This chapter was fun to write.
I don't own RWBY
Skye
The sky was black and starry.
Tak tak
It was time to water the flowers. Sykes left the bar through the front entrance with a watering can in his hand.
In front of the bar was a street with only one streetlight. Strangely, the street only extended until the end of the bar building, stopping there to drop into an infinite abyss.
This didn't elicit any response from Sykes, after all, he lives here.
On the other side of the street was a 8-foot tall hedge with five-pointed flowers of all colors peppered on it. In the middle of the hedge was an opening, rounded at the top.
Sykes went through.
Four rectangular plots, placed in the 4 corners of the square space surrounded by hedges, were all growing the same flowers as on the hedges. The flowers bordering the edge near the hedges seemed to connect to the hedges with vines. Perhaps all the flowers are part of one single organism. Who knows.
...
After carefully watering all the flowers, Sykes went back across the street, but did not enter the bar. Instead, he stayed on the roofed porch with two outdoor tables that was immediately outside the entrance.
He put down the watering can on one of the tables, then picked up a strange metallic badge that was laying on the table beforehand. It was in the shape of a pentagonal shield, with a very apparent 'S' emblazoned on the front that was so large the tips came off the badge a little. Other than that, it had many, many strange scripts written all over it, including the back.
Sykes stared at it for a minute before clipping it onto his coat, easily seen to the world.
"It's time to go, I guess." He said aloud to no one in particular.
Sykes let out a long sigh, before running his fingers through his hair.
He then simply popped out of existence.
...
The only streetlamp turned off.
-Break-
An undisclosed location, somewhere in the city of Vale
The boss is pissed. Like really pissed.
Apparently the girl he was with betrayed him on a Dust raid.
Now I have to deal with the consequences. Guard duty, now that we are down a couple men thanks to his rage.
Bitch.
...
Crash!
Ah, another one down-
Huh?
A human?
Where in the blazes did he come from?
As if he heard my thoughts, he turned to look at me.
And just stared.
Wait a minute… white hair? That badge, it has an 'S' on it as well.
A Schnee?
What a lucky day!
"Hey boys! Looks like we got a Schnee wandering around at this hour! Lets offer him to the boss!"
Five other guys seemed to have agreed and grouped up with me.
We walked over the the Schnee.
-Shift-
Sykes was confused.
He wanted to teleport to where Markus was.
Well, I guess he will have to make do with the letter. He'll probably text me asking for help soon anyways.
Sykes was going to see where he could find this Roman. He was about to step forward, but he felt someone's presence. From what he could tell, the man had some strange mask on.
Where in the blazes did he come from?
Huh, the man with the strange mask is thinking about me. I wonder what he wants.
"Hey boys! Looks like we got a Schnee wandering around at this hour! Lets offer him to the boss!"
Sykes crossed his arms and tilted his head to the left.
What is a Schnee? Do they mean Skye?
The man started approaching Sykes, with five other people around him. Now that Sykes could get a better look at them, he noticed that they all were armed with either rifles or swords.
Strangely, some had tails from various animals.
How odd.
The group surrounded him easily, as Sykes was too busy scrutinizing them to care about moving.
The people aimed whatever weapon they had at him. "Human, if you want to even think about living for another minute, you will come with us." The first man said.
Sykes pondered on what to do.
He made a decision
"No."
Then he lifted up his leg and stomped on the ground. At the exact same time his foot hit the ground, he disappeared, kicking up a couple small clouds of dust where he once was.
The grunts were stumped.
I'm not paid enough for this shit.
-Break-
I've been walking for 5 hours now and I'm still in this damn forest.
It's like 8 pm.
Will I trapped here forever?
Is this the real hell?
Sykes hasn't responded to my cries for help.
Has he abandoned me?
Vrrrr
My scroll?
Click
A text!
Will Sykes use his bullshittery to get me out of here?
Only if you help me with my mission.
Well, it's not like I was planning to do anything else.
I texted back.
Fine.
Immediately after I sent the text, he texted back.
Good. We are looking for a Roman Torchwick.
Roman..? What does he need that guy for?
To send him to Skye. Now close your eyes.
I forgot he could read minds.
I should ask about Roman when I meet him.
I closed my eyes.
…
…
…
…
Is something going to happen or- WOAH!
When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted with the mug of Sykes and we were somewhere in the city. He had his head tilted for some reason, as if he was pondering his existence.
"What were you closing your eyes for?" He spoke up. "You look stupid."
"Y-you told me to!"
"I did not." This bastard.
I took out my scroll to smash him with hard facts via the text app.
"See! Right here…"
To send him to Skye. Now blink.
…
"Sykes, you are a real bastard."
For the first time since I saw him, he cracked a smile.
"Anyways-" He was unable to finish that thought.
CRAK!
Sykes looked down. He saw a leg stemming from myself finding a nice home for itself in between his legs.
Sykes didn't react.
"OWWWWWWW! WHAT THE HELL!" Pain lanced all throughout my body. You'd think it would be kept local to my shin, but no, everything hurt.
Is this divine retribution?
"Your divinity was just depleted and I think you broke your shin." Gee, thanks.
"Do you, hisss, wear some sort of, hisss, steel cup!?" My shin was turning blue. Tears were coming out of my eyes. That probably isn't good.
"Uhh, no? You're just weak as shit. Drink more milk." The honesty hurt even more than the pain did. "Here, quit your whining." Sykes snapped his fingers. Suddenly, everything was okay again. It was as if I went back in time by a minute. Previously, I was hopping on one leg and holding onto my other, but now I was just standing straight.
Ah, the bullshit aside, that reminds me.
"Oh, yeah, what exactly are you?" No normal person could run an afterlife bar and seemingly bend time and space, right? "What exactly can you do?" Is he some sort of god?
"That is a secret." Why though? "Because I don't feel like telling you."
Great.
"As for what I can do, it'll do you well to assume in most situations: Yes, I can do it."
Are you saying you can do anything?
"Something like that, yeah."
Do you think you could, wel-
"Anyways, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted," He cut off my thought. I didn't even know you coul- "We are looking for Roman Torchwick because, he, like you, is a Fatebreaker."
Fatebreaker?
"Those rulebreakers I told you about in the bar."
That is a way cooler name than just rulebreakers.
"It is." Sykes stopped talking and looked around. "We need to go. People are looking at you strangely for staring at a guy who is talking to himself from two feet away."
Oh, that's right, this is a public place.
Sykes turned around and started walking, probably assuming I would follow. Unfortunately, I caught on to his intentions a bit too late.
"Hey, wait up!"
-Break-
Some cafe, somewhere. 9 pm.
Sykes and I was sitting at an outdoor table.
I ordered a coffee. Sykes pulled out a thermos from his coat and poured it into a fancy cup and saucer that also happened to be in his coat.
He opened his mouth to speak.
"So, did you summon a weapon in the forest?"
"No." But you probably already knew that, didn't you.
"I did, but I'm trying to work on my human interaction skills." He seemed to remember something. "Do you even have money to pay for that coffee?"
Oh. I knew I was forgetting something.
Well, whatever.
"Now I get the feeling that you are going to give me the rundown on what you expect me to do to help you, right?"
Sykes raised an eyebrow. Although, he doesn't have any.
"Well, yes."
"Before that, enlighten me." This was on my mind for a while. "Why do you even bother with rounding up people like me? If what you said in the bar is accurate, then why do anything at all? I'm sure an absolute cheat like you can find other things to do, right?"
He seemed to think on whether to answer or not for a moment before answering.
"Well, when you live as long as I have, you really run out of things to do that are even slightly interesting. But there is a reason other than that." He took in a breath (He needs to breathe?). "You see, being a Fatebreaker means that what the Book of Fate says you will do is no longer accurate. Gods, being the way they are, don't like that."
"Why not?"
"Well, you see, all gods are entitled to the pages of the Book of Fate that has to do with whoever and whatever they have authority over. When that is inaccurate, they can't predict you anymore. What you saw in the bar was the entire book. Not many beings get to see that, you are very lucky."
He continued after sipping whatever was in his thermos. "Not even I can predict what a Fatebreaker will do in the future perfectly. And that is interesting, to me at least. But not to them. So they complain to their superiors, the superiors complain to their superiors, and so on and so forth until it reaches me. Then I get annoyed."
"There's a god hierarchy? And you are pretty high on that hierarchy?"
"Well, there aren't very many beings that has the authority to scour all of existence, past, present and future, to hunt down these Fatebreakers." He took in another breath (I am doubting that he needs to breathe more and more). "As for a hierarchy, yeah, there sure is. There's world gods, system gods, minor cluster gods, galaxy gods, major cluster gods, and then universal authorities and finally, dimensional sovereigns. And then there's me." He sipped whatever was in his thermos again. "There probably is more divisions, but those are the main ones. What makes them special is that when comparing the strength of a god of one level to one of the next higher is like comparing a human and a world god. Which are usually the gods you would think of when you say god."
That's a lot. I leaned back in my chair.
"...It really is a big world. Or, universe. Really makes you seem small and insignificant."
Sykes chuckled. "Well, I can't say I empathize." I guess you couldn't.
Sykes finished his liquid and stopped smiling. "Well, what do you know about Torchwick?"
"Can't a cheat like you find out where he is easily?"
"Well, yeah, I could. But that would be no fun." He pulled out a weird looking credit card from his coat and placed it next to my coffee. "If I really wanted to solve everything, I could set up a system which would immediately obliterate Fatebreakers the moment they break fate. But I'm not so cruel. And I would still be bored as hell."
He continued, "Anyways, you are the one who watched RWBY, I didn't ask for your help so I could do everything."
"When did you ask? That was more like blackmail." It was true.
Speaking of blackmail, "Oh yeah, if you want me to help you, enroll me there." I pointed to a monstrous castle that could be seen above the buildings.
"And what is that?"
"Beacon Academy, they train huntsmen there."
Sykes looked at me quizzically. "And why would I want that? You'd be holed up somewhere where you can't help me."
"Well, you see, huntsmen need to keep the peace and take care of criminals, as well as hunt Grimm, so if anyone would have information on Torchwick, they would be in there." It took me a while to think of this one.
Sykes stared at me.
"That's bullshit and you know it. You just want to see the main cast."
I sipped my coffee and shrugged.
"Take it or leave it."
Sykes paused for a moment. "Fine. I'll get you in."
...
He stretched his arms above his head. "So, how much do you know about the future events here?"
"Honestly, not very much. I only saw the first volume before I died." It was true. My sister recommend it to me once a friend showed it to her on her birthday. I got hooked. Then I died.
Sykes cracked a smile. "Really, only one season? You really do fail at everything you do."
"Shut up"
"Well, no worries." He reached into his coat and took out five DVD cases.
Is… is that what I think it is?!
"Yes, RWBY volumes 1-5."
On DVD?!
"Blu-ray." He clarified.
He then reached into his coat again and took out a huge black Blu-ray player.
I felt like my eyes widened to dinner plates.
Now, I could accept the DVDs and whatever before being in his coat, but this massive machine?
He has to obey the laws of physics, right?
"The laws of physics are the responsibility of universal authorities. They are under me." He placed everything back in his coat. "So, no."
He really can do anything. And how did no one notice?!
Sykes stood up, reached over and drank the rest of my coffee. "It's getting late. Let's go and find somewhere to binge RWBY at."
I paid the waitress, and we were on our way.
...
…
…
A little later, Sykes turned around and looked at me.
"You… didn't give her all the money, right?"
I feel like I sweat a little bit.
"U-uh, didn't you give me exact change?"
Sykes ran his fingers through his hair before turning around and continuing walking.
"Well, someone just became a millionaire."
-Break-
Eventually, we found a cheap motel to crash at.
In the morning, I realized that I haven't eaten anything for nearly 16 hours and that I was starving.
Luckily, Sykes pulled out a large steaming pizza from inside his coat before I could die again. I stopped caring about the intricacies of his coat after that.
While I was eating, he told me what he did during the night, while sitting on the bed.
"While you were sleeping, I did some legal work. You and I are now officially citizens of Vale." I took a sip from a soda that also came from his mystical coat. He continued.
"Also, since you are too old to enroll in Beacon, I went ahead and made you 17 again."
Hurk
Cough cough cough
So that's why I felt strange waking up.
I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, the recently evacuated liquids now on Sykes' body.
"Would you quit dropping bombs on me while I'm drinking?!"
Sykes was not impressed.
He started wiping himself off with a handkerchief that came from… not inside his coat. It was in a front pocket. I would be lying if I said I was not surprised.
"...Well, the real surprise was that through your body's transfer of 3 years, you actually gained muscle mass. I thought you would have at least grown a little after 17, but I guess not. That's also why you are so hungry, you managed to eat three entire large pizzas so far." He pointed behind me.
Really? I don't remember that. I turned my head and looked at the corner of the room, where the pizza boxes were.
Holy shit, he was right.
"I'm always right."
Bastard.
He stood up before continuing. "Also, creating citizenship records for someone under 18 is pretty tough without a family of some sort to fill the holes."
He smirked.
I don't like that look.
"...Son."
I stopped thinking then and there.
"So get that through your head. You can call me either father or papa. Remember that, or I will make you. And it will be painful."
I wasn't listening.
Way back when, I never had a father. He died when I was three and my sister was still a baby. Mom never kept pictures, and I don't remember him at all.
But that was then.
There is no reason to think of it now.
When I blinked back to the real world, I saw Sykes hooking up both a massive 60' tv and the Blu-ray player from earlier. I assume the tv just slipped out of his coat. He looked over.
"Are you back?"
When I nodded, he did as well.
"Come, help your father."
I smiled.
…
I didn't help him.
Is he trying to make fun of me?
...
Sykes finished up while I sat in front of the tv.
"Are you sure that watching this in this world will not cause a massive singularity or something?"
Sykes took out four bean bags, one of each color apparent in RWBY, and laid them out side by side. "It shouldn't." He shrugged. "But I would prevent any if the main cast from watching. Wouldn't want any existential crises."
Is crises the plural of crisis? "I think so."
What're the two extra bean bags for?
"We obviously need all the colors if we even want to think about watching RWBY." He collapsed onto the 'Black' bean bag, effectively making himself invisible except for his head and shirt. "The other ones are for the beverages and food. This is gonna take like 22 hours you know."
He took out many large chip bags and threw then on the 'White' bean bag, which was on the opposite side of the row of beanbags. He then took out a two-liter of nondescript soda and laid it beside him, on the 'Yellow' bean bag.
The 'Red' one was left for me.
...What could this mean?
"If you romance one of the main four, problems will arise." He looked over and said. "As your father, I will not allow it. Especially the child."
You can't tell me what to do, old man!
"I can make you." He placed volume 2 into the player. "And it will be painful."
When I'd realized that I'd moved I already was sitting on the beanbag. And I was also given a killer headache.
"See, painful." He didn't seem sorry. "I'm not."
This is domestic abuse.
"Prove it."
...Damn.
He smirked and leaned back.
"Now, let's begin."
Click
-Break-
Blake was tired.
Even after a long night's sleep, she was tired. She always slept more than normal people. Maybe it's the cat genes.
It's been a little more than a full 24 hours since she left.
She did nothing but run and hide since then, at least until she found this motel.
The motel was a perfect place for hiding, as it was far away from any White Fang bases.
The owners of this motel didn't seem to be suspicious of anything and the transaction went smoothly.
She was stretching in her bed while looking at the digital clock.
2:00 PM
She needed to get her Beacon Academy transfer papers from that man.
She stood up, and-
CRASH!
From a neighboring room.
Humans wouldn't be able to hear the sound as it was muffled well by the curiously soundproof walls.
Blake's heart jumped and her hair stood on end.
The White Fang?! I thought I checked for trackers before-
SHE DIED! THE BITCH KILLED HER!
An incredibly loud voice boomed out. Even a human could hear it through the walls.
Then, a quieter and calmer voice came, seemingly replying to the first voice.
No, she didn't kill her on purpose, it was an illusion.
I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT HER!
AAAARRRRRGHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL!
SYKES! I KNOW! GO AND KILL THE FIRE BITCH AND HER SLAVES! AVENGE HER! NOW!
The second man's name seemed to be Sykes.
Calm down. It's just a show.
A SHOW?! YOU THINK THIS IS JUST A SHOW?!
It is.
YOU BASTARRRR-
The voice was cut off.
...
Do you think you could have stopped me without a headache involved?
Do I think? Yes. Will I? No.
Bastard.
You broke my plate.
I'm sure you have more.
That one was my favorite.
Bullshit.
Fine. Continuing.
...
Blake calmed down by this point and was only listening due to curiosity.
Once the conversation was replaced with what seemed to be music from a main menu, she decided to leave.
She closed the door and leapt off the balcony that is common in cheaper hotels and motels to check out.
…
While running towards the city, a thought came to her.
Wait, was there a TV in my room?
-Break-
"Someone was listening in to your little temper tantrum earlier, you know." Sykes spoke up halfway through the episode.
"Really?" I would've heard them at least, right?
"These walls are incredibly sound-absorbent." He looked at the wall leading to a neighboring room. "I'm sure you can guess why."
Ah. I see.
"Who was it?"
"It was Blake."
Hurk
Cough cough cough
I managed to choke on my own spit.
"Really? Cough. Blake? And you felt the need to tell me now?" I turned to him.
"I didn't feel the need to tell you at all." He said, still focusing on the TV before changing the subject.
"I was thinking about what order the trailers occurred in in this world."
And how does this help us?
"And what did you figure out?" I didn't say what was on my mind.
Sykes turned to look at me strangely before focusing back on the show. "All I got is that 'Black' has already occurred, and 'Yellow' has not happened yet. 'White' is irrelevant, and I'm not sure what to make of 'Red'."
He continued. "This helps us because it gives up the chance to enter the plot in a healthy manner."
When did you see the trailers?
"I took a peek in your memories."
Should've guessed.
"Wait, why do you want to enter the plot?"
He threw on a goofy smile and seemed to get excited. So much, in fact, I could feel the energy from here.
"Because it'll be so much fun!"
...
...
I blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice (Is that a word?).
...Did those words actually come out of Sykes' mouth?
"Are you… okay?"
The smile froze right on his face.
He looked at me for a moment before turning away and clearing his throat.
"...Your father says to stop staring and watch the damn TV." He pulled his knees to his face, wrapped his arms around his legs and began brooding.
When I caught myself looking away I was already staring at the tail end of a certain character's death on screen.
An indescribable rage bubbled in me; it was composed half of the fact that the bitch killed another one, and half due to the fact I missed most of the episode thanks to a certain someone's bipolarity.
"...I'm not bipolar."
…
ARRRRRRGHHHHH! THE BITCH KILLED ANOTHER ONE! AND I MISSED THE GOOD PART THANKS TO YOU!
I picked up his plate.
Then I clocked him right upside the head with it.
CRASH!
…
He didn't react.
…
For the next 5 minutes I raged around the room like some kind of goddamn gorilla and Sykes never moved an inch the entire time.
…
Finally, I calmed down and Sykes seemed to have finished brooding.
He spoke up first.
"You saw nothing, Tarzan." He said in a voice demanding respect, "You will forget or I will make you. And it will be painful." An indescribable pressure built up from somewhere, pushing on me from all directions.
I was successfully spooked.
"Y-yes, of c-course."
The pressure disappeared.
"Good. Now let's rewatch the episode." He sat back down and waited for me to do so as well.
I did so, and all was well once again.
…
…
...
...
"...Yes, thrice is a word."
Ah, thanks.
You know, I never described Markus's appearance.
Ooh, I can do something with this.