HEWOOO
Ahem, sorry about that. Just like how this chapter took a month long.
I'm back! I made most of this chapter through the web version of FF because I decided to not care and make this chapter so you all can find out what I have in store...
Anyhow, since the fact you know Celeste and Union are going to be hooking up depending if you read the Christmas special...got any ship names? (God, that sounded weird.) Ship names doesn't have to be about lover's love, it can also be about friendship, family, or you can do it for funsies.
Also, concerning Celeste's semblance...I'll probably give her the healing semblance suggested by Gabe2000 (Thanks Gabe) or the ability to harness Dark Energy suggested by RandomGuest (Thanks RandomGuest). I'm still thinking about it.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Just a note: This is more of Union socializing and gaining addons.
-START-
Union opened his eyes, feeling like he is being italicized while floating through space. Speaking of space, the place he was in looked like it. For some odd reason, Union felt like he was being stared down by a great deity. He looked around again to make sure nothing was going to jump him.
But something interrupted him once he turned his back.
"RUBY!"
A female shout brought Union to face backwards, seeing himself in a frozen forest. Combine Soldiers were present, as well as Striders and gunships. Five squads of Combine Soldiers were laying on the snow-covered ground, unmoving. A Strider corpse had its head ripped open, while another lost an arm and its cannon. A dropship looked like it crashed as its right side was covered with ice.
The ones that were still alive pointed their weapons at a group of people, most of them injured.
One was a female, black-haired, cat Faunus wearing black and white clothes, she was clutching a wound on her side. Another one was a white-haired female that wore a white-bluish dress, kneeling with her rapier on the ground for support. A more yellow and orange clothed female with long yellow hair was on the ground crawling to get to somewhere, she sounded to be the one that shouted.
Qrow, Union remembered his name, was bleeding on the snow. A farm boy with dark hair and tanned skin was on Qrow's body, shaking him every so often.
One person stood out from the rest, despite it wearing clothes as white as the snow it was standing on.
It was Union, pointing his 357 magnum on a girl with silver eyes and a red cape.
"Hey! Put the gun down!" The real Union attempted to run at his counterpart, but found that he couldn't move. "Oh fuck... no no no. Not one of these."
A loud bang came from the fake Union, its gun had traveled upwards from the recoil. The girl was dead, and her friends shouted her name. The fake turned its head towards the real one.
And that's when the real Union knew that it was a fake because last time he checked, he didn't have black holes for eyes. The empty-eyed Union pointed its gun on its counterpart, scaring the latter as it pulled the trigger.
Union closed his eyes tight as he was unable to move his limbs, wherever they are. When he opened them up again, he saw that he was in Vale. Multiple headcrab shells fell upon the city, destroying buildings and letting its occupants free to infect the survivors. Hordes of zombies overran Valean infantry and any sort of defense group. Armored vehicles were targeted with artillery fired from the nearby Citadel.
Three Zombines stood over the Vale General, conversing with another before letting a poison headcrab latch on to the general's head.
"He-" Union's sentence was cut off when he got teleported to a mountainous region.
An Eastern-esque city was being ravaged by the Resistance members, with some added artillery fire from the Citadel and air support from gunships and choppers. A young blonde with a sword and shield was killed by the cancer resistance squad, allowing a flying sailboat airship to escape.
The GModder didn't get a chance to say something as he was teleported. Finding himself in a desert and fearing the worst, he looked around and saw nothing but sand and a smoke pillar. A rumble caused Union to look ahead, and he saw a fuck ton of Antlions with the guards leading the charge. An Antlion Guardian in the middle front of it all roared as it barreled through a wall.
Union was teleported before he could speak, again. This time he was in a snowy, filled with mountains region. A floating island with a city sitting on top of it was being besieged by Air Synths and vehicles, the ground was also being subject to assault from Union's NPCs. This time, the Combine NPCs were joining the fight.
He saw his fake again, overlooking the battlefield. Union hears a footsteps behind him, both him and the fake look back.
"Celeste?" Perplexed, Union squinted to see if was actually her.
It was. She was also with the Atlesian Specialist, an orange-haired girl with a hammer and an Asian-looking person with two submachine guns. Celeste looked angry, that was understandable, as well as her companions.
"It's over Union." She snarls as she drew her weapon.
The scenery and time changed. Right now, her companions were dead and she was still fighting him. After a dodge, Union's fake delivered a cut to her leg with the Citadel Soldier's sword, causing her to kneel.
She gasps as the fake stabbed the sword through her stomach, breaking her aura. Union looked on incredulously as Celeste held unto his fake for support, coughing up blood as Union's fake removed the sword from her body. The GModder thought his fake would just shrug her off and leave her to die alone, but it seemed this 'fake' still was and is him.
The idea terrified Union.
The fake wrapped an arm on her back as he laid her down on the ground, with Union being surprised at his compassionate demeanor still living even when he committed genocide. Celeste's eyes lost their light as they closed peacefully as if she was content that it was him that she died next to. The GModder was quick to acknowledge the small detail as it was crucial to what he about to see next.
His fake started crying.
"What the?" Taken aback by the gesture, Union didn't notice he was in a different place until he heard a female voice, that wasn't Celeste.
"We have gathered all four relics, all thanks to you Union." A pale woman with black veins in view congratulated his fake, four objects in front of her. "Now, we are ready to commence our revenge. I hope you are ready."
"I am more than just 'ready'." The fake replied, cold and emotionless.
"Weren't you crying just a minute ago?" Union remarked, noticing the fake's bland voice.
The four relics suddenly grew bright, catching the GModder off guard.
Union didn't see what happened next and only that he saw his fake, or rather...him. The fake didn't have black holes for eyes anymore, instead he had Union's cobalt ones and he wasn't an anime boi. He was in a dumpster, which was thankfully clean, the fake sputtered and got out of the trash box. The clouds were grey and pouring down rain upon the disoriented fake.
The fake ran down a street, which Union recognized. He was back at Earth, on his home. The street looked unchanged, if not a bit deserted. He found himself staring at his apartment as his fake entered it, going through the building until he reached his room.
His fake knocked on the door.
And it opened.
Union's world just stopped as he looked at who opened it. "H-How long since I was gone? How long was I in Remnant?" He breathed out the question to no one in particular, as no one could hear his thoughts nor his voice.
"#*!$ :-?" The sole occupant of the apartment spoke out an confused, incomprehensible warble. Her short black hair still as short as ever, while her brown eyes still had its childlike charm to it.
Union clutched his head after a splitting headache occurred right as the occupant said that. His mind desperately looking for the missing word.
"My name..." He gasped out, eyes widening as he found out the problem. "...what? Why can't I remember?" He looked back on the events that transpired before the dream.
He remembered it.
Union tried again. This time, he recollected the events before he dropped the Citadel.
He remembered it.
Union attempted to do it again. Now, he looked back on the life before Remnant.
He remembered it.
In a state of frustration and confusion, he racked his mind to find out who he was.
And only one word came and it didn't help: Union.
"...What?" He couldn't believe it. Why on Earth can't he remember his name? He knows who he is in clear detail, he just, for some reason, doesn't know what Proper Noun represents him as a whole.
He was so caught up in his confusion that he didn't realize nor care that his fake was just casually walking down the street, which was now much less deserted, a look of pure bliss in its face as he strolled. When he did realize and care, he saw a sight of long, blond hair.
"Oh shit." Union breathlessly swore under his breath. Both he and his fake widened their eyes. The fake's eyes however, without warning, turned back to the black holes whilst pulling out a USP match.
However, it didn't get a chance to even move the weapon towards its target when it's entire body got torn apart by Union's AR2.
Out of instinct and realizing that he could move and see his body, Union acted quickly and pulled out his weapon. It resulted in the scenario that happened in the last line. Though, once he looked up from his weapon, he found himself in a small dark room. Alone with his fake's body, which was barely hanging on with stringy strands of tissue holding it together.
Union looked at the corpse, his face wrenching in disgust at the gruesome sight.
"What the fuck?!" He shouted at what is unfolding before him, his face turning into shock as he saw the body rearrange itself with more strands and strings of tissue wrapping around the insides of the separated body parts to pull them back to normal.
When the fake was finished with its rearrangement it snapped its head towards him, staring into his soul as if he was guilty. After a few unnerving seconds, the fake walked towards Union casually. Out of fear and confusion, Union fired his entire mag into the fake, the dark energy rounds tearing into it like paper.
The gun clicked, and disgusting sounds of the tissue strands extending out to fix the fake's body were present. Union switched to a Spas-12, unloading a double-barreled shot into his fake's face once it straightened. Brains, blood, and all that disgusting shiz were splattered to the wall behind it, yet its eyes remain.
The strands were back again, this time they were longer and scooped up the brain matter and leftover tissue. The fake pressed on despite half of its face were missing and still reconstructing, already in arm's reach of Union. Before the aforementioned could load the next shell, the fake grabbed his neck and lifted him up.
Union saw the face of the fake fully repaired and brought out a stunstick to whack at its face in hopes of letting it release its grip. It didn't, instead, it started choking him. When Union was going to die of suffocation, he was saved. Saved by the fact that his fake threw him to the ground and breaking nearly every bone in his body.
Union bit back the tears of pain threatening to spill as he attempted to at least stare at his attacker.
It drew a USP Match, pointing it at Union. "For each choice, there is an outcome. So please, choose wisely." The monotonous voice of the system spoke out.
The fake pulled the trigger the second it finished, which brought Union out of his dream.
"UNION!" The holographic girl shrieked as the atmosphere of the bedroom turned red in conjunction with her.
The man in question sputtered awake, confused that his right arm was being held by the knight. "Wha-What is it?"
"'What is it'?" The girl repeated, then snapped. "You were trying to commit suicide!" She pointed at his right hand as she said that.
Union looked at the appendage, and seeing a USP match in its grasp. He remembered the words the fake said to him and what it did, which led him to drop the pistol while panicking.
"What the fuck?! Why was I-?!" He cut himself off by looking out the window, seeing that Vale was still at peace and what happened in the dream didn't happen to Vale.
And hopefully the other places.
"Union." The AI called, the knight releasing his grip. "What the hell were you doing?"
"I-I," He stuttered. "I just had a bad dream, I guess."
"I don't think 'bad dreams' result in attempts of suicide."
Union looked down as he contemplated. "I don't either."
The girl gave him a look of pity. "Union, what happened?"
"I don't know."
Union got out of bed and walked out wordlessly. The other two occupants looking at each other as he left.
-LINE BREAK-
After calming down and passing by the Specialist Leader he opened a box, looking for stuff that he might've missed as he adjusted his collar. He was dressed in a blue collared, long-sleeved shirt with grey jeans accompanied by a brown belt and black shoes. Continuing the search, the thing he missed was something that irritated him to no end as soon as he found it.
"Are you kidding me?! All this time, I could've gotten a scroll if I had known what they were in the first place!?" Union fumed as he dug through what looked like fifty unopened scrolls.
He pulled out a scroll that had a nice blue color and opened it. The screen lit up, the auto brightness taking effect. Union searched through the various apps that resided inside. After the search was over, he cleaned up the unneeeded and unnecessary things the last owner left in the device.
"Hey, uh?" Union called for the girl, wondering what her name was as he waited if she would respond or not.
Speak of the devil, she appeared. "Yes?"
"Oh. Um, do you know how the 'system' works?" He inquires.
"Mhm I do," she hummed, "why?"
"Do you think you can have the menu interface on this scroll?"
She paused to think for a second, then responded. "I'll see, give the scroll to the person that is approaching to you."
An engineer walked towards Union, who gives the scroll to him. The engineer walked away to a wall, which went down to form a table. The NPC tinkering with the device using his laser tool, until stopping and walking towards Union again. He handed the scroll to the GModder, who nodded in thanks as the engineer went away.
"Thanks." He said, but didn't specify.
"You're welcome." The girl replied.
After that was done, he went to the hangar where a Citadel Dropship was waiting for its passengers. Union sat down on one of the chairs, looking over to the turret panel a Citadel Guard was manning as a squad of four Metropolice officers entered. He felt the dropship rumble slightly as it took off a few seconds after the occupants were all seated, feeling no bumps in the ride afterwards.
Twenty to thirty minutes later, the dropship landed. The CPs ran out of the dropship and into a Combine APC with a larger troop compartment, leaving Union to walk out a bit dazed. The GModder looked up, seeing City Scanners and Hunter Choppers flying around. Union remembered the negotiations and arrangements Vale gave when he saw some of the Hunter Choppers having building material hanging under them, flying towards a tower atleast 70% done he was told.
Back to the topic in his mind, the GModder actually wanted his army to just be a defence force when the Kingdom was in danger of any threat. But since he and the council members know about how Vale's defence was weak and in need of rebuilding, Union's army served as a temporary defence force until the Kingdom recovers.
Thinking about the kingdom, he wonders if any other kingdoms may be in need of help. Atlas can pull their weight, so that's out of the question. Mistral and Vacuo are probably his best bet.
Union walked down a street, hoping to find the bar Qrow showed hi-
Qrow was laying unmoving on the snow, dying as a blonde screamed for her friend.
Union suddenly felt wobbly and leaned against a wall that belonged to a dust shop, holding his head. When he felt better, the GModder continued his stroll. Though he probably walked into someone as he tried to round a corner, however since he got knocked over that might not be true. Oh, and he was on the floor.
"Ow." A very familiar voice groaned near his chest region, which oddly felt heavy.
"'Ow' might be the right word." Union muttered, wondering why it felt like there was a body on top of him.
He felt a sudden shift of weight being lost as he said that. He looked down and slowly blushed as he was face to face with a certain blonde friend of his. The blonde also acted the same as they did a sort of short staring contest to see who would move first. After what felt like a minute to the two, the blonde scrambled up to her feet and stretched her hand out while apologizing.
"Sorry! I wasn't being careful, are you okay?" Union accepted the outstretched hand and stood up.
'So, she did fall on top of me. That's the first time that ever happened to me, atleast the first time that wasn't caused by my sister-
The sole occupant of the apartmen-
'NO, FUCKING STOP.' Union yelled in his mind.
"It's fine." He said to the blonde, while absentmindedly fighting off whatever part of his mind that wanted to give him mild PTSD.
"Oh, Union! What are you doing here?" Celeste asked, cocking her head sideways.
He was about to ask her the same question when the huntsman from the negotiations was sprinting down the sidewalk where Celeste must've ran down from, yelling unintelligible things. When he got closer, Celeste playfully and childishly used Union as a meat shield to hide from the huntsman.
"Celeste," he huffed, "why the fuck."
She giggled. "You can walk it off."
He glared at her, which lead to him acknowledging Union's presence. "Um, hey there. I'm sorry you got to deal with my friend's antics." The man narrowed his eyes at her, earning a laugh from the blonde.
Union waved it off. "Don't worry. This is the first time I saw her like this however."
"Wait, you know her?" The huntsman raised a brow.
Celeste zipped to Union's side. "Right! Uh Lenes, this is Union. Union, this is Lenes."
Union looked over the huntsman. He was wearing the same thing the last time he saw him. Union gave Celeste a glance. She was wearing a purple scarf, a white dress shirt, yellow knee-length skirt, black knee socks and shoes. A lot more casual than her friend.
"'Union'?" Lenes repeated. "That's a weird name."
The man in question sighed. "Just roll with it."
"Well Union," The huntsman started. "what brings you here? Seeing as Celeste has no idea either."
"Nothing, just walking around because I have nothing to do." Union rep(lied).
"Speaking of something to do," began Union as he faced Celeste, "you seem awfully excited enough to run into people without looking."
She let out a huff and muttered. "Well, it's not my fault you're easily knocked over."
Union ignored the comment as she continued. "My other teammates are here in Vale for a visit. They invited us two for lunch just minutes after they arrived so we didn't want to keep them waiting."
"She didn't want to keep them waiting." Lenes clarified, not minding the glare sent his way. "It's not like I don't care that they're here, it's just that I don't want to be in a hurry."
"Oh, alright." Union nodded, bringing a foot backwards as he turned away. "Well, hopefully you two will have a great reunion."
As Lenes muttered something about a pun, Celeste blurted out. "Why don't you come with us?"
The two males stared at the sole female, who let out an 'eep' at the odd looks. "What?!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I should be intruding on team stuff." Union remarked, as he faced her again.
Lenes cleared his throat. "Actually, Union. Why don't you come with us? Since you know Celeste and vice versa, I'm sure the others would like to hear that story."
"...alright." Union halfheartedly agreed. "I'll come with."
Celeste beamed while Lenes nodded. "You'll enjoy it!" The female insisted.
"I hope so."
-LINE BREAK-
"Barren, look! It's Cel and Lens. Also one other guy." Union heard a rather young female voice say.
He looked out, seeing the restaurant with two figures standing next to the door. He felt the scroll on his pocket vibrate as a familiar pop-up screen appeared.
Stable WiFi connection has been located!
System is connecting...
System has connected!
'Killing two birds with one stone.' Union thought excitedly.
"Hey Vit!" Celeste waved at the speaker, who waved back and excitedly chatted to what Union thinks is 'Barren'.
Celeste went ahead of Union and Lenes, running to the pair.
"Well, better not keep them waiting." Union heard Lenes speak, silently agreeing with him by walking a little faster.
When he got close, he saw the two teammates Celeste was talking about in more detail.
'Vit' had slightly tanned skin with grey eyes, and short hair almost as white as Lenes's. She was wearing a white dress under a grey hoodie with an emblem resembling a breaking mirror on her arm and back, grey stockings and darker colored boots.
'Barren' had skin pale enough to pass as living, while having very long dark brown hair. She had a dark green trenchcoat over a dark brown shirt, dark brown pants with green highlights and darker green boots. She also had dark green fingerless gloves. An emblem that portrayed an old bark of a tree encircled by leaves was on her back.
Celeste wrapped both her arms around their necks to hug them. "Oh my Oum, I missed you guys!"
"Likewise." 'Barren' agreed.
"Took the words out of my mouth!" 'Vit' as she full on hugged the blonde.
'Barren' saw Union approach with Lenes next to him. "Lenes!...and um, whoever you are."
Lenes walked over to her and gave her a one-armed hug, with 'Barren' returning it. "Good to see you back...and alive." Lenes spoke.
"Hey~ Lenes!" 'Vit' called out as she walked up to him with Celeste in tow.
"Hello Vitri." Lenes greeted.
After some team talk Union didn't bother to listen to, 'Barren' shifted the talk to him. "Well, you two. Who is this?"
"That's Union." Lenes answered as the man in question stepped forward.
"Hello Union, My name is Barren Forest." The pale woman outstretched her hand for shaking, which Union accepted before crossing his arms and cocking his head sideways.
"That's a weird name. Even weirder when it is sort of inappropriate for a female." Union remarked, trying his best not to sound asshole-ish.
'Vitri' and Celeste laughed out loud, Barren flashed an awkward smile, and Lenes sighed as he patted the confused Union's shoulder.
"Yep! Weird name for a girl!" 'Vitri' giggled.
Union's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he fixated them on the 'woman'. Barren cleared his throat. "Sorry, I was going to say something."
'It's a fucking anime world, why wouldn't there be traps.' Union exhaled angrily. "Why the fuck."
"You and me both." Lenes dryly muttered. "Why hadn't you cut it yet?" He asked with a sideways tilt of his head.
Barren rubbed his elbow, gazing uncomfortably. "I told you, it's...complicated."
"What kind of complicated? Emotionally complicated or the physical complicated?" Union questioned with a raised brow.
"The former."
"Well, that explains it."
'Vitri' rushed to Barren's side before Lenes could make a comment. "Anyway, name's Vitri Lexus! Nice to meet you Mr. Union!"
"...Are you secretly a dude?" He replied warily, Celeste laughed.
She sputtered. "W-What kind of question is that?!"
"One that you should definitely forget about. So you two are the 'other teammates' Celeste fondly talked about."
Barren nodded. "We are."
"And who are you exactly, Union?" Vitri asked, wording it like some dramatic detective.
"How about we continue this at the table." Lenes suggested, opening the door to the building.
The group agreed as they entered the restaurant. The inside was notably eastern-esque with very cool looking patterns, portraying a scene of some fishermen on the ocean with mountains behind them.
'Fancy.' Union thought.
The group sat down at a table with the appropriate amount of seats accompanying it. Union sat down on the chair that was at the end of the table, patiently waiting for the others to sit down. A waitress went up to their table, a pair of insect antennae sitting on her head. She was dressed more casually than the other waitresses and waiters, having a loose-fitting sweater with sweatpants.
She smiled when she noticed the people infront of her, although she gave Union a curious glance.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She inquires at Lenes, placing down a list of orders infront of each person.
The man in question gave her a grin. "What? A man can't visit his queen bee~?"
She giggled, giving the last of the list to Union, who looked at the list infront of him. The GModder picked out one of the cheap orders, a Menagerian Fish Dish or something. He didn't plan on eating anything as he is pretty sure he doesn't need to eat, he just wants to check out the Addon Workshop.
But it'll seem rather weird and insulting if he just came here for the internet, so he'll at least enjoy himself with the food and company. When the group was finished telling the waitress their orders, Union told his and that raised a brow to Barren and the waitress.
"Uh, Union," began Barren. "are you sure? You can pick something more...higher up."
He disregarded his hospitality. "I...wasn't exactly accounted for, so I'll try not to intrude that much."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Barren sighed. "Alright."
"Will that be all?" The waitress asked.
The long-haired man nodded, watching the waitress walk away. "So. Lenes, how's the relationship?"
The man in question leaned back on his chair. "Stable."
"That doesn't sound healthy." Vitri commented.
Celeste cleared her throat. "Vitri, it's Lenes we're talking about. I'm sure he meant that their relationship is fine and not hanging on the edge."
"Right, I gotta get used to your vocabulary." She looked at Lenes as she said that.
"Four years isn't enough?" He replied with a tilt of his head.
"Apparently."
Union zoned out of the conversation. Taking out his scroll and seeing the screen light up. The menu was shown, ready for his fingers.
[Garry's Mod Menu]
Spawn Menu
Context Menu
Console
Workshop
Addons
He tapped 'Workshop', which opened up the aforementioned and allowing Union to browse through it. He wonders to himself what addons he should download, before typing 'Pill'. The results were what he expected, a bunch of addons that had the word 'pill' on them. Union hovered his hand on the 'subscribe' button, the addon he was going to get is a Dark Souls 3 Pill pack.
'I wonder how that'll work.' He thought, pressing the button.
Downloading addon...
He ignored the notification, browsing through pages to get the Fallout 3 Liberty Prime pill. After that, he typed in 'Halo' on the search bar. He got the Halo Vehicles pack, including the Scarab. He looked over various weapon packs, settling for the [TFA] Halo CE weapon pack to which he got the TFA base to make sure it works.
'Can I make this the cursed version?' He muses, thinking about the perfectly normal plasma pistol.
Union subscribed to Spartan and Elite player models, intent on using the latter for spoopy purposes. However, before he could move on, he saw an addon that both intrigued and unnerved him.
'Uh, I don't know if I want to.' He swallowed inwardly. The word 'Flood' definitely is a red flag that said 'for mass murdering purposes'.
'I have no idea if it'll actually be the real thing. This system likes having things be as real as possible.' He remembered the Citadel and its inhabitants.
Deciding on something else, he went out on a shopping-esque spree on the workshop. Grabbing addons left and right, reminding himself to test it on a controlled area. Soon, the waitress came back with a waiter, both of them holding plates containing their food and drinks. The food itself smelled provoking to Union, who probably didn't eat for a long time due to not needing to.
The plate with his food was set down infront of him. The fish was cooked, and was cut in inch-long segments. As before, the smell was provoking and nostalgic to him, earning a forlorn smile.
'If I ever come back. I'm going to find out how the hell you cook one of these.' Union thought to himself as he cuts up a piece and placed it on his mouth.
Shortly after, he choked on it, which caused the occupants of the table and other surrounding patrons to look at him.
"Union? You okay there?" Barren asked, fixating him with a concerned gaze when he continued coughing.
"Yeah-" Union coughed again, holding his throat in pain. "-damn, I forgot the food had bones. Of all the things to be in my throat."
He grabbed the glass of water next to him, chugging a lot to wash the bone through his throat. Immediately, the stabbing and scratchy pain stopped and his throat cooled.
"Oh finally." Union sighed in relief, before going over to his fish to remove all the bones.
The group sweatdropped then continued eating, Barren and Celeste giving him occasional glances. After some 5-10 minutes, Union's plate had nothing but scraps of fish meat and bones. Feeling satisfied, he peeked at his scroll. He saw that most of the addons were downloaded, which was great for him.
Lenes tapped his plate twice with his fork, catching the attention of the seated individuals of his table. He cleared his throat and began. "So, Union."
'Ah, shit.' Union swore on his mind, remembering the speaker's earlier statement.
"Since we," Lenes gestured to him, Barren, and Vitri. "Don't exactly know the story between you and Celeste, would you mind if we ask?"
Celeste looked at him uncomfortably, Barren raised a brow, and Vitri leaned forward.
Union sighed. "Sure."
The blonde started first. "I met him in a forest...dealing with, uh." She stopped, putting a hand to her head to either remember, or fake it. "He was dealing with some Grimm, so I saved him when a Beringel got the drop on him."
'Beringel? I thought that was you.' Union thought, remembering the encounter after he respawned.
"She asked who I was," He continued, the attention centered on him. "I am a part of that Private Military organization that liberated the big tower."
The information shocked the listeners, with Lenes hesitantly asking a question. "Are you supposed to talk about this?"
"Nope, but it ain't illegal for me." Union waved him off.
Lenes relaxed on his seat, seemingly. Barren and Vitri looked at him with unease.
"Well anyway, I asked him about liberating the tower." Celeste began again, with Union ready to continue. "I said that was a work in progress, we didn't exactly have much information about it since we were recovering from defending Vale."
"I, uh, told him that the military that set up a perimeter probably had a map laid out." The blonde looked at Lenes, who nodded.
"During our journey, Celeste got jumped by a thrown rock by a Beringel. It broke her back." The listeners perked up at that and voiced their concerns.
"Guys! I'm fine!" Celeste stated to an adamant Vitri.
"Aura fixed her up." Union added, then said. "Not as bad as getting my entire ankle bitten by a fucking crocodile."
"Are you okay now?" Vitri asked, leaning over to him.
"Yep."
"Uh anyway, after those annoying injuries, we reached Vale and got the map. Thanks Lenes." Celeste bowed lightly to Lenes, who flashed a thumbs up. "We went back to their little camp. The, uh, leader there formed a plan with Union's and I's support, the decision was to sneak in and go loud once we were compromised."
"The leader was the big, cyan-colored one right? 'Combine', I think his name was." The white-haired man inquired.
"Mhm." Union hummed.
"Now, when we arrived in the tower, I was expecting something grandiose or mundane." Celeste dramatically started. "Instead, it felt like you were in a freezer, without physically feeling the cold, the building was filled with so much machinery to the point I wonder if it was a tower at all."
"Sounds rough." Barren winced.
"Worst yet! The occupants knew the layout to its core, we had to keep running because of that. One encounte-" She stopped suddenly, her face devoid of emotion and her hands shook.
Immediately, the occupants rushed to her side except Union, who looked away in guilt. Lenes noticed that, looking at him in suspicion. Celeste, in an instant, shook off the state, flashing a fake smile.
"Sorry about that, I seemed to have a brain fart there." She lightly shooed away the hands on her shoulders and arm.
Her teammates persisted, although with less intensity.
"Guys!" She said through gritted teeth. "I'm fine!"
-LINE BREAK-
"She is not fine!"
Union had his back against the wall of a dark alleyway, an angry Lenes preventing him from getting out.
"What makes you think I know why?!" Union countered.
"I saw your look when she stopped! Don't play dumb with me Union!"
Union looked to the side, weighing his choices. He ultimately relented, gazing up at Lenes's expectant face.
"Well?" The huntsman raised a brow.
Union said the sentence as bluntly as he could. "She killed someone."
Shortly after, the white-haired male backed off, a look of understanding in his eyes. "Oh."
He turned his head to the chatter of his teammates. "Sorry, I was just concerned. She took it hard, didn't she?"
"She did, but she calmed down after some help." Union looked at his shoulder where Celeste cried on.
Lenes smirked. "She's a keeper, Union. Don't waste it."
Immediately, Union covered his face with his arm to hide the blush. "We aren't like that!"
"Sure~" The huntsman drawled, digging into his coat.
Union sighed, but didn't say anything when Lenes pulled out a scroll. "So anyway, considering if you didn't hear. Barren and Vitri are going to get married in three days, I was wondering if you would be interested in going."
"Uh sure." The GModder accepted, Lenes tapping a few things in his scroll.
"That's great." The huntsman pocketed his scroll, waving as he walked out of the alleyway. "I'll see you then?"
"Yep." Union confirmed, staring at Lenes's back as he walked away.
'Peculiar.' He narrowed his eyes.
Union looked at the walls, before spawning a Physgun and a fence. He prop rode his way to the top of the buildings, subconsciously calling for a Hunter Chopper. When one flied under him, Union jumped to latch on its underside. The vehicle made its way to the Citadel whilst giving its passenger a nice view of Vale.
He sighed, gazing up at the broken moon as he thinks about how that happened.
-END-
So, um, did you enjoyed the chapter?
That aside, I'm not feeling well. It's probably because of the temperature, it's cold as fuck. I don't know if I have the corona virus or just a cold, the former is kind of unlikely but it feels like I have its symptoms. Latter is more believable and comforting.
Anyways, Union will get to test his new toys next chapter if I feel like writing, this illness will be the end of me I swear. And if you plan to review, do you think you can leave some ship names for shenanigans?
I don't know, it's fun I guess. If this chapter feels very unsavory or unsatisfactory, it might be because I'm not feeling it.
Now before I fall over, I wish you guys luck in your life and I'll see you next.