[RWBY] Secure. Contain. Protect.

[Joss Jamon]

The elevator descended in silence broken only by the soft hum of machinery and the occasional shift of boots on metal. Blindfolds pressed tight against eight pairs of eyes. The fabric itched. The air smelled of recycled oxygen and something faintly chemical.

Ruby shifted her weight. "Are… these necessary?"

"But of course," came Gemma's calm voice from somewhere to her left. "Grimm research is a big deal."

Gila's lower, rougher tone followed. "Can't let anyone blab anything."

Yang tugged at the edge of her blindfold. "They're super itchy."

"Tough."

"Our boss picked them," Gemma added, almost cheerfully.

A pause. Then Jaune's voice, uncertain. "Why does mine smell? Like bad cologne."

Blake answered without missing a beat. "Bad cologne mixed with a scent of people who didn't wash themselves for a long time."

Gila made a small, embarrassed sound. "Sorry. That was meant for the Schnee."

Weiss's outrage cut through the dark. "Excuse you!?"

"Ladies, please," Jaune said quickly. "No need to raise the temperature. I'm sure it is going to be worth it in the end."

Professor Oobleck's rapid, precise voice filled the small space. "A mature assumption, Mister Arc! The life of a Hunter in general is harsh, so we shall remain stoic. And the chance you have today is indeed a unique one."

"Thank you, sir."

The elevator chimed. A soft hydraulic sigh as the doors opened.

"We're here," Gemma said. "Everyone disembark. You can remove the blindfolds."

Light flooded in—bright, clinical, almost too clean. The blindfolds came off in a flurry of relieved groans. Yang rubbed at her eyes and the roots of her hair. "Urgh, finally. These things have almost ruined my hair…"

Gila smirked. "Maybe you should have gotten the bad-smelling one."

The corridor beyond was reinforced concrete and polished alloy, but living green plants grew in recessed planters fed by clear tubes of recycled water. White and orange walls caught the overhead lights and threw them back without shadow. For a frontier research bunker, it felt almost comfortable.

Nora whistled low. "Wow. You have a comfy place down here. Didn't expect it from a bunker."

"Our job pays well," Gemma replied.

Oobleck adjusted his glasses, already moving forward at his usual rapid clip. "The De Leon Institute is a leader in the sphere of Grimm research, and this facility is one of its largest. They pay fairly well here—both research personnel and security teams, which quite often include Hunters."

Gila's smile was thin. "Including you eight."

Yang's eyebrows rose. "Paid how much?"

Gemma leaned in and whispered a number. Yang's expression shifted through surprise into something more complicated. "…Oh wow. But you still have to be out in the wilds…"

A new voice answered from further down the corridor, dry and precise.

"And that makes the payment worthwhile, Miss Xiao-Long."

They turned. A man approached with measured steps, vibrant red hair bright against the white of his lab coat. Every other step produced a soft, deliberate clack of cane against the floor. Doctor Abraham List stopped a polite distance away and regarded them with eyes that gave away very little.

"Greetings, Doctor," Oobleck said warmly.

"Greetings, Doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Oobleck gestured with both hands. "Team RWBY, Team JNPR—allow me to introduce you. Doctor Abraham List. It will take a while for me to name even a fraction of his accomplishments, but know that he is a great man of science."

Yang's lips twitched. The thought formed almost automatically: So does this mean he has a long… List of achievements?

Ruby caught the look and groaned under her breath. "I know what you're thinking, Yang."

Weiss didn't even glance over. "We all do."

Jaune, ever helpful, added, "I thought it was funny."

List's expression did not change. "Never heard that one before, either."

Yang, undeterred, spelled it out. "Your family name is List. The list of your accomplishments is a long one. So it will take a while to-"

Gemma clapped a hand over her mouth. "Don't."

The doctor's gaze settled on Yang. The temperature in the corridor seemed to drop several degrees. Everyone felt it. Weiss rubbed her arms.

"Is it just me," she murmured, "or did it get colder in here?"

Ren answered evenly. "The facility has fairly good ventilation from what it seems and feels, so we may have indeed felt colder after exiting the elevator."

List turned without further comment. "Follow me."

He led them deeper.

The containment wing stretched in long, parallel rows of reinforced glass and alloy. Most of the cells held familiar shapes—Beowolves, Ursai, a pair of juvenile Nevermores—but many of them glowed from within. Dust had been absorbed into their bodies, tracing luminous veins of red, blue, and green beneath black hide. The creatures moved slowly, almost lethargically, under the constant low thrum of sonic emitters.

Weiss kept her arms folded tight. "Not going to lie, this much Grimm in one area makes me nervous."

"Understandable, Ms. Schnee." List's cane tapped once against the floor. "Let me assure you that we keep them all under constant watch and our security is top notch. The sonic defense system keeps them docile. And if they get out of hand, we have you, security, and Dust projectors inside the cells which we can use to eliminate them."

Ruby tilted her head, curiosity winning out over caution. "I may be sticking my nose where I shouldn't, but how are these safety measures activated?"

"Our security teams monitor the situation around the clock. Multiple alarm buttons within reach. Security doors that can be shut to isolate compromised areas—manually or automatically. Along with the air vents, of course."

Yang looked around at the scale of the place. "All this from a grant?"

"Several grants," List corrected, "as well as commercial contracts for experimentation with new anti-Grimm technologies."

Blake's voice was quiet. "Commercial contracts? From whom?"

"Multiple companies. Military. Construction. You name it."

Weiss's eyes narrowed. "Does that include my father?"

After a long silence, List simply said, "Yes."

Weiss rubbed her forehead. "I'm not surprised."

List continued walking. "There is one Grimm, however, that we keep heavily detained."

Oobleck's expression sharpened. "And the reason I and we are here…"

The final cell was different.

Thicker glass. Additional alloy bars. The entire unit nested inside a further steel block that could, if necessary, seal completely. The thing inside stood perfectly still.

It was almost humanoid—taller than a man, limbs long and elegant in a way that felt wrong. Tall pointed ears rose from a smooth, featureless head. A feline tail curled once behind it and lay still. Its eyes glowed a deep, constant red. It did not pace. It did not test the glass. It simply watched them.

Ruby's voice came out smaller than usual. "Urgh… It's… looking at us…"

"Yes." List's tone remained clinical. "It was in stasis for quite some time. We've kept it bound. Its behavior is so far unusual for a Grimm that's been dormant for so long."

Pyrrha stepped half a pace closer to Jaune without seeming to realize it. "Excuse me, but is it actually safe for us to be around it?"

"At the moment," List said, "we're not sure. That's why I asked for Huntsmen and Huntresses in addition to Oobleck."

The Grimm's gaze never wavered.

Jaune shifted left, then right. The red eyes tracked him with perfect precision. Ruby, almost experimentally, jumped in place. The creature's head tilted the exact same amount. She did it again, a little higher. It followed.

"This is actually kind of fun," she said, and immediately looked like she regretted the words.

Weiss's face was pale. "It's disturbing…"

List placed the head of his cane gently but firmly on Ruby's crown, stopping the next bounce. "No more of that. Please."

Yang stared at the thing behind the glass. "Actually—why was a Grimm in a tomb? Who put it there and why?"

List glanced at Oobleck. "Bart?"

Oobleck's hands moved as he spoke, rapid and precise. "There are Grimm who take shelter in human ruins, as a base or a warren. Some go into hibernation in these areas if no humans are around for a long time. There are also instances of humans sealing away very dangerous Grimm in tombs if they were unable to kill it, though this is extremely rare."

"Also doesn't fit what we saw," List added. "The Grimm was purposely encased in a sarcophagus."

Oobleck hummed. "Unusual…"

Ren's voice was quiet. "Purposefully?"

"Yes. As though the Grimm was already dormant when it was sealed up."

Blake's ears had flattened slightly. "Is that even possible? Surely it would have woken up due to humans being nearby."

"That's one of the questions I'm hoping Bart can answer for us."

Nora, never one for caution, stepped closer and tapped the glass three times with one knuckle.

Jaune's voice cracked. "Nora!"

The Grimm's ears twitched. Once. Twice. Thrice. Exactly.

Nora's eyes went wide. "Hold it—its ears responded to me tapping the glass! The exact same amount I tapped on it!"

List's cane came up without a word, the ferrule stopping an inch from Nora's chest. "Step away from the glass, please."

Blake spoke into the sudden tension. "Ozpin said it was a training mission."

List's expression finally shifted—something close to dry contempt. "Ozpin? The same Ozpin that assigns teams by having them hunt chess pieces in a forest filled with Grimm despite having little to no training experience? Even for someone of my emotional range, that's cold."

A few of them tried to laugh. The sound died quickly.

Later, in the Spartan sleeping quarters—narrow beds, utilitarian lockers, a few hardy decorative plants under grow-lights—exhaustion finally caught up. Nora face-planted onto her mattress and declared she had died and gone to whatever the good afterlife was called. Ruby managed a sleepy "Lots of oxygen" about the plants before her eyes closed. Yang carried her the last few steps. Ren did the same for Nora. Gemma and Gila left them with quiet instructions to make themselves at home.

Sleep came easily.

For Ruby it did not stay easy.

Something vast and dark pressed against the edges of her mind—hungry, patient, older than the kingdoms. It reached for her the way a hand reaches for a candle flame. A silver shield rose between them without her willing it. The darkness recoiled, hissing without sound. She woke up with a start.

Red emergency lights pulsed overhead. An alarm wailed somewhere distant, low and continuous.

The bunk room was empty.

Ruby sat up slowly. "Wha… What? What's going on?"

No answer. Beds were still made or thrown open in haste. Gear was missing. The air felt colder than it had any right to.

She dressed in silence, Crescent Rose a familiar weight across her back, and stepped into the corridor. Empty. The red lights painted everything the color of old blood. Somewhere far off, something metallic clanged and then went silent.

Then she heard the crying.

She followed it around a corner and found Yang curled against the wall like a child, arms wrapped around her knees, face buried, shoulders shaking with sobs that sounded far too small for her frame.

"Yang…?"

Yang's head jerked up. Her eyes were wide and wet and wrong. "Go away…"

Ruby took a step closer. "What?"

"G-Go away…!"

"Yang—" Ruby reached out.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Ruby flinched back as if struck.

Bootsteps. Three security officers rounded the far end of the hall, weapons already raised. Their faces were blank in the strobing red light.

The first one spoke without inflection. "The Child."

The second: "Kill her."

The third: "For the Shadow."

They raised their rifles.

Before Ruby could move, the rearmost guard jerked. A length of bloody steel erupted from his chest. He made a wet, surprised sound and collapsed. The lights flickered and died.

In the sudden dark a golden Aura flared like a second sun. Something armored and screaming tore into the remaining two men with a savagery that belonged to no Huntsman Ruby had ever trained with. Gunfire cracked point-blank and did nothing. When the emergency lights stuttered back to life, Jaune stood over the bodies, breathing in ragged animal gasps, covered in blood that was not his own. His eyes found Ruby and Yang and showed no recognition—only hunger.

Yang curled tighter and sobbed. "P-Please… Don't…!"

Jaune advanced.

Ruby's hands found Crescent Rose. She had beaten him in sparring a dozen times. She told herself that as she brought the scythe up. An Aura slash tore past her, gouging deep furrows in the reinforced wall. She barely dragged Yang clear. The force of it was wrong. Jaune had never hit like that.

"Snap out of it!" she shouted, and managed a solid strike across his guard.

He barely noticed. One gauntleted hand locked around Crescent Rose's shaft, wrenched it away, and slammed her back against the wall. The edge of Crocea Mors kissed her throat.

Ruby's breath came in thin, terrified pulls. "Jaune… Please…"

Her eyes ignited silver.

Jaune froze. The animal rage drained out of his face in a single stunned second.

"R-Ruby?"

She swallowed. "Jaune…"

He staggered back, looking at the blood on his hands, at the bodies, at the sword still in his grip. "I… Wha… What happened…?"

"You went berserk!"

He stared at the corpses again. "Oh… Breaker…" The word came out broken. He turned, stumbled into the nearest washroom, and was violently sick.

Ruby stayed with Yang until the worst of the shaking passed, then followed. Jaune was scrubbing his hands and face with mechanical intensity under the cold water, refusing to meet his own reflection.

"We have to go after her," Ruby said quietly when he finally looked up. Yang had fled during the fight.

Jaune's voice was hollow. "Yeah… Yeah… Just… I…" He shook his head once, hard. "Yeah."

They moved together through corridors that felt larger and emptier than before. More bodies. All of them were cut down by a sword. Jaune stopped each time, face gray, until Ruby pulled him onward.

They found Yang in a small indoor garden, crouched beneath a slender tree whose leaves trembled under artificial light. She was still whispering the same broken pleas.

"Please… Don't hurt me… Don't hurt my sister… Please…!"

Three more controlled guards appeared at the far entrance and opened fire without warning. Jaune moved first, shield up, body between the rounds and the sisters. Ruby reached Yang. Yang looked at her without recognition at first, then with desperate, childlike relief.

"R-Ruby… Where's Ruby…?"

"I'm right here."

A grenade detonated against Jaune's shield and threw him back. He shouted for them to run. They did. More corridors. More gunfire. A Dust round punched through Ruby's Aura and spun her. Another clipped Yang. Silver light flared again—and something in Yang's expression finally broke free of the terror. Rage replaced it.

She hit the remaining guards like a storm. Jaune followed a half-second later, still not striking to kill, only to stop. When it was over, one surviving guard lay on the floor pleading for his life, eyes fixed on Jaune in pure horror.

"I don't know what happened… It was like a shadow over my brain… It told me to start shooting… To kill you… Get away from me! You murdered my friends! You—You monster!"

Jaune flinched as if struck. Yang stepped between them, breathing hard.

"That's enough. Look… Something freaky is going on, and it's not his fault."

Ruby nodded, still catching her breath. "Yeah. We gotta figure out what's going on."

The guard wanted no part of further help. He gave them the barest directions—directory maps like the ones in commercial malls—and fled toward the wounded. Yang insisted they clean the blood off first. In a utilitarian bathroom Jaune scrubbed until his skin was raw while Yang held his wrist and told him, quietly, that it hadn't been him. He didn't believe her. Neither sister had an answer when he whispered that he had almost killed them both.

Ruby watched the water run red, then clear.

"Did the Grimm have something to do with that?" she asked finally. "The power, I mean."

Yang's voice was low. "Look, why would the Grimm make me… some scared little girl and Jaune a berserker?"

Ruby met her sister's eyes in the mirror. The emergency lights still pulsed somewhere beyond the door. The facility felt vast and listening.

"I don't know," she said. "But I think Dr. List knows. Or has an idea."