Chapter 19

La Vida Loca

Part 3


The city of Vale was, without a doubt, one of the more... Unique places Lee had seen in his lifetime. Being one of only four cities existing on the entire world of Remnant, it was, by necessity, a large one, with a population somewhere between that of New York City and the entire Los Angeles Metropolitan Area... About 10 million. However, if one were simply to stroll through one of the city's districts, they would probably think it was a smaller one, seeing as other than the world famous Cross Continental Transmit tower, there weren't too many high rise buildings, and it had a sort of Victorian feel to the architecture, combined with surprisingly sparse roads and sidewalks to give the place an open feel. Sure, there were plenty of 5-10 story apartment buildings and businesses, but nothing other than the CCT which could be considered a true skyscraper. In the Residential District, most of the taller buildings were aligned in a rough ring around the district, with the apartments within being rented relatively cheap on the Western and Eastern ends of the District due to their close proximity to the noisier Industrial District and the city's Eastern wall, respectively. Seeing as Cinder hadn't originally planned on being in Vale very long, she had chosen to sign a lease on an apartment on the South East End in order to save lien when she inevitably abandoned it... But it also meant that Lee and Emerald were going to have to travel the entire length of the residential district in order to get anywhere. Which sucked, because in order to fit a population of roughly 10 million, without an abundance of skyscrapers, and also be 100% self sufficient, the city had to be huge. As in, 75,000 square kilometers. Which meant, given that Vale was roughly rectangular, nearly 300 km just to reach the West side of the residential district, named Riverside due to the river bordering it on three different sides.

Thank the powers that be for public transportation. Currently, Lee and Emerald were riding the train from the East End out towards the Industrial District, where they planned on picking up Emerald's... Umm...

"Hey, Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Just what do you call your weapons?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they're pistols, sickles, and kusarigama all in one. The best I could come up with was "Kusari-gun-ma." Or perhaps "Kusari-gun-kles?""

"Not entirely terrible ideas, I'll give you that, but I've just been calling them convertible revolver-sickles."

"That does sound a little more badass."

"And professional."

"That too."

Okay. So, now that Lee knew what to call them, they were on their way to pick up one of Emerald's convertible revolver sickles from a weapon craftsman located on the Northeastern border of the Industrial District (a location which Lee had found odd, but apparently zoning laws required it be located there since the proprietor fabricated most of his own parts, and the equipment used to do so was something the military could and would take over in a time of emergency)... And Mercury's left leg. A few weeks ago, both it and one of Emerald's revolver-sickles had met their demises in the form of the late Huntsman Ronald Springfield's battle axe. Which, coincidentally, Neo had looted off of the man. Lee had promptly laughed his ass off the first time he watched her attempt to fight with it; the tiny woman was literally half the height of a battle axe made to be significantly taller than a man who was nearly seven feet tall, coming in at a total height of 2.9 meters, or roughly 9.5 feet. Neo, of course, had pouted, but then reminded Lee that the material had been strong enough to cleave straight through Mercury's metal leg, so it was worth keeping around. Lee was of the opinion that Neo would be better off not trying to overcompensate for something, and should simply have it smelted down and reforged to replace the estoc in her umbrella. But, Neo remained insistent in wanting to try to master that axe. "Because it's mine!" In this instance, Lee was certain that she would eventually come to see reason and concede defeat, so he didn't press... But still, it would have saved them a couple of trips to the forge.

Oh well. At least Emerald would finally be back to her full capabilities. Not that she wasn't capable of fending off opponents with only one of her revolver-sickles, or even unarmed if need be, but she was definitely at her best whilst dual wielding.

"Next stop: Industrial NW. Next stop: Industrial Northwest. Please exercise caution as the vehicle slows to a stop..."

Lee tuned the automated voice out, in favor of shooting Emerald, standing next to him (it was a crowded train), a mischievous grin. To which she responded with a cautiously amused smirk in anticipation of antics being planned. Smirking harder, Lee leaned down to mutter: "Race you to the forge. Loser buys lunch afterwards?"

"I never have been one to turn down a free meal."

Both grinned at the greenette's retort. Now that the gauntlet had been thrown and picked up, there would be no mercy. Lee just had to wait for the train to stop, and for the doors to open. Once that happened, he'd-

"Ow! H-hey! No fair!"

Emerald had beaten him to it, by stomping on his shin the moment the doors had opened, causing him to flinch while she dashed out the doors and on to the platform. But Lee wasn't about to give up; instead of hopping around on the one foot until the pain receded, he forced himself to shut out the pain and chase after her. An ability that, ironically, Emerald herself was responsible for helping him to develop, during his earliest days on Remnant. It was fortunate for Lee, as it meant Emerald only managed to get about a three second head start on him, which, while significant, was not enough to be completely insurmountable. Especially considering that they still had to dodge and weave through pedestrian traffic in the station.

"Well," he thought, "At least I'll have the advantage until we get outside." Being nearly six feet tall and visibly built like an athlete beneath his button up shirt, most pedestrians yielded when they saw him coming; after all, most people would prefer not to be run over. In contrast, Emerald was a third of a foot shorter, and even though she was built athletically as well, she was also slender, so while she theoretically could just bulldoze through, she would have to obey the ebb and flow of pedestrian traffic if she wanted to avoid causing a scene. And seeing as, roughly thirty seconds into the race, Lee didn't hear any complaints except from those who he had accidentally jostled so far, it was safe to assume that she was trying to avoid actively bowling people over.

"Good, that'll give me a chance to catch up before we make it out into the open."

And catch up he did... If, by catching up, one meant that he closed the gap from three seconds to a little over one. He had watched her vault over the turnstiles and then slide down the railing (the train routes were, usually, elevated to somewhere between two and three stories above ground level), giving a (fake) cheery smile to the people around her. Lee himself chose a more direct route, choosing to vault the safety railing surrounding the platform and hit the ground running.

"I don't know why she looks so shocked, I did the same thing at The Club." But Emerald's shock didn't last long, costing her maybe a step or two before she raced off, Lee perhaps a dozen steps behind her. And slowly losing ground.

"Okay, Lee, think; she's faster than you, and has few to no avoidable obstacles in her path. You can keep going for longer than she can... But she can probably get most of the way there before she even slows down, thanks to the distance she'll pick up in the meantime. Gotta add another variable..."

But other than persist in chasing her, Lee was at a loss for ideas. Short of hitching a ride on the roofs of passing cars, he couldn't think of a w-

"Wait a minute. I can do that easily."

And he did; with a single leap, Lee leapt from the sidewalk to the street, landing on the roof of an approaching car. No doubt startling the driver, but, admirably, he continued on. Traffic was a little heavy to come to an abrupt stop, after all. It was rather fortunate for Lee, however, as he was able to rapidly leap from one car to the next, adding their speed to his until he was running along the top of a truck and just about caug-

Blearily, Lee shook the stars from his eyes. Wondering just where the chup that street light had come from. Of course, he didn't have to ponder for long, as the sound of laughter pierced through the dizziness.

"Chupmothering hun dan schutta... Shtako that hurts! Now I know what it must feel like to be Wile E. Coyote... Ta ma de..."

Glaring at the culprit, Lee staggered to his feet, idly thanking the powers that be for allowing him to somehow land on the sidewalk rather than in the middle of the street. With a groan, Lee reached down into his pocket in search of a certain bottle of pills, and gladly consumed one once it had been found. Almost instantly, the headache he was suffering from mostly receded, causing him to once again marvel at the potency and effectiveness of the (admittedly, in this case, not technically legal) medicine on Remnant... But, he was starting to get off track. At the moment, a certain mint-haired thief had just climbed her way to the top of his shit list... And if the sudden widening of her eyes before she took off down a side alley was any indication, she knew it too.

"Yeah, you'd better run! Because you, my dear, are in for it!"

With that declaration, Lee too was off, running at a dead sprint to keep his quarry in sight. With Emerald's little stunt, he had stopped viewing this race as a game, and instead began to treat it as a battle. A battle that Emerald had initiated by using her Semblance to make Lee not see the perfectly face height street light... With that, the metaphorical gloves came off, and the more literal ones were put on.

Gritting his teeth in concentration, Lee activated his own Semblance, causing his eyes to glow and time to move at a slower pace. And with it came an enhanced awareness of his own senses, allowing him to time his steps just that much better. Combined with now being able to make minute adjustments to the flow of his Aura and achieve with finesse what most would do with brute force (though the latter certainly still contributed), it made it easy to make a running leap from the ground to seize a third story fire escape, and then swing himself into the air, a blast of Air aimed downwards at the apex of his arc propelling him the final few feet upwards in order to clear the edge of the roof and (almost) stick a super hero landing, another Air blast allowing him to near instantly shoot forwards again. A manic grin appeared on his face as he caught sight of Emerald's own surprised expression, having looked over her shoulder from the other side of the roof top, mid leap. And it was made all the better since he was seeing it in slow motion. Apparently, she hadn't quite expected Lee to pull off that maneuver in such fashion.

"Don't you dare underestimate me, Em!"

"You haven't impressed me yet!"

Lee grunted in displeasure as he made the first leap, while Emerald was already halfway across the next roof. He didn't care what she said, he'd executed that move with style, dammit!

"Alright, lets see you deny this..."

Using much the same principle as when he'd boosted himself onto the roof, Lee began to use bursts of Air to augment his steps, pushing harder and traveling further with each step, thus covering more ground faster. Emerald was growing larger in his sight as he closed the distance, and when she was close enough to reach out and grab? He couldn't resist the opportunity to do what he did next.

A satisfying clap was heard.

"Ow! Hey!"

Emerald's startled yelp, and her flustered flush, glimpsed as he passed her by, was well worth the retaliation he was sure to to be subject to later. But just what had he done to provoke such a response?

Well. To put it simply:

He smacked that ass.

Hard. As in, hard enough to lift her an extra couple of inches off the ground just from the impact alone... Which he promptly paid for when his feet were suddenly lassoed by a chain, too fast for him to do anything about before he tripped. He was, however, able to just grab a hold of it during the resultant tumble, causing Emerald to go down as well when she was unable to react quickly enough to simply let go of her end. This became a problem when they tumbled off the side of a five story building.

"Shtaaaaaaaak-oof!"

Fortunately, Lee had landed on something plastic, the thick yet hollow material denting and preventing him from breaking anything. And even better, he'd managed to catch Emerald, who was currently digging her nails into his chest like a frightened cat, cushioning her fall so that, other than the trauma of nearly experiencing death or at least a maiming via fall, she seemed to be unharmed. On the downside... Well, Lee himself was feeling the impact, even through his Aura. And Emerald, now realizing that she was okay, had lifted her head to turn her visage upon him.

Idly, Lee noted that had this been a novel, this would usually be the moment where the damsel turns her doe-eyed gaze upon the hero, who is stricken with the most powerful, possibly irresistible urge to kiss her. Emerald certainly did have the eyes for the innocent look, and had she used them, Lee would have been helpless. But that's not what happened. In fact, that was probably the furthest thing from what happened.

Emerald glared. And, fulfilling a different cliché, Lee found it to be one of the cutest things he'd ever seen. Probably because of the aforementioned large, innocent looking (despite being blood red) eyes. Sure, he was well aware that an angry Emerald could very well be a scary Emerald, and at the thought, the phantoms of bruises long faded began to twinge... But it had been months since Emerald could consistently defeat Lee in a fight, and those fights, as well as more one-sided ones against Mercury, had helped Lee to develop quite the tolerance for pain. So he really did not experience any sort of fright at the thought of Emerald turning violent on him. But that isn't to say that he would simply allow her to wale on him indefinitely... Which she certainly attempted.

For his part, Lee let her get a few good hits in before he caught both her wrists and her gaze. For a moment, Emerald struggled... But only for a moment. Either her rage had abetted, or she'd simply realized that violence would be futile in this instance. Either way, it resulted in her calming down... And Lee grinned suggestively as he watched her flush, having finally realized the compromising position they were in.

"You know, we have got to stop meeting like this! It would be so much easier if we could reach this point without all the violence!"

And while Lee did expect Emerald's initial scowl, he did not expect her to then match his own suggestive demeanor. Nor did he expect her to then lean down so that her next words, spoken with sensual allure, were delivered from her lips, almost directly to Lee's own.

"Well that wouldn't be nearly as fun, now, would it?"

And at that point, Lee knew he was about to make a liar of himself. He had previously told Mercury, and had even convinced himself, that he wasn't going to seriously pursue Emerald as a romantic interest before she turned 18... But, now that she was right there in front of him, apparently willing to get into some sort of physical relationship, it was hard to hold to that conviction. After all, after the events of the last six months, Lee was hardly concerned with the legality of things. And it wouldn't exactly be illegal, with the age of consent on Remnant being 16, no ifs ands, or buts about it. No, the only thing that made Lee actually care about that was the morality of getting into a relationship with someone that young... But could he even really consider her a child at this point? She had been a participant in a pair of homicides just a few weeks ago, and had killed another herself back during the Xiong massacre. She'd lived alone on the streets for an amount of time before she met Cinder, and after she had, she'd decided to help her conquer the world (or at least Vale) in order to destroy the Grimm, and was actively working to do so. And, perhaps most importantly, she was emotionally stable after all of that. So, Lee decided, she wasn't a child... And that meant it was okay to have a physical relationship with her. Unfortunately, the moment seemed to be slipping, as Emerald was beginning pull away, the beginnings of a disappointed expression beginning to form.

Lee wasn't about to let that happen. Now that he'd decided he really wanted this, and Emerald was willing to share it with him, he was damn well going to take it.

"No, it wouldn't..."

And take it he did, reaching up to gently capture her lips with his own before he closed his eyes.

It was awkward, at first. Lee had surprised her just as the moment was beginning to pass, so there was initially no response. But then she did, and... Well... It was nice. Pleasurable, for sure, despite the clumsiness on her part that led Lee to believe this was actually her first kiss. But he wasn't in love, so there were no fireworks, no metaphorical freezing of time, no choir of angels affirming that this was meant to be. It was a kiss, and that's all it was. Nothing special... But still enjoyable. Very much so.

Lee smiled as he pulled away, his eyes opened just in time to catch a glimpse of Emerald's expression, eyes closed and lips just slightly parted, dazed from the kiss. Which caused Lee's smile to widen as she too opened her eyes and smiled, glad to see he wasn't the only one who'd enjoyed himself.

"I think I could get used to that..."

At Emerald's musing, Lee couldn't help but chuckle. "Lucky me, I suppose."

"I'm still mad at you."

"...You started it."

"You hit me!"

"It was a swat, and you made me run into a traffic light!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, so you're both a thief and a liar!"

"No, you're just clumsy."

"I am not clumsy!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Maybe compared to you, little miss sticky fingers, but I know you saw me stick that super hero landing back there! That is not clumsy! That is the furthest thing from clumsy!"

"You were also rotated about 15 degrees too far."

"So I could break into a sprint! Also, I landed it from a backflip!"

"...Eh."

"Grrrrrr!"

"Did you just growl at me?"

"So what if I d-"

"Ahem."

Both of the bickering teens froze at the new voice, turning matching annoyed expressions onto the intruder. Simultaneously, they grit out: "What!"

Sheepishly, the red maned man just held up a full garbage bag and pointed to whatever it was Lee was laying on.

"Em?"

"Yeah?"

"We're on top of a dumpster, aren't we?"

Emerald's response was merely to sigh.

"Well, chup. Okay, man, we'll be out of your way in a second."

A few moments later, Lee and Emerald were off the dumpster and standing before the lion Faunas, who had finished taking out the trash. And was now staring at the two with an amused expression on his face.

"So I take it that you two haven't been an item for very long?"

"I wonder what gave you that impression..."

While Emerald was snarking, however, Lee was frowning. Red mane, lion's tail, looks to be about their age? Lee was certain he'd yet to actually even meet a lion Faunas, and was certain he'd remember the occasion if he had, so why did this guy seem familiar?

"Oh, just the way you seemed to be surprised that he actually kissed you."

Had Lee not been trying to figure out where he knew this guy from, he would probably have joined him in laughing at Emerald's flustered sputtering. But really, he just could not get past the fact that this teenager, dressed in greasy overalls, somehow looked familiar.

"You two training to be Hunters? I don't recall seeing you around Signal..."

Lee, mentally shrugging as he decided he wasn't going to figure it out just by staring, decided to answer. "We are, but we couldn't really afford combat academy. We have a mutual friend who has been kind enough to teach us, though. She's a bit of a badass."

"You have a Huntress training you two personally?"

"And two others. But yes, that is correct." If one considered Cinder a Huntress, anyway. Which... Lee was just now realizing he did not know if she ever had been.

"That's pretty cool! I suppose that means you'll have an easy time getting into Beacon when the time comes. I'll be going next year. How about you guys?"

"Well..." Lee looked to Emerald for help, not quite sure how to dig themselves out of this hole. Did they just continue with the lie and claim they were going to Beacon, and risk him possibly remembering it later?

"We were actually thinking about attending Haven. Our mentor is originally Mistrali, and still quite young herself, so her contact network is mostly out there. We'll have an easier time getting in over there, as well as access to more outside resources than if we were to attend Beacon."

Or, they could tell an easier, noncommittal lie. That was a much better idea.

"Oh. That makes sense. Well, perhaps you guys would like to hang out some time? The Bear's Den is a pretty cool place, despite the fact that everyone knows that the Axe Gang is based out of there. They actually just renovated it recently, apparently some rival gang came in and trashed the place a little over a month ago."

"Aha! That's where I recognized you from!"

"Eh?"

"I'm pretty sure I saw you get turned away on the night of that incident. I was at the cafe across the street with another friend."

"Huh. Go figure. You must have one helluva memory."

"Eh, it's a side effect of my Semblance."

"Cool. Well, since then, The Den has a new manager, who apparently doesn't hate Faunas enough to not do business with us, so it's been a pretty mixed crowd lately. If you guys ever feel like coming by, some friends and I are usually there on Friday nights."

Off to the side, Emerald subtly cleared her throat.

"We'll definitely keep that in mind..."

"Jin."

"Jin. I'm Lee, and this is Em. We'll definitely drop by sometime, but for now, we'd really better get going."

"The mistress beckons, eh? Heh, no worries, it's cool, it's just about time for me to come off my break anyway. See you two later!"

"You bet!"

With a smile and a wave, Lee and Emerald finally exited the alleyway, this time at a walk as they finally moved on towards their destination.

Wait a second...

"Weren't we in the middle of a race?"

Both froze for a moment, stopping to look at each other... And then they were off, the thought of winning a free lunch off of the other reigniting the "friendly" competition...


I will be placing this story on a brief hiatus, hopefully not lasting longer than a couple of months, but potentially lasting as many as four. Partially because of my work situation, but also for issues with the story itself. Chief amongst them being that, despite having succeeded in telling an engaging story with both drama and humor, I haven't quite succeeded at making it feel... Personal. Which it needs to be, since I'm telling this story as if it's a series of flashbacks from some point in the future. Maybe I just need more of the "interview" things... Maybe I just need to go and rewrite most of the earlier chapters to feel more personal. Either way, all of my planned edits need to be done before I get too much further into the story, so that 1: I don't forget some of the smaller, more trivial ones, and 2: so that those of you who have already read this far will have a chance to go back and re-read it while it's only about 20 chapters being re-done, rather than, say, 35 or 40 if I were to wait until I finish the first volume. Which brings me to my next point: this WILL be a multi-volume story. At the moment, I my goal is for this one to stretch until I've covered all the events in Fall: Emerald and Merc being recruited and their backstories, which I've touched upon, the hunt for the Fall Maiden (which I am in the middle of), the forming of the alliance with the White Fang (preluded at the beginning of this arc), recruiting Roman, etc. Then there's Neo's backstory and how she came to be part of Cinder's group (which I have not really delved into other than saying she told Lee about it at some point). On top of all of that, I also intend to finally getting around to write an actual prologue, which will most likely be from Cinder's viewpoint, and detail her first encounter with Lee. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty excited for that part. I think you will be too after this little snippet from it:


There are three types of people in the world. Most are the first type: Sheep. Sheep are kind, gentle, productive creatures who, generally, only manage to cause harm by accident. They are peaceful by nature... But are incapable of defending the peace. Still, despite such a seemingly negative portrayal, the second type of people tended to view them with both fondness and affection.

Click.

Click.

Click.

The Woman in Red shared that view. They were, after all, society's backbone, gifted with a wide gamut of talents. Without them, the second type, Sheepdogs, would have no reason to exist. For the Sheepdog, gifted with the gift of aggression, seeks to use that gift, taking on the roles of police, firemen, soldiers and Hunters. Whichever path they choose to specialize in, their purpose is unified, their goal, one: to serve and protect.

Click.

Click.

Click.

The Woman in Red was not a Sheepdog. For while she was indeed gifted with aggression, she had long since lost the desire to protect. No, she had found herself a different aspiration, one more suited to her talents... And the Wolf would not be denied. The Wolves of society were the liars, thieves, and murderers... And to achieve her goals, the Woman in Red was willing to resort to all three.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Perhaps it was the way her amber eyes, peeking out from behind a glittering black mask, seemed to almost glow, giving them the appearance of lit embers to illuminate her predatory smirk. Or perhaps it was her poise, the way that her legs, long, bare, and immaculately smooth, slowly, sensually sashayed down the alley, her heels tapping out a steady rhythm against the stone. In the end, it mattered not, for the effect was the same: the Sheepdogs before her had been reduced to mere Sheep in her presence... And it would be a lie to say that she wasn't enjoying the moment.

Click.

The Woman in Red crinkled her eyes in pleasure as her prey finally backed into a wall, having reached a dead end. The Sheep were boxed in, now, with buildings to their sides and the Wolf directly ahead. The only way to escape was through her...

In other words, they wouldn't.


So to keep a list of my objectives for this hiatus:

Write a prologue. (Complete! Posted!)

Add Date Stamps to Immersion. (Aborted, Unnecessary)

Edit/Rewrite Immersion. (In Progress)

Add a couple of interludes after Immersion. (Aborted.)

Add a couple of interludes after Networking. (Aborted.)

Make Escalation into fewer chapters (Cancelled)

Add a scene to Escalation 3, shortly after Lee and Neo leave the town. NOT an Interlude (Scheduled, Summer's Group)

Combine the first two parts of La Vida Loca into a single chapter. (Aborted)

Complete La Vida Loca arc. (Complete! Will be posted when I finish editing Immersion)

Add a codex/wiki to keep track of things. This will likely be posted as a separate story, and updated at the end of each arc. (Postponed)

Add more pathos to Lee's character. (Ongoing)

Bring cohesion to currently unrelated/irrelevant details. (Ongoing)

Add depth to Lee's relationships with the rest of the main cast. (Ongoing)

Go into Neo's backstory and how she came to be part of Cinder's group. (Planning, likely to be told in pieces.)