Unwanted Visitors
I head out to pick up my suit from home and change into my usual clothes while I had Ozpin pick up Oscar and Velvet and we all meet up in the Sanctum foyer. Oscar looks absolutely mesmerized.
Oscar: "I can't believe I'm in the Sanctum Sanctorum!"
Ozpin: "Neither can I..." Sounding a little annoyed.
Oscar: "Um... So, how did you know you were a man of magic? Because my Aunt says we have it in our family, and sometimes I get these weird tingles in my hands-"
Ozpin: "I'm just going to stop you right there and suggest you talk to your physician about that."
Ruby: "Guys!" I finally enter the room and hug my friends.
Velvet: "Ruby!"
Ruby: "Oh my gosh. I'm so glad to see you. And I'm really sorry to drag you guys into this but I just really need your help."
Velvet: "Hey, hey. It's alright. Okay? You got us another chance at Beacon. That's more than enough."
Oscar: "But... How exactly did these guys get here?" Ozpin decided to answer while going up the stairs.
Ozpin: "She ruined a spell trying to get you into college."
Velvet: "Wait, what?"
Oscar: "You did it with magic?"
Velvet: "I thought you talked to a representative?"
Ruby: "Uh, no, that was after the magic failed. But that's not important right now! Let's just focus on the good news for now-" Now at the top of the stairs, Oz decides to cut in again.
Ozpin: "No, let's just focus on the bad news: As of now, you have detected ZERO multiversal trespassers, so please just get on your phones... scour the internet and... Mystery Bunch this mess!"
Velvet: "Eheh. You want us to help out, even though it was your spell that got botched. Which means all of this is kind of your problem." He looks down at her a little impressed and offended that she's actually brave enough to tell off an all power sorcerer. "For your information, I myself know a few magic words that you could probably start using yourself, starting with... oh, I don't know... 'please'." A brief awkward silence stays until Ozpin basically gives in.
Ozpin: "Please... Mystery Bunch this mess. You can work in the undercroft."
Oscar: "The undercroft?" When we get down there and turn on the light, it's just a standard basement full of discarded junk and anything used for laundry. "Huh."
Ruby: "Hey, guys. About this whole spell thing-"
Velvet: "Don't worry about that. It's completely fine."
Ruby: "Wait really?"
Velvet: "I get it. You were just trying to help and while I appreciate it, I just hope that next time you try to do something that might... break the universe, you let us know first and we can help you." I just didn't want them to get into anymore trouble from my actions, but now we have bigger problems. Maybe I should've just done that in the first place, though.
Ruby: "Deal. ...Oscar?"
Oscar: "I mean... I honestly don't care. It's really not that big of a deal. I just wish you'd have thought it through first."
Velvet: "But we can worry about that later. Right now we have some work to do. All we gotta do is find these guys, you zap them here, and Professor Wizard sends them back. And when this is all over and we get into Beacon, a round of stale donuts, my treat." The undercroft connects to the Runes of the Maidens and we have a clear view of the four vaults, the two middle ones still holding the Creep creature and tentacle guy. I positioned the two bottom arms to anchor to the ground, just in case.
Oscar: "Let's catch some multiverse men."
Dr. Centinel: "Hey! Who the hell are these two?"
Ruby: "These are my girlfriend, Velvet, and my best friend, Oscar. Guys this is, uh... I'm sorry, I never did get your name."
Dr. Centinel: "Oh, where are my manners. I'm doctor Arthur Watts." Huh. I didn't think he'd answer that easily. Watts: "And your all dead meat when we get out of this!"
Ruby: "Yeah, we'll see about that."
Oscar: "Oh, is that a dinosaur?" The Creep thing is just sitting against the wall, not paying much attention to us. I bring out the suit and look through the cleaning supplies here while Oscar sets up his laptop. I decide to call Yang and tell her all about this while I see if any of these will actually be able to clean the paint off my suit and while Oscar and Velvet search through the web for any clues. I placed the nano unit on the table as it projects the hologram of Watts' arms on a blank silhouette with text saying 'ARM RESTRAINTS ACTIVE. NANO-SUIT OFFLINE'. The conversation eventually leads to me complaining about how nothing I try works to get the paint out.
Yang: "Well, if you can't get it out, then bring it by the shelter, I think I have an idea that might work." Lately, Yang has been working at some homeless shelter called F.E.A.S.T., not a bad place really.
Ruby: "Whoa, hold on. I can't drop by right now. I gotta find these guys first before I do anything else."
Yang: "Okay, then finish your mission and then come by. Until then, maybe you could try wearing it inside out." I can tell she's joking but it still urges me to take a look at the inside. Not the inside is all white with silver details. Not exactly my ideal colors, but it'll have to do.
Ruby: "Huh. That might actually work."
Oscar: "Hey! I think I got something!"
Ruby: "Okay, Sis? I gotta go."
Yang: "Alright, I'll see you later." I hang up and check on Oscar's progress.
Oscar: "Once again, the guy in the chair prevails."
Ruby: "What do we got?"
Oscar: "Reports of a disturbance by a military research facility outside of the city, along with witnesses saying they saw a monster flying by." Okay. Definitely a good start.
Ruby: "That has to be the woman I saw back at the bridge."
Watts: "That's not possible." We all just look towards him but he stays silent, while he is anchored he can still turn sideways, and is currently looking away from us. I decide to get a bit closer and press a bit. Especially about what he said back then.
Ruby: "I already know you know her, since you recognized her back then. I remember you saying her name." He gives in and starts stalking, but refuses to look in my direction.
Watts: "Doctor Cinder Fall. Brilliant scientist who specialized in military research. But she became greedy... and misguided."
Ruby: "What happened to-" He finally faces me enraged and aggressively pointing.
Watts: "WE TIRE OF YOUR QUESTIONS, GIRL!" That honestly got me a little, and we stay silent for a second before we move on.
Ruby: "Okay... I better get going. Where's the facility?"
Watts: "It can't be her." Once again, he's confusing us with these statements. Velvet's the only one to ask for curiosities sake.
Velvet: "Why?"
Watts: "Because Cinder Fall is dead. She's been dead for a couple of years now. So either that was someone else... or you're flying out into a void to fight a ghost." Once I suit up in my suit inside out, along with the suits cape too, and equip the magic shooter, I head out for the facility. Heading outside of the city, I swing through a forest full of power line as the sun sets. I taped my phone to me just above my chest with the video chat on for Oscar and Velvet to have eyes on the field and help.
Velvet: "Best we keep an eye out on those trees, since we don't know where she might be." I continue on through the forest. "I honestly don't know how you can do this so much without puking." I decide to land once it gets dark and move on foot a little slow to better defend myself to a potential ambush. As I'm moving I feel a slight tingle in my Spider Sense to which I look to my left and find nothing there but I couldn't sworn I saw something move...
Ruby: "Did you guys see that?"
Velvet: "Uh... No."
Oscar: "It's way too dark." I get it again to look behind me, but I see nothing there. I take I couple more steps deeper before I start feeling a much stronger sense behind me and I start hearing some strange crackles and whirring. "Ruby, what's happening?" Then I notice that the magic shooter starts glowing.
Velvet: "Are you getting that sense thingy? Are you sensing something? What's going on?" Then I turn around and find a humanoid shape made of black electricity manifesting from the power cables hanging above. It appears to be more male-ish compared to Cinder.
Ruby: "Are you guys seeing this?"
Velvet: "Yeah..."
Oscar: "Cinder?"
Ruby: "No. She was red with glider. This guy's black with electricity." It might be pointless to ask, and I'm not even sure if he can hear me, but I decide to try. "Hey, uh... You wouldn't happen to be from another universe, would you?" He doesn't answer and just stays up there.
Velvet: "What is he doing?"
Ruby: "I think he might be charging."
Velvet: "I don't like the look of this. Just go for it!" I try to hit him with a shot from my magic shooter... but it just goes right through him and hits a tree instead, which ends up in hall entrance left of the vaults which Ozpin seems to have also covered with barriers on top of them being blocked off by rubble. He finally opens his eyes, which glow white, and looks down at me when he fires off beams of electricity from his hands, which also appears white rather than black like his body. I constantly jump and swing around to avoid his attacks, all while Oscar and Velvet argue about which way for me to go.
Oscar: "Ruby! Left! Go left!"
Velvet: "Wait, no. Right! Go right!"
Ruby: "Guys! This is not HELPING!" This guy then appears before all of a sudden and zaps me out of the air. Afterwards, I can't hear their voices anymore. Back at the Sanctum, Oscar's laptop screen shows static as they worry about me. Guy must've shorted out my phone! I look up to see him in the air and he fires a beam along the ground coming my way, but then a strange wall appears before me and protects me. A wall made of... sand? Then the shape of a very muscular man's upper body with short hair and a beard emerges from the wall and starts talking to me.
Hazel: "Ruby, it's me. Hazel Rainart. You remember me?" Guess this guy's from another universe too.
Ruby: "Uh, I am Ruby Rose, but I'm not the one you know."
Hazel: "What do you mean 'not the one I know'? What the hell is going on?"
Ruby: "I promise I'll explain everything. But first, can you help me stop his guy?"
Hazel: "Okay." Well, he agreed rather quick! But now's not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Ruby: "Cool. You surround and blind him while I pull the plug. Now let's go!" I did notice that all of his power seems to be from him drawing electricity from the cables. So Hazel forms a twister of sand to keep him occupied when pull a couple of cables from one of the towers and then reach the top of it.
Hazel: "I can't... hold him much longer!" I can faintly see his face in the storm as he says that before it disappears. Then I just web as many plugs as I can all at once before I pull with all my strength to unplug them all. Afterwards, I land on the ground, Hazel backs off, and our opponent slowly descends to the ground. I take off my hood and mask and catch my breath. "Different Ruby, huh? Little weird, but not the weirdest thing I've seen." As he forms himself into a more humanoid shape to my right. Tall, very muscular, and there rivets in his sandy form to indicate clothes are included in this shape.
Ruby: "Thanks for that." I give him a low-five but end up breaking his hand off. *Gasp!*"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"
Hazel: "Whoa, whoa. Hey. Don't worry about it. Okay? This happens all the time." He reforms his hand right before me. "See? I'm fine."
Ruby: "Oh, thank goodness..." Then I notice our electric friend here. His form seems to have completely solidified into a human body. A light skinned boy with wild grey hair... and is completely naked. He looks around in confusion of his surroundings but then looks at his hand with a look of realization.
Electro: "I've got my body back." Now's probably a better time than any to try and talk with him properly.
Ruby: "Excuse me. Um... This may sound a little hard to believe, but uh... this isn't your universe."
Electro: "Not my universe?"
Ruby: "Uh-huh."
Hazel: "What?"
Electro: "So that's what this feeling is... It's because the powers different... I kinda like it." His face shows a mischievous grin and some sparks can be seen in his eyes.
Hazel: "Easy there, pal."
Ruby: "It's actually kinda my fault that your here."
Electro: "Here as in the universe? Or the woods? Cause I'm actually not too fond of the woods."
Ruby: "Uh, I meant the universe, mister...?"
Mercury: "Mercury Black. And are either of you gonna get me some clothes or are you just stand there and keep pretending I'm not the only out here just straight up naked?"
Hazel: "I am." Well, he certainly didn't hesitate! But as me, I need to come up with something.
Ruby: "Ah! No! That's uh... Um..." I look around a notice some kind of station nearby. "I'll be right back." I head over there and find it's some kind of security booth. The constant use of Mercury's powers took out the power and so the security lock has been disabled, allowing me to enter. Inside, I find a duffle bag full of spare clothes. Must belong to whoever runs this booth. "Sorry about this, whoever this belongs too, but this is an emergency." I grab the bag and bring it over to Mercury. "Here. I've got something. Put these on." He looks through it and just nods in semi satisfaction before putting them on. Some black pants, a blue v-neck t-shirt, a black hoodless jacket and even some black shoes with grey tips.
Mercury: "It'll have to go for now, but thanks."
Ruby: "You're welcome." But of course, I remember what I'm supposed to do. "And I'm sorry."
Mercury: "For what?"
Ruby: "For this." Then I magic web him to the Sanctum. He ends up in the vault to Watts' left, and some lights flicker for a second when he shows up.
Mercury: "Hey! What the hell!?" He starts looking around and when he see's Watts, Watts just waves at him. Back in the forest, Hazel is understandably alarmed by what I just did.
Hazel: "What was that? What did you just do to him?" Sounding a little angry.
Ruby: "Whoa! Hey, it's okay."
Hazel: "Did you kill him!?" The anger is rising!
Ruby: "Nononono! It's okay. I said I would explain everything, you just have to trust me. Please just trust me!" Him balling up his fist as his anger continues to grow doesn't go unnoticed.
Hazel: "I don't trust you! I don't know you!" He moves to punch me but I zap him to the Sanctum too in a panic. He ends up in the vault to the Creep things right and hits his head on the barrier before giving it a few hits in an escape attempt. "Argh! What the-!? What is this?"
Mercury: *chuckle*"You picked the wrong side, that's what." Then the Creep thing gives an slight evil laugh, to which Mercury finally notices him... and seems to recognize him. "Merlot?" He finishes up his laughter after being called out like that. Watts looks over to Mercury with curiosity.
Watts: "Hold up. You know this... strange creature."
Mercury: "Kind of, but he's not a creature. He's a man." Oscar and Velvet look and whisper to each other in shock of this development.
Oscar: "Whoa! Same universes." They look back to the captives.
Mercury: "Doctor Dave Merlot. He was a scientist at Fall Industries when I worked there. And a brilliant one too. But then he turned himself into a Creep, followed up by trying to turn the whole city into Creeps. It was insane." This is when Merlot finally lets himself be heard.
Merlot: "It wasn't insane, Black. It was the next step in human evolution." Oscar and Velvet continue to whisper in the background.
Oscar: "The dinosaur can talk!?"
Velvet: "Creep."
Oscar: "Right, right. Sorry."
Merlot: "Speaking of which, what happened to you? Last I checked, you had bad teeth, glasses and a bowl cut. Did you get a makeover?" Then he starts sounding more sinister. "You know, I can give you a real makeover..."
Mercury: "Let me guess... Into a Creep?"
Merlot: "Exactly!" Hazel decides he's had enough of this reunion, obviously wanting answers.
Hazel: "Would you two just shut up! Where are we?"
Oscar: "It's complicated-"
Velvet: "A wizards dungeon." I mean, she's right.
Mercury: "I'm sorry. A wizard dungeon?"
Velvet: "Can't exactly sugarcoat that. This is literally the dungeon of an all powerful sorcerer." Watts tilts his head side to side in a way that says 'yeah, that pretty much sums it up'.
Mercury: "Well, you can keep your hocus pocus." He looks at his hands as he sparks up a little electricity. "I want more of that new power I just felt." The lights flicker again as he channels his powers. Thankfully these barriers don't run on electricity, so their not going anywhere. Back in the forest, I spent that whole time tinkering with my phone to get it back on and eventually I did, and immediately called Velvet.
Velvet: "Ruby! Thank God, your okay!"
Ruby: "Yeah, I'm fine. But more importantly: did those guys come through? There should be an electric guy and a sand guy."
Velvet: "Yeah. Their all locked and just talking to entertain themselves."
Ruby: "Okay, good. I'm just gonna stay here for a minute and fix some of this damage so I don't get blamed for it again."
Velvet: "Alright."
Ruby: "Oh, and um... I couldn't have done any of this without you, so... thank you."
Velvet: "Anytime." Then Oscar chimes in after looking at the tree I accidentally shot.
Oscar: "Hey. Ask her if this is some kind of tree monster, or maybe a scientist that turned into a tree." Mercury answers that for him, clearly not impressed with sense of observation.
Mercury: "It's just a tree, dude. Okay? She accidentally shot that first." Meanwhile, by a dumpster in an alleyway, the woman known as Cinder Fall is on her knees covering up her glider with thrown out blankets, while she perched her demonic mask on the corner of the dumpster behind her. Under that mask was a beautiful face with golden eyes and short black hair that covered her left eye. As she's covering the glider, she's starting to hear a more sinister yet seductive version of her own voice in her head.
Red S. "Aw. What's wrong? Are you afraid of our news circumstances? The way I see it, we now have a new opportunity at conquering a new world. And yet... you want to hide in fear from it? This is why you disgust me!" Cinder turns to face the mask, her brain associating it as the face of this other side of her. When she actually speaks, she sounds more... scared and timid.
Cinder: "Please... Just leave me alone..."
Red S.: "All you're doing is just hiding in the shadows... Hiding from who you really are!"
Cinder: "No!"
Red S.: "But let's face it... I'm a part of you whether you like it or not. There's no escaping yourself!" Cinder grabs a nearby piece of rock and smashes the mask to pieces! The Succubuses evil laugh is the last thing Cinder hears from her as she walks away. But will she really just disappear that easily?