Chapter Twenty-Four: Night Out
"There we were, about to conclude the clash of legends, when suddenly, thieves entered-"
"Food!" everyone else cheered as the waiter, or rather waiters, arrived with their food, preventing Phoenix from finishing the story about how he and Ruby stopped a robbery on their day out.
"Oh come on guys! Seriously! I'm telling an awesome story, but you're distracted by-"
"Your… fries sir," a waiter said as he handed Phoenix the large plate.
"On second thought, the story can wait." While he was eating he looked over at what everyone else had gotten. Ruby, like him, had gotten the same order she had the last time they were there. Nora had gotten pancakes, surprising no one, while Ren had gotten a salad. Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha had just gotten burgers, and Weiss had gotten some meal that looked like it cost a fortune, causing him to regret his offer to pay. Blake had gotten fish, surprising everyone about as much as Nora's order did. After the initial feeding frenzy Phoenix finished telling his story.
"The way you say it makes it sound like a poorly written fanfic," Weiss criticized.
"Oh come on!" They talked for the next hour before Phoenix came up with a new idea. "The opened up a new arcade a few days ago. Want to check it out? Before you ask, yes, I'm paying." This was followed by cheers. They were, however interrupted by the waiter.
"I trust you'll be paying before you leave."
"Sure. Let me see the bill. What the hell! Damn it Weiss!"
"So, I'm thinking five hundred tokens each. Sound good?" Phoenix asked. He had to wait a moment to get a response since everyone was surveying the area, which had almost every game they could imagine. Once they came back to reality they agreed, and he handed them the tokens. They proceeded to go their separate ways to play different games.
"Hey! Ruby!" Phoenix called out when he saw Ruby walk by in the distance.
"What?" she called back.
"Is that a what did you say what, or a what is it what?"
"Uh… The second one!"
"Just come over here. I'm tired of shouting!"
"Okay!" When she reached him she asked, "Why'd you call me over?"
"Well, this game is two player, so I figured we could play it together," he explained as he gestured toward the game, "Generic Arcade Shooter". "Sounds like a completely new game that is nothing like any other game before it," he added sarcastically, "But hey, could still be fun."
"I'm in." They both put in their tokens and started the game.
"In a world where-" the intro started to say.
"Skip," both Ruby and Phoenix said as they skipped the cutscene.
"Gaaa! What the bloody hell is that?" Phoenix exclaimed as some sort of monster lunged at them out of nowhere.
"Who cares? Kill it!" Ruby replied.
"Blast! There's more of them."
"I've got this."
"Why are there random explosive barrels in an office? On second thought, I don't care as long as they- Oh God that thing is huge!"
"I'm reloading. Cover me."
"Got it. Is that thing throwing desks at us? Never mind. Don't care."
"I got it!" Ruby cheered as she defeated the giant monster. The relief of beating it was short lived as the words "Wave Two" appeared on the screen and two more the creatures broke through the window.
"Wonderful," Phoenix groaned. The two of them were able to hold out for six more rounds before they got killed by the teleporting enemies.
"That was so unfair!" Ruby complained as they walked away. Her annoyance suddenly disappeared when she saw a claw machine. "Ooh! Ooh! That I want that one!" she squealed, pointing at a giant stuffed dog. After about five tries she had barely gotten it to move. "Nooooo! This is impossible," she declared, defeated.
"Let me try," Phoenix offered.
"Don't waste your time. It's rigged."
"Come on. Just one try."
"Okay."
One try later Ruby was clutching the stuffed dog like her life depended on it. "Thank you! How did you do that."
"What can I say? These gasses have their perks. Calculating the perfect way to pick up a stuffed animal in a claw machine is one of them I guess."
"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but there's something I want you to try," Yang said as she appeared out of nowhere and dragged them off.
"You want us to do what?" both Phoenix and Ruby shouted at Yang.
"Simple. I want you to try this," she answered smugly, pointing at a love tester machine.
"I've told you we're just friends!" Ruby stated as she turned a light red, causing Phoenix to feel disappointed.
"We'll see about that. I won't stop pestering you until you try it."
"Fine…" Phoenix groaned as he and Ruby walked over to the machine.
"But I will get you back for this." He inserted a token, turning the machine on, and looked at the "ratings" which ranged from "Worst Enemies" to "Perfect Couple". He and Ruby grabbed the two grips reluctantly.
After holding on for a second they heard Yang exclaimed, "See! I told you two you were perfect for each other!"
"What!" they yelled when they looked up and saw it did in fact say "Perfect Couple". They then looked at each other, both of them bright red.
"Well, this as en eventful day," Phoenix muttered as he looked up at the midnight sky from a rooftop at Beacon. Shortly after the test incident, everyone had run out of tokens. On the way back, Yang told everyone what happened, causing Blake and Weiss to give Phoenix a look that said, "you seriously need to tell her". "If I told he she'd never take me seriously. Even if she did it's not like she feels the same," he thought. "She said so herself. No point in wasting her time with me."
"Is brooding on rooftops in the superhero handbook or something? I mean all the superheroes in the comics do it. Looks like the real life superheroes do it to."
"Ruby! First of all, I wasn't brooding. Secondly, what're you doing here?"
"I certainly wasn't eating cookies in bed when I heard your footsteps on the roof and went to investigate if that's what you're implying," she replied nervously. "Also, you were totally brooding. What're you doing up here?"
"Sometimes I like to come up here to clear my head. Come sit down," he answered, patting the ground next to him. Once she did they continued their conversation.
"Why'd you call me a superhero?" Phoenix asked suddenly after they'd sat in silence for a bit.
"You act a lot like the people in the comics. You even have a secret identity." He gave a halfhearted laugh at that last part.
"I'm no hero. I'm just a bad guy who fights worse guys."
"What do you-"
"I'm just a lawless thug who runs around beating up other thugs. Besides, for every life I happen to save, my mother takes two. Would a hero let that happen?"
"If that were true there'd be no one alive in Vale. You are a hero Phoenix, if not to anyone else, to me," she stated as she turned slightly red.
"What're you talking about?"
"You've you've always been there for me, and you've saved my life before. Helping people like you have makes you a hero, at least in my eyes."
"Damn it Phoenix, you need to tell her! It's now or never!" he yelled out in his head. "Your… uh… acting pretty mature." "What the hell was that?" he continued to yell in his head, resulting in a fight with himself.
"I don't know. I'm nervous what am I supposed to say?"
"Anything but that! Just tell her how you feel."
"What if she doesn't take me seriously?"
"You jump off of buildings and fight dangerous criminals on a daily basis and that's what you're afraid of? This is more pathetic than your fear of flying."
"One: screw you, and two: you're me. You know it's not that simple. Why am I even talking to myself like this? It's like some awful writer is trying to give a look into my mind."
"Hey, Phoenix. Remnant to Phoenix. You in there?" Ruby asked as she waved her hand in his face.
"Oh! Yeah, just got lost in thought. Ruby there's something I've wanted to tell you. I'm not sure how you'll respond, or what I'm doing to begin with. But it's now or never." Ruby just gave him a confused look as he babbled on.
"Ruby I… God this is awkward. Ruby, I love you," he declared, blushing intensely. She sat there in silence, dumbfounded.
"Blast it. I knew this was a bad idea. After tonight you probably don't even take me seriously, and you yourself said you don't think of me like that. I'm sorry for wasting your time. Just forget this ever-" he said as he tried getting up, cut off when Ruby pulled him into a kiss. Afterward, it was Phoenix's turn to be dumbfounded. "Wha-?"
"I love you too," she replied, turning as red as her cape.
"Wh- when?" Phoenix stammered, still stunned.
"After the fight at the breach. I felt like it before, but that's when I realized it."
"Why me? I'm not anything special."
"Not anything special? You're one of the nicest, smartest, and most selfless people I know."
Once he got over the shock of what she just said, he asked, "Why did
"I wasn't sure how you'd respond, or if you even felt the same. I was afraid you'd leave me," she answered.
"Don't worry. I don't plan on leaving any time soon." Before Ruby could reply, she got a look on her face that suggested she realized something.
"Just realized how cliche this all is?" She nodded in agreement.
"So, you never answered my question," Ruby said as they walked back to their rooms.
"What question?" Phoenix replied.
"The one about the superhero handbook."
"Oh, right. 'Brooding on rooftops' is in there. It's in between 'tragic backstory' and 'boxer briefs'." This got a laugh from Ruby. "And like I said, I wasn't brooding."
"You were totally brooding."
"No, I wasn't." Their discussion went on until they reached team RWBY's room. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night. And get some rest for the tournament," Phoenix said as Ruby opened the door.
"You get some rest too. I don't want to hear about The Flaming Shadow on the news tomorrow."
"No promises."
Finally. I was originally planning on doing it even later in the story *cough cough* dramatic reveal before he fought Cinder *cough cough*, but I got a lot of requests so I figured, "What the hell." Anyways, thanks for reading!
