Chapter Nine: Weapon Workshop
"I wonder if what Blake was right," Phoenix thought to himself as he walked back to his room. "Would Ruby like me more if she found out who I am? Not that I'd care or anything," he continued. "Well, only one way to find out," he said as he flopped onto his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
As Phoenix knocked on team RWBY's door, he heard Ruby yell, "I'll get it!"
"What, think it'll be your masked prince charming from last night," Yang taunted.
"Shut up! I told you it's not like that! Even if he is awesome," Ruby said as she opened the door.
"Oh, hey Phoenix. Where were you last night?"
"Oh… well… when I saw the explosion I tried to get there, but by the time I did, no one was around."
"Okay," his reason was accepted without question. "So what's up?"
"Right, well I remembered how much you wanted to see some of my 'work' on the first day, and I just got a new batch of supplies. I figured we could work on a weapon together."
"Watch out Phoenix. You've got some competition now that this 'Shadowy Flame' guy has shown up," Yang said grinning.
"C- competition? Nonono! You've got the wrong impression!" Phoenix stammered, blushing; He was too embarrassed to be upset about Yang getting his name wrong. Ruby was responding similarly.
"Okaywe'regoingnowby," she said as she grabbed onto Phoenix and used her semblance to drag him away.
"Sorry about them," Ruby said as she and Phoenix walked to his room.
"It's fine. But I've got to admit I'm curious about who this guy who saved you is."
"When Torchwick attacked me, he kept him from hurting me. He created a tornado of fire and I could hear the gunfire from inside. I only wish I could've seen the fight."
"Sounds pretty cool. Looks like we're here," he said, changing the topic now that he'd gotten the info he wanted. When he opened his new door and Ruby walked into his room her eyes widened. She dashed around, looking at all the posters, collectibles, etc. around the room, gushing over all of them. "You were here before you know," Phoenix mentioned.
"Yeah, but I never got the chance to actually look around," she replied.
"Uh… Ruby, it's great you're excited and all, but some of that stuff is fragi-." He was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.
"OhmygoshI'msosorrypleasedon'tkillme!" Ruby begged.
"It's too late for that. You have shattered the collector's glass of- hahahahahaha! I'm sorry, I could've kept it up longer, but the look on your face was priceless!" The look of horror suddenly turned to one of confusion.
"But then what did I-?"
"Just a standard glass of water. Ouch!" he exclaimed as she punched him in the shoulder. "Ok, I'll admit I probably deserved that. Anyway, let's get to work." Ruby became ecstatic when she saw the pile of weapon pieces.
"That's an obsidian sword! And that's a blade electrifier! And are those ice Dust filled shotgun shells? How'd you get all this?"
"Being the headmaster's son has its perks," he replied. Now let's get some of these materials down to the forge."
"So if we put this here then the blade can extend," Ruby thought out loud.
"Yes, but then there'll be less room for amo," Phoenix responded.
"Hmm… good point, but if we move the clip here then it should still work."
"Done!" they both proclaimed, looking at their work. The weapons they designed were a set of dual wield one handed longswords with flambard blades. The hilts had guards similar in appearance to Phoenix's hooks, the only difference being that these versions were electrified. One side of the hilt was slightly extended on each of the swords. One of the hilts housed the amo (electrified Dust cartridges) for a built in gun, and the other sword held a focused speaker that could fire a blast of sound. As a finishing touch they added an extendable blades in the pommels, also electrified.
"So… I'm thinking something along the lines of 'Thunder and Lightning'. Sound good to you?" Phoenix asked, wondering if Ruby had any suggestions for names.
"Sounds good to me," she replied, "Want to test it?"
"Sure. Wait! I forgot something!" Phoenix exclaimed as he rummaged through the pile of weapon pieces. "Got it!" he yelled after a moment of searching, pulling out what looked to be just another piece of scrap.
"Is that a-?"
"Flamethrower component? Yep. Thought we could put it in Crescent Rose. Don't worry, the switch from on to off is almost instantaneous so it won't interfere with your normal fighting style."
"Could we?" she asked excitedly.
"I suggested it didn't I?"
"You sure you want to do this?" Ruby asked Phoenix. They were standing on opposite sides of the dueling ring. "I've been training with Crescent Rose for years and we just made that."
"Don't worry, I'm adaptable," he replied, drawing Thunder and Lightning. "Besides, the worst case scenario is I get my ass handed to me. Yang, start the countdown!" he ordered, looking over at the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR, who'd come to watch the fight.
As the countdown began, Ruby drew her weapon and activated the newly installed flamethrower component, causing the blade to be engulfed in flames. Phoenix simply activated the tactical mode on his glasses. Once the timer finished Ruby charged at him. He was ready though, and he dodged her strike. Once he was behind her he fired a round into her back. The shock temporarily stunned her, and he used this opportunity to flip backwards, using her as a platform to aid him. Once Ruby recovered, she embedded Crescent Rose in the ground, firing multiple rounds at him. Phoenix's glasses, however, were able to predict the trajectory of the bullets before they fired, allowing him to simply bat them out of his way as he approached her, Once she ran out of ammo, she charged at him again. This time Phoenix held his ground. When Ruby reached him she unleashed a storm of blows. Both of them occasionally got grazing blows in, slowly depleting each other's aura. When Phoenix saw an opening he extended the pommel blade and moved it to Ruby's throat. "Game over," he said with a grin.
"Look behind you," she replied, also grinning. When he did he saw that the scythe's blade was at his back, read to cut him in half.
"So it's a draw then?" Phoenix asked since one more hit would send both of their auras into red.
"Yep," Ruby replied as they lowered their weapons. "But seriously, how were you so awesome with that weapon? You were like (insert cliche kung fu sounds here)!"
"I warned you, I'm adaptable," he stated, not mentioning that he had just used a slightly modified version of the fighting style for the Blazing Hooks. "Anyway, you want this?" He asked, gesturing to the sword.
"What! But you were so good with it! You can keep it."
"This was fun. Want to do it again sometime?" Phoenix asked as they walked back to their dorms.
"Sure. It's a date," Ruby replied.
"A date?" he stammered, blushing.
"N- not like that!" Ruby exclaimed, her face turning as red as her cape.
"Yeah," Yang continued "She's only got eyes for that vigilante."
"I told you to shut up about that!" Ruby shouted.
"Well, as riveting as this is, we've reached the dorms. Bye guys." Phoenix said as he walked away, waving.
As he walked back to his room Phoenix thought to himself, "Why is it that every time someone mentions Ruby and I, I become a blundering mess? Eh, I'm sure it's probably nothing."
So that was the first major thing between the two of them. It seems like Phoenix is dealing with the "girl you like is in love with your secret alter ego, not you" cliché. If you have anymore ideas for things like this let me know. Thanks for Reading.
