Well, I'm going to stop making promises
X
"...and then I said, 'Wrecked em? Darn near killed em!'" Yossif erupted into thunderous laughter at his sisters joke, filling the quiet early morning cafeteria with a sense of joy that was quite contagious. Fae joined in with Yossif and laughed loudly. Luka wore a proud smile on her face. It faded away when she looked at Rex. He was straight faced and staring over her shoulder at something behind her. "Watcha staring at Rex?" She asked, turning around.
"Cardin." Lo and behold, he was sitting a few tables behind them and pulling on a fanus's ears. "I've been trying to figure out how to screw him over, make him our loyal soldier so to speak. No one will question if he shows up to classes with bruising, though it may draw attention if he was at our beck and call. Choices, choices..."
For Fae, this behavior was par for the course with Rex. No matter if he was on a battlefield or in a barracks, he was always looking for a advantage over everyone else. Everyone who wasn't directed allied with him, she meant. The twins, however, had not known him long, so they just sat there and blankly stared.
"What?" The twins questioned in unison.
"Nothing, nothing..." Rex watched as Cardin let go of velvets ears and how she walked away, clearly distressed. "Hey, how would everyone like being a mercenary for a day?"
X
After classes had ended, Fae found herself knocking on team CFVY's door, "Are you sure this is a good idea Rex?"
"Don't sweat it, it'll be fine."
"I still don't have any idea what we're doing." Yossif said.
"Neither do I." Luka concured.
"We are going to offer our services in fixing a problem for a small fee." Rex stated
"We're going to beat up Cardin for money." Fae translated
"Exactly!" Rex confirmed. Just then, the door opened. Velvet stood in it with a questioning look.
"Hey...who are you guys?"
Fae answered, "Sup, were team FLYR. That's Luka..."
"Heya."
"That's Yossif."
"So if I whispered in your fanus ear would your regular ear pick it up? Or would maybe they-ACK?" Luka delivered a quick elbow too his stomach, earning a confused groan.
"He's Rex."
"I hope your doing well."
"And I'm Fae, their leader."
Velvet seemed to take in this info, "Oh cool, did you guys need anything?"
Rex took charge, "Actually yes, is your team in?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'd like to talk with you guys about a sort of job. Can we come in?" Just then Coco walked to the door.
"Who is it... oh hey! Your the kid who beat Yang Xiao Long! What's up?" Rex hadn't noticed it before Coco walked over, but Velvet was wearing pajamas! He wasn't bothered by that though. They weren't indecent by any means, being pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. No, the thing that bothered him was Coco. She was wearing black short shorts and a light brown bra. Yossif's jaw dropped as he took in her body and all its curves. Luka mumbled something about being jealous. Fae smirked and said "Do you have back pain?" And Rex's eyes widened before he quickly got himself under control.
As fate would have it, she only spotted his reaction. "Oh, you like what you see, first year?" She teased while doing a sexy pose. Yossif fell backwards onto the floor. Luka was beyond mumbling and was know completely audible when she stared her extreme jealousy. Fae said "There's no way you don't have back pain." Rex looked straight down and was silent for a moment. After having time to come up with something, he looked up and said, "Is the sky blue?" That got a laugh out of her.
"I'll go put on a shirt, Velvet, let em in!"
Velvet was slightly embarrassed by her partners antics, "I apologize for that, it happens often." That last part was mumbled in annoyance, but was clear. She immediately stepped back and let them through the door.
Fae looked back at Luka, "Pick your brother off the floor." Luka did so, but was mumbling about cup sizes the entire time.
X
Cardin and his team were walking along the outskirts of Beacon Academy, laughing about their most recent victim. His teammate Russel grabbed his shoulder and said, "That rabbit said please! Can you believe that?" He followed this up with a hearty laugh. Cardin, Dove, and Sky followed suit.
"And did you see team RWBY giving us the 'Evil Eye'..." Cardin added, "Those girls don't scare me!"
"Yeah, too bad me and Sky weren't there, or else they'd be in a hospital right now!" Claimed Dove.
"More like the grave, which is the only place for dirty Fanus lovers!" Declared Dove. This prompted another round of laughter from the group. And Russel even wiped a team from his eye. Nothing could go wrong.
"Hey Cardin?" Asked Sky
"Yeah?"
"Who's That?" He pointed over at a tree left of the path they were one. Standing under it was someone, and they'd just lit up a cigar.
"I dunno. Let's see." As they moved closer, the figure flicked the match he used to light up right at the group. Even though it was dusk, there was still enough light to make out who it was.
Rex leaned against the tree, with a cigar in mouth.
They all shared a grin and walked towards him. All the while, Rex slowly lit up with another match. Just before they were within arms reach, he flicked the his second match at Cardin. "You guys step any closer, and you'll significantly reduce your time left alive." His voice held no tone. He didn't even seem angry. The only emotion he showed was indifference, which was scarier than any threat he could give.
Team CRDL all shared a look of understanding, and took a step back. "Good, now what did you jokers want?"
Even though they knew Rex was capable of felling even Yang in a fight, they still started in with their bullying. "We saw you enjoying your stogie. Would be a shame if, say, someone told your mother. Might get you expelled." Cardin stood taller than before. Pride swelled in his chest as he awaited Rex's shocked face. He may be invincible in combat, but Cardin doesn't need to beat him to make him his bitch. He only needs blackmail.
Rex blew smoke at the team. His face was still indifferent, but now his eyes were cold and calculating. He looked like he had every way of killing them running through his head and he was picking the most efficient ways. His eyes stared into Cardin's soul, searching for weaknesses and ways to make his suffer. Rex didn't stand before him, the devil did.
Cardin recoiled slightly. He was going to note that picking on Rex was impossible and he should never try again.
Rex smiled, all while maintaining that air if indifference, "If you were to do that, your surroundings could get very lethal, very quickly."
In a quick attempt to save his pride Cardin added, "Was that a thREat Rex?" His attempt failed even before he could fully finish it though. The voice crack only solidified that.
Rex pulled his cigar out of his mouth, "No, only an observation. Have a good rest of your evening Cardin." Team CRDL didn't know what was so off putting about that last statement. Perhaps it was the way he delivered it, that is, without any hint of emotion. It might've been because they had tried to blackmail him, but he still wished them well. Perhaps they simply caught a chill. Whatever the case was, it wasn't going to happen again.
Team CRDL, with their pride only slightly damaged, looked down the path they were walking along. They hoped it would take them back to their dorm, but something better happened. They saw a Fanus not to far away. It had its back turned to them and was squatting in the dirt below a tree and poking into a bush. It was a rabbit fanus, ripe for the picking. The boy's shared a quiet predatory chuckle, and then tip toed towards the animal. Russel took the lead and stood right behind the unlucky Fanus, "Hey animal!" He grabbed one of the bunnies ears and gave a small yank.
To everyone's surprise, the ear came off. Actually, the ears came off. Along with a head band. Before anyone could recognize the trick, the now revealed Fae struck. She quickly whipped around and used her arm to swipe him off his feet. Finishing it off she quickly put him in a headlock and grabbed his thumb. After yanking his hand behind his back and putting pressure on his thumb, Russel was decommissioned.
Two more figures came out of the tree and bush respectively. One rushed Dove, the other rushed lark. Both gave a quick punch to knock their target down, and then put them in the same pin their leader did. The twins had taken down the rest of Cardin's team.
"You bitches!" Cardin was about to run towards them, until he realized something. There was only three of them. Teams are made of four people. That means another person was waiting to attack him! He backed up, no one would get the drop on him.
Clap, clap, clap. A slow clap came from behind him, followed be Rex's voice, "Bravo, bravo! That was textbook!" Cardin turned to face him, and was suprised by his gleeful face.
Quickly turning around, he counted the people holding his team on his finger, "One, two, three..." he turned around once more and stared at Rex. "...Four, shit." His shoulders slumped.
"Now, how will I do this?" Rex asked aloud. Cardin was having none of it however, and bolted for the school. He would have to leave his team behind, but that wasn't high on his "things he cares about" list at the moment. About two steps into his run Fae tripped him from her place on the ground.
Now with a face full of dirt, Cardin tried to get back up. He was stopped by a foot stepping on his back. "Ah, ah, ah, your not leaving." Now Cardin was once again terrified of Rex, because he was now saying everything with an almost child like amount of glee. Compared to thirty seconds ago, this was a new person.
Cardin felt Rex grab him by the ankle and lift. Soon he was dangling upside down over the side of the Beacon plateau. And he was being held entirely with one arm.
"Ahhhhh, someone help!" At this point, Cardin would even take a Fanus rescuer. Anyone other than this psycho.
"Awwww, that's cute. You think someone will save you? Even if anyone could hear you, who would come? Your at my mercy now. But if you think screaming will help, you can do so..." Rex took the cigar out of his mouth, "I'll even help you!" Rex pushed the burning tip against the base of his neck
"AHHHHHHH!" Cardin didn't care who you were, getting burned hurt, even with aura. "What do you want! Money! I'll give you some..." he felt Rex's grip loosen a bit, "...All of my money!"
"I don't want your money, though I will take some. No, what I want is you for business."
"I...what?" What did he mean business? Cardin didn't own a store.
"Simple, I want you to work for me. You'll follow my orders to a point. When I say jump, you jump. When I tell you to fuck someone up, you fuck em up regardless of who they are. But most importantly, you'll only screw with people when I say. If I didn't order it, you don't do it. If you do..." Rex made a line across his neck with his free thumb, "You get the idea." His happy go lucky face made no sense when he threatened Cardin. And work for anyone? Bah, Cardin would rather die
"Hah, you think..."
"Cardin my friend, before you answer, look down. That fall won't kill you, but you won't walk for a long time. And if you land wrong, you may even become a cripple forever. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?" His face was still beaming with happiness, as well as his voice, but his eyes. They were cold and filled with nothing but fire and terror. His eyes promised that they would choke the life from his soul and leave him a lifeless husk. They promised nothing but Ruin
Cardin was suddenly very scared of ash. But he was even more scared by Rex and his eyes.
"AHHHH, put me down!"
"Oh, be careful of what you wish." Rex quickly dropped and grabbed Cardin with his other hand. That was enough to convince Cardin that Rex was not bluffing about dropping him.
"OK, OK, I'll work for you, JUST PUT ME DOWN ON LAND!"
Rex smiled happily, "Excellent." Rex through Cardin behind him and into a tree. "Now, how much money does your team make a month. I'm talking sent by parent, made with side jobs, drug deals. Anything."
Cardin rolled onto his back, "I get sixty from my parents, Lark gets...ahhhh...thirty from a weekend job. Russel doesn't get anything. And Dove steals money from whoever he can."
Rex thought for a moment, "Hmm, I want sixty Lien a month, you can keep the rest for now. And remember, you step a centimeter out of line, and you will immediately regret it. Believe it or not," Rex squated down so he was face to face with Cardin, "I can be much scarier than this." With that, Rex stood. His team followed suit. And they all left Cardin and his team groaning in pain.
X
Team FLYR entered their dorm room and sought out their beds. Rex's first order of business was taking off his boots. So he sat on the edge of his bed and started. As soon as he finished unlacing his right boot, Fae tapped his shoulder.
"Can I talk to you?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Who is the leader of this team?" Rex could detect sass, and a whole lot of it coming his way.
"You."
"Really? Because I haven't been doing much leading."
"So, lead."
"Oh really? So I can just lead even though the twins will only follow you?"
"That's not true, they will follow you."
She didn't like that. "Bullshit! The only person they'll follow is you!"
"They'll follow whichever of us is leading. You just need to take charge."
"Are you kidding me? They call you Boss! They disregard whatever I say for your words! You just decided to sell our team as mercs, that was something I should have decided as leader! And when I voiced my concerns they blew me off in favor of following you!"
Rex stood. He wouldn't tolerate someone insulting his team, even if that someone was his leader. "Why are we even bringing them into this? This is between us!"
"We're bringing them in because they need to follow me if I'm leader! And you do too! If you guys won't follow me then your shit teammates!"
Now Rex tried to always stay calm, because you need a level head in order to do anything under pressure. There was only two times in which he ever lost his head,(three if you can count internally screaming when people lack common sense) during combat, and when his brothers were being insulted. "Well maybe if you had ACTUAL leadership ability they would follow you and not me!"
"I have ability!" The twins, who had been listening since the beginning of the argument, looked at each other. Through sheer telepathic ability only seen between siblings, they decided on how to break this up.
Rex was close to boiling over. Fae might've been his long time friend, but that's why he had tried to be in control of the team. She was never a leader. A good gunner, radio operator, and spotter, but not a leader. Unless she had suddenly gotten very good at being a quick learner and had taken notes on everything he had ever done, she was no where near being an efficient leader. "Ability? Where? Because you haven't taken charge once. You've sat and done nothing. Your a good follower, but I'd rather follow a civilian than you! At least they might have enough drive to take command!"
Rex was a very hansy talker. He used his hands to emphasize when talking. He knew this usually made others uncomfortable when arguing, especially when he got in their face with it. So, he unconsciously did it with Fae. This sometimes leads to altercations between the other party and him. However...
THWAP
He didn't expect Fae to punch him.
Luka immediately stepped in and separated Rex and Fae "Mom! Dad! Stop fighting!"
Yossif stepped in next to her and held Rex by the shoulders to keep him from rushing Fae, "Heh, thats a bit fucked up seeing as she just assaulted him. We should probably time our jokes better, eh Luka?"
"You guys are our teammates! You can't fight! If you wanted us to follow you more closely you could have took it up with us!"
Yossif looked over his shoulder at a still seething Fae "Yeah, and you didn't need to punch the guy. He was just..." Yossif felt a hand grab his shoulder and squeeze. He turned back to Rex. He was staring straight at the ground and had his left hand on his chin from the punch. With very slow and deliberate movements and without moving his hand, Rex leaned to the side.
Fae watched as he slowly looked up at him. His eyes had changed from blue to bright orange. The inside almost moved like flames. Other than that, his face was completely indifferent. It was almost scary, scratch that, it was terrifying. She couldn't show weakness though, or else he would pour on the look and take the position of leader from her.
Rex was burning on all cylinders, but he had to remain calm, or else she'd think she was hot shit. With a monotone voice and no emotion on his face, Rex said, "You want to lead, fine. Lead. I won't make any choices for the team. I won't do anything to compromise your own decision making ability. Matter of fact, I'm not going to speak to you for a week so you can really get the whole experience." With that, Rex took his hand from his chin and sat on his bed. He started to unlace his other boot and get some sweats to sleep in. "Yossif, Luka, disregard any order I give, no matter how little or big. I'm not the leader." With that, Rex got ready for bed.
Fae was about to storm over and punch him a second time when there was a knock at the door. Sighing loudly, she walked to the door, leaving the twins standing in the middle of the room and very on edge. Fae opened the door revealing Coco and Velvet, both in pajama bottoms and shirts. "Oh, hey. What do you want?" Fae didn't mean to come off as cold, but it was hard with what had just transpired.
"What's with the cold shoulder girl?" Coco replied with a entertained tone. "We just came over to ask how dealing with Cardin had gone. I also wanted to ask you guys when you wanted your 200 Lien. Where's Rex? He might want to hear this." She scanned the room for the man in question, and wasn't at all disappointed when she found him. "Woah woah woah, hey there good looking." Coco developed a small red tint and put a hand under her chin. She moved Velvets head with her free hand so she could also bask in Rex's majesty. Velvet went a far darker shade of crimson. Rex was hot. He had a athletic build. His muscles on his arms were large, but not quite body builder size. His legs weren't body builder size either, but they were toned and looked like he never skipped leg day. His chest was beautiful. He had a barely visible six pack, but it looked like he was only one sit up away from it becoming the most breathtaking thing ever. His chest itself looked rock hard.
Just who was this first year?
Coco called out, "So is this how you felt when you saw me?"
This caught Rex's attention. He finished putting on sweats and made his way over shirtless, and Coco couldn't complain.
In a calm and smooth tone he replied. "Hello, how is your night Coco, Velvet?"
Velvet quickly placed her hands over her eyes, but left them slightly open so she could still see Rex(an action she thoroughly denied upon being questioned by Coco later). She spoke softly and quickly, "I've are-am! Good. You've no shir...!" Coco quickly placed her hands over Velvets mouth, but the damage was already done. Rex noticed his state.
"Oh, I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. Why don't you talk to Fae about our payment. She IS the boss, after all."
Fae glared at Rex for that childish remark. She honestly couldn't believe he'd be so immature. "Am I missing something?" Coco inquired.
"No no, it's nothing. What did you want?"
Coco definitely didn't believe her, but didn't press any further. "What's the story with Cardin?"
Fae couldn't help but smile, team CRDL was HERS to command now. "They're Out of the picture."
"Did ya kill them?"
"What? No! Of course not!"
"Just checking." Kill them? Was she serious? How would they benefit from killing them? "And when do you want your money?"
"Uh, by the end of the week. Wherever is good."
"Alright, that takes care of it. I'll see you later Fae. Rex!" Rex, who had laid on his bed, lifted up his head so he could get a good look at the two girls. "Stay hot."
"You too sexy." Coco laughed a bit, Velvet blushed a bit. With that they both left. Fae closed the door and turned around.
"Whew, that was easy. Being a leader isn't so hard after all."
Rex chuckled, and with that said something so quiet only he could hear it. "Were it so easy." Rex leaned back, closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.
X
Man, procrastination is a bitch. Sorry for the long, long, LONG wait. I hope it was slightly worth it. If it wasn't, I apologize. I'll try to make the next chapter longer and better. Anyway, have a good day! Don't die!!!