Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
One Day Before LAFF and Logue Wound Up in the New World
BGM: Respite and Sunlight (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
"Alright, class! That's it for now. Have a good Spring Break and I'll see you after the break!" Run said as the class started to pick up their belongings and chatting amongst themselves about what they all plan on doing for the break.
Run spotted Laura about to leave. "Oh! Ms. Winchester, mind if I have a word with you before you leave? I wish to discuss something with you."
"Oh, of course." Laura nodded as everyone else walked out the door, leaving her and Run by themselves. She then approached his desk, where he handed her her standardized test results, all of them marked as zero.
Laura looked at the tests with faux surprise. "Oh, Oum… are these my standardized test results? Wow, I guess that means I'm kicked out of here since I failed all of them, huh?"
Run said nothing, giving her a disapproving and unamused look while tapping on his desk with his red colored marker.
"...Maybe I'm not just right and good enough for this school anymo-"
"Ms. Winchester, if a person wearing a blindfold picked the answers on a true or false quiz at random, do you know what score they would get on average?"
"...At least fifty percent?"
Run nodded with a smile. "That's correct!"
Laura looked surprised, this time more legitimately. "Wh-what?! But, I-"
"The only way to know how to get all the answers wrong is to know which answers are right." He then changed the test scores from zero to a hundred, much to her dismay. He then looked at her with stern apprehension. "You're trying to quit on yourself, Ms. Winchester. And I'm not going to let that happen."
Laura rolled her eyes in annoyance and defeat.
End BGM
A few hours later, at the Winchester residence…
Laura sat quietly at her bedroom desk while looking at a yellow lined notepad that says "My Greatest Expectations".
"To make up for your failed standardized test results, I'm giving you a two page personal essay homework assignment. Not about literature or history, but about you. What are your expectations, Ms. Winchester? What kind of person do you want to be?"
Laura sighed sadly. "I… I don't even know…" She quietly opened up a drawer in her desk, grabbing and opening up a cup of instant miso ramen, then grabbing an electric kettle sitting right next to her, poured some hot water into her ramen and then closed it as she waited for it to cool.
"Greatest expectations… aaagh… why is this so difficult…" She mumbled to herself as her scroll went off. "Hmm?" She picked it up, seeing there was a group call coming in. "Oh!" She then answered.
"Yo, what's up?"
"Hey, we got everything we need! You still up for that week long sleepover in your basement that we planned for our Spring Break?" Magnolia asked.
Oh shoot! I forgot about that! Laura thought to herself. "Yeah, I'm still up for it! See you guys in an hour?"
"Sounds good!"
They all hung up as Laura sighed and then put her notepad away. "I'll… think about that later." She said, proceeding to eat her ramen once it had cooled enough.
An hour later…
BGM: Funny Footsteps (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Laura headed downstairs with her friends. "Come on, where's the light switch… aha!" Laura flipped the light on, where the basement was a simple storage room for the family's old stuff and has household furniture such as couches, a low tea table, a round table surrounded by five chairs and a couple of blanket and pillow forts that Cardin made with Laura when he was younger.
There was also a bathroom, a washing machine, a mini fridge for snacks and drinks, and a door that led straight to the backyard.
"Awesome. Just how we left it!" Albedo said, sitting down on a couch with Nick.
"This is a lot of pillow forts…" Logue observed.
"Ah, Cardin wouldn't settle for one so he and I made a few more." Laura giggled as everyone put their belongings down.
"Hmm…" Magnolia looked into the mini fridge. "Kinda low on snacks and drinks here…" She said and turned to Laura. "Hey Laura, think we can head to town real quick?"
"Huh?" Laura looked into the fridge. "...Yeah, that's definitely a snack and drink run."
"Shall we then?"
"You got it!" Laura smiled and turned around. "We'll be right back, we're gonna go get snacks and drinks."
"Okay!" Logue smiled as Albedo and Nick waved them goodbye as the two walked out, where Magnolia snagged a wagon for them as they headed to town.
Once there…
Laura and Magnolia walked into a bodega, the latter pulling in the wagon. "Heeeeey, Franky Franklin, what's up!" Laura called out.
"Hmm? Oh hey you two!" He greeted. "You here for the usual?"
"Yeah, we're spending the week at her house for Spring Break." Magnolia informed.
"Spring Break already? That's right, your school is the only one in Vale that hasn't shut down after the whole Red Sky incident." He said. "You had like… minor damage compared to Beacon or anywhere else in the world. Completely forgot about that."
"Yeah." Laura nodded as they headed to get their snacks.
"Still find it dumb that the school closes down from the blue goop, yet the red sky that causes a lot of Grimm and other creatures to show up is simply a minor annoyance." Magnolia mumbled.
"Eh… to be fair, the first one made the whole planet evacuate. End of the world and what not."
"True, but that the red sky incident felt like the end of the world too!"
Laura shrugged. "What can ya do…"
Nearby, a customer walked up to Franky. "That it for ya?" He asked.
"Yeah…"
"Hmm? Anything okay? You look a bit dismayed."
"Oh, there's been another robbery over some Dust shipment crates last night at the docks.."
"Another one?" Franky asked in surprise before sighing. "Ya know… it must be the work of that mysterious Mafia gang that appeared in Vale a few years ago."
"Ugh, if only we knew who was the head in charge of that mafia… that way, we can try to run 'em out of town."
"I hear ya… unfortunately, they work in the shadows, so we don't know anything." Franky mumbled, unaware of Laura and Magnolia overhearing the conversation. The two of them looked at each other.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Laura whispered.
"Try to stop a robbery?"
"Yeah. How bad can it be?" Laura smirked, the two of them instantly fist bumping as they gathered up their snacks and drinks, filled up their wagon and paid for it before running out the door.
"You girls have fun… now… huh, they seem to be in a hurry…" He mused. "Eh, maybe they're just hungry."
End BGM
Back at home…
"Hey guys!" Laura called out as she and Magnolia ran in.
"What's up?" Nick asked as he, Logue and Albedo were playing video games.
"GAME! Hat Kid… wins!"
"Woo!" Logue cheered.
"Aw come on… I could've sworn Captain Falcon would've won that round." Albedo sighed.
"I swear, Waluigi is too floaty…" Nick mumbled.
"Soooo, we've heard some interesting intel~!" Laura smiled. "We can consider this LAFF's first mission!"
"...Uh, you do know it's unofficial until we become full blown huntsmen, right?" Albedo reminded.
"I know, but consider it practice!" Laura grinned.
"Alright, so… what's the mission?" Nick asked.
"We heard from Mr. Franklin that there have been robberies of Dust shipment crates at the docks, so… Maggie and I thought we could try and stop them."
"That sounds… dangerous." Nick said.
"Although, it could be pretty funny if these thieves were stopped by kids." Albedo pointed out.
"Not to mention awesome!" Laura grinned.
"Alright… we'll give it a shot!" Nick said.
"Um…" Logue shyly poked her index fingers together. "Do you… mind if I'd stay? The thought of trying to stop a thief is kinda scary, admittedly." She said. "And, besides, someone oughta stay here and treat the wounded just in case…"
"Ah, we won't get hurt! The only one's who will get hurt are the robber's dignity!" Laura flashed a grin. "But it's fine if you don't wanna go… we're not forcing ya!" She winked.
"It won't take long, I hope." Magnolia said.
"Let's go, LAFF!" Laura exclaimed as the four of them took off, leaving Logue alone.
"Hmm…" Logue grabbed the controller. "Let's see… let's have Hat Kid go against… a level 9 CPU… but who should I try to fight…" She looked through the roster and spotted the one who she was looking for. "Ah, you'll do nicely!"
"Ruby!"
Logue smiled. "This should be fun!"
"Three! Two! One! GO!"
That night, at the docks…
"Okay, so… according to the intel I got from Mr. Franklin, the infiltrators should show up in this part of the docks to steal these Dust shipment crates." Laura said and turned to the boys. "Nicky, you and Al will stay here and guard the crates."
"Roger that!" Nick smiled.
"Sure." Albedo nodded.
Laura looked at Magnolia. "Maggie, you and I will make a circular sweep around the perimeter."
"Right." Magnolia nodded as the two went off, leaving the two alone.
Nick closed his eyes, activating his semblance as he clapped his hands as a stone golem emerged from the ground, which was twice his size as he and the stone golem got into a defensive position.
Albedo, meanwhile, simply folded his arms. "Hmph!"
A few minutes later…
Albedo, bored out of his mind, sat on the ground while Nick and the stone golem haven't moved an inch. Nothing had happened the past few minutes and Albedo was getting increasingly bored.
He let out a sigh of boredom as he got up. "I'm gonna set up some traps around the shipment crates."
"Huh?" Nick looked at him in confusion. "But Laura said that we have to stay here!"
"Don't worry, man. I won't take long." He winked and then walked off. "I'll be back before you know it!"
Nick blinked. "Uh… okay." He regained his focus, soon returning to his defensive stance together with his stone golem.
With Albedo…
Truth be told, he actually wasn't going to set up any traps. He instead was standing on a secluded area in the docks not too far from Nick as he was wearing headphones and jamming out on his scroll to cure his boredom.
BGM: One Way Or Another (Hocus Pocus 2) (Start at 0:43)
"Sisters~!" Nick quietly chanted with a grin. "One way or another~ We're gonna find ya~! We're gonna get ya, get ya, get ya~ one way or another, we're gonna grab ya~! I'll nab ya~ I'll jab ya~!"
Unbeknownst to him, an annoyed Laura and Magnolia were right behind him, having finished their circular sweep around the perimeter and went to check on the boys, only to see Albedo dancing and singing to his heart's content.
Laura walked up right behind him. "ALBEDO!" She yelled as she yanked the headphones out of his ears.
*record scratch*
"Gah!" Albedo yelped. "Can you not do that?! You could've scared me half to death!"
"Why are you not on guard duty with Nicky?!"
Albedo started to sweat nervously. "Uh… aheheh… um… funny story! Y-you see…"
Magnolia pulled out her scroll and started to call up Nick. "Hey, Nick! How's-"
"Wh-what the…? Who's there?! What the heck are y-" They heard the sound of a struggle on the other end. "AAAAAAAARGH! OOOF!"
The three of them immediately looked worried as they headed back to check on Nick.
Back with Nick…
"Uuuugh…" The bat eared faunus was laying on the ground unconscious with several pieces of shattered stones scattered around him. To make matters worse, a few of the Dust shipment crates were missing right as the trio returned.
Magnolia was right by her brother's side with Laura, both of them kneeling down to check on him. "Laura… you don't think…?"
Laura nodded. "Yeah, it must be those infiltrators." She frowned. "Who would've most likely not have attempted an ambush or theft if there were two guards on duty…" She turned to glare at Albedo. "...Just like I ordered."
Albedo turned his head away in guilt while Laura helped up Nick with Magnolia.
"Nicky, are you okay?"
"Uurgh, my head…"
"Guess not…" Magnolia frowned.
"Hhhheeeey… are my arms and legs like… sssstillll attached to my body…?" He asked in a slurred voice.
"Don't worry, big guy. You still have them." Laura reassured.
"Oh, thank Oum…"
"Nick, did you see who attacked you?" Magnolia asked with a worried look.
"All I could remember… was seeing a pair of strong beefy arms being thrown at me and my stone golem…" He shook his head. "Hey, do you guys know the feeling where… someone throws a pebble at your head… and that you don't have Aura…?"
"Um… kinda?" The girls responded.
"Well, it was kinda like that… only… painfull-er…"
Albedo could only frown in guilt.
Laura put her hand on Nick's shoulder. "Nicky, I think it's best if you head back to the house and have Logue check up on you."
"Okie-dokie…" Nick said as he tried to walk off.
"Wait!" Laura stopped him. "On second thought…" She turned to Magnolia. "Maggie, please help your brother on the way back."
"Me?!" She said in shock. "After what Albedo-" She pointed to him accusingly but Laura cut her off with a stern look.
"It's obvious that Nicky can't make it back in one piece on his own without an escort, and even though those two may be best buds, I obviously can't trust Al right now to take responsibility for anyone or anything."
"Wh-what?!" Albedo said, flabbergasted over what he just heard. "Aw… c'mon…" He folded his arms in annoyance with a grumble.
Magnolia wrapped an arm around her shoulder to support him and then looked at Laura. "Call us if you need help." She looked back at Nick. "Let's get you back, big bro." She walked away with her twin brother, leaving Laura and Albedo by themselves.
Meanwhile, with the robber in question…
"Hmph, whoever thought some brats could guard these crates definitely needs to get their priorities straight." He mumbled as he pulled out a scroll.
"Do you have the Dust?"
"Yes. Apologies for the delay, there were two guards on duty. I could have taken the both of them on but I waited until one of them left the other kid alone."
"Ah, so they're upping the secur-... did you say "kid"?"
"Yes. They were mere children. Four of them, in fact. Two human, two faunus. One of them is a bat eared fox faunus and the other is a cape fox faunus."
"Fascinating! Hmm, they let children guard the Dust now? Were they teenagers?"
"They looked to be about elementary school aged. Second graders."
"Second graders?! Good Oum, they're startin' them early!"
"Not to worry. The Faunus with a stone golem was no match for me."
"Pffft, hahaha! Good. I was hoping mere children wouldn't have stopped you, Syura."
"Nope. Not a chance." He chuckled. "I'm on my way back with the crates, Honest."
"Heh, good. Let's just be glad we managed to escape Esdeath's wrath after what happened five years ago."
Syura chuckled. "Indeed. We should be glad that Esdeath doesn't have any family here!"
He picked up the crates and disappeared into the alleyway.
With Logue…
"Ruby… wins!"
"Woo! That's what being a huntress is all about!"
Logue puffed her cheek up in annoyance. "Twenty rounds and I still can't beat her, no matter how much I've gotten better."
The door opened up as Logue looked to see the twins coming in. "Oh! Nick, are you okay?"
"No! I got beaten up by a concrete elephant!"
Logue grimaced as Magnolia sat her down as she rushed upstairs and came back downstairs with a bag of ice. "Here we go, just rest this on your head." She said, gently putting it down on his head.
"Aaaah, the drums are no longer pounding…"
"What happened?" Logue asked.
"...Long story."
The next day…
"Hey uh… Nick?" Albedo rubbed the back of his head in guilt. "I just want to say that… I'm sorry for ditching you last night."
"Huh? Oh, don't sweat it… I would've done the same thing if our roles were switched. Standing guard is kinda boring."
"Yea-"
"Although, you could've jammed out while you were sitting with me."
Albedo sweatdropped. "...Yeah, I probably should have…" He mumbled.
"What the…?" Logue looked out the window into the backyard.
"What's up?" Laura asked.
"Something… funny is going on in the backyard." She said as everyone looked out the window to see a distortion. The group looked at each other before nodding as they opened up the door to investigate the distortion.
"What is it…?" Magnolia asked.
"I dunno… but I'm not liking it." Laura said, picking up a tree branch as she slowly pointed the branch at the distortion and slowly moved forward.
Once the tree branch touched the distortion, a rift suddenly opened up and grabbed a hold of Laura. "Waaaah! What the heck is this?!" She yelped.
"Laura!" Magnolia grabbed a hold of her and tried to pull her back, but found herself getting pulled in as Nick and Albedo tried to hold them back and even Logue tried to hold them.
"I got ya!" Logue exclaimed as she tried to pull them back as everyone tried to pull back… but the void's pull was stronger and sucked them all in and closed up right as Logue was the last one to go in.
"Hey, lunch is ready!" Cardin said as he opened the back door. "...Huh? Guys?" He rubbed the back of his head. "I could've sworn I heard them playing out here." He said as he pulled out his scroll and started to text Laura.
"Hey squirt. Lunch is ready for you and your friends."
"Corrupted Interdimensional Error: Failed to send to recipient due to unknown recipient."
"...Huh?" Cardin tilted his head with a weirded out expression as he looked into the basement before going back into the living room, also making a mental note that the gates were shut tight. "Hey mom? Have you seen the kids around?"
"Weren't they playing outside?" Nesta asked.
"They're not there, nor did they go back inside. The gates are shut too."
"Odd… maybe they're playing hide and seek? …No, we would be hearing a lot of stifled giggles."
"There's also this." Cardin showed her the scroll.
"...Corrupted interdimensional… what? That's a new one… let me try something." Nesta texted Laura.
"Sweetie! It's time for lunch!"
"Corrupted Interdimensional Error: Failed to send to recipient due to unknown recipient."
"...What?" Nesta wondered as she tried calling her.
"We're sorry. We can't reach this number due to it no longer existing."
"What is…?!" Nesta wondered as she tried to regain composure as she had an idea and started to text Willow and Kali.
"Hey, by any chance did they sneak off to see you two in the Mushroom Kingdom?"
"Fatal Error: Cannot Reach Recipient(s) due to differing time periods."
An empty feeling came over Nesta's gut as it was enough for her to drop her scroll. Luckily Merlin swooped in to catch it.
"Mom? What's wrong?"
"...What in the name of the gods is going on?!"
Meanwhile, with LAFF and Logue...
"Uuuugh... what the heck...?" Laura wondered as they came around while groaning.
"Where are we...?" Magnolia asked.
"Seems to be... a very abandoned city." Nick said as they wandered around until they came across some greenery, and also noticed JINXY, the Phantom Thieves and the others running by.
"Hey, they seem to be lost too!" Logue said.
"I know a few of them. I've met them back in space." Laura said. "JINXY, the Phantom Thieves, Chiaki... they're all cool people." She smiled and then spotted Mercury. "Big bro Merc?!" She whispered.
"Should we say go say hi?" Albedo asked.
"No wait, better idea!" Laura said. "Let's try not to make ourselves known. We'll stay hidden for as long as we can!"
"Sounds good to me." Magnolia nodded.
"Let's go!" Laura whispered as LAFF and Logue took off.
Ever since Halloween, I've become obsessed with Hocus Pocus 2 and their take on that banger of a song "One Way or Another". I just can't get enough of it!
Ibuki: That explains why Nick-chan was listening to it... *snickers*
Yup. Anywho, thanks for DarkRebellion for the idea!