V2E8: Step 0, Making the Plan
The clatter-click of an unlocking door was followed by the animated chatter of a bunch of barely-adult teens and one twenty-something dude coming into the room. The group entered Anon's place totting a bunch of takeout bags. Anon pulled a long, low table from his closet and set it up for the group to eat on it.
"I am still shocked at how cheap it all came to be," Weiss admitted, pulling a bowl out of one of the bags. It could easily have a three-quart capacity. "Look how big these portions are!"
"To be fair, we did order the biggest bowls available," Anon commented as he got some drinks from his new mini-fridge.
"Yeah, and whose fault is it?"
"We regret nothing." Yang and Sun quipped in unison while fist-bumping.
The group sat down and began chowing down, slurping the noodles loudly to honour the chef. Weiss was the only one who didn't do so, sneering at everyone in disgust. Sides were passed around, things like crispy fried noodles, stewed cabbage, fried tender strips with savoury sauce and a few more, likely extremely unhealthy, sides.
Anon stopped mid-slurp and took in the situation. He was cut up and bruised, his clothes were messed up and in shambles. He couldn't help but chuckle that despite his current state, he was merrily eating takeout ramen and chatting with his friends.
Well, time to ruin the good atmosphere.
"So." Anon swallowed his mouthful. "What did we find out?"
Ruby waved her arm up like an excited child next to Hope.
"We firsht! We firsht!" She tried to say with her mouth full, some crumbs of chicken falling out.
Anon groaned in disgust before wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.
"How many times do I have to tell you this!?" Anon scolded. "Don't eat with your mouth full, you'll choke!"
Ruby swallowed her large mouthful, a cartoonishly large bulge moving up and down her throat.
"Sorry." she apologized. "Let me start first!"
Anon received a notification on his scroll.
"Hold that thought for a moment."
He checked his scroll, closing an RPG forum he frequents to check his PMs. And it was more of what he now expected with Neo.
IceScream: 'STUDDY!'
'YOU KEPT YOUR PROMISE!'
'NEXT TIME I SEE YOU, IMMA SMOOCH YOU!'
'WITH TONGUE!'
Me: 'Considering you tried to kill me today, I'mma pass thanks.'
IceScream: 'I swear I'm super duper sorry about that and that I won't ever EVER do something like that again!'
'Probably...'
Me: 'I appreciate it but I'm still gonna go with no fucking thanks.'
Yang tried to lean in but Anon held her at bay with his foot in her face.
"Who you talkin' to, loverboy?" Yang said, uncaring for his heel that is digging into her forehead. "Is it your girlfriend? (lol)"
Blake's ears flicked behind her bow.
"No, just some girl I met a while ago."
Neo sent another message
IceScream: 'Don't be like that~'
'I can thank you in other ways if you want~'
Me: 'Please don't, I'm in public.'
IceScream: '=)'
Neo sent something... not quite kosher, kashruth if you will. Something so kashruth, in fact, that Anon slammed his scroll face down on the table while inhaling slowly.
I mean, there is vanilla in Neapolitan ice cream... So that's where it was hiding...
He exhaled slowly and closed his scroll. Everyone was looking at him weirdly.
"What did she send?" Blake asked curtly, guessing somewhat correctly at what Anon received.
"Something that I do not want to see any more of." He only partially lied. "Now, Ruby, Weiss, what was it you guys found?"
The Red and White pair looked at each other and began recounting their part of the investigation.
"Well... Not much really happened all things considered." Ruby said with a small, embarrassed shrug.
"I cannot say that she's wrong on that end." Weiss followed. "We went to the CCT, we got the info we wanted and then got out."
Weiss pulled out her scroll and slid it to Anon. The scroll contained Schnee records of every crime committed against its business, specifically those committed by the White Fang and those that were committed in the Kingdom of Vale. The recurring theory in the reports concluded that they are operating on a large, city-wide scale and that, due to the lack of any in-city hideout, they must be based outside of Vale City.
Some of the information looked sketchy but not for the reasons that Anon thought. Military contracts with the Vale Defence Force and the Atlas Military, experimental Dust studies and top-secret R&D data in collaboration with the Mantle Institute of Technology. Anon noticed that the files for the new line of Atlas Knight model-200 combat droids were included as well as the Atlas Paladin Prototype combat mech. Also included were the AP-06, Here referred to as PAAE-06 IM (Power-Assisted Automated Exoskeleton version 06 Industrial Model) files that formed the basis for the Paladin's design.
"...Should I be seeing some of this shit?"
"What? Did you find her nudes or something?" Yang quipped after crunching down on some crispy noodles.
"I wish," Anon breathed out in disappointment. "This is just some secret docs regarding R&D military projects."
"For shame." Yang slurped on her noodles.
"For shame." Anon did the same.
Weiss looked at the two with an annoyed glance.
"Anyways, other than the info we got, the only other thing of notice that happened was us finding and meeting with Miss Polendina."
Anon raised an eyebrow.
"The both of you did?"
"Yup!" Ruby confirmed. "We met her at the nearby industrial park and she was with..." Ruby paused. "What was her name again? She had a blue beret and dark skin... It was uhhh..."
"Ciel Soleil?" Anon was surprised.
"Yeah Ciel!" Ruby looked at Anon in confusion. "Wait, you know her?"
"I know of her." Anon stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Another surprise addition that's here way ahead of schedule... Maybe I can work with this...
"So, you talked with Penny?" Anon asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah. I wanted to know what she was up to since the Dock Incident." Ruby pouted. "Though that Ciel girl would only let me speak with her for five minutes. She was really rude about it too!"
Anon looked confused.
"Penny didn't try to run away or anything?"
Ruby tilted her head, herself confused by his statement.
"Why would she run?"
Anon hummed curiously.
Since Penny didn't run away from Ruby, that means she didn't save her from the truck and revealed that she's a robot. This shouldn't change much anyhow, it was barely relevant until Pyrrha quartered her... God, that pun was terrible, I think Yang's rubbing off on me.
"I see... Anything else?"
Ruby shrugged while Weiss looked somewhat down in the dumps.
"What's up?" He asked the heiress.
Weiss sighed dejectedly.
"Nothing, just more of the same."
Anon received a notification on his scroll, it came from Weiss.
Seriously, how do you fuckers type without me being able to see you do it?! First Neo and now Weiss!
Anon put that thought aside and read the message.
PrettyPrincess: 'I got in an argument with my dad back at the Cross-Continental Tower. He patched through and...'
'Look, point is: I didn't have a good time.'
Anon looked at his scroll sadly.
Me: 'I see. Sorry, you had to put up with that asshole.'
Weiss smiled.
PrettyPrincess: 'It's fine. I have you guys to pick me back up.'
The two shared a quiet smile before going back to the point at hand.
"Ok, so that's these two. What about the WF meeting?"
Blake leaned forward, setting her elbows on the table with a serious frown. Sun laid-back, his face twisted into an uncomfortable scowl.
"When we arrived at the meeting, These creeps gave these..." Sun reached into his pocket. "Well, these."
Sun disdainfully tossed on the table a blank Grimm-like mask, reminiscent of the basic WF grunt's mask.
"When we got our masks, we got herded into an old factory."
Blake nodded bleakly, pulling out her scroll.
"The old factory was packed," Blake noted sadly. "Wall to wall, there were volunteers."
She opened her camera app and showed what they found. A video started playing, a close first-person shot from Blake's point of view
"Always sunshine and rainbows with you..." Video Sun complained quietly.
"Quiet!" Video Blake retorted as they entered the old factory.
A massive group of Faunuses filled the factory floor, all herded into an area below what looked like a makeshift presentation stage. On nearby balconies were White Fang Enforcers toting rifles, guarding from on high with a clear line of sight. On the platform was Adam Taurus, leaning moodily against a large object hidden under a heavy black tarp. On the massive wall between two of the guarded balconies was a large black flag bearing the war insignia of the White Fang.
There was a lot of chatter once they were amidst the crowd, so much so that the microphone of Blake's scroll had difficulties picking up on her own and Sun's commentary. Adam stopped leaning against the tarped object and stood at the center of the stage, the room fell to silence as he did.
"Greetings to you all and welcome." Adam greeted politely. "As many of you know, I am Adam Taurus. I am known by many titles, most quite... unsavoury. Some I have earned through blood and tears, while others were... Put unto me for a multitude of reasons. "
He started walking around the stage, his eyes scanning the crowd behind his mask.
"Monster, savage." His dour face contorted in rage. "Animal..."
There was a disapproving and appalled uproar amongst the crowd. Adam held a hand up to silence everyone.
"And I know for a fact that, unfortunately, you have experienced something similar."
He stopped pacing and faced the crowd.
"An unwarranted rough shove, an out-of-nowhere insult, senseless bullying, an epithet or slur directed at your specific ancestry." he continued. "All because of a trait you were born with! A trait you didn't choose to have! They hate you and everyone like you. Why?"
A hand shot up from the crowd.
"Because they're jerks?"
"True," Adam admitted. "Some are simply incorrigibly rude. Some also are simply ignorant, but most of those can be safely ignored or even taught properly. But no, this is not why we fight."
Adam raised a finger up.
"No, we fight for one reason."
The White Fang's war flag was lifted and a projector was levelled at the wall. The projector showed a series of old images and videos of Faunus work camps that were set up over the years between the great war and the Faunus Rights Revolution. The images were really upsetting to see, even for the shock-hardened Anon. Lashings, brandings, forced labour, manufactured starvation, beatings and similar abhorrent acts of cruel oppression.
"Because this, despite everything we have done, still happens." Adam declared.
The old-style photos and paintings became more recent looking if still pretty old. If the date on the recordings were to be believed, they took place in the past twenty years or so. Although most of the outright abusive stuff previously shown was absent from the new footage, the forced labour remained. Some of the "Indentured workers" even had fascist-style designation tattoos on either their neck or the back of their hands. Anon unconsciously gripped the table, the wood creaking under the force. The "workers" were quite poorly nourished, running on what was probably the bare minimum required for them to work. They also had special collars on them, a large Dust crystal embedded on either the back or front.
"I came from one of those camps..." Adam revealed. "Me and my mother had no choice but to go to one of those camps for work. When you're poor in Solitas, you either become a criminal, you freeze to death or you try and find work. And the only place that would take us..."
The logo of the Schnee Dust Company appeared as the backdrop for another video of miserable-looking Faunuses working themselves to the bone. Then a front shot of the work grounds, a squeaky clean shipping facility.
"The Snow Shoes Shipping Facility... Before it was staffed with droids, the facility was infamous for its, and I quote, 'Controversial Labour Force'. Me and my mother worked there, day in day out. We stayed at a residential block in the poor quarters of the area, the area reserved for the Faunus workers of the facility."
Adam stopped talking for a moment, lost in memories. He let out a long sigh filled with sorrow.
"It was never an easy life. Barely enough food for us to live by, long hours of hard, dangerous and soul-crushing work. So dangerous that I've seen just as many people die from workplace accidents and negligence, as I have seen people keel over from exhaustion and starvation"
He paused, his hand briefly caressing the left side of his masked face.
"There were also... disciplinary measures taken by the more zealous overseers that killed quite a few, including my mother. Damned near killed me as well..."
His sad frown turned to a smile. It didn't look right, forced almost.
"But I got lucky. I was saved by the Fang, by Sienna Khan and Ghirra Belladonna."
He turned to face the audience.
"They gave me another chance! A chance to make my mark on the world, a chance to help those who had as bad if not worse than me!"
He pointed at the audience.
"And I will give you the same chance that they gave me, the chance to Make. Things. Better! For our fellow Faunuses!"
The crowd roared with applause. Anon couldn't help but applaud him along with the video of the crowd, if bitterly sarcastic.
"Nice propaganda you got there." He added cynically.
Blake looked vacantly at the masked bull-man in the video.
"He always had a way with words..." She admitted sadly.
The video continued.
"While there are those who would see us with collars on our neck and our bodies in cages, there are also those who would stand by us."
Adam played a video on the projector of humans standing between Faunuses and human aggressors, Of humans helping Faunuses with both mundane and dangerous problems. One particular section was ominously familiar for Anon, as it was a video of him standing up for Sun during their first meeting.
Motherfucker put me in his propaganda! Maybe I should sue... Wait, how did he get the video in the first place?!
"There are those humans who would stand with us! And it is with their help that our victory in our quest for true equality is assured." He inhaled sharply. "One such being our ally-du-jour..."
Out of the darkness of the old factory came Roman Torchwick, twirling his cane with the most sarcastic smile imaginable.
"Nice speech, 'Friend'."
They reacted as you would expect from seeing their so-called "ally" being a notorious criminal. Torchwick strutted confidently over to Adam in spite of the vigorous protest of the crowd.
"Thank you, thank you!" He waved mockingly at the attendance. "Please, hold your applause!"
"Why is he here!?" One antlered Faunus demanded to know in outrage.
Roman smirked.
"Why don't you ask the man in charge, 'deery'?"
Real-Time Anon sighed through his nose alongside Video Adam, their mutual disdain for Torchwick growing ever more apparent.
"Although this... Man, as despicable as I and many of you find him." Adam cringed. "Circumstances, and our illustrious Khan, as dictated that we accept his help."
Anon couldn't help but chuckle.
"Looks like she already has your balls in her purse..." He muttered. "What else?"
Another one of the Faunuses raised a point.
"But you're just another criminal!" the bucktoothed rodent lisped. "What could you bring us than the Fang could take themselves!?"
Roman sniggered.
"Oh, I don't know..." He grabbed the tarp. "Maybe a little something like THIS!"
He pulled on the tarp, revealing the Paladin prototype. The crowd gasped in awe and fear at the sight of the obviously Atlan piece of military tech. Its mat black frame was defaced with spray paint, its Atlas emblem replaced but the war symbol of the Fang.
"I," Roman pointed to himself dramatically. "Am a man of many talents. One such talent is getting by disgustingly sticky fingers on a plethora of things."
He counted off his fingers.
"Weapons, drugs, Dust... The whole mile and then some! Including but not limited to this magnificent piece of Atlan tech."
He tapped on the mech irreverently.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here is the newest defence against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my 'employer', we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, 'hit the shelves' so to speak."
Roman clasped his hands together.
"Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you."
He smiled charmingly. What was once booing angry crowd was now applauding him. So simple...
"Any questions?"
Many in the crowd began to file in to either become members or generally sign up to help the cause. At this point, Video Blake was getting pretty agitated, looking for a way out. It didn't take long before Adam noticed that something was wrong. He leaned forward towards the crowd and saw right through the shoddy disguise.
"BLAKE!?" He yelled in shock and confusion.
"Oh shit!" Video-Blake cursed before the video feed was cut.
The group mulled over what they just learned, their worry obvious.
"It's like you said," Blake said. "They have someone above them."
"Like fucking clockwork." he quipped.
"I'm more worried about the fact that their boss is supplying them with stolen Atlas tech!" Weiss brought up.
That WOULD be a good point... If that ever was a problem in the show to begin with. I mean, that plot point is kind of moot after season two. And even after, they just hacked stuff instead of stealing anything else.
Anon shrugged.
"I mean... we can just kind of... you know, do what we always do and break their shit."
Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"Experimental, top of the line, abhorrently expensive Atlas tech?" Weiss questioned.
Anon blinked.
"Yes, Weiss. That kind of shit."
Weiss shook her head and threw her hands in the air exasperatedly.
"Why do I even try?!"
"Ok!" Ruby nodded confidently. "So we know that they operate outside the city, somewhere in the southeast and that they have Atlas tech!"
"Did you guys find anything else?" Sun asked Neptune.
Neptune gave Anon side-eyes.
"Well for one," He pointed to Hope. "This guy's a complete nutjob."
Everyone besides Yang looked confused at that statement.
"Somehow, I have the feeling that he did something even crazier than he usually does... What did he do?" Ruby asked, morbidly curious.
Neptune began recounting what happened at the Mah-Xiong with Yang adding precisions where Neptune exaggerated or used hyperbole. Hope paying off the Malachite twins, trying to payoff Junior and the following beatdown when that failed and finally, him almost burning the whole bar down with Junior in it. By the latter half of the second point, the group has been staring at Anon in complete disbelief.
Aaaaand all eyes are on me, groovy... Wait, since when am I Bruce Campbell!?
"You almost burned down his bar..." Weiss said slowly.
"With a cigar, yes," Anon confirmed.
"This... This is a lot to unpack..."
"I have said it multiple times that I was a complete shitheel during my teens."
"Have you tried to burn down other people's bar?!" Blake asked worriedly.
"...I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations." Anon used the boilerplate response. avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Everyone leaned in in sync, sporting raised, questioning brows as Anon slurped the rest of his noodles while continuing to avoid everyone's curious glares. Weiss was the first to stop, sighing.
"Sometimes, I wonder what goes through your head. First, you use your body as a shield back at the docks, then you threatened to make chunky soup out of Torchwick with what is probably the biggest gun I've ever seen toated by a person and now you almost burn down someone's bar for a book. I mean, do you ever think about what you're doing?"
"...Since when do I think my actions through?"
Weiss facepalmed.
"You are incorrigible."
"You're not wrong."
Ruby stopped looking weirdly at Hope, returning her attention to Neptune.
"Ok... What did you find out besides... Well, you know."
Neptune opened his scroll and showed everyone his camera feed. The photos of Junior's grey book showed most if not all of Roman's activities ever since the day of the Dust till Dawn robbery from three months or so ago. It illustrated a pretty straightforward picture: Roman had kept himself busy stealing Dust for an unknown benefactor and the White Fang. One of the notes explained Junior's frustrations at not having found anything related to this benefactor. He had also been supplying the Fang with smuggled goods and helped them get it out of the city, in exchange for muscles to work for him free of charge. Junior noted that he didn't know exactly where the base, or bases for that matter, actually are. He only gathered that it was in the southeast.
"So it's definitely in the southeast," Yang concluded.
"But where exactly?" Neptune questioned. "We can't just throw darts at the board and guess!"
Anon smiled mysteriously, much to the girl's ire.
"You know where it is," Weiss asked. "Don't you?"
Anon shrugged.
"It's actually not that hard if you think about it."
He pulled out his scroll and stretched it into a tablet. He fiddled with a satellite map before showing the grip coordinates of the southeastern quadrant of Vale's wilderness. Anon leaned back, resting his hands behind his head.
"Now, if I was in charge of a bunch of a large nefarious group of ill-reputed scoundrels, where would I set up my operations?"
The girls began thinking, taking in everything they've learned so far. Ruby hummed.
"Blake?"
"Yes?"
"How big do you think the Fang in Vale is?"
"Since Adam's in charge of the entire Vale chapter, I'd say a whole lot. Easily in the hundreds."
"So they'd need a lot of space to store equipment and set up barracks..."
Yang nodded.
"Makes sense to me, It'd be weird if they decided to cramp themselves in some tiny settlement like sardines."
"Then we can rule out any nearby villages and settlements since they could easily overcrowd them," Weiss commented. "That leaves us with old ruins of Vale's failed expansions. Which... is still a whole lot."
Anon hummed, now laying on his side and resting his head on his fist.
"We're getting there." He commented. "Now, as the ring leader of this criminal enterprise, I have to smuggle to and fro the city. But how can I do this without drawing any attention?"
"So a sneaky way to get to the city and out quickly?" Yang pondered. "Meh, not really my area of expertise. Blake?"
Blake was already deep in thought, but now her brain was working overtime. What strategy is the Fang utilizing? Clearly not any ground vehicles, too much attention could be drawn from a mass of moving trucks or the like. The waterways? That could work, but then you have to worry about customs and coast guards. Vale has the biggest port in Remnant next to Vacuo and unlike them, Vale has a lot of standards and regulations. What's left? The sewers? No, too many Faunuses have powerful noses. They'd choke on the stench alone. Then maybe...
Blake's eyes shot wide open.
"Moles!"
Yang blushed.
"W-wait, did you see-"
"No! Not that kind of mole!" Blake exclaimed. "They are using underground tunnel systems and abandoned train stations to traverse unnoticed."
Anon smiled.
"Ding-Ding-Ding! You are about to win the grand prize!" He jested playfully. "Now, I'm in some ruins in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere and I have access to a vast and sprawling underground system! The question is: Which settlement ruins in the southeast as access to all of this?"
Sun wasn't listening too hard by this point, instead, he was finishing his dinner and hanging back, letting the smart people do the smart things. Neptune on the other hand was piecing the puzzle in his head.
The girls looked stumped, Ruby scratched her head along with her sister. Anon decided to give them one last push.
"Hint: We recently learned about it with Oobleck just this week."
Weiss nodded thoughtfully.
"Right, we learned about Vale's attempt at expanding beyond the old walls..."
"I was once great but now I am in ruin." Anon riddled. "I have a massive underground railroad system that has direct access to Vale. Beneath my corpse lies a sealed station that held the helpless once I fell, now, a tomb. A testament to the folly of the over-ambitious."
Blake raised her head, now understanding.
"Atop my snowy peak," Anon continued. "The Jabberwock sleeps."
Weiss, Neptune and Blake came to the same conclusion.
"Mountain Glenn!" They exclaimed as one.
Anon gave a round of applause.
"Bravo, lad and lasses."
"It all makes sense!" Blake exclaimed. "It's almost the perfect hideout if it weren't for the Grimm."
"Technically, they don't have to deal with the Grimm, since the Underground is massive enough to house all the stuff and people they need for their current op." Anon corrected. "They don't need to be top-side and therefore clear out the Grimm."
Neptune glanced suspiciously at Hope.
"Seriously, how do you know all this stuff?" Neptune said concerningly. "It's almost like you were there when it was planned."
...I mean... He's not entirely wrong. Guess it's time to pull out Ol' reliable.
"I just know," Hope answered with a shrug.
"That doesn't explain anything." Neptune retorted with annoyance.
"I mean, he's on our side anyway," Sun added. "So who cares how he knows?"
RWBY sighed in unison.
"It's fine Neptune." Weiss rubbed her eyes. "He's just being coy."
"Come again?" Neptune asked.
Blake picked up the slacks.
"He has some sort of power of foresight and he's just being annoyingly vague about it."
Neptune's glance returned to Hope who smiled innocently. Neptune put his hand up, backing down.
"Nevermind then. If Weiss says you're good then I believe it."
Weiss blushed at the obvious flattery.
You're way too easy, just one compliment and you're as red as a baboon's ass.
"Well?" Yang brought up. "We know where they're hiding. And now what?"
The girls looked amongst themselves.
"I mean, we can't just storm their compound," Ruby noted. "That be a quick way into trouble if they are as many as Blake claims."
"What should we do?" Blake was getting quite antsy.
"Nothing for the moment."
The girls turned to Anon.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"You nerds are going to go on some extracurricular trip to get some IRL experience." Hope explained matter-of-factly. "All you'll have to do is select which mission you want to do and pick one in Mount Glenn."
"Wait, it's that easy?" Yang asked in surprise.
"Yup, just like that. All we have to do now is rest up, train and prepare for until then." He smiled. "Which means we can enjoy the Vytal Dance no problem."
Everyone minus Blake beamed at the good news. Once everyone was done eating, they began clearing the table and washing up. Sun leaned in to Blake as he helped her store the table back into the closet, noticing her lack of mirth.
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly.
Blake opened her mouth but didn't speak. She ended up just shaking her head.
"Nevermind. Just me being worried for nothing."
"What do you mean?"
She sneaked a look towards Anon as he washed the dishes and the recyclable trash.
"I just... I feel like there's more that we can do, but I know that Anon would object."
"Why would he?" Sun questioned.
"Because she always overworks herself."
Anon hadn't turned away from his chore as he continued.
"Blake has a bad habit of putting more unto herself than she can actually manage. There's always more work to be done, more plots to foil and more monsters to stop."
He put some dishes on the drying rack.
"And then, she ends up with bags under her eyes and running on a two-hour nap and coffee."
He finally turned around, a dour smile across his lips.
"Which is where I come in. Because otherwise, she'd drop dead from overexertion."
"I'm not..." Blake rubbed her arm sheepishly. "I'm not trying to do that..."
Anon walked up to her and stroked her chin.
"It's not about intent, kitty. It's about reality." He poked her nose with his other hand. "And you, are an overworking, myopic, frustratingly righteous burden of mine."
The black cat of Team RWBY blushed slightly.
"Burden?" She smiled coyly. "You make it sound like I'm your spouse."
Anon thought about it for a moment then matched her smile.
"Heh, there are worse people to get hitched to."
She playfully punched him on the shoulder.
"Dick!"
"I do have one."
The two shared a chuckle as Yang looked on impassively.
"Yeah, you two are a thing."
"Not canon!" Blake hit back.
"Yeah, whatever, lovergirl."
Blake groaned as Anon kept chuckling, this time at Blake's ire.
...
Once the trash was disposed of and the dishes were put away, the group discussed what they would be doing now that they have all this free time. Sun and Neptune left now that the job was done but promised to come back if they come a-calling. This left the girls and Anon to decide what to do, besides keeping sharp.
Yang then suddenly got a call. She excused herself before coming back shortly afterward.
"Welp, looks like I found out what we'll be doing."
"What is it?" Weiss asked.
"Coco and her team were in charge of setting up the Vytal dance."
"Were?"
"Yup, a mission was sprung up on them, so now they need someone to sub in for them."
"And we're doing it because?" Ruby asked.
"Do you have something better to do besides play video games?"
Ruby rose her hand to counter Yang's claim but after thinking about it, she realized that she was right. She lowered her hand and closed he mouth. Yang smirked victoriously.
"Thought so." She looked to her other teammates. "No objections?"
Blake shrugged.
"I'll help where I can."
Weiss rested her head on her hand before nodding to herself and getting off her seat.
"I know some people. I can set us up with deco crews, caterers and so on."
Yang smiled.
"Aw yeah!" She gasped at a sudden idea. "We could get a fog machine!"
Weiss didn't seem to like the idea.
"A fog machine? I was thinking more of a ballroom soiré rather than a discotec."
Yang groaned.
"Really? That sounds so boring though!"
"No, it doesn't!"
The two began arguing about the merit of their own ideas. The other three didn't interfere, as they simply don't care. Anon rubbed his chin pensively.
"Right. I probably should go and check up on CVFY before they bounce." He muttered to himself.
I could save them some trouble and spare them from getting overrun.
Blake, however, didn't seem to like that idea.
"Sure you could," She said curtly.
Anon raised an eyebrow at the sudden hostility.
"Is something wrong with what I said?"
"Oh no, it's nothing." She turned away.
Weiss and Yang stopped arguing for just long enough to join Ruby as she glared in confusion at the two.
"Oh for god's sake, Blake." Anon palmed his hand. "Are you serious?!"
"Why would I be?" She retorted. "I have no qualms with you going to see Velvet."
"I'm going to see CVFY! As in the whole fucking team, Blake!"
"Sure you are."
Ruby leaned towards Yang.
"Is this what I think this is?" She whispered.
"I think we both know the answer," Yang answered with a self-satisfied smug.
"Why are you angry at me all of the sudden?!" Anon demanded to know.
"I'm not angry. Why would I be angry?" She said as she still refused to face him. "Besides, I have nothing against you being with her."
"Oh for the love of- It's just a casual thing!"
Blake finally turned to face him and gave him a lidded stare.
FLASHBACK
Blake closed her book, sighing with satisfaction.
"I'm done..." She giggled to herself. "Ah~ the way Shiryu flirts with Sakuya will always make my heart quiver! So cute!"
A bit of drool dripped from her lip.
"I bet the two will finally get it on in the next volume! The amount of cock teasing Shiryu does is borderline criminal!"
Blake got up from her bench in the courtyard, stretching and working out the kinks though, unfortunately, not those kinks. The black cat made her way towards the dorm building but a weird wet noise drew her attention towards the bushes behind the dorm. Blake peaked around the corner and her eyes widened.
A string of saliva kept Anon and Velvet's mouth connected, the pair panted heavily. Velvet brought him closer, licking and kissing his neck. Anon groaned despite her rabbit ears flopping cutely.
"DON'T leave a fucking hickey." He threatened half-heartedly.
Velvet was barely registering what he had asked, too intoxicated by the smell and taste of his sweat. She hummed pleasantly as she moved from his neck back to his mouth, poking his lips with her tongue. Anon rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before going back to making out.
Blake's pupils turned into slits as she glared a hole through the back of Hope's skull.
PRESENT
Blake kept glaring at Hope, her pupils shrunk into slits.
"Sure it is." Blake turned right back around and left the room, giving Hope the cold shoulder.
Anon stood there with an annoyed face. He rubbed his face in frustration.
"God fucking damn it." He dragged his hand down his face. "Why is this happening?"
The girls walked past him to leave. Yang patted him on the back as she passed him.
"It's ok, Anon. Once you apologize, I'm sure she'll forgive you."
Anon stood there, alone, in pure incomprehension and frustration.
"WHY AM I THE ASSHOLE ALL OF THE SUDDEN?!"
He deflated before collapsing to the floor. He stared at the ceiling, knowing that he'll have to deal with Blake, Coco and probably Ozpin tomorrow. He sighed.
"Fuck this, I'm going to sleep."
Fuck you, future me. Deal with this shit yourself, you daft cunt.
V2E8: END!
NEXT ON PLAYLIST: V2E9 - PLAY?