And were here with the next chapter in Blake's story. I'll be honest here, I've gotten myself into a bit of a mess writing this trying to keep in line with all the restrictions I've put on myself. Overall I think the works fine but I don't see it as some of my best. It's not all bad as it's been a learning experience on what not to do in the future and how to best muddle through with a less than ideal situation. I'm not willing to retcon this whole thing so I'll be staying the course on writing this and doing my best to make at least an enjoyable read. With that out of the way let's get on with the chapter.
Chapter 3: Resolve
Blake and company followed behind Cernieromo as he led them down a street. They were all in their hero uniforms. For Giulio, this meant he looked similar to a Roman centurion.
"Now then my wards, since we're out on patrol, what are the two primary purposes of our job here?" Cernieromo questioned.
"Act as a deterrent for anyone thinking of committing a crime." Sophia answered.
"Good answer." He replied. "And the other one."
"Catch any criminals in the act." Blake answered.
"While it can happen, it's not the reason you go out on patrol." Cernieromo answered. "Anyone else."
There was a brief moment of silence as everyone contemplated this.
"To give people peace of mind. To show that we are here." Giulio answered.
"Correct." Cernieromo replied. "As heroes you must exemplify virtue as best as you can. No one is perfect, we all have our faults. But we must always strive to be the best we can be."
As they walked along, the students noted the excited, and sometimes starry eyed, expressions that would be sent towards Cernieromo. He'd smile and wave at them, as well as occasionally help them with some small problem.
"Cernieromo really takes the job of a hero seriously." Sun noted with a whisper.
"Yeah, it's… admirable. He doesn't just give advice, he lives it." Blake replied.
As they walked Blake's eyes went to an alleyway. There were two men in the middle of a deal. As she passed by she saw that it was drugs. Her body was itching to act. She wanted to get involved. "We must always strive to be the best we can be." The words that Cernieromo just spoke rang in her head.
"Be right back." She whispered.
"Huh?" Sun questioned.
Blake rushed off into the alleyway. Unbeknownst to anyone, Cernieromo smiled lightly. The two men noticed Blake's charge and began to panic. They tried to run away. However Blake used her shadow-clones to push herself forward faster. She quickly knocked the one man out. The other tried to retaliate, but was swiftly knocked out by her.
"Good job." Cernieromo stated, drawing her attention.
"Good job rushing into a situation like this, again." Sofia retorted.
"I wasn't referring to her actions in that way. True she shouldn't have rushed in without my permission. However, she took my words to hearts." Cernieromo stated. "And while I won't condone running into a situation like that without a license, there are still other ways to do good. Though personally I believe hero students should be given a bit more leeway since they are more trained than the average civilian, but that's neither here nor there."
He then walked up to Blake. He looked her right in her eyes.
"I know that look in your eyes. Despite you initially wanting to not get involved, you now cannot in good conscious not involve yourself." He noted.
"Yes sir," Blake replied.
"And I'm in too. I'm not letting Blake face that monster alone." Sun declared.
"Sun… n-no… I can't, not after what happened with Yang. Besides this is my fight, I can't…" Blake began.
Sun put a finger to her lips to silence her.
"You're not keeping me out of this. I know you view this as only your fight, but what kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn't give you a hand with your problems." He declared. "Just like when we got here, we support each other and look out for each other."
"Sun…" Blake expressed.
"I hate to interrupt your moment…" Sofia expressed. "But without a hero license you're not really going to be able to get involved."
"Well then they'll just have to get their license early." Cernieromo declared.
"You can do that?!" Sofia exclaimed.
"We can do that?" Blake and Sun exclaimed.
"They can do that?" Ulisse and Giulio exclaimed.
"They can do that?" The man who Blake knocked questioned as he returned to consciousness.
A swift hit from Sun knocked him out again.
"Indeed, through the recommendation of three pros, a hero student can be granted permission to take a license exam similar to the Senior Hero License exam." Cernieromo explained. "Should they pass, they'll be granted their Junior Hero License early. If not they'll have to wait like everyone else. I can help you get everything squared away and give you two my recommendation awhile. Convincing two others will be your next goal."
"I see, thanks." Blake expressed.
"Oh don't thank me, I also benefit from this as well. Craftiness is another useful trait for a hero to have." He explained. "It wasn't a coincidence that you found a drug deal going on near us. Having you on the case would be useful after all."
"Sly fox." Ulisse muttered.
"Now then, let's get these two to the authorities." Cernieromo stated as he picked up the two unconscious men. "Let us be off."
He led them out of the alleyway.
Later…
Blake plopped down on the sofa in her and Sun's apartment. An exhausted sigh left her lips.
"What a long day." She groaned.
After the incident with the drug deal, Cernieromo and his sidekicks decided to give the group of friends some intensive hero training.
"Yeah, no kidding. And we're more used to it." Sun noted as he sat down next to her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ulisse had to carry home Sofi for another reason."
"SUN!" Blake shrieked.
She slapped him. He rubbed his cheeks.
"Worth it." He muttered. "Anyways, do you know what movie we're watching tonight?"
"Not sure, though I'm pretty sure Ercole is picking tonight." Blake replied.
Since before Sun and Blake arrived, Giulio, Ulisse, and Sofia, along with Ercole, Achillea, and eventually Miltiades had made Monday Night movie night. The two were eventually inviting a month after arriving.
"So it's gonna be some cheesy 80's or 90's flix." Sun pointed out.
"Yep," Blake replied.
There was a knock on the door.
"It's open!" She shouted.
The door opened up to reveal Ercole, who struggled a bit to enter due to his size.
"Hey, hey, hey… who's ready for some 80's, 90's cheese." He stated as he entered into the apartment and closed the door behind him.
In his hand was a plastic bag filled with old movies. Blake rolled her eyes, but giggled.
"Nice to see you too Ercole." She greeted.
"Yo man, how'd your first day of internship go." Sun greeted.
"Not too bad." Ercole stated as he walked up behind the sofa. "Mainly lectures about the importance of keeping up the heroic appearance and such stuff. What about you guys?"
"Brutal training." Blake answered with a shudder. "Sofi had to get carried home by Ulisse."
"Ah young love, when are those two finally going to become a thing?" Ercole questioned.
"When Ulisse decides to stop teasing her and actually asks her out." Sun noted. "No way Sofi's gonna admit she has feelings for him."
"Not wrong there." Blake added.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" She shouted.
The door opened to reveal Achillea.
"Looks like I'm right on time." She expressed as she entered inside, closing the door behind her. "I hope everyone had a good time at their internships."
"If you consider brutally intensive training a good time, then sure." Sun replied.
"Oh you had intensive training as well. It's always quite a good time isn't it?" Achillea replied as she walked up and sat down in a chair.
Right, exercise nut. Sun and Blake thought to themselves.
"So do we have a movie picked out yet?" Achillea inquired, turning her gaze to Ercole.
"Not yet, I couldn't decide between a few of them." Ercole replied. "I figured I'd leave it up to you all."
There was a knock on the door before it was opened.
"I'm here." Miltiades expressed deeply and seriously.
He entered into the apartment and walked up to the group.
"Hey Milt." Ercole replied.
"'Sup dude." Sun greeted.
"The ceiling." Miltiades replied.
Achillea sighed.
"Miltiades… how many times do we have to tell you not to take everything literally." She expressed.
"I don't know?" He replied.
"Walked into that one." Achillea muttered. "Anyways when is everyone else getting here."
"We'll have to see. They were pretty exhausted after Cernieromo's spartan training session." Blake explained. "In the meantime we can see what movies we've got to pick from."
"Alright…" Ercole began as he made his way to the coffee table in front of the sofa. "We've got; 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', the 1990's version; the sequel to it if we want to watch both. I've got… '3 Ninjas', '3 Ninjas Kick Back', and '3 Ninjas Knuckle Up'. Let's see, oh… if you guys want something good, I got 'Alien' and I've got 'Predator'. And last, but certainly not least, 'Demolition Man'. All in English no Italian voice over bullshit since we all know English."
"Hmm… how much 80's/90's cheese do I want and how good do I want it?" Sun questioned.
"Pretty sure 'Alien' is from 1979." Miltiades pointed out.
"Close enough." Sun replied.
Suddenly, the door was slammed open. In a pose full of vanity, Giulio stood in the doorway.
"I heard my name." He declared.
He was then kicked onto the ground by Sofia.
"No one was talking about you dumb… dumb." She stated.
"I think you mean dumbass." Ulisse expressed as he walked around the two.
"I will not use such languages." She declared.
"But you will kick me to the ground." Giulio groaned as he got back to his feet.
"Only because you deserved it." Sofia declared as she closed the door behind them. "Now then what movie are we watching?"
"We're figuring that now." Blake answered. "Come and look at what Ercole brought."
The trio made their way into the room and checked out the movies on display.
"Aren't these three rated R." Sofia pointed out, pointing to 'Alien', 'Predator', and 'Demolition Man'.
"Yeah so." Ercole noted.
Her eyes narrowed in on Ercole.
"We are not watching R rated movies. The only ones who are 17 are Blake and Sun." She stated.
"Okay mom, last I checked, unless it was an adult film, we agreed that it'd always be up to a vote." Ercole pointed.
"Why would Sofia be a mom. Did she and Ulisse finally get together but went too far." Miltiades questioned.
Sofia's face lit up bright red as she fell on her back. Ulisse said nothing but had a red bright red face. Achillea was also blushing while pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. Sun and Blake were struggling not to laugh. Giulio and Ercole were laughing uproariously.
"Uhm… no… we… no… it was… a joke…" Ulisse expressed.
"OF COURSE IT WAS A JOKE! WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT WE'D HAVE SEX?!" Sofia exclaimed as she shot back to her feet.
"Y-y-y-yeah, that comes after we're married." Ulisse stated.
"Right after we're… marr… mar… maarasrasfyasdiaapsdapsaaaaaaahh…" Sofia struggled to speak before passing out.
As a result of this, everyone else in the room began to laugh along with Giulio and Ercole. Eventually their laughter died down. Sofia eventually regained consciousness.
"You guys are the worst." She grumbled.
"There there Sof, tell you why don't go along with what you said and skip out on the R rated movies." Ulisse expressed. "That cool with you guys?"
"Ahh… sure we've messed with her enough for one day." Ercole replied.
"It is… cool with me." Miltiades stated.
"I am fine with this as well. Personally I wasn't in the mood for a horror or action film." Achillea expressed.
"I actually wanted to watch that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie so it doesn't really matter to me." Sun expressed. "Blake?"
"I'm impartial on what we watch. But I think it's fair if we decide to leave out the R rated ones." She answered.
"I feel like it's decided. Now then, what movie are we watching? I personally think one of the 3 Ninja movies would be fun to watch." Giulio stated.
"I vote for Ninja Turtles, it's way better than any of the 3 Ninjas movies." Ercole expressed.
"I also cast my vote for 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'." Achillea expressed. "It's actually a personal favorite to watch even if it isn't the best."
"I will watch the movie with the turtles since I am curious as to how they are ninjas." Miltiades expressed.
"'3 Ninjas Kick Back' for me." Ulisse expressed. "I don't feel like watching the first one and Knuckle Up sucks."
"They all suck." Ercole replied.
"How can they suck?" Miltiades questioned.
"They can't, it's a turn of phrase, and I don't care which one we watch." Sofia expressed with great irritation.
"Ninja Turtles it is!" Ercole declared as he got the movie set up.
He hit play.
[The movie opened to a wide shot overlooking New York before cutting to various shots of life in the city. It eventually settled on a newsstand.
"Much more than just a series of small isolated incidents, it's now apparent that an organized criminal element is at work." The voice of a woman began.
It switched to a shot of said woman doing a news broadcast on a small T.V. screen towards the end of her sentence. The woman had a typical 80's style haircut.
"And at the moment, business is good." She continued as the camera panned to the right. "So good in fact, that there appear to be no eyewitnesses to any of these crimes."
The screen showed various people picking up and paying for news papers as well checking out the other merchandise at the stand.
"With complaints ranging from purse snatching to breaking an entering, police switchboards have been swamped with angry voices of more and more citizens who have fallen prey to the recent surge of crime that continues to plague the city." The woman continued.]
As the movie continued to play. Blake looked about on the smiling faces of her friends. I wish Yang, Ruby, and Weiss were here, they'd definitely fit in. She then remembered Adam's threat at the fall of Beacon. Her face became serious. Once Adam finds out I'm here he won't let me get away. He'll make good on his promise. He'll target all my friends here, especially Sun when he finds out about our relationship. A part of me wants to run away, spare them the pain. It sounds so simple I could do it easily but… She looked out at all her friends as they commented on the ongoing movie. I know they'll be right there with me to walk through the fire. I couldn't stop them from getting involved even if I tried. That's just the kind of friends they are. She smiled. To be honest, I won't have it any other way. She focused back on the movie.
[The camera now shows an area in the sewers. The video stopped as 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flew onto the screen from the right. It flew to the top left of the screen as the video continued as a man in a turtle suit with a blue mask jumped around a corner.
"Awesome. " He declared.
Another man in a turtle suit with an orange mask jumped around the corner behind him.
"Ha ha ha righteous." He declared as he rushed up to the other turtle.
"Bossa Nova!" Some shouted from behind them.
The two turtles stopped.
"What/huh?" They expressed.
They turned to another man in a turtle suit, but with a purple mask.
"Bossa Nova?" The orange masked turtle questioned.
"Chevy Nova?" The purple masked turtle suggested.
The other turtles clearly did not approve. The purple masked turtle thought for a bit.
"Excellent!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah!" The other two turtles exclaimed.]
"How are those turtles moving like people? I thought there weren't quirks back when this was made." Miltiades questioned.
"They're not actual turtles, they're just dudes in turtle suits." Ercole answered.
Maybe there are some things I'd change. Black thought to herself.
Elsewhere…
Lian looked out from a balcony as various people were working packaging drugs to be shipped out. Ilia suddenly appeared behind him.
"How are things going?" She inquired.
Lian yawned.
"Quite well…" He expressed tiredly. "We're still making good profits in spite of the heroes' efforts. *yawns* They should be sufficiently distracted while our main plans are put into place. How are they coming along, out of curiosity."
"We've run into some hiccups, but nothing too beyond what we were expecting." Ilia answered. "Most everything is going fairly smoothly. However we haven't been able to find many people from Remnant recently. The randomness of cross-world transport makes it difficult to plan for."
Lian yawned.
"Quite." He replied. "Any news from 'her'."
Ilia visibly shuddered.
"Nothing of note." She answered.
"Which means *yawns* it's business as usual." Lian noted.
"Thankfully yes." Ilia replied.
"Indeed *yawns*, is there anything else I should know?"He asked.
"Nothing, I'll be taking my lead." Ilia stated before she left.
Lian watched as she left. A small smirk formed on his face. All according to plan.
Blake: Well... looks like were doing this now.
Sun: Yep! About time we got to do a next chapter preview.
Blake: Speaking of which, next time we hope over back to the main story.
Sun: I. am. HYPED! For the fights. Well one fight in particular, but still HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPE!
Blake: *Rolls her eyes* No need to be so dramatic Sun. Also don't over hype it. You might set the bar to high.
Sun: Yeah yeah whatever... you know you love it when I do that.
Blake: No comment. *Blake replied with an up turned nose*
Sun: *Sun chuckled*
Blake: Anyways, the next chapter will also bring an end to the preliminaries.
Sun: Next time, Chapter 39: Road to the Finals.
Blake: Look forward to it.
If you want me to be able to produce more content, please consider supporting me on subscribe star. (search zmanxv and the link is on my deviantart page). Til next time.
