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?

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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.]

[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?

[solar_flare]

It's gotta be The Bay.

[Unless whatever sicko did this has no intentions of letting Ruby get saved, and is just leading them on a wild goose chase to torture them.]

The water is really shallow there, though. And the message said it was rising. If Ruby's not in The Bay, then she's probably somewhere close by, wherever the water comes from.

[descendsfromshadow]

[Blake frowns a little. The Bay. It seemed... too easy somehow, but the rest of the story is gibberish to her, and the Bay isn't so far that it would put a dent in a three hour time limit.]

It's worth a shot. Let's go.

[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?

[solar_flare]

Yeah!

[Yang thrusts down her arms, her gauntlets extending and clicking as they sheathe her from wrist to elbow. With both fists pointed behind her toward the ground, she fires a double shot to launch herself through the air and propel the angry blonde that much closer to her destination. She already knows Blake can keep up with ease.]

[onecream_fivesugar]

[Oh you know, just shakin' and stuff]

But it's...

[No sense in arguing with her big sister over this. She was relieved to be able to hear her voice. It would be great to see her too but with her phone stuck behind her with her hands, that wasn't really an option right now.]

You're right. everything's going to be fine, everything'sgoingtobefine.

everything'sgoingtobefineeverything'sgoingtobefine.

[She doesn't exactly sound convinced, but she's trying.]

[solar_flare]

[There's a double gunshot from Yang's end as she propels herself up and into the air. Then a thump of boots when she makes her landing.]

There's a surprise waiting for you when you get home. Guess what it is?

[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.]

[descendsfromshadow]

[Without a doubt. Her method isn't quite as explosive or direct as Yang's but it's just as effective. As soon as Yang takes off, she's doing the same, vanishing from where she was and leaving only a shadowy, illusory figure behind her and heads upwards, crisscrossing above the city streets and going at a flat run along ledges when she can.]

[She's still trying to work out what that story could possibly be hinting at when The Bay comes into view.]

[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]

[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!

[solar_flare]

[Yang's just trying to figure out why someone did this in the first place. What's the point? It's not like this person demanded a ransom, and there's nothing Ruby or her friends have that someone could want. Then again, there are some freaking psychopaths running around in this place, so maybe there isn't a reason. She half-suspects a trap.]

I'm going in. Cover me, see if you can spot anything weird from up high!

[Yang bolts through one of the many Archways that leads toward the circle of silver pods. Everything seems normal as far as they're concerned; even the one Yang woke up in with the lid she kicked off clear across the room? Totally new.]

Ruuuuubyyyyyyyy!

[jim_fixes_it]

[Outside, Blake nods and sticks for higher ground, watching for ambush.]

[Meanwhile inside The Bay... nothing. Just the empty pods and the splashing of water as Yang rushes through it. No sign of anybody else. She guessed wrong. Ruby is not there.]

[But her phone beeps again. A text message.]


You didn't really think it was going to be that easy, did you?

- M

[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?"

[no_love_potions]

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

Do you know where you are?

[solar_flare]

[M? Who's M? Is this the same M that hates pizza? Man, now Yang wishes she'd paid more attention to that article. The water sloshes over her boots as she turns around. Someone's watching.]

What's it matter to you?

[Might as well see if he's listening to her too. She thinks about examining the pods...but that's not right. There's no water rising here. Where does this water come from, anyway? It's completely still when she's not splashing around in it, so it can't be pumped in.]

[onecream_fivesugar]

[Ruby's tries to think of something, anything that Yang might have done while she was gone.]

Did you... ungh... [She's a little busy squirming in her bonds right now] hrmm... Bake cookies?