Chapter 38
After the Watts takedown, things have been taking an interesting turn. Starting with the latest paper featuring photos and an article written by Daniel Grimm. But the crazy thing is that it is different from most papers. This one is talking about my recent aggressive behavior with Watts, but they couldn’t possibly think about releasing the paper without getting the full story. Lisa Lavender is known for many things, but not for spreading baseless slander. Checking in at the station, we can see Velvet with Lisa in her office.
Velvet: “What in blazes is up with this paper, Ma’am!? We’re the news, not a tabloid!”
Lisa: “Don’t look at me! I denied this piece in favor of the ongoing Schnee story.”
Velvet: “So then what happened?”
Lisa: “Grimm obviously changed the script. And to think I saw such potential in him.” And as if on cue, he comes in looking really proud of himself.
Grimm: “Hell yeah! Am I good, or what?”
Lisa: “Grimm! What did you do!?”
Grimm: “You denied my piece that revealed the truth of that web headed attention hoarder. So, I switched the approved piece behind the publishers back before it could hit the presses.”
Lisa: “I denied your piece because your articles made her out to be a psycho without any tangible proof. These photos alone don’t at all prove what you're spouting. And in case you haven’t noticed, the public hasn’t exactly reacted well to what is basically speculation that belongs in a gossip tabloid. And now on top of that, you deliberately made the switch behind our backs, obstructing our process and breaching the trust we have in you.”
Grimm: “So what!? She almost killed Centinel back there. I was just revealing that.”
Velvet: “But she didn’t. And saying she’s a menace for it is not our place until we have the full picture from the police investigation.”
Lisa: “Exactly. We don’t have the full story there. But we do have the full story on the man who disrupted due process, caused public hysteria and costs us millions for the coming recall on this article. Scarlatina? You mind getting on that story right away?”
Velvet: “Yes, Ma’am.”
Lisa: “And here’s an extra note for the story for you.” To which she turns back to Grimm. “Your fired! I want you out my station immediately.”
Grimm: “B-But-”
Lisa: “No buts except yours out the door!”
Grimm: ‘Grr... You’ll pay for this. You’ll all pay for this!” As he storms out. The next day, they published the story regarding Grimm’s transgressions after spending the day doing recalls, this new paper also including the story they were supposed to do. And as for me for the last few days, while Weiss is still undergoing the analysis, I have been doing much better at clearing out crime thanks to this suit, being able to take them down much faster and move on to the next without any problems. Though that’s only good for me as Scarlet Spider, but as Ruby Rose, things haven’t been going too well, as there have been times when I’ve been acting a little... out of character. As the days go by, my personality has been gradually getting more and more aggressive. A prime example incoming as Cardin walks by and bump into me.
Ruby: “Hey! Watch where you’re going!”
Cardin: “You tryin’ to pick a fight, pipsqueak?”
Ruby: “And if I am? Or maybe you don’t remember what happened last time.” As I get up in his face. “Want me to jog your memory?” Threatening him with as I raise my fist.
Cardin: “Tch. Whatever.” As he ignores me and walks off.
Ruby: “That’s what I thought.” To which I look through my locker. A little ways away, my friends see it all unfold.
Yang: “This is starting to get out of hand. It's like she’s becoming a different person.”
Blake: “It’s been like this ever since she gained that suit.”
Weiss: “Yeah. About that. I think PENNY finally managed to find something. Though given her current state, I think we should hold off on involving Ruby until we have firmer grasp on what’s going on.” And so, after school, I go on patrol and Blake says she’s got something else to do, but is really joining Weiss and Yang at the lab. “Alright PENNY. What have you found?”
PENNY: “The organism covering Ruby’s suit is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. To find answers, I believe I had to look into company databases. And I believe I finally found what I was looking for in the SDC servers. 5 years ago, the Atlas military discovered something had crashed in the frozen tundra outside of Mantle after entering our atmosphere. In the crater, they found a mass of black gooey tendrils among some metal panels. The SDC was asked to investigate this strange creature they had found. Further analysis of the panels revealed them to contain strange technology, and when pieced together, they appear to form some kind of containment unit. One such panel also contains a screen, the data inside likely contains more accurate info regarding the creature. However, though they were able to find data inside, the date itself is written in a series of symbols completely unknown to any known language throughout Remnants history, both past and present. Considering this and the fact it came from beyond our atmosphere, I believe we may be dealing with an extraterrestrial lifeform.”
Yang: “Whoa, wait. Are you seriously saying that Ruby is wearing... an alien!?”
PENNY: “Correct.”
Blake: “And what can you tell us about this alien?”
PENNY: “Without the cage data, everything they know about it they had to figure out for themselves from their observations during the experiments. On its own the creature is defenseless, thus why seems to thrive from symbiosis via bonding to a living host. Only in this state can it use its full potential. These properties are why the scientists had started calling it a Symbiote.” She shows footage of it bonding to living test subjects, human and animal alike, and when forming around them, it forms the same kind of monstrous dog form as it did when it formed around that dog earlier.
Weiss: “Symbiosis is defined as two organisms working together in beneficial harmony.”
PENNY: “Yes. In this case the Symbiote gains a host to survive, and the host is granted the Symbiotes abilities. Constantly energized, increase in strength, use of its tentacles and even an impressive healing factor. Capable of regenerating severe wounds, but not fatal ones. It can cure simple diseases but can only put especially rare ones in remission. However, the Symbiote seems to be aggressive in nature, making all of its hosts go violent. Resulting in incidents where it attacked the scientists.”
Blake: “That’s not good.”
PENNY: “Fortunately, they have discovered some severe weaknesses. Most commonly being extreme heat, but most notably being high frequency vibrations.”
Yang: “High fre-uh what?”
Blake: “Really, REALLY loud noises.”
PENNY: “Supposedly, the sound weakness is more effective than the fire weakness. Think of sounds like that of a giant church bell or maybe hooking a guitar to the biggest speakers you’ve ever seen.”
Weiss: “Okay. But how did it even get here?”
PENNY: “Mr. Schnee is personally invested in this project and has overseen every experiment. The experiments were even put on hold when he came to Vale. But when the company started taking hits in its reputation in the wake of villains who came from the company, he stayed behind to supervise the PR mop-up. Given the current state of things, he knew he wouldn’t be returning home anytime soon and believed the project to have been delayed long enough. So, he had it transferred here in order to continue. It arrived earlier that day when Ruby and Ms. Schnee went for their study tour.”
Blake: “That coincides with the night she first got it. But how did it end in her bag.”
PENNY: “Like many times before, the Symbiote got loose and attacked one of the scientists while inhabiting a lab animal. But then it switched over to man it was attacking when their struggle killed the lights. By the time they got the lights back on, the man it took over was gone and the dog was left scared. Followed the hallway after, I tracked it in the halls up until the sounded the alarms which caused it pain, forcing it to leave the scientist and into the vents. I can only speculate from here, but the most obvious conclusion is that, as Ruby and Ms. Schnee were being escorted out due to the alarms for their safety, it managed to sneak its way into her bag.”
Blake: “And then bonded with her after we parted ways. It's all making sense now.”
Yang: “So then what do we do about it?”
PENNY: “The only thing we can do is separate them before it's too late. Previous hosts who have been separated from the Symbiote have able to recover and find themselves again after a period of rest afterwards. But if bonded for too, then separation won’t work at all. They'll be too fixated with the Symbiotes power once they’ve fully embraced it. Right now, Ruby seems to be resisting its temptations to an extent, which must be why it's only been adapting to her suit rather than become its monstrous form. But at the rate she’s been changing, it may be long before she fully succumbs to its power.”
Weiss: “Then we need a plan fast.” And that’s when I show up.
Ruby: “A plan for what?”
WBY: “AH!”