Okay, chapter 3, and this one is going to revolve around teams being different, as will a fair few of the next few chapters. As readers of 'Rearranging the Board' will know, that's something I'm interested in, although this one will be a lot more comedic. My general thought process was 'who is the most likely to be fight first, questions later', the gut-instinct type of people, and what sort of team-up would be hilarious.
Naturally, Ruby, Yang, and Nora were on that list. Yet it lacked a certain component to it that was necessary, namely a fourth teammate, and I wanted to use someone who I had fun turning into a comedic dick in other works. The exact event is based off an Internet Box podcast (which includes a few RWBY VAs), and it was Episode 79, inspiring me to do this with these guys.
So, enjoy and remember that feedback is always appreciated.
"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Yang said, sounding excited and ashamed. Never before had the two emotions ever merged, at least for Yang herself.
As she walked down the streets of Vale, mostly in the rough side of the city where the Faunus slums were a few stone throws away, and headed towards a certain drinking establishment, Yang felt a pang of anticipation. Looking to her left, her partner didn't have any sense of shame in what they were about to do, probably thinking it was going to be fun.
Well, yeah, it was going to be fun, if there were enough people there.
That had been the main rule of this little outing, that they'd see if enough people were also there that it wouldn't be too creepy to check out the event, and leave if there weren't. Yang didn't want to be the kind of weirdo who went out to see the stuff her team was out seeing, alone in some dark corner.
"I bet there's going to be lots of people there, I just know it." Nora boldly declared, grinning at Yang, who smiled back.
Nora Valkyrie had been a barrel of laughs ever since the two of them became partners in the Emerald Forest, just doing whatever came naturally to her, and the excitement never stopping. It was like being thrown into the deep end of a pool, you sank or you swam, and Yang was a great swimmer.
Even the self-professed thrill-seeker had to admit that it was a lot more intense than she first thought, but things soon became natural over time.
"What if they're all just strange people who the posters say not to be around?" Ruby asked, her voice as shy as her first day in Beacon. "Heck, what if we're the only people there? It'll be super-awkward, just watching-"
"The best thing ever?" Cardin Winchester asked, Ruby's partner and final teammate in Team RCVY (Rackley) without hesitating. "You guys wanted something to do during the semester break, so I found something. Loads of people are going to be there, trust me."
"Great, then we'll be the worst kind of people as a group." Yang said, not meaning a single word of it.
"These people must have volunteered for it, it can't be that bad," Neptune pointed out, his point probably having more weight, if he hadn't been giggling the entire way. "Oh dear god, this is going to be awesome."
"I would like to point out that this trip also lacks stuff blowing up, and people trying to murder us." Sun added, him and Neptune walking just behind Team RCVY.
Sun and Neptune had arrived in Vale a week before the end of the first semester, and got caught in some with Ice Queen's team that led to the six of them finding out that the White Fang and Torchwick were working together and-oh my god, the first year is getting way too complicated for my liking. Yang decided.
"Yeah, I should say this now," Cardin began, eyeing Sun, creating two signals to Yang and the rest of the team that he shouldn't be allowed to keep talking. "Listen, they might be doing more than one show, so don't get caught in the heat of the moment and go Faunus-crazy. You flinging crap everywhere isn't needed, okay?"
"Um...I promise I won't throw poop at people." Sun said, him and Neptune sharing a look that suggested that they thought the guy lost his mind.
"Awesome, this night'll be pre-gah!" The big jerk had been interrupted by Ruby using the spray bottle on him.
"Cardin, I thought we talked about this! You were being really good for a whole month, after that stuff with Jaune and Velvet. Now you went back to jerk-mode." Ruby lamented, having have had to go through five of them during the early days.
When Yang and Nora saw the odd pair, on their first day, it seemed more awkward than anything. According to Ruby, both of them weren't able to make decent conversation, and it all broke down into agreeing that they could work on it later, meeting up with Yang and Nora and then there was that whole incident with the Deathstalker.
After that, the three girls made the alarming discovery that Cardin was a butt of mega proportions. Ruby, as team leader, was lost on what she could do about Cardin bullying Jaune for being weaker than him, Velvet for being a Faunus, and not getting why that was bad, so a solution had to be found and was found.
From that moment on, all three girls of RCVY carried a water spray bottle to use on him, when he was being a dick.
"Ruby, seriously, fuck off. It makes my hair get half-wet, and I look like I was half in the shower." Cardin mumbled, as the group walked on. "Fine! I'll cut back. You used to be cool."
"I'm still cool," Ruby protested, despite her look of doubt.
"Don't worry, you're as cool as a cucumber." Nora swung an arm around her leader and held her close.
"Yeah, not at all."
Yang, as a responsible older sibling, decided to jump in. "You can be with us, Ruby, and let jerkface hang about in the corner alone."
As maturely as possible, she then blew an intense raspberry at Cardin's direction.
"Guys?" Sun cut in, getting all four to look at him. He was pointing at something, Yang realising the familiar neon sign as the bar that the poster mentioned, and they realised where they were.
From the outline of a bear's head, Yang could recognise Junior's symbol. It made sense that a guy like him would set up an event like this, so without morality or decency, yet appealing enough that it would attract some kinds of people willing to fork over twenty Lien per ticket.
Knowing that guy, the drinks at the club would cost Ember Celica, if I didn't negotiate a 100% price drop. By negotiate, Yang meant fight every single person in that club to submission, but it was kind of the same thing.
"Alright guys, remember the plan. We go in, see what the crowd is like, and either we go in, or we head to Club Gold and get drunk." She said, everyone nodding. "Except for Ruby, who gets orange juice."
"Wow, why don't you just blunt Crescent Rose? After all, she could just cut herself on the blade." Cardin's sarcasm was not appreciated, and never would be.
Ever.
"Come on, Yang, it's ten minutes before the fight starts, and all the best seats are probably taken by now." Nora said, both her and Neptune almost jumping on the spot.
Opening the door, she wasn't sure what exactly she had expected. The bar itself was kind of seedy, divided into two parts, one human and one Faunus, all of them looking as if life mugged them and ran off with their loved ones. Some of the humans glared at Sun, but glares from the Faunus side and the bartender got them to back down.
The event was outside of the bar, around the back, where there was enough open space for a small version of a wrestling ring if Junior so desired it for the many places he basically controlled. At worst, Yang thought there'd be one or two fat guys there to laugh, and at best about twenty to thirty other people who only looked kind of freaky.
So imagine her surprise, when the entire outside area was packed with normal people all gathered around sitting on seats, stools, and other seating arrangements around a wrestling ring that was actually normal size. Under the cold night sky, people seemed to be warmed by their desire to see what Team RCVY wanted to see as well, even if it was looking crowded.
"I guess people really liked what they saw." Ruby said, pulling out the poster. "It does say that they tour all Four Kingdoms, so they would have fans."
Cardin fell to his knees, joined by Nora and Neptune. "This is the best thing I've ever seen in my life, and it hasn't even started yet."
"This is why I became a Huntsman. To protect this," Neptune moved his hand over his mouth, visibly restraining tears. "Masterpiece."
"I found some seats." Yang found about five to six spare seats, ignoring the Malachite twins, prone to grudges, on the other side of the area.
As they moved, someone ran down the open space, from where there was some kind of dressing room of sorts right at the end, and his entire appearance just screamed 'douchebag'. It was probably an act, but he looked way too good at it. The crowd erupted anyway, because they knew what his arrival meant.
"Who wants to see some Midget Wrestling?" He screamed, drowned out by the roar of the crowd, as twenty of the fighters charged towards the stage.
I am the worst person ever. Yang didn't know what was worse. The fact that she loved what she saw, despite it being so horrible, or the fact that she didn't care.
Once again, as always, Cardin was right.
When he first showed them the poster for the Extreme Midget Wrestling Federation, his whole team looked at him as if he was some kind of scumbag, before looking ashamed of themselves. Except for Nora, who beamed at the poster and then glared at him. Ever since he had that cupcake that was lying around, she held some kind of grudge.
How the hell was I supposed to know that you were 'saving it for later'? Cardin ignored that thought, taking another gulp of his drink and watching the magic happen.
"Oh man, he just stepped on his little sausage fingers!" The announcer cried out, as White Tooth smashed down on The Defender, drawing jeers from the crowd.
"Sun, he said little-pfft-sausage fingers-" Neptune cried out, leaning on his life partner for support, as the Faunus cheered on for the heel to lose.
Yang and Nora were busy getting hammered and following the crowd, now standing tall and erupting with joy as White Tooth got power-slammed onto the floor, before the mini-White Fang supporter got an elbow drop to the chest. Cardin joined in, before jeering even louder when the Dandy Boy interfered and put the beatdown on The Defender.
Honestly, the whole thing was obviously going to end in The Faun coming to save the day, before the chicks would start the fight as well. Cardin was kind of drunk, but even he could tell that the plot wasn't exactly complex, even if he was joining in on the fun of cheering it on.
Just as he thought, The Faun leapt onto the bottom rope and then the top rope (which was pretty cool), and then clotheslined Dandy Boy from the air, causing the audience to go crazy and drown out Neptune laughing all over the place. It wasn't like he didn't roar with pride, but there could have been a better message than 'if we come together and make out on the floor, peace will be next'.
The match was ending, so everyone had a few minutes to get more drinks and talk about what they had just seen. For Cardin, it gave him a nice long while to contemplate his team, and how he was feeling a bit unappreciated by certain members who thought he added nothing.
He was talking about Yang and Nora.
Ruby was an alright team leader, and wasn't a half-bad partner, and the two of them did make a pretty good team. It was just that she wanted him to be nice and friendly to everyone, even when they were clearly using the kind of body language that was just asking for a fight, without even needing to say it.
How did she know that Velvet wasn't the worst person ever, until Cardin pulled her ears? She could have been planning on stabbing one of them with a fork, or something. Jaune just plain sucked, he had the whooping in class coming, and only got his kicks from kicking small animals.
Probably. Maybe. Okay, Cardin might have been a jerk sometimes, but his team could try to get over those first days, and ditch the damn spray bottles!
He was moving to take another drink, when he saw something that rang alarm bells in his head. Yang and Nora were drunk enough that Professor Goodwitch would murder them, if it was a school-day tomorrow, and Neptune and his Faunus were busy getting their last giggles out and getting more booze respectively, so there was no one there for Ruby.
Which was kind of an issue, since she was being surrounded by two girls, one in red and one in white, and both looking way too drunk. He could barely hear them talk.
"Oh, so you know Yang, that's nice." Ruby said, trying to be friendly.
"Yeah, we know her. Smashed me through a glass tower." The red one said, getting a bit too close to Ruby for Cardin's liking.
"Don't worry, Militia. I'm sure that she can help. Your name is, like, Ruby right? Well, Ruby, how about you help us with your sister." The white one replied, smirking in a way that made Cardin frown, putting down his drink.
He had a feeling he was going to need to avoid getting any more drunk now.
"Oh yeah, Junior's wanted to talk to you. How about we go over there, and talk about paying back stuff?" 'Militia' asked, right behind Ruby, so the girl couldn't bail on the two. "Maybe Yang can work at Club Gold over the semester break, we need a waitress. Or she can pick the club, we have a lot of places for her."
At that point, Ruby tried to run but couldn't. Cardin had convinced her to have a few shots, just so they could live a little while Yang and Nora weren't looking, and this was backfiring on her now as she stumbled back, and was struggling to get out of the two girls' grip as they moved her.
Looking at where they were moving, he could see a giant of a guy with a beard on him talking to some goon, before seeing his minions grab Ruby. As he pointed to Yang and Nora, the whole drama ignored by the loud and drunk crowd, it was clear that this was a grudge that was being resolved.
Even when his team leader all but kicked him around, when they fought with weapons and BoneCracker couldn't keep up with Crescent Rose, Cardin won a few of their training matches. This was because Ruby was kind of shit at any fighting where they didn't use weapons, it being some kind of mental block in her mind, so even a sober her wouldn't have lasted long.
Being the nice guy he was, he tried to help his partner learn some unarmed combat, and they went kind of well, but it was nothing to brag about. Now Ruby was being kidnapped, trying to reach the others would take too long, and Cardin wouldn't be able to make it to those two girls in time.
There is one way to stop them. It's right in front of you, well, behind you but shut up and do something with it! His mind chimed in, as he realised that he was standing right in front of the solution to his troubles.
Grabbing hold of the bar stool he was once using, he aimed it right at the head of the girl in white, and threw it with all of his might. He may not be the nicest of guys, but he wasn't going to let Yang get turned into a stripper or something, or let his partner become a blackmail piece, just because of some drama.
Unfortunately, the alcohol had gotten his aim going all weird, so the wooden stool instead smashed onto the side of the girl in red, causing her to fall to the ground, and attention to be directed right towards Cardin. Some people were already moving to attack him, not getting why he did it, when he looked to Yang.
"Those chicks were trying to kidnap Ruby and turn you into a stripper!" Cardin stopped talking so that he could deck some guy charging at him in the face.
Yang's eyes turned blood red, as she stalked towards the big guy near the corner of the outdoor area. "What the hell? We were going to discuss jobs! Bouncer, waitress, bartender, stuff like that! Not any of that stripper-okay you're not listening-swarm her!" He barked.
At that, all hell broke loose. Some drunk guys didn't hear anything and were trying to get at Cardin, who surged through them and managed to reach Ruby who was running towards him, the two of them forming a team as they fought. Well, Cardin fought, and Ruby acted to call over the others to help out, when she was making sure the people stayed down.
Neptune and Sun made it over to them, as Yang and Nora settled for smashing dozens of people to the floor, in an attempt to murder the guy who apparently organised the whole thing. Shots fired through the sky, as the bartender roared about settling down by the door, before the slobs in the bar crashed through and joined the brawl.
Just as he was having fun, Cardin felt a weight smash on his head. The Defender was on his head, slamming his tiny fists down on Cardin, while he barely saw Neptune trying to throw White Tooth and Dandy Boy off from him, as the wrestlers now joined the ever-expanding brawl. Everything was collapsing into chaos.
For the third time in the history of the International Midget Wrestling Federation, the event was cancelled owing to riots.
The bar brawl would extend to the Vale area, erupting into a riot, and causing hundreds of thousands Lien worth of damages.
Team RCVY, by the time windows started getting smashed, had fled the bar with Sun and Neptune in tow, lest their actions have consequence on them personally.
All in all, it was a typical night for a team like them.
Yep, I made Ruby and Cardin partners. Whatcha gonna do about it? Anyway, this is the last of the quick-paced updates, as I mentioned in the first chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it as well. The inspiration came from thinking of a team that was 'fight first, logic later', and the setting came from the Internet Box, which you may enjoy if that's your thing.