Chapter Thirty: A New Journey
"With any luck we'll be able to get on a ship without anyone recognizing me," Phoenix said as he and the newly dubbed team RNJR, or JNRR according to Nora, tried to get tickets for a ship to Mistral. Just as he said this the he was standing by TV switched to a report about how he was wanted for 500,000 lien and how anyone with information about him should report it immediately. "Or not." While some bystanders were clearly contacting the police others were just staring. "Take a picture. It'll last longer." Some of them proceeded to take out their scrolls and take pictures.
"What do we do?" a slightly panicked Jaune asked.
"We get on that boat and get out of here. Most of the VPD's aircraft is busy with trying to beat back the Grimm, so we should be able to get a head start." As Phoenix stated this police sirens could be heard.
The five of them all took different approaches to getting through the crowd of people. Phoenix used his grapnel gun to swing from different vantage points. Ren took a similar rout, leaping from similar points. Ruby used her speed to run along the walls. Nora used her semblance combined with one of the shock Dust charges Phoenix had designed for that purpose to super-jump over the crowd.
"Did you really need to use one of those now Nora?" Phoenix criticized once they all got on the deck.
"Yep," Nora replied, not detecting the annoyance in his voice.
"Uhh... Phoenix, your friend is here," Ruby said as she pointed to the officer getting out of the car that had just pulled up.
"Come out with your hands up!" Detective Grant ordered.
"You four get the ship's captain to get this damn thing moving. I'll stall Grant," Phoenix commanded before casually walking up to the edge of the ship. "Detective, what're you doing here?" he asked as though he didn't have the entire anti-vigilante task force pointing their guns at him.
"I told you that I'd deal with you once the situation at Beacon was handled," Grant reminded him. "And now it has been. That means that you're coming with me."
"Dealt with? There's a hoard of Grimm surrounding the school."
"Something that's being handed as we speak, Fall," Grant said, putting extra emphasis on Phoenix's name.
"You say my name like it's supposed to be some dramatic reveal. It's pretty much common knowledge at this point. It's being shown with my picture on a TV right by you. Besides, you're precious taskforce can't touch me once I'm out of their jurisdiction in Minstral."
"I suspected as much. You're going to Mistral to save yourself. You're nothing but a coward."
"No, I'm going to Minstral to bring the bitch who did this to justice," Phoenix corrected.
"Once you're arrested we can devote all our resources to catching her. You may as well be helping her by making us focus on you."
"You son of a-!"
"Men! Bring him in!" Phoenix was cut off by Grant giving the order to move in. They charged towards the boat and readied their weapons.
"Blast it! Guys, how's that whole 'getting this damn thing moving' thing going?" As if on cue, the ship came to life and pulled away from the dock. It's departure was accompanied by a familiar battle cry.
"LLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRROOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYY JJJJJJJJJEEEEEEEENNNNNNNKKKKKIIIINNNNSSSSSS!"
"I don't think trying to turn this thing into a tank is a good idea," Ren said to Jenkins and Nora as Phoenix walked into the captain's cabin.
"Aaaaaaawwwwwww," both of them moaned in disappointment.
"What are you doing here?" Phoenix asked, not wanting to know what he had just interrupted.
"He's doing this job to get money to repair his ship," Ren explained.
"How do you-?"
"He refused to let us go until we listened to his story."
"Whatever. Good to see you again Jenkins."
"Same to you boss. So, I forced you kids to listen to my story. Suppose it's only fair I hear why you're heading to want to get to."
"I suppose it's for the best if all of you hear the whole truth about what's going on," Phoenix sighed. Everyone but Ruby gave him confused looks?
"What're you talking about?" Jaune asked.
"What's your favorite fairy tale?"
"So you're going after the one who caused all this. Well I'm coming too," Jenkins declared after he'd been told everything.
"No, no you are not. We're going to need air support as soon as we can get it, and you're the only guy I know who can keep one of those death traps steady," Phoenix replied.
"How am I even supposed to know where you are with the CCT down?"
"The backup keeps in-continent communication possible, so once you actually get there you can contact us."
"That still leaves one problem," Ruby pointed out. "He helped us escape. Won't he be wanted?"
"Not exactly. If he says that we forced him to he should be good. There's no evidence to say otherwise."
"I guess that takes care of everything," Ren stated.
"Actually, I've got a question. Where's Jaune? I haven't seen him since I told you guys to get the ship moving." Everyone pointed at one of the windows that overlooked the deck. Through it, Jaune could be seen leaning over the edge of the ship.
I'M BACK! Sorry it's been so long, but it's been the perfect storm of events to keep me from writing. I couldn't even start until volume four came out, and I had to actually figure out what to write, (Which is not as easy as it sounds. When I started this I already had almost everything planned out so I didn't need to take much time to figure out what to do next). Then it was just a matter of finding the time to write. Easier said than done. My ADHD meds wear off by the time I get home from school so focusing is an issue. I also have Professor (Doctor) Oobleck as a bio teacher (When I say that I mean he constantly thinks coffee, is extremely energetic, and talks incredibly fast) and a lit teacher who is obsessed with having us annotate things. But enough about my life. Back to the story itself, the Dust charges basically charge up Nora's semblance the same way other types of electricity would. Like always, if you have any suggestions let me know (If they have to do with a new episode PLEASE wait until it's posted on YouTube) and thanks for reading!
