As I slowly walked towards the window, I took notice of ow quiet it had suddenly gotten all of a sudden. With the arrival of General Ironwood things were bound to get messy. Knowing what he will do and what will happen to his Atlesian Knights is something I would like to prevent, if possible. But I can't spill everything out all at once either. Damn, this sucked more than Freddy does. I sighed, placing my hand on the window before turning to Goodwitch. "Any idea what this is about?" I asked.
"That would be General Ironwood, displaying his power with military force and whatnot." Goodwitch replied, shaking her head, holding her temples in annoyance. "Wherever he comes he brings his work with him. But I take it you've already heard of him and seen what he can be capable of?" she asked, walking towards the window were I was standing. "I just want to know what he's planning to do this time, really."
"I know about him, yes." I replied. "And I also know he does not take kindly to being left out on secrets, such as this one." I said, turning around to face Goodwitch. "Ms. Goodwitch, what do you want me to do? Should I inform him about the situation? In my opinion I think it's for the best we left Ironwood in the dark with this one."
Goodwitch slowly nodded her head in agreement. "I agree. I will talk about this with Ozpin." She replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to attend."
I watched as she took her leave, walking towards the exit of the bar. She opened the door and waved me a quick goodbye before exiting. I shook my head as I made my way over to the bar, dragging my hand over its wooden surface. I looked at Freddy and he looked at me. I just shrugged. I really did not know how to react to this. I mean Ironwood is a pretty powerful guy and has the biggest military force of Remnant backing him up. Not that that military force is that great since most of them are combat droids. The Atlesian Paladin if I remember correctly was one of Atlas' prime examples of military power. And while it is true these things are powerful, I feel they would not stand a chance against the military force of Earth. I mean we have tanks, something I have not seen in RWBY itself. We have jets that can break the sound barrier twice, or even four times if we wanted to. And let's not begin about our war-planes. The bombers we have created would not only decimate the Atlesian ships, but they would do it with little effort.
It's not that I'm dissing the Atlas military force, but it just seems a bit too much. I get that you're trying to get all of your men away from combat and replace them with machines, but those machines can't be trusted. Just look at what will happen to them in volume three. Hacked by a fabulous criminal mastermind. Who would have thought? This is why humans must continue to fight. They were the ones who fought against Grimm in the past, and they should finish it with newfound technology. They send Huntsman and Huntresses in teams to different locations while they could be trying to take back their land. Why explore when you know it will end in doom? Fortify your defenses and create a solid army and weaponry to back it up and then march into the heat of battle. That can't be too hard now can it?
But I don't know… I mean we haven't had to fight Grimm on Earth, but we have our own enemies. And although Grimm seem far more dangerous than humans, a group of humans with nuclear weapons can cause catastrophic damage. This world has its enemies and Earth has its own. I guess war will always stay, no matter how hard we fight prevent it. It just sucks that the Grimm keep coming and don't need food or water to survive… well, except for their tendency for human meat, of course.
All that thinking about fighting Grimm got me thinking… what was I supposed to do in all of this? I mean I'm no fighter like the ones you see in those stupid self-insert stories. I have no aura, no semblance, no nothing. If I were to come face to face with a Grimm I would not know what to do. I don't even know if the Colt Anaconda can do enough damage to a Grimm… even Dust bullets sometimes have trouble putting them down. I walked towards one of the empty bar stools and took a seat, laying my head on my hand while looking down at my feet as they hung down from the stool. I suddenly felt a gust of air, as if someone passed me by. I looked up to see Freddy standing behind the bar, smiling at me.
"What would you like to drink, sir?" he asked.
"A bottle of bleach so I don't have to look at that beautiful face of yours." I jokingly replied. My mood changed quickly, however. Freddy noticed.
"Something's bothering you, isn't it?" Freddy asked, leaning his arms on the bar. "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"
I nodded. I looked at him and he looked at me with a comforting expression planted on his face. "Freddy, I've been thinking and… do you remember what we discussed the last night before we headed to bed?" I asked, hoping he remembered.
"I do," was his reply.
"And do you remember when I told you about what would happen to this place in a month or two?" I asked.
"I… I do." Freddy solemnly admitted. "Beacon Academy will fall, and if we don't act quickly to prevent its fall to darkness, then we have to be cautious. I remember you mentioning a woman named Cinder." he began walking from one direction of the bar to the other, as if he was contemplating on something. "She is a manipulator, and a very good one at that. She's always alongside a green-haired girl named "Emerald" and her partner in crime "Mercury". And you also told me that they would be infiltrating this school acting as if they were students from another school."
"Yes, and we have to ask ourselves this: How do we plan on stopping them? I am not going to act all tough because two of them are girls, but we cannot beat them. There is simply no way we can ever beat any of them. Their skills with weapons and their abilities outmatch us. It'd be like Bambi facing off against Godzilla. It won't work. Now the only way I think we might be able to stop them is that we inform Ozpin and Goodwitch about their every move once I am sure their plan is set into motion." I looked around the bar, nodding my head. "For some reason I think at least one of them will enter this bar—presumably Cinder herself. If she enters we must not tense up. Just remain calm at all costs and talk to her like you would do to any woman. Just act normal."
I tapped my fingers on the wooden surface of the bar, contemplating on what to say next. "Listen, Freddy, we're just bartenders, not Huntsman. Leave the fighting to those who are trained for it. There is no way we'd ever get sent to combat situations—at least I hope. Just make sure you stay under the radar and don't say stupid shit. Tell no one about Earth, tell them nothing about our weapons, and for God's sake tell them nothing about their future! I know I've told you some things about RWBY, but please don't use it as an excuse to flirt with people."
Freddy nodded his head. "Don't worry, I won't. But what about those… Grimm was it? Yes. What about those Grimm? I mean we can't fight them. What if something goes wrong? What if everything just goes a different way?"
"I… will come up with something. I have to." I replied.
"Don't forget about Earth. About our lives." Freddy sighed, rubbing his hand behind his head. "Tell you what. What If we both go separate ways? You focus on helping this world and I will focus on helping us get back to ours. You know more about this "RWBY" thing than I do."
"That would mean investigating the docks, and going back to Vale alone—Freddy are you insane?! We barely know our way around there and now you're telling me you want to find clues all by yourself?" I retorted.
"Yes, but I a good with directions. And If I get lost I'll just have to ask where to go." Freddy replied, smiling. "Don't worry about it, my young nephew. Everything will be alright, I can feel it."
"I just… I just want to help." I replied.
"You always help whenever you can. You put everyone else's needs above yours and help wherever you can. You take the blame for things others have done because they are your friends. Do you remember that time you stayed all day out in the freezing cold, snow covering your entire body, just to teach a little boy how to build the best snow-fortress? That boy had such a fun time." Freddy said, smiling at me as he patted my hands. "You made those hours the best of his life."
"The kid wasn't going to be living much longer anyways." I replied, sighing.
"Cancer is a terrible disease. The poor boy… his parents often visit the bar—they always ask for you but you're never around when they are." Freddy added, shaking his head. "What gives?"
"Freddy… in all of my internships I've heard stories of people interacting with parents who've just lost their child. No father or mother should have to bury his or her child, it doesn't work that way." I retorted.
"So you were scared to confront them?" Freddy asked.
"I was scared of remembering the smile on that kid's face. You know, he had just lost both of his front teeth too. He was so proud when he told me the tooth fairy had paid him a visit and that he was saving up money so that he could one day go skiing with his parents. Told me he loved the snow, and the cold it provided him with. I try to forget that smile, uncle. I didn't really realize it at the time that that was the last day I would ever see that kid smile again." I lowered my head in shame, clenching my fist. "It's funny how they teach you in school that you shouldn't egt too attached to your patients—and this kid wasn't even a patient. If I'm already having trouble with that then how the hell will I be able to deal with so much death? As a nurse you're kind of surrounded by it."
"You're not a machine, Ramses. You can't just turn off your emotions. It's what makes us who we are. We feel, we love, we cry, and we take comfort in knowing that one day we will see those who passed on again." Freddy replied.
"A lot of innocent people are going to die if we don't stop them." I said, clenching my teeth in anger. "This… this war, this massacre what's going on on this planet is bad. They're not the terrorists we're used to, but they've been doing some bad shit themselves. If we—no, if I don't put a stop to this then no one will. But all we can do for now is wait."
"Death is something that cannot be avoided. One day it will come for you and you will have to accept it. I accepted it once, but was brought back. I… am grateful for that. I know I scared a lot of people and I am still sorry for it. I just didn't know what was happening at the time, and when I woke up in that hospital bed I just… I was scared." Freddy comfortingly replied, but a hint of sadness was clearly present in the tone of his voice. "Pyrrha Nikos… she was the Spartan-themed girl we saw in the classroom, wasn't she?"
I nodded.
"Poor girl." Freddy sighed. "To die at such a young age. You best keep your eye on her."
"How can I keep my eye on her? That would mean interacting with her and I doubt that will ever happen. The only way for her to interact with us is if Jaune were to—holy balls that's it!" I exclaimed.
"What's what?" Freddy asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Jaune! Wherever he goes Pyrrha will follow. I mean he is head love-interest, even though Jaune is oblivious as fuck and needs to get some of that Y chromosomes working up in Pyrrha's X chromosomes, he still is the key to this. Now Jaune seemed pretty cool around us, and I think he really wants to be our friend. Jaune will stay our friend, and we might be able to befriend Pyrrha and the others of team JNPR so we can keep a close eye on all of them and inform Ozpin if here are changes—of course not delving too far into the future."
"Doesn't that make it look like we're just using Jaune?" Freddy asked.
"No. Jaune will be our friend. I mean the guy is a cool guy. He just needs a few pushes into the right direction." I replied.
"Then it's settled!" Freddy exclaimed. "Let's celebrate by dropping our pants and comparing sizes!"
"No!" I retorted, faking joy in my voice as a means of sarcasm. "Let's not do that at all, thank you very much. My dick is big enough for the world to view it as big. Yours… is just a tiny bit bigger."
"If only you knew." Freddy retorted.
I started laughing and so did he. Our laughing continued for a while before we decided to prepare the bar for its first opening.
Pyrrha Nikos walked through the halls of Beacon Academy, having been side-tracked and eventually losing track of her team. She was on the fourth floor. All of her classes were done and she was preparing to head for the library. She sighed, wanting to catch the nearest elevator when she suddenly laid eyes upon a blonde haired individual. "Jaune!" she said, walking up to the man she though was Jaune. It was when she got closer, however, that she realized it was not her leader.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." She apologized.
"Oh, that's okay." The man replied, turning around. "Ramses, at your service! You're just in time for the grand opening of the bar—and by that I mean please come in because my uncle is starting to creep me out, hence the reason I'm standing outside."
"I would love to but I have studying to do so-."
"Oh, well that's too bad, because Jaune was coming too and he really wanted to have a drink with you." Ramses cut her off. "But if you're not interested I'll just tell him that he-."
"Now that I think about it… I might be able to do one drink." Pyrrha softly laughed. "Pyrrha Nikos, nice to meet you, Ramses." She said, holding out her hand. "It seems like Jaune has taking a liking into you. He talked about you with high hopes."
"Well then I best not disappoint him." Ramses replied, taking Pyrrha's hand into his and shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Pyrrha. The cereal taste like shit, by the way."
"Oh gosh you actually bought it?" Pyrrha asked, laughing into her hand. "I am so sorry about your teeth, then!"
"My teeth have been through much worse." Ramses replied. 'And I think getting acquainted is turning out to be a good run so far.' He thought to himself.
"Well either way they aren't good for your teeth, haha. Sooo when is Jaune coming?" Pyrrha asked, placing her hands behind her back. "We have some studying to do so I don't want him to be late. He always forgets important stuff on several occasions."
"Well since you are here I'm guessing he'll arrive in an anticlimactic two seconds." Ramses replied.
"Anticlimactic?"
"Ramses, hey! And Pyrrha too? Cool! The more the merrier!" Jaune exclaimed, walking up to the two.
"As a wise man once said, Pyrrha: Let's get some drinks... that wise man would be me and my friend Dave simultaneously before getting so fucked that we accidentally kissed each other. But don't tell no one, got it?" Ramses, whispered, jabbing Pyrrha's arms jokingly.
"You actually kissed your best friend?" Pyrrha asked.
"No, the alcohol did. I was merely a victim." Ramses replied, crossing his arms. "And before you reply I am just going to say: I am nineteen, you're seventeen and never tried alcohol before, so you arguments are invalid unless they praise me in any way possible."
"I guess you really deepened your friendship." Pyrrha laughed.
"I… shut up." Ramses replied. "Stupid woman, always using my own words against me. Clean your room, Ramses. Stop asking dumb questions, Ramses. Stop leaving the toilet seat up, Ramses. Okay I get it! You have standards and periods—too bad they all seem to be on par with one another." He mumbled underneath his breath.
Pyrrha waited for Jaune to reach her and Ramses, and when he did they made their way over to the bar, opening the doors to enter it. The first two customers had just arrived… and hopefully more would soon follow.
