"Is it ok to feel sorry for a Death Claw?"
I'm becoming sporadic with this story, truth is what you have read so far is what "popped" into my head, writing by the seat of my pants and all that, now my Ideas are not so streamlined, I'm drifting to other stuff. Guess what I'm saying is I'm loosing my interest in this as I have, in my head, made the end, now it's become a production, and for that, a lot of rewrites.
"That was satisfying." Weiss sighed. Some food with a drink, she was relaxed and somewhat contented, as they exited the restaurant Weiss remarked. "Still, the names on their bill of fare remains to be seen."
Yang dove her hand into the takeout bag containing French fries. "Communication break down was a good burger."
"A bit vague in there naming." Blake added with a motion to Yang stuffing her face, still. "Fries lover? Who would think an entire platter, stacked with fries, enough for six would be brought out."
"The food was good, but I'm not sure the price was." Ruby complained.
Weiss, gently it seemed, tried to educate Ruby a bit, and did not seem too snooty about it. "I think the ambiance is what one pays for. Some of those antique's are not only unique, but worth a respectable amount on the open market." Ruby shrugged, her empting credit was her concern.
"So, let's find this arena little brother talked about." Ruby said while taking out her scroll, a part of her loved knowing she wasn't the youngest anymore, even if it was fake. With a shake of the head Ruby refocused and started doing a quick search. After a moment she seemed surprised. "Wow, even gives buss routs to it." Ruby paused, holding up her scroll for them all to see.
"Were, located?" Asked Blake her tone was anything but an endorsement to the idea.
Weiss nodded to Blake in agreement to her unspoken complaint, with some concern forming on her own face. "I'm not sure I like that were being tracked, without, setting our locater on, or permission."
Ruby was frowning at her scroll with an idea. "Weiss, Blake. Check your scrolls. Do a search. I need to see something." The two glanced at Ruby then each other Blake giving a small whatever shrug as they each opened their scrolls, locating the arena. Blake was the first to voice what she found.
"I'm being asked if I want transportation, commute or taxi, and my location. Ruby?" Blake asked intrigued, Weiss looked up, her scroll had said the same, so the two stood quietly waiting. Ruby nodded satisfied she was right, seeming to understand. Even Yang had an Oh I get it moment. Plastered on her face.
"Isaac is our brother, so, I think, to the city, were part of Mavideniz East." Yangs face morphed into a unhappy suspicious look. She didn't like what Ruby was leaving out before slowly asking. "So, someone just, added this app?" Ruby shrugged not really knowing. "They could just be keeping an eye on us. We are being targeted, and Isaac is kind of important to Grimms Bane." Ruby mused aloud.
Weiss elegantly snorted, also mixing it with a scoff, before assertively pounding out her opinion. "He became the youngest hunter in history, started a military organization that is so far exterminating the grim." Weiss did a pirouette holding her hands up, indicating the buildings around them. "He. Made a city from a fallow field, changed the balance of power between the four city nations by all but manufacturing his own government, destroyed two institutions, and helped the White Fang of all things, and oh, yes!"
Blake was starting to roll her eyes shifting in place watching how wound up Weiss was getting. "He provided to the East and West Mavideniz a power source that is not only rain water renewable, but not in the least dust related. I can not fathom the amount of lean being saved by the industry's here, for every day, in this place." With a hand on her hip Weiss leaned forward and pointed down at the sidewalk to driver her point home and seemed to fume for a bit before regaining her composure.
Blake held back a smile seeing the root of her antics and how frustrated Weiss was becoming. She thought about letting her know how Grimms Bane was thinking of splitting up, making another unit of Grimms Bane On the north sea coast to exterminate the grim there. Cutting a zone from north to south free of grim. She mused if she should tell Weiss that the E. Mavideniz template for building this new city would be most likely used.
"Our buss is here!" Ruby yelled, shattering the threes inner thoughts.
The buss was shaped as any would be, long and stacked inside with seats, if a bit over painted, like a victim of a street tagging. A large T frame at the top of the buss in the back section rubbed on a wire that was hanging over the street. Everywhere now that Blake was looking. Other then the sound of a large electric motor winning up as the buss accelerated it made very little sound.
Their huntress badge didn't get them any leeway. They had to pay a toll in lean. The driver, whose seat, and what was around him reflected the graffiti outside, explained in a rather friendly way. "Everyone's a hunter here, the city would grow broke in a month if we did it like the other cities."
"Are You a Hunter?" Yang worriedly asked. The driver nodded not seeming to hear her submerged question. "Just not a good one, so I did some ground pounding, enough to own some land, built a house on it, and I'm happy with how everything turned out, so I drive now. Lot's of folk are doing this, kind a nice. Don't have to fight for my next paycheck, I get to grow old." He added in a wistful way.
"So." Asked Blake quietly. "What does one do to join?"
"Can't." The driver curtly responded. "Not having a recruitment drive for a few days." He slowed and stopped to pick up more passengers. Blake mentally noted the amount of faunas not only in the buss but walking the streets. To her surprise they outnumbered the humans and everyone seemed to be carrying a weapon. Blake was guessing that it was because so many in this city were hunters. As the buss pulled away from the curb the driver continued as if he had never paused. "Monday there's going to be one, but that's a school day for your group." Then he seemed to realize Yang was next to Blake. "Oh, hay, you're that one that got framed. Right?"
Yang gave out an audible snort, angry about being set up, and her falling for it. Her hair was flaring a bit as she dampened down her anger. With a sigh she calmed almost as if it never was. "Ya." She admitted, thinking. This place, city, no, a large town, with its attitude towards the world, no one here it seemed faulted her, even with the humiliation of being carted off the arena under guard. It sounded with them, like talking about a fight with a grim that went bad. The kind were it kicks your ass, but other then scratches no harm, no fowl. Yang inwardly sighed. "Ya, Emerald got me good." The driver nodded again, before dropping the conversation to pull over picking up and letting off more people.
"Heard it was because that kid who started all this wouldn't join the grim worshipers. That true?" Yang with another sigh nodded before saying "Yes, and I'm not happy that my dad may be next." The driver eyed Yang a bit surprised before remembering he was driving a buss.
His head snapped back to the road. The buss rocking a bit as he did. "Whew, now, uh, ya, that's nasty, going after family? That's two bit B grade gangster stuff. None o my business but I recommend moving here, lot's safer. Only a few spies from the worshipers in this town, unlike Vale which if you ask me is crawling with em."
Ruby and Yangs scrolls pinged, along with a bunch of others. The driver hearing the quiet clamor pulled to the curb. "Enjoy the show." The four disembarked with half the buss. Fallowing the sidewalk to the only building that seemed large enough. It was a mammoth structure that was blocks wide and it looked about six stories tall.
Getting past the people loading into the buss Blake shaded her eyes. "I've read about coliseums, like this one appears to be, we want seats on this side." She pointed. "To have shade throughout the day." She added.
"Ruby! Yang!" Called out a female voice. As the trope turned they found that rainbow woman running towards them. "HI, Glad I caught up with you." She handed out two plastic cards. "Your ID and dept cards. Have a good one!" Then she was off, slipping past the crowed like liquid sliver.
Yang was frowning at the cards before giving Ruby one. "These are some kind of ID money exchange card."
"It's heavy." Ruby said turning the card over. "But. It's not that thick." She added.
"Is she over caffeinated?" Asked Weiss watching the woman's rapid travel. "Lets get in line before the show starts." Weiss added as and afterthought, she started moving with the rest of RWBY fallowing.
There were a lot of ticked booths and lines to stand in and they seemed to be moving quickly enough. There were all types here, family with kids, singles some dressed as hunters, most were not. Once they were close enough to read the price even Weiss thought it was theft masquerading as entertainment. Before paying the steep price the cashier handed them their tickets.
"Um." Ruby said holding her new card out. The man just waved his hand. "Put it away, I saw the news, pretty nasty what they did, so, have a freebie, on the house." Ruby mewed a bit in distress. "I don't want you to get into any trouble." The man waved a dismissive hand like back handing a fly. "I'm allowed this four times a day, no worries. Go on, have fun, besides the popcorn prices are the real rip off." He waited a bit before looking over Rubys head. "Next!" He yelled. It was enough to get them moving.
Walking towards the main doors someone yelled out. "Hay! Its you, right? Team Ruby!?"
Then the four were swarmed. Questions were almost yelled out. So many were eagerly talking at the same time, it was simply bedlam. They did catch some snippets of the questions.
"Hay, I saw you fight."
"What did they do?"
"Who is this Emerald?"
"Does your sister know your partner is a faunas?"
The questions and prattle kept increasing, the crowed growing even more densely packed around them.
"Ok, you four." That voice cut through the chatter like a knife, everyone as one person turned towards that voice. "Come here, you four, stop starring at me and get in. Your not going to see the show if you don't." She added. A mid sized woman dressed in what looked like the official Colosseum uniform of blue with white pin striping on the arms and legs, complete with a hat with white strip around the rim and a voice mike hanging over her shoulder. She was standing at an open side door giving them a hand motion to come to her.
Yang pushed Ruby. That's all it took as the crowed parted to let them pass. Once the four were inside she said in a cheerful voice that carried remarkably well. "Have fun, all of you." Waving at the crowd as she closed the door.
Ruby saw this person was breaking out in a sweat. Concerned she asked. "You ok? There not bad people, they just, wanted to know." The woman nodded, and pulling out a hanky started wiping her brow.
"My semblance." She told them. Taking a few more breaths. Then motioned for them to fallow her. The place smelled of fresh concrete and paint, and had a quickly made look anyone could see. The imprints of wooden forms were still on the concrete and hadn't been ground out yet. As they looked about none could miss her cat tail.
She started up again having recovered her wind. "It's not that strong, my semblance, or combat orientated, and so far has been slow to increases in strength. It's a voice semblance, I can be heard, clearly no mater the background noise." She came to a door and using a circular key with odd shaped cuts in it, slotted it in a round impression and turned the key, then waited. "Sadly the range is as a normal voice, so, its good for this job." She stepped back when a light over the door flashed with a ping. The doors opened to an elevator.
"You four are too well know, so were going to isolate you. If we don't, I don't think your going to see much, or any of the show, and I've been told by an L1 you just came out of a Memenic class? You'll thank me for the quiet." Getting in she pressed the five button.
"You are taking us to a private booth?" Weiss asked hopefully as the elevator started moving. When the woman nodded Weiss exhaled with relief. "Good, this has been a trying day."
"I can imagine. I'm Sellock, one of the cat herders here." As Ruby started to speak she held up a hand. "I know all of you, the news has been taking about you it seems every half hour." Weiss's nose crinkled confused. "We were only mobbed once."
Sellock gave them a disarming smile as the elevator came to a stop. "Not everyone likes the Vale news now a days. Lot a propaganda being spurted out about us. Not paying attention to it is less stressful. Our web site did give a short rundown, but you have to search for the details." As the doors opened she walked out turning to the left. "I'm going to put you in 541, remember that number if you order anything."
It was a short walk to the 541 booth Sellock again used another round key to open the door. "This is self locking, if you leave you can't get back in, unless someone inside opens the door. Enjoy the show." Then she walked away. The last thing they heard walking into the room was her on the radio. "Central? Ya, got em herded into 541 Ok, sure, on my way." Then she was around the bend.
"Did that seem off, to any of you? Just what is an L1?" Asked Blake. She found herself standing at the entry, alone. Blinking Blake saw Ruby had found an ice-cream dispenser and was filling a bowl. Weiss was already poring a drink at a fully stocked dry bar. Yang all but jumped and landed laying almost horizontal on an expensive looking couch. "Nobody heard me?" Sighing Blake let the door close behind her.
"Hay, check it." Yang happily held up a remote. "This things got a zoom, targeting function, we can see the stage as if were on it." Blake watched as Weiss froze in place for a few seconds before continuing making drinks. Blake couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Yang, a bit at least, she knew, had been in places like this before. To her Yang and Ruby would be acting like kids with the wonders of it all. As Blake approached Weiss she couldn't help but think of herself being in the same boat.
Taking a popcorn container Blake filled it, added butter from a dispenser and some salt shook it up a bit then settled into an overly stuffed chair. Motioning for Yang to toss her the remote she altered the view so the stage filled the wall sized screen, shifted the camera angle to the stage a bit until it was more like they were in a living room then actually at a Colosseum.
Soon they were staring at the screen dumbfounded. They had thought this would be team matches. No such thing. Grim were brought onto the stage, and not small ones. Hunters in groups of eight to twenty entered the arena and fought three times their number on a massive stage. Each match lasted as long as the grim did. Five grueling events came and went. Some of it was all but barbaric, the raw power and brutality shown by these hunters on stage was simply shocking.
When any hunter got into trouble, lost aura or was injured, a clown of all things would pop out of a barrel and sidetrack the grim from finishing off that hunter, and other clowns would cart the wounded off, dumping them into barrels then moving the barrel.
One clown, sat at the edge of the combat ring Seemly not being bothered in the least by all the noise and fighting. He was fishing of all things, at the side of the arena pit. Fishing rod, hat, and fish box with a vest festooned with oversized hooks. Occasionally getting a bite, making a fool out of himself with the fishing rod, and pulling up a grim, measuring it, then shaking his head and tossing it back into the pit.
"They have to be using trapdoors." Yang stated when two hunters had been comically dumped into one barrel, with the clown jumping up and down just to stuff the second one in. When they moved the barrel it was empty having no lid or base. "Or a teleportation semblance." Blake offered after a few moments of thought she added. "They charge enough."
Once the hunters dusted the grim another group of clowns would come onstage in a baby sized car and disgorge a dozen or more clowns who would walk around with weed sprayers. Occasionally spraying each other and getting into comical fights. One fight stopped when a lady clown walked by shaking what she had. Adding to the effect. Music loudly played in a sexy thumping base, The men's top hats as they ogled her were shaking and bouncing like an over clocked boiler.
Then the stereotypical housewife clown exited the car, saw what was going on and angrily stomped towards them, her purse swelling in size as she stiffly walked. "Oy, ya did it now!" Yang happily yelled spilling a bit of her drink.
One clown, slightly behind the first saw her coming, did a panicky run and jumped into a barrel, coming out the next one, like a fish swimming up stream he would come up, arc through the air diving into the next, until he reached the edge of the arena. With an over acting fake suicide, jumped off. "Smart man." Chuckled Weiss. Then grim started jumping up from the pit like they were after something. "Maybe, not?" Weiss corrected herself a bit worried.
The other was not so lucky. He was admiring the curvy clown, getting ready to offer her an oversized flower and didn't see the housewife clowns windup until the last second. With the sound of a helium filled cheerleader he shrieked, dogging the now body sized club by scant inches. The floor of the arena buckled and some parts shattered. "Whoa." Gasp Ruby. Now the man was running putting the simulated buildings between her and him with her just behind shattering walls and putting dents into the floor.
The clown at the edge of the stage who was fishing finely got a big bite. He struggled with his catch as the other two ran about the arenas simulated backdrop, the rod bending and line shaking. Struggling and putting the pole over his shoulder he walked comically away from the edge like a heavy load was on his back. Ominous music started playing as a large Death Claw was pulled onto the stage, the hook in its mouth. With its claws it grabbed the fishing line and yanked hard enough to partly drag the clown to it and pulled the fishing rod from his hands, it went flying towards the Death Claw.
The Death Claw caught the fishing rod, seemed to look back and forth from him to the fishing rod, and then seemed to glare at the clown as if realizing he was a cause of his pain. Then it spit out the hook before pointing with its claw holding the fishing rod and snapping the fishing rod in half, at the clown. Like it was saying. "This is you."
That clown took that as a massage from the gods and jumped into a barrel. The Death Claw almost catching him. It tried to move the barrel, even looking down it. The barrel seemed locked in place. It looked about and it seemed to find a splinter of the stage and grabbed it then vigorously drove the long stick into the barrel.
It seemed to have no bottom, which puzzled the Death Claw who even took the stick placing it beside the barrel to measure it's length, then picked it up, as it was no longer locked to the floor, then looked at the ground, shook the barrel and out popped that clown, who hit the ground running. Jumping into another conveniently place barrel.
The Death Claw started poking that stick into the narrow, for it, barrel seemingly getting exasperated. Then the clown came up from a barrel just behind the Death Claw tip toed to the Death Claw and mimiked grunts of pain and yells of anguish. The Death Claw thinking it was hitting home started eagerly stabbing the insides of the Barrel. To the laughter of the crowd.
Meanwhile the Housewife clown had cornered the other clown who also had tried to escape into a barrel and she had knocked it out from under him and it looked like this would be the end for him as she wound up. A stick came out of that over turned barrel and hit her in the bum. Angered she turned and hit the stick.
The stick the Death Claw was poking into the barrel suddenly jumped back up and hit it in the face. The fishing clown seeing the fun was over hid in a barrel. The Death Claw pausing to rub the injury before it circled the stick then grabbing it in a claw and wiggling it around. The housewife clown had again turned to the male clown. The wiggling stick, came out. Getting closer the more it poked that stick into the barrel. Jaws music was playing as the stick came closer and closer.
To the crowds laughter it lifted up her dress showing clown knickers. She stood ridged for a few. Then turning, then with a jump and completely enraged she hit that offending stick, severely, several times.
The death claw suddenly found its self being attacked by the stick which hit it in the face twice before it tried to grab the stick in a claw to get it under control getting hit a few more times until it crouched down, eyeing the stick like it was an opponent. Tail waving like it considered stinging the thing. "It's alive and gona get ya." Gasped Ruby. Laughing with abandon.
The husband clown was not wasting an opportunity and scrambled over some wreckage, made for a barrel and jumped. The she clowns purse was thrown covering the opening and he slammed into it according up with the impact. "He has no bones? It's like a cartoon." Gasped Blake. As the male clown stiffly fell onto he's side.
The Death claw while all this was going on was sneaking up to that stick, then grabbed it, at the same time as the housewife clown grabbed the other end and yanked. The Death Claw's pincer went into the barrel, surprised the Death Claw yanked back. The two went back and forth like that until the she clown righted the barrel, stood on it, seemed to spit onto her hands, grabbed that stick and yanked.
The Death Claws entire arm went into the Barrel. It yanked back driving the Housewife clowns face into her barrel her hips way up in the air. Then the Death Claw seemed to see her, looked back and forth a few times, and then pushed, seeing the stick come up it was almost like it looked at the gathered with a "I'm goina do it."
Again the music change as the crowed yelled. "Do IT!" Then the Death Claw yanked, hard, pulling her arms and head into the barrel. Then it pushed buffeting her in the head and arms, like she had done him. With a That'll teach ya motion and a dismissive flip of the tail the death claw did one more.
The housewife clown growled, more like a noise. It all but physically rolled across the stadium, making everyone, even the death claw cringe. You could almost feel the anger coming off her. The death claw was looking at her when she pulled hard on the stick. Like before the death claws, pincer and arm went into the barrel. With an almost calm the death claw pulled. It didn't budge and the lady clown pulled again. Now the death claw was using it's other claw on the edge of the barrel and wrapping its feet around the outer skin of the barrel trying in increasing desperation as it lost ground trying to pull it's claw out, which was going deeper into the barrel.
With another hard pull the death claw was pulled in face first into it. That barrel bulging to accommodate it size. It struggled becoming more and more desperate the deeper it was pulled in. "No way." Declared Blake over the others laughter as she and Weiss leaned forward. When the main body was yanked in. It's tail was the only thing not in the barrel and that was whipping around like it was trying to get some kind, any kind of leverage, then it to vanished into the barrel spinning around the barrels lip like water in a tidy bowl.
Straining the housewife gave it her all, and out popped the death claw, a good twenty feet from the other barrel, the clown looked down the barrel, not seeing anything and stood up with the stick over her shoulder as she scratched her head. Then with overacting surprise saw the death claw at the end of the stick. It poised as if pissed and aimed its tail to sting the housewife.
The she clown shook the stick the death claw was clinging to turning it into a haze of motion before stopping. The death claw was now more clinging to the stick, thoughts of retaliating seem gone. Then the Death Claw seemed to realize it had stopped moving and again glared. She shook the stick even more, stopping just long enough to see that the death claw was still clinging to the stick.
Now she really shook the stick moving it around in a blur of death claw. When she stopped the death claw was wrapped around the stick clinging even with its tale tightly coiled around it. Again she shook the stick, this time when she stopped the death claw fell off onto its back, clumsily righted itself and tried to glare moving in a stumbling dizzy walk.
The housewife clown walked all up into the death claws face as it tried to recover, waving her stick. Almost saying with body language. "You want another ride?" The death claw was cringing away from her. Shaking its body as if saying nop I'm done. With a snort she dropped the stick and stomped away. Trying to find that deadbeat clown. The death claw watched her go for a moment and seemed to deflate in a stress relieved sigh.
"That's one bad ass clown!" Yang whooped..
"That Death Claw is almost as big as the one Juan's team fought." Added Ruby.
"Just how are they even doing all this?" Blurted Weiss. "Its, afraid, of her?"
Wife clown found her deadbeat clown talking up the stacked clown. They spotted her as she ran towards them. He ran. She stopped before the stacked clown, obviously going to giver her a smakdown. She cringed as the wife clown wound up lifting her left hand defensively and shaking her head pointing at her wrist.
The sound of an over blowing steam kettle came off the wife clown as she changed to a bright red even her clothing changed color. When she jerked her body at the male clown. Letting out a primal growl like an overly lit up chogger snarling. He saw, heard and managed to in a panic dived quickly into a barrel. The she clown ran after him leaving a trail of fire, right up the side of the barrel and into it.
Fire exploded from both ends and the barrel and it bounced about the stage, screams, fire and smoke kept billowing out. The death claw seeing the male clown almost get out of the barrel before getting dragged back in picked up a stick and walked, or more like swaggered over. The next time the male clown almost escaped his clothing was tore up some, as he was dragged back. The she clown poked her head out glaring at the Death claw. Who timidly presented her with the stick, with a grin she snatched out of his claw and the barrel started bouncing with crack and smack noises coming from the barrel as it bounced about the stage.
The Death Claw had folded its claws across and under its chin and was watching proud as could be as the barrel bounced about when a sad curvy clown shuffled by. The death claw looked concerned and fallowed a bit before taping her on the shoulder with his claw giving her a massive shrug. She lifted her left hand pointed at her wrist then the bouncing barrel before bowing he head.
The death claw seemed shocked backing up a bit before glancing at the noisy barrel bouncing about the stage, seemed to think about something and made a motion of it serves him right hrumph before offering her his clawed elbow. She looked delighted and took it leaning into the claw as they walked to a clear spot which started lowering.
"Everyone!" Called out the announcer. "Lets hear it for Harvey, and the Tusking Jumping Clowns!"
As the applause started the she clown and the death claw waved to the audience, even turning a full circle as they lowered into the staggering pit.
"And the Death Claw gets the girl!" Yang crowed, then started laughing so hard she fell off the couch.
Ruby, Weiss and Blake were clapping and laughing. As music and the clowns took the stage jumping and tumbling before the throng of clapping, whistling, yelling, and air horn noise filling the stadium.
When the noise died down the announcer energetically started talking. "Ok, everyone here's where you hard earned gold went. The winners for most kills!"
A hunter came running onto the stage waving at the gathered. While a score billboard lit up.
"In second place!"
Another hunter came in his score displayed.
"And third place!"
The three stood waving to the noisy crowd.
"Largest team kills!" That announcer almost yelled as a troupe of hunters came out.
"And the runners up!" The stage was getting crowed as more and more hunters took the stage. "The grand total is!" Four large billboards lit up showing total's.
Ruby whistled past her teeth. "Over twenty million."
"Add today's box takings, that's moneys from all of you, if you're wondering." The voice playfully teased. "Subtract wages and maintenance." The number was a dot compared to what had been paid out.
"Just a hundred thousand?" Questioned Weiss. "How do they expect to stay afloat? The electricity alone.,." She trailed off. "Gold, metals, they don't use lean." She realized.
"And now folks we have a surprise for you all! Hector is dead." A picture of a smiling cartoon shark filled the screen. "That's right. And he's going to be the main dish in Sundays beach party feast. So bring you coolers with your favorite beverages, or you can pay at our overpriced, and air-conditioned refreshment stand. But no matter how you do it come on down, were by the breakwaters, free shark meat, we got games and prizes for the kiddies, a fun time for all! See ya there!"
That seemed to be the end of it. People were slowly shuffling out, the stands emptying.
"That thing, had a name?!" Yang sputtered.
"I love this place!" Ruby declared loudly.