Hello everyone. Welcome back to another chapter. I hope you guys are excited as I am. Without any further delay, let's begin.
I do not own RWBY or Kamen Rider.
FELIX: Previously on Building A Better Remnant. A fight broke out at the docks between four parties. Hunters-In-Training, Roman Torchwick, Faust and White Fang.
REO: Shouldn't Kamen Rider be the fifth party?
FELIX: No need. I'm a hunter as well.
REO: A hunter with a crazy amount of arsenal.
FELIX: That's nothing unusual and I don't see anything wrong with that.
REO: Of course. You might be a little OP with all the new best matches moving forward.
FELIX: You know it. Now, let's see how everyone is on Chapter 15. A new arc.
JAUNE: You guys were talking about my nephew?
FELIX: Not that Arc.
CHAPTER 15: New Day, New Ordeal
[NACISTA-A FEW HOURS LATER]
"Xander Mazon?"
"Yeah. Stalk said that he was one of Faust's founders. Do you know anything about him Owner?" Felix asked as he sat on one of the chairs at the counter.
"Did you ever met him?" This time was from Reo, who was being applied medicine by Mest.
Owner crossed his arms and thought long and hard. "Ah!"
The three boys shot up from their seats, Felix stared at Owner with anticipation, "What's wrong, Owner?"
"The reason I never mention him, because…"
"Yes?" Mest took a step closer. Reo hold his breath for the big reveal.
"…I forgot all about him. Hehe." Owner smiled guiltily.
"What?! You forgot about him?" Felix ruffled and tugged his hair in annoyance. "How could you forgot such important info?!"
Owner huffed, "Give me break, you three. It's not like I saw the guy all the time. I might be one of the top scientist that appointed to study and researched the Pandora Box but I hardly met the guy. I only met him a few times and even that was through voice recording that been guarded with extremely tight security. I don't even know his face. From what I've heard, that guy never revealed his face to anyone except for a very few people."
"How about Stalk?"
"I told you already what I knew about him. Nothing. He was a newcomer. He came in all flashy and demand everyone to work for him. Some retaliated and brutally murdered of course. Nothing's new there, but, a single order believed from the top came and he turned Faust into his plaything from the shadows. No doubt he's the reason Faust was outlawed shortly after."
The three riders were silent. Looks like they were back at square one. Info that they couldn't use to found out more about Faust or Xander Mazon. A dead end once again.
Owner wiped the counter as he saw the expression of the rider. "So, what now? Don't tell me you're going to give up."
"No." Felix told him with determination. "Now. We need to find more about Xander Mazon. He might be the key needed to help take down Faust and revealing Stalk's identity. But, if you don't know Xander Mazon that well. How come you managed to get your hand on the Build Driver?"
"I got a little help. A friend of mine at Faust managed to get some info on a device that could help us greatly. It was that belt. The notes in the computer below tell us on how to use it but, there's nothing on its purpose. He died trying to get this to me. We decided to escape Faust together but he didn't make it. So, Felix, Mest, Reo and even Liam. I begged you four that to never let anyone's sacrifices be in vain. Remember that."
The trio nodded at Owner's moving speech.
"Achoo!"
"What was that?" Reo hurried to the front door and tugged it open. All members of RWBY and JNPR fell to the ground as they had been pressing their bodies against the door to listen to their conversation.
"Weiss?" Mest asked in confusion.
"Oh hey JNPR!" Reo happily greeted them.
"What are you guys doing here?" Felix crossed his arms.
Ruby, who was at the very top, got up and brushed her skirt. She smiled at them before giving a salute. "Ruby Rose of Faust Extermination Team, reporting for duty!"
"Nora Valkyrie of Faust Extermination Team, reporting for duty!"
"What is going on here? Could someone give me a proper explanation?" Felix demanded. Pyrrha cleared her throat, "We heard what happened Felix and we all wanted to help you take down Faust."
Weiss nodded, "Yes. Remember, we did promised you before that we will help you in any way we could. Now, after that fight and more info from Stalk. We think there's no better time to start. Plus, we got a two weeks break, so classes won't get in our way."
"Yeah. What Weiss said." Ruby agreed with her partner.
The three members of Team FLAM and Owner were silent before broke out laughing, with Team RWBY and JNPR joined in. Felix extended a hand towards Ruby. "Let's get along from now on."
Ruby's smile grew larger and she took his hand. Giving it a shake. "Let's get along."
[A FEW DAYS LATER, BEACON]
A few days had passed since the whole fiasco at the docks. The conflict did brought out some form of blessing. Team RWBY had been closer than ever. The four girls always seemed to be in a better mood. They talked and joked with each other. Even Weiss joined in on the action. If Team RWBY was a standup comedy, the sisters would be the funny man while their partners were the straight man.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said with Team FLAM. With a man down, it brought down morale altogether. They took turns in checking up on Liam every few hours or so. Luckily, on the fourth day, Liam miraculously gain consciousness and everyone went to see him.
Now, everyone gathered around the bed with Nora tried to get permission to sign Liam's bandaged chest.
"Come on. A small signature. It doesn't have to be a signature, an initial will do. Ooh, I know! A smiley face!"
"Nora. Stop bothering him." Ren pulled back his partner from continue to annoy the injured blonde.
Reo placed a vase of white daisies on table beside the bed, "Man. You looked like you had been ran over by a 16 wheeler."
"Felt like it too." Liam admitted while sitting up. The secondary rider looked at Felix and smiled. "We did good huh partner? How's the two panels?" Liam lifted a fist up and Felix reluctantly bumped it with his own.
"The panels are safe. It's in the usual place."
Liam's cheerful laugh broke the gloomy atmosphere, "Amazing! Three down! Three more to go. Just you wait Felix. I'll be back on my feet soon and the four of us will kick some more asses."
The lighten atmosphere returned to gloom when interrupted with Yang's uproar, "This could be avoided if you just retreated Felix."
"Yang. Stop it. Felix already apologized." Ruby cut in. Weiss glared at the yellow brawler, "How cute. You said they should retreat when you would never thought of it when you're fighting. You keep fighting without much thinking as well."
Yang blushed at the statement. She looked at Ruby, then Weiss and then Blake. All of them stared at her while JNPR still trying to convince Nora to drop the idea of signing Liam's chest. "Geez. Fine. I get it. But, all in seriousness. Apology don't heal wounds."
Liam sensing the tension immediately called out to the blonde brawler, "Yang. Calm down. I'm still alive, aren't I? Plus, this is what I signed up for by being a Kamen Rider. Save and protect the world. Like, come on. Like a stupid bull Faunus going to take down the great Liam Flae."
Blake, who was sitting on a chair behind them, flinched at the description of particular bull Faunus but thank god no one realized.
Mest raised his fist into the air, "You tell them muscle monkey!" The three minus Felix cheered but a sharp pain manifested on Liam's chest, making him crashed back into his bed. Without thinking, Yang pushed JNPR aside as she stood next to him. "How ironic. You told me to calm down, instead, you need to calm down Mr. Kamen Rider. If not, those stitches going to reopen."
"Yes, ma'am"
Everyone was shocked at Yang's almost motherly voice. Ruby perhaps the only one who weren't all that surprised as Yang had practically raised her herself after her mother died. Felix coughed to get Liam's attention. He handed Liam's Build Driver back to him. Cross-Z roared cheerfully and flew onto Liam's lap.
"I optimized it. The power output should be at least doubled. I might be a little dangerous with your condition right now but I'm sure you could use it more efficiently than before after a couple of weeks. I hope this will prevent something similar from happening ever again."
Liam smiled widely, "This is awesome Felix. Thanks. Isn't it great guys?" Everyone smiled and nodded. Ruby grabbed the Driver to examine or more likely, to drool over it, to Weiss' disapproval. Liam saw Yang still glared at Felix with eyes filled with hostility. "Yang. Come on. Please just forgive him. It's not even his fault. I would stay to fight as well. So, forgive him? For me? Please?"
Yang stayed silent. Liam practically begged just now. She don't know what to do. She don't want to let Felix go without any consequences, but she was glad Liam was still alive and kicking. She turned to her teammates and even JNPR. All seven of them nodded slowly with pleading eyes. She bit her lips and sighed. Her lilac eyes met with Felix's black ones. "Alright. I forgive you Felix."
"Thank you…not that I needed it." Felix mumbled at the end.
"What was that?!"
"Nothing!" Felix quickly replied, terrified of the blonde.
Another few days passed and it was already the last day of school before their two week semester break. Every student of Beacon were looking forward to it. Even the staff. They still have work to do but at least they got some free time from teaching classes. Students already make plans on how to spend their break. Some decided to return home and some decided to stay at the school.
Felix's and Yang's relationship slowly mending itself but it wasn't completely there yet. They already have a few genuinely friendly conversation and once they even teamed up to keep Ruby from understanding one of Mest's dirty jokes. The final class of the term will start in one hour. Everyone, minus Liam, were in the cafeteria, eating lunch. Today, it was supposedly Reo's turn to bring the cafeteria lunch to Liam by following the doctor's strict diet. Reo got up and made his way to the counter when Yang, with a tray of food in her hands, stopped him.
"No need, dog boy. I got it." Yang told him as she lifted the tray and smiled.
"Again?" Reo raised a brow, "You done this a couple of times now."
Yang smiled and scoffed, "So? Can't I help out a friend?"
"Liam is our teammate, and since when you're his caretaker?" Reo eyed the assortment of food on the tray.
"Since I made the promise with Sandy. Now, if you excused me. Food's getting cold and I got a hungry and cranky blonde waiting for me…I mean, the food. Waiting for the food." With that Yang power walked towards the infirmary.
Felix and Mest, who was chewing on a sandwich, stood beside Reo. "Should we go and investigate Felix?"
Felix shook his head, "Nah. That would be rude."
"I call front row seat." Mest finished the sandwich in two bites and dashed out of the cafeteria.
"Mest. Wait!" Reo followed his partner. Felix turned around to his table but found it abandoned. He turned around again and see all his friends also ran out of the cafeteria, in the direction of the infirmary. Felix took an apple from his plate and before he could took a bite, Ruby grabbed his uniform and pulled him along.
"Ruby. Slow down." Felix pleaded as he was dragged and shoved onto a seat, between Blake and Weiss in the hallway outside of the infirmary. There, everyone was huddling against the door to the infirmary and try to listen in the two blondes in the room.
"I can't hear anything. Can you Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.
"I can't hear anything either, Jaune."
The leader of JNPR looked around and turned to Reo. "Can you hear them Reo? Since you have…you know."
"Yeah. Put those ears to good use." Nora tugged on Reo's dog ears and aimed them at the door. Reo felt a weird sensation at the bomber's touch and let out a small moan that caused her to let go. Everyone stared at the dog Faunus until Reo calmed himself down with a blushed face. "Don't touch the ears. It's sensitive."
"Oh. Sorry." Nora apologized which caused everyone, especially Ren, to turned to her. They never expected Nora apologized on her own without Ren telling her to. Putting the weird episode behind them, they focused on listening in the room.
Inside the infirmary, Yang placed the tray onto Liam's lap and took his pillow to puff it up. Making it nice and fluffy again. Liam's was happy to see real food instead of the sludge that they served him every morning. He doesn't care who brought it actually, even if it was Professor Port but that's a little weird.
Yang saw how Liam stared at it without blinking, "Well? What are you waiting for? Dig in."
With that Liam ate a little bit of everything. The delicious taste spread through his taste buds and felt like he tasted food for the first time in his life all over again.
"Thanks again for bringing these to me. I appreciated it Yang."
"No need to thank me. I just doing my part in upholding my promise to Sandy."
Liam chuckled, "Yeah. I know you will. So, how's between you and Felix? I hope the two of you starting to get along again."
Yeah poured water into Liam's glass. "Yeah. About that. I don't see any differences that would make. We starting to get along again but Felix and I were never that close to begin with. He's a lot closer to Ruby than the others."
"Do you want to?"
"What?"
"Get to know Felix better. He's a cool guy once you get to know him."
"I don't think that's necessary."
Liam scooped a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "Why not?"
"There's no reason for me to interact with him that much anyway." Yang sat on the chair next to the bed. "The Build armor and Felix himself is cool. He's a good guy all around but I don't think I could get along with someone uptight like him."
"You get along with Weiss. She's uptight herself."
"That's because we're teammates. Felix and I are…"
"…fellow hunters-in-training, friends, allies and the only one you might be able to count on some day."
Yang went silent. She swung her legs a bit and stared at the floor. She wanted to be friends with everyone. She could get along with everyone, even Weiss. But, why Felix's so hard?
"I know what you could do." Liam thought of something. "Come here."
Yang leaned in and Liam whispered something into her ear.
The ones outside couldn't hear anything and they continued to press their faces against the door. They heard the part she said about Felix, and Ruby made herself a promise to talk to Yang about this later. She looked to the bench and saw Felix walked away.
"Felix. Where are you going?"
"Class."
"Class won't start for another half an hour."
"That's okay. I'll just sit in the classroom. Going through notes. Better than staying here."
"It this about what Yang had said? I'll promise to talk to her."
Felix placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby. I'm fine. I don't mind what Yang said. She's right in a few ways. I'm a bit uptight. Maybe I should let loose a bit in other things. I'll see all of you in class. Don't be late now."
Ruby frowned as she unable to get Felix to stay. She was torn between her sister and the boy she had a crush on.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Yang's voice came from the ward.
"Book it!" Nora scream out as she, and only she ran away.
Glynda Goodwitch watched as her two students clashed in the arena. She had chosen Lie Ren and Dove Bronzewing to spar. Ren managed to get the upper hand and beat Dove with ease. She looked at her tablet and saw the latter's aura already in the red.
"Dove Bronzewing's aura is in the red. Match end. Winner, Lie Ren."
"Go Renny!" Nora screamed out. Ren smirked at his downed opponent and waved at his teammates as he walked out of the room.
Reo pushed the 'stop' button on his scroll that had been recording Ren's fight. "I knew Ren's good but not this good. He could make you a run for your money Mest."
"That's why I hate ninjas." Mest grumpily admitted. He turned his head slightly to the back to secretly look at Blake. "But, I do like cats."
"You racist." Reo spat out.
"Next, for the last match of the day. I want…"
"Professor Goodwitch. May I volunteer and commission a challenge?" Yang raised her hand in air. Glynda looked at her and sighed. "I don't really commissioned challenges but alright. Make sure you challenge someone up to your level Miss Xiao Long."
"Okay." Yang stood up and looked around the room. He lilac eyes landed on her target, whom was already aware of her goal. "I challenge Felix Nairo of Team FLAM."
The students gasped and murmured among themselves. Ruby even jaw dropped at Yang's sudden action. She tugged her sister's arm. "Yang. What are you doing?"
"What? It's combat class. What's so weird about that?"
Weiss looked at her partner, "She's right Ruby. Let her go."
On Team FLAM's end, Reo turned to his leader. "Man. Yang still haven't let it completely go. She went all the way to challenge you now, Felix."
"It's okay. I can handle her. I hope."
"Do your best." Mest encouraged him and Felix nodded as he left the room.
Minutes later the two stood at the end of the arena. Felix felt his driver and his fullbottles were present in his pockets.
Glynda looked at them. "Are the two combatants ready?"
"Yes." Felix pulled out his Build Driver to the amusement of the audience.
"Yup." Yang replied with her normal pop of the 'P' and cocked Ember Celica. The cocking sound did intimidated Felix a bit as he remembered how powerful Yang's punches could be if she's serious.
"I don't need to remind you two that this is a sparring match. First one to admit defeat or aura in the red, loses and the match end immediately."
Felix placed the belt and inserted the Fullbottle.
RABBIT!
TANK!
BEST MATCH!
ARE YOU READY?
"Henshin"
FULLMETAL MOONSAULT!
RABBITTANK!
YEAH!
The students cheered for Build. Right now, he don't need it. He just want to get this over with. "Thank you for allowing me to transform first."
"You're welcome. I always make sure to have common courtesy in fights." Yang smiled back despite couldn't see Build's behind the mask.
"Ready. Set. Begin!"
With the approval of Professor Goodwitch, Yang immediately jumped at him and closed the gap. She went to heavy punches straight to the body but Build's strong armor blocked it. He grabbed her hand and twirled her around and threw her back where she came from.
Yang slammed her feet onto the arena to stop her momentum but Build had the same idea and ran towards her at full force. Yang immediately brace herself for the impact. She blocked punch after punch but she felt the pain starting to build up.
Build's punches were stronger than she thought it was and her blocks were getting weaker and weaker. Build went for a side kick with his right leg but Yang saw it. She immediately protect her right side but shocked that Felix's immediately change his mind and went for the unguarded left side with his left leg.
Yang felt the pain alright and flung to the center of the arena. How did she not see that coming? This is so not like her. She is better than this. She looked at her aura and already down to 94% while Build's at 97%. She slammed her fist into the arena and shattered the floor out of frustration.
"What's wrong Yang? I thought your better than this?" Build taunted.
Weiss was fuming with anger and called out to her. "Yang! Get your head in the game. You're better than this!"
"Yang. Don't let him get to you." Blake joined in.
Yang got back up and slammed her fist together. Her golden blonde hair burst into golden flames and her eyes was burning red. "I'm coming Nairo." Yang went straight back into the offensive.
Build blocked her advances by pulling out his Drill Crusher. His plan was to avoid and attack periodically but Yang held on to his weapon and flung him over her head. As he fell down, a solid hit landed on Build's chest, which sending flying crossed the arena and almost into the wall.
"Go Yang!" Weiss screamed out and Ruby just cringed but slowly clapped.
"Ooh. Felix going to feel that soon." Mest joked and Reo was busy recording. He looked up to see the aura and surprised that Felix was already at 72%. "That one hit did that?"
Build got back up but sparks flew out of his armor.
"Oops. Looks like you having some trouble there. Did I hit you too hard?" Yang returned a taunt. Her semblance's not going to deactivate anytime soon and she was still strong and fresh. Build reached for a fullbottle.
"Maybe it's time for you to cool down."
HARINEZUMI!
SYOUBOUSYA!
BEST MATCH!
ARE YOU READY?
"Build up."
THE PIN-POINT RESCUE!
FIREHEDGEHOG!
YEAHHH!
Build transform into a hedgehog and fire truck best match. They saw the white hedgehog half-body a few times already but it was the first time the fire truck half-body made an appearance. It was a red half-body and the most noticeable feature was a metal hose on his left arm.
"Wow. That's the one he got from Cardin's Smash essence right? Back in Forever Fall Forest?" Pyrrha asked her friends and Ruby replied with a nod.
The entire class burst into another uproar. Their cheers were almost deafening but the two continue to look at each other.
"A little form change not going to scare me!" Yang ran head on towards him, Build right hand turned into a ball with spikes and easily blocked multiple of Yang's attacks. Yang growled and got angrier and angrier but Build keep on blocking. She punched with every bit of her strength but it wasn't enough to damage the rider. She missed a punched and the spiky ball crashed right onto her back.
Yang flopped to the ground and rolled away just in time before Build plunged the spikes into the arena's floor. Yang kicked his head and send his tumbling onto his back.
"Crap." Felix cursed as he saw Yang coming in with a kick. He lifted his metal hose and a stream of high pressurized water shot out. This hit Yang square in the front and launched her further into the air. Build got up and made a dash for her.
He went for a kick but Yang maneuvered herself and landed a clean strike onto Build's head and crashed hard to the ground.
"Come on. Used almost the same tactic as me? That's cheap Felix." Yang giggled.
"Glad to see you in a better mood, Yang"
"Don't get me wrong Felix. I'm still have a beef with you."
"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever."
The two readied themselves again. Build was at 65% while Yang was still at solid 80%. The two were almost equally matched. Ruby heard the slight friendly exchange and she took a sigh of relief.
"Clearly you need to dry off now."
"Huh?"
Build aimed back the metal hose to Yang and fire shot out instead of water. Yang dodged while the students 'oooh' and 'ahhh' at the display. Yang dodged all over the place to avoid the fire. She could just crash through but Build got a solid defend and he could use water to pushed her away again. It might be just water but it pressurized and still could deal damage and threw her off just enough for Build to launch a counter attack.
"At least my clothes are dry now thanks."
"You're welcome…."
Build couldn't replied fast enough as Yang was already in front of him. She went for a leg swept but Build jumped out of the way. He landed a punch on Yang's stomach, face and another blast of water to keep Yang away from him.
"What are you doing Yang?! Focus!" Blake told her partner.
"Take this chance Felix!" Reo called out. "Be careful. Make sure her semblance is down."
'Damn it. Why it didn't work?' Yang cursed at her own failure. She couldn't get how Felix was beating her. Sure. She still have more aura than him but that wasn't good enough if she could get more damage in.
KAIZOKU!
DENSHA!
BEST MATCH!
ARE YOU READY?
"Build up."
THE PUNCTUAL REBEL!
KAIZOKURESSYA! YEAHHH!
"The law of victory had been decided."
KAIZOKU HASSYAR!
Grabbing his multiple-use weapon. He make sure to use it effectively as possible. In this form, he could undo Yang in the speed department but lack in defense. They squared up each other before clashed again for the third or fourth time that class. They seemed to already forgotten.
Build quickly charged up the weapon as Yang cocked her gauntlets again.
KAKUEKI DENSYA! SHUPPATSU!
Build send out the first attacked and Yang shot the two projectiles easily, cancelling the attack.
"How about this?"
KYUUKOU DENSYA! SHUPPATSU!
Yang shot out multiple rounds at the three balls of energy and delivered a few shots towards Build. The genius immediately send out a shot of his own.
KAKUEKI DENSYA! SHUPPATSU!
They traded blows one after another. The students sat there in silent and holding their breath in anticipation who would mess up first rather than who would deal the first damage. This was more prominent in Team RWBY and FLAM as it was their own members battled out down there.
Build shot out more shots as he closed the gap between them. He swung his energy bow and managed to corner Yang.
"Damn you."
Build landed multiple hits and managed to get Yang's aura down lower than his. He decided it was time for a finisher.
"Guard this if you can Yang. I'm don't want to hurt you too badly."
"Not in your lifetime."
Yang's semblance reactivated and Build could feel his confidence shrunk.
"You got to be kidding me."
Yang wasted no time going in for the kill but it didn't do much as she had hoped. Most of her punches actually missed its mark as KaizokuRessya had given Build an immense speed boost and the only time she hit him was because she had more experience in combat than Build, only taking him by surprised every few minutes. She managed to land a solid hit and crashed her opponent to the ground. She decided to go in for a dive kick. Build charged up his weapon for a counterattack.
KAISOKU DENSYA! SHUPPATSU!
Four shots blasted Yang away from him. With his breathing was getting heavier and heavier, he charged his weapon, hopefully for the final time of the day. Her aura was at 47% while his was at 44%.
"Now or never."
KAKUEKI DENSYA!
KYUUKOU DENSYA!
KAISOKU DENSYA!
Yang stood proudly and looked at Build in the eyes.
"Wait are you waiting for you big baby?"
"Tank this if you can."
KAIZOKU DENSYA! HASSHA!
The little green train flew out and circled Yang non-stop. It gave all it had at the blonde brawler. Yang tried to invade and strike it down but the train just whilst or dodged with godly precision out of her reach or shots.
Yang dropped down to the floor and breathe heavily. She pushed her body upwards with everything she got. He arms were tired and wobbly. She took a breather but she heard the dreadful announcement.
"Yang Xiao Long's aura had reached the red. Match end. Winner Felix Nairo."
The arena were filled with the sound of students cheered and screamed. Yang was half-way up and the only thing supporting her body was her weak and wobbly arms. She heard footsteps coming towards her. A hand was offered to her and she looked into Felix's eyes.
"I know why you challenged me. I know you don't completely forgive me but I wished I could earn back your trust. I regretted what happened to Liam but I'm trying my best to improve myself. Regrettably it could be slow at times. So, I'm sorry."
Yang smiled and accepted his hand. Once she got up, she secured Felix's head in a headlock and proceed to mess up his hair.
"Apology accepted Bottle Boy."
"Oww. Watch the hair. Let go."
The student body laughed at the scene before them. Ruby smiled at the sight and glad to see her sister and her friend returned to friendlier terms than ever before. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to smiling Blake.
"Looks like there's nothing to worry about anymore."
Weiss nodded, "Thank god that's over."
Ruby smiled even brighter and felt like on top of the world. She can't wait to start the two week semester break with her friends.
"Finally. It's good to be back."
Liam entered his dorm room that very night and crashed onto his bed. He looked up and saw disapproving eyes of Felix's.
"Liam. Don't jumped onto your bed like that. You just healed."
Mest snickered and ruffled Felix's hair from behind as he walked by. "Felix. Loosen up. You've been too serious."
"Damn it. Not you too Mest. Everyone seemed to be enjoying ruffling my hair today." Felix went to grab a comb to fix his messed up hair.
Reo closed the door behind him and put Liam's bag near his bed. "You should have seen Yang and Felix fought Liam. They were neck to neck but I knew Felix would win."
"Ah. So Yang took my advice after all. I hope she got what she wanted."
"Wait. What did you just say?" Felix stopped combing and Mest stopped rummaging through his wardrobe for a hair dye.
"Liam told you to do what?!" Ruby jumped Yang and the two sisters landed onto Blake's bed while the cat Faunus was on it reading. Weiss was brushing her hair as she approached her team.
"It's like I said. Liam told me to challenge Felix to a fight. He said it might helped me see how strong Felix actually is and get the anger and frustration out of me. Final report, Felix is quite okay. He strong and creative. I don't think he's even serious back then, but neither was I."
Ruby frowned, "Can't believe Liam told you to do that."
"I can't believe you guys didn't think of letting me blow some steam through combat." Yang told them.
Blake flipped a page of her book, "Can you blame us? If it's any other than us, FLAM minus Reo, and JNPR minus Jaune. You would destroy them in no time."
Weiss nodded, "Exactly. Anyway, I'm glad that's over. Now, you and Felix are back on friendlier terms."
"Yeah. The twelve of us will spend the two week break doing fun things. Fun times begins now!" Ruby cheered.
"Fun times between studying. We can't afford to slack off Ruby."
"Aww Weiss. You're no fun." Ruby groaned.
Weiss put her brush on the table and turned to her leader. "That's not true. I'm plenty of fun."
Ruby smirked, "Really? Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure. I'll prove it. Tomorrow we'll go do whatever you want and I'll enjoy it. If I'm not or try to fake it. I'll buy everyone dinner, even JNPR and FLAM. How's that?"
"Great. Thanks Weiss. You're the best."
Weiss immediately realized she was played and tried to straighten it out with Ruby but it was too late. She have to spend her entire day tomorrow with them and she know Ruby will drag her to the weapon shop at some point.
"I'm going to kill you Liam!"
"Hahahahaha. Help! I'd been chase by a crazy huntsman!"
"If Adam Taurus didn't kill you, I will!"
Felix and Liam's threats and laughter echoed through the hallway. Ruby opened the door and peeked outside. She almost got knocked down by the force created by a hysterical Liam being chased by furious Felix. The remaining members of RWBY also exited the room.
"What in the world are those two idiots doing? He's going to get an express ticket back into the infirmary." Weiss asked as a panting and out of breath Reo jogged in front of them.
"Wait you two. Liam. You shouldn't run just yet. You're still haven't fully healed." Reo ignored the four girls and continue on jogging. A few minutes later, Mest walked in front of them calmly in the direction of his friends. He turned to them and smiled.
"Ladies."
He greeted them and Team RWBY nodded at him in return. He missed a blushing Weiss and turned a corner to where his teammates had went. The girls closed the door and went to their nightly routines before bed.
Ruby climbed onto her bed and covered herself with her comforter. She smiled and closed her eyes.
"Tomorrow will be a great day for all of us."
[UNKNOWN LOCATION]
Stalk sat in his chair in a lounge looking room. In front of him was the other three Pandora Box Panel, placed neatly on a pedestal. One teal and the other two was blue. He stared at it without looking away for a good half an hour, thinking about something in the process. Clicking footsteps was heard for a solid minute before a beautiful woman with black hair and amber eyes entered the room.
"You looked like someone that had hit rock bottom."
Stalk ignored her and continue to stare at the panels. The woman smirked, as she knew what he was thinking. She reached out to the panel when Stalk's hand shot out and grabbed her's.
"Don't even think about it. I need them spick and span for my plans. Keep your dirty hands off of them."
"If you haven't recall, 'your plans' had the last two panels claimed by that boy."
"I know that. All part of the plan actually." Stalk got up and grabbed the three panels. "At least I have a plan, unlike you. I don't see you do anything about yours Cinder. Hit a bump in the road?"
The woman named Cinder smiled and stood up. A flower vase nearby suddenly exploded, with all its shards rained all around them. Cinder approached Stalk and stared right into his green visor. She gave him a small wink.
"Unlike yours, I already have it in motions long before you showed up."
"Race you to the finish?"
Cinder's smile from earlier turned into a scowl. She hated it when he said something like that. It makes her wanted nothing more to smack his head off.
"Do I need to remind you that it's up to you to decide things? It's up to her.
Instead of saying anything, Stalk roared with laughter. "As if that'll happened. I will be one to call the shots. By the time my plan comes into fruition, rematch time."
"Then what will happen? Another one of your toys get destroyed? I was told you ran off to your mommy when the first two time it happened. Who to say it won't happened again for a third time? If that's the case, no one will safe you E..."
Cinder's taunt came to a halt when Stalk grabbed her by the throat. He wasn't strangling her but with the hand there, it does tell Cinder that he'll do it if she dare say another word.
"Now I know how to push your button."
Roman whistled as he entered the room and saw the two in a compromising position. He stopped his whistling and the two turned to him.
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting a very intimate and personal moment?"
Stalk let go and pulled Cinder into a side hug.
"No. Roman. We were just having a little bonding session. Isn't that right sweetie?"
"Call me that again and I melt your face off." Cinder growled at the nickname.
"Oh, a feisty woman. I like it."
Roman rolled his eyes. He straighten his hat and look dead at Stalk.
"Stalk. Since our last deal was a bust. The White Fang wanted another meeting."
"What? Another meeting with those animals?" Stalk questioned as he grabbed his scroll.
Cinder sat down on a sofa and crossed her legs but uncrossed them when she noticed Stalk lowered his gazed as he waited for the White Fang to pick up.
She brushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and looked confidently at her associates. "I'll say, we need to finalize our plans before we get everything ready."
Roman sat next to her, "Bring everyone up to speed. Where are those two kids anyway? Mercury and Emerald?"
"Their somewhere. They'll come when I call them."
Stalk finished his call and crashed onto another chair. "Adam is very colorful with his words. I missed writing letters. At least that way I don't have to listen to my associates berating me in real time."
Roman sneered at Stalk, "Writing letters? What are you? 80?"
He proceed to laugh as Cinder and Stalk looked at Roman as if he was the biggest idiot in the room. At that point, he probably was.
"You have no idea Roman. No idea at all." Stalk commented under his breath as he putting together his plan involving the three remaining Pandora Panel. "Act two shall begin anytime now."
[EMERALD FOREST]
READY? GO!
Build FireHedgehog rammed the end of his extending metal hose on his left arm against the charging giant Deathstalker and proceed to literally fill it up with water in large amount. The scorpion of death began to bloat up in a similar manner to a balloon being filled up with water. After a few second, it almost looked like it would explode, Build jumped and now he's in the air.
His right hand turned into a ball with deadly sharp spikes and metal hose retracted itself and brought Build downwards.
VORTEX FINISH!
Build slammed his right fist into the Deathstalker and put it out of its misery. He wiped a non-existing sweat and feel proud of himself.
"Well. That's done. Hey, are you guys done? We supposed to meet RWBY and JNPR in an hour."
"Almost!" Cross-Z ran across the plains with a Boarbatusk rolling after him. He leaped into the air and cranked his driver.
READY? GO!
DRAGONIC FINISH!
Ready for his cool finisher, he dropped right down onto the Grimm and destroyed it in an instant.
"Alright! I'm back baby!" Cross-Z cheered as he dusted off his hands. Build walked up to him.
"Don't over do it. You're still hurt, remember?" Build reminded his partner.
"Don't worry too much. I'm fine."
"Guys." Night Rogue appeared from behind some trees. "Any of you see Reo?"
"No. Haven't seen him since we arrived here."
"I hope he's okay." Cross-Z shrugged his shoulder.
"Guys. I don't know about you. But, doesn't Reo seem a bit down lately?"
Build thought about it a bit and nodded, "When you put it that way. He did seemed a bit distant lately."
"Wonder what's that all about?" Cross-Z sat down on a nearby tree stump. "Did we upset him in some way? Would he forgive us if we give him some treats?"
Build whacked the top of Cross-Z's head with his metal hose. "Idiot!"
"What?"
"Stop treating him like a dog."
"I was only joking. That hurts."
A loud scream startled the three and they immediately ran towards the voice in distress.
"Was that Reo?" Build asked.
"I don't know. Maybe. I did sound a bit girly."
"Liam!"
"Sorry!"
Reo ran away screaming as an Alpha Beowulf chased him. He thought he secured a jackpot after slaying a few Beowulf and felt like he could take on anything. That until an Alpha came along and almost shredded him to tiny pieces.
He tried to fight back but there's so much dual swords wielded by an adequate fighter could do. He avoided and blocked many closed calls and he had no choice but to escape.
Reo ran towards a big three and effortlessly ran up. He flipped backwards into the air and almost missed the swiping claws of the Alpha. He landed behind it and almost strike a clean one with his sword but it turned around faster than he thought and almost took Reo's head clean off.
The Faunus crashed on his back and the Beowulf towered over him. It brought it claws up and Reo felt his time has come.
VORTEX FINISH!
DRAGONIC FINISH!
Build RabbitTank and Cross-Z rider kicked the Alpha away as Night Rogue bided on it with his TranSteam Rifle.
BAT!
STEAM SHOT!
A ball of purple energy shot out and blasted the Alpha Beowulf into nothingness. Night Rogue offered a hand to Reo and the Faunus reluctantly accepted it.
"Are you okay Reo?"
"I'm fine." Reo said with a low voice.
Cross-Z skipped towards him and slapped his back. "Thank goodness we're here. Maybe next time, you shouldn't go alone, Reo. It's dangerous." Liam wrapped his arm around Reo in a playful manner.
Reo harshly pushed Liam away and strode off towards their rendezvous location. Cross-Z turned to his friends but Build and Night Rogue shook their head as they walked passed him.
Reo was greeted by Professor Port and Professor Oobleck as he reached their rendezvous spot.
"Oh ho! Mr. Azo, my boy. How's the extermination assignment gone for you and your team?" The enthusiastic Peter Port was happy to see his students didn't get mauled by Grimms. "How may did you kill? Twenty? Thirty? Don't tell me. Fifty!"
"Nine Beowulfs and almost got mauled by an Alpha."
Oobleck sipped his drink, "Only nine? I'm not going to lie Mr. Azo. That's a low number to be displayed by a student of Beacon such as yourself but by your expression, you're not happy with the result and I say that's a good sign that you're not easily satisfied and want to improve."
Reo approached a nearby rock to rest his legs. On the way there, he walked inches under a tree branch that the same width of his own body. With the anger and frustration in him, he deliver a strike upwards and slice the branch clean off. It crashes down with a loud bang which didn't fazed Reo a bit. He glanced at the fallen part of the three and shrugged at it.
"I bet even Ruby could cut a larger piece than that." He said it bitterly.
He sat on a rock and saw his teammates arrived. Professor Port asked them how many did they killed. Build counted with his fingers.
"15 Beowulfs and 3 Giant Deathstalker. A slow day."
"4 Bourbatusk, 10 Beowulfs, and 4 Ursa." Cross-Z happily answered.
Night Rogue dissembled his rifle and check if anything clogged the TranSteam Gun's barrel. "12 Beowulfs, 3 Ursa and 2 Boarbatsuk. That's all Professor."
"Amzing. Simply amazing. Good work Team FLAM or should I say Kamen Riders." Oobleck praised them. "Keep up the good work and you'll be more than ready for the Vytal Tournament."
Reo scowled and turned away from looking at his team. "Kamen Riders huh? I'll show them. I'll show them all." He gripped his swords hard and his fist almost lose all of its colors.
Night Rogue looked at his partner and failed to ignore the cleanly cut tree branch. First Liam, then Felix and now Reo. He still got work to do and he felt he need to talk with Reo sooner than he thought.
[VALE]
"Alright. Who among us are excited for the best two weeks semester break ever?"
Ruby stood in front of her friends after they boarded off the bullhead. She jumped with excitement to start their semester break with friends for the first time in her life. She never done this in Signal as none of her friends from there ever invited her to join them.
"Excited people say 'Aye'!"
"Aye!" the voices of Yang, Jaune, Nora, Liam, Mest and surprisingly Felix and not Reo echoed through the air.
Liam took noticed of this and nudged Felix's shoulder. "Since when you're excited for something like this?"
"What? Can't a guy be excited for something like this?"
"Sure but, since when you're excited for something like THIS?"
"I always excited for something like THIS. I just never show it." Felix protested.
"Ruby's rubbing off you huh?" Liam teased his friend.
"Yes. No. Shut up." Felix stuttered as he supported a blush.
Ruby frowned as she saw Liam and Felix talked at the back of the group. She stomped at them and cleared her throat.
"Ahem."
Felix turned to his shorter friend. "Yes Ruby?"
"Were you two listening?"
"Yes/No." Felix and Liam answered.
Ruby sighed and pulled a self-made pamphlet of that day's activities. "I said. First agenda, lunch!"
"Lunch?" Felix asked.
"Yup." Ruby gave out a radiant smile that almost blinded the two boys. "You can't have a super fun day with an empty stomach. Follow me everyone, I know just the place."
[LATER]
"Ah, it's great to see all of you here again. It's been a while." Owner happily placed their orders on the table that had been rearranged to fit them all. "I'm also glad Felix and Liam back on their feet. You two had me worried."
"We're fine owner." Felix ate his lunch. "Don't worry too much."
"I'm back in action and ready to smash some terrorist ass." Liam cheered.
"Don't go around and kick too many asses. Too much and we need to declare it as a public holiday. Enjoy kids." Owner hummed a song to himself as he walked back into the kitchen.
They sat six in row while facing each other. Pyrrha smiled at the scene. Jaune, who sat in front of her took notice of this.
"What's wrong Pyr?"
The champion waved her hand, "Nothing Jaune. It's just…" she couldn't finished her sentence as a light blush adorned her cheeks. "It's feels like all of us on a date."
That's somewhat the scene as the boys sat on one row while the girls sat on the other. JNPR sat perfectly facing each other with Jaune facing Pyrrha while Ren faced and helping a messy Nora. It was RWBY and FLAM that sat out of order to their closest counterpart, but they don't seem to care.
"Read any good books lately?" Felix asked a stoic Blake.
"Just did. It's called Almighty : The Sword of the Truth."
"What's it about?" Felix became genuinely interested.
"It's about a group of swordsmen fighting a horde of monsters and a betrayer in order to keep a powerful relic about the truth and balance of the world from being misused. It's quite the story but I don't really like the main character much. He's too much of a ditz."
"Sounds like a good story. May I borrow it later?"
"Sure. We could discussed it afterwards." For the first time other than her team and Reo, Blake smiled at him.
Liam scoffed at the girl in front of him. "I said I'm fine."
Weiss put down her fork and looked into Liam scornfully. "It's not about being fine. It's about not rushing in without a proper plan."
"As if you planned every single thing in your life, Ice Princess."
"I didn't mean every single detail. Just in combat." Weiss almost screamed at the fire user. Liam rolled his eyes and looked onto Weiss' plate.
"You bored me Princess." He proceed to stab his fork into one of her nicely cut steak pieces. "I'm taking this."
"Hey. That's mine." Weiss decided on a revenge and went in for one of Liam's cherry tomato. Liam blocked it with his own fork. They proceed to have a fork fight with Weiss on the offensive and Liam on the defensive.
"Vroom."
"Yang?"
"Vrooom."
"Please stop." Reo pleaded to the brawler as she shoving a piece of meatball on a fork towards him and pretend it like a bullhead.
"I won't stop until you turn that frown upside down." Yang happily replied. "This is how I did it when Ruby's feel down. So, want to talk about it?"
"It's nothing Yang. Drop it."
Yang bite the meatball and looked at the dog Faunus with empathy. "Yeah. Sorry. It's just weird for you to be this down."
"I just need to think about something."
"I understand. By the way, thanks."
"For what?"
"What else? For helping Blake. You been there for her while I'm stuck in between. So, lunch on me."
"No. No need. I'm just doing my part as a friend and fellow Faunus."
"Just a friend? Nothing more?" Yang smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.
"Shut up." Reo looked down onto his plate and ate in silent as Yang laughed.
"Mest?" Ruby was surprised to see Mest dumped half of the content of his plate onto Ruby's.
"Eat up. You need lots of energy and nutrients to grow big and strong." Mest smiled and ate whatever left on his plate.
"Thanks but you don't need to give me yours. I could always order more."
"I know but I want to. I'm surprised that you ate almost anything. Unlike Weiss."
"Weiss?" Ruby was surprised at the mention of her BFF.
"Weiss used to be a picky eater herself. She dropped it when I told her I don't like girls that were picky."
"You care for Weiss huh?"
"More than anything. So, please look after her alright?"
"Leave it to me. I'm her BFF after all." Ruby proceed to inhale all the content of her plate.
Lily entered the dining area wearing her standard white sundress. She opened the fridge and pulled out a cold drink. She drank half of it and sat on a stool near the counter.
"It's so hot." Without realizing she rapidly tapped a golden metal bracelet on her left wrist with strange carvings, making a loud tapping noise.
"That's becoming a bad habit Lily." Felix told her.
"Sorry. It's becoming a bad habit isn't it?"
Ruby jumped from her chair and take a good look at the bracelet. "This is so pretty. Where did you get it?"
"I don't remember. Even dad didn't. Only thing I know that I had it since I was old enough to remember." Lily let Ruby examined the bracelet with fascination.
"Can I try it on?"
"No!" She pulled it away from Ruby's grasp. "Sorry. But no. I don't feel right taking it off. Sorry."
Instead of getting offended, Ruby smiled, "That's okay. I understand. I don't feel right taking off and let others where my cape either. I'm sorry."
"It's okay Ruby. Sorry for snapping at you."
After lunch, Ruby dragged them all to a small fair in the city near the waterfront. Many tents were set up, offering snacks and games alongside various prizes. They all formed four groups of three and settled to meet up at a food stall at the entrance of the fair in an hour.
The first group consist of Ruby, Jaune and Felix, dubbed as 'Team Leader Team'. A named proposed by Ruby and not protested by Jaune or Felix for some reason. The second group was 'Team BFF of Team Leader', which consist of Liam, Pyrrha and Weiss. The Spartan looked confused the tension delivered by the prominent fire and ice user.
The third group is 'Team Logic'. The members were Blake, Ren and Reo. The green ninja smiled and nodded at his two 'teammates', to which Blake and Reo returned. All three of them silently glad to have someone almost similar to them in the way of thinking.
That leaves with a problem, a huge problem.
"Let's go baby!" Nora screamed as she were joined by her two teammates, Yang and Mest. The three of them were given the name 'Team Chaos', going by the chaos that might ensued. Mest looked at them and sighed. "Looks like I need to be the responsible one here."
"Boooo." Nora booed him as she gave him two thumbs down.
Mest put his foot down, "That's it young lady. No candy for you."
"What? I wanna! I hate you." Nora stomped her feet in a childish way that only Nora know how.
"Don't talked to him like that." Yang 'scolded' Nora. "He's doing it for your own good"
"I wanna! I wanna! You're not even my real parents." Nora ran into the crowds with Mest and Yang chased after her.
"Nora!" Mest voice came from within the crowd. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
"Please come back. We love you like our own daughter." Yang shouted after them.
The others looked with an understanding expression at the silly family skit and went on with their day. They all play various games and catch up with their current activities in their lives. Team Leader Team were playing a shooting game with Felix failed miserably at and let Jaune handled it before losing all of his money.
While waiting, Ruby talked with Felix as she cheered Jaune on.
"So, anything new come up Felix? Been tinkering with new projects? Get me that blue stuffed dog, Jaune."
"A few. Weapon maintenance mostly. Got to keep our weapons and armor in top conditions. Stalk have been quiet since the docks incident. We need to be ready if he ever shows up again."
"You can count on us." Ruby clenched both of her fists to her chest to show her determination.
"Come to think of it, there is something. An offer to say the least."
"Oh. A good one?" Ruby perked up immediately.
Felix shrugged his shoulders. "Can't really say. Only thing I could is that it's up if I wanted a challenge and it could help me in a long run. The only catch is that if I accept, there's no return. What do you think Ruby?"
"What do I think? I say go for it."
"Really?
"Yeah." Ruby beamed. "Not every day an offer for a challenging experience turned up. Besides, you're Felix Nairo. Kamen Rider Build. You can handle anything. I'm rooting for you."
"Thanks Ruby." Felix smiled at her and realized something. A small detail he never take notice of before. "Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"Since when you have silver eyes?"
"Since always. Why?"
"I haven't notice it before. It different to Mest's gray ones but for some reasons it draws me in?"
Ruby blushed at Felix's admission and it took a few more minutes for the rider to realize what he had just said. He blushed himself and tried to clear the situation with the young reaper.
"Wait. Wait. That's not what I meant. What I meant is that, I think they're unique and beautiful. No, that came out wrong. What I truly meant to say was…"
Ruby looked away with her blush getting more and more prominent. She tuned out Felix's ramblings little by little and just rewind what she wanted to hear in her head.
Draws me in…unique and beautiful…
"Guys I'm back. Guys?" Jaune returned by carrying many prizes from the shooting game and confused that both of his friends blushing and looking away from each other. "What's going on here?"
Meanwhile…
Mest, Nora and Yang carried mountain of prizes as they walked around. Mest told them the problem he found out about Reo.
"So, what should I do?"
Yang smiled at her friend, "That's simple. Reo's basically going through the same thing what Jaune had. He felt like the odd one out. I can't blame him."
"Why?"
Nora peered behind the prizes she held in her arms. "Well, not only you're all better fighter than him by default. You three also transform into super awesome armored fighter that could kick butt. Did you see Yang's and Felix's match? He could make Yang a run for her Lien."
"Hey. He did not." Yang protested.
"Come on Yang. Even you know Felix could beat you if he's more serious. You could absorb all of his attacks all you want but what's the point if he got all those nifty gadgets. I'm sure there's a Fullbottle could beat you. Ooh. Like that hose."
"I'll get you back for this Nora." Yang growled.
"Girls? About Reo?"
"Right." Yang turned to him. "Sorry. About Reo, like Jaune. You need to let him have his own space for a while. He need to know that he's not a total useless."
"Yeah. That, or just let him be a Kamen Rider like you guys."
Mest juggled the idea. It might sound plausible but he not sure Reo had what it takes to be a Kamen Rider. Not on the ideology side, Reo's a nice, kind and the most heroic individual as they come but will he be able to transform? Reo haven't been exposed to the Nebula Gas like Felix or have a strong and rigid training and mindset like Liam.
That's a thought for another day.
He looked around and saw Weiss, Liam and Pyrrha sat on bench with the red haired beauty sandwiched between the blonde and white haired heiress. They walked over and greeted them.
"How come you three just sat around?"
"We're taking a little break." Pyrrha answered. "Plus, there's not much that interest all three of us."
"How was your day?" Weiss asked them.
"Quite good. We won lots of stuff." Nora showed them her prizes.
"Yeah. Need some 'convincing' too. Those guys really don't want to part with their things." Yang laughed as she cracked her knuckles.
Weiss rolled her eyes while Liam and Pyrrha laughed as well. Mest took a small white stuffed polar bear from his pile and handed it over to Weiss.
"Here, I want you to have this."
"What? Really?" Weiss blushed and shakily grabbed the bear. She looked at it and it filled her heart with lots of joy with its white fur, stubby paws and legs, its little rounded ears and sweet smile. On its belly was a pink heart. Weiss hugged it tight and looked at her childhood friend.
"I love it. Thank you."
"You're welcome Weiss."
"Eh. You do have a soft spot and the hots for Mest and cute things. Who knew? Better get you a bucket before you melted Ice Princess." Liam joked as he walked to a food stand.
"You little…" Weiss clenched her fist.
"Nope. You're the little one here remember?" Liam turned around and stuck out a hand to show Weiss' small stature. Weiss chased after him with Myrtenaster out but quickly held back by Mest. He ignored her struggling and just smiled at her as she came along way from the first time he knew her.
Meanwhile…
"Sorry. Too bad kid." The man at a strength testing game snickered at Reo's poor attempt at getting a passing mark to at least get a single prize using the mallet provided.
"Want me to do it Reo?" Ren offered.
"Nope. I got this. One more time sir." Reo gave the man money for his sixth attempt. Blake sighed at Reo's stubbornness. Ren stood beside her, holding a horse plushy that he won earlier.
"He's still at it." Ren told her. "He's really determine in winning a prize at this game."
"Yeah. I wished I could help somehow but I don't want to make him feel like he's worthless."
"Reo's not worthless. He's the heart of Team FLAM. Without him, that team will fall apart. Reo's strong compare to non-hunters but he's still lacks in some degree." Ren said as he witnessed Reo's another failed attempt at getting the lowest prize offered.
"Just give up kid. You'll never get it even to the lowest tier of prizes."
"One more." Reo shoved another Lien note into the man's hand.
"Sure thing. I'm not complaining. But, I feel bad about your girlfriend though."
"What? Blake? She's not…"
"She looks like she's getting a little chummy with that guy in green." The man said as he eyed the two. Reo turned to see Ren and Blake were dangerously closed to each other. He let a little growled and gripped the mallet handle hard.
He lifted it over his head and brought it down onto the machine. The metal bob raised up inches above the lowest tier. He smiled and grabbed the prize he won from the man, which was a 'I Love Vale' keychain.
Ren and Blake clapped and they walked back to find their friends.
"If I might add Reo," Ren talked to him, "that game was rigged from the start. The lowest tier prize was quite high for a normal fair game. No normal person could ever win that. But, you did it. You're incredible."
Reo turned to Blake and she smiled at him as well. Reo blushed and his dog ears twitched. "Really? Thanks guys. Here Blake I want you to have this."
Blake looked at the keychain in her hands, "Reo. You won it. I can't take this."
"Sure you can. Think of it as a welcome back present."
Blake's smiled widen. "Thank you Reo. I cherish this always." She proceed to tie the keychain to her scroll and watched it dangled there. Reo pulled out an unopened pocket tissue and handed it over to Ren.
"This is yours. Sorry for the lame present. I got this as a participation prize."
Ren smiled and took it. "Thanks. At least I could use this too wiped Nora's face if she got food all over the place again."
All team met up at a food stand and sat down together. They ordered and talked as they waited. As they ate, a waitress came along and put a large sundae bowl with two dozen scoop of ice-cream of various flavors, fruits, chocolate and strawberry syrup, rainbow sprinkles and a cherry on top.
"One Super Mega Deluxe Couple Ice-Cream Sundae. Please enjoy."
"We didn't order this." Jaune told her.
"But, we did." Yang and Liam told him and slide the bowl in front of the two. They proceed to eat the sundae with gusto and the shocked of their friends. They ate scoop after scoop, fruit after fruit and licked every inched of the bowl. Even the syrup couldn't survive from their aggressive attack.
Yang licked her fingers and let out a loud burp.
Liam laughed and felt something in him. He patted his stomach and let out a second loud burp that rivaled Yang's.
"Geez. These two are like kids." Weiss angrily noted.
Pyrrha smiled and sat closer to Jaune. "I think they're very cute together. Right Jaune?"
"Yeah. Sure. Very cute."
Yang stretched and patted her stomach. "That's what I call a dessert. All gone now."
"Except some right here." Liam leaned forward and wiped some vanilla ice-cream of Yang's cheek and licked it off his fingers as he eyed Felix's order.
"Oh no. Liam. Get your own." Felix shielded his food from his best friend's onslaught.
While Liam tried to wrestle Felix for some hot food. Yang's face began to feel hot as she was still shocked by Liam's sudden action. She felt her face getting hotter and heard a little snickered. She turned to Blake and saw her partner smirked at her.
"Now I know why you like to get your nose into other people's lives Yang. It's fun sometimes."
Yang kicked Blake from under the table but missed. She accidently hit Reo's, which was sitting opposite of Blake. The dog Faunus jolted and threw his spoon with his food on it into the air. Mest saw this and expertly caught it with his mouth.
"Nice one Reo. Did you see that Weiss?"
"Please don't play with your food Mest." Weiss shook her head at her friend's antics.
They were just about to finish when someone approached them. He made eye contact with them but the one he's looking for was Felix's. The gang were shocked to see him again after the whole situation at the docks.
"Duncan? What are you doing here?" Mest asked his longtime friend.
Duncan nodded and brought out a tablet and activated it. "I'm here due to an important assignment. I wouldn't be here if not for that."
Ruby immediately went on a defensive and hugged Yang tight. "Are you here to say bad things about Yang again? Because I won't let you."
Yang frowned at Duncan, "Go on. I dare you."
"Please. I wouldn't be stupid enough to say anything while you people had the numbers."
Weiss rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip, "Why are you here Duncan?" Just like the others, minus Mest, she just met him and just like the others, she couldn't stand him either.
"I'm here for Felix."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Duncan opened a few documents on his tablet and handed it over to Felix. The hunter-in-training read through it and couldn't begin where to ask questions.
"Start explaining."
Duncan readjusted his glasses, "Very well. Apparently, the files that the General retrieved from Faust's lab in the Forever Fall Forest was basically a gold mine. The second base where you two managed to get the Pandora Panel was only a small piece of the treasure. In those documents as well, we managed to uncover something that the General think you should look into. Yes, the General entrusted me in delivering this vital information."
"Where's the General?" Mest asked.
"He's busy coping with the preparation of the security detail of the Vytal Tournamnet. Until then, he had me being the middle man, since at least, Mest and I had known each other and he couldn't waste his precious time in looking for a trustworthy candidate to deliver important information."
Felix read a bit more and found a name than could lead him to the jackpot.
"Ginger Mazon? Could it be?"
"A new lead. To think such info was under our noses and able to be dig up so easily was too good to be true. But, I keep an open mind if I were you. The woman shared the same surname with the guy you're looking for. She's might the mother or just a relative. Might want to start there."
"Duncan." Felix called out to him.
"Yes?"
"You're a good guy. I'm sorry for saying mean things behind your back." Felix proceed to hug the man. Everyone was touched by the gesture and joined in the group hug, completely ignoring Duncan's cried of protest.
"Wait. Unhand me. Don't you know what you're doing? My suit! My beautiful Atlesian-made suit. I took me two hours to get all the wrinkles out. Let go of me. You uncultured people."
[BEACON]
At Beacon, Liam crashed on his bed. "Great. We got a new lead. Now we need to find this woman and asked her politely where her son is. Then we find him and beat the crap out of him."
"I'm with Liam." Mest sat on a chair at his desk. "We could end this Faust business once and for all."
Felix was busy re-reading the documents and many other files on his bed. He make sure to get the main details that could lead them to Faust or at the very least hinted at their next plan.
"You got to be kidding me."
"What is it Felix?" Reo sat next to him and read the document himself but gave up after the few first lines.
Felix stood up and went to a section of the wall where they hang a huge fully detailed map of The City of Vale, complete with roads, road names, landmarks and important buildings. Felix picked up a thumb tack and placed it on a building named, 'Vale's Mental Health Hospital'.
"Dude. Why you labeled a mental hospital right here in Vale?" Liam asked.
"Because…she's there. Ginger Mazon's right there at this very moment."
TO BE CONTINUE…
That's all for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it.
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