Hey everyone! Welcome back for another chapter of 'The Darkling Thrush'!
Wow that was a lot of feedback I got on that last chapter. Holy crap. Thanks guys I mean it, thank you all for leaving a review it means a lot. Thank you The Novice Storyteller, Baoh joestar, jin0uga, Ussop, Guest #1, noone297, winddemon199, Drake D Zero and Guest #2.
I saw a little division in the comments about how I'm approaching things. Which is why I'm going to warn you about what comes next. It's all about division.
Warning: Just to clarify, I don't condone everything Russel says and does. Sure I wrote it, but that doesn't mean I support it 100%. It does fit in line with the character I've been building over the 100,000+ words, but it doesn't represent me.
Other Warning: I like both Marvel and DC, its just fun for me to poke fun at everything.
XXVII
Downtime: Part 2
Sunday afternoon at Beacon was different than usual. There was an eerie silence outside rooms and in hallways. Off in the distance you could hear the sharpening of weapons and catch a whiff of gasoline soaked rags ready to be set ablaze. There were whispers here and there in the dorms. A shrill chill down everyone's spine as they all waited in anticipation for something to happen.
Be it an angry mob that sweeps through campus or the Holy Ghost itself, everyone knew something was coming. Even a woman who'd been planning the worst day in Vale history fell a cold touch against her shoulder. There would be no diabolical machinations this evening, just a day spent in doors curled up in bed waiting for the end to pass over her.
And so, with all the dread and foreboding in the air, you would expect to find the likes of the doomed nailing down boards and stockpiling foods and drink. Faced with death by unholy slaughter, are now faced with the toughest questions of all.
"Who's your favorite comic book superhero?" Dove asked aloud.
Seated in the empty dining hall at a circular table, nine students found themselves playing a harmless game of blackjack. Instead of money they played for treats, bags of chips and candy bars that they'd all had on hand. By the end of the game someone would be walking off and eventually checking into a hospital. Prognosis: type two diabetes.
"…Eh, Captain America." Willa Rosa, the leader of Team WILL, answered after weighing the options in her head.
"It's the Chris' right?" Nero Goldlock of Team DNCE snickered as he checked the cards he was dealt. In hand he had a pair of twos. He signaled the dealer to pass him another card. The dealer acknowledged and passed him another card, a Jack. Not liking the odds of getting anything under a seven, Nero decided not to stay his hand rather than bust. "You love them biceps right?"
"Hey, did you even see Civil War? Chris Evans is the full package." Willa protested. The Team WILL leader checked her cards, an ace and a three. Deciding for the time being to count the ace as a one, Willa flagged down the dealer and was handed another card. Now possessing a five, that left her with cards that mounted to a total of nine. She asked for another card, which turned out to be an eight. Testing her luck, Willa asked for another card, only for it to be a nine. "Shit." She cursed as she tossed her cards on the table. "Twenty-six. I busted."
"Batman. Always choose Batman." Dove quickly quipped as he added up his cards. "He's a billionaire, has the coolest villains and gets all the ladies." He smirked to himself, pleased with the fact he'd been handed a queen and an ace. A perfect twenty one. "I'll stay."
"He's an overrated cosplayer living in his parent's basement." Willa muttered, clearly dissatisfied with her life choices. She'd put up two bags of barbecue chips, and now she'd be parting ways with them for sure.
"Oh I'm sorry, I thought this was about our favorites, not a comic book fight." Dove stuck out his tongue. "If this was, then sorry Willa, but Cap ain't that cool. He's spent more time as a werewolf and losing his powers than fighting for truth, justice and freedom."
"Was he at least a sexy werewolf?" Willa swooned over the mental image of Chis Evans crossed between one of those twilight films. "I could get behind that."
"My favorite would have to be…Wolverine." Ezekiel Jupiter, the sole faunus member of Team DNCE and the only faunus present at the table said as scratched his chin. He debated his next move, whether to pursue another card and add it to his trio of fives. Maybe if he did he'd get another five and make it a solid twenty. His luck ran out the moment he called for another card. And with a frown, Ezekiel tossed his cards onto the table. "I busted."
"It's the claws right? He's the best at what he does. Isn't afraid of nothin'." Nero joked as he looked at his cards. "Give me another card, dealer." The dealer nodded and handed the boy a card from the deck. A frown found its way across the Team DNCE boy, causing him the fall back in his seat. "Bust."
"The whole can't really die thing is the main selling point for me, actually." Ezekiel muttered as he opened a bag of sour cream an onion flavored chips he'd won from an earlier game.
"What are you talking about? Wolverine dies all the time. There are literally two 'The Death of Wolverine' storylines. All within a decade of the other." Dove said as he glanced over to Sky. The Lark boy had been staring at the hand he'd been dealt the entire time. "You gonna make a move there, Sky?"
"I'll stay." Sky declared before placing his cards back on the table. "I like The Flash. He run's real fast, saves the day and has a Museum. That's cool."
"The Flash? He fights a Gorilla right?" Danny asked as he placed his cards down on the table, having busted with a hand of twenty two.
"Oh yeah. A Psychic Gorilla." Dove laughed. "It's so silly, yet so amazing."
"Green Arrow." Danny declared. "I like Green Arrow."
"Oh right, the poor man's Batman." Willa muttered as Mercury and Cardin busted.
"I like his politics." Danny muttered simply. "How about you? You got a favorite superhero?" They all turned to the dealer.
Russel just shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I don't really read comics." He said before Dove claimed victory and the mountain of snacks at the center of the table.
"Oh come on, you've got to at least have heard of one of them." Nero exclaimed as he began the next betting pool by tossing in a cookies and cream candy bar.
"Alright, fine." Russel shrugged, not enjoying being put on the spot like how he was now. "Superman. I like Superman."
"Dude Superman sucks." Dove muttered as he tossed in a pair of skittle packets to the growing pool. "He's too overpowered and his weakness is a green rock."
"He's too overpowered? Gee I guess that's why he's super." Russel rolled his eyes. "Don't ever insult another man's hero, Dove."
"Man of Steel. The scene where Henry Cavill walked through fire. You could grind cheese on that thing." Willa gushed.
"Oi, keep it in your pants sister." Russel pointed at Willa before proceeding to gather the cards back into the deck and shuffling them. "How about you Merc? You got a favorite superhero?"
"Not really a superhero." Mercury shrugged as he checked the new hand he'd been dealt. "I'd say The Punisher. You got to admire a man with a mission, am I right?"
"Eh, depends who's writing him, honestly." Nero shrugged.
"What's The Punisher do again?" Russel asked as he revealed his hand which added to twenty. Dove did the same, revealing his to be a perfect twenty one. Dove collected the assembled snacks up for grabs and added them to his pile and smiled like an idiot.
"The Punisher kills bad guys." Sky muttered as he and the others passed in their cards to be reshuffled in the deck. "That's literally all he does."
"Superman doesn't kill criminals." Russel muttered.
"He killed Zod in Man of Steel." Willa commented before getting up from her seat and fetching a soda from a nearby cooler one of the Dunces had brought along.
"I don't know what the fuck that is." Russel said as he handed a card to Sky. The Lark boy just frowned once more as he busted.
"It was a movie." Nero aid before placing his cards on the table. "Twenty-One."
"I didn't have any movie theaters where I grew up. And Superman doesn't kill people. Because he's Superman." Russel retorted as everyone passed back their cards for another game.
"Sheesh. For a guy who doesn't read comic books, you seem really hung up on Superman." Mercury said jokingly. But there was something to his words that made Russel's ears twitch. And underlying tone beneath the words that generally unsettled the young Thrush.
"I got one comic book when I was growing up. It was a Superman comic." Russel explained. "You know what he did? He saved the day without killing anyone. He was always smiling in the damn thing
"You only ever got one comic?"
"Found it in the fiction section of my school library." Russel shrugged."Unless you hadn't picked it up when we were there, Dove. Oakwood is a pretty shitty place."
"Amen to that." Cardin muttered as he reached down to rub one of his knees. The Winchester boy had been nursing a bad wound from the fall he'd taken in the cabin. He hadn't said anything about it at the time, given the circumstances he was preoccupied with fending off White Fang forces. Just talking about Oakwood made the damn thing act up.
"So the conquering hero speaks!" Nero exclaimed happily.
"Don't call me that." Cardin shot a glare across the table at Nero.
"But you are!" The Dunce shouted excitedly. "You bumped uglies with the hottest girl in school man! The most unattainable too! Anyone else would literally kill to be you Cardin. You're like a real life superhero man!"
"I find it disturbing how blurred the definition of a superhero is amongst you guys." Russel said as he shoved the pile of goodies over to Nero. Everyone else had busted, meaning the dunce had claimed victory. Russel attention then fell from collecting the cards to his pocket. Feeling the familiar vibration of his scroll, the green haired lad dug into his pocket and retrieved his scroll, discovering a notification indicating he'd received a new message.
"So how was it?" Willa asked, glancing over at Cardin.
"I don't feel like talking about it." Cardin spoke lowly, doing his best to quell his temper. "I just want to forget it all happened."
"I'm still kind of miffed you didn't tell us Cardin." Dove said as he opened a bag of corn chips and tossed a handful of them into his mouth. "You not only got to fight the White Fang, but you also got laid. Like c'mon man I got trouble taking to girls as it is! It's unfair I tell you!"
"Drop it Dove." Cardin sighed heavily. "Are we going to start another round or what?" Cardin turned to look at Russel. But the young Thrush wasn't paying attention, too busy responding to a message on his scroll. "Russel?"
"I've gotta go." Russel said before throwing his scroll in his pocket and grabbing what few sweets he still had in his possession.
"What's up?" Mercury inquired.
Russel sent an odd look Mercury's way. He'd learned very well not to take things at face value these past few days. There was more to Mercury than there seemed. And given recent events, that greatly unsettled the young Thrush. So he just shrugged, hiding his thoughts behing that god awful smirk of his. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He said before pushing in his chair and turning to leave.
"Yeah." Cardin nodded, almost in agreement with some unasked question. "Seeing as the questions into my personal life won't be stopping anytime soon. I'm gonna go." The Winchester said before following Russel's example and collecting his winnings before leaving the table and heading out for the exit.
"No come on man!" Dove shouted pleadingly after his leader. "I need tips! I need strategies! Is there a guide book? How do I get women to notice me?!"
"Forgive him. He's had too many sweets." Sky apologized.
After leaving the dining hall, Russel took off to the local cab station, right by the tarmac just outside of campus. He could've legged it to his destination, but it was too convenient and less of a hassle to use transport by air.
"Into town, if you would." Russel said to the cabbie after he'd flagged him down. The cabbie nodded and off they went into Vale. After a five minute ride from the coast, the cabbie set the Gondola down outside a quaint coffee shop. Russel handed the cabbie his fare and stepped out.
The young Thrush spotted his contact sated by the window. The message he'd received said it was urgent, and by the looks of things, it could've been anything but. Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl was seated a booth, dressed in the most conservative outfit he'd ever seen her in, sipping a cup of tea.
So Russel stepped into the coffee house, bypassed the hostess and took a seat across from Pyrrha at the booth. It was then when he was within close proximity of the four time Mistral champ that Russel realized his earlier analysis was incorrect. Pyrrha was by far the greatest performer he'd ever known. It takes one to put on a smile like the way she did now to hide the problems beneath. Upon closer inspection, Russel noticed a slight tremor of her fingers as they were wrapped around the two dollar mug.
"The hell are you wearing?" Russel pointed at her outfit, which consisted of a brown turtle neck, broad rim nonprescription glasses and matching plaid beret.
"It's my incognito outfit." Pyrrha answered simply. "Whenever I go out in public, I usually run into fans. Sometimes they're nice. And other times…not so much." Pyrrha shivered at the thought of the numerous times she'd been approached by ravenous fans citing her fame from cereal boxes and demanding a number of photos with her. "I'm glad you could make it." Pyrrha said quietly but didn't downplay the gratitude she had for the boy's presence.
"Yeah I'm actually sorta curious how you got my number." Russel muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't remember giving you that, or you even asking for it. Which opens a lot of questions, you see."
"I asked around, and surprisingly enough Blake had it." Pyrrha shrugged as if it were nothing.
Russel's eyes widened slightly, all manner of alarms ringing in his head. He knew without a doubt he'd never given such information out to the cat girl, but he knew with definite certainty there was a point in time when Blake would have had access to such things. Say when she had him unconscious and tied to a chair. And what would you know, that also happened on a Sunday.
"Feel free to order anything, it's my treat." Pyrrha offered as the waitress arrived with her meal. The waitress, an average looking fifty year old, or a down on her luck twenty something year old, it really depend on the lighting, turned to Russel with a pen and paper.
"Just a coffee. I won't be staying long." Russel sighed as he dealt with the more disturbing thoughts about what else Blake might have down while he'd been unconscious. Maybe she was tech savvy and put a bug in his scroll, she had access to it and could possibly be monitoring his every move. And given what went down in Oakwood, such a possibility would prove to be quite troubling. Already Russel could see their paths crossing once again, something he'd been dreading for some time as it seemed almost inevitable.
"Meeting that fellow who sold you the fireworks?" Pyrrha laughed lightly.
"As a matter of fact, yeah." Russel said before thanking the waitress as she returned with a mug of coffee. He reached over for the bowl of prepackaged creamer and plucked two packets, along with two plain packets of sweetener. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Russel asked as he looked around for a utensil to stir his drink.
Pyrrha hung her head low and let out a heavy sigh. "Last night, I told Jaune about the night of the dance." She said regretfully.
Already privy to such information from the night before, Russel just nodded along as he reached over to the booth behind him and grabbed a knife. Of all the people Russel knew at Beacon, Pyrrha was one of the few he actually respected. He didn't feign surprise like many others would have in this scenario, he wouldn't dare patronize Pyrrha with something shrewd like that.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't question her logic. "And why would you do that? I could've sworn that was the last thing you wanted to do." Russel said before taking a sip of his coffee.
Pyrrha sighed once more. "It was. But ever since that day, since Mountain Glenn, we've all been put in dangerous situations and I just needed a friend to talk to." She said as she poked her salad with a fork. "Nora means well, Ren's Ren. But Jaune's my partner, confiding in him was a no brainer."
"He took it well enough. But I didn't get the moral support I wanted." Pyrrha frowned, disappointed with the turn of events. "I guess the feud between him and Cardin is still present as ever. For a minute I thought he would vomit on himself."
"You know we did blackmail him, right?" Russel deadpanned. "The dudes not going to get over that. Like never."
"And then this morning at breakfast, Yang brought up my sleeping with Cardin." The four time Mistral champ recalled sounding dower. She then looked up at Russel, looking afraid to ask the question that was no doubt the reason why she'd had him meet her here. "It was the way she'd said it too, like it'd become common knowledge almost instantly. So I'm going to ask you bluntly, I'm sorry for what I'm implying. But did you tell anyone?"
"I can safely say I'm not the one who let the cat out the bag." Russel muttered as he debated how to break the news to Pyrrha.
"Alright. Then did Cardin tell anyone?" She asked sounding oddly hopeful. But she wasn't hoping, she was begging. Because if it wasn't Cardin then it could've only been one other person in Pyrrha's eyes.
"Cardin's been too busy trying to forget the whole thing happened anyways." Russel said before reaching over and grabbing another creamer packet from the bowl. "The coffee tastes like boot." He murmured.
"If it wasn't you or Cardin, then it could only be one other person." Pyrrha dreaded.
"Oh yeah, it was you." Russel said casually as he mixed in another creamer packet into his coffee.
"Wait what?" Pyrrha raised a brow in confusion.
"You do realize we can all hear you during your practice sessions on the rooftop, right?" The young Thrush said before taking a sip out of the mug and then recoiling almost immediately. "And now it tastes even worse…"
"Oh dear no…" Pyrrha's eyes widened at the realization. "But I thought we could only be heard from your room?"
"Every Saturday, the night of your little rooftop excursions, a number of fellas gather together for a little wager. When will you confess your attraction for everyone's favorite knight?" Russel said, not exactly enjoying the fact he was the one who had to break the news to Pyrrha.
A look of shock and disbelief crossed Pyrrha's face. Her features shifted from hurt to shame in an instant. "What the hell?" Pyrrha muttered as she buried her face in her arm. "How long?" She managed to ask.
With Pyrrha's face hidden from view, Russel couldn't tell if she was crying or not. He wouldn't put it past her to do so, after all, people were betting on her social life, it was a violation of her privacy. But the way she sounded, it took a level of strength to keep calm, to keep from having such a thing affect her speech.
"A little after the Forever Fall incident." Russel answered. Pyrrha looked up from her arm and stared at Russel with a hurt eyes. "You look like a sad puppy." He commented. "God dammit I just kicked a sad puppy. Not again."
"You kicked a puppy?" Pyrrha said sounding just as shocked as she had earlier.
"I don't know, how old is Zwei?" Russel shrugged. "He peed on my leg. I responded appropriately."
"That's horrible." The Mistral native muttered, her feelings about her current situation subsiding slightly due to her dividing her attention on a distraction such as this. "You don't kick dogs Russel."
"What's horrible is forcing a dog to live in the cramped conditions like how it lives now." Russel said a matter of fact as he took a 'Free Zwei' platform. "Do you really think a stuffy ol' dorm room is the best place for a dog? Let me answer that question for you. It isn't. Zwei's an animal, he needs room to roam and piss on everything without interruption. It's just downright cruelty what Ruby's doing I tell you."
"You still kicked a dog." Pyrrha frowned.
"I'm not arguing." He shrugged indifferently.
"People meet at your guy's room every Saturday and bet on my love life." Pyrrha said aloud more so to help her realize such a thing was actually happening to her. She sat up in her seat and frowned, feeling slightly betrayed given by how quickly news had seemed to spread. "You knew and didn't stop it?"
"Do I look like a shining example of a strong morals and ethics to you?" Russel asked rhetorically. "I kick dogs." He said before pushing the coffee to the side of the table. But I never bet, I never contributed to the profit."
"But you still let it happen." Pyrrha pointed out.
"And Atlas is military state where the only freedom of speech is the note card the government hands you. Vacuo is the most segregated country in the world. And Mistral politicians are up to their necks in payoffs, drugs and women." Russel mocked. "Well look at that, Ms. Nikos. By your definition, my knowledge of such things would therefore deputize my body and soul into becoming an agent of your black and white moral system. Shall my crusade to purge the wicked begin in Vacuo or in Atlas?"
Pyrrha remained silent, not knowing how to answer Russel's question. She wished to contend his claims, say it was different. But Pyrrha was too nice an individual to do so. She just sank in her chair, not sure how to proceed. "Does everyone know I like Jaune?"
"Not everyone, no. Just everyone on our floor. And the one below ours. And below theirs. And then theres the second year students now that I think about it and they live in a whole other building."
"Was I really that obvious?" Pyrrha groaned.
"You weren't Jaune obvious, no." Russel said in the best reassuring tone he could make in light of events. "The guy parades through class following Weiss' every move. You on the other hand, it comes more from everyone watching you." He said, causing Pyrrha to raise a brow in confusion and prompting Russel to elaborate. "You're the great Pyrrha Nikos, you're a celebrity. Eveyone wants to know whatever they can about you."
"Hey not so loud." Pyrrha reached over the table and lightly tapped Russel's arm. "I'm incognito, remember?"
"Oh please." Russel waved off Pyrrha's concerns and stood up from his seat. "Hey everyone mind if I borrow your attention for a moment?" He said as he addressed the patrons. "Who here is well aware that Pyrrha Nikos is sitting in this very coffee shop?" A number of hands all around raised instantly, with some patrons even shooting up in an attempt to run up get Pyrrha's attention.
"Sit your asses back down. That was not an invitation." Russel spoke harshly as he shooed those more excited patrons away.
"Ugh." Pyrrha groaned at the display. "I'm going to have to go to Coco for another 'incognito' outfit." She grumbled as Russel sat back down. "At least Jaune doesn't know, right?" She said, looking on the bright side. "Sure, things might be a little odd between us for the time being. But at least he'll judge me like the caring friend I know him to be."
Pyrrha looked over to Russel, hoping the boy would at least nod in agreement, a sign that today couldn't get any worse. But Russel sat in his seat with a somber expression on his face. "Is there something I'm missing?"
Russel just looked at Pyrrha and sighed. "I think I've shattered enough illusions for one lifetime." He stated clearly.
"What aren't you telling me, Russel?" Pyrrha questioned.
Russel sighed. "Pyrrha, Jaune's not an idiot." He said, contrary to popular belief as it were. "It takes a level of cunning and intellect to successfully break into Beacon the way he did. So ask yourself, of all the people in our year, on our floor and in Beacon in general, why hasn't he of all people clued in on your feelings?"
Pyrrha sat in her seat and didn't dare attempt to draw any conclusions. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She said wishing to be left alone.
"Yeah, I guess I do." Russel said before digging in his wallet and grabbing a twenty lien note and tossing it onto the table. "That should just about cover it."
"I told you I was buying, it was my treat." Pyrrha protested Russel's actions.
"I recently came into a little money, don't worry about it."
"You came into a little money?" Pyrrha looked at the Thrush skeptically.
"Inherited it actually." Russel frowned before getting up from his seat and heading for the door.
"Aren't you at least going to say sorry kid?" The waitress said in a scolding fashion as Russel walked past.
"I don't do that." Russel muttered before leaving the coffee house. And in doing so cemented a precedent for being the first house Russel left to not fall in ruin.
Back at Beacon, Cardin found himself alone in the elevator heading back up to his dorm room. He stepped out the moment the doors opened and made a beeline for his room. The last thing he wanted was someone to flag him down over his one night stand. The Winchester boy genuinely wanted to forget the whole thing ever happened.
But it appeared that more and more people were learning about that night every moment. Along the way to his room he could hear knowing snickers from open doors made by fellow students who'd waited just to watch him pass by. Cardin didn't blame Pyrrha for what happened, how was she supposed to know the entire floor was listening in on her? He couldn't imagine what she must be going through.
"Hey Cardin hold up a sec." A familiar voice belonging to one Jaune Arc called out, demanding his attention.
This was exactly the attention Cardin dreaded. So the CRDL leader just kept on going. "Hey Cardin we want to talk to you!" The voice of one Nora Valkyrie shouted angrily.
Fearing for his life now, Cardin began to speed up before making a full on sprint for his room, lest allow Nora to make good on all her threats to harm his body in a laundry list of imaginative ways.
"We need to talk." Lie Ren said as he appeared literally out of nowhere in front of Cardin, causing the Winchester boy to come to halt just less than a few feet away from his room.
"I told you, don't ever mess with my friends." 'What kind of sick game are you and your cronies playing? Somehow you managed to get an audience of people to hear Pyrrha admit to-to-"
"To booping your twisted face!" Nora exclaimed angrily.
"I literally have no time for this." Cardin said as he checked the time on his scroll.
"Make time!" Jaune shouted angrily as he smacked Cardin's scroll out of his hand. "For a moment I thought we could be decent men, you and I. We'd put aside our differences long enough to coexist. But you hurt one of the people I care about. I don't care what happens to me, I don't care if I get kicked out, Cardin. You're not getting away with this."
"Holy shit." Some bystander muttered in awe as they all watched from the safety of their doorways. "Jaune's standing up to Cardin."
"Put that racist in his place!" One of the Team STAG members shouted from their room.
"Damn right Jaune you assert your dominance!" Another cried.
Not exactly in the mood for a fight and with his presence needed elsewhere, Cardin knew he had to pull out all the stops in order to make a slick escape. "Weiss' hotter older sister who's totally into you is standing over there!" Cardin pointed past Jaune's shoulder, causing the blonde Knight to spin around. Surprisingly enough so did Nora of all people, probably confused at the idea of someone other than Pyrrha being into Jaune. Ren just sighed, not surprised in the slightest that his teammates had been fooled so easily.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Cardin high tailed it back to his room before they remainder of JNPR could give chase. Cardin quickly opened his door and locked it behind him. The members of Team JNPR followed close behind and began knocking at his door.
"Open up Cardin, we don't want to break down the door!" Jaune shouted.
"But it doesn't mean we won't!" Nora exclaimed before breaking out her hammer and bashing the door down.
The trio of JNPR members stepped inside the CRDL dorm room and prepared to deliver a much deserved beat down on the infamous bully. But just as soon as they stepped inside, they found the room empty. Believing Cardin to be hiding somewhere in the room, the trio split up to toss over every possible hiding spot before turning their eyes to the open window.
"You don't think he…?" Nora glanced at her teammates.
"That's an eight story drop." Ren said firmly.
The trio then approached the window and stuck their heads out. Their eyes all widened at the sight of a very large crater at the feet of the dormitory. Not too far away, Cardin marched off. Plummeting downwards from floors wasn't a new concept to him, he thought as he patted his leg. But this time he was prepared and focused his aura at the soles of his feet. So Cardin walked off, intent to hail a cab at the tarmac, the folder he'd acquired from Kevin in hand and a handgun in his back pocket.
Well now that was unexpected right?
One of the things I wanted to do for this arc was have a bunch of people sitting around a table and talk about super heroes. It just sounded like a neat character building moment, as the name of the arc would suggest, its their downtime and they're just shooting the breeze talking.
You all might argue against the Russel liking Superman, and that's fine. But for the intents of this story, he likes Superman. I've gone to extreme lengths to make such a thing feasible over the course of the last 26 chapters and 5 interludes. He grew up in a rural town burden with the guilt of his mom dying in childbirth. And the one superhero he knows is Superman. I chose Superman because he's the end all be all superhero.
But yeah, idk, Chris Evans man.
Cardin not having a good time. Check.
And the Pyrrha and Russel coffee house scene, that was actually supposed to be shorter. But then I just kept writing it and the scenarios in my head and the Russel/Pyrrha dynamic just made me write more. Pyrrha's turned to arguably the only person she can trust, who just so happens to be the worst person she could trust in this situation. And then Jaune just going full on alpha was not planned either. But the way he sees things, it just seemed natural, because that's kind of how everything happened from a certain angle. And I also played with the idea that Jaune's not an idiot. He's a goof but not an idiot. At some point he probably figured out Pyrrha liked him, maybe, maybe not. I think I left it ambiguous enough to be either or.
Next chapter will be out sometime this week. Might be tomorrow. Idk. 'TIL NEXT TIME! LATER DAYYS!