2 Cookies Eaten [Action/Audio.]

[onecream_fivesugar]

The next time Yang wants Pop-tarts, she can go and pick them up herself. The last thing Ruby had expected was a bunch of goons to ambush her on way from the store. While Ruby could say that the majority of these guys were going to be spending some time in the hospital after this encounter, she couldn't say that she won either. One of those goons managed to land a land a lucky shot that left her dazed and unable to defend herself from a second shot that knocked her unconscious.

This was the worst day ever.

When Ruby regained consciousness, she was welcomed by a throbbing headache and a pain in her back. The headache was probably thanks to shot that knocked her out and the sore back was probably thanks to the pipe she was tied up to.

...Wait a second... Those thugs tied her to a pipe!?

Normally Ruby would start to run around in circles and panic, but she couldn't do that at that the moment so flailing around against the pipe would have to do. Once she got the initial shock of her situation out of her system she took a few deep breaths and began to look around to see just how bad it really was.

It looked like she was in some sort of underground waterway or sewer. Her hands were tied behind her back. Rope pinned her to the pillar at her ankles, knees and waist. There was a steady stream of water flowing into the room, right now it go over her feet but seemed to be slowly rising. Crescent Rose propped up against a wall a few feet away where she couldn't reach it, great. There also seemed to be a note posted up beside Crescent Rose, it didn't take her long to read it over but by the time she was finished she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

1. Read off that speech and if you deviate from it by a single word you will die immediately.

2. You can talk to anybody but if you even attempt to speculate about where you are, or about who brought you here, you will die immediately.

This is the worst day ever.

Luckily whoever had done this to her had been nice enough to leave her phone in her reach. It took a bit of time thanks her to trembling fingers and not being able to see what she's doing in the first place, but she managed to start up an audio broadcast.

[Audio]

O-once upon a time, Little Red Riding hood was bringing a basket through the woods to grandmother's house. But in these woods were many dangers, and soon she found herself being hunted by the Big Bad Wolf. The little girl ran and ran as fast as she could but try as she might, the Wolf followed her through those dark woods until she had nowhere left to run.

Now the wolf has her and he's brought her all the way back to where her story began, and is getting ready to gobble her up. Unless a brave huntsman can come find her before that happens.

The water is rising and the clock is ticking. Three hours.

Move quickly. There will be no resurrections today, nomatterwhatpriceispaid.

Comments

[Video]

[solar_flare]

[Yang just figured that Ruby was enjoying some shenanigans, meeting new people. That kind of stuff. Ruby can get the Pop-Tarts while Yang works swiftly to decorate their apartment to match the festive style of the town. It'll be a fun surprise when she gets back! But she's getting boooooooored, how long do shenanigans take anyway?]

[Flopped out on the couch, Yang folds her arms behind her head, SIGHing up at the ceiling and tapping her foot. So bored. Then there's a crackle on her radio, and she perks up. Must be Ruby! Or maybe a cute guy just showed up and wants help understanding what's going on. That would be nice! But...there's no picture. Just audio. Yang almost tosses the radio away, until she hears Ruby's voice, and the little tremor of fear.]

Ruby...? What's going on?

[There's no answer. Just a weird story. Yang listens. And FROWNS. She launches herself to her feet and storms out the door. By the time she reaches the stairwell, her hair is blazing, and her eyes are burning scarlet. She kicks the door open, bursting into the streets. Snowflakes sizzle and spark as they touch her fiery aura, and Yang runs full tilt down the street.]

[Where her story began. Has to be The Bay, right? Whoever did this to her is going to burn.]

Audio

[onecream_fivesugar]

[Ruby's breathing heavily after she's finished the little "story," she's absolutely terrified but a little relieved to hear her sisters voice.]

Y-Yang? Yang!

[That's all she can muster at the moment.]

[Video forever even if you're audio forever EAT IT]

[solar_flare]

Hold on, little sis! Blake and I are on our way. What happened? Where are you?

[Video! Because she can do that!]

[onecream_fivesugar]

[Just hearing that puts a little hope back into her situation. She'll grip the phone tightly and accidentally switch it over to video mode.

Unfortunately all Yang can see is Ruby's finger covering the camera.]

I-I got jumped on my way home! I-I-

[She was about to spill all she knew about this place but then remembered what the note said.]

I'msorry!

[solar_flare]

[Oh hey what's up Ruby's finger.]

Don't you apologize, Ruby.

[Yang smiles warmly. Her expression is affectionate, even in spite of the blazing gold hair and the red eyes.]

Everything's going to be okay. You'll see.

[The one who's going to apologize is whichever scumbag had the nerve to do this to her little sister.]

[Action]

[descendsfromshadow]

[Blake hasn't checked her phone yet, so she's not aware that anything is wrong. ... At least right up until she's heading toward the door to the apartment building only to have a wave of heat and light rush past her.]

Yang?

[She knows what that fire means, that and the red light in her eyes, and she's off like a shot on Yang's heels as fast as she can. For Yang to lose her cool like that... something had to be going on.]

Yang! What is it?

[Action]

[solar_flare]

[Yang glances to the side, and there's a flicker of relief on her face to know she's got someone she trusts as her back up.]

Ruby's in trouble. She read off some weird fairy tale over the radio, and it said something about rising water and a time limit of three hours.

[She tosses Blake her communicator, since it's faster than making Blake dig up her own.]

Listen for yourself.

[descendsfromshadow]

[Blake catches the communicator out of the air easily and quickly pulls up the message, listening. The frown on her face deepens as it goes on, until she gets to the end.]

What are you thinking?

[Audio]

[trigram]

[Sofia was doing some reading at home when she heard a ping. Fixing her glasses, she heard Ruby's voice begin to narrate a fairy tale excerpt. From her voice fluctuations, it's obvious she's reading it, and the lack of enthusiasm feels forced. She listened, slowly setting her book aside and put a finger on her lip.

Her eyes narrowed at the last part, and without hesitation Sofia moved. Walking to the window, she jumped and landed on the ground in full armor]

Ruby. Wherever you are, just stay calm.

[She looked around for anyone who might have heard of Ruby's audio. Blake, Yang, or Jaune since she knows they're from the same world]

VI, keep me posted if you see any of those three kids. Boot up the town's maps and highlight sewage entrances and abandoned facilities.

[Audio]

[onecream_fivesugar]

Calm? Me? Oh yeah, Totallycalm! not going to freak out at all.

[Her breathing is kicking into overdrive, she's freaking out.]

[Audio]

[trigram]

Just take deep breaths and think of candy, I'm coming.

[Sofia was speeding up towards the Bay, slowing down for a soft landing. Weapon systems ready and just making a quiet pace inside the Bay. It's hard to be stealthy in this suit. It was never made with subtlety in mind, that's for sure. Dimming the lights on her suit, Sofia kept her eyes peeled and commanding VI to spot anything moving]

[jim_fixes_it]

[And as Yang has discovered, the Bay is totally deserted. Wherever Ruby is, this isn't the right place.

But Sofia will also get an incoming message.]

You as well? None of you are very good at this so far.

- M

[onecream_fivesugar]

Great... Candy... Yeah, Icouldreallygoforsomeofthatrightnow.

[Okay deep breaths Ruby. Deep breaths. Those quick gasps not deep breaths.

...She's getting there, give her a minute.]

[no_love_potions]

[What the...? Harry's quite far out at the moment, working a case in Everglade but literally everything about this message just pings his "bad stuff" radar.]

Ruby? What's going on?

[onecream_fivesugar]

H-Harry!

[Now that Ruby's done with the message she can get back to freaking out. She's breathing heavily and thrashing against her bonds at the moment.]

Y-you could say I'm in trouble right now. Bigtrouble.likeinareallybigpicklekindoftrouble!

[no_love_potions]

Whoah, whoah! Hey. Slow down, take a breath and start over.

Do you know where you are?

[onecream_fivesugar]

[Deep breaths Ruby, you can do this!

...She totally can't do this at the moment.]

I don't know! Some weird tunnely sewer place maybe?

[Wait she's not allowed to make guesses like that.]

Ishouldn'thavesaidthat!

[Back to square one of panic mode.]

[Audio]

[short_n_sweet]

Well, Jaune had been struggling to find new jobs, but his search is interrupted by a message on his communicator that sounds... so terrifyingly cryptic that he doesn't know whether to be scared or just confused. "Ruby?" Jaune had to answer, "Ruby are you there?"

There was no visual, just audio.

"... You're seriously freaking me out with that stuff. What are you doing?"

[onecream_fivesugar]

"Jaune!" Now that Ruby's done with the message she can freak out properly.

"Jaune, I'm here! Somewhere. I'mnotexactlysurewhere." She'll take a few panicked breaths, she was not prepared for this kind of anarchy.

"What am I doing? I'm well I'm a little tied up at the moment. Literally-Likereallyliterally!"

[short_n_sweet]

Jaune kind of furrowed his brow. "Wait, what? Literally? You don't know where you are?" Damnit Ruby, stop talking so fast so he can keep up with you - he's a natural blonde, you know.

"What do you mean? How can you not know where you are? Did you get lost?" Jaune still doesn't get it, as Ruby had been known to freak out about lesser things than being kidnapped.

"Listen, I'm out right now. I was thinking I'd go and see if Harry was still hiring people. Do you know where you are from the Pizzeria?"

[onecream_fivesugar]

Ruby's going to huff in frustration, then she'll try to stop her feet as much much as the ropes will let her. Which will just splash some water around a little.

"Whatareyoueventalkingabout!? I didn't get lost! Jaune, I was literally attacked, I was literally tied to a post in some creepy sewer place, I was literally KIDNAPPED! THISISNOTTHETIMETOBETALKINGABOUTJOBS! "

...She's freaking out man

THE GREAT RUBY RESCUE

[descendsfromshadow]

[OOC: Okay, since everybody's running all over the damn place right now it's probably best to bring everything down here.

With Sofia pinpointing Ruby's location from the air, it's up to our intrepid damsel-savers to find Ruby and bring her home safe! Huzzah!]

Re: THE GREAT RUBY RESCUE

[solar_flare]

[They've got a lock on Ruby's location. Yang marks off about twenty paces away, as she doesn't want to come punching down onto Ruby's poor little pumpkin head.]

Here we go!

[Grinning from ear to ear, she vaults into the air, gold hair blazing anew, and pulls back her fist.]

*Ka-CHEK*

[Like a comet, she punches down, busting through layers of cobbled stone and earth, into a dusty chamber. No water here, no Ruby. One more! Again she kicks up and dives down, crushing through the floor with her fists. Stone and dust rain down on a bunch of raggedly dressed gypsies, interrupting their impromptu musical number as Yang blazes downward into their midst. Still no Ruby. She just hopes Sofia's suit is correct. Trusting in their new ally, she prepares for another strike.]

[This time there's a loud splash and a hiss as Yang plunges headfirst into the freezing water, and comes up with a sputtering cough. It's like ice, practically stealing her breath away as soon as she hits. But at least they're here. Finally! And there's the pipe!]

Ruby!

[Quickly she swims for it, fighting the swirling currents. She considers punching the wall to let the water drain out, but that could also backfire horrifically if she lets more water in.]

Re: THE GREAT RUBY RESCUE

[short_n_sweet]

Well if it wasn't easy to find where he had to go before, Yang's explosions certainly helped tip him off. He was just catching his breath from where he had been running along the river when Yang's utter lack of finesse or tact resounded throughout the city.

"H'oh boy... Okay... guh... C'mon..." Jaune pants, before picking up in a run again to head towards the ruckus.

He pushes himself to run all the way there, spotting the hole in the middle of the street where Yang had clearly barrelled through. "Yang?!" He yells down, but with the rushing water below, he's not sure she can even hear him. Now he's not sure whether to jump down and help. The current looked pretty strong...

Aw man, now he's feeling useless again...

[descendsfromshadow]

The stunned gypsies and Jaune are treated to another sight as Blake drops from up above and straight into the hole in the ground. There's a loud bang as she fires Gambol Shroud and embeds the blade into the stone floor, letting the black ribbon run out behind her. Her teammates were down there, she wasn't leaving them there alone.

She braces herself as best she can but the water still hits like a hundred knives. It's so cold! She clings to the ribbon as the currents rush over her and pulls herself up to the surface, coughing and gasping for air.

Yang's a stronger swimmer and has a headstart but Blake, has the night vision, and she swims forward, still holding onto Gambol Shroud's cord, searching for any sign of the younger girl.

"Ruby! Can you hear us?"