Disclaimer: I hereby declare that Roosterteeth studios RWBY production crew may freely use any ideas, characters, or events written in this story free of charge and without any threat of lawsuit for any production, though it would be preferable to inform me of the use of the idea if used.
Amygdala Ch2
"So, what's your name you little cutie?" said the Woman who walked slowly and seductively down the steps to meet them.
Every danger alarm in Lan's head was blaring, but he was unable to move, crushed by a pressure he had not trained himself against, a pressure that he had only felt whenever his grandfather had gotten so drunk that he tried to drag the boy to pleasure districts, which he had gratefully been able to escape from up till now.
"Uh, my name is Lan, and these are my friends." Said Lan, as he massaged his pressure points to try and relieve his anxiety. "The pup is Ignis, the monkey is George, the eagle is Edel, and this guy is Trey"
"Hello" said Trey, who waved his hand with his blissfully ignorant smile plastered across his face "I'm the guy who fixes the toilets."
"Oh! That's wonderful" said the woman "You can help us remove all those toys that are clogging the pipes!"
"I used to flush my action figures down the toilet too!" said Trey "They were all for my pet fish who went to the happy place."
"I don't think they're those kinds of toys" thought Lan, who was growing more alarmed the longer he was here. "And why am I getting so sweaty? I haven't run grandpa's 100-mile death-athon today!"
"And I just love those adorable little cuties you brought!" said the woman who pointed to Ignis, George, and Edel. "I just know we're going to have so much fun together! I already have dozens of ideas of what I'm going to dress you three in!"
The little ones squeaked and whined in alarm, and then quickly retreated behind Lan's leg, trembling as they peaked their heads out.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be rude so I guess we'll introduce our little family now" said the woman, as she motioned to herself, a man, and 2 women behind her. "First of all, we have this large love machine right here" she said as she motioned to a tall muscular woman with silver hair that reached her shoulders. "This is Sylvia, one of my bodyguards…among other things." The two eyed each other mischievously before continuing. "Then we have this rockhead" she said motioning to a muscular man, who was shorter than but slightly more built than Sylvia, with a buzzcut and an extremely serious face "This is Tie Jiang, another bodyguard and possibly the biggest blockhead in the building, isn't that right buddy?"
The man grunted and nodded his head, his expression not changing a single centimeter.
"And…Oh my it seems they're already getting acquainted with you" said the Woman.
Suddenly feeling danger from behind h, Lan leap forwards while spinning 180 degrees and launching the little ones in all directions before landing in a combat ready stance. There was person squatting on the ground with his legs spread wide in front of him and whose hand was outstretched towards where Lan's rear had been. He appeared to be a turtle Faunus from the large shell on his back, he weas wearing a raincoat with sleeves so long they covered his hands, and a facemask that when combined with the raincoat's hood revealed only his eyes and a little tuft of his green hair.
"What were you doing?!" shouted Lan who created a crossbow around his gauntlet.
"…You have a nice ass" said the boy who shuffled towards Lan in his crouching position.
"Stay back or I'll shoot!" shouted Lan who loaded a crystal arrow.
"Oh, don't worry boy" whispered a seductive feminine voice into his ear.
Reacting as he would to anything that surprised him from behind, Lan spun around and launched a kick at where he felt the voice came from.
"Whoops!" said the woman, who agilely dodged the attack with a twisted curving motion. "Ooooh you're dangerous…I like that."
She was a slender curvy snake Faunus, who was wearing a greenish Bedlah set that accentuated her slightly scaly skin.
"Are these other members of your family?" asked Lan who distanced himself from the two new oddities.
"Yep!" said the woman, "The butt boy is Kappa, and don't worry he wasn't after your butt for a sexual reason. You see his semblance lets him reach up someone's butt and rip a chunk of their aura out, after that he can put it up his own butt to restore his Aura!"
"It feels nice" said Kappa who have his arms in the air. "Can I put my hand up your butt?"
"No, no you may not" said Lan who unconsciously created an isolation barrier around his rear area.
"And this curvaceous young lady is Dima" said the woman with a flourish "One of our best dancers and moneymakers!"
"Men will always be willing to loosen their wallets if you hit the right buttons" said Dima with a teasing smile.
"And as for me" continued the woman who began to dance about while Sylvia knelt at the side and shook hands in a flourishing gesture "I am the proud beautiful owner of this establishment, the beautiful, majestic, magnificent—"
"Heiran Hyunmoo" interrupted Lan in a deadpan tone, as he brought up her dossier up on his brand-new Scroll. "Daughter of Tetsu Hyunmoo, who is the current chairman of the 4 guardians alliance which is the major peacekeeping organization in Amygdala and in charge of mediating disputes between all powers within its walls."
Lan looked up before reading the rest and found Heiran staring at him, her eye twitching as a terrifying smile spread across her face.
"Little boy~~~" she cooed, a menacing tone in dancing off her tongue. "It's not nice to interrupt people's introductions!"
Lan unconsciously backstepped several feet and created a crystal shield between him and the woman whose aura was shining bright purple as orchid shaped constructs of energy began to appear around her. The few people on the streets who saw her immediately began running in the opposite directions. Her compatriots also flinched away in fear, except for Tie who just stood there with the same serious expression on his face. But after taking a moment to take a deep breath, Sylvia walked over and wrapped her arms around Heiran.
"Shhh Shhhh" she gently shushed as she gently stroked Heiran's head. "There there my flower, he's just a little kid, he didn't know what he was doing. It's okay, It's Okay."
The orchid constructs gradually faded along with the ire on Heiran's face, until she finally closed her eyes. She stood there for a moment breathing in and out and then when she opened her eyes again, she had her original cheery smile on her face, but Lan could still see a bit of an edge in her gaze.
"Please don't interrupt someone's introduction~~" she said with a cheery tone, with a slight menacing undertone.
"Got it" said Lan, who held up his palms "Won't happen again."
"Ok, good" said Heiran who relaxed and dropped her shoulders "'phew' I need a drink now, come on we'll finish the rest of the discussions inside."
She then turned around and walked backed inside the building, quickly followed by her entourage.
After looking at each other, Lan, Trey, and the little ones who had come racing back followed them into the building. They found themselves in a grimy looking restaurant area. The place although still serviceable in some areas, mostly at the bar area where Heiran and her family were heading, looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a good long while. Lan watched as Heiran grabbed a bottle of some unidentifiable liquor off the counter as Sylvia and her friends set glasses filled with ice on the table.
"You drink kid?" she asked as she uncorked the bottle and began to pour it into the glasses.
"Uh, no no I don't" said Lan, he was about to question the legality of it but then remembered where he was and quashed the question. "Huh, this place sure could do with a good cleaning."
"Don't worry kid, things are much cleaner upstairs" said Sylvia who drained her drink and smacked her lips before turning and giving Heiran a mischievous smile "Especially the beds."
"We do need to provide good service for our customers after all" said Heiran, who giggled while shrugging her shoulders.
"Not even going to ask" said Lan, who headed to a seating area on the opposite side of the room.
"Are you sure" said Dima with a teasing smile "We'd be more than happy to show you around."
"Clean up all areas and items to Atlesian sterilization level 4 and have everyone clear out of the building so I can check it without fear of being ambushed, and then maybe I would do so." Said Lan who swiftly cleaned up a table and some chairs for his group to use, then pulled out some cans of Dr. Piper, People like grapes, and ginger ale for them to drink.
"Ooooh, look at you being all prepared" said Heiran "Guess that huge backpack's not just for show."
"I keep as many useful things as I can carry in here" said Lan, who stroked his backpack lovingly while staring at it with a strange intensity "As many as I can."
Heiran and her friends stared and Lan for a moment then slowly began to chuckle.
"Wow kid" said Sylvia "for a second there it almost seemed like you belong here."
"How do you mean?" asked Lan as he set some bowls of water on the ground for the little ones.
"Because this is where all the problem children are sent" said Heiran who sipped her drink "All the people connected to the 4 guardians who were both too big of a hassle to keep around but at the same time too valuable to be dealt with."
"Oh" said Lan "I'm sorry."
"Don't be" said Heiran who gave him a warm smirk "Everyone's here because they were true to themselves and refused to change for anything or anyone, no shame in that."
"But still we gotta earn our keep" said Sylvia "So we get sent some jobs to take care of in case we ever need the money, they even got a nice little app set up so that we know what's available. A few of us are actually out right now taking care of some so they weren't here to meet you. Here I'll send you an invite so you can download it."
"I see" said Lan who started the download "So that's what your dad meant when he said I'd be a good influence on you all."
"Eh, maybe" said Heiran who shrugged her shoulders "Or could be the other way around…probably going to be the other way around."
She downed the rest of her drink in one gulp, let out a satisfied sigh, then turned her gaze back on Lan.
"So, who exactly are kid?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes and looked at him. "Daddy wouldn't send just any average joe to look after me, especially since I tend to give him quite a few headaches."
"Oh uh, I already told you my name, but I guess you haven't heard yet, but we're family I guess" said Lan, who mumbled the phrase awkwardly.
"Uh huh, how?" said Heiran who placed her hand on her chin and gazed at Lan suspiciously.
"Well" said Lan "Your dad and I have the same grandpa so—"
Lan paused as he noticed all of them go tense, then a second later Heiran's face broke into an enormous smile.
"Great Grandpa!" she shouted as she jumped out of her chair in joy "Great Grandpa's back in town!"
"Uh, I guess you know him" asked Lan, as he watched Heiran dance a happy jig.
"Oh, I absolutely adore that man!" said Heiran who beamed back at Lan "We always had so much fun together whenever he would visit, I wouldn't be the woman I am now without him!"
"Hmmm, yeah I uh, guess I can see that" said Lan with a scrunched-up face.
"Oh, you're the same as Daddy" said Heiran with a pouty face "How did you two end up being such sticks in the mud when you were raised such an exciting guy like that?"
"Probably due to the fact that we get a little too much excitement in our lives" thought Lan as he mixed some lemon extract into his ginger ale before downing it.
"Well this changes everything!" said Heiran "Family is always welcome here, Oh! Is great grandpa going to come over soon? Tell me he's going to come over soon!"
"I'm afraid not" said Lan with sheepish grin "but his is searching for an empty lot where he can set the house down."
"Oh! Then I must go and greet him immediately!" shouted Heiran "The two of us can go have a night on the town, just like when I was a little girl!"
She immediately bolted out of the building, followed closely by Tie who continued to have the same serious expression on his face.
"Ha-ha here we go again" said Sylvia, as the rest of them began to follow "Feel free to pick any empty room on the second floor for your own."
"I am scared to hear that" said Lan who began to imagine all the kinds of horrible things he could experience while living on the same floor as their 'business'.
"Alright, if that's not your thing, then there's always the old penthouse on the roof, it's in pretty crappy condition though" said Sylvia as she headed towards the door "we gotta split now though, we're technically Heiran's bodyguards so we gotta stay with her all the time…not that I need any incentive to stay near that sweet ass 'RRrrrrrr'" after performing that feline purr, Sylvia darted out the door to catch up with her boss…who was also her lover as Lan believed.
"They were fun" said Trey, whose pupils had gone to the far sides of his head due to the information overload.
"Come on let's go see this penthouse" said Lan.
The group then made their way up the stairs, being careful to avoid the entrance to the second floor at all cost, and headed up to the roof. Instead of leading to a connected structure like they expected, they were greeted by the site of the open rooftop of the building, and there, just like what there were told, was an old dilapidated building structure, essentially looking like a mobile home unit that had just been slapped onto the rooftop and left to deteriorate into the dilapidated broken structure it was now.
"Eh, it'll do" said Lan, who set down his backpack and began to pull out cleaning supplies, tarps, and some minor construction tools. "Trey! Engage cleaning mode."
"Way ahead of you dude!" replied Trey who had already donned a hazmat cleaning suit and was holding a mop and bucket.
With Lan's expertise making impromptu shelters (which he gained from Byakko's nightmarish survival training), Trey's Janitorial experience, and the little ones' exceptional ability to assist, they had a functional shelter set up within the hour. Exhausted from the day, Trey and the little ones piled into a sleeping bag in front of Lan's impromptu heater/generator, which was powered by the bottle of infinite farts his grandpa had given him.
Lan however, kicked back on a lawn chair overlooking the street with a cup ramen cooking on a table next to him. He watched the city stream by below him, thinking about how he would go about living here. This was essentially a den for criminals, where crimes and vices were in abundance, he couldn't go around righting every wrong he saw, that would only lead to him getting on people's bad sides and possibly even causing unnecessary issues for his hosts. He might even get himself kicked out. Besides his main goal right now was to reconnect with Remnant by being steeped in the worldliness of this place…and then he thought about how he was thinking about these things.
"I really am a weird kid" mumbled Lan as his alarm beeped telling him his ramen was done. He thought about how a kid with his abilities would immediately rush out and try to make things better, end up making mistakes, and learn what a bad idea it was. As far as he could tell, this place was one of the greatest havens for crime and vice in the world, so even if he was able to take care of issues here more problems would keep flowing in. Besides, this place built off of dirty money, of that tried up it would disappear on its own. If he wanted to effectively do something about it, he would have to head to each of the 4 kingdoms and deal with the criminals and syndicates there one by one.
"Yeesh, there I go again" thought Lan as he added some salted eggs and pickled seaweed into his ramen "I really am strange" He knew what normal kids were like, saw them every time he and Byakko visited a new town or city. Even the ones who tried to act mature, due to responsibilities they had or in the hopes that they could become like the people they aspired to be, had a kind of innocence within them. A kind of naïve hopefulness with overblown expectations that Lan wasn't sure he ever had.
"You had a hand in that?" he thought to Veritas.
"Perhaps" whispered Veritas inside his mind "Although I had co-inhabited the bodies of many heroes over the countless Millenia, yours was the first where I was reduced to such a weakened state that my host's soul was able to envelop and internalize my own. It's possible that caused me to have a sobering effect on your psyche…But then again it could be like you're thinking right now, that you don't really belong in this world, your spirit that clung to me as I returned to this world was just floating around randomly out there. There is a chance you were just a normal soul like any other that would inhabit a body, but then again you might not, none but the gods can really say."
"I guess so" thought Lan as he began slurping up his noodles. "Maybe I should learn the secrets and become an observer, then I'll be an outsider either way…or there's always that ocean again."
He sat the empty cup ramen on the table and closed his eyes, beginning to picture the boundary of existence again. Usually just picturing it would be enough to start hearing the waves again, to smell the indescribable scent that hovers on the boundary of existence and nonexistence. But all he could hear right now was clamor of the street below, of various unsavory deals and actions taking place. As for smell there was something pungent hanging in the air mixing with the lingering scent of his ramen.
"Grandpa really knows his stuff" thought Lan, a small grin tuning up one corner of his mouth "It looks like my worldly tethers are already growing stronger."
But then he suddenly noticed a new noise that hadn't been there before and spun around to the clomp of feet behind him.
"You noticed me, not bad"
Standing there in his neatly pressed suit was Tetsu, holding a large cooler under his left arm. "I sent dad over to a brewery district that's been givin me some grief, and after he's done, they should be much more likely to listen to me in the future. And cause of that I have a bit more free time, so I thought I'd come by and check in on ya."
"Oh, hey…I don't know what I should call you" said Lan, who scratched his head. "Technically you're my first cousin, but you're a lot older than me so—"
"Just call me Tetsu." Said the man who grabbed another chair that was leaning against the penthouse and sat next to Lan. "So, what were ya thinkin about?"
"A few different things" said Lan "What I'm going to do here, whether I'm going to become part of this world or be an observer, that I'm a really weird kid who doesn't really think like a kid at all, you know the works."
"I think all the kids who grandpa's had under his wing are like that" said Tetsu as he pulled a beer out of the cooler. "There's no such things as normal when you grow up being thrown from one weird chaotic situation to the next."
"I know, but still" said Lan "Things that should shock or frighten a kid like me, I just accept as if its normal. I notice things that most don't realize until their older. I compromise and back down from a lot of things even though this is the age range where children are and should be the most selfish. Heck even what I said just now. I feel like I'm far too logical about things when I should be freer and more impulsive. I mean people are supposed to live and learn, but I feel like I know too much in some areas already and as a result I'm missing the other pieces that people gain along the way."
Lan took a deep breath as he finished his tirade, then looked up at Tetsu who was stroking his goatee as he stared down at the boy with his empty bear in his fingers.
"Done?" he asked, and continued as Lan nodded "Well, it sounds to me like you're mature in a lot of ways, but still like a kid in others. For example, you may not have meant it to be that way, but you were kind of full of yourself about your own abilities there. And honestly, your levelheadedness in the face of extreme situations is probably coming from grandpa's training or by learning what not to do by observing him. After living with him for a while, you get used to being surprised and shocked, in fact that's actually what he's trying to make you get used, surprise and awe itself. If you can bounce back quickly, you'll be able to quickly find your bearings no matter the situation you find yourself in…I'll admit that there are limits though, but from what I hear you've been regularly dealing with the mystical spiritual weirdness that's around in Gruncle Meng's temple."
"Hey I call him gruncle too!" said Lan with a happy smile.
"You see there, not so different from other people after all are you" said Tetsu, who ruffled his hair. "The problem is you're comparing yourself with normal everyday people. It's important to treat them as equals, true, but you also have to recognize just how different we are from them. I'd say most people haven't had a grandpa who makes you eat rocks to "train" your digestive system."
"Yeah, that was really painful" said Lan who rubbed his stomach "I think my aura almost broke a few times while it was protecting my teeth."
"Yeah, mine too" said Tetsu, who rubbed his jaw. "Anyways, I think at your stage before you make any big judgements about yourself, you need to learn more about the kinds of people who live in our world: Those who watch from its boundaries, those who dwell within it, and those who straddle the line in between. I myself had no idea about what my future would at your age, and heck I only started to find the faintest signs of my path in life when I was around 14, which is still way younger than most people, even those who live as part of our world. I'd say for now, just focus on reestablishing your connection to the mundane world like grandpa said, and after that I'd say it would be a good idea to go around and meet some other kids like you. In fact, from what I'm hearing through the grapevine and from what grandpa's told me about you, there are actually 2 other kids your age out there who have been mixed up with as much weirdness as you have."
"Really?!" said Lan who forced his face so close to Tetsu's that the man had to move back a bit.
"Uh yeah, yeah" said Tetsu "A girl who lives in grandma's fortress in the furthest reaches of Solitas and a boy living in western Sanus in Gruncle Agni's temple. I don't really remember their names though, but from what I hear they've definitely been dealing with some pretty harsh trials and been forced to mature faster like you have."
"Wow!" said Lan, whose face broke into a large smile "I wanna go meet them right now!"
"Not until you get Gruncle Meng's seal of approval first" said Tetsu "Don't want you up and vanishing one day just cause you couldn't center yourself first…seen stuff like that happen way too many times."
"Yeah, Yeah, you're right sorry." sighed Lan, who then pulled out his scroll "I should try to focus on the daily things for now so I don't up and vanish. Let me take a look at the missions posted first maybe they'll help me keep my mind off the mystic stuff…Wow Heiran and her team have not been busy at all have they."
"…Yeah" said Tetsu who rubbed the back of his neck "She regularly puts off doing even the most critical jobs…Don't know where I went wrong in raising her."
"Yeah, running what goes on in the 2nd floor is not something I'd—"
"Oh no no the sex things are fine, she learned the sex trade from her mother after all." interrupted Tetsu, which caused Lan to blink in surprise "It's that she doesn't take her other duties seriously and doesn't pay any heed to how her actions can reflect on the organization as a whole. "
"Uh," started Lan, who had a million questions, but stopped as he decided that knowing the answers might make him a bit too uncomfortable.
"Well, anyways, what say we have a toast to the start of your life here" said Tetsu, as he set his empty can on the table and began rummaging around in his cooler "I got some ingredients for cocktails here."
"Uh, I'm not old enough too—"
"Think of where you are Lan" interrupted Tetsu.
"Right, let me rephrase that, I don't drink alcohol." Said Lan.
"Fine, then you'll get some juice mixed with tonic water"
Tetsu set two cups of ice on the table and half-filled one with tonic water and the other with Six Swans Vodka.
"Pineapple ok with you?" he asked as he pulled out a plastic bottle of it.
"Fine." Said Lan.
The glasses were then filled the rest of the way and their respective drinks came to be in their hands.
"I'm sure you'll have quite the adventure while you're here though, just not the kind you're use to" said Tetsu as he held up his glass.
"I hope so too" said Lan who raised his own.
"To your future" said Tetsu who clinked his glass against Lan's.
"Thanks" said Lan.
The two of them then pulled their cups to their lips, took a long drink of their beverage, then froze.
""PPPLLLEAGGH""
The two of them sprayed their beverages out over the street below, covering a man who had been stalking a well-endowed woman down below in a yellow mist.
"Th-that 'urp' 'Ptooey' that's not pineapple!" said Lan as he continued to spit to try and clear his mouth of the foul taste as tears rolled down his face.
"Bah, that tasted like piss!" shouted Tetsu, who grabbed the juice bottle and started at it angrily. He then unscrewed the cap and took a few suspicious sniffs. "Oh, gods it is piss!" he shouted as he threw the open bottle off the rooftop, and onto the same man's head.
The scent of the leftover pineapple juice inside had covered up the scent well enough that one wouldn't be able to detect it unless they inspected it closely, unluckily for Lan and Tetsu, they were a bit too late in doing so.
"What the hell—Grandpa! Had to have been him!" shouted Tetsu angrily as he washed out his mouth with a bottle of water. "Did he finish the juice and then just decide to piss in the bottle as joke?"
"Yes, I did!" came their grandfather's voice from a long distance away. The two stared in the direction the voice came from for a few moments, then tossed their cups off the roof, knocking out the stalker far below, who had a huge grin on his face due to the neural implant pumping in morphine to counteract the stress he had been feeling.
"Well, this is off to a terrible start" said Tetsu, who handed Lan a bottle of water.
"Yeah" said Lan who swooshed out it mouth "Grandpa has a penchant for making things weird and awkward."
"True" said Tetsu "Oh! That reminds me, you're like 10, right?"
"Yeah" said Lan.
"Well, be careful when you hit 14" continued Tetsu "Grandpa believes that no man in the family should stay a virgin longer than that, so if he's still with you at the time he'll drag you to the nearest red-light district and ensure that you lose it."
"Oogh, that…that sounds terrible" said Lan who shuddered "That happen to you?"
"Yeah" said Tetsu "I was a young horny teenager though so it was actually kind of exciting, albeit some of the things I experienced that night scarred me for life, but still I'm actually grateful to the old man. I mean I met my wife that night in the…uh, establishment we went to. She was both my first and my last. 'sigh' I remember it like it was yesterday, she drew my eyes the first time I saw her, dressed up in that pretty little—"
"Stop right there!" interrupted Lan, "I don't wanna know."
"Right, right" said Tetsu who held up his hands "but you're gonna be interested in this kind of stuff eventually, every hot-blooded man is."
"I would not classify myself as hot-blooded" said Lan who shook his head as he squinted one eye. "I'm more of a clear mind and silent serene heart kind of person."
"Your loss" said Tetsu. "Well, whaddya say we try the toast one more time. I got a can of ginger ale and bottle of ginger beer."
"Sounds good" said Lan who accepted the soda.
The two then opened their drinks, and after taking a suspicious sniff, clinked together the can and bottle and downed their drinks as they stared out at the bright city below them. And as he began to think more about how he would handle a territorial dispute between two gambling rings tomorrow, he felt the cool wind from the city's air circulation unit blow by and watched as the streets began to fill with crowds of drunken revelers. And then he noticed that for the first time in a while, the ground that he placed his feet on stopped feeling like sand.
Please let me know if there is any constructive criticism for my writing. I don't get nearly enough of it, so I'm not sure whether or not I'm improving or not.
