declared. She wrenched her foot off the gas pedal.

A guttural grow came from the back of her head. But before she could give a piece of her mind the sound of sirens blaring in the distance momentary got her attention. The symbiote jumped on the moment, regaining control of Ruby's leg as it pressed on the gas pedal.

Ruby yelped as she moved through the maze of cars while ignoring the constant honking as well as the occasional shouting. Ruby attempted to win back control of her legs but the need to avoid crashing into something prevented her from doing so.

"Slow down, slow down" demanded Ruby as she barely made through the two cars in front of her and just passed through the red light. "Oum, what are you trying to do, kill me or something."

Instead of responding the goo forced her to vear sharply to right just as the area where she momentary was exploded in a fiery inferno. "Sweet Oum! Are these guys trying to kill me!"

Looking behind her were two heavily armored vehicles with equipment that REALLY shouldn't be on civilian cars. The hatch of one armored vehicles burst opened; Ruby looked with horror as the person was holding a RPG on the shoulder.

Half a second passed before the person pulled the trigger and the rocket propelled itself straight at Ruby. What happened next for Ruby felt it was straight out of a action movie.

The symbiote reacted seconds before the rocket was fired. Searing very sharply to the left the motorcycle shaked rapidly as it went on the sidewalk. Ruby felt lucky- *EXPLOSION*- VERY lucky. The sidewalk was almost all clear save for the random pedestrian or two but those few quickly got out of the way. A ramp was just a few meters away as the symbiote increased pressure on the pedal.

The moment Ruby jumped off the ramp did she hear the sound of another explosion and felt the red hot debri bounce off her jacket.

"Oh shit … if this wasn't real that would have been awesome" thought Ruby as the motorcycle slammed back onto the road.

Coming from the distance Ruby could see an intersection."Ok, I can use that for my … shit, never mind", a few more of those armored vehicles were blocking the road as well as the sidewalks as well.

Her foot pressed on the pedal faster.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, slow down! Are you trying to turn me into human paste" distressed Ruby as she got more and more closer to the blockade.

…

The moment Ruby came into contact with the blockade she braced herself the best she could. Shutting her eyes she refused to see what happened next.

Sounds of men/women screaming about something was first thing she heard. Then the sound of metal being crushed and the horrid screams as well as bones being crushed to a pub were next.

Tires skidding to the side awakened her eyes. She did not look back.

LATER ON

Ruby really wished just how long it has been, minutes … hours. Unfortunately she was forced to drop her scroll quite earlier on this chase of hers. Right now she was cruising through the road with no real destination … not that she had any to begin with.

As much as she wanted to go to the police or a hospital she doubted they could really help her. She also doubted the symbiote would comply either. Even now she could feel the symbiotes presence nudging her to a certain direction. While not outright controlling her she knew it could take control in an instant if it so desired.

Ruby slowed the bike as she approached another red light. On her sides were a few cars waiting for the light to change as her.

Yang was no doubt going to kill her if she ever got back to her, that is not assuming dad would get to her first or if she was unlucky Uncle Qrow. How would she even explain any of this without them calling her crazy was beyond her.

"Just what the hell are you" muttered Ruby pulling against her skin to see if she could get a reaction from the symbiote. Silence was her response. A frustrated groan escaped her mouth.

"Come you big goo thing answer me"

…

"~Grrr~, you know you can't stay silent forever bucko"

…

"I'll go back to that Winter lady if you don't respond"

...

"... Please respond you symbiote … please"

…

"Dodg-"

A bright light appeared on the ground. Looking down a large white glyph swirled around underneath her.

Everything went white for Ruby.

Her ears were ringing loudly before the white light died down minutes later. The smell of burnt metals filled her nostrils. She could barely make out any sound besides the cracking of fire and the screaming from nearby cars.

Her body felt numb … no wait, there's the pain, owwww.

Gritting her teeth tightly she barely was able to turn her head.

A tall shadowy figure emerged from the very edges of the road as he/she walked closer to her. Her body became dull as it began to crawl up onto her feet but as she did the pain came back with a vengeance as she couldn't help but release a cry of pain.

"Argh" cried both Ruby and the Symbiote.

Her knees gave out as they fell back onto the ground, using both her hands to remain somewhat steady.

With a heavy grunt she easily retook her legs as reattempted to get off the ground. After a few more attempts she was able to get onto her feet, though she was forced to lean on her knees for support.

Her eyes focused on to the now burning wreckage that was once her getaway vehicle.

"Shit, shit, shit, what do I do me" panicked Ruby as she saw the shadowed figured coming more and more closer.

The figure was definitely a male and boy was he packing some heat. Clad in heavy grade military gear most likely Huntsman level if her current luck was any indicator. His face was covered by a blank black face plate.

But what really got Ruby's attention were the two gauntlets covering up to his forearm. They were bulky aesthetically but what glimpses she could see from the small openings showed there was far more in the internal mechanization then it let on.

Looking around and assessing her options she took the most logical route … running as fast as possible. Or in this case limping as fast as possible and hoping for a miracle.

So Ruby began limping away from a fisting of death … yeah, that sounded so much better in her head.

But before she could contemplate on her choice of words she was greeted back to reality via face to pavement. Her vision blurred momentary as she was sure she heard her helmet crack. Her body screamed in pain, Ruby was sure that something in her body was definitely broken now if not soon to be later.

A heavy hand pulled her up by the scruff of her coat. Silver eyes glazed at the abyssal visor of her attacker.

"Umm, is it too late to ask for mercy … please" begged Ruby.

The man respond by throwing her back down onto the pavement, hard. A strong kick to the ribs stopped her from getting up while pushing her a few meters away. A gobble of blood and spite escaped her throat as it smeared against her mask, clutching the wounded area tightly she tried to crawl away from the man.

A hard stomp to the back stopped her in her tracks and shrill cry came next when more pressure was exerted on the foot.

"Oh god, am I going to die here" asked Ruby to herself as the pressure from her back subsided. The man wrapped his hands around her neck bringing her up to eye level.

"Please, help me symbiote. I don't know if you care about me but I think you'll care if you die as well, so please … help me."

…

…

…

"They will not take us back"

Everything felt wrong, her body it … it was shaking but wasn't her nor her body doing it. Her skin, underneath it, was moving; they may not see it but something was moving and it wanted to get out, now.

Her mouth opened to scream … only for nothing to escape. Her throat did not respond to her bodies commands, instead she felt something trying to crawl its way out. She quickly clamped her mouth as she felt the goo leak into her mouth, seconds passed before her checks were ballooned to their very limits.

Black goo was already spilling from the edges of her lip and nostril with more threatening to come out. Her mouth was quivering from the tsunami of goo forcing its way outside.

The goo outside began to cling onto every bit of flesh it could find, covering from the bottom of her neck to her lower jaw in a thin filament of black goo.

Little tendrils were formed from the the lower jaw, jabbing themselves onto the lower lips. They pulled down with as much force as they could muster. A muffled sound could barely be heard from Ruby's bloated mouth.

"P-Please, stop this, I take back what I said! I can't take anymore, please stop your killing me!"

…

"No, they will not take us away."

Two tendrils erupted from her mouth, each one taking a portion of her jaw and lifting it up. All the pent up goo in her mouth poured with no with end to sight as it grabbed and clung onto everything.

Not even a tear was able to escape as the last thing Ruby saw was her arm reaching out to the man.

"Help me"

xxx

Black goo seeped from underneath Ruby's clothing covering every part of her body. From the helmets cracks the same substance seeped out and oozed over the entire head as it reconnected with the rest.

The armored man released Ruby as the sludge completely encased the girl.

…

…

…

An arm wretched itself out, the petite arm grew right before his eyes becoming larger and more muscular. The human fingers changed and warped into devastating inhuman claws that could no doubt rend flesh in seconds just by the looks.

As the rest of the body began to stand up more and more did it change into something more … monstrous.

The new form was far more muscular and taller than Ruby was previously while retaining that feminine touch of hers. She more resembled a powerful amazonian than the petite girl she was moments ago.

On her torso pockets of white emerged to form a double arc symbol on both sides of her chest.

But her face … that changed. Gone was the motorcycle mask or the face of a terrified child. In its place was something alien. Teeth gushed out of her mouth in dozens of rows, each one as long as an adult's pinky and each one sharp enough to puncture steel with ease. Green spittle dripped from the mouth as a long tongue slithered through the teeth crevices.

The eyes were nothing than two large whites shaped with a slight angular design. But a trained eye could see the slightest twitch in the eye that indicated it as the real deal.

"You will not take us back" the symbiote growled. Both it's hand raced towards the man's neck.

Before the claws could rip his throat the man leaped back as his boots skidded across the pavement. The symbiote charged as it's claws began lengthen to that of knifes.

The man charged at the incoming symbiote. As the claws reached to his mask he ducked downward, putting both his hands onto the pavement, he used the momentum to help bring the ends of his feet directly at the face of the symbiote.

Momentarily stunning the alien he wasted no time. Activating the gauntlets they glowed with a cool orange as the internal dust reactors hummed with life as they supplied energy to the rest of the frame.

He slammed his elbow into the stomach as red dust wreathed over the symbiote. The black goo squirmed in pain as it was launched into a nearby wall.

The symbiote felt it's head ringing loudly as everything around it started at tilt around. Bringing it's hand up a black tendril emerged as it stuck itself onto the ground and pulled the symbiote out of the wall.

The symbiote threw itself to the side at the last moment as a fist embedded itself where the symbiote stood just a second ago. The ground underneath had been reduced to a crater the size and depth of a football.

Two more larger tendrils projected from the symbiotes shoulders with each one sporting a bone like blade at the very end. Both of them striked the man. Each one moving neigh unpredictably and with unrelenting rage.

The man flicked both of his wrist as a small audible click came from both gauntlets. Two nozzles emerged from both sides of his gauntlets. Raising them up he pushed a little aura into them as a stream of ice dust poured out of the nozzles at high velocities.

Instead of stopping the tendrils split themselves into multiple smaller ones as they continued on their course. They were too many for the dust to stop as a few had wrapped around the barrel while the rest dug into the man's armor.

Creaks and cracks could heard as the nozzles began to buckle and the ceramic plates underneath had begun to crack. Turning off the nozzles the man tried to rip the tendrils off his weapons. A strong kick to the head stopped that as he sailed into a wall, breaking it upon contact.

Using another tendril the symbiote grabbed a light post near it. The old concrete and metal holding the post groaned and rumbled as large cracks became visible. With a final heave the symbiote tore the lamp post out of the ground and threw it right where the man laid.

The ground slightly shook as the debris clouds were kicked back up with twice the power. Brick and miscellaneous items falling could be heard as well.

Than there was silence.

The symbiote waited for a few moments, its muscles tense and ready for a moments notice.

…

...

…

Electricity arced across the tendrils still connected to the man. Using the tendrils as the conduit they slide through and into the the symbiote giving the alien a taste of high voltage electrocution.

"EERGHHHHHHHHH"

Dozens of tendrils emerged from the suit as they wriggled in pain. Ripples could be seen across the suit and in certain places the suit became thin enough that actual skin could be seen underneath.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME"

One of the hands grabbed the face and started to pull on it attempting to rip it off. The other hand tried to stop that and pulled against the other arms wrist. Legs was the next to fall as the symbiote began to stumble around with no direction, eventually falling onto the ground with the legs twitching sporadically.

While the symbiote was suffering this breakdown in the rubble rose a familiar look. Portions of his armor looked broken or torn off while his weapons looked somewhat dented. But aside from the that the man looked perfectly fine.

The man began to walk towards the downed symbiote, his gauntlets started glow more brighter as steam raised out of hidden vents. But as he got halfway he stopped.

Bringing two fingers up to where his ears would be he did not move for more than a few minutes. When he brought his fingers down both of his wrist flicked. More clicks and hums could be heard from the machine as the glow died down and the steam started to cease. The gauntlet instead began to change from a warm orange to a light electric blue as arcs of lighting danced around the gauntlet.

He continued his walk towards the symbiote before stopping just a few inches away from the mess that it was. Portions of the suit looked thin as a plastic bag while others looked thick as oak. The solidity of suit was in question as portions of it dripped off before merging back into the body.

"P-Please help me, I can't stop this" gurgled Ruby, trying to reach the man while tendrils projected from her arm pulling her back.

"This won't hurt … much" spoke the man.

Kneeling down to the girl he pulled off the thinner parts of the suit to show the exposed flesh underneath. Bringing up two fingers electricity began to dance around them as he tapped them against the skin.

A gasp a pain leap out of her mouth as her body stopped moving. A dark guttural grow came out next as she kicked him away. The symbiote hissed at him but did not attack.

Getting up, instead of fighting the symbiote it did something unexpected for the alien. He turned and left.

The symbiote did not waste the moment. Finding the nearest manhole it leaped inside, entering the vast maze of tunnels and escaping off to who knows where.

SEWER MAZE

"Get off of ME!"

When the lighting had electrocuted the symbiote it had weaken its control over the body, allowing Ruby to take back control. Unfortunately the armored man decided to do the same thing to her and now the symbiote was back in control. But she knew it wasn't fully back in the driver's seat, that last attack left it more weakened than it realized.

Even now Ruby could feel her own influence slowing winning and betted the symbiote knew as well

From what Ruby could see the symbiote came to a halt as they reached a four way intersection. It sniffed the air as it turned its head at the slightest sounds.

Seeing/hearing nothing of worry the symbiote leaned against the wall and slide back as the it's hands grabbed it's face pulling on it.

"I said, GET OFF OF ME!"

The symbiote attempted to fight Ruby back for control but the girl wasn't having any of that. She was pulling no stops, she ripped the mask off piece by piece till she could see the world through her eyes.

Suddenly the remaining amount clung onto the hands, pulling it towards her face. It used the material in the arm to recover her entire face. The pieces on the ground slithered back to the main body where they assimilated with the rest.

The muffled cries of Ruby rang through the hallway as she tried to pry her hands out of her face. Inside Ruby up to her lower jaw in black goo, even her own hair was drenched in the stuff.

"QUITE" roared the projected face of the symbiote

…

"What are you" Ruby whispered.

"Why does it matter, both our lives are at risk and you care about such trivial things."

"Well sorry such trivial things are bothering you your highness. I'll remember that the next time I have living alien goo inside of me."

"Now do me a favor and . ."

"~Growls~"

The symbiote projection ceased, causing a brief moment of confusion. Suddenly light poured in causing Ruby to wince. She felt the goo around her head recede as she was pushed out slightly.

Eyes adjusting she could see, with her own eyes. Her limbs, she moved them experimentally, they were back in her control. She crawled over to the still water. What she saw was herself, or her face at least, the rest of her body was still wearing the symbiote.

The symbiotes mouth was stretched to inhumane proportions with her own face inside of it.

"Are you pleased"

"Jezz don't that." She felt her skin jump from the change of communication.

"Then how is one to speak if one has no mouth to say anything?"

"Shut up" Ruby took a deep breath as she tried to get her mind straight. Right now she was wearing a living alien that could take over any moment, she was being hunted by some kind government black ops guys, oh and Yang may think she is missing.

So a very shitty day

"Your anxious … worried of something?"

"Yeah no shit Sherlock, fuck, I'm scared out as hell right now. I literally have idea what to do next. Do I go back, risking another encountered with pain glove, or do I stay here, with the alien that could/would take control of my body.

"The alien sounds like a swell person."

"Gee, never thought of that" sarcastically answered Ruby. She laid herself back onto the floor. Taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"Oum, what do I do" whispered Ruby.

…

…

…

"Alright me, first thing to do is get out of here. Then we head straight back to the motel. After that … whatever else life throws at me" declared Ruby. Getting up she looked backed into the water, she had one thing to do before she could go.

Claws brushed against the razor sharp teeth of the symbiote. Swallowing a thick globe of spittle Ruby grasped the ends of the maw. With a heavy grunt she tired to pull the maw apart, but it refused to move as a low rumble tickled her neck.

"Look, I know you don't like it but I can't go as this of all things. Do you have any idea how people will react" reasoned Ruby. "If you don't want those black ops guys coming for you than please let me do what I need to do."

…

The symbiote began to rumble as the skin rippled repeatedly. The consistency of the suit weakened and waned till it more resembled goop than anything else. It shifted around becoming more dense in other areas while thinner in others. Color and shape returned as took form of Ruby's own clothes.

"What the … I … I guess this works. A bit creepy but useful". The ability to change clothes without actually changing was extremely useful as well as helpful on the wallet, however, the knowledge of her clothing was unsettling.

Plus there was the question on where her real clothes were or if they were there to begin with or was she …

Her cheeks brightened as she banish those thoughts from her mind. Nope, she was not going to deal with that now.

Retracing her steps Ruby quickly found the manhole and opened the top with relative ease. A quick sniff pleasantly showed her clothes or in this case the symbiote did not smell foul. With a few minor adjustments to her clothes she began her journey back.

xxx

Ruby felt very lucky that she still had her wallet. Thanks to the help from an old shopkeeper she realized where she was and how to get back as well. It seemed that lady luck was finally giving her some well deserved reimbursement as the bus arrived the same moment she did. Not only that but almost nobody was there so she didn't have to share seats with anybody.

The distance from her hotel to the bus stop was not too long and only took a few minutes. When she arrived yellow tape in amounts that could drown a man greeted her. The bright red/blue lights off the police were glossing over whatever surface it was shined on. There were dozens of police vehicles surrounding the hotel with a few SWAT teams standing outside of the door.

A large crowd formed around the building as SWAT teams were keeping them at bay. Meters away from the crowd we're a few TV vans as their individual anchor men were telling this latest story.

"RUBY" cried out a familiar voice.

Her head quickly became enveloped by her older sister's bountiful assets and air quickly stopped flowing. "Grrr, get your huge ass tits out of my head Yang." Ruby wailed against her jailor for a few moments before the smell of fresh air entered her nostrils.

"Sweet dust Ruby you had me terrified for you. Where in dust name where you" demanded Yang. She clutched Ruby tightly, as if she would disappear into thin air.

"Ack, trying to kill me or something sis". She stomached the pain as her own shoulders felt like they were being crushed. Yang had really bad control over her strength when she became emotional like this.

"I was hungry so I went to grab a bit." There was no doubt better lairs existed out there but for the sake of it working on her dad, Yang, and to an extent Uncle Qrow it was enough.

Yang's posture became less tense and the iron grip on Ruby's shoulders loosened enough for Ruby to break out. The frantic look on her face faded.

"Ruby … I-I-I so scared and ... you know what nevermind. Anyway, it seemed that our room was in the middle of some kind of white fang attack. Luckily nobody got hurt and the hotel gave us our money back for incident" explained Yang.

Whether she hadn't heard it or she did and didn't care Ruby wore a mask of indifference. She nodded to Yang's explanation before voicing her own question. "So we going home now or something?"

"Yeah, let's go Ruby" nodded Yang as the sisters went over to Yang personal motorcycle bumblebee. The two sisters drove through the empty roads of Vale, towards their destination of choice. Each one had their own troubles but kept it to themselves as they traversed the night.

And on Ruby's collar was a small device that blinked in a rather irregular pattern.

Black goo enveloped the device before crushing it.

FIN

So here is the first installment of venomous rose, as for the next chapter it will probably be after cloth & scythe. For now, after this the next chapter of an old power will be coming up (hopefully) soon.

peace

-robotgod456